A mystery lover’s guide to what’s new to streaming this weekend.
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New and Returning Mystery and Thriller Series
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Look, I’m going to be really frank with you: I don’t think there’s anything new worth watching this week. That’s a pretty rare thing. I turn up here every Friday and not one has passed by where I couldn’t make a genuine recommendation of at least one new-ish crime, mystery, or thriller show. But now that day has come: there’s plenty of new stuff around the streamers if you’re interested in true crime docuseries stuff, but I honestly am not.
So what I’m going to do instead is make a single TV recommendation this week.
It’s going to be a deep cut, and it’s going to be weird.
Taboo
(Originally from FX, now streaming on Tubi, Pluto, and Prime)
This show is about 10 years old, but there’s a fair amount to explain, since most people, even pretty avid TV fans, haven’t seen it. The joke around the Lit Hub office back when this came out was that nobody in the entire world except for Dan Sheehan and me had seen Taboo all the way through. But that’s now changing, thanks to wide streaming availability, the enduring appeal of Tom Hardy, the blockbuster successes of Steven Knight, and, I have to assume, changing mores with regard to…wait, let me not spoil that for you just yet. Here’s the premise: it’s the 19th century, and Tom Hardy is presumed dead, having done a fair amount of evil in Africa on behalf of the East India Company. Then his shipping magnate father dies and lo, Hardy reappears on the scene in London, possibly bringing some supernatural powers, or at least a strong aura with him. All hell breaks loose. Lines and laws of nature are crossed. There’s a big old battle to take down the East India Company. Political conspiracies abound. It’s all shot in this kind of lavish, haunting darkness. Every good British actor you know will appear at some point. And Tom Hardy will absolutely chew this thing up. Did I mention he co-created the show with Knight and with his dad, Chips Hardy? Okay, there’s the quick pitch. Really, give this thing a chance and, well, you may be sorry, it’s definitely an acquired taste, but you won’t soon forget it!
Just a note, in case you’re wondering, since I was: The second season of Ransom Canyon is now streaming, and I just wanted to clarify that Ransom Canyon a soap, not a crime show. There is absolutely no kidnapping/ransom involved. I wish Minka Kelly and Josh Duhamel nothing but the best in their small town dramas.
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Movie Night
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Since the new movie options on streaming this weekend are equally bleak, I would suggest first and foremost that you get out and join the crowds in the cinema renaissance at a showing of The Odyssey, if you can find a ticket. But let’s say that doesn’t quite work for you, and now you’re all hung-ho for a movie the way they used to be, a true experience, but you’re stuck at home. I don’t usually look to Netflix in a situation like this, but just as an exercise, I thought, let’s see if we can find a couple of real Movies on the service, and lo and behold, it actually delivered this month. So for this double feature I’m going to start with an afternoon-long screening of Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Yes, it would be great to see this on a giant screen, maybe even one of those 70mm IMAX screens The Odyssey is gobbling up. But even at home, the film is just absolutely gorgeous, one of the most epic and beautiful achievements in pure filming. Peter O’Toole’s eyes, the desert, the sky, the camels, the caravans – they jump off the screen no matter what size. Come on, though, really you don’t need me to recommend this one. You know all about it. You just probably didn’t know it was on Netflix, right? And then to top things off, the evening bill: Inside Man (2006), Spike Lee’s epic heist flick that doubles as a postcard from New York City. The plot is just as intricate and taut as you remember. Denzel Washington and Clive Owen battle wits, Jodie Foster adds a jolt of electricity, Christopher Plummer gives the thing an extra little bit of pathos. In many ways, this is the opposite of Lawrence of Arabia, but somehow the two of them just feel like large, utterly engrossing Movies.
