Those who have seen Tim Robinson before are familiar with the hilariously awkward scenes of I Think You Should Leave, which was created by Robinson and his creative partner Zach Kanin. Ranging anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes, the sketches are completely independent of each other. Flip on any episode, and you’ll find a montage of absurdism, either loving or hating the former SNL writers’ chaotic comedic style.

More recently, though, the duo has dipped their toes into narrative projects, such as Friendship (streaming on HBO Max), which stars Paul Rudd as a weatherman whose new friendship with a neighbor (Robinson) leads to a missing wife, a psychedelic trip, and imaginary jam sessions.

The pair’s newest project, HBO’s The Chair Company, is a thriller unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The show follows property developer Ron Trosper, played by Robinson, who is embarrassed when his chair collapses during a work event and dives down a rabbit hole to investigate a mysterious chair manufacturer called TECCA.

After enduring several calls with customer service, clicking on links that lead nowhere, and attempting to contact TECCA through seemingly invalid email addresses, Ron discovers the location of a mysterious warehouse, which is empty except for a giant red ball. When it becomes clear this newfound obsession is distracting Ron from his responsibilities as project manager for a new open concept mall, he resigns from his quest…until a man named Mike confronts him in the parking lot and screams at him to “STOP LOOKING INTO THE CHAIR COMPANY!” Naturally, this sends Ron back on the case. Through the next few episodes, he uncovers more, including a mysterious board of directors and schizophrenic former employees.

The key to The Chair Company’s success is the unreliable reality in which the story takes place. Ron is an absurd human, hyper-fixated on finding answers, regardless of how his reckless actions create blowback in his personal and professional relationships. However, he’s also capable of being the straight man, weirded out by even stranger behavior, such as a man purposefully dipping his elbow into a bowl of soup, or an elderly woman muttering “popcorn” in a dark corner. It’s Ron’s ability to be both the audience stand-in and the driving force of absurdity that makes the show extremely difficult to abandon.

Fluctuating between off-putting and genuinely hilarious, The Chair Company isn’t for everyone. Episodes can devolve into madness, with viewers at times questioning what they’re even watching. Side characters, including diner security guard/muscle-for-hire Mike Santini (Joseph Tudisco), present Ron with clues that often add new strands to the already tangled web of conspiracy, keeping him on the case even when he seems to be on the verge of giving up.

While some scenes feel more like standalone bits with the sole purpose of making the viewer uncomfortable, the show succeeds in molding Robinson’s unique style into a true mystery thriller. Every twist makes you question how insane the show can get before it snaps, as each new character says or does something that you’ve never seen before.

The Chair Company is one of one, which is probably for the best. The world of TV (and its viewers) can only handle so much.

The first season of The Chair Company is now streaming on HBO Max.

The first season of Peacemaker is about as great as an R-rated superhero comedy can be. A spinoff of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021), the show stars John Cena as Peacemaker, a man willing to kill anyone in the name of freedom. Full of fun characters and butterfly aliens, Gunn’s second DC project became the basis for a new superhero reality after he was named the CEO of DC Studios. He went on to direct Superman and has continued to map out the future of movies and shows set within the DCU. Gunn has teased that Peacemaker’s second season will have large implications for the future of DC, but it remains to be seen which projects will directly follow the events of the show.

Season Two introduces the concept of multiple dimensions, which the MCU has been exploring for years in the form of the “multiverse”. Peacemaker, however, opts to use the idea of alternate Earths as a way to explore the psyche of its main character, instead of producing cameos solely for the sake of applause, like Multiverse of Madness. After discovering he has a chance to live the life he always wanted, Peacemaker, aka Chris Smith, must decide whether it is right to live in this new “perfect” world, one where his brother and father are still alive, even if it means leaving his friends behind.

With the first episode of the new season dropping just a month after the release of Superman, Gunn was intent on connecting the show to the wider DCU. Frank Grillo reprises his role of Rick Flag Sr., the director of A.R.G.U.S., becoming the show’s antagonist as he hunts Peacemaker with the hope of uncovering the secret to dimensional travel while getting some revenge in the process. Also returning from the film are Lex Luthor’s henchmen, albeit late in the season, and even Nicholas Hoult as Luthor himself. They join Flag’s efforts with unknown intentions, pushing out the established A.R.G.U.S. forces, including Tim Robbins as Agent Fleury and Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux.

