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On the air, so to speak
Source:Global Times Published: 2016/7/26 18:43:02
A few TV shows to binge until the heat wave passes
With the heat wave expected to last for another week, you may want to spend the whole day in an air-conditioned room, catching up with the latest TV series, and maybe downing a frozen watermelon. The Global Times checked out some popular ongoing American TV shows, featuring supernatural powers. Even if they can't control the weather, at least they can captivate your attention.
BrainDead
Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a young documentary filmmaker, arrives in Washington for a six-month stint working for her brother, a Democratic senator from Maryland.
During Healy's first week on the job, she discovers that the government is affected by some supernatural power and aliens are taking over the brains of D.C.'s congressmen and staffers.
These space bugs, which look like very large ants, attack through ducts and open windows.
Infected by the space ants, victims' brains either explode, depicted in graphic close-ups, or are controlled.
Some victims manifest their infection by embracing a form of extremism and changing their political orientation.
What also makes the show stand out is its inclusion of real-world events, such as federal government shutdowns and the meteor that fell in Russia in 2013.
The most recent episode also features a montage of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Stranger Things
Set in 1983, it follows a mysterious incident of a young boy who goes missing, breaking the peaceful community of a small town in Indiana.
After the boy, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), disappears in a flash of lightning, Will's mother, played by Winona Ryder, begins to hear him crying out from the walls of her house.
The police's Chief Hopper (David Harbour) leads a search, while the boy's pals conduct their own.
Soon a mysterious girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) appears, and she seems to know Will's whereabouts.
Little by little, they are drawn into a mystery involving top-secret government experiments and terrifying supernatural forces.
Besides conspiracy theories, the series also plays up the nostalgia card. Show creators Matt and Ross Duffer, who also co-directed six of its eight episodes, successfully recreate a world set in the 1980s, with rotary phones, New Wave music and posters of Stephen Spielberg's films.
The Night of
On a Friday night, well-mannered Pakistani-American student Naz (Riz Ahmed) drives his father's taxi off to a party.
On the way he bumps into a mysterious girl who needs a ride to the beach. Attracted by her sultriness and good looks, Naz forgets about the party and goes off with her.
After a night of drug and sex, Naz wakes up to find the girl lying in a pool of blood, stabbed to death. Naz is then charged with her murder and finds himself mired in New York's criminal justice system.
Nobody believes him except Jack Stone (John Turturro), who tries to piece together the night's events via the rest of the episodes.
Preacher
The series follows Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), a troubled minister in a small town in Texas, grappling with his faith as well as a drinking problem.
When he's about to quit the church, he sits on a pew, asking for God's help for the last time, and something supernatural happens.
He is knocked down by a supernatural shadow and wakes to find he possesses Godlike abilities. Whatever he says, happens.
Also in the mix is a vampire, Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), who joins forces with Custer to find God.
Recently AMC renewed the series for a 13-episode second season to be aired next year.
BrainDead
Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a young documentary filmmaker, arrives in Washington for a six-month stint working for her brother, a Democratic senator from Maryland.
During Healy's first week on the job, she discovers that the government is affected by some supernatural power and aliens are taking over the brains of D.C.'s congressmen and staffers.
These space bugs, which look like very large ants, attack through ducts and open windows.
Infected by the space ants, victims' brains either explode, depicted in graphic close-ups, or are controlled.
Some victims manifest their infection by embracing a form of extremism and changing their political orientation.
What also makes the show stand out is its inclusion of real-world events, such as federal government shutdowns and the meteor that fell in Russia in 2013.
The most recent episode also features a montage of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Stranger Things
Set in 1983, it follows a mysterious incident of a young boy who goes missing, breaking the peaceful community of a small town in Indiana.
After the boy, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), disappears in a flash of lightning, Will's mother, played by Winona Ryder, begins to hear him crying out from the walls of her house.
The police's Chief Hopper (David Harbour) leads a search, while the boy's pals conduct their own.
Soon a mysterious girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) appears, and she seems to know Will's whereabouts.
Little by little, they are drawn into a mystery involving top-secret government experiments and terrifying supernatural forces.
Besides conspiracy theories, the series also plays up the nostalgia card. Show creators Matt and Ross Duffer, who also co-directed six of its eight episodes, successfully recreate a world set in the 1980s, with rotary phones, New Wave music and posters of Stephen Spielberg's films.
The Night of
On a Friday night, well-mannered Pakistani-American student Naz (Riz Ahmed) drives his father's taxi off to a party.
On the way he bumps into a mysterious girl who needs a ride to the beach. Attracted by her sultriness and good looks, Naz forgets about the party and goes off with her.
After a night of drug and sex, Naz wakes up to find the girl lying in a pool of blood, stabbed to death. Naz is then charged with her murder and finds himself mired in New York's criminal justice system.
Nobody believes him except Jack Stone (John Turturro), who tries to piece together the night's events via the rest of the episodes.
Preacher
Photos: mtime.com
Developed by Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and Sam Catlin, Preacher is an adaption of a late 1990s comic-book series created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.The series follows Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), a troubled minister in a small town in Texas, grappling with his faith as well as a drinking problem.
When he's about to quit the church, he sits on a pew, asking for God's help for the last time, and something supernatural happens.
He is knocked down by a supernatural shadow and wakes to find he possesses Godlike abilities. Whatever he says, happens.
Also in the mix is a vampire, Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), who joins forces with Custer to find God.
Recently AMC renewed the series for a 13-episode second season to be aired next year.
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