So the best show on TV I’ve seen lately is the new HBO series DTF St. Louis, starring Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini, and David Harbour. I’d heard a little about it but was pleasantly surprised. For one thing, it’s billed somewhat as a sex comedy, as the title arrives via an eponymous app that’s essentially a hook-up site for horny St. Louisans. That’s mainly played for awkward laughs between the two stars, Jason Bateman and David Harbour, as they negotiate some sexless marriages. But I would have expected several of these dates for comic milking. Wrong.
The show quickly moves past that hookup-app setup and into the lives of the characters, including a quick murder. Now in the past I’ve complained how it seems too many TV shows include a murder or unnecessary violence to draw in an audience, but the case here is more in the category of an offbeat Forensic Files than a typical murder mystery. I’ve only seen Episode One (which debuted last Sunday) but I’m already hooked on the mystery: We know who is killed but not exactly how. Several suspects but the most likely is almost surely not the perp. So there’s some zing built for the second episode, as the audience wants to know more to do their own sleuthing. But the real charm of the show is the details: David Harbour is married to Linda Cardellini but sexually turned off by her uniform as a Little League baseball umpire. Jason Bateman rides a recumbent bicycle that makes him look super dorky, including a somewhat oddly shaped bike helmet. David Harbour is the stepfather of a bratty teenager who steals the show each time he appears, often sullenly throwing rocks at houses.
I actually know St. Louis fairly well: My wife grew up in a suburb on the west side. Does the series look like St. Louis? Not exactly. The street and neighborhood scenes are pretty generic. I can’t say it affected my viewing in the least. Jason Bateman plays a popular TV weatherman and for that reason I suppose St. Louis is a city of the right size/cultural importance to anchor the story.
So far much is being withheld. Linda Cardellini—a terrific actress whose last big series was the Dead to Me (2019) comedy/action series with Christina Applegate—is a total mystery. I expect we’ll find out more about her shortly.