We're getting there, but the battle against covid-19 isn't over yet. That means many of us who would just as soon avoid contracting the virus continue to watch streaming entertainment at home rather than pack ourselves into bars, restaurants, and other social venues.
The following recommendations for such streaming entertainment is meant for those who subscribe to this train of thought.
"Bloodlands" (Acorn TV) Filmed in Belfast (the scenery is breathtaking), this gritty crime mini-series revolves around Detective Chief Inspector Tom Brannick (James Nesbitt, who bears a startling resemblance to Titus Welliver; he plays Harry Bosch, a smart-aleck and often compromised homicide detective in Los Angeles, in the Amazon Prime series "Bosch") who discovers new evidence that re-awakens a long-dormant series of disappearances, one of them his own wife 20 years earlier.
"Letterkenny" (Hulu) This may be the funniest series you've ever seen (its comedy writing stands undefeated at the Canadian Screen Awards) but it takes some practice to fall into its jagged rhythm, so pay attention. Jared Keeso (who stars in the excellent and accurate Canadian cop procedural "19-2"; see below) the show's creator, is Wayne, a rigid tough guy following his own rules, who with his sardonic sister Katy (Michelle Mylett) runs a tidy dog-breeding facility in the tiny (fictional) town that the series is named after. Help (if you can call it that) comes from friends Daryl (Nathan Dales) and Squirrelly Dan (K. Trevor Wilson). The one-liners are dryly delivered, fast and furious, so if you happen to be feeling dull-witted, stick with something more obvious like "Schitt's Creek" until you're more in the moment.
"19-2" (Amazon Prime) Adrian Holmes and Jared Keeso star in this unrelentingly authentic police drama (named after the call sign of the patrol car they drive) that ran from 2014-2017 as a pair of Montreal cops struggling to do their jobs as best they can while dealing with their troubled pasts. No glamour here; these guys have tough lives, as do their co-workers, families, and the residents of the city they serve. It's absolutely addictive.
"Behind Her Eyes" (Netflix) Ever wonder what the daughter of U2's frontman might be like? One thing you'll learn in this shape-shifting series is that she's a mesmerizing actress. The series is about a single mother (Simona Brown) who, for no good reason, begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss (Tom Bateman) while secretly befriending his beautiful, haunted, and and increasingly bizarre wife (Eve Hewson, Bono's daughter). Please cover your ears and shout "I can't hear you!" if anyone tries to tell you how this macabre story unfolds. The surprises are worth it.
"Call My Agent" (Netflix) The trick to this glamorous French series about a hotshot Paris talent firm whose four principals handle a stable of star-powered clients is that many of those clients are played by performers with real-life star-power credentials like Nathalie Baye, Francois Berleand, Monica Bellucci, Sigourney Weaver, Juliette Binoche, Beatrice Dalle, Jean Reno, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Cecile de France. Personalities, attitudes and puffed-up egos are on constant collision courses, with saucy results. In French, with subtitles.
"The Returned" (Netflix) A supernatural drama, also French, is based on the 2004 French film "They Came Back" ("Les Revenants"). and feels related to the much-admired HBO series "The Leftovers" (starring Justin Theroux) in which 140 million people disappear without a trace in a global cataclysm (think Rapture). The French series, which is more unsettling than the American one, reverses the situation in that dead people start reappearing in a small French mountain town, including teenage school bus crash victim Camille, suicidal bridegroom Simon, a small boy called Victor who was murdered by burglars, and serial killer Serge. Although the returnees haven't aged, their friends and families have, and their appearances disrupt many of their efforts to move on.
As I wrote in a December column on favorite watchables, if you're not sure any of these series will work for you, give them a five-minute test. If you're not curious about what's going on by then, move on. Otherwise, keep watching--even after you've been vaccinated.
Karen Martin is senior editor of Perspective.