What is happening: After a nine-year break, the Danish cult series returns with a new season. High-performance politician Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) is no longer prime minister but foreign minister. She is struggling with menopause, her son who is now a climate activist liberating fattening pigs, and a younger boss who is outshining her on social media. An oil discovery in the Arctic is causing Nyborg even more problems. The Greenlanders want to use it for their independence, Nyborg is against oil production for climate protection reasons. At least until it jeopardizes her position as minister.
Secret Star: Nyborg’s new Arctic ambassador (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), who has read everything by polar explorer Knud Rasmussen, but has never been on Arctic soil himself because of his fear of flying.
Not suitable for: all that in Borrow so far a Hygge variant of House of Cards saw. Birgitte Nyborg is more aggressive, meaner, more power-hungry this season, in short: better than ever. Kathrin Müller-Lance
On Netflix, eight episodes.
What is happening: 16-year-old Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a teenager of Pakistani descent living in Jersey City, dreams of becoming a superhero. Her great role model: Captain Marvel. When she attends a comic convention with her best friend, she discovers her own powers and becomes Ms. Marvel – the world’s first female Muslim superhero. At the same time, she is also going through puberty, has to be annoyed by her classmates and let her traditional parents patronize her. It’s all staged as brightly colored Tiktok transcendence and great fun.
Secret Star: Matthew “Matt” Lintz, who portrays best friend. But in truth there is no getting past Iman Vellani’s joy in playing.
Not suitable for: Nerds young and old who like comics mostly for tough guys and puffy biceps. David Piper
Disney Plus, six episodes.
What is happening: After the mega success How I met your mother the inventors have been working on the successor for years – now the time has come: A mother (brilliant: Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City) tells her son how she met his father back then, in 2022. So: New Yorker Sophie (Hilary Duff) experiences a rarely wonderful date; threaded over, it’s 2022, the introductory app Tinder. But the beloved has to go to Australia that same evening.
Secret Star: The city of New York and with it the locations from the original series, such as the bar where everyone meets – or the apartment that is as famous as the one from friend. And: a star out How I Met Your Mother also appears.
Not suitable for: People who are fed up with serial declarations of love for New York. Juergen Schmieder
Disney Plus, ten episodes.
What is happening: In the final season about the Birmingham gangster clan, family boss Thomas Shelby (amazing as always: Cillian Murphy) thinks he’s found his ultimate enemy. Or not? In a gloomy ambience – from the colors to the weather to the equipment and a splendid soundtrack – you can watch him suffer. And one thing is certain: there is no such thing as salvation.
Secret Star: Sophie Rundle shines as Tommy’s sister Ada Shelby and shows in a scene with the fascists that she is actually, as they say, “the smart one in the family”. Hot tip for a spin-off.
Not suitable for: people who need light. You get exactly one scene where the sun is shining. Caroline Gasteiger
Netflix, six episodes.
What is happening: The German miniseries is a modern version of “Lord of the Flies” in the mountains. Young criminals are sent to the Alps for a rehabilitation experiment. When the mountain guide lies murdered in the camp, they flee in panic to higher regions, with the supervisor as a hostage. Sheltered in a cave, they form a tribal community with their own laws. At the same time, the local police and the psychological leader of the experiment are looking for them down in the valley. In flashbacks, individual protagonists and their crimes are examined in more detail. Is there a murderer among them, a murderess? One thing can be revealed: the young actors are all excellent.
Secret Star: The Dolomites. The film was shot in Hochpustertal, in the mountains around the Drei Zinnen and the Pragser Wildsee. Spectacularly beautiful.
Not suitable for: Die-hard action fans and the extremists of the genre. This isn’t Hollywood. The series goes its own way, at a slower pace. Christine Dossel
ARD and Arte media library, eight episodes.
You can find more series recommendations here.