2025 OTT & TV Shows

Loads of releases this year and caught up with some which had some connection or the other with me.    

INDIAN WEB SERIES

Family Man (S3) - clif-hanger wait for S4. Lot of dejavu with Paatal Lok S2.

Two Much of Kajol & Twinkle - for the babble

Do You Wanna Partner - for Tammananh & Dianna

Paatal Lok (S2) - I skipped S1 and watched S2 for Nagaland & all the main char actors. Did not disappoint. The Nagaland portions & their houses - all great. Also the story & twists & turns. Jaideep A is impressive 

Duphaiya (Prime) - Well made cause well written characters who were in multiple. Every char with seaking line seemed to have a huge backstory. Plot twists unfolded well and every loop was well answered.

Panchayat (S5) 

The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case -

Special Ops - S2 - as reliale as ever for the cast & thrills

Criminal Justice - Family Matter - cause Pankaj Tripathi and reoccuring cast and the show format with weekly episode release.

Mistry - Because Monk remake. Not bad but not great. Same story but some modified or fused into one.

Salakaar - spy story and keeps the thrill with switch between current & 70s. 

The Secret of The Shiledars - National Treasure template Treasure hunt related to Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Vijayanagar Empire.

Mrs Deshpande - for Madhuri Dixit & Nagesh Kukunoor.

Chacha Vidhayak Hai Hamare (S2)

Bigg Boss (S19)

Gram Chikitsalay (Prime) 

Bada Kaam Karenge - Great music and lyrics. 

Roshans - Netflix Docu

Cubicles S4

The Trial (S2) - starring Kajol

Khakee - Bengal Chapter - I finished it but Eww.

ENGLISH TV SHOWS

Stranger Things (S 1,2,3,4) - covered them all in Dec holidays to prep for S5.

Squid Games (S3)

Man on the Inside (S2) -  coz Charles Nieuwendyk and the crew.

Running Point (Netflix) - for Katie Hudson, Mindy, refreshing.

Resident Aliens (S1 &S2) - funny like lol funny meanwhile the characters stay deadpan.

And then the usual lot

Elsbeth

Matlock

Ghosts (S4 & S5)

2024 TV & OTT Shows

When main characters drama takes over the season & relegates individual episode mystery, that's where I draw the line & give up a show. But this year did roll out good worthwhile TV shows & Web-series worth watching.

Shekar Home - Hindi series of 6 episodes set in Bengali milieu, characters from Sherlock Holmes and then 2 of them twisted to something new. Something good like this, after a long time.

Gyaarah Gyaarh - good watch because of the 3 main characters and dialogs of everyone else. Dark music, settings and paced like a Korean crime show (this also being a remake of such). Set in beautiful & intriguing Uttarakhand.

Life Hill Gayi - Again set in a beautiful version of Uttarakhand, comedy and interesting series.

Mamla Legal Hai - Don't go by first impression or trailer. The crude language only for masala, else the show is sophisticated. Its not the sarcasm-comedy like Office Office; which I found negative. This is still hopeful and fixes things in the show. Multitude of characters and each one of them unique. 

Railway Men (Netflix) - Not an easy watch because of the topic but they filmed it well. No melodrama. They did not use any routine manipulative tools to play with audience emotions. But the real life tragedy is enough to choke us. Main characters all acted well. Every role was well etched. Last episode should real pictures for the scenes enacted. 

Kaalkoot - After Dahaad, there was craving for more Vijay Verma show. So this show would do; more for his acting cause here he is the police and not the criminal. Since this was on Jio, it must have had limited audience. Starts slow, first 2 episodes were spent in establishing some angst that I did not get nor want to see more of. Thankfully by Episode 3 that part was given up for the more mainstream crime & police procedural. Among the unique aspects, Tigmanshu Dulia reciting Hindi poetry at different points.

Panchayat S4 - such craze while waiting for it to come out. Good to see the S4 and then continuous watch of clippings on all video SMs.

Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam - and continued the craze with its Tamil version

High Potential S1
Matlock S1
Elsbeth S1 & S2
For that dose of episodic mystery solving by quirky detective/main-char. Mainstream TV networks have a different approach with their serials that OTT does not.

Reacher S2 (Prime) Loved the S1, was happy with the S2 and waiting for S3. For an action show it has a serene, very calming effect, that's the way it’s laid out . Good set of actors and characters. Slowburn without anyway pshyco thriller.

Young Sheldon - wrapped up. Very emotional few weeks. I did skip the last 2 episodes once I came to know what happens there. 

Lethal Weapons - TV series from 2016-19; a takeoff from the movies. Good for daily 1 episode watch  Absolutely unbelievable events that can occur in USA;  that’s why it’s good for ppl missing 90s entertainments 

3 Body Problem - Alien & Space Sci-fi. First 4 episodes had VR game with a high level of violence but otherwise very very impressive. Ep 5 was booring for the 3/4 part with all "Lord" business & I was wondering why I was watching. Then came the cruel massacre, in the most non-atmosphere setting. It lasted like 10 minutes, I covered my eyes for most part and still spent all night in nightmares. Last 3 episodes were a windup, establishing that every character, even the slacker, had a role to play in the eventual.

Murder at the End of the World (Hulu) - Slow burn. No pshy thriller. Tundra landscape & locked indoors atmosphere. Add contemporary technology elements. Emma Cotton acting & diction are A1.

Murdoch Mysteries S17 & S18 for the usual comfort watch.

Crown (Netflix)- finally wrapped up the final season. I would watch one episode per month almost. The production quality needs every scene to be soaked in. The story and characters need scenes to be paused and verified on wiki. Crown is an experience.

I have never been a fan of D even in the 90s but couldn’t figure why. In the 2020s I can say that even with the privileges she had, she didn’t behave like she should have. Definitely C behaved bad with her; no doubt. But she didn’t do anything for herself. Ofcourse I say this all the time current worlds knowledge, guts, & 45+ age wisdom. Things she in 80s didn’t have. Things almost all 70s-80s wives were trapped in. But I am sure ladies of 80s did something for themselves. D did do a lot of charity and was busy with it. Media just portrayed the dissatisfaction part a lot.

But I am happy with the way they wrapped up the show for Queen. It was appropriate and good quality cinema & writing.

This Fool (Hulu) S1 was hilarious. S2 switched the situation for both and I lost my interest.

Bear (Hulu) Watched S1 and tapered off with S2. This show is for leisure playtime and cool work in background. But I lost my setup for it.

Quantum Leap (Peacock) My sci-fi dose to watch with kids. They did this well. Its a weekly one episode kind of show.

Ghosts (US) Its on S4 and no flaw yet.

Silos (Apple+) - because of Hunger Games 3 setting in underground. 

Bollywood Wives vs Fabulous Wives - Just to see ladies gang in action.

Call Me Bae - for Anaya. But I couldn't figure what the tone of the show was it was very uneven across different episodes. Like writer department was a mix of RajKHirani & KanikaD

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

Shows on TV & OTT 2023

In Indian landscape, there is so much good work happening in multiple OTT channels, but each has such limited audience. 

OTT has its Pros & Cons. More opportunities for family & friends to see varied movies & shows  together. Often they are ad free. I consider Binge watching as a con. I prefer shows be lined across days or weeks to savor them.

Farzi (Prime)

Made by my favorite directors, so had to watch. Interesting one time watch. Paintings, Amol Palekar, Kay Kay Menon, Vijay Setupathi.

Rocket Boys

In captivating & keeping attention, historic figures, it’s at par with the Crown. 

Intro theme song is a gem, I have never skipped the intro, just for it. Another such gem is Scam intro song. Both are by same guy Achint Thakur. 

Covers a range of historic figure beginning with Scientists  - CV Raman, Homi Bhabha & Sarabhai prominently and in 2nd season sliding towards APJ Kalam and Raja Ramana. 2nd season show brings in more political figures. Basically covers 1940s to 1970s people, theories, treaties, events & everything from our Science & History books of all years of 90s Maharashtra schools.

