Lady in the Lake is a 2024 Apple TV+ limited series created and directed by Alma Har'el and adapted from Laura Lippman's acclaimed novel. Set in 1960s Baltimore, it is a period mystery that braids together two women's lives across the city's sharp lines of race and class.
Natalie Portman stars as Maddie Schwartz, a Jewish housewife who abandons her stifling marriage to reinvent herself as an investigative newspaper reporter and becomes fixated on an unsolved death. Moses Ingram plays Cleo Johnson, a Black woman navigating Baltimore's political and nightlife worlds, whose fate becomes entangled with Maddie's pursuit of a story. The series uses the two women's parallel narration to interrogate ambition, visibility, and who gets to tell whose story.
The series marked a high-profile move into television for Portman and drew attention for Har'el's dreamlike, stylistically bold direction and its evocative recreation of mid-century Baltimore. Critics praised the central performances and the show's ambition even as they debated its hallucinatory, non-linear structure. It streams on Apple TV+.
Remember Heroes' mindreader Matt Parkman, played by Greg Grunberg? The Listener's whole plot is passed on the same idea of secret power to read someone minds. Now this superpower belongs to Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) a twentysomething orphan raised in the foster homes, who kept this secret with him all the time. But, when he shares it with his old councilor Dr. Ray Mercer, he starts his new life of as the part of Integrated Investigative Bureau (a special unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) where he helps Detective Charlie Marks (Lisa Marcos) and E.R. Doctor Olivia Fawcett (Mylene Dinh-Robic) to solve crimes and difficult high-profile cases of murders and rapes. In his paramedical duties Toby is not alone; he works in cooperation with Osman Bey, his telepathic partner, who assists him in solving of most hard crimes IIB encounters. However, Toby's holy gift has the other, darkish side. Immersing in the minds of most inveterate criminals has terrifying side effects: Toby has to deal with heavy emotional and psychological impact of such of telepathic contacts. And here come his friends, helping him to deal with these issues: Dr Olivia Fawcet and other partners trying their best to keep Toby's mind working perfect as the secret weapon of IIB.
Detective Rebecca Madsen has a family history with the prison island Alcatraz and when fingerprints discovered at a grisly homicide case are found to be those of a diseased prisoner from years ago, Jack Sylvane, she becomes very interested in solving the case. The San Francisco Police Department detective teams up with an expert on Alcatraz history as well as a fan of comic book, Dr. Diego Soto, they attempt to piece the clues together and find out how an inmate in such a secure prison could still be alive and prowling the streets after all these years. It is soon discovered that Sylvane is involved in more murders and he may not be the only one to reappear from the inescapable prison known as The Rock, Alcatraz. Det. Madsen's grandfather and her surrogate uncle were both guards at Alcatraz while it was in operation and they know the dark past of that prison. Soon Madsen and Doc are joined by government agent Emerson Hauser and Lucy Banerjee, his technician. Hauser has been aware of Alcatraz' history and seems to have been waiting for something to happen. This series revolves around evidence that comes up and delves into the history of that infamous prison. Det Rebecca Madsen is played by Sarah Jones (Ugly Betty), the murderous Jack Sylvane is played by Jeffrey Pierce (Private Practice, Knight Rider), Sam Neill (Day Breakers, Jurassic Park) plays government agent Hauser, and Hauser's technician Lucy Banerjee is played by Parminder Nagra (ER, The Whole Truth).
The Harmon family, including Ben, Vivien, and Violet move to a new town and find their house, a restored mansion, is apparently haunted. Dr. Benjamin Harmon (Dylan McDermott from The Practice) had an affair that may have been partly responsible for his wife having a miscarriage. Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) is Vivien, Ben's ever faithful wife and their daughter Violet, who suffers with depression, is played by newcomer Taissa Farmiga. Moving to their new home to get away from the past may not be the easiest thing because of all the strange goings on that occur there. Ben, a therapist, had an affair with a student that shook the marriage, caused his wife to miscarry, and seriously upset his daughter. So why don't they just move from the scary house? What is going on in the basement? And what about the mural that seems to polarize the entire house? Is Ben being punished for his transgressions? Then why are his wife and daughter also being scared so badly? The neighbor Constance, played by Jessica Lange (Tootsie, Cape Fear) seems to be controlling the Harmon family in some weird way also. This show reminds one of Dark Shadows and even Night Stalker, really spooky and well written!
