The ‘Burbs, on Peacock

The original The ‘Burbs was the spoof that pre-dated the genre it now seems to send-up. When Joe Dante’s macabre comedy opened, shows like Picket Fences and Twin Peaks, as well as movies such as Disturbia had not yet beaten into the ground the idea the small towns and suburbs were secretly more sinister than their nice-place-to-raise-a-family reputations would suggest. However, at this point, that concept has become thoroughly shopworn. Nevertheless, creator-writer Celeste Hughey re-conceived (or riffed on) Dante’s cult favorite into the 8-episode The ‘Burbs, which premieres tomorrow on Peacock.

Did you know a lot of white people live in the suburbs? If you didn’t, Hughey and the battery of writers will point out that fact, repeatedly and at length. That is why Samira Fisher is initially leery of moving to Hinkley Hills, especially on a cul-de-sac, just like Wisteria Lane. Nevertheless, she just delivered a baby and her husband Rob (whose British accent has a torturous explanation) just inherited his boyhood home, so there they are.

However, the busybody neighbors graciously welcome the new mother, once she starts joining Lynne Gardner’s wine nights on her porch. One-upping their nosiness, Fisher immediately develops an unhealthy fascination with the abandoned Munster house across the street. According to rumors, that is where Rob’s childhood friend Alison Grant was murdered by her parents, who suspiciously skipped town shortly thereafter, leaving the property to rot. However, Rob and his [surviving] childhood best friend Naveen (who depressingly never left the neighborhood) both steadfastly refuse to discuss the case.

Fisher’s spider-sense really kicks in when Gary Wilson suddenly buys the property, where he acts decidedly dodgy, at odd hours of the night. However, when she starts poking around his house, Wilson calls the police (awkwardly represented by Rob’s old school bully), in what Hughey and the writers initially frame as a profiling incident.

Fortunately, wiser and cooler heads realized 2020 was six years ago and largely jettison the racial politics after the second episode. Wilson is quickly rehabilitated as an anti-social outsider, who perhaps has good reason to distrust the residents of Hinkley Hills. Fisher becomes thick as thieves with Dana Richards, a retired post-don’t-ask-don’t-tell military vet and Tod Mann, who seems to be former CIA or NSA, who subsequently made a killing in the market.

The mystery also deepens in intriguing ways throughout episodes three through seven. Surprisingly, The ‘Burbs will grab hold of you if you stick with it. That said, it is ridiculous Hughey couldn’t wrap this story up conclusively in eight episodes.

Frankly, there is so little similarity between Hughey’s storyline and Dana Olsen’s “source” screenplay, calling the series a remake or reboot almost constitutes fraud. If they want to write a new story that’s fine—great, in fact. However, using the film’s title and a deliberately similar type design will mislead fans. It is worth further noting Joe Dante’s absence from the credits. However, Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Olsen were on-board as executive producers and Tom Hanks “appears” in a vintage photograph.

Ponies, on Peacock

During the Cold War, Communist propaganda trumpeted the high numbers of women licensed to practice medicine in the USSR. They neglected to mention, as a profession, doctors lacked the sort of status they were afforded in the West (and faced a constant threat of purges). In reality, Soviet Socialism utterly failed to liberate, economically or sexually. However, the Party’s misogyny becomes key to two new CIA recruits’ covers. As the widows of suddenly deceased embassy staffers (well known to be CIA officers), the regime considers them persons of no interest (PONI’s) in co-creators Susanna Fogel & David Iserson’s eight-part Ponies, which premieres tomorrow on Peacock.

Chris Grant and Tom Hasbeck were working a really big source when, suddenly, the flight nobody knew they were taking crashed over Siberia. The grieving widows, Bea Grant and Twila Hasbeck were quickly ushered out of the country. However, as they puzzled over the mysterious official story, they convince Moscow Station Chief Dane Walter to usher them back into Russia. As returning embassy clerical staff, they could investigate without arousing the KGB’s suspicions. To the Commies, they are just women and therefore PONI’s.

It turns out they complement each other better than Walter expected. Grant speaks Russian fluently and is well versed in Russian history and culture. She can also operate the latest 1970s office devices. Hasbeck doesn’t know any of that, but she has the street smarts and survival instincts clandestine operatives need. Together, they generate regular stress headaches for Walter. However, they regularly uncover fresh intel, even including some secrets Walter hoped to withhold from them.