Jubilee - 

Loved it and here the long post.

Poker face - on Paramont Plus

Brilliant. Waiting for next season. 1st episode is enough to hook. Filled up the gap left by Knives Out and Last Onion.

First interest was coz its of Rian Johnson who created Knives Out & Glass Onion. And then the first episode totally trapped us for forever. Similar format combined with stars Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale the main character. Thereafter every episode builds on it and gets better & better. Add to it, every episode has star actors in cameo appearance for that episode mystery. Nothing here to not like.

Nick Nolte episode was good.
Raoul: What ? Its a women intuition thing?"
Charlie: Its not a tampon commercial, ok?

The episodes were released weekly. I am anti-binging in general and this show did deserve a weekly watch to savour it all week long. And what Rian Johnson says, explain it perfectly.

"Poker Face" Starring Natasha Lyonne Is Pure Entertainment Gold In The Form Of A Murder Mystery Series

"The streaming serialised narrative has just become the gravity of a thousand suns to the point where everyone's collective memory has been erased," Rian Johnson said. "That was not the mode of storytelling that kept people watching television for the vast history of TV."

BEEF on Netflix

BEEF was a very satisfying watch. Only N original series exciting after Inventing Anna.

Biggest hook was the road rage beef & the escalation. It reminded of Ayyappanum Koshiyum, and I enjoyed that movie a lot.

It started there, then ventured into personal lives dramas, showcasing a variety of Asian lifestyles, and escalations took a backseat for a while. Escalations came back and not in a Hollywoodish way. A lot of things in this were real life like, some aspirational. Muli-cultural mix, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, European all Americans, with complex layers and multiple characters 1 to 1 interactions.

As each of their characters slowly unravel, the resentments, generational trauma, and rage that they’ve pushed down inside comes bursting out. 

10 episodes felt like too much. Should have been 6 or 8. Like Ep 7 was just to provide childhood parallels. Esp 9 was gory voilent climax and last episode 10 was the sublime trippy much needed ending.

For all the sculpture art of George, turns out Issac, the rougefian cousin, is an artist in real life.

 

Marvelous Mrs Maisel

S4 - I am on S4:E6 & there hasn’t been any end of episode Stage Performance yet by Mrs Maisel. I miss that. Last seasons had such powerful ones. Everything else is great. The characters & story arc the way it’s progressing is just right. Mariam’s eyebrows are always angry with a great reason.

S5 - Finally a performance. I have been waiting 2 seasons for it. 

Marvelous Finale - every single section of it. Not one single bomb. Even the end montage was sweet. 

FUBAR  on Netflix - 

Why this show ? Arnold Schwarzenegger first. Then the Fun spy action & psyco-babble. All ensemble actors & their roles was good. Even the office guys. Basically its format is one to one relationship. There are non-romantic pairs and their inter-personal conflicts and discussion coming out of them. 

Quantum Leap (S1)

The Trial - starring Kajol. And this sent me to see ...

Good Wife

This show is a great one to expose or coach anyone on office politics; even if they go get resolved cinematically. Actually a lot of cases dont resolve, or the good guys dont always win.

But there are some very good standout points.
The giggling's - first Diane, then Will, then a relaxed Alicia. 
Will & Diane's working rapport. Grief handling in S5. The multitaking episode S2:E3
By S7, I had learnt the different formats of court - regular court, grand jury, depositions, arbitration, bar court.

DAHAAD (Prime)

Very detailed police procedural. Nicely made. No boring episode. Side characters & their side track was also good. Even in high profile horrid situation, everyone is level headed & keep emotions regulated. 

This role was perfect fit for Sonakshi given her the angry young women outlook. Gulshan Devaiah was good. And Vijay Verma was epic.

Night Manager (Hindi)

Hunters S2 - (Prime)

Just to close the brilliant yet sick S1. Some episode were sickening.

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

Jubilee on Prime

Just wrapped up soaking in Jubilee show on Amazon Prime. And am still not out of it. I don't know what I will see next, cause I don't want to leave this zone yet. 

