Bite-size reviews: Dead Boy Detectives, Deliver Me, and more

There's a little bit of everything on streaming right now, but that doesn't mean it is all worth watching. If you are wondering if you should check out some of the latest shows on streaming, but need a second opinion, you've come to the right place!

From The Big Door Prize on Apple TV+ to Deliver Me on Netflix, we are sharing bite-size reviews to help point you in the right direction.

The Big Door Prize season 2 (Apple TV+)

The Big Door Prize is an exploration into people's dreams and the lack of attaining those dreams. When a carnival game in a small town starts telling people where their full potential lies, marriages break up, people quit their jobs, and people restart their lives in new directions. Starring Chris O'Dowd (Get Shorty) and Gabrielle Dennis (The Upshaws), Apple released three 30-minute episodes of season 2. It would be very difficult to watch season 2 without seeing season 1.

O'Dowd and Dennis are married and, depending on the episode, they sometimes buy into the hype and sometimes don't. In Season 2, the machine promises to take them to the next level, which seems to be a view into who they each really are. The machine shows them cartoons that are metaphors for their real feelings.

Though O'Dowd and Dennis are the prime actors of the show, this show is filled with interesting and funny characters including the mayor, a bartender, a priest, their daughter, her boyfriend, and the owner of the Italian restaurant (played by Josh Segarra from The Other Two). Sometimes really funny, sometimes just kind of sweet, and sometimes existential, The Big Door Prize is a different kind of show.

Verdict: Watch

Deliver Me (Netflix)

Delivery Me is an extremely serious show about how kids lose their way and the dire consequences of that lost. Dogge and Billy are teenagers that have joined a gang of drug dealers. Somewhere along the way, Billy gets himself out, but the gang leader orders Billy's execution which Dogge delivers.

Delivery Me asks some very difficult questions about who is to blame when children go bad. Parents, schools, friends, the system, and everybody else is under scrutiny. Deliver Me is suspenseful and intense as the kids are put under pressure by their families, their gang affiliations, and the police. Each decision seems to dig the kids into a deeper hole. Deliver Me is in Swedish, all episodes are now streaming.

Verdict: Wait and See

Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix)

Dead Boy Detectives was passed around between Max, who planned to release it as a Doom Patrol spin-off, and Netflix, who wanted it as a Sandman spin-off. Ultimately, Netflix won, and all episodes are available now.

Dead Boy is part Hardy Boys and part Supernatural. The story revolves around two dead friends who are now ghosts that help other ghosts solve mysteries. They befriend a medium who is alive and helps them interact with the mortal world. Each episode is a different case with a very thin plot line that survives across episodes.

The show can be funny, the magic and the fantasy aspects can be pretty interesting, and there is a small amount of action. The mystery of the episode if fairly intriguing, but nothing too complicated since it exists in just an episode. Dead Boy Detectives is not a bad show, but nothing that screams, "must-watch" and nothing that seems to truly tie into the Sandman series.

Verdict: Wait and See.

Them: The Scare (Amazon Prime Video)

Them is a horror anthology not unlike American Horror Story which means that Season 2 has nothing to do with Season 1 (though Season 1 was pretty good). Season 2 stars Deborah Ayorinde (Riches), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld), Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), and Ashly Thomas (Blake Cake)

Them is the story of a black, female detective in 1990's Los Angeles with the Rodney King riots in the background. The show follows two main story lines. First, Ayorinde plays the detective investigating a grisly murder of a foster mom. Meanwhile, an employee at a Chuck E. Cheese type of restaurant, Edmund, tries to further his acting career. The entire show is about how these two characters intersect.

The show has a certain Jordan Peele feel as it is part horror, part crime drama, and part social commentary. This show is extremely dark, scary, and just plain uncomfortable to watch. Edmund is the creepiest character since Paul Walter Hauser in Black Bird. The ending isn't perfect, but it does tie up the season.

Verdict: Watch - with the lights off.

Brigands: The Quest for Gold (Netflix)

Brigands is an Italian Western, kind of an Italian Zorro. After Italy is united under a wealthy aristocracy, the Brigands fight against the government and try to regain the wealth that was stolen from the people. The Brigands liberate political prisoners, steal tax money, and are looking for the lost gold of the Italian South.

The Brigands has a comedic edge but also a violent temper. It can be hard to track who has betrayed who most recently, who is on which side, and who is actually working together for the short or long term. The show is silly, but can be a nice, light reprieve if you have been watching Them or Baby Reindeer. The series is in Italian, and all episodes of are available on Netflix.

Verdict: Wait and See.

Need more to stream this week? Here are some shows you may have missed!

• The Tourist (Netflix). All episodes streaming.
• The Regime (MAX). All episodes streaming.
• Shogun (Hulu). Shogun ended well; it would be great to get a second season.
• Invincible (Amazon Prime Video). All episodes streaming.
• 3 Body Problem (Netflix). All episodes streaming.
• Manhunt (Apple TV+). All episodes streaming.
• Constellation (Apple TV+). All episodes streaming.
• Sugar (Apple TV+). More hand-to-hand combat for Colin Ferrell, please.
• Crooks (Netflix). Maybe the best foreign language show this year.
• Beacon 23 (MGM+). New information each week keeps you coming back.
• Ripley (Netflix). All episodes streaming.
• Star Trek: Discovery (Paramount+). They just had to bring the Enterprise into one episode.
• The Sympathizer (MAX). More Robert Downey, please.
• Baby Reindeer (Netflix). The darkest show on TV.
• Fallout (Amazon Prime Video). The second-best thing on TV.
• Under the Bridge (Hulu). Week two is just as good as week 1.