6 shows I'm watching in August

A high school slasher, my first anime, and 40-something gay men.

6. Surface (Apple TV+)
My score: 40/100

At this point, you can expect that any Apple TV+ series will be, at the very least, crisp and highly produced with capable actors. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who I interviewed about this role, is doing career-defining work in this series. Unfortunately, the rest of the show lags far behind her acting abilities, smothered by an odd love triangle, undefinable character motivations, and supporting characters that never feel fully fleshed out.

By the end of the series (which I watched in its entirety to prepare for my interview), I was so tired of watching the two lovers flip flop in their allegiances, and the reveals were never as grand and conspiratory as the show kept hinting they would be. There is a queer subplot that’s left hanging by the end of the season that I would like to have seen explored, so maybe a second season can breathe new life into a show that never really…surfaced.

5. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (HBO Max)