It’s officially cozy season, which presents the perfect excuse to silence your phone and watch TV all day — and night. October releases include three new original series: one explores the experience of being gay in the military, another spotlights famed serial killer Ed Gein and the last gives Tim Robinson free rein to be his weirdo self. This month also brings docuseries about Michelin star-hunting chefs and one of America’s greatest living filmmakers.
‘Boots’
The setting for Netflix’s “Boots” is a 1990s U.S. Marine Corps boot camp, where 18-year-old Cameron (Miles Heizer) has enlisted alongside his best friend Ray (Liam Oh). The problem: Cameron is secretly queer, and it is still illegal to be openly gay in the military. Created by Andy Parker, the eight-episode series is based on Greg Cope White’s 2015 memoir, “The Pink Marine,” and the resulting adaptation is a “compelling action drama that examines masculinity and internalized homophobia while winking at other cinematic portrayals of military life, most notably Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film ‘Full Metal Jacket,’” said Curtis M. Wong at HuffPost. (out now, Netflix)
‘Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars’
Many a restaurant lover adores a Michelin-starred restaurant. The title’s prestige is legendary — but have you ever wondered what it takes to earn Michelin’s approval? This Gordon Ramsay-produced docuseries “embeds for three months at a time in the kitchens, dining rooms and homes of about two dozen chefs in North America, Europe and the U.K.,” said Laurie Woolever at Rolling Stone, capturing the “emotional, physical and financial sacrifices required of those who pursue Michelin stars.” It’s the perfect binge for fans of FX’s “The Bear” who crave more high-stakes restaurant content. (out now, Apple TV+)
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‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’
In the latest addition to Netflix’s “Monster” anthology, co-showrunner Ryan Murphy makes a case for “Ed Gein as a flashpoint in American true crime,” said Eric Francisco at Esquire. In the aftermath of Gein’s murders in 1950s Wisconsin (also known as the Butcher of Plainfield, he is played here by Charlie Hunnam), “American filmmakers, musicians and other artists” seemed to take “inspiration from Gein's monstrousness.”
The show also features an unexpected figure: the character of Ilse Koch, or "The Witch of Buchenwald," the wife of a Nazi commander who “allegedly hand-picked Jewish prisoners and turned their bodies into lampshades.” The reason for her inclusion? “The Ed Gein Story” goes to “great lengths to suggest that Gein was inspired by Nazi atrocities, which made headlines in American newspapers at the end of World War II.” (out now, Netflix)
‘The Chair Company’
If “Friendship,” the strange Tim Robinson comedy flick from earlier this year, was the actor’s “first real character study,” his new HBO series “The Chair Company” is the “logical next step,” said Ben Rosenstock at Vulture. This is the third show co-created by Robinson and Zach Kanin (also collaborators on “Detroiters” and “I Think You Should Leave”), and as usual, Robinson stars in the project as an “anxious, insecure weirdo.” Ron Trosper is a “hard worker and a family man, doing his best to project confidence and competence at the office and at home,” but when Ron falls out of a chair at a pivotal company meeting, his resulting humiliation kicks off chaos. (out now, HBO Max)
‘Mr. Scorsese’
The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “Goodfellas,” “Taxi Driver” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” is the subject of Rebecca Miller’s docuseries “Mr. Scorsese.” Across five episodes, the 82-year-old Martin Scorsese “talks matter-of-factly about his professional and personal shortcomings, often laughing at himself,” said Caryn James at the BBC.
Many celebrity collaborators appear to discuss their friend’s outsized impact, including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Paul Schrader. But the documentary also “offers a reminder that [Scorsese’s] career has had more ups and downs than most people might think,” despite his eventual acclaim. “It's also easy to forget how controversial some of his films were, often because of their violence,” said James. In covering “everything from his near death from drugs to the religious vision that shapes his work,” the series emerges as “essential viewing.” (Oct. 17, Apple TV+)
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