This week, John Byrne checks out the Wachowskis' latest project, two posh London ladies heading for Broadway, the latest from the Bates family business, and two contrasting games of football.
Reviewed: Sense8 (Netflix, anytime), Doll & Em (Wednesday, Sky Atlantic), Bates Motel (Wednesday, Universal), Live Champions League: Juventus v Barcelona (Saturday, RTÉ2); Live International Friendly Football: Ireland v England (Sunday, Setanta Ireland)
There's no doubt that Netflix has made quite an impact, especially in terms of how we view TV these days. Their business model has effectively killed the DVD box set market, while the likes of Sky have adopted a similar approach by providing its customers with various collections of TV shows and films. The choices available these days are quite staggering - if you know what to look for.
But Netflix smartly moved into the business of providing new content to its subscribers, most successfully in the shape of House of Cards, the meaty political drama starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Other hits include comedy drama Orange is the New Black (which returns for a third season on Friday June 12), and their violent Daredevil adaptation. Pick of the bunch so far has been Better Caul Saul, the Breaking Bad prequel.
The latest original show to arrive on the scene is Sense8, with all 12 episodes from season one available to view from Friday June 5. To add to the show's potential for a sizeable audience, the Wachowskis are on board as creators, writers and directors. Could the pair behind The Matrix, Bound and Cloud Atlas deliver an episodic thriller and transfer their cinematic vision to the small screen? Well, it certainly had me intrigued.
Sitting down with the missus - she's a good, non-geeky sound board to bounce views off, especially when it comes to the sci-fi end of things - the pilot episode took a while to start making any sense for either of us.
But that's par for the course when introducing a rake of characters, never mind setting up a scenario that involves sharing mental space and creating a line of empathy that stretches around the globe. This ain't a Chuck Lorre sitcom here.
A mixed but largely young cast that includes Daryl Hannah and former Lost star Naveen Andrews (Sayid) put in a good shift in what was a toe-dipping opening episode, but I'd have to see more a few more to draw any definitive conclusions. It looks amazing, the set-up is splendidly positive as it's about people connecting, and there are bad guys hunting them. I can see myself getting hooked, and very easily. Let's hope it's more Fringe than Heroes.
What Sense8 offers is in stark contrast to the mock reality of Doll & Em (Wednesday, Sky Atlantic), which is back for a second run after a fun-but-patchy first season. Starring real-life BFFs Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells, it's a largely fictitious dramedy about their lives and long-term friendship.
Two posh London girls and no mistake, the first season was about Dolly heading to Hollywood and becoming Emily's assistant, which led to the former getting her own acting break, an ego-driven row between them, and a teary make-up back in good old Blighty. Tea, anyone?
This time around the premise is slightly more preposterous, as the pair look to get a self-penned play off the ground - on Broadway, no less. When a meeting with a big-shot producer (played by, eh, big-shot producer Harvey Weinstein) doesn't go well, the girls decide to fly solo and do it themselves, conveniently borrowing a theatre where the godfather of Doll's ex was artistic director. One must do as one must.
The episode ends - as all episodes should - with a bit of a cliffhanger, when Doll overhears Em on the blower discussing the offer of a film role that would end her involvement in their co-production, and likely scupper the play itself. Friends? They just get in the way.
Similar to Larry David's magnificent Curb Your Enthusiasm in terms of it being naturalistic and semi-improvised, Doll & Em is a pleasant diversion, but I cannot see it coming up a third time. Like a Radiohead album, it's far too self-centred and self-conscious to be really interesting. But it sure beats sitting through an episode of New Girl.
Going a lot further leftfield, Bates Motel (Wednesday, Universal) ended its third season with a delightfully malevolent flourish, some surprising plot twists and a couple of unexpected corpses. It's been a bit of a patchy run this time around on the Psycho prequel, with some so-what sub-plots and insignificant character development, although this show is worth watching just for the outstanding performances of Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga as the infamous Norman Bates and his mother Norma.
Indeed, the quality of their acting and the fascinating, often disturbing role play between their characters is what makes everything else in Bates Motel seem irrelevant. Both are seriously screwed-up individuals with extremely violent streaks, and their borderline incestuous relationship just adds to the intrigue. Do give it a go if you haven't seen it yet. It's TV's greatest double act since Giles and Dunphy. Which reminds me . . .
It was quite a weekend for football on TV, with the Champions League Final between Juventus and Barcelona (Saturday, RTÉ2) and the Republic of Ireland's friendly against England (Sunday, Setanta Ireland).
It's perhaps best to quietly draw a veil over the international friendly - at least I saved €60 on a ticket by not going - while noting that the England fans had the only decent chant ("Sepp Blatter, he paid for your ground"), and it was great to see Jack Charlton once again. Olé.
As for the battle of the bank accounts in Berlin, there was much to admire in terms of spectacle and skill, and it was touching to see Eamon Dunphy getting all emotional afterwards, seeing Barca's Xavi and Juve's Pirlo, two of the best players of their generation, embracing at the end of an engrossing second-half.
Football, at least, was a winner that night. Roll on Saturday's crunch game against Scotland!
Ratings:
Sense8 (Netflix, anytime) ***1/2
Doll & Em (Wednesday, Sky Atlantic) ***
Bates Motel (Wednesday, Universal) ****
Live Champions League: Juventus v Barcelona (Saturday, RTÉ2): ****
Live International Friendly Football: Ireland v England (Sunday, Setanta Ireland): *
John Byrne
