THE POLITICIAN (2nd season)
In Season One, Ben Platt played a highly-motivated high school student who MUST be class president. All manner of crazy stuff happens on his journey. This new season has him running for the New York legislature, but is much less clever and uninspired. The only thing that kept me watching was Bette Midler doing her best Bette Midler. Overall, it’s more cynical and less fun that Season 1. Netflix link
WARRIOR NUN
The title sounds wild and it’s proven popular on Netflix, but like so many high concept shows it lacks the energy to sustain the creativity of the concept. A young woman (Alba Baptista) wakes up from death to find that she’s become part of an ancient order to fight Earthly demons. Of course, she resists her calling for a more exciting life with contemporary friends. The fight scenes are well staged, but there’s simply too much talk time between the action beats. Netflix link
THE EDDY
Damien Chazelle directed the first 2 episodes, but this series was actually created by Jack Thorne with music by Glen Ballard. It’s set in Paris where a man (AndrĂ© Holland) struggles to keep his jazz club running amidst several complications. It feels very much like a foreign movie. In addition to subtitles, the characters are sometimes complex, the narrative often wanders, the emotions are mostly subdued and there’s plenty of smoking. I’m not a jazz fan (and there’s lots of musical performances) and I just got tired of the people and their lives. (8 one-hour episodes in English, French, Arabic and Polish with subtitles when necessary) Netflix link