Slow Horses (2022)

I read a review that subtitled this ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Failure’, which is a hilariously accurate depiction of what I think is a great spy show. It is flat out amazing, and in my memory at least, better than the original, a series that is written by Nick Herron. It is a smart, witty, cleverly plotted show that has at core a group of sidelined spies who are not quite fired but no longer part of the main show due to varying degrees of failings who end up being essential to MI5’s headline-grabbing operation that is unfolding behind the scenes in a very different way than the public is privy to on the evening news. Gary Oldman demonstrates yet again that he is a consummate actor who can take on any role with the gusto that it deserves, and he clearly revels in the material that the Jackson Lamb character offers up for him. There are two seasons available and you are definitely left wanting more, and we watched them one at a time because we found them so adrenaline pumping, but they should also be savored rather than binged

Queen's Gambit (2020)

This is a trauma infused seven part mini-series that is well acted, well scripted, and does not end up in the disasterous place that it often seems to be headed. The opening episode shows eight-year-old Beth left impossibly unharmed by the car crash that kills her mother. As the series unfolds, we quickly learn that the crash was a suicide attempt that Beth was not meant to survive, and that Beth figures this out and flashes back to it often. Her father’s not in the picture, so Beth ends up at a Christian school for orphans. While there, she develops three things: a friendship with Jolene (played by Moses Ingram, who is excellent), a passion for chess, and a physical and emotional dependence on the little green tranquilizers fed to the children until they are later outlawed by the state. Drugging the kids was probably done in many an institutional setting but it is still pretty shocking, none-the-less. It is what substitutes for psychological support for children who have lost their families. When she finally leaves the school, she’s got those last two things packed in her suitcase alongside a bunch of chess books, a sizable ego, some unexplored trauma, and no small amount of self-loathing underneath her socially awkward and cool exterior. But it’s chess that drives her, sending her both to the heights of the competitive chess world and, increasingly, to pills and alcohol to keep demons at bay. It is a great story well told and well worth seeking out.

Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019)

I am a fan of Mindy Kaling and the 1994 original movie of the same title.  This is not so much an homage to the original film but rather it just uses its premise,  that a group of friends weathering four weddings and a funeral together (for better and for worse), as a basic structure for their own stories. It’s also still based in London for seemingly no reason other than nostalgia; all four of the main characters are American Anglophiles who returned to the U.K. after spending a transformative semester there in college.  This version gets ten episodes of time over which to delve more deeply into the characters, their loves, and their inter relatedness.

There are things that test the strength of the relationships between this group of friends over the years, and sometimes the priorities are hard to fathom.  However, the homage to the romantic comedy genre is well intentioned and enjoyable to watch.