Were you surprised?

I wonder if there was this level of lawlessness in the days of the founding fathers.

Don’t answer that. Of course there was slavery, and ultimately we got westerns, seems like everyone had a gun and didn’t think twice about firing it. But there were no cameras.

Now there’s a camera everywhere, but that does not stop the crime.

Come on, watch any TV show from around the world, you know, about crime, which is the plot of most of ’em, the successful ones anyway, and they always go to the footage, the security cameras, there’s one on every streetlamp in Israel, seemingly on every street corner, and there’s a plethora of them in the U.S. too…but people keep committing crimes. And they get caught. What’s the deterrent?

Of course we’ve got the rich, the white collar criminals, and you think the computers they use would indict them, but that is not the case, we don’t have enough people at the IRS to catch them. If you just stay quiet, fly under the radar, which most rich people do, contrary to public belief, you skate. And you throw a few shekels here and there looking like a big philanthropist when the truth is it represents almost none of your holdings, and the value of your assets keeps increasing. Seemingly the only billionaire who realizes this is MacKenzie Scott, giving away all those Amazon billions, not needing to vet the destinations ad infinitum before she donates the bread. That’s another canard of the wealthy, that the government is inefficient and only they know how to distribute money. But we didn’t see them helping out during Covid. And we don’t see women shooting up public spaces. There’s a message there somewhere, but it’s lost amidst the debate for equality. And why would women be so eager to become men? Oh, this is politically incorrect, I know, of course women should be equal, in pay and stature, but do we have to turn them into the moneygrubbing males of business today? Maybe we can learn lessons from their deportment. That’s one thing about women, they’ve got a sense of community, whereas most of the loners are men.

So what if you are a man… You’re bombarded with messages that you’re inferior. And it used to be you could lift yourself up, it was the American Dream, but that ended decades ago, when it was determined that if you were in the underclass you were a lazy nogoodnik, and the best way to incentivize you was to take away your benefits, and put you in lousy cash-starved schools to boot. Even better, if you live in darkness you won’t know what you’re missing out on.

Or, you could look to religion to save you. When you ain’t got nothing, it helps you hold on. It’s worked for Blacks, now it’s supposed to work for whites too. Just give to the wealthy preacher who flies around in a private jet, who’s got direct access to God, and then try to deny your inner feelings as you demonize everyone who is not praying, or not praying at the house of worship of your choice.

So we’ve got boys trying to combat their DNA. Sex is dirty, yet it’s all over the web. Broke housewives are trying to make ends meet on OnlyFans. And if you’re unhappy… Is it really your fault?

Maybe it’s the government’s fault. Messing with your freedom. To get Covid-19, to shoot a rifle, to spew hatred and falsehoods.

It’s every person for themselves in America today, isn’t that the essence of the U.S., the freedom that all these nitwits are looking for?

Get sick, have hospital bills, go bankrupt, too bad.

This all started with “Going Postal,” yes, at the U.S. Post Office, which is now so slow they might as well rename it the “Pony Express.” Turns out you can’t fire people. And this is bad, kind of like the language police who are turning into the thought police, but if there were a safety net, if there was national health care, it wouldn’t be so bad. Lose your job and you lose your health care. If you’re over 45, good luck getting a new one. Meanwhile, you turn on the flat screen and see everybody living it up, as you lose your spouse, your home, your savings, your retirement money… How are you supposed to rebuild?

And everybody’s got their own news supporting their own viewpoint. And when it comes to truth, it’s fungible, after all, there are alternative facts. So what’s it like being a young male on the ground in America… Not that different from being that fruit vendor who ignited the Arab Spring…college educated with no upward mobility.

And in America it’s always somebody else’s fault, no one takes personal responsibility. They want freedom, but not the consequences of said freedom. And anything that impinges on their right to do whatever they want to do all of the time, is just plain bad. Meanwhile, you don’t get the right to do what you want to do, you can’t get an abortion…tough noogies, don’t try to be logical about all this, there is no logic.

So you’re depressed, depleted. But mental illness is not seen as a real sickness so you don’t have coverage and you don’t see a professional. Meanwhile, insurance payments are so low you only get to see the second and third rate mental health providers anyway. Because no one any good will take insurance. The best doctors are reserved for an elite class that you’re convinced runs everything, but the truth is they just do what is good for their pocketbook, they don’t care about you at all.

