Michael Savio

It’s not irritating enough to warrant full-throated derision but not funny, endearing, or memorable enough to recommend around the water cooler.

Maslany’s performance can’t overcome the unfinished, hodgepodge quality of how Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed integrates its generic elements with its more substantive ambitions.

Each episode feels at once bloated and unfinished, ultimately dulling the show’s buildup in intensity and, therefore, political relevance. .... Still, these flaws can’t fully undermine the show’s most harrowing moments, including a finale that’s as gripping as it is heartbreaking.

It doesn’t aim for the grandiose allegory or psychological character development that defines so much “elevated horror,” nor does it chasten its sense of humor to appeal to a wide-ranging audience. Instead, like any good vacation spot, it focuses on simply giving its guests a good time.

Half the trouble with these types of reboots lies in how they integrate new characters into a dynamic that had been molded over the original show’s run. .... As a brief but spirited revival, though, Life’s Still Unfair is a worthwhile reunion with one of TV’s most perfectly imperfect families.

There’s plenty of dread-inducing fun to be had in the early episodes, despite their reliance on well-worn genre tropes. But Boston unveils the “very bad” something of the title surprisingly early, and the twist is altogether much sillier—and a bit more contrived—than what the show’s eerie opening stretch suggests.

It’s this uneasy negotiation between celebrating queer resilience and sidestepping the military’s larger role in perpetuating harm—both within its ranks and across the globe—that keeps Boots stuck in the mud.

Too Much strives to wring a realistic adult romance from a genre full of its most magnificent and flimsiest portrayals, and while it’s a cut above most, it still winds up leaving somethign to be desired.

It wavers between pulpy family melodrama, steamy erotica, and heart-racing white-collar crime thriller at the drop of a hat while discovering new textures to characters that ensure no one lands squarely on one side of the good-bad person spectrum. Plus, the show has finally bought a few shares in a sly sense of humor, something sorely missed from earlier iterations.

The limited runtime hinders its potential (and creates a few overarching pacing issues, particularly around the unfolding romance), but the show makes up for it with a clear-sighted knack for a good time. It keeps its eye on the target, steadies itself, and pulls the trigger. Mission accomplished.