Pick of the week
The Bear
After a peerless first two seasons of the hit Chicago restaurant drama, there was a sense that it was beginning to coast by the third. Can we expect the strained situation between Jeremy Allen White’s highly-strung Carmy and ambitious sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) to be resolved this time round? The Bear’s drama has always derived from the claustrophobia of its working environment – the characters are as close as family and equally prone to explosive emotions. As the restaurant’s horizons widen, Carmy faces the realisation that certain changes, while painful to contemplate, might also be necessary. A promisingly primed pressure cooker.
Disney+, from Thursday 26 June
***
Squid Game
The rebellion has failed but the game goes on. The inventive dystopian drama nears its endgame, and the horror is becoming more inescapable. The thwarted uprising has done wonders for the prize fund but, for reasons he can’t understand, its psychologically shattered instigator Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) has not been killed and is back in the contest. But does hope lie in the guards’ work room which has been infiltrated? Squid Game feels less subtle as a satire as it reaches its climax but, as betrayals multiply and alliances are destroyed, the sense of an ending raises the dramatic stakes considerably.
Netflix, from Friday 27 June
***
Trainwreck: Poop Cruise
This jaw-dropping documentary offers the stinky lowdown on an ill-fated 2013 pleasure cruise. At first, the passengers on the inaptly named Carnival Triumph (who included hen parties and couples on the holiday of a lifetime) were having a blast. But then the power went out, the toilets backed up and everything went a bit Triangle of Sadness. Soon, fights were breaking out, food was running out and urine and excrement began seeping out of the sewage system, up through the plugholes and into the carpets. Equal parts hilarious and watch-through-your-fingers gross.
Netflix, from Tuesday 24 June
***
Ironheart
The central premise of Ryan Coogler’s latest expansion of the Wakanda universe is like a homage to Iron Man. Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne, the first Black woman to lead a Marvel series) is a restless MIT student with a desire to create something new. Or she could just recreate something old. In cahoots with maverick criminal Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), she combines technology with magic and unleashes something she can’t control. But Ironheart doesn’t feel like vintage Marvel, despite Thorne’s spirited performance.
Disney+, from Wednesday 25 June
***
The Ultimatum: Queer Love
An LGBTQ+ spin-off from the dating series that offers a drastic solution to relationships in flux. These six couples all contain one partner who is ready for long-term commitment and another with reservations. The show sends them away to live with other possible partners, on the basis that clarity will emerge. But it wouldn’t be good TV if that was always the case, and that’s sometimes an ethical problem – some people leave more confused than when they arrived, particularly when the additional dimension of family disapproval of same-sex relationships is involved.
Netflix, from Wednesday 25 June
***
Countdown
There’s a slightly odd tone to this drama, which attempts to function as a law enforcement thriller while occasionally seeming to parody that genre. When an LAPD detective is killed, the hunt for the assailant leads cops into even darker waters as they learn that a “Chernobyl-level event” is being planned in LA. “Our mission could prevent another 9/11,” says one, excitedly. Cue a series of wild car chases, extensive gunplay and absurd feats of undercover derring do, all undercut by sly, slightly knowing winks. Jensen Ackles and Jennifer Camacho star.
Prime Video, from Wednesday 25 June
***
Smoke
Three years after collaborating on underrated drama Black Bird, actor Taron Egerton and writer Dennis Lehane reunite for this thriller about arson investigator Dave Gudson (Egerton) and detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett), who has been assigned to help him catch two serial arsonists. Initially, it’s a slow burn as the paranoid pair (she’s a traumatised ex-marine while he’s seen too many blazes) learn to trust each other. But things hot up: the identity of one of the perpetrators is quickly apparent but his motives reveal themselves gradually.
Apple TV+, from Friday 27 June
