Control Z
This Mexican eight-episode long drama was pure Netflix gold for me. It is set in a high school and follows quirky student Sofia as she tries to track down a mysterious hacker who is revealing student secrets. Sofia is in a perfect position for this since she is a loner – although comfortably so. Contributing to this loner status is the fact she had a stint in a psych ward after having a mental breakdown following the passing of her dad, but she has recovered by the time the drama starts. One thing you notice about her is that she is very observant – in a Sherlock Holmes-type way – able to make deductions from small clues often not noticed by the average person.
No person in this drama is as they seem – even Sofia is a complex character with a fair share of secrets, so it was really interesting to see these secrets explored and unpacked with each episode. The last episode was explosive, to say the least, and spared no punches. Control Z has some predictable moments but overall I finished it feeling satisfied and am now in deep anticipation for the next season.
Blood and Water
I was excited to watch this since when it comes to Netflix originals the continent of Africa is noticeably underrepresented. Surprisingly, this South African drama is only six episodes long though so given the short amount of time in which to tell a story and develop characters, this drama did pretty well!
Puleng is a sibling of two; well technically two; although her second, older sibling and mother’s first child was kidnapped at birth from the hospital. Every year afterwards her family has celebrated her birthday in remembrance. Puleng moves schools and decides to launch an amateur investigation into someone – a fellow student- she thinks could be her sister.
Puleng was a here and there character; I’m not too sure I felt any type of attachment to her but I was intrigued about the growing conspiracy that was emerging towards the end of the drama. I loved the interweaving of native languages such as Shona and Xhosa into the script. A 3.5/5 would be my final rating although I would say it’s worth watching and judging for yourself.
Trial by Media
This Netflix docuseries follows six unique crimes and how the court cases that followed were influenced by the media. In the first episode, for instance, we see how in the case of the ‘Jenny Jones killer’ in 1995 cameras were introduced into the courtroom for the first time.
Not all episodes interested me equally but I would highly recommend this overall if you’re into true crime and current affairs. One thing I would give props to this series for is that they involved the commentary of many people that were actually involved with these cases; from lawyers who worked the case to actual perpetrators and relatives of victims. This made is more raw and interesting; because of the time we’re in I would recommend in particular episode 3 – ’41 shots’ which chronicles the case of Amadou Diallo; a black man shot to death on his doorstep in New York by the NYPD. It’s a heartbreaking but necessary watch.
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If you would like to read more about what I’m reading currently or have done so far this year; you can read my previous post here .
You can also read my newly published review for the novel An American Marriage here; would love your comments, thoughts and feedback!
TheArtofChatter 