The stakes really start to rise when Grant starts dating Andrei Vasiliev, under her Belorussian school teacher alias. Technically married, Vasiliev is a ruthless counter-intelligence officer, leading (and exploiting) the KGB’s industrialized Kompromat campaign. He also seems to be responsible for a rash of murdered sex-workers (the Soviet definitely did not call them that), which Hasbeck sleuths out, despite the state media’s strenuous efforts to sweep it under the rug.

Throughout Ponies, Hasbeck and Grant kvetch like Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in The In-Laws. Yet, Fogel, Iserson, and their co-writers never let the bickering banter overshadow the Cold War intrigue. This is surprisingly sophisticated skullduggery, that springs several clever surprises as it chugs along. For the most part, it largely casts the Communists as the villains. Without question, Vasiliev is unambiguous cruel and unpredictably violent. Plus, it is crystal clear from the first minutes, Communism has been an abject failure, judging from the depressed and dilapidated conditions in Moscow.

Eventually, Fogel and Iserson start revealing the CIA’s ethical flexibility, but by that time, Vasiliev has racked up an impressive body-count and menaced countless more. In an unnecessary, unforced error, George H.W. Bush deserves a better depiction than he receives here (played by Patrick Fabian), in really every respect. Regardless, the series clearly gives free enterprise the overwhelming advantage over socialism. Unfortunately, the careful plotting starts to unravel down the stretch and the ultimate conclusion is deeply unsatisfying (and quite far from conclusive).

Him, on Peacock

The popular acronym G.O.A.T. is a perfect example of how our language has been dumbed down and junked up. In sports terms, the “goat” used to be the scapegoat who took the blame for a loss. Now it supposedly means “greatest of all time,” but it obviously doesn’t. If Jordan was the GOAT, then that necessarily excludes Kobi Bryant, Steph Curry, or whoever from GOAT status. The term ought to be O.O.G.O.A.W. for one of the greatest of all this week. Regardless, the football world identifies Cameron Cade as the next potential GOAT and he just might be—but explaining why would be spoilery in Justin Tipping’s Him, produced by Jordan Peele, which premieres Friday on Peacock.

The San Antonio Saviors sound like the American football cousins of Sao Paulo’s Corinthians, except they are not very Portuguese. They are also quite ironically named. However, Cade does not know that as he grows up rooting for the Saviors. It would be his dream to play for them, but his pro aspirations nearly end when a mysterious assailant brutally attacks him after a practice. Frankly, this is probably the scariest scene of the film.

Given his head trauma, Cade must back out of the pre-draft combine. Yet, his pro dreams suddenly revive when the Saviors invite him to a private workout with their star quarterback, Isaiah White, who is rumored to be retiring next season. (Obviously, there is a strong case to be made for Whitee’s greatness, considering he is still starting professionally, even though he is portrayed by a Gen X actor. ) Cade could be his anointed successor, if he impresses. Yet rather ominously, the bizarre tryout sessions are much more grueling than he expected, physically and especially emotionally. Soon, Cade starts to both doubt his sanity and suspect the team trainers of deliberate malice and cruelty. Yet, whenever White dangles the prospect of superstardom, he comes back for more.

Arguably, Tipping hides his big secrets too effectively, because the truth of the Saviors is quite intriguing horror movie fodder, but Him only skims the surface of what could have been some darkly sinister lore. Disappointingly, the film rarely capitalizes on the sort of terrors typically associated with the Saviors’ true nature. Instead, most of menacing sequences play out more on a psychological level, as possible dreams, visions, or hallucinations. Consequently, it is hard for Tipping to sustain the tension, when each trippy set piece ends with Cade waking up from a fever dream, drenched in sweat. After a while, viewers become conditioned not invest in the images Tipping presents, no matter how intense they might be.

The Paper, on Peacock

If you think Frederick Wiseman’s documentaries are long, start watching all the footage shot by the filmmakers supposedly documenting Dunder Mifflin through all 201 episodes of The Office. They are back in the field shooting a new project, but it probably will not last as long. Arguably, creators Greg Daniels and Michal Koman were victims of their own success, because the popularity of The Office spawned a parade of mockumentary imitators. Their latest feels like more of the same, but there are enough connecting elements to call Daniels & Koman’s The Paper a spin-off when it launches today on Peacock.

