recaps - page 2

Apple TV+’s high-altitude thriller Hijack finally hits the runway in this week’s series finale. Our hero Sam Nelson has a new problem on his hand — and an hour in which to solve it as the rest of the passengers panic anew.

On the ground, Sam’s family is in danger. And in the air, Sam’s running out of options. The episode, entitled “Brace Brace Brace,” serves up as good a conclusion as Hijack fans could hope for.

Apple TV+’s epic space opera Foundation shores up its defenses this week as everyone prepares for the second crisis.

Hari and Gaal have a crucial appointment with an ancient power. Cleric and Day both need to rescue the last men in the galaxy that either of them wants to ask for help. And new and greater puzzles wait behind every corner.

Great pacing, great character work and a couple of welcome additions to the Foundation cast make this week’s episode, “King and Commoner,” appointment television.

Swagger takes a look at personal responsibility this week, as Jace ponders his future after taking a tough stance.

He and Crystal spend an eventful, meaningful day together, while higher-ups decide what to do with the divisive athlete. Ike, Tonya and Emery must work through the Jace situation, while he needs to deal with his own confidence issues. Entitled “Jace + Crystal,” it’s a very fine episode of an Apple TV+ sports drama that produces little else.

Hit Apple TV+ thriller Hijack nears its final destination this week. Sam Nelson’s family is in danger and he can’t do much to stop the potential devastation.

What he can do is take control of the hijacked airplane. But will the rest of the passengers help him? And will the kidnappers let down their guard long enough to allow him to do so? The episode, entitled “Comply Slowly,” is a white-knuckler.

Swagger takes a hard look at incarceration this week in a season-best episode of the Apple TV+ basketball drama.

With the eyes of their community on them, Jace and Team Swagger head to a juvenile detention center to learn and to play as they sweat their futures. Entitled “Are We Free?,” it’s a terrific episode filled with great performance notes and stunning direction.

Apple TV+’s epic science fiction series Foundation deals with the fallout from an assassination attempt, a potential marriage and the opening of a puzzle cube this week.

In the episode, entitled “A Glimpse of Darkness,” Salvor and Gaal have their overdue reunion with Hari Seldon. Plus, some new converts are betrayed by their faith. And Hari, like Schrodinger’s cat, may or may not be in a box. It’s a very good episode between major developments.

Superlative Apple TV basketball drama Swagger puts Jace in the hot seat this week, as allegations prove too tough to beat. Jace does something crazy in the name of helping his community but it makes things even more fraught.

Meanwhile, Ike and Emory are at loggerheads about how to handle their star player. And Crystal must decide how she feels about her life once more becoming the subject of public debate. Entitled “Through the Fire,” it’s a typically excellent installment of this fiery show.

Epic sci-fi series Foundation, based on the work of Isaac Asimov, returns to Apple TV+ for a second season this week and blows expectations clean into the next galaxy.

The expensive, expansive show overcome opening night jitters in season one to become one of the more watchable and exciting things on Apple TV+, thanks in no small part to a game cast, tense set pieces, fleet drama and exquisite effects.

Apple TV+ needed its own Battlestar Galactica or Mandalorian, and Foundation more than met the challenge. Will it be able to repeat the successes of its first season?

Apple TV+ comedy Platonic closes its hilarious first season this week with a sentimental look at the way two people have to understand the limits of their relationship.

Sylvia and her husband Charlie find a new home that seems to signal the end of their recent troubles. But will there be a place for Will in this new version of their life? The answer probably won’t shock you, but it’s basically moving anyway.

Apple TV+ comedy The Afterparty returns for a second infuriating season Wednesday. Not even the presence of some of our best actors (Paul Walter Hauser, Mary Holland and John Cho among them) can focus the writing and direction of this show to the point where its gimmick makes sense or its performances seem calibrated to the design of the show.

Unfortunately, this genre-hopping misfire was spent before it was reloaded.

Apple TV+ limited series The Crowded Room plays its final hand this week, and the show finally broke me the way it reportedly “broke” its lead actor, Tom Holland. Danny finally gets to know all of his personalities at Rya’s behest, though he may have blown his chances at a fair trial already.

The show’s prior attempts at sensitively depicting Danny’s mental illness take a turn for the deeply unserious this week. And for this recapper, there is just no sane way to move forward.

This week on Swagger, Jace and Ike’s latest victory is a short-lived affair. When Crystal comes to Jace with worrying possibilities for his future, he shuts down — leaving Phil, Drew and Musa to panic.

Meanwhile, Jenna and Tonya start making plans. And Ike and Emery decide to hash out their differences the old-fashioned way. The episode, entitled “Rise + Fall,” is good and tense. And it points the way toward much darker events to come on the Apple TV+ basketball drama.

Platonic heads into the home stretch this week as the Apple TV+ comedy about two friends who interrupt each other’s lives and relationships digs into jealousy.

Charlie takes his anger out on a co-worker in the strangest way imaginable. Sylvia takes out her anger directly on Charlie. And Will takes out his anger on his co-workers, who in turn take out their frustration on him. It’s less of a listening and learning week than a wit’s end week on this very easily consumed show.

