Season 2 isn’t anchored to any plot thread at all. Sure, the self-contained episodes are fun, but eventually, I wanted to see Dev progress a little, to develop as a character from one episode to the next. ... The subtle joys of Master of None more than make up for any minor structural quibbles.

Season 3 lacks a certain narrative drive that the previous two seasons had, as if it’s enough to just hang out and observe these characters without any major new developments. And it mostly is--but still, there’s something missing.

An intense drug deal plays out with character-based nuance, more about the personalities in the room than the chance that guns will start blazing, while an episode set largely in the holding room of a jail finds drama in the assorted, transfixing plights of one-off characters.

The People v. O.J. Simpson‘s true feat is its ability to build real suspense using moments burned into our national consciousness.

Brammall and Dyer both rise to the occasion as actors, lending Gordon and Ashley’s relationship a poignant complexity. A show like Colin From Accounts really is something to be treasured. It’s one of those small, lovely gems that almost feels too good to be true in today’s TV landscape.

Severance soars to new heights with its long-anticipated Season 2, exceeding our expectations by digging deeper and hitting harder than before.

Top-notch performances from an A-list cast are Mrs. America‘s greatest selling points, but make sure to bone up on the American political process ahead of time — or you might be lost.

Vince Gilligan aims high with his sci-fi series "Pluribus," and it mostly works, anchored by Rhea Seehorn's dazzling performance.

There were times I wanted The Rehearsal to be more conventionally structured or even more conventionally funny; it gets weirdly poignant at times — or poignantly weird, I’m not sure which — as it walks a fine line between inspired and demented. (One participant’s comparison of Fielder to Willy Wonka isn’t all that far off.) But I can honestly say I’ve seen nothing like it on television before.

The Lowdown, I should note, does threaten to disappear into its own quirk at times. It moseys along at a deliberate pace, and the meandering narrative tends to wander around like Lee after one too many hits of his vape pen. But that’s OK: This show dances to its own beat. It’s not trying too hard to impress us, and that’s endearing, in a way. It’s worth checking out just to bask in Hawke’s greatness.

Alien: Earth still feels at times like an eight-hour movie, slowly building to a chaotic climax, and it’s hard to see at this point how the story could continue for multiple seasons. Hawley has earned our trust by now, though… and once again, with a seemingly unadaptable franchise, he has delivered.

The key to The Deuce‘s success is the writing. Some familiar tropes and clichés are scattered throughout, but Simon and his Wire co-writer George Pelecanos find a way to look deeper and uncover the vital truth underneath.

The plucky, can-do spirit that made last season so special still endure.

FX’s Shōgun adaptation is a feast for the eyes with dazzling action sequences, but the muddled story falls short.

Clad in the silks and satins of 1700s France, Outlander‘s Jamie and Claire Fraser clean up nicely. What a relief, then, that the Starz series does, too, delivering a second season that explores their complicated relationship amid a historical plot with a looming, deadly deadline.

Showrunners Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive again manage to zigzag between the lowbrow silliness of the show-within-the-show and the higher-brow hijinks behind the scenes without giving the impression that the series has a split personality. ... Perhaps best of all, since Season 2 is so emotionally brutal, when we get a break that’s not of the heart variety, it doesn’t feel like a present, it feels earned.

A lovely and emotive series about the lives of immigrants in America.

It just feels like Simien was eager to expand the universe of his original film, and ended up overextending himself. The result feels more like a series of self-contained short films than a TV show. That puts the burden on the cast of mostly newcomers to command our attention in their solo showcases, and unfortunately, they largely come up short.

It requires a strong stomach, for one thing. (I can’t imagine binge-watching more than one episode at a time.) But for those who are up for it, it’s a highly compelling and artfully crafted step forward for the zombie genre — and for television in general.

Poker Face is a loving throwback to ’70s detective shows that works, thanks to a winning lead performance from Natasha Lyonne.

FX’s sharp, savage English Teacher takes a refreshingly unsentimental look at public schools — and is one of the year’s funniest new shows.

It is fun--an addictive and surprisingly witty thriller powered by two remarkable female performances.

Picard‘s final season brings back Next Generation favorites and introduces new wrinkles in what is easily the best season yet.

