This weekend I have … a half-hour, and I like dread.
‘Barry’
When to watch: Sunday at 10 p.m., on HBO.
We’ve been waiting for new episodes of “Barry” for almost three years, and while distance may make the heart grow fonder, proximity is what makes it beat faster, especially for a show as tense, violent and propulsive as this one. Bill Hader stars as the ambivalent hit man Barry, drawn more to acting than assassinating — but hey, a gig’s a gig.
On “Barry,” everything always gets worse, but shows don’t generally kill off all their characters. So the stories here exist in this little air bubble of activity beneath a sea of nihilism, dazzling and grotesque, where “I love you”s are elicited under penalty of death but have real meaning. If you like your showbiz satires with a side of murder and tension, watch this, and if you have the self control to stockpile a few episodes to watch in a row, do so.
… an hour, and I like shows with big stars.
‘Gaslit’
When to watch: Sunday at 8 p.m., on Starz.
“Gaslit” is the shimmering quintessence of its genre: It is a period piece that illuminates an untold or misunderstood aspect of recent history (the story of Martha Mitchell, who knew the truth about Watergate and suffered mightily for it) through a lens of present-day gender and racial politics. It follows a story that has already been re-examined on at least one podcast (“Slow Burn”) and television documentary (also called “Slow Burn,” which aired on Epix). Every single character is played by a performer you recognize (Julia Roberts leads the way as Mitchell). And at least one famous person (here it’s Sean Penn) is buried under enough prosthetics to be unrecognizable.
“Gaslit” has a perky, arch sense of humor, and it winds up feeling surprisingly fun for a show about domestic abuse and world-altering crimes. If you already watched all the other ones that are more or less like this, this is perfectly fine.
… an hour, and I like sci-fi.
‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’
When to watch: Sunday at 10 p.m., on Showtime.
The biggest draw for this swirling 10-part sequel to the 1976 movie starring David Bowie (itself an adaptation of the 1963 novel by Walter Tevis) is Chiwetel Ejiofor, who stars as our alien protagonist known as Faraday. We see him in his most raw and confused state, naïve and sputtering, and we see him later delivering a TED Talk-like spiel. Ejiofor’s performance brings forth each minuscule change in presentation — just the difference in the breathiness of his voice feels like its own saga. “Man” has a familiar sense of sad adventure, but it also has punchy humor and momentum.
