Sometimes it takes an ordinary thriller or procedural to make an extraordinary point. The Spy offers entertaining proof of this.

Little America, a beautifully crafted new anthology on Apple TV+, takes the emotion and noise out of one of our most contentious political topics — immigration — and replaces it with poetry, humor, and the compelling stories of ordinary people seeking a better life in these United States.

Even if you see only one episode, you’ll come away understanding how dramatically the country’s immigration policies have changed under this president. You’ll feel in your gut the human toll that change has exacted. ... It’s powerful — too powerful, so powerful it overloads our emotional circuits.

Turning Point is exactly the kind of serious, searing recapitulation that this moment demands. Its five expertly compressed episodes move briskly yet with care, choosing the moments and memories that have maximum impact.

[Ethan Hawke's] geeked-out zeal for the details of these two lives, and the lifetime of work they produced, injects the whole project with a joie de vivre that its three subjects — Woodward, Newman, and their marriage — demand.

This deep access, and the compelling narrative the filmmakers weave out of their footage, makes Immigration Nation the most important documentary Netflix has fronted since Ava DuVernay’s 13TH. Even if it doesn’t convince you that ICE should be abolished, I guarantee you’ll be unsettled watching the agency’s response.

What Unbelievable shows is that you can make a scripted show about our broken criminal justice system that is as entertaining and human and likable and satisfying as any paint-by-numbers drama, if not more so.

Riveting. ... These directors do not disappoint.

Ridley and Cuse have taken Fink's investigation into those fateful days at Memorial and turned it into a spellbinding visual narrative — easily the best limited series of the year so far.

The show’s as sharp as ever in “Soldier of Illusion,” the two-parter that opens Season 4. As pure entertainment, it adroitly combines a high concept with lowbrow humor, including Alexander Skarsgård in a role that might take you back to his orange mocha frappuccino days. And like so many of the best Documentary Now! episodes, it shines because it’s remarkably ambitious. ... Documentary Now! has pretty much perfected that formula [satirizing something both highly specific and kind of obscure can yield incredible results].

This is a revival done right. ... The reality is that the show's appeal comes less from any deeper statement on TV culture than from its relatability. There's a little piece of these doofuses in all of us.

Painting With John is, like its predecessor, a true original. It’s about a man who has seen a lot of the world, made a good living off his art, and — with the help of producers Adam McKay and Todd Schulman — has hand-crafted yet another work for television.

Last Chance U may have found its ideal coach. ... This scrappy coach was blessed with a bumper crop of talent, each with their own Last Chance U-ready narrative. ... Watching Mosley clearly anguish over his loss, I found myself wishing, for the very first time in a year, for the true return of sports.

Simon and Burns have put a remarkable ensemble in front of the camera to breathe life into Roth’s characters.

Challenger: The Final Flight is an immersive and nearly flawless four-part docuseries that had me hooked from the get-go. And here’s the amazing part — there’s almost no mystery to it.

Despite the pacing, or maybe because of it, Our Boys is actually pretty engrossing. And it’s timely. ... By slowing the pace of its narrative, Our Boys buys itself enough time to see these nuances in its main characters, a luxury you don’t get on a typical episode of SVU. ... More than a crime show, this is a parable about the endlessly repeatable cycle of outrage and violence that has humans around the world in its grip right now.

A beautifully crafted account of country music’s origins and numerous personality changes and facelifts. It is entertaining and arguably has the best soundtrack of any Burns film (and I loved Jazz). Country Music is also full of provocations that should, at some point or another, unsettle everyone watching.

There is much more to chew on than simply a story about refugees in Australia. Stateless is that rare show that demands a fairly sizable investment of your time; once you let it in your head, you may have a hard time getting it out.

Race isn’t just an engrossing and surprisingly suspenseful docuseries about an elite athlete trying to get to the top tier of his sport. It’s also a great intro to racing and NASCAR, including a clear-eyed look at its rebel-flag-waving past.

There are a lot of shows getting reboots that maybe shouldn’t (Roswell, really?). But this is a timely and smart retelling of a unique story about children coming of age in a modern, mixed-up world without their parents to rely on. While watching I kept asking myself, as I imagine many viewers will as well — what if this were my family?

Like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul is not just another show about quirky characters and intriguing storylines. The people behind these two series love to make television, and it’s evident from the product. ... This is television magic, and it won’t last long. You should enjoy it while you can.

