The Week ’s guide to what’s worth watching
American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders
Danny Casolaro may have known too much. In 1991, the freelance reporter was found dead in a West Virginia hotel room, his wrists slashed multiple times. Though his death was ruled a suicide, people close to him suspected he’d been murdered for trying to write a book about an international cabal, headed by eight former government officials, that he dubbed the Octopus. This new docuseries from the makers of the cult exposé Wild Wild Country examines Casolaro’s theory, and whether his was just one in a string of linked murders. Wednesday, Feb. 28, Netflix
Iwájú
In this new animated series set in a future
Lagos, Nigeria, a wealthy girl named Tola and her best friend, Kole, leave behind a sheltered, high-tech existence to explore the poorer side of the city, where they catch the attention of a fearsome gangster. Fortunately, this is a collaboration between the U.K.-based studio Kugali and Disney, so the team has dreamed up a cute AI pet salamander tasked with protecting Tola. Wednesday, Feb. 28, Disney+
The Tourist
Fifty Shades of Grey’s Jamie Dornan was excellent in the first season of this darkly comic thriller series about an amnesiac who wakes up in the Australian outback. Though Dornan’s Elliot couldn’t remember his past, some enemies did. Luckily, he has survived into Season 2, giving him a chance to return to his native Ireland with his new lover, a cop played by Danielle Macdonald, to dig up clues about his former life of crime. When Elliot is almost instantly kidnapped, the madness begins again. Thursday, Feb. 29, Netflix
The Completely Made-up Adventures of Dick Turpin
American TV viewers know Noel Fielding as a presenter on The Great British Baking Show.
The comedian reveals a different side in this new action comedy series about a bumbling 18thcentury narcissist who becomes the leader of a gang of highway robbers. Chasing fame, he and the gang draw the ire of a corrupt lawman played by Hugh Bonneville. Friday, March 1, Apple TV+
Spaceman
“Adam Sandler in space” sounds like a halfbaked comedy. Instead, Spaceman is a deep, strange sci-fi feature that widens Sandler’s dramatic career by asking him to play a Czech astronaut who begins fretting about his marriage at the tail end of a solo mission. When a spiderlike talking alien appears on board offering counsel, it’s not clear if Sandler’s Jakub has lost his mind. With Carey Mulligan as Jakub’s wife. Friday, March 1, Netflix
Other highlights As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial
Bronx, N.Y., rapper Kemba leads an exploration into the widespread use of rap lyrics to prosecute Black defendants. Tuesday, Feb. 27, Paramount+
Pathological
When American teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba in 2005, 17-year-old Joran Van Der Sloot quickly became a prime suspect. This documentary examines the trail of crimes he later committed before finally confessing to Holloway’s murder. Tuesday, Feb. 27, Peacock
Elsbeth
Reprising her role on The Good Fight, Carrie Preston plays autistic attorney Elsbeth Tascioni, now investigating crimes alongside the NYPD. Thursday, Feb. 29, at 10 p.m., CBS