Officially, the holiday season arrived after Halloween when stores began shoveling Christmas decorations into displays. Likewise, premium cable networks and streaming services began releasing November shows that would carry people through the holiday weekend and its resulting food comas. Some of those newly released shows (Silo and Landman) continue on a weekly basis through December, but of course, the streaming services have several more worthy offerings to take you through the New Year.
Here are the must-see shows for December:
Creature Commandos: Season 1 (Max series debuting 12/5)
Is this another version of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad? Not quite. That film (along with David Ayer’s previous effort) covered Task Force X, and Amanda Waller has now moved onto Task Force M for various reasons too nerdy to discuss here. The “M” stands for Monsters, and Gunn is formally kicking of DCU with this animated series (after grandfathering in Peacemaker) while finally allowing Frank Grillo to inhabit the meaty comic book role that he deserves. His Rick Flag Sr. character will surface in multiple DCU productions, and he’s in charge of corralling Amanda Waller’s gathering of incarcerated monsters — including Dr. Phosphorus, Frankenstein, The Bride, Princess, Ilana, Circe, and GI Robot — as they execute missions deemed unfit for humans.
Black Doves: Season 1 (Netflix debuting 12/5)
Keira Knightley joins the spy-series circuit in this lushly rendered series that follows her quest for vengeance after her lover is murdered. Sure, this sounds like a semi-boilerplate setup, but the script reveals otherwise, and Keira’s plentiful action scenes were surely far more enjoyable to film than wearing corsets in her plentiful period-drama run. Voice of Paddington Ben Whishaw also more than holds his own, and it’s worth the price of admission to hear him (platonically) utter, “Darling.” Netflix has already renewed this thriller for a second season, thank goodness. Sometimes we can have nice things?
Dexter: Original Sin: Season 1 (Paramount+ series streaming 12/13)
Long before Dexter Morgan sailed away from Miami into a hurricane or somehow survived being “fatally” shot in upstate New York, younger Dexter (Patrick Gibson) began his 1990s tenure with the Miami Metro Police Department as an intern. This series will see him realize his Dark Passenger’s presence while working alongside his dad, Harry, to hone his serial killing Code. This series stars Christian Slater, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Molly Brown, Patrick Dempsey, Alex Shimizu, and Reno Wilson. Don’t worry, Michael C. Hall’s voice will still provide the inner Dexter monologue that his audience loves so well. Original Sin will also make its Showtime debut on 12/15.
What If … ?: Season 3 (Disney+ series debuting 12/22)
For some unknown reason, Disney+ decided that this will be the final season (“that ends it all”) for what’s actually their most fan-embraced MCU series on the platform. This also happens to be Marvel Studios’ best-executed example of the multiverse, so enjoy this animated series while the getting is good. This season will introduce introduce Storm as the Goddess of Thunder and the Mecha version of Captain America before Daredevil: Born Again arrives next year to forecast the new MCU game plan.
Squid Game: Season 2 (Netflix series 12/26)
Do I really need to explain the premise of this story? You’ve watched it, and you know how brutal this series is while satirizing the real-life circumstances of a several current generations. The question is whether the followup season can keep the phenomenon alive as Gi-hun resurfaces with a new agenda. Let the games re-begin.
Secret Level: Season 1 (Prime Video/Amazon series debuting 12/10)
It’s obviously a big month for animated streaming series, and this show hails from the LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS crew with 15 episodes that function as love letters to gamers. An all-star cast includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Keanu Reeves, Gabriel Luna, Claudia Doumit, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Ariana Greenblatt, each of whom appear in episodes devoted to Warhammer 40,000, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, PAC-MAN, Exodus, and various PlayStation Studios games. Pull up your gaming chair and enjoy.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Season 1 (Disney+ series debuting 12/2)
Not to be deterred by The Acolyte‘s swift cancellation, a galaxy far, far away is still aiming to entertain on the small screen. This series, led by Jude Law, is a coming-of-age tale about the perils of straying when intragalaxy space travel is no big deal but can still get you lost. Skeleton Crew runs semi-concurrently with The Mandalorian and was created by Jon Watts and Chris Ford.