Week of January 18 – 24

2025 has already been a journey. We understand the desire to sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing, besides wanting to catch up on the latest streaming and television series. This week we’ve got a terrific new Apple TV+ thriller (“Prime Target”), the long awaited return of a Netflix favorite (“The Night Agent”) and a brand-new, made-for-streaming “Star Trek” movie on Paramount+ (“Section 31”). Plus a PBS documentary on UFOs (“What are UFOs?”), a high-end “Baywatch” (“Rescue: Hi-Surf”) and the return of “C.B. Strike” and “Harlem.” Take a load off. You deserve it.

On with the television! 

Prime Target

Wednesday, January 22, Apple TV+

Source: Apple TV+

An ancient temple is uncovered after an explosion in Baghdad. An Oxford professor takes his own life. A whiz kid is targeted by shadowy forces. An NSA agent goes on the run. This is the set-up for “Prime Target,” a new Apple TV+ thriller where math (or “maths” if you’re English) takes center stage. Leo Woodall from “White Lotus” plays Edward Brooks, a math prodigy who is doing post-graduate work on prime numbers and whose loyal professor (David Morrissey) takes a keen interest in his work. Perhaps too keen. The professor’s wife (Sidse Babett Knudsen) is embroiled in a mystery of her own, as she’s asked to consult on an archeological find in Baghdad that could hold the key to the beginning of her civilization. Plus, a young NSA agent (Quintessa Swindell) working on a secret program finds herself in hot water. If this sounds good to you – a wild mixture of “The Da Vinci Code” and “Good Will Hunting” – then “Prime Target” is definitely for you. It hails from Steven Thompson, a British playwright and screenwriter, whose credits include “Sherlock” (see below) and “Doctor Who,” and counts Ridley Scott as one of its executive producers. This limited series will have you hooked, even if you fell asleep during algebra. And that’s saying something! [TRAILER]

The Agency

Friday, January 24, Paramount+

Source: Paramount+

Let the binge-watching begin. “The Agency,” created by esteemed playwrights Jez and John-Henry Butterworth and based on the French series “French series Le Bureau des Légendes,” created by Éric Rochant, has streamed weekly since it debuted on November 29 with a two-episode premiere. (Those first two episodes of the show were directed by “Pride & Prejudice” and “Hanna” filmmaker Joe Wright.) But now you can watch the entire first season, which stars Michael Fassbender as a former CIA agent whose return to civilian life is dramatically (dangerously) complicated. Richard Gere, Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith and Katherine Waterston also star. Sounds like a pretty cool thing to watch over a long weekend? We thought so too. [TRAILER]

Star Trek: Section 31

Friday, January 24, Paramount+

Source: Paramount+

“Star Trek: Section 31” started off as a spinoff of “Star Trek: Discovery,” this time focused on Michelle Yeoh’s character Philippa Georgiou. Development began way back in 2020. But when focus shifted to another spin-off series, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” a Yeoh-led series became a Yeoh-led film. (A series is still, seemingly, a possibility, with the movie serving as a backdoor pilot.) If you’re not up on your “Star Trek” lore, Section 31 is the division of Starfleet responsible for black ops missions. In this new movie, a team from Section 31 travels to the mirror dimension, where Georgiou is running a nightclub/space station that’s sort of a BDSM version of “Deep Space Nine,” to get her help on a mystery involving a doomsday weapon. (The weapon has a connection to Georgiou’s very shadowy past …) Omari Hardwick, Kacey Rohl, Sam Richardson and Robert Kazinsky play the members of the Section 31 away team. The resulting film, written by “Star Trek: Discovery” vet Craig Sweeny and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi (ditto), has been described as a mixture of “Mission: Impossible” and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which is pretty apt. Ready to boldly go? [TRAILER]

What Are UFOs?

Wednesday, January 22 at 9 p.m., PBS

Source: PBS

Described as a one-hour film, this episode of long-running science show “NOVA,” delves into the phenomena surrounding Unidentified Flying Objects. This episode “looks at the evidence from every angle, marshaling expert opinions from physicists, engineers, cosmologists, and others who are bringing new technologies and heightened rigor to solving these mysteries,” according to the official release. Are the objects that dart through our skies high-tech military vehicles? Weird weather? Or optical illusions? And if they are real, what would it take for UFOs to travel vast galaxies to get to our puny planet? Given the sensational nature of most UFO documentaries, this should be a fun, rigorously researched watch. The truth is out there. [TRAILER]

Sherlock

Hulu

Source: BBC

“Prime Target” creator Steven Thompson worked on “Sherlock,” the modern update of the classic detective character (brought to new life by Benedict Cumberbatch) that first aired on the BBC and PBS way back in 2010. There have only been 13 episodes of “Sherlock,” in total, but they are all feature-length installments, making them a cross between a TV movie and an installment of television. And if you’ve never watched the series, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, it’s an absolute delight – stylish, funny, thrilling, with an ace cast (which includes Gatiss, Martin Freeman and Rupert Graves) and a wonderful, playful energy that brings the character into modernity in the smartest way possible. The last episode of the show aired in 2017. One day everyone’s schedules will align and there will be more. We certainly hope so. All of the series that have shown up in “Sherlock’s” wake – “Elementary” and the upcoming “Watson” among them – owe their existence to this series. It is one of the more influential shows of the modern era. Feels like it’s time for a first-time viewing or a lovely revisit. [WATCH]

Source: Fox

“Rescue: Hi-Surf”

Monday, January 20 at 9 p.m., Fox