Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Duster plus the latest episodes of The Last of Us, Hacks, 9-1-1 and Poker Face. I am also taking a look at the Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy race and continuing my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 with #19!
DUSTER
Duster is a new crime drama that is the first show where JJ Abrams has a "creator" credit since 2010's Undercovers, which is shocking considering what a run he had in the 2000s with Lost, Alias and Fringe among others. This series takes place in the 1970s and features Lost alum Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson and Keith David. The show really embraces being set in the 70s and has the feel of an old fashioned 70s movie. It's not just the car and the music, it's the whole vibe of the series that feels very retro. Holloway is enjoyable in the lead role and I've been a fan of Hilson for several years now. Keith David is giving an over the top performance and so is Gail O'Grady (who doesn't look any older than she did decades ago) in a recurring role. The show is definitely not taking itself too seriously, which is always appreciated. This was definitely not a show that could be self-serious.
The part I'm not as sold on is the mystery of the entire season. I almost wish this show was jumping on the recent trend of streaming production values with a broadcast sensibility. Like I'd almost prefer to see Holloway and Hilson team up on weekly cases instead of a season-long arc that doesn't seem all that compelling and certainly not worthy of an entire season. Maybe the show will do some detours and maybe it will move in that direction more but I'm just not sure I can excited enough to watch this season-long story on a week to week basis. We'll see.
Also...
I didn't check out Murderbot or Overcompensating. Murderbot just isn't my kind of show so I'm not going to give it a chance. I may check out Overcompensating at some point as it has some solid buzz, but I just didn't get to it this week and don't feel a real sense of urgency to seeing it.
The Last of Us
Last night's The Last of Us brought Pedro Pascal back to the show with a flashback episode that showed his and Ellie's relationship in the years between the two seasons of the show. It was a really thoughtful episode that will probably make some think of last season's "Long, Long Time." I don't think it was quite on the level of that masterpiece episode, but it was great to see Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey back on screen together and it made it more apparent that the show has been experiencing some growing pains without Pascal. The episode spent most of its time building up their relationship before showing us finally what broke them apart (and it wasn't necessarily just one thing, but the one main thing wasn't what I expected). I'm not exactly sure how this informs the show going forward and I'm curious how this would have felt as the season premiere. But it was a very strong episode.
Hacks
Hacks delivered two episodes this week. That may have partly been due to getting all the episodes in before the Emmys but it also seemed like the creative team thought about which two episodes would go together best and this was an interesting split view of Deborah as a new grandmother and then as a cold and calculating businesswoman looking who gets Winnie (Helen Hunt) fired. These were both great episodes for Jean Smart but it's also pretty clear where this season is headed with only two episodes left, or at least it seems clear to me. I like that it potentially puts Ava and Deborah on opposite sides philosophically, but not against each other because they can't go back to that well anytime soon. Yes, I do feel like the show rising to #1 in the ratings was a bit convenient for the story (I think it's pretty clear by now that viral clips do not have a huge impact on linear ratings in 2025) but it's a TV show so it is what it is! I very much enjoyed both episodes this week and I think the show has been on a strong run after a bumpy start to the season.
Poker Face
This week's Poker Face rivals Bad Monkey for the most Florida piece of media from this TV season. I didn't think the episode, which featured Gabby Hoffmann as the killer of the week, was all that good. It was a weird and the plot didn't actually work that well plus Hoffmann wasn't very interesting. But it is worth noting that Kumail Nanjiani gave an absolutely bonkers performance in this episode that was so ridiculous but so fun.
9-1-1 (Season Finale)
I haven't had too much to say about a lot of momentous events on 9-1-1 because I was behind on the show. So I was spoiled on Bobby Nash's death before I saw the episode. I did catch up though and watched the season finale this week. This show remains one of the strongest broadcast procedurals and the cast really embody characters in a way some other procedurals like the Chicago shows struggle. Krause's departure allowed for an emotional and intense end to the season but I worry short term gain is not a good move long term because Krause really was the glue of the show. Time will tell!
