Episode 12: Kingdom, Giri/Haji and Perry Mason!

Published: June 25, 2020, 4 a.m.

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*Go to our website What Are Travis and Elaine Watching? for pix and video and extras.*
The week we're talking about two series currently on Netflix. The first is a hard-boiled noir-y genre-bender from the BBC and takes place in Tokyo and London. The second is a South Koreans 17th-century "sageuk" packed with political intrigue and one of our favorite things, fast zombies!

Giri/Haji (Duty/Shame)

This BBC series, streaming on Netflix is jam-packed. At its core, it is a story of family. Filmed in Tokyo and London it is a two-language series, about 65% Japanese and 35% English, It stars Takehiro Hira, Yosuke Kubozuka, with a stellar supporting cast including Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire) and Justin Long (He's still not a PC.)
There are secret romances, Yakuza gun battles, animation, surprise deaths, junkie prostitutes, and cockney gangsters.
It's a coming of age story, a coming-out story, a female road trip story and has a rooftop scene near the finale that you will never see coming.
Duty/Shame may be back for a second season. We'd love to see more from these engrossing and unpredictable characters.

Kingdom - Netflix

Kingdom, not be confused with The Last Kingdom, which is also streaming on Netflix, is a Sageuk (Korean period drama) set in the period around 1600, which was a low point in South Korea's Joseon Dynasty. In the wake of Japan's attacks, in this story, a rumor is circulating that the King is dead. But is he? Korean language, so used your Netflix subtitles.

Perry Mason

We've been waiting for a year for the new Perry Mason to hit HBO, and it did not disappoint. It's a gritty, Depression-era noir. The original TV show was pretty noir-y too. This is Perry's origin story with a more fleshed out Perry than we have ever seen before. Matthew Rhys, who we love from The Americans, is a down and out Perry, working as a PI in 1930s Los Angeles. We see a few familiar names too, like Della Street and Paul Drake.

Perry Mason boasts a stellar cast of familiar faces, including John Lithgow, Juliet Rylance, Shea Whigham, Chris Chalk, Tatiana Maslany (be still Travis's heart,) Gayle Rankin, Veronica Falcon, and Lili Taylor and Gretchen Mol.\\xa0



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