The Wagner Method (serial)

Season 1-4

French TV police procedural where the key team is protagonist Cesár Wagner (hypochondriac police captain),  Dr. Beaumont (forensic pathologist - unrequited love interest) and Dr. Weiss (personal physician - unrequited love interest). The three develop a fabulous friendship while dealing with Wagner's ailments and solving murders in Strasbourg. I love that the feared ailment of the day always contributes somehow to the case. I love how Wagner's background as Strasbourg elite plays out. I love how the history of France in WWII and the Nazi occupation is still so fresh and prescient in the culture of the show. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Mademoiselle Holmes (serial)

Season 2

I liked this more than Season 1, mostly because I realized that Holmes is Raphael from Astrid and Watson/Sami is Aurélien from Munch. And because the characters are set from the first season, we jump right into the quirk and don't need to slow roll the development. Holmes continues to solve cases, needs the emotional support of Sami and kid gloves from her co-workers. But she is the key member of the team instead of a side element that needs to force her way in. Maybe more traditional police procedural, but more fun because of it. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Carpe Diem (serial)

Season 1

Set in Nice, protagonist Tom is just released from a 17-year prison stint for killing his wife. While in prison, he got his law degree and is now hanging his shingle while investigating to find his wife's actual killer. He is a charming rogue, getting into the good grace of the local detective, and taking on and winning cases for the underrepresented. He has a fun team of quirky and a family he is trying to figure out. Lincoln Lawyer meets Munch. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Filthy Fortunes (serial)

Season 1-2

A "clean out" team travels from place to place cleaning out hoards in this reality series. The key premise here is that the owners want the hoard clean more for the space recovery than to optimize dollars. So the team cleans and then sells what they can. This is not about drama, or shaming hoarders, but really about the find of the treasure. This is a background show that I can have on while doing other things. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Phantom Lawyer (serial)

Season 1

Legal K-drama with new lawyer I-rang hanging out his own shingle. Turns out it is because his father was a famously corrupt prosector and no-one would hire him. In his new practice, he sets up his office in a former shaman's space, and it turns out I-rang can see the ghosts that the shaman had called back. So I-rang's clients become the ghosts that need resolution before passing on. It's a 16 episode season, with about 2 episodes per ghost client. And true to K-drama form, there is a slow burn romance. There are several small inconsistencies throughout the season in terms of how ghosts interact with the world, but overall this is a fun and heartfelt family drama and legal drama. 

4 stars (out of 5)

My Life is Murder (serial)

Season 4-5

In this season (season 1-3 here), Alexa and her friends continue to "assist the police" in Auckland with suspicious or cold cases. It's clever and fun and "low thrill" in that there are no serial killer cases or false cliffhanger stress. A pleasant watch. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Wildcard Kitchen (serial)

Season 3

Best cooking show around. Friendly, fun, creative, quick hitting. Same format as first two seasons. We get a couple of theme nights (all Iron Chef winners) and even get host Eric Adjepong taking a turn in the kitchen. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Intern (serial)

Seasons 1-5

A French television drama following Constance Meyer, a middle aged, second career trainee judge. In the French system, the judges are the investigators who stand between the police and the prosecutors. So basically this is a detective show. Meyer is insightful, uses her life experience to bring a different lens to her investigations, and pushes the boundaries just a bit. She also fills that mother role with her colleagues, who all seem to need it. It is a fun series, not super dark like the British or Scandinavian murder-mysteries tend to be. More like Munch or New Tricks.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Puzzle Lady (serial)

A one season, amateur detective series from PBS (via BBC). Phyllis Logan (whom you may know as Downton Abbey's Mrs. Hughes) plays Cora Felton. Cora is the British Will Shortz, and has moved to a small village with her niece to get away from the limelight. Turns out she is a decent, if nosy, detective as she helps the marginally competent local police. Similar in tone to New Tricks or Shakespeare & Hathaway. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Closer (serial)

Seasons 1-7

Kyra Sedgwick stars as LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, head of the Priority Homicide division (later Major Crimes). She is hired by J.K. Simmons and their past relationships (in D.C. and Atlanta) are a running plot device, as is her relationship with her FBI beau and eventually husband, and Atlanta native mom and dad. Johnson's unique ability is to get confessions from criminals, which makes prosecuting crimes that much easier. She is also a bit of Dr. House of law enforcement, and a little bit of Law & Order vibe with the LAPD headlines and federal oversight after Rampart playing their own role. What makes this series particularly welcome is that the cast is largely intact throughout 7 seasons, so there is not any necessary false drama to write major characters out of the script. Great series. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Franklin & Bash (serial)

