The Outsider, 2020
In a small town a young boy is brutally murdered. It seems like an incredibly open-and-shut case: multiple witnesses and DNA evidence all point directly at Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman), a local little league coach. But after lead detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) very publicly arrests Terry, contradictory evidence appears that suggests the man could not have committed the crime. Determined to get to the bottom of this strange case, Ralph ends up enlisting the help of unconventional private investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo) to try to stop any other killings from taking place.
I haven't read the Stephen King novel on which this TV series was based, but I thought that the premise was really fun and spooky.
What ultimately makes the series work so well is that the very large cast all really delivers in terms of their characters. Mendelsohn is a great anchor, playing Ralph as a man who struggles mightily with the idea that there might be anything supernatural afoot. Ralph is grieving the loss of his own son, and so the idea of otherworldliness is understandably upsetting to him in certain ways.
I also loooooooooved Erivo's portrayal of Holly Gibney. Don't get me wrong: her character is very much in the mold of a quirky girl trope: you know, sort of a brilliant nerd, vaguely gesturing at autism-like lack of social norms, who also matter-of-factly will have sex with someone who is nice to her. It's a character that normally makes me roll my eyes, but I really dug the way that Erivo played her. She and Derek Cecil have good, interesting chemistry that adds a neat romance dimension to the show. The writing also makes her less a collection of tics as the episodes go on, which lets her character meld more with the rest.
The supporting cast is also really strong, including Paddy Considine as a bouncer at a local strip club, Mare Winningham as Ralph's wife Jeannie, and Bill Camp as a defense attorney who gets involved with the investigation. There are multiple combinations of character interactions, and this is a case where pretty much any combo works well.
Storywise, the series (which runs 10 episodes) is strongest in its first half. Once things begin to become clearer, the series loses a bit of steam as it works to build to a big final confrontation. It's at its best in the first four or five episodes where characters have to react to improbabilities and impossibilities landing on their heads.
Overall a strong season of TV and certainly recommended.