Today, with over a dozen major streaming platforms and their weekly releases, if a professional critic is telling you that they watch a third of all the new releases, they’re flat-out lying. This is not humanly possible. Mindful of this new reality, my “must-watch” shows of the year shall not include, say, Shogun — it’s a great show, but chances are you have heard this already from 20 different sources.
This column, therefore, is about “must-watch” shows that did not receive the kind of critical attention and social media traction that a Shogun or a House of the Dragon did.
‘A Killer Paradox’ (Netflix)
A fiendishly clever South Korean series starring Choi Woo-shik (Parasite, Train to Busan) as Lee Tang, a youngster who has just been discharged from the army and is working at a convenience store. After he accidentally kills a serial killer, Lee realises he has a gift for sensing evil inside of people — and making these evildoers pay. However, Jang Nan-gam (Son Suk-ku), a detective with an unusually keen sense of intuition himself, realises that Lee has become a vigilante of sorts and races against time to stop his kill-spree. The narrative invites the viewer to ask moral questions of both its leads. Like the best Korean shows and films, this is actually a story about deep-seated social alienation and intense loneliness — only it’s wrapped up in genre conventions.
‘Mr Loverman’ (SonyLiv)
Arguably the most impressive British TV show of 2024, Mr Loverman is based on the novel of the same name by the Booker-winning writer Bernardine Evaristo. Both book and TV show follow Antiguan-born Londoner Barrington “Barry” Walker (Lennie James), a dandyish 75-year-old man whose marriage collapses after his decades-long affair with his male best friend Morris (Ariyon Bakare) is revealed. Obviously, this is a sensitive subject, and the show consistently makes smart storytelling choices to bring out the nuances here. James turns in the performance of a lifetime as a lifelong “family man,” doting father and grandfather, who is suddenly forced to justify his life choices in front of people who he thought loved him unconditionally. Barry also has to confront the undeniable pain this revelation has inflicted upon his wife Carmel (Sharon D. Clarke, magnificent).
‘Boy Swallows Universe’ (Netflix)
Boy Swallows Universe is based on the eponymous 2018 debut novel by Trent Dalton, one of the bestselling works of literary fiction in Australia these last few years. Eli Bell (Zac Burgess) is a troubled teenager in Brisbane with an absentee father, a mute brother — and an imprisoned mother he is trying desperately to free. In order to do so, Eli reluctantly enters the city’s underworld, becoming a heroin dealer for his shady stepfather Lyle (Travis Fimmel). Boy Swallows Universe is a heartbreaking watch on occasion, but well worth your time because of its evergreen themes of family and betrayal. Add to that the power-packed lead performances by Burgess and Fimmel in particular. Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Anthony LaPaglia, one of Australia’s Hollywood veterans, also has a delightful extended cameo.
‘Raat Jawaan Hai’ (SonyLiv)
No Indian show in 2024 gave me the kind of wholesome pleasure offered by the ‘buddy dramedy’ Raat Jawaan Hai, directed by Sumeet Vyas and written by Khyati Anand Puthran. This is a story about the trajectory of friendship, especially in terms of how friendships change when you become parents. Avinash (Barun Sobti), Radhika (Anjali Anand), and Suman (Priya Bapat) have been friends since childhood. But when the trio become parents for the first time (at around the same time), they must confront the prospect of “becoming boring” and sacrificing their buddy time in favour of Cocomelon, story time, and soiled nappies. Director Vyas cut his teeth on a number of shows produced by TVF (The Viral Fever), but Raat Jawaan Hai comfortably outstrips anything Vyas acted in. You’ll leave this show with a smile and a tear wiped away hastily.
‘Shrinking’ (Apple TV)
With its second season (which premiered in October), Shrinking confirms its place as “the best Hollywood show you’ve never heard of.” Now, one might argue that a TV show starring Jason Segel (Marshall from How I Met Your Mother) and Harrison Ford isn’t exactly ‘flying under the radar’ but that’s exactly what has happened to Shrinking. Part of it is the fact that Apple seldom goes for a publicity blitz for its TV shows or original movies. But this shouldn’t dissuade you from Shrinking, a distinctive, ‘funnysad’ story about a grieving therapist called Jimmy Laird (Segel) who, following his wife’s death, decides to become drastically more involved in his patients’ lives. Harrison Ford plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, a colleague of Jimmy’s who has Parkinson’s disease and is hiding this fact from his daughter.
The author is a writer and journalist working on his first book of non-fiction.
Published – November 28, 2024 02:48 pm IST
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