 

Makes me crave for Dev Anand, Gurudutt and even some of the 60s-70s tragic ending Kannada dramas of Manjula & Aarthi. 

Plotlines used the elements of folklore and scattered it around the stories. Even the starting point of each of the 5 main characters is nicked from many major players of Bombay showbiz initial years. But ofcourse the later years are not an authentic biography. And that's because those players refused to give the rights for biography on films. But there was a series long thread and each episode takes rest of the story forward for all 5 main characters.

They got the Brown sepia tone looks, location and set so very right. Stories had all elements of 50s even in the storyline, like focus on tragedy.

Actors were at their brilliant best. Lanky Jay Khanna with his sifty eyes & nervous energy. Aditi looking elegant, delicate with watery eyes & translucent skin.

Background music by Alokananda Dasgupta is so fantastic, I am going to say, the show would be totally different without it. Sets the right mood of dread and suspense - even when repeated every single episode. 

Talking of dread, it was so evenly spread through so many episode. There is a point in the last or previous episode, when Das says and "aur woh hai ", then a pause, which I filled with "..." the right answer.

The songs by Amit Trivedi, were spaced out through the episodes. My first instinct was to cringe - trying to emulate 50s songs usually is for mockery. But nope, these work even outside the show. I have been playing Jubilee jukebox on YouTube.

The plot to reinsert Nilo into Jay's life after the scandal was totally unreal. Yeah ok it was the means to allow for an even, tragic ending for all the main characters.

Talking of the tragic ending, I don't not agree with the ending. Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Mukherjee studio owners, Himani Devi - everyone went on to live a full life with usual ups and down. Of course this was not a direct actual historical, so the ending does not have to match real life. Plus the whole bonus of being authentic to 50s cinema - where tragic ending made every audience poignant and tied to them for life.

Overall, the show gave some inside insight into Movie business of the the 30s-60s decade. 

How Sindhi Punjabi folks got their hold in Bombay film industry and practically defined the rules of this trade. How certain people deals were made and the detailed power-play industry. Some hint on their friction with Maharashtra locals - story as old as time and wide as this world.

On technology side, showcased old sets, studio logistics, silent to cinemascope technology jump, old telephones. More specifically, this show displayed the different Audio equipment and even a slide show. Like mentioned here, its thanks to Motwane's family connection. I am happy this show showcased this like no one before. Some theatre reels, projector rooms and some wire-tapping equipment by Americans & Russians.

And this is one show I see Jalgaon mentioned and an event occurs in theatres there.

There are loads of ideas for Part 2 or Sequels. There is still a bulk of folklore about the 60s & 70s. Hindi movie Music industry is its own monolith. Golden era and the thousands of people who created it deserve their own stories.

#JubileeOnPrime More Reading:

Picture the Past - A new series by Vikramaditya Motwane celebrates all that has changed in Hindi cinema and all that hasn’t since the 1930s - Kaveree Bamzai  | 07 Apr, 2023

Memoirs of Hindi Cinema - A series mirrors the early life and times of Bombay studios—and India Rachel Dwyer | 21 Apr, 2023

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

TV Shows & OTT 2022

Once upon a time, say 1985 or so, we would hire a VCR Player and a few VHS tapes of latest movies and nostalgia Kannada movies. This would be for some bank & school holidays long weekend. Then all bank expats would gather around in one house have a communal movie marathon. Even late nights, which was fun for us kids.

Now the entire process is with OTT. When everyone began with Netflix, it was like cable subscription. Once & forever. 

Now there are like a thousand OTT and a million new series or movies to choose from. It impossible to subscribe to all at the same time - because of the cost and who has time to watch it all ?

So we subscribe to 1 or so OTT at a time, watch all wanted shows, unsubscribe and then repeat the process another OTT. The OTT guys have understood our play. So now for new hyped show or season, they release 1 or 2 episodes each week. This way they ensure we stay subscribed for longer or atleast till end of season.

These Shows which required a seated viewing. Not the ones to play on TV for background noise which we do other chores. 

