Watchlist is an irregularly scheduled series of posts featuring reviews and observations on streaming TV series I’m watching.
Let’s start with the big screen … I’ve seen only three movies in theaters this summer (well, theater, singular … I’m lucky to have the Village Theater in Coronado as my hometown movie house, one I can easily walk to; it has bargain matinees, cheap (and good!) concession food, and only two previews before each film; I thoroughly recommend it, especially if you can see a film in their big auditorium, which has beautiful murals on the side walls). And while I sorta/kinda enjoyed all three movies I did see, it was certainly on varying levels.
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
The eighth in the Tom Cruise-led series of Mission Impossible movies, started back in 1996 when Cruise was, I think, 13 years old, has finally ended the long-running franchise and not a moment too soon. My favorites are the first two Christopher McQuarrie directed ones, Rogue Nation and Fallout (numbers 5 and 6, respectively), partially due to the introduction and continuation of Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson (who should be playing Ingrid Bergman in a bio-pic, please), but also because they have actual plots. But the last two entries in the series, Dead Reckoning Part 1 (now just known as Dead Reckoning) and The Final Reckoning (films 7 and 8) were definitely cases of diminishing returns. I enjoyed parts of Dead Reckoning and almost none of Final Reckoning. These movies have devolved into showcases for their aging star’s stunt fetish (or death wish, you decide) and should have been a reality show called “Can You Top This?” Final Reckoning suffers from the same sin of trying to tie every film together like Daniel Craig’s James Bond run did, something that is totally unnecessary. I’m glad to see MI end, but I’m sure Paramount will dredge it up as either a limited series for their streaming channel or another movie franchise with another bland actor who runs real good like Glen Powell.
Superman
The best superhero movie of the year, to be honest. I loved Superman, from David Corenswet nailing the character to Rachel Brosnahan stealing every scene she’s in—except the ones with Krypto, the Superdog from Krypton in them. (Krypto is the real star or this movie.) I thought Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor was great, too, and loved the robots and the Fortress of Solitude. The action sequences were solid and exciting. My minor quibbles with the movie is a lackluster score that pays too much homage to John Williams’s Superman: The Movie (and why not, to be honest: I think that’s Williams’s greatest score, personally). Writer/director James Gunn admits that doing a movie with an actual score as opposed to a playlist soundtrack (like his Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel) was something new for him. I also didn’t like the depictions of Ma and Pa Kent, who sounded like a bunch of backwoods hayseeds and were horribly miscast (although I’d rather see unknowns in those roles, not the stunt casting of the past when it comes to both Superman’s earthly and Kryptonian parents). I question including so many of the Daily Planet staff—Cat Grant, Ron Troupe, Steve Lombard—when they have so little to do, especially compared to the “Justice Gang” of Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific (all of whom were pretty terrific). This was such a breath of fresh air after the pompous, overwrought, dark and depressing “Snyderverse” films. Good for James Gunn for nailing the assignment.
Fantastic Four: First Steps
I was kind of disappointed in this one, to be honest. I’ve had misgivings on the casting since it was first announced, particularly Pedro Pascal, who I loved in just about everything else I’ve seen him in, but he’s not Reed Richards for me. I thought Ebon Moss-Bachrach was fine as Ben Grimm (The Thing) and lent the largely CGI performance a certain amount of pathos and melancholy. Joseph Quinn was equally fine as the Human Torch, Johnny Storm, but to be honest, any actor could have played either of those parts. The film belongs to Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, and she’s the anchor of both the foursome and the movie, not to mention having the perfect last name for an actress to appear in any FF movie. I thought the film cried out for an origin story, which they just kind of glossed over verbally and while I enjoyed a depiction of Galactus that was so rooted in the comics and Jack Kirby’s original design, I still don’t understand the reasoning behind the gender-swap of the Silver Surfer, much as I like Julia Garner, and I felt the Surfer-Galactus conflict with her “boss” wasn’t explored at all; she just switches sides. There just seemed to be too much stuff packed into this movie, and while I enjoyed director Matt Shakman 1960s world-building, why bother to include the Mole Man when the film is already top heavy, story-wise. I definitely want to see more of these characters and I’m sure we will, but for now, for those of you keeping score at home, Superman wins the summer superhero movie sweepstakes and while FF is the best Marvel movie of the year, that’s not saying much compared to the dour Thunderbolts* and the nonsensical and dull Captain America: Brave New World.
Now … onto streaming series I’ve watched since my last Watchlist post (05 … click here to read it). Here’s what I’ve seen and—for the most part—enjoyed.
Butterfly (Season 1 • 6 episodes • Prime)
This six-part action/adventure series helmed by Lost star Daniel Dae Kim is set in South Korea and has great production values and cinematography. Kim is both executive producer and star as a former assassin who fakes his own death nine years ago to save his young daughter, but comes back to life to save her again when he finds out she’s working for his former company with his former partner as —you guessed it!—an assassin. Reina Hardesty is great as Kim’s daughter, who maybe enjoys her job of killing people just a little too much. I found the action sequences entertaining, but the story goes a little south in the final two episodes, but it ends in such a way that you can tell they’re hoping for a second season, which I would definitely watch.