Alas, Dunder Mifflin went out of business, but a giant paper conglomerate acquired the remnants, including accountant Oscar Martinez, whom they moved to their Toledo office (seriously, what a downer of a spinoff premise). There he shares open bullpen space with the company’s least important asset: the Toledo Truth-Teller. It was once a respected regional newspaper that was even the subject of a 1960s D.A. Pennebaker-esque documentary. Sadly, it has declined into a printed throwaway largely consisting of wire service reports and an online clickbait operation, which is exactly how acting managing editor Esmeralda Grand likes it.

However, Ned Sampson intends to shake things up, which he should be able to do, since he is ostensibly her new boss. He was a crackerjack paper salesman, so he parlayed his success into the journalism career he always wanted. Unfortunately, he only has one employee with legitimate journalism experience, Mare Pritti, an Army veteran and former Stars and Stripes reporter.

The self-importance of journalists ought to be a big fat target for Daniels, Koman, and their co-writers (the Truth-Teller name alone should inspire groans of mockery), but they largely ignore it, in favor of conventional office place humor. That might make sense, since it was their specialty, but the gleefully mischievous edge that made The Office consistently the funniest show of its time is conspicuously missing from the first four episodes. (All ten installments of season one premiered today, but other critics stopped at four, so it seems fair to match their endurance.)

Indeed, series lead Domhnall Gleason delivers plenty of Office-worthy cringe as Sampson, but there isn’t the same level of caustic wit to counter-balance it. Instead, Sabrina Impacciatore serves up constant over-the-top shtick as his main nemesis, Grand, who would defy viewers’ patience and credibility in an Absolutely Fabulous rip-off.

It is nice that Chelsea Frei portrays Pritti as a sympathetic veteran, who thus far seems to be the most functional staff member at the Truth-Teller. However, her persona has yet to develop beyond a skeptical potential love interest. Frankly, the rest of the staff is even blander, except Martinez, still played by Oscar Nunez, who came prefabricated and ready-for-use from the mother series.

Day of the Jackal, on Peacock

Author Frederick Forsyth wanted his name removed from the not-so hot 1997 Bruce Willis adaptation of his famous novel, because it was so drastically unfaithful. It is hard to imagine he will be too crazy about this one either. There is no question, Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 film towers above the competition. At least the early episodes have a little zip when creator-writer Ronan Bennett’s ten-episode Day of the Jackal, which premieres tomorrow on Peacock.

The Jackal is still an elite British assassin, but instead of a shadowy man of mystery, viewers learn his entire backstory over the course of the series. It kicks off with his complex assassination of a German anti-immigration political leader. Of course, the hit goes off smoothly, but things turn messy when the client refuses to pay the balance. The whole scandal attracts MI6’s attention, where Bianca Pullman, an intelligence officer out of synch with the interim director, believes she can track down the elite gunsmith who crafted the Jackal’s special rifle.

Not surprising to anyone, Norman Stoke came up through the ranks of the IRA. Tracking him down will be almost as tricky as finding the Jackal, but Pullman once handled his sister-in-law as a reluctant informer in Northern Ireland. The clock really starts ticking when MI6 determines the Jackal’s next target will be Ulle Dag Charles (UDC), a leftist tech titan, whose soon to launch “River” application will bring “transparency to financial markets,” which will somehow redistribute wealth to the needy. Nobody bothers explaining how that might work, because they just expect viewers to treasure the dream. If you don’t, you must be a villainous capitalist, who looks like Charles Dance.

That is about where one could expect Forsyth, and probably most everyone else, to check out. It is a shame, because the early episodes represent an entertainingly brisk ride. Unfortunately, it veers southward when the focus turns towards ruthless captains of finance. The unflattering depiction of the British military’s conduct in Afghanistan during the Jackal’s service as a sniper also casts unpleasant shade the service. It also makes no commercial sense. Most potential viewers for a thriller following the hunt for a globe-trotting assassin, ostensibly based on a Forsyth novel, will have positive associations with the British military.

Regardless, thriller fans of any strip will be disappointed by the final two episodes, which string along a parade of contrived accidents, as Bennett searches for an exit strategy. Still, the Thommas Crown-ish opening titles are stylish, in an appealingly retro way.

It is a shame, because the first five episodes or so serve up solid procedural business and several nicely produced action sequences. Although not an obvious casting choice, Eddie Redmayne has the right cerebral Edward Fox vibes as the Jackal. He also has an appropriately pliable face for all the Jackal’s disguises.

