Sam Barsanti

It’s a wryly funny sci-fi comedy with a robot trying to understand humans, even if it would be easier to just kill them all instead.

Watson should be more fun than it is. Still, it has bright spots that are significantly more entertaining than the average entry in this tired genre, largely thanks to star Morris Chestnut’s infectious level of joy and curiosity.

The way it stands now, after these first two episodes, there’s a lot of good momentum carrying Star Wars: Skeleton Crew forward after it’s set up its “Goonies in Space” cast of kids who escape the suburban doldrums and find themselves hurtling toward adventure and conflict with cartoonish space pirates. This show will actually have to pay off its foreshadowed mysteries in a satisfying way if it hopes to leave us with something half as memorable as its inspiration, but the fact that there seems to be a story justification for the ‘80s nostalgia bait aesthetics it slathers on is a good sign for things to come.

The gladiator combat and chariot races (plus Thrones veteran Iwan Rheon) are great, but they're just one fraction of an overstuffed series that tries too hard to cover every aspect of life in Rome during the early days of The Colosseum.

It loses the thread a little as Peter Sarsgaard tries to top his real-life brother-in-law by playing someone who is somehow even more unlikable. Thankfully, Ruth Negga offsets them both by offering a stabilizing presence to both the central murder mystery and the show itself.

It’s impressive just how good Cox is here. She carries the show completely with her body language, facial expressions, and signing, and it genuinely feels special that Marvel is introducing a hero here who is a deaf Native American woman who uses a prosthetic leg played by a deaf Native American woman who uses a prosthetic leg.

What If…? hasn’t lost any of its sense of fun, and its bizarre MCU mash-ups are cleverer than before. But the show’s gradual reveal of an overarching storyline is starting to become too predictable. .... It’s nothing that a Marvel fan should turn their nose up at just yet, but it is more of a “try to act surprised” holiday gift than a “how did you know?!” holiday gift.

Reeves takes this beyond a really good sports story and makes it just a special story in general, something that transcends its sport and says something about human ingenuity and perseverance and our ability to come together and thrive in the face of difficult circumstances.

The people are actually fun to follow in Apple TV+’s MonsterVerse spin-off Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters, which premieres November 17. And Godzilla is in the show! You get to see Godzilla every few episodes! And other monsters!

It’s serviceable. Even with Mel Gibson involved, it’s not bad enough to hurt the John Wick franchise, but it’s also not exciting enough to justify becoming a key part of the canon.