📺 Blockbuster, Rap Sh!t, and more
Happy almost Friday. Have you already moved on from autumnal shows to bad Hallmark holiday movies? We could swear more than a few came out before Halloween. If you have strong feelings about your favorite holiday movies, we’d love to hear them. Come chat!
In today’s edition:
The Devil’s Hour
Rap Sh!t
Blockbuster
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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Where we each choose a recent-ish show to review and feature.
If you want a head-scratching thriller, try… The Devil’s Hour
Keywords: psychological thriller, dark, mystery
Watch if you like: Dark, Shining Girls, Mindhunter
Jess’s Rating: B
Executive produced by Steven Moffat and starring Peter Capaldi, The Devil’s Hour is more than just a reunion of these two Doctor Who colleagues. This new series from the British production company behind Sherlock is a head-scratching psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the end.
The Devil’s Hour follows a social worker, Lucy (Jessica Raine), who wakes up every day at 3:33 AM for no obvious reason and is haunted by memories of people and events that she’s never met or experienced before. Her son never displays emotion, and her mother talks to people who aren’t there. When Lucy becomes embroiled in a murder mystery, she meets the suspected perpetrator (Peter Capaldi) just to find that he may have the answers to her frightening hallucinations.
If you like dark and twisty mysteries with a bit of paranormal flair, then you should definitely give this a try. The cast, unsurprisingly for a British series, is excellent, and includes Phil Dunster in a very different role from his famous performance as Jamie in Ted Lasso. The show is a bit slow to get going, and it leaves you with more questions than answers until the very last episode, making the season finale very exposition heavy. But it has a satisfying payoff, and I can’t wait for the second season.
Length: 60-min runtime, 1 season / 6 episodes
Watch on: Prime Video
If you like complex female characters trying to beat the odds, try… Rap Sh!t
Keywords: music industry, comedy, female friendship
Watch if you like: Insecure, Atlanta, Blindspotting
Jenni’s Rating: C+
The latest series from Issa Rae is billed as a comedy, but at times feels much more like a half-hour drama. Rap Sh!t follows a Miami-based socially-conscious rapper, Shawna, who has all but given up on making it big until she reconnects with an estranged friend from high school, Mia. Together, they almost accidentally write a viral song and decide to form a rap duo. As they try to climb their way into fame and success, the two of them begin to butt heads, fighting over the importance of artistry vs. commercial appeal — of saying something important with the music vs. loosening up and just having a good time.
Following the path of much of the content on HBO, this is a show that does not shy away from adult content (nudity, sex, language etc.) and its characters are complex and interesting, but not always likable. Depending on your age and/or presence in the digital world, you may find the unique framing of the show either slightly jarring or refreshingly immersive. A good 50-60% of every episode is presented as though it’s being shot on a phone for social media or as a conversation over FaceTime. Though I identify firmly as “of the internet,” I personally found the technique a bit annoying at times.
Rap Sh!t may suffer a bit from phone-centric gimmicks (and a few awkward gags that gave me second-hand embarrassment for the characters), but at its core is a promising arc of two friends taking on the patriarchal world of rap and hip hop. All in all, I’m glad this show exists, but it’s not quite my cup of tea — at least not yet. I found the first season intriguing and entertaining enough to keep tabs on the second when it comes out, so I can see what it becomes. Some series require investment!
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: HBO Max
Where we feature a show that you may have been tempted to check out, but we’re here to tell you…it might not be worth it. 🤷♀️
Blockbuster
Keywords: workplace comedy, cheesy, nostalgia
Jess’s Rating: C
Blockbuster is a nostalgia-driven workplace comedy starring Melissa Fumero from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and created by Vanessa Ramos, writer of Superstore. It’s set in the last Blockbuster on earth; the concept is loosely based on the actual last remaining Blockbuster, which is still operating out of Bend, Oregon. The series follows the owner of the store, played by Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat, WandaVision) as he tries to keep his business afloat in the age of streaming services.
All of you elder millennials hoping to reignite some nostalgic feelings will be sorely disappointed, as there are few moments that are specific to the experience of being in a Blockbuster store. The show aims to be a warm workplace comedy, and it feels like it could be set in any brick-and-mortar business. In fact, it’s almost the exact set-up as Superstore— a workplace comedy set in a retail store where the quirky employees make minimum wage and deal with oddball customers.
The series isn’t doing anything particularly wrong, but it’s not really doing anything well, either. None of the jokes feel fresh; in fact, they seem to have been written by a middle-aged person who last used the internet in 2018 (see: “You promised you’d teach me what “lit” means!”). Another issue is that one of the main storylines is the will-they-won’t-they between Randall Park and Melissa Fumero’s characters, but there is very little chemistry between them.
Blockbuster is pleasant enough, but lacks the laughs and interest that I expect from a streaming sitcom in this day and age. It got marginally better after the truly abysmal first episode, but keep your hopes low. I don’t envision this getting a second season.
— Jess
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 10 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
Your shows, returned:
The Capture, Season 2: Premieres November 3 on Peacock
Mythic Quest, Season 3: Premieres November 11 on Apple TV+
Yellowstone, Season 5: Premieres November 13 on Paramount
The Sex Lives of College Girls, Season 2: Premieres November 17 on HBO Max
Dead to Me, Season 3: Premieres November 17 on Netflix
Gangs of London, Season 2: Premieres November 17 on AMC
Upcoming new releases:
The Calling: Premieres November 10 on Peacock
The Big Brunch: Premieres November 10 on HBO Max
The English: Premieres November 11 on Prime Video
Tulsa King: Premieres November 13 on Paramount+
The Santa Clauses: Premieres November 16 on Disney+
1899: Premieres November 17 on Netflix
Fleishman Is in Trouble: Premieres November 17 on Hulu