Now Streaming: THE ÅRE MURDERS Get Chilly, COMMON SIDE EFFECTS Get Weird

Crimes, drugs, superheroes, and romance(s).

The Åre Murders (orig. Åremorden)
All five episodes are now streaming on Netflix.

In the dead of winter, a young woman disappears in the middle of the night. Given the title of the show, that doesn't bode well.

The setting is Åre, Sweden, a ski resort where Hanna (Carla Sehn, Love & Anarchy), a police officer from Stockholm, has retreated to stay at her sister's home and take a break from her work in the domestic violence unit. Even though she is supposed to be resting, she cannot help but volunteer her services to the small town's police department to help in the search for the missing young woman, and the subsequent investigation.

First published in 2008, attorney turned full-time writer Viveca Sten's Morden i Sandhamn crime novel series has grown to 10 volumes (at least); the first three episodes of this Netflix series are drawn from one of them, while the final two episodes are drawn from another.

To my mind, crime shows such as this are best when they revolve around strong characters. Both the visiting Hanna and the detective with whom she's paired, Daniel (Kardo Razzazi), are empathetic and feel authentic to their domestic lives, or lack thereof, and their experience as detectives. They are not superheroes. They act on their emotions and intellect, and they are both very, very smart.

Recommended. They make a good team, and the cases are intriguing without venturing into anything preposterous or strained.

Common Side Effects
The first two episodes are now streaming on Max. Subsequent episodes will debut every Sunday night on Adult Swim and Monday on Max.

'What if there was a medicine that could cure just about anything?'

The question is posed by Marshall (Dave King) to his high-school classmate Frances (Emily Pendergast). Marshall is a genius across multiple disciplines who found magical blue mushrooms and has been on the run ever since; Frances is the assistant to Rick (Mike Judge), a powerful mogul, and thinks Marshall's mushrooms may be the key to her own promotion.

To say that Marshall and Frances make for an unlikely pair would be understating it. Animation and paranoia make for natural teammates in the series, created by Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, available the next day on the Max streaming service. Mike Judge and Greg Daniels are among the executive producers, and the show reflects their comic sensibilities, though it's filtered through Bennett and Hely, who introduce wildly off-kilter elements early on.

Recommended. It might seem to be of limited appeal, but creators Bennett and Hely are already laying bread crumbs on a twisted trail, including the pursuing DEA agents (Joseph Lee Anderson and Martha Kelly), who are efficient, dangerous, and pretty funny on their own.

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In brief:

Invincible S3
The first three episodes of Season 3 are now streaming on Prime Video, along with Seasons 1 and 2. Subsequent episodes will premiere every Thursday.

I enjoyed Robert Kirkman's comic book series up to a point, and I reached that point even earlier in the animated series, which is very well drawn, very well-voiced (by the likes of Steven Yeun, Gillian Jacobs, Sandra Oh, Walton Goggins, Seth Rogen, and J.K. Simmons), and very, very bloody. If you enjoy watching bodies being pulled apart and the constant spray of blood, please enjoy! The third season has eight episodes, with the first three already available. I made it through the first episode, and it's more of the same.

The Eastern Gate
The first two episodes are now streaming on. Subsequent episodes will premiere every Friday.

I sampled the first episode, which dropped last week, but have yet to watch episode 2, which may clarify things. Ewa (Lena Gora), a Polish spy, carried out a mission in Episode 1, and she pivots to a second mission in Episode 2, in order to locate her partner, who's been taken captive by Russian operatives. Since they are not just partners but also partners, if you take my meaning, she has a personal motivation to help rescue him. The show certainly moves briskly and feels very coldly, as befits its setting in the world of covert operations. I'll check it out further.

Love You to Death
The first two episodes are now streaming on Apple TV+. Subsequent episodes will premiere every Wednesday.

We are first introduced to Raúl (Joan Amargós), who receives news that he has been diagnosed with heart cancer. He is the sort of fellow who always thinks before he speaks, and so the diagnosis sends him into a tail-spin, to the point that he can't even bring it up with his domestic partner, who is anxious and frantic. On a separate thread, we are introduced to Marta (Verónica Echegui), who is his exact opposite, always acting without thinking and still without a destination in mind, even though she is now in her late 30s. Since the show is marketed as a romantic comedy, of course the two will meet.

As always with comedies, if you're not on the same beat, your chances of enjoying the humor are extremely limited. That's my kind way of saying that I didn't laugh once, though I did smile once or twice. I found the show to be profoundly irritating, filled with characters who do not engender any sympathy or empathy whatsoever. Your mileage may vary.

Now Streaming celebrates independent and international genre films and television shows that are newly available on legal streaming services.