Worth Watching: Betsy Brandt Breaks Bad on ‘Soulmates,’ HBO’s ‘Industry,’ Acorn’s ‘South Westerlies,’ ‘Good Doctor’ Crisis

Matt Roush November 9, 2020, 7:00 am

Myha'la Herrold in Industry on HBO — HBO

*Industry*

A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:

Soulmates (10/9c, AMC): This provocative dramatic anthology has taken some fascinating turns in its first season, imagining the myriad complications in a world where a genetic test can match someone up with their soulmate, for better or for worse. The latter describes the macabre season finale, starring Breaking Bad‘s versatile Betsy Brandt as a mousy pushover who finds the man of her dreams in a suave doctor, Nathan (JJ Feild). But when she realizes he’s not quite who she thought he was, her shock turns inward, because if a man like this can be her soulmate, what does that say about her? It gets darker from there. I look forward to a second season of these stories.

AMC's 'Soulmates' Is 'Willfully Unromantic' But 'Very Optimistic'

Industry (9/8c, HBO): They’re breeding sharks in this slick and sexy drama about a group of young recruits (called “graduates”) who are hoping to make their mark in a ruthless London investment firm. The rigidly sexist and class-conscious workplace hierarchy means only the boldest and most fearless are likely to survive the six-month probationary period. Myha’la Herrold stars as ambitious American “grad” Harper, who’s not going to let a shady college résumé stop her from being heard and seen.

HBO's 'Industry' Dives Into the World of London's Hard-Partying Hotshot Bankers

The South Westerlies (streaming on Acorn): Escapist entertainment with an environmental message, this six-part Irish charmer stars Orla Brady (Fringe) as Kate Ryan, whose promotion at a Norwegian energy company hinges on her ability to convince a seaside Irish village to approve an offshore wind farm. Kate has a checkered past in sleepy Carrigeen, and as she and her teenage son head there on a “working holiday,” Kate’s subterfuge clouds her reunion with old friends, leading to reckonings with long-buried secrets. This is a great place to visit, and you may never want to leave there.

Roush Review: A Rom-Com Escape to 'The South Westerlies'

The Good Doctor (10/9c, ABC): The emotional conclusion to the two-part season opener finds Shaun (Freddie Highmore) and his fellow doctors overwhelmed by the pandemic, and further rocked when Nurse Patringa (Karin Konoval) contracts COVID-19. As they all struggle to keep patients alive, and try not to be distracted by the frustrations of quarantine and interpersonal separation, a grieving Claire (Antonia Thomas) continues to be haunted by the solicitous ghost of Dr. Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez). Sometimes a physician must heal his or herself before they can properly tend to others.

'The Good Doctor' EP on [Spoiler's] Return & the Premiere's COVID Stories

Inside Monday TV: Turner Classic Movies celebrates its Star of the Month, Shelley Winters, with some of her strongest performances, as ill-fated characters in Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita (8/7c) and George Stevens’ A Place in the Sun (11/10c), and her Oscar-winning turn as a horrible mother in 1965’s A Patch of Blue (1:30 am/12:30c)… NBC’s The Voice (8/7) enters the “battle” round, with mentors Leon Bridges (Team Kelly), Kane Brown (Team Blake), Julia Michaels (Team Gwen) and Miguel (Team Legend) helping the singers prepare for their duet duels… Six of the seven remaining couples on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars (8/7c) compete in a dance-off round — high scorers Nev and Jenna have immunity — and perform to songs by their musical idols before another team is eliminated… 2020’s Miss USA competition (8/7c, FYI) gets all shook up when the ceremony, delayed from spring by the pandemic, takes place at Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland estate in Memphis.