TV Talk: Shooter, Queen of the South, Castle Rock, You & More!
Season Premiere:
The Deuce (HBO)
Series Premieres:
The Miniaturist (PBS)
In 1686, 18-year-old Nella Oortman (Anya Taylor-Joy, Split, The Witch) arrives in Amsterdam to meet her wealthy merchant husband Johannes Brandt (Alex Hassell, Genius: Picasso), but is instead met by his sister Marin (Romola Garai, Churchill’s Secret, The Hour). When Johannes appears, he presents her with a wedding gift: a cabinet that is a miniature replica of their home, to be furnished by an elusive Miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror what is happening within the house in unexpected ways and seem to be predicting and unraveling the future with unsettling precision.
As Nella begins to uncover its secrets and those of the Brandt household she realizes the escalating dangers that await them all. Does the Miniaturist hold their fate in her hands? And will she be the key to their salvation or the architect of their downfall?
You (Lifetime)
What would you do for love? For a brilliant male bookstore manager who crosses paths with an aspiring female writer, this question is put to the test. A charming yet awkward crush becomes something even more sinister when the writer becomes the manager’s obsession. Using social media and the internet, he uses every tool at his disposal to become close to her, even going so far as to remove any obstacle –including people — that stands in his way of getting to her.
The First (Hulu)
A crew of astronauts battles peril and personal sacrifice as they race to become the first humans on Mars.
Forever (Amazon)
Forever follows married couple Oscar and June who “live a comfortable but predictable life in suburban Riverside, CA. For 12 years they’ve had the same conversations, eaten the same meals and taken pleasant vacations at the same lake house. But after June talks Oscar into shaking things up with a ski trip, the pair find themselves in completely unfamiliar territory.”
Season Finales:
Castle Rock (Hulu)
The Stephen King multiverse is the setting for this psychological horror series that takes place in Castle Rock, Maine, which is a location familiar to fans of King’s work. “Castle Rock” explores themes and worlds that unite King’s canon, including the infamous Shawshank Prison. An anonymous phone call lures death-row attorney Henry Deaver back to Castle Rock. He is unsettled by his hometown, but he returns to help a sinister, mostly mute man being kept in a cage underneath Shawshank. Sissy Spacek and Bill Skarsgård, who starred in feature adaptations of King’s “Carrie” and “It,” respectively, are among the show’s stars.
Queen of the South (USA)
While living in the barrio of Jalisco, Mexico, poor Teresa Mendoza falls in love with a member of a successful drug cartel, hoping the love will help her rise above the hopelessness she feels in her life. When it doesn’t happen, she is forced to flee the country after her boyfriend is murdered. She seeks refuge in America, where she teams up with an unlikely person from her past to take down the leader of the drug ring that is after her. Teresa ends up starting her own drug empire, becoming one of the world’s wealthiest women in the process. With her success, she discovers that money doesn’t fix all of her problems, and she can only depend on herself if she wants to stay one step ahead of others and stay alive.
Series Finale:
Shooter (USA)
Based on the best-selling novel “Point of Impact” by Stephen Hunter, and the 2007 feature film starring Mark Wahlberg, the series stars Ryan Phillippe (“Secrets and Lies”) and follows the courageous journey of Bob Lee Swagger, a highly-decorated ex-Marine sniper who is coaxed back into action after he learns about a plot to kill the president. When Swagger’s former commanding officer Isaac Johnson, played by Omar Epps (“House”), solicits his expertise in a clandestine operation, Swagger re-emerges from exile only to discover that he is inextricably involved in a disastrous operation with ties to his past.