Season 1-4

Two upstart LA lawyers are making their name with their unconventional style as they win every case. They look out for the little guy and never give up. They get hired into a big firm to "fight the zombie culture" and find themselves a new mentor/guru.  And they keep winning cases. The tone is "wacky-fun", reminds me a bit of the old serial Ed. It's definitely dated, with a frat-culture vibe and really 1D characterization of women. So mostly I might recommend this as background noise if you need a law show running in the background in the middle of the night. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Lincoln Lawyer (serial)

Season 4

Picking up where #3 left off, the Lincoln Lawyer (because he used to practice out of his Lincoln) is on trial for murder. Micky Haller and his crew have to prove his innocence, outsmart the criminal underworld, outsmart the DA, outsmart the FBI, outsmart... well, you get it. Somehow, even though this is predictable and largely stereotypical, it is fun to watch. Great ensemble working together to tell stories. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Munch (serial)

Season 1-4

A French law-drama where the central character is a defense attorney (Munch) who skirts rules to defend her (always innocent) clients. She is persistent, annoying, etc., but also heartfelt in her belief in her clients. She is mentoring the up and coming (a trust fund kid turned lawyer, her investigator, her receptionist) and working out her family relationships as well. Turns out to be the Paris equivalent of Lincoln Lawyer. Quite fun. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Good Cop/Bad Cop (serial)

Season 1

A buddy cop comedy-drama set in small town eastern Washington. The twist here is that the buddies are siblings -- she the intuitive "spirit of the law" cop, he the by-the-book oddball -- with police chief dad running the show. Entertaining, if not original. Gives Resident Alien or Monk vibes. 

3 stars (out of 5) 

Blanca (series)

This Italian series (one season - 10 episodes) features Blanca, a 20-something blind woman staring an internship at the Genoa police department. She has to deal with all the dismissiveness and stereotyping you would expect, but she makes herself useful on cases, to the point that her detective supervisor begins to trust her. In parallel, Blanca is drawn into an investigation of her own history and who killed her older sister (an event that caused Blanca's blindness). Is there such a thing as a Rom-Thrill? This is it. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Blacklist (serial)

Season 1-8

Blacklist centers on James Spader (Raymond Reddington), the FBI's most wanted criminal. He is basically an information broker who trades amongst the criminal underworld and always gets his cut. In this series, he becomes a confidential informant for the FBI under the condition that his handler be young agent / profiler Elizabeth Keen. It is this Reddington/Keen relationship that becomes the central tension of the series. Each episode consists of Reddington serving up an FBI wanted criminal and along the way getting something for himself. And each episode purports to reveal a bit more of the "truth" about Keen's past. However [spoiler] in the first 8 seasons, all revealed truths are themselves only partial or are outright lies. Overall, a good FBI/Crime series, but after 8 seasons, I need to take a break. I sense a shark-jump ahead...

3 stars (out of 5)

Maigret (serial)

Set in Paris, Inspector Maigret is a rising-star detective in charge of the major crimes division. Interestingly, this French setting has everyone speaking english... Maigret is a lone wolf detective who likes to play his cards close. He has people on his team he trusts, but others he doesn't. But he is politically astute and can navigate the halls of power. He also has a personal history which comes into play over the course of the season. In many ways, this is a prototypical dark, English police procedural. And it is good. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Mademoiselle Holmes (serial)

A nice little french series where Charlie Holmes is the great granddaughter of Sherlock. She is working as a police detective, but doesn't really have the confidence of her captain. She is also battling bipolar disorder and detests the effect of her meds on her thinking. She is accompanied by a pathologist intern in the Watson role. Quirky and fun, with a running plot line of exploring this historical connection with the famous Holmes. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Mom (serial)

8 seasons

Allison Janey headlines this sitcom about recovery and relationship. She is the alcoholic mom with an alcoholic daughter, along with a group of alcoholic friends who are all simultaneously antagonistic to each other, self-absorbed and deeply caring and supportive. Over the course of the series, we see a progression of increasing wellness. Probably a full 1/3 of the setting is in AA meetings, and many times the jokes are "inside", and seem inappropriate for me as an outsider, or maybe just appropriation at best. But aside from that, there is something real about the struggle and healing that we are seeing. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Wildcards (serial)

Season 1 & 2

A grifter (Max) is arrested (by Ellis) and as part of her parole/community service, she has to work with the police to solve crimes. So this is a classic buddy cop movie, with the cop/criminal pairing. Very much the local version of Whitecollar. Max and Ellis are a great team and (of course) sparks fly. The cases they solve are cheeky (a murder on the real housewives set, ghosts, etc.) so this is a lightweight as it gets, true CW fare. 

4 stars (out of 5)