Agatha Christie for the TikTok era, the new mystery “Death and Other Details” streams its first two episodes on Hulu today. Its setting is as classic as “Death on the Nile,” and its subject and theme similar to the forces that propel “Succession,” “White Lotus,” “The Menu,” “Triangle of Sadness” and “Glass Onion”: a fascination with the odious rich and a vicarious desire to see them murdered.
Violett Beane (“The Flash”) stars as Imogene Scott, an alert woman sporting a blond bob that would not have been out of place in one of Christie’s 1920s drawing rooms. A century later, she’s the best friend to the wealthy Collier family who all but adopted her after the still-unsolved murder of her mother. She’s been invited on a yacht excursion and celebration of the patriarch’s retirement. Her best friend, Anna (Lauren Patten), expects to assume the reins from dear old Daddy. Anna is engaged to Leila (Pardis Seremi), an impossibly beautiful social media star who is also impossibly neurotic. Her fear of 5G keeps her locked in her stateroom (most of the time).
The ship is said to have cost more than $1 billion to construct. Details, right down to the bath towels, have been sourced from vintage outlets to create a true 1920s experience.
To Imogene, all this money has been wasted on a passenger list of snobs and slobs who don’t have the imagination to appreciate their surroundings.
One boorish guest has the audacity to wear Hawaiian shirts to formal occasions and treat the help rather badly. So viewers won’t be surprised when he ends up murdered.
But when Imogene becomes the most likely suspect, she is forced to rely on the one man she hates most in the world: fading detective Rufus Coteworth (Mandy Patinkin), the man who promised young Imogene (Sophia Reid-Gantzert) that he would solve her mother’s murder and then left her in the lurch.
This is a great departure for Patinkin (“Homeland,” “Criminal Minds”), so often associated with characters of wisdom and gravity. Coteworth is sometimes as silly as his name and other times a transparent variation on a fraudster, a self-promoting “world’s greatest detective,” with an ever-shifting accent and backstory.
There’s a juicy subplot about would-be investors, a Chinese family responsible for a Shein-like fast-fashion business. Anna’s brother is a coked-up loser and the below-deck staff have many axes to grind. All are pretty dreadful and apparently culpable.
But the real battle is between Imogene and Rufus, who simmer over unsolved murders dating back decades.
— Paramount+ streams the documentary “June,” profiling country singer and songwriter June Carter Cash, the wife of Johnny Cash and a part of the Carter Family, the first family of country music.
— More than six months after the departure of James Cordon, CBS’s late-night schedule takes shape with the premiere of “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS), hosted by Taylor Tomlinson.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A posh tech party becomes a crime scene on “NCIS: Sydney” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Raised without their fathers, LeVar Burton and Wes Studi explore their family heritages on “Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr.” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings).
— A drug dealer’s murder sparks a manhunt on “FBI” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Pterodactyls terrorize villagers and newcomers alike on “La Brea” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14). Or is that pterrorize?
— Three episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-MA). The last is the first-season finale.
— “Hard Knocks: In Season With the Miami Dolphins” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA) documents the playoffs-bound team.
— A murder in Budapest on “FBI: International” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Reports of a long-missing girl inspire hope on the season finale of “Found” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Dot prepares biscuits for an unexpected guest on the season finale of “Fargo” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
“Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek stars in the 1999 football drama “Varsity Blues” (10 p.m., TruTV, TV-14).
SERIES NOTES
Hackers put more than evidence at risk on “Night Court” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … Celebrities play “Name That Tune” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Celebrity Jeopardy!” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Trey’s fancy plans break with an old tradition on “Extended Family” (8:30 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … Rob Lowe hosts “The Floor” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Nicki Minaj, Jeff Tweedy, Daniel Caesar and Taylor Tomlinson are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Sofia Vergara, Eddie Izzard, Alaqua Cox and Bush on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Gayle King, Brian Cox and Da’Vine Joy Randolph visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
