This hasn’t been an unusually big week for TV — in fact, some of our plans had to change because a load-bearing streaming service was down — but I did finish several things at once. So this is a bit of a monster update, and covers so many shows that I couldn’t fit them all in the little graphic.

Let’s watch TV!

The Other Bennet Sister is a Pride and Prejudice sequel following the romantic misadventures of Mary Bennet, middle child and awkward nerd. It’s a frothy confection which — at ten half-hour episodes — does not overstay its welcome.

Now, is it actually good? Eh, it’s fine. It does not invite or reward deeper thought, but it executes its story well, doesn’t heinously misunderstand or misinterpret Pride and Prejudice, and casts Indira Varma in a role where she is not evil and does not die. (In fact, she plays Mrs Gardiner, the most sensible and supportive member of the extended family and ally to sisters everywhere.)

I was particularly charmed by the casting of Lucy Briers, who played Mary in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice, as Hill, the Bennet’s housekeeper, depicted here as an early confidant of Mary. Varada Sethu (Andor, Doctor Who) appears as a friend and accidental romantic rival to Mary, although she is dropped as soon as the rivalry is conveniently resolved. But the show is carried by Ella Bruccoleri, who plays Mary with myopic awkwardness and unconscious charm.

Before we do anything else, let’s all take a moment to appreciate the poster for this season.

Our two main characters, Olympia and Matty, united in purpose (they’re wearing the same colour!) but divided by the frosted glass which dominates the law firm they’re now working together to bring down. They’re allies, but maybe it’s all lies. It’s a great example of the art of the promotional image.

(For more analysis of promotional images, particularly for procedural dramas, see my friend Anika’s recent deep dive!)

As for the actual story, season 2 of Matlock doesn’t quite reach the heights of season 1. This is, in part, because season 1 was such a pleasant surprise (a silly procedural aimed at boomers! That’s good!) and started out facing very low expectations, but there’s also the lingering problem of some unpleasant behind the scenes business: David Del Rio, who played one of the firm’s young associates, was escorted off set and fired partway through filming season 2 after an (attempted?) assault on his co-star, Leah Lewis.

We’re well rid of Del Rio, but his character was a key part of the ensemble, and first we had to endure seven episodes with a likable character played by an odious person, and then we had several weeks of transition as characters adapted to the unexpected loss of a character. (Lewis herself carried the bulk of this work, and I can’t imagine that was easy, but she seems like a total pro.) I felt like I was holding my breath for the first half of the season, waiting for Del Rio to be moved on.

And it didn’t help that the procedural side of Matlock has never been its strongest. The cases of the week are there to develop the characters and lead them to make connections in the wider storyline of Bringing Down Jacobson Moore.

I think that Matlock, as a series, presents a strong case for the unique value of the procedural as an artform. It simply would not be as fun to watch without the weekly parade of cases, clients and shenanigans. But at the same time, I feel like this season’s cases, clients and shenanigans were overall weaker than season 1.

Having said that, it really picked up as season 2 progressed, especially as Olympia’s ex-husband Julian is brought into the conspiracy, bringing his own baggage and divided loyalties. The friendship between Matty and Olympia is the heart and soul of Matlock, but the people in their orbit are generally not left to be two-dimensional and unexplored.

Season 2 ends with the main plotline wrapped up: Jacobson Moore’s merger with another firm goes down in flames, Julian’s father is arrested by Hot DOJ Investigator Gina Rodriguez, and the “Matty Matlock” ruse is not revealed to the world. Season 3 will see Matty and Olympia strike out on their own, and I am very excited for the shenanigans to come.

Team, I have a hot take.

I think The Bear should be banned from doing episodes without Syd. We have had enough of the Berzatto family drama.

Which is a problem, because the Berzatto family drama is the whole show, but … I’m tired. I don’t enjoy watching pre-”Forks” Richie, I’m lukewarm on Jon Bernthal at the best of times, and spending an hour with Richie and Mikey as they banter, argue, drink, take coke and fight is … a lot. The Bear has a deep cast of interesting characters, but we keep coming back to the same white guys. The returns, they are diminishing.

I don’t mean that Gary is bad. In fact, I think it’s very good, and I loved getting a glimpse of rustbelt Indiana. I simply don’t feel like this has added anything to the story of The Bear beyond some neat trivia (Mikey suggested Eva’s name) and the moment at the end where, in the present day, Richie’s car is T-boned.

This episode’s events run concurrently with last week’s, but instead of following Matthew Rhys’s hapless mayor, we spend some quality time with his assistant, Patricia. Previous episodes have established her as smart, passive-aggressive and low-key traumatised by some event in her past.

