one of the newer arrivals worth your time, Helstrom is currently streaming in Australia on Disney Plus, and in the US on Hulu with a 7/10 audience score that speaks for itself. 10 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. Helstrom is one of the genuine examples: the craft is there in the writing, the performances, and the way it handles its subject matter. Tom Austen'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.

Helstrom uses its genre premise as cover for asking bigger questions. Daimon and Ana Helstrom are the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer. The siblings have a complicated dynamic as they track down the terrorizing worst of humanity — each with their attitude and skills. Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It aired in 2020. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages. The world-building is meticulous enough to sustain multiple rewatches, with details in early episodes that only make sense later in the run.

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 Helstrom 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. Tom Austen anchors it with a performance that makes the more abstract episodes feel personal.