Both of these shows are in the Netflix Top 10. One is a surprise international hit and the other is a social drama. Both address the struggle for money in very different ways.

Squid Game If you’ve seen Asian game shows or TV challenge competitions; you know how wacky they can be. This Korean series goes a step further. A group of people who have extreme debts are whisked away to an undisclosed location for a series of trials and competitions. If they win, they get big bucks, but losers are killed. I’ll confess that I fast forwarded thru some of the character dialogue scenes. They really weren’t that interesting, plus the perilous situations provide the fun and in later episodes the violence. This international phenomena is certainly unique, but more a curiosity for the weirdness than any kind of important drama. (Nine 45-minute episodes in Korean with subtitles or dubbed in English) (2.5 / 5)
Netflix link

Maid Stephanie Land’s memoir is the basis for this limited series. Margaret Qualley plays a mother who escapes a potentially abusive marriage with her young daughter, only to find the barriers to independence are numerous and overwhelming. While she deals with complex requirements for refuge and assistance, she takes a job as a maid. This gives her a chance to get on her feet, but also inspires her writing ambitions, while making lots of statements about the situations of abused women. Qualley does a good job of capturing her character’s dilemmas and it’s more fun to watch Andie MacDowell, her real-life mom, playing her eccentric screen mom.  The 4^th episode (the last one I’ve watched) features an interesting twist and I suspect there are more to come. (10 one-hour episodes) (3.5 / 5)
Netflix link