Summer TV Roundup, Week 4
As we turn the page into a sort of summer, we're getting some interesting options. But are any of those options really good? That's the question. In these weekly posts I review the pilot and second episode of new scripted series. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.
Sunday Nights:
I Know This Much Is True, Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO (Premiered May 10)
About: This new series, based on a novel, stars Mark Ruffalo as a set of twins. Both are adults and struggling. One struggles with mental health issues. And one struggles with the weight of being a caretaker and his own life of grief. It's an excellent lead performance, and it's well made. But this is some incredibly heavy material. There is death and grief and sorrow in spades, and if you're familiar with the source material you'd know that doesn't change going forward. The question right now is how much punishment you can take. I was moved by the story and performance, but it is tough emotionally, especially during this time of pandemic.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C
I Know This Much Is True, Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO (Premiered May 10)
About: This new series, based on a novel, stars Mark Ruffalo as a set of twins. Both are adults and struggling. One struggles with mental health issues. And one struggles with the weight of being a caretaker and his own life of grief. It's an excellent lead performance, and it's well made. But this is some incredibly heavy material. There is death and grief and sorrow in spades, and if you're familiar with the source material you'd know that doesn't change going forward. The question right now is how much punishment you can take. I was moved by the story and performance, but it is tough emotionally, especially during this time of pandemic.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C
Snowpiercer, Sundays at 9 p.m. on TNT (Premiered May 17)
About: This long gestating series was scheduled for later in the month and pulled forward. Based on what I saw, we could have waited. The series is based on the film of the same name, which worked OK as a self-contained action movie with some social implications. However, it's hard to say it will definitively work as a series and, in fact, I was less than impressed with what I saw from the first episode. Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly head the cast, and I think both a decent performers. But the film devolved into a strange murder procedural aboard a train and none of the characters or the story really popped. Can it get there, perhaps. But I didn't love the film, either, so I'm skeptical.
Pilot Grade: C-
About: This long gestating series was scheduled for later in the month and pulled forward. Based on what I saw, we could have waited. The series is based on the film of the same name, which worked OK as a self-contained action movie with some social implications. However, it's hard to say it will definitively work as a series and, in fact, I was less than impressed with what I saw from the first episode. Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly head the cast, and I think both a decent performers. But the film devolved into a strange murder procedural aboard a train and none of the characters or the story really popped. Can it get there, perhaps. But I didn't love the film, either, so I'm skeptical.
Pilot Grade: C-
Hightown, Sundays at 9 p.m. on Starz (Premiered May 17)
About: This new drama set on Cape Cod is full of murder, intrigue, and drug issues. Monica Raymund leads the cast here, but the first episode felt like a bit of an ensemble. At the same time, there was a lot in the first episode in terms of what looked like a big party. Given where the pilot ends with the lead character, it may have been building to a point. However, it was tough to sink into the episode and feel connected to the plot. It remains to be seen if it will improve, but that's what made me feel that the pilot was uneven, and I'm not sure about the series as a whole. We're getting new content, but this week's offerings, at least, have featured a ton of sex scenes without a lot of real reason to justify it.
Pilot Grade: C-
About: This new drama set on Cape Cod is full of murder, intrigue, and drug issues. Monica Raymund leads the cast here, but the first episode felt like a bit of an ensemble. At the same time, there was a lot in the first episode in terms of what looked like a big party. Given where the pilot ends with the lead character, it may have been building to a point. However, it was tough to sink into the episode and feel connected to the plot. It remains to be seen if it will improve, but that's what made me feel that the pilot was uneven, and I'm not sure about the series as a whole. We're getting new content, but this week's offerings, at least, have featured a ton of sex scenes without a lot of real reason to justify it.
Pilot Grade: C-
Streaming Series:
White Lines, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered May 15)
About: This new international series begins with the discovery of a body buried in the ground. It moves to the revelation that in Italy, apparently, if a murder is over 20 years old, you're off the hook. But the victim's sister (Laura Haddock) won't let it go, and her search for answers leads her to Ibiza and a sex cult, apparently. And if you're thinking to yourself, I'm good without this one, then we're on the same page. I wasn't taken with the story or characters here, and two episodes was more than enough. We're all starved for content but I'm not that starved I guess.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D
White Lines, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered May 15)
About: This new international series begins with the discovery of a body buried in the ground. It moves to the revelation that in Italy, apparently, if a murder is over 20 years old, you're off the hook. But the victim's sister (Laura Haddock) won't let it go, and her search for answers leads her to Ibiza and a sex cult, apparently. And if you're thinking to yourself, I'm good without this one, then we're on the same page. I wasn't taken with the story or characters here, and two episodes was more than enough. We're all starved for content but I'm not that starved I guess.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D
The Great, Now Streaming on Hulu (Premiered May 15)
About: This one has a high profile cast that includes Elle Fanning and Nichols Hoult, and centers on the early days of Catherine the Great as she moves to Russia, marries the king and tries to settle into a misogynistic new world. Tony McNamara, who wrote the script for "The Favourite," created and runs this show, which runs 10 episodes in its first season. He brings that same caustic humor to this story, which also is incredibly dark if you stop to think about the plot too hard. And as with a few other shows, there is a lot of sex scenes here, many of them are quite uncomfortable to watch. In fact, the whole show was quite uncomfortable to watch and is, at times, quite cringy. Maybe others will feel differently, but I am out on this one.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-
About: This one has a high profile cast that includes Elle Fanning and Nichols Hoult, and centers on the early days of Catherine the Great as she moves to Russia, marries the king and tries to settle into a misogynistic new world. Tony McNamara, who wrote the script for "The Favourite," created and runs this show, which runs 10 episodes in its first season. He brings that same caustic humor to this story, which also is incredibly dark if you stop to think about the plot too hard. And as with a few other shows, there is a lot of sex scenes here, many of them are quite uncomfortable to watch. In fact, the whole show was quite uncomfortable to watch and is, at times, quite cringy. Maybe others will feel differently, but I am out on this one.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-
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