4 bingable Paramount+ shows to add thrills to your weekend (March 27-29)

If you’re not all wrapped up in Paramount+‘s newest Taylor Sheridan shows, The Madison and Marshalls, this weekend’s four suggestions also have you covered for mood, intensity, and some good comedy just to keep things balanced.

As we enter the final days of March, I’ve pulled together a slick British spy thriller and an even slicker British mob story from Guy Ritchie, before making a complete 90-degree turn into the mind of Nathan Fielder and an odd-but-fun animated series.

4

The Agency

A CIA agent must choose between duty and love

If you’re like me and can’t get enough of deep-twisting and intricate spy thrillers like Slow Horses, The Night Agent, and Dept. Q, then add 2024’s superb The Agency to your list. First, I have to point out that few actors play cool and calculated like Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), who you might also love as a deliberate hitman in The Killer. In The Agency, Fassbender is an American CIA agent called Martian, who’s just returned to regular service in London after years deep undercover in Ethiopia.

But while there, he breaks a cardinal rule and falls in love with Sami Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith), whom he must leave behind. As Martian gets pulled back into the Agency’s work of trying to find a lost agent named Coyote, Sami turns up in London

The Agency

Release Date: November 29, 2024
Network: Paramount+ with Showtime

Michael Fassbender

Martian
Jodie Turner-Smith

Samia Zahir
Saura Lightfoot Leon

Danny

and is in trouble, testing Martian’s loyalty and duty to his clandestine career. Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere, and Kathering Waterston also co-star in this thrill-ride that unfolds over 10 highly bingable episodes.

3

MobLand

Tom Hardy shines in this gritty British crime series

While everyone is busy gushing over director Guy Ritchie’s current hit streaming on another service—Prime Video’s awesome Young Sherlock—I’m here to remind everyone that Paramount+ has another of the grit-master’s excellent shows you should definitely watch, if you haven’t already: MobLand. Tom Hardy is perfectly cast as Harry Da Souza, a smart-but-brutal fixer for Liverpool’s long-standing Harrigan crime family.

In season one, everything goes pear-shaped when young, dumb son Eddie Harrigan (Anson Boon) sparks a gang war with rivals, the Stevensons. But vicious and stubborn patriarch Conrad Harrigan (Pierce Brosnan) and his devious wife Maeve (Helen Mirren) won’t back down, leaving Harry and cooler-headed next-in-line son Kevin (Paddy Considine) to clean it all up before everyone winds up dead. Production on a second season has already started, so now’s the time to get up to speed.

MobLand

Release Date: March 30, 2025
Network: Paramount+

Pierce Brosnan

Conrad Harrigan
Paddy Considine

Kevin Harrigan
Helen Mirren

Maeve Harrigan

2

Nathan for You

Cringe reality-comedy at its best

You might know brilliantly funny Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder from his more recent shows, HBO’s The Rehearsal and Paramount+/Showtime’s The Curse, with Emma Stone. If you’re a fan of Fielder’s deadpan “cringe comedy,” then you should for sure take a look back at the four seasons of his brilliant docu-reality parody show, Nathan for You.

In each of the show’s 36 half-hour episodes that ran from 2013 to 2017, Fielder (or a fictionalized version of himself) flexes his business degree to help real struggling small businesses, often with ludicrous, hare-brained schemes that teeter on the edge of legal or moral right and wrong. Standout episodes include when Fielder rebrands a local coffee shop as “Dumb Starbucks,” parodying their logo, drinks (Dumb Venti), and even uniforms, to attract customers, or when he tried to take down a Best Buy by getting a small electronics store to sell $1 TVs to trigger the big box store’s price-match clause.

Nathan for You has a 97% critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes and is well worth going down the rabbit hole after.

Nathan for You

Release Date: 2013 – 2017-00-00
Showrunner: Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman
Directors: Nathan Fielder, Jason Woliner
Writers: Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman, Dan Mintz

1

Jeff & Some Aliens

Humanity’s existence relies on a loser named Jeff

This single season of Comedy Central’s adult-animation series Jeff & Some Aliens was a hit with fans when it aired in 2017, and it still holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And for good reason. The definitely-not-for-kids show, from TripTank creators Sean Donnelley and Alessandro Minoli, follows a loser of a human named Jeff (voiced by Stranger Things’ Murray, actor Brett Gelman), who works at a smoothie stand and is going nowhere.