Code of Silence (Season 1 • 6 episodes • BritBox)
Rose Ayling Ellis plays a deaf woman who works in her local police department’s canteen and who is recurited by the coppers to read lips in an investigation into a conspiracy to steal a priceless necklace from a Middle Eastern billionaire. Ellis—deaf in real life—brings a lot of depth and skill to her role, as she tries her best to help the police, but unfortunately becomes involved with one of the plotters. Eventually there’s a heist episode, which is suspenseful and well-done. Ellis herself is a compelling actress, and other deaf actors in the series open a window to the experience of being deaf and reading lips and signing, all handled very well by the writers, producers and directors.
Death Valley (Season 1 • 6 spisodes • BritBox)
Death Valley is one of those quirky British copper shows that teams up a resourceful and ambitious young Detective Constable, played by the very refreshing Gwyneth Keyworth with Brit-TV staple and national treasure Timothy Spall as former TV series detective John Chapel (think Hercule Poirot meets Columbo for his TV character) to solve crimes in Wales. (I love the fact that copper shows on British TV offer a tour of the United Kingdom.) Spall is pompous and full of himself, as you’d expect from an Actor with a capital A, but has flashes of brilliance of deductive reasoning, and Keyworth is charming, awkward (she grew up watching his show), but also a capable detective. This is the kind of oddball dramedy that I’ve been missing since McDonald & Dobbs ended, but I think it’s possibly even better, since it’s so quirky at times and the two leads mesh so well.
Hostage (Limited series • 5 episodes • Netflix)
I loved this thriller series with the great British actress Suranne Jones as the British Prime Minister and Julie Delpy as the French President, trying to work together to solve each country’s pressing problems: a critical cancer drug shortage in the UK and immigration issues in France. They find themselves involved in a plot involving an ex-military group out for revenge, with its leader (played by Martin McCann, who’s very good in the BritBox series Blue Lights as a Belfast copper) appropriately sinister and mean-spirited. Jones just drips empathy in every role she plays and I’ve loved her in Vigil, Maryland, Doctor Foster, and especially Scott and Bailey (hey, how about a Scott and Bailey reunion special, please?). She’s also an executive producer of this series and once again shows great taste in the projects she picks. But … there’s a huge plot-hole in the final episode that you could drive a lorry through. Just sayin’.
Oh, and One Show I Absolutely HATED …
I know everybody loved it and it has 20-something Emmy nominations, but I absolutely hated The Studio on Apple TV+. Part of it is I’ve always disliked Seth Rogen … can’t even begin to understand what people see in him. He just seems like a big, dumb stoner to me. When you pair him with the incredibly obnoxious Ike Barinholtz, it’s a duo from hell as far as I’m concerned (and yes, I know they’re actors playing roles, and the sheer fact that I find them so unlikable means they’re succeeding). The only time the series (9 episodes) came alive for me is when Bryan Cranston appeared as the owner of the studio. I also found the whole unedited, one-take nature of its filming to be annoying. Full disclosure: I’m pretty sure I still suffer from PTSD from years of dealing with studio wonks—mainly in the publicity departments, but also the occasional whiny-ass studio head—as director of programming for Comic-Con. While there were a few consistent and “nice” (relatively speaking—they all wanted what they wanted) ones, by and large I got the impression that studio publicity people were grown in some kind of field in Canada—not unlike The CW stars—and used up and thrown in the chipper to be recycled. And as for those Emmy noms … well, of course Hollywood LOVES a show like this; they all nominated it while silently saying “But that’s not me … they couldn’t mean ME.” Yeah, it’s you … trust me, it’s you they’re making fun of.
What I’m Looking Forward to …
Slow Horses Season 5 returns to Apple TV+ on September 24th, and a series called Down Cemetery Road, which has been billed as the perfect replacement for Slow Horses, follows it at the end of October, starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. Don’t worry … Slow Horses isn’t going anywhere … it’s been renewed for two more seasons.
The Diplomat Season 3 is back on Netlfix on October 16th; season 2 ended on an absolutely amazing cliffhanger as … well, go watch it! I’m not one who enjoys political shows very much, but I love this one and Keri Russell is wonderful as the titular character, and so is Rupert Sewell as her husband. Add in Allison Janney as a major character and I can’t wait to see what happens this season.
I’ve recently started watching Unforgotten on Masterpiece on PBS. I started with Season 5, which involves a major cast change and I thoroughly enjoyed it; the replacement of a major character as the new lead detective in the cold case unit brings new meaning to the show’s title, as her predecessor is very hard to forget for both the characters in the series and the viewers as well. Season 6 started August 24th; Sinead Keenan and Sanjeev Bhaskar make a great team.
Another PBS entry, The Marlow Murder Club, has its Season 2 debut on August 24th and involves three British women investigating murders in their picturesque riverside town, Marlow. It has a bit of a “cozy mystery” vibe, but the setting is beautiful and the four actresses playing the leads (including a proper copper, not just a hobbyist) are great. On a similar note, Netflix’s adaptation of the popular British book series, The Thursday Murder Club, with a who’s who of British stars (Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie, and Ben Kingsley) debuts on August 28th, but that one is a movie, not a TV series
See you next time … keep watchin’
@innocent-bystander.com 
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