Summary 2021 on TV
"The Squid Game", "Lupine", "Dexter", "Sex Education": 2021 Series Parade - 40-31 places
Walla!'S Series Parade
Culture continues, this time with the series that came back to life and captured our attention again, the series that disappointed in their second season but still loved, the series that came back to itself, and also two of Netflix's big foreign successes this year, including the biggest series of 2021. Part Two
Ido Yeshayahu, Ilan Kaprov and Ofir Artzi
27/12/2021
Monday, 27 December 2021, 00:04
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Trailer for the series "The Squid Game" (Netflix)
2021 Series Parade: 50-41 places
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Digging Broadcast
40. Sweet Toth: A boy with horns
Original Name:
Sweet Tooth
Broadcast:
Netflix
In contrast to the much darker and gloomier original material on which "Sweet Tooth" is based, the television adaptation chooses to deliberately stick to hope. An important virtue given that this is a series about the consequences of a deadly plague - not amazing timing, to say the least. She illuminates the dystopian darkness with the help of the dreamy optimism of her protagonist, the boy Gus, who sees through the screen of melancholy that has descended upon the world. And so, between the great affection for the sweet (hence the nickname that bears the name of the series) and the naive belief in everyone who happens to be in his way and his ultimate goal, Gus infects both the characters that come his way and the viewers with a glimmer of good faith. This choice prevents the series from sinking too deep into the melancholy and suffering that are part of many series in the genre, and instead makes it a fun adventure to sip on the weekend binge life.
This choice is not limited to the scripted meaning of the word.
Also in its visual aspect, "Sweet Toth" transcends the boundaries of the genre, and at times looks like a work by Wes Anderson.
The spectacular views of New Zealand, where the series was filmed, are flattering and flattering from the design choices of the characters themselves and the childlike innocence that emanates from them.
Even the minimalist deadly virus symptoms (which the series chooses to present) are ones that do not obscure the colorfulness and hope that emanates from it in almost every scene.
Although even in this reality "Sweet Toth" still deals with difficult issues and events, at no stage does it lose the delicate balance between tension and loss of hope.
And yes, it certainly helps that a significant portion of the episodes are about 40 minutes long.
This focus ensures that we do not suffer from a sugar attack as well.
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Illuminates the darkness through optimism.
"Sweet Toth: A Boy with Horns" (Photo: Kirsty Griffin / Netflix)
39. Stardust
Original name:
Starstruck
Broadcast:
BBC (In Israel Bite, Hot and Cellcom TV)
There are not many things in "Stardust" that can really be called original - a relationship between a celeb and a "civilian" we've seen a lot before, as well as a girl in an urban identity crisis or Accidental eating of marijuana-filled brownies for example.
Luckily in 2021 "original idea" is a rare and unnecessary concept, otherwise New Zealand rose Rose would never get the green light to write a short, light-hearted comedy about her life in London, and most of us would not have been exposed to this great fun.
Matpao used the conventions of the romantic comedy genre, and in particular of course "Notting Hill", to create something different, natural, captivating.
She designed, and probably on her own basis, the character of the protagonist as a mature, real, uncompromising woman, confident and complete with her peculiarities, the absolute antithesis to "parallel god" for example, and there is something captivating in her simplicity and that of the series as a whole.
Even in its more serious moments, its precise metaphor radiates above the screen as if it were a large, glowing disco ball.
It should be emphasized that about this "star dust" rises and falls: its metaphor is simply wonderful.
She does this series, beyond the fact that technically she did do this series.
The playful chemistry between her and Nicks Patel, who plays the movie star who roamed around and rightly refuses to let go, warms and expands the heart, and is mostly the one that turns "Stardust" into a refreshing romantic comedy of a new and much healthier, witty and charming variety.
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Just wonderful.
