CRIMINAL RECORD
Apple TV+
We just adore British detectives, especially when they are like chalk and cheese, which is just what this new series is all about. A seasoned white cop, DCI Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi), goes up against a much-younger Black cop, DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo), as they wrestle with a murder case that’s about much more than it seems on the surface. It’s the newest series from the mind and pen of Paul Rutman, of Vera and Indian Summers, two previously terrific British TV shows.
DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS
Hulu
In a bid to become the next Hercule Poirot or Benoit Blanc, Mandy Patinkin dives into the role of Rufus Cotesworth in this glitzy series about “the world’s greatest detective.” Set on a luxury cruise ship with plenty of wealthy passengers for suspects, Cotesworth must solve a locked-room murder involving his beautiful young protégé (played by Violett Beane). This ten-part series will keep murder mystery lovers cozy during those cold January nights.
GRISELDA
Netflix
Griselda is nothing like Gloria, Sofia Vergara’s classic character on Modern Family. Instead, Griselda Blanco is Vergara’s take on the real-life Colombian “Godmother,” the woman who ran a lucrative and very deadly drug cartel in the 1980s. Vergara, a Colombian native herself, also is the brutal show’s executive producer; she’s definitely playing against the lovable character that made her an American TV star in this tough-as-nails tale of murder and mayhem.
THE BROTHERS SUN
Netflix
What do you do when you finally win an Oscar? If you are Michelle Yeoh, you spearhead a very dark comedy series about a Chinese assassin (Justin Chien), his seriously ruthless mother (Yeoh) and his clueless younger brother (Sam Song Li). It’s an action-packed series that features an all-Asian creative team, marking a seismic change in how Hollywood is doing things these days.
TRUE DETECTIVE:
NORTH COUNTRY
HBO
In a total reboot of the award-winning True Detective series last aired in 2019, Issa López takes over the show as writer, director and executive producer and weaves a mystery set in Alaska’s frozen Arctic. She’s enlisted Jodie Foster as the star, who plays the police detective assigned to figure out what happened to all the people working at a research station in the far north. Ably joined by Kali Reis as her partner in the crime solving, both are hoping to follow previous True Detective stars/Emmy nominees Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey and winner Mahershala Ali.