Screen Queen TV Reviews: And Just Like That . . . plus Smoke, Poop Cruise, My Mom Jayne, Patience

And Just Like That . . .

Streaming now on Max

It’s done. It’s happened — I am now officially hate-watching And Just Like That . . .

I had a feeling this may happen, but I was holding out hope that things would get better. When the show first aired, some reviewers were calling it “a return to form”, saying the Sex And The City spin-off had “finally got it right”. But reader: it isn’t. And they haven’t.

At least not yet. And I am now forced to Emily In Paris this parody of a show.

Regular readers will know what I mean when I write this — for four long seasons I have begrudgingly inhaled that pedestrian Netflix series despite knowing full well it’s a steaming pile of Parisian mediocrity. Yet I can’t turn away. It’s almost like I’m punishing myself by enduring its subpar scripts for the bright, frothy escapism of it all, which, honestly, in this current climate is not without its merits.

But I’m not sure that’s even an option with this show any more. It’s starting to feel more like an episode of Packed To The Rafters with each passing week. Carrie’s life used to be aspirational and exciting; now it feels mean, uncharitable and small. She’d rather tippy-tap around her apartment solo in seven-inch heels than have bestie Miranda live with her. Miranda moved in this week, only to be turfed out days later for the unforgivable sin of eating Carrie’s yoghurt, drinking her Mexican coke and mopping up a spill with her vintage silk Pucci scarf (OK, that one is pretty punishable).

The Carrie of old would not have behaved like this! Where has she gone? Something happens in this week’s episode that makes me question her present state of mind even more — it’s a sad day when MY life looks like a better proposition than Carrie Bradshaw’s.

Honestly, things had better take a radical 180, or I’m out for good.

Smoke

Screening now on Apple TV Plus

Writer Dennis Lehane first paired up with Taron Egerton for 2022’s great limited series Black Bird. They’ve teamed up again for this atmospheric crime drama, all about the hunt for a serial arsonist — and it’s also great.

Egerton (also exec producer) plays arson investigator Dave Gudsen, who is paired with police detective Michelle Calderone (Emmy-nominated Jurnee Smollett) to try to get to the bottom of the deliberately lit fires. So far, so same-same, right? Not exactly. This series looks and feels very different to your bog-standard crime procedural. There’s an intensity to the fire scenes that hints this is much more than a paint-by-numbers whodunit.

Genuinely excited to see where this goes.

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise

Screening now on Netflix

Never heard about 2013’s infamous “Poop Cruise”? Oh boy, are you about to! This documentary charts what happened when an engine fire aboard a cruise ship left 4000 passengers stranded aboard a “floating petri dish”. To say it was a s... show would be an understatement. Gross but fascinating.

My Mom Jayne

Screening now on Max

This film by Mariska Hargitay is a deeply personal look at the life and legacy of her screen siren mother, Jayne Mansfield, who died in a car accident at 34. Three-year-old Mariska was in the back of that car and survived. A fascinating story.

Patience

Friday, 8.30pm, ABC

If there’s a better way to spend a Friday night than watching grisly crime dramas on ABC, I’m yet to find it. This six-parter, set in York, is all about autistic criminal records office worker Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis), who teams up with police to use her unique brain to help solve crimes.