Guided by a steady adaptation from veteran screenwriter Mark Richard and a gripping performance from Hawke, this filmed version is a rollicking good time, a lovely complement to McBride’s literary achievement that should drive more readers to the book.

[Magic and the Lakers] transformed sports in the public’s eye from just a game into show business. You’ll see how in this colorful, explosive, thoroughly entertaining series.

It’s the opposite of Nailed It! since these folks can really bake, but it borrows a key ingredient from that Netflix hit: the generous, fun-loving tone. So come for the delectable doppelgängers, but stay for the good-natured banter between contestants and Day’s amusing patter.

It’s fabulous. Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma, Peaky Blinders) lights up the screen. This is a sterling example of streaming TV giving a story its due when Hollywood had long ago decided it was too big and complicated for a two-hour film.

A superb drama. ... Quiz is everything McMillion$ should’ve been: propulsive, efficiently told drama that boils down a lorry full of facts to the simple 50:50 question: Did they or didn’t they?

Unorthodox works. It feels like an immersive documentary about a woman who comes of age while escaping the oppressive religious community that has defined her entire life. And a big reason for that is a superb performance by Shira Haas.

Well-written and engaging, The Outlaws will appeal to viewers who like where television is heading these days — towards more character-driven, tonally varied narratives.

Love on the Spectrum takes these adults well past their comfort zones, testing their emotions and their interpersonal skills in dating situations that I found myself relating to way more than I expected. ... It’s not as moody or emotionally wrought as scripted shows like Netflix’s Atypical. But its quest is one that feels so relevant right now.

This is a fully immersive docudrama, and if the dialogue gets a little explicatey at times, there is a tremendous amount of relevant history to cover here, and nine episodes barely cover it.

Pursuit of Happiness doesn’t just go wider, it goes deeper. Ravi Patel has a way with words, and can draw surprisingly meaningful nuggets from his own life.

It is a must-watch doc. ... The enduring impression of this film isn’t of the interested actors who found it convenient to use Norma McCorvey — it’s of McCorvey herself.

From the get-go, Defending Jacob grabs and holds your attention, hour after hour, as you try to figure out whether the kid did it, and if the parents are going to make it through the trial without imploding. .... It’s the best Apple original series yet, and proof that like fine wine, some stories just need time to age and breathe a little.

Well-paced and efficient, Bad Vegan sucks you into Melngailis's personal drama and keeps you there.

Bless the Harts feels true right out of the gate.

Murderville isn’t remotely a murder mystery, or even a parody of a murder mystery. But it offers a fresh take on improvisational comedy, one of the few underrepresented subgenres in today’s television landscape.

The documentary does an admirable job of capturing those early days without a wink or sneer. ... I Love You, You Hate Me expertly marshals different pop-culture voices to explain how the anti-Barney sentiment bubbled up so easily. ... In the end the show makes a surprisingly persuasive case that maybe the Barney backlash of 30 years ago was the canary in the coal mine — that it served as an early warning of what a culture steeped in irony and conditioned to react caustically to everything on a screen could become.

Silicon Valley in many ways still feels like the hacker-house ensemble comedy it started out as, even though Pied Piper now has 532 employees and a thicket of fiduciary and ethical entanglements that have built up over the years and will drive the storyline these final seven episodes.

Torv, a Melbournite, does more than bring the usual steely determination to the role of a female ladder climber in a man’s world. She also brings vulnerability, while mostly keeping it concealed from her colleagues. ... [It handles] universal topics in a low-key, immersive storytelling style that fans of thoughtful drama should enjoy, regardless of their country of origin.

Edgar-Jones and Mescal are utterly convincing as two brainy kids who know instantly that they have a special bond, yet are clueless how to express it. ... It is a pleasure to watch, just as the book was a pleasure to read — except different.

Pretend It’s a City feels like a gift from the universe — a small, affectionate token that a lover might drop in the mail while traveling the world just to remind you that she’ll be back, and that she’s worth the wait. ... Watching it I felt a strange permission to imagine life returning to normal, as I know it will sometime this year. In my mind, I pretend I’m in New York, and I’m walking up Sixth Avenue, and by chance I look up from my phone — and there’s Fran Lebowitz walking the other way, judging me.