THE EMMY RACE for LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
The Lead Actor in a Drama Series race has been an ever evolving one. At first, it looked to be a two man race between Adam Scott for Severance and Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us. Both are previous nominees (Scott in 2022 and Pascal in 2023) and both seemed to have an inside track for a first time win. Scott is still a threat after his well-received turn on Severance but Pascal is more of a question mark since he's not in the second season as much as people thought he would be. Now the biggest threat to Scott seems to be Noah Wyle. He started as a dark horse but as The Pitt gained steam, he's become a frontrunner. It's hard to imagine the winner not being one of those three actors (even Pascal has a chance) but there are six slots for a nomination so who else gets in? The only actor eligible from last year is Gary Oldman for Slow Horses and he seems likely to get back in. The last two slots could go a lot of directions. Another potential returning nominee is Lee Jung-jae for Squid Game. He was a winner in 2022 so it seems like he should be a shoo-in but the buzz for Squid was so much more muted this time around so he may struggle to get back in. Jeff Bridges is also a former nominee for The Old Man but I think it's very unlikely he returns to this category. Sterling K. Brown was a fixture here for This is Us for many years and he could get back in the mix with Paradise where his performance was generally liked even with mixed reception to the show. Diego Luna didn't get in for Andor when the series got in a couple years ago, but he could get in this time with perhaps even more love for the show. Peacock always struggles to get nominations but Eddie Redmayne made some noise in the winter awards so I wouldn't count him out for The Day of the Jackal. Then there's Jon Hamm. It doesn't seem like Your Friends & Neighbors is cutting through but Hamm should never be underestimated to get a nomination. The Diplomat has some buzz as a show so that could trickle down to Rufus Sewell, but I would be a bit surprised. Billy Bob Thornton was a surprise SAG nominee for Landman so he could get in but Taylor Sheridan/Paramount+ shows tend to struggle at the Emmys. A couple dark horses include Harrison Ford for 1923 and Antony Starr for The Boys.
Projected Nominees (ranked by likelihood of a nomination):
1. Adam Scott, Severance
2. Noah Wyle, The Pitt
3. Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
4. Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
5. Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
6. Eddie Redmayne, The Day of the Jackal
Just Missing:
7. Jon Hamm, Your Friends and Neighbors
8. Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game
9. Diego Luna, Andor
#19 - NEW GIRL (FOX, 2011-2018)
New Girl was one of those shows that was perfect for me at the time it came on. The characters were a little bit older than me at the time, but the 2010s were when I was living on my own for the first time and figuring out adulthood. Even when it was uneven, it was a show I could always relate to. I wasn't sure how it would hold up after the fact but I rewatched the show with my wife not too long ago and I'm happy to report that the humor holds up quite well. Some of the week-to-week unevenness isn't as noticeable when binging the series and there are so many great moments and created concepts (True American being the most notable). Couple in a terrific ensemble including the hilariously underrated performance from Lamorne Morris and I think this show is less a product of its time and more just a great sitcom.
COMING UP
As May winds down, there's still a few shows premiering, some of which will be eligible for this year's Emmys and some for next year depending on the release model. A lot of these don't really seem like Emmy plays though and more like summer fare. On Tuesday, Prime Video has the premiere of the young adult drama Motorheads featuring Ryan Phillippe in a parent role, which will surely make millennials cringe. Wednesday has the second season premiere of Nine Perfect Strangers. The anthology series aired its first season way back in Summer 2021 and came on the heels of The White Lotus and paled in comparison. It's a little bit of a surprise that it came back at all but the second season keeps Nicole Kidman in the lead and features a new cast otherwise including Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski and Lotus alum Murray Bartlett. Thursday has two shows premiering on Netflix: Tyler Perry's political comedy She the People and the limited soapy series Sirens starring Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy and Milly Alcock. Finally on Friday is the eighth and final season of Big Mouth on Netflix. The series premiered way back in 2017, making it one of Netflix's longest running series.
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