And if you live in the inner city, you can get shot by gangs and everybody shrugs, it’s your fault for having that skin color.

And drugs are cool, so if you O.D…that’s always the risk. Come on, individual responsibility here. You should be able to lift yourself up, abstain, just hang around staring into space as you have no job or one that pays poorly as you work your ass off. Drugs are a relief!

So back in the sixties we had a revolution, we were fighting for equal rights and an end to the war in Vietnam. Now we’ve got endless war in the Middle East, longer than World War II. And we’ve got the silent killer of Covid-19, which is harmless, if you just took off your mask and ran free the economy would rage and the stock market would fix all your problems, even worse people believe this.

So, the country wakes up to racism in the sixties and after a few years what happens? Whites wake up and realize that if Blacks get more of a foothold, they might have to sacrifice a bit, and no one can sacrifice in America, certainly not today, so we remove their voting rights, get rid of affirmative action, the Supreme Court, THE SUPREME COURT, says we live in a post-racial society, that Blacks have no problem voting. Meanwhile, as I sit here, dozens of states are making them run a gauntlet to vote in the future. As for unemployment benefits? Did you see John Oliver on this, the goal in Florida is not to give them to you: https://bit.ly/31ba7YS But there are so many TV channels that nothing gets traction anymore. They have ratings, they have charts, but the truth is no TV show gets universal attention, no record, no movie, but they keep telling us they do, because to admit the truth would raise questions, and those in power just want things to stay the way they are.

So, they kill a Black man in Minneapolis and the whole world erupts. So far, change has been minimal while whites have demonized the demonstrators, voting for a strongman to protect them, as if history doesn’t tell us that in the end, the joke is on them.

So you’re sitting there telling me to be optimistic, to not be such a downer. You say the same thing to the people who perpetrate these crimes, who kill these people, that America is great and if they just believed everything would work out for them. What a bunch of hogwash.

Meanwhile, the image of America keeps fading in the minds of the rest of the world. But it also fades in the minds of Americans. You can wave that flag all you want, as you re-enact Civil War battles, but flag-waving never put food on the table, gave the underprivileged advantages. America has turned into a religion. Either believe in it or be demonized. No questions allowed, pay fealty to the greatest country in the world or shut up.

And you wonder why people are scratching their heads.

They used to just hate the Blacks and the Jews. Now they hate the Asians too. Half of America is hated and the rest shrug, at least it’s not them.

That’s what people think when these school shootings happen today, at least they weren’t in the line of fire. Which is why the elite live behind gates and fly private, you can’t get down in the pit with the regular people, you’ll never know what might happen.

Optimism? Yeah, like they’re gonna get rid of assault rifles. Then again, Biden’s relief program passed, yippee! Biden is so much better than expected, it’s astounding, better than St. Obama, which Maureen Dowd pointed out in last Sunday’s “Times”: https://nyti.ms/3f2DeFY But the left have their heroes too, you can’t pierce the veil, just like with St. Reagan.

And you tell me to mourn, to participate in the national grief, when by my calculation everything is going in the wrong direction. As for Biden himself, according to the right he’s a senile old man hiding from the public whilst he’s ruining the country. Just let the corporations rule, they know better. Or start a new business, even though the truth is the big outfits employ the most people. And the jobs they provide… You either think or you don’t. And if you don’t, all the heavy lifting is done by robots, so you can only do the most menial tasks for few bucks that don’t cover your needs.

But it’s your fault. It’s always your fault in America. Which is why you’re compassioned-out. Does anybody really care about you, is anybody watching out for your future? Doesn’t feel like it.

So this has been going on for forty years. Taxes and welfare cut, all in the name of freedom. Yeah, freedom to buy a gun and shoot innocent people willy-nilly. As for the consequences? You die, or go to prison forever, not bad when you consider the alternatives. Yup, the life expectancy is going down in America anyway, maybe best to short circuit the process.

But we can’t address the hard problems. Hard problems cannot be attacked and solved anymore. We put a man on the moon over 50 years ago, now government computers oftentimes don’t even work, the software is riddled with bugs, what happened to the can-do spirit that accomplished so much so long ago?

