This week we're looking back on the holiday break and preparing for an unprecedented 2017 with an optimistic prediction.
Every week I'll be here to reveal and review some of my favorite moments from the internet. Whether it be binge-ing television shows, streaming sports or simply getting lost in a YouTube rabbit hole, I'm here to give you my top picks every Friday, as well as the perfect pairing to get into an optimal headspace for them.
This week, we're reviewing our binge list from the holidays, praying for Mariah and taking a stab at predicting 2017's theme.
The Holiday Taint
Recommended Pairing: Egg nog smoothies and the last morsels of holiday leftovers.
You know that week between Christmas and New Year's when nobody's working and the weather's shit so you sit around curled up in a blanket and/or the adult sized raccoon onesie you got from your favorite aunt? I call that the Holiday Taint, and it's the most glorious handful of days to binge television and movies.
This year I started with The OA, Netflix's new show about a mysterious woman and all the weird shit that followed her back to her hometown and foster parents after she went missing for years.
People, myself included, have been referring to the current collection of television programming as the new golden age for the medium, and I have this weird feeling that this show has landed just on the other side of that great pendulum swing.
The OA isn't a bad series — far from it, in fact — but it suffers from that new phenomenon in programming where a show is really good but not great, so ultimately it leaves you feeling disappointed and unsatisfied.
The eight episode arc of the Netflix original series follows the newest template for creating a slow burn almost perfectly. Each episode reveals a little more mystery than it provides answers as the universe in which it exists slowly expands.
I won't spoil it, but the ending actually motivated me to shower, put on some real clothes and venture outside into the elements. It's one of the rare occasions where you watch a show and think, This should have been a movie.
I feel like if I would have invested 80 minutes instead of eight hours with this story, this review would have ended up a lot rosier. That being said, I still recommend giving it a go. Perhaps with tempered expectations it'll be even easier to enjoy.
