The latest Netflix project from Mike Flanagan, the visionary behind “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Midnight Mass,” is a loose adaptation of pretty much every Edgar Allan Poe story. Unlike Flanagan’s more earnest projects, “Usher” possesses a wicked streak of dark humor and irony and a distinctly political fury. The show tells us exactly what it’s going to do — document the methodical demise of the wealthy Usher family — and then does it. Yet the cast is so great, the scripts and design so decadent, and the details of the Ushers’ deaths so creatively and hilariously disturbing that “Usher” manages to satisfy and set our teeth on edge at the same time. From feral housecats to acid-bathed orgies, “The Fall of the House of Usher” delivers some of the most memorable small-screen horror of the decade, and it does it all with a righteous sense of loathing for America’s rotten capitalistic heart.
Another Netflix limited series, Lee Sung Jin’s “Beef,” tells its own bold and relentless story, this time about two people (Ali Wong and Steven Yeun) who grow increasingly obsessed with one another after meeting in a road rage incident. “Beef” continually ups the ante, careening its way towards a climax that can only be watched on the literal edge of one’s seat. Formally inventive, fiercely acted, and unapologetically angry, “Beef” by now can’t be recommended without a note about the controversy that surrounds it. A disturbing anecdote from castmate David Choe resurfaced this year, and cast and crews’ late and lackluster response to the situation led to calls to boycott the series. In a vacuum, “Beef” is a great show, but in reality, it’s tough to untangle from the Choe fiasco.