Over the years, TV has offered up an entire precinct worth of women cops — from Angie Dickinson’s spicy Pepper Anderson in the ‘70s hit Police Woman, to Helen Mirren’s flinty Jane Tennison in the great ’90s series Prime Suspect, to Mariska Hargitay’s driven Olivia Benson, who will doubtless still be solving sex crimes on Law & Order: SVU long after the oceans have swallowed New York City. We’ve watched so many women with badges that it’s easy to forget there was a time when most men believed there shouldn’t be any.

That belief is the starting point of a new Mexican-made TV series, Women in Blue which is streaming on AppleTV+. Set in the hyper-conservative Mexico of 1971, this lively 10-part drama focuses on four vastly different women who go to work for the police and discover that it’s easier to capture a serial killer than to deal with the assorted misogynies of the men around them.

As the story begins, Mexico City is being terrorized by a woman-killing maniac known as the Undresser, for the way he leaves his victims. To distract from the force’s failure to catch this killer, the police chief cooks up a publicity stunt. He announces that he’s opening up the police department to women, an idea he feels sure will get scads of upbeat coverage.

We follow four new recruits. Foremost among them is María, who once dreamed of being a detective but wound up an elegant bourgeois mother with a husband you know is cheating the instant you see him. There’s her sister Valentina, a revved-up feminist who hates the government. There’s Ángeles, a loner who does most of the actual crime solving. And finally there’s Gabina, a born cop whose policeman father slaps her face for joining the force against his wishes.

These four shine in training, but when it comes time to do the job — dressed in blue mini-skirts! — they’re treated as a joke. Sent out to patrol a park, they’re given not weapons but a bag with coins — to call the cops if they uncover a crime. Naturally, they do uncover one — they find the Undresser’s latest victim. And even though they’re ordered not to, they throw themselves into tracking down the killer.

Early on, I got a bit bored watching the relentless sexism faced by our heroines. I don’t doubt its realism, but nothing is more tiresome than having to watch people be bigoted in stupid ways that the world has passed by. This is 2024, and hearing some macho detective snarl that women can’t be cops made me fear that Women in Blue might be one of those shows that simply flatters its audience by letting us feel more enlightened than the people from an earlier era.

Happily, the show grows more interesting, with each of the quartet facing a different form of misogyny, even within their own families. And like them, we discover some startling wrinkles in Mexican law back then — like Article 169 of the country’s civil code. It held that a Mexican woman could be forced to quit a job if it affects the “integrity” of her family — and the person who got to decide on this was her husband. It’s since been repealed.

Although there are original works about the shocking level of femicide in Mexico — most famously Roberto Bolaño’s great novel 2666 — Women in Blue’s crime plot is pretty generic. It resorts to such tired standbys as the cultivated serial killer who gives them brainy tips from his prison cell and the murderer deciding to target the women in blue who are investigating him.

The show’s real strength lies in showing how each of the heroines is transformed by joining the force, be it Ángeles breaking free of her emotional isolation or the idealistic Gabina discovering the brutal, corrupt truth about policing in Mexico. The story’s feminist angle is clearest in María, who, with her nice house, fancy clothes and George Clooney-looking husband, is the one who would seem to have it made. She’s the one who must decide whether she’ll sacrifice comfort to work in a police department whose men don’t want women in it.

By the end of Women in Blue, its heroines — and its audience — come face to face with a radical truth: What drives the Undresser to kill women is grounded in the ingrained patriarchal values that ordinary women lived with every single day.

Givenchy opens permanent store on Rodeo Drive

Givenchy’s first West Coast flagship lands in the iconic Beverly Hills shopping district. The 8,000-square-foot structure features furniture with archival tiger print fabric, and much of the glamor and warmth of the 70-year-old building has been preserved, including the original diamond-scored concrete ceilings, floors and fireplaces. The store will open with a Fall 2024 Pre-Collection, Givenchy Plage, and exclusive limited-edition Mini Antigona Lock Bag. Open now. 332 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills.

Departamento opens new flagship store at Signal L.A.

