We decided to cancel our subscription to Netflix recently, since we haven’t been watching it very much and it’s our most expensive monthly subscription. So, of course, as soon as we scheduled the end date, for not-quite-a-month away, I started to panic and look through every Netflix recommendation to add anything to my list that I might ever want to watch, just to make sure I wouldn’t miss anything. Surprisingly, or not, I didn’t find that many shows I needed to binge, except for what seems like an endless supply of heartfelt, limited series from South Korea that I can barely distinguish from one another just based on the descriptions; and, really, I could never watch all of them, or even the first episode of each one, before our Netflix subscription ends; though I will probably try.
My one-month trial of Prime Video (Amazon), last month, was probably what taught me that I could do without Netflix, and also that I could binge an enormous number of shows in a short period of time, if I was really motivated.
Lately, I’ve been much more interested in watching shows on MHZ, an international streaming channel that we subscribed to for the year, to try it out. It’s filled with French murder mysteries and Italian and German and Danish and British and Israeli shows of all kinds. I still watch regular cable and broadcast shows too, though I tend to record the shows so I can watch them on my own schedule and fast forward through the commercials. I wish there was a way for cable and all of the streaming channels to come as one package, and be more affordable, because it’s a blessing to have so many options, but we are paying top dollar for that blessing.
In the past week or so, I’ve been trying to rush through what’s left of my Netflix watchlist, even before the deadline, so I can get back to watching MHZ, and maybe rewatching my latest favorite French murder mystery series, The Art of Crime.
I am not an art historian. In fact, for my whole life I’ve suffered from some kind of learning disability that makes it impossible for me to focus on a painting for more than five seconds at a time, or to stay conscious and upright in a museum at all. And yet, this mystery series, set in the art crime unit of the Paris police, hooked me. I was surprised both by how many of the artists I was already familiar with, and how unfamiliar I was with the stories behind the paintings.
The Art of Crime centers around a police officer named Antoine Verlay, who transfers into the art crime unit after being fired by his old boss for insubordination (I think he punched him, but don’t quote me), and he has no background at all (seemingly) in art so he needs help from Florence Chassagne, an art historian who works at the Louvre. Florence, or Mme. Chassagne as he continues to call her season after season, while she calls him Captain Verlay, is sort of flighty, literally falling to the ground with severe bouts of unexplained vertigo when the series begins. And her father, who is also an art history expert, is batty, and is one of the primary reasons why Florence is in psychoanalysis on a regular basis. Captain Verlay, on the other hand, has no interest in art, or therapy, and is impatient and very much the gritty cop, with no time for flights of fancy. Cue the fireworks. Except, their journey together is so much more nuanced than that, and sweet, and vulnerable.
Along the way, I’ve been learning all kinds of interesting things about the art world that I would never have sought out on my own, and Florence’s childlike joy in art, and the artists who create it, has been making me think that a museum might not be the worst place in the world, though I’m still not convinced.
One of my favorite parts of the show is when Florence has her gossipy chats with long dead painters, which could have just been a silly gimmick but has turned out to be deeply moving, and insightful, and, most of all allows me to see the artworks as an extension of the artist’s real world, rather than a pretentious gloss painted on top of it. There’s also the physical comedy in the show, and unrequited love and awkwardness, along with the satisfaction of solving puzzles and finding the bad guy. I’ve watched all seven current seasons of the show and am waiting impatiently for season eight, which can’t arrive soon enough.
While I’m waiting for season eight of The Art of Crime, though, I still have a ton of other MHZ shows to try out, and a blog reader shared a link to the first two seasons of The Paris Murders (in French, without subtitles), so I have plenty of shows to keep me, and my dictionary (and/or Google Translate) very busy, until I get to see Captain Verlay and Mme. Chassagne again.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?
rachelmankowitz 
I’ve not been watching that much on Netflix either. At the moment I’ve been rewatching all the episodes of NCIS on Paramount+.
I love finding treasure troves like that, with a show that’s been on for so many seasons.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll be sure to check it out.
Thank you!
I do not have any subscriptions, but “The Art of Crime” sounds interesting and worth subscribing to.
I hope you like it!
I don’t have Netflix and I can’t keep up with the ones I do have (Max and Prime). At this point I have a month of Jeopardy episodes recorded to watch and a few other shows but some days I don’t watch anything.
