Olivia Colman and David Thewlis lead HBO’s Landscapers
Also tonight: David Fincher is back on Netflix with Voir, Alex Gibney's HBO documentary The Forever Prisoner, Acorn TV's dramedy Under The Vines
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Monday, December 6. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Landscapers (HBO, 9 p.m.): In this four-episode limited series inspired by real events, Olivia Colman and David Thewlis star as Chris and Susan Edwards. They’re a seemingly ordinary British couple who become the focus of an extraordinary investigation when two dead bodies are discovered in the back garden of a house in Nottingham. Chris Feil will recap the episodes every week.
Regular coverage
Wild cards
Voir (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.): David Fincher returns to Netflix with this new documentary (co-produced with David Prior). While it’s not Mindhunter season three, Voir is a series of visual essays celebrating cinema. From intimate personal histories to insights on character and craft, each episode reminds us why cinema holds a special place in our lives. In his review, Alex McLevy describes: “Voir, the new six-part series produced by David Fincher and streaming on Netflix, is mostly notable for how familiar it feels. In the era of explainer videos for every subject and stylized true-crime reenactments on a hundred channels, the only real difference here is slightly better production values.”
The Forever Prisoner (HBO, 10 p.m.): Alex Gibney’s new documentary looks at the architects of America’s torture program with a focus on Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee subjected to CIA’s Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs). It will include never-seen-before images of the brutal treatment drawn by Zubaydah, testimony from former agent Ali Soufan, and access to his previously unseen interrogation notes, and interviews with FBI agents, chief investigators, as well as Zubaydah’s family and lawyers. As Roxana Hadidi queries in her review: “‘Isn’t the U.S. supposed to be better than this?’ Gibney asks, and he’s not wrong. Another question, though: How many times do filmmakers need to tell this story before viewers finally pay attention?”
Under The Vines (Acorn TV, 3:01 a.m., series premiere): Rebecca Gibney and Charles Edwards lead this dramedy, which follows two unlikely city slickers who inherit a failing vineyard in rural New Zealand. Despite never having ever done a hard day’s work, and both despising the other, they must somehow make the vineyard successful so they can sell up, split up, and get out of there.