Binge-worthy shows are loaded with vice
Things are quiet, but not barren this late-summer week. Let’s enjoy it before the onslaught, in a couple of weeks, of too many new shows. Here are seven suggestions for the next seven days, Denise Duguay writes.
The Path (shomi.com)
A new entry on my Guilty List of Shows I Really Must Watch Immediately is this drama about a cult called Meyerism as seen through the eyes of a true believer (Hannibal’s Hugh Dancy), a member partway through his training who is increasingly suspicious that something’s badly amiss (Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul) and the latter’s wife (True Detective’s Michelle Monaghan), who is trying to stay true to both the group and her husband. The 10-episode first season, previously shown on Showcase, is new to the streaming outlet and ready for the bingeing.
High Maintenance (Vimeo.com)
You’ve got a couple of weeks before HBO debuts new episodes on Sept. 16, which means you have no excuse not to watch at least some of the original web series that sprouted on YouTube rival Vimeo in 2012. Created by Katja Blichfeld and husband Ben Sinclair, the series follows a bearded marijuana dealer known only as The Guy (Sinclair) as he makes his deliveries around Manhattan. HBO picked up this little web series and is adding six new episodes to the original 19. Will HBO’s bigger budget make this web hit a bigger hit?
You’re the Worst (FX)
This comedy about a handful of twentysomething couples in various states of love and commitment is juvenile and annoying, with characters revealed through the likes of drunken oversharing and explosive diarrhea. But while I was sneering, it snuck into my heart. Like when the probably doomed central couple Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (The Newsroom’s Aya Cash) finally share (half-drunkenly, of course) I love yous while also dealing with her need to take more seriously her history of depression. I hate when shows sneak into my heart. Damn shows. Season 3 starts with, apparently, some therapy. Thank goodness.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 1
F*ck That’s Delicious (Viceland, 10 p.m.)
“Friendship and love. What more do we need?” asks one of rapper Action Bronson’s pals at the heart of this food adventure show. “Chicken. We need f---ing chicken.” Of course they do. If Anthony Bourdain’s various food adventure shows, like Parts Unknown on CNN, leave you wanting something with more chicken and expletives disguised by an asterisk, then this show, on the upstart Viceland network, might be for you. Season 2 is upon us.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 2
Narcos (Netflix.com, starting at midnight)
Say hello to Season 2 of our lil friend, the intense portrait of the 1980s drug scene in the wake of Pablo Escobar. As the action begins, Escobar (Wagner Moura) is on the run, but the long arm of the law is not quite long enough.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 3
Chef’s Table: France (Netflix.com, starting Sept. 2)
This is the third batch of profiles of chefs who are brilliant and whose love of food and running restaurants are laid bare. Added to the existing 12 are four new chefs, all from France: Alain Passard of L’Arpege, Michel Troisgros of Maison Troisgros, Adeline Grattard of Yam’Tcha and Alexandre Couillon of La Marine. This actually arrives Friday but I’m saving it for a Saturday brunch binge.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 4 Hip-Hop Evolution (HBO, 9 p.m.)
If you love hip hop or are even merely hip-hop curious, check out this four-part, four-hour documentary series that looks at the birth of the art form. Interview subjects include Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Ice T, Chuck D, MC Eiht, DJ Yella, and Run-DMC. That sounds like a pretty good start.