\tAramide Tinubu\u2019s Top 10<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\tAdolescence<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"Adolescence.](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Netflix\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tNetflix\u2019s riveting limited series \u201cAdolescence\u201d has taken the globe by storm. Created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham (who also stars in it), the show is a chilling examination of red-pill propaganda and its impact on the minds of impressionable boys and young men. Set in an unnamed English city, the four-episode series follows 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper), who is accused of murdering a girl in his class. Helmed by director Philip Barantini, who uses his signature one-shot style throughout all four episodes, viewers follow Jamie\u2019s arrest and examine the damning evidence against him. Expanding outward, \u201cAdolescence\u201d explores how the incident affects Jamie\u2019s classmates, friends and family members. Moreover, during a session with the court-appointed child therapist (Erin Doherty) assigned to his case, it becomes quite clear how Jamie has gotten to this point. Haunting and enthralling, this show unpacks the most grotesque aspects of the manosphere and what we can expect as a society if it isn\u2019t exposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\tA Cruel Love<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Credit: ITV Studios\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tBased on a true story and Carol Anne Lee\u2019s biography, \u201cA Fine Day for Hanging,\u201d BritBox\u2019s crime drama \u201cA Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story\u201d is a devastating series about abuse, misogyny, trauma and the deep desire to love and be loved. Set in 1955, the series follows Ruth Ellis (Lucy Boynton), a young mother convicted of killing her abusive lover. Ruth became the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom. Though the series opens <\/strong>on July 13, 1955, <\/strong>the day Ruth is executed for murdering race car driver and known playboy David Blakely (Laurie Davidson), creator Kelly Jones and her writers rewind the clock on Ruth and David\u2019s volatile romance. Manipulation, terror and obsession anchored this relationship. A cinematographically stunning series, despite the challenging subject matter, the series illustrates the societal standards of the time and how women like Ruth, despite their best efforts, never stood a chance.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tA Thousand Blows<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tSet in London\u2019s East End in 1880, \u201cPeaky Blinders\u201d creator Steven Knight\u2019s boxing drama, \u201cA Thousand Blows,\u201d revolves around a group of outsiders determined to get more from the world than it\u2019s willing to offer them. The show follows Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), Jamaican immigrants who arrive in the U.K. in search of new opportunities. Instead, they find themselves swept up in the criminal underworld of the East End and caught between gangster Sugar Goodson (\u201cAdolescence\u201d star and co-creator Stephen Graham), who rules the neighborhood, and Mary Carr (Erin Doherty, also of \u201cAdolescence\u201d), who leads a woman\u2019s gang called the Forty Elephants.\u00a0 A tale of sexism, racism, loyalty and revenge, this period piece is detailed, engrossing and stunning from beginning to end.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tDept. Q<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tBased on the book series by Jussi Adler-Olsen and adapted for television by \u201cThe Queen\u2019s Gambit\u201d creator Scott Frank, Netflix\u2019s Scotland-set crime thriller, \u201cDept. Q,\u201d is a brilliant blend of mystery and psychology. The series follows Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck (played by Matthew Goode), a brilliant but wholly unlikable character. Reeling from a horrific incident that shreds what\u2019s left of his emotional stability, Morck is assigned to a high-profile cold case that forces him to confront his personal pain points and inadequacies. Intense, with complex twists and turns, the neo-noir is an absorbing watch all the way through.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tForever<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tMara Brock Akil\u2019s \u201cForever,\u201d inspired by Judy Blume\u2019s groundbreaking novel, is a breathtaking teen love story. \u00a0<\/strong>Set in Los Angeles in 2018, the series follows track star Keisha Clark (Lovie Simone) and basketball player Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.) as they try to navigate their final high school years and their burgeoning romantic relationship. A nuanced and exceptional showcase of first love, Brock Akil offers a glittering tapestry of young Black love that\u2019s so rarely seen on television that it feels magical. Tender and vivid, the series takes audiences on an emotional journey filled with love, anguish and a multitude of first times.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tLong Bright River<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tBased on Liz Moore\u2019s best-selling novel, Peacock\u2019s \u201cLong Bright River\u201d \u2014\u00a0adapted by Moore and Nikki Toscano \u2014 moves well beyond the typical murder mystery. The series follows Philadelphia patrol cop Mickey Fitzpatrick (Amanda Seyfried), who has watched her community and her younger sister Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings) succumb to poverty and addiction. When unhoused sex workers start turning up dead, Mickey and her former partner Truman Dawes (Nicholas Pinnock) begin uncovering a haunting labyrinth created by cycles of disempowerment and despair. The crime drama is a series about sisterhood, connections and the truths people are desperate to bury.