As always, this is a scattered story with multiple moving parts.... Fargo revels in presenting ordinary folk with extraordinary problems, in stripping away their everyday guises and peering long and hard at their dark potential. That it can do this through adaptations of true stories makes it all the more jaw-dropping.

The third season of “Succession” spends an awful lot of time waiting for something to happen and in the seven episodes (out of nine) offered for review nothing much does.

[It] sounds pretty dark, and it is, but the wonder of both Atwood’s novel and the series is that it actually manages to be playful and witty at times.

This show--which mixes hints of “Lost,” “Twin Peaks” and “The X-Files”--is one of the best things to hit our airwaves this season.

Thrones exults in the unexpected.

Massive, cruelly dense, absurdly complicated and absolutely thrilling.

Turturro bites into the role with bitter humor and wounded idealism. Still, it’s Ahmed, at times resembling a young Andy Garcia, who is at the heart of this series, with his innocence being stripped away as the slow wheels of justice threaten to grind his soul. It’s powerful, and timely, stuff.

You already know the outcome. Yet you can’t stop watching, thanks to Murphy’s flashy dramatization, which is just the approach the “Trial of the Century” richly deserves.

There are slight miscues--Kimara’s attempts to become pregnant seem a distraction--but this very busy boat stays upright and moves forward, shifting just enough to stay interesting.

Although the first episodes of the new season lack the snap and sizzle of the first season’s sexual discoveries, the air of indecision that haunts the show feels both accurate and unique.

Near flawless in execution while filled with rarely seen intelligence and complexity, the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge plumbs the depths of the seemingly mundane and finds cruelty, resentment, dogged insecurity and finally, if not hope, then some level of honesty about life’s attraction.

The suits are louder, the sideburns are longer; aside from that, the season-six premiere proves to be classic Mad Men with plenty of vice (maybe more than before, at least more pot), long hours at work and lots of questions.

"I Think You Should Leave" is eccentric, hysterical and hilarious. The stranger it gets, the more it feels at home.

Relentlessly dark and slow boiling, True Detective may promise more than it can deliver. But it still delivers quite a bit.

Yeun and Wong are both excellent, meeting the material and consistently finding new wrinkles, new layers, in their characters.

“I May Destroy You” is fascinating TV, taking a dark subject and turning it every which way. It can be shocking, it can be fun (which is also somewhat shocking), it can hurt and maybe even heal. No matter what, it’s an unsettling revelation.

The dissonance between spoiled Royals and the modern world has turned darker, and the nobility seems a lot less noble. But it’s still a fascinating mess for us mere mortals to watch.

“Chloe” is an intriguing tangle of lies and obsession, a well-made striptease of a show that slowly reveals all over six episodes of cringey psychological suspense. Heads don’t explode, super-heroes don’t save the day and nobody hires a hitman. Instead “Chloe” is that rarest of birds, an adult drama, albeit one stuffed with odd turns and awkward encounters.

There’s a lot of humor here, but it’s more innocent than leering. And there’s also a great deal of understandable awkwardness that seems as pertinent to 2013 to the ’50s. You may not want to watch this with Aunt Tildy, but it is certainly worth watching.

The tone wavers here and there--a pair of teen brothers are too broadly drawn--but holds true for the most part.

Welcome back, Ted. ... “Ted Lasso” is ultimately about good-natured perseverance, about being decent in the face of indecency. About a group of disparate people working toward a common if likely unattainable goal.

"Get Back" isn't for everyone, nor is it meant to be. But to Beatles obsessives, and they're a group that numbers in the millions and spans generations, "Get Back" is a holy grail, and it delivers.

The eight-part miniseries, a BBC co-production that begins Saturday on Starz, is handicapped a bit by its overly hotheaded protagonist, played by James Nesbitt. But if his access as a grieving father to crime scenes and witnesses often seems a bit preposterous, the story's many side alleys and turnabouts serve as ample distraction.

Simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking.

Morally and historically significant, emotionally wrenching and politically terrifying, The Normal Heart is more important than artful, and that’s just fine.

“For All Mankind” is simply one of the best things on TV. Aside from being uncomfortably prescient — the Russia/U.S. tensions induce cold shivers of recognition — it balances what might be with what is, mixing the not-all-that-fantastic with well-grounded human drama. Prepare for blast off.