It takes a few episodes for Homecoming to start showing its cards, and the focus is on unspooling the mystery rather than building the characters, so emotional depth is sometimes sacrificed in order to keep the narrative freight train chugging along. But it is an awfully good mystery, after all, with each episode lasting just long enough and teasing us just enough to keep us hooked.

Sorry for Your Loss is like a beautifully written sad song: You’re not always in the right mood to listen to it... but when you are, it can reach you in places that nothing else can.

X-Men ’97 goes all-in on the requisite campiness, high-stakes action, and potent parallels that made the original, as well as the comics that inspired it, so much fun.

Legion has created a compelling world that firmly stands on its own.

If anything, Season 2 only gets richer as it digs deeper into these ladies’ lives. ... Savor this while it lasts, folks: This is as good as TV gets.

Hulu’s King of the Hill revival brings back the comfortingly low-key vibe of the original, along with a few smart updates.

Lange and Sarandon pay him [Ryan Murphy] back with performances so powerful, they could light up a row of Hollywood marquees. In fact, the two shine so brightly at times that we can hardly see all the other flaws.

There’s a lot to like about it — it’s gorgeously shot and quietly compelling, with a potent lead performance from Sarah Gadon — but at times, it gets sluggish and overly gloomy. Stick with it, though, because the sixth and final episode is truly remarkable, weaving all of its disparate narrative strands together for a thoroughly satisfying finish.

It’s commendable how Season 2 of The Last of Us tries to advance the narrative in a fresh way, but it’s not entirely successful. And the deep sadness that permeates the entire show stubbornly remains. I can say I admire a lot of the craftsmanship that goes into making The Last of Us.

Season 2 of The White Lotus hits on a lot of the same themes as last season, but it still offers a terrific cast and insightful social satire.

For those in need of a serialized, compelling storyline, the fact that two episodes in we have no idea what Eliot will be up to on a weekly basis, and only a half of a hint of a whisper about Tyrell’s fate, has to make one wary.

Starz’s Party Down revival isn’t quite as fun as the original run, but it still has a great cast and plenty of satirical bite.

Supergirl very much plays in the same brightly colored playground as The Flash, sprinkling in nerdy nods (“Miss Tessmacher!”) with vivid action sequences. Serving up an ongoing villainous threat, though, seems to remain its storytelling Kryptonite.

GLOW is the behind-the-scenes look that’ll suck you in faster than a Friday cliffhanger.

True Detective boldly hits the reset button in Season 4, but runs into the same problems that plagued previous seasons.

Mare sets the scene so vividly that the murder mystery almost isn’t even necessary. These characters, and this town, are enough to command our attention. ... This slow burn may take a little time to heat up, but just give it a chance. It’s well worth it.

I ended up liking it so much, I felt compelled to spread the gospel. All you Broad City and BoJack fans out there? Fly, don’t walk.

Seth Rogen’s showbiz satire The Studio has lots of cool cameos, but gets too caught up in Hollywood lore to be consistently entertaining.

Fargo is back with a throwback season packed with excellent performances and jaw-dropping action scenes.

AMC’s beautiful new take on Interview With the Vampire is certainly bold and seductive, but it too often tips over into camp.

The Flash‘s return is a tremendous amount of timeline-tweaking fun, though the premiere closes with a gut-punch of a twist.

The premiere spends a fair amount of time laying pipe, so Episode 2 provides a more accurate picture of what the series will look like moving forward. And it looks really good.

Girls5eva‘s pleasures, though, far outweigh its stumbles. And best of all, it’s a fun, easy binge, with all eight episodes dropping at once. It’s a relief to have something light and fun to watch, frankly. So much TV these days, even the good stuff, is hard to watch — but this is a joy.

Bursting with old-fashioned charm, Maisel is shot in the style of Woody Allen’s nostalgic comedies, with a jazzy soundtrack of old standards and an eye for the beautiful chaos that is life in the Big Apple. There’s sly, quotable humor throughout, of course, but also a strong feminist streak.

Shadows' early episodes are chock full of quotable one-liners and majestically silly moments. ... I ended up watching the series premiere three times… and still found myself laughing the third time through.

Justified: City Primeval may at times leave you longing for the dingy folksiness and familiar faces of Harlan County. But it’s a welcome, tightly wound, eight-episode reunion with Raylan Givens nonetheless.

This show is truly a gift, and if Season 2 is any indication, it can keep on reinventing itself for years and years to come.