But you gotta believe. That if we just send our thoughts and prayers no one will shoot up the next public place. That if we rid the public school system of enough funds everybody will go to private schools that don’t want them and everything will be groovy. That there’s a level playing field when it is tilted. Everybody in America is the anti-Columbus, telling us the world is flat when we know it’s round, but they’ve never been anywhere so how the hell should they know?

So you can be depressed.

Or you can do your best to get ahead, getting a good education so you can get a job at the bank or the tech company. You certainly don’t want to be an artist, the odds are too long, and art doesn’t drive the culture anyway, the internet does, where it’s all about social media, becoming an influencer. That’s the new art, with odds just as long. But maybe better than the established artistic avenues, at least creativity is king as opposed to the products built by committee.

Of course there are good things about America. But if you look at where we’re headed, especially after looking back and seeing the road we’ve been on, it’s hard to believe it’s morning in America, rather it’s the dead of night, and you ain’t got a flashlight.

Which do you prefer at a show?

Tune in tomorrow, March 23rd, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive

https://bit.ly/2PkKTEx

I cannot write anything about Israel without people emailing me about the Palestinians. But what they don’t understand is the outlook is different. The Palestinians won’t be happy until Israel doesn’t exist, whereas Israel has no desire to wipe the Palestinians completely off the map.

But that does not mean the Israelis aren’t crazy.

And the Palestinians are crazy too.

That’s what “Our Boys” is about.

As I write this, there are elections on both sides of the fence, Israelis and Palestinians. On one hand the situation is fluid, on the other there is stasis.

Unfortunately, Israel’s government was taken over by the far right, the ultra-religious. And while no one was looking the settlements were built on the West Bank, in Palestinian territory, and reasonability went out the window. These elections are about returning Israel to normalcy, then again, are things normal in the United States? 

Today’s “New York Times” has an article on Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin Senator who is spreading conspiracy theories and rampant falsehoods:

“Assaulting the Truth, Ron Johnson Helps Erode Confidence in Government – Pushing false theories on the virus, the vaccine and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Mr. Johnson, the Republican senator from Wisconsin, has absorbed his party’s transformation under Donald Trump.”: https://nyti.ms/3lCK8TF

But it gets even worse:

“One in four House members has opted not to receive Covid-19 vaccine so far – Lawmakers have had access to the vaccine since December, when shots were first approved in the U.S.” https://nbcnews.to/3sbiDmF

“Vaccine brawl riles House”: https://bit.ly/393uYl2

It’s hard not to throw your hands in the air. And I know I’m not convincing the anti-vaxxers, those making a decision not to get inoculated for political reasons. The same way the Palestinians tell Hussein in this show not to cooperate with the Israelis, that the system is flawed, rigged against them, and there’s no way the country will hold the perpetrators responsible for the death of Hussein’s son Mohammed.

“Our Boys” is a true story. Palestinians killed three Israeli boys. And then a Palestinian was kidnapped and killed. Who did it, can there be equal justice?

I’m warning you, the first episode is confusing. By time it’s over you know where the show is going, but before that you might wonder.

And “Our Boys” has seemingly every Israeli actor you’ve ever seen. It’s fascinating who pops up. But the star was unknown to me, Shlomi Elkabetz as Simon, working for the Jewish Agency in a law enforcement capacity.

We’re used to hellraisin’ cops. Or silent but intense cops. But Simon walks the line. He’s internalized, yet he can be vocal. You can see his brain working, you can see the contradictions in his mind, you can see his determination. Do you do what’s right, or are you loyal to the tribe?

Today it’s all about the tribe. Everybody’s sucking up to and protecting someone else, and truth and justice are sacrificed in the process, hell, read this:

“Access, Influence and Pardons: How a Set of Allies Shaped Trump’s Choices – A loose collection of well-connected groups and individuals led by a pair of Orthodox Jewish organizations had striking success in winning clemency for white-collar criminals during the Trump presidency.”: https://nyti.ms/2OYxqT5

There are those pesky Jews again. Inciting anti-Semitism. Making the rest of us Jews wince.

Yes, don’t equate the black hats with the rest of us. My loyalty is to the U.S., not Israel. But the uneducated and uninformed think otherwise, they equate me with these insane religious zealots.

And in this case, there are bad people on both sides. Yes, you’ve got the ultra-Orthodox in Israel and the Muslim Palestinians. Who both think they can’t be wrong and will fight to the death.

