Michaela Coel May Destroy You
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, June 7. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
I May Destroy You (HBO, 10:32 p.m., series premiere): “HBO’s newest dramatic British import I May Destroy You is a breathtakingly thorough examination of not only sexual abuse but also sexual exploitation and the culture of rape that has long perpetuated it. Creator, writer, and star Michaela Coel has channeled her own experiences with assault into a work that is honest, humane, and offers zero answers to the question, how does one correctly deal with their own assault? Because as it turns out, there isn’t a perfect formula for healing, despite patriarchal rhetoric that would suggest otherwise.
Coel’s Arabella is a lot of things at once—a burgeoning author, an unrepentant party girl, a social media sensation, and a millennial caricature of a woman, to name just a few. While taking a break from a marathon writing session, she meets up with a friend at a local bar and dives into a period of intense carousing. Suddenly Arabella’s night out begins fading to black as she wanders in and out of consciousness. When we see her again, she’s back at her computer, still clad in the outfit from the night before, now the owner of a freshly bleeding wound on her forehead and a newly shattered phone—neither of which she remembers earning.” Click here to read the rest of Shannon Miller’s pre-air review. Ashley Ray-Harris will recap.
Regular coverage
Snowpiercer (TNT, 9 p.m.)
Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels (Showtime, 10 p.m.)
Insecure (HBO, 10:02 p.m.)
Wild cards
30 For 30: Be Water (ESPN, 9 p.m., premiere): Having dispensed with Lance Armstrong, 30 For 30 turns its eyes toward the life and legacy of Bruce Lee with this two-hour special. From Danette Chavez’s review: “Lee’s life has taken on mythical proportions, which can make it easy to forget what he was up against when he first began auditioning in Los Angeles. Along with Ho, Chang, and Mao, Lee’s brother Robert invokes the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Japanese internment camps—not just the pieces of legislation, but how they were fed by and promulgated anti-Asian racism. Chang describes Lee’s very presence on screen as act of protest, his martial arts prowess symbolizing a controlled fury over what had been done to Asians both in the U.S. and even Hong Kong.”
Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.) and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO, 11:05 p.m.): As was the case last Sunday, it’s probably a good week to catch one or both of these shows.
Can you binge them? Yes, you can catch every episode of each series on Netflix and HBO respectively.