The second season makes it clear just how much John Cena’s character has evolved since his debut in The Suicide Squad. He listens more, is less abrasive, and, at times, actually cares too much, believing that his actions (or just his presence) can put those he cares about in danger. It’s a very different version of the character than the one seen in The Suicide Squad. Season two’s finale goes all-in on the show’s theme of found family, with Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) delivering a speech about Chris’s ability to help others discover who they truly want to be.

James Gunn can still nail the conversational comedy that made movies like the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy so entertaining, but the show can struggle when it tries to perform joke-a-minute. Some characters, like Michael Rooker as a mystical eagle hunter, don’t bring a lot to the table, acting more as an obstacle for the plot to work around than a source of reliable laughs. However, when Peacemaker refocuses on its main characters, such as Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), it’s one of the funniest superhero releases of the modern era.

While Season One benefited from being a pretty straightforward alien invasion story, Season Two can often feel stretched thin. With the addition of more characters and connective tissue to the growing DC universe, Peacemaker has lost some of the charm it had when it was off in its own corner. Thanks to the short, half-hour episodes, fans are left to theorize endlessly about multiversal plotlines. The nearly hour-long finale tries to remedy this, and, with the help of a few montages, it manages to hit a few solid emotional beats and plant the seeds for a larger storyline that will be continued in some of the DC future releases.

Season Two wasn’t perfect, but it’s still a fun time that lets you connect with Peacemaker, whose story has somehow become a central piece of the new DCU. After Superman and Peacemaker, James Gunn is stepping away from the director’s chair and focusing on the DCU’s overall narrative. The next DC release, Lanterns, comes from the producers of Lost, Ozark, and The Leftovers, with episodes dropping in the first half of next year.

The architect behind these two events is the CEO of Prodigy, Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin),and his desire to meet (or engineer) something that can carry an interesting conversation. He promises new bodies to dying children, bodies that are strong and fast, that they can use to live forever. Kavalier believes that the children’s imagination is a gift that will elevate this new form of being. With their consciousnesses transferred, they are called “hybrids”, a term that is explained during the show’s opening, along with “cyborgs” and “synths.” As hybrids, the children are free to live and play, as long as they remain on Prodigy’s “Neverland” island. They assist around the lab and train to master their new powers, all while under constant observation. The actors portraying these characters are given a tough task: be analytical supercomputers and children in over their heads at the same time. While the child-speak can be annoying at times, watching the hybrids’ awkward confusion clash with newfound strength as they navigate the dangers surrounding them is too fascinating to produce too many eyerolls.

Going all-in on the faraway Neverland theme, the series consists of numerous (and increasingly on the nose) dreamlike voiceovers from the Peter Pan story, read by Kavalier to his newly dubbed Lost Boys. Even the show’s ostensible villain, Morrow, has a metal hand like the Peter Pan antagonist. Wendy (Sydney Chandler), the first child to undergo the procedure, appears to feel more natural in her synthetic body, exercising control over technology to keep tabs on her brother and to later create chaos on the island.

When the crashed ship, dubbed the Maginot, destroys part of a Prodigy-owned city, the Lost Boys are thrust into the fray. Viewed as a field test by Boy Kavalier, they are tasked with securing the crash site so that the ship’s cargo (namely, a few extraterrestrial lifeforms) can be taken back to the island. The crash, and its immediate fallout, make up the majority of the first three episodes, but once the characters (and creatures) return to the island, examinations of intellect and loyalty take center stage.

Of course, the aliens come into play a bit as well. A xenomorph is unleashed on the ship, bringing even more death to the half-destroyed hotel that becomes the center of an impromptu landing zone. After a battle with the show’s central hybrid, the two form a unique connection, raising obstacles for Wendy’s brother, Hermit (played by Andor’s Alex Lawther), who wants to take his sister and run far away from Neverland’s scientific prodding. Once the aliens are brought to the island, it’s like a fuse has been lit; an explosion is inevitable. Blood-suckers, acid spitters, and killer plants lurk around corners, but it’s a tentacled eyeball that delivers some truly eerie moments while the xenomorph eggs sit in the background, begging someone to come close.

