Fall TV Roundup, Week 14

 

We’re making our way toward the end of the end of the year. These next few weeks are the final push of new shows before we break for the holidays and come back in a brand-new year. With the trappings of December, you might find your free time dwindling as well. So, what of these new shows is worth your time to check out? Let this weekly post be your guide as I review the pilot and second episode of new scripted series this Fall. Don’t see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Thursdays:
Creature Commandos, Streaming Thursdays on Max (Premiered December 5)
About: The latest from the D.C. Universe is another series created and written by James Gunn. This time it’s an animated tale about a team of unique individuals put together for secret missions. This is the next logical extension of Suicide Squad, the last of which was written and directed by Gunn. In fact, it returns Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and picks up a couple years after the events of that film, even returning the Weasel as one of the characters. Waller’s original program was shut down, but she’s recruited Rick Flagg, Sr. (Frank Grillo) to head up a new task force, this time made of creatures so as to skirt the restrictions placed on using human subjects as expendables. Flagg takes the job to honor his late son and takes his new “team” into the field for a critical mission. The first two episodes of a planned seven-episode season dropped Thursday. Each was about 26 minutes, with subsequent episodes dropping weekly. The voice cast is strong, including Indira Varma, Alan Tudyk, and Maria Bakalova, among others. The style here is very Gunn, and the levels of action, violence, and sexual content feel on par with his previous D.C. projects. It has a solid animated style, and the first two episodes were a fun ride. For those that enjoy a good, animated tale, or are just interested in the D.C. Universe, this will be a ride worth taking.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: C+

Streaming Series:
Black Doves, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered December 5)
About: This new series for Netflix is a six-episode spy drama set in London. It focuses on a covert group, The Black Doves, who don’t work for any single nation, but rather ply their trade to keep the world running as it should be. Among their operatives is a deep cover agent, Helen Webb (Kiera Knightly), has spent the last decade married to the British defense minister. They have two children and appear to be a normal couple. But Helen has grown bored and began an affair with a low-level state department officer. When he turns up dead, it becomes clear she’s been drawn into a secret plot that threatens to blow up her life and mission. Her handler (Sarah Lancashire) calls in her former partner, a hit man named Sam (Ben Whishaw), to help clean up the mess. It brings them back together on a dangerous journey and opens old wounds for both. This series was created by Joe Barton, who previously developed Giri/Haji and The Lazarus Project. The series moves at a good clip, balancing character and a weighty backstory with some interesting and intense action sequences. The mystery is good here, as is the journey. But it’s the dynamic pairing of Whishaw and Knightly that really makes it hum. The six episodes each run about 55 minutes, making for a quick binge for those that want to devour a good spy story.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: B-

The Sticky, Now Streaming on Prime Video (Premiered December 6)
About: The new comedy series on Prime Video is set in Canada in 2011 in the world of Maple Syrup. In fact, it’s about the big syrup association there, and the theft of millions of dollars worth of its strategic reserve. The series notes right up front it is based on real events, but this is NOT the true story. That gives them latitude to tell a fun tale. We focus on a disgruntled farmer named Ruth (Margo Martindale) who is in a jam. Her husband is in a coma, the association has clamped down on her farm in an attempt to force a sale, and she’s desperate for cash. Soon, a family friend with shady connections, Mike (Chris Diamantopoulos), and the disgruntled association security guard, Remy (Guillaume Cyr), bring her a plan to snatch the syrup reserve and sell it off. They begin working on the details to pull off the heist. The series is six episodes, all now streaming. It comes from producers Jason Blum and Jamie Lee Curtis, among others. The episodes are all between 25 and 30 minutes, making for a quick binge. The story is interesting, and the cast makes it dynamic and a bit of fun. This was an interesting story I knew little about before diving in, but one that makes for a fun, quick binge to end the year.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: C+

Paris Has Fallen, Now Streaming on Hulu (Premiered December 6)
About: This is a television series that’s a European extension of the film franchise. The series focuses on the French government and an attack by a disgruntled former member of the French Foreign Legion, Jacob (Sean Harris), at the Embassy in London. That puts the head of the protection detail, Vincent (Tewfik Jallab), and a mysterious operator with a past, Zara (Ritu Arya), right in the crosshairs. This is an eight-episode series that features some French subtitles but is predominately in English. The episodes are each about 42 minutes, and all eight are streaming to make for a quick weekend binge. The first episode begins with an attack at the embassy, laying out the players, but is resolved a bit too quickly. The rest of the series dives into the long-term plan and manhunt. What has made the film series work is the compact action delivered in a 90-to-120-minute package and the great lead character played by Gerard Butler, who is a producer here on the series. Sadly, in series form this has neither. That’s a struggle. The pilot was fine, but the action sequences don’t match the films. And the cast is fine, but the most compelling actor is Harris as the villain. So far, this doesn’t feel like a compelling binge, especially in a crowded end of year show time frame. But those that are devoted fans of the Has Fallen film franchise might well want to binge this for the holidays.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C