CNN

While this new show has its moments, unlike the earlier animated series, it doesn’t appear that the apex of the “Star Wars” lies along the path of “Resistance.”

While the numbers might not be completely accurate, in terms of appealing to an audience weaned on sensational titles like “The Tinder Swindler” and similar fare, this feels right on target.

The cast remains splendid and the storytelling moody and lyrical, in a way that both challenges the audience and rewards them for paying attention to small details.

The new show does a decent job threading the needle in terms of providing a connection to its namesake while establishing a separate set of stakes and characters that stand on their own. That said, Ritter’s role isn’t as conspicuously showy as Maslany’s was, which largely defined that series.

“The Boys” grapples with a certain pressure to fulfill those expectations for the faithful. In its totality, the eight-episode season largely manages to clear that bar (or should one prefer, limbo under it), including a few explosively funny (and not incidentally, grisly) visual gags.

Presumed Innocent does have its moments, but in terms of making a case for committing to sit through eight chapters, Kelley, Gyllenhaal and company haven’t exactly put together an open-and-shut case.

The new season feels cleaner and more tightly focused, despite juggling existing players while adding a few key new ones.

In a rare victory for the Clippers over the Lakers, “Clipped” is the second recent drama series devoted to one of Los Angeles’ NBA teams but also the superior one, chronicling the spectacular fall of owner Donald Sterling. Rotating among four principal players, with Ed O’Neill as Sterling, it’s an all-star lineup covering a story filled with the kind of outlandish characters that require little embellishment.

The final episodes will ultimately determine whether this amounts to a significant and perhaps fertile new avenue for “Star Wars,” or merely an interesting detour. Until then, this tale of the Jedi is entertaining and mildly promising. Whether that opens new doors for Disney/Lucasfilm or leads to a dead end, as a wise little green fellow once said, always in motion is the future.

Weird, dark but compulsively watchable.