Watchable Feb. 7 to 13, 2022

SHOW OF THE WEEK: Hidden Assets (Feb. 13, 9 p.m., Super Channel Fuse and Super Channel on Demand)

A presumed terrorist bombs a fashion show in Antwerp, Belgium. A drug dealer’s home is raided in Shannon, Ireland, revealing ties to the bombing. And it’s up to Belgian and Irish detectives working together to untangle those connections and try to stop a second attack.

Throw Canada into the mix. Although the action — at least in the two episodes I saw — doesn’t stray from Europe, the drama is a Belgian-Irish-Canadian co-production, with Quebec company Facet4 Media on board alongside Belgium’s Potemkino and Ireland’s Saffron Moon.

The main cast is also either Irish or Belgian. Angeline Ball (who will forever be Imelda in “The Commitments” to me, although she’s done plenty of other TV and film) is detective Emer Berry, who leads the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau. Wouter Hendrickx is Christian De Jong, a Belgian counter-terrorism detective. They forge a working relationship that is neither adversarial nor buddy cop, and their time onscreen is all about the work, as opposed to other series that focus on the troubled home lives of their workaholic leads.

In fact, the series as a whole moves with the kind of brisk, no-nonsense approach that Emer and Christian seem to bring to their jobs. It’s not flashy or histrionic, nor does it get lost in the weeds of its plot: you can follow the threads without strenuous mental gymnastics, but that doesn’t make it boring.

Also part of the mix is Irish expat Bibi Melnick (Irish actor Simone Kirby), who lives in Antwerp with her Canadian husband James (British-Canadian actor Charlie Carrick) and runs a prosperous ship chandler company. She gets dragged into the investigation by the fact two of her employees, both immigrants, are linked to the bombing, and by her estranged brother Fionn (Irish actor Peter Coonan), who has ties to the Irish drug dealer.

Canadian actor Michael Ironside, who has a list of credits longer than my arm, also co-stars as Bibi’s father-in-law, hedge fund mogul Richard Melnick.

Through Bibi and her workers, the show touches on issues of refugee migration, Islamophobia and right-wing political populism. But overall, it seems to be a crime drama that is mainly about the crime and the solving of it.

I have one quibble with a scene in which Berry runs out of the police station to shoot at two gunmen on a motorcycle who have just ruthlessly and efficiently executed a witness. But she and De Jong are likeable leads who seem quite capable of connecting all the dots.

Short Takes

One Thousand Years of Slavery — The Untold Story (Feb. 7, Smithsonian Channel)

This four-part docuseries comes from the production company of actors Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance (who also narrates) and takes a view of slavery beyond its history in America and the horror stories that we’re used to, sharing the accounts of enslaved people who fought back. The first episode, for instance, covers the history of the 1811 German Coast revolt in Louisiana; the 1831 Jamaican plantation rebellion that led to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire; the 1839 uprising aboard the slave ship Amistad and the survivors of the Clotilda, the last ship to bring African captives to America — illegally — in 1860. The episode’s final story — of Clotilda survivor Matilda McCrear and her three great-granddaughters — demonstrates that the legacy of slavery, despite its odiousness, can be a positive one. At the age of 73, in 1931, Matilda walked 17 miles to the Dallas County Courthouse to claim compensation for being stolen from West Africa. Her claim was denied but, in 1965, her descendants took part in the civil rights marches that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. These stories are told with the help of Black actors and other celebrities, including CCH Pounder, Debbie Allen, Lorraine Toussaint, Dule Hill and Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.

The Girl Before (Feb. 10, 10 p.m., Crave)

The first hurdle you have to get past in this thriller series based on the JP Delany novel is that anyone would agree to move into a house with such a long list of restrictions, no matter what the rent, particularly a house so unforgivingly austere. Yes, London is undoubtedly a frightfully expensive place to live, but no pictures allowed? No knick-knacks? No books?!? As a lover of things, the single tiny closet struck terror into my heart, never mind the fact that the occupants’ safety might be at risk. But Emma (Jessica Plummer) and Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), both women looking for a clean slate after suffering traumas, do agree to move in — three years apart — and both get romantically involved with Edward Monkford (David Oyelowo), the ridiculously controlling architect who set all those conditions. The mystery revolves around a death in the house. Was it an accident or was it murder? If the latter, who was the killer? The answer, when it comes, isn’t that difficult to guess. As actors, Mbatha-Raw and Plummer acquit themselves respectably, digging into Jane’s and Emma’s pain as well as their strengths, which brings warmth to this otherwise chilly tale. Treat it like the tastefully accoutred whodunit that it is and all will be well.

