9 New Bingeable Series for October

Shorter days mean longer nights – and more time for October’s packed slate of dystopian classic adaptations, iconic horror debuts, prestige drama and a millennial take on a Great American Novel.

Dominic West and Sienna Miller (and their phalanx of attorneys) face off in this glossy backstabbing divorce drama. It not only follows the machinations and outcome of the vicious, headline-grabbing, high-society fracture between tech billionaire (West) and movie star (Miller), but also the bitter feud between their ruthless rival law firms. The courtroom drama (and boardroom dealings) is populated by a strong supporting cast, includingThe Diplomat’s Celia Imrie,Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed and James McArdle of theSexy Beastseries. More prime-time soap than prestige TV, it’s a lot.

Where to Watch:Streaming on Crave starting Oct. 1 (8 episodes)

East of Eden

Literary Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck may have called his character Cathy Ames a “monster,” but the infamously cruel antiheroine gets a reappraisal in Zoe Kazan’s version. Her grandfather Elia Kazan’s classic 1955 film gave James Dean his first starring role – playing Cal Trask – but this adaptation centres Oscar nominee Florence Pugh’s Cathy. It gives the actress rich material as a morally complex woman vilified in part for defying conformity and rejecting domestic expectation. The sweeping generational saga of dysfunctional rival brothers competing for their father’s affection also stars Tony nomineesMike Faist (from the originalDear Evan Hansencast) and Christopher Abbott(2026’sDeath of a Salesman)

Where to Watch:Streaming on Netflix starting Oct. 1 (7 episodes)

Small Prophets

BBC’sDetectoristscreator Mackenzie Crook gave us the uplifting, BAFTA-winning simplicity of friendship. That same need for community is at the heart of his latest, which isalready a critical and ratings hitin the U.K. Using a recipe from his eccentric elderly father Brian (Monty Pythonlegend Sir Michael Palin), 50-something Michael (Pearce Quigley) begins concocting a strange brew in his garden shed. In between mundane shifts at a DIY superstore, Michael hopes the truth-telling elixir will reveal if his vanished girlfriend Clea will ever return. Unhurried in its exploration of isolation, loneliness and the longing for connection, it’s a showcase of quietly-paced charm and gentle British humour.

Where to Watch:Streaming on Apple TV starting Oct. 7 (6 episodes)

Below

The folkloric myth, grim humour and foreboding atmosphere ofWidow’s Baywashes ashore in Canada with this limited series. Canadian creator Jesse McKeown’s previous credits includeDa Vinci’s Inquest,The Umbrella AcademyandLetterkenny, to give you an idea of the sensibility. A mysterious sea creature threatens the isolated Newfoundland village of Snook’s Arm, where fisherman-turned-iceberg-harvester Calvin (Hollywood star Josh Hartnett) labours with his son Wade (Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton). Stubbornly resisting a government-led program relocating the villagers to a less remote area, the community’s secrets are teased out while fighting the actual monster. Filmed on The Rock, the slice-of-life horror is set against the moody grandeur of the landscape – simultaneously idyllic and menacing.

Where to Watch:Streaming on Netflix starting Oct. 8 (6 episodes)

On the opposite coast but no less eerie, Victoria and Vancouver Island stand in for fictional Whittock, B.C., in the season’s most hotly anticipated new Canadian show. The contemporary mystery riffs on the myth of Baba Yaga (a crone of Slavic folklore who consumes her victims), but the real draw is a chance to seeHeated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams off the ice and going head to head with Hollywood heavyweight Carrie-Anne Moss.The Matrixstar plays a professor who likes younger men, while Williams takes on the dual roles of a missing scion and his lookalike roommate.Schitt’s Creek’s Noah Reid is the visiting PI investigating the disappearance – while homegrown stalwarts Sheila McCarthy and Megan Follows show up in supporting roles. And check out the trailer for Alanis Morissette covering Donovan’sSeason of the Witch. Consider us beguiled.

