Being sick, and then really sick, and then less sick, and then cold-ish, and now just slightly underpowered, has meant that I’ve had time to watch a lot of TV, including some mini-series.

I really liked The Night Manager (imdb | rotten tomatoes). I’m hit and miss with Tom Hiddleston (note: Nellie is not. She is very, very hit.) but he was terrific in this, and so was everyone else in the series. Could have done with another two episodes since the middle (middleston?) felt a bit rushed, and there were a few characters who could have done with a touch more development, but overall excellent. Very clever dialogue too.

Speaking of dialogue, Show Me A Hero (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was adapted by David Simon from Lisa Belkin’s book and it told such a deep, detailed story about one long, unbelievable (and, of course, utterly believable) story of Yonkers in the late 80s as integrated low-income housing was forced on them. Oscar Isaac was outstanding, as is often the case, and a few other surprising turns (Jon Bernthal, Winona Ryder, Catherine Keener) added to it. Recommended, especially if pneumonia fells you and you have six hours to kill.

We’ve also started watching Bloodline (imdb | rotten tomatoes) but I’m not sure yet if I like it. It could be an interesting, if slow-building, story, but apart from Kyle Chandler and Chloe Sevigny I despise literally every other major character on the show.

.:.

Cover photo by Seth Granville, used under Creative Commons license