FURIOUS (Disney +)
Briefly, about what: FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), who has experienced domestic violence, is obsessed with finding a serial killer who very carefully selects her victims. As the investigation intensifies, the lives of the hunter and the hunted begin to intertwine, blurring the line between justice, revenge, and obsession.
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“Furious” is a crime series inviting serious discussion on important topics, but unfortunately, it is paired with an overly tabloid story that prevents fully believing the plot twists and completely immersing and shuddering.
First of all, it is obvious that the topic – violence against women – is not only important but also very painful, often causing many discussions and silences, so talking about it in any way other than with the utmost seriousness is simply impossible.
Therefore, I doubt that the path “Furious” takes is the right one. Inspired by the mediocre 1980s thriller “Black Widow” (1987), it puts all serious themes into unnecessary thriller and cat-and-mouse game rules, thus unintentionally lightening everything, encouraging cheap thrills, and sometimes seeming to focus more on genre features than seriously addressing the topic of violence against women. True, this can be done with stylistic flair, as was done in “Promising Young Woman” (2020), but here the creators also want to maintain a serious procedural police format, which makes the series feel a bit overloaded.
“Furious” contains so many realistic details, so many life-like subplots, so much reality, that one wonders why it was necessary to put a not very convincing, obviously fictional revenge story in the foreground. Yes, revenge will evoke emotions and may even allow triumph, as if some justice exists, but as soon as you turn off the TV, you immediately realize that this will never happen in real life. Reality is scarier, and no fiction will beautify it.
THE NINTH JEDI (Disney +)
Briefly, about what: In a distant galaxy, Kara travels with other warriors across the galaxy looking for Jedi who can join the common fight, but their mission becomes increasingly dangerous. After all, Kara and her friends are hunted not only by a powerful warlord but also by the Sith, who are increasingly strengthening their influence in the galaxy.
“The Ninth Jedi” is a last-ditch effort to keep the “Star Wars” franchise, which has taken many hits, alive. The truth is, if it turns out that even such an animated patch doesn’t help, I would suggest Disney consider a serious operation, or maybe even retire the franchise to the divine galaxy, i.e., a well-deserved rest.
If you have read my texts before, you know that I am neither a big anime nor “Star Wars” fan. So when a new animated series combining these two aspects appeared on screens, all I could say was “Let’s go!”. However, I didn’t get far because “The Ninth Jedi” is an average okay product, providing neither much tension, nor special characters, nor ultimately a serious reason to exist.
Born from “Visions” (“Star Wars: Visions”, since 2021), which were created by giving Japanese creators complete freedom to mess with the franchise as they wish, since it is supposedly not part of the common mythology, this series seems to have all the elements for success, but the question arises how all this relates to… “Star Wars”. Now we have works that are in the same, yet not the same universe (it turns out anime universes have no Skywalkers, Darth Waders, or Jar Jar Binks), and which can reveal the talent of animators from the Land of the Rising Sun, but then why are lightsaber battles, space travels, and other things needed? Why then “Star Wars” at all?
Therefore, everything turns into a kind of marketing trick, because now even the franchise owners themselves do not need to worry about new content being released, the Japanese have the opportunity to promote themselves, and fans – to return once again, although actually not returning, because, as I mentioned, this is a different universe, with dear themes. Everything is calculated, arranged, coordinated, although it is unclear for whom, why, and ultimately, what for.
The most interesting part of “The Ninth Jedi” remains the animation itself. By combining 2D and 3D styles, the creators managed to create the impression of old animation, as if you were watching not something made in 2026, but around 1999. This old-time vibe, tastefully complemented by 3D models, I must admit, intrigues, especially when the internal passions of the series start to no longer matter to you.
“The Ninth Jedi” is a series for fans. They will like it, understand it, appreciate it, and even worry about the fate of the heroes. For all other mortals, it might be better to look for other animation.
ALLEY CATS (Netflix)
Briefly, about what: a company of foul-mouthed stray cats and tomcats roam the streets looking for food, company, and occasionally adventures, trying to survive in a world dominated by humans.
I chose the translation “Alley Cats” deliberately because this animated series belongs exactly in the alley. Humor about nothing, zero plot, and lazy animation show that Ricky Gervais’s star is probably fading, and no insult called a joke will save it.
“Alley Cats” now seems to be the most hated series on the internet. Critics rejoice that R. Gervais is failing. Fans… they are silent, and I can say that everything is bad.
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“Alley Cats” is not an adult animated satire where cats criticize humans, mock them, and maybe understand something about humanity. It wants to be, but it isn’t, because such a last-minute product where nothing is thought out, designed, or refined has not been seen for a long time. And the worst part is that it is not funny at all. Trying to shock? Yes. A scoundrel like a coachman? Certainly. But funny? Not at all, because essentially Gervais has nothing to laugh at here.
