Pasckie Pascua's Nerdy Squirrel Reviews: TV Series.

“The Oldenheim Twelve” (Amazon Prime) Dutch mystery-thriller. Journalist Peggy Jonkers returns to her traditional hometown, where a series of mysterious disappearances terrorizes the community.         Suspense and mystery are the lures or couch-baits of this series. First episode to 4 and 5, the thrill of knowing what's really going on heightens. Until the middle stretch turned slow and boring, as the characters do illogical or implausible turns. And then, the endgame or resolution, which is frustrating given all the clues, suspicions, and probabilities whirling in viewers’ minds.        Anyhow, this series would have been fine in 6 episodes, not 12. But I am alright with the performance of the leads: Noortje Herlaar as Peggy, and Nasrdin Dchar as the detective Sharif Dahmani. 🎥💻📽 “Innate” (Hulu) Spanish psychological crime thriller. After pulling through a traumatic childhood and remaking her life with a new...

“Mum” (Britbox) Season 2. British sitcom. Lesley Manville is a recently widowed 59-year-old mom, named Cathy. She manages the death of her husband and navigates her eccentric, daft family alongside her supportive friend Michael.        This series is witty and funny although not witty-cerebral or hilarious-funny. Just minimalist funny so enjoyable and entertaining, and smartly-written. Each character sustains an identity that helps enliven the ensemble fun.         Lesley Manville as the lead ties up the entire project into an addictive TV experience. And Lisa McGrillis’ Kelly is warm-funny. 🎥💻📽 “Tires” (Netflix) Season 1/2. workplace comedy . The series focuses on Will, who manages the West Chester, Pennsylvania location of his family's struggling auto-repair chain, "Valley Forge Automotive Center.”        The jokes in Season 1 connected just fine. Made me laugh a bit. A p...

“The Bombing of Pan Am 103” (Netflix) British drama , about the 1988 disaster of Pan Am Flight 103 , which was the deadliest terrorist attack in British history .          The unfailing lure of this series is obvious. And this show is almost a mechanical reenactment of the ensuing investigation of the tragedy. Less dramatic tension, more technical exposition. No complaints, whatsoever. 🎥💻📽 “House of Guinness” (Netflix) historical drama about the family behind the Guinness brewing company in 19th-century Ireland and New York, and the consequences following the death of Benjamin Guinness , the man responsible for the company’s extraordinary success.        This series is created by Steven Knight, the dude who gave us the remarkable, hugely-entertaining period pieces “Peaky Blinders” and “A Thousand Blows.” Mr Knight upped the grade a bit in “House of Guinness” with some “Downton Abbey” glamorous drama an...

“Trigger Point” (Britbox) Season 3. British crime thriller . Explosives officer Lana Washington and her team investigate a sinister revenge plot targeting corporate managers. As Lana hunts a bomber attempting to expose a corporate asbestos cover-up, she battles her own escalating trauma, PTSD, and a dangerous dependency on prescription medication.       This series is all Vicky McClure as explosives expert Lana Washington. As in the 2 previous seasons, the storytelling can be melodramatic and the dialogues, soap-operatic. But it's easy to ignore them for the thrills.        The plotting or writing trajectory is so powerful that you can't possibly stray your eyes away, no second is wasted. That is the given in this high-velocity series. What was missing in the first 3 seasons is a deeper navigation of Lana's personal demons. That she isn't superhuman, regardless of her steely resolve to defuse bombs that could easily break...

“The Agency” (Paramount+) Season 2. S py thriller . CIA operative Brandon Colby/Martian (Michael Fassbender) navigates treacherous double-agent operations to secure the release of his captive lover, Dr. Samia Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith). Simultaneously, the London CIA team unravels a Chinese/Russian espionage plot tied to an American mercenary known as Viking.         The emphasis on spying aesthetics and the internal dis/mistrust in the “agency” as they carry out missions is both intriguing and entertaining. Season 2 has more graspable structure and sense in behavior of the main characters than in Season 1. And there's more dramatic tension as well. With a bankable all-star cast, the ensemble performance alone is expectedly worth a binge-watch.        Since this series is a remake of the acclaimed French TV series “Le Bureau des Legendes,” which ran for 5 seasons (2017-2018), Season 3 of “The Agency” seems immine...

“A Woman of Substance” (Britbox) British historical drama , based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Barbara Taylor Bradford . Spanning six decades, this series charts the rise of Emma Harte from penniless Yorkshire maid in the early 1900s to powerful 1970s business mogul . Stars Brenda Blethyn and Jessica Reynolds .        The obvious attractions of this neatly-crafted series: The infectious “rags to riches” melodrama, the fiery feminist passion, the allure of the period vibe, plus the inspired performance of Jessica Reynolds as the young Emma Harte, and Brenda Blethyn 's less intense but commanding screen presence as the “current” Emma .           A binge-watch guilty pleasure, indeed . 🎥💻📽 “Lord of the Flies” (Netflix) drama adventure, based on the 1954 novel of the same name by William Golding . Following a plane crash, a group of young boys become stranded on a tropical island in the Pacific ...