During this lockdown, one thing I tried to do was to distance myself from all the overwhelming news of the pandemic going on around the world. I became optimistic that ‘this too shall pass’ and things will return to normal.
I also made sure I kept myself occupied doing things I enjoyed doing such as sewing, knitting, baking, and watching movies. This is the point where Netflix comes in handy. Prior to this, I didn’t even realise there are lots of binge-worthy movies on Netflix; I used to have a very hectic schedule. In this article, I put together my favourite Netflix shows to binge-watch.
GREENLEAF
This one of my top favourite Netflix shows. The acting skills of the cast, the cinematography, costume……. everything is so on point. Greenleaf ’s focus is on the journey of estranged daughter and embittered preacher Grace Greenleaf who returned home 20 years later on the event of her younger sister Faith unexpected death.
When she returns to the world of Calvary Fellowship World Ministries, the Memphis megachurch run by her influential parents Bishop James Greenleaf and Lady Mae Greenleaf, it becomes clear that things are not as perfect as they appear and the public show of faith by the family masks sin and wrongdoing.
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Brought up in a godly way, the Greenleaf family loves and cares about one another, but beneath the surface is a web of immorality such as greed, adultery, sibling rivalry, and conflicting values that threaten to destroy the very core of their faith that binds them together.
Greenleaf stars Merle Dandridge as Grace Greenleaf; Keith David (Community) as Bishop James Greenleaf; Lynn Whitfield as Lady Mae Greenleaf; Kim Hawthorne as Kerissa Greenleaf; Lamman Rucker as Jacob Greenleaf; Tye White as Kevin Satterlee; Deborah Joy Winans as Charity Greenleaf-Satterlee; Desiree Ross as Sophia; and Oprah Winfrey in a recurring role as Mavis McCready.
LOVE IS BLIND
Love Is Blind is a dating reality television show that debuted as part of three weeks on Netflix on February 13, 2020. The series has been compared to Married at First Sight and The Bachelor.
The series follows thirty men and women who are hoping to find love. The men and women date each other in separate “pods” for 10 days in a speed date style, where they talk to each other but not see each other. The men were able to propose to a woman they choose to marry whenever they wished to.
The engaged couples went to a couples’ retreat in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, after the proposal and meeting face to face for the first time. They spent time getting to know their partners on this outing and were able to meet the other couples involved in the project.
After the couples’ vacation, the engaged couples moved back to Atlanta to the same apartment complex. Once at the apartments, they all met the families of their partners and experienced the living conditions of their partners.
The engaged couples are expected to perform wedding ceremonies on the wedding day and needed to make their final decisions on whether to split up or get married, answering the question “Is love blind?”
NEXT IN FASHION
I am a fan of Project Runway, so it was easy for me to also connect with Next In Fashion which offers Netflix’s take on the proven and successful fashion competition style. This one of my favourite Netflix shows that I have watched over and over again as I couldn’t get enough of it every time I watch. Eighteen designers sketch, cut, and sew for the chance to win a cash prize and sell their collection on Net-a-Porter, designing looks from red carpet dresses to sportswear under unreasonable constraints of time. Hosts Alexa Chung and Tan France brighten the scenes, but the biggest attraction is the designers’ sheer talent, most of whom are already very experienced and continue to create some very stunning showstopping designs.
JANE THE VIRGIN
Jane the Virgin is an American comedy-drama television series; the series follows Jane Villanueva, a hard-working, religious young Latina woman whose promise to keep her virginity until marriage is broken when she was accidentally inseminated by a doctor during a check-up. To make matters worse, the biological donor is a married man, a former playboy and cancer survivor who is not only the new owner of the hotel where Jane works but was also her former teenage crush.