So we get a toothless substrate, like an old cat’s face, where cats just roam the streets, look for a lost kitten’s home, complain about their friend’s house cat, who is neutered and refined (I don’t know where, but there’s humor hiding there too), and that’s it… Finally, all this is presented incredibly lazily, as if we were watching not a “Netflix” production but some homemade animation from “YouTube”.
I admit that “Alley Cats” shocked me. As I mentioned, online reviews really didn’t spare Gervais, but I couldn’t believe he would allow himself to try so little, to not care, to do something with a careless hand. I don’t want to argue whether I was affected by wokeness, or I no longer understand humor, or something else, but the conclusion is one – these cats won’t survive even nine lives.
LANTERNS (HBO Max)
Briefly, about what: the all-seeing superhero Green Lantern Hal Jordan is approaching retirement and must train his replacement John Stewart to become the new Lantern bearer. The pair unwillingly find themselves in Middle America to investigate a murder possibly involving aliens.
“Lanterns” at first glance resembles a “Saturday Night Live” sketch mocking the seriousness of “HBO Max” productions, presenting a supposedly serious style series based on the game “Mario Kart”. The truth is, unlike the mentioned sketch, there is nothing funny here and, even stranger, nothing bad.
Everyone knows the “HBO Max” format: serious dramas, serious passions, serious plot twists, and even more serious consequences. There is “True Detective” (since 2014), “The Task” (since 2025), “Mare of Easttown” (2021), and everything else that might interest you and perhaps cause depression. But the decision to attach a series about Galaxy constables who can create anything from nothing with green rings to this echelon is really surprising. Well, real officers are real officers, even in a series, but here… Aliens, flying, and some ring that, you hope, will be opened to find a chewing gum inside.
At first, I expected “Lanterns” to go the way of “Peacemaker” (2022-2025), i.e., be absurd, sometimes excessive and even in bad taste, and splash everything with red (or green) color. As you can see, I was wrong, and the strangest thing is that this surprise of making a serious superhero series actually works. We have already seen similar successes and failures of seriousness (more failures) with the entire “Marvel” lineup, but in “Lanterns” the superhero genre seems more like a label, a tool to tell a detective story whose action takes place at different times.
This series is a stereotypical “HBO Max” drama, thoroughly analyzing the characters of both Hal Jordan, a tired, grumpy veteran unwilling to retire, and John Stewart, a traumatized in childhood, goal-oriented, and no-nonsense rookie. Of course, there are superhero attributes (how could there not be?), but the most important remain the relationships between the heroes and the secret that changes each of them. For this, the creators of this series deserve respect – they had the courage not to follow the beaten path but … borrow someone else’s and see what comes out of it. And it turns out, with enough talent and desire, quite interesting things can come out.
MONSTERS OF GOD (HBO Max)
Briefly, about what: two competing reptile dealers create a profitable international network smuggling rare and endangered animals into the United States. As wildlife protection laws tighten, their business increasingly moves underground, where competition, betrayals, and increasingly complex smuggling operations attract the attention of federal investigators.
“Monsters of God” is a very engaging, dynamic, and even somewhat romanticizing the criminal world documentary series whose moral is terrible and crushing: everything is for sale, even what you supposedly love very much.
By saying this, I mean that all the series’ heroes insanely love reptiles. They know them, take care of them, etc., but this does not stop them from smuggling them in terrible conditions, keeping them in small cages, and torturing them just to stroke their ego and have a rare iguana at home. “Monsters of God” shows this duality of human nature, which ultimately fully reveals itself through greed, control, and the ability to feel superior to others.
The series creator Eric Goode, already famous for the “Netflix” show “Tiger King” (2020-2021), now combines the dynamics of that series and similar quirky characters you won’t find anywhere else except Florida, with the scale of another documentary series “Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami” (2021). This is not just a series about rare reptile smuggling. It is a mirror showing how everything in the USA is connected: drugs, exotic animals, the CIA, Cuba, and even Indiana Jones appearing for a few frames.
This terrible connection, or rather chain, gently mocks, analyzes, and even lightly admires the series’ heroes. They are passionate masters of their craft, supposedly doing much more than the authorities, i.e., satisfying people’s needs, all while surrounded by the scent of adventure (regardless that this scent is probably emitted by unclean animal cages). They are kind of rebels who need nothing more than cocaine in their pocket and a Komodo dragon under their feet. Of course, everything has its price, but when you hear that price, I believe you will be shocked…
“Monsters of God” is both effective and impressive. By introducing the world to the black reptile market, E. Goode does the right thing and encourages their protection. However, the fact that people, to be precise, bad people, occupy much more space here than the animals themselves, involuntarily makes you ask yourself: “Is it possible not to show these bastards as so tough?”
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