A Really Bad Series and a Really Good One on Amazon

[cyclonefence]

"Absentia" is a real stinker. Maddening. Totally hated it. I love serial killer stories, and there was (sort of) a serial killer in this one, but mostly it was about stupid senseless shit, and poorly done at that. Made in Bulgaria or Albania or some such place, but in English. I still haven't found my disbelief--I had to suspend it so many times it's gone missing, maybe for good.

On the other hand, I'm totally loving "Sophia" made in Russia, in Russian with subtitles, about the second wife of Ivan I. If you love Alexander Nevsky, you'll love this. Plus the costumes are to die for.

You have to pay extra for so many Amazon offerings that I usually skip it--I have Prime mostly for the free shipping--and go right to Netflix, but Sophia is included, and I'm glad I stumbled on it.

[NBachers]

1. I'm enjoying Route 66, Peter Gunn, and Hunter. Been in kind of a retro TV mode.

1. I can usually stay awake for an entire episode or two.

2. It really doesn't matter if I don't.

[nocoincidences]

2. Trapped is an amazing series, one season only

I just finished "Trapped", a crime/mystery series set in Iceland, and it was fantastic. I highly recommend it if you don't mind subtitles.

I'm looking for another one that is that good, but so far, no go.

[Generic Brad]

3. That's easy

The bad series I found was "John Claude Van Johnson". The initial premise was funny, but it could have been done completely in a 2 minute movie parody. Fifteen minutes in it became painful to watch.

The good series is "Sneaky Pete". I love watching con men stories when nothing goes as planned and they have to adapt on the fly. Plus Bryan Cranston provides yet another strong performance. I highly recommend that and anxiously await season 2.

[cyclonefence]

4. Sneaky Pete is great

but we need new episodes!