The Crown Wades Into a Royal MessThe choppy but absorbing fifth season of Netflix’s monarchical saga feels divorced from what came before.
ByJen Chaney
tv review
The White Lotus Retracts Its FangsMike White’s HBO series remains well appointed and well acted in season two, but a creeping timidity undermines its satire.
The Problem With DahmerThe series states its aim to humanize those affected by the serial killer’s crimes, but it can’t resist a base attraction to its central monster.
The Rings of Power Is Too Big to FailPrime Video’s much-anticipated Lord of the Rings series is a best-case scenario for storytelling by monetary brute force.
ByKathryn VanArendonk
tv review
The Patient Is All Killer, No FillerSteve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson deliver strong performances in a thought-provoking thriller that succeeds by keeping its focus narrow.
The Sandman’s Lost DreamNetflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s legendary comic works well when it has a strong sense of its titular character. If only it stayed that way.
Resident Evil Is Plagued by PredictabilityBrief, welcome glimpses of silliness hint at what could have been if this Netflix series were more willing to deviate from the franchise’s mythology.
Ms. Marvel’s Enthusiasm Is InfectiousIt has been too long since the MCU had a proper coming-of-age tale, and this confident, focused miniseries rises to the occasion.
ByRoxana Hadadi
tv review
P-Valley Season Two Spins OutKatori Hall’s Starz drama loses the consistency and cohesion that drove its first season.
Angelyne Is the Total PackagePeacock’s miniseries about L.A.’s “Billboard Queen” is not just aware of the limitations of the biopic. It relishes disrupting them.
Hacks Seems a Bit LostThe Emmy-winning series hits the road in season two and needs some time to find its old rhythms.
ByJen Chaney
tv review
Candy Leaves a Sour AftertasteHulu’s weightless true-crime miniseries has little sense of what it wants to say about the 1978 axe murder of Betty Gore, or why it should say it.
ByRoxana Hadadi
tv review
The Staircase Defies ExpectationsA seminal true-crime story takes on new dimension in a scripted series that proves there’s still more to say about Michael and Kathleen Peterson.
Gaslit Has No Use for HeroesWhen it avoids the sway of its own hyperbole, Starz’s compellingly grimy Watergate miniseries illuminates the coldness and crassness of complicity.
Cozy Up With Julia, a Warm and Welcoming TreatThe new HBO Max series is much like the version of Julia Child it wants to portray: imperfect yet charming — and in love with feeling good.
The Girl From Plainville Can Only Say So MuchDespite a strong Elle Fanning performance, this dramatization of the teen texting-suicide case can’t uncover the why of Michelle Carter.
