We get it: There’s an overwhelming number of television shows right now. The streaming landscape is an impractical maze, and the good stuff easily gets lost in the shuffle. But most of us can still find one show that cuts through the noise. We call this “appointment viewing” — or the time you carve out in your busy schedule to watch the show you’ll want to unpack the next day with your friends while it’s still on your mind. Tune in here each month to read what writer Michel Ghanem, a.k.a. @tvscholar, deems worthy of a group-chat deep dive.
So far this year, we’ve covered a few spooky titles like True Detective: Night Country and Interview With the Vampire, in addition to a few underrated gems like Big Mood and Three Women. This month, we’re watching Before, a spooky atmospheric limited series on Apple TV+ starring Billy Crystal as a child psychologist trying to solve a supernatural possession — just in time for Halloween.
What’s this spooky Billy Crystal show about?
Hello, spooky season! Before is a ten-episode Apple TV+ limited series that stars comedy icon Billy Crystal as Eli, a well-respected child psychologist who is trying to retire after the tragic death of his wife Lynn (Judith Light). Before he can manage to wrap up his career and sell his New York City brownstone, he meets Noah (Jacobi Jupe), a mysterious child whose psychological disturbances verge on demonic possession. With nowhere else to turn given the severity of his condition and the danger he poses to other kids, his foster mom (Rosie Perez) entrusts Eli to take care of him. The more Eli and Noah get to know each other, the stranger their connection seems to be, hinting at some kind of supernatural force that brought them together in the first place. Over many therapy sessions, the grieving psychologist and child try to get to the bottom of what’s going on before Noah loses himself completely.
Meanwhile, Eli is still processing the grief of losing his wife by going to therapy and preparing to sell his house, where Lynn died by suicide — a house that also seems to be possessed by her restless spirit (or Eli’s trauma hallucinations). Spooky vibes abound. Needless to say, this is a decidedly more dramatic role than we might be used to for Crystal (also executive producing), who made a name for himself as a stand-up comedian and leading man in rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally. The nine-time host of the Oscars has been relatively out of the public eye for the last few years, but he anchors Before with a strong performance that explores the depths of grief and trauma.
Where can I watch it?
The first two episodes of Before premiere on Friday, October 25, with single episodes airing weekly until December 20. The first few episodes are ideal to add to your Halloween season rotation, and the final episodes wrap up the season in a neat and satisfying way. Most episodes clock in at 20-something minutes, making it an easy addition to your weekly watching — a refreshing break from the heavier Apple dramas that all seem to have hour-long episodes.
Apple continues to release a whole bunch of expensive-looking serialized originals. Some of these get lost in the catalogue, and others break through from word of mouth (we loved Sunny and Platonic, and obviously wait impatiently for more Severance). Earlier this summer, Bloomberg reported that Apple would be cutting its ballooning programming costs after spending $20 billion, yet another sign that peak television’s era of releasing anything and everything is coming to an end in favor of a less-is-more approach.
So, should I be scared?
I wouldn’t classify Before as straightforward horror. It leans more toward atmospheric thriller with decently spooky imagery and a haunting original score. The horror genre has proliferated in television’s golden age, giving us everything from the slasher reboot of Pretty Little Liars (RIP) to the yearly Mike Flanagan–helmed Netflix limited series that started with The Haunting of Hill House, one of the most underrated horror projects in recent memory. Before reminds me most of another Apple TV+ spooky show, M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant. Both shows stretch out the reveal in favor of chilling imagery and character-based story.
On Before, we watch nightmares of Eli jumping into a pool with no water, worms crawling under his skin, and an undead Judith Light appearing spontaneously in jump scares around the house. These vivid scares are entertaining but don’t always make up for a dense plot. In the second half of the season, Before’s momentum starts to thin and Eli spends too long navigating doctors trying to pathologize him instead of dealing with the supernatural matters at hand, a horror trope that can get exhausting to watch. But like Servant, the spooky vibes are what keep my attention. With episodes this brief, the season makes for a quick binge with an addictive quality — I just wanted to get to the finale and find out what is actually going on. I’m not convinced Before would make the cut in Apple’s new closely budgeted world order, but I will gladly accept these bingeable star-studded shows while we have them.