I just completed a round-trip from Phoenix to Doha and back.  46 hours with my iPad.  Here’s what I’ve been watching.

• El Marginal.  Five series of an enthralling, violent Argentinian prison drama.  Down and dirty.  Gripping and highly rated.  On Netflix.
• Ripley. A black-and-white neo-noir mini-series based on Patricia Highsmith‘s Tom Ripley books (The talented Mr Ripley).  Deceit, fraud, murder and psychological complexity.  (Netflix)
• Baptiste Series 2.  A BBC drama built around the disappearance of the British ambassador to Hungary’s family.  Excellent storytelling.  On Amazon Prime.
• Sugar. On Apple.  A modern take on the classic LAPI, missing person, mystery person genre with Colin Farrell.
• Black Sails.  Four series.  I missed this when it came out in 2017 but it really is brilliant.  In many ways the forerunner to shows like Game of Thrones.  A prequel to Treasure Island.  It is set in 1715, the golden (!) age of piracy.  Full of pirates, prostitutes, thieves and all kinds of delightful dastardly creatures villains.  Superb storytelling with excellent action scenes.  Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum.  (Netflix) 
• A Man in Full.  Worth watching just to see Jeff Daniel’s performance.  He plays Atlanta real estate mogul, Charlie Croker, who is the epitome of non-woke masculinity and bullying entrepreneurship, all played tongue in cheek to the very hilt. (Netflix mini-series)
• And finally, two very different stand-up comedians.  Neal Brennan (who was the writer for Dave Chappell) has three very unusual specials with three mics being particularly distinctive. Crazy Good and Blocks are also guaranteed to provoke some deep introspection.  For a more typical belly-laugh go for Sebastian Maniscalco, who has four specials on Netflix all of which keep you massively entertained through his unique brand of visual humour.

Enjoy.