As odd as it is to fault a mystery series for focusing too intently on the mystery, that’s the failing of Season 2, mostly because the core whodunnit isn’t terribly interesting. The performances aren’t quite as strong either.
Hulu’s series adaptation of “Saint X” hews closely to its source material, which winds up being as much a curse as a gift. The show also feints at a proper whodunnit, then builds to a nuanced, if anticlimactic conclusion, and all at a lazy river’s pace. That’s all the more disappointing because of how effective it is as a psychological thriller and a character study.
“The Last Thing He Told Me” is handsomely shot by an all-female team of directors, and each episode builds to one of the novel’s more gobsmacking cliffhangers. Add in Garner’s intuitive performance, and the show makes for a perfectly entertaining experience — albeit one that settles for replicating the novel rather than expanding it.
As the show braids Koresh’s past with McVeigh’s machinations and the peculiar outcome of the trial, it can’t figure out how to frame the Waco incident as a catalyst for lone wolves like McVeigh without tacitly affirming the outrage that creates people like McVeigh. That makes “Aftermath” just as difficult to recommend despite its excellent cast and unfortunate relevance. Beyond being slightly uneven, it’s slightly immoral.
While the season takes a bit longer to catch fire than its predecessors, once the shady dealing begins in earnest, “Succession” is more intense than ever. And with the series finale in sight, the show has a full tank of gas and an 800-pound gorilla’s foot on the pedal. Better than ever doing business with you, “Succession.”
If the show explores the paranormal as thoughtfully and confidently as it does teen cannibalism and sticks the landing again in the season finale, “Yellowjackets” will vault to the top of the puzzle-box ranks. But with a show this daring, a fiery wreck always feels moments away.
“Lucky Hank” so accurately captures professorial ennui. But it might capture ennui a little too well, resulting in a show that seems to amble in no particular direction with little indication of when it might hit a stride. ... But Hank is the type of lovable curmudgeon that some viewers relate to so deeply that his mere involvement can create genuine stakes.
