I’ve found that some of my most delightful discoveries have been the result of recommendations from friends. These are shows that I would never have given a second look to or even knew existed if it hadn’t been for the persistent—nay, annoying—nagging of friends and family members who would insist, “you HAVE to watch this show,” and wouldn’t give up until I did. And, most of the time, I am the one ending up offering up bountiful mea culpas to their wisdom.
Such is the case with the show Resident Alien, a show I had never even heard of until an email 
from my friend Bob, who ended a correspondence a year or so ago with “Have you seen Resident Alien? I think you’d like it.” When I responded that I hadn’t even heard of it, he reiterated how great it was and that I should give it a try. Knowing how many shows I already had on my list, I humored him by telling him I’d look into it. But I knew I wouldn’t.
A year ago, Netflix dropped the series 
Little known fact: spies don’t exist only in America and England. You wouldn’t really know that from watching English-language movies and TV for the past fifty years, but it’s true. The fantastic series The Americans (stay tuned for a future Binge Watch entry) was one show that reminded us of this fact, and I just stumbled across another: The Eastern Gate, a new series on MAX.
the Baltic states to the rest of NATO and the European Union. Don’t worry, you can dive as deeply into the eastern European politics of geography as you’d like, or you can just sit back and watch the action. Personally, I was fascinated by the fact that I was learning about this vital strategic region that I knew nothing about, but then even I got carried away by all the cool spy stuff.
For all of Steven Soderbergh’s status as an elite director in Hollywood, it’s interesting to look back at his filmography and note that, ever since he broke out with Sex, Lies and Videotape in 1989 and established himself as an A-lister in 2000 with Traffic and Erin Brockovich, the only Soderbergh films that people have talked about since have been the pair of Magic Mike films and the Ocean’s trilogy. 
his own creativity and not by commercial incentive. Soderbergh, for example, was the first elite director to shoot an entire film on an iPhone, which was the horror film Unsane in 2018. [Interesting note: the first major director to shoot a film on an iPhone was Sean Baker, who made the low-budget indie Tangerine in 2015. Yes, this is the same Sean Baker who just won four Oscars, including Best Picture, for Anora.] 
I had forgotten that ER was on for fifteen years. From 1994 to 2009, the NBC drama aired 331 episodes, winning 23 Emmys and a legion of fans along the way to becoming one of the most popular and revered television dramas of all time. I myself was a huge fan of the show and still find it incredibly re-watchable as it lives on in syndication. It continues to find new fans as it is easily available not only on streaming (Max or Hulu), but on regular cable every day.