Pick of the week
Atlanta
Atlanta has never been a conventional show. The audacity of the opening episode of the third season is as breathtaking as it is bewildering. Showrunner and star Donald Glover’s Earn only appears at the very end – don’t worry, he and his burgeoning hip-hop empire is back front and centre in episode two – but the bulk of the opener is devoted to a darkly comic (but mainly just dark) sequence about the fostering of a hyperactive African-American kid Loquareeous (Christopher Farrar). It is a tale of racism so vast and imperceptible it’s almost tidal. Startlingly good in its own right, it sets the tone for a season more tightly focused and more abstract than before.
Disney+, from Wednesday 29 June
***
Queer As Folk
Rebooting a show as beloved and important as this Russell T Davies classic is risky. The unapologetic way in which the original series represented gay lives meant that, back in 1999, it had a subversive, even political edge. By contrast, the early stages of this New Orleans-set reboot seem a little thin and over-stylised . Until a brutal event in a nightclub reminds us that, for all of the comparative mainstreaming of LGBTQ+ life, visceral homophobia remains a clear danger. It is a grimly effective way of dragging us into the affairs of a fine ensemble cast led by free spirit Brodie (Devin Way).
StarzPlay, from Friday 1 July
***
Only Murders in the Building
This hugely entertaining comedy created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman about three New York neighbours who start a true-crime podcast returns for a second series. In a sharply satirical twist, true crime has intruded on their detached enjoyment of the genre. Charles (Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) are themselves fully implicated in the death of their building’s board president Bunny Folger – and of course, there’s now a true-crime podcast about them, too. Deftly performed, deliciously meta and delightfully silly.
Disney+, from Tuesday 28 June
***
The Upshaws
At first glance, this isn’t the most original family sitcom ever made: the waster dad Bennie (Mike Epps), the long-suffering Mum Regina (Kim Fields) and the perpetually eye-rolling kids feel very familiar. There are, however, a few standout features: first, that the family are working-class African Americans, and also that they aren’t as traditionally nuclear as they seem. As we rejoin them for season two, Bennie’s in the doghouse again and trying to convince Regina and her fearsome sister Lucretia (Wanda Sykes) that he’s not a complete bust.
Netflix, from Wednesday 29 June
***
Bastard!!
The original manga version of this 80s comic classic is exactly the kind of thing the Stranger Things Hellfire Club gang might have enjoyed in their basement. Modern civilisation has collapsed and Tia Noto Yoko, the daughter of a Great Priest, must battle the Dark Rebel Army that is planning to resurrect Anthrasax, the god of destruction. As you might have guessed, it’s a gloriously overwrought and unselfconscious affair, overflowing with spells, wizards and dark energy, soundtracked relentlessly by heavy pounding and devil-horns-aloft metal.
Netflix, from Thursday 30 June
***
Stranger Things
Can Vecna be stopped? What fresh horrors could emerge from the Upside Down? How much more Kate Bush will we be treated to? Many questions remain as this sci-fi epic returns. The running times are becoming increasingly monumental, too – these two episodes clock in at almost four hours. Still, the show’s strength is its ability to combine the parallel-world horror of the premise with the more quotidian strangeness of teenage life, so expect at least as much focus on Eleven’s relationship with Mike.
Netflix, from Friday 1 July
***
The Terminal List
“My timeline is all fuzzy. But they knew we were coming.” Chris Pratt stars in this tense, twisty new drama about James Reece, a Navy Seal whose platoon has been ambushed on a covert mission. It’s equal parts thriller and evocation of PTSD and trauma recovery. Reece is certain that betrayal must have been involved, but he’s also too confused and damaged to unpick – or even fully trust – his own memories of the incident. But even if you are paranoid, that doesn’t necessarily mean no one is after you …
Amazon Prime Video, from Friday 1 July