BET+’s Diarra from Detroit is an edgy and interesting mystery dramedy that is engrossing to watch but could benefit from fewer stereotypes.

If anything, the self-improvement show manages to boil itself down to its purest form in Season 2 leaving us with more of what we loved from Queer Eye‘s debut outing: real, honest moments of genuine connection between people from starkly different walks of life who might otherwise never cross paths.

Again, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and now Luke Cage take… their…… time in unspooling a 13-episode story, rarely serving up action scenes just because.

With its engaging cast and steady stream of titillating twists, CBS’ Beyond the Gates is more than just a historic moment in daytime. It’s also a drink-tossing, face-slapping, golf club-swinging good time.

The Girlfriend Experience proves more interesting than engrossing, perhaps because there doesn’t seem to be a single character willing to raise his or her voice above library-corridor volume, connect in any way that’s not ultimately about money or power, or overtly express the possible negative side effects of selling your body for cash.

Like many limited series these days, Dannemora probably could stand to be shorter; it stalls out and loses momentum in the middle episodes before ramping back up for the final installments. But there’s a lot of rich psychological ground to cover here, and Stiller and his actors patiently sift through every bit of it.

No, The Pitt is not an ER reboot, but it may just be TV’s best, most authentic medical drama since the one that made Noah Wyle a star.

[Sharp Objects] is frustratingly opaque, and it moves like molasses. It’s such a slow burn, it nearly fizzles out. ... At the very least, it’s still an artfully shot showcase for some fine acting, which isn’t the worst thing in the world. But considering the big names involved and the promising source material, it can’t help but feel like a letdown.

The goings-on in Hawkins snowball during the second half of the season to deliver a rather breathless series of nailbiters.

NBC’s breezy new comedy The Good Place manages to tackle thorny issues like morality and religion while still delivering the most laughs of any new series this fall. In short, it’s a godsend.

It takes until Episode 3 for everything to gel fully, and that wait may feel interminable to those who haven’t read the book and can’t anticipate what’s ahead. Viewers who are familiar with the work, however, will be happy to know that the novel’s interstitial segments--which offer snapshots of gods at work in the lives of ordinary people--not only have survived the adaptation but provide some of the richest moments in the first part of the season.

WandaVision is primarily designed with MCU fans in mind, though casual viewers can more or less jump right in with no prior knowledge. (Everyone on this show is confused, too, so that helps.) But don’t let the show’s outside-the-box approach worry you: Yes, WandaVision is unlike anything Marvel has done before — but it turns out that’s a very good thing.

Season 3 of The White Lotus covers familiar territory, but it still delivers top-notch performances and some wild twists.

As a whole, the new season of "BEEF" is a stunning achievement: fiendishly funny and deeply thought-provoking. Sign me up for 10 more seasons, please.

Mare of Easttown’s creator has crafted another riveting HBO crime drama in Task, packed with emotional complexity and powerhouse performances.

With emotionally resonant dialogue and top-notch performances, This Is Us should fill that Braverman-sized hole in your heart.

It has all the elements of a comedy, but it’d rather see us squirm than laugh, which makes it an intriguing but oddly uneven and unsatisfying series.

The pilot spins an involving yarn, only to rush through it and wrap it up in too tidy a fashion. But the foundation is strong, and I’m interested to see where Herbers takes this complex character of hers. Mulder and Scully might not be coming back to primetime anytime soon… but Evil‘s dynamic duo might be the next best thing.

It’s a true pleasure to see Stewart in his element again, and it’s a relief that Picard has managed to build a new universe around him that we’d actually like to spend more time in. By the end of Episode 3, I was starting to feel those familiar Next Generation vibes again.

[Star Trek: Strange New Worlds] gets back to basics, closely hewing to classic Trek with an old-school vibe and an episodic alien-of-the-week format. (It even brings back the traditional uniforms and opening narration from the original series.) It’s a throwback, to be sure… and a welcome one.

Die-hard "30 Rock" fanatics — like me — will find a lot to love about the show right away.

Ripley boasts beautiful cinematography and a strong lead performance, but it stretches its story out so thin, it ruins the thrills.

Hulu’s How to Die Alone is a dark comedy that is perhaps a little too dark.

It’s a little bit Rear Window, a little bit Manhattan Murder Mystery — and a lot of fun, actually.