Morrow (Babou Ceesay), a cyborg security officer, and Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), Kavalier’s right-hand synth, join Wendy as well as David Jonsson’s Andy (from Alien: Romulus) in proving that the best characters in the Alien franchise are rarely fully human. Their dedication to the corporate powers of Prodigy and Weyland-Yutani is frightening. Morrow acts as an extension of his company, cold and calculating. The tense correspondence he carries with one of the Lost Boys across the latter episodes produces some of the best examples of the show’s “transitional storytelling,” during which scenes fade between characters, projecting their thoughts through dreamlike imagery and voiceover. Kirsh takes a different approach while still working towards Kavalier’s ultimate goal. He withholds information from the boy genius, allowing violence to break out so that he can see a clear picture, removed from any subterfuge.

The fifth episode flashes back to the Maginot, in an expansion of the premiere’s glimpse at the final moments aboard the ship. Working toward the premiere’s glimpses of onboard chaos, the episode shows how the mission fell apart, while centering Morrow, a now-tragic character whose view on the world is revealed as more numb than cold.

Alien: Earth, can feel stretched to its limits, failing to support the full weight of its ideas. The hotel crash site becomes a haunted house, full of terror, but void of any real threat of death. On Neverland, plotlines fall into place. Morrow’s mission resumes, Wendy starts to see cracks in the power structure that created her, and aliens lie in wait, ready to benefit from any error. The show is filled with interesting characters who explore new concepts within the Alien universe, as well as creative choices that are unlike anything I’ve seen on TV. But the finale fails to deliver on some of the lofty expectations set by the show. Minor characters can detract from more interesting storylines, and the open ending, while not exactly a cliffhanger, refuses to bring some plot lines to an end.

While it doesn’t exactly have the same power as Game of Thrones as a sweeping epic, this adaptation of Hawai’i’s history certainly has its moments. Jason Momoa, who played Khal Drogo on the HBO medieval series, is in the driver's seat as the show’s co-creator and star, playing the famed warrior Ka’iana. Momoa’s involvement is essential to the show (with his name appearing larger than the title on some advertising). Unknown (but talented) Hawaiian actors comprise the majority of the cast, making Ka’iana stand out even more as both a physical presence and a recognizable figure.

As the show opens, Ka’iana, the former Chief of War of the island of Maui, lives a peaceful life with his family. During the first episode, they are thrust back into the fight, plotting with King Kahekili to invade the island of O’ahu. Throughout the series, Kahekili grows increasingly insane, building forts made of bones and executing those he deems untrustworthy. Temura Morrison, known for portraying Boba Fett in the modern Star Wars era, produces what might be the best performance of the show as the mad king.

Soon after, Ka’iana’s clan runs from Kahekili’s quest for power and into the growing conflict on Hawai’i between the newly crowned King Kamehameha and the brother of the former king, Keoua. Most of the series follows this conflict: Kamehameha’s interest in peace, the radical Keoua’s violent tendencies, and Ka’iana’s desire to prove his strength while keeping his loved ones safe.

Kahekili’s mad king plot takes a backseat in the second half of the season in favor of the growing war between Kamehameha and Keoua. Kahekili will likely become more of the focus in the not-yet-announced season two. The show’s continuation seems likely when looking at Apple TV+’s track record. Some series, like Invasion and Foundation, have had three seasons without becoming mainstream breakouts.

One of the show’s weaknesses is the vague distinctions regarding the different islands and their districts. Often, their only defining feature is which characters are located there. While the majority of episodes follow events set on Hawai’i, establishing shots with title cards reading “District of ______” are less helpful than if they were never provided in the first place.

Ka’iana is taken from the islands, learning about modern weaponry and the power of greed from his English shipmates. English becomes a second language within the show, being used by foreigners and Hawai’ians alike as the islands get more visitors. With the new language comes new technology. Guns arrive, offering the peace-minded Kamehameha a path toward victory against Keoua.

Ka’iana’s off-island adventures exacerbate some of Chief of War’s pacing issues, but the battle scenes, beautiful setting, and intense performances prove there’s more good here than bad. With news of a second season hopefully around the corner, Apple continues to add to its impressive television library.

I was excited by the premise, especially after not loving Obi-Wan, Ashoka, and the third season of The Mandalorian, but ultimately, the series felt like it was made of three distinct ideas fighting for airtime. There’s a Sith on a quest to achieve the Power of Two, a mystery involving Jedi involvement in the destruction of a coven of witches, and a pair of force-sensitive twins caught between the established Jedi power and an emerging Sith force.