Where to Watch:Streaming on Crave starting Oct. 23 (8 episodes)

Kill Jackie

Oscar, BAFTA and Tony Award-winning Catherine Zeta-Jones plays the titular potty-mouthed criminal mastermind, and leads an ensemble that includesSons of Anarchy’s Ron Perlman,The Gentlemen’s Daniel Ings, andBorgen’s Sidse Babett Knudsen. Jackie is drawn out of her cosseted life as a crooked art dealer to take down a slew of would-be assassins (before they get to her first, natch). If not original, Zeta-Jones is at least game – and outrageously stylish, like a mentor aunt toKilling Eve’sVillanelle, thanks to costume designer Claire Finlay-Thompson. When approaching the cartoonish violence of this jet-set action thriller, it’s best not to take it any more seriously than it takes itself.

Where to Watch:Streaming on Prime starting Oct. 2 (8 episodes)

Crystal Lake

Linda Cardellini is on a run: she just won the Emmy Award for her supporting role in the dark comedyDTF St. Louisand now takes the lead in this much-anticipatedFriday the 13thprequel series from Brad Caleb Kane (IT: Welcome to Derry, Tokyo Vice). It’s a meaty role: after bereaved single mother Pamela Voorhees’ sickly 11-year-old son Jason drowns in the lake at the summer camp where she works, Pam seeks revenge. Set in 1972 around infamous Camp Crystal Lake (eight years before the events of the firstFriday the 13thmovie), the series probes grief, guilt and the intensity of maternal instincts – in other words, it’s slasher meets character-driven drama.

Where to Watch:Streaming on Crave starting Oct. 15 (8 episodes)

Nocturne

Homicide detective Jonah (Ray Donovan’s Liev Schreiber) moves to small-town Pennsylvania in search of a quieter life for his family. Obviously, he hasn’t seenTaskorMare ofEasttown. Fans of dark cat-and-mouse TV will be riveted by this crime thriller that combines Lars Kepler’s chilling novelsThe SandmanandLazarus. Jonah’s colleague Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) goes deep undercover trying to trap a manipulative serial killer, played with sociopathic aplomb by Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire,Adolescence). This is for those who lie awake at night thinking of murder boards.

Where to Watch:Streaming on Apple TV starting Oct. 30 (10 episodes)

New & Briefly Noted

Cupertino (Oct. 8, Global/StackTV) is the new legal drama from The Good Wife creators, about a lawyer taking on Silicon Valley’s biggest companies on behalf of those who’ve been wronged. Heartfelt supernatural horror master Mike Flanagan (The Life of Chuck, The Haunting of Hill House) reimagines Stephen King’s iconic 1974 coming-of-age debut Carrie (Oct. 7, Prime), while William Golding’s savage survival novel Lord of the Flies(Oct. 22, CBC/Gem) returns as a BBC series from award-winning Adolescence co-creator and writer Jack Thorne. In the world of superheroes, Paul Bettany is back as The Vision, and joined by James Spader’s Ultron and AI helpers to conclude the Marvel Studios trilogy (after WandaVision and Agatha All Along) in VisionQuest (Oct. 14, Disney+).

Returning Favourites

Fresh on the heelsof his memoir, Sylvester Stallone struts into season four ofTulsa King(Oct. 16, Paramount+), while over atThe Lowdown(Oct. 14, Disney+), Tulsa citizen journalist Ethan Hawke continues probing for uncomfortable truths, now joined by Emmy-winner Betty Gilpin and Tommy Lee Jones as his estranged grifter father. International intrigue is served up in a fourth season ofTheDiplomat(Oct. 15, Netflix), featuring the holy trinity of Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell and Allison Janney. Meanwhile, Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon’sMayor of Kingstown(Oct. 26, Paramount+) reunites Jeremy Renner and Edie Falco for a fifth and final season. AndNobody Wants This(Oct. 22, Netflix) takes its relationship to the next level in season 3. Does the series title still ring true now that Joanne and Noah live together?