2036 - Orange is the New Black: season two

Now that’s how you progress a story!  This season took what the first season began and beautifully brought it to the next level, furthering to nuance the characters - not forcing us to love or like them all, and even show sides of them that change how we see and feel about them otherwise.  It’s bold and beautiful storytelling and I loved it.  Even bringing in a “big bad” so to speak didn’t feel too formulaic, which it ran the risk of doing.  I don’t want to get into any specific details because it’s such a beauty to discover yourself, but I will say that this show doesn’t disappoint and it leaves us in a beautiful spot for where we come back in season three.  That said, we can move on from Jason Biggs storyline now, thanks.  Nothing against Biggs, I just don’t see how that story helps us moving forward.

1971 - House of Cards: season two

If you haven’t caught up, stop reading now.  Spoilers abound.  I have to admit that it took me a while to get into the first season of this show, but the second one went down smooth as silk.  Kate Mara’s exit made my jaw drop - and that’s no small feat.  I respect a show that isn’t scared to fuck with the status quo.  It was a move that let you know that this season was going to take no prisoners.  This is character who has literally murdered his way into the most powerful position in the free world.  It’s Dexter with politics, although a stronger, fiercer show - and I just can’t imagine a show would have this title if it wasn’t going to start watching the house topple at some point.  The beauty of where the show is now, and having him on top of the world, is the joy it’s going to be watching him get his.  This is one of the things that make your Netflix subscription a no brainer.

1888 - Arrested Development: season four

I wasn't one of those who felt like the world would have been robbed without more Arrested Development.  I was a big fan of the initial run of the series and I thought that, for better or worse, the show walked away at it's peak - a feat many others can't claim.  And then this came along.  I have to say, the AV Club's season long review sums up a lot of my own feelings:

It’s an occasionally hilarious, sometimes boring, always bloated boondoggle of a project, and it’s the sort of thing that’s at once staggering in its ambition and hard to approach with anything like real affection. It is, in places, masterful. It is also, in other places, at once weirdly pleased with itself and too ready to hold the audience’s hand where that hand needn’t be held. 

I watched the first half until I felt like I was watching it more out of obligation than real interest, and then I took a break.  I found when I came back the second half really started to gel.  Part of the problem with this season is the sheer design of it - because they couldn't get all of the cast back together at the same time, they decided to go with a different kind of situation, but as it gets closer to the end you start to see all the pieces of the puzzle coming together and it's quite rewarding.

There's a number of pretty amazing sight gags - the Jeremy Piven one being one of the most clever.  A huge missed opportunity was in not referencing how the cast had changed so drastically physically (mostly Lindsay and Maeby) and yet it goes without comment - especially in the scenes meant to take place directly following season three.  Alas.

I don't need to recommend this to hard-core fans, you're already in.  Newcomers... this is going to feel like it's a crack experiment - so if you really just want to start the show here, tread lightly.  Also, you're missing out on some amazing things if that's your call.  At one point I really want to revisit the initial run.  One of these days!

1882 - It's a Disaster

I have to admit that when I saw the trailer for this I wasn't at all excited - it was pretty uninteresting, despite the topic.  However, having seen some really solid reviews I gave this a shot when I saw it on Netflix and I'm happy to say that the trailer didn't do this justice at all.
This is essentially a low budget version of "This is The End" but at a couple's brunch instead - and it's a bit more of a high-brow dark comedy in deal with people's relationships with one another in what seems likely to be their final hours together on earth.
Maybe it's because my expectations were so low, but I found myself really interested in this through-out.  There was some lovely awkwardness, some lovely cattiness that happened between the characters that really gave you a sense of history.  So well done.
If you're looking for a strong character based comedy than look no further.  I really enjoyed it.

1877 - Orange is the New Black: season one

Right from the trailer I was super excited about this.  I enjoyed Jenji Kohan's Weeds enough, so wanted to see what she was up to next.  It was fun to see some of the actors that appeared in the last seasons of that series show up here - and now it explains why Natasha Lyonne was in the Weeds finale!
The best television series give us a window into a world we don't know, and present us with some form of unique family unit - this does both in spades.  They could have gone really cliched with the fish-out-of-water stuff - but Piper, as she states, learns about becoming herself in prison - and that's part of the point of the show, I think.  The tone here works quite well, it's light in moments, but it's always grounded in a little bit of a harsh reality.  The more the series goes along the more layers of relationships we get and it's really really worth investing the time in.
I'm a fan of the way that Netflix releases their series.  There's some beauty in waiting for another episode, but it's nice to also go through a story at your own pace.
So if you've got Netflix and you haven't started on this series then you've got absolutely no excuse.  It could very well be my favorite of their originals so far.  Do yourself a favor and check it out ASAP.

1812 - House of Cards: season one

It too me two goes to get into this.  When I first watched the pilot I left a little 'meh'.  I also put it on in the background and didn't give it the attention that it requires.  So I went back and revisited the pilot and then got hooked into the whole damn thing.
If you haven't seen it yet the whole season is up on Netflix and it's the exact kind of show that you want to binge watch.  It's about a Congressman who is passed up for a promotion to Secretary of State and, feeling slighted, decides to shake things up and go after what he really wants - which I won't reveal here because it makes for a large part of this season's mystery.
Kevin Spacey is more interesting to me here than he has been in, oh I can't quite recall how long.  He's a character straight out of Shakespeare and I can only imagine that he has a shit ton of fun doing it.  Kate Mara, also  provides a solid supporting role and I'm pretty excited about where her character left off at the end of this season.
The show is a lot prettier than most and makes Washington look like the place be.  The most frustrating thing about this show, now that I'm hooked, is the year it'll take to come out properly . I haven't said too much above, but this isn't that kind of show - it's a show that takes it's time and enjoys the set-up 'cause once the train leaves the station, it's going full force.  If you start off watching and feel you're not into it, do me a favor and go until at least episode three before you call it quit.  I personally can't wait to see the house of cards that's been built in this show to come crash down.  Well done, Spacey and Dana Brunetti and Netflix - I look forward to more of their original program :)