Spellbinding. ... Relying on a stylized version of the classic true-crime TV format, they keep the viewer squarely focused on the principal subject of this film, Gary Stewart, and his story, which is that his dad was very likely the infamous serial murderer known as the Zodiac Killer. ... To not feel for him is to miss the point of this show, which is really an investigation into the stories that each one of us are capable of telling ourselves and reinforcing in our minds every day, whether they are true or not.

This is an authorized portrait of a celebrity — albeit an unlikely and, by all accounts, wonderfully down-to-earth celebrity, which Julia certainly captures.

The series remains impeccably stylish, with exquisite sets, eye-catching costumes, and some pretty highfalutin dialogue for a story about uneducated criminals. Another strength of Peaky Blinders is that it's managed to stay fresh from one season to the next.

CSI was worth watching then and you know what? It’s worth watching now. The CSI: Vegas pilot pulls you right back in with its familiar video funnel effect, moody sets and stylized killings.

Like any good iteration, Mo takes its audience places the original [Ramy] didn't.. ... If you're expecting a series about a Palestinian refugee living in a U.S. border town to have its political moments, then Mo won't disappoint. Having said that, the show's greatest virtue may be that it rarely forgets that it's a fast-paced, breezy sitcom that doesn't linger too long on our conscience.

The resulting first season of this docuseries does not disappoint. Even if you know nothing about soccer or British club sport, if you like a good underdog story, this one will play its way right into your heart.

This well-done childrens’ show is better than any dumbed-down E/I show I’ve ever seen, and will arguably do more to change people’s eating habits than anything the USDA thinks it can do.

Between the taut plotting and the dark laughs, The Patient is expertly calibrated to lure viewers in. Episode 1 takes just over 19 minutes, and the run times grow slowly from there, along with the need to keep seeing how things will turn out.

Instantly likable prequel to Black-ish. ... Mixed-ish is a delightful example of how history — not nostalgia — can be used to help us see our present day more perceptively through the lens of yesterday.

Casting is key, and Annaleigh Ashford nails it as Gina. ... I enjoyed Bob (Hearts) Abishola immensely last season, but the show’s modest ratings suggest that this is a make-or-break year. And I like what I see so far here, so I can’t help but… be positive.

68 Whiskey moves confidently into the small but mighty clique of military comedies that balance the absurdist tragedy of war with the intense emotional bonds and improvised code of ethics on the front lines. ... Chalk up another win for the new kid on cable's block.

Loot isn't as successful as that Emmy-winning hit [Ted Lasso], but it's still a very enjoyable show that's handsomely produced, with a posh soundtrack and luxurious visuals. Rodriguez is excellent as the uptight foundation president, and there's just enough lampooning of the politically correct philanthropy world to give the jokes some bite.

Agents of Chaos, is not for the weak of stomach. ... Fortunately, he knows how to lighten the load. Imagine a four-hour Frontline investigation with a sense of humor and a rock-and-roll soundtrack — that’s Agents of Chaos in a nutshell.

It works because some serious comedy writers are on the team and have made improvements to the Ted Lasso cartoon from the NBC ads. ... The writing is sharp and fresh..

In the end, this show may wind up going the way of Rectify, an almost pure form of character drama in which storylines take a backseat to the sheer pleasure of watching a human being evolve before one’s eyes, as David Young does on David Makes Man. Either way, I know I'll be watching.

Another musical rom-com seemingly designed to cherry-pick the Crazy Ex audience. ... The songs are bright and clever, and the visuals reflect the show’s slightly bigger production budget, e.g., a simple animation that turns the office copier into a flip book.

Fact-based, fast-paced, and infuriating as all hell, Free Meek benefits from having the participation and financial backing of Jay-Z and his Roc Nation company; from the support of Meek’s tight-knit family that accompanies him every step of the way; and by having a fabulous explainer in Rolling Stone’ investigative journalist Paul Solotaroff, who helped nationalize the Meek Mill story in 2017 and whose silver throat makes anything sound like butter.

Make some popcorn and plan to watch the two-episode origin story in one sitting. It might be the most satisfying addition to the Western genre since Godless.

This page-turner of a miniseries may not be predicting our future, but it sure leaves you wondering if somewhere inside a Big Tech compound there's a roomful of coders working on it.

