Amy Glynn

This show zeroes in on the current social… well, current: panic, terror, distrust, feeling controlled, feeling like no one is in control; the kind of moment when it’s all too easy to believe the most unhinged conspiracists are probably onto something and where everything feels unequivocally as though it’s falling apart for good. It does it stylishly. Generously. Lavishly.

The Cry is an intelligent psychological thriller that will focus and refocus your suspicions and loyalties, all the while evocatively demonstrating the shifting power dynamics, rotating roles and changing presumptions that characterize a marriage where something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

It’s a gripping performance by a charismatic young actress with a very good supporting cast and a tightly woven artistic vision. It’s also, honestly, a bit of a drag. Incredibly well-executed, yes. Problematic too. On balance, highly worth a watch.

The vibe is (for an update bent on respecting and reflecting contemporary social cues) strangely nostalgic, and that’s not a criticism. It works. ... The series’ strengths include super solid acting all around.

The script is, unsurprisingly, annunciation-grade, luminously funny and strikingly poignant—and considering the principal characters include angels, demons and witches, (and a tween Antichrist) it’s as human as they come. ... But as good as everything is, as good as everyone is, the locus of this translation’s magic is the to-perish-for chemistry between Michael Sheen’s angel Aziraphale and David Tennant’s demon Crowley.

The series has captured the look and feel of the abbey and its inhabitants very well, and it has a lot of dialogue that’s taken directly from the novel. But never fear, it also does the novel one better by adding a bunch of stuff. Like an Arya Stark character. And a love story.

Hulu’s Catch-22 is considerably more linear than Heller’s original novel, but not in a way that sacrifices the anti-bureaucracy-and antistupidity-message. As panic stricken bombardier John Yossarian, Christopher Abbott successfully takes on a role that was thoroughly owned by Alan Arkin. He’s convincing, equally so in dramatic and comedic moments (and there are plenty of both). ... At risk of overusing the word “Zeitgeist,” Catch-22 is a meaningful, enduring example of it.

Everything about the series is brilliantly tragic and horrid, narratively and artistically. But the vein of absolute horror that runs through it is the knowledge that this really happened.

I think it’s safe to posit that State of the Union is the right iteration of what it is, a marriage of form and function that is at least as functional as the marriage it depicts.

It’s a thoroughly decent exploration of the contest between ethics and burgeoning power, as well as a war of wills between a messed-up, morally “flexible” patriarch and his progeny.