Lashana Lynch is convincingly driven, perhaps to a fault, as Pullman. She also has decent action chemistry with Nick Blood, playing her protection agent, Vincent Pyne. Lynch also spars nicely with Chukwudi Iwuji and Lia Williams, in the roles of her escalating chain of command. However, the UDC subplot is utterly silly and Khalid Abdalla portrayal is just as much a caricature as Dance chewing the boardroom scenery as Timothy Winthrop, the chairman of the cabal.

Hysteria!, on Peacock

The 1980s were easily the best decade to be in high school. The economy was booming and there was no social media, but we had the freedom to hang with our friends at the mall without any adult supervision. Not surprisingly, all the other generations are jealous, so they keep trying to tear the Eighties down. This time, they want you to believe our super-conservative parents (the ones who dropped us off at the arcade with a fistful of quarters), were paranoid alarmists caught up in groundless “Satanic panics.”  Nevertheless, a student winds up very dead, under really macabre circumstances, in creator Matthew Scott Kane’s eight-episode Hysteria!, which premieres today on Peacock.

Dylan Campbell only has two real friends, Jordy and Spud, but that is just enough to form a terrible heavy metal garage band. Nobody cares about their group, because there is so much cool music in the 80’s. Then, the body of Ryan Hudson, the varsity quarterback, is discovered, apparently mutilated in a ritualistic manner, so Campbell hatches an opportunistic plan to capitalize on the sudden interest in Satanism.

His bandmates think he is crazy, but when Campbell’s popular crush, Judith, agrees to be the first member of his phony “cult,” they quickly recruit new members. They also become suspects, when busybody Church-Lady Tracy Whitehead starts whipping up Satanic panic mania. However, she clearly knows more about the secret dealings in Happy Hollow than she lets on, starting with the fact her daughter Faith was abducted with Hudson. Somehow, she was released and returned home. Faith’s memory is a little fuzzy on the details, but it is just as well, since Whitehead is not eager for her to talk to the police.

Bearing the stress of the town’s suspicions takes a toll on Campbell’s family, especially his mother Linda, who starts having terrifying possession-like experiences. Yet, it is initially worth the hassle for him, because he gets to finally date Judith. Campbell is also fortunate Chief of Police Dandridge remains skeptical of all the Satanism hokum. He even runs interference for the heavy metal trio, but it would still probably be better for Campbell if the Chief did not learn he is dating his granddaughter.

Hysteria! probably sounds like a lot of fun—and sometimes it is—but too often, it undermines its good vibes. Weirdly, it never really embraces 1980s nostalgia, aside from the hair band soundtrack (including blasts from the past, like Lita Ford’s “Kiss Me Deadly”). Yet, what really smothers viewer enthusiasm like a wet blanket is the unsurprising revelation of the “real villain,” who is a predictable and divisive cliché.

Still, Hysteria! boasts the great Bruce Campbell chewing the scenery and jutting out his chin as down-to-Earth Chief Dandridge. Campbell plays it straight instead of falling back on his snarky larger-than-life persona, but he still lands all the funniest lines. Genre fans will also be delighted to see Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs appearing briefly in the fifth episode flashback.

Once again, Julie Bowen plays a convincing mom, but she also has some impressive freakouts as Linda Campbell. Nolan North (whose voiceover work includes Green Lantern for DC animation and the Green Goblin for Marvel gaming projects) has some nice rapport with her as Campbell’s dad.

Those About to Die, on Peacock

Vespasian is considered one of the better emperors (especially compared to Nero), but his death was fast approaching in the year 79 A.D. It will take almost 400 years for Rome to fall, but you might assume the Roman Empire’s days are also limited from the riots and corruption plaguing Roman society. Fortunately for the elites, blood sport still keeps the mob distracted, at least to an extent, but that sure makes it rough to be a gladiator in creator Robert Rodat’s 10-part Those About to Die, which premieres today on Peacock.

Vespasian subjugated Judea, but his oldest son and presumptive heir, Titus Flavianus, has taken the Judean Queen as his consort. Rome has not exactly welcomed her with open arms, but the locals are often hostile to new arrivals from the far-flung corners of the Empire.

That is even more true for Cala and her children from North Africa. When the youngest daughter, Jula, is assaulted by a Centurion, her older sister, Aura fatally defends her honor. Immediately, she is consigned into slavery as her punishment. Their unfortunate older brother Kwame suffers the same fate when he objects.