OTT

Other popular ones we watched on OTT

Panchayat - Lovely as widely well reviewed show. But the gut-punching ending in the last episode totally destroyed the happiness 

Aranyak - Because Raveena Tandon, Parambrata Chatterjee and hilly woods.

Fame Game - only for Madhuri. At one point I forwarded other actors parts & stay on Madhuri scenes. That's the only way to survive 8-10 episode in these time crunch times.

Never Ever Have I (S3) - every season deserves an immediate watch.

The Peripheral - Sci-fi time travel. Good one.

Cobra Kai S5

Reacher S1 - 

Jack Ryan S2

Inventing Anna - The kind which is all consuming and holds a tight grip on you till its done. Production value wise its big screen quality. Storytelling is at its refined peak. Brilliant unfolding of each episode. Anna actress as standout - delusional, unempathatic, twitching lips, wet eyes and ratty nose. Show was amazingly impressive. Overdramatic reactions of Vivian, dramatic emotional conflict in brilliant situations. Only things that mattered were to see the dramatization of wiley debacle in financial situations.

The Playlist 2022 based on Spotify - Unique way with each episode being from each roles perspective .

Guilty Minds

TV Shows

Father Brown - S10

Sister Boniface S1 - How delightful. Such a surprise that a character who appeared in only 1 episode of Father Brown & 10 years back, got her own spinoff. Its set in 60s and very delightful.

Bob Hearts Abhishola

Ghosts

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

Web Series of 2021

If anything, the Web Series have become a truly alternate version of entertainment in today's world. 

There are so many OTT and so many shows its so tough to pick anyone or all. And all episodes drop at one go. Binge-watching is so unhealthy - for time, our brains, our sleep.

Sad part of OTT is that it is no longer an age of communal viewing - not the theatre kind. But of same show being watched by all, at their home, at the same time of release. And then talk about it. The craze of a good show, episodes & their actors. Now even good shows get buried under the deluge of new shows because there are so many different OTT (like TV channels) and people can subscribe to only so many. So the viewership is split. This particular post has been written only for how impressive Special Ops 1.5 Himmat Story was. And Family Man of course. I guess same might have happened when private channels popped up and split DD viewership. Things settled after a few years and viewership craze still continues even if split.

Special Ops 1.5 Himmat Story - Great follow-up or rather prequel to the Special Ops series. At 4 episodes, this is one impressive Spy series. Great acting, narration & story sequence. Some of the action sequences in the last 2 episode had a bit of disbelief; but overall it's such a good series, everything is forgiven.

Cubicle (TVF 2019) - Such a nostalgia trip, to the first few years of new job after Engg college.

Mukesh Jasoos - Cute one, filled with naïve characters & interesting situations. It has also given us a slogan for our household - "Poha Khaoge ?".

Family Man S2 - As good as the hype & accolades have been. Every episode was interesting; no drag. 

Never Have I Ever S2 - So thrilled when it came out. Much awaited. I had seen S1 with my kids & we had decided to see the next one together. After watching the S2 trailer, I decided to stay away. And keep my kids away. And then I heard that my kids saw it with their neighborhood friends gang, in someones basement. Duh. What could I do ? Then I saw the whole S2. Glad coz it was GOOD. And a lot of my friends saw. And there were spirited discussion in every house-party between the Mom's & kids - different perspectives.

Best takeaway is the song - . Heat Waves performed by Glass Animals.

S-q-u-i-d Game - Argh. Yes it was as good as the craze has been. I watched in the dark solitude of my car on my device, while waiting. It was worth watching. Also because my kids saw it without me.

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

OTT scene in 2020

2020 is the year where TV has emerged the savior. It kept people locked up home and happy about it.

DD unlocked the 90s magic for people of India and everyone enjoyed with their kids-next-gen, the magic of Ramayana, Mahab, Byomkesh Bakshi & all other 90s nostalgia. For those outside India there was new & old Web series generated for us on OTT.

SCAM 1992 - Surprise package of this year. Very enjoyable to see the details of a important recent history event playing out in every detail. The nostalgia is only from the newspapaer headline from the 92s and whatever little we could make out of it. It was very useful to see how the whole thing played out one by one and even understood it all now as an adult.

