Schit's creek

The pandemic has been depressing a lot. Watched this series during first lockdown when the circumstances where not so grieving compared to the second one. 

The idea of a big billionaire going broke was a cool one at that point where the world looked stable in every dimension. But after two waves of pandemic, it's a common scene in every household. If it's only the losses in finances, I am glad. Many lives are lost in the meanwhile. 

It's about a very affluent family losing all the wealth and migrate to a small and remote town "Schitts creek" which once they bought as a joke. Johnny Rose is the owner of Rose video and his wife Moira is a soap opera actress. They have 2 adult children David and Alexis. The plot is about how the family adjusts to the new life in the creek. They realise life lessons and find love. 

I found Johny Rose(Eugene Levy) to be the funniest. Moira Rose(Catherine O Hara) is best when she delivers the quirky and profound dialects. Alexis(Annie Murphy) is over reacting mostly. David(Daniel Levy) does a good job in balancing the scenes with these weird family members. There is a good portion of gay love between David and Patrick. One of the good things I found was that the gayness is never represented with resistance or opression from either family members or the people of Schitts creek. 

I laughed through some of the seasons but the remaining 50% of the seasons were plain boring and drama like. 

Have fun watching this light comedy if you have surplus time! 

Dark - Netflix series

Its been a while that I finished watching this series and I am still assimilating thoughts of it while watching, rewatching, making note of things I watched and going through the notes. 

Seriously this is 10000ft above the normal time travel movies/series made in my time line. The editing and cinematography is so awesome that when we rewatch and read between the lines is when we actually understand the intensity of it. I am reading Bhagavat geeta on the side lines and both these make an emotional, spiritual and psychological stir up. Its one mind hunting, brain blasting series that made me appreciate time, space, nature and human bonding. 

Here is the starting lines in the trailer that drew me towards it - "We trust, time is linear, that it is proceeds eternally and uniformly. In to infinity. But the distinction between past, present and future is nothing but an illusion. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow are not consecutive, they are connected in a never ending circle. Everything is connected" 

The episodes are full of liners like these and I have written down lots of them. If you are looking for quotes, there are n number of sites that will give that exactly.  

Some of the ideas/thoughts/lessons that I concluded from the series are 

1. The world we believe in is an illusion - it Does not exist. The people we have imagined to have loved do not exist. Ulrick, Jonas, Mikkel, Martha, Claudia do not exist. 

2. We cannot undo things that are destined to happen no matter how much we time travel back and forth. No matter what circus we do to change things, they cannot be changed. 

3. Above all, human bonds remain of paramount importance and one cannot do away with the love one has for other. Love can sustain even in the alternate universes and across time zones. 

4. Curiosity has same effect as loving someone - Both drive you to do any extreme. 

5. Life scars you with its perturbations. But at the same time, gives you strength to do what is right. 

6. Whatever you are up against(or for), only you can do it by your self (alone)

6. (After thought) - Will you ever know what is "Right" - to do right? Good and evil are a question of perspective. (Answers in Geeta)

Plot : Its complex. Read the wikipedia maps to aid your understanding. If you get hold of it, focus on the scenes and try comprehending why one is after the other. Season 1 is a good visual experience but Season 2 and 3 are simply there to set the stage(especially the first 4 of season 3) for the finale. At times, the directors just want to confuse you with unnecessary gyaan (with bootstrap paradox and time travel related paradoxes). But all in all, one good series in recent times with a well satisfactory ending. 

Some cheat sheets here too to help you remember.