Rose Matpao, "Stardust" (Photo: BBC)
38. Say it's a city
Original Name:
Pretend It's a City
Broadcast:
Netflix
In the rich content world we live in, with a new streaming network rising or falling every day, it's hard to get excited about a seven-part documentary series, accompanied by a grumpy 70-year-old woman who keeps complaining about banal things. Bags in bookstores, people stopping on the street to look at the phone or just the difficulty of finding an apartment. But Fran Leibowitz is no longer a woman, she is an institution of words, opinions and reason. Martin Scorsese does not choose to focus a work on each and every one, and the fact that here he also serves as a facilitator, or rather as the one who keeps the balls that Leibowitz lands, we get to see him rarely enjoy the process. Scorsese is torn with laughter in every scene. His laughter rolls. authentic. addictive. Leibowitz really makes him laugh, because she's really funny. It's hard not to roll with laughter along with him.
It is important to clarify that there is no love story here that blinds the artist's eyes and presents the viewer with a kind of clean version of New York.
This is not a "friends" that sells us a version of the city that has no blacks or gays and that an unemployed waitress can rent a huge apartment together with a friend.
Nor is it "never, rarely, sometimes, always" that paints New York as a kind of ongoing, noisy and merging nightmare.
Leibowitz presents a kind of realistic version of "Seinfeld", with an aesthetic combination of the classic Woody Allen films, at a pace that ranges from the swing of Sinatra to Charles Mingus.
No wonder the prominent thought in watching Fran Leibowitz is that this is the female version of Larry David.
In many ways, they were separated at birth.
(Living Room Fellow)
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It's hard not to roll with laughter.
"Let's say it's a city" (Photo: Netflix)
37. Lost in nature
Original Name:
The Wilds
Broadcast:
Amazon Prime Video
While the Yellows have been magnetizing all the buzz in recent weeks, it's worth lingering over another twisty series that dealt with a group of teenage girls whose plane crashed on a lonely island. While there is nothing original in the story of creatures who find themselves isolated and forced to fend for themselves and learn to survive on their own, the stick of "Lost in Nature" (a generic and silly name, certainly in the face of the required "wild girls") works, in part because of self-awareness. In one episode, one of the girls tells another girl that "we will not be a 'breakfast club'." But that's exactly what "Lost in Nature" does successfully: a dramatic and turbulent melting pot of black girls at a time when youth is at their most dramatic threshold, never to have discovered how much they needed each other if they had not been abandoned together.
Part of the uniqueness of "Lost in Nature" is the fact that the heroines are truly alone.
There is no mysterious evil in uniting in front of him, at least to the best of their knowledge, other than loneliness and hunger.
There is no glimpse into future events that ask us to guess the gaps between then and now.
The girls are just stuck with each other and with the fears, scratches and circumstances that led them to this place.
The result is an effective and at times even exciting drama, which holds up well even in a season of ten episodes lasting about an hour, and makes you want to see what happens next.
Thankfully, this is expected: the series has been renewed for a second season.
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Efficient and exciting.
"Lost in the wild" (Photo: Amazon Prime Video)
36. The squid game
Original Name:
Squid Game
Broadcast:
Netflix
What more can be said about the most amazing phenomenon of the year on television, and perhaps in pop culture in general. Out of nowhere this Korean series came and became a global word-of-mouth sensation, with no big stars, no reliance on a reputable brand or a huge budget. From the ground it grew and conquered the whole world, but the whole. The most-watched series ever on Netflix, and accordingly also the most-watched series this year on television around the world.
There have been enough attempts to decipher the secret of success, including here with us, and everything is true. The "Squid Game" clearly detailed a huge and basic collective string among an audience around the world, which reflected something that even if many of the spectators did not formulate for themselves, they felt it in their flesh. And unlike many other successes (e.g. "The Paper House"), "The Squid Game" is really good, which has helped it thrive even in those who usually twist their noses.
Amidst the graphic violence and built-in cruelty in the story of the rich lashing out at the poor, some of the most amazing dramatic moments have emerged this year on television.
Most of them culminated in the sixth episode of the first season, when the protagonists chose a partner for the next mission, and then it became clear to them that they had to face each other knowing that one victory meant the death of the other.
Suddenly the tragic garnet, which had hitherto been relatively marginal, took on a surprising and heartbreaking validity, illustrating how clever the "squid game" was in the way it constructed its plot, and how well it created characters we regretted.
