“Jessica Jones” (Season Two)
Synopsis: After a tragic ending to her short-lived super hero stint, Jessica Jones is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City.
What You Need To Know: The first season of “Jessica Jones” had one of the more refreshing concepts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, wherein the titular superhero (Krysten Ritter), whose career ended abruptly in tragedy, becomes a private investigator in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. Season two digs more into Jones’ backstory, beginning with her childhood and the death of her parents, as well as the trauma her character experiences from dealing with Kilgrave (David Tennant) in the last season. Speaking of Kilgrave, the mind-controlling villain is set to return (as a memory, he was killed last season) to haunt her, while she attempts to solve a new case, which in turn will reveal more secrets from her past. Here’s hoping this will be more like season one, and not like “The Defenders.”
Release Date: March 8th
“Sneaky Pete” (Season Two)
Synopsis: A con man on the run from a vicious gangster takes cover by assuming the identity of his prison cellmate, Pete, but the decision threatens to drag him into a world just as dangerous as the one he’s escaping.
What You Need To Know: Bryan Cranston and David Shore‘s edge-of-your-seat drama is back with more trouble in store for its titular hero (Giovanni Ribisi). After leaving prison and assuming the identity of his dead cellmate, Pete (real name Marius) finds new danger in two thugs who believe he is the real Pete. Threatening to kill his entire family unless he collects the millions his mother (Jane Adams) stole from them, Marius must protect them while continuing the illusion of his false identity. With “Breaking Bad” level tension and a sharp script that surprises as much as it engages, “Sneaky Pete” should be at the top of your viewing list.
Release Date: March 9th
“Trust”
Synopsis: Rome, 1973. John Paul Getty III, the grandson of billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, is kidnapped by the Italian mafia for ransom. Quite surprisingly, his grandfather will not pay a cent.
What You Need To Know: Comparing and contrasting Danny Boyle‘s (“Trainspotting“) FX anthology series to Ridley Scott‘s “All the Money in the World” isn’t completely fair, but it will be interesting to see how Boyle presents the John Paul Getty III kidnapping. This iteration of the saga’s main players features an excellent stable of talent including Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby“), Brendan Fraser (“Gods and Monsters“), Harris Dickinson (“Beach Rats“) and Donald Sutherland (“Ordinary People“) as the infamous lion-keeping billionaire patriarch. One thing is for certain, the Gettys make the Lannisters look like a well-adjusted, middle-class family.
Release Date: March 25th
“Barry”
Synopsis: A hitman from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city’s theatre arts scene.
What You Need To Know: One of the most interesting premises for a high concept comedy series to come out in recent years, “Barry” focuses on a lonely hitman (Bill Hader,) who finds solace and an escape in his newfound acting passion, while trying to end his career as a mercenary, much to the discontent of his bosses. While shows revolving around actors and show business can often feel self-indulgent, “Barry” looks as though it will break the mold by contrasting the lightheartedness of trying to make it as a struggling actor, with the brutal world of professional hitmen. From the looks of the trailers, Hader seems to break typecasting, playing a distant, disturbed individual who finds himself amongst a colorful cast of supporting characters.
Release Date: March 25th
“Silicon Valley” (Season Five)
Synopsis: Richard Hendricks and his friends try to build their own tech company, Pied Piper.
What You Need To Know: While Erlich Bachmann (T.J. Miller) will not be returning for the new season of Mike Judge‘s high-tech comedy series, the rest of Pied Piper will be there to pick up the slack. Season five sees Pied Piper, run by its founder Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), expanding operations by hiring more employees, while rival Gavin Belson (Matt Ross) makes damaging decisions that could impact the company’s future. While Erlich will surely be missed, the show has more than enough comedic juice with Richard’s mumbling awkwardness and Dinesh and Guilfoyle’s (Kumail Nanjiani and Martin Starr) bone-dry sarcasm.
Release Date: March 25th
“The Americans” (Season Six)
Synopsis: Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, the series follows Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and their neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI agent.
What You Need To Know: Joseph Weisberg‘s critically acclaimed FX series about two Soviet spies (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) living in cold war 1980s Washington D.C. will premiere its final season this spring. The new season will find Jennings’ daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) learning about her parents’ real profession. In addition, the tension between the Jennings and their neighbor, F.B.I. agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) increases, as their secret becomes ever-so-close to being revealed.
Release Date: March 28th