Apple TV+ terrorist thriller Hijack finally takes off this week, introducing real challenges and intense, investigative set pieces as the people on the ground try to figure out if the plane has been taken over, and if so, why — and what can be done about it.

The calm, cool and collected interloper played by Idris Elba takes action as the plane he’s on descends further and further into chaos. The episode, entitled “Draw a Blank,” is the best this show has yet been.

Apple TV+ sports drama Swagger finds Jace preparing for a big birthday this week. He’s dealing with obstacles he sees — and bracing to be blindsided by some he can’t.

An estranged dad, an old adversary, a new teammate and coach Ike (who’s looking to Jace to secure his future) all conspire to keep the young basketball star from his A game. But for Jace, there’s always a way through. And this week’s excellent episode, entitled “18,” is a potent reminder of that.

Criminologist Rya Goodwin takes center stage in this week’s episode of Apple TV+ drama The Crowded Room. She discovers that the way around the many dead-ends in her life is to crack the case of Danny Sullivan, the man who opened fire in a crowded Manhattan street, and the many personalities living in his head who drove him to murder and mayhem.

Entitled “Rya,” it’s an above-average outing of this oft-frustrating show.

In the Silo season finale, Juliette has been found out and has only minutes to prove her innocence — and the government’s guilt — before she’s caught and punished. Of course, nothing is ever that easy in the hit Apple TV+ sci-fi series.

Bernard and Sims panic at the idea of losing their grip on the seat of power. And the people Juliette knows and loves worry for her safety. The episode, entitled “Outside,” asks the question: Can you fight city hall miles underground?

Apple TV+ comedy Platonic takes a trip to San Diego this week, as Sylvia’s husband Charlie gets paranoid and Will gets a lesson in corporate culture that he didn’t ask for.

In this very good episode of the show — about married Sylvia and divorced Will, who return to the best-friend slot in each other’s lives after an awkward absence — Charlie looks into every little thing, wondering if the pair are more than just friends. Will comes to Sylvia’s rescue at the expense of his friends and business partners, and Sylvia must be honest about the next phase of her life.

Apple TV+ sports drama Swagger returns for a second season in fine form this week. Reggie Rock Bythewood’s account of a high school basketball star and his supportive coach continues with fresh challenges for Jace and his team to face.

With Jace gearing up for college, he needs Ike back in his corner after a brief separation. But will Ike make a good fit at Jace’s new school? This week’s episode, entitled “The World Ain’t Ready,” is thrillingly alive in its depiction of life in Baltimore and the pressures of being very good at what you do.

Juliette is on the lam this week in the penultimate installment of Silo’s first season. The Apple TV+ sci-fi show, about the woman who discovers a massive conspiracy in the equally massive underground bunker containing the last dregs of humanity, finds Juliette looking for help and hope in all the strangest places.

Sims, Bernard and Billings all sweat her escape and what it might mean for the future of the silo in a white-knuckle episode entitled “The Getaway.”

Apple TV+ psychodrama The Crowded Room takes a look back at Danny’s childhood this week to examine the start of his troubles and trauma.

Danny’s issues began when he was young, in the presence of a mysterious twin brother, an absent father, a new stepdad and a mom tired of being defeated by life. Add to that a sexual abuse case and Danny’s mental illness, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster — and a show that keeps running right up to the line of greatness before retreating.

Apple TV+ comedy Platonic, about two once-former-now-current best friends navigating their relationship, finds Sylvia back at work and Will out of step this week.

A lot has changed since Sylvia was last in the workplace, and the new workload is too much for her, without factoring in everything else that can go wrong in an office. Will tries to help but makes things worse as he himself learns a few lessons about the modern workplace. Entitled “Let the River Run,” it’s a very funny episode of the very funny series.

Apple TV+’s noir comedy High Desert comes to a close this week with a nicely judged final half-hour where streams and plots cross.

Arman and Heather, the Gatchis, Carol and Denny are all looking for Peggy in the High Desert season finale, entitled “I Need a Hero.” Can Peggy make up for a lifetime of misbehaving and lying and self-interest in one gesture? It’s a perfectly ridiculous ending to this laconic, if fast-talking, crime saga.

New Apple TV+ drama The Crowded Room, about a man arrested for crimes he doesn’t have a real understanding of having committed, takes a trip overseas this week. Danny, fleeing from his past and his crimes, heads to London to look for his dad. But he finds another shady father figure waiting for him instead.

A few botched crimes and some bonding lead Danny down more dead ends as Rya interrogates him and hopes he finally sees the light. The episode, entitled “London,” offers a maddening glimpse at the show The Crowded Room could have been.

Apple TV+’s kaleidoscopic urban blight drama City on Fire comes to a close this week with events both explosive and not so much.

Amory’s on the move, William’s holding on for dear life, Regan and Keith are missing a few kids, Nicky and Sol come to blows, Charlie and Lorraine tell the truth, Parsa gets a second chance, and Samantha’s in the dark — just like New York City itself.

The limited series finale, entitled “In the Dark,” brings a suitably emotional ending to a show that narrowly avoided greatness.