What to Watch TV Reviews: Suits LA, Dope Girls, RHOS, Rogue Heroes and Gardening Australia

Suits LA

Monday, streaming on 7Plus

Full disclosure: I’ve never seen the appeal of Suits, the legal drama that ran from 2011 to 2019 before famously landing on Netflix in 2023, gaining a legions of new fans in the process. For me it was a case of: seen it all before, but done better.

But US network NBC knows a dollar sign when it sees one, and off the back of renewed interest, scrambled to develop the franchise further and voila, Suits LA was born.

The show’s original creator, Aaron Korsh, is at the helm of this one too, and if the first episode is anything to go by, it has set itself up for more of the same — this time with bonus LA.

There’s a new firm, and a new firm’s worth of new lawyer types in suits, whose lives are ripe for the unravelling — fans will enjoy getting to know them all. All the archetypes are there, and Stephen Amell, who leads the cast as Ted Black, a ruthless former Federal prosecutor from New York who’s remade his life on the west side, is immediately compelling. He’s at a major crossroads and on the brink of seeing his firm merge with another. Suffice to say, things don’t go according to plan.

Cue Machiavellian lawyer types doing Machiavellian lawyer type things!

Will people flock en masse to this iteration as well? As someone who never understood the attraction to begin with, I’m not best qualified to answer this. But I will admit: it’s off to a strong start, the characters are instantly recognisable and there’s something for OG fans in the promised return of Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter (reportedly only back for three eps at this stage).

This is more of the same mindless, by-the-book stuff — which is to say, fans will probably love it.

Hard pass from me.

Dope Girls

Streaming now on Stan

This takes its inspiration from the non-fiction book Dope Girls: The Birth Of The British Drug Underground. It tells the story of Kate Galloway (Julianne Nicholson), a widowed single mum who finds herself in Soho just as World War I is finishing up and the armistice is being celebrated, so it’s wild times on the streets of London. By necessity, she finds a way to support herself, establishing a nightclub and cocaine empire — love that for her. This intriguing series is worth a look.

The Real Housewives Of Sydney

Tuesday, streaming on Foxtel and Binge

“My life is a fairytale, but this princess does not need saving.” As taglines go, that’s a pretty decent one for the show’s newest recruit, housewife Martine Chippendale, who joins the cast of RHOS this season. She’s an ethereal glamazon who lives in a ginormous Harbour-front mansion next door to Victoria and, honestly, she’s a breath of fresh air! Will the others chew her up and spit her out? Watch this space.

Rogue Heroes

Wednesday, 9.30pm, SBS and SBS On Demand

If you’ve not yet discovered this excellent series from Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight all about the formation of the SAS during World War II, hurry up! Honestly, it’s one of the best things on TV. Series two picks up in 1943 and sees Jack O’Connell’s Paddy Mayne now stepping up to lead his rag-tag bunch of men (their old boss has become a prisoner of war). They’re off storming the beaches of Sicily, risking life and limb for King and country. It’s a rollicking good time.

Gardening Australia

Friday, 7.30pm, ABC

If you know anything of my televisual proclivities, you’ll know Gardening Australia is right up there with my all-time faves. Season 36 — yes, there really have been that many — sees the team coming in hot with fresh inspo and stacks of ideas on how to get your tired, summer garden ready for the months to come. Over in Perth, Josh is exploring native annuals — these bad boys are primed to survive our scorching hot summers.