Older folks are revered for their wisdom as they’re simultaneously pushed toward the edges of society. It is a conundrum most people don’t begin to consider until they near their own twilight years. In Netflix’s sci-fi horror dramedy, “The Boroughs,” creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, along with executive producers the Duffer brothers, deliver a delightful, intriguing adventure with some very unexpected heroes at its center. Heartbreaking, funny and endlessly fascinating, “The Boroughs” is a show that examines loss, pain, time and the trials and tribulations of life during the golden years.
The eight-episode first season opens on a quiet cul-de-sac in an upscale retirement community, The Boroughs, helmed by CEO, Blaine Shaw (Seth Numrich) and his wife Annaenlise (Alice Kremelberg). Grace (Dee Wallace) goes through her nightly routine, eating dinner in front of the TV watching “Jeopardy,” and later video calling her husband, Edward (Ed Begley Jr.), who is now living at The Manor, The Boroughs’ long-term care facility. Though everything appears as normal, viewers quickly realize something is amiss.
A couple of months later, grieving widower Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina) arrives in town, driven by his daughter Claire (Jena Malone), son-in-law Neil (Rafael Casal) and two grandchildren. Unfortunately, the lifelong Chicagoan has no interest in setting up shop in the middle of the desert in New Mexico. After all, moving to The Boroughs was his late wife Lily’s (Jane Kaczmarek) idea, and now that she’s gone, Sam has only his agony, anger and disgust. Unable to get out of the contract he and Lily previously signed, the retired engineer finds himself unboxing the fragments of his former life and settling into the home once occupied by Grace.