So, being Americans, most of us will have no knowledge of what happened in the Middle East back in 2014, even though there was an American component, with one of the Palestinian boys being an America citizen. Because in America it’s all about the irrelevant, the penumbra as opposed to the essence. We keep the populace in the dark for ratings, the truth is often too boring. But “Our Boys” is not boring.

So, are the Jews responsible for Mohammed’s death?

The police don’t want to believe this, the Israeli public doesn’t want to believe this. Actually, if you’re a Jew you hope and pray a Jew isn’t responsible for a crime, for fear of the backlash/anti-Semitism it will cause.

And the Palestinians jump to conclusions. Of course the perpetrators were Jews, who else would it be?

So you watch the show and if you go in with loyalty to one side, as it evolves your beliefs are questioned. They do an excellent job of making each side equally right and equally culpable.

“Our Boys” debuted on HBO over the summer. I saw the reviews, I didn’t watch it. I don’t watch any series on HBO anymore, I can’t wait a week for them to drop an episode. But now you can watch “Our Boys” all at once on HBO Max. And I still wouldn’t have except my nephew Blake told me we had to. Yes, as we become more centralized we become more decentralized. There are only a few tech companies, but on the ground, it’s positively medieval, we depend on word of mouth.

So I asked Blake if Felice could handle it. Too much blood and she’s out. Like with “Suburra.” I didn’t even try to get her to watch “Gomorrah,” but I must say I’ve only seen one episode without her.

And Blake said no problem, so we pulled it up.

Did you see the “Deer Hunter”? If so, you remember that feeling, of emptiness, of questioning when the movie was over. Same deal with “Our Boys,” it finishes and you sit there, glued to your chair, unable to move, infected with the story and the questions it raises, you can’t get them out of your head.

When we do stuff like this in America, we get beautiful stars and manipulate the story for drama to the point where it not only doesn’t feel real, it is not real. But not in Israel, where beauty is not the key to getting a role, where grittiness is not excised.

Some of the performances are so good, so amazing, you’ll have a hard time believing these aren’t the actual people, like Adam Gabay as Avishay. He would have won the Emmy if this was an American series, as it was “Our Boys” won 14 Israeli Academy Awards.

And Netanyahu and the religious right HATED IT! They thought it was anti-Semitic.

But at least the government didn’t shut it down.

That’s where we’re at. We’re dependent upon the media to tell us the truth. And the right is correct that political correctness is rampant on the extreme left, but the right does its best to make sure the truth does not out, obfuscating it, burying it, not even reporting it.

Meanwhile, Trump didn’t and still does not stop diminishing the news and its reporters, who may be imperfect, but their role, and their freedom, is necessary.

Press freedom is not only an issue overseas, but now in America too. If the truth is suppressed…

Yes, we’ve come down to their level. For my entire lifetime we thought the U.S. stood above, was better, more powerful and more equitable than the rest of the world. This is no longer true.

And this is not about hatred of the U.S., this is about facing reality, in a country where most of the yahoos have never been outside the nation’s borders and are woefully uninformed and are playing tribal politics no different from in the Middle East. You’re not getting a vaccine because why? If you do you’re not a team player? Forget saving your own life, how about everybody else’s? And then there are the anti-vaxxers on the left, ironically well-educated, who are saving their children from what exactly? And making them more prone to getting measles.

Everybody thinks they live in a bubble. But no, we live in a society, where we must all look after each other and get along. And if we can’t have faith in our institutions we’re screwed.

All this comes up in “Our Boys” and more.

It takes place nearly half a world away, but it’s not so different from what’s happening inside our borders now.

Scary. 

Notes: 

A. This is a first pass, the rankings are fluid. 

B. Reviews do their best to reveal as few plot points as possible. 

C. Foreign shows should be watched with subtitles. It’s easy to go into the settings and choose them.

______________________________________

1. “Happy Valley”

A British crime drama starring the inimitable Sarah Lancashire,

Unfortunately it’s no longer on Netflix, but when it was this was my number one recommendation in all of streaming television.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/4k6umnpx

2. “Borgen”

A political drama, illustrating how the sausage is made, as well as personal relationships and… More meaningful than “Happy Valley,” I’m having a hard time not making this number one. Sidse Babett Knudsen is so magnetic, she could carry the series all by herself, but she does not have to. Pilou Asbæk as Kasper Juul is so conniving and creepy, a man who believes the end justifies the means in all cases. If you haven’t watched this, turn it on TONIGHT!

