It’s late August, the season of sticky heat and that strange in-between stretch where summer isn’t quite over but fall hasn’t yet begun. Whether you’re in school or not, you’re probably having nightmares about going back to school. We’ve all been there.
In our minds, the cosmic dread of late August is the perfect excuse to close the blinds, crank up the AC, and retreat into a Netflix TV binge. This week’s recommendations: a cult-favorite that should have become one of Netflix’s recurring anthology series, a near-perfect anime that still has more to come, and one of the more terrifying reality shows you will ever watch (that is still pure Polygon).
Look away from the calendar and treat yourself with a little TV. You earned it.
Maniac
Number of episodes: 10
Netflix’s critics like to point out that the streaming giant is short on popular franchises. Sure, there are Stranger Things and Squid Game, but one of those shows ended earlier this summer and the other is wrapping up by the end of the year. (And whether their respective spinoffs succeed remains to be seen.) The company recently scored a major hit with KPop Demon Hunters, which it reportedly plans to milk for all its worth, but if Netflix needs any more original IP to run into the ground, there’s an obvious option hiding in plain sight: Maniac.
The miniseries from Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) and Patrick Somerville (Station Eleven) debuted on Netflix in 2018, and tells the story of Annie (Emma Stone) and Owen (Jonah Hill), two mentally troubled people living in a retrofuturistic version of New York. Both agree to participate in the same mind-altering phramaceutical test, and the drug sends them careening through a series of situations ranging from suburban Long Island to a Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy realm. The overarching plot of Maniac isn’t really the point. It’s more about seeing these two great actors get dropped into increasingly absurd situations, which is why, seven years later, I’m still hoping for a sequel.
But assuming that never happens, there’s no harm in rewatching the original season of Maniac on Netflix right now. —Jake Kleinman
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Number of episodes: 28
Subverting the usual fantasy narrative about a group of heroes whose journey is based around developing their skills and connections as they head toward the final encounter, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End wonders what happens with heroes after the villain is defeated.
With a mix of comedy, action, and drama, the show follows Frieren, an elf who never gets old. Immortality comes with a price, though: She lived longer than all her friends, giving her a unique perspective on life and death in the face of mortality. However, as the world changes around her faster than Frieren can follow, she finds herself forming a new group of adventurers with the rigid mage prodigy Fern and the softhearted Stark. While Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End raises contemplative questions about life and friendship, it also comes with some of the coolest action scenes and memorable, funny moments you will see in the current anime scene. —Paulo Kawanishi
Old Enough!
Number of episodes: 10
Let’s face it, American society has failed children by metaphorically — and in some cases, literally — bubble-wrapping their every move. We used to be a society that had playgrounds built from old tires. The people of Japan seem to get the need for nurturing independence through mildly dangerous play, as evidenced by the outstanding documentary series Old Enough!.
Since 1991, the Japanese reality show has sent children as young as two toddling off to run their very first errands. Maybe it’s buying fish at the market or delivering forgotten lunches to older siblings. In each episode, cameras follow from a discreet distance as these tiny adventurers tackle challenges that feel enormous from their low perspective. Your heart rate will never go higher than watching a wee one waddling across a busy street to a nearby corner store in order to buy some oranges. Will the camerapeople protect them!? Who can say.
Every episode is a test of courage, problem-solving, and resilience. Sometimes the kids exhibit confidence, others freeze up and/or burst into tears. Every half hour is a life lesson. With all due to Peter Jackson and his Lord of the Rings trilogy, I have never seen the thrill of a journey captured on screen like the ones in Old Enough! — Matt Patches
