Netflix - So Evil, but so Good

Life? What is life?

Binge - to excessively indulge in something.

Some of us already participate in excessive behaviours - binge-eating, binge-drinking, chain-smoking, shopping sprees. Then came Netflix and binge tv.

I have been a Netflix subscriber for a few years now but never really actively used it, as I was busy with school, then with work, and in between, busy travelling, socialising and having a life.

Then came Christmas 2014, and my brother came over to the house with the kids and asked why there was no Netflix on the tv. It was still only a cute app on my tablet. In order to keep the kids occupied, he went ahead and added Netflix to the tv,and that was when it all went downhill.

Later when all the family had gone, the dishes were washed and I was all snuggly in my pyjamas, fluffy socks and with a glass of white wine, I sat in front of the tv, turned it on, and since there was nothing besides warm and vomitty fuzzy Christmas specials on, I flicked on Netflix. There in big screen wonder,was the beginning of my binge tv existence.

Over the long holiday weekend, I started in on Downton Abbey, finishing the first two seasons in record time. I have since brought myself up to date, having completed all five seasons on Netflix and via streaming. Then I moved on to The Fall, followed by Luther, and Orange is the New Black.I just today opened up The Killing, after a failed outing with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which is way too looney toons for me.

One of my fave shows is Orange is the New Black

I love me some Idris. DS Justin Ripley and DCI John Luther - Luther is also on Netflix

But Netflix is evil. Plain and simple. You switch it on to watch Episode 3,saying to yourself, after this episode, you will go feed the dog and do something worthwhile with your life. Before you know it, the dog is scratching at the door, the sun has set and you're still on the couch with snacks and on Episode 8, unaware of life around you.

Netflixing 
- the act of watching an entire season of a show in one sitting
- a totally valid excuse for avoiding social obligations

How then do you end up on the couch for hours at a time, to the detriment of your friends, family,dinner dates and normal life?

Entertainment minus the wait - TV producers are generally trying to entertain you and keep you on the edge of your seat. You sit and watch an episode of your fave show on Tuesday night, it ends with a hell of a cliffhanger and you go "Ohhhhh snap" but then what? You have no choice but to take off the tv and wait 10,080 minutes til the next episode airs on the next Tuesday night. That can be real agony. With Netflix though, you don't have to endure those 10,080 minutes, or worse, but instead in less than 15 seconds can find out who shot J.R. - well, you know what I mean.

No commercials - Good tv with no interruptions. However, unless you have the emotional willpower to hit Pause, to go use the bathroom or feed the dog or children,this can be a really bad thing as well. lol.

Great tv all in one place - I love the one-stop-shop-ness of Netflix. I can choose to watch a movie or a tv series I may never have watched for one reason or another. I love that Netflix itself has also pushed the envelope with its own shows as well like House of Cards, and Orange is the New Black.  I don't have to resort to watching Lifetime any longer.

It's portable - Physically portable via the fact that when you leave the couch and the SmartTV you can still pick up your fave show on your laptop, tablet or phone.And of course, no matter where you are, you can pick up exactly where you left off.

Take your pick from the treasure chest that is Netflix.

So if you are an amateur at the Netflix hustle, here are some quick tips to note before embarking on a long weekend of quick showers, no human contact and hours and hours of tv and movies.

• Clear the house or have a Netflix buddy who is also a true believer -Nothing worse than being interrupted during your Netflix marathon
• Clear the schedule - Do the shopping, sweep the floors,feed the dog, farm out the kids before settling in on your couch with your remote, tablet, laptop or smartphone
• Make sure you are properly dressed - Comfortable, loose clothing works for me and if it is night time, you must have your blankie.
• Make sure you have marathon fuel aka food and drink - Netflix snacks are a must. I also like to have a nice wine open and ready to go for those unforgettable tv moments.

I was gutted when I heard that Fox had handed over Empire to Hulu and not Netflix so I am back to lying in bed with my tablet as I catch up on that. Not as fun as sitting on the couch looking at a much larger screen but Empire is as binge-worthy as they come. I have a whole separate post for Cookie Lyon, who is just my everything right now. But Happy Netflixin' this weekend, friends.

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Why I Have Fallen in Love with Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey, Season 5 - I am here!

