Friday Favorites Remixed: Bingeable Series
Friday, August 14, 2020
Discover your newest binge and get to know our staff a little better with the Asia Society Texas Center team's favorite ways to stay entertained indoors! In each post we'll share with you our picks for what to read, watch, listen to, and more.
Our Friday Favorites: Remixed series looks back at the dozens of suggestions our staff members have made over the last few months, collecting them by theme and adding a couple new suggestions to help you find exactly what you most want to nerd out to!
This week's remix highlights the TV shows that the staff loves to binge. Find a new escape in this exploration of drama, comedy, and food alike. Please note that many of these recommended shows include adult themes and language.
Cooking: Taste the Nation
Recommended by Mei Qi, Business and Policy Manager
"This show is a food tour, a history lesson, and a travel show combined. Padma Lakshmi visits a different immigrant community in a new city every episode — with one episode focused on the indigenous Navajo population in Arizona — to learn more about their food and culture. You end up learning about not just the different dishes and food traditions, but also the vital role they play in that community's identity and history. The show highlights how these communities have adapted since immigrating to the U.S. and contributed to the diversity of American food culture. Keep an eye out for a gorgeous alfresco dining scene in every episode with a group of friends, which makes me desperately jealous. The show highlights so many interesting U.S. cities and food cultures that I'd love to visit and explore. I have a list!"
Seasons: 1
Find it on: Hulu
Thriller/Dark Comedy: Killing Eve
Recommended by Kaitlyn Ellison, Performing Arts and Culture Manager
"Sandra Oh is a total standout in this show and has been making history with her awards for portraying the eponymous Eve, a British intelligence operative perpetually chasing assassin Villanelle all across Europe. This dark comedy is about the obsessive love-hate relationship between these two characters, and is utterly bingeable, fun, stylish, and murderous. Season 3 just finished in May!"
Seasons: 3
Find it on: AMC (Season 3) | Hulu (Seasons 1–2)
K-Drama: It's Okay to Not Be Okay
Recommended by Jennifer Kapral, Director of Education and Outreach
"In this groundbreaking new Korean drama, viewers follow three main characters as they navigate traumas, mental health issues, and healing. Set in a psychiatric hospital, the show subverts tropes and stigmas about mental health through the intimate relationships viewers are able to have with the characters. Everyone struggles — and that's okay."
Seasons: 1
Find it on: Netflix
Mystery: Erased
Recommended by Nina Shimaguchi, Japan Outreach Initiative Coordinator
"The original story was written as a manga, but since the story is very deep and well thought-out and because it became so popular, the manga was adapted into an anime, a movie, then finally a Netflix series. The story is so interesting that I was constantly in suspense; it follows a classic mystery format but is unique enough to not be predictable. Also the 'revival' ability depicted is a nice metaphor for destiny; there are a lot of human themes that made the story relatable."
Seasons: 1
Find it on: Netflix
Coming of Age: Never Have I Ever
Recommended by Izzy Ishak, Volunteer since 2018
"We know the struggles of every high school kid trying to rebrand in their high school years. Like Devi, a sophomore who sees herself as a California girl but always feels reminded that she is also Indian American. Devi is not just trying to live her best life; she is also coping with traumatic loss. This series delves into a topic that many Asian families refuse to talk openly about: grief. It also deals with parenting, the interactions in a community, and the prospect of emancipation. This is one to binge!"
Seasons: 1
Find it on: Netflix
Comedy: PEN15
Recommended by Alauna Rubin, Production Manager
"Heartily recommend PEN15. Hilarious and heartfelt show about two seventh grade girls going through middle school. The two main characters are played by adults, but all of the other kid characters are played by kids. Reminds me of Big Mouth, but realistic."
Seasons: 2 (The second season premieres on September 18)
Find it on: Hulu
Drama: Made in Heaven
Recommended by Saleena Jafry, Director of Business and Policy
"I am currently enjoying Made in Heaven, which is a nine-episode series telling the story of two Delhi-based wedding planners who know that India is a society in transition, with tradition clashing with modern individual aspirations. With each ceremony, planners Tara and Karan enter into the lives of a different bride and groom, and are introduced to the complexities of Indian life which in some ways mirrors their own lives — Tara, a woman from the wrong side of the tracks who clawed her way up into high society through marriage, and Karan, a gay man living in a country where homosexuality is illegal."
Seasons: 1
Find it on: Amazon Prime
Business and Policy programs are endowed by Huffington Foundation. We give special thanks to Bank of America, Muffet Blake, Anne and Albert Chao, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Nancy Pollok Guinee, and United Airlines, Presenting Sponsors of Business and Policy programs; Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Leslie and Brad Bucher, Presenting Sponsors of Exhibitions; Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Milton D. Rosenau, Presenting Sponsors of Performing Arts and Culture; Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsor of Education & Outreach; and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Presenting Sponsor of the Japan Series. General support of programs and exhibitions is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Hearst Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, McKinsey & Company, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Vinson & Elkins LLP, and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as Friends of Asia Society.
About Asia Society at Home
We are dedicated to continuing our mission of building cross-cultural understanding and uplifting human connectivity. Using digital tools, we bring you content for all ages and conversations that matter, in order to spark curiosity about Asia and to foster empathy.
About Asia Society Texas Center
With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.