10 New February Shows: Al Pacino, Troubled Teens and a «Riverdale» Spin-Off

What to watch on TV and streaming services.

Hulu replaced John Cusack with a woman, Al Pacino hunts Nazis, Korean women fall in love with holograms, and Silicon Valley has found a successor. And that is only part of the surprises the TV industry is preparing for February 2020.

«Briarpatch»

Premiere February 6 on USA Network

Don't rush to melt over the promo shots in which Rosario Dawson («Luke Cage») pets a giraffe: Briarpatch is an adaptation of the eponymous grim thriller about corrupt officials and mercenaries. Dawson's character receives word that her detective sister has been blown up in her own car, and sets off to find the culprits in her native Texas, where local politicians and fixers do not stand on ceremony with anyone who gets in their way.

The showrunner of the new series is Andy Greenwald, a podcaster who evolved into a screenwriter and host of shows based on popular series («Game of Thrones»), and has now gotten his own TV production, with the help of Sam Esmail («Mr. Robot»), whose company is producing Briarpatch.

«Katy Keene»

Premiere February 6 on The CW

The spin-off of the megapopular Riverdale is pitched as a teen drama with musical elements, no surprise, since it's about the rise of future Broadway stars. The series' title character, a future model, fashion designer and singer, doesn't yet look like the pin-up legend she is remembered as from the original 1940s comics. For now, Katy Keene, played by Lucy Hale («Pretty Little Liars»), works in a clothing store ruled with an iron fist by personal shopping goddess Gloria Grandbilt.

It is no accident that the heroine herself reminds you of the «kind» version of Sabrina Spellman: Katy Keene and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina not only came out of the same comic pool, but also share a showrunner in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. And the CW is so ready to believe in everything connected with Riverdale that, even before the first season began, it ordered 13 new scripts.

«My Holo Love»

Premiere February 7 on Netflix

While the American arm of Netflix serves us scary stories about holograms displacing people (see the last season of Black Mirror), and the French one scares us with Tinder dystopias (Osmosis), Netflix in its Korean incarnation offers a romantic story about holograms awakening feelings. A withdrawn girl named So-yeon tests an AI assistant, Holo, in the form of a hologram of a handsome young man (why can Ryan Gosling have one, but not her?), and grows fond of him, a fondness she cannot feel toward real people: because of a cognitive disorder, she cannot tell faces apart. Holo has a physical prototype, developer Nan-do, who watches So-yeon and soon realizes he would like to take the place of his holographic double, but cannot match his charisma.

South Korea has given the streaming service a range of strong shows, but the best of them («Kingdom», «Mr. Sunshine») relied on historical settings and rich production. This drama is no rival to them, but its naive and shy characters look surprisingly fresh against the rest of Netflix's catalog: where else will we see two adults who are ready to sink through the ground after one thoughtless kiss?

«Locke & Key»

Premiere February 7 on Netflix

Stephen King's son Joe Hill is ready to compete with his father in workaholism: he writes books, curates a named DC comics series, constantly keeps you informed of his opinions on Twitter, and now also produces a series based on his own brainchild. The comic Locke & Key is about two brothers and a sister who, after their father's death, move into the Locke family's ancestral mansion. There they discover keys that give their owners magical abilities, up to and including passage into another dimension. But it turns out that demons who crawled straight out of the works of H.P. Lovecraft are hunting the same artifacts.

The executive producer of the new series is listed as Andy Muschietti («It», «It Chapter Two»). Locke & Key cannot boast a star-studded cast, but, as the example of King's It duology about Pennywise shows, sometimes it's better to give the spotlight to teenagers. The sister is played by 17-year-old Emilia Jones, who is no newcomer to horror after the stage production of The Turn of the Screw. The brothers' roles went to Jackson Robert Scott (Georgie in It) and Connor Jessup (Falling Skies).

«Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet»

Premiere February 7 on Apple TV+

Apple's streaming service is going to give the world its version of Silicon Valley, only about game designers. Apple is so sure of the foolproof formula of «geek developers + an unstable business world» that it has already renewed the series for a second season. Though perhaps what they are sure of is the creative genius of Rob McElhenney, creator of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, to whom they handed the reins of the new show. He will also play the lead, the self-absorbed art director Ian Grimm, who runs both the creators of the fictional computer RPG Mythic Quest and its characters, appearing as one of them.  

