Another Seaside Town Of Doom

It's been a while and there's some omission that will surface at a later but here's a rundown of recent shows that I've been watching.

9-1-1: Season 9 has probably been the weakest season of the show and there's a part of me that doesn't want to continue watching but I might. I do think Buck going from being kidnapped, having an addiction and now potentially being a father to his dead friends rambunctious son were all storylines that needed more time to breathe. Instead they're all rushed. As for Athena, I guess I am curious to see how she'll fare as a detective next season.

9-1-1: Nashville: Let's be honest, the rivalry between Blythe and Dixie might be repetitive every episode but it's one of the few times where the show's campiness actually works in it's favour. The diss track saga might even be the best story from this largely uneven first season. It even led to a fricking cat fight cliffhanger with the pair.

Daredevil: Born Again: A classic example of wanting to like a season, liking certain aspects but being largely bored with it as it further went along. At this point, I am well and truly over Matt Murdock vs. Wilson Fisk and if this show has any hope of going beyond next season, it needs to get over it as well. There was a decent rivalry between Karen and Heather, death for Vanessa and Daniel, the welcomed return of Jessica Jones but too often this season felt like it was sleepwalking.

The Boys: Season 5 hasn't turned out to be grand epic final that most fans were hoping but it's not quite been the Game Of Thrones style misfire. It's mostly been in between and would fall into "serviceable" at best. Too much time did seem to focus on setting up on Vought Rising and that much hyped Supernatural reunion amounted to very little. Homelander had too much plot armour as per usual but at least we're free of both him and Butcher. I've never been happier to see two main characters die than those two. I will not be covering that prequel series. After this final season, I'm definitely out of interest in this universe.

Widow's Bay: Matthew Rhys continues to build himself as an underrated king of television and his latest show would be one in my current favourite genre. Well, it's more horror comedy and the first half of the season has seen a lot of crazy shit happen in a seaside town. Rhys himself has proven to be well cast as the town's slightly inept Mayor doing his best to help his town and there's a good slew of characters for him to bounce off. I can see this show ending up in a few favourite lists towards the end of the year.

• Dan Stevens and Brian Cox will play different killers in the second season of Dexter: Resurrection. Uma Thurman and Desmond Harrington will also return.
• Sky have acquired the rights to the new Baywatch. The show will premiere on FOX from January 2027.
• A Texas based spin-off for Grey's Anatomy has been commissioned at ABC.
• Vision Quest will premiere on Disney+ from October 12th.
• HBO limited series The Chain has found it's lead in Jodie Comer.
• The Vampire Lestat will premiere on AMC from June 7th. An After show will also air alongside the new season.
• Season 6 of Only Murders In The Building has now gone into production.
• Stuart Fails To Save The Universe will now premiere on HBO Max from July 23rd.
• Scrubs has been renewed for an eleventh season at ABC.
• Netflix have renewed Running Point for a third season.
• The White Lotus has replaced Helena Bonham Carter with Laura Dern. Season 4 is now filming in France.
• Bridgerton will premiere it's fifth season in 2027.
• The final season of The Bear will premiere on FX from June 25th.

Off To Thailand, Back To Hell's Kitchen Or The Wilderness

Yup, a lot of shows have popped up in the last few weeks with at least one ending for good and others getting their latest seasons in full swing.

9-1-1: Lone Star: Those last three episodes really came and went by so fast, didn't they? While it's baffling that FOX axed the show after five seasons, I'm glad the show went out on a strong note. TK and Carlos adopted the former's half brother, Owen went to New York, Tommy survived, Marjan got married and Judd took over the fire house. Not to mention some crazy antics involving an asteroid. At least the main show will still be around for the foreseeable future.

Daredevil: Born Again: It's felt like an eternity since the announcement of this show and the massive retooling that happened between filming but yesterday, Disney+ released the first two episodes and the reviews were a bit more mixed compared to its Netflix predecessor. Personally, I liked both episodes though I'm over the show trying to find ways of keeping Charlie Cox out of his costume more than that spoiled death. Still, I am enjoying Matt's new dynamic with various new characters as well as the mayoral story with Wilson Fisk and the White Tiger story. So far, I think the good outweighs the bad here.

