Pasckie Pascua's Nerdy Squirrel Reviews: TV Series.

“After the Flood” (Britbox) Season 2. British crime mystery thriller . Stars Sophie Rundle as a police officer investigating the death of an unidentified man after a flash flood strikes a small English town.         The six-part second series/season follows Detective Jo Marshall as she investigates a baffling double murder following a catastrophic flood.         With global warming as the larger narrative, the plot threads that weave around pursuit of DS Phil Mackie's string of crimes is the provocation and attraction of this show's second installment. A typical British police procedural but “After The Flood” is low-key, dramatically restrained, but focused. Topmost credit goes to Sophie Rundle, whose PC/DC Joanna Marshall evokes persistent charm, warm vulnerability, and unswerving insistence. 🎥💻📽 “From Darkness” (Britbox) British psychological crime drama . A former police officer, who moves away to ...

“Tehran” (Apple TV+) Season 3. Israeli spy thriller about a Mossad agent of Iranian Jewish descent on her first mission in Iran's capital Tehran , which is also the place of her birth.         Season 3: Mossad agent Tamar Rabinyan returns as a rogue, traumatized operative following the assassination of her boyfriend, Milad. Hunted by both the IRGC and Mossad, she hides in a women’s shelter while discovering evidence that Iran is smuggling nuclear warhead parts. The season introduces Hugh Laurie as Eric Peterson, a South African nuclear inspector who is forced into the conspiracy.         Niv Sultan , as in the first two seasons, breathes fire into this series as Tamar. But the conflicts that were ably and quite entertainingly previously gave us are gone. Writers should develop a “Homeland"-like plotpoint if they need to resume this series, onto Season 4. Otherwise, that's it. Message delivered. 🎥💻📽 “Crimina...

“The Glass Dome” (Netflix) Swedish crime drama . The series takes place in a tiny fictional community in Sweden called Granås, the home town of the series' protagonist, Leijla, who is a behavioural scientist and criminologist .         The grey, frozen atmosphere is typical Norse noir but still a finely-written mystery. Leonie Vincent as Lejla Ness creates chilly tension with screaming or opening her eyes wide. Remarkably restrained dramatic flair. 🎥💻📽 “Land of Sin” (Netflix) Swedish crime drama. Two detectives investigate the murder of a local teenager from a rural community. Krista Kosonen is Dani Anttila, the police officer.        This grim series explores parenthood and original sin in an understated, minimalistic dramatic manner. I can appreciate the non-hysterical navigation of the crime but, in all, this drama still bored me, without undermining Ms Kosonen's concentrated performance. 🎥💻📽 “The Asse...

“Coldwater” (Britbox) British thriller. John moves his family to a remote Scottish village after a traumatic event in London, seeking peace but finding himself entangled with more problems.        Weirdly comical, the culprits in this whack-job are Andrew Lincoln as the lost and confused John and Ewen Bremer as the nutcase Tommy. And Eve Myles as Tommy’s religious zealot wife Rebecca. This series is magnetic for its surreal implausibility and sinister humor. 🎥💻📽 “Mayday” (Britbox) British drama thriller. The series is about the sudden disappearance of a 14-year-old girl in a small town with a relatively affluent rural setting and strong pagan traditions.         I think the British are better TV storytellers than Americans. This series is a vivid example. Also, most Brit shows are compressed in 4 to 6 episodes, compared with a typical America-made series, which runs for 12 episodes.     ...

“Imperfect Women” (Apple TV+) drama series. The story is about a devastating crime that has an impact on a decades-long friendship, based on Araminta Hall's 2020 novel.         First of all and I say it again, why the dim lighting? Most U.S.-made movies and TV series insist on this very annoying style. Very annoying. It was hard to finish this series, not because of an edge-of-your-seat suspense. But because my eyes (eyeglasses and all) were struggling to see what's going on, visually.        Topbilled by the trio of exemplary actresses Elisabeth Moss , Kerry Washington , and Kate Mara, and supported by Joel Kinnaman and Corey Stoll , the only thing doing good in this stagnant series are the performers.        The middling storytelling that doesn't seem to push along and the repetitive arguments would have sufficed in 4 episodes, not eight. I also question why a boss of a suppo...

“Scarpetta” (Amazon Prime) crime drama, based on the book series of the same name by Patricia Cornwell .         Kay Scarpetta is a brilliant forensic pathologist. Inspired by former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Farinelli Fierro , she employs advanced forensic technology to unravel mysteries and solve crimes. Throughout the series she navigates her investigative journey across various settings, including Florida, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina.        The back and forth in time or two Scarpetta stories (1990 and 2021, with 8 or 10 in between) interfaced in one is a little disjointed and distracting, and can be confusing. I had to situate myself in the continuity each time Scarpetta goes to Rosy McEwen and then back to Nicole Kidman again.         Then there's the side story of the sisters, Kay and Dorothy (Jamie Lee Curtis), in collision one day, a...