For Enjoyment’s Sake is back this week with your favorite writer to point you in the direction of some intensely good shows.
This week is the week to focus on deep, intricate story lines. The shows this week have been hand-picked by yours truly to keep you entertained with complex but still easily-enjoyable story lines. These shows have the intense feel of mystery while keeping you invested in the individual characters.
“Breakout Kings”
“Breakout Kings” is a short, two-season series about a special crime unit within the U.S. Marshals, the unit charged with catching convicts who escape from prison. This unit is different from any other that came before it. This unit includes three current convicts led by a disgraced Marshal and one who has only been working a desk job until now.
The team works together to catch many escaped convicts by using their experience as criminals to aid the process. Thinking like your enemies is easier when you both come from the same place. In return for the criminals’ service to the Marshals, they are given time off their prison sentences.
I always enjoy a good crime show. The mystery of the case is fun to try to figure out before the characters can unravel it themselves. Often the worst thing about these types of shows is they become repetitive after a while. This show didn’t get repetitive, perhaps because it’s so short. Each episode builds on the one before, revealing more of the characters’ backstories and expanding upon the long-term story of the crime unit. Each episode also has the shorter storyline about chasing the convicts and capturing them, always in a different way, giving the viewer closure at the end.
The characters are funny and engaging, which is an important thing for any good show. Every character has an entertaining and intricate backstory that keeps you interested and helps the characters become more than just an image on the screen.
This is a good one to binge- watch. It only has two seasons, so you’ll be done fairly quickly. I know I wish it had more.
“Heroes”
Formatted similarly to a comic book, “Heroes” is an exciting science fiction series complete with people wielding super powers, using them for good and evil. The explanation this show gives for the existence of these powers or gifts is well thought-out based on Darwin’s theory of evolution. The show says human genes are evolving to add these new gifts as part of the next phase of human evolution.
The show follows several characters who have these gifts: a cheerleader, a politician, a politician’s brother, two friends from a company in China, a mom from Las Vegas and many more. The powers these individuals exhibit vary from the ability to fly or to heal from wounds. One of these people can even use all the abilities of those he meets. These characters do good and bad with their gifts but all are afraid of the result if their powers were discovered. These gifted people work against, and some with a secret company that aims to is to study gifted individuals and keep them a secret from the ungifted humans of the world.
This show has a strong storyline, and I often had a hard time not clicking “next episode.” The storyline and the relatable characters pull you in and won’t let go anytime soon. The episodes often have cliffhanger endings, of course, which only make it more difficult to tear yourself away.
I enjoyed the storyline, and the premise of the show made it easier to imagine something similar happening in the real world. I often found the intricacy of the story lines, difficult to follow, but I didn’t mind. The story line being more complicated than your average drama made it more engaging for me.
I have no doubt that if I were to rewatch this series, I wouldn’t be bored at all. It’s the kind of show that is worth rewatching because you recognize more plot points and clues than you did before.