10 shows I'm watching in May
Advanced previews of High Desert, Platonic, SisterS, and A Small Light included.

10. [Advanced Preview] High Desert (Apple TV+)
☑ My score: 45/100
☑ 8 episodes x half hour x 1 season (premieres on May 17)
I wanted to like High Desert so badly that I binged all eight episodes of my screeners, crossing my fingers that the plot would start making sense eventually or that the show would at least lean more fully into its goofiness. By the end, I found even Patricia Arquette’s performance as Peggy, a newly self-designated private investigator, falls to a one-note baseline.
It was after watching Severance that I realized Arquette is naturally comedic, that even the simplest scene (instructing on how to breastfeed with a doll, blow-drying her frozen front yard) would make me giggle. High Desert initially has her doing all kinds of silly goofy stunts: swinging from a chandelier, the can-can, shooting guns, etc. But unfortunately the show devolves to a nonsensical mess with some truly bizarre writing choices.
For example, Bernadette Peters plays Peggy’s mom who unceremoniously passes away early in the season, only to be brought back as a look-alike to her mother a few episodes in, with no discernible changes in the way she looks. Peggy proceeds to start writing a play starring this new mother (or “mommy,” as she show insists on calling her) as a way to process her grief, or something. I wish I was making this up! There’s also a half-hearted attempt to represent addiction, and both Rupert Friend and Weruche Opia are under-utilized as supporting characters. Disappointing to say the least.
☑ Is it gay? Absolutely not.
9. Lucky Hank (AMC)
☑ My score: 68/100
☑ 8 episodes x 50 mins x 1 season
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