Pick of the week
Citadel
This spy thriller is already a franchise with legs: blockbuster kings the Russo brothers are on board and spin-offs are in the works. But does the show itself cut the mustard? Its narrative ambition matches its commercial aspirations: Richard Madden is agent turned small-town soccer dad Mason Kane, whose part in the titular espionage group (“The last line of defence for good in the world,” according to his handler, Stanley Tucci’s Bernard Orlick) was buried after a traumatic ambush. But baddies Manticore are on the rise and Mason must return to arms with partner Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas). It’s packed with spy cliches but is pacy fun all the same.
Prime Video, from Friday 28 April
***
Sam: A Saxon
It begins with rare footage of two white cops treating a fleeing Black man kindly – and this has far-reaching consequences for Sam Meffire, who experiences vicious racism daily in late-80s Germany. The story that unfolds is all the more remarkable for being true: Meffire (Malick Bauer) was East Germany’s first Black police officer. He became the poster boy for a national campaign against xenophobia. Then he turned to crime and did time for robbery and serious bodily harm. Finally, he got a job as a youth worker. This frankly outlandish life is dramatised in routine but still gripping style.
Disney+, from Wednesday 26 April
***
The Light We Carry
The live version of Michelle Obama’s monster-selling 2022 book sees her sitting down with Oprah Winfrey for an evening of anecdotes and life advice. Since her husband’s slight retreat from the spotlight, there’s been a strong sense that Obama is enjoying her moment – and here she discusses her marriage, the difficulty of maintaining relationship continuity in the context of huge life changes, and the importance of keeping “a kitchen table of friends”. It borders on the platitudinous but Obama is never less than likable company.
Netflix, from Tuesday 25 April
***
Family Legacy
It is said that famous people are often psychologically frozen at the age at which they achieve massive success. Where does that leave their offspring? This watchable albeit surface-level series meets the kids of successful musicians to hear their side of the story. Inevitably, experiences vary: this isn’t the kind of series to dig too deep into trauma but if, like Brandy’s daughter Sy’Rai Smith, you’ve decided to follow your mum into music, it’s a heavy weight to carry. Also featured: the children of Notorious BIG, Melissa Etheridge, Chester Bennington and many more.
Paramount+ , from Tuesday 25 April
***
Workin’ Moms
Creator Catherine Reitman has confirmed that this seventh season of the Canadian comedy will be the last. It is a familiar mixture of irreverent and heartfelt, but never feels less than sincere – Reitman pours her own experiences into it, and even if this does mean the show feels a little too focused on urban, media-adjacent experiences of motherhood, at least it insists on an all-female writing room. As we return, Kate (Reitman) is learning to share her workload while Sloane (Enuka Okuma) returns to the boardroom while still breastfeeding her new arrival.
Netflix, from Wednesday 26 April
***
Firefly Lane
The saccharine drama about a pair of estranged best pals concludes, and there’s every suggestion that it will die as it has lived – by giving its audience exactly what it wants, in a way that feels more than a little emotionally incontinent. Firefly Lane has never been a subtle show and with Kate (Sarah Chalke) now seriously ill, it seems unlikely that Tully (Katherine Heigl) won’t hurry to her side. However, before this performatively poignant money shot, expect plenty of the show’s usual time-hops as more of the pair’s shared history is coloured in.
Netflix, from Thursday 27 April
***
La Brea
This bewildering sci-fi, in which a sinkhole in LA pulls hundreds of people into an atavistic fight for survival, returns after a mid-second season break. In part one, we learned that the sinkholes had been created by a corporation from 2076, looking for solutions to their era’s resource depletion. But the victims have found themselves marooned in different eras – can Eve find a way back to 1988 and reunite with Josh? The show aims for somewhere between Lost and The Walking Dead but never quite achieves this. It can’t be accused of lacking ambition, though.
Paramount+, from Thursday 27 April
