In late December, after running out of anything the least bit interesting to stream on Amazon, I gave in and resubscribed to Netflix. Since I hadn’t been on Netflix for a while, I discovered a few series to watch. I watched the best ones first. Then, as I moved to the mediocre ones, I found myself spending more time each evening searching for something to watch vs. watching something.
Netflix’s algorithms, for some reason, constantly suggest shows that are filmed n foreign countries that do not speak English. While I do enjoy shows from the UK, New Zealand and Australian, as well as other countries where the characters seek English, I hate watching shows where the English audio is dubbed in. Nor do I want to read the entire film using closed captioning.
The other thing that Netflix does is recommend incredibly bad facsimiles of something I enjoyed. For example, I made the mistake of starting to rewatch Band of Brothers, which was a fantastic series about US military troops during WWII. After a few episodes, I stopped watching it because I remember most of the plot from when I originally watched it years ago. Netflix now fills my “recommendations” with 75% WWII shows – none as good as Band of Brothers.
The same applies to Breaking Bad, Narcos, Line of Duty, The Sopranos and The Wire. I liked these shows because they had extraordinary plots, writing and acting. I’m not interested in a global smorgasbord of drug cartel movies, cop shows and smuggling films.
An so, just like I’ve done at least 4 times in the past 4 years, I’ve cancelled Netflix once again. I keep telling myself I should read a book during dinner instead of looking for something to watch, but I enjoy zoning out and unwinding over dinner vs. challenging my brain.
My prediction is that I’ll find a few things to watch on Amazon and in 6 months or so, will re-up with Netflix or another streamer for another 6 weeks.
