What To Watch (and What To Skip) on Apple TV
Apple TV has been quietly cranking out bangers. From SciFi to emotionally engaging dramas, your $6.99 a month pays off. But there are also some real stinkers that will leave you a bit miffed.
Before I even get into the shows on Apple TV I’d like to talk about something I think is pretty cool about the streaming service. My middle kid recently hit me up for some show recommendations. I asked if he had Apple TV and offered to pay for an account. Turns out I could add him to my Apple account as a family member for free. Doesn’t even matter that we don’t live in the same state. In a time when streaming companies are cracking down on account sharing, it was very refreshing to be able to use this feature.
Now, on to the shows!
The Best!
Lets start out with the good stuff.
Foundation
Based on a series of Isaac Asimov stories, Foundation is the type of show that will have you running to the internet to find other people you can talk to about it after each episode.
There are currently two bingeable seasons of mind-bending madness streaming and it is worth your time. With any science fiction there is a heavy reliance on suspension of disbelief, but if you just let your mind roll with it you’ll soon find yourself both rooting for Hari Seldon and his Foundation and kind of wanting to punch him in his smug face.
Jared Harris is masterful as the smug scientist who has solved the prime radiant. What the hell is the prime radiant? Seems to be an endless stream of equations that project from a glorified paperweight if the wielder of said paperweight can figure out how to wiggle it around and tap it just right.
Lee Pace (who I will forever think of as Empire Daddy, sorry to be so horny) serves sass, arrogance and in season 2 a bitchy little earring to show how much of a baddy he is. He’s 1/3 of a series of clones of Cleon 1, emperor of the Galactic Empire.
But the real phenom femme fatale is Eto Demerzel, the robot protector of Empire who won’t hesitate to snap necks and un-alive entire populations if that’s what needs to be done. Always one to keep up appearances, she slays in skin-tight maxi dresses and is mechanical about her skin-care routine.
There is an endless amount of characters I could prattle on about and so many plot-lines to discuss, but really just trust me. Watch Foundation.
Shrinking
I’ve been crushing on Jason Segal since Freaks and Geeks. Seeing him in the role of a therapist who gets fed up with listening to his clients complain about the same things week after week and decides to take a non-traditional approach only fans that crushy flame.
He’s a grieving single father whose own life is out of control and he’s clearly trying to find the formula to fix what’s broken. His boss and mentor (Harrison Ford) is a shoot from the hip old grump who is not interested in supporting the shenanigans. The show is just as much about Ford’s grapple with aging and Parkinson’s as it is about Segal’s attempt to heal and move on.
Jessica Williams, also a therapist, delivers flawlessly executed comedic relief. The entire cast plays well off of each other, but Williams is clearly the bridge that brings the characters and scenarios to a place of satisfaction.
It’s a show with a lot of heart and perfect when you need a break from the shoot-em-ups and true crime. Shout-out to anyone who instantly understands what “safe dick” means.
Also worth watching:
Slow Horses, Silo, Bad Sisters, Severance, The Crowded Room, Platonic, Physical
The Okay
There are some shows that I watch week after week because they’re on and they’re not terrible. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend them, but they’re not bad shows.
The Morning Show
I don’t think I could rewatch the earlier seasons because they’re pretty heavy on pandemic content. It wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t but I wearied of the topic especially as portrayed in tv. It remains a topic in season 3, but only as a point of reference.
What the show does well is that it gives a peek behind the curtain of a main stream media outlet and the various facets of the business. It shows the hungriness of the producers, anchors and network executives in the framework of a rapidly moving news cycle.
For All Mankind
Some people absolutely love this show. Space travel is fascinating stuff. It’s also an interesting take of what would have happened if America wasn’t the first to get to the moon. There’s plenty of drama to go around.
Perhaps this is because I binged it, but I had trouble really feeling anything toward any of the characters. At times I felt a bit of annoyance at bad decision-making, but I feel like a great show can make me root for or against the characters.
The Afterparty
I loved Season 1. It was cute, fun, and the formula of a murder-mystery from the perspective of individual party guests made for a wild watch. Sam Richardson’s delivery is very enjoyable. I’ve never wanted to give someone a hug more than that man.
Season 2 lost me. Each episode was an imitation of a style of film that represented the personality of the guest telling their version of events. It felt overly earnest and incredibly dorky. I finished it because I wanted to know who the killer was, but for a cast that great I wish the product would have been better.
The Trash
Is it rude of me to criticize something that clearly took a large team of people to produce. But, here I go!
The Changeling
It’s beautiful. It’s moving. There are moments in it that fill be with terror simply from the look on an actor’s face. Clark Backo is stunning even when in the midst of some deep post-partum psychosis.
Or was it post-partum psychosis? Nobody knows. With every episode you think you’re being guided toward a big reveal. You stick with it for the reward of solving the mystery. Was Emma right? Was her real baby really snatched up and replaced? Who knows.
Despite one truly magical episode everything is completely ruined by the finale. Wanna know what this all meant? Too bad! The 28 minute bullshit episode managed to bring in several more confusing elements while not answering any questions.
Invasion
Speaking of lousy finales, I didn’t even realize that I had watched the finale after I watched it. It was that lacking.
So, aliens have invaded the earth. Their motive is unclear, but they’ve sent a bunch of destructive robo dogs to murder us. A handful of moody teenagers are mind-melded with them and a Japanese scientist is attempting to learn their language.
Everybody keeps doing stupid stuff and their small victories result in bigger problems. Two seasons in and I hate everyone, especially the kids. If there is a season 3 I would be just fine with seeing the whole planet get wiped out. Team Alien all the way.
Still Unsure
Lessons in Chemistry
Promising so far. We’ll see.
Also, what was Dear, Edward trying to be?