Prime Video’s Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is back, and Apple TV Plus debuts Severance

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, February 18, and Saturday, February 19. All times are Eastern.

Top picks

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m., season-four premiere): Amy Sherman-Palladino’s award-winning comedy, starring Rachel Brosnahan, Tony Shalhoub, Alex Borstein, returns after over two years with its fourth season. It will air two new episodes over the next four Fridays. Here’s an excerpt from Arielle Bernstein’s review:

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel also continues to struggle with striking the right balance between focusing on Midge’s journey and following the lives and experiences of her extended family. While the acting is always impressive, and every scene is impeccably shot, spending so much time focusing on the lives of Midge’s parents and her former in-laws is also a distraction from Midge’s central arc. In prior seasons, trips to Paris and the Catskills have been delightful diversions, but the sheer amount of screen time devoted to these kinds of ‘side quests’ has also ended up taking away from watching Midge grow and change as she builds her comedy career.”

Severance (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m., series premiere): Created by Dan Erickson, with Ben Stiller as co-producer and co-director, Severance is a thriller about taking the work-life balance to the extreme. The cast includes Adam Scott, John Turturro, Patricia Arquette, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, and Christopher Walken. Two episodes premiere today, with the remaining seven airing every Friday.

In his review, Stephen Robinson writes:

“It’s best to start the journey without knowing the destination or the surprise stops along the way. If you’ve ever worked in a corporate environment, Severance might trigger unpleasant memories of feeling just as trapped as Helly—despite the fantastic premise, the series often feels a little too real. Like all the best sci-fi and social satire, Severance is our current reality, just dialed up to 11.”

Regular coverage

RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1, Friday, 8 p.m.)
The Afterparty (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)

Wild cards

Space Force (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Created by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell, this workplace comedy returns with its second season, which consists of seven episodes. General Naird (Carell) faces increasing scrutiny on his nascent organization. With a new political administration in the Oval Office, Naird and his lovable yet clueless crew are given a five-month deadline to instill total confidence in Space Force moving forward. Otherwise, their funding will be swiftly pulled. John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Diana Silvers, Tawny Newsome, and Jimmy O. Yang round up the cast.

Painting With John (HBO, Friday, 11 p.m., season-two premiere): This unscripted series follows actor and painter John Lurie reflecting on his art and life as he does watercolor paintings. Noel Murray writes in his review of season two:

“Painting With John is just very calming. Its pitch rarely rises above a murmur; and because there’s no pressure to figure out exactly why Lurie and Erik Mockus include what they do, viewers can relax and let all the pretty pictures and odd sounds wash over them, carrying them wherever they may.”

Movie night

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Here’s an excerpt from Noel Murray’s review:

“Downfall is structured as a kind of a true-crime story, focusing primarily on what happened in 2018 and ’19 when hundreds of people died in two airplane crashes, a little over four months apart: Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. One flight originated from Southeast Asia and the other East Africa, but both crashes happened mere minutes after takeoff and both involved the Boeing 737 MAX—a new version of an older Boeing airliner, recently redesigned to improve fuel efficiency. In the wake of the crashes, all of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes were temporarily grounded worldwide, pending a thorough inquiry.”

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Leatherface returns for another killing spree in the ninth film of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. The sequel is set in the remote ghost town of Harlow, Texas, which has become a home base for the masked maniac. Leatherface targets greedy influencers who are attempting to exploit and capitalize on the fixer-upper destination. But the arrival of Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré), the sole survivor from his original bloodbath, messes up his plans.

Keep an eye out for A.A. Dowd’s review of the film on the site. Here’s The A.V. Club’s ranking of all the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies until then.

Lincoln’s Dilemma (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Narrated by Jeffrey Wright, this four-part docuseries explores President Lincoln’s difficult journey to end slavery. It views his life and the events that shaped them through a modern 21st-century lens. Bill Camp voices Lincoln, while Leslie Odom Jr. voices Frederick Douglass.