The Plot Against America continues to give us déjà vu
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Monday, March 23. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Plot Against America (HBO, 9 p.m.): “The book depicts the Lindbergh years in ways that many have found chillingly familiar, post-2016. In some ways, life just goes on as normal, with all the same petty concerns and small joys that occupied everyone’s time before the election. And in other ways, the nation—and what it stands for—transforms overnight.” If that excerpt from Noel Murray’s recap of the premiere didn’t already prompt flashbacks to 2016, this promo will.
Regular coverage
Better Call Saul (AMC, 9 p.m.)
Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC, 10 p.m.)
Wild card
Freud (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): “Netflix’s Freud represents nothing more than a missed opportunity. The psychological thriller is set in 1880s Vienna, with a twentysomething Sigmund Freud (Robert Finster) working at the General Hospital, years away from publishing any of the works that would establish him as the founder of psychoanalysis. But the origin story that the creative team of Marvin Kren, Stefan Brunner, and Benjamin Hessler have envisioned for one of the 20th century’s most influential (though no longer as vaunted) figures is more in line with the silly revisionist bent of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter than the stately drama of John Adams.” Read the rest of Danette Chavez’s pre-air review here.
ICYMI
Soundtrack (Netflix): This anthology series from Smash’s Joshua Safran is centered around pop songs that you either know too well or only vaguely. Ironically, the musical moments—or soundtrack—can be the weakest part of the show, aside from some technically proficient dance sequences. But its real strengths are found in the surprisingly sweet, honest conversations characters have with one another. Things can get a little Hallmark-esque, but instead of rounding up every tragedy into a potential good thing, the individual stories capture how people actually talk about fear of dating, or trying something new, or focusing on themselves instead of a partner. Netflix didn’t renew Soundtrack, but you should still give it a listen.