Given that most sitcoms about corporations and the narcissists who run them have fizzled out or been canceled (only Corporate on Comedy Central remains), Raven's Banquet comes at just the right time. But what is most impressive about the project so far is the authenticity of the non-existent game. The partnership with Ubisoft has done its job: you immediately want to dig in and play it.

Hi-Fi (High Fidelity)

Premiere February 14 on Hulu

We have not yet received a fairy godmother played by Billy Porter, but on Valentine's Day we are in for another gender swap: Rob Gordon from Nick Hornby's book High Fidelity and its film adaptation («Fanatic») will become a girl in the series adaptation, though she will keep the name. The role of this wild but likable music lover and owner of a record shop went to Zoë Kravitz («Big Little Lies»). Like the previous actor in the role, John Cusack, she will try to make sense of both a gigantic catalog of records and her own love life at the same time.

The series was supposed to air on Disney+, but moved to Hulu, which last year already released a reimagining of an old romantic comedy, the series Four Weddings and a Funeral. And Natasha Lyonne, star of Russian Doll, promised she would direct some of the episodes, which would be absolutely ideal.

«Utopia Falls»

Premiere February 14 on Hulu

For Valentine's Day the service decided to delight not only nostalgic older viewers but also teenagers: Utopia Falls is a sci-fi young adult drama with elements of dance (so, missing The OA?). A group of teenagers is invited to take part in a prestigious talent contest held in the deceptively utopian settlement of New Babylon. The creators promise a smart spectacle with references to Afrofuturism and eco-activism. «This is the first science fiction performance series in history for a culturally diverse and politically active young audience,» reads the official synopsis.

The space version of Step Up has brought together a whole cohort of rising stars: Akela Julien (American Gods), Robin Alomar (Rebels), Philip Levitsky (Supernatural) and others. The choreographer, in the sense of showrunner, will be Joseph Malozzi, creator of the sci-fi series Dark Matter.

«The Good Lord Bird»

Premiere February 16 on Showtime

Having gotten into the role of a rebel in First Reformed, Ethan Hawke directed and produced his own series, in which he played the lead, the anti-slavery fighter John Brown. The Good Lord Bird is a rare historical project for Blumhouse Productions, which became famous for horror productions (Happy Death Day, Split). The series will tell how American abolitionists dared to launch an uprising and started «Bleeding Kansas», a series of clashes that ultimately led to the Civil War in the United States.

The miniseries is based on the eponymous book by writer and musician James McBride, whom critics call the Mark Twain of our time, so you can count on some humor in this bloody story too.

«Hunters»

Premiere February 21 on Amazon Prime

Al Pacino's first regular role in a series was only a matter of time: the veteran actor agreed to join producer Jordan Peele's («Us») new project and will play Meyer Offerman, a hunter of former SS men. Together with like-minded people, Offerman tracks down Nazis hiding in New York and planning to found a Fourth Reich. Al Pacino's right-hand man on screen will be Logan Lerman, known for Fury.

Hunters is David Weil's first screenwriting project, and at first glance it doesn't pretend to originality: the posters reek of the Kingsman franchise, steeped in Inglourious Basterds. But it's worth watching at least for yet another attempt by Al Pacino to put on an uncharacteristic accent. Will he surpass his own dreadful pronunciation in The Merchant of Venice?

«I Am Not Okay With This»

Premiere February 26 on Netflix

Sophia Lillis, star of It, will transform into a superheroine in a new rebellious Netflix series, a potential contender for the place of The End of the F***ing World in your heart. (I Am Not Okay With This is based on the graphic novel by the creator of The End of the F***ing World, Charles Forsman, and is directed by Jonathan Entwistle, director of the eponymous series.) With its light retro flair, the new show may also appeal to fans of two other Netflix shows about teenagers: Stranger Things and Everything Sucks!.

So, the self-conscious and awkward Sidney has a superpower: telekinesis. The trouble is that she loses control of it when she is agitated, and she has plenty to worry about: school, a crush on her best friend, guilt over... Let's not say what exactly: just remember that Sidney can make someone's head explode from a distance. Whether the series will have a similar ability, we will find out very soon.

Marina Moynihan, TK Media