Robert Rorke

The shifting tones and conflicting storytelling severely limit any chance for this series to thrill you, let alone keep your attention.

“The Sinner” continues to intrigue and keep us guessing. Much of the success of this season’s story has to do with some smart casting. ... [Bill Pullman is] the engaging center of this entertaining puzzle.

“Lone Star,” starring Rob Lowe, has more modest ambitions and delivers far less exciting results [than “9-1-1.”]

While the show bears similarities to all of its procedural predecessors, Wolf and longtime “Law & Order” collaborator Rene Balcer have built a more promising foundation here by casting better actors than ordinarily found on these pedestrian dramas.

That shiny Golden Globe will buy her some time to find her voice but, right now, her show is only fitfully amusing.

Even if the political message was less trenchant than the one presented on “All in the Family,” the actors did a better job of conveying the established family dynamics without resorting to the mugging displayed by Harrelson. Amos’ surprise guest appearance also sweetned the pot. The only weak link was Jay Pharaoh in Jimmie “J.J.” Walker’s role of James Evans Jr. Walker is a hard act to follow.

The writers could have had some fun with the prospect of the Buchmans facing each other in mid-life, but instead they lurch from empty-nest gags to menopause jokes.

Stiff of spine and thin of voice, this Elizabeth (played by Oscar winner Olivia Colman) may make you long for the incandescent Claire Foy ... The history lessons check some necessary boxes — Churchill (John Lithgow) goes to his eternal reward in Episode 1 — but also resurrect delicious bits that may have been forgotten. ... With an ever-present cigarette holder and air of hangover chic, Margaret is a free spirit trapped by the rules of the palace, and her contrast with Elizabeth is something Morgan returns to again and again with striking results.

Fantasy junkies may be able to get by on this grade-B stimulant until the next great visionary show comes along, but right now the second-season renewal (before premiere) for “Carnival Row” seems extremely rash.

When it finally gets going — and that would be Episode 3 — Season 2 of the Netflix series “Mindhunter” finds some resonance by delving into one of the most notorious 20th-century serial killer cases — the Atlanta child murders of 1979-81. At least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were killed.

Bitingly funny, it echoes the best satiric elements of the ABC hit without the baggage of having too many characters with subplots that fall all over themselves.

Streep resists outright scenery chewing, perhaps knowing that Dern has that department covered. ... Opportunities for sniggering laughter abound as the scrupulously crafted lives of the Monterey 5 crumble.

The actors are all top-notch — but expect special recognition come Emmy-time for Jerome, who dominates the fourth hour, Farmiga and Ellis. “When They See Us” is a tough watch, but viewers will be moved and sickened at the prevalence of racism even in our so-called sophisticated cities.

“Blood & Treasure” is a harmless, unabashed throwback and completely forgettable. Barr is as bland as any other young actor starring in a TV series while wannabe Bond girl Pernas agreeably checks the networks’ present criteria for “exotic.”

The two episodes made available for review, while not as exciting as the first few episodes of Season 1, detail their recovery and inculcation back into previous modes.

Peele, who gives off the severity of a funeral home director in his host capacity, only partially delivers the goods.

While the actors, some of whom trained in the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy group, seem to finding their way in the first two episodes, the cast pulls it all together by the third.

Beckinsale brings a stylish ferocity to the role of Georgia. ... The Widow, skillfully written by Harry and Jack Williams, doles out its clues on a need-to-know basis.

There’s nothing wrong with the casting but there’s nothing dynamic about it, either. ... Whiskey Cavalier may use terms like “retinal scans” in its storylines in order to sound like the espionage dialogue is up to date, but make no mistake: you’ve seen this show a dozen times before.

ilmed in a familiar “48 Hours” you-were-there style. ... By turns entertaining, shocking and finally sobering, “Lorena” shows that the only recourse for a woman in those circumstances is her own defense.

In some ways, I Am the Night is too much--and not enough--of a good thing.

Fam is a largely witless family comedy with one bright spot. Gary Cole shines as Freddy Banks, a homicide detective who’s fond of playing the horses.

The mechanics of the spy plot unfold sluggishly. ... The casting also seems unimaginative.

Narcos: Mexico will keep you guessing--and watching. With his fierce dark eyes and focused intensity, Pena is an excellent choice to play the intrepid Kiki, whose trajectory kicks off the modern-day drug war between Mexico and the US. As Gallardo, the slightly built Mexican actor Diego Luna has an entirely different vibe than the imposing Moura.

While serving up a new batch of so-so operatives (Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane play tech billionaire siblings with a right-wing bent) to vex Claire, the best thing about the final episodes of House of Cards is the return of several ghosts of Underwood administrations past.

American viewers may not grasp all the subtleties of British government bureaucracy, but the cast of well-drawn characters--Anjli Mohindra is a standout as Nadia, the would-be suicide bomber--make Bodyguard compulsively watchable.

Dondry works in an abstract style with a minimum of narrative momentum, but sometimes the characters seem stranded from one another. That we’re all disconnected may be his message, but Kidding is going to have to give us more than Carrey’s sad-sack face to stick with the show--though it’s got some promise.

For anyone whose idea of a classic British procedural is the divinely gritty “Prime Suspect,” the design of the Morse prequel may seem creatively anachronistic. But it has charms to spare.