3. “House of Cards”

This U.S. political drama is utterly incredible. It was the “Sopranos” of Netflix, the original series that put the outlet on the map. Kevin Spacey is amazing. As are the supporting actors.. But it’s the life/business lessons that will keep you riveted. The first four seasons are by far the best, because they were made under the aegis of showrunner Beau Willimon. Season five is watchable, worth your time, season six sans Spacey sucks.

Review: I’ve written about “House of Cards” many times. Go to lefsetz.com/wordpress and enter “House of Cards” in the search box. And be sure to click to the next page of results, I’ve written about “House of Cards” a lot!

4. “Ozark”

Upscale accountant and his family relocate full time to backwoods Missouri. With a drug cartel angle. I could watch “Ozark” every day if there were new episodes. Some seasons are better than others, but Laura Linney is incredible and Jason Bateman truly earns his stripes. Tension. In America. Watch it.

Review: I’ve written about the show a number of times. Go to lefsetz.com/wordpress and enter “Ozark” in the search box.

5. “Bonus Family”

That’s what they call a blended family in Sweden. Of all the shows I’ve watched on Netflix this has stuck with me the longest. People…who they are, what choices they make, how they do and do not get along. I’m making it sound heavier than it is. And I’d say it’s a family drama, but that’s got a bad connotation in the U.S. I think one episode is enough to make you decide whether you want to watch more. There are no shootings and all the tension is interpersonal. I LOVED IT! My only complaint is that it ended.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/5e2ajw53

6. “Fauda”

You think you can’t handle violence, but that’s not what this show is about. Doron is a man’s man, but with a sensitive side. He’s strong yet not clamoring for attention. He just wants you to give him the ball and let him run, even though sometimes he’s out of control. This is a great investigation of the Israeli/Palestinian question. It’s not clear-cut. One side is not always right.

Reviews:

Season 1: https://tinyurl.com/4p4z4mn3

Season 2: https://tinyurl.com/yaytwce7

Season 3: https://tinyurl.com/3zhbv63f

7. “Breaking Bad”

Many say it’s the best series ever, I don’t agree, but you should definitely watch it, it is excellent. However, the cheap production budget does undercut some of the scenes. It’s shot fast and flat, but the story of high school science teacher turned meth-cooker in the face of cancer will have you hanging in there. Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman is great, as a loser who may not really be one. And all his friends have you cracking up. And, of course, this is Bob Odenkirk’s breakthrough role as Saul Goodman. Needless to say, Bryan Cranston and the rest of the cast is top notch too.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/are53udn

8. “Master of None”

Comedy is hard to do, and Aziz Ansari hits it way over the fence, over two seasons! Aziz still hasn’t fully-emerged from #MeToo hell, but you need to watch this. It’s got the sensibility of a South Asian man navigating the world of his fame, and Eric Wareheim is worth the time all on his own.

Reviews:

Season 1: https://tinyurl.com/c7frznz2

Season 2: https://tinyurl.com/56sw4svb

9. “Narcos”

The first two seasons in Colombia, depicting the story of Pablo Escobar, are best, when the action shifts to Mexico it’s not as good, but the correlation with the truth in this drug-riddled era means you should watch it.

Review: I’ve written about the show many times. Go to lefsetz.com/wordpress and enter “Narcos” in the search box. And be sure to click to the next page of results, I’ve written about “Narcos” a lot!

10. “Ethos”

Turkish drama portraying the lives of different class members, one of the best explorations of mental outlook and psychotherapy extant. Everybody has problems.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/nw5j22nr

11. “Herrens Veje”

Danish. Starring Lars Mikkelsen who you know as Viktor Petrov in “House of Cards.” But he’s far superior here, playing a priest who tries to control the lives of his two boys. The first season is much better than the second, but if you’ve ever been under the thumb of a parent, if you’ve ever debated breaking away, you’ll identify.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/dhn8xv5s

12. “Broadchurch”

It’s hard to go wrong with English crime drama, and this is one of the best. David Tennant is excellent and this is Olivia Colman before she’s the Queen. Great.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/m5e25tjt

13. “Giri/Haji”

Just plain excellent. A BBC Two crime/drug/Yakuza show that you’ll think was produced by the Japanese, the story takes place in Tokyo and London. Really damn good, a great ride.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/ps2kts42

14. “Occupied”

A Norwegian political thriller that deals with real issues, which keep you watching. Highly recommended.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/43u82ja5

15. “Mindhunter”

The FBI tries to get into the head of serial killers. The first season is haunting, the second season is not quite as good, but this is TV you can’t take your eyes off of. Featuring Jonathan Groff, the king from “Hamilton” and the incomparable Anna Torv, who is cold, creepy yet sometimes open.

