Coming off a month that saw the release of some of its most top-tier programming in quite a while — like the new French fashion drama La Maison, as well as the return of Slow Horses plus the debut of the action-comedy feature film Wolfs — Apple TV+ enters October with two absolutely must-see TV series already on the books. One, a returning gem, and the other, a highly anticipated new series from a critically acclaimed director.
The latter is Disclaimer, five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón’s new project that Apple TV+ is hyping so much that it’s calling the release a “seven-part event” rather than a seven-episode TV show. And then there’s Season 2 of Shrinking, Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence’s comedy about grief and therapy — which, I should add, brought in a guest actor for the new season whose first appearance made my jaw drop in shock, because of the character he’s playing.
Disclaimer (Oct. 11)
“Thank goodness for Apple TV+” — Cate Blanchett, maybe.
In all seriousness, I’m sure Blanchett is more than happy to shift her focus from the Borderlands disaster to her starring role in Cuarón’s dreamy-looking new TV series. The director has already described Disclaimer as more like a seven-part movie rather than a TV project, and it’s based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Renée Knight.
Blanchett plays an acclaimed journalist named Catherine Ravenscroft, who has built a career out of investigating the transgressions and misdeeds of others. But, as Apple explains in the Disclaimer synopsis, “when (Catherine) receives a novel from an unknown author, she is horrified to realize she is now the main character in a story that exposes her darkest secrets.”
Catherine races to uncover the identity of the writer and, in so doing, is also forced to confront her past before it destroys her relationship with her husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) and their son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee). As you can see, there’s some serious talent involved with Disclaimer — the soundtrack of which was also composed by Billie Eilish’s brother Finneas O’Connell.
Shrinking: Season 2 (Oct. 16)
Meanwhile, the new month also brings a returning fan-favorite, starring Jason Segel as a therapist grieving for his wife.
Following his wife’s death in a car crash involving a drunk driver, Segel’s character in Shrinking spirals and enters a period of depression. He sort of snaps back to reality by basically saying to hell with it and putting his patients through a bit of unconventional treatment — specifically, he starts telling them what he really thinks. No sugarcoating, no holding back.
If you loved Ted Lasso, this Apple TV+ gem has a similar vibe and deals with some of the same kinds of themes. Like, for example, the importance of kindness and empathy and how setbacks can make us better people if we let them. In the series, Apple explains, Segel’s character “starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he makes huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own.”
Check out our full preview of Season 2 here.
