Volume 2: What Places Like Scandinavia and Mexico Can Teach Us About TV.

My wife is one of those people who always needs to be doing something else when she watching, so anything in a foreign language with subtitles is out of the question.

So while I was on my own I made it a point to watch only foreign language series on the two streams I have on my Ipad- Netflix and Prime.

Occupied on Netflix

The story line has to do with the president of Norway deciding that the country should go into a new energy direction with a non-polluting fuel their scientists have created.

So the Russians start thinking that since Norway is abandoning all their nasty-ass fossil fuels resources, why don’t we just take them over and get rich. And that’s just what they do,

Occupied examines this whole situation from several different angles, and they go about it in a very intelligent way. Nobody’s looking to create an episodic franchise here. They are trying to tell a single story and they do it very well.

When you compare the level of political relevance and drama to a lot of US and to a lesser extent, Canadian series, what you find is the overall entertainment value is much higher elsewhere, albeit achieved in different ways.

There are four seasons of Occupied and it is, by any standard, totally compelling entertainment, and a big part of the reason for this is that instead of divorcing themselves from political relevance, or making the politics of the day some sort of supporting concept, the Norse, and TV makers in many other countries around the world, have jumped into the political fray with both guns blazing.

El Dragon on Netflix

What I like about this, and what got me hooked on it, was that it is a series with several distinct personalities all in one beautifully integrated whole.

It’s a soap opera in the way it treats the romantic story lines. It’s a geo-poltical thriller in the way it’s main theme is rolled out. It’s a crime drama, because there are no shortage of bad guys in it. And it’s a character drama in the way that all the main characters are dimensionalized.

In short, it’s everything that a whole of lot of different types of people would look for in a way to kill some time in front of the tube

This is the first co-production between Mexican production company Televisa and Netflix, and while it’s attracted more than its share of criticism, there is no denying that it is addictively attractive, especially to binge freaks, who make up a good deal of Netflix’ user base.

Essentially it’s the story of a Mexican investment genius who becomes the heir to the family’s cartel/tequila company, which he intends to legitimize by building up a huge capital base through money laundering, which was essentially what he was doing over in Hong Kong. where he was sent after his parents were killed in a cartel war.

The main character, Miguel Garza, is a Ronin, which means Ninja without a master, and is a kung foo fighter extraordinaire. Of course all the Mexican drug guys think he’s a bit of a doofus and so he has that to overcome too.

While the story basically lumbers along, the production values are great and there’s enough violence and intrigue to keep you happy.

But the real lesson here is that if you really want to score with a large audience, you kinda have to have something for everyone.

You could call it unfocused if you are some pickle-up-the-ass TV critic or you would call it what it is, a guilty pleasure, which is exactly the kind of thing a lot of people would like to binge on.

I personally think that El Dragon checks a lot of boxes for me that for me. Maybe it will for you too.

Right now, while I basically can only be comfortable in my wheels-chair and my bed, I am continuing to look around at what other countries are producing for the streaming market, and finding some very interesting series.

Here’s a short list for those who are interested.

On Netflix

Surviving Escobar (Colombia

Wild District (Colombia)

Secret City (Australia)

Babylon Berlin (Germany)

Yankee (Mexican)

On Prime

White Dragon (UK)

Informer (Israel)

The Capture (UK)

Carnival Row (US/Britain)

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