Off to Rome they go, but Cala follows with Jula, determined to buy their freedom. Unfortunately, Aura is purchased by the wife of Marsus, a powerful and perverse senator, who covets the emperor’s laurels for himself. Ironically, Kwame opts for a life as a gladiator, because they have a higher life expectancy than slaves sent to the mines. Obviously, buying the freedom of either children will not be an option in their current stations, so Cala’s bides her time working in the gambling salon operated by Tenax, the focal anti-hero.

Tenax has a plan to challenge Rome’s social and economic order by starting a fifth chariot racing faction. He has the best driver, Scorpus a hedonistic but winning charioteer based on a historical figure. He also has four deceptively small but incredibly fast and strong horses, purchased from three Andalusian brothers, who intend to stay in Rome to build careers as horse-trainers (at least that was the secret intention of the elder two and they figure their baby bro will reluctantly stay, despite his discomfort with Roman ways).

However, Tenax needs a powerful silent partner to convince the Emperor to grant the Gold Faction’s charter. Titus’s psychotic younger brother Domitian Flavianus is perfectly placed to do just that. He resents his father designating Titus as his heir. The younger Flavianus also needs money quickly, to cover his mounting debts and the gold he embezzled from the treasury. Consequently, agrees to Tenax’s proposal, but he makes no secret of his contempt for the grubby commoner. Likewise, he clearly takes an instant dislike to Kwame when he observes the gladiator in training.

Rodat’s loose adaption of the book by Daniel P. Mannix (who also wrote the source novel for Disney’s The Fox and the Hound), definitely leans into the decadent and violent aspects of Flavian Rome. The scenes of gladiatorial combat are far more graphic than anything seen in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, while the many sex scenes (of multiple persuasions) leave nothing to the imagination. At times, it almost feels like a starter kit for Caligula. However, it is anchored by a powerful story of a mother fighting for her children’s freedom.

That unironic pursuit of freedom makes Those About to Die superior to the Spartacus series, which can never be forgiven for turning the iconic battle-cry of solidarity, “I am Spartacus,” into a self-aggrandizing howl of personal affirmation. However, the new series still represents a decidedly mixed bag.

One of the best aspects of Rodat’s adaptation is the messy, overlapping, and sometimes contradictory nature of the alliances. Sometimes, by working against their sworn enemies, characters cause complications for transactional allies, which leads to further problems down the line.

Vigil, Season Two, on Peacock

The British military has its own Royal Military Police for each brand of service, who in turn all have a Special Investigation Branch. Yet, for some reason, they keep outsourcing their murder investigations to the Police Service of Scotland. DCI Amy Silva’s first military-related assignment almost made sense, because the murder onboard a nuclear sub was the sort of “locked room” mystery that needed a specialized homicide detective. However, the terrorist attack that she investigates this time around must surely fall within the jurisdiction of the national investigative and intelligence services. Nevertheless, Silva ships out to a fictional marginally-western-inclined Middle East regime to sleuth out the deadly hijacking of military drones in season two of creator Tom Edge’s Vigil, which premieres tomorrow on Peacock.

Wudyan has made it clear to the Brits, if they do not sell advanced arms to the regime, they will turn towards Russia and China. Air Vice Marshal Marcus Grainger is happy to oblige. He organized a demo of the RAF’s latest R-PAS drones, but in an ugly twist, one of the drones goes rogue, fatally shooting seven enlisted soldiers.

Initially, the drone operator based in Scotland is blamed, but Silva (doing work better suited to MI5 or the NCA) determines the guilty operator was based in Wudyan, based on the signal amplitude. Suspicion then falls on the former Squadron Leader, until he too is murdered. Silva hates to leave behind her life and police partner DI Kirsten Longacre, especially during her advanced stage of pregnancy, but off to Wudyan she goes. It does seem rather questionable to keep a DCI assigned to a DI she is romantically involved and having a baby with, but this is Scotland.

Season one has plenty of credibility issues too, but the claustrophobic submarine greatly helped to power through them. Season two however, is just a trainwreck when it comes to believability. It is also openly hostile to the British military. Apparently, Edge and co-scripter George Aza-Selinger looked around the world, saw Assad razing Aleppo to the ground, Putin carpet-bombing Mariupol, Xi committing genocide in Xinjiang, and Iran executing a generation of young women for the crime of believing they have rights, only to conclude the greatest threat to global stability is overly hawkish RAF officers.

