Say “Auf Wiedersehen” to The Man In The High Castle and “Hey, dollface” to Dollface
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, November 15, and Saturday, November 16. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Man In The High Castle (Amazon, Friday, 3:01 a.m., final season premiere): We’ve got a good feeling about the final season of Amazon’s alternate history drama. Here’s a brief excerpt from Scott Von Doviak’s season review, which you can expect to see in full later today:
It’s true that The Man In The High Castle has finally become the show it was meant to be, but it’s also true that the fourth and final season is a little late in the game for that to happen. If you’ve stuck with the show all this time, however, this is your reward: a conclusion that’s thematically rich, often exciting, and as satisfying a wrap-up to the series as one could hope for under the circumstances.
Let’s step through the Die Nebenwelt portal and see what happens next.
Regular coverage
The Mandalorian (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, Saturday, 11:29 p.m.): host and musical guest Harry Styles
Wild cards
Dollface (Hulu, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): It’s our belief that there can never be too many TV shows dedicated to female friendships, but Jordan Weiss’ Dollface doesn’t benefit from being part of a conversation that includes standouts like Insecure, Broad City, and fellow Hulu original Pen15. Kat Dennings stars as Jules, a web designer whose breakup with Jeremy (Connor Hines) leaves her more bereft than most—she has no place to live, no social life, no real identity of her own. Jules sets out on a path of rediscovery with the friends she phased out of her life when she was with Jeremy: Madison (Brenda Song), an ambitious publicist, and Stella (Shay Mitchell), a cog in the gig economy. It’s an intriguing premise, to dig into the difficulties and delights of adult friendship, but Dollface never looks past the surface. The whole show looks like it’s been put through an Instagram filter, and despite the archetypes they represent—Jules is the searcher, Madison the Type A, and Stella, the free spirit—the characters aren’t very distinct. The humor goes very broad (and a bit reductive), with jokes about women worshipping at the altar of bottomless mimosas, and there are few real insights into the work that most longstanding friendships require. Dennings, Song, and Mitchell are such a great trio that you wish they had more to work with here than a Goop parody and veganism gags. To put it in terms the show might use, Dollface is very 😑. [Danette Chavez]
Klaus (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): If you woke up this morning feeling like you were in desperate need of an animated origin story for Santa Claus that prominently features a mailman and don’t feel like coughing up the dough to buy Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town through Vudu or whatever, Netflix has got you covered. Klaus, written and directed by Despicable Me co-creator Sergio Pablos, features the voices of Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, and Joan Cusack, among others.