Jeff’s life and the well-being of humankind become intrinsically linked when three aliens, Sammy, Jimmy, and Ted, from the planet Azuria, move in with Jeff to study him so they can determine if they should or shouldn’t just destroy us all. Jeff & Some Aliens is kind of a Rick and Morty-meets-It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia mashup, as Jeff tries to curb his human urges (there are a lot of alien devices he takes advantage of), be a better person, and try not to get us all wiped from existence. This cult-classic animated series flew under the radar when it was first released, but its 10 episodes will make you question why—it’s soo good.

Whether you’re in for a full-season (or series) binge or just want a quick episode to laugh to, this week’s Paramount+ picks offer exactly the kind of escape the weekend is for. Also, check out my suggestions for what shows to watch this weekend on Netflix, too.

Subscription with ads: Yes, $8/month
Simultaneous streams: 3

If you enjoy CBS offerings, you’ll want to subscribe to Paramount+. You get access to hit shows like Star Trek and Yellowstone, as well as a variety of SHOWTIME content.

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Stephan Dorsey

Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.

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I Wish My Brother Had Been Diagnosed With Schizophrenia Before He Turned 18

Do you ever walk past a person on the streets exhibiting mental health issues and wonder what happened to their family? I have a brother—or at least, I used to. I worry about where he is and hope he is safe. He hasn’t taken my call since 2014.

James and his brother as young children playing together before his brother became sick. James is on the right and his brother is on the left.

When I was 13, I had a very bad day. I was in the back of the car, and what I remember most was the world-crushing sound violently panging off every surface: he was pounding his fists into the steering wheel, and I worried it would break apart. He was screaming at me and my mother, and I remember the web of saliva and tears hanging over his mouth. His eyes were red, and I knew this day would change everything between us. My brother was sick.

Nearly 20 years later, I still have trouble thinking about him. By the time we realized he was mentally ill, he was no longer a minor. The police brought him to a facility for the standard 72-hour hold, where he was diagnosed with paranoid delusional schizophrenia. Concluding he was not a danger to himself or others, they released him.

There was only one problem: at 18, my brother told the facility he was not related to us and that we were imposters. When they let him out, he refused to come home.

My parents sought help and even arranged for medication, but he didn’t take it. Before long, he disappeared.

My brother’s decline and disappearance had nothing to do with the common narratives about drug use or criminal behavior. He was sick. By the time my family discovered his condition, he was already 18 and legally independent from our custody.

The last time he let me visit, I asked about his bed. I remember seeing his dirty mattress on the floor beside broken glass and garbage. I also asked about the laptop my parents had gifted him just a year earlier. He needed the money, he said—and he had maxed out my parents’ credit card.

In secret from my parents, I gave him all the cash I had saved. I just wanted him to be alright.

My parents and I tried texting and calling him; there was no response except the occasional text every few weeks. But weeks turned into months.

Before long, I was graduating from high school. I begged him to come. When I looked in the bleachers, he was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t help but wonder what I had done wrong.

The last time I heard from him was over the phone in 2014. I tried to tell him about our parents and how much we all missed him. I asked him to be my brother again, but he cut me off, saying he was never my brother. After a pause, he admitted we could be friends. Making the toughest call of my life, I told him he was my brother—and if he ever remembers that, I’ll be there, ready for him to come back.

I’m now 32 years old. I often wonder how different our lives would have been if he had been diagnosed as a minor and received appropriate care. The laws in place do not help families in my situation.

My brother has no social media, and we suspect he traded his phone several years ago. My family has hired private investigators over the years, who have also worked with local police to try to track him down.

One private investigator’s report indicated an artist befriended my brother many years ago. When my mother tried contacting the artist, they said whatever happened between them was best left in the past and declined to respond. My mom had wanted to wish my brother a happy 30th birthday.

My brother grew up in a safe, middle-class home with two parents. He had no history of drug use or criminal record. He loved collecting vintage basketball cards, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream, and listening to Motown music. To my parents, there was no smoking gun indicating he needed help before it was too late.

The next time you think about a person screaming outside on the street, picture their families. We need policies and services that allow families to locate and support their loved ones living with mental illness, and stronger protections to ensure that individuals leaving facilities can transition into stable care. Current laws, including age-based consent rules, the limits of 72-hour holds, and the lack of step-down or supported housing options, leave too many families without resources when a serious diagnosis occurs.

Governments and lawmakers need to do better for people like my brother. As someone who thinks about him every day, I can tell you the burden is too heavy to carry alone.

James Finney-Conlon is a concerned brother and mental health advocate. He can be reached at [email protected].

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