
- Portlandia is a sketch comedy series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, featuring oddball characters and guest stars like Kyle MacLachlan and Steve Buscemi.
- Castlevania is a beautifully animated Netflix series based on the classic NES game, following a band of heroes trying to stop Dracula’s demon army.
- Love Is Blind is a reality matchmaking show where contestants get engaged without seeing each other, culminating in a dramatic trip to the altar, with a new season set to premiere in Boston.
You had a friend over last night for movie night, and you’ve just discovered that they didn’t log out of their Netflix account on your TV. What a shame. Now, the right move would be to log them out and get back to your own watch list. The more fun move is to tiptoe through their My List and Continue Watching rows because nothing says more about a person than the shows they’re into, amirite?
Once you’re done judging them, you might just realize that there are some absolute gems (for U.S. subscribers) in there, and the list below is made up of a handful that may or may not be pulled from someone I actually know. I’ll never tell, but you know who you are. It includes everything from a genius sketch comedy show and guilty-pleasure reality to (my top pick) a new Florence Pugh limited series I hadn’t gotten to yet. I’m glad I snooped.
Portlandia
Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s genius sketch show
Saturday Night Live legend Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney co-founder Carrie Brownstein are best friends in real life, and their shared humor and satirical inside jokes are hilariously on display in their sketch series Portlandia, which ran for seven years (eight seasons) on IFC. The Emmy-winning series (with a whopping 22 noms and four wins) features Armisen and Brownstein playing most of its oddball characters—from feminist bookstore owners Toni and Candace to the insanely pretentious “organic” couple grilling their restaurant server about the life story of the chicken on the menu. My favorite, though, has to be Armisen’s obnoxious, sanctimonious cyclist.
Oh, and the guest stars are incredible, including Kyle MacLachlan as Portland’s mayor, Steve Buscemi, Jeff Goldblum, EddieVedder, and more. The standalone episodes are a sweet 22 minutes each.
Castlevania
The classic NES game delivers gorgeous gothic carnage
You do not have to be a gamer, or have ever even heard of the game Castlevania before, to enjoy this beautifully animated Netflix series, which has four vampire-tastic seasons (and an excellent spin-off) for you to binge. Deeply rooted in Konami’s 1989 game Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, the series Castlevania gets off to a tragic start when Dracula’s human wife Lisa is accused of being a witch and is burned at the stake by a corrupt church bishop. To take his revenge, the immortal Dracula unleashes a demon army across Eastern Europe to end mankind.
Luckily, there’s a band of heroes to stop him, including disgraced monster hunter Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage), magician Sypha Belnades (Alejandra Reynoso), and even Dracula’s powerful half-vampire son Alucard (James Callis). The wildly creative fight sequences are bloody, bone-crunching, and spectacular. The episodes are roughly 25 minutes each.
Love Is Blind
Cram last season before the Boston pods open
I must have seen entire seasons of Love Is Blind through the side-eye I gave it while my wife watched. The Emmy-nominated reality matchmaking show is easily the guiltiest pick here, and why not? The show tests the very foundation of what love should be, forcing contestants to get to know each other through the walls of separate “pods,” and the only way to see their match face to face is to get engaged. Will the package match the personality? Will it matter?
Once engaged, the couples move in together to put their love to the test, culminating in a dramatic trip to the altar where they decide right then and there if they’re going to go through with the marriage. Tense enough? Real-life husband and wife Nick and Vanessa Lachey host, and they’re set to open the pods in Boston for Season 11 on October 14, so now’s the time to binge Season 10. And if you like the American version, Netflix also streams versions for the UK, Poland, Netherlands, Argentina, Germany, and more.
East of Eden
Florence Pugh arrives to Netflix in an epic drama
When a star the caliber of Florence Pugh arrives on Netflix, everyone notices. The Marvel action star trades black leather and scissor kicks for corsets and cold-blooded heartbreak to play John Steinbeck’s enigmatic Cathy from the acclaimed 1952 novel East of Eden. Premiering on Netflix October 1, the seven-episode limited drama series takes on the whole book, a Cain and Abel story set mostly in California farm country that spans from the Civil War to World War I.
East of Eden is the story of two rival brothers, Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles Trask (Mike Faist), who are driven apart by the magnetic and manipulative Cathy, a woman with a dark past. The family saga spans generations and gets even darker as Cathy’s treachery seemingly knows no bounds.
Now, sign out before they notice
From Portlandia‘s oddballs to the pods of Love Is Blind, these four shows add up to one fun and sneaky weekend on someone else’s account. Jot them down, log them out, and add them all to your watch list before you get nabbed.
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