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A series faithful to the hero.
"Dave" (Photo: FX)
35. Dave
Original name: Dave
Broadcast: FX (In Israel Bite)
in the 2020 parade: 13th place
One of the distinctive features of "Dave" since its inception was its absolute adherence to the hero's place. When he is revealed as a great talent in rap and comedy, so too is he revealed as a surprise laden with skill and inspiration. As he matures as a person, this is how the series demonstrates maturity. So when at the start of the second season Dave found himself facing a broken creative trough, the series and its viewers were forced to wander with him into oppressive districts. It culminates in the third episode, where he and his friend Benny hang out with them in the latter's house and do weird and repulsive things, like walking around naked and drinking each other's shower water.
But in the same episode Dave is reprimanded by his friends and comes to his senses, and with him the series.
And when later on he tries to overcome the drought until he finally succeeds, so - you guessed it - so does the series.
At the same time, similar to the first season, the same friends who rebuked Dave get separate stories, which continue to make them real characters on their own and expand the universe in which the series takes place.
It's a clever weave that leads to the season's crescendo in the seal episode, with the friendships between Dave and Gita - the hype whose job it is to excite audiences with performances and generally lift the protagonist's morale - comes to the test just as Dave's career breaks new records.
Like the previous time, the end of the first season of "Dave" was wonderful and testified to a very promising direction that he finally encountered bumps.
Despite this, the uniformity and ascent in the second part of the second season surpassed even its best moments ever, so once again it seems that she is on the right track and that the best is yet to come.
Like the hero at its center.
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Uneven season but with powerful peaks.
"Legendary Journey" (Photo: Apple TV Plus)
34. A Legendary Journey
Original Name:
Mythic Quest
Broadcast:
Apple TV Plus
in the 2020 Parade:
4th place
With the much-anticipated return of the great behind-the-scenes comedy from a gaming company, it seemed like it was right in the element where we left it. It was preceded by a wonderful isolation special in the face of the reality of the Corona, which unlike many other attempts - not only wonderfully captured the joking feelings, difficulties and accidents, but woven them all holistically into the universe in which the series operates - including an ending that is probably the most comforting and satisfying In this field in television in 2020. But then, with the official start of the second season, something happened to "Legendary Journey." She became entangled in the self-search of her protagonists, especially Poppy and Ian, and forgot to move forward in the same creative madness that had so characterized the first season. Without that momentum, even the witty clashes between the protagonists suddenly seemed more disgusting than amusing.
But fortunately, even in a non-uniform season, "Legendary Journey" found the places to mention its power.
This happened mostly in episodes 6 and 7 dedicated to C.W., and shed a completely different light on this ridiculous character.
As she did wonderfully in the first season, here too it is the journey back in time that gives "Legendary Journey" the opportunity to create an entire world in a short time, discover beauty in heartbreak and overcome obstacles, and make us better understand the field in which it operates.
No wonder the episodes that came after that, the ones that locked up the season, also enjoyed this momentum, which will hopefully continue with us right from the start of next season.
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Hot brioche from the mafia.
"Lupine" (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier, Netflix)
33. Lufen
Original Name:
Lupine
Broadcast:
Netflix The
charm of
Netflix
's hit sting series lies in the mixing that takes place between then and now. On the one hand, her style is classic - it has no contemporary stylistic features, such as frantic editing and overuse of gadgets, and as befits the character of a protagonist, it has a kind of gentlemanliness and elegance that is more characteristic of other times. On the other hand, its content is modern, topical and relevant. And so, behind the plots of crime, mystery and action, which often slide into absurd districts, hides a very serious preoccupation with questions of race and status.
Thanks to all this, "Lupine" is not just a fun series to watch, but something beyond - its creators make good use of French classics to discuss French history, and show how it is founded on racism, colonialism, class oppression and capital-government ties.
Alongside the humor and action scenes, she also often wanders into darker districts, for example through the character of a journalist exposing corruption, who named her dog after Emile Zola's famous article in the Dreyfus affair, and her life took a tragic turn due to her daring to reveal what is rotten in France.
