Sonal Pandya

After four years, 22 episodes, and countless character deaths, the most popular Korean series in the world, Squid Game, finally comes to an end on Netflix. Writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s deadly saga pitted vulnerable people against one another to win riches beyond their dreams but at a cost that could haunt them forever. Over three seasons, the filmmaker has presented two very different winners of the Squid Game: Hwang In-ho, aka the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), who becomes the host of the games after his victory, and Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who wants to save as many people as he can from the games. It’s this larger picture of humanity and morality that is explored in the third and final season that answers the question, what remains in the end, greed or integrity?

After focusing Season 3 on the opening and running of their new restaurant, The Bear returns to the characters we love so much in its fourth season. The FX and Hulu series, streaming on JioHotstar, returns with Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), and Ritchie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) working to get their financial losses in order while staring down a possible closure of the restaurant in their future. However, if last season was about chaos, this season is all about growth. The culinary series, created by Christopher Storer, also addresses the show’s future within the narrative. Spoilers ahead for narrative plots! While the craziness of Season 3 has been dialled down, Season 4 of The Bear looks at the grim realities of running a restaurant. The Bear’s sandwich shop window never slows down, but the main high-end restaurant sees some roadblocks. There’s a literal running clock, showing how much money the establishment has until it needs to shut down without solid profits. Apart from the culinary obstacles, each character faces a crisis of faith. There’s a family wedding, a health scare, and a baby to welcome. But most importantly, all of the characters actually talk to each other about problems they’ve hidden deep all this time.

In recent years, shows based on podcasts, such as The Dropout and Dr Death, have been breakouts. While the trend is still gaining traction, the new Apple TV+ series Smoke is the latest on the block. Inspired by the podcast Firebug, the new drama created by Dennis Lehane follows an arson investigator (Taron Egerton) and a detective (Jurnee Smollett) teaming up to find the culprits of two serial arsonists. The ambitious show flips everything you know about a traditional investigative drama and turns it on its head. However, with nine episodes, Smoke overdoes it at points, revisiting certain themes and abandoning others. But the cast’s compelling performances are the main reason to stick around for this unusual narrative. The series starts off slow and predictable with a troubled detective, Michelle Calderone (Smollett), and a former fireman turned arson investigator, David Gudsen (Egerton), who are on the case of two serial arsonists. Smoke is not just about these two arsonists; it’s also about these two main characters, their pasts, and motivations as they uncover the chilling truth of who is behind the devastating fires. The drama thriller does a deep dive into these characters, giving viewers a story that may waver about but will always have you guessing what’s next.

The Apple TV+ period romance The Buccaneers returns after a year and a half for its second season, in which the five young American women plant firmer roots in England. But compared to the events of the premiere season, the women are faced with more obstacles as they assert their identities in the middle of a patriarchal society. Amidst that, the series created by Katherine Jakeways develops into a more vibrant and messier version of itself than Season 1, especially when dealing with its romantic storylines. Set in the 1870s during the Gilded Age, the American women have now married into British society. Nan (Kristine Froseth) becomes one of the most powerful women with the title of Duchess of Tintagel, a position she uses well to shield her sister Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) against her abusive husband. The rest of the young women, American heiress Conchita (Alisha Boe) and sisters Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag) and Mabel (Josie Totah), have newer mountains to overcome. Nan’s mother, Patti (Christina Hendricks), decides to leave her husband with her sister, Nell (guest star Leighton Meester), by her side. Nan’s mother-in-law, the Dowager Duchess (Amelia Bullmore), also gets a second chance at romance. But not all of these endings are happily-ever-after this season.

At the heart of Echo Valley is the mother-daughter relationship between Julianne Moore’s Kate and Sydney Sweeney’s Claire that gets strained beyond belief. Writer Brad Ingelsby and director Michael Pearce throw the impossible at them, and viewers watch the chaos unfold. At times, the feature stretches incredulity. However, the one-hour and 45-minute film is saved by its clever and twisty ending that manages to tie up everything nearly into place. To say Kate (Moore) is having a hard time is an understatement. She is barely able to keep the farm where she boards horses afloat and needs to borrow money from her ex-husband Richard (Kyle MacLachlan). On top of that, she is grieving the loss of her wife, who died in an accident. Her daughter Claire (Sweeney), who struggles with drug addiction, adds to her worries. When Claire shows up at her door one night covered in someone else’s blood, Kate decides to get into action. However, the mother’s love for her child is tested when Claire’s dealer, Jackie Lyman (Domhnall Gleeson), pushes her to the limits.

It’s no Ted Lasso, but the new Apple TV+ comedy Stick is sentimental and sickly sweet in its redemption story about a former golfer finding his mojo again through mentoring a teen phenom. Owen Wilson’s earnest performance salvages the dramedy about found family, grief, and, of course, golf. Owen Wilson is Pryce Cahill, a former golf pro who now works in a store and gives lessons. Cahill, nicknamed Stick, has had a hard couple of years after the death of his four-year-old son. Divorced and directionless, he makes some cash on the side hustling unsuspecting patrons in bars along with his caddy, Mitts (Marc Maron). That all changes after he spots teenager Santiago Wheeler (Peter Dager) hitting on the green. It energises him, and he believes the young man has the potential to become the next Tiger Woods.

Karan Tejpal’s directorial debut, Stolen, begins in the night and ends in the day. It starts with a nightmarish scenario wherein a woman’s baby is taken from her and takes viewers on a real rollercoaster ride where the fates of all the characters are up in the air. The tense crime thriller, which is inspired by true events, is a real edge-of-your-seat drama that allows you to take a breath only at the very end. Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) goes to pick up his younger brother Raman (Shubham Vardhan) at a sparsely occupied railway station in the middle of the night. Before that, a baby is quietly whisked away from the arms of Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer). When she wakes, she suspects Raman of the deed and causes an uproar. Soon, a crowd is gathered, and it takes Gautam’s interference to calm things down. From thereon, Stolen moves from one wild moment to another as the brothers, plus Jhumpa, are questioned by the police and overzealous locals in a bid to catch the real kidnappers. As the duo digs deeper and deeper in the mess, they discover the truth is much crazier than they imagined.

While KanKhajura is an official remake of the Israeli series Magpie, certain updates done by the makers of the show feel more potent. The first being the title change, which fits Roshan Mathew’s Ashu much better. The actor plays Ashu, who reenters society after spending 14 years in jail as a teenager. Trying to reconnect with his older brother, Max (Mohit Raina), he ends up destroying his carefully crafted life instead. The Hindi remake is most effective at trying to get to the root of the siblings’ relationship. KanKhajura: PlotRelocated to Goa, the show examines Max and Ashu’s bond as adults. Max is about to embark on an important chapter in his life as he bids to redevelop an impoverished colony with luxury villas. As Max comes up against bureaucratic and other hurdles in his proposal, Ashu decides to help him out in his own way. Their methods show their different approaches and attitudes in life. The brothers’ eventual clash is oddly compelling to watch as they air all their grievances.