My year with Netflix

 

Well. I broke up with Netflix this week. We are officially no longer seeing each other as of Sunday at midnight.

 

I made it almost 12 months with the service. Yes, I enjoyed it, yes it's cheap, but I'm trying to save moo-lah wherever I can, and I figured I have enough episodes of Felicity purchased via Amazon and iTunes plus about a bajillion rom coms on DVD, so I figured I'd survive.

 

So far? I'm totes fine.

 

Says the girl who's been without Netflix for 62 hours.

 

But seriously I feel fine.

 

Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick review of my almost-12-months with this streaming service we all know and take for granted. So let's get started, with the good, the bad, and the brilliant.

 

The show I went into blind and found myself blindsided with obsession:

 

Reasons I loved Riverdale: the archetypal depiction of characters based on cartoon characters. Veronica always in pearls, with jet black hair. Betty always with a ponytail and pink chenille sweaters. Archie with not red but orange hair. I'm very attracted to color, which is a reason I liked Dick Tracy as well as this show.

 

The SOUNDTRACK. Scored with spooky instrumental numbers plus great covers and new, funky, poppy, sexy tunes. Also Josie and the Pussycats sing several times on the show and their harmonies are fantastic.

 

The 80s/90s reunion. Luke Perry? Molly Ringwald? Done.

 

That teenage drama, though. Sucked me in like a sucker.

 

Cole Sprouse! Former Disney star (who I'm secretly super attracted to in Riverdale) who's dating his on-screen girlfriend, the super talented Lili Reinhart!

 

OK that's enough about this show let's move on.

 

The beautiful

 



I'm still trying to decide if I loved the way the story was depicted, but if you need to just zone out and CHILL, might I recommend Lighthouse of the Orcas. This film is based on a true story about a boy with autism who is calmed by whales.

 

It.

 

Is.

 

Gorgeous.

 

I believe it was filmed in Argentina and I can't express enough how calming it was to just watch the screen. Crystal clear waters with black and white whales gliding through, a cream-colored horse, beautiful actors, ocean-side cliffs. I would watch again just to relax.

 

The show that I didn't think I would binge but I absolutely did

 

Fuller House. All of it. Gobbled up that Gibler-Fuller-Tanner love. Max is my favorite character, and not just because he shares a name with my favorite animal. Kimmy Gibler's brother is a close runner up.

 

I love every cameo of past guest stars, I can't stand how cute Candace Cameron-Bure is (like, literally can't follow her on Instagram, because jealousy), and who doesn't love Aunt Becky to this day? Ridiculous people, that's who.

 

Fun fact: this was the show that made me finally cave and get Netflix in the first place.

 

The brilliant

 

Crazy. Ex. Girlfriend.

 

This brainchild of Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna was one of my top five shows this year, hands down. Absolutely hysterical, creative, and wonderful.

 

Darryl is my favorite character. He performs improv in Hollywood pretty regularly. I plan to go and fangirl eventually.

 

The tearjerker

 

One Day at a Time.

 

This remake by Norman Lear had me in tears (or very near them) several times, had me laughing, and had me binging. Absolutely touching, relevant, and pulled off with great class and boldness. Loved it.

 

The never-heard-of-it-but-watched-in-one-sitting indie film

 

What do you mean "watched in one sitting"? Doesn't everyone watch a movie in one sitting?

 

Not I, friends. Not I. Second fun fact of this blog post -- I haven't been to a movie theater in over a year. 99.9999999999 percent of the time when someone asks, "Want to watch a movie?" my inner self goes "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

 

When I watch stuff on my own, it gets paused a lot. I don't do well with continuous screen time when all there is to do is watch (versus social media where one interacts and writes as many sarcastic comments as she can handle). And I can't just turn something on for background noise if I've never seen it before; I can't help but pay attention to the new characters, plots, etc. on screen. Even though, ironically, I don't seem to care enough to watch longer than 20 minutes (maybe) at a time.

 

So I have ADD, what else is new?

 

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I watched Almost Adults, the Canadian film about two best friends/roommates in one sitting. It was very well done, sweet, funny, cute. Would watch again (which -- surprise! -- is not something I do often (unless it's a rom com put on for background noise while cross stitching (I'm complicated))).

