📺 What to watch this week: 'Shelter' and 'Animal Control'
August slipped away into a moment in time
Happy Thursday. “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)” debuted yesterday in a trailer for an upcoming TV show that no one had ever heard of. Interesting move! There’s still not too much new happening on the TV front with the strikes and the end of summer soldiering on, although we did get a mini West Wing reunion on the picket lines a few days ago that will have us scribbling “Let Bartlet be Bartlet” on napkins for the next few weeks.
In today’s edition:
Harlan Coben’s Shelter (Prime Video)
Animal Control (Fox/Hulu)
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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This newsletter was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the shows being reviewed here wouldn't exist.
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Shelter
Keywords: mystery, thriller, young adult
Watch if you like: Lockwood & Co, Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars
Jess’s Rating: C-
Harlan Coben is arguably one of the most prolific writers of our time, with more than 30 bestselling novels under his belt. Many of these have been adapted into TV shows and movies, including The Stranger, The Five, and Tell No One, and he signed a multimillion dollar deal with Netflix in 2018 that gives them access to adapt 26 of his titles. Meanwhile, Amazon has a tiny slice of the pie: MGM (owned by Amazon) acquired the rights to the 3 books in his Mickey Bolitar YA series, including the first, Shelter.
Shelter follows a high school student, Mickey, who has recently lost his father in a car accident. He moves across the country to live with his aunt, and shortly after, experiences two strange occurrences: a new girl at school mysteriously vanishes, and a strange old lady down the street tells him that his dad is still alive. So how, if at all, are these events connected? Could his dad possibly still be alive, even though Mickey saw him die right in front of him?
Teens solving mysteries is a tried and true formula (Veronica Mars, Pretty Little Liars, Nancy Drew); these shows work because, although the mysteries sometimes involve adults, the tone overall is consistent with a teen show. Here, there is a disconnect. Ostensibly teen-oriented — in keeping with the “young adult” branding of the novels — the main characters go to class, attend parties and basketball games, fight with their parents, and so on. But as the mystery unravels, they’re thrust into a seedy underworld with very adult illegal activity, and the show tries so hard to be very serious and edgy. This tonal disconnect could have been less jarring if the mystery were more engaging, but alas. Try as it does to weave all the disparate threads together, the series is overstuffed and directionless for much of the 8 episodes in this first season. Some of the problem might be that building blocks had to be laid for the next season, but I’m not sure that I’ll stick around to find out.
— Jess
Length: 50-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes (3 available now)
Watch on: Prime Video
We reviewed a show in its early days on air. Now that we’ve watched more of it, would we change our initial rating?
Animal Control
Keywords: workplace comedy, sitcom, Joel McHale
Watch if you like: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Recreation, Superstore
Jenni’s Rating: B+
Joel McHale (Community) stars in this workplace comedy set in an animal control precinct in Seattle. The sitcom follows a reliable formula, with a group of mostly-unenthused employees as they deal with in-office shenanigans and on-the-job hijinks.
Last time we wrote about Animal Control back in March, there were only three episodes out and both Jess and I were cautiously optimistic about its prospects. The chemistry and comedic timing of the cast was great from the first episode (historically a bit difficult for sitcoms) and our only shared complaint was an early reliance on animal-related slapstick comedy.
Now, after having seen the rest, I can more heartily recommend the series. As predicted, the first season of this show is a lot of fun and has just the right combination of hijinks, romantic tension, and heart to keep me coming back for more. While the rest of the season didn’t completely abandon the silly slapstick gags, they definitely eased off in favor of more character-driven jokes to strike a decent balance.
All in all, this show is so light and easy to watch; it’s a great option to check out if you’re not quite ready for a full Parks and Rec or Brooklyn Nine-Nine rewatch, but want the same energy. Luckily, we got the news that Animal Control was renewed in May for a second season, so there’s more fun to look forward to.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 12 episodes
Watch on: Hulu
Your shows, returned:
Archer, Season 14: Premieres August 30 on FXX/August 31 on Hulu
Upcoming new releases:
Who is Erin Carter?: Premieres August 24 on Netflix
Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake: Premieres August 31 on Max
One Piece: Premieres August 31 on Netflix
Spellbound: Premieres August 31 on Hulu
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