I don’t think I could live without TV. I spent summers without it when I was a kid at sleep away camp, and it got me into way too much trouble. Real life is overrated, is what I’m saying.
my brother keeps asking me if i have netflix (i don’t) whenever he watches something he thinks he likes, until a twist at the end turns it out to be depressing. Then you mention shows that really sound interesting. I’m torn. But i still think you should do reviews.
I only like to write about shows I enjoy; I never want to have to write about shows I dislike.
Wow …I just spent 11.99 a month on Hulu so I can watch the hockey playoffs 🏒
If you enjoy it, it’s worth it.
I’ve never subscribed to Netflix and have managed just fine.
I can believe it!
Now I definitely want to see that series! I really love when you can learn something from a place you go to just for the pleasure of it. The author Lawrence Block wrote a series of novels featuring the “gentleman burglar “ Bernie Rhondenbarr (sp?). His day job was an antiquarian bookseller. Being around books all day meant he read books all day and always tossed in facts relevant to his capers gleaned from those books. Such a delight!
Thanks for the tip. I enjoy novels about booksellers and will check out Block.
You’re welcome. I wouldn’t think there were that many novels about booksellers but then, now that I think about it, I have seen more than just Block taking that path. If you do start into his series, be aware that Bernie doesn’t turn to bookselling until the 3rd book in the series.
I love books like that!
They add something to the idea of reading for pleasure. Like Reading+ (Everything else gets a + so why not reading!)
If there is a series I am interested in fro Netflix, I buy it on DVD. I subscribe to Acorn TV and watch it online. It carries some of the shows from England, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It is about $79 for the year.
Acorn may be my next try. Thank you!
I haven’t tried MHZ but I may have to check it out. I’ve been on a Britbox kick lately
I liked Britbox, but I was also okay with letting it go after six months.
The Art of Crime sounds fascinating. I went a ‘googling. Here in Australia it’s available on Paramount +. We do subscribe to Netflix, which is becoming a little boring of late; there are only so many shoot em up and drive too fast movies one can see and remain encouraged. True there are other genres available too, but ho hum, I can’t get enthused. I’m finding the European, Scandinavian (English dubbed) movies so much more enjoyable, regardless of genre.
I may have to research Paramount and make some changes!
I like trying new streaming channels each year to see what’s out there.
I am now considering doing that too. Thanks for the suggestion. 🤗
The French produce some great shows.
They really do!
Netflix recently announced that they have made the most profits yet in their history and then responded by raising their rates. My husband immediately downgraded our subscription after reading that. Such greed baffles me. But The Art of Crime does sound interesting so I am going to add it to my list. Thanks!!
MHZ has a lot of great stuff!
Thank you for the recommendation! I love police/cop shows in any language. This one sounds delightful!
It really is!
I wish there was streaming service that would offer all content rather than all so many different ones. I will check out Art of Crime.
I think I also have a learning disability as I can’t concentrate when I read and have to keep rereading things and give up 🤦♀️
I always say I’m a writer, not a reader. Most people here seem to be avid readers as well. I also can’t remember song lyrics.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! We all have our challenges, that keeps things interesting!
I love getting recommendations for a good night in front of the telly. Thanks Rachel.
Thank you!
That show sounds really cool.
It is!
Good for you – being all adult and doing some network housecleaning! LOL I pay for three streaming services: Netflix, Hulu, and Prime (Amazon). I should probably get rid of one or two, but I just can’t seem to break away.
About art history…I love my art, but art history just seemed to dry and brittle, even after I took an art appreciation class back in the day. Then, my adult daughter discovered Waldemar Januszczak – OMG! I now know who Van Eyke is, Holbein, Dobson, etc. and it’s fun! You can find his stuff on YouTube. I started with the Impressionists because that is my favorite art movement, but he’s got everything from Dark Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, etc. and it’s all worth your while.
I hope you follow up on that, because I believe it will expand your artistic side! Enjoy.
Thanks for the recommendation!
