New shows keep appearing on the horizon and upcoming articles will be devoted to some of them. But let us, instead, be reminded of some of the best that TV has to offer that have returned to entertain us again. Some may be completely new to you and are shows you should seek out, and others will already be old favorites you have been patiently waiting to return.
Streaming on Netflix:
“The Diplomat” should be at the top of anyone’s list. The fourth season has just launched all of its episodes and Deborah Cahn, the writer/showrunner, has found new ways to engage and keep us on the edge of our seats. Each season ends with a cliffhanger and the new season picks up and resolves that particular issue, always inventively and with shock and awe. This year’s ending is another killer, and, like all the previous ones, I have no idea how this will be resolved in what, we hope, will be Season 5.
For those of you who have yet to partake, this is one of the best series ever produced, ranking up there with “The Wire,” although “The Diplomat’s” crimes are of a political nature. A career diplomat, Kate Wyler, an expert on the Middle East and complex negotiations, has been assigned to the post of Ambassador to the Court of St. James, a position usually auctioned off to the highest bidder, whose primary duties are handshakes, royal teas and mindless entertaining. The subtext is that this time it’s a secret audition for the newly appointed ambassador to replace the sitting vice president. Keri Russell as Kate, is a force of nature with the expressively foul vocabulary to go with it. She’s sexy, strong, smart, astute and better at her job, one she doesn’t want, than anyone else could possibly be. Partnered with Rufus Sewell as her husband Hal, he is so good at playing suspiciously self-involved motivations that you are instantly hooked. Even if his wife is decidedly not a fan of him you will be. An actor of amazing range, it’s a mystery why he isn’t a major movie star. The supporting cast, many of whom you might be unacquainted with, are equally good. This season’s co-stars are Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford, with able assists from the returning Ali Ahn, Ato Essandoh and Rory Kinnear. After finishing this season, we’ve gone back to Season 1 to see how Cahn did it. The characters jumped out from the beginning and, I suspect, Cahn arced the entire series from the beginning because everything after that first season fits together like a well-cut jigsaw puzzle.
“Nobody Wants This,” now entering its third season, follows the trials and humorous tribulations of Noah, the hot rabbi, and his non-Jewish girlfriend Joanne as they try to navigate the perils of a mixed relationship, made all the more perilous by his dragon of a mother Bina. Joanne has finally decided to convert and is taking lessons. She and sister Morgan still have a popular podcast, but Joanne’s commitment is less than Morgan needs. Erin Foster, who created the series, and writers Bruce Eric Kaplan and Jenni Konner have found a way to inject depth into the storylines and characters beyond the initial joke of a couple separated by religion meeting cute and shacking up. The serious subject of religious conversion is explored with the additional story arc of a divorce in Noah’s family that wreaks further havoc on his parents. Adam Brody and Kristen Bell are the “cute” couple but this season gives more room to the development of their siblings, Timothy Simons as Noah’s brother, and the superb Justine Lupe as Joanne’s smarter- than-she-looks sister Morgan. It’s amazing that the writers found ways to pivot from what could have been a one-note joke, but they did.
Streaming on Apple TV:
“Slow Horses” has just dropped the final episode of Season 6 and it asks more questions than it answers, so we’ll wait breathlessly for Season 7, due to launch in 2027. Lamb and his Slow Horses are being targeted by unknown forces and have been inexplicably abandoned by Taverner, now head of MI5. The deaths of former operatives may be related to actions Taverner took years ago in a different operation, but somehow members of Lamb’s crew, present and past, are being killed. Taverner, possibly to disguise past deeds, is the villain of the piece and Lamb must figure out why before he loses more crew. Past favorites, at least those that weren’t killed in previous seasons, are back including Christopher Chung as Roddy, still as delusional without redeeming value and rude as ever; Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish, the voice of reason, who finally gets the billing she deserves; and Jack Lowden as River Cartwright. There would be no “Slow Horses” without Kristin Scott Thomas as the emotionless, sly Diana Taverner, foil to star Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, who probably hasn’t bathed in months, wearing a trench coat that would make Columbo turn in his grave, as the head of Slough House. Season 8 can’t come too soon.
Streaming on BritBox:
“Ludwig,” the almost under-the-radar series about a puzzle savant who solves mysteries, has returned for a second season and it is a delight. Main character John Taylor is a renowned puzzle author with a massive following who creates under the name of Ludwig. He is the very shy, an understatement, awkward twin of an important police inspector who has mysteriously disappeared, abandoning his wife Lucy and son Henry. In the first season Lucy has a special request, asking John to pretend he is his missing brother James. Since John solves puzzles, surely he can figure out the riddle of where James has gone before his police colleagues realize he is missing. There must have been foul play because he would never have abandoned them without a word. The very phobic John reluctantly agrees but is put in a place where he must interact with others, go out on calls and help solve murders. It turns out he’s very good at it because they are puzzles. I won’t divulge the premise of Season 2 but suffice it to say it’s equally charming and everyone gets in the act of trying to solve what may actually be a conspiracy. David Mitchell plays the twins and there is no one more awkwardly engaging than him. He is ably assisted by Anna Maxwell Martin as his sister-in-law Lucy and Dipa Ola, James’s partner, suspicious of the switcheroo.
“Blue Lights” is the best police procedural you probably don’t know about. A BBC production, it follows the professional lives of new recruits fresh out of a Northern Ireland Police Academy in Belfast and into their probationary period. Engaging, serious and complex, they are reminiscent of the young police officers in Joseph Wambaugh’s novel “The New Centurions.” The character development and plotlines are some of the best you will ever see and it can be reasonably compared to the writing of “The Wire,” arguably the best police drama produced to date. From sincere to shallow, overly ambitious to lazy, each recruit is well delineated giving you multiple rooting interests along with some characters worthy of disdain. The hierarchy is complicated and much of the corruption is evident and off-limits. This is Belfast post “the Troubles” but the aftereffects are lingering in both the community and the force. I’m devastated the series ended with Season 4 and grateful for having seen it. Although procedural in nature, the storylines and villains bleed into subsequent seasons allowing the viewer to digest the consequences of ongoing actions. The characters will definitely stay with you. “Blue Lights” is a series against which others should be measured.
See them now, See them again.
Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomatometer-approved critic.