The series starts with a very entertaining fight between a masked assailant and a Jedi master played by Carrie-Ann Moss. This fight was used in most of the promotional footage for the show and was meant to generate some hype with Moss bringing some Matrix flair to the Star Wars universe. However, Moss is killed after just a few minutes and it is revealed that the assassin is a dark side apprentice on a mission to kill four Jedi. The individual is assumed to be Osha (Amandla Stenberg), a former Jedi Padawan. The first two episodes follow her detainment and eventual reunion with her master, Sol (Lee Jung-jae). After receiving visions and discussing the killings with Sol, Osha realizes that her sister Mae, who supposedly died years ago, is alive and guilty of the crimes.

A major issue I had with the series was its pacing. After two episodes, we are shown who the killer is, what their goal is, and the deaths of two Jedi. In the third, we are given an entire flashback episode that attempts to introduce the mystery regarding what happened to the coven that Osha and Mae called home and how the two became separated. The episode feels out of sync with what the show has presented itself to be so far. It is half of a backstory that takes up an entire episode within a show that doesn’t have room for it. The fourth episode follows Mae as she hunts down her third target, a Wookiee Jedi, with her accomplice Qimir. Coming in at less than 30 minutes, and ending on a cliffhanger, it presents the strongest case for consolidating episodes. If we had followed Mae on her hunt while she explained her past to Qimir using flashbacks, the show's greater elements and storylines could have been fully formed. This also would have meant that audiences wouldn’t have to wait an additional week to watch the show’s best episode.

Episode 5 has already been hailed as some of the best Star Wars action since Revenge of the Sith. It is at this point that Qimir is revealed to be “The Stranger”, Mae’s Sith master. Played by Manny Jacinto (The Good Place, Top Gun: Maverick), the Sith warrior reignites the series. For what feels like most of the episode, Qimir slashes through Jedi Knights, disables their lightsabers with his metallic helmet, and brings a sense of fear and chaos into the paths of our characters. One Jedi, Yord, and Sol’s apprentice, Jecki, are slain by Qimir without a second thought. The confidence The Acolyte showed in killing off two characters who had been key players since the first episode is something that I felt shows like Obi-Wan and Ashoka had been missing. Sequences like episode 5’s battle lead me to believe in the greatness hidden within this show.

After the Jedi slaughter, Osha unwillingly trades places with Mae and the twins spend the next episode with the other’s master. While the previous episode displayed some peak Star Wars action, this one dives more into ideology. Osha’s time with Qimir on an island-covered planet that looks similar to Luke’s resting place in The Last Jedi, reveals Qimir’s plan to establish the Sith “rule of two” and grow his dark side power. He discusses the Jedi's rules with Osha, pointing out flaws in their logic, including what makes for an appropriate time to kill. Instead of being a headstrong Padawan, Osha sees the truth behind his words. She left the Jedi years ago and has had time to reflect on how they police power. Eventually, she is drawn to Qimir’s helmet, which has the power to temporarily disable lightsabers as well as place the wearer in a state of deep meditation. Lightyears away, Mae is hiding in plain sight aboard Sol’s ship. Sol, who seemingly believes he is talking to Osha, listens to her statements about Padawan training and the pressure put on children to become ideologic soldiers. Sol soon catches Mae by surprise and subdues her, telling her that it is time she knew the truth about what happened to her family.