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tPower Book III: Raising Kanan<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tSet in the early 1990s, \u201cPower Book III: Raising Kanan\u201d follows the origin story of Kanan Stark (portrayed by Curtis \u201c50 Cent\u201d Jackson in \u201cPower\u201d) as he comes of age in Queens, New York. A family drama at its core, the series chronicles the demise of teen Kanan\u2019s (Mekai Curtis) relationship with his queenpin mother, Raquel \u201cRaq\u201d Thomas (Patina Miller.) In Season 4, a completely estranged Kanan and Raq find themselves in a stunning confrontation, with Kanan raising a gun to his mother\u2019s head and pulling the trigger. Deeply intense and compellingly written, Sascha Penn\u2019s series is a portrait of family, loyalty, trust and pain. It\u2019s a worthy prequel to \u201cPower,\u201d a powerhouse drama that revolutionized the landscape for Black-led cable series.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tWith Disney+\u2019s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,\u201d creator Jeff Trammell puts a refreshing spin on one of the most enduring superheroes in popular culture. The 10-episode first season offers an alternative origin story for the web-slinger and opens with 15-year-old Peter (Hudson Thames reprising his role from \u201cWhat If\u2026?\u201d) rushing to his first day of school orientation. When a radioactive spider bites him, the teen finds himself trying to manage some newfound powers and abilities. As Peter tries to embrace his new alter ego covertly, he also navigates the typical teen tropes of friendship, belonging, love and self-actualization. With animation led by Leo Romero and Polygon Pictures, which combines 2D and 3D techniques, the series is a blend of nostalgia and 21st-century flair. Intriguing, fun and timeless, the show is a love letter to those who\u2019ve always adored the wall-crawler while welcoming new viewers into his world.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tYour Friends & Neighbors<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tIn Apple TV+\u2019s \u201cYour Friends & Neighbors,\u201d creator Jonathan Tropper offers a complex narrative about a middle-aged man navigating an intense mid-life crisis. The dramedy follows Andrew \u201cCoop\u201d Cooper (Jon Hamm), a recently fired hedge fund manager struggling to cope as the fragments of his formerly \u201cperfect\u201d life begin slipping through his fingers. Still intensely bitter about his ex-wife Mel\u2019s (Amanda Peet) affair that led to the end of their marriage, and increasingly distant from his children, \u201cCoop\u201d cooks up a scheme to maintain his lavish lifestyle. Disgusted with the people he once called his friends, he begins stealing from his affluent suburban community. More than an assessment of the falsity of the American dream, the series examines what can be masked with money and influence.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tAlison Herman\u2019s Top 10<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tAndor<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tTony Gilroy\u2019s two-season drama is so much more than a prequel to \u201cRogue One,\u201d as I\u2019ve told any number of people who balk when I enthusiastically urge them to watch a piece of peripheral Star Wars IP. It\u2019s a nuanced, stirring, perceptive study of fascism and rebellion in its own right, drawing on real-world history and phasing out the supernatural aspects of its franchise to deliver a resonant ensemble piece. Diego Luna\u2019s Rebel pilot may be the show\u2019s namesake, but \u201cAndor\u201d is really a cross-section study of the ordinary people it takes to both run an empire and to slowly shirk off its yoke. From spymaster Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd) to conflicted politician Mon Mothma (Genevieve O\u2019Reilly) to Imperial inspector Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), \u201cAndor\u201d proves it doesn\u2019t take lightsabers or the Force to make a story stick with us.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tDying for Sex<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tA show about terminal cancer doesn\u2019t sound like a comedy, but few shows this year have made me laugh more than \u201cNew Girl\u201d collaborators Elizabeth Meriwether and Kim Rosenstock\u2019s take on the hit podcast-as-memoir. The entire endeavor rests on Michelle Williams\u2019 triumphant performance as Molly, a woman whose diagnosis sparks a sexual odyssey. \u201cDying for Sex\u201d is both deadly serious about the redemptive potential of embracing kink and slyly irreverent about everything else. But for all Molly\u2019s erotic adventures with urine fetishes and cock cages \u2014 and Williams\u2019 sweet, strange chemistry with Rob Delaney\u2019s hunky neighbor \u2014 the true romance of the show is between Molly and her best friend Nicki (Jenny Slate). Both dying and sex, it turns out, are a form of intimacy. Molly may be gone, but her bond with Nicki is eternal.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tEverybody\u2019s Live with John Mulaney<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tThis spring, the comedian resurrected last year\u2019s limited-run talk show and extended it into a more enduring, but no less whimsical, experiment in live comedy. \u201cEverybody\u2019s Live\u201d got off to a rockier start than \u201cEverybody\u2019s in L.A.\u201d; the call-in segments were frequently awkward and generally hit-or-miss. But that\u2019s the risk run by a show that\u2019s so gleefully willing to try anything, and mercifully liberated from its guests\u2019 promotional cycles. Mulaney has whoever he wants on his couch, from Joan Baez to an HR expert, and lets his writers pursue their interests, no matter how niche. A Christmas episode in April? Why not! A behind-the-scenes documentary about sidekick Richard Kind\u2019s failed Charli xcx joke? The same! Mulaney\u2019s stand-up is all meticulous control; it\u2019s thrilling to watch the performer give himself over to zany anarchy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tThe Pitt<\/p>\n \t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Hulu\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Justin Downing\/Netflix\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Netflix\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Peacock\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Starz\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Disney+\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV+\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Disney+\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of FX\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Netflix\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Max\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n