Disclosure

It’s a common complaint that we see the top of people’s heads rather than their eyes more now than ever before. It isn’t that they are shy or hanging their head in shame for some reason. It’s because they have their heads buried in a device.

We were way ahead of our time. In the late 90’s, we would walk around parks slowly and methodically, staring at the ground and oblivious to the world around us. With headphones on, we were patiently awaiting the beep.

Then we would dig.

And hope for something good.

The device we were staring at was a metal detector that my in-laws purchased for me as a Christmas gift. Although we didn’t find anything amazing, we took pleasure in each small discovery. Sometimes we found pennies or maybe some change that fell out of a pocket, but most of the time we found junk.

Looking for a new show to bingewatch on Netflix? Check out Detectorists starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones. - SahmReviews.com

We found our latest metal detecting treasure without even leaving our home. I’m not sure how Scott stumbled across it, but we found the show Detectorists on Netflix. When he told me about it, I thought it was going to be a docudrama filled with unknown actors, but it only took a few steps into to show to discover Detectorists is pure sitcom gold.

Looking for a new show to bingewatch on Netflix? Check out Detectorists starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones. - SahmReviews.com

The first scene shows the main characters, Lance and Andy, out in a field doing what detectorists do: walking around staring at the ground in hopes of finding hidden treasure. As the camera focused on each person, Scott and I both had the same reaction, “I know that actor from something!” I couldn’t place Lance, but it didn’t take any time at all to pinpoint Andy as Ragetti from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Yes, I know he’s been in a bajillion other things, but that’s what I recognized him from first. The only people who can make fun of my shortfall are those of you who are going to ask me to return my Marvel fanatic fan club card for not recognizing Toby Jones from the Captain America movies. Yes, I know… it’s shameful that I didn’t figure that one out sooner.

Looking for a new show to bingewatch on Netflix? Check out Detectorists starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones along with some recognizable co-stars. - SahmReviews.com   Looking for a new show to bingewatch on Netflix? Check out Detectorists starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones along with some recognizable co-stars. - SahmReviews.com
Throughout the series, we have continued to see familiar faces including David Sterne, Paul Casar and Simon Farnaby. I’m to the point where I keep my iPad handy during each episode just to search IMDB to find what else every character has been in. What I expected to be a low-key show has been filled with surprises.

So let’s talk about the premise of the show: metal detecting. Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? It’s like watching grass grow. Thankfully, the show isn’t just a recap of them in the fields. It’s about their personal lives, their interpersonal connections, the people who try to claim jump and more.

Okay… I’ll admit I’m not explaining this well because that sounds boring. It’s not. It’s actually filled with a lot of deadpan humor. There have been multiple instances where we needed to rewind because we were laughing so hard. As an example, during a particularly down point in the storyline, Andy said, “It’s like the worst ever episode of Scooby Doo.” And multiple references to Paul Cesar and Simon Farnaby looking like Simon and Garfunkel has lead to ongoing “bridge over troubled water” one-liners.

There are some rules with metal detecting, but the two biggest are (1) Leave the ground the way you found it. When digging, you carefully remove the dirt then return it to the hole as you leave. (2) Garbage doesn’t go back into the ground. Collect it and dispose of it. You don’t have to be a metal detectorist or know any of the rules to find the humor in watching Lance and Andy consistently find junk.

…Because people buy junk on eBay.

And apparently watch it on Netflix too… and laugh.

24 thoughts on “The Search for Treasure on Netflix

  1. It really is amazing what all you can learn from the shows on Netflix! We live on the beach and my 5 year old is always asking for a metal dector like he sees people have. SO he will probably love this show to learn more about how to find things.

  2. I am all about some Netflix, and love discovering new shows. I remember purchasing a metal detector for my son when he was young, and how he kept digging super deep holes in our yard and how it was driving my Jeff crazy as he was all about a nicely landscaped yard, lol. My son did find some treasures, in his opinion, and even helped to find a screw or two that got dropped during a project.

  3. This sounds like a show my husband would love. We love Netflix and even got rid of cable because it has such great variety. I haven’t seen this show yet but will be adding it to my watchlist.

  4. I think it would be really awesome to find something big in our back yard. I will definitely check this out on netflix.

  5. I will have to check it out. I find it really hard to find things I want on Netflix. They never seem to have what I search for, and discovery is not easy.

  6. Interesting! I haven’t had my metal detector out in a long time; now I’m going to have to find it.

  7. We obviously have similar tastes in humor, I LOVED this show. A friend told me about it and I was skeptical, but it truly is a hidden gem. I wanted to be friends with these guys, hang out with them. I was sad to see it was ending, but the last episode was the perfect ending. I agree it’s hard to describe, but it is so worth watching.

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