The Christmas cliché would have me write this: here, naughty elves, the ideal down jacket list to catch up on all the TV from here and elsewhere, well wrapped up in a warm woolen blanket, a delicious hot chocolate in your hands, feet placed near a crackling fire.
Nowell’s concern for realism will make me write this instead: OK, here’s what to watch between two extra-dry turkey burps, a question of sleeping off your last brush in green mint cream, hot lemon water not far from the remote control. Happy packing and happy catching up.
Severance (Dissociation)
Oh. My. God. The finale of this dystopian thriller, unfolded in nine episodes, will throw you off the IKEA sofa. To the black-mirror, the action takes place in the gray office of a very sleazy multinational, where employees have been operated on to split their personal and professional lives. The miniseries stars Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro and Adam Scott. It’s both disturbing and disturbing, I liked it a lot.
On Apple TV+
That’s how I love you 2
PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
That’s how I love you 2
We can no longer do without the crooked tricks and marital unrest of our four caïds from Sainte-Foy, led by the formidable Huguette (Marilyn Castonguay) and her devil’s eye (the tiger has gone to take his Bovril). I love this universe of Tarantino filled with funny secondary characters, including Coco, Puff, Lucien, Marie-Josée, Jeannine and the incredible Gaétan 2, rival of poor Gaétan 1, played by François Létourneau. 1970s, cocaine rails and the Montreal mafia on the menu.
On the Extra of Tou.tv
The Bear
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FX NETWORKS
Jeremy Allen White and Liza Colon-Zayas in The Bear
This is the TV critics’ favorite series, set in the messy kitchens of a small family restaurant in Chicago. Be warned: the first two episodes, garish and chaotic, border on the limit of the tolerable. It happens later. The Bear tells the story of a young starred chef who returns home to take over the boui-boui from his big brother who committed suicide. It’s probably the most inventive and intense show of 2022.
On Disney+
A criminal case
Do you like police investigations and twisted family stories? Take a look (or even better: both eyes) at this miniseries by Joanne Arseneau (Miscellaneous facts). A mother (Céline Bonnier) has been struggling there for 15 years to get her big boy (Maxime-Olivier Potvin) out of prison. Through the fight of this pugnacious mother, suspicions of corruption float on the local police force. Lots of detail and finesse in this high quality thriller.
About Crave
Abbott Elementary
I insist again, even if it means nothing to you: this American comedy is brilliant. In the manner of The Office, she tells the daily life of teachers in a disadvantaged elementary school in Philadelphia. Clumsy headmistress, conspiratorial janitor, and overworked teachers, this is one of my favorite shows of 2022.
On Disney+
The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up
PHOTO FRED GERVAIS, PROVIDED BY CLUB ILLICO
Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Éric Bruneau, Anne Dorval and Xavier Dolan, in The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up
See five short films by Xavier Dolan? Checked. Admire the work of actors Julie Le Breton, Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Patrick Hivon and Éric Bruneau? Re-checked. Being buried by a meticulously chosen soundtrack? Checked too. The first episode is slow and does not represent the rest of this ambitious series, which is unlike anything else on the air today.
On Club illico
Heartstopping
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NETFLIX
Joe Locke and Kit Connor in Heartstopping
Teenagers do not all see the top as in Euphoria. Without sinking into hell crystal meththe characters of the charming series Heartstopping experience their first love affairs, in particular Nick and Charlie, who have almost nothing in common. Nick plays rugby, Charlie plays drums. The current passes between them when they sit at the same table in French class. Insert lightning and heart emojis here.
On Netflix
larry
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
Benoit Gouin in larry
After life, life, author Stéphane Bourguignon and director Patrice Sauvé combine their talents in this detective thriller set in a multi-ethnic neighborhood of Montreal. The hero ? Larry (Benoît Gouin), a fallen undercover Montreal police officer. When his wife (Monique Spaziani) is shot in a stray bullet during a shootout, Larry goes into vigilante mode and investigates street gangs himself, without official permission. Also to appreciate: the influence of the cult film The French Connection.
On the Extra of Tou.tv
Completely high school
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CRAVE
Katherine Levac (who plays Ashley Winterbottom) in Completely high school
It’s totally silly, but completely funny, this parody of Scott Brothers and other teen movies from the early 2000s. We’re at New Garden Hills Valley School in Chicago, Wisconsin, Nevada. First shot in English, the series is dubbed into international French at the Degrassi and the dialogues overflow with French words like naze, meuf and gerbant. All 10 30-minute episodes are now live and they take us away from the great dramas seen on other platforms.
About Crave
Bad Sisters
A great discovery, this Irish tragicomedy which features five mismatched sisters, who have always been close together. When one of them marries the very toxic John Paul, a detestable and slimy man, the other four plot to kill “the bastard” and free their sister from his unhealthy hold. Obviously, the sisters’ plan fails, an insurance company opens a suspicious death investigation (no spoilers) and you’ll find that John Paul, aka “The Prick” in the original English version, is even more disgusting than you think. would have imagined.
On Apple TV+