| Cult of Mac

The 15 best shows on Apple TV+

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Best shows on Apple TV+
Looking for something to stream? Check out the best shows on Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+’s programming slate seems like a crazily oscillating slate of highs and lows. But the highs thus far prove dizzying indeed.

Directors like M. Night Shyamalan, Rupert Wyatt and Kim Jee-Woon, writers like Min Jin Lee, Paul Theroux, Emily Dickinson and Isaac Asimov, high-concept premises and legendary ensembles all meet on Apple’s streaming service.

The result is a collection of art worth signing up for. On the fourth anniversary of the service’s launch, here’s a look at the best shows on Apple TV+.

Apple TV+ nabs record 53 Hollywood Critics Association Awards nominations

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Apple TV+ will clean up at this year's Hollywood Critics Association Awards.
Apple TV+ will clean up at this year's Hollywood Critics Association Awards.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ garnered a record 53 nominations for 16 shows across a range of genres — comedy, drama, documentary, anthology series, variety-sketch series — for the upcoming Hollywood Critics Association Awards.

Psychological thriller Severance and comedy Ted Lasso led the way with a dozen nominations apiece.

Dickinson finale is pure poetry [Apple TV+ recap]

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Dickinson finale: After an extremely strong third season, the show makes a graceful exit.
After an extremely strong third season, the show makes a graceful exit.
Photo: Apple TV+

Dickinson bids us farewell this week — too soon, but beautifully. What lies in store for Emily and her family in their final outing? Can she overcome history to find a happy ending denied her by fact and legacy?

The Apple TV+ alt-history show says goodbye on a sweet, lightly ambiguous note — and finds its strength in invention. Emily Dickinson we hardly knew ye.

The kids are alright as Dickinson approaches its poetic finale [Apple TV+ recap]

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Dickinson recap: The kids are alright.
The Dickinson siblings work things out.
Photo: Apple TV+

Reconciliations abound and new beginnings rear their heads on the penultimate episode of Dickinson, the alt-history Apple TV+ series about the great poet and her family and friends. And the show prepares to say goodbye in fine, fine form.

Dickinson finally answers its loose-end questions about Emily Dickinson’s place in history (and, indeed, the place of art and poetry in a more general sense). The show finally explores what it means to want to create during a destructive time — and it’s a shame the showrunners won’t be able to do more after landing in such a beautiful place. There’s still some sitcom business, but that’s less important.

Dickinson finally faces its essential truth [Apple TV+ recap]

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Dickinson recap: Emily and a dead man peer into the abyss this week.
Emily and a dead man peer into the abyss this week.
Photo: Apple TV+

Dickinson, Apple TV+’s soon-to-be-missed show about the great poet, arrives at its moment of truth this week. The episode, titled “My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun -,” is the one the entire show has been building toward — and there are still two left to go before this final season concludes.

Will Emily Dickinson become who history understands her to be, or is there some greater truth for this version of the poet? Strong performances and fearless writing guide the show into uncharted territory this week.

Time travel and weed take Dickinson to interesting new places [Apple TV+ recap]

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Dickinson recap: High times lead to laughs this week.
High times lead to laughs this week.
Photo: Apple TV+

Emily and Lavinia visit the future in this very special episode of Dickinson, Apple TV+s alt-history romp about the great poet. They head to 1955 while Austin gets desperate, Betty gets lonely, Henry gets creative, and Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson get high.

It’s a wild episode this week, rootless and maybe a little too cute, but that’s not unusual for Dickinson.

Dickinson gets crazy-good when it heads to the loony bin [Apple TV+ recap]

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Dickinson recap: Emily Dickinson (played by Hailee Steinfeld) endures a trip to the asylum this week.
Emily Dickinson (played by Hailee Steinfeld) endures a mad trip to the asylum this week.
Photo: Apple TV+

This week on Dickinson, the girls are off to the lunatic asylum and Henry needs to find his inner housewife to help his recruits pass an inspection.

This week’s episode of the Apple TV+ feminist alt-history fable is one of the strongest yet — and it makes the looming finale all the more bittersweet. Just when the creative team seems to be hitting its stride and enjoying themselves, the end must come.

Dickinson queues up a consequential sing-along [Apple TV+ review]

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Dickinson review: Young poet Emily Dickinson (played by Hailee Steinfeld) gets some good news this week.
Young poet Emily Dickinson (played by Hailee Steinfeld) gets some good news this week.
Photo: Apple TV+

It’s an old-fashioned family sing-along on this week’s Dickinson, Apple TV+’s show about the Belle of Amherst and the tempestuous times in which she lived.

Lots of talk about legacy and darkness cloud an evening’s celebration during the episode, titled “Sang from the Heart, Sire.” Can Mr. Dickinson’s birthday party (or his reputation) survive?

Dickinson delves into poetry’s power during terrible times [Apple TV+ review]

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Dickinson review: Humanist poet Walt Whitman (played by Billy Eichner) witnesses the Civil War's toll.
Humanist poet Walt Whitman (played by Billy Eichner) witnesses the Civil War's toll.
Photo: Apple TV+

Emily wonders about her place in the world during the Civil War, and the poet gets a little help from some colleagues — while the Dickinsons get fleas and Henry gets a new job.

It’s an eventful week on Dickinson, Apple TV+’s feminist fantasia. And, as usual, the simplest answer is often the right one.

Dickinson trains its eccentric eye on Civil War [Apple TV+ review]

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Dickinson review on Apple TV+: The Civil War makes a mark on young poet Emily Dickinson.
The Civil War makes a mark on young poet Emily Dickinson.
Photo: Apple TV+

Dickinson, Apple TV+’s feminist fable, returns for a qualified victory lap Friday. The first three episodes of the show’s third and final season arrived today, not even a full year after the last one concluded.

It will be a shame once we no longer can enjoy fresh episodes featuring the show’s antic poetry and remixed pastoralism.

And, while Dickinson still hasn’t worked out precisely what its identity is, the comforting oddness of its milieu was a tonic in trying times, even if the show had a ways to go before it could meaningfully grapple with the present. All the same, the final season hints at what Dickinson could have done exceedingly well — if its showrunners were given a little more room.