Unproblematic, stupid, and fun. ... Nothing makes sense. And thank goodness.

There’s a wealth of thematic territory and character growth this reboot could venture into. And yet, there’s a frustrating lack of imagination, resulting in a pretty nonchalant conclusion.

Largely because its arguments have already been persuasively made, and also because there’s been no real justice for the murder of its subject, Litvinenko runs out of steam before it reaches its destination. Still, thanks to a collection of sturdy performances and a clear-sighted recitation of the evidence, it lays bare Putin’s willingness to go to extreme measures to achieve his ends.

In sum, watching The Recruit is like watching a blank avatar run around in a video game for eight hours. Or a poorly written version of Barry. The show is too focused on the complicated (but boring) puzzle it's created for its protagonist that fails to create fascinating inner lives or dynamics between the people involved.

The latest revival of a popular movie series as a lamer Disney+ affair, which takes its predecessors’ historical treasure-hunting adventure and gives it an insufferable tween spin.

The show, created by playwright Branden Jacobs Jenkins, plops Butler’s themes into a centrifuge and spits out a gray, cold, unappealing mush of an eight-hour drama.

Connect is a lot of mix-and-match batshit nuttiness, and unsurprisingly, Miike directs it to the hilt. ... Miike’s visuals are sleek, menacing and sharp, and there’s rarely a moment that doesn’t hum with coiled energy. ... Miike makes sure to imprint his own distinctive DNA onto this macabre TV series—and, in the process, delivers the sort of out-there end-of-the-year effort for which genre fans have been waiting.

It’s a provocative experiment (especially when one of the single women’s sons shows up in the dating pool) and its results are both deliciously messy and, at times, almost intolerably awkward. (As in, I inhaled all of it while also covering my face at certain points out of sheer discomfort.). ... Like a car wreck in a sarong or an incoming tornado with rock-hard abs, it’s impossible to look away.

Despite its occasional flaws, George & Tammy manages to reinvigorate a worn-out type of love story and the musical biopic. It’s a surprising and delightful feat in our current landfill of miniseries about real-life events, anchored by two electric performances.

With the reboot bringing back old characters from the original series, it’s safe to say that Gossip Girl is acknowledging at least some of the problems that made its first season such a harrowing disappointment. And at least there have at least been efforts to fix them. Though it’s a vacant endeavor, the fan service at least buys the show some time. But like the characters themselves say aloud in their cringey, internet-speak: Gossip Girl is in her flop era.

[Willow] only exhibits a spark of life whenever Davis is cracking wise or admonishing his compatriots to follow his lead, which isn’t frequent enough. Perhaps Willow has some amazing surprise around its later corners that justify this return trip to Tir Asleen. On the basis of its maiden installments, though, it mostly comes across as another unnecessary if passable bit of IP exploitation.

Even in this most bountiful of television eras, The Kingdom Exodus stands alone—or, rather, shoulder-to-shoulder with Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return—as a peerlessly haunting, hilarious and nutty expression of its creator’s artistic impulses. Rejoice that the chill and the damp have returned.

Despite Devine being best-known for his comedy, Bumper in Berlin’s jokes are even worse than its heartfelt moments. ... Some of the supporting characters shine a bit brighter than Bumper, thankfully. Hyland and Abova, as Thea and Heidi, are big standouts. ... Sadly, with Bumper in Berlin, the song choices are as uninspired as the story. ... No amount of Sarah Hyland can compensate for how aimless and uninspired Bumper in Berlin is.

Ortega certainly looks the morose part and exudes requisite stern-eyed, unsmiling coldness. Unfortunately, her Wednesday has been shoehorned into a dull YA template that doesn’t suit her.

There is more than meets the eye to the Chippendales. The same is true of the Hulu show.

Unfortunately, the series is undone by both Leonard’s inability to justify his quest as reasonable, and the director’s failure to cast that mission as emblematic of some larger, worthwhile cause. ... Leonard and Hoffman’s anti-corporate sentiment—and specific desire to stick it to Pepsi—rings hollow. ... A few minor instances of comical outrageousness notwithstanding, the series is just empty calories.

More than anything, watching The Sex Lives of College Girls is heartwarming and easy.

The show’s final season feels like a natural continuation of what it’s always been—a subtly strange but gentle comedy that seems interested, above all, in forgiveness.

Clarity is difficult to come by in the German duo’s latest eight-part effort, and that can sometimes be more vexing than exhilarating. Nonetheless, there remains much to savor about this period-piece whirligig, which spins around and around until it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction—if, that is, anything at all in this saga is actually real.

Not just a sterling adaptation of a novel—in this case, Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 bestseller, which the author herself expands over the course of eight episodes—but a great work of art about middle age, as rich in complexity and detail as it is in emotion.

At least on the basis of the new season’s maiden installment, Yellowstone seems committed to staying the course rather than upending expectations, and while that fits with its generally soap opera-ish nature, it results in considerable torpor.

Culture-clash goofiness is frequently the order of the day, all of it elevated by its headliner ... Such an approach serves Stallone and the series well, its joviality alleviating the story’s clichéd elements. It’s not yet clear if Sheridan intends for levity to be the proceedings’ driving force, or merely an embellishment for a formulaic tale of a bad man making good in a foreign environment. Yet given that Stallone is a natural at being not only commanding but sardonic and self-deprecating, leaning into the lighthearted certainly seems like the most promising path forward.

After watching all 10 episodes, it’s clear that giving us time to watch these characters continue with their lives was the right move.

The Big Brunch dips too far into sappiness. The HBO Max show lulls its audience back into a Sunday morning snooze, instead of inspiring them to go have a boozy brunch of their own. The Big Brunch does have a great concept, which shines in the dishes that the contestants present to the judging table. ... Unfortunately, what The Big Brunch fails to grant these folks is the time to really flaunt their actual cooking skills on camera.

It is not an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination. Perhaps that’s what makes the payoff so sizable. Despite its near-insurmountable density, The English ends six protracted hours as one of the year’s most memorable series, thanks largely in part to its astounding two leads. ... This is Blick’s bleeding-hearted love letter to the genre, and by its end, The English join the ranks of the grandest entries ever made.

There’s a sense this time around of, “Get to the good stuff!” The frustrating thing, I’m sure, is that there is no blame to be assigned to the series for that. The Crown is as engrossing (and endlessly watchable) as ever. The subject matter is the culprit. That said, the show does seem to be leaning into that obviousness in a way it never did before.

As intriguing as this concept was in I May Destroy You, it doesn’t quite work quite as well in Mood, with its much flimsier storytelling. ... Still, Lecky’s dedication to portraying Sasha’s emotional crisis never wavers. She pulls off a masterful performance full of small actions—clicking through a phone screen full of sent messages but never received, drowning herself in unfulfilling work—but the backstory bogs her character down.

Maybe if Blockbuster leaned further into that meta self-awareness, there would be more about it to recommend. But the thing that makes it special, the connection to Blockbuster, is essentially ignored, resulting in a workplace comedy that isn’t particularly unique or memorable. Instead, there’s commentary about the differences between millennials and Gen Z that isn’t novel or clever.