I’m in a bit of a lull, TV-wise. Having digested Line of Duty’s Disappointing Ending, attempted and abandoned a couple of other new series, I’m on the lookout for television that will recharge my soul, enrich me, and generally make it all OK. Mare of Easttown was never going to do that, and the second season of Star Trek Discovery is providing intermittent fun fi amidst the nutso sci. I want something to lose myself in, to wonder about when I’m not watching, to anticipate when we’re packing the kids off to bed and I have One More Hour before my contact lenses turn gritty and I’m forced to retire to my own bed and read the entire internet on my phone. Something epic and exciting but not real enough to unnerve me, starring people with great hair. Is that too much to ask?

My husband and I fixed on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as our televisual life raft. Having loved WandaVision, and as a keen fan of the Marvel franchise, I figured Sam Wilson’s wings would lift me from my small screen quagmire and drop me somewhere more interesting. And initially, they did. The opening sequence is fantastic, a big budget blowout that really gets you in the mood for some serious superhero action. Unfortunately, it sets a standard that then slips, possibly because they spunked all the money and had to tone it down for the rest of the hour. For some reason, much of the first episode centres around Sam trying to get a loan for his sister to do up her fishing boat, which I must admit left me faintly baffled.

I’m no stranger to bewilderment in the Marvel universe – there’s a lot going on, and you forget things like the fact that Captain America is dead (IS he? When did that happen? Like, dead dead or just waiting to be reanimated at a later date?) and that the ‘Blip’ decimated half of all life in the Universe, but only for five years, after which everyone was restored because of something Bruce Banner did with Infinity Stones. But this was a different kind of confusion – this was bored befuddlement. I don’t come to this kind of series for fish and financial logistics – I've got Brexit for that. I want to see impossible gadgets and explosions and flying robots and be dazzled by the spectacle without having to think too hard about any of it. So I was kind of puzzled, and turned to my husband to complain, but he’d already fallen asleep, and was snoring gently, in time to the rocking trawler. At the end, he awoke with a start. ‘What happened?’ he mumbled. But I didn’t know, and not in a good way.

This week Marvel released a much-talked-about trailer featuring their billion upcoming movies; a dizzying cornucopia of clips that leaves you winded and wanting more. I couldn’t keep track of any of it, but I know I want to watch Eternals, and the next Guardians of the Galaxy, and Black Widow and Ant-Man and – oh, just give me one big super-ticket to all of them, please. The universe is immense, packed and intricately interwoven, but what almost every Marvel film I’ve seen shares is a tremendous focus. All of the crazy stuff going on; there’s a steel thread in the middle (probably made of Spiderman’s silk) that holds it together. And I didn’t see that steel thread in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But you know, my lenses were pretty gritty by that point, so maybe it was my fault rather than theirs.

I’m looking for TV that will recharge, enrich, make it all OK, let me lose myself, think (but not too much), anticipate… Something epic, exciting, real but not too real, starring people with great hair, action-packed but thoughtful, but not boring, densely detailed but not too confusing, visually dazzling with a super-focused steel thread at the centre. And maybe a bit weepy, to keep my contacts fresh.

Is that too much to ask?

• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, 6 episodes, Disney +