This time of the year is notorious for bringing in the worst kinds of germs. While we’re desperately waiting for spring to arrive and don our lighter jackets in the hopes that we can will warmer weather our way, we prime ourselves for catching that final bug of the season. You cannot get through a single bus ride without hearing incessant sniffling or muffled coughs. And just when you think you have evaded the misery of a cold or flu, someone sneezes on you while you’re riding the subway and you know, with an impending sense of doom, that there is no way you’re escaping it: that you are going to be subjected to a couple of days in bed in utter misery. I sympathize immensely.
As it is, I am currently sitting down in bed to write this, all cozied up in an oversized sweatshirt, a panda hot water bottle, a giant mug of Ginger Tea beside me, with a growing pile of tissues in the trashcan beside my bed, while I suffer through an inevitable seasonal cold. So, if you are, like me stuck in bed overdosing yourself on Vitamin C and cold & flu medication, you will probably need something to watch to help pass the time. A good movie or TV show can change the atmosphere of a sick bed, tricking you into feeling that it’s a pamper day so much so that you need to remind yourself that you do not have to feel guilty for spending the day in bed. Something gripping, and distracting enough so you do not have to think about how miserable you are feeling. Here are my top five suggestions:
- Altered Carbon – 1 Season, 10 episodes
This is one for sci-fi and murder mystery lovers! This Netflix Original show came out earlier this year and has got people talking. Based on the cyberpunk novel of the same name by Richard Morgan, this futuristic story is based on the creation of the technology to move the human consciousness from body to body, theoretically evading death forever. However, like most things in a capitalist society, evading death and having a new body becomes something mostly accessible only to the rich. So, what happens then when one of the rich’s body is murdered and can’t remember how or by who? They hire a terrorist who has been imprisoned for 250 years to solve their murder. Thoroughly entertaining, occasionally cheesy, but wonderfully thrilling, this is a perfect show to get you out of the sick day mood and swept away into another world, literally!
- Sense8 – 2 Seasons, 17 episodes
I hesitate to put this up here only because I know that anyone who gives it a shot will be hooked and then subsequently devastated when they realise that the two season Netflix original series was cancelled last year on the edge of an immense cliff hanger. However, as upset as that might make me, it is still on my list of binge-able TV shows, and one that I would definitely choose while I’m sniffling away into a million tissues. Luckily enough, a final two-hour episode that will wrap up all the remaining plot lines is set to be released later in 2018, so now is exactly the time to catch up and be ready for the finale. This sci-fi show is based around the concept of eight individuals around the world who are born on the same day being able to “visit” each other telepathically. As if that is not enough to contend with, they are hunted down by a mysterious group who believe them to be dangerous. Give this show a shot and I promise you will not regret it!
- Stranger Things – 2 Seasons, 23 episodes
Now, I know I am pretty late to the bandwagon here, but now that I am here, I am most definitely on it. This show was the perfect mix of nostalgia and suspense that I would want from a binge worthy show. In fact, when I watched it for the first time, I got through both seasons in three days, with very little sleep. Worth it! But for practicality’s sake, this may be a show to watch if you are down with the flu for a full weekend or more. For those of you unfamiliar with the premise, the show follows a group of young boys in the 1980s who are convinced that their friend who has gone missing is in fact still alive, but just in another worldly plane. They enlist the help of a runaway girl who shows up in their town to help them find him.
- Westworld – 1 Season, 10 episodes
Out of all my suggestions, this one is probably the most complex and intriguing show. And the best way to watch a show like this would be to binge all ten episodes at once, like on a sick day. The 2016 show brings up interesting questions about what it means to be human and who gets to decide what humanity means. Moreover, it asks you whether you have ever questioned the nature of your reality. Dark, violent, impossibly multifaceted and addictive, Westworld gained so much fanfare with its first season that a second season is set to air in April 2018. So, much like Sense8, now is the time to watch it if you haven’t before. And even if you have, when better to re-watch it and remind yourself of all that happened before the new episode on April 22nd.
- Star Trek: Discovery – 1 Season, 15 episodes
For my last suggestion, here is a nostalgic show that gets you out of your head but does not ask too much of you on a low energy sick day. For those of you who, like me, watched reruns of Star Trek while growing up, it is a delight to see a fresh story being told. The show takes place a decade before the original Star Trek series, following the USS Discovery and delves into the war between the Federation and the Klingons that occupies much of Star Trek narratives. The fifteen-episode season is the perfect sci-fi getaway on a miserable sick day.
Hope you enjoy these suggestions and get well soon!
~ S ~
