IN THE DARK REVIEWS

The cold weather has had me housebound, so no trips to the movie theater for me.

Instead, I bunkered down and caught up on streaming series as two shows ended their seasons and another made its premiere.

The first season of "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" on Apple TV+ had solid performers, but not all of their characters were written equally well. It often felt as though father and son Kurt and Wyatt Russell were carrying the show in their flawless portrayals of the older and younger versions of monster-hunting soldier Lee Shaw.

After some narrative flab made the midseason episodes a slog at times, the increasing pace of dramatic revelations ensured the season ended on a high note. In spite of the twists, Monarch, as a fictional organization, is left in as ill-defined a role within the American "MonsterVerse" as it was when this show started, especially with the introduction of another nebulous fictional organization whose narrative functions largely overlap Monarch's.

As much as I've enjoyed the acting of Kiersey Clemons, Joe Tippett and Tamlyn Tomita, I highly doubt we'll be seeing them in the MonsterVerse's future big-screen installments.

The just-completed fourth season of "For All Mankind," also on Apple TV+, was far more effective in providing a coherent narrative. Wrenn Schmidt's closing voiceover monologue as Margo Madison weaponized what could have otherwise come across as inconsistent characterization by noting how many of its players were doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, and vice versa, which is why their allegiances and agendas shift so quickly.

The final episode of this season copped out by holding back on the negative consequences of the characters' conflicting gambles, but it did reward certain patiently suffering characters with happy endings that felt earned.

Over four seasons, Krys Marshall has made Danielle Poole my favorite among the show's old school astronauts, with a dogged optimism and commitment to doing the right thing that almost comes across as defiant. She quotes classic "Star Trek" episodes to cut across dividing lines, and strives to persuade those around her to be their best selves.

Likewise, after consistently delivering watchable work in a succession of supporting roles, from "House" to "X-Men: First Class," it's been irresistible to see Edi Gathegi finally being afforded a showcase for the full range of his acting talents as Dev Ayesa, who's at once the wunderkind and the enfant terrible of outer space exploration.

But it's Schmidt as the prickly, complex, emotionally closed Madison, whose ethics and intellectually driven compulsions reduce her to a woman who's left without a country, who has owned this season, with able assists from Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales.

I've appreciated Joel Kinnaman as an actor since AMC's "The Killing," but his Ed Baldwin has become too much of an embittered Ahab to be anything more than a designated protagonist at this point. Margo Madison, who is trapped and damned by her own best intentions, is the beating heart and soul of "For All Mankind" Season 4, as much as Jodi Balfour's Ellen Wilson was for Season 3.

'Criminal Record' gets off to a compelling start

Since we're already talking about Apple TV+ shows, the third episode of the British police investigation series "Criminal Record" was scheduled to go live Wednesday, armed with the formidable Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo playing its mutually mistrustful leads, Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty and Detective Sgt. June Lenker.

When an anonymous call to report domestic violence is made to the police, it sets the officers at odds when the caller also alleges that her abuser has claimed to be the real killer in a 12-year-old murder case for which another man was sentenced to 24 years.

The man in jail has a West African background and Lenker is a Black woman whose confrontation-averse white male boss cautions her about being overly emotional or aggressive. This case is rife with racial tension even before Capaldi's Hegarty, who obtained the suspect's original confession, starts making spider-like manipulations behind the scenes to thwart Lenker.

Just as he was in "The Devil's Hour" on Amazon Prime Video, Capaldi is excellent at quietly radiating such dark, malignant energy that even his isolated moments of compassion - as when he praises Lenker for how she counseled a domestic violence victim over the phone - seem sinister.

Jumbo's Lenker is relatable for how weary she's grown of all the

microaggressions and gaslighting of her workplace and chain of command, which are compounded by her white domestic partner, whose tendency to psychoanalyze the sources of her stress makes her feel like he's diminishing her concerns.

"Criminal Record" has sustained a taut level of writing so far, and has teased far more mysteries to be revealed than the single case at hand.

Author Bio

Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
[email protected]