Feuding mob families, mind control and a murder at the White House: what to watch in May
- Written by: Alexa Scarlata, Lecturer, Digital Communication, RMIT University
It’s May! Where did the year go? It must be all the amazing TV we’re watching that’s making the time whiz by. This month’s lineup of expert picks is packed with standout shows across all genres.
Whether you’re in the mood for laugh-out-loud comedies, powerful historical fiction, or sci-fi that will leave your brain rattling for days, there’s something binge-worthy waiting for you.
MobLand
Paramount+
Lately, I’ve found myself counting down the days each week for a new episode of MobLand to drop on Paramount+ on Sunday afternoon. The crime series is executive produced (and the first two episodes directed) by Guy Ritchie, and stars Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren – along with a heavyweight supporting cast – in a story about two rival mob families in London.
When tensions escalate after a night out, Hardy’s “fixer” character, Harry, works to keep the peace between the Harrigans and the Stevensons – be it with a quiet word or brutal force.
MobLand is as twisty, gruesome and fun as we’ve come to expect from Ritchie’s popular gangster titles. But while others have been regularly criticised for their lack or limited portrayal of female characters, MobLand benefits from the scheming and swearing of the inimitable Helen Mirren as matriarch Maeve Harrigan, and the quiet fury of Joanne Froggatt as Harry’s wife, Jan, as she tries to force the enforcer into marriage counselling.
The series has been a huge success for Paramount+ in Australia – becoming the largest launch in the platform’s history. And while some may find the weekly episode drop frustrating, for me it adds to the suspense.
– Alexa Scarlata
The Residence
Netflix
Faced with Donald Trump, show makers turn to alternative visions of leadership. The latest: a gay president, who is only a bit of a player, in a ridiculously entertaining picture of a crime within the White House.
At a US state dinner for visiting Australian Prime Minister Stephen Roos (Julian McMahon), the dead body of the chief usher is discovered, and the world’s greatest detective, Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba), is called in. Not only is Cupp an avid bird-watcher, she is also an Agatha Christie devotee who likes to assemble all her suspects for a prolonged denouement.
The Residence is full of oblique references to current US politics. One former senator, Al Franken, plays a fictional senator named Aaron Filkins. And Tripp Morgan (Jason Lee), US President Perry Morgan’s odious brother, has several real-life precursors.
The series is also a guide to the White House itself, complete with the sort of lavish detail we’d expect from Shondaland productions. And it’s nice to see Netflix acknowledging Australians. Even if they couldn’t persuade Hugh Jackman to actually show up, there’s plenty of other home-grown talent – including cameos by Kylie Minogue.
– Dennis Altman
Last One Laughing UK
Prime Video
Last One Laughing is a battle royale for stand-ups. Ten comedians, one room, surrounded by cameras. Laugh once and they’re warned. Laugh again, and they’re out. Last comic left wins.
An international TV phenomenon in 29 countries, the latest season is from the United Kingdom, hosted by Jimmy Carr and featuring comedians like Bob Mortimer, Sara Pascoe and Joe Lycett.
Comedy takes time, but laughter can take less than a moment. Richard Ayoade nearly catches out two players when, asked what his childhood hobbies were, he replies: “I don’t know. I cried a lot?”
Last One Laughing doubles our laughs. We watch the actual joke, we get it, we laugh. And then we see comedians desperately trying not to laugh – but we know that they get the joke too! And so we get an unexpected second look at the joke.
Last One Laughing helps us understand why we laugh at our own jokes, why we can’t always explain what’s funny, and why gags don’t need words. We’re watching professional comedians get the joke (as we do!) without laughing (as we expect?) but we know that it’s all OK. And, however briefly, we glimpse the world anew.
– Fergus Edwards
Dying for Sex
Disney+
Based on a popular podcast by Molly Kochan and Nicki Boyer, Dying for Sex is a funny, raunchy, heartfelt exploration of pleasure and death.
When Molly (Michelle Williams) finds out her cancer is back and this time it is terminal, she seeks out sexual desire and satisfaction in unusual places, making profound discoveries along the way.
The show is rated R for good reason: the depiction of sexual acts is graphic, but not exploitative or voyeuristic. Rather it embraces the messiness of having a body that is dying but seeking joy.
While Molly’s sexual adventures feature heavily (and explicitly), the heart of the show is Molly’s friendship with Nicki (Jenny Slate), which feels achingly real. Molly and Nicki are long-term friends, as such they adore and encourage each other’s idiosyncrasies and perceived flaws.
Williams is luminous and well-matched with Slate, who brings a levity and longing to caring for her best friend and supporting her new goals. Despite its relatively short runtime of just eight 30 minute episodes, we are treated to nuanced renderings of Molly’s complex relationships with her mother (Sissy Spacek), husband (Jay Duplass) and neighbour (Rob Delaney).
Dying for Sex is infuriating and heartbreaking, as well as absurdly funny – kinda like death.
– Jessica Ford
Black Mirror, season seven
Netflix
The seventh season of Black Mirror is an ominous return to the dark world of modern technology. This season comprises six new episodes, two of which are sequels to episodes from previous seasons.
