(Kruiser's Note: After not watching much television at all for most of my life, the Morning Briefing turned me into an avid binge kind of guy. I like to have something on when I'm working on the second half of each day's MB, and I burn through a lot of what's available. I started this column to occasionally share thoughts on what I've seen. I am not a professional TV critic, but I have mad skills when it comes to being opinionated. Also, I've been on Japanese television, so, yeah.)
We're back! I've got something old-ish and two things new to share this week. We'll start with the older one first.
Dune: Prophecy (HBO Max) This was on my "To Watch" list as soon as it was released last year. Unfortunately, last year was when almost all of the streaming services except Netflix began releasing highly anticipated shows one episode per week rather than the whole series at once. I was annoyed by that and forgot about the show until now.
I think things like that are a risk that the streamers run by adopting broadcast television habits.
Anyway, I love the show. Talk about a prequel! Dune: Prophecy takes place 10,000 years before the events of the first Dune book. I've been a big fan of the Dune universe since Ronald Reagan was president, so I can be a bit picky.
This show is about how the Bene Gesserit sisterhood became what they are in the time of Paul Atreides. There is some great acting here, including powerful performances by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams as the leaders of the Sisterhood (they weren't the Bene Gesserit yet), who are also actual siblings in the show. If you watch a lot of BritBox or Acorn TV you'll recognize many of the faces in Dune: Prophecy.
One of the nicest things I can say about Dune: Prophecy is that its heavy reliance on flashbacks didn't annoy me. That's often a plot device which gets me to give up on a show or movie.
RATING: 🍺🍺🍺🍺
The Beast in Me (Netflix) This mini-series stars Claire Danes, along with Matthey Rhys of The Americans fame. Danes is often in things I want to watch, but her strung-out, manic characters get to me sometimes (I eventually bailed on Homeland). My good friend and partner in thought crime Stephen Green has started watching this and, as he noted, Danes and Rhys play off of each other very well in this. I would agree with that.
All I will say is that the concept for this show is interesting enough: she's a writer who lost her son and Rhys is a real estate trust fund rich boy who may or may not have killed his first wife. He moves in next door to Danes' character and her writerly curiosity gets the best of her. The writers handled it all well, and I did end up enjoying it, even if watching Danes for eight episodes made me dream of vodka and Valium.
RATING: 🍺🍺🍺
Blue Lights (BritBox) This is one of my favorite shows on any of the streaming services in the past couple of years. The trailer for last season touted the show as "Belfast's answer to The Wire." There are some similarities — especially the deep dive that Blue Lights does into the societal forces driving the criminal element in Belfast.
Season three is now being released in one-week increments. I generally wait until there are at least four episodes of a show available before I jump in, but I was too excited about this. I re-watched all of season two, and have thoroughly enjoyed the first two episodes of the new season.
The lives of the Belfast response (patrol) officers — they're called "peelers" — are the big draw here. A cast this big isn't always easy to handle from a writing standpoint but the scripts are tight and the regulars continue to develop. Also, for reasons I have yet to fathom, I've developed a thing for shows set in Belfast.
The BBC has already announced that Blue Lights has been renewed for a fourth season. I hope this show has a long, long run.
RATING: 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Here's the Blue Lights Season 3 trailer. Enjoy!
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