📺 Delete the Rich
6 new/returning shows to watch, plus reviews of 'Upload' S3 and Stephen King's 'Castle Rock'
Happy November! After Halloween, it’s natural to wonder when the new Hallmark Christmas movies will start jingling menacingly in the distance. You may be surprised to know their official “Countdown to Christmas” actually began on OCTOBER 20th. Jingle away. Meanwhile, Jess is over here still watching spooky shows/movies (see below for her review of the previously aired Stephen King series, Castle Rock).
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
Upload - S3 (Prime Video)
Stephen King’s Castle Rock (Hulu)
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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This newsletter was written during the SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the work of the actors, the shows we review wouldn’t exist.
We keep an eye on all of the new streaming content that is set to premiere. Here’s a list of new shows and movies to watch this week.
Black Cake (Season 1) — Based on the NYT-bestselling book by Charmaine Wilkerson, Black Cake is described as a “family drama wrapped in a murder mystery.”
Watch on Hulu: November 1 (3 of 8 episodes, then weekly)All the Light We Cannot See (Miniseries) — In this miniseries based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller by Anthony Doerr, a blind girl and a young German soldier form an unlikely friendship. Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie star.
Watch on Netflix: November 2 (all 4 episodes)The Buccaneers (Season 1) — The daughters of America’s new rich — beautiful and untamable — are on their way to London to snare themselves an aristocrat, low in funds but high in class, to make a perfect match.
Watch on Apple TV+: November 8 (3 episodes, then weekly)The Santa Clauses (Season 2) — The Calvin family is back in the North Pole as Tim Allen continues to try to find a Santa successor.
Watch on Disney+: November 8 (2 of 6 episodes, then weekly)Rap Sh!t (Season 2) — Delayed from its August premiere, Issa Rae’s comedy about two estranged friends who form a hip-hop group returns.
Watch on Max: November 9 (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Colin From Accounts (Season 1) — This Australian hit comedy series about two single people who are brought together by a car accident is coming to America.
Watch on Paramount+: November 9 (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)
These popular shows came back with new episodes. Here’s what we thought and where you can watch them.
Upload - Season 3
Keywords: satire, sci-fi, futuristic, comedy
Watch if you like: The Good Place, Severance, Chuck
Jenni’s Rating: C+
🚨 MILD SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 AHEAD 🚨
This off-kilter, darkly funny tech satire from the mind of Greg Daniels is finally back for a third season (read reviews for the first two here). If you’re unfamiliar with the premise, Upload is set in a not-too-distant future where the afterlife has been digitized and commercialized. For those wealthy enough to afford it, you can upload your consciousness to a virtual world and “live” forever after your body expires. You can even continue to interact with loved ones in the physical world through video calls and social media. The overarching plot of the series revolves around the premature death of an Uploaded coder, Nathan, who has no memory of his final days and just happened to be developing a free version of the digital afterlife before he died.
The first two seasons of Upload were refreshing and wildly good — they filled a gap between the upbeat, philosophical comedy of The Good Place and the satirical darkness of Severance that I didn’t know I needed. I loved the show’s strange, sometimes risqué sense of humor and its weird, distinctive characters. While the third season of Upload retains some this goodness, it is unfortunately weighed down by a tangled plot. At this point in the story, we are deep in the conspiracy of Nathan’s death, and many dominos have fallen and diverged and triggered whole new sets of dominos. There are multiple love triangles, bouts of corporate espionage, tensions within a struggling anarchist group, medical emergencies, and coworkers dealing with difficult, corrupt bosses. In short, it’s a little all over the place.
The series is still fun to watch, but these episodes are too busy with overlapping storylines to be as satisfying as the earlier ones, especially since the bloated plot has shunted characters that I loved in previous seasons to the sidelines. I’m hoping for a better balance in Season 4, because the chaotic cliffhanger in the Season 3 finale has me hooked enough to bring be back for more.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 3 seasons / 25 episodes (4 of 8 episodes in S3 out now, new on Thursdays)
Watch on: Prime Video
Where we highlight shows that were one-and-done, have ended, or been canceled — and are well-worth revisiting.
Castle Rock (2018-2020)
Keywords: horror, thriller, mystery
Watch if you like: American Horror Story, Twin Peaks, From
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