Menswear boutique Departamento has opened a flagship store in the Arts District. As a new addition to the retail enclave Signal, this Departamento location is situated inside Concierge Coffee. Shoppers are transported from the minimalist coffee shop into an expansive futuristic industrial space featuring silver beams and glowing aluminum ceiling pane fixtures contrasted with a natural concrete floor. Exclusive to this location is a Taiga Takahashi shop-in-shop inspired by traditional Japanese inns. Open now. 821 Traction Ave., Los Angeles.

Erick Medel, “Young Familia,” Polyester thread on denim, 20 x 16 inches, 2024.

(Yubo Dong / Courtesy of the artist and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles)

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“Vidas” memorializes the people and scenes of artist Erick Medel’s everyday life in Boyle Heights — a block party at the plaza, a mother and child crossing the street, a fruit vendor at Pride. Medel sews these stories as fine threads into dark blue, heavy-weight denim: a long-lasting protective fabric, capturing a vibrant and textural, yet hazy memory. On view through Aug. 31. 961 Chung King Road, Los Angeles.

‘Down for the Ride’ Compton Cowboys Capsule Collection

(Compton Cowboys)

Whether you’re riding on horseback or three-wheeling the ‘64, do it in style with a new Compton Cowboys capsule collection. The stable unveils a cozy collection of baby tees, tank tops, T-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants and caps with the Olde English “CC” emblem in black and gray colorways. Available now. comptoncowboys.com

Thick Thrift L.A.

(Kodi Mabon / Thick Thrift)

Thick Thrift is a flea market catering to sizes XL and over. For the first time indoors (with AC, thankfully), the flea will feature over 60 curated vendors, and buyers will have the opportunity to shop vintage, upcycled and indie designers and get dripped out with tooth gems, tattoos, homeware, piercings and art. Aug. 10. 714 Alpine St., Los Angeles.

Acne Studios Multipocket Bag

We are utterly obsessed with Acne Studios’ new multipocket bags, an edgy, industrial take on modern femininity. Evoke rugged cowgirl with the large brushed leather tote, or latex queen with the shiny crinkled leather minibag. Available at acnestudios.com and in stores.

L.A. at NYFW

Willy Chavarria.

(Paul Yem / For The Times)

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Even in New York, all signs point West, as eight designers from our home team are hitting the runway and hosting presentations at New York Fashion Week. Libertine, Badgley Mischka, Willy Chavarria, Eckhaus Latta, Advisry, Rio Sport, Sebastien Ami and Stan will showcase their highly anticipated Spring/Summer 25 collections. Sept. 6–11. nyfw.com

Insurgent Sisters: Women of the L.A. Rebellion and Beyond — Recoveries of Spirit

Photograph of Alile Sharon Larkin, Storme Bright Sweet, Melvonna Ballenger and Julie Dash.

(Dave Larkin Sr. / Courtesy of Julie Dash)

Los Angeles County Museum of Art will showcase films by Black women and nonbinary artists of the L.A. Rebellion film movement that emerged at UCLA Film School from the 1960s through the ‘80s, highlighting the impact they’ve had on filmmaking today. Works from leaders of the movement, such as Zeinabu irene Davis, Melvonna Marie Ballenger and Ijeoma Iloputaife, and those who came after them, including Rikkí Wright, dana washington, Alima Lee and Martine Syms, will explore the creative and political imprint the “Insurgent Sisters” have left. The screening series takes place across two sessions on Sept. 7 and 21. 4020 Marlton Ave., Los Angeles. lacma.org

Ode2LA’s “Roots + Routes” at Perri + Ren Gallery

“Roots + Routes” showcases an array of photographs, oral histories and interviews meticulously gathered by Madelyn Inez, the visionary archivist behind Ode2LA. Through a collection of personal narratives and visual ephemera from everyday people in L.A., Inez preserves intimate stories for posterity. On view Aug. 31-Sept. 29. instagram.com/ode2la

Astrid Kayembe is a writer from South-Central Los Angeles covering style, food, art and L.A. culture. She was a 2022-23 reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. Her work has appeared in USA Today, ABC7, L.A. TACO, The Memphis Commercial Appeal and Refinery29.

