Many of Netflix's shows seem like algorithm-built knockoffs of past movies and TV shows

The Concourse

Orange Is the New Black is the rare Netflix original that's actually original, says Sean T. Collins. But many Netflix shows feel like they're built by the streaming service's famous algorithm, says Sean T. Collins. Ozark is basically a new spin on Breaking Bad. Russian Dolls seems like a new take on Groundhog Day. David Fincher's Mindhunter feels like his movie Zodiac. And Stranger Things is "warmed-over 1980s genre-film nostalgia, deployed with mercenary efficiency and charm that can only be described as algorithmic," says Collins. "Try counting the original series starring people who got killed off in Game of Thrones," he says. "Try searching the site for 'cocaine' and counting all the shows about Pablo Escobar alone. Try firing up the Big Red Machine this weekend and choosing between Netflix Originals under the category 'Crime' with titles like, just going off what I’m seeing on my screen right now, Cannabis, Cocaine Coast, Money Heist, Undercover Law, Unauthorized Living, Altered Carbon, Dope, Drug Lords, Dirty Money, Dogs of Berlin, Babylon Berlin, Bad Blood, Blood Pact, Bordertown, Wild District, Wild Wild Country, The Break, The Fall, The Staircase, The Forest, The Keepers, The Mechanism, The Good Cop, The Indian Detective, Deadwind, River, Retribution, Collateral, Warrior, Wanted, Travelers, Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, Inside the Real Narcos. Some of those are good, some are bad, none are really great, all are sitting there in identical little rectangles waiting to be autoplayed while you see if your new CBD chocolates are any good."