Warning! All these shows are rated +16 and deal with mature themes, please keep that in mind if you decide to watch them.
You might have noticed advertisements for this show in the digital panels in the metro: this is because Orange Is The New Black just released its third season on Netflix in June. The summer break would be a great opportunity to catch up on this wonderful show (personally, it's my favourite show ever), or even start from the beginning.
The story centers itself on the life of Piper Chapman, a naive upper-class girl that has to go to prison for acting as a drug mule five years ago. There, Piper makes friends, enemies and attempts to survive the hardships of prison life.
This show really shines in its representation of a variety of characters from different ethnicities, social backgrounds and walks of life; what is more, the series is great at helping you connect and understand the prisoners by presenting you with flashbacks detailing the life of the characters before they went to prison. Season 3 feels a bit too nice and safe compared to season 2, which was extremely violent and angsty; also, Piper's character development and some of the choices she makes seem a bit out-of-character. Yet, this allows for other cast members to shine, and honestly, this season is still a very good one as the show completely moves its focus from Piper to the other inmates. If you are new to the series, hear me out: the humour and the explicit nature of certain scenes take some time getting used to, but it's a wonderful show that is like nothing else on TV right now.
Sense8 is a brand new Netflix show released in June. Only one season is out so far, and I am awaiting the renewal for a second one already!
Eight people from all over the world are mentally connected; they can use each other's skills and see through each other's eyes. As they learn more about this mysterious connection, they realise that a group of people want to capture them.
Though the initial storyline might seem a bit cliché, this show really shines in how it presents the characters. Each one of the eight "sensates" has a realistic personality and a plotline that piques your interest. When I watch TV shows that have several protagonists, I often have at least two that bore me and that I'm not really invested in. However, this show really amazed me by how it talked about a diverse range of subjects, some very heavy, some light and always kept you interested. The only characteristic that I didn't like was the fact that sometimes, the storyline of a few characters did feel a bit "typical", but your whole point of view changes if you see their plotlines as being voluntary stereotypes of tv show genres (cop show, Bollywood drama, hacker series...). Honestly, the scenes where several of them interact and escape the claws of the evil organisation by cooperating are very well done, and the end sequence gave me chills.
Orphan Black's third season premiered in April. It's the only one of the three I haven't watched yet, but due to the spoilery nature of some social networks (looking at you, Tumblr), I am aware of some interesting plot twists.
"Just one, I'm a few. No family too. Who am I?" - this is the sentence that the clone club uses to check if somebody is on their side. Clones? You heard right! This show centers itself on Sarah, a woman that discovers that there are several women in the world that share the exact same genetic material as her, and that they are being monitored. The genius of this series is that Tatiana Maslany plays more than eight different characters, yet even if they switch roles in order to escape some very tense situations, it is still very clear who is who thanks to how the actress behaves and talks. Every episode is filled with plot twists and really keeps you on the edge of your seat. It also doesn't lack funny moments!
The reason why I haven't yet watched this season was because it didn't come out all in one go, and waiting a week between every episode wouldn't have worked for me, since the plot is quite complex and I would get lost easily. Thus, this is the perfect show for a binge-watching session!
Special mention:
Mr Robot. At the time of writing, only one episode has come out (thus it doesn't fit the "binge-watching" category), but the premise already seems promising. The series centers itself on a young cybersecurity employee, Elliot, who has severe social anxiety and works as a hacker at night. By showing everything from the point of view of Elliot, an unreliable narrator who hallucinates frequently, the spectator discovers his hate for capitalism and mass media. Things get interesting when fsociety, a secret organisation led by a mysterious man called Mr. Robot, contact him and ask him to join forces to put into action the greatest scheme of wealth redistribution the world has ever seen.
This concludes my list of shows to binge-watch this summer. Hope you'll find something you like in here, and if you have some suggestions for me, let me know in the comments below! :)
by Vaida Plankyte
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