Television series
Kill Jackie
- Thriller
- Drug-trade crime
- Action
- Relentless
A former cocaine dealer turned art world ghost goes on the offensive when a squad of elite assassins come calling. Catherine Zeta-Jones commands this high-stakes thriller as Jackie hunts her hunters, only to discover that her real enemies live in her past—and closer than she thinks. It's slick, dangerous, and propelled by a woman who knows exactly how to survive.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like a glossy, wisecracking caper where a stylish protagonist with a dark past is the most dangerous person in the room.
Skip it if you need hard-edged grit or slow-burn realism, since this one trades plausibility for glamour and bounces through its premise at a brisk, sometimes breezy clip.
What it asks of you: Eight episodes in one season, and it is still in development, so patience is the only way in for now.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Breaking Bad2008
The template for prestige crime drama: a respectable life concealing a lethal secret, slowly unravelling as past sins demand reckoning. Taut plotting, moral complexity, and a lead performance that defines the form.
But Five seasons is a serious commitment, and the early episodes move deliberately. Some find Walter White too despicable to root for, even as the show demands you understand him.
Killing Eve2018
Twisted cat-and-mouse between a killer and the obsessed investigator hunting her. Stylish, darkly funny, and built entirely on the magnetic pull between two people who understand each other far too well.
But The later seasons lose focus and the ending divides fans sharply. It also asks you to enjoy a protagonist who is genuinely horrifying, which isn't everyone's speed.
Fleabag2016
A woman outrunning her past through charm, sex, and relentless self-deception, narrated directly to camera with wit that lands like a knife. Character-driven, funny, and unexpectedly moving about people who hurt the ones they love.
But Only three seasons total—it ends before you're ready. The protagonist is often unlikeable, and the humor doesn't work for everyone in the later season's shift toward sincerity.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Kill Jackie
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
GoodFellas1990
Both follow someone with a buried criminal past trying to maintain a facade of respectability, narrated by someone who understands the seduction of that life better than anyone outside it could.
Not about catching criminals—it's a dazzling inside view of the life itself, narrated by someone living it. Scorsese shows you exactly why the glamour and danger are addictive, then doesn't apologize when it all implodes. The template for every 'respectable criminal' story that followed.
But The violence is casual and frequent, the misogyny is baked in (intentionally), and it's a world without moral guardrails. Also three and a half hours, and some of it drags deliberately.
More like this (7)
Bodyguard2018
A British thriller of surgical precision: six episodes, no filler, built on misdirection and twists that actually land. Tense, gripping, and over before it can overstay its welcome.
But The resolution divides viewers on whether it earns its setup. Some find it bleak to the point of nihilism, and the politics feel dated almost immediately.
The Americans2013
Two Soviet KGB officers pose as an American couple for decades, slowly losing themselves to their cover. Agonizing in the best way—about how deception corrodes everyone it touches, including those doing the deceiving.
But Six seasons and genuinely exhausting to watch. The show doesn't offer much comfort, and the relationship at its center becomes almost unbearable by design.
MINDHUNTER2017
The birth of criminal profiling, told with meticulous attention to psychology and procedure. David Fincher's direction brings cold precision to the hunt for what makes killers tick.
But Two seasons and cancelled before resolution. Heavy subject matter—real killers, real crimes—presented without sensationalism can feel austere to the point of deadness.
Spy Game2001
A former operative springs his protégé from a Chinese prison by recounting their history together through flashbacks. Fast-paced, fun, and built on the chemistry between two leads navigating impossible situations.
But It's essentially a heist-thriller told in fragments, which some find more style than substance. The emotional stakes are wafer-thin beneath the slick action.
The Gentlemen2020
A crime lord contemplates retirement, sparking a cascade of schemes involving dealers, dealers' wives, and assorted con artists. Tarantino-adjacent plotting with genuine warmth and humor underneath the violence.
But Plot becomes genuinely confusing at times—it circles back on itself deliberately, but not everyone finds that entertaining. Some dialogue feels indulgent, and the film can't quite decide what it's about.
Poker Face2023
Both are about people playing multiple angles at once, using intelligence and charm to stay ahead of threats they partly created themselves. The paranoia of waiting for the past to catch up.
Each episode is a self-contained con or mystery with a different director and tone. Rian Johnson made a show that feels like flipping through a stack of Twilight Zone episodes written by a conspiracy theorist with excellent taste. Endlessly inventive and genuinely funny.
But The episodic format means no investment in ongoing characters or mythology. Some episodes land harder than others, and there's no through-line to hook you if one disappoints you.
Atomic Blonde2017
A woman with a hidden past and multiple identities playing a dangerous game where one mistake unravels everything. Both are about the performance of being someone you're not, and the cost of maintaining it.
A British MI6 agent at the end of the Cold War is a liar, a seductress, and lethal with her fists. The action is balletic, the character is a true cipher underneath the glamour, and Charlize Theron moves like a dancer through fight scenes. It's what a spy thriller feels like when the spy is interested in survival, not heroism.
But Plot takes a backseat to style and physicality—if you need narrative coherence over the feel of a knife fight, skip it. The '80s synth aesthetic won't work for everyone, and the ending is deliberately ambiguous in ways some find unsatisfying.