So over the holidays, I really and truly had some down time - time where I had nothing to do. So I retreated to my couch, with copious amounts of wine and snacks, and Netflix. I had heard so much about Downton Abbey, which up to that point, I had never watched, and I really wanted to see what the big deal was about. And so I clicked on Season 1, Episode 1.

I am now getting ready to stream Season 5, Episode 1 - such is the addiction that has developed. I must say, I really do enjoy the show. But why is it so buzzworthy?

For me, it is:

A period piece set in Britain- I love anything historical and I love period pieces. The show starts off in the pre-World War I era and follows an aristocratic family and their servants. So you get everything fun and puzzling about British aristocracy and the servant class of the day - from the high brow accents and silly traditions, to the lower brow accents and quirks. From the sinking of the Titanic, to the house getting electricity, phones, a refrigerator and an electric whisk, and the race relations of the time - re-living these significant milestones and curious events through the story is fun; to be reminded of just how novel it all was at the time. This, in the age of rapid paced technology, where I can have a conversation with my phone, is a change of pace.

I watch it while getting ready for work on my tablet. I know. I need help!

The best of both worlds - So you have the aristocrats and you have their servants, and that is part of the allure as well. You are not saddled with having to listen to Mary Crawley all episode long, because really - what do they do? Have breakfast, have tea, have dinner, walk around the room, brush their hair, ponder their future lives. You are not saddled with having to listen to Mrs Patmore all episode long because really - what do they do? Make breakfast, make tea, make dinner, walk around the village, clean up, ponder their future lives. lol. You get the best of both worlds, with some pretty amazing storylines in-between. Seriously, the  show does well to highlight the struggles of the working class and the conditions they had to endure to survive in some cases, juxtaposed with the sometimes flippant lives of the upper class, with their teas and dances, though they too had their own issues to deal with.

Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith

Amazing character and plot development - I am not sure if there is any one character that you like or hate all the way through. Thomas Barrow for example - as loathsome as he can be - still had his moments. He has a soft and vulnerable side which we do see from time to time and even I will admit, without spoiling it for anyone who has not watched it yet, I have felt sorry for him at times and even rooted for him to stay.

Mary Crawley's place in my heart also fluctuates as she is a complex hybrid of snob and bleeding heart. That being said, with the characters being so diverse, the stories keep getting more interesting. Not only that, the plots don't drag on for weeks and weeks. So it is like a soap but without the coma.

* Spoiler alert ahead - don't read the red text*

I also like how, like Game of Thrones, major characters get snuffed when you least expect it. That being said - spoiler alert... skip the next paragraph, newbies.

Lady Sybil's death was epic! I have replayed that scene about 10 times. That has to be the best piece of television production, direction and acting I have seen in ages, i.e. Tom Branson makes me bawl every single time! Every single time!!!!!

I will say though, Tom Branson and the Dowager Countess, played by the ever wonderful Maggie Smith are constant favourites. The Dowager Countess' droll one-liners are everything! On the flipside, Lady Grantham's voice is sooooo grating on the nerves. I like the chick but why does she always sound like she is trying to soothe the helpless?

Matthew and Mary Crawley

The un-Scandalous love - In the era of the maddening Olivia/Fitz/Jake love triangle and all the accompanying sex scenes - heterosexual and homosexual - which sometimes can be too much to bear, it is really a breath of fresh air to just go back to Austen-like love, minus the debauchery. Where men courted women with prose and not with lines referring their private parts. Really, it is about emotions that everyone can relate to on a very basic level. I have not seen a pale bottom, a nipple, not even an ankle in the 4 seasons of the show I have watched so far. While clearly the debauchery did indeed exist in the time, I am glad that the show chose to go the modesty route, staying true to the spirit of the period and not bringing the 21st century's thirst for lust and R-ratings to the fore. The in-breeding is as raunchy as it gets here. I mean, Mary Crawley and Matthew Crawley are cousins.

It almost makes you long for a time gone by when men were gentlemen, and women were ladies and did not cheapen relationships or devalue emotional connections and friendship. Prudish love is underrated!

The landscape and the fashion - To a lesser extent, I love England as you know. The old castles and great aristocratic houses, the wide expanse of beautiful countryside. The weather - not so much. The fashion of the time is not my favourite, as compared to say, the 60s and 70s, but it is quite fun to see how modestly women dressed back then. No cleavage, no wardrobe malfunctions - and yet the men were still keen.

Do you watch it? Do you like it? I am about to go watch the first episode of Season 5 now. Toodles.

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