Netflix is known for its out-of-box content exclusive shows that give you a taste of each genre that has ever existed. Starting from the most intense and serious issues it raises using its shows as a medium, it also never fails to provide tons of lighthearted rom-com, which is sometimes the need of the hour. This over a year old pandemic has made us stick to our screens, and you are probably out of shows you’re gonna binge watch next weekend. So here are Netflix shows to binge-watch for the young-adult audiences that should not be skipped while you’re restricted at your homes.
13 Reasons Why
With the exceptional storyline the show follows, 13 Reasons Why has remained to be one of the top shows that have ever premiered on Netflix. Based on the best selling novel, the show has four seasons in total. However, only the debut season of the show is based on Jay Asher’s novel. The rest of the seasons are a result of an extended storyline the makers wanted to create, to portray the harsh reality of teenagers and the angst that lies within them.
Starring Katherine Langford, Dylan Minnette, Brandon Flynn, Ross Butler, and many others in equally important roles, the show’s first season basically revolves around a teenage girl Hannah Baker, who ended up committing suicide when she couldn’t endure the continuous harassment that was laid upon her by her batchmates. The debut season is portrayed by her point of view and narration. She lists 13 reasons why she committed suicide in an audio diary and hands it over to her friend named Tony before taking up the big step.
Two weeks after the death of the girl he loved, Clay comes home to witness a package with no return address on his porch. He opens up the box and finds a bunch of seven cassette tapes. When he plays the first tape, to his horror, the voice that he hears is coming from the grave. It is the voice of Hannah Baker, a girl he loved, who two weeks earlier had taken her own life. Hannah’s instructions are simple: Clay must listen to each tape in turn, for each one is about a person whose actions had some bearing on her suicide. After hearing all the 13 tapes, Clay must send the tapes to the next person on the list. Over the course of the day, Clay will find that Hannah Baker wasn’t who he thought she was and that she wasn’t what everyone said she was. He will learn some bitter truths about himself and the people around him and realize that actions can have unintended consequences.
The initial season deals with Clay, unveiling the people and all the 13 reasons behind Hannah taking up her own life. The second season, however, deals with all the court sessions as the case against all the students, goes to trial, when Clay decides to release Hannah’s audio tapes publicly. We also get to delve deep into the story that the initial season portrayed, knowing the reasons for suicides with a clearer and more focused lens. The third season revolves around the death mystery of Bryce Walker, who was held responsible for the rape and molestation of various girls and was the main reason why Hannah Baker chose to slit off her own wrist.
Along with Bryce being the main subject, Clay and his girlfriend also try to protect Tyler from the consequences of his attempt at the school shooting. And with all the three seasons in line, the fourth and the final season deals with Clay, suffering from mental health issues, while he is unable to cope up with the death of Bryce Walker and Monty, who was falsely framed with the charges of his murder. The stories in each season are picked up from the same point the previous ended with, and this makes the show an extended story, dealing with issues of senior years. 13 Reasons Why is, however, age and content restricted, and the show is not advisable for all viewers. But if you’re up for witnessing an intense and gripping drama series, it should be on your watchlist for sure.
Read: Top 10 Movies to Watch Out For in 2021
Friends
After we’ve talked about an intense drama series, how can we ever forget the most popular sitcom to have ever existed in the entertainment industry? “Friends” has managed to be amongst the trending list always. Centered around the lives of six characters, Friends is an evergreen show that can be watched by people of any age group. The story, in its entire length of 10 seasons, deals with individual growth, career, and love life issues and adulthood dilemmas of six friends as they step towards their phase of maturity. It revolves around the individual lives of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross, that are interconnected, for they are ‘Friends.’
To be a little brief, all six of them have somehow or the other been a part of each other’s lives in their initial years before they ended up being a piece of each other’s hearts. Ross and Monica are siblings, while Chandler has known both of them as Ross and Chandler have been best friends since their educational years. Rachel, who was Monica’s best friend in school, was the secret crush of Ross, and he still has feelings for her in some corner of his heart. Before the arrival of Rachel in the story, Chandler has decided to share his apartment with Joey, who ends up being his best friend, while Monica shares her apartment with Phoebe, who ends up moving out, owing to Monica’s bossy nature.
While they’re having their ‘Friends time, in their favorite coffee shop named ‘Central Perk’, they come across Rachel, who has fleed from her own wedding and then begins a series of stories that are weaved together. Ross has been a victim of a failed marriage after he discovers his wife is homosexual. Rachel is a spoilt brat who knows nothing but to go shopping using her father’s money. Monica, during her childhood, has been a subject of bullying over her weight and personality issues and ends up getting into a serious relationship with her father’s friend, who is over twenty years older than her. Phoebe has had a terrible childhood and lived on the streets after her mother chose to commit suicide. Joey is a struggling actor and sometimes fails to afford his everyday needs. Chandler is a well-to-do man but is unhappy with the job he pursues and is unable to pursue a job that excites him. The six people who have their own individual issues grow out of them and reach the point of pacifism in their lives like all of us do.
Over the course of the show’s seasons, we see different faces of different relationships and how the six of them tackle it with each other’s support and continue to grow into a better person. The show initially shows how Ross and Rachel end up getting into a relationship and falling out while having a ‘break’ that stretches very long. In the course of the seasons, we see Ross falling for many girls and witnessing many failed relationships because of Rachel, and eventually calling off his marriage too. In addition, Monica shatters and believes she isn’t good enough to be loved but ends up finding her soulmate in her best friend. Phoebe is more into flings, but she starts believing in love when we come closer to the show’s finale. While everyone has settled into their own lives, we see Joey, who loves Rachel more than Ross ever could, letting her go for the sake of their relationship.
By the end, the six of them have a content life, in every way, they could ever ask for. But with the end, it also marks separation for they have grown up enough to bear the responsibilities of their families. ‘Friends’ basically depicts that phase of a person’s life and when nobody except your friends is important to you. And with the end of the show, it marks the end of that youthful phase of your life and begins a new journey, where you’re responsible and mature. The time when you actually step into adulthood. Starring Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing and David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, ‘Friends’ is a show that is one of a kind.
While 13 Reasons Why takes you to a dark world of truths, Friends holds your hands and narrates you the story of life in a humorous manner. However, before the pandemic ends, you have quite the time to binge-watch these shows and witness an interesting set of stories that each of them carries.