Bottom Row: Smoke (Apple TV+); MONSTER: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix).
Just like list time: It does what it says on the tin, as one might say. This is the second part of my TV review catch-up for 2025, which includes some of my thoughts on TV shows in bite-sized portions. There are still two other shows that I want to review from last year, but they’ll get their own full individual reviews sometime soon. Anyway, in this article, you’ll find my thoughts on an Apple show I had mixed feelings on, a Netflix anthology series that didn’t work for me this season, a show about a strong return for an iconic character, and a season of one of HBO’s most popular shows over the last few years.
The White Lotus: Season 3 | Series | Created by Mike White | Release Year: 2025 | Season Length: 8 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes.
Mike White’s The White Lotus is a series that really took the world by storm. The hotel-set anthology-esque satirical dramedy series about privileged individuals in vacation destinations always brings together a phenomenal cast, strong visuals, and a sharp wit. The third season was no different, but while I thought the excellent Italian-set season two was a step up from the strong debut season, this third season — set in Thailand — felt a bit like a step down (or backwards). This season features returning characters, a group of female friends reconnecting and bickering (featuring a strong performance from Carrie Coon), a local storyline (starring a genuine K-Pop singer), a wealthy family (the Ratliffs) whose patriarch is keeping a secret from his family (with top-drawer performances from Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, and Patrick Schwarzenegger), and a mysterious man (played by Walton Goggins) hoping to get a monkey off his back, so to speak, alongside his younger girlfriend (played by a wonderful Aimee Lou Wood). Along the way, there is even an equal parts brilliant and baffling appearance from Sam Rockwell, who is in fine form.
But while it does, indeed, have all the right ingredients (and is by and large a solid season of television), it suffers from certain issues, partially due to an overlong season (at eight episodes, it is two episodes longer than the first season). The Ratliff plotline was arguably one of the most interesting in the show, but it had too much build-up with the patriarch basically doing the same thing over and over again with virtually no development, and, at the same time, this plotline had too many bait-and-switches or pump-fakes. Then there’s the Goggins-plotline that, though it featured strong and entertaining performances, had both an extremely predictable ending and also featured some leaps in logic. It also gets past its framing device (each season opens with someone dying, and then the rest of the season is all about building up to the reveal of who it is and how it happened) without the necessary reactions from the remaining cast of characters. So, while there was a lot to like, it did feel a little bit too messy compared to previous seasons.
Dexter: Resurrection: Season 1 | Series | Developed by Clyde Phillips | Release Year: 2025 | Season Length: 10 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes.
When Showtime tried to revive the Dexter series with Dexter: New Blood a few years ago, I approached it with trepidation. The original series was a personal favorite of mine before the series finale abandoned all logic and disappointed pretty much everyone. It was a finale that tarnished the brand, and New Blood tried to lessen the damage. I ultimately had mixed feelings about that show, and despite doing some things well, I didn’t end up feeling like they had fixed the original problem entirely or revived the show in a fully satisfying way. Resurrection gave it another go last year, and, frankly, I mostly really enjoyed it. Although it suffers from some New Blood baggage at the start, it eventually succeeds in recapturing the right spirit, even though the series is now set in New York. A blend of big city vibes, old friends on the titular character’s tail, epic guest stars (e.g., Peter Dinklage, Uma Thurman, Eric Stonestreet, Krysten Ritter, Neil Patrick Harris, and David Dastmalchian), rideshare driving, and a more well-realized crazy father-son dynamic helped to make this season really bring back the pleasure of the original show. Michael C. Hall also felt more at home in this version of the revival, which had this really intriguing series-long narrative involving the people that Peter Dinklage’s character could bring together. It wasn’t the best season of the show, though, and it wasn’t perfect, as the writing was sometimes a little bit too cute, obvious, or on-the-nose (and some performances just didn’t work as intended). But this season did a really good job of making a continuation of Dexter Morgan’s life feel like something worth watching for more than just cheap nostalgia.
Smoke | Series | Created by Dennis Lehane | Release Year: 2025 | Season Length: 9 Episodes | Recommended?: Unfortunately, not really.
Initially, I really enjoyed the setup, the cast, and, frankly, I found it quite thrilling for long stretches. However, as it progressed, I eventually found it to be increasingly frustrating. What especially didn’t sit right with me was what they did at the end of the penultimate episode. There’s a moment with the main character that just rubbed me the wrong way, and that didn’t work for me. The show had already been on a downward trajectory, despite the fact that I liked the cast and was hooked by the premise. What I had mostly thought of as a decent-enough show had soured and become something worse. It lost me. In general, the writing got progressively worse, and the most interesting and well-executed subplot (the one involving Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s character) was dropped rather abruptly.
As I am a completionist, I gave the finale a try to see if they could wrap it up in something even kind of satisfying, but it, too, was filled with numerous frustrating and unsatisfying decisions. The finale, in addition to being frustratingly written, also had an extended, dramatic, and intense scene that was executed in the most unbelievable and over-the-top way (e.g., with excessive use of slow-motion). Although I’ve mostly liked Apple TV+’s other crime shows like Black Bird, Presumed Innocent, and Sugar, I have to say that I can’t recommend Smoke.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story | Series | Created by Ian Brennan | Release Year: 2025 | Season Length: 8 Episodes | Recommended?: No.
In 2025, there were two high-profile shows about true-crime serial killers that approached the subject in very different ways. On one side of the spectrum, you had the very well-made Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, which made an effort to focus on honoring the victims as much as they could (if you’re into these kinds of true crime shows, then it is a definite recommendation). Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you had Ian Brennan’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which, it seemed, cared more about connecting threads to pop culture than telling a story that went about it in a morally clear way. The Ed Gein Story so often made me grimace, and it’s not because of the violence in the show; it was because of so many poorly made decisions. There are factual inaccuracies, fabrications, and moments where they stretch reality in the service of suspense and for the purpose of flirting with some interesting themes, but it is creatively messy and misshapen. And, given that this is a true story, the way it focuses more on cultural ripple effects rather than honoring victims left me with a sour taste in my mouth. It also doesn’t help that the attempts to recreate Psycho or Mindhunter, to name two popular stories about serial killers, just feel off. I think the way it treats Anthony Perkins is insensitive, I think its version of Hitchcock both looks and sounds off, and, as a super fan of Mindhunter, its ‘homage’ missed the point, was outright infuriating, and it made me lose my last bit of patience for the show. Charlie Hunnam really goes all out in the lead role. But while I normally really enjoy Hunnam, I didn’t think his performance worked. It kept making me think of comedic turns that Ben Stiller has done in the past (e.g., Zoolander, Simple Jack).
– Reviews written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 