Dog-eat-dog days of TV

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This article was published 07/02/2025 (330 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Television can often be relied on to provide comfort in troubled times. This is not one of those times. But if we’re lucky, viewers’ sobs will also express the joy of witnessing well-told stories and blisteringly effective performances. Even so, brace for impact in the faces of these five viewing picks for the next couple of weeks.

Yellowjackets

Season 3 premières with two new episodes on Crave, streaming Friday, Feb. 14, on cable Sunday, Feb. 16

Survival is hard. Also messy. But look at what beautiful alfresco shelters can be constructed with only twigs and sticks! Still hopping 25 years between Season 1’s plane crash in a northern wilderness and the survivors’ mundane adult lives, Yellowjackets continues finding new ways to pick at the scarred dreams of teamwork, leadership and self-reliance.

But this series has never been just about mortal challenges. What does the wilderness want from these star soccer players and support staff? Melanie Lynskey (Castle Rock), Christina Ricci (Z: The Beginning of Everything), Tawny Cypress (Unforgettable), Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) and Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) are back.

New on the scene are Hilary Swank (Alaska Daily) and Joel McHale (Community). As for the story? Ordinarily, a dearth of detail in the press materials and trailer would be worrisome, but this bone- and brain-crunching pyschological horror show has proved its mettle. The fewer the specific expectations the better.

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The White Lotus

Season 3 premières Sunday, Feb. 16, on HBO/Crave

One of the most anticipated series returns of the year so far takes viewers to the Thai location of the titular chain of resort hotels. How, return viewers are wondering, will the soapy anthology thriller get by without a beloved fan favourite from the first two seasons, in Maui and Sicily? (No spoilers here.) But there is a welcome familiar face — masseuse Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is on a working vacation she hopes will allow her to bring some Thai “magic” back to Maui.

New on the White Lotus guest list is another stellar roster, including: a May-December couple played by Walton Goggins (Justified) and Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education); a “perfect” wealthy family headed by Jason Isaacs (Death of Stalin) and Parker Posey (Scream 3); and old pals (sorry, “Not old!”) played by Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale), Carrie Coon (The Leftovers) and Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone) reuniting for a girls’ trip.

The staff half of this series’ satirical riff on Upstairs, Downstairs includes a White Lotus owner (Lek Patravadi), Lalisa Manobal as a “health mentor” and Tayme Thapthimthong as a security guard.

There’s also a gun, some very unwanted news and a “goddamned body bag.” Bring. It.

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Best Interests

Miniseries premières Monday, Feb. 17, on Acorn

An opportunity for a well-founded sob is not unwelcome at the moment. Beloved Brit actors Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex) and Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters) play parents facing an excruciating decision. When their chronically ill young daughter’s health suddenly deteriorates, the doctors decide to withdraw care, but what is, to quote the title, in the best interests of the child? End her suffering or honour her apparently still-vigorous drive to live every second possible?

Make some tea and grab your tissues.

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Zero Day

Series premières all six episodes Thursday, Feb. 20, on Netflix

This is the first TV series for Oscar winner Robert De Niro, whose credits cover most of the films listed at IMDb.com. Fortunately, the 81-year-old is ably supported in this new thriller by a team of TV all-stars: creator Eric Newman (The Watcher, Narcos) and co-stars Jesse Plemons (Fargo), Angela Bassett (9-1-1), Connie Britton (The White Lotus), Bill Camp (The Night Of), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent) and Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) to name a few.

The story, which maniacally flirts with current end-of-world tech-moguls-in-charge fears, is no slouch either: De Niro plays former president George Mullen, called back into service after the perpetrators of a cyberattack, code name Zero Day, vow a repeat.

Of course, his “unwavering search for the truth” also evokes — cue nerve-shredding string music — personal demons. Tick-tock, former president Mullen! Or is it TikTok?

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A Thousand Blows

Series premières with all six Season 1 episodes on Friday, Feb. 21, on Disney+

“Inspired by real lives,” says the trailer for this new project — real, punchy lives. It’s a little bit history and a lot of bloody invention from Steven Knight, the creator/writer behind the juggernaut U.K. mob drama Peaky Blinders (all six seasons on Netflix, with a movie promised). Set mid-Victorian era, in the 1880s, A Thousand Blows follows Jamaican newcomers Hezekiah (Malachi Kirby of Roots) and Alec (Francis Lovehall, Masters of the Air), who try to bare-knuckle their way into the world of illegal boxing.

A patron in pugilism soon presents herself: Mary Carr (Erin Doherty of The Crown), queen of the real-life female gang Forty Elephants. Her interests do not appear to be pure but her ruthless competitive streak meets its match in king of the ring Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham, Boardwalk Empire).

More please? A second season has already aired in the U.K.

 

Broadcast dates subject to change. Questions, comments to denise.duguay@winnipegfreepress.com.