The COVID-19 pandemic has had major impact on daily life for people around the globe. Between stay at home orders, business shutdowns, and other disruptions to life and business as usual, people have been staying at home in increasing numbers to help slow the spread of the coronavirus which means that people have also been turning to streaming to help them pass the time and, hopefully, provide an escape from the ever-changing reality. For some, though, that escape means diving into programming that feels a lot like art imitating life — which is why a five-year-old drama from The CW is seeing a surge of popularity on Netflix. Containment, starring Supergirl‘s Chris Wood, is now in Netflix’s Top 10.
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Based on the Belgian series Cordon, Containment debuted on The CW in 2016. Developed by Legacies and The Vampire Diaries showrunner Julie Plec, the series followed the outbreak of a deadly virus that quickly takes hold in Atlanta, Georgia, forcing the city to take extreme measures to prevent its spread. And when we say extreme measures, we’re not talking stay at home orders where essential services remain open. The mystery virus in the series is so dangerous (and bloody) that it has, at least at one point, a 100% fatality rate, which prompts the establishment of a cordon sanitaire in which the impacted area is entirely sealed off by force. As one might expect, the fear and strain of the quickly escalating situation causes absolute chaos.
While the series is entirely fictional, it does have some chilling parallels to the fight against coronavirus currently playing out in reality. There series sees various characters from different walks of life each dealing with elements of the outbreak, including trying to track the spread of the disease, healthcare workers trying to treat patients while they themselves are exposed, and even those who find themselves separated from loved ones due to the outbreak. In addition to Wood, the series starred David Gyasi, Christina Moses, Kristen Gutoskie, Claudia Black, George Young, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, and Trevor St John. The series lasted for only one season.
Containment isn’t alone in outbreak-themed television shows that are seeing major popularity on Netflix right now. Pandemic, a docuseries about the efforts to create a universal influence vaccine, is also seeing quite a bit of popularity on Netflix as well.
As of the time of this writing, there have been 416,686 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 18,589 confirmed deaths worldwide, spanning 197 countries areas or territories according to the World Health Organization (WHO) with the United States accounting for 69,018 confirmed cases and 1041 deaths.