The storylines are darker, sexier. They also arc across episodes — I recommend watching at least the first two to get the full flavor. Also, Episode 2 is stronger, with the loss of intimacy explored through both comic and poignant storylines. It’s a network show, so don’t expect The Leftovers. But Fantasy Island is back and it’s in good hands.

Valdez was not making a film about boys or football. He was making a film about men. ... It’s probably closest to Hoop Dreams in spirit (and length), but while that classic film was about two kids and the families living their dreams vicariously, this docuseries is about something larger, what I would call the building of social capital.

Only Murders in the Building feels fresh and interesting and you should absolutely watch every new episode as it drops on Hulu (or Disney+ if you’re reading this from outside the U.S.).

When the show focuses on the reward and the struggle of the work, it’s fabulous. ... Even if it can get preachy, Alaska Daily’s warp-speed dialogue and efficient, network-TV execution ensure that viewers won’t get too bogged down in sermonizing.

The stories are relatable and the dialogue, if predictably TV-ish at times, gets at big issues about loss and what really matters in life — topics I think we can all relate to a little more closely these days. ... The casting, the dialogue, the pacing, the relentless Windham Hill-quality soundtrack — Council of Dads feels like a fly trap designed to capture as many This Is Us viewers as possible.

The execution of Living with Yourself is mostly brilliant. These eight half-hour episodes go fast. If I have a quarrel with the show, it’s that too much time is spent on the admittedly rich storylines that can be developed from this premise. ... Really, you should watch Living With Yourself for Paul Rudd and... Paul Rudd. A role like the two Mileses requires a surprising amount of emotional range, and Rudd’s got it.

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker is a highly watchable bit of what I call rock-and-roll history. It’s a subgenre that tries to bring the past alive with modern dialogue and a ripping soundtrack. ... Spencer delivers the goods.

A Teacher is not about the guys. This is a star vehicle for two women — Mara in front of the screen and Hannah Fidell behind it. ... If you want to see a creative female mind exploring how female power, when it runs into the brick wall of societal taboo, can be self-destructive, A Teacher is your show.

For Life joins a growing number of series devoted to exploring wrongful conviction and the ordeal that convicts must go through to have their cases retried and verdicts overturned. But it stands out in two ways. First, unlike nonfiction series like Free Meek and Confession Tapes, For Life has the look and feel of an ABC courtroom drama. Second, it’s based on the life of a real-life person, Isaac Wright Jr., a man whose story is so incredible Disney+ should consider making a companion documentary or podcast. ... After two episodes of For Life, I’m in.

Creator Joshua Safran has assembled a good crew of writers to weave all the threads together. The dialogue of Sam and Nellie’s first date crackles.

As as critic I would advise viewers short on time to watch only the first and last episodes. Then, if you like what you see, you can go back and watch parts two through five. If you’re a teacher, though, you may just want to carve out a week or more for your kids to watch and discuss all six hours. It's that good.

Welcome, if long-overdue, tribute.

An enjoyable and accessible pilot episode, one that brings the iconic admiral down to earth (literally), gives him lots of great dialogue, and reunites him with an old ally and monstrous adversary that even those of us not schooled in all things Trek will remember.

Perhaps owing to the nearly six-year gap between Seasons 6 and 7, this final lap is basically self-encapsulated and requires almost no effort to get up to speed (narrator extraordinaire Tom Kane will help with that part). ... Bottom line: If you loved The Mandalorian, you just might like Star Wars: Clone Wars.

Inside LuLaRich, directors Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason have embedded some equally compelling stories about why people get swept up by MLM fever and wind up bankrupting not only themselves but friends and family that they enthusiastically pull into the scheme with them.

The intimately close visuals and clever editing make interactions between a bear and a squirrel, or baby bats trying to avoid being eaten by snakes, feel as gripping as any drama.

Like the original, Legacy pairs the architecturally glamorous side of L.A. with its seedy underside, and Harry Bosch is still compelling as the guy both savvy and scrappy enough to take on the rich and powerful in the never-ending pursuit of justice.

It’s nicely written, with the kind of diversity you find in Commonwealth shows.

If you enjoy sports documentaries, then you'll likely appreciate how deeply Players understands the template that makes those shows satisfying. The result is an accessible, enjoyable introduction to a huge industry that passes many of us by.

On Briarpatch that protean mind [of creator Andy Greenwald] is put to surprisingly good use. Maybe the best idea Greenwald had was taking Benjamin Dill, the hero of Ross Thomas’s long-forgotten 1984 detective novel Briarpatch, and turning him into Allegra.

