Watchable on Netflix, AMC+, Apple Feb. 20 to 26, 2023

No show of the week this week, thanks to a light week for new releases (ones I was interested in, at least) and embargoes.

Short Takes

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (Feb. 22, Netflix)

It feels to me like true crime series have been on a downward trajectory since early entries like “Making a Murderer” and “The Jinx.” This show set in the Lowcountry of South Carolina doesn’t quite meet that high standard, but neither is it bait-and-switch nonsense like “The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.” It starts out as the story of the death of teenager Mallory Beach in 2019, who was killed when Paul Murdaugh, scion of a family of big-shot lawyers in Hampton County, drunkenly drove a boat into a bridge piling in the Beaufort River. As the other people who were in the boat tell it, in very detailed interviews about the crash and its aftermath, the powerful Murdaughs did everything possible to keep it from being pinned on Paul. He was eventually charged with boating under the influence and the Murdaugh family’s fortunes seemed to spiral from there. Paul’s charges still hadn’t gone to trial when Paul and his mother, Maggie, were shot to death on one of the Murdaughs’ vast properties in 2021. The doc explores that case, which is still before the courts (I’m not giving spoilers, but you can easily google who was charged), as well as two other deaths rumoured to be linked to the Murdaughs. And there’s more: drug addiction, theft, insurance fraud, money laundering, even a staged shooting. As in many of these types of series, you won’t get definitive answers on everything, but there’s food for thought about the harms that can arise when privilege is allowed to run amok.

Netflix also has Season 3 of teen mystery series “Outer Banks” (Feb. 23); Season 2 of kids’ comedy “That Girl Lay Lay” (Feb. 23); and Season 5 of docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” (Feb. 24).

Black Snow (Feb. 23, AMC+)

This Australian series has some of the hallmarks of your typical murder mystery: a dead teenage girl, a troubled lead detective, a small town guarding its secrets. What makes it different is that the series weaves the Australian history of “blackbirding” — luring or forcing Pacific Islanders to the country to do hard labour for low wages — into the criminal case. Isabel Baker (Talijah Blackman-Corowa) was murdered in 1994 after leaving her high school prom in her small town in Queensland. The opening of a time capsule 25 years later, in which Isabel placed a letter accusing members of the community of being “predators” who might kill her, leads to the reopening of the cold case, led by detective James Cormack (Travis Fimmel, “Vikings”) from Brisbane. Isabel comes from a South Sea Islander family whose great-great-grandfather was kidnapped in Vanuatu and brought to Queensland to work in the sugar cane fields (the series title comes from the black ash from the sugar factory that sometimes falls like snow). As Cormack investigates, sometimes butting heads with and sometimes teaming up with Hazel (Jemmason Power), Isabel’s sister, various potential suspects are revealed: Isabel’s white best friend Chloe and her father, Steve, who owns the town’s sugar plantation and exploits his migrant workers; her white boyfriend Anton, who was cheating on her with fellow student Tasha; nerdy outsider Hector, who was obsessed with Isabel; Tasha’s brother Billy, who did Steve’s dirty work; Ezekiel, a migrant worker in the country illegally, even her own father, Pastor Joe, who disapproved of her relationship with Anton. As he investigates, Cormack becomes convinced Isabel’s murder is tied to the disappearance of two of Ezekiel’s cousins, who were also in Australia illegally. The plot can meander when it pulls its focus from Isabel’s slaying, and some loose ends are left untied, but it’s compelling enough to watch all six episodes. Fimmel brings typical intensity to his role as Cormack while Power and Blackman-Corowa, both newcomers to acting and both of South Sea Islander heritage, give depth to Hazel and Isabel. It’s particularly welcome that we get to see Isabel, in numerous flashbacks to 1994, as a fully realized person and not just a murder victim.

The Reluctant Traveler (Feb. 24, Apple TV+)

This would have been my show of the week except that Apple TV+ has decided to embargo reviews until Feb. 23 and strictly embargo them to boot. So I can’t tell you what I think of the show; I can only tell you what to expect. Canadian actor and comedian Eugene Levy, known for everything from “SCTV” to “Schitt’s Creek,” from the “American Pie” films to Christopher Guest mockumentaries like “Best in Show,” is the host and star here as he travels to eight countries experiencing everything from dog-sledding in Finland to hiking the jungle at night in Costa Rica to plying the canals of Venice to feeding rhinos in South Africa to stargazing on Navajo territory in Utah. The twist is that Levy is a self-described reluctant traveller who says he usually doesn’t like venturing out of his comfort zone (you can read what Levy had to say about the show in my Toronto Star story here).

Apple also has the “thriller” series “Liaison” (Feb. 24), starring Eva Green and Vincent Cassel. She plays a British intelligence agent; he plays a French defence contractor in a plot that has something to do with Syrian hackers and cyber-attacks on the U.K. Quite honestly, I got interrupted three-quarters of the way through the first episode and had no interest in finishing it, so make of that what you will.

Push (Feb. 24, 8:30 p.m., CBC/CBC Gem)

This docuseries shot in Alberta showcases a group of friends known as the “Wheelie Peeps” since they all use wheelchairs or other mobility devices. The ringleader is vibrant Benveet “Bean” Gill, founder of the ReYu Recovery Centre for people with spinal cord injuries, who as the series opens is marking her 10th rebirthday: the anniversary of her paralysis. We’re also introduced, among others, to Brian, who’s celebrating his first relationship anniversary with Victoria; Natasha, who’s about to give birth; and Brittney and Ricardo, who organize a protest when the Alberta government cuts funding for catheter tubes, forcing them and other people with lower body paralysis to “pay to pee.” The series is clearly meant to present its subjects as people living their lives who just happen to be disabled. As Bean says, “We’re just a bunch of people on wheels figuring things out.”

Odds and Ends

Prime Video’s main release this week is “The Consultant” (Feb. 24), a comedy (a dark one I presume) starring Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as a consultant brought into a struggling gaming company who seems to have a murderous way of doing business. Prime also has the movie “Die Hart” (Feb. 24), in which Kevin Hart stars as a fictional Kevin Hart who wants to be an action star.

Fans of the British-French crime dramedy “Death in Paradise” are no doubt stoked about the spinoff series “Beyond Paradise” (Feb. 23, BritBox), in which detective Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall, “Sanditon,” “Love Actually”) has left the island of Saint Marie to solve crimes in Devon, with Martha (Sally Bretton) by his side.

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.