Dexter: Original Sin: I'm genuinely impressed with how this prequel series has managed to become as entertaining as the original. I'm also impressed with how Patrick Gibson has embodied the role of Dexter Morgan as well as Michael C. Hall back in the day (and again this summer). Hiring Patrick Dempsey to play the main villain so depraved he'd mutilate his own child was also a clever move along with the death of Laura in flashbacks and arrival of Brian Moser in the current day. The Deb plot did falter a bit but I loved her scenes with Tanya and Maria in the penultimate episode.

Prime Target: Have you ever sat through an entire season of a show and not had a bloody clue why you bothered? Apple TV+ attempts of a conspiracy show with Leo Woodall as gay mathemacian Edward could have been a thrilling show or even mildly entertaining if it leaned a bit sillier but sadly, it took itself too seriously, was very dull and plodding and wasted a lot of talented actors like David Morrissey, Martha Plimpton, Harry Lloyd, Stephen Rea and so on. The finale tried to inject a bit of edge into it but it was a case of too little and too late. I'll be surprised if this gets a second season.

The White Lotus: It's been over two years since we've had this show dominating the conversation and trading Sicily for Thailand, we've got the returning Belinda from the first season and a slew of new characters. There's the very rich and very dodgy Ratliffs, with some sexually inappropriate siblings while age gap couple Rick and Chelsea spent most of their time getting bitten by snakes, interacting with other age gap couples and one of them taking an overt interest in Sritala (the manager). I am loving the bitchy friend trio - Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie but the staff haven't been as dynamic as some of the past ones. As usual, there's the mystery of a dead body and right now, it could be any of them. 

Towards Zero: Over the last few years, there's been a mixed reception towards the BBC's adaptations of Agatha Christie books. Usually some complain because the casting has been more diverse than in the past or because the person adaptating usually changes too many elements from the source material. Of course, there's no exception with the same criticisms but honestly, it's a pretty decent take on the novel. You've got a disgraced tennis star with both his former and current wives, a bed ridden matriarch, estranged family members, a sympathetic lawyer, a world weary detective, beleaguered staff and a murder where you probably guessed the killer and motive without having read the book. I do think these adaptations should be done as 90 minute TV movies than three hour long episodes but it's a decent if slowish take on the classic novel.

Yellowjackets: Season 3 so far has been entertaining but it's also raised the question of how much gas is left in the tank for this show. In the present day, Natalie's death barely had time to register when Lottie also ended up being dead. Shauna and Misty clashed while Taissa and Van had some better news and both Callie, Jeff and Walter had their moments. In the flashbacks, there was the girls setting up camp outdoors, Ben's trial and Shauna getting closer to Melissa and becoming more antagonistic towards everyone else along with some more screentime for Mari. It's a solid start but I'm still waiting for the likes of Joel McHale and Hilary Swank to show up. 

• Drew Starkey and Anya Taylor-Joy will play a married couple in upcoming Apple TV+ series, Lucky.
• The Recruit has been cancelled after two seasons by Netflix.
• Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage, Krysten Ritter and Neil Patrick Harris will appear in Dexter: Resurrection, which will premiere in June on Showtime/Paramount+.
• Harry Lawtey won't be returning for the fourth season of Industry but Kit Harrrington will and Max Minghella has also joined the HBO/BBC series.
• The second season of The Last Of Us will premiere on HBO from April 13th.
• This month on ABC will see a crossover event between 9-1-1 and Doctor Odyssey, factoring Angela Bassett's Athena Grant.
• 9-1-1: Nashville will be the new spin off and will premiere on ABC in the autumn. Expect casting news very soon.
• Mid-Century Modern will premiere all ten episodes on Hulu from March 28th.
• Filming for the second season of Daredevil: Born Again has begun while Vision has added Ruairidh Mollica in an undisclosed role to its cast.
• James Norton has been cast as Ormund Hightower for the third season of House Of The Dragon. Lucas Aurelia has also been cast in an undisclosed role.
• The fate of Heartstopper on Netflix is currently unknown. 
• Netflix have ordered limited series Vladimir, which will start Rachel Weisz as a woman who becomes obsessed with her new colleague.
• The fourth season of The Bear is currently in production and will premiere on FX/Hulu during the summer.

