A Hard ‘Bargain’ From South Korea, a Good Time for ‘Loki,’ Max Raises the ‘Flag,’ ‘Lupin’ Steals Onto Netflix

Series Premiere

From the land of Parasite and Squid Game comes a propulsively berserk six-part thriller (available for binge-watching) that begins where most series would end: with the gruesome reveal that what looks like a seedy sex ring, promising assignations with virgins in a remote South Korean hotel, is in fact a ruthless organ-harvesting operation where kidneys and the like are auctioned to the highest bidder. But before the transaction can be completed, a massive earthquake plunges the hotel into chaos, and the survivors—victims, sellers, buyers and crazed employees deep in the bowels of the earth—battle each other and the elements in a desperate attempt to survive. The disaster-movie cliffhangers are near constant, with an underlying dread permeating each grisly moment. For those with the stomach for this kind of ghoulish entertainment, it’s the week’s most gripping binge.

Season Premiere

9/8c

Early on in Season 2 of the mind-bending Marvel fantasy, a character quips, “Make it make sense.” Good luck with that. Time is of the essence, and what everyone’s obsessed with, as Loki leans hard into sci-fi as various factions battle for control of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and its various timelines. As for Loki (Tom Hiddleston), he barely has time to get up to much mischief while racing around, trying to keep the all-important Temporal Loom from spinning out of control. If you can look past all the mumbo-jumbo, there are pleasures to be had in the droll performance of Owen Wilson as Loki’s TVA minder Mobius and the welcome arrival of Everything Everywhere All at Once Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan as O.B. (short for Ouroboros), a chipper tech wizard entrusted in keeping the TVA’s lights on.

Season Premiere

The 18th-century pirate comedy that delivered one of TV’s most unconventional romances is back for a robust second round, with novice gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and the notorious Ed “Blackbeard” Teach (Taika Waititi) nursing the heartbreak of their separation. As the season begins (with three episodes, the rest airing weekly), Stede teams with a pirate queen (Ruibo Qian) in hopes of getting back with Blackbeard aboard the Revenge, while Ed works out his angst by returning to his cruel ways, causing alarm among his crew. Are they sailing their way toward a happy reunion, or will circumstances continue to sink their stormy union?

Season Premiere

Gentleman thief Assane Diop (Omar Sy), who models his capers after the legendary Arséne Lupin, is in hiding when Part 3 of the sleek French drama begins. But in his yearning to be reunited with his wife Claire (Ludivine Sagnier) and son Raoul (Etan Simon), he’ll return to Paris for the ever-popular “one last job,” which according to the rules of the game won’t go according to plan—especially when a figure from his past enters the scene. Steal some time to get hooked on this seven-episode season.

8/7c

Gerry Turner turns 72 in the second episode of the more “mature” incarnation of the dating show, which includes the season’s first one-on-one date and a group photo shoot with fan-favorite Franco. As the remaining women figure out their sleeping situation, no doubt dreaming of the day when they can engage in pillow talk with Gerry, all live in hope they’ll get a rose at the next ceremony.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards (7/6c, Telemundo, livestreaming on Peacock): Bad Bunny performs a world premiere from Miami’s Watsco Center, which rocks with Latin music at a ceremony hosted by music and TV personalities Jacqueline Bracamontes and Danilo Carrera.
• Monster High 2 (7/6c, Nickelodeon, streaming on Paramount+): A live-action sequel finds the monstrous offspring entering sophomore year and welcoming a new student: British were-cat Toralei (Salena Qureshi).
• Dateline NBC (10/9c, NBC): The true-crime newsmag adds a Thursday edition with Andrea Canning’s report on the disappearance in 2014 of Illinois teen Megan Nichols, whose body was discovered three years later.
• Bobi Wine: The People’s President (10/9c, National Geographic): Documentary filmmakers spent five years following Ugandan musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who risked his life and freedom by challenging the dictatorial regime of Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 presidential election.
• The Graham Norton Show (11/10c, BBC America): The cheeky British talk-show host launches a new season on a new night, with pop icon Kylie Minogue among the guests.

ON THE STREAM:

• Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy (streaming on Pluto TV): A documentary goes behind the scenes of the pioneering true-crime series, including outtakes of longtime host Robert Stack.
• First Lady of BMF: Tonesa Welch Story (streaming on BET+): Vivica A. Fox directs a true-crime docudrama starring Michelle Mitchenor as the 1980s Detroit drug queenpin.
• Deadly Desire (streaming on ALLBLK): A movie melodrama stars All American’s Erica Peeples as Melody, the jealous maid of dishonor, wreaking murderous havoc at the bachelorette party for her best friend Sophia (D’Kia Anderson), whom she’d like to make her own bride.
• Star Trek: Lower Decks (streaming on Paramount+): While the officers negotiate with the unscrupulous Ferengi to join the Federation, Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and her crew head to the home planet to update a travel guide, which entails a rowdy bar crawl for Mariner, a marathon of trash TV for Boimler (Jack Quaid) and a pretend marriage for Tendi (Noël Wells) and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero).
• The Boogeyman (streaming on Hulu): The summer horror film, based on an early Stephen King short story, makes its streaming debut. Chris Messina stars with Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher and Vivien Lyra Blair (Bird Box) as a family coping with personal loss when they’re terrorized by a supernatural force that feeds on suffering.