If you honestly believe that too, maybe you will enjoy season, because it is painfully obvious right from the start the ostensive terrorists are actually the good guys and the not-so secret bad guys are engineering a false flag operation from within the RAF. Anyone who argues that is a “spoiler” must be a complete idiot with zero intuition.

Dr. Death: Cutthroat Conman, on Peacock

The media and academia constantly tell us to trust them, because they know better. Yet, they failed the public spectacularly in the case of Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. The thoracic surgeon was so bad, he is now the subject of the second season of Dr. Death. You can watch all eight episodes or get the whole story in one-shot from the 90-minute companion documentary, John Pappas’s Dr. Death: Cutthroat Conman, which premieres Thursday on Peacock.

For a while, Macchiarini was one of the world’s most respected surgeons and a short-list contender for the Nobel Prize, thanks to his revolutionary artificial trachea replacement surgery. He was so impressive, NBC News producer Benita Alexander fell for him while working on a Today Show profile. She was so head-over-heels, she accepted all his crazy claims at face value, even including the one about the Pope agreeing to officiate their wedding. Ultimately, that one was a fabrication too far. Once she realized that bogus, she woke up to all his lies.

Meanwhile, Macchiarini’s experimental trachea patients were not faring well. In fact, they were dying. However, Macchiarini was still coasting on the glowing publicity that followed their initial surgeries, leaving two of his colleagues at [the formerly] prestigious Karolinska Institute to deal with the carnage of his dubious treatment. Together they wrote a damning report exposing Macchiarini’s falsified research. Perhaps predictably, the Karolinska administers turned on the whistleblowers rather than its cash cow.

Alexander declined to participate in Cutthroat Conman, but considering how brutally honest and self-aware she sounds in the audio interviews incorporated from another project, viewers can understand why she did not want to revisit the Macchiarini experience again. Frankly, Peacock deserves some credit for telling the tawdry tale, because it does not reflect particularly well on NBC News.

To their further credit, Pappas and company also force viewers to confront Macchiarini’s victims, many of whom possibly could have been cured with convention treatment. The two-year-old girl will absolutely break your heart.

Intelligence: A Special Agent Special, on Peacock

Where is KAOS from Get Smart when we need them? The enemies of Western democracy are very real and they are on the march. The CCP is committing genocide in Xinjiang and sending spy balloons over the United States. Putin invaded Ukraine, a democracy aspiring to align itself with NATO and the EU. However, the producers and writer-creator of Intelligence cast as their final villain a UK Conservative politician who isn’t as green as they would like her to be. Remember this episode next time a pundit complains about the polarization of society. Of course, a lot of people will probably forget about the one-shot special, because it concludes the entire series. The shticky misadventures of the blowhard NSA Agent Jerry Bernstein and his nebbish GCHQ sidekick Joseph Harries end on a divisive note when Intelligence: A Special Agent Special premieres Thursday on Peacock.

GCHQ has been hacked, which is pretty bad. Even “worse,” they stole the damning climate data that would have undermined the new jobs- and standard-of-living-friendly policy of current Energy Minister Joanna Telfer Fotheringham, who happens to be the estranged sister of GCHQ boss Christine Cranfield. Since the government considers it a bad thing for the UK’s NSA to be compromised, Cranfield is getting sacked. However, in her remaining time left, she hatches a screwball scheme with moronic Bernstein and klutzy Harries to swap in the real data, during Fotheringham addresses the G7.

Given the in media res opening, depicting the bickering Bernstein and Harries in a Perils-of-Pauline-style predicament, it is probably safe to guess their mission went down poorly. If you think G7 climate conferences are dangerous, try protesting for democracy in Hong Kong. Also, try imagining the outcry if one of America’s intelligence agencies interfered with a Jennifer Granholm speech. However, creator-writer-co-star Nick Mohammed apparently believes all laws and rules of decorum are all conditional on agreement with his political ideology.

Sick, on Peacock

You know when they lose Blumhouse, the Fauci school of pandemic management has lost the nation. Maybe they haven’t fully lost the studio chief, but screenwriter Kevin Williamson has a lot of ironic commentary to offer on the quarantine lock-down era, while staying true to his slasher roots. Unfortunately, two millennials can’t quarantine themselves from a home-invading slasher in John Hyam’s Blumhouse-produced Sick, which is now streaming on Peacock.

