Imagine you showed early tendencies towards being a killer. What if your foster father helped you channel that into killing for a purpose? As Arnold Schwarzenegger said when Jamie Lee Curtis asked him in “True Lies,” “Have you killed anyone? This character’s answer would also be, “yeah, but they were all bad.” The Showtime series “Dexter” has come by awards honestly. This character has learned to isolate his true self from others with an intelligence and wit that’s astoundingly played by Michael C. Hall. This blood splatter specialist has an inside line into why and how people kill and he’s “dead-set” on ridding the world of some of the baddies. There are lots of subplots and twists and turns and I honestly could just listen to the internal workings of this guy’s head for hours and hours on end and never get bored. Brilliantly written, terrifyingly creepy, and genuinely original. If you haven’t seen this, you can find a sample on instant watch on Netflix. ( I believe season 2 is on instant watch right now)
For my eco-friends out there, the Sundance Channel has a show called “Eco Trip.” This I found on Netflix instant watch too which gave me an opportunity to try it out. Loved it! It’s hosted by a Brit with a good deal of curiosity and global understanding (and not bad on the eyes). He ventures off to learn more about how one light bulb changes our need for coal and how one t-shirt involves massive amounts of pesticides that leach into the ground water. It’s not fatalistic (I’m afraid many eco-weenie’s like to doom and gloom), but it talks about present changes we’re undergoing and the time line to a healthier alternative. Every episode is laced with hope that humanity finally gets it.
For horror lovers, “Harper’s Island” was a 13-part series that was astoundingly addictive. Although they just completed the 13 episodes, you can catch the first 11 episodes on Netflix instant watch too. This involved a murder mystery on an island with a “Ten Little Indians” feel to it. It kept you wrapped up in the huge ensemble cast and subplots, as well as wondering “who the heck is killing everyone off?” Kudos for the surprising ending. Some of us had the killer figured out ahead of time, but didn’t realize his intentions. Creepy and the setting—an island off of Washington State—gorgeous!!!
I did try out the series opener for “Hanger 13” from SyFy. What an enormous disappointment. I liked the premise that there was a hanger in the middle of nowhere used by the government to hide away paranormal items that we don’t understand yet and could hurt us such as Pandora’s Box and Houdini’s wallet (not sure why that’s so special). Unfortunately, like so much other tripe SyFy spits out too quickly with bad special effects, this show had no insight into humans and their motivations or character development. They’re rather first grader in their “wasn’t raised by a mother so he’s hard-ass and has no emotions” equations. I don’t think SyFy in general understands the human condition yet, but we keep hoping they’ll figure out us earthlings eventually. I’m willing to give it another try just to see if they can flesh out the characters but for now I really don’t give a flying fig about them or the tasks before them. In other words, this is no “X-Files.” Even worse, the comedic relief isn’t intelligent, it’s banal and infantile. You’d expect more from a station that supposedly caters to the higher intelligent beings.
You might try finding these online, as most shows now do show online repeats. It's a good way to sample if you want to get hooked. I’d love to hear from any of you about series that you think are interesting and overlooked by our spookier set of people reading this blog.