📺 What to watch this week
3 shows, 2 movies, and 3 reviews
Happy Double Take anniversary! It’s officially been one year since we started producing the Double Take newsletter and you started letting us tell you what TV was worth it (or not). We plan to be around for a lot longer, so make sure to tell your friends ;)
In today’s edition:
Weekly watchlist
Cunk on Earth
Lockwood & Co
The Watchful Eye
— 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.
Dear Edward (Season 1) — Adapted from a book, this tearjerker centers around a 12-year-old boy who becomes the lone survivor of a plane crash. As those around him try to come to terms with the tragedy, new friendships and communities are formed.
Watch on Apple TV+: 3 episodes out now, new episode each Friday
Not Dead Yet (Season 1) — Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) returns to primetime TV in this new comedy from ABC in which she plays an obituary writer who sees the deceased people she’s writing about.
Watch on ABC/Hulu: 2 episodes out now, new episode each Wednesday on ABC/Thursday on HuluYou (Season 4, Part 1) — Everyone’s favorite campy thriller series is back with the first batch of episodes in Season 4 premiering today on Netflix. This time around Joe is in London, but that surely won’t stop him from getting into his usual hijinks.
Watch on Netflix: Part 1 available now, Part 2 premieres on March 9Somebody I Used to Know (Movie) — Alison Brie stars in this rom-com about a television producer who heads back to her hometown after the cancellation of her reality series. Upon reuniting with her ex, she begins to question everything about the person she’s become. This was written by Brie and (real-life husband) Dave Franco, and marks Franco’s 2nd directorial effort.
Watch on Prime Video: February 10
Your Place or Mine (Movie) — Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher star in this rom-com about best friends and total opposites who swap homes for one life-changing week.
Watch on Netflix: February 10
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Lockwood & Co
Keywords: supernatural, YA, ghosts
Watch if you like: His Dark Materials, Shadowhunters, The Mortal Instruments
Jess’s Rating: C
Lockwood & Co is the newest Netflix series to hit the Netflix Top 10 that you probably haven’t heard of before. Based on Jonathan Stroud’s popular young-adult book series of the same name, the show is set in an alternate London where the dead return as angry ghosts. Adults can’t see the spirits, so teens are trusted to be the defensive force for humanity. The youthful ghost assassins are employed by investigative agencies, and the series centers around one smaller agency led by Anthony Lockwood.
I think if I were 10-15 years younger, I might enjoy this show. And that’s not necessarily a criticism, since the show is adapted from a YA book series. But even acknowledging that I’m not the target audience, the series does have some obvious shortcomings. The first episode is full of exposition and backstory, and then they speed through the action in the next few episodes, leaving no time to build atmosphere or tension. Halfway through the season, it’s still not entirely clear how the mechanics of this world work. And the main trio are supposed to be seasoned ghost-hunters but are constantly making irrational decisions.
Given that Netflix hasn’t done much to market this show and the streaming service has a track-record of cancelling YA shows, you may not want to spend your time or energy getting invested in this. If you’re interested in the concept, perhaps try reading the books instead.
— Jess
Length: 45-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
Cunk on Earth
Keywords: British, mockumentary, comedy
Watch if you like: Between Two Ferns, Nathan for You, Drunk History
Jenni’s Rating: B+
Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) is here to rewrite your high school history textbook in this witty mockumentary that traces humanity's journey (or at least one version of it) from prehistoric times to the present day. Acting as an ill-informed journalist, Morgan’s character travels around the world and baffles real historians and experts with Amelia Bedelia-esque questions.
Produced by Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, Cunk on Earth feels like someone took the skeleton of a History Channel documentary and shoved it into the skin of a Between Two Ferns episode. Although imparting fact is clearly not the central aim of this show, the endlessly patient experts allow some of actual information to bleed through to viewers by gently correcting Philomena’s misconceptions.
I absolutely loved Morgan’s dry delivery and found myself laughing out loud often at her one-liners and recurring bits. There were times during the interviews, however, where her line of questioning felt a bit repetitive and the jokes overplayed.
I will also say that the version of civilization’s development depicted by this series is rather euro-centric and surface level — perhaps to leave room for further Cunk spinoffs? — and could benefit from a few more deep cuts from the historians and professors. A couple of interesting tidbits I’ve never heard before would be the cherry on top of this otherwise well-crafted satire.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 5 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
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. 🤷♀️
The Watchful Eye
Keywords: suspense, mystery, drama
Watch if you like: Pretty Little Liars, Cruel Summer, One of Us Is Lying
Jess’s Rating: D+
In Freeform’s new mystery drama, The Watchful Eye, a young woman schemes her way into a live-in nanny position for an affluent family in Manhattan. She has her own ulterior motives, but quickly learns that the residents of the upper-class apartment building are hiding secrets too.
This series is basically what you’d get if you took the setup of Only Murders in the Building and the YA mystery/horror tone of Pretty Little Liars. It also reminds me of Archive 81, and two books that I’ve read (The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley and Lock Every Door by Riley Sager). But don’t let that convince you that it’s worth watching. It just means that it feels derivative of many other, superior things.
The Watchful Eye plants the seeds for a few somewhat compelling mysteries in its first episode, but fails to evoke any sense of tension or momentum. The subsequent episodes are a slog, with one-dimensional characters, forced dialogue, and stiff acting. I love a soapy thriller but this just misses the mark.
— Jess
Length: 45-min runtime, 3 episodes available now with a new one each Monday
Watch on: Freeform/Hulu
Your shows, returned:
You, Season 4 Part 1: Premieres February 9 on Netflix
Next Level Chef, Season 2: Premieres February 12 on Fox / the next day on Hulu
Summer House, Season 7: Premieres February 13 on Bravo
The Masked Singer, Season 9: Premieres February 15 on Fox / the next day on Hulu
Star Trek: Picard, Season 3: Premieres February 16 on Paramount+
Upcoming new releases:
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence: Premieres February 9 on Hulu
Perfect Match: Premieres February 14 on Netflix
Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne: Premieres February 14 on Hulu
Full Swing: Premieres February 15 on Netflix
Animal Control: Premieres February 16 on Fox / the next day on Hulu