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.