The needful balm of “The Detectorists”

When you want a reminder that all is not lost

Living in America in 2018 was like witnessing a hit and run. It seemed I stood paralyzed by the side of the road watching carnage and confusion and the horrible wounding of my country while powerless to do anything about it.

We are broken, are we not? Children have died at our hands. Hatred has been stoked and cheered. Earth’s destruction encouraged and ignored. Greed, misogyny, cruelty, deception — no evil was left unfed in 2018.

Of course we must bear witness. Of course we have to do what we can. But reading the news obsessively throughout the day feels like poking at a wound: Look at the gush of pus! See how the infection has spread! And sometimes we have to look away, to marshal our courage, to remember the wreckage is not all there is.

One balm in my psyche’s first aid kit is the British TV series “The Detectorists.” I found it on Hulu after New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum mentioned it in passing. I fell in love during the first two lines of the opening song:

Will you search through the loamy earth for me Climb through the briar and bramble

Musician Johnny Flynn, whom I’d never heard of before, has a deep, melodic, mournful voice that tells me yes, the world is a dolorous place, the night is dark and cold, and a storm is shrieking through drafty windows, but perhaps if we hold each other skin to skin under this itchy blanket, we might find some warmth.

Not much happens in “The Detectorists.” Two not particularly attractive men search for metal in fields in England. They hope to find gold coins in a Saxon burial ground, but mostly it’s ring pulls (from old cans of beer), shotgun caps and random flotsam.

A beautiful old oak they sit under for lunch is a recurring character. Rolling green fields are photographed lovingly. Opening scenes linger on insects and wildflowers.

There’s more, of course. A bit of comedy. Some drama. But no brutality. No sex. No crashing cars. No violence. Why do the movie gods think that’s what we want to see?

I pay for three streaming services and despite hundreds of options — maybe thousands — I have a hard time finding one thing I want to watch. Because I’m not looking for intensity in my entertainment. I have enough intensity in real life, thank you. Sometimes I need less. Sometimes I need better.

Sometimes I need an old man so overcome with emotion that he tears up when he finds a good, historic button and holds it up to show his wife who’s reading a book under a tree.

**For more by Patsy Fergusson, visit Fourth Wave.