📺 Watching: House of the Dragon finale, Unstable, Owning Manhattan
plus 'Women in Blue (Las Azules)' & 4 new movies & 6 series to watch this week
Happy Thursday. Today happens to be International Cat Day, so it felt appropriate to shout out Double Take’s two unofficial mascots that spend a lot of time curled up on our office chairs and desks while we write: Tato (Pembleton) and Piper <3. Perhaps unsurprisingly, both of our cats have TV-related namesakes — bonus points if you can identify them correctly!
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
Women in Blue (Apple TV+)
Owning Manhattan (Netflix)
House of the Dragon - Season 2 (HBO/Max)
Unstable - Season 2 (Netflix)
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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Below is a selection of new shows and movies premiering this week. Our full list of August releases, including theatrical releases and streaming debuts, is available here and published monthly for our premium subscribers.
The Umbrella Academy (Season 4) — The Hargreeves family returns for a final season of The Umbrella Academy this August. Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, and David Cross join the cast.
Watch on Netflix: August 8 (all 6 episodes)Mr. Throwback (Season 1) — This mockumentary sitcom from the team behind Happy Endings follows a struggling memorabilia salesman (Adam Pally) who seeks redemption by reuniting with NBA legend Steph Curry (playing a comedic version of himself), a teammate from his sixth-grade year.
Watch on Peacock: August 8 (all 6 episodes)One Fast Move (Movie) — Riverdale star KJ Apa stars in this action film as a young man down on his luck who seeks out his estranged father to help him pursue his dream of becoming a professional motorcycle racer.
Watch on Prime Video: August 8The Instigators (Movie) — Casey Affleck and Matt Damon star in this comedy heist movie directed by Doug Liman (2024’s Road House).
Watch on Apple TV+: August 9The Bikeriders* (Movie) — Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy star in this drama about a midwestern motorcycle club that progresses from a gathering place for local outsiders to a more sinister gang.
Watch on Peacock: August 9Industry (Season 3) — Returning after a two-year hiatus, HBO's intense drama series set within London's financial industry adds Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) and Sarah Goldberg (Barry) to the cast.
Watch on HBO/Max: August 11 (1 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Bad Monkey (Season 1) — Developed and produced by Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso), this drama is based on the Carl Hiaasen novel of the same name. Vince Vaughn stars as a former police detective who has been reduced to conducting restaurant inspections, until a severed arm found by a tourist pulls him into a world of greed and corruption.
Watch on Apple TV+: August 14 (2 of 10 episodes, then weekly)Jackpot! (Movie) — Paul Feig directs this action-comedy starring Awkwafina, John Cena, and Simu Liu. Set in the near future, a “Grand Lottery” has been newly established in California; the catch: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim their multi-billion dollar jackpot.
Watch on Prime Video: August 15Emily in Paris (Season 4a) — The new season of Netflix's hit rom-com series featuring the misadventures of Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) has been split into two parts; the first premieres on August 15 and the second on September 12.
Watch on Netflix: August 15 (all 5 episodes of Part 1)Bel-Air (Season 3) — School's out for the summer in this season of the dramatic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reimagining. Joseph Marcell (the original Geoffrey) joins the cast as a yet-to-be-named Banks family member.
Watch on Peacock: August 15 (3 of 10 episodes, then weekly)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Women in Blue (Las Azules)
Keywords: crime drama, 70s, Spanish language
Watch if you like: Criminal Minds, The Serpent, Boston Strangler
Jess’s Rating: B
Apple TV+’s first Spanish language series is set in 1970s Mexico City and follows the country’s first female police force as they hunt for a serial killer. Marketed as “inspired by true events”, a brief investigation uncovers that this is almost purely a work of fiction — such a serial killer never existed, and women were able to join the police force in Mexico prior to 1971. True or not, the series is shaping up to be an entertaining thriller that effectively combines elements of true crime with social critique.
The show's central mystery revolves around "The Undresser," a serial killer targeting young women on the streets of the city. This plotline drives the story forward, but the exploration of systemic sexism and corruption within the police force gives the series its depth. At the heart of the story is María (Bárbara Mori), a housewife who seeks purpose beyond her domestic life; her arc from naïve police recruit to determined investigator forms the emotional anchor for the show. Her motivations, along with those of other characters, are unveiled deftly, with a script that never spoon-feeds its message to the audience.
Although I’m invested in finding out who “The Undresser” is and what befalls these women, like with many Apple TV+ shows, there’s not enough of a hook to get me to return for one episode per week for the next 2 months. The mystery and the characters are intriguing, but the episodes are long and the pacing is uneven. I’ll probably give this one a rest until it’s fully released and then pick it back up when I’m in the mood for a crime drama.
— Jess
Length: 60-min runtime, 1 season / 10 episodes (3 available, new on Wednesdays)
Watch on: Apple TV+
Owning Manhattan
Keywords: reality tv, real estate, messy
Watch if you like: Selling the OC, Selling Sunset, Selling Tampa
Jenni’s Rating: F
I really wanted a new background show to get me through the end of summer, and I am sad to report that Owning Manhattan did not pass the vibe check. Long time readers may recall my previous soft spot for certain chaotic reality shows about luxury real estate — specifically the early seasons of Selling Sunset — but I think the shine has officially worn off for me.
In this East Coast take on the rinse-and-repeat premise of its California predecessors, real estate mogul Ryan Serhant (Million Dollar Listing New York) leads one of the biggest firms in New York City and employs a host of messy, but driven agents. Owning Manhattan follows these real estate brokers as they try to sell some of the most expensive listings the city has to offer.
Where I used to find this brand of show somewhat escapist and fun, it now feels empty and even a bit soul-crushing. These agents are just as ridiculous and petty as their Sunset counterparts, but this series lacks a single person to reliably root for! Everyone, including Serhant himself, seems fake, vaguely unethical, and greedy — and not in the well-written, satirical way that makes that combination at all palatable in scripted shows. I felt a much higher level of second-hand embarrassment and distaste watching these episodes than I expected to.
If endless conflict, shallow drama, and painfully manufactured stakes is what you look for in a guilty pleasure show, don’t let me stop you. But I think I am finally done with watching glamorously dressed real estate agents squabble and every so often walk through a smaller-than-you-think-it-should-be $20 million apartment in SoHo.
— Jenni
Length: 45-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.
House of the Dragon - Season 2
Keywords: prequel series, drama, fantasy, political intrigue
Watch if you like: Game of Thrones, Shōgun, The Last Kingdom
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