When Scott McCall is bitten by a werewolf while he wanders in the woods, he tries to keep it his secret from all but his closest friend Stiles (Dylan O'Brien from High Road). Stiles willingly helps his pal Scott when he must go through changes and become a werewolf at night. Scott is played by Tyler Posey (Brothers & Sister, Lincoln Heights) and must undergo the changes even though he fights it. He is somewhat of a social outcast and having such an enormous secret other life, it is even more difficult to fit in at his northern California Beacon Hills High School. As Scott first notices how powerful he has become and how each of his senses has become heightened, he finds his shape shifting strangely intriguing. He loves the game of lacrosse and now plays like a pro thanks to his newly found gift of power. And romance is coming his way since he now has more self confidence and has found a girlfriend in Allison Argent (Crystal Reed from Skyline).
When Nick Monohan moved his family away from Chicago and settled in a quiet and pleasantly upscale community where he became Chief of Police, he had no clue what they'd gotten themselves into. The neighbors in The Gates are not what they seem to be and soon the Monohans find themselves immersed in weird goings on and dangerous events seem to occur each night. The neighbors include werewolves, vampires, witches, and even a succubus which is often found in the form of an enchantress or seductress. Frank Grillo (Prison Break, Blind Justice) plays Nick Monohan and his wife Sarah is played by Marisol Nichols (24, Vegas Vacation). Son Charlie Monohan is played by Travis Caldwell and McKaley Miller plays daughter Dana. Of the assorted weird neighbors there is a vampire Dylan Radcliff (actor Luke Mably), his wife who is also a vampire, Claire Radcliff (played by Rhona Mitra), a very nasty witch named Devon (Chandra West) and the seductress Succubus Andie Bates (played by Skyler Samuels). Just your typical subdivision residents. It's all fun, well acted, and well written.
What started out as a web based series in Canada has turned in to a successful television program airing on the Sci-Fi network. We find that Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping from The Outer Limits, The X-Files) and a team of experts run a place called Sanctuary where they examine and work with creatures and those people who have extraordinary powers, learning from them and hiding them away from harm. However some prove to be dangerous and must be handled especially carefully. Dr. Magnus is an English scientist who just happens to be 158 years old. She and her team of scientific experts run the organization seeking out assorted people or animals with special abilities and extraordinary powers. Dr. Magnus was trained by her father at a young age to protect the unusual and study the world. Her team includes her daughter Ashley, protege Will Zimmerman, Henry Foss a lycanthrope geek, and as a security and computer expert is one they refer to as Bigfoot (a Neanderthal like assistant played by Christopher Heyerdahl. Studying the abnormal each week includes run-ins with vampires, energy bound creatures, and competition from rival organizations.
Maybe the best written and most entertaining teen soap since Dark Shadows is running on the Nickelodeon network. Following the lives of eight teenagers who happen to all reside in Anubis House, a United Kingdom boarding house, the cast includes an American female, Nina Martin who is living there with her grand mother after the death of her parents. Other youthful residents include Patricia (Jade Ramsey), Nina (Nathalia Ramos), Sarah (Rita Davies), and a missing Joy (Klariza Clayton). When Joy comes up missing at about the same time that Nina arrives suspicion is pointed at her. A rather scary caretaker, Victor Rodenmaar (played by Francis Magee), is determined to get rid of any evidence that Joy was ever there. An ancient necklace plays a part as do some wax cylinders found in the attic. Friends Fabian Rutter (Brad Kavanaugh), Alfie Lewis (Alex Sawyer), and Amber Millington (Ana Ten) help Nina investigate the mysteries they find in the old house. They form a group and call it Sibuna which is Anubis spelled in reverse. Plenty of ongoing relationships between the eight teens as they explore their aged residence (named for an Egyptian god Anubis).
