Bagging on netflix is becoming a recurring theme, but alas, I need to circle back.
When Netflix streaming began to take off, it was pretty much the only game in town. At the time, the catalog was far from complete, but Netflix got in at the ground floor, and all the content owners pretty much granted access to their catalog. Not complete access, and there were significant holes, but the selection was solid.
Then a few years ago, Netflix began radically changing their focus. As competitors rose (Amazon, Hulu, Apple,) Netflix was competing for content, and not winning the fight. Instead of having a dwindling catalog, and having to bid against the rising competition, they pivoted to funding the creation of content. The concept of “Netflix Originals” (N-O) made an appearance, and now the catalog is flooded with Netflix Originals. To the point of crowding out the outside content.
Some of the N-O’s are good. I enjoyed “Narcos”, “Dirty Money” and a few others. However, I have found that the vast bulk of the N-O titles, hmmm – how to put this politely – suck.
- Stranger Things – sucked. I gave this three episodes, and it was awful.
- River – A British police procedural, the key protagonist being someone from one of the Nordic countries (Sweden? Norway?) who lost his partner in a drug bust, and sees her every day (the vision) and interacts with her. Seriously, he should be in an institution, but nobody call him on his bizarre behavior.
- OITNB – I will probably get some hate for this, but I really really hated this. Ok, hate is too strong of a term. But seriously, I forced myself to give it 4 episodes. I had to force myself.
- The Killing – this is one that I thought was good. The first three seasons were amazing. I thought for certain that this was one of the exceptions. Then I dove into season 4. Shite. Basura. Gar-bage. Turns out that it was an AMC property for the first three seasons, and then Netflix bought the rights, and put together the 4th, abysmal episode. Yep, Netflix took something that was excellent, and turned it into a turd sandwich.
- Bojack Horseman – I love adult oriented cartoons, South Park, Archer, Rick & Morty, so I should have loved Bojack Horseman. I didn’t. I gave this a whole season. More meh.
I am sure there are many that I am missing, and probably there are some good N-O shows. But, to me, the Netflix Original logo is 2 strikes against a show.
And today, March 14, Archer disappeared from Netflix. Fuckers.
Thus, I am spending more of my time on Hulu these days.
