Jeff Jensen

Dear White People gives you an abundance of characters to care about and entertains with its inspired, hilarious storytelling. Simien keeps and hones the heightened reality style of his film. The meticulous compositions and meta-awareness are reminiscent of the Coen brothers and Spike Lee.

I didn't think Better Things could get any better. It's thrilling to be wrong. [15 Sep 2017, p.66]

The story ages Jamie and Claire, so when they reunite after a deliciously agonizing buildup (marked by some inspired humor), the rapture is both emotional and spiritual. In season 3, Outlander, TV’s best romance, soars by making you fall in love with it all over again.

The Deuce is an absorbing, resonant chronicle about the evolution of dehumanizing skin trades and the mainstreaming of adult entertainment.

Season 4's first three hours make major investments in everyone, especially Gordon, imbuing them all with deeper poignancy. ... Halt and Catch Fire is an urgent story of rehumanization for a cold, wired culture. Plug in now. [18/25 Aug 2017, p.88]

The images are sharper and more inspired, the dialogue is wittier, and the pace is breezier than the usual Marvel-Netflix escapade. Kudos to showrunners Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez--the team behind the disappointing second season of Daredevil--for upping their own game, honoring the best parts of every series, and elevating the franchise.

Mr. Mercedes isn't prestige-class pulp, but it's a quality star vehicle fueled with enough poignancy to make it worth the ride. [11 Aug 2017, p.46]

The premise and psychology of the main characters capture your interest. But the oppressive portentousness squanders it--the heavy-handed slo-mo and symbolism, the glum gravitas of the acting. Biel’s intense performance of despair isn’t helped by a story that keeps Cora a cipher or by clipped scenes that don’t let her stretch and breathe.

[Issa Rae's] show is even more assured in the second season. ... As an actress, Rae is a marvel. [21/28 Jul 2017, p.106]

Bateman's commanding performance powers a gripping, twisty, sometimes spotty yarn that plays like Breaking Bad in reverse, a darkly comic deconstruction of antihero fantasy about a man flailing to rediscover the value of human life. [21/28 July 2017, p.108]