from the golden age of prestige TV, Afro Samurai is currently streaming in Australia on Crunchyroll, and in the US on Crunchyroll with a 7/10 audience score that speaks for itself. 5 episodes — the right length to tell the story it is telling. Television that earns its era label is rarer than the number of shows attempting it suggests — most of what gets called prestige TV is really just expensive TV. Afro Samurai is one of the genuine examples: the craft is there in the writing, the performances, and the way it handles its subject matter. Samuel L. Jackson's involvement signals the kind of production that attracts serious talent and uses it properly. Available now on streaming — no excuses left for not watching it.

Originally commissioned by Spike, Afro Samurai quickly became exactly the kind of show that viewers rearrange their evenings for. In a futuristic Japan where conflicts are settled by the sword, Afro Samurai must avenge his father's murder by challenging a powerful warrior. It aired in 2007. The world-building is meticulous enough to sustain multiple rewatches, with details in early episodes that only make sense later in the run. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Satisfying on multiple levels — something to enjoy on screen and something to think about after. The run is exactly the right length for the ideas it is exploring. The best science fiction uses its speculative framework to examine things that matter in the real world, and Afro Samurai does this with more subtlety than the genre usually allows itself. The special effects serve the story rather than substituting for it, which is the mark of a production that understands what genre television is actually for. Samuel L. Jackson anchors it with a performance that makes the more abstract episodes feel personal.