Makarov and The Girls (Seasons 1–5)

Makarov and The Girls (2021) is a Russian police comedy you can watch online on iFILM. Major Pavel Makarov likes his detective work the old way, with seasoned men he trusts. So when the brass dissolves his whole unit and hands him four fresh graduates instead, he takes it as a personal insult.

The new squad is a mismatched bunch: the by-the-book straight-A student Anna Turkina, the tomboy athlete Sasha Popova, the single mother Olesya Verba, and the flighty knockout Katya Sinitskaya. Makarov is horrified and does everything to make them quit on their own — needling them, dumping the most ridiculous errands on their desks. The women refuse to budge. When it counts, they cover for the major in front of a leadership that's just waiting for him to slip. Pavel Maykov stars, alongside Nikita Tarasov, Natalya Bardo and Georgy Dronov.

From there the show delivers exactly what you came for: a grumbling cynic slowly admitting that talent and grit have nothing to do with gender. It's light, unpretentious genre fare, the kind you put on with a cup of tea — comfort viewing for anyone who enjoys a workplace comedy with a badge. Stream Makarov and The Girls (2021) online on iFILM.