Three other Netflix shows to binge in March, apart from the obvious
With the focus on this month’s flagship titles (ONE PIECE and Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man), we’d like to point out some other new arrivals. Obviously we recommend those two, but there’s plenty of time to watch a few others. Note also Netflix has produced this guide to every show coming this month (though it misses one of our choices!)
Our three other Netflix shows to binge in March
Our three shows are The Man in the High Castle, The Mentalist and Southland. While the first two are also available on Prime Video, not everyone will have that subscription, and may also prefer to watch the shows without adverts (depending on their Netflix subscription). Here’s a quick summary of each of the three.
The Man in the High Castle
Arriving in 2015, this was arguably the first big show on Prime Video, the one everyone watched as soon as they picked up a subscription. Running for four seasons and forty episodes, it’s an adaption of Philip K Dick’s novel of the same name. Set in 1962, the main setting is a parallel world in which the Axis power were victorious, defeating the Allies. America fell to both Japan and Germany, with Washington destroyed by an atomic bomb. The story focuses on Juliana Crane (Alexa Davalos) who learns of the man in the High Castle and his collection of films showing other versions of history, including ones with the Allies winning the war. The show goes on to explore the premise of alternate history.
It went on to win multiple awards.
The Mentalist
By contrast, The Mentalist is a police procedural coupled with the idea of the expert consultant. In this case it’s former fake psychic Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) who, over seven seasons ending in 2015 and 151 episodes helps solve numerous murders while (for the first five and a half seasons) is dominated by Jane’s hunt for serial killer Red John who killed Jane’s wife and child. There’s a lot of dark in the series, as well as plenty of humour and a charm-laden performance from Baker. Of all the shows of this type, it’s Baker’s performance which lifts this into our must watch category.
Southland
Finally, we move to gritty police drama in the form of Southland. It runs five seasons and forty-three episodes. Described as “raw and authentic”, Netflix has produced this guide, from which we take:
Rookie police officer Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) learns some hard lessons on his first day on the force in Southland, which opens with a sort of warning: “Only 9,800 police officers patrol the city of Los Angeles, an area of 500 square miles and 4 million people.”
This five-season drama, which ran from 2009 to 2013 , follows a group of patrol officers and detectives who work together to keep the streets safe — while also dealing with their complicated personal lives.
There’s a lot of new shows arriving all the time, and too much choice. We hope this has at least given you some ideas of what to watch.