Binging. You’ve done it, I’ve done it. Most of the people we know have done it. You find a series on Netflix or wherever that speaks to you and you blow through multiple episodes and pizza, oblivious to everything else. Everything. Laundry, significant others, chores, you name it. But binging does have benefits. Through binging I’ve been able to identify three heroines you should be watching.
Wynonna Earp — Wynonna Earp
Wynonna Earp is both the title of the series and the name of the leading character. She’s the descendent of Wyatt Earp and has recently returned to Purgatory, the town in which most of the action takes place. Wynonna has a dark past, having been in and out of “juvey”, run with motorcycle gangs, and been guilty of several crimes, only some which we know and others of which we only have hints.
She is also the only one who can handle “Peacemaker”, a long barrelled revolver used to dispatched “revenants” — demon reincarnations of every outlaw her ancestor — Wyatt — was responsible for killing.
Wynonna is aided by several other strong female characters — her sister Waverly, and Waverly’s love interest, Nicole. She also has help from the original Doc Holiday and a “Black Badge” officer, Agent Dolls.
I don’t normally go for supernatural type story lines (Wynonna Earp is all about dispatching demons back to Hell), but the compelling characters, snappy dialogue and interesting plot lines had me go through all 13 episodes of season one in less than a day.
Wynonna Earp is my favourite type of heroine — bad ass and a little damaged.
iZombie — Olivia More
Olivia “Liv” More is a former doctor turned talking, thinking, zombie in this series (Get it? “Liv More”?). After being turned as a result of being injured by another zombie at a drunken party on a lake, Liv takes a job as Medical Examiner in the Seattle morgue. This provides her a convenient source of brains, which she must consume regularly in order to prevent herself from degenerating into the shambling horror with which all zombie fans are familiar.
Eating the brains of crime victims bestows upon Liv the power to experience some of their memories, which allows her to aid in solving their murders.
There’s strong supporting cast made up of her boss in the Morgue — Ravi — who discovers early on her particular “condition” and becomes her ally, her detective partner Clive Babineaux, her ex-finance Major and a few others.
This is not the usual heroine I enjoy reading or watching, but there are several things that draw me to this show. First, the dialogue is pretty damned funny. Second, the multiple plot lines are deftly handled and reinforce one another. Third, the villains are just plain fun. Creepy and nasty, but fun.
Liv has some tough decisions to make of the very best kind — the ones where there is no good choice, just various types of bad, and watching her make those decisions is another draw.
The Expanse — Chrisjen Avasarala
This hard sci-fi series is set two hundred years in the future. Humans have colonized the Moon, Mars, and have a very significant presence both in the asteroid belt and on Jupiter’s moons. Political and military conflict have followed humanity’s expansion as a unified Earth, an independent Mars, and the semi-autonomous “belt” eye each other with suspicion and vie for advantage.
Based on the novels penned under the name James S. A. Corey, the series features great characters, a compelling plot line, high production values, and a pretty good adherence to the laws of physics.
There are several strong female characters, notably Naomi Nagata and Bobbi Drapper, but my favourite is Chrisjen Avasarala, a crusty, foul-mouthed, master politician high Earth’s UN planetary government. She’s manipulative, ruthless, and yet compassionate at the same time.
Chrisjen doesn’t kick down doors, fly combat missions, or handle a gun. Instead she outmaneuvers her political opponents with combination of charm and gutter language that is a joy to watch. Her voice alone is enough make her dominate any scene in which she appears.
So there you have it — three shows worth watching for the heroines, two of which are available for binging on Netflix.
What about it, readers, what heroine shows do you watch and recommend? Let me know in the comments.
That’s it for this post. Thanks for reading and I will see again next time.