Very impressive Pratik Gandhi as the main character. Last seen by us in Mitron, which was a good movie. Shreya Dhanwanthary playing the equally main character of journalist Sucheta Dallal.

Show did not shy out of using financial lingo and not dumbing it down to some dramatic businessman swagger thing from the usual soaps. 

Production was excellent in keeping things 90s without going overboard. Check out the details in this article: Betting on Bombay: What it took to turn the clock back for web series Scam 1992

Special Ops for the thrill of spying to enact vengeance on terrorists.

Hundred - Lara Dutta 

JL50 - Abhay Doel

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

Never Ever Have I - Netflix

Mindy Kaling is a Genius. Now I had given up on Netflix originals and vowed never to go back to Netflix. But all the hype about Never Have I Ever's Bollywood dance episode got me hooked. I planned to watch only that episode (Ep 4) - which I loved and watched all of them. This is right there with Aziz Ansari's Master of None and Sanjeev Bhaskar & team.

When the narrator introduces himself, after few minutes of narration, it was an absolute thrill . And then his cameo later. I was amazed how MK could go for it. John McEnroe was a big deal for Indians in 90's. I didn't expect Americans of 2020 to know who he is ! Ace indeed.

It was a nice change to see South-Indian family. Fast talking mom & dad, with smatterings of kanna (dear) and threats of smacking. Thali & Vad-ungila on the mother Nalini, in her regular American fashion outfits. Masala Dosa for dinner. Half-sari for Devi. Behaviour-wise too, loads of desi behavior were in full flow, without any inhibition of some imaginary judgement. Kamala and her track of cousin studying at relatives house for studies, going through the dread of upcoming arrange marriage boy-seeing routine. And loved the sarees in Ep 4 - they were all latest fashion & lot of South-Indian silks. This is in contrast to a lot of kitschy out-of-fashion sarees used in TV shows with any India reference.

I hurried to the Ep 4 for the Bollywood dance sequence. But stayed till the end, just to soak in the Ganesh puja socializing. Pandit Raj (Ep 4) was a great representation of Hindu priest, after a long time (or ever) on any TV. In his very first lines he shows he is erudite in his Sanskrit, and funny too. Soon we see, he is insightful and mindful of the main family's pain. And then that ESP knack he has with Kamala.

Endearing Periyappa (Ep 9), constantly talking about home security. Even asking the new guy, "Do you always carry the phone in your front pocket ? Do you not want to have children ?" New refreshing spin on older person asking uncomfortable things, without filter.

The main theme of 3 high school friends, 2 main boys and other shenanigans are engaging and peppered with funny dialogues and narrations. And it is these new characters that have kept all 10 episodes interesting.

Links:

1. How Mindy Kaling’s new Netflix series offers ‘a sense of community’
2. A Famous Tennis Star Is the Narrator of 'Never Have I Ever'
3. John McEnroe Learned About Thirst Traps Because of Never Have I Ever
4. I'm a first-gen Indian-Filipino: I related to Mindy Kaling's 'Never Have I Ever' so much it made me sob
5. In Never Have I Ever, the Real Love Story Is Between a Mother and Daughter
6. How Mindy Kaling brought the Hindu tradition of Ganesh Puja to American TV
7. Joya Kazi On Her Experience In Mindy Kaling’s ‘Never Have I Ever’
8. The Bollywood dance scene in 'Never Have I Ever' is a Hollywood milestone
9. Netflix's 'Never Have I Ever': How Mindy Kaling made the teen show she always wanted
10. 6 ways 'Never Have I Ever' busts Asian stereotypes
11. ‘Never Have I Ever’ Is Its Best Teen Comedy To Date

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

Amazon Originals Recommendations

I have to blame web series for increase in my use of profanities. My kids are keeping me in line, else it would be readily gushing out of my mouth. Its as if the web series have opened the flood-gates. But seriously, online streaming platforms are behaving like this, cause they are free of censorship. They could tone it down a bit without affecting their creativity, can't they ?

