Small-Screen Stream: 'Killing Eve,' 'Sorry For Your Loss,' And Other Great Streaming Series You Might Have Missed In 2018
(Welcome to Small-Screen Stream, a feature where we share the best television shows streaming and where you can watch them.)
The year is winding to an end, the "best of" lists are pouring in, and chances are you're up to your neck in content you'd like to catch up on before the month is through. Plenty of those lists are filled with big-name series everyone knows – Westworld, Atlanta, The Americans, The Handmaid's Tale – but what about the more underrated gems sneaking in? Have you heard of those, too? Did you know you can watch most of them at home right now?
For this week's Small-Screen Stream – the last of the year – I've curated a list of many critical darlings that you might have missed in the cavalcade of content that's come out this year. Some are recently announced Golden Globe nominees, some are criminally under-seen, some were recently canceled, but all were must-watch TV anyway.
Killing Eve, Season 1
Where To Watch: Hulu
Created By: Luke Jennings (novelas), Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Starring: Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw
This BBC America series, created by Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge and based on the Codename Villanelle novelas by Luke Jennings, recently scored two Golden Globe nominations for Best Drama and Best Actress in a Drama for star Sandra Oh. The show follow's Oh's Eve Polastri, an MI5 officer who tracks down a psychopathic assassin named Villanelle (the fantastic Jodie Comer). Think Luther, but more dangerous.
Sorry For Your Loss, Season 1
Where To Watch: Facebook Watch
Created By: Kit Steinkellner
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Kelly Marie Tran, Jovan Adepo, Janet McTeer
Yes, this show aired on Facebook Watch. But don't let that hold you back. Sorry For Your Loss is one of the year's best new series, about a young widow Leigh (Olsen) dealing with loss in its many forms after the sudden death of her husband. The show expands beyond its simple premise, exploring the characters in Leigh's orbit and the many ways and things a human can grieve.
Pose, Season 1
Where To Watch: FX Plus
Created By: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Steven Canals
Starring: Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Billy Porter, Evan Peters
Ryan Murphy shows aren't exactly known for their restraint, and Pose is no different, but it feels like the perfect marriage of content and creator. It's also a revolutionary series, featuring the largest-ever cast of transgender actors in a narrative series. Set in the late '80s, it explores New York City counterculture, from the ballroom community to the rise of the Manhattan yuppie. The series was recently nominated for Golden Globes in the Best Drama Series and Best Actor in a Drama Series for Billy Porter.
Succession, Season 1
Where To Watch: HBO
Created By: Jesse Armstrong
Starring: Brian Cox, Nicholas Braun, Kiernan Culkin, Peter Friedman
HBO put out plenty of excellent content this year, but Succession is by far the most unfairly under-discussed. Centered on the controversial Roy family, who own one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world, it's a steely look at the 1-percenter lifestyle, a critique of the evil deeds wealthy families eat their own to stay on top. Brian Cox is great as the Roy family patriarch, while the siblings are all fantastically portrayed, and downright Trumpian in their entitlement and misbehavior.
Howard’s End (miniseries)
Where To Watch: Starz
Created By: E.M. Forster (novel), Kenneth Lonergan, Hettie MacDonald
Starring: Hayley Atwell, Matthew Macfadyen, Philippa Coulthard
There's no shortage of Howard's End adaptations out there in the world, but when Kenneth Lonergan writes one, it's time to pay attention. The timeless Forster story about the intersection of three turn-of-the-century British families is anchored by a fantastic Hayley Atwell performance and directed to perfection by Hettie Macdonald, perhaps best known for her work on the classic Doctor Who episode, "Blink."
Bodyguard, Season 1
Where To Watch: Netflix
Created By: Jed Mercurio
Starring: Richard Madden, Keeley Hawes
Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden received his first Golden Globe nomination last week for his work on this BBC One import, where he stars as Sergeant David Budd, an Afghanistan war veteran turned bodyguard. Budd suffers from PTSD, which aids in his hatred of new employer, Home Secretary Julia Montague, a war hawk whose policies make Budd squirm. A strong supporting cast and excellent writing make this a propulsive watch.
American Vandal, Seasons 1-2
Where To Watch: Netflix
Created By: Dan Perrault, Tony Yacenda
Starring: Tyler Alvarez, Griffin Gluck, Jimmy Tatro
Netflix shamefully canceled this brilliant high school satire, a spoof on true crime docu-series centered on moronic schoolboy pranks instead of murders. The first season dealt with a serial graffiti artist who covers the school in phallic drawings, while the second examines the "turd burglar," a student who puts laxatives in the lunchroom lemonade that causes a diarrhea epidemic. The plot sounds infantile, but American Vandal is a surprisingly smart and genuinely well-plotted mystery series, both laugh-out-loud ridiculous and a sharp look at the horrors of the social media era.
Lodge 49, Season 1
Where To Watch: AMC
Created By: Jim Gavin
Starring: Wyatt Russell, Brent Jennings, Sonya Cassidy
Wyatt Russell, son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt, is known for his charistmatic surfer dude characters, and Lodge 49 – inspired loosely by Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 – is no different. But it's perhaps the best use of Russell's easygoing brand yet, and the show certainly has that Pynchon weirdness aplenty. Russell plays Dud, a drifter searching for meaning after the death of his father, who lands in an abandoned fraternal lodge, meets a plumbing salesman, and gets into alchemy. Like I said, weird!
Castle Rock, Season 1
Where To Watch: Hulu
Created By: Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason
Starring: André Holland, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård
Castle Rock wasn't totally slept on, but it does seem like it slipped through the cracks a little. Set in the fictional Stephen King-created town, the show is an ode to the horror author; while not directly based on any of his novels, it feels a part of their shared universe. It involves a missing boy, a mysteriously appearing man, Shawshank Prison, and inter-dimensional travel. You know, Stephen King stuff. The show is appropriately spooky, though never full-tilt horror. It feels like a dusty paperback pulled from a back shelf. Not exactly revolutionary, but comforting and reliable.
The Good Fight, Seasons 1-2
Where To Watch: CBS All Access
Created By: Robert King, Michelle King, Phil Alden Robinson
Starring: Christine Baranski, Rose Leslie, Erica Tazel, Audra McDonald
This tragically under-seen sequel to The Good Wife follows that series' breakout character, Diane Lockhart (Baranski), after a financial scandal has forced her into a new role at Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad. The show delves into hot-button issues, like white nationalism and "fake news," but never feels preachy or drab; instead, it's a witty, sharp series centered on and about powerful women in law.
You, Season 1
Where To Watch: Netflix
Created By: Caroline Kepnes (novel), Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble
Starring: Penn Badgley, Elizabeth Lail, Luca Padovan
This is a bit of a cheat, since You doesn't hit Netflix until later this month. But this is the last time I'm checking in with you this year, which is why I wanted to give it a shoutout. The Lifestime series – about a creepy bookstore manager and the patron he publicly courts and secretly stalks – is Badgley doubling-down on his Gossip Girl narrator role. The show toys with format and voiceover, with a midseason subversion that's reminiscent of Gone Girl. It all sounds by-the-numbers, but its use of social media and the kooky plot machinations make this a uniquely modern cautionary tale that's hard to look away from.