📺 What to Watch: Fallout, Ripley, Dinosaur...
plus 5 new TV shows and 1 new movie
Happy Thursday! The Bridgerton Season 3 trailer was released today, which means only one month left til the season premiere. The Venn diagram of Polin season and pollen season is indeed a perfect circle.
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
Ripley (Netflix)
Fallout (Prime Video)
Dinosaur (Hulu)
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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Below is a selection of new shows and movies premiering this week. Our full list of April releases, including theatrical releases and streaming debuts, is available here and published monthly for our premium subscribers.
Heartbreak High (Season 2) — The second installment of the reboot of this 90s teen show will continue to follow Hartley High’s resident troubled teens.
Watch on Netflix: April 11 (all 8 episodes)The Greatest Hits (Movie) — This romantic fantasy film follows a woman who discovers that certain songs can transport her back in time.
Watch on Hulu: April 12Franklin (Limited Series) — Set in 1776, this biographical drama sees Benjamin Franklin’s passion and power put to the test when he is sent to France for the sake of American independence.
Watch on Apple TV+: April 12 (3 of 8 episodes, then weekly)The Sympathizer (Limited Series) — Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, this dark comedy-drama follows a half-Vietnamese half-French spy who moves to Los Angeles only to find that his days of spying are far from over.
Watch on Max: April 14 (1 of 7 episodes, then weekly)Under the Bridge (Limited Series) — Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone lead the cast in this adaptation of Rebecca Godfrey’s true crime book about a 14-year-old girl who went to a party in 1997 and never returned home.
Watch on Hulu: April 17 (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Our Living World (Limited Series) — Narrated by Cate Blanchett, this new David Attenborough-esque series uncovers the secrets that connect our planet.
Watch on Netflix: April 17 (all 4 episodes)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Ripley
Keywords: neo-noir, psychological thriller, based on a book, reboot
Watch if you like: The Talented Mr. Ripley, American Psycho, Saltburn
Jess’s Rating: C
Netlix’s Ripley, the latest adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s timeless novel, succeeds in creating something new amidst a sea of renditions. It is beautifully shot and boasts a talented cast, however, it falls short of being fully engaging.
The story follows a con-man, Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott), living in 1960s New York City who is hired by a wealthy man to convince his wayward son to return home from Italy. Tom, though, has other plans after he’s introduced to the leisurely and beautiful lifestyle of Dickie, the rich expat. Rather than delivering a direct remake of what we’ve seen before, this limited series updates the title character, making him more cold-hearted and off-putting. Scott portrays him effortlessly, but the lack of emotional depth or backstory keeps the audience at arm’s length. Similarly, the interactions between Ripley and Dickie feel stilted and strange, undermining the believability of the crux of the plot.
Also contributing to the sense of detachment is the decision to shoot the series entirely in black and white. It does result in some stunning imagery, and it serves to narrow the focus on Ripley and his scheming, but it further contributes to the show’s imbalance of style over substance.
Despite those complaints, the series does adeptly build tension and the suspense is enough to carry you through the 8 episodes. If you can look past the lack of moral ambiguity or complexity, Ripley at least serves as a vehicle for the masterful Andrew Scott to portray a sociopath.
— Jess
Length: 60-min runtime, Limited Series / 8 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
Fallout
Keywords: dystopian, action-adventure, based on an video game
Watch if you like: Twisted Metal, Halo, The Walking Dead
Jess’s Rating: A
Not only did Fallout have to overcome the usual difficulties of adapting a video game, but it also had to contend with viewers inevitably having The Last of Us in their minds as a comparison. Despite those challenges, the series succeeds in bringing us something fresh and entertaining.
Set in a apocalyptic landscape 200 years after nuclear war in America, the story follows a few different characters of varied surviving social groups. At the onset, Lucy (Ella Purnell), a young woman living in a luxury fallout shelter underground, is set to wed another inhabitant of the subterranean vaults. Maximus (Aaron Moten) is attempting to climb the ranks of the “Brotherhood of Steel,” a military faction. And another character (redacted for spoiler reasons) rounds out the main players in an unexpectedly ghoulish way.
Tonally, this series lands somewhere between Twisted Metal and The Last of Us. It’s zany, with over-the-top characters and creatures, and plenty of odd humor, but it doesn’t shy away from emotional depth and serious overtures. That balance is what keeps it from feeling like a copy of anything I’ve seen before. To my surprise, it also unfolds like a puzzle box mystery, doling out the shadowy history of this world and its inhabitants slowly (but not too slowly) over the 8 episodes.
Prime Video chose to drop all of the episodes at once, making this ideal to binge over the weekend. I can’t help but think it would have benefited from a week-by-week release, giving viewers more time to digest and discuss the meaty episodes, but I know others will delight in being able to absorb the series in one sitting. Any way you choose to watch it, you will be making the right decision to do so.
— Jess
Length: 60-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Prime Video
Dinosaur
Keywords: wholesome, comedy, Scottish, character-driven
Watch if you like: Such Brave Girls, Starstruck, Lovesick
Jenni’s Rating: A
Co-created by and starring Ashley Storrie, this new, endearing comedy follows Nina, a blunt and witty paleontologist in Glasgow who has autism and a co-dependent relationship with her sister Evie (Kat Ronney). When Evie impulsively gets engaged to a man after only six weeks, Nina has to decide between doing what she wants (convincing her sister she’s insane) and what the rest of her family thinks she should do (be a supportive maid of honor). This internal battle, along with her interactions with the rest of the show’s subtly quirky characters, drives the series forward.
Dinosaur is a feel-good love letter to sisterhood and to families who adore, but don’t always ‘get,’ one another. It’s a story of slight family dysfunction that feels particularly original thanks to its unique and personal lens. Storrie has said that her own experiences on the spectrum helped shape her character’s preferences and mannerisms, and a lot of the humor in the show comes from the way Nina flips the script in interactions with her family and exposes the many frustrating inconsistencies of the neurotypical world.
Full of heart and fresh perspective, this series would be a great addition to any comfort show rotation. It is also one of the rare character-driven comedies that doesn’t require multiple episodes (or full seasons, yeesh) of investment for relationships and jokes to pay off. From the first minute, Dinosaur is funny and engaging — and way less about dinosaurs than you would think.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 6 episodes
Watch on: Hulu
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