Recommended: Only Murders in the Building - Hulu

I wasn’t sure where I stood on nostalgia when I saw Steve Martin and Martin Short together on the small screen again. And then there’s Selena Gomez who I haven’t seen in anything but I know far too much about thanks to the pervasiveness of celebrity gossip.

Not knowing how I felt about any of it, I decided to click play because I needed something to “watch” while making dinner one night. I figured since I didn’t dislike anyone inherently and the story revolved around murder and true crime podcasts, I was bound to find something to sink my teeth into. And for once, I was right.

Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) are neighbors. They live in the same building and are obsessed with the same podcast. They meet one day on the elevator. I guess “meet” would be a stretching it. They talk to one another and remark on how weird the other guy who got on was, mild neighbor bonding stuff. Then they meet again when the fire alarm in their building goes off and they’re stuck outside. Mabel and Oliver find Charles at a nearby restaurant and that’s when they realize they’re all fans of the same true crime podcast. Having just found other members of their tribe—something that doesn’t appear to happen often for them—they immediately settle in for dinner and the latest episode.

When their paths cross again, the three of them realize that true crime has found its way into their building. The other guy they’d all been on the elevator with yesterday is dead. The cops don’t know who did it, and as far as the three of them are concerned: everyone’s a suspect. Thrilled to be able to solve an actual crime, the thought of doing their own podcast isn’t far behind.

Even if you’re not into true crime or podcasts, Steve Martin is still incredibly charming and witty, Martin Short is still hilarious and Selena Gomez, it turns out, is pretty great. I got hooked immediately and burned through the available episodes way too quickly. And yes, I said available. They didn’t release the entire season in one shot, so be prepared to wait once you’re all caught up.

Recommended: Killing Eve (BBC America) - Hulu

Admittedly I am incredibly late to the Killing Eve party, but I made it and I’m glad I did.

Eve (Sandra Oh) is a security operative and she’s been pulled in to work on apprehending an elusive and extremely effective assassin. Eve’s excited to be working with MI6, hunting a famed assassin, but that initial excitement quickly morphs into an obsession which ultimately deeply affects her job, marriage and even her sanity. Eve fixates not only on helping to apprehend Villanelle (the world famous assassin) she’s obsessed with the woman herself. The extent of that obsession makes up the first couple of seasons and it’s easy to see what pulled Eve in to begin with.

Villanelle (Jodie Comer) isn’t just a killer. She’s cultured, speaks all the languages, is incredibly agile, strong as an ox and as beautiful as a Disney princess. She likes a good chase and makes the job fun. She’ll let Eve get close but always manages to slip through her fingers in the end. Fortunately for Eve, Villanelle underestimates her at first. Eve responds by doing what she knows best and she leans in to get the job done. Unfortunately for her, this unleashes a deadly chain of events that soon spins way out of everyone’s control.

My friend recommended this show to me early on and while I thought the plot interesting, never clicked play. Then the pandemic set in and I started burning through everything on my watch list. Now that I’m fully invested in the story, I can’t believe I was stupid enough to wait so long. If spies, assassins, drama and good laughs do it for you then this show likely will too.

Recommended: Valeria - Netflix

Valeria (Diana Gómez) is something of a failed writer. She’s working random jobs to make ends meet while trying to write something, anything. She’s also feeling disillusioned with life and drifting farther away from her husband with every passing day. Valeria’s lost and unsure in which direction to head. Fortunately, her friends are a riot and always around to help her sort through missteps and next steps.

There’s some solid character development here so it’s easy to get lost in the story. Each of these ladies is fun and flawed in equal measure, which gets them into all sorts of melodramatic and comedic situations. It’s with fun, relatable and well executed performances that these women make it easy to invest in their individual storylines and so getting sucked into the plot is inevitable. The Sex and the City vibes are strong early on but fade relatively quickly. Valeria has more to offer than the sock value of uncensored female friendship and that dramatic aspect is what’ll hook you.

Season 2 is out today (13 August) on Netflix!