What to Watch This Week: Reviews of The Tourist, Shogun, Elsbeth and More

The Tourist (Netflix)

Starring Jamie Dornan (The Fall), The Tourist airs on Netflix two years after Season 1. The recap of Season 1 is horrendous as I couldn't remember almost anything from two years ago. The way they start the second season gives you enough information to understand Season 2. Feel free to start with Season 2 if you haven't seen Season 1 (but the first season was pretty good).

The only real thing you need to know is that Dornan's character (The Man) is suffering from amnesia and what little we know about his past is that he was probably a violent drug dealer. In Season 2, Dornan and girlfriend Helen (she was the cop in Australia in Season 1) have been traveling for 14 months and have now arrived in Ireland.

Dornan and Helen quickly find themselves in the middle of a family feud between two crime families, the Cassidys and the McDonells. Apparently, Dornan may be a Cassidy.

The Tourist is a good mystery as we find out more and more about Dornan's character and also has some really good laughs. Helen and a new character, the cop in Ireland, do the constantly awkward thing which is sometimes funny and sometimes annoying.

Verdict: Watch.

Shogun (Hulu)

Starring Hiroyuki Sanada (John Wick 4) and Cosmo Jarvis (Raised by Wolves), Shogun premiered with two episodes this week.

I remember as a kid that the original Shogun was such a huge miniseries and so complicated, but I couldn't watch it as I was still trying to figure out Happy Days. The reboot is no different. Many, many characters with a twisting and turning political plot that makes you want to keep notes.

The general gist is that there are four or five warlords running Japan in the aftermath of their leader dying. The warlords are ganging up on Sanada's character and trying to boot him out of the council. Mixed in all of this is the fact that Jarvis is trying to start trade between England and Japan. Currently, Portugal/Spain has a monopoly on Japanese trade. Japan didn't even know there was more than one country in Europe.

Shogun is an incredibly complex, 17th century, political drama with an impressive visual rendering of ancient Japan. There are traitors, assassins, translators, members of the church with varying motives, businessmen, samurais, and lots more. There is no humor and no action. This is like House of Cards in the 1600's.

The premiere was pretty good, let's see if they can keep it interesting next week.

Verdict: Wait and See.

The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (Apple TV+)

I couldn't make it through the first 10 minutes of the show. I bet this will develop some sort of cult following, but I thought it was a rare dud from Apple.

Verdict: Pass.

Elsbeth (Paramount+)

Carrie Preston (Claws) reprises her role as Elsbeth Tascioni from The Good Wife and The Good Fight. Wendell Pierce (The Wire) also stars in the show.

If you didn't like Elsbeth's character in The Good Wife, you definitely won't like this show. Elsbeth's trademark is playing an awkward, absent-minded, airhead lawyer to disarm her opponents because she is actually incredibly smart with a strong intuition and attention to detail. She typically uses these traits to turn the tables in her cases in and out of the courtroom by seeing things that others don't.

Elsbeth is in New York in the new show and it looks like this will be a case of the week type of show. Sort of funny, sort of interesting cases, and sort of interesting solutions.

Verdict: Wait and See.

Furies (Netflix)

Netflix released all episodes of Furies and is in French.

Furies has a bit of John Wick feel to it. The show is an organized crime drama with a full history, rules, personalities, and mythology of how the crime families in Paris run their organizations and run France. Basically, it is a completely fantastical underworld of crime.

The Fury acts as kind of a sheriff, judge, and jury for the crime families in order to keep the peace. Selma is the current Fury and is trying to train Lyna whose father has recently died under mysterious circumstances. The show takes us through Lyna's training, investigation into her father's murder, and interaction with the other crime bosses.

Furies is violent, a complicated investigation with twists and turns, and really interesting characters.

Verdict: Watch.

Recent and Current Shows to Keep Watching

Alert: Poacher on Amazon Prime Video has been promoted to watch. Great crime drama out of India.

• Fargo (Hulu). All episodes streaming.
• Jack Reacher (Amazon Prime Video). All episodes streaming.
• A Shop for Killers (Hulu). All episodes streaming.
• Sexy Beast (Paramount+). The finale was great. I hope they do a second season.
• Monsieur Spade (AMC+). All episodes streaming.
• True Detective (MAX). The finale wasn't great, but the show overall was pretty good.
• Expats (Amazon Prime Video). All episodes streaming.
• The Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (Hulu). A rebound week for Capote.
• Halo (Paramount+). I think we'll start getting back to some of the mythology soon.
• Life and Beth (Hulu). All episodes streaming.
• The New Look (Apple TV+). The show is now turning more into a fashion drama than a spy thriller.
• Avatar (Netflix).
• Formula 1: Drive To Survive (Netflix). You don't have to like the sport to like the show.
• Poacher (Amazon Prime Video).