I am normally the last person to say anything is “must-see”, not because I don’t believe in great TV and movies, but because I am a firm believer in the diversity of tastes and “to each his own”. However, it’s been a while since I’ve posted about TV shows, sadly because I haven’t been super-excited about what I’ve been watching. Happily, that changed recently with the arrival of a show called Poker Face, and then I got even happier with this week’s episode of Star Trek: Picard, and continued with a few more shows that I want to chat about. So stick with me a bit and see if I can entice you into sharing some of my TV excitement.

Poker Face

Seeing this name, I’m guessing that you might be humming the Lady Gaga tune to yourself (“Po-po-po-poker face, po-po-poker face”). I’m also guessing that you probably don’t know about this show (though it’s now the top original streaming show in the US, so maybe you do). Or if you live in Canada like me, even if you know it, you might not be watching it because you don’t know where to stream it. If you enjoyed the two Knives Out movies from writer-director Rian Johnson, this is a series that he’s been involved with (along with star Natasha Lyonne) and oozes with his style. Some are comparing it to 70s detective legend Columbo, or 80s mystery icon Murder, She Wrote. Lyonne’s character Charlie starts out by ending the first episode on-the-run. For the rest of the episodes she moves from situation to situation, making fast friends with strangers and finding herself embroiled in solving one murder after another. However, there are a lot of special twists about the setup of this series that make it enjoyable. First, Charlie is wonderfully charming, in a kind of non-threatening, off-beat, raspy-voiced way that hides an incredibly perceptive, clever mind (hence the Columbo comparisons) and an almost-supernatural nose for B.S. I moderately-tolerated Lyonne in Netflix’s Russian Doll, but here she’s one of my favourite new characters. Second, while each episode follows a somewhat consistent format, each one is also telling a different kind of murder-mystery story, with very well-written scripts and delightful plot twists that wrinkle your brain rather than making you whip your head around in shock. Similar to the Knives Out movies, it’s not as simple as solving whodunit that makes it fun (we often see what happens right in the beginning), but how is Charlie going to figure it out, or foil the murderers? Thirdly, there are so many top-notch actors involved that you will recognize guest stars in every episode. From Adrien Brody as a shady Vegas casino owner, to John Ratzenberger as a small town auto mechanic, to Chloe Sevigny as a faded rock star, to Simon Helberg as a federal witness protection agent, to Judith Light as a nursing home resident, to Ellen Barkin as a bitter stage actress, to Tim Blake Nelson as a disgruntled stock car racer, to Nick Nolte as a retired monster-movie effects master; finally to my most recent favourite episode featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a hotshot lawyer on house-arrest and Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Stephanie Hsu as a drifter/snowboarder/car-thief, the casting is amazing and makes each episode feel like a little movie. I love this show and can’t rave enough about it. It has made me look forward to new episodes each week. Tragically there are only 10 episodes in the first season and I’ve already watched nine. It’s available on Peacock for streaming, and Canadians can check it out on Citytv+ – which is available as an add-on subscription through Amazon Prime – or the show is also available for streaming via your basic cable’s included on-demand service if you are with Bell (and maybe Rogers too, not sure on that one).

Star Trek: Picard

Save your breath if you want to tell me how awful the second season of this once potential-filled series was; I hear you and could not agree more. I thought that season two was the worst season of any Star Trek that I have ever watched. However, the fandom in me is strong, and the mega-reunion of TNG cast members promised for Picard season three drew me in. That being said, the first two episodes were not the jaw-dropping, edge-of-seat, fan-service thrill rides that some might have you believe. In the first episode, Jean-Luc Picard is summoned from the midst of moving-in with his Romulan paramour by a distress call from former shipping-magnet turned eventual ex-paramour Dr. Beverly Crusher, causing our favourite retired admiral to once-again reach out to ex-Number-One Will Riker to get the band back together and ride to Beverly’s aid. As a premise for a reunion adventure, this feels entirely cliche, and I have to say that even by the end of the first episode when we meet Crusher’s adult son (with a suspiciously British accent) I was not clutching my fanboy pearls nor was I really very interested in what was happening. Add to that the out-of-place B-story featuring Raffi as a Starfleet intelligence agent tracking down some stolen super-high-tech equipment (at the cost of further damaging her personal life for plot reasons) and I was getting ready to push the yawn-button on this much-hyped final season of Picard even before Brent Spiner’s Lore or Michael Dorn’s Worf (let alone holographic-Mortiarty, who’s also in the previews) showed up. Cut to this week’s third episode full of thrilling (and well-thought-out) space action, intense TNG character drama, and even spin-off-worthy space-spy adventure – more than all of Picard up to that point – and an episode that could have seeded a great feature film. Patrick Stewart got to really act in his confrontational “what happened all these years?” scene with Gates McFadden’s Dr. Crusher. Picard, as an admiral, and Riker (now a veteran captain) even got into a fast-paced, heated debate about battle strategy, with the lives of their crew in the balance– I don’t think I’ve experienced this kind of scene on Star Trek before. Spoilers prevent me from saying too much about what else I enjoyed about this episode, but simply put, it restored some of my faith in “new” Trek and raised my hopes for the remainder of the Picard series.