Yes, We See You Now

Ah, yes. One final TV Jumble Blog for 2024 but not my last blog for the year. Anyways enjoy.

911: These last few episodes before the show cut to it's mid season finale were a mixed bag. I knew when Tommy was reintroduced as a love interest for Buck that he was unlikely to be a long term character but I was hoping he'd have lasted a bit longer and given a far less abrupt exit but oh well. On the other hand, Brad became an oddly entertaining foil for Bobby and Eddie finally ditched the mustache.

911: Lone Star: It did look like TK and Carlos were on the verge of splitting up over their opposite views of adopting the former's half brother and the latter's obsession with solving his father's murder. The latter scenario at least got a resolution while the former does seem to be up in the air. I gotta admit, despite some great work from Gina Torres, I really dislike the cancer storyline they've given Tommy and where it's inevitably going too.

Dexter: Original Sin: Four episodes into this prequel series that I don't see enough online chatter about and I'm rather enjoying it. Not enough to review episode wise but certainly enough to keep watching. I'll give Patrick Gibson his dues because stepping into Michael C. Hall's shoes as the vigilante killer was always going to be a hard task but he's done an admirable job so far. Having people like Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey and Sarah Michelle Gellar also added to the cast has helped, though I do find the Laura Moser flashbacks and Deb's teen rebellion stories the weaker elements of the show. 

Say Nothing: FX coming in late in the year with this interesting enough miniseries, focusing on the Troubles in Northern Ireland and specifically IRA volunteer Dolours Price. In the seventies, Lola Petticrew gave a sterling performance while Maxine Peake fairly matched her in the nineties parts of the nine episode series. There's some great performances from the likes of Anthony Boyle, Tom Vaughn-Lawlor, Josh Finan, Damien Molony and Kerri Quinn to name a few.

Sweetpea: 2024 has certainly been a year for Ella Purnell and starring roles. First there was Fallout and now, this six part series where her downtrodden character, Rhiannon Lewis just snapped and became a serial killer. Not only that but she was also using her bloodlust to climb up the career ladder, get revenge on a former childhood bully and even had a love triangle that ended very bloody in the last few minutes of the show. I think Purnell actually gave her best performance in this show.

What If?: This show has been something of a mixed bag that even hardcore MCU fans have had no choice but to acknowledge it's hit and miss quality. This third and final season, which concluded today was definitely a mixed bag. Anything with the Exiles and the Watcher facing consequences for their own interfering was great. Some individual team ups I liked (Agatha/Kingo, Winter Soldier/Red Guardian, etc) but overall, I found this third season to be mostly okay. Points for adding Storm into the mix and there's potential with Byrdie as a character.

• The third season of House Of The Dragon will film next year but will debut on HBO in 2026. Season 4 will be the final season for the show.
• The third season of The White Lotus will premiere on HBO from February 16th.
• The third season of Euphoria will film in 2025 for a 2026 debut on HBO. It's expected to be the show's final season.
• The second season of The Last Of Us will premiere on HBO in early 2025.
• Sky have renewed both Sweetpea and The Day Of The Jackal for second seasons.
• Disney+ have renewed Rivals for a second season.
• Brendan Gleeson has joined the cast of Amazon Prime's upcoming Spider Noir series, starring Nicolas Cage in the title role.
• Filming for the final season of The Boys has begun but it'll be 2026 before it's released on Amazon Prime.
• The second seasons of Severance and Surface will premiere on Apple TV from January 17th and February 21st respectively.
• Not only will Dexter: Resurrection premiere on Showtime/Paramount+ during summer 2025 but a prequel series for the Trinity Killer, featuring John Lithgow has also gotten the go ahead.
• Filming for the final season of Stranger Things and the second season of Wednesday have wrapped. Both will debut on Netflix during 2025.
• Glen Powell's upcoming series, Chad Powers will premiere on Hulu during the Fall season in 2025.
• The third and final season of Squid Game will release on Netflix in 2025. The second season came out on Thursday.

