What I'm Watching

The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu) is coming back and it's exciting because its off book.  The concept for this season is still within the world of Gilead but there is no rule book to be followed.  While I appreciated Margaret Atwood's book and think that the first season adhered to the novel, it will be interesting to see how the writers propel the story forward.  Incorporating Offred in Gilead and her husband and best friend in Canada as part of the resistance.  We'll also get a glimpse of life outside of Gilead. This show is going  get all of the shine and praise. Much deserved, it's a great book and they executed the hell out of the show and Elisabeth Moss is amazing as June/Offred.  That said there are other dystopian and post-apocalyptic shows that feature strong female leads.

I've written before about my enjoyment of The 100 and it is entering its fifth season tonight, Clarke was left behind during the next wave of a nuclear meltdown and she's on the ground trying to survive on her own. Octavia is the leader of the clans trapped in the underground bunker and Bellamy and Raven are back in space with the rest of the crew and trying to figure out how to get back to the ground.  Oh, and there's a new threat also coming down to the ground and that scary crew is led by a woman.

I spend a lot of time reading and watching things that are dystopian or post-apocalyptic, one of my favorite books is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.  And I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about how I would survive if it all went pear-shaped (jk it already has) but like would I be able to fend for myself or would I just hope to be taken out in the first wave of a nuclear blast (yes, happy thoughts).  The 100 is exciting and consistently switching it up and surprising us. Really looking forward to this season.

And last but not least is 3%, a Netflix original out of Brazil (say yes to subtitles) and comes back on Friday, April 27th.   3% shares DNA with the not great Elysium, in that the world is devastated, and only the elite are able to live in peace and cleanliness.  What 3% does is add a Hunger Games element and a resistance, the Cause.  At the age of 20 candidates go through "The Process" a series of tests and challenges to see if they have earned a spot on the island, typically only 3% make the cut.  This show is a thriller wrapped in a dystopia.  There many hidden agendas and surprise alliances.  With the second season we'll see more of the island and the day to day of the people in outside.  Catch up on season 1, it's only 8 episodes and you may learn some Portuguese.