The high production values and the series' ability to pivot its storytelling — the third episode is a lovely and quite moving distraction from the main plot — keep it fresh, even as the show's familiarities and the rudimentary bickering between characters ("you sure do ask a lot of questions!" Joel crankily remarks to Ellie, as he'd rather walk in silence) ring all sorts of bells.

Girls continues to delight and provoke in a way too few shows can.

"Poker Face" pays homage to the shows that came before it by following in their tradition and honoring their path. And it's done in the right spirit, so that it never has to call bulls--- on itself.

Yes, Issa, Molly and Lawrence are all a bit insecure; heck, the world itself is insecure. But this show is strong in the face of it all.

Raylan, despite his tendency to shoot people, is something of an old-fashioned hero, complete with white cowboy hat. Here’s to the simple but effective balance, and to the complications that threaten to topple it.

Flint is a timebomb, and Flint Town is an impressively crafted tick-tock of things going wrong with a place, one after another.

Moms Mabley is a fine appreciation of a remarkable life.

Usher slowly but surely emerges as a major contributor on this underrated series filled with genuinely funny and touching moments.

“City” is based on a nonfiction book by Justin Fenton and somewhat weighed down by its solemn intent. It doesn’t have time for humor and it doesn’t have the space for subtlety. Too many scenes are plain explanatory and grim business simply leads to more grim business. Still, Simon has always excelled at capturing specific cultures and their contradictions.

Blessed with a sharp cast that includes John Turturro and Christopher Walken as senior innies, “Severance,” which is produced and mostly directed by Ben Stiller, manages to adeptly juggle the grim and the giggly (melon ball party, anyone?). More importantly, it never fails to entertain. In the end it leaves you begging for more. Always a good sign.

Behind the Candelabra doesn't really get behind anything; it just rolls around in tacky history.

It is, to say the least, audacious. More importantly it’s interesting. It’s about the interior as much as the exterior. That’s weird. That’s good.

It’s all very complicated, but at the same time easy to follow and terribly mesmerizing and haunting.

“The White Lotus” sneaks essential questions in between the laughs. It is certainly among the year’s best TV offerings.

Relentlessly silly from beginning to end, if this show doesn't make you laugh out loud, or at least shake your head in constant bemusement, you're a member of the wrong species. [8 Nov 2001, p.5C]

The Middle East lends itself to intrigues, backstabbings, frontstabbings and long-term vendettas like few other places, and writer-director Hugo Blick lets his puzzle pieces assemble with slow, deliberate power and more than a few surprises.

Created and written by David Simon (“The Wire,” “The Deuce”), “The Plot Against America” isn’t some garish exploitation of goose-stepping Nazi nastiness. It’s far too wise for that.

“Maid” shines a warm, personal light on all this while telling a story that’s enlightening and entertaining. It’s never really heavy-handed but it can be exhausting. It should be.

"Cheer" depicts the turmoil of high competition and the double-edged sword of fame. And it lays out what makes the world of cheerleading so addictive, both for its participants and for viewers.

Feud: Bette and Joan is delicious fare, a mix of catty gossip and vile manipulation, a look at the dark underbelly of celebrity culture and the desperation that comes with aging out of the limelight.

"The White Lotus" is still a buzz of capitalist hypocrisy, absurd indulgence, clueless privilege and mordant wit. The beautiful people have changed for the most part, but the abundant anxieties and kinks beneath their shiny surfaces are apparently universal.

Mr. Robot remains one of the most dizzying, intoxicating, challenging shows on television, a gripping look at mental illness and brilliance run amok, tied to an essentially sweet, if damaged, character. It’s a show that poses Big Questions and dares to leave them hanging.

"True Detective: Night Country" is best taken as a small town story, which uses a crime to peel back the region's layers of humanity, nature and corruption, to expose the depth of the darkness within.

Winslet elevates everything, but “Mare of Easttown” needs some serious elevating out of its dreariness and familiarity. It’s certainly watchable but also predictable. Look elsewhere for light.

A Series of Unfortunate Events makes it downright difficult to “Look Away.”

