Mind-bending TV
RIVETING SHOWS: OA, MAGIC FOR HUMANS AND YOU
OA is more than bizarre with cosmic passages and neardeath experiences.
Cliffhangers between episodes and series instalments used to be one of the most frustrating things about television. Thankfully, the age of streaming and catchup has solved many riddles, eased frustration and created a binge-watching lifestyle.
The OA is a mind-bending mini-series on Netflix that demands attention at every moment. It is beyond strange, but that is what makes this bizarre show so enticing. It’s created, produced, directed and stars Britt Marling, who plays central character Prairie Johnson.
After a seven-year disappearance, Johnson returns home no longer blind, as she once was. Both the FBI and her adoptive parents seek answers, but she only shares her experiences with a select group of five, who are participating in an experiment with her to open a cosmic passage that will allow Johnson to travel through it and save the people she was imprisoned with in the basement of a crazy scientist.
Add to this several near-death afterlife experiences and OA (it stands for Original Angel) is more than OK; it is riveting viewing.
Also on Netflix is the three-season instalment of Magic for Humans. It is a semi-reality show with magician Justin Willman blending warmth and magic with dad jokes, taking it to the streets, to schools and to curious locations with awed participants.
What is nice about this show is that it is less about ego and dramatics – think David Blane – and more about wholesome entertainment. Willman is naturally funny and witty; the magic is awesome and original and throughout the show he introduces his family. It is personalised, fun, and in slang, sommer very lekker. After a long day making hay, Magic for Humans is the wind-down of choice on the telly this week. The twisted mind of Joe Goldberg, played by Penn Badgley in You, is fascinating. There are two seasons currently available on Netflix with a third, they say, on the way. The overarching question: What would you do for love?
Goldberg is a bookstore manager in the first season who meets an aspiring writer, and at first his somewhat awkward crush is cute. But it develops into an obsession. Any obstacle, including people, are removed so that nothing stands in the way of his prize.
It is on the edge of your seat drama, stomach churning at times. The performances are incredible, and the plot as twisty as a mountain pass.
Season two sees Goldberg repeat the cycle, this time, on the west coast of the US. One would think the same formula to a follow-up risks becoming droll, but instead it superglues viewers to the action. Highly
recommended.