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Explained

  • TV Series
  • 2018– 2018–
  • TV-MATV-MA
  • 18m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
9K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,736
429
Explained (2018)
Explained: Season 2
Play trailer1:19
4 Videos
76 Photos
  • Documentary
A documentary series that looks to explore the big questions of today.A documentary series that looks to explore the big questions of today.A documentary series that looks to explore the big questions of today.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
9K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,736
429
  • Creators
    • Joe Posner
    • Ezra Klein
  • Stars
    • Estelle Caswell
    • Samira Wiley
    • Maria Bello
Top credits
  • Creators
    • Joe Posner
    • Ezra Klein
  • Stars
    • Estelle Caswell
    • Samira Wiley
    • Maria Bello
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 84User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Episodes44

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Videos4

    Explained: Season 2
    Trailer 1:19
    Explained: Season 2
    Explained: Season 1
    Trailer 0:17
    Explained: Season 1
    Explained
    Trailer 0:23
    Explained
    Explained: Season 1
    Trailer 1:13
    Explained: Season 1

    Photos76

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    Top cast

    Edit
    Estelle Caswell
    Estelle Caswell
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    3 episodes3 eps • 2018
    Samira Wiley
    Samira Wiley
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    2 episodes2 eps • 2018–2021
    Maria Bello
    Maria Bello
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    2 episodes2 eps • 2018
    Rachel McAdams
    Rachel McAdams
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Kristen Bell
    Kristen Bell
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Christian Slater
    Christian Slater
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Rachel Bloom
    Rachel Bloom
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Kevin Smith
    Kevin Smith
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Kyle MacLachlan
    Kyle MacLachlan
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Aasif Mandvi
    Aasif Mandvi
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Nick Kroll
    Nick Kroll
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    LeVar Burton
    LeVar Burton
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Yara Shahidi
    Yara Shahidi
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Jerry Springer
    Jerry Springer
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    2 episodes2 eps • 2018
    Carly Rae Jepsen
    Carly Rae Jepsen
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Joss Fong
    Joss Fong
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Coleman Lowndes
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2018
    Aya Cash
    Aya Cash
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    1 episode1 ep • 2019
    • Creators
      • Joe Posner
      • Ezra Klein
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    User reviews84

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    Entertaining, but it's not as informative as you'd expect. Ultimately superfluous
    Surprise! Turns out that condensing decades or even hundreds of years of history into 15-20 minute chunks with poppy editing is not exactly the best way to learn about a topic. This show is wonderfully entertaining and does what VOX does best, make short videos about topics that most people have heard of but don't exactly understand.

    When I watched the "K-Pop" episode along with others like "e-sport" or "the stock market" I was absolutely intrigued. They are fiercely interesting 20 minutes that seemingly gave me the gist of what the subject matter was. However, after watching the new episode on "Cricket" I realised that the other episodes I loved so much is to be taken with a huge grain of salt. Almost any cricket fan would watch the Cricket episode and be confused with how the episode focuses on India and Twenty20 cricket to the exclusion of almost everything else. Not even The Ashes, Bodyline, the evolution of batting gear, or any of the million interesting factoids about the games' chess-like gameplay are mentioned.

    Vox dishonestly portrays test cricket as a thing of the past, when in every cricket nation (including India) it is still the most prestigious form of the game. But because T20 is flashier, Vox focuses almost exclusively on it, cheekily implying that T20 is what the majority of the fans are fixated on, which is the exact opposite from the truth. It's frustrating that any laymen interested in learning about cricket is instead going to have 5 minutes of the rules explained to them, and then 10 minutes of a narrative pushed on them that is so over simplified and in the end has more to do with business and marketing than it does the actual sport. In a game that is as universally adored as football, VOX focuses almost entirely on the most narrow of stories. It's not about the subject, it's about a fluffed up narrative that covers less than 1% of the actual narrative. It would be as if VOX released a documentary about football that entirely neglected to mention the EPL or the World Cup.

    So I've watched the show and found it fun and interesting. However, I am not going to take it as anything more than a superficial look at subjects Vox themselves only have a passing knowledge of. There are a million other documentaries on Netflix you can watch that are more in-depth, honest and intelligent. I admire their attempts to branch out, but until Vox stops caring about visuals over facts, they should stick to their short youtube videos, which is where their best work has been done, the best episodes of this show are just normal Vox videos with a bit of filler in them to get them to the 15-20 minute mark.
    helpful•29
    20
    • knoxfan2008
    • Jul 19, 2018

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 23, 2018 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Netflix
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Giải Mã
    • Production company
      • Vox Media
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      18 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital

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