Apple TV+’s “Lucky” Might Have Some Tricks Up its Sleeve Down the Road
Between Widow’s Bay and Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Apple TV+ has been quietly churning out some spectacular content in the spring/summer of 2026. Everything about the upcoming Lucky sounds like it should be included in the same conversation as the aforementioned new series. The first two episodes of the Jonathan Tropper-created series will premiere on July 15, with each of the subsequent episodes premiering weekly. The finale will air on August 19. Lucky is jam-packed with stars and A-Listers behind the scenes, but will this be another sure-fire hit?
Episodes one and two, titled “No Shortcuts” and “Make ’Em Dance,” drop the viewer into the world of Lucky (Anya Taylor-Joy), and it’s not a nice one. Well, it is, for a fleeting moment, but all good things come to an end. Lucky is in Las Vegas with her partner, Cary (Drew Starkey), and they’ve won big. On the floor of their hotel room is a suitcase full of cash, and in the morning they’ll be long gone. When morning comes, though, Cary and the bag are gone. The FBI and the mob come hard after Lucky, who has very few friends to rely on.
Lucky starts out running. Nearly the entire first episode sees Lucky on the run. The show opens with her sprinting and hiding from those chasing her, then jumps to the past to happy times with Cary. It’s a common technique to build excitement for the audience because it drops them into the action. With Lucky’s first episode, though, there’s more action than quiet moments, and this creates a separation between the viewer and the character of Lucky. We feel some sympathy for her because she’s a recognizable actress and the character we’re first introduced to, but there’s very little to grasp onto in “No Shortcuts.”
When the show moves on to “Make ’Em Dance,” there’s finally a moment of respite for Lucky. She manages to evade capture and stumbles across the Nevada desert to an isolated home where an older woman lives with her grandchildren. Even then, Lucky has her guard up. She’s always waiting for a shoe to drop, always has another lie up her sleeve to keep going another day. She’s fighting for a future, one she thought she would share with Cary, but is now torn between fighting for herself and relying on her criminal father (Timothy Olyphant).
Thus series is based on Marissa Stapley’s 2021 novel of the same name. It was selected as part of Reese Witherspoon’s book club and fits with the tropes one might imagine if they’re familiar with such book club selections. Plotlines feel heavy yet shallow, more important than they may actually end up being. The real jolt of electricity is Annette Bening as Priscilla Matheson, a mob leader who wants the money Cary has stolen. As of now, Lucky has painted itself as a fairly simple cat-and-mouse game, but with five more episodes on the horizon, there’s certainly another turn of the screw coming Lucky’s way.
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