Ah, remember the excitement of starting a new school year? Shopping for new notebooks, picking out the perfect outfit for the first day of school, the smell of pencil sharpenings in the classroom?

Just because you’re a grown-up doesn’t mean you can’t harness that buzzy back-to-school energy. Here are seven activities you probably did in school as a kid — like playing at recess and packing lunches — updated for the adult version of you. We hope these ideas inspire new routines and positive changes as you transition into fall.

Miss packing a school lunch? Try meal-prepping

Kevin Curry, founder of FitMenCook, meal preps two nights a week. On these nights, he’ll spend 45 minutes cooking five dishes to mix and match over the next few days — for example, chickpeas, chicken, jasmine rice, roasted vegetables and a green medley of spinach, chard and kale.

“With those five foods I prepped, I made about ten different meal combinations,” he says. One day you might want chicken, rice and greens, another day you might want chickpeas, greens and chicken. Transform the flavor of each meal with different condiments like tahini dressing or barbecue sauce. Read more tips here.

Miss back-to-school shopping? Spruce up your wardrobe

Even if you aren’t doing any back-to-school shopping this fall, you can prioritize your personal style with a closet purge. Asia Jackson, actor and YouTuber, says to try on every item in your wardrobe and ask yourself a few questions to determine if you should donate or keep that sweater you haven’t worn in years.

“Do you feel good in this item? Do you look good in this item?” says Jackson. “If it doesn’t make you feel good, then you should get rid of it.” Once you’ve identified the pieces you love, use them as the foundation for your revamped style. Read more tips here. 

Miss learning new things? Read more books

If you want to read more books, try getting in a few pages in the morning before you start your day.

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Got a fall reading list you can’t wait to get through? Set yourself up for success by reading in the morning, says NPR culture correspondent Lynn Neary, “particularly on weekend mornings.”

You’re less likely to fall asleep the way you can if you try to read before bed, and it’s a nice way to start your day. Read more tips here. 

Miss writing in your planner? Make a better to-do list

To create clear, short and doable action items, follow the two-minute rule. “If it takes less than two minutes, just do it right then and there,” says Angel Trinidad, founder and CEO of Passion Planner, a company that sells paper and digital planners and journals. “It’s not worth the bandwidth to write it down, remember it and do it.”

For larger tasks, break them down into smaller chunks. People aren’t specific enough when they write down items on their to-do lists, says Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. And what ends up happening, he adds, is that “we don’t get them done because we’re not expressing them in a doable form.” Read more tips here.

Miss recess? Bring more play into your life

Not sure how to incorporate more play into your life? Ask yourself what kind of play you enjoyed as a child.

Stephen Zeigler/Getty Images/The Image Bank RF

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If you want to bring more play into your life, you don’t necessarily need to make any significant life changes or rework your entire schedule. Play is as simple as observing tiny moments in nature, says Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play. Any increase in play throughout your day is a win – whether it’s a playful hobby like painting, playing a board game, or just a new, playful outlook.

If you aren’t sure what kind of play you’ll enjoy now as an adult, ask yourself – how did I like to play as a kid? And how can I incorporate that form of play into my life now? Read more tips here.

Miss meeting new people? Change your mindset on friendship

If you want to make more friends, assume that other people also need friends, says Heather Havrilesky, author of the advice columnAsk Polly.

“People assume that everybody already has friends,” she says. The truth is, “nobody already has their friends.”

It may feel uncomfortable to send the first text message to hang out one-on-one for the first time. But accept the awkwardness, she says. It stems from vulnerability — and you can’t have friends without getting vulnerable. Read more tips here.

This digital story was written by Clare Marie Schneider. It was edited by Malaka Gharib. The visual editor is Rebecca Harlan. We’d love to hear from you. Email us at LifeKit@npr.org. Listen to Life Kit onApple Podcasts andSpotify, or sign up for ournewsletter.