Crave also has the documentary “Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine” (Feb. 7), about one of Canada’s better known rock bands; the “docu-comedy” “Pillow Talk” (Feb. 10), which explores relationships between four real-life couples and one pair of roommates, playing fictionalized versions of themselves, with all the interactions happening in the bedroom; the Steven Soderbergh movie “KIMI” (Feb. 10); spinoff series “Power Book IV: Force” (Feb. 6, 9 p.m.); and Season 2 of “Dollface” (Feb. 11).

Best in Miniature (Feb. 11, CBC Gem)

Speaking of things, one wonders what Edward Monkford would make of the doll-sized objects in “Best in Miniature.” Tiny pieces of furniture and decor, even working fireplaces and chandeliers, may not have much practical purpose, but they’re certainly fun to look at and to watch being created. This competition series starts with 11 miniaturists, Canadians and Americans with one Brit thrown in, who are vying for $10,000 and a residency at the school of the International Guild of Miniature Artisans in Maine. The contestants’ only limits are imagination and skill — and the ticking clock — as they craft their mini dream homes, which include a five-storey townhouse, an Atlanta mansion, a haunted house, an A-frame cottage, a medieval lair for sibling witches, even a shipping container home. The detail of some of their minuscule creations is truly amazing, particularly when it comes to furnishing their homes. Judges Emma Waddell and Micheal Lambie pick a winner each week and send one competitor home. Aba Amuquandoh is the host. The series comes from Toronto’s marblemedia, the company behind the popular “Blown Away.”

CBC Gem also has “The Head” (Feb. 7), a mystery about a massacre at an Antarctic research station.

Odds and Ends

I have watched two episodes of the Shonda Rhimes-created series “Inventing Anna” (Feb. 11, Netflix) and I have thoughts, which I would love to share with you, except reviews are — sigh — embargoed. It’s based on the true story of Russian Anna Sorokin, who conned thousands upon thousands of dollars out of banks, hotels and New York’s elite by pretending to be a German heiress named Anna Delvey. The Netflix series uses a fictionalized reporter played by Anna Chlumsky to frame the tale. It’s a fascinating story and if you’d like to hear the real details from people who were involved, I recommend the podcast “Fake Heiress.” Netflix also has Season 2 of “Love is Blind” (Feb. 11), the spinoff “Love Is Blind Japan” (Feb. 8) and Season 4 of the animated sitcom “Disenchantment” (Feb. 9).

Disney Plus has the Korean drama “Snowdrop” (Feb. 9) about a forbidden romance between a couple of university students (Jung Hae-In and Jisoo of K-pop band Blackpink) in 1980s Seoul.

British streaming services have a couple of female-led detective dramas on tap. First up is Season 4 of “Agatha Raisin” (Feb. 7, Acorn), starring Ashley Jensen (“After Life”) as the stylish amateur sleuth. BritBox introduces a new crime enthusiast in “Sister Boniface Mysteries” (Feb. 8), with Lorna Watson as a Vespa-driving Catholic nun solving mysteries in the 1960s English countryside.

Prime Video’s offerings include another rom-com, “I Want You Back” (Feb. 11), in which Charlie Day and Jenny Slate play 30-somethings who are trying to win back their former partners with each other’s help, except we can all guess they’ll end up together, right? Prime Video also has “LOL: Last One Laughing Brazil” (Feb. 11).

From OUTtv comes the LGBTQ dating series “Dating Unlocked” (Feb. 11). The daters here represent a range of gender and sexual identities. And they’re not all looking for love in the traditional sense — some just want hookups, some are polyamorous — but the desire for human connection is something they can all get behind. Non-binary “intimacy nerd” Yaz is the charismatic host.

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.