We have the least expensive version of Netflix there is. If the streaming services were to be in a package isn’t that just like cable? I mean, with cable we were paying for a huge number of channels in the “package” that we never watched. We only have streaming channels now and there is still so much to watch, but the time I figure out what to watch it is too late and I have to go to bed. :-0
It’s overwhelming! A least with Cable I have a TV Guide to work from each week, and schedules to follow, if only loosely.
It IS overwhelming! And – oh my!!! I miss that. My husband and I can never remember 1) what service the show is we are watching is on 2) when it is on. We spend so much time trying to find the show! It is annoying!
Don’t blame you. We haven’t had TV since 2007 and don’t miss it. If we want to watch anything, we have the computer and youtube.
I end up watching a lot of things on my computer. Youtube has so much!
We’ve even managed to view some films before they’ve hit the cinema circuit!
That sounds a fun show! If you enjoy unusual crime dramas & ever get the chance to watch the BBC’s Ludwig, it’s absolutely excellent! It stars David Mitchell as a crossword compiler, whose twin brother cop has disappeared, so he pretends to be him to try to uncover where his whereabouts…And ends up accidentally having to become a detective, using his puzzle-solving skills to try to uncover crimes! Good luck with the binge-watching!
Sounds great! Thank you!
As it happens, I love art. Will have to keep an eye out of “The Art of Crime”. 🙂
It’s really entertaining!
With T-Mobile we get both Netflix and Apple TV free. Sure glad I’m not paying for them as I rarely find anything that appeals to me. Thank goodness for PBS!
Free sounds good to me!
The thing that drives me crazy about Netflix is that they constantly cancel their best shows and feature tons of kink reality TV instead. My two favorite shows on the platform, the Korean feudal thriller “Kingdom” and the fantasy series “Shadow and Bons,” were both canceled after two seasons.
Apple TV is awesome if you like science fiction and thrillers. Their original shows are all well-written, lavishly funded and have great casts.
IMO Apple TV is worth it just for Slow Horses, Silo, For All Mankind and Foundation, but there’s a lot of good stuff there.
I’ll have to give it a try. Thank you!
It is a pleasure to read your write up. Are you real person and Rachel is your real name?
Hulu just raised its rates, so I was thinking of switching to Netflix actually! Good to know.
It’s worth it for a limited period, until you’ve seen all of the shows you really want to see, and then you can try another one.
I canceled my Netflix recently as well. I do say that The Art of Crime sounds interesting. I have watched a lot of British TV recently. I like the crime mysteries. I also love the Doc Martin series.
I guess I failed to note the Doc Martin series, if not familiar with, is a comedy of sorts and not a crime or mystery series. 🙂
I was so happy to find out that mysteries from other countries were just as relatable and entertaining, or more so, than anything on American TV. There’s a treasure trove of great stuff out there!
While writing, I often find myself cramming movies and programs into my schedule. We subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Paramount+, Sling, FrndlyTV, Tubi, Pluto, YouTube, Peacock, and Tablo. In an effort to save money, we canceled our DirecTV subscription, but ironically, we ended up adding all these other services just to watch the shows we wanted. In the end, I doubt we’ve saved a cent—if anything, we’re probably paying more. Luckily, I’m not the one footing the bill; my role is simply to watch.
I make the most of the channels available, and one major advantage is my ability to access local news from coast to coast and border to border, which benefits my business. However, navigating through this maze of networks to find the right connection for the channels I need can feel like a task in itself.
Wow! That sounds really complicated!
Hi Rachael, truly speaking, I can’t live without Netflix. We both constantly search about “OTT Release This Week” and enjoy the weekend. I would rather definitely check about MHZ. I have a curated list on my site, I hope you will like it.
We just canceled Netflix as well, last month, I think, possibly January. I’ve not heard of MHZ – seems interesting.
MHZ has some great stuff. There are so many streaming channels now, so a lot of things to choose from.
Haa! Went back to Netflix a year ago after a long absence, watched a few shows, then left again. Their content library is sooooo big! But…meh. YES! MHz rocks! Love it! Have been doing annual subscriptions there for a couple of years (costs less). As far as I’m concerned, a combination of AcornTV, BritBox, & MHz is perfect. And YES! Looking forward to the new season of “L’Art du Crime!” Watching “Magellan” now. “Mongeville” was super, loved “The Sandhamn Murders,” too. Btw, your novel sounds good! 👏👏👏
Thank you so much!