The Weekly Watchlist: Sweet Tooth Season 2 And Citadel (April 24, 2023)
This week's big streaming releases include the return of "Sweet Tooth," a rare post-apocalyptic tale that's all about optimism (and cute critters), and the premiere of "Citadel," the second-most-expensive TV show ever made and the hopeful start of a global franchise. Elsewhere, if you want more apocalyptic fun with big smiles and dark undertones, there's "Ranking of Kings" and "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts." Or perhaps you want something before the apocalypse but with dark forces starting to gather, like the criminally underseen "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance." For something completely different, "Person of Interest" is a spy thriller with some rather prescient thoughts about AI, "Source Code" is a fun sci-fi time loop thriller, "Spies in Disguise," is a hilarious take on the "James Bond" formula, and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" stares at the end of the world and chooses kindness.
Sweet Tooth is back for more dystopian optimism
Where to Watch "Sweet Tooth" Season 2: Netflix
When "Sweet Tooth" season 2 releases: April 27, 2023
Where most post-apocalyptic tales focus on the hardships of surviving after the fall of civilization, "Sweet Tooth" gets by on kindness and optimism. Even if the plot does get rather dark at times, the main character Gus — a human-deer hybrid — always tries to see the good in people. The show is set a decade after a mysterious virus killed 98% of the population and caused the birth of human-animal hybrids.
The first season ended with Gus captured by a villainous general and a group of hybrid-hunting mercenaries. As we saw in the trailer for season 2, a new virus is threatening to destroy what's left, as a group of young hybrids try to uncover the secrets of the apocalypse.
Citadel brings very expensive spy thrills
Where to Watch "Citadel": Prime Video
When "Citadel" releases: April 28, 2023
Prime Video's "Citadel" already made headlines when it became the second most expensive show in history — right after the studio's own "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power." While that could seem like a giant red flag, there is still reason to be excited about the Russo Brothers' latest spy thriller. For one, it stars Priyanka Chopra Jones and Richard Madden, two great actors, and features a supporting performance from character actor extraordinaire Stanley Tucci. The premise, about two former spies who had their memories wiped clean after the fall of a global spy agency before being sent on a new mission, is promising.
Plus, the show is set to begin a global franchise, with spin-offs set in different countries like Italy and India, with storylines crossing over from one to the other. This is an ambitious plan, and one worth keeping an eye on.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is a bright and colorful post-apocalyptic adventure
The series: "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts"
Where you can watch it: Netflix
Like "Sweet Tooth," Netflix's animated show "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts" is a post-apocalyptic show, but one that is full of color, wonders, and optimism. Curiously enough, this is also a show full of mutated anthropomorphic animals that talk (and sing!), like giant Mega Dogs, lumberjack cats, mobster frogs, dubstep bees, and K-pop-singing narwhals. This makes the world of the cartoon a fascinating one that keeps expanding and deepening with each episode.
But don't let the colorful visuals and cute creatures distract you: This is also a show that doesn't shy away from mature and complex themes. The young protagonists struggle with knowing where they stand as the story offers timely explorations of bigotry, oppression, fanaticism, and fascism.
Person of Interest explores AI worries in a gripping techno-thriller
The series: "Person of Interest"
Where you can watch it: HBO Max
When "Person of Interest" first premiered, it very much felt like a typical CBS procedural, but it quickly became clear that this Jonathan Nolan joint had bigger ideas in mind. For once, it was incredibly prescient, with plots about national surveillance and whistleblowers that became real when the Snowden news and the PRISM revelations came to light. Likewise, Nolan's worldbuilding was detailed and expansive, slowly building a story that entered into sci-fi and vigilantism territory — it ended up being a sort of Batman meets "Westworld" show.
But perhaps the biggest legacy of this techno-thriller remains its take on AI, as the show fully became about a war between two machines that became more serialized with each season. This show is smart, thrilling, and occasionally scarily timely.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a masterful display of puppetry and fantasy storytelling
The series: "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance"
Where you can watch it: Netflix
One of the biggest tragedies of the streaming era is that we got a "The Dark Crystal" TV show only for it to get canceled after just one season. Making it more painful was the fact that "Age of Resistance" was genuinely one of the best things on TV, with spectacular visuals, exquisite production designs, and plenty of intricate puppetry. This is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson cult film, an appropriately dark fantasy adventure of epic proportions which fleshed out the world of Thra and its inhabitants and really honed in on the politics hinted at in the original, showing the hardships of starting a revolution.
Source Code is an enigmatic sci-fi action thriller
The movie: "Source Code"
Where you can watch it: FuboTV
There are too many action thrillers out there, so it's hard for any new ones to stand out. Luckily, Duncan Jones' "Source Code" breaks the mold thanks to a sci-fi twist. What if there was a machine that lets you recreate a tragedy using the memories of the victims in order to uncover the culprit behind the whole thing? There are fascinating questions raised about parallel universes and time travel as the film plays coy with the exact nature of the machine that allows for a time loop. What's most impressive is the way the film makes the eight minutes Jake Gyllenhaal's character can relive over and over feel fresh thanks to small changes in each loop that flesh out the world of the film and allows the movie to further explore its characters.
Ranking of Kings hides a nuanced and dark story with Ghibli-like visuals
The series: "Ranking of Kings"
Where you can watch it: Crunchyroll
From its opening scene, "Ranking of Kings" pulls a magic trick on the audience, using its Studio Ghibli-like aesthetics and its adorable protagonist to sell a cute fairy story about a defenseless tiny deaf and naive prince who dreams of being a good king. But you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, nor an anime by its character designs or gorgeous backgrounds, because this show is not afraid to get bleak and even a little gnarly. This was one of the best shows of both 2021 and 2022, a fantasy with a huge sense of optimism like "Sweet Tooth," but which stands out with outstanding fight scenes, a fantastic story, and some of the best character work the medium has to offer.
Spies in Disguise is an utterly ridiculous and hilarious spy romp
The movie: "Spies in Disguise"
Where you can watch it: Disney+
Yes, this is the movie where Will Smith plays a James Bond-type super spy who accidentally gets turned into a pigeon, and you know what? It's one of the best spy movies in recent years. (Fingers crossed "Citadel" meets that bar in the TV realm.) For one, the casting is excellent, with Smith essentially being like Joe Pesci in "Home Alone" and trying his hardest not to curse in every other scene. This movie is basically an animated version of "Mission: Impossible," with cool gadgets, over-the-top villains, and massive set pieces.
What really makes "Spies in Disguise" stand out is its humor. In many ways, this feels like a classic Nickelodeon cartoon from the '90s, full of innuendoes inside its wacky scenarios — keep an eye out for a "50 Shades of Gray" joke, or the approximately 500 gags about pigeon cloacas.
Everything Everywhere All at Once shows the importance of kindness even in the chaos of the multiverse
The movie: "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Where you can watch it: Prime Video
"Sweet Tooth" is all about staring at the end of the world and offering a kind smile, and that is also at the core of the Academy Award-winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once." For all its cool sci-fi concepts and cartoony gags, like the sausage fingers or Raccacoonie, this is ultimately a movie about rejecting nihilism and choosing kindness even while knowing that things suck. Sure, the action is cool, and the comedy is absurd, but beneath all that is a deeply human story with positivity at its core.