October 2022 Best Streaming Picks – BOB Streaming Club
As the nights are drawing in and there is more crispness in the air, we at BOB Streaming Club have curated an October package that puts the ‘B’ into Binge. With most titles available in their full seasons this will certainly have you saying ‘just one more episode’ many times over throughout October.
Starz
Whisper it quietly, but Starz has been steadily building its content library. What it might lack in volume of hours it more than makes up with quality. The Power Book franchise is well worth investigating with both prequel and sequel spinoffs from Power.
Power Book IV: Force (released April this year) sees Tommy Egan leave New York and head to Chicago intent on establishing himself as the No.1 drug dealer in Chicago. Problem being is that drug dealers are very territorial: has Tommy made a grave error trying to muscle in on someone else’s turf?
Power Book III: Raising Kanan (Season 2) is the origin story of Kanan Stark (the main protagonist of Power) as it charts his rise to the top of the New York drug supply chain (all episodes available from October 16).
Gaslit is a political thriller centered on the Watergate scandal. Everything about this series screams quality. Firstly it stars Julia Roberts and Sean Penn with performances that will knock your socks off. It looks amazing (with Mad Men levels of period detail) with cinematography to match. All rounded off with a high-caliber script. Finally, because this is a story based on actual events it draws to a definitive conclusion, so is a fully contained, brilliant 8 episodes.
We head back to the 16th century for our next two recommendations with historical dramas Becoming Elizabeth and The Serpent Queen.
Becoming Elizabeth dramatizes the early life of Elizabeth Tudor. Following the death of her father Henry VIII and the succession to the throne of her 9 year old brother, Edward, it’s fair to say the English court is a pretty tumultuous place to be. Full of Machiavellian plotting and counter plotting, one false move could cost Elizabeth her life.
The Serpent Queen charts the life of Catherine de Medici and plays out in a far more irreverent, modern way. With a rock music soundtrack, flashbacks and some very dark humor this will not go down well with purists who prefer more traditional historic dramas. However this will hit the spot for those looking for something more alternative and less grandiose.
Our next stop is the Dirty South with Season 2 of P-Valley. This is a series that everyone should be watching. Whilst on the surface it’s a drama about those working in a strip club, it is also as much about small towns and people on the margins of society. This will grab you from the off with an array of incredibly well realized characters and it has a lot of important things to say.
Netflix
If you’ve been looking to fill the Squid Game Korean Drama shaped hole in your life Narco-Saints should be high up your ‘to watch’ list. Kang In-gu travels to Surinam where he unwittingly becomes caught up in the drug trade. Encouraged by intelligence officers to go undercover in a cartel, he is placed in a tense, high-pressure situation where one false step could cost him his freedom or his life. If you like your drama series with an international flavor Holy Family from Spain about a family who are starting over in Madrid, while trying to keep a shocking secret buried (all episodes 14th October).
The Untold series of sports documentaries rarely (if ever) disappoints and the latest Untold: The Race of the Century maintains the consistently excellent standard. America had dominated The America’s Cup with a winning streak of 132 years. In 1983 a plucky, but unfancied Australian team took on America’s dominance. Sport frequently can throw up some of the most implausibly dramatic stories and outcomes, and this documentary captures it perfectly. Even if you have no interest in sport or sailing, this documentary will have you captivated.
Superproducer Ryan Murphy has attracted a fair bit of controversy for his latest offering Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. This certainly feels a little by the numbers, but fans of Murphy’s previous work will still get a lot from this.
If there is one streaming platform that goes hard for Halloween, it surely has to be Netflix. Two chiller-thrillers recently released are Devil in Ohio and The Midnight Club.
Devil in Ohio sees a mysterious young girl appear in hospital with a pentagram carved into her back. Taken in by the psychiatrist who is treating her, this is an enjoyable, eerie yarn involving a satanic cult and a family stretched to breaking point.
The Midnight Club has seven terminally ill teenagers who come together at midnight at their hospice to tell scary stories to each other. Making a pact that the first one of their group to die will try to communicate with the rest from beyond the grave. When one does, it begins a series of bizarre and spooky happenings.
Finally, with all episodes available on October 28, Guilermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities promises to serve up plenty of chills with this new anthology series. Right on time for Halloween
Hulu
Hulu has been on a very strong run of late, and showing no signs of slowing down in October…although we are going to start with a brilliant (although not new show). Schitt’s Creek (all seasons) will now be on the platform. One of the best comedies in recent times, this is almost like your favorite sweater, ready to put on at a moment’s notice giving you that warm, comfortable feeling.
Tell Me Lies is about a dysfunctional relationship (OK, at times downright toxic) over the span of 8 years. From the initial throes of passion at college, to an addictive and damaging relationship (which doesn’t just affect them) anyone who has loved and lost will certainly feel a strong degree of empathy with this title.
Bringing some levity, or should that be Levitan? As Steven ‘Modern Family’ Levitan’s Reboot. The premise is that the (dysfunctional) cast of a hit early-2000 sitcom find themselves involved with a potential reboot of the series. Likely ‘inspired’ by a lot of current responses toward shows such as Friends this has the potential to be a very funny critique of cancel-culture, as well as naive (or downright ignorant) attitudes from past times.
The Patient with the brilliant Steve Carrell (in another dramatic role) is a limited series that sees Alan Strauss (Carrell) a psychiatrist kidnapped by Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson) a serial killer who wants a live-in therapist to try and help him to stop killing again. A very watchable, tense, thriller.
Finally Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers is a docu-series that starts in the early-80s going all the way to the LeBron era. It’s a very solid watch – but probably misses that little bit of magic that The Last Dance had.
So there we have it. Plenty to be entertained with as we start gearing up for the holiday season! If you like the sound of this head over to BOB Streaming Club where we have it ready for you to buy. Or build your own monthly bundle from 1-5 subscriptions.