📺 Son of a nutcracker
Reviews of The Artful Dodger, Fisk, and Minx S2, plus 4 new TV shows and 2 movies to watch
Happy Thursday. Only 11 days til Christmas, so it’s time to get cracking on those shopping lists. Speaking of gifts, thank you to all who wrote in with Hanukkah movie suggestions! Round and Round and Eight Gifts of Hanukkah (both Hallmark Originals that you can watch on Peacock) were particularly cute. Shout out to Jazmine H-B. and Tom C. for those recs. <3
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
The Artful Dodger (Hulu)
Fisk (Netflix)
Minx - S2 (Starz)
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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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.
The Crown (Season 6, Part 2) — The final installment shifts focus to Prince William and his romance with Kate Middleton.
Watch on Netflix: December 14 (all 4 episodes)Such Brave Girls (Season 1) — This sitcom about a dysfunctional family, produced by A24, premiered in the UK last month. It stars breakout comedian Kat Sadler.
Watch on Hulu: December 15 (all 6 episodes)Reacher (Season 2) — This season is based on the 11th book of the Jack Reacher book series, Bad Luck and Trouble, skipping 10 books between the first and second season.
Watch on Prime: December 15 (3 of 8 episodes, then weekly)The Family Plan (Movie) — Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan star in this action comedy about a former assassin living incognito as a suburban dad.
Watch on Apple TV+: December 15Percy Jackson and The Olympians (Season 1) — The popular YA series gets a new adaptation, this time with author Rick Riordan at the helm.
Watch on Disney+: December 20 (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Maestro (Movie) — Bradley Cooper directs and stars as the legendary icon Leonard Bernstein. Carey Mulligan co-stars.
Watch on Netflix: December 20
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
The Artful Dodger
Keywords: drama-comedy, romance, period piece
Watch if you like: Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, Enola Holmes, Peaky Blinders
Jess’s Rating: B+
Expanding the world of Oliver Twist, this new Australian series follows Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), the character previously known to us as “The Artful Dodger”, 15 years after the events of the Dickens tale. This series treads new ground, not adapted from any existing source material, and dreams up new adventures for some well-known characters.
Once a pickpocket and leader of a gang of child criminals, Jack has left the thieving behind to reinvent himself as a competent surgeon in the Australian colony of Port Victory. This is the 19th century, though, so trade in the medical gloves and coats of your mental picture for germ-ridden operating tables in front of rooms of shouting observers. In this era, surgeries are performed for crowds, and doctors compete to complete amputations in the shortest amount of time.
When a new boat of convicts arrives, Jack is reunited with his former master, Fagin (David Thewlis), who tries to lure him back into a life of crime. Also in the mix is Lady Belle (Maia Mitchell), the governor’s daughter, who dreams of going against the grain to become the colony’s first female surgeon.
The Artful Dodger leaves bleak Dickensian vibes behind and delivers a lightly comedic action-packed medical romance. Think more The Great than Great Expectations. Brodie-Sangster embodies an adult version of a beloved young character the way only an actor who looks the same now as he did 20 years ago could, and he and Mitchell have undeniable chemistry. And as is entirely expected but still wonderful to behold, Thewlis is genius in his turn as Fagin. There are some extraneous and underdeveloped characters, and one too many sub-plots, but The Artful Dodger is fast-paced, entertaining, and well-acted.
— Jess
Length: 45-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Hulu
Fisk
Keywords: comedy, Australian, charming
Watch if you like: Frayed, Parks and Recreation, Schitt’s Creek
Jenni’s Rating: A-
My obsession with watching and recommending Australian shows continues. Fisk is a light, fun workplace comedy starring and co-created by Kitty Flanagan. The series centers on Helen Tudor-Fisk (Flanagan), a high-end lawyer who is forced to move back to her hometown and take a job at a shabby estate law firm after her career and marriage fall apart. While Helen is decent at her job, she’s bad — or at least quite blunt — with people, making the situations she gets into with her eccentric clients, nosy family, and unusual co-workers all the more entertaining.
Fisk is an easy binge-watch with witty dialogue delivered by a capable cast. The way the ensemble works together reminds me a lot of Schitt’s Creek: no one character is the “straight man”, instead they all take turns playing straight to another character’s quirks.
The series is also more sketch-like in energy than most comedies I’ve enjoyed lately, except perhaps Stath Lets Flats, and it pokes fun at life’s general awkwardness without leaning into cringe humor as much as shows like The Office. Every episode combines laugh-out-loud comedic bits with smart social observations about work culture and family relationships. Season 2 dropped on Netflix at the beginning of December, and I suggest you head over and watch all available 12 episodes the next time you need something both dry and delightful.
— Jenni
Length: 25-min runtime, 2 seasons / 12 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
These popular shows came back with new episodes. Here’s what we thought and where you can watch them.
Minx - Season 2
Keywords: 70s, feminism, dramedy, CW: nudity
Watch if you like: The Deuce, Mrs. America, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Jess’s Rating: B
Minx, fortunately saved from obsolescence by Starz, returned for its second season earlier this year. The first season follows Joyce Prigger (Ophelia Lovibond), an ambitious feminist who starts a magazine with her anti-patriarchal writings just to find that no one wants to read it. Enter adult entertainment publisher Doug Renetti (Jake Johnson), who turns her invention into the first for-women pornographic magazine, titled “Minx.”
Season two forges on. With “Minx” now garnering a lot of public attention, big-name publishing houses like Hearst and Condé Nast angle to take ownership. Doug pushes for Joyce to go with an independent investor (played by the fabulous Elizabeth Perkins) instead, adding a new dimension to the scrappy outfit.
While the first season sparkled with its excellent banter and filial chemistry between Doug and Joyce, this sophomore outing is more subdued. Our main duo — whose interactions form the backbone of the show — is apart for much of the time, grappling with other duties and interests. We’re left to follow the solo pursuits of Joyce, who is charming as a foil for Doug, but otherwise can be a bit grating. That aside, Minx still has a lot of heart and wit, and the 70s vibes are immaculate.
— Jess
Length: 30-min runtime, 4 episodes out so far with new episodes on Thursday
Watch on: Starz
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