In a year that was unlike any TV year we’ve had: In a month noted for Valentine’s Day…there was lots of TV to love.
February TV Highlights: Sammy’s #MustSeeTV!
Locke and Key: Season 1 (Netflix)
At The Time: I got yelled at by aggressive nerds on Twitter for not reading the Locke and Key comics. Eh…well now I don’t hafta, right? Written by Joe Hill Locke and Key is illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez and published by IDW Publishing. (Netflix adapted IDW’s V Wars I’ve yet to read or see that. I’ve committed lotta nerd sins.) According to the ye old media release: “Locke & Key revolves around “three siblings who, after the gruesome murder of their father, move to their ancestral home in Massachusetts only to find the house has magical keys that give them a vast array of powers and abilities. Little do they know, a devious demon also wants the keys, and will stop at nothing to attain them.” The trailer looks like a Tim Burton movie (maybe Big Fish?) meets The House with a Clock in Its Walls (the murdered dad is not played by Jack Black is he??!). I’m in for an episode or two.
Sammy Verdict: Please sir…can I have some more! Though substantial changes have been made in this adaptation it works for me! Season 2 will drop soon in 2 2021 and I’ll be back.
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (Netflix)
At The Time: So To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was all the way back in 2018. We were slowly introduced to Lana Condor who’d go onto A+ ruckus in Deadly Class. The eagerly anticipated followed up to To All the Boys is finally out today. Is she gonna live happily forever with Noah Centineo (how could she not?) or will be tempted to stay (how could she?!)? The third movie To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean is already in post-production. So I’m expecting this one to have an open ending. For now…toss your snuggie into the dryer for 30 seconds and dump your microwave popcorn into a bowl it’s movie night. (Though if you have somebody special in your life maybe save this for Valentine’s Day?)
Sammy Verdict: To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean is complete so what is Netflix waiting for?! This series is far better than the Kissing Booth movies.
Altered Carbon: Season 2 (Netflix)
At The Time: Altered Carbon is a 2018 cyberpunk (that’s the right genre? The Blade Runner genre lotta neon but everything and everyone is dark and grimy.) Netflix tv show based on the 2002 novel of the same title by Richard K. Morgan. It is excellent. Typically when a TV show’s second season kickoffs many of the same actors return. For example, Poe an AI fashioned in the likeness of Edgar Allan Poe and who runs a virtual hotel he’s back and familiar and still masterfully played by Chris Conner. However, the main character Takeshi Kovacs who was played by Joel Kinnaman in Season 1 will now be played by Anthony Mackie. Same character, different face. In this Bay City set hundreds of years from now your “soul” is basically stored on a cortical stack like a USB flash drive and bodies are sleeves. You could potentially live forever which is what rich people do or you could keep switching sleeves which is how we get Mackie as the new face yet same character. There is murder and noir mystery and sci-fi ruckus and because people can switch bodies you do not know who to trust. This is satisfying science fiction. Buying the family-sized bag of cheese Doritos for this.
Sammy Verdict: The Doritos were a lot more sweet than the second season. Decent though not as strong as the first season: either way the TV show is done.
February 2020 TV Experiences & Expectations
February 3
McMillions: Docuseries (10 p.m. / HBO)
February 5
Lego Masters: Season 1 (Fox)
-A second season has been greenlit to air in early 2021.
February 7
Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet: Season 1 (Apple TV)
-In January 2020 Apple TV renewed Mythic Quest for a second season.
Locke and Key: Season 1
-In March 2020 Netflix renewed Locke and Key for a second season.
February 9
Kidding: Season 2 (10 p.m. / Showtime)
-In July 2020 Showtime canceled Kidding after two seasons.
February 12
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (Anytime / Netflix)
-Third and final film: To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean in 2021
February 13
Narcos: Mexico: Season 2 (Netflix)
-In October 2020 Netflix renewed Narcos for a third season.
February 14
High Fidelity: Season 1 (Hulu)
-In August 2020, the series was canceled after one season.
Utopia Falls: Season 1 (Hulu)
February 16
War of the Worlds: Season 1 (9 p.m. / Epix)
-War of the Worlds premiered October 28, 2019 on MyCanal in France.
-In Canada it debuted on CBC Gem on October 7, 2020.
-In October 2019 Fox Networks renewed War of the Worlds for a second season.
February 19
The Chef Show: Volume 3 (Netflix)
-Season 2 premiered on September 24, 2020.
February 21
Hunters: Season 1 (Amazon Prime)
-In August 2020 Amazon renewed Hunters for a second season.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 7 (Disney+)
-Final Season.
Intelligence (Sky One)
-In America the series premiered on Peacock on July 15, 2020.
-In Canada the series premiered on Showcase on September 13, 2020.
February 23
D. Wade: Life Unexpected (9 p.m. / ESPN)
February 25
American Masters: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (9 p.m. / PBS)
Pete Davidson: Alive From New York (Netflix)
February 26
I Am Not Okay With This
-In August 2020 Netflix canceled I Am Not Okay With This after one season.
February 27
Altered Carbon: Season 2 (Netflix)
-Final Season!
Happy! Season 2 (Netflix)
-In June 2019 Syfy cancelled Happy! after two seasons.
February 28
All the Bright Places (Netflix)
The Kingmaker (9 p.m. / Showtime)