Unlike "Emily in Paris", the other Netflix series that took place in the City of Lights, here the raw materials are excellent: the team consists of the best actors and actresses in France, the directing is skilled and the script is witty.
This time the result is not a baguette from the writer, but a brioche that came out hot from the bakery.
(Avner Shavit)
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Waiting for the episode every week.
"Dexter: New Blood" (Photo: Showtime)
32. Dexter: New Blood
Original name:
Dexter: New Blood
Broadcast:
Showtime (in Israel Bite) The
season is still in full swing, but even now the resurgence of crime drama can be crowned as one of the most successful in a climate where too many series come to life and crash (hey, "Sex and the City").
And "Dexter" needed it, because the end of the original series is one of the most infamous in the history of television, so a new volume for the story could dim it.
That's why Clyde Phillips was brought in again, who created the series and retired after the fourth season, and that's what "Dexter: New Blood" looks like.
The location may be different - the bustling and sunny Miami is replaced by a small, snowy town in upstate New York - but beneath the different mantle it is easy to spot the same familiar lady.
Dexter's thematic correspondence with its origins is also evident in screenwriting choices - Harrison, Dexter's son, locates his father and may also be suffering from the same psychotic problem.
In this way, the series commemorates the good moments of its past and at the same time wisely prepares the possibility for a new generation.
This is not to say that the new series is perfect.
Far from it.
"Dexter" has never been a true masterpiece but has always relied on the coincidences and silly choices of some of the characters;
And Dexter himself may have belonged to the collection of complex anti-heroes of the first decade of the millennium, but the series has always portrayed him as a true hero who always manages to escape and has fun cheering him on.
And it's really fun.
At its best, "Dexter" was suspenseful and sweeping, a series that is waiting to face its new episode, and that's exactly what "New Blood" does.
So not obvious.
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החזירה עטרה ליושנה. "חינוך מיני"(צילום: נטפליקס)
31. חינוך מיני
שם מקורי: Sex Education
גוף שידור: נטפליקס
במצעד 2020: במפחי הנפש
העונה השנייה של "חינוך מיני" הייתה כל כך מתישה עד שכיכבה אצלנו ברשימת מפחי הנפש של 2020. בהתאם, הציפיות מהעונה השלישית לא היו גבוהות במיוחד, אבל כסדרה שבתחילתה הייתה מתוקה מאוד, היינו חייבים לה ולעצמנו את החסד של לתת לה הזדמנות נוספת. זה השתלם בהחלט.
היא עדיין אוהבת לא מעט קלישאות, ועדיין אין שום הצדקה שכל פרק בה יארך שעה, אבל העטרה חזרה ליושנה. בעונה השלישית "חינוך מיני" זנחה את הקומדיה המופרזת שאפיינה את קודמתה, וחוזרת שוב לאיזון מוצלח רוב הזמן כמו בעונה הראשונה. יותר מאי פעם נדמה שיוצרי הסדרה צופים ב"פה גדול" ורושמים הערות, ואם בעבר זה הפך אותה לגרוטסקית ומוגזמת מדי, הפעם זה נעשה בצורה מתונה יותר (טוב, מלבד תקרית חרא דוחה באחד הפרקים). "חינוך מיני", שגם ככה הייתה מאוד סובלנית, רק הפכה יותר ויותר מכילה. היא בחנה את הספקטרום המיני והמגדרי, ועשתה זאת בצורה שמזכירה את "פה גדול", למשל עם דמות א-בינארית חדשה שהצטרפה (ומדרישות הליהוק של העונה הרביעית שכבר הוזמנה, עולה שצפויה להגיע גם דמות טרנסג'נדרית).
This tone is part of the DNA of "sex education", a series about boys who are constantly trying to do the right thing, or at least make sure that their decisions are informed and considered.
culture
TV
TV from abroad
Tags
The squid game
Stardust
Dave - Series
Mythic Quest
Dexter
Sex Education - Series
Summary 2021