Hauser doesn’t set out to overwhelm. In fact, his monster is all the more scary because he’s so low key and obviously demented. But he has so much there that all else seems commonplace.

As the season progresses, Mapleton re-emerges and it becomes a tale of two deeply weird cities. It may all be a tease, but give The Leftovers this: It is the strangest show on television.

Amazon series “The Boys,” which manages in its second season to be even more boisterously bleak than the first time around. ... But don’t worry, action fans, there are also plenty of exploding heads, super-battles and mountains of mayhem. This show rarely rests.

The first four episodes contain more solid laughs than most sitcoms manage in a year. [13 Oct 2000]

A parade of rape enactments threatens to drag and a halo hangs dangerously over McNamara’s head at times. But “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” always rights itself and ends up both engrossing and enlightening. It doesn’t have all the answers — no one does — but it asks the right questions in the right way.

Yes, there are a few stereotypes--a guard nicknamed Pornstache is exactly the sleazeball you expect in a women’s prison series. But, for the most part, the show strikes a fresh tone, allowing for real tenderness, social commentary and lots of anxiety in a classic fish-out-of-water scenario.

No knowledge of chess is needed to enjoy this show. It’s more about one person’s evolution, a classic long journey through friendships, love and personal struggles. But it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Taylor-Joy making that journey; she imbues Beth with a cool confidence and her exotic, big-eyed look has an oddball eroticism that’s hers alone. Chess has never sizzled like this.

Even though it has a continuous story arc the show goes through tonal shifts, moving from Indiana Jones to grindhouse to bump-in-the-night scares, so that it almost feels like an anthology. But the dark, disturbing cloud of racism is ever present and seeps into every corner of the show like a wraith. Except this monster’s real.

Mostly it’s a showcase for Colman, for that endlessly expressive face and her perfect line readings, for the humanity she draws on so easily. Watch it and marvel.

Braugher is the rare actor who banks on control instead of pyrotechnics. And Ruben Blades gives him strong support as the hospital's administrator, Dr. Max Cabranes. [10 Oct 2000]

The show's two opening episodes, showing Sunday and Monday night, are really a small movie cut in half--Sunday is the somewhat puzzling set-up, Monday puts Jimmy in motion and opens his eyes.

What’s even more impressive is the delicate balance between the laughable and the distressing here. “Sweet Tooth” has some serious and timely bite.

Just as “Parks and Rec” was built around a strong female character (Amy Poehler), so is The Good Place and Bell brings her daffy range of sensibilities to the show. She somehow manages to run through sassy, clueless, innocent, rude, earnest, spunky, well-intentioned and selfish modes in every episode.

There are some fine supporting performances here--most notably from Bradley Whitford as a loyal-if-appalled Hubert Humphrey, Melissa Leo as the beleaguered Ladybird Johnson and Stephen Root as J. Edgar Hoover. But, beginning to end, this is a tour de force for Cranston. Great stuff.

The Americans has potential. The way it uses recent history as a reflector of modern deceits while bouncing the concept of patriotism around mixes nicely with the hang-by-your-fingertips story turns.

Whatever it is, "WandaVision" is the weirdest entry yet into the MCU, and a significant artistic step forward in its storytelling. It's bold and visionary and also a lot of fun, tweaking sitcoms in a knowing, loving way and playing with their format in a way that turns Americana on its ear. Like any great show, we're hooked.

At first you’re rolling your eyes at what seems an absurd stretch of a premise, but soon enough you’re buying its always-on-edge predicaments and after a few episodes you’re hooked into its story-upon-story acrobatics. Pete may be sneaky, but he’s not dull.

It’s hard to say where The Bridge is going, but so far it looks like a trip worth taking.

“Ozark” still has its crazy nooks and crannies — Ruth’s young cousin Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) takes up with the much older deranged opium grower Darlene (Lisa Emery), things like that — and the troubled, still-loving chemistry between Marty and Wendy remains powerful. Plus gangsters, drug cartels, body counts, all the standard pleasures of crime shows.

“Pretend It’s a City,” Martin Scorsese’s six-part documentary appreciation of Fran Lebowitz, is more than merely delightful, although it’s certainly that. It’s also something of a historical document. ... It’s easy to see why Scorsese wanted to put her time in a cinematic bottle.

