Not sure what to watch next? , which hinges on a bombshell that seems primed to break the Internet.
Rest assured, that mega-twist won’t be revealed here. Yet what’s ultimately most surprising about this calamity is that it doesn’t fundamentally alter the narrative trajectory (or dispositions of the main characters) of Jesse Armstrong’s HBO hit. Even when the shit truly hits the fan, it’s greedy, ruthless, backstabbing business as usual for these me-first upper-crusters. To steal a turn of phrase from grandly intimidating corporate mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox), Succession has lost none of its juice in in its fourth—and, according to creator Armstrong, final—go-round, whose premiere (on HBO Mar. 26) picks up more or less right where Season 3 left off.
Dan Power/Netflix
Skip: The Night Agent
The Night Agent is a sturdy political thriller, but unfortunately short on the whole, you know, thriller part. Genre fans—and your dad—will enjoy it, but most will end up frustrated by endless, nonsensical detours. At least we have Hong Chau’s wild wig!
Here’s Coleman Spilde’s take:
“In case you might have been unable to ascertain from its title, The Night Agent is about an agent. The twist? He works at night. Now, that is not inherently special. McDonald’s employees work at night too, and they have to battle drunk college students stumbling in five minutes before closing, demanding McFlurrys through a cloud of Jaegerbomb haze. But the titular night agent in Netflix’s The Night Agent is an agent, who works at night, and—get this—is waiting for a phone call!
For all of the ridiculously named shows and movies out there right now, The Night Agent might just be a pretty solid entry into the canon, despite its silly title. And to be fair, it is named after Matthew Quirk’s 2019 novel of the same name; one of those giant-cover-font, John Grisham-esque novels that jump out at you from the Barnes & Noble sale rack. Your dad has probably read it, and he’ll probably be thrilled when you tell him that there’s a new Netflix series adapted from it, now streaming on the platform.”
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Peacock
Skip: Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip
Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Season 3 squanders the genius of last season’s conceit and sends a batch of current Bravolebs to Thailand. What could go wrong? Well, everything, especially if you don’t want to be covered in elephant poop.
Here’s Kyndall Cunningham’s take:
“Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club was the ultimate treat for Housewives fans who spend hours online begging Andy Cohen to rehire their favorite axed reality stars. Once again, viewers got to experience the comic rage of Dorinda Medley, Jill Zarin’s unquenchable thirst, and Phaedra Parks’ lethal shade. The season also featured Real Housewives of Orange County dynamic duo Vicki Gulvanson and Tamra Judge, whose appearances were seemingly just a bridge for them to return to their original franchise.
On paper, this season’s mixture of personalities sounds like a recipe for disaster—the type of glorious, funny catastrophe we expect from this spinoff. While these women contribute a lot to their individual franchises, we learn very quickly—at least in the RHUGT’s first three episodes—that they might not have much to bring to their expansive rental in Thailand aside from stale, rolled-over conflicts and Marysol’s bedazzled tumblers. The end result is a boozy, somehow less riveting version of Lord of The Flies with Heather as the group’s Simon.”
Up Here
Patrick Harbron/Hulu
Skip: Up Here
Up Here is a scattered musical filled with tonal shifts that doesn’t quite capture the Nora Ephron’s ’90s aesthetic that would make this strange little movie a worthy take on the big city musical. Think big hair, bigger blazers, but small, stranded ideas.
Here’s Fletcher Peters’ take:
“New York has played a main character in a number of wonderful TV shows, from Sex and the City and Broad City to Seinfeld and Friends. In fact, rarely ever does a show set in New York ignore the sweeping skylines, the bumbling subways, and the ever-juicy gossip whispered in crowded, dimly lit bars—each an alluring draw to almost every NYC-based show. Still, we may have found the series that elects to completely ignore such a captivating setting: Up Here, a dismally boring musical romantic comedy that takes place in late 1990s New York.
Hulu has brought La La Land to the Big Apple with their new series, but instead of changing the main setting (Up Here could really take place in Los Angeles, for all we know), the show strips itself of all charm and creativity. Remember when we all had “City of Stars” and “Someone in the Crowd” stuck in our heads in late 2016? Good luck trying to remember a single tune from Up Here. Even the intro music, which opens each of the eight episodes in Season 1, is criminally forgettable.”
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