This week, we learn that she was almost a victim of the local serial killer, because of course Widow’s Bay had a local serial killer. But her peers don’t believe her, and after one awkward wine party too many, Patricia cracks open a self-help book that landed in her book swap van (new personal ambition just dropped, by the way) and decides to throw a party.

Unfortunately, the self-help book is actually a cursed tome (could happen to anyone!) and she’s not wearing a cute li’l tiara but a Yellowjackets-style antler crown, and the punch is not punch but a mixture of animal innards. I have a brand new anxiety dream! And also a favourite episode of the series so far, because Patricia is a completely different brand of clueless to her boss, and who among us hasn’t felt like the odd one out at a party and then gone and fed innards to the people we were trying to impress?

Criminal Record dropped in 2024, which means I have no memory whatsoever of what it was about. We had Cush Jumbo as a mixed race London cop who Cares Too Much and Peter Capaldi as a middle-aged white London cop who is Lightly Corrupt And May Also Have Stolen A Child, It’s Not Clear. They fight crime! And each other! Sometimes Peter Capaldi commits crime!

Anyway, this feels like the sort of serviceable London Cop Show With Something To Say About Society that the BBC used to make. Season 2 opens with Cush on the ground at a rally led by a man speaking Arabic. Masked fascists turn up, a riot ensues, and amidst the chaos, a fifteen-year-old South Asian boy is stabbed. Cush has caught a glimpse of a familiar face, a man who should be in prison; her inquiries bring her back into Capaldi’s orbit.

The first episode feels like a lot of set-up with no pay-off, which I remember was the case with season 1 as well, but honestly, it’s worth it just to watch two really excellent actors face off.

We’re back to one episode a week, and I am so confused, you guys.

I’m also confused because I guess we’re building up to Madison Square Garden and the series finale, but we’re also introducing new plot threads (the collapse of Jimmy and Kayla’s agency) and revisiting, for some reason, Ava’s anti-magician prejudice?

(That latter is genuinely hilarious to me, although also I do think we need some sort of warning when an Australian is about to turn up with their natural accent in an American production, it’s extremely jarring and also I am not okay with the ginger-on-ginger violence of The Amazing Stephen calling Ava a ranga.)

Anyway, this ep was funny and advanced the characters, I just get distracted by matters of structure. It’s a me problem. But seriously, this feels like the wrong point in the story for Jimmy and Kayla to hit rock bottom.

First of all: in the scene aboard the M6 ship where a Russian marine gives Marcus shit for his divided loyalties, my flatmate was like, “Why does that guy look like Ilya Rosanov? God, that’s so racist, not all fake Russians look the same.”

It was, in fact, Connor Storrie. I guess he has a niche?

Second, I’ve spent a lot of time this season telling the Marsies how to do their job, and now I’m offering some free advice to the M6: when you’re sending special forces in to quell an insurrection, maybe don’t assign the guy whose family is insurrecting to that job. I feel like Marcus is either going to change sides (and probably bring Avery with him) or commit some war crimes (possibly with Avery!), and this just seems like it was an avoidable situation.

Though, having said that, I complained about this to my flatmate, who suggested it’s a sign that the M6 is simply so blind to the idea of a Marsie identity that this wasn’t a consideration. And there is a long history of colonial forces giving weapons to the people they are subjugating and sending them off as soldiers.

Anyway. We have roughly three plot threads this week: the M6 force, the Marsies and, way over on the other side of the solar system (please do not fact-check this), the Titan mission.

Obviously the first two are doomed to intersect, and unfortunately it’s because Miles finally decided to take concrete action and sabotage the processing facilities on the Goldilocks asteroid. This should have been straightforward, or as straightforward as “flying a hopper loaded with explosives through a dust storm” can get, but unfortunately the M6 recon team landed earlier than Aleida expected.

I love this, because it’s one of those terrible hinge points in history where no one is actually to blame for things going awry, but now there’s at least one dead guy floating in space, and that’s the Marsie’s fault. This can’t be good for the overall situation or Avery’s mental health, but I do love the shot where everyone on Mars looks horrified that they have caused at least one death … except Irina, who is like, “Is Tuesday for me.” Somehow she has become my favourite character.

It’s also a useful distraction from difficult questions like, “Uh, are we buds with Lenya now? The guy who was talking about hanging traitors six months ago?” Allegedly he could be the next leader of the USSR, and I feel like the whole Communist system might simply collapse to avoid the embarrassment.

Over on Titan, Hapless Walt is spiralling because he thinks he made an error which could have killed his crew. Kelly has several opportunities to confess, but instead she gives him a series of pep talks and uses her status as acting mission commander — because Hapless Walt, not trusting his own judgement, has put her in charge — to send him on the away mission. Girl, if you get this harmless noodle killed, I will be annoyed.