5 TV Shows that Marked My 2020 Lockdown
By: Marjan Krebelj
Tags: Netflix, Quarantine, TV Series, Lockdown, HBO

5 TV Shows that Marked My 2020 Lockdown

Those who are old enough still remember where they were when the towers collapsed on 9/11. It was so unexpected, so emotional and groundbreaking (no pun intended) that it carved a strong line in our brains. Similarly I think it will be very hard to forget what we watched during 2020 lockdowns and how it affected us. Here’s my list.

1. My Brilliant Friend (L’amica geniale)

A beautiful story of coming of age in a poor neigbourhood in Napoli. It is slow paced, emotional and surprisingly well produced series which makes it very easy to fall in love with all of the many characters we follow from the beginning of 1950’s and well into 1960’s.

What initially dragged me into this was amazing production design (for European standards). They didn’t spare any means to recreate vintage Italian look of the series. The story is great, casting perfect, acting good, camera work a little less so (but acceptable), but please take notice of music composed by Max Richter. Oscar worthy, I guess.

Season 1 was aired at the peak of the first wave scare in spring of 2020 and it really marked those times for me. I remember waiting for the next episode which would come every Sunday. Even now, while this crisis is still going on, I find it somewhat romantic to to think about it, but in all objective aspects those times were not that nice at all. :)

2. Devs

It blew my mind when I first read that Alex Garland is planning a series on AI but the actual result surpassed even my highest expectations. The whole look & feel of the series is surreal enough and the actual story only takes it further. Everything about this series is just a marvel to watch, but production design and photography really exceed this TV format. Shots inside the devs facility are transcendental to say the least.

3. Years and Years

A dystopian series on near future in UK. Written and shot well before Covid-19, but in somewhat grim anticipation of it, for sure. I have no idea why our national television network decided to air this just when things were beginning to get serious (again) in autumn, but so they did. It certainly didn’t make my quarantine experience any easier and for the first few episodes I wasn’t sure at al lif I should watch the rest or just leave it altogether.

4. The Queens Gambit

We all know about this one, don’t we? Still, mind boggling production design, casting, acting, photography… everything! OK, not everything, there are some aspects of the script I find flawed (I will not spoil you), but still… very very good. And did I mention production design? How in the world did they make it all so goddamn stylish? Especially the second part of the series when she visits hotels and chess venues is one eye candy piece after another.

5. The Last Dance

First wave, the spring of 2020. Every other year it would be time to inflate my basketball and take it to the court outside. This time I stayed inside and watched the Bulls do it. Or how they did it.

Those games mark the peak of my adolescence and of course I’m somewhat emotional about it. The journey down the memory lane was just as personal as it was historical. What I didn’t expect was that it would make Jordan taking it personally a new meme and the joke of the hour.

Honorable mention: I’m Not Okay With This

This was fun. Not enough to characterise my quarantine days entirely, but a fun thing to watch absolutely. Technically everything about this series is extremely well done (as one would expect from Netflix), but then again its subject matter is rather light and entertaining so it is just as easy to forget it as it is to love it.

So what did you watch this year that marked it profoundly? ;)