So you’ve decided to make the most of the convenience of a dating app, check out the reviews of best dating websites, and spend some time getting to know a cute single? So far so good. Your flirty messages are setting the tone, and there are definite sparks of chemistry. The only issue to resolve is where to invite your prospective partner for that all-important first date. Forget stuffy restaurants or crowded wine bars. Suggest a night cozying on a coach, with refreshments to hand, and the TV remote within easy reach. We asked dating consultants from datingreviews.com.au and they suggested the top six original Netflix shows to enjoy together.
Stranger Things (3 seasons)
This hugely-popular series is a one-part sci-fi thriller, a three-part homage to the suspense genre of the early 1980s, exemplified by the movies of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter. Having said that, the pesky kids zooming around suburban America on bikes, foiling shadowy government agents and mysterious otherworld entities, might seem a familiar trope, but the whole spectacle has a spritely, contemporary feel.
Mindhunter (2 seasons)
A perfect show for your first date, Mindhunter combines the taught narrative of FBI investigations with the real-life advent of the science used to profile serial killers. Don’t worry about the events being portrayed getting too graphic – this is far more about the agents overcoming obstacles while putting together a crack team to counter some of the most disturbed murderers in US history. So it’s less about the kind of gruesome scenes that are, let’s face it, ten-a-penny in many Netflix series, and more of a psychological thriller.
Glow (3 seasons)
Like so many popular dramas, the timeframe is the 1980s again. A series about women wrestlers might seem a little light when it comes to harnessing your interest for your first date, but this show, based on the real-life documentary series Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, is compelling. The stars of the ring are an assorted bunch of failed actors and various other misfits, and who doesn’t like to champion a plucky underdog? Or indeed, a colorful pack of these underdogs! The added ingredient is the sheer likeability of our unlikely heroines, fronted by Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin.
Narcos (5 seasons)
Pablo Escobar rose from impoverished surroundings in Colombia to control a vast drug-smuggling empire, almost single-handedly stirring the narcotics problem in the US inner cities in the 1980s (that decade again!) The violence can be explicit, but there are certainly plenty of talking points for your date.
Peaky Blinders (5 seasons)
Set in Birmingham, England, after the First World War, Peaky Blinders follows a well-worn theme – family mobster operations – but the stories unfold with style, panache, meticulous attention to period detail, and superb characterization. Cillian Murphy’s performance as gang leader-turned politician Tommy Shelby is electric, abetted by Tom Hardy eccentric portrayal of a recurring rival.
Ozark (3 seasons)
Following a similar narrative arc to Breaking Bad – white-collar family sucked into the dark underbelly of US organized crime, a money launderer (Jason Bateman) is forced to hide in the Ozark area of Missouri to ‘clean’ millions of dollars of dirty drug money or else the ruthless Mexican cartel who employ him will add him to their seemingly neverending list of victims. Bateman, familiar for comedy roles, excels as someone constantly balancing his dubious business dealings with his love of family. Laura Linney is equally compelling as the wife who eventually accepts the moral sacrifices. It might not be laugh a minute for date night, but it will linger in your memory.