Powerful Crime Drama in ‘Long Bright River’ and ‘Adolescence,’ Hetty’s Ghostly Gift, ‘Wheel of Time’ Turns Again, ‘Top Chef’ in Canada – TV Insider
Fans of emotionally charged crime dramas will want to check out Peacock‘s Long Bright River, starring Amanda Seyfried, and Netflix‘s Adolescence, a British stunner with each episode filmed in one continuous gripping take. Hetty’s unusual ghost power is finally revealed on Ghosts. Prime Video‘s adaptation of The Wheel of Time fantasy series returns for a third season. Top Chef crosses the border to Canada for its 22nd season.Emmy winner Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout) stars in an emotionally compelling crime drama based on Liz Moore’s terrifically gritty novel. Seyfried is Mickey Fitzpatrick, a Philadelphia cop who patrols the depressed neighborhood she grew up in and on whose streets her drug-addicted sister Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings) has gone missing. Mickey’s search for Kacey and flashbacks to their tragic past provide a poignant framework for Mickey’s rogue investigation into a series of murders of forgotten street women just like Kacey. Mickey’s also a single mom to 8-year-old Thomas (the remarkable Callum Vinson), who yearns for more family connection, but Mickey’s messy personal life and dogged sense of duty make her one of the most intriguingly imperfect heroines since HBO‘s Mare of Easttown. The deeper Mickey digs into the corruption of the city, the better we understand her own sorrows and regrets in a suspenseful tearjerker.While River takes its bittersweet time (eight episodes) to play out its story, this gripping British drama delivers its punch in four taut hours, each distinct episode filmed (by director Philip Barantini) in a single continuous take. There’s no opportunity to look away from the raw, wrenching emotion when, in the first hour, police raid a suburban home to arrest 13-year-old Jamie Miller (an astonishing Owen Cooper) for the murder of a female classmate. Co-writer and star Stephen Graham plays his disbelieving father, Jimmy, who in the final hour (set 13 months later) is still coming to grips with the tragedy. The standout episode, which unfolds like a blistering one-act play, involves Jamie’s meeting with a court-appointed psychologist (The Crown‘s Erin Doherty), during which encounter the boy comes off as alternately charming, menacing and broken. This limited series will haunt you. The haughty Hetty (the delightful Rebecca Wisocky) has long felt like the odd ghost out because she boasts no apparent supernatural power. That changes in a St. Patrick’s Day-themed episode that also introduces Asif Ali (Hulu‘s Deli Boys) as Jay’s (Utkarsh Ambudkar) unlucky-in-love cousin Sunil. Elsewhere on the spectral plane, Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) goes overboard trying to impress the B&B’s latest spirit, dinosaur-loving stripper/skydiver Chris (Deniz Akdeniz).For Season 3 of the fantasy series based on Robert Jordan’s sprawling novels, Wheel adapts the fan-favorite fourth volume, The Shadow Rising, with action flying quickly as war erupts between two factions of power-wielding females. Elsewhere, villager Rand (Josha Stradowski) clashes with his protector Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) over his new life as the Dragon, the reincarnated figure who may save — or end — the world. Launching with three episodes.Bring on the poutine! The trendsetting cooking competition heads north to Canada for the 22nd season, with 15 chefs demonstrating their prowess for host Kristen Kish, head judge Tom Colicchio, and Canada native Gail Simmons. In the opener, the chefs pick an ingredient from the pantry while incorporating the judges’ surprise ingredients, and in the Elimination Challenge, they prepare dishes representing Canada’s five regions.Matty (Kathy Baker) is at an emotional crossroads. Now convinced that her boss and friend Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) may be the culprit who hid documents in the opioid case, she finds it hard to focus as the team takes the all-important class-action case against a toxic beverage to trial. She’s also worried that her needy sister Bitsy (Julie Hagerty) will discover she’s the inspiration for Matty’s folksy “Matlock” character. And the search continues for a mole within the firm that could help Matty in her quest for justice.“Get Dr. Robby!” That’s the common refrain in another strong episode of the hospital drama, with one senior resident suddenly sent home (prompting plenty of gossip) and Robby (Noah Wyle) hopping from crisis to crisis to fill the void. They may be short-staffed, but the empathetic Robby urges charge nurse Dana (Katherine LaNasa), still recovering from her assault, and senior resident Heather (Tracy Ifeachor), who’s processing her own secret trauma, to go home and heal.INSIDE THURSDAY TV:ON THE STREAM:Keep up with your favorite shows… delivered to your inbox!Sign Up(It’s free!)
