📺 New TV to watch this week
a horror-comedy to binge, another Marvel series, and an irreverent, philosophical fantasy to catch-up on
Thursday again! Lots going on this week. It’s officially Emmys season, The Summer I Turned Pretty and Foundation both return for sophomore seasons tomorrow, and Hollywood actors are prepping for the picket lines.
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
The Horror of Dolores Roach
Secret Invasion
Good Omens (Season 1)
High Desert
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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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.
What We Do in the Shadows (Season 5) — This new season will raise the stakes (hehe) for the clan of Staten Island vampires.
Watch on Hulu: July 13 (2 of 10 episodes, then weekly)Full Circle (Limited Series) — Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven) directs this limited series about an investigation into a botched kidnapping starring Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, and Dennis Quaid.
Watch on Max: July 13 (2 of 6 episodes, then 2 weekly)The Summer I Turned Pretty (Season 2) — The teen trio returns to Cousins Beach to find an unexpected visitor threatening the future of their beloved vacation home.
Watch on Prime Video: July 14 (3 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Foundation (Season 2) — This sci-fi series loosely based on the stories by Isaac Asimov returns for a second season.
Watch on Apple TV+: July 14 (1 of 10 episodes, then weekly)Justified: City Primeval (Limited Series) — Timothy Olyphant returns as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in this sequel to the original series.
Watch on FX/Hulu: July 18 on FX, July 19 on Hulu (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
The Horror of Dolores Roach
Keywords: thriller, dark comedy, horror
Watch if you like: Sweeney Todd, Based on a True Story, Santa Clarita Diet
Jess’s Rating: C+
Based on a scripted fiction podcast of the same name, The Horror of Dolores Roach is a modern take on Sweeney Todd. Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) stars as Dolores, a woman who is released from prison after an unjust sentence of 16 years. When she returns to her gentrified hometown of Washington Heights, she reunites with an old friend and begins working in the basement of his empanada restaurant as a masseuse. Trouble comes knocking, Dolores ends up with blood on her hands, and soon the empanada shop has a ton of new customers who are ravenous for the new mystery meat.
The first episode starts off strong, with a meta flash-forward of Dolores showing up at a theatrical performance of The Horror of Dolores Roach, an adaptation of a popular podcast. (In our world, this show is an adaptation of a podcast that is an adaptation of an Off-Broadway play). The opening ties into a later scene, and it ultimately all tees up a second season, but the meta-satirical perspective doesn’t carry through the main narrative of this first season. And that poses the question: what is the perspective here? With its exaggerated carnage, frenetic pace, and manic energy, the series seems to be excelling only at making the audience uncomfortable. It’s neither funny enough nor spooky enough to live up to its billing as a horror-comedy. To give credit where its due, Justina Machado is masterful in the role of Dolores; she embodies the nuance of the character, believably portraying an unhinged serial killer while still expressing her underlying grief and ire.
On the one hand, the execution of this series was flawed in a few major ways. On the other, it’s a quick and easy binge watch at a total of 4 hours of watch time, and it could still be worth your time if you’re looking for something chaotic and macabre.
—Jess
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Prime Video
Secret Invasion
Keywords: Marvel, aliens, action
Watch if you like: Captain Marvel, Andor, Loki
Jess’s Rating: C
If you’ve stopped paying attention to the release of new Marvel movies and series, I don’t blame you. Instead of 2-3 movies per year — the norm of the first few MCU phases — Phase 4 brought us 8 shows and 7 movies within 2 years. Since this phase was about the MCU establishing new characters and conflicts in a post-Endgame world, I’ve tried to keep an open mind, and I’ve watched everything with the aim of being prepared for future cross-overs and Endgame-esque showdowns in a coming phase. But my patience is beginning to wane.
The newest MCU series, Secret Invasion, continues a thread from Captain Marvel of Phase 3; the Skrulls, a shape-shifting alien race, are back and they’ve been busy mobilizing. The last time we saw the visitors, Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) promised to find them a new home after the Kree Empire forced them to flee from their planet. At the start of this series, we learn that Fury hasn’t made good on his end of the deal, and a faction of the Skrulls have become angry with him and humankind. Their malice has engendered an uprising and Fury is forced to track down the insurgents before they take down the human race and gain control over Earth.
