Last week I talked about a few of my favorite podcasts, so I think the only right thing to do would be to talk about a few of my favorite TV shows. I know most people know all the popular shows, however just because they are popular does not mean that everyone has watched them. Game of Thrones was the hype for years and yet I still know many people who have not watched it. Personally, it took a lot of persuasion from my friends to start to watch the show. However, I would like to talk about 2 shows that are still popular, but not as hyped as GOT, Breaking Bad or The Office.
The first show I would like to recommend would be the History show called “Vikings”. I am personally a fan of a lot of the History channel tv shows and figured this show would be a great one. As weird as it is, I have gotten into a groove of trying to wait for all the seasons to be released for a show before watching it. This is exactly what I did with Vikings and no regrets are found! Of course, they played up Ragnar as a major hero because of the folklore, but there was so much more to the show that kept me watching. His wife at the beginning of the show, separates from him and ends up becoming a jarl. A jarl is sort of like a mayor of a region. Not only did I learn about some of the freedoms that women had in the Viking age, but I also learned more about the folklore during the show. Many times, the characters go and see this being called a “Seer” which is being that can see into the future. All in all, the show had many twists and turns and I felt like I learned a little bit about the culture/time from the show as well.
Another show that I personally enjoy is called Black Mirror on Netflix. The ideas in the show are a little far out there, and I will be the first to admit it. However, I seem to like to think of the “what ifs”. In fact, to give you a little run down of what the show consists of I will give a little synopsis of one of my favorite episodes. In this episode, every single person has a “social rating”, and this rating is influenced by other ratings of you out in public. Based on this score, people have different level of available amenities. People that have higher ratings have greater influence than the people with lower rated people. High rated people will avoid low rated people as they have a stigma. In the episode this girl goes from being a high rated person to a low rated person and see all the struggles she must endure. Episodes like this just make you think about what technology can do for better or for worse. There are a few more of the episodes that are based on this thought of taking technology too far.
Vikings and Black Mirror are only two of many shows that I enjoy and could watch multiple times. What I really like about these two shows is there is more than just the content of the show and the storyline. Vikings gave me some background on the Viking age, and I felt like I have learned a few things about their culture from the show. Of course, I looked up some things that I saw in the show and had to verify them. Black Mirror made me think about the impact that technology could have in the future. This is why I chose these two shows, and hopefully you enjoy them!
