
The Beast in Me
Netflix’s ‘The Beast in Me” is aptly named, since families will need to grapple with a beast made up of content issues when watching it.
There’s no telling what might happen in the fictional town of Jalpur. Good thing royal detective Mira is always ready to take on any challenge and solve any mystery.
Missing jug of milk? It’ll be found. Lost leather handbag? Not a problem. Because for Mira, everycase, and every person, is worth her time.
In Mira, Royal Detective, Disney whisks young viewers across the world to India. There, they meet a commoner, Mira, who is appointed by Queen Shanti as the town’s detective.
A bright, decisive young girl, Mira solves any mystery that comes her way. But she never goes at it alone. She’s joined by two talkative, mongoose sidekicks, Mikku and Chikku, along with cousin Priya, friend Ramu and sometimes even the royal Prince Neel.
Together, this pack of investigative friends teach little viewers to use teamwork, critical thinking and deductive reasoning to solve each case. In addition, each 11-minute episode features a fun, original song (often accompanied by a Bollywood-style dance), and viewers learn about Indian food, art, language, clothes and customs. Sure, Ramu often cries out a frustrated “soggy samosa” when he crashes one of his latest inventions, and people occasionally get frustrated as they’re trying to solve their problems. But those tiny mishaps could never take away from the kind heart and fun, family-centered plot of this show.
Mira helps her cousin locate a missing scarf, just in time to give it to Queen Shanti. Mira helps her cousin, Priya, find her missing bicycle.
Ramu exclaims “soggy samosas” each time he crashes his wacky inventions. Prince Neel is a little rude to Mira and others get frustrated when they lose their belongings.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).

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