It’s heavily populated, extremely well cast — whoever found the chiseled Antony Starr deserves either a raise or an Emmy — and never boring. The third season has a lot of moving parts but the show wisely keeps its focus on Homelander. There are a lot of jerks here, but it’s the jerk at the top, the jerk with the most apocalyptic power (like that jerk in Russia), who’s scariest.

The twisted, distorted, decadent fun of "The Curse" is how much you'll recognize but won't like what you see.

Fincher's unemotional style comes through in the first two episodes, and the show could use more heat. But Spacey makes it worth watching.

It leaves some questions hanging and spins on a bit when it comes to trans history, but “The Lady and the Dale” is undeniably a gas.

Madison, a conflicted yet driven narrator-as-victim, makes this a unique piece of true crime filmmaking. He captures the messy darkness that can hide behind seemingly shiny lives. Including his own.

Despite its straightforward plotting and the obvious contrast in cousins, Mortimer lets “The Pursuit of Love” play messy, since that’s how life itself plays.

This isn’t the brash, acid-tongued nerdy Patton Oswalt of the past, this is instead a more domesticated and content creature. Maybe he does indeed love everything. More power to him. Because apparently happiness does not preclude humor.

There are few serious undertones, but lots of lively excitement, despite all the lingering questions, which will assumedly be answered. Have faith.

None of which is new, all of which is interesting. But looking at any one aspect of his life--his marriages, a single concert, his childhood, one incident--in depth might have provided more insight than this typical overview.

“Midnight Mass” moves from slow-burn to absolute fireball. Creepy becomes gory and then goes bonkers. The final two episodes of this seven-episode show are both hard to watch and impossible not to watch.

Simply put, Smallville is super. A new spin on the modern myth of Superman, it's part action series, part teen romance and part high school drama, done with superior production values and featuring an array of new faces that could quickly become familiar. [16 Oct 2001]

The essential concerns of "The Scheme" actually fit into our current situation. That it does so in an entertaining manner — there are a number of laugh aloud moments here — is partly thanks to director Pat Kondelis, but the real reason this documentary works is because of a charismatic basketball wizard from Saginaw named Christian Dawkins.

A period piece with serious punch, The Knick isn’t for the faint of heart.

The Walking Dead may be starting to walk in circles, but the scenery is still spectacular and spooky.

It could all be so cheesy, but somehow it’s not. Credit DuVernay for giving us a sense of Louisiana--and black--life that rises above mere plot manipulations. You believe these people; you care for them. And that’s sweet enough.

The potential for cop burnout exists with all the new crime shows this season, but "Trace" is among the most promising entries. [26 Sep 2002]

By the time you hit the fifth of its eight episodes you may find yourself yelling at the screen in amazed delight.

There’s just enough crazy in Ray Donovan to keep things interesting.

“Bridgerton” is a blast, an addictive coiffured period romance that turns downright randy while dancing deftly with racism and misogyny.

Just because it’s well-acted doesn’t mean Big Little Lies is worth enduring.

This is a comedy by natives for natives and residents near and far. It’s that undeniable sense of pride and ownership that will make you “stand up and tell ’em you’re from Detroit” between bouts of laughter and smiles.

Raimi shows he hasn’t lost his horror chops in directing the first episode, particularly with a spinning flashlight tension-builder. And the bloody roots of “Evil Dead” are fully honored as well.

It was before reality TV, so it was before reality TV became all hot tubs and hook ups. It was about young people discussing issues that matter to them in a frank manner, and "Homecoming" is positioned as the same people — now not-so-young — discussing those same issues and how they matter to them today. The idealism of the project then is what makes this concept, and this cast, worth revisiting today.

Underground lingers on the slave experience, and that experience is appropriately awful and inhumane and certainly dramatic. But it’s also a show that wanders a bit too freely, undercutting its important subject matter and forward momentum by interfering with itself. As a show, it needs to learn how to keep it together.

Family Tree is addictively silly stuff.

Occasionally gory and suffused with black humor, there’s still a sunny sincerity to the show. Simply put, iZombie is death done cute.

A quick six-episode arc that’s fittingly preposterous and fully satisfying.