The Acolyte’s greatest misstep comes in the form of episode 7. The penultimate episode brings the audience back to the time of Osha and Mae’s separation, also known as episode 3. We view the same 12-hour time period we saw when following the twins, but this time through the eyes of the small group of Jedi who are scouting a planet for a source of the Force. To dedicate 1/4 of the season to flashback episodes that revisit the same event shows a lack of faith in the narrative and ideological exploration the show had found its footing in during episodes 5 and 6. While visually interesting, the coven’s powers are vague and there are moments that still stump me. I really enjoyed the takeover of Padawan Torbin’s mind but am at a loss trying to understand the sheer power it took for Carrie-Ann Moss’s character to take out an entire force-sensitive coven. I can understand the intention behind a flashback episode so close to the finale, but having two of them in an eight-episode season and using one to interrupt some very interesting narrative work leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The finale perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards the rest of the show: creative moments Star Wars fans have never seen before trapped in a story that tries to be more complicated then it needs to be. Qimir and Sol engage in another duel that involves floating through the air and force-dodging dual lightsabers; another exhibit of The Acolyte’s unique visuals and dynamic action. Osha arrives after the duel and Mae tells her what was revealed in the previous episode: in an attempt to stop Osha from being affected by the coven’s magic, Sol killed the the twins’ mother. Osha, deciding the Jedi have used their power for worse, crosses to the dark side and force chokes Sol, killing her former master in a way reminiscent of Darth Vader. Following her turn, Osha’s lightsaber bleeds red and she escapes with Qimir and Mae into the nearby forest as Jedi, led by a Master we learn Qimir was apprentice to, hunt them down. Mae volunteers to stay behind so that her capture can buy time for the others to flee. Qimir and Osha set off to strengthen new connections to the Force. Senators on Coruscant accuse the Jedi of becoming too embedded in power throughout the galaxy while Sol is framed as a rogue Jedi, posthumously taking the blame for Mae and Qimir’s deeds.

Throughout the show, the clear standout is Manny Jacinto. The moment he appears as the masked Sith he takes over the series. Calmly dissecting Jedi law one moment, electrifying scenes with his physicality the next. Lee Jung-jae is also phenomenal as Sol. The non-English speaker portrays a Jedi who believes in his cause, regardless of the harm he brings to other. The Acolyte is a tragedy when Sol is viewed as the main character and Jung-jae allows a sense of impending doom to sink into the character during the moments that matter most. Finally, Amandla Stenberg carries the weight of two characters and shines as Osha in the back half of the season. I never doubted the twins were different characters and I found Osha’s turn to be pretty engaging.

Will The Acolyte return for a second season? It might be too early to tell. I hope it does as it brought kinetic fight sequences and interesting dissections of power and influence to a franchise that desperately needs new visionaries.

This season has been fun, not near the highs of the third season which were reached thanks to the exciting introduction of Temp V and an electric performance from Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. I’m not saying the absence of Soldier Boy is the cause of this minor falloff in quality. Antony Starr has never been better in the role of Homelander and the introductions of Sister Sage and a new Black Noir are

This episode in particular feels wacky for the sake of being wacky. It’s almost as if the audience is being begged to say “Woah! Look at that!” as superpowered vampire sheep tear apart a cow. Rarely has this show made me wonder why the characters don’t just do one thing instead of the thing they end up doing. There seems to always be a reason why someone kills or is killed. However, in this episode, we find the gang (plus Neuman and Stan) trapped in a barn as super-sheep wait for them outside. Why doesn’t Neuman simply explode the sheep the same way she explodes the chickens just 5 minutes earlier? I don’t know, maybe because we need the only vial of the Supe virus to be thrown away. It seems like a feeble excuse from a show that has always been very smart about how it uses its runtime.

The other side of this episode follows Hughie and his mother through a hospital as they try to calm his dad after he’s revived with V. While it contained some nice moments revolving around loss and acceptance, I couldn’t help comparing the confines of Hughie’s scenario to the Antony Starr masterclass that was Episode 4. It was almost as if this episode was treated as a cooldown which is something the show just can’t afford given the fact that there are only 3 episodes left.

Always looking forward to the next episode. I can’t wait to find out more about Butcher’s brain worm.

Danny, played by Steven Yeun (Minari, Invincible, Nope) runs a struggling handyman company in the hopes of providing a good life for his younger brother Paul (Young Mazino). Paul was one of my favorite characters in the entire show. He’s by far the youngest in the story and his naivety around success leads to some comedic, but thoughtful, realizations regarding what it means to be happy.

Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe, Paper Girls) shows tremendous range in the role of Amy. A businesswoman on the rise, she aims to sell her plant company in order to spend as much time as possible with her husband and daughter. In doing this she must dive headfirst into the world of privilege which is headlined by Jordan, a white art collector who “appreciates” Asian creations so much that it leaps into the realm of appropriation.

The inciting incident of a road rage-induced car chase gives insight into the two short-fused leads and their toxic relationship. As Danny pulls out of a grocery store parking space, he’s met with a honk from a car he almost backs into that goes on just a couple of seconds too long. As this stranger drives away, flipping him off, Danny decides to follow them home. This leads to a chase through town, ignoring stoplights, yards, and other drivers.

