You, Netflix
Madeline Brewer, left, as Bronte, and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg star in You.Netflix
The first season of this off-beat thriller told from the point of view (complete with pseudo-sensitive voice-over) of a lovesick bibliophile/stalker-murderer named Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) was highly original pulp; it flipped rom-com tropes on their head to show their dark underbellies. A second satirical season managed against all odds to move the concept forward. It’s been diminishing returns since then – becoming another serial-killer show drowning in an overlarded mythology – but residual fondness will bring fans back for the fifth and final season. Smartly, Joe returns to the most solid ground of the series, New York, and to Mooney’s bookstore where his original Plexiglas cage still stands in the basement. There’s a Succession-skewing plotline, made particularly campy through Anna Camp playing twin sisters of Joe’s new rich wife, and a mysterious new literary-minded young woman named Bronte (Madeline Brewer) to obsess over. See You later.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, PBS
Mark Rylance, left, plays Thomas Cromwell and Maisie Richardson-Sellers plays Bess Oughtred in Wolf Hall, which concludes this weekend.Nick Briggs/© Playground Television
On Sunday night, Masterpiece presents the final episode of this television adaptation of the third novel in Hilary Mantel’s popular historical trilogy. The Globe and Mail’s resident Mantel expert, Arts editor Judith Pereira, tells me over Slack that the miniseries covering the last years of Oliver Cromwell’s life is a must-watch for fans of the books: “The intrigue at court, the battles between the secular and the religious (and, within that, Protestants and Catholics) showcase a man who is constantly walking a tightrope. Mantel’s Cromwell is not a villain but instead highly intelligent, ruthless – and Mark Rylance embodies him perfectly.” Canadian viewers can stream the full series through Buffalo-Toronto Public Media PBS Passport or the add-on PBS Masterpiece channel subscription on Prime Video.
Sea Lions of the Galapagos; Guardians of the Galapagos, Disney+
Brendan Fraser narrates Sea Lions of the Galapagos on Disney+.Elliede Cent/Disney+
Brendan Fraser makes a lateral career move from The Whale to sea lions, using that rough, vulnerable voice of his to narrate a family-friendly nature documentary shot in the Galapagos Islands. This Disneynature film follows a young sea lion pup dubbed Leo as he learns to swim with his mom, then strikes out on his own in the astounding archipelago, dreaming of some day becoming a beachmaster ruling over his own harem of cows. Highlights include an amazing action sequence involving sharks, sea lions, pelicans and fish all in a high-speed, food-chain chase. And, in case you were worried that Disney was still in the business of doing things like throwing lemmings off cliffs to create documentary drama as was notoriously the case in 1958’s White Wilderness, Disney+ has a companion documentary showing the behind-the-scenes adventures of the film crew.
Captain Phillips, Crave and Paramount+
If you’ve never seen this 2013 Tom Hanks movie that is responsible for the “Look at me, I’m the captain now” meme, it’s been added to the library of two popular streaming services this month. Directed by Paul Greengrass, the Oscar-nominated film dramatizes a hijacking of a U.S. cargo ship by Somali pirates. “On one level, it’s an expert Hollywood entertainment of choreographed chaos with an impressive, if familiar, award-season star turn from Tom Hanks as an Everyman turned hero,” Liam Lacey wrote, reviewing the film for The Globe and Mail. “Yet Captain Phillips manages to expose us to a few things that are unusual in a thriller, including sympathy for the enemy and, in Hanks’s performance, the frailty that is the other side of heroism.”
Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life, Crave
English comedian Brett Goldstein is full of observations about the cultural differences between Britain and the U.S. in The Second Best Night of Your Life.Crave
This English comedian and actor became famous on this side of the ocean through his role as gruff but gentle-hearted footballer Roy Kent on Ted Lasso – and is also second best known as the co-creator of Shrinking. So, naturally, this man involved in two big-hearted shows on Apple TV+ is releasing his first stand-up special on HBO (which means it’s on Crave in Canada). Recorded in New Jersey, Goldstein’s set is very much aimed at an American audience – full of his observations about the cultural differences between Britain and the U.S.; he also shares stories of awe at getting to meet the Muppets on Sesame Street and the (previous) president at the White House. It’s not the sharpest-edged of stand-up – but those who like his Kent character will enjoy spending time with the personality behind it. Available to watch from 10 p.m. on Saturday.
