Dexter is back! Bosch is (kinda) back! And that annoying lady from Hacks is back! TV is back this week!
After a few quiet weeks volume-wise, there’s an abundance of new shows and original streaming movies this week.
There’s the new Dexter: Resurrection show, debuting on Paramount+. My sense is that if you’re already bought in on Dexter, you might give this a look (after one short-lived revival already and some fans still feeling burned by the final season of the original series, a lot of goodwill has been mutilated), but I can’t imagine many new viewers jumping on board with this show. That said, the addition of the under-utilised Peter Dinklage is welcome.
Seriously, HBO really dropped the ball by not having Dinklage star in a show for them post-Game of Thrones.
Ballard on Prime Video is a spin-off from its long-running cop show Bosch. You don’t need to have seen the Bosch show to pick up on this, which is about a cop with a past who is now running a cold case unit (seemingly out of a library?) in the LAPD police headquarters.
If you’re looking for a drama about a cop solving cold cases, I’d push you more in the direction of Netflix’s much better Department Q, but if you already watched that and want something a bit glossier and more traditional, this will keep you happy.
Series star Maggie Q (no relation to the aforementioned department) holds the show together well enough as the titular Ballard, but the character isn’t especially interesting and her performance is pretty middle-of-the-road.
It’s perfectly okay, pretty standard cop show fare. And yes… Harry Bosch does play a role in the show, but you won’t see him on screen until the second episode.
Too Much is the new Netflix show from Lena Dunham, who, after making a few low-ish profile movies and directing the (very good) pilot for HBO’s Industry, is here making her first proper return to TV following her HBO success Girls. Being that it is the follow-up to a zeitgeist-y show like that, expectations for Too Much were, well, too much for what Dunham has delivered here.
It has Megan Stalter, who I found unfunny and tedious in the otherwise funny and often surprising Hacks, opposite Will Sharpe (who I think we all mostly know from the second season of The White Lotus). She’s an American living temporarily in London after needing an escape from her life. On her first night she meets a musician in a pub who comes home with her and a relationship develops.
I really like Sharpe and he’s great in this. I continue to find Stalter grating and the show seems hell-bent on making it as difficult as possible to like her. There’s some fun cameos in this (the first episode has the always welcome on my TV Rhea Perlman), but I just found the show a chore. She’s awful, the witty dialogue lacks wit, and I had to tap out after the first two episodes.
The one good thing about Too Much is that it reminded me that the considerably better TV romcom Starstruck exists. I think I’m just going to go back and rewatch that. Or Girls, maybe.
What I wish I had spent my time this week watching instead was a new Muay Thai-fuelled zombie film streaming on Netflix - Ziam. I’m pretty tired of zombie films and shows generally, but the Muay Thai action element to it feels kinda fresh. Maybe I’m just clutching at straws this week…
Returning TV
Foundation (s03)
New TV
Ballard - Prime Video
Stars: Maggie Q, Michael Mosley, Rebecca Field, Victoria Moroles
Detective Renée Ballard leads the LAPD's new and underfunded cold case division, tackling the city's long-forgotten crimes. Detective Ballard navigates personal trauma, professional challenges, and life-threatening dangers to expose the truth.
Dexter: Resurrection - Paramount+
Stars: Michael C Hall, Uma Thurman, Jack Alcott, and Peter Dinklage
Dexter embeds himself in New York's ride-share community to track down a serial killer; Harrison spirals from the guilt of a violent outburst.
Too Much - Netflix
Stars: Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe
Jessica, a New York workaholic is reeling from a broken relationship. She takes a job in London, where she plans to live like a Bronte sister. When she meets Felix, a walking series of red flags, their unusual connection is impossible to ignore.
Electric Bloom - Disney+
Stars: Lumi Pollack, Carmen Sanchez, Ruby Marino, and Nathaniel Buescher
Three members of a world-famous pop group look back and tell the story of their friendship and their band, starting from the day they all met in high school.
Under a Dark Sun - Netflix
Stars: Isabelle Adjani and Ava Baya
On the run from her troubled past, a young mother is accused of killing her new boss at a flower farm just before discovering he's actually her father.
The Gringo Hunters - Netflix
Stars: Manuel Masalva, Harold Torres, Hector Kotsifakis, Andrew Leland Rogers.
A top Mexican police unit hunts U.S. fugitives fleeing across the border, grappling with lies and crime in this gripping series based on true events.
Leviathan - Netflix
Stars: Ayumu Murase, Natsumi Fujiwara, Shunsuke Sakuya
Set in an alternate steampunk past, an Austrian fugitive prince and a Scottish airman in disguise embark on an unexpected quest to prevent a world war.
Suspicious Minds - Hulu
Stars: Silvia Alonso
Amber, a brilliant thief posing as a governess to steal a $240 million tiara at a tycoon's wedding on a remote Pacific island, finds her plan in jeopardy.
New Movies
Ziam - Netflix
Stars: Mark Prin Suparat, Nychaa Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich, and Vayla Wanvayla Boonnithipaisit
In a fight for survival against a horrifying army of zombies, a former Muay Thai fighter must use skill, speed and grit to save his girlfriend.
Brick - Netflix
Stars: Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee
When a mysterious brick wall encloses their apartment building overnight, Tim and Olivia must unite with their wary neighbours to get out alive.
Madea’s Destination Wedding - Netflix
Stars: Tyler Perry
Madea packs her floral dresses and a whole lot of chaos when the Simmons family heads to the Bahamas for her grandniece's whirlwind wedding.
Zombies 4: Dawn of The Vampire - Disney+
Stars: Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, and Chandler Kinney
Zed and Addison embark on a road trip the summer after their first year of college, during which they unexpectedly discover the warring worlds of Sunnyside and Shadyside and come into contact with two new groups of monsters.
Almost Cops - Netflix
Stars: Jandino Asporaat and Werner Kolf
When an overeager community officer and a reckless ex-detective are forced to team up, plenty of chaos ensues on the streets of Rotterdam.
Aap Jaisa Koi - Netflix
Stars: R. Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh
Shrirenu lives by tradition. Madhu lives unapologetically. When their paths cross, a tender romance unfolds - awkward, sweet but shadowed by patriarchy.
That’s the TV listings newsletter for this week.
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Never watched Bosch. I don’t have a subscription to Netflix at the moment. Waiting for Wednesday to start. So I haven’t watched Dept Q. Did watch Ballard. It was OK. It annoyed me that it ended on a cliff hanger. Really? Aren’t we past cliffhanger endings?
Will I watch second season? I don’t know.
I noticed Netflix pushing Lincoln Lawyer S 3 on their homepage this weekend. Presumably trying to grab the Michael Connelly fans who don’t have a Prime sub.