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Binge Watching A SIMPLE WAY TO RELAX

BY GREG WALTERS

Driving home from the office I was looking forward to relaxing in front of the television to watch some of my favorite shows. Some folks enjoy watching broadcast television, some sports, some enjoy movies. Out tastes are always in a state of change. At our house we have fallen into binge watching of certain shows - usually spanning three to five seasons at a time. Sometimes we may watch for an hour, sometimes longer. Commercial free and totally relaxing - kind of like watching a very long movie.

Following is a sampling of some of our favorites. After reading them you are invited to share your favorites on the blog portion of the Raytown Report.

THE EXPANSE: Amazon Prime

THE EXPANSE is an American science fiction television series developed from a series of novels by James S.A. Corey. The series is set in a future where humanity has colonized the Solare System, with the three powers being Earth, Mars and the Asteroid Belt ruling the system. The intrigue, characters, plots and sub-plots are superb. Watching the Expanse is like reading a good book that is too hard to put down.

It follows a disparate band of antiheroes as they unwittingly unravel and place themselves at the center of a conspiracy which threatens the system's fragile state of cold war and the unknown worlds beyond our Solar System.

The Expanse has received critical acclaim, with particular praise for its visuals, character development and political narrative. It received a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and three Saturn Award nominations for Best Science Fiction Television Series. The sixth and final season is being filmed. The first five seasons are available on Amazon Prime.

GREG’S NOTES: Okay, you figured it out – I really like science fiction. The Expanse is space as it should be shown, disorganized, grimy and full of the unknown. I have read all nine novels by James S.A. Corey, author of The Expanse. Going from print to film is not always easy. But this series does a spectacular job keeping the complicated storyline straight.

OUTLANDER: NETFLIX or STARZ

OUTLANDER is an historical drama television series based on the novel series of the same name by Diana Gabaldon. The show premiered in 2014. There are five seasons with a sixth one currently being filmed. The story line begins when the heroine of the story returns home at the end of World War 2. Through some interesting twist and turns she finds herself transported back to Scotland in 1743. There she encounters a dashing Highland warrior, and . . . sorry, you have to watch the rest. It is a fantastic story spanning a lifetime over three continents.

GREG’S NOTES: Outlander has it all. It is a love story. It has time travel. Historic battles. It is historically accurate. The characters are so real you can almost taste them. This is story-telling at its best. You will not be disappointed. This one is unique . . . it is the one binge watching event my wife, Mecee and I agree on as one of the best. SPOILER ALERT: Some of the scenes are not for the faint of heart.

STAR TREK DISCOVERY: CBS ALL ACCESS

STAR TREK DISCOVERY is the seventh series in the Star Trek franchise. If you liked Star Trek Enterprise you will love Star Trek Discovery. The time line of this series is interesting. It begins roughly ten years after we last saw Jean Luc Picard and the Enterprise. The universe is in disarray. The crew of the Discovery is a space ship out of time – transported to a future none of us expected. The creators of the series have been imaginative in re-creating a universe that offers new story telling that does not disappoint.

GREG’S NOTES: It has been decades since Captain Kirk and Spock took us on a voyage into the unknown. The ships were always clean and shiny. The characters in the green uniforms were going to die. The characters never needed a haircut or shave. This is a different Star Trek. The crew was on the cutting edge of technology when a cataclysmic event catapulted them into the future. They and their ship are somewhat of an icon – with one big difference – the spore drive – that’s all the spoiler allowed on this one.

An interesting footnote . . . the first season was pre Corona Virus Pandemic. Check out the clever social distancing in the following seasons after the pandemic arrived.

HONORABLE MENTION

PICARD . . . Is a one season show available on CBS All Access. It is has a very good story line
and (of course) played magnificently by Patrick Stewart as John Luc Picard. It is fitting tribute to the aging actor and very entertaining.

REIGN . . . Another of Mecee’s favorites. This historical drama is about Mary Queen of Scotts. You will understand everything, and we mean everything, that went on during the tumultuous time of her reign. View it on Netflix.

THE MANDALORIAN . . . The Mandalorian is a continuation of the Star Wars story. It tells the story of the baby Yoda, (aka “the child”) accompanied by a bounty hunter on their adventures in a place far, far away from a long, long time ago. Watch it on Disney Plus.

THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL . . . This is one of Mecee’s favorites. It is the story of a female trying to earn her living as a stand-up comedian in a field dominated by men in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. It is an interesting look back at how things used to be, particularly in the unique challenges facing women in comedy from that era. View it on Amazon Prime.

THE BLACK LIST . . . The Blacklist is the story Raymond Reddington, a spy, turned criminal mastermind, turned FBI informant. The show is set in contemporary times with unique back-stories. If you like shows like NCIS mixed in with a little pulp fiction spy novel, you will like The Blacklist. View past seasons on NETFLIX, current seasons on NBC.

REIGN . . . Another of Mecee’s favorites. This historical drama is about Mary Queen of Scotts. You will understand everything, and we mean everything, that went on during the tumultuous time of her reign. View it on Netflix. 

So there you have it, some of our favorite ways to escape the tedium of a pandemic in what is turning into a very cold winter.

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