With the economic and educational shutdown of 2020 looming, entitled party girl Parker Mason and her judgy, strait-laced pal Miri Woodlow decide to quarantine in the luxury cabin owned by Mason’s dad. Basically, it looks Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone character might live there, but there do not seem to be any guns in the house, which stretches credibility.

Of course, they both announce their every move on social media, so a tech-savvy stalker can easily follow them to Pop Mason’s cowboy McMansion. We can tell this psycho is effective, based on the murder he committed during the prologue. In this case, even Mason’s jealous hook-up, DJ Cole can crash their party. That means there are three potential victims, waiting to get hacked and slashed.

It is hard to explain the context without spoiling elements, but Williamson’s screenplay definitely skewers the compulsive masking experience. It also brings back embarrassing memories of Clorox wiping your groceries. Perhaps most incisively, it portrays the weird Covid-Puritanism (sometimes expressed by the likes of Howard Stern) that blamed victims and carriers. Arguably, the mystery slasher represents its fullest logical manifestation. However, all of Williamson’s inspiration is reflected in his razor-sharp dialogue, whereas the characterization largely falls back on flat stereotypes.

Regardless, experienced genre director John Hyams skillfully builds the tension and stages some hair-raising confrontations (even more so than he did in Alone). As is Scream, the slasher (if there is only one) is definitely a mortal, who takes bumps and bashes just like the prospective victims. Indeed, each grisly encounter could go either way, so there is genuine suspense. Among the cast, the clear standout is Jane Adams as Pamela, whose sinister role would be spoilery to reveal.

Once Upon a Time in Londongrad, on Peacock

London needs to lose its suffixes. In 2006, Melanie Phillips described the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in her expose, Londonistan. Since then, the term “Londongrad” was coined to describe the London financial sector’s role as a safe haven for dirty Russian oligarchs’ money. Neither is a good look for the capitol of a major Western democracy. Unfortunately, that influx of dubious Russian money also led to a number of Russian state-sanctioned assassinations on British soil. The Buzzfeed journalists who broke the story connect the dots in the six-part Once Upon a Time in Londongrad, which premieres tomorrow on Peacock.

According to the Metropolitan Police, Scot (with one “t”) Young killed himself by leaping from his fashionable townhouse window, just like his associate, Boris Berezovsky also committed suicide. Anyone who knows anything about contemporary Russian politics finds the latter contention laughable. As a dissident, the former oligarch Berezovsky was one of Putin’s most prominent critics. He helped facilitate the defection of former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, whom even New Scotland Yard agrees was poisoned with polonium.

For journalist Heidi Blake, the story started with the strange circumstances surrounding Young’s death. She and her colleagues were not even thinking of Russia, until they found multiple connections to Berezovsky in Young’s records. From there, they followed leads, the way the Metropolitan police should have.

Eventually, the team explains how they linked fourteen mysterious deaths to Russia, including Young, Berezovsky, and Litvinenko. Perhaps the weirdest case is that of Gareth Williams, a MI6 code-breaker, whom the London cops concluded committed suicide, by stuffing himself in a gym bag and locking it from the outside. Seriously, they stand by that farcical position.

Obviously, something is rotten in London, starting with the Metropolitan force. Yet, Blake and her colleagues were largely dismissed as alarmists and conspiracy theorists, until Russian defector Sergei Skripal, his daughter, and a police officer were poisoned with a Russian Novichuk nerve agent, which also murdered an innocent bystander.

Vigil, on Peacock

This BBC-produced miniseries might have been set in the state of Georgia rather than Scotland. Had the Scottish independence referendum passed, the Atlantic Fleet’s King’s Bay submarine base was one of the proposed contingency homes for the United Kingdom’s Vanguard subs (being a NATO port). Apparently, nationalist politicians are still determined to evict the UK’s nuclear subs and they are willing to capitalize on a murder committed on-board to do so. Initially, a civilian DCI finds herself investigating the suspicious death, but she is soon pulled into a web of sabotage, espionage, and politics in Tom Edge’s Vigil, which premieres today on Peacock.