Reviews:

Season 1: https://tinyurl.com/252bvynr

Season 2: https://tinyurl.com/2fcbdc4b

16. “Delhi Crime”

Indian police drama. You get insight into life there and the performances are top notch and there’s context re America and you love it!

Review: 

17. “Shtisel”

Like “Bonus Family,” it’s a family story. In this case Orthodox Jews in Israel. I tried and could not get into it, but years later, invested in Israeli drama, I pulled it back up and became riveted. I prefer “Srugim,” which is on Amazon Prime, but they’re both great.

18. “The Twelve”

You think you have it figured out, but do you? The more you watch this crime/courtroom drama, the more you’re hooked. Flemish.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/b8j9zjpa

19. “London Spy”

Ben Whitshaw is always good. And despite being fiction, the show rings true.

https://tinyurl.com/ytmdmdt9

20. “Unorthodox”

Young woman leaves the faith. As good as you’ve heard. Shira Haas carries the show.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/t62jvbw

21. “The Break”

Belgian. With intense performances. A police drama, but on some level a story of therapy and youth and…

22. “The Queen’s Gambit”

The legendary series depicting the rise of a female chess champion. Very good, but not better than so many other offerings.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/7hkzud6

23. “The Fall”

I never watched “The X Files,” but all the hype had me thinking Gillian Anderson was a two-dimensional network TV actress. I was wrong. She dominates this show set in Northern Island about the hunt for a serial killer, another U.K. police drama that far surpasses its American equivalents.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/4vbb52je

24. “Bodyguard”

Another great British police drama. This time about privacy and mental trauma and…

Review: https://tinyurl.com/bk4b3m5t

25. “The Killing”

I’ve yet to see the Danish original, but the American version of this political drama keeps you glued to the screen.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/9rr73vzm

26. “The Keepers”

My favorite Netflix documentary. Who killed Sister Cathy?

Review: https://tinyurl.com/jbnvh2bc

27. “Wild Wild Country”

The Bhagwan. Is he real, is it all a scam? Wealthy people buy into the teachings of an Indian guru and go about building a community in Oregon where the locals don’t want them.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/vb69zh7e

28. “Babylon Berlin”

I’m loath to recommend this, because this is one of these series where you don’t really know what is going on, furthermore the first episode has you wondering what the tone is. But if you stick with it, you’ll get hooked. However, the first two seasons are superior to the third. Liv Lisa Fries is so charismatic you won’t be able to take your eyes off her. This was the most expensive German miniseries ever produced, and you can see the money on the screen. It depicts the era prior to World War II.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/k5sdmz5s

29. “The Mechanism”

By the guy who did “Narcos,” but the two series are different. It’s about corruption in the Brazilian government. I watched this just before I went to Rio, it’s all true, on the ground it’s even worse.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/56encf45

30. “The Spy”

Sacha Baron Cohen is great, but he doesn’t ring true when he’s in Israel, only when he’s playing a spy. The true story of the era, prior to the Six Day War, which many people do not know.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/kcnwbzew

31. “River”

Another English police drama. Stellan Skarsgard is good, but Nicola Walker is even better.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/y3n5kpbr

32. “When Heroes Fly”

An Israeli series with gloss. Extremely watchable but nowhere near as true to life or as meaningful as most Israeli productions.

33. “The Woods”

A Harlan Coben book come to life, but produced in Poland, and better off for it. At first I thought “The Five” was better, but thinking back on it “The Woods” was superior, it felt more real.

34. “The Five”

Another Harlan Coben book. But the nature of these stories is there are unforeseen twists at the end and you wonder if your investment of time was worth it. Here it is.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/4mh2e9hv

35. “Nobel”

A Norwegian drama. Re the country’s involvement in Afghanistan.

