📺 Hello Tomorrow!, Red Rose, Carnival Row, and I Hate Suzie / Too
Happy Thursday. Only one day more til the weekend, and three until a new episode of The Last of Us drops. Speaking of which, if you haven’t been following along with our weekly podcast breaking down each episode of TLOU (now featuring game expert & friend Falon Shaver), what are you waiting for? Listen on Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
In today’s edition:
Hello Tomorrow!
Red Rose
Carnival Row
I Hate Suzie / Too
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
First time reading? Subscribe to receive Double Take weekly.
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Hello Tomorrow!
Keywords: retro-futuristic, drama, dark comedy
Watch if you like: Made for Love, Mad Men
Jess’s Rating: B-
Hello Tomorrow!, a new dark-comedy/drama from Apple TV+, stars Billy Crudup (The Morning Show) as a salesman peddling condos on the moon. Hank Azaria (The Simpsons) and Alison Pill (The Newsroom) are also featured as a fellow salesman and disgruntled customer, respectively.
There are aspects of this show that are working well. Primarily, the show’s production design is truly phenomenal. The series seemingly takes place in the future, due to the being-able-to-live-on-the-moon thing, but the setting is anachronistically retro. The clothing, hairdos, and architecture are straight from the 50s, but with futuristic twists. Picture an an old-school diner with a robotic waitress, vintage cars that hover over the ground, and video calls to space in black and white. Additionally, it’s clear from the very start that there’s something we’re not being told, and that’s intriguing. And the performances from Crudup, Azaria, Pill, and the rest of the cast are strong.
On the negative side, the storytelling feels shallow. The pilot episode firmly established the tone of an idealistic society with something dark brewing underneath. But from there, the subsequent 2 episodes (all that’s available to watch at this time) failed to introduce enough new elements to keep me engaged. I’ll keep watching to see if it gets better, but right now it’s more style than substance.
— Jess
Length: 30-min runtime, 3 episodes available now with new ones each Friday
Watch on: Apple TV+
Red Rose
Keywords: horror, thriller, teens
Watch if you like: Nerve, Unfriended, Black Mirror
Jess’s Rating: D
Red Rose originally premiered on BBC Three last summer, but it’s getting new life outside of the UK due to its recent premiere as a Netflix “original” in the US. The horror-drama centers around a group of teens whose lives are threatened after they download an app that begins to control their lives.
You’ve heard this premise before: person downloads app, the phone’s camera and microphone are used as surveillance tools, and an evildoer uses the tech to harm the downloader. The series could easily fit in as an episode of Black Mirror, and it’s a close sibling to movies such as Nerve and Unfriended. While I can appreciate a good ‘tech is evil’ flick, there needs to be something actually scary and/or tension-producing to drive the narrative, and that is missing here for much of the season.
During the first 4 episodes, there is no reason to be scared; the teens could seemingly just delete the app from their phones and all would be well. Not only that, but there are moments that are clearly supposed to be frightening that are just laughable. In the second half of the season, they introduce new plot elements that amp up the stakes and create intrigue. I found myself (finally) invested around the 7th episode (of 8). But that, in my opinion, is too little too late.
— Jess
Length: 40-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
These popular shows came back with new episodes. Here’s what we thought and where you can watch them.
Carnival Row
Keywords: neo-noir, steampunk, fantasy
Watch if you like: Shadow and Bone, Midnight Riot (book), The Magicians
Jenni’s Rating: C+
This neo-noir fantasy series starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne entered its second and final season last week. It fully feels like a show based on a fantasy novel, but this Bavarian-esque steampunk land filled with fairies and murder is an entirely new creation.
In the world of Carnival Row, magical beings (faerie, faun, etc.) live as persecuted, oppressed refugees in human society after war drove them from their homelands. When a series of fae turn up dead in the Burgue, most of the human authorities would rather turn a blind eye, but one police inspector, Rycroft Philostrate (Bloom) dedicates himself to solving the seemingly connected murders.
While the premise is interesting enough, and the acting is fine, the intricate world-building is the most engaging aspect of this series. I want to know more about the history of the wars and the people in this universe. Unfortunately, with only two seasons and a mystery killer plot to unfold, I don’t know if I’m going to get it.
Carnival Row can be unsatisfyingly unsubtle in its allegory and heavy handed in a “show and tell…and tell again” rather than “show don’t tell” kind of way. However, if you’re interested in exploring a new and complex world filled with (sometimes too) earnest, fantastical characters, this series will keep you engaged.
— Jenni
Length: 60-min runtime; 2 seasons / 10 episodes, with new ones of S2 out Fridays
Watch on: Amazon Prime
In which we choose a recent show we’ve been enjoying to review and feature.
If you’re ok being uncomfortable for the sake of art, try… I Hate Suzie / Too
Keywords: dark comedy, British, stressful, uncomfortable
Watch if you like: Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The Effect, Succession
Jenni’s Rating: B-
I Hate Suzie — along with its abbreviated second season, I Hate Suzie Too — is the third project produced by creative partners Lucy Prebble and Billie Piper.
The series follows Suzie Pickles (Piper), a former teenage pop star and television actress whose phone is hacked, leaking several compromising photos of her to the world. Suzie struggles to keep her marriage intact and protect her son in the midst of media fallout while her manager and friend, Naomi, attempts to keep her career afloat.
Billie Piper is absolutely spectacular at navigating the range of this story — in fact, every performance in this series is incredible — but, this show is the definition of a ‘hard watch’. I know it’s supposed to be, and that’s what keeps me coming back, but I definitely need to grit through episodes one or two at a time…and often need a pick-me-up palate cleanser afterward.
I Hate Suzie is an ode to our society’s fascination with public breakdowns, and it’s every bit as cringey and claustrophobic and anxiety-inducing as an exploration of that topic deserves. It’s also wildly, darkly funny and I’m glad it exists.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 2 seasons / 11 episodes
Watch on: HBO Max
Your shows, returned:
Bel-Air, Season 2: Premieres February 23 on Peacock
Outer Banks, Season 3: Premieres February 23 on Netflix
Party Down, Season 3: Premieres February 24 on Starz
Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Season 5: Premieres February 24 on Netflix
The Mandalorian, Season 3: Premieres March 1 on Disney+
Survivor, Season 44: Premieres March 1 on CBS
Sex/Life, Season 2: Premieres March 2 on Netflix
Upcoming new releases:
The Consultant: Premieres February 24 on Prime Video
Liaison: Premieres February 24 on Apple TV+
The Reluctant Traveler: Premieres February 24 on Apple TV+
True Lies: Premieres March 1 on CBS
Wreck: Premieres March 1 on Hulu