Five Reasons Why You Should Watch The Bletchley Circle

Because everything I post apparently has a story behind it, here's the story for this one:

This past week, my brother went to a friend's house to spend the night playing video games and not sleeping or whatever.  He ended up extending it to two nights, so it was just the three of us girls around here.  As we were here for two days with not too much to do, Mom decided that she wanted to browse Netflix and find some shows to watch in the future.  Now this may seem strange, but we've never sat down and just scrolled through the offerings on Netflix, we usually just find something we want and go with that.  But we ended up making a list of shows that we thought were possibilities (always with the thought of if it's bad or nasty in the first episode, we'll stop).  The first one we watched was kind of meh, it wasn't great and it wasn't really clean, and while we had stayed up until 1am watching it, we didn't feel like it had been worth that. 

But then we started this one.

And it was all better.

The Bletchley Circle ran for two seasons from 2012 to 2014, and followed the story of four women in post-WWII England who are trying to live normal lives after working for the government during the war. 

So here's why you should watch The Bletchley Circle:


1. It's short.

The first season is only three episodes, and the second season is only four.  This makes it super binge-worthy.  Each episode is about an hour, so you're only dedicating seven hours of your life to these ladies as opposed to the 50+ I've dedicated to Once Upon a Time (for example).

2. It's historically accurate.

The costumes.  THE COSTUMES, GUYS.  I'm jealous of every single outfit in this show I want them all.  Not only that, but the women's roles in society is accurate, the way they have to acclimate back into society is accurate, and as a history nerd I adored every second of it.

3. It's British.

Dumb reason, I know, but hear me out.  I don't know about you, but I love British television shows.  Now, I still haven't watched Doctor Who or Sherlock, but I love hearing the accents and the lingo.  And I caught myself thinking in a British accent for several days afterward, no joke.  Also, this show is just so British.  What do they do when something goes wrong?  They make tea.  Susan's kids call her "mummy" and it's adorable.

4. GIRL POWER.

Much like "Agent Carter" (another one of my faves), this show features kick-butt women who lead their own lives and don't need no man (except for Susan, who is married to the sweetest guy. I'd marry him.).  We've got a single woman out on her own and living her own life (Millie), a librarian (Jean), a younger woman with an abusive husband and a photographic memory (Lucy), and then of course Susan whose husband is wonderful as I've said, I love him.   But the whole series centers around them going out and solving murders on their own.

5. It's fantastic.

There are heavy themes in this show.  I mean themes like abuse, human trafficking, and, obviously, murder.  But it does it in a way that never ever makes anything seem okay.  Even the others find out that Millie has been smuggling things on the side (which, of course, gets her into trouble), the others make sure that she knows she's in the wrong.  There are consequences for the actions in this show, which is something that is very rare in media these days. 
But on the lighter side, the friendships between the women are wonderful.  There are funny moments.  There's sweetness between Susan and her family, and a cute relationship beginning between Lucy and a Scotland Yard agent in the second season. 

DISCLAIMER:
If you have issues with blood, murder, or things like that, this isn't the show for you. 
But if you're into murder mysteries and awesome women, enjoy, my friends.

~ Abby

Seven Reasons Why You Should Watch Leverage

If you've been keeping up with my tumblr (which I totally understand if you don't), you know that my most recent obsession is Leverage. 



This show (this beautiful show) ran from 2008 to 2012, and featured five seasons of cons, hilarity, and friendship.  Starring Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Aldis Hodge, and Beth Riesgraf, created by the same genius team who would later go on to create the wonder that is The Librarians, and started by smashing every trope you've ever known.

So why should you watch this fantastic show?  Here are seven reasons why:

1. It's on Netflix.

Okay, kind of a weird one, I know.  But honestly, if something's on Netflix (especially if all of it's there), I'm much more likely to watch it.  All five seasons are available.

2. It's completed.

This kind of goes along with the first one.  It wasn't canceled, it wasn't dragged out until it died, it was finished.  With a satisfactory ending.  What more could you want? (*cough* a spin-off with the trio, please and thank you *cough*)

3. The storyline is brilliant.

Here's the plot: An ex-insurance investigator (Nathan "Nate" Ford) is thrown together with the world's greatest criminals - a thief (Parker), a hacker (Alec Hardison), and a "retrieval specialist" (Eliot Spencer).  To wreak vengeance on the man who betrayed them in the first episode, the join forces with a grifter [or actress] (Sophie Devereaux) and decide that working together might be just what they needed.  They end up becoming a team, calling themselves "Leverage Consulting and Associates", and fighting the bad guys of the world through scams and cons.  Because don't you just love when characters who are all like "I work alone" become each other's found family?  I know I do.

4. It's so quoteable.





Quips and witty remarks abound.  Where most other crime shows have a tendency to be dark and gritty, Leverage remains light-hearted through most of it's episodes.  I mean, there's a parody of "The Office".  It's hilarious. 

5. The friendships are golden.

Especially these three oh my gosh.  In every episode, the relationships between the characters are deepened and explored.  The family aspect between the team has quickly become one of my favorites in all of television.  And I love television.

6. Alec Hardison.

He gets his own category.  Why is it that the sassy African American men end up as my favorite characters?  (I'm lookin' at you, Burton Guster)  I have no clue, but the fact that Alec Hardison exists should be enough reason to watch this show.  He's snarky, he's brilliant, and he's guaranteed to make you laugh every time.  (with the exception of that one episode in which he makes you cry... he made me cry...)

7. It's beautiful.

As I said, it deals with some heavier topics, but it keeps everything balanced between the hard things and the light fluff.  Yes, there's some language.  There are a few... um... questionable scenes.  (You can't say I haven't warned you.)  But once you've finished, it's worth it.  Each character is developed deeply, their arc is really seen through, they grow and change as they learn from each other, and you learn things from them.  They have real issues, they deal with serious problems, and yet at the end of the day, they stand by each other and really do become a family. 

So, how long will I love Leverage?  Eliot knows:

Indeed.

Have you ever seen Leverage?  If you watch it and need to ramble about it, do come to me because I am always up for a Leverage ramble.

(Oh, and, yes, I'm trying to get into a better schedule to actually keep up with this thing... so bear with me.)

~ Mia