Attack on Titan

I don’t think I’ve blogged before about how I came to love this anime mega-hit. I discovered it last year watching along with YouTuber Sebscreen, and caught up to the last episode in September (though it aired back in March of 2022). Since then, the fandom has been waiting almost a year for the first part of the second part of the final season (I know. It’s unnecessarily complicated). Frankly, even though I last watched in September, I had already forgotten a lot of what was happening (because the plot had reached a relatively complex point, and there had been a few time jumps and flashbacks that added to my confusion). When I saw that the new installment was available on Crunchyroll, I started watching with anticipation only to realize 10 minutes into the episode that I was watching the last episode, not the new one [facepalm]. Anyway, it was a good refresher so I finished it before moving on to the new one, which was a one-hour premiere that kind of picks up right where the last ended – Eren had started The Rumbling (if you’re a watcher, you hopefully remember what that means). Anyway, for those of you who aren’t familiar with this show, it starts out with the story of a pre-Victorian city-state where citizens are shocked out of their relatively peaceful lives by the attack of giant titans (literally, gigantic human-like creatures who devour regular people). We follow the adventures of the paramilitary organization of titan-hunters who defend the citizens and protect the city within the walls. However, that is truly just the beginning. By this extended final season (season 4) so much has developed and so many things we thought were true have been changed and the world of the story has expanded exponentially that it’s almost laughable to think how modestly things began. That’s also what makes this show so much better than what that starting premise (and my minimal summary of it) promises. It’s not a show that I would have picked up normally. 

This first new episode continues from last year’s mega-cliffhanger, leading to a cataclysmic final confrontation. Before we get there, the series does what it often does and detours to flashback scenes and long, quiet, contemplative scenes where characters express their regrets, wallow in self-loathing, or ponder the motivations that have led to the actions that they have taken to get where they are. I watch relatively few anime series compared to serious fans, but this seems like one of the more thoughtful and heavy series out there. Unfortunately, I’m not so crazy about those kinds of sombre scenes and actually prefer the plot and action-heavy moments. There was some of that in this episode, but it was only about a third of the hour, max. There’s no doubt that fans of the series will consider this and all subsequent episodes must-see TV, but I would not recommend anyone new to the show to start from here. You’ve got to watch from the beginning – and I highly recommend that you do.

The Mandalorian

Finally, this fan-favourite series makes its return after more than two years (if we don’t count those Mando episodes during Boba Fett). I like the show, and think that Pedro Pascal is great as the title character, Din Djarin the Mandalorian (or now ex-Mandalorian). And how could I not think that “baby Yoda” Grogu, is the cutest puppet ever? Nevertheless, I feel ups and downs about the Mandalorian culture that plays a big part in this show’s plot and mythology (though I love hearing them utter their slogan “This is the way” for some reason). The third season premiere focuses heavily on that aspect of the show, as we get to witness an anointing ritual where a young Mandalorian gets his helmet (right before a giant crocodile rushes out of the water to attack the ceremony for some reason). Some people on the internet complain that compared to Andor, The Mandalorian now looks less sophisticated in its drama and feels low-quality. I can see that, but I still haven’t finished watching Andor exactly because I find it too slow and broody. Maybe a little ridiculous levity and simplicity helps. Anyway, Mando also returns to his starting point of Nevarro and looks in on his old comrade (played by Carl Weathers) and we get a bit more of the expected space-western elements (there’s even a shoot-out). But that’s just a side-stop as Mando is on a quest to restore his Mandalorian honour and returns to his destroyed homeworld. I can’t say that I’m too excited for where this mission is taking us, but I am interested in seeing more areas of the Star Wars universe explored. Let’s hope that exciting adventures await our motley twosome.