The Royal Navy surely has its equivalents to MPs and the NCIS so the idea DCI Amy Silva would be dropped from a helicopter into HMS Vigil’s hatch is a bit far-fetched. In the US Navy, sub crew are thoroughly vetted both physically and emotionally, to ensure they can withstand the demands of submerged service. Presumably, the Royal Navy does likewise, so it is unlikely a malcontent like the late Craig Burke and his thuggish nemesis Gary Walsh would be assigned such duty. Of course, you could never find submarine passages wide enough for sailors to walk side-by-side, but hey, dramatic license.

Regardless, if you can get past the dubiousness of Vigil’s premise, its sub-bound dramatic dynamics, and the unrealistic representation of its setting, it is actually a surprisingly suspenseful thriller. As Silva investigates the crime scene, her colleague (and ex-lover) DS Kirsten Longacre dives into Burke’s history, including his romantic involvement with a woman active in the Scottish anti-nuclear movement.

Of course, much like the “three-hour cruise” of Gilligan’s Island, Silva’s three-day embedment with Vigil is soon extended, due to grave mechanical problems and ominous Russian submarine activity. Supposedly, the coxswain, Warrant Officer Elliot Glover will be facilitating her inquiries, but nobody wants to talk to her. Inevitably though, the Vigil’s captain, Commander Neil Newsome starts to begrudgingly respect her, as she uncovers information on the secret sabotage campaign, mostly likely related to Burke’s murder.

Even if it does not pass muster with Jane’s Defense Weekly readers, Vigil’s procedural mystery and submarine techno-thriller elements are totally grabby and addictively compelling. On the other hand, the flashbacks to Silva’s backstory, including guilt over the death of her pseudo-fiancé, her relationship with her presumptive step-daughter, and her aborted romance with Longacre, are whiny, overwrought, and gratingly distracting from everything that actually works in Vigil. If we could cut out all that cringy melodrama, it would probably be a much tighter and tonally consistent five episodes, versus six with the bloated soap opera interludes.

That said, Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie are both very good when they get to play competent, intuitive cops, rather than wounded lovers. Paterson Joseph plays Commander Newsome with a 100% credible military bearing, but also with an appropriate edge, given his somewhat tense relationship with his overbearing, politically connected executive officer Lt. Commander Mark Prentice. Initially, Prentice is positioned as a cliched martinet, but Adam James nicely fleshes him out, as he becomes more complicated in later episodes. Shaun Evans also solidly portrays Glover’s intriguing ambiguity and Stephen Dillane is all business as Admiral Shaw, the serious-as-a-heart-attack commander of the Valiant fleet.

Departure: Archie Panjabi Wants the Truth

Even before Malaysian Airlines 370, we’ve been fascinated by disappearing airliners. The original Twilight Zone went to this well several times in episodes like “The Arrival,” featuring the mysterious landing of a completely empty plane and “The Odyssey of Flight 33,” involving the mother of all jet-streams. Widowed British Travel Safety investigator Kendra Malley has a Malaysian Air situation on her hands, as well as a hacktivist step-son to corral in the six-part limited series Departure, which premieres today on Peacock.

Flight 716 left New York on-route to London, but disappeared after passing Gander. Initially, all signs point to pilot sabotage-suicide, very definitely including what series writer-creator Vince Shiao initially chooses to show us from that fateful flight. However, Malley suspects there is more to the story. This will be her first investigation since her husband’s suicide by auto-wreck, but her boss Howard Lawson needs the best. He would also prefer to wrap things up quickly and neatly, especially for the major British aviation company sweating out the investigation. Fortunately, Dominic Hayes, the team’s law enforcement liaison (formerly of Scotland Yard) is on her side when it comes to dotting “i’s” and crossing “t’s.”

The UK government would definitely prefer a finding of pilot error. Malley’s obnoxious stepson AJ and his netizen echo chamber immediately suspect Russian aeronautical oligarch Pavel Bartok, who happens to have some contentious history with Malley. Yet, she refuses to eliminate technical causes until she can explain everything that happened, step by step. Of course, the discovery of a sole survivor would greatly help getting at the truth, while also raising a battery of new suspicions.

Departure feels slick but conventionally network, so Peacock is probably the right place for it. Nevertheless, Schiao and series director T.J. Scott maintain a brisk pace a drop enough twists to keep most viewers hooked. Yet, what really works is the chemistry that develops between Archie Panjabi and Kris Holden-Ried as Malley and Hayes, respectively. They keep it strictly business through the initial six episodes of Departure, but there are hints their relationship could develop in subsequent seasons. Regardless, they are certainly a photogenic duo of on-screen investigators.