36. “Safe”

Another Coben series. Once again, you’ve got the twists and turns, but you’ve also got Michael C. Hall and the incomparable Audrey Fleurot, a charismatic, edgy star from France who most Americans are unaware of, to their detriment.

37. “Doctor Foster”

A series about betrayals. Excellent performances, especially by Suranne Jones. The story is not ultimately as believable as the production, but I recommend it. Another U.K. drama.

38. “Russian Doll”

Natasha Lyonne is fantastic, but she’s better than the series itself. The “Groundhog Day” construct is interesting, but the ending is not as good as what comes before.

39. “Evil Genius”

One of the vaunted Netflix documentaries, this time about a bank heist. Not as good as “The Keepers,” but very good, worth your while.

40. “Godless”

A western. The best I’ve ever seen Merritt Wever. Who acts subtly, but ends up owning the screen. And Michelle Dockery is excellent too.

41. “Bloodline”

You can feel the humidity steaming off the screen. Kinda like “Body Heat,” but not as good. Family exploits in Florida. Gets worse with each season, the last is borderline, but watch an episode and if you dig it, stay with it. Ben Mendelsohn is so good.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/28zzhbr5

42. “The Devil Next Door”

The John Demjanjuk story, you know, the Nazi deported from the U.S. at an old age who was accused of being Ivan the Terrible. Was he? No matter how much you know about this case, this documentary will have you re-evaluating your take.

43. “Wormwood”

An Errol Morris docudrama focused on the U.S. biological warfare program.

44. “Suburra”

Organized crime in Italy. Great performances, but not as great as other Mafia productions.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/kxsntvrw

45. “Pretend It’s A City”

Overrated. There are moments of sheer brilliance, but the HBO documentary was better, in this case length works again the story. Fran Lebowitz is a phenomenal social critic with a quick wit, and she says her opinion doesn’t matter, it’s just her own, but it resonates too heavily with the cognoscenti who don’t realize that in truth, technology is not the enemy, Fran just ends up looking too out of touch for today’s world. As for the format… If you want dinner conversation, “My Dinner With Andre” is better. Different, yet better.

46. “The Society”

I got hooked on this, but then they canceled the series because of Covid-19. Kids without their parents, who is in charge, what should they do. American in the best way.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/4dctbebf

47. “Atypical”

Family copes with autistic son. It’s hard to believe Michael Rapaport is so reasonable and restrained after being an such out of control bully on the Howard Stern show, but the true star is the sister, Brigette Lundy-Paine. The star, Keir Gilchrist, doesn’t really ring true as a person on the spectrum, but the issues do. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking.

Reviews:

Season 1: https://tinyurl.com/y9psru3s

Season 3: https://tinyurl.com/3e43nrtn

48. “The Time In Between”

A visually beautiful relatively slow-moving story about Spaniards in the era of the Civil War. Interesting, if for no other reason that many don’t know what happened in that era. Unfortunately no longer on Netflix.

49. “13 Reasons Why”

The first season is definitely worth your time, you can stop after that, I did. These creators are so thrilled to get their stories on screen that when they garner success they don’t know how to follow it up, with the spotlight upon them. Unjustifiably crucified for portraying teen suicide, America can’t handle the truth.

Reviews:

https://tinyurl.com/we3ca2sd

https://tinyurl.com/4w96x3pt

50. “Unbelievable”

True crime. The story of serial rape cases. But it’s overrated. Worth watching, but on some level the series just doesn’t ring true, because the character portrayals are in many cases unbelievable.

51. “The Valhalla Murders”

Nowhere near as good as the hype. Beautiful photography in Iceland, but if you want noir, go further east to the productions of the Scandinavian countries.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/nt29sjtx

52. “Tiger King”

The lockdown breakout. I’m not sure that you need to see it now, but then again these people are so nuts and so invested in big cat mania that it’s interesting going down the rabbit hole with them.

53. “Stranger”

A lauded Korean police drama, it is very interesting, and Bae Donna is so charismatic without being overbearing, but are 32 episodes worth it? I’d say yes, but it soured me on Korean drama, it’s a bit heavy-handed and unbelievable.

54. “Dead to Me”

Vastly overrated. Yes, Christina Applegate is good, and so is utility player Linda Cardellini, but by time you get to the second season the plotting becomes ridiculous and the series dissipates into cardboard and you turn it off.

Review: https://tinyurl.com/5vw47hvt