Other thing, all web series creators could do - is structure episodes so we have some mental breathing room. Seriously binging on 10-20 hours is unhealthy in every way. There is just no justification.

Amazon Originals are way, way better than Netflix ones.
I don't know how their production or their influence works ? But Netflix brings down the interest level, way down. Contrast is most visible in 'Designated Survivor'. When the cable network made Season 1 & 2, it was interesting. When Netflix took over Season 3, the shift was immediately noticeable. They had setup & most of the cast from the original, and they decided to make it openly single-sided monologue delivery of political ideologies. There was just no balance. Every character & their stories were a checklist to be ticked. About other Netflix original movies & shows, they are a drag - like Umbrella Academy. Only one I liked (and because of their cast & how they delivered) is Chopsticks.

Contrast that to Amazon Originals - oh they are diverse & original, while maintaining interest throughout the show or movie. There is no midway-lag or deliberate agenda driven intentions. They know they are here for entertainment & entertain they do.

Hunters

I watch HUNTERS on Prime.
I open OPERATION PAPERCLIP on Wikipedia.
I pick a random name from thousands of key recruits - Ernst R Echert.
Boom  !🤯 He was a distinguished chemistry professor in UofM & died of old age in St Paul !
Way too close to home.

The show is Watchable, no doubt. Travis is eerie & fills with dread. Hunters team is good.  Backstories are fine. Star Al Pacino is pretty much being the old man he is. (Because I did not watch his youth age films, I doubt know enough to appreciate).

Camp scenes are extremely disturbing & filmed like a psychopathic-serial-killer snippets on Criminal Minds. Am on Ep 7 & just want to be done with it. Doesn’t feel like a waste of 10 hours, but 10 hours lost nevertheless, which could have been used better. Should not have started it. I restarted Ep 7 and things r going downhill (for the characters). Very reminiscent of Family Man. Amazon's touch I guess.

Show has unique points, and I was constantly looking for the checklist to tick. It was so, but wasn't so either. Late 70s setup, but things were moving fast, even without internet or computer searches. Parts of the episodes are dedicated to moralizing on the Operation Paperclip, arguing philosophical questions on both side of Hunters. They also managed to incorporate a modern-day health villain as biological weapon.

In Episode 9, they show a view of the discussion behind Operation Paperclip decision. And the argument ends in a very convincing fashion. It makes the presence & future of those people in USA acceptable; that maybe they managed to escape the brainwashing or allegiance to evil. Otherwise, the reveal of the Operation in earlier episode, put a veil of suspicion on those people from 1940s & even their descendants; that maybe they are the reason for spread of xenophobia/hatred in the South.

End of Wernher von Braun made me question, that if they have taken liberty with villains, what is to say they haven't taken other liberties in portrayal ? And last I read, the Holocaust museums were worried about the same.

This topic is highly disturbing. There is lot of material (movies, TV shows, books) on this history. Turning it into a big-scale revenge fantasy itself is a big risk, of it going either side.

Family Man

Now that was a clutter-breaker among Hindi Amazon Originals. Made by my fav director-duo.
The 11 minute sequence on Episode 5 was hila-dene-wala.

Jestination

I like the format of Vir Das pairing up with 2 other/local comedians, different ones in every episode. And filming it in a different city every time. The drone shots bring out the unseen beauty of familiar cities. I don't know if they extra colored the frames ? Or if they photo shopped the roads. But India looks beautiful from these eyes.

Mysore episode was the best. Loved everything about it. Even ending with the Mysore joke was perfect. Actually, for some reason I feel I might have heard it before. But the episode was laid out well to arrive at that joke.

Ladakh episode jokes were horrible. If it weren't for such a beautiful place and surrounding people and their commentary, I would have thrashed this episode completely. Indian comedian who looked like American (Mushran) was good. But the American comedian who looked like Indian was the worst. I cant believe how he is in comedy. Just peppering every sentence with a f & a s, 4 times over, doesn't make it funny.