It is this event that sparks a contest with no true winner. Neither seems in control of finding a stopping point thanks to some of the sources of their feelings of inadequacy which are Danny’s cousin Isaac (David Choe) and Amy’s husband George (Joseph Lee). While the two men play vastly different characters, the effect they have on our leads is remarkably similar. Isaac’s scams and criminal behavior seem to result in him having the material success that Danny dreams of. George finds good fortune by being the son of a successful artist, making Amy’s hard work seem futile.

The anger that builds within Danny and Amy comes from similar aspects of life, despite their financial differences. Both are constantly reminded of their faults, intentionally or not, by those they care most about even though their true intentions are to uplift those same people. The torment the two put each other through can be viewed as a way of punishing themselves for all past failures, hoping that by defeating the other they can emerge with a real grasp on life.

The first is set in the 1950s, where we follow a pair of scientists (Mari Yamamoto and Anders Holm) and their military companion (Wyatt Russell) as they discover the existence of Titans, huge monsters that are extremely difficult to track and even harder to examine. Their discoveries lead to the three of them forming the scientific agency known as Monarch. They travel the world chasing down leads, discovering new types of monsters, and studying how they have adapted to a specific environment.

During their adventures, they fight the American government’s inability to accept new scientific truths, which threatens their funding and ability to learn more about the Titans. Keiko, one of the scientists, uses her intelligence to fight against the racial and gender biases of the 50s. She becomes the focal point of a love triangle with her two companions, Shaw and Bill. Bill, the other scientist, brings additional knowledge regarding the monsters while Shaw, the soldier, is assigned to protect them and learns about the importance of science. During their time together, he realizes the mistakes that can come when those in charge believe they are superior to those they order.

The second show is set one year after the events of Godzilla (2014). A woman named Cate discovers that her father, who disappeared during said events, had been hiding a second family. She teams up with her new artistic half-brother, Kentaro, and his computer-minded ex, May, in order to find their father. As they start their adventure they stumble into Monarch’s crosshairs and a weathered, ex-Monarch soldier (Kurt Russell) who has decided to take protecting Earth from Titans into his own hands.

This storyline has a convoluted plot, inconsistent acting, and characters making decisions solely to create new problems they will have to face in later episodes. Our main characters act like they don’t want to be involved in the story, sometimes even saying it out loud. The driving force of the show starts as a mission to find a lost father, one that is so simple that the show feels like it forgets that this is what it has chosen to be the main focus.

*Now that the finale has aired… SPOILERS BELOW

The final episode is predictable, but fun. Following the 9th episode, we follow Shaw and May in the world of Titans as they search for Cate who they are unaware has recently teamed up with her unaged grandmother Keiko, who we saw fall to her death in the first episode. On the surface, Kentaro works with his father to develop a plan to save the group before they are lost for good.

The duos in the Titan world find each other and break the truth to Keiko: despite her feeling as though she has only been gone for months, it has been almost 60 years since she fell into this new world. Keiko is devastated that she missed the death of her husband Bill, the growth of her son Hiroshi, and the birth of her grandchildren.

Keiko shows the group a beacon that she reconfigured to send a signal to the surface and Shaw realizes it belongs to the exploratory vessel he piloted through a rift 40 years prior. They travel to the ship and activate the beacon once more, allowing Kentaro and his father to locate them. A new Titan is drawn by the beacon, threatening their chance of return but suddenly, Godzilla appears through a rift and fights off the monster. As their ship struggles to carry the group through the rift, Shaw sacrifices himself, staying in the realm of Titans while Cate, May, and Keiko are thrust into the present, where they realize two years have passed.

This show’s emotional beats feel hollow, as we are told to care about a missing father we know nothing about. We are forced to follow a dysfunctional group of young adults and forgettable Monarch workers who produce middling performances. Even Kurt Russell’s performance feels off, perhaps due to it being too over-the-top in a show that is trying so hard to be a drama about family secrets. In the 1950s timeline, the story seems more natural, characters face real problems, and the threat of monsters is looked at through lenses of discovery and fear for mankind.

While not a total miss, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters fails to reach the levels of epic destruction of Godzilla (2014), the cheesy fun of Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla vs Kong, or the dramatic flair often found in Apple TV+ library.