What if Agatha Christie was around for the internet, hackers and the dark web? That’s the question that appears to drive the premise and tone of “A Murder at the End of the World,” an FX production streaming exclusively on Hulu.
Emma Corrin (“The Crown”) stars as the diminutive hacker/sleuth Darby Hart. She’s first seen attending a reading of her new book about her search for missing women and in a flashback to a case that took her and her then-boyfriend Bill (Harris Dickinson) into the creepy basement of their chief suspect, a cop- turned-serial killer.
Her publishing fame only burnishes her underground reputation as a cybergenius. This gets her invited to a super-exclusive remote gathering organized by tech gazillionaire Andy Ronson (Clive Owen) and his new main squeeze Lee (Brit Marling), a woman whose reputation and list of accomplishments have long dazzled Darby.
Not to give too much away, but the getaway takes Darby and other genius types to a remote new hotel in Iceland, a just-opened escape complete with holographic concierges. Drenched in mystery and money, the setup may remind some of the Swedish retreat in the final season of “Succession” or the island getaway in the tech-business spoof “Glass Onion” or the doomed island resort where the homicidal events in Christie’s “And Then There Were None” take place.
The resemblance to that mystery writer’s touch grows stronger when one of the invited elite turns up very dead.
“Murder” is strongest when it sticks to traditional whodunnit tropes and true-crime story conventions. Long asides about technology, hacking and “Matrix”-like malarky tend to bog the action down — or perhaps I’m just showing my age.
— A long-running franchise sports new scenery and accents while pretty much sticking to the formula.
“NCIS: Sydney” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) accentuates the military and strategic alliance between the U.S. and Australia, a bond strengthened during World War II when many Down Under felt that the mother country, the United Kingdom, was too involved in its own European war to come to their aid against Japanese military aggression.
“Sydney” begins at a much-touted affair celebrating the arrival of U.S. submarines, an event that carries a message to China and attracts local activists of the “Yankee go home” variety.
A sailor’s death sparks a turf war between NCIS Special Agent-in-Charge Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) and handsome Australian detective Jim Dempsey (Todd Lasance). Look for Australian actress Kate Jenkinson as a quirky, brilliant lab assistant, the go-to nerd type that’s become a staple of “NCIS” incarnations.
Series like “CSI” and “NCIS” have been popular for most of this century. Both trade in the graphic depiction of cadavers under examination. There was a time when this might have been considered a tad morbid.
— Society’s acceptance of post-mortem scrutiny in rather gruesome detail may date to the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, now nearing its 60th anniversary.
Paramount+ streams the 2023 documentary “JFK: What the Doctors Saw,” featuring grim recollections by those who received the late leader’s bloodied remains at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital on that fateful Friday afternoon. It’s hard to remember a time when the term “exit wound” was not commonly known.
— True-crime obsessives know no boundaries. Viaplay streams the new series “Polish Murder Secrets.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— “Chopped” (8 p.m., Food, TV-G) recalls Julia Child. “Julia” returns for a second season on Max on Friday.
— “Jay Z and Gayle King: Brooklyn’s Own” (9 p.m., CBS) profiles a hip-hop giant.
— The final episode of “Native America” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) explores indigenous languages.
— “FBI True” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14) recalls Ruby Ridge.
— A Native American woman vanishes on “Found” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— A game determines playoff status on the season finale of “Welcome to Wrexham” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
An alcoholic screenwriter (Humphrey Bogart) relies on a neighbor’s (Gloria Grahame) alibi to avoid a murder charge in the 1950 drama “In a Lonely Place” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-PG), directed by Nicholas Ray. This film was released at a time when Hollywood writers were being sent to prison and the very same year as “Sunset Blvd.,” a film narrated from beyond the grave by a murdered screenwriter (William Holden).
SERIES NOTES
“The Voice” (8 p.m. and 9 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “Name That Tune” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Dancing With the Stars” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Kendra keeps secrets on “9-1-1: Lone Star” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … “Press Your Luck” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Rachel Maddow and Gracie Abrams sit down on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Jeff Probst and Robert Glasper on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC).