Standup Comedians should take up the challenge of delivering a round with no f&s uttered. They have long-stretched the supposed 'FoE' to utter profanities and its impact on 'creativity-growth' bit for way too long. Now there is no creativity, only profanities.

Marvelous Mrs Maisel

Perfectly marvelous one. Watch it to know why it's so popular soon as every new season is released.
I don't like the sixties and I don't like that breathless speech-deliveries. But the parts which spill out of these cracks, which shine through, they have enough to charm - 60s music, clothes, luminous makeup, interesting main cast and large ensemble cast. Good to see Monk back on TV.
Coming to the standup comedy, that is the high point of every episode. Things ravel or unravel through the episode and then it's a joy to see how it all works into her standup routine of the day.

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.

Netflix Recommendations

Here are my Netflix Recommendations, I can't recommend them enough. And last I checked, these are still on Netflix. Don't be mislead by my conciseness - each of the show & the characters are rich.

Burn Notice - Set in Florida. Ex-Spy & friends solve cases to help people while trying to get back his Spy job. 

White Collar - Set in NYC. FBI agent enlists Art-Thief solve other big-budget theft cases.

Leverge: is well similar to above in genre. Problem solving thriller of a team of 5 and well-packed in each episode.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries - Australia production set in 1920. Mystery. Saucy heroine & interesting team. 

Murdoch Mysteries - Canada production set in 1800s. Mysteries solved by scientific-minded Detective Constable. Entire cast is endearing. In different episodes, they bring in some future gadget or tech and pretend like they are the early inventors of that. Some of the real life celebs of those times are brought in characters in some episodes.

Death in Paradise - Set in Caribbean St Mary's island. English inspector & local team solve cases. Sun sand & coconut trees everywhere. Best viewed in snowed-in January winter.  

Father Brown - BBC village priest & friends solve murders.

Good show, first coz adorable Arthur Weasley actor plays the lead, then the whole repeat ensemble cast grows on you. The village setting, green open surroundings, stone houses grow on you. 
Other notes: Everyone wears colorful dresses 1950s fashion. Old British did not stick to monochrome or dark colors like US, but more fancy color choices like Indians. Everyone is prom & proper in manner. Village reminds me of our own villages, atleast South Indian Kar. Just no plastic or paper trash or garish billboards around. Tourism hype apart, all European small towns are like Indian small towns & villages.Everything seems romantic when described in English or some fancy language or on Instagram. 

Bletchley Circle - Great follow-up to Imitation Game movie. Set in the same place. 4 coders who are retired after war and dealing with the duller life, where they play a secondary role now. Meanwhile new mystery brings them together.  

In each of these BBC shows, the location is so outstanding, its another character in itself.

Madame Secretary : Set in Washington DC State office and White House. But depicts the real corporate talk, life and politics. Real world dynamics. Not dramatic or exasperated sarcasm. Very textbook showing what to speak, when and to whom. All about problem-solving.

The Crown: Impressive but not additive to go on a marathon spree. Each episode is full enough to keep you satiated and to process it before you are ready for the next episode. It is capturing cinematic-ally, by the varied cast and their acting, gently walks us through historical events, esp the Diana-free gossip. Best show to slowly improve English wit and in Europe history, rather politics. Elizabeth’s personal and UK’s political unwrap in consequent waves. Dialogues have surprising humor even within intrigue. It's only 1 season old with 10 episodes, but they have plans for more seasons - something to watch out for.

All of these are best for that quite TV watching after a tiring weekday. They are in proper bit-sized 40 min-1 hour chucks, with no cliffhanger to click on the next episode. Or go on a marathon binge if you can afford it, for full immersion in their setup. 

All of them are mystery genre, but not extreme thriller, not horror, not gory. Grownup up but not scary for rest of the family. They have a season long mystery to solve, but each episode has a mystery which is solved by the end of it. Monk was the only perfect show, which had an addition mystery was was show-length and which never distracted from it and actually wrapped it up cleanly in season finale. but unfortunately Monk no longer on Netflix. All of them have an interesting ensemble. Each interesting character, and something to like in each.

All of the OTT / Web Series watched every year.