Hulu's Culprits Tells a Different Kind of Heist Story

Looking for your next binge-watch, or just need to fill an hour? Welcome to Your Weekly Watch List, our curated collection of the best shows on television. Here's what to watch from Sunday, December 3 through Saturday, December 9.

Streaming delivers nonstop thrills this week with the premieres of highly-anticipated British series Culprits and French crime drama Blood Coast. Looking for something lighter? Netflix's My Life With the Walter Boys introduces a swoon-worthy teenage love triangle, Tony Shalhoub solves one last cast in Peacock's Monk movie, and more.

Blood Coast

Wednesday, Netflix (Full Season)

There's danger lurking beneath the beautiful facade of Marseille, France; at least, that's the premise of Blood Coast, a French crime thriller about the bloody war between drug dealers looking to sow chaos and the cops determined to take them down. When a ruthless drug lord attempts to expand his empire by overtaking Marseille, it's up to Lyès Benamar (Tewfik Jallab), a police captain with a questionable moral code, to stop him. Benamar and his team pay no mind to procedure or ethical policing practices — they seek to accomplish their goal by any means necessary, a mentality that's reinforced by bosses who insist the only way to "control a crazy place" is with the help of "crazy cops."

Though "copaganda" remains prevalent on network television, Blood Coast's explicit police-can-do-no-wrong framing feels like a throwback to an earlier era of crime dramas. The degree to which that attitude resonates is in the eye of the beholder, but at the very least, it leads to six episodes of near-constant action in the form of chase sequences and shootouts.

My Life With the Walter Boys

Thursday, Netflix (Full Season)

It's difficult to watch My Life With the Walter Boys without drawing a comparison to Prime Video's The Summer I Turned Pretty. Both shows follow a teenage girl who falls for two very different brothers, and both are set against idyllic backdrops that lend themselves to romantic drama. But despite their obvious similarities, Walter Boys is marked by a more somber tone, which stems from the tragedy that brings 15-year-old Manhattanite Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) to the home of her late mother's best friend, Katherine Walter (Sarah Rafferty), in rural Colorado.

While Jackie adjusts to life with her new guardians (and their 10 children) she develops a connection with the kindhearted Alex (Ashby Gentry) and his older brother Cole (Noah LaLonde), the school's troubled heartthrob. A love triangle soon emerges, but as Jackie becomes more focused on untangling her feelings, the situation threatens her hopes of getting into Princeton, something she and her parents always dreamed of. As such, the Netflix series is as much about Jackie's journey of self-discovery as it is her relationships with Alex and Cole — though with teen drama veterans behind the camera (including creator Melanie Halsall, who produced The Kissing Booth trilogy, and Beverly Hills, 90210's Jason Priestley, who directed the final two episodes), you can still expect plenty of stolen kisses and sexual tension.

Culprits

Friday, Hulu (Full Season)
*Our must-watch pick of the week

The heist at the center of Culprits isn't the end of Hulu's new thriller, but the beginning. Three years after a crew of elite criminals complete their mission, Joe Petrus (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the "muscle" of the group, has settled into a peaceful life in a sleepy Washington town. Joe believes he's left his dark past behind, but when a masked assassin begins targeting the other crew members, he's forced to return to the criminal underworld, believing it's the only way to keep his family safe from the mysterious threat.

Culprits isn't as biting as creator J Blakeson's previous project, the 2020 film I Care a Lot starring Rosamund Pike, but the heist plot (and its fallout) make for a compelling story that unfolds rapidly across eight episodes. Plus, in true Ocean's Eleven style, the members of the crew each bring something different to the show, whether it's Kirby's (formerly Kirby Howell-Baptiste) wry humor or Gemma Arterton's steely resolve as "Brain," the mastermind behind the scheme. The season drops in its entirety on Friday, so viewers should block off a good chunk of time over the weekend to binge-watch the addictive British series.

Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie

Friday, Peacock

14 years after Monk last graced the screen, Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) returns to solve one last case (or so Peacock claims) in a feature-length film. It doesn't take just any case to draw the detective out of retirement: This time, the crime hits close to home as Monk helps his stepdaughter Molly (Caitlin McGee) investigate the murder of her fiancé (Austin Scott).

Between the personal tragedy, a career setback, and the lingering pandemic (a worst-case scenario for any germaphobe) Monk has a lot on his plate in 2023. But with the assistance of some old friends — including Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), Lieutenant Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford), and his former assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard) — he once again overcomes his compulsive habits and fears and sets out in search of the truth, leading him to cross paths with space-obsessed billionaire Rick Eden (James Purefoy). Though it's been updated to reflect the changing times, Monk's unconventional investigation carries on the legacy of the original USA series, which is all that can be asked of a revival project.

If You Have...

An Hour

Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning: Monday, 9:00 PM ET on HBO
Black Cake: Season 1 Finale: Wednesday, Hulu
Squid Game: The Challenge Season 1 Finale: Wednesday, Netflix
Frasier Season 1 Finale: Thursday, Paramount+
Doctor Who: The Giggle: Saturday, Disney+

An Evening

Dancing With the Stars Season 32 Finale: Tuesday, 8:00 PM ET on ABC
Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family's Secrets: Tuesday, 10:00 PM ET on HBO
Archie: Thursday, Britbox
Bachelor in Paradise Season 9 Finale: Thursday, 10:00 PM ET on ABC

A Full Day

Hilda Season 3 (Series Finale): Thursday, Netflix
The Great British Baking Show: Holidays Season 6: Friday, Netflix

Up Next

Los Farad: Tuesday, December 12 on Prime Video
The Buccaneers Season 1 Finale: Wednesday, December 13 on Apple TV+
The Crown Season 6, Part 2: Thursday, December 14 on Netflix
Reacher Season 2: Friday, December 15 on Prime Video

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.