 

The British

 

I really enjoyed Crashing, the six-episode show based on two plays. It was funny, yes, and I think the other thing that kept me hooked was the vulnerability of each and every character. Everyone was broken yet whole, which is about as realistic as something can get. When art is made where you care about every piece (even the unlikable), I'm always impressed and left with an imprint on me.

 

The classic that cut me deeper than expected

 

As a 90s kid, I always considered Cheers to be "Dad's show." This year I decided to give it a spin for myself and was so pleasantly surprised. Again, this is a show where each character brings something to the table.

 

Cheers is geniusly understated. It's at once funny and somber, making it perfect to watch at any time. And Season 1 Episode 10 moved me more than I ever thought possible in the realm of sitcoms.

 

Also, all of Season 1 is shot on the same set -- a bar, its office, and its backroom. That's amazing that the writers came up with enough story to fill such a small space, in my humble opinion.

 

The dialogue-driven

 

No, not Gilmore Girls (though I've seen and I love. Reboot? Not so much). One of the first things I randomly clicked on in Netflix was a little indie film called Night Owls. Mostly filled with dialogue about first impressions and how we view ourselves, this one was thought provoking and engaging. I really enjoyed it.

 

The movie that presented a Christian in a fair manner

 

Little Sister, a movie about a young woman who has joined a convent (one can infer that she did this as a way to escape her family's trauma and dysfunction) was quite wonderful, in my book. Completely original and starring Ally Sheedy as a supporting character, I liked this one so much I made Alex and two of my out-of-town friends watch it with me after I had already sampled it myself.

 

One thing I loved best about it was the way they portrayed the lead character. They didn't make her out to be crazy, holier-than-thou, or unrelatable. I was very surprised to see a mainstream film portray a religious person in such a realistic way, and am truly grateful to the screenwriter, Zach Clark, for putting "one of us" in the artistic media in such a manner.

 

The giggle producer

 

Look, I can quote Friends forward and backward, out of context and probably in my sleep. So when I turned it on to keep me company while cross stitching, I was caught unawares by how much it made me laugh! There were some moments in the early episodes where I knew exactly what the next line and situation was, yet I still lost it. Very pleasing indeed. My love affair with Joey (my favorite Friend) is far from over.

 

And finally, the (probably) favorite

 

When I started watching Girl Meets World, it was purely for nostalgia's sake. Let's check this out and see how it compares to the original, I thought.

 

Then I started watching it for something bubble-gummily light to help me through a pretty rough patch of the year.

 

And then, all of a sudden, I was like, really watching it.

 

If I allowed it to, Girl Meets World could make me cry during every single episode.

 

I'm not exaggerating.

 

No cameo is wasted. If someone from the past is not going to be an integral part of today's story, that person gets four lines and then they're off screen. Appreciated but not unnecessarily strung out.

 

There's an episode about bullying. There's an episode about Asperger's. It's a groundbreaking, serious (yet totally silly) show.

 

I told several people about this show and at least four of them went on to binge the entire thing. All adults. All were touched. Caleb and I devoted an entire section of a dinner together to discuss it.

 

There is a "nerd" in the show, and the main characters don't make fun of him but rather are his friends.

 

It's funny. The episode when Shawn makes his first appearance had me in hysterics.

 

If you need to get some feels out, or you have a daughter (or son!) who needs to see some quality young role models on her iPad, turn this show on. I can't imagine you'll regret it.

 

Ta dah! You've reached the end of the post!

 

Or have you? Oh no, Bailey's still typing!!!!

 

I'm almost done, I promise.

 

I'd just like to say that Netflix was a welcome cushion in my life during what has been a rather hermit-ous year. I will feel a little pang when the next load of Fuller House episodes are released, but so far I've enjoyed the extra time to read and snuggle Max Wax. We'll see how I'm holding up in a couple of months -- something tells me I'll find plenty of ways to lazily waste time! (Not to imply that art is a waste of time. It obviously is not.)

 

Huggies,

Bailey