Jane’s mother Xiomara, who became pregnant with Jane at a very young age, is afraid that Jane will ruin her life by choosing to carry the pregnancy to full term, while Jane’s traditional religious Latina grandmother, Alba, encourages Jane to do what she wants to do. Petra, the amoral and scheming wife of Rafael, learns of the mistake and plots her agenda
Jane faces the most important decision in her life. Should she carry on with the pregnancy? How would she explain to her fiancé about the situation? What will she do about the wishes of the biological father, Rafael, and his scheming wife Petra? Though she has always tried to be the good girl who does the right thing, Jane’s life has suddenly become as dramatic and complicated as the telenovelas she has always loved
SELF MADE: INSPIRED BY THE LIFE OF MADAM C.J. WALKER
This mini-series narrates how Madam C.J. Walker went from being a widowed laundress to creating her own line of hair care products, and becoming the first female self-made millionaire in America. Based on Walker’s great-granddaughter, A’Leila Bundles’ book, On Her Ground, the series provides an America’s first female self-made millionaire. Based on the book On Her Own Ground from A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, the series provides insight into African-American women’s lives in the early 1900s. Academy Award-winning Octavia Spencer, who stars as the title lead character, strives to transcend racial prejudices from post-slavery and find her place in the patriarchal world of a man.
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MARRIED TO MEDICINE
Married to Medicine is an American reality television series. The series portrays the lives of seven women in the Atlanta medical community with three of the women being doctors themselves, while the rest are the wives of doctors. It shows the group as they navigate their social, career, and family circles.
ALEXA AND KATIE
Lifelong best friends Alexa Mendoza and Katie Cooper are anticipating the start of their freshman year of high school. They are faced with a crisis that makes them feel like strangers at a time when what seems to matter most is blending in.
When Alexa and Katie graduate middle school and go to high school, they’re ready for anything. But when Alexa is diagnosed with cancer, it becomes a little bit tougher. But they can conquer high school with each other’s help, and succeed in the process.
SUITS
Suits is an American legal drama television series; it is set at a fictional New York City law firm and follows talented college dropout Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), who begins to work as an associate lawyer to Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) despite never having attended law school.
Michael Ross is a genius drop from college who took some poor decisions with an incredible memory that helped him to pass the bar examination without attending law school. Even though he’s not actually a lawyer, this legal prodigy has the book smarts of a Harvard law grad and the street smarts of a hustler.
The show focuses on Harvey and Mike closing cases while maintaining Mike’s secret
GREENHOUSE ACADEMY
Greenhouse Academy is a tween drama television series released by Netflix. Based on the Israeli television series The Greenhouse (Ha-Hamama), the series created by Giora Chamizer was adapted for international audiences by Chamizer and Paula Yoo.
Less than a year after losing their astronaut mother in a rocket explosion, brother and sister Alex and Hayley Woods enroll at a private boarding school for gifted future leaders. They join two competing houses separately within the school and become rivals. Soon, mysterious events draw the students from both houses into a top-secret investigation. They uncover a deadly plot to use earthquakes for monetary gain. Only by joining forces and working together will they be able to stop this scheme.
UMBRELLA ACADEMY
The Umbrella Academy is a fun, original comedy based on the series of My Chemical Romance lead singer, Gerald Way. When 43 children are born at random to women around the world who have previously shown no signs of pregnancy, billionaire Reginald Hargreeves goes on a mission to adopt seven of them and create a team of child superheroes. We rejoin the group, known as the Umbrella Academy, years later when they’re reunited by the death of their father. Having distanced over the years, the team will now come together to investigate their father’s suspicious death.
THE GOOD PLACE
Eleanor finds herself in ‘The Good Place’, after enduring a tragic and painful death, a beautiful community populated by the most deserving people in the world. But some administrative mistake seems to have occurred because Eleanor is by no means a perfect person.
Desperate not to be sent to ‘The Bad Place’, with the help of the teachings of her assigned soulmate, philosophy professor Chidi, she tries to correct her behaviour in the afterlife.
For every episode, there is a touch of ethical lessons, while the storylines itself is something the average audience an average viewer can easily understand and appreciate.