What you need to know going in is that the show is funny, sexy, offbeat-as-hell and, with Sam Catlin (Breaking Bad) as showrunner, divinely dark.

Stylishly shot and cleverly conceived, this Mr. & Mrs. Smith ultimately works so well because the two leads work together so well. In a show like this, it’s essential that Glover and Erskine have chemistry — and thankfully, they have lots of it. .... we’d be happy to watch John and Jane play spy games for years to come.

It’s remarkably in-depth and at times revelatory, but a couple of missteps keep it from being truly insightful.

It’s hard to judge an entire series off of just one episode, of course, and this reboot does get a lot of things right.

It feel like no time has passed since our last visit to Neptune, Calif. ... At no point in the eight episodes did it feel like series creator Rob Thomas had run out of story.

After a somewhat lackluster Season 2, it’s a treat to see Maisel shake off its own cobwebs and show us something new.

The [series’ writers Bruce Helford, Bruce Rasmussen and Dave Caplan] struck what felt like the perfect balance between darkness and light, while also being respectful--almost reverential at times--to the character of Roseanne. But make no mistake: While The Conners is packed with poignant and tearful moments, it’s mostly really, really funny.

Grease‘s live audience and inconsequential snafus served to underscore its meticulous production and allowed us to get swept up in a joyous and uniformly powerful set of performances.

[A] very successful revival of one of TV’s all-time great series. A sequel that actually exceeds our expectations? Now that’s something to be thankful for.

Big Little Lies is at its best when it plunges us into the trenches of the Monterey moms’ social warfare, fought on the battlefields of elementary-school functions and kids’ birthday parties... where words can cut almost as deeply as knives do.

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" offers a refreshing antidote to "Game of Thrones" fatigue, with crude humor and humble humanity.

This is the Star Wars series you’re looking for. Don’t sleep on it.

The solid cast, compelling overall storyline and deft twists (Rosalee’s mother is full of surprises) add up to an engrossing, enlightening drama.

No matter how you watch it, The Patient is high-level drama told with admirable efficiency — all killer, no filler.

The physical confidence exhibited by Sam in that set piece, followed by the fun banter between him and a government handler, quickly cements Mackie’s upgrade from sidekick to lead hero. ... If Disney+’s second Marvel series stays on track, it will be as well-received as WandaVision, even if it is a more traditional Avengers offshoot.

It’s hard not to feel like I’ve been completely, utterly duped. The two-hour kickoff did not repair the damage wrought by Season 2. ... To say I was disappointed by the revival’s indulgent, incomprehensible, taxing opening act would be a towering understatement.

After a while, as powerful as Criss’ performance is, even the Cunanan scenes start to feel like overkill: repetitive and methodical, to the point of becoming dull. There’s just not enough story here to justify nine hours of television. ... Overall, Versace ends up being an intensive character study of a complicated killer... and not much else.

I found myself wishing the show would go further, hit harder, follow through on its more savage instincts. But it does build to a satisfying finish, echoing Pleasantville as the two outsiders kick off a chain reaction of chaos in town with their new-fangled ways.

Once the premise for the series is in place, things get very fun, as Loki channels his mischievous brilliance into splendid detective work and he and Mobius engage in some timey-wimey theory testing, all building to a tantalizing, two-pronged reveal — one capping each hour — that opens up all kinds of possibilities for the rest of the six-episode season.

As a representation of an underserved demographic, and a declaration of war on lazy fat jokes, Shrill is an unquestioned success… but as a comedy series, it falls somewhere short of that.

Vince Vaughn is in his element as a fast-talking detective in Apple TV+’s engagingly weird mystery comedy Bad Monkey.

Sabrina is still working on finding the ideal balance between gruesome horror and soapy teen drama, and occasionally wobbles a bit in the process. (If anything, the scale tips too far towards horror at times. This is the first show I can remember that presents Satanism as a valid lifestyle choice.) But when it’s clicking on all cylinders, its intoxicating mix of supernatural thrills and deadpan one-liners approaches the heights of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Whether you’re intrigued by the characters, you’re still likely to be sucked in by the series’ mythology, a seemingly impossible puzzle that Ed Harris’ ice-cold gunslinger is dangerously determined to solve. ... In the nimble hands of the series’ creators, the disaster for which things are headed is guaranteed to be one of the beautiful variety.

I Love Dick is a scruffy, unpolished work in progress... but there’s a whole lot to love about it.