What To Watch This Week: Stream Our Top 7 TV and Movie Picks (Oct. 12–18)

This week’s “What To Watch” picks include the premiere of the Friday the 13th prequel “Crystal Lake” (Peacock), the horror thriller “Hallowarrior” (Shudder), and the second seasons of the kickass dramedy “The Lowdown” (FX, Hulu) and the David Mitchell comedy-mystery “Ludwig” (BritBox).

I’m also pluggin’ the fourth season of “Tulsa King” (Paramount+) and the limited superhero series “VisionQuest” (Disney+).

Finally, if you feel like renting a movie this week, may I suggest “Let’s Have Kids!,” which comes to video-on-demand retailers this Tuesday? Let’s hit the couch!

“Ludwig” | BritBox | Comedy, mystery

Season 2 premiere, Tuesday, Oct. 13: David Mitchell’s neurotic genius returns for another round of huge-IQ homicide investigation in this hit mystery comedy. When uptight puzzle constructor John “Ludwig” Taylor (Mitchell) stepped into the shoes of his mysteriously missing twin brother—a high-ranking DCI detective—he expected a quick investigation. Instead, Season 2 finds the reclusive brainiac officially a Crime Scene Consultant — under his own identity this time — using pure logic to help detectives crack baffling murder cases, while still trying to find out what happened to his missing brother. Episodes drop weekly through November 17.

“The Lowdown” | FX, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ | Drama, comedy

Season 2 premiere, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT: I’m late to the party on Sterlin Harjo’s (“Reservation Dogs”) funny, gritty drama about an Oklahoma bookseller (Ethan Hawke) who’s also a truth-obsessed investigative journalist bent on holding the rich ‘n’ powerful to account. Yup, I’m only two episodes into the series and I’m already hooked — so much so, that I’m already lamenting the release schedule. I think I’ll finish Season 1 fast so, after tonight’s two-episode drop, I’ll have to wait for the rest to come weekly. Some shows are worth savoring, but some you just wanna gobble up.

“VisionQuest” | Disney+ | Drama, science fiction

Limited series premiere, Wednesday, Oct. 14: The trilogy that began with “WandaVision” and “Agatha All Along” is complete. Marvel’s android hero White Vision is back—and going through a massive midlife identity crisis. Disguised as a human working at a Scottish pub, Vision (Paul Bettany) struggles to make sense of his emotionless memories. To cope, he retreats into an internal mindspace to consult with past AI companions and his erratic creator, Ultron (James Spader). But a bounty on Vision’s head forces him to go on the run with a mysterious boy who may be his son. Two episodes drop tonight, followed weekly by six more eps through November 25.

“Crystal Lake” | Peacock | Drama, horror

Series premiere, Thursday, Oct. 15: Friday the 13th fans have been all abuzz about this on again, off again A24-produced prequel series. No longer legend, the series is finally here! Linda Cardellini plays Pamela Voorhees, a single mother grieving the loss of her son Jason in a tragic drowning a year ago. Fans of the series know what comes next, but the rest of the official synopsis makes me wonder if there’s a new twist involved: “When two strangers arrive at Pam’s door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events is set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees?” Hmm… Did Mormon missionaries or smarthome salespeople catalyze a killing spree?

“Tulsa King” | Paramount+ | Drama

Season 4 premiere, Friday, Oct. 16: The Taylor Sheridan-created, Sylvester Stallone-led comedy-drama series returns for a fourth season. What’s in store? According to Paramount+ press materials, Dwight Manfredi (Stallone) “fights to legitimize his empire and protect his crew as corrupt politicians, dangerous new enemies, and a crushing personal loss hit from every direction. However, every hard-won gain comes with even harder truths: about loyalty, leadership and the cost of ambition. Each move drags Dwight deeper into the street instincts he left behind in New York — turning Tulsa into a battleground and Dwight into the one threat no one can afford to underestimate.” New episodes drop weekly starting today.

“Hallowarrior” | Shudder | Horror, thriller

Movie, Friday, Oct. 16: Milly Shapiro (“Hereditary”) stars in this Halloween-skinned combo of “Deadly Games” (aka “Dial Code Santa”), “Becky,” and “The Strangers.” After everyone dies in an apocalyptic plague, spooky season lover Pumpkin (Shapiro) thinks she’s the last girl on Earth. She learns that’s not the case when raiders descend on her house — but she’s ready for battle, armed with “candy, wit, and weapons.” Familiar, yes. But it also sounds like a lot of fun.

Wanna rent “Let’s Have Kids!”? You can do that with Apple TV ($14.99/mo.) without a subscription.

Wanna watch VisionQuest? Get yourself a Disney+ subscription ($11.99–$18.99/mo.).

If you have Hulu ($12.49–$21.49/mo.), you can stream “The Lowdown” the day after it airs live on FX.

Sign up for Hulu Live ($88.99–$99.99/mo.) and you’ll get FX so you can watch “The Lowdown” live and stream it the next day.

Can’t wait to see what happened before the Friday the 13th story started? Get Peacock ($7.99–$16.99/mo.) to watch “Crystal Lake.”

You can also rent “Let’s Have Kids!” on Prime Video ($8.99–$19.98/mo.) — no sub required.

Interested in watching the latest V/H/S movie on Shudder? Subscribe for only ($7.99–$9.99/mo.).

YouTube TV ($82.99/mo.) has FX so you can watch Season 2 of “The Lowdown” live.