Sonal Pandya

The first season of Netflix’s Black Doves introduced a pair of spies who become friends while trying to survive assignment given out by their secret organisation. Two years later, the British spy drama is back with a new crisis for the duo as they face their biggest threat yet. Black Doves is led by Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire, who become our anchors in this latest instalment as the entire organisation is targeted, leaving Knightley’s Helen and Whishaw’s Sam to make some risky moves. The six-part is a thrilling binge watch that sets up the next season nicely.

In 2025, the Owen Wilson starrer Stick introduced an earnest sport series about a man redeeming himself by coaching a golf prodigy. As the Apple TV series returns for a second instalment, it smartly refocuses its attention on its smooth-talking hero, Pryce Cahill (Wilson), who finds a new purpose in his golfing journey. The result is a comedy series with renewed resolve to push its characters and the story. While the show does stick to usual tropes found in sports narratives, here in the series, it feels earned instead of clichéd. The addition of the winsome Emmy winner Rhea Seehorn and more screentime to Pryce’s old rival Clark Ross, played by Timothy Olyphant is another smart choice.

In Apple TV’s Nocturne, Stephen Graham plays a sadistic serial killer, Jurek Walter, who holds an entire town on edge, looking for a missing young girl. The criminal enjoys riling up the entire police force and the FBI, who are on the hunt, while also digging up additional clues. Nocturne is based on a Scandinavian thriller, The Sandman, by Lars Kepler, and moves the Nordic setting to a quiet Pennsylvania town surrounded by woods. The makers build up the tension and dread about Walter’s games and who he might go after next, but the narrative’s slow pace hinders. However, the performances by the Nocturne cast keep you invested.

It’s time to say mazel tov! Kristen Bell’s Joanne and Adam Brody’s Noah are now living together, and the former decides to take the next big steps in her conversion to Judaism. The Netflix rom-com had a shaky second season where the couple questioned their relationship status, but now, their bond is stronger than ever. Based on creator Erin Foster’s real-life experiences, Nobody Wants This Season 3 also explores the connection between Joanne and Noah’s siblings, Sasha (Timothy Simons) and Morgan (Justine Lupe). From family interferences to sibling tiffs, the new instalment has plenty of fun and chaotic sequences.

The addition of Allison Janney, who just won an Emmy Award for her supporting role, may be the best thing The Diplomat has done. The Debora Cahn series is back for a tense fourth season which deals with the fallout of the events from the Season 3 finale when the US covertly takes a nuclear machine from a Russian submarine that’s lying in UK territory. Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the American ambassador to the UK, and her husband, Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), balance not only their marriage but also the growing tensions between the two countries. The result is a delicious interplay of politics and diplomacy as the US leader, President Grace Penn (Janney), establishes her presidency.

To launch their streaming service, Disney+, in 2020, the series WandaVision came out the gate with a bang. Created by Jac Schaeffer, it set the standard for all other shows to follow. The limited series featured Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) dealing with the death of Vision after Infinity War. To overcome her grief, she creates a suburban haven in Westview until reality sets in. The second part of the trilogy, Agatha All Along (2024), introduced one more part of the puzzle with her son Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke). Now, with the final instalment, VisionQuest, created by Terry Matalas, reveals two more pieces as Vision (Paul Bettany) and Tommy Maximoff (Ruaridh Mollica) reunite. But what happens when Ultron (James Spader) interferes in the long-awaited father-son reunion?

Following in the footsteps of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Matchbox The Movie tries to replicate the formula. However, it falls flat in its execution. The only thing impressive about the spy thriller is its high-octane action stunts and sequence envisaged by Extraction director Sam Hargrave. John Cena is the spy in question as he reunites with old friends to go down memory road and instead takes them as hostages in a plot to save the world. The Matchbox IP never properly lands, and the narrative doesn’t even connect.

In 1955, Elia Kazan directed the James Dean starrer, East of Eden, which followed the last part of John Steinbeck’s semi-autobiographical 1952 novel. Dean played Cal Trask, who fights for his father’s love alongside his perfect brother Aron. A new Netflix limited series on the material, written and showrun by Elia’s granddaughter, Zoe Kazan, goes deep into the novel, exploring the Biblical themes, characters and the promise of America at the turn of the century. Backed by a strong cast, East of Eden follows the doomed marriage of Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Cathy (Florence Pugh) that spills over its sins to the next generation. Finely acted, the ambitious and largely faithful period drama really gets into the characterisation from the novel, while also immersing viewers into its self-righteous world.