Perlina Lau casts her eye over the best streaming TV on offer this month.
Photo: Screenshot
The Dropout - Disney+
Based on the outrageous story of Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes; Amanda Seyfriend plays one of Silicon Valley’s most infamous CEOs in this new series.
If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s bonkers. Holmes, who liked to style herself as a female Steve Jobs, founded Theranos when she was just 19. And the idea behind the company was revolutionary.
The company claimed with their technology blood tests could be run from a pinprick in the finger and a small amount of blood. The tests could detect conditions such as cancer or high cholesterol.
Holmes raised more than $US700m from investors and became the youngest female billionaire. But it all came crashing down.
The inaccuracies of the technology were exposed and both company and CEO were charged with fraud.
Theranos had to shut down its labs and testing centres.
It’s a known story, but it’s scandalous, unbelievable and it’ll be entertaining to watch.
Raised by Refugees - Neon
This is one show I feel like I’ve been waiting a long time to see. Possibly because I’m slightly biased as I know of a few people who worked on the show, but I’m nonetheless very excited it’s finally out.
Locally made, it draws inspiration from, and centres around, the upbringing of Kiwi comedian, Pax Assadi. Assadi plays the role of the father in this six-part series.
Set circa 2000s in Auckland, the Assadi family - Iranian father Afnan, (Assadi), Pakistani mother, Safia (Kalyani Nagarajan) and their NZ-born sons, Pax (Kenus Binu) and Mahan (Adam Lobo) have just moved to the North Shore and face challenges in their new community - 9/11 happens and it changes their lives.
Pax starts to tell his fellow students he’s Tongan, after they call him a terrorist. It’s a comedy but raises the topic of newcomers to New Zealand and trying to make a life here, whether it be refugees, new immigrants or even first-generation immigrants. But it’s an unusual and wonderful story
More than 200 young actors auditioned for the role of young Pax who’s played by Kenus Binu. - Binu is an acting novice who was discovered by Assadi during a trip to the movies to see Wonder Woman.
Binu was chatting to his friends throughout the film, cracking jokes and making everyone laugh. Eventually, Assadi’s wife convinced him to approach the boy and chat to him.
It looks both heartwarming and heartbreaking in parts. I’m really hoping this will get picked up internationally given the subject matter and it’d be another chance to showcase Kiwi comedy on the world stage.
Take Out Kids - Spinoff
As a semi former take-out kid myself (my older sister did most of the work), I was delighted to hear about this locally-made short series.
It’s four episodes of 15 minutes taking a closer look at the lives of young people who work at their parents’ takeaway shop or restaurant.
Most immigrant children can probably relate to this. It’s trying to juggle school, friends, hobbies and helping out at the shop.
The observational doco-series is a celebration of food and family and set across four locations in Auckland, Thames, Porirua and Christchurch.
It zooms in on the lives of the people behind the counter. Director Julie Zhu says she wants the audience to enjoy the series but it’s also about more than just representation - and about systemic change.
How I Met Your Father - Disney+
This is the spinoff of….you guessed it, How I Met Your Mother. Already green-lit for a second season, just one month after it had its outing in the US, Hulu appears to have succeeded in the gender-swapped premise. With Kim Cattrall narrating the series from the future, it stars Hilary Duff as Ted Mosby and Cattral plays the older Sophie in 2050. The show has even revived the original apartment which has apparently been kept in storage since the finale wrapped in 2014.
Atlanta - Neon
After a four-year hiatus (woah!!) Atlanta is back with its third season. It was renewed for the third season in 2018 but the pandemic meant scheduling and production delays.
The show follows quartet Earn (Glover), Darius (LaKeith Stanfield), rapper Alfred, a.k.a. Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), and Van (Zazie Beetz) with each episode depicting a hilarious slice of life in the city.
Season 3 will see Earn, Alfred, and Darius head off for their European tour this season and fans needn’t worry as producers worked on Season 4 at the same time so there won’t be a delay. The FX chairman says scripts for S4 have already been written.
Bridgerton S2 - Netflix
Netflix’s second most popular show (after Squid Game) is back with a highly-anticipated second season. About 82 million households tuned in for the first month during the first season of the Shonda Rhimes-produced show.
Based on the books by Julia Quinn, fans of the novels will know the order of the series and which storyline is up next. The new season of this period drama will focus on Lord Anthony Bridgerton, the eldest of the Bridgerton children and his quest to find a wife.
True love isn’t high on the priority list but rather his duty to uphold the family name is the main focus. But his standards are near impossible - until he meets Kate (Simone Ashely) - the sister of Edwina who he’s trying to pursue.
Season 1 has pretty much launched the career of Rege-Jean Page who played the handsome Duke of Hastings so it’ll be interesting to see the ripple effect of this second season . Two words to sum this series up: guilty pleasure.