Common People is a powerful opening to the season, starring two of the most famous actors to appear throughout. Amanda (Rashida Jones) and Mike (Chris O’Dowd) are an ordinary suburban couple struck by tragedy in the form of a serious medical emergency – a narrative turn that is compounded by an unexpected departure from Jones and O’Dowd’s comedic reputations. The collapse of their life reaches greater and greater depths, before culminating in a horrifying final scene.
The other five episodes of the season are not as dismal. USS Callister: Into Infinity, in particular, provides some resolution that the earlier episode USS Callister had not. Plaything, the sequel to the interactive film Bandersnatch, echoes USS Callister’s interest in video gaming, but takes its invasion of human life to an even more powerful conclusion. Bête Noire similarly toys with the idea of mind control.
Hotel Reverie and Eulogy are quieter episodes, and not as overtly critical of technological advance as the others. Both are very moving, and like Common People, are interested in the lengths one might go to for the people they love.
Black Mirror’s seventh season is both a warning and a guide for how to be human – and how not to.
– Jessica Gildersleeve
The Wheel of Time, season three
Prime Video
The Wheel of Time is Prime’s most recent entry into the increasingly popular epic fantasy genre. Despite a lacklustre first two seasons, season three finally rewards fans for their patience.
Adapted from Robert Jordan’s sprawling 14-book series, the new season begins full throttle with a violent battle between the all-female One Power-wielding Aes Sedai. While some episodes lag due to overly complicated exposition and agonising character development (just embrace the wolf already, Perrin), for the most part showrunner Rafe Judkins maintains the propulsive momentum established in the spectacular opening.
Episode four, The Road to the Spear, is a standout sure to please die-hard Jordan fans and new audiences alike. Cinematic in scope, the episode faithfully recounts Rand (Josha Stradowski) and Moiraine’s (Rosamund Pike) journey to Rhuidean in the Aiel Waste where Rand is confirmed as the Dragon Reborn.
Pike continues to provide much-needed gravitas as the steely Moiraine and Stradowski is a revelation. It doesn’t hurt that the episode makes good use of its deliciously vampy leather-clad villain Lanfear (Natasha O’Keeffe).
No doubt references to Jordan’s expansive lore might continue to baffle some viewers. However, the sumptuous costumes, increasingly assured performances and modernised relationships suggest the series has finally found its footing.
Long may The Wheel of Time continue to turn.
– Rachel Williamson
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Prime Video
The Narrow Road to the Deep North stands as some of the most visceral and moving television produced in Australia in recent memory, marking a new accessibility and confidence to director Justin Kurzel.
Dorrigo Evans (Jacob Elordi/Ciarán Hinds) is a doctor sent to World War II. Captured during the Battle of Java he is taken as a prisoner of war (POW), where he is forced to lead his Australian soldiers on the building of the Burma-Thailand Railway.
Rather than an executor of violence, he is a pacifist and victim. Ultimately he has to make peace with his own trauma and guilt of survival when many around him perished – some of whom he knowingly sent to their inevitable death to ensure his own survival.
Faithfully adapted from Richard Flanagan’s novel in a screenplay by Shaun Grant, this production effectively creates interchanging timelines (seamlessly edited by Alexandre de Francesch) including prewar, war and postwar, and then flashes forward to Dorrigo in his mid-70s.
Structurally immaculate, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is not defined by its brutal torture of the POWs or comradeship of the starving soldiers (though they are powerful to watch). Instead, it points us towards the quieter visions of characters having to sit alone with their distorted memories.
Contemporary television is rarely this good.
– Stephen Gaunson
Read more: Contemporary television is rarely as good as The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Andor, season two
Disney+
Andor returns for a second season, as we follow the early days of the Rebel Alliance leading up to events in Rogue One.
One year after the events of season one, we open with Cassian (Diego Luna) impersonating an Imperial test pilot so he can steal a prototype Imperial ship. After stealing the ship, he must navigate a ragtag brigade whose infighting becomes violent.
Elsewhere on planet Mina-Rau, Bix (Adria Arjona) and other undocumented farm workers await Cassian’s arrival with the ship. Over on Chandrila, Imperial Senator Mon (Genevieve O’Reilly) navigates the diplomacy of her daughter’s wedding while continuing to discreetly support the rebellion.
The most chilling scenes in the opening episodes are perhaps those that show Imperial supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) attend a top-secret meeting where they strategise how best to cleanse the population of Gorman so they can mine a rare mineral.
As film academic Daniel Golding notes in an article about how Andor takes on the era of Trump 2.0, showrunner Tony Gilroy takes inspiration from several real world revolutionary events. Given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s assault on Gaza and Trump’s increasing authoritarianism, it will be interesting to see how the revolution in this season continues to reflect real-world precarity.
I recommend refreshing your memory of season one before diving in, as the new season’s complexity relies on considerable assumed knowledge.
– Stuart Richards
Authors: Alexa Scarlata, Lecturer, Digital Communication, RMIT University
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