Reviews

The history of the world is filled with predatory men who will go to great lengths to justify abusing and oppressing women and girls. On Under the Banner of Heaven Season 1 Episode 5, things get bleak for all the women involved, and the truth about Ron is revealed. It’s the running theme of a story

Hulu’s Sally Rooney book adaptation Normal People was my absolute favorite TV show of 2020: a magnificently moving, beautifully rendered portrait of young love, with all its dizzying highs and lows. So I was excited when I heard Hulu was adapting another Rooney novel, Conversations With Friends, and bringing back Normal People director Lenny Abrahamson

If the Sons of Anarchy were going to take out one character, I didn’t expect it to be Coco. Mayans M.C. Season 4 Episode 5 was another slow burn that tackled too many storylines, but the events of the outing will have a profound effect on the rest of Mayans M.C. Season 4. When you

OK, Ausiello, you were right. Heartstopper was amazing. Beyond. When my boss told me to watch Netflix’s teenage romance, insisting that I’d like it, I said what I usually do when he makes suggestions — “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, you betcha” — with every intention of ignoring him. But this week, I gave it a shot. Dunno

Allison Miller’s directorial debut on the series delivered an installment firing on all cylinders. So much of A Million Little Things Season 4 Episode 17 explored the things we’ve come to love most about this series, and every last one of the storylines kept you interested or provoked some emotion. The restrained touch to the

You’re not imagining things: We are positively drowning in TV docudramas these days. The Girl From Plainville, Inventing Anna, The Dropout, The First Lady… if it made headlines or inspired a podcast, it’s probably on TV right now, with big stars lining up to play famous real-life figures (and earn an easy Emmy nomination). So

Put some respect on Kevin Atwater’s name. We were long overdue for a Kevin-centric, and as customary for them, Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 19 didn’t disappoint. It took us on a twisty ride where we didn’t know who was true and what wasn’t. But one thing is undeniably sure here, and it’s that it

When it comes to incredible, heartfelt performances, Malcolm-Jamal Warner owned this hour and delivered! We knew the day would come when Carol passed away, but that didn’t make it any easier to sit through The Resident Season 5 Episode 19 as she slowly faded away, leaving people who adored her in pieces in her wake.

Let’s get this straight. Despite the many tips of the hat to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine this season, that. is. not. Bashir. Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Episode 7 gets pretty in-depth and trippy as Tallinn forms a mechanically-assisted mind-meld with Picard in an effort to get him psychologically unstuck. It answers many questions

Russian Doll was such a fizzy breath of fresh air when it premiered, with Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia getting stuck in a time loop and forced to relive her 36th birthday over and over again, that I wasn’t even sure I wanted it to come back for a second season. After all, TV shows that take

Talk about a tearjerker! This Is Us Season 6 Episode 12 told the story of the end of Kate and Toby’s marriage, and it was second in heartbreaking only to Jack Pearson’s death. The way this all ended was inevitable — fans knew it was over long before Kate and Toby did. But that didn’t make

The end is almost here! We’re only two weeks away from crowning America’s Next Drag Superstar. On RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 Episode 14, this marked the final round for the queens in the studio phase. It’s their last chance to show the judges what they’re bringing to the table before the finale. Did the

Okay, we can all breathe now. Little Jack’s escape from the house and walk to the park by himself was fraught with tension, but he was found mostly safe and sound. This Is Us Season 6 Episode 11 gave us one of the scariest sequences in the series’ history, plus an emotional blow-up between Kate

Are network sitcoms making a comeback? Not too long ago, things looked dire for the genre — NBC didn’t even bother to put a single comedy on its fall primetime lineup — but CBS’ Ghosts, ABC’s Abbott Elementary and NBC’s Grand Crew have proven to be reliable sources of laughs already this season. And that hot

What is Mayor Chase up to? On Blue Bloods Season 12 Episode 17, Jamie and Frank argued after Chase secretly tapped Jamie to be his new head of security. Jamie was sure Chase was making this move to get revenge on Frank for perceived wrongs, but I didn’t quite get how that would work. Frank

The producers of Hulu’s How I Met Your Father would really like you to not call it a reboot. Instead, they say, it’s a sequel to CBS’ long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother — and of course, they’d like it to run for nine seasons, too. But having seen the first four episodes (premiering

Now, that’s how you follow up a premiere. HALO Season 1 Episode 2 had the right amount of action, moving pieces, and world-building to reiterate that the TV adaptation has the legs to carry the franchise to new heights. The desperate mission to Rubble was an excellent way to bring more humanity to John. While

Downton Abbey was such a resounding hit for PBS — a second movie spinoff debuts in theaters later this year — that it’s understandable TV networks would try to recreate that magic. So now we get The Gilded Age, a new HBO historical drama from Downton creator Julian Fellowes that’s also rich with luxurious interiors and finely

Sometimes a lack of expectations can be a good thing. Disney+’s Moon Knight is the streamer’s first live-action Marvel series to not spin off a character and actor already established by the blockbuster MCUfranchise. In addition to that, Moon Knight in his own right is not quite “obscure,” but certainly less well known than the Marvel

Okay, who thought Shaun and Lea’s sexcapades were worth all this time? The Good Doctor Season 5 Episode 12 mainly focused on sex. Shaun kept trying to find a way to get in sync with Lea; while at work, he and Jordan dealt with a patient who didn’t want to go into surgery as a

To be fair, the 2022 Oscars had a very low bar to clear. This year’s ceremony had nowhere to go but up, honestly: Last year’s Oscars were a trainwreck (one that took place at a train station, ironically) plagued by sluggish pacing and a humorless tone. Viewership cratered, too, with an all-time low of 10.4

Shonda Rhimes already made her Netflix debut with Bridgerton, but her new true crime drama Inventing Anna — debuting this Friday; I’ve seen the first four episodes — feels even more Shonda-y than that. (She’s the series creator this time and wrote the pilot.) It’s a brisk, glamorous crime story that bears several of Rhimes’ hallmarks,

Fallon and Liam will make great parents. Dynasty Season 5 Episode 5 was another deep-dive into the best romantic relationship on the series, and while the pair had several bumps in the road to conceive, you can tell their relationship is in a healthier place than before. If you watch Dynasty online, you know the

I have to tell you right up front: I may be too biased to do a fair review here. You see, I grew up an L.A. Lakers fan, smack dab in the middle of the “Showtime” era depicted in HBO’s new docudrama Winning Time (debuting this Sunday at 9/8c; I’ve seen the first four episodes).

Tender-age cases are always an emotional ordeal. But not only did the one on Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 10 hit close to home for Ruzek, but it stirred up some unresolved issues between him and Burgess. And just as it seemed the two resolved them, a random uncle pulled the rug from under their

I wasn’t quite expecting this, and you probably were not either. But HBO Max’s Peacemaker series is a bit of a blast, considering how polarizing its title character proved to be in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, of which it is spun off. Premiering Thursday, Jan. 13 with the first three of eight episodes (I previewed

And that’s how you end a season! The buildup for the tournament wasn’t the best throughout the season, but once we got there on Cobra Kai Season 4 Episode 9, it didn’t disappoint. And by the end of Cobra Kai Season 4 Episode 10, there were too many heel turns to count, a new villain

Despite its connection to Yellowstone and promos leading into the 1883 premiere, how this story would unfold was somewhat of a mystery. 1883 Season 1 Episode 1 and 1883 Season 1 Episode 2 revealed that the expansion of the United States and all that it stood for wasn’t for the weak. And if there’s anything