I thought it was great. Lively writing in an entertaining, network-quality serial thriller about artificial intelligence running amok. John Slattery — pitch-perfect casting.

Fortunately, Stumptown is blessed with a proven TV and movie star playing a character who herself arrives on screen fully formed. It’s years away from becoming a classic in its own right, but it reminds me of one, and that’s a good start.

Not only its most promising show to date but one that could serve as a template for future Apple TV+ shows. It’s a good-verging-on-great anthology series with storylines, writing, and casting that could be replicated again and again, allowing Apple to widen its lane while shrinking HBO’s. ... [Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul] alone are worth the investment of eight hours of your time.

We Own This City comes reasonably close to serving as a Wire follow-up. It tells a compelling story that must be seen to be believed. And it effectively raises a myriad of vital and not easily answered questions about not only public safety, but also the future of public institutions.

McKinnon embodies a down-to-earth but quirky version of Baskin, totally selling the idea that a woman this committed to saving tigers could find herself involved in a bizarre death match with the likes of Joe Exotic. Mitchell is equally convincing.

Losing Alice, besides being a seductively-paced drama you may have trouble shutting off, is also a backdoor commentary on women who disappear from the entertainment business around middle age, both in front of the camera and behind it.

Space is more of a backdrop for Away’s actual drama, which is about smart, ambitious people getting in each other’s way, and their own, and whether keeping your feet on the ground might not be the better decision.

Parton’s Madea-like role in the “Jolene” episode is a big part of its appeal. ... Heartstrings does not suck. Know what would make it suck even less? More Dolly.

Scott Prendergast's script ably sets up the mother-son dynamic that is the lifeblood of the show. Harden and Astin do the rest, alternately annoying and looking out for each other. As they bicker, they find a pleasant rhythm that carries us through the case at hand.

If you're looking for a new comfort watch, it's hard to beat Virgin River, which has more emotionally nuanced character development than most other shows of its kind. While other series overplay their soapier storylines, Virgin River handles them with maturity and even grace.

At its strongest, this series gives solid, easy-to-grasp explanations for why the human brain likes dividing the world up into “us” and “them” and why that impulse is so hard to resist. At its weakest — specifically, the two episodes after the one airing on Sunday — Why We Hate is more like How We Hate, dwelling too long on the political divide in America and the role social media plays in pitting people against each other.

Unlike anything that’s ever been seen before… because bears. Real live bears. ... I enjoyed the hell out of it. As a competition it’s pretty lame. But as a specific kind of reality subgenre — the one where humans of mediocre talent are goaded by TV producers into taking on a challenge way above their heads and failing spectacularly — Man Vs. Bear is more than… well, bearable.

It’s better than most other recent Netflix sitcoms (Country Comfort comes to mind), and that I admire how it incorporates racial issues that are on the minds of everyone who will be watching this show in 2021. And the season is blessedly short, with just eight 22-minute episodes to get through — seven if you skip the less-than-stellar pilot. Give it a go.

Based on what [series creator Karin Gist] showed in the first two episodes, I doubt this series will devolve into the kind of soapy debauch seen on other Black-headlined dramas. She seems more interested in building a world, one where Black people run successful companies, hobnob in elite clubs of their own making and act as though the rest of us don't even exist.

The vast audience for Vikings is clearly the target for Valhalla, and those viewers won’t be disappointed, but they also won’t be blown away; the show takes a while to find its way.

Having Helen Mirren fabulously bring this overlooked monarch to life at a moment when women’s fitness to lead is, unbelievably, still being questioned makes this four-hour romp worthwhile. But I’m struck by two things. Catherine the Great looks and feels like something HBO could have done 15 years ago, and indeed did do 15 years ago with this same team.

Sunnyside is a work in progress. As we saw with The Good Place and Parks & Rec in their first seasons, Schur has the confidence to put what he has on the screen and work with it as the show goes along.

Deaf U, with its short (20 minutes or less) episodes, intriguing characters, and fascinating exploration of deaf subculture — albeit one that doesn't exactly cast deaf people in a very favorable light — is a worthwhile drive-by docuseries. DiMarco has cast the show well, finding interesting leads who reflect both the racial and hearing diversity of the Gallaudet community.