The Small Screen

The Small Screen

What Metropolis' staff is watching

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Paul McInnes: I’ve been enjoying Season Two of HBO drama “The Deuce.” Focusing on the pornography industry and sex trade of 1970’s New York it’s created by David Simon (of “The Wire” fame) and is written by one of the best American screenwriters and novelists, Richard Price. James Franco plays loveable rogue brothers Vincent and Frankie whilst Maggie Gyllenhaal transforms herself into the role of Candy — sexworker turned cinematic auteur.

Emily Takeuchi-Brown: Netflix Original “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is certainly one to consider. Based on the book of the same name by American author Jenny Han, it’s a teen romance that follows the life of shy half-Korean and half-Caucasian-American Lara Jean (Lana Condor) who writes love letters but never sends them. Drama ensues when her younger sister decides to mail the letters out to her four crushes. It warmly depicts what it’s like growing up in the social media era and how to deal with the passing of a loved one.

Fernando Goya: “S.W.A.T.”, currently showing on CBS, is a remake of an early 70’s TV series. It just started its second season in September. The show explores a little of what S.W.A.T. team members do in their daily lives with interesting stories and strong acting performances.    

Caroline Perrine: For every good show on Netflix there are 15 bland or just plain bad ones. “Maniac” is that good one. The story follows two individuals who sign up for a medical experiment — a treatment intended to help them “fix” their mental illnesses. The treatment uses “dreams” to bring the subjects closer to their healing; however, something goes wrong and Annie (Emma Stone) and Owen (Jonah Hill) end up in the same dreams throughout. The skill of Stone, Hill and Justin Theroux (as the inventor of these pills) makes this unsettling fantasy world very believable as the script brings to the fore pressing social issues in our modern world, particularly mental health.