This cast is surprisingly stacked: Samuel L. Jackson returns as Fury in the lead role and is supported by Olivia Colman and Emilia Clarke, among others. At times, they are utilized well — there’s an excellent scene between Fury and Rhodey (Don Cheadle) and a fun sequence involving Colman in the second episode — but Fury’s witty remarks mostly fall flat, and Emilia Clarke’s talents are utterly wasted thus far. Visually and tonally, it seems to have taken a page from Andor’s book, but it’s less mature and gritty and more clunky and predictable. Perhaps the last couple of episodes will turn things around, but unless you’re a hardcore Marvel fan, I think you can skip this one.
—Jess
Length: 60-min runtime, 1 season / 6 episodes (4 available now)
Watch on: Disney+
In which we choose a recent show we’ve been enjoying to review and feature.
Good Omens
Keywords: whimsical, comedy, irreverent
Watch if you like: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Good Place, The Sandman
Jenni’s Rating: B-
This fantasy series is an adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s book of the same name. In it, the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) have become overly fond of earth and form an unlikely alliance to stop the approaching Armageddon.
Good Omens is, on the whole, irreverently funny and easy to watch. The premise is itself compelling, but the show’s greatest strength lies in the chemistry between Tennant and Sheen. The two are incredible together and I could watch them navigate Aziraphale and Crowley’s begrudging, budding friendship for hours. Most of the side characters and quests happening in the background honestly pale in comparison, and whenever the “side shows” get more than a few minutes in an episode, I find myself wishing Sheen and Tennant were back on screen.
That’s not to say there aren’t some fantastic cameos and recurring roles — Jon Hamm, Nick Offerman, Jack Whitehall, and Frances McDormand (to name a few) all add their flair to the spice of the show. It’s just that when the leads are not around to serve as anchors, things tend to fall a bit flat.
Amidst the fantastical adventures, unlikely friendships, and ongoing debates about good and evil, Good Omens does its best to remind us of our own free will — that the world is not black and white, and our decisions in the grey determine what happens and who we are. If you’re interested at all, now is the time to catch up; Season 2 premieres on July 28.
— Jenni
Length: 48-minute runtime, 1 season / 6 episodes
Watch on: Prime Video
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. 🤷♀️
High Desert
Keywords: dark comedy, crime, con artists
Jenni’s Rating: D
This show has been on my list to review since it premiered in May. I kept thinking that I might go back to finish it, but neither Jess nor I can force ourselves to make it past the first four episodes. It’s a bit of a bummer, because High Desert has a lot of potential.
The series follows Peggy Newman (Patricia Arquette), a rather zany woman with a checkered past, who makes the life-changing decision to become a private investigator following the death of her mother. The premise is interesting enough, and the cast and production team is full of legends — Arquette, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Bernadette Peters!? — but somehow the show just falls flat.
I want to blame it on the pacing and say it all unfolded too slowly, but I think it’s more than that. Unfortunately, the pieces just weren’t fitting for me. The writing isn’t cohesive enough, too many comedic beats don’t land, and the characters and their antics aren’t interesting enough for me to return to. It’s possible High Desert gets its rhythm down in the final half and goes out with a bang, but I’ll never know! And I can’t necessarily recommend that you sit through two hours of manic shenanigans for an iffy payoff.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Apple TV+
Your shows, returned:
What We Do in the Shadows, Season 5: Premieres July 13 on FX/July 14 on Hulu
Foundation, Season 2: Premieres July 14 on Apple TV+
The Summer I Turned Pretty, Season 2: Premieres July 14 on Prime Video
Below Deck Down Under, Season 2: Premieres July 17 on Bravo/July 18 on Peacock
Sweet Magnolias, Season 3: Premieres July 20 on Netflix
Upcoming new releases:
Full Circle: Premieres July 13 on Max
Project Greenlight: Premieres July 13 on Max
Survival of the Thickest: Premieres July 13 on Netflix
Five Star Chef: Premieres July 14 on Netflix
Justified: City Primeval: Premieres July 18 on FX/July 19 on Hulu