Seen in November

Two greats of British cinema don't always see eye to eye in Slow Horses.

It's been a busy month or so, when not much was watched or seen and finding time to post was difficult. Before the year ends, here's what was seen last month.

Slow Horses S05
Apple TV+
If this was the only show worth watching on Apple TV+, the subscription would still be worth it. It's a plot that feels ripped from our own conspiracy laced multimedia drenched world in which a few malevolent characters wreck havoc on a society preoccupied with its own reflection. Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his team of fallen MI5 agents are still in fine form, even if their form is never really that fine. In this season, a group of disaffected terrorists (which I guess is redundant to say) concoct a scheme using MI5 tactics against MI5. This season, Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) comes to the foreground as the honey-trapped agent, as does the eerily quiet Coe (Tom Brooke), who is the first to discern the strategy in play. Meanwhile, the most MI5-iest of the Slow Horses, River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is at his worst. He makes mistake after mistake while still believing he's above the rest of the rabble. Despite some critics saying the show has lost a step, I disagree. I'm particularly fond of the agent Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), who is still the most effective Slow Horse while struggling with addiction, and the indomitable Diana Taverner, played with such confidence by Kristin Scott-Thomas.

Only Murders in the Building S05
Disney+
This unlikely murder mystery comedy starring Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short returns like a comfy old cardigan you don a few times a year. It's a little old, a bit musty and predictable, but you can rest easy knowing it's there for you. There are the usual outrageously underused cameos, a series of misdirections and red herrings, but it all works out in the end. What I find odd is that the comedy in the show is so much safer than Martin and Short's live shows, but that's fine.

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