els bastards
A new season of series for summertime
Summer means three long months of abstinence for series-lovers, doesn't it? Not anymore. In recent years, US TV channels have been scheduling a good number of series, and from what I have read, this summer will see as many as 80 series, among both sequels and premieres. What follows is a brief summary of some of the most promising.
AQUARIUS
May 28, NBC (1st season)
A 13 episode police drama, Aquarius explores the criminal origins of Charles Manson with David Duchovny playing the detective Samson 'Sam' Hodiak. The opening episodes received some criticism, but it may be just need more time.
UNREAL
June 1, LIFETIME (1st season)
This black comedy reveals how reality shows are made and what goes on behind the camera. The main character, Rachel, has the mission of emotionally manipulating contestants on the fictional dating programme in order to create conflicts and engineer the drama deemed necessary by the TV channel's producers. A good opening episode left me wanting to see more.
THE WHISPERS
June 1, ABC (1st season)
A sci-fi series based on the Ray Bradbury short story Zero Hours, produced by Steven Spielberg, The Whispers tells the story of humanity's struggle against alien enemies that want to destroy our world in order to mine it for its most precious resource, children.
SENSE8
June 5, NETFLIX (1st season)
The long-awaited Netflix series is from the Wachowski brothers, the makers of Matrix. Another sci-fi series, it deals with the mental and emotional links between eight strangers from different parts of the world, who share emotions, sensations and visions. Offering action, drama, sex and drugs, the series also attempts to redefine the concept of empathy. After a slow start, the series appears to be improving with each episode, and once you get started you risk becoming gripped. Netflix has made all 12 episodes available at once, so that the audience can watch at their own pace.
THE BRINK
June 21, HBO (1st season)
This satirical comedy follows the struggle by the US government and its armed forces to prevent the outbreak of World War III during a geopolitical crisis that begins in Pakistan. The trio of main characters are made up of Walter Hollander, the Secretary of State (Tim Robbins), Alex Coppins, a civil servant in Foreign Affairs (Jack Black) and Zeke Callahan (a combat pilot).
MR.ROBOT
June 24, USA NETWORK (1st season)
“There is a powerful group of people out there who secretly run the world. I am talking about people that no one knows anything about. Invisible people. The top 1% of the top 1%. People who play at being God. And now, I think they are following me.”
Thus begins the pilot episode of the series sure to generate a lot of attention. The main character, Elliot (Rami Malek at his best), is during the day a systems administrator of cyber security firm, while by night he is a vigilante hacker who uses his knowledge to unveil people or companies he thinks behave badly. A voice-over tells us the story of Elliot, playing the role of an unreliable narrator, something that adds an extra dimension to the drama.
So, there you have it. If the sea salt, chlorine and heat get too much for you, there are a ton of new series to choose from this summer.