You're Getting The F Of A Lifetime

Yes, it's been several months since I've last done this and the next one likely won't be until January (excluding the 2024 In Review blog). Um, here goes.

911: I spent a few weeks properly catching up on the sixth and seventh seasons and while I missed the chance to talk about them as they were airing (minus that Buck story), I won't with this eighth season. The first five episodes had a shit tonne of bees, a plane that Athena had to stop from crashing, Bobby as a technical advisor on a show and the temporary tyranny of Captain Gerard. Then we had a totally batshit Halloween episode where Buck disturbed an old corpse and paid for it immensely throughout. This show does revel in it's absurdity. 

911: Lone Star: Again, I played a game of catch up with the third and fourth seasons of this show. However my focus will be on the first five episodes of this fifth and final season. So far, it's off to a good start. I mean there was a poison cloud, both Marjan and Paul competing for Captain, Judd returning as a probie, Tommy's relationship with the pastor ending and Owen getting a temperamental horse to boot. There was also TK and Carlos going through some marital strife as well but they seem to be on better terms during the last episode.

Agatha All Along: After the success of WandaVision, there was a part of me that wondered if Disney+ had left this show too long for audiences to care. I was wrong because audiences certainly cared as Agatha Harkness and Billy/William Maximoff/Kaplan made for quite a team with a great rapport between Kathryn Hahn and Joe Locke in this nine episode series. Plenty of magical hijinks, Easter Eggs, flashbacks and some strong supporting performances from Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn and Sasheer Zamata. Easily one of the best Disney+ shows the MCU has done.

Kaos: Falling victim to Netflix's increasingly cancel happy ways, I knew this show was doomed from the start with the lack of hype surrounding. By that way, that's a shame because it's a rather good take on Greek mythology in a current day setting. The stories range from Olympus, the real world and the underworld. There's great performances from several actors (including Jeff Goldblum being a man child like Zeus) and a few nicely done love stories and some great LGBT rep to boot. Yeah, it's worth watching but the cliffhanger will annoy you for the obvious reason.

Only Murders In The Building: Even though this show does weekly episodes, I always leave it until the season has wrapped up and binge watch it in a few days. That's exactly what I did with this fourth season, which focused on the death of Jane Lynch's stuntwoman Sazz. In this season we also had some Hollywood glamour with Eugene Levy, Zack Galifianakis and Eva Longoria playing the movie versions of Charles, Oliver and Mabel respectively and I liked that the show managed to split the time between New York and LA this season. Add in a subplot about another group of renters, Jan's return, Oliver and Loretta getting married, Donna's love for Zack, Paul Rudd as an Irish stuntman and this was another top notch season. Even the killer reveal was decent enough.

Rivals: Oh Disney+. It took them a while to realise that being a glorified babysitting app for kids wasn't going to be enough to sustain them. Going all in with Hulu/Star was necessary but also, so was making original adult content. This adaptation of Jilly Cooper's racy book of the same name certainly helps a bit. There's sublime performances from the likes of David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Alex Hassell, Nafessa Williams and Bella MacLean to name a few. There's plenty of shagging, back stabbing, one upmanship and general madness while set to a 1980s backdrop with the likes of Thatcher and the AIDS crisis playing their part in this delightful show. If Disney+ don't renew this for a second season, then they better adapt more from Jilly Cooper's books and soon.

• Yerin Ha has been cast as Sophie Baek, the love interest for Benedict Bridgerton as Season 4 of Bridgerton has now gone into production.
• The next 911 spin off may be set in Hawaii but that has yet to be confirmed. It's currently a rumour.
• Season 3 of Yellowjackets has wrapped production and will be released on Showtime/Paramount+ in early 2025.
• And Just Like That Season 3 has also wrapped production for a 2025 release on Max.
• Marvel fans will have six shows on Disney+ in 2025. Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man (January 29th), Daredevil: Born Again (March 4th), Eyes Of Wakanda (August 6th), Ironheart (September 3rd), Marvel Zombies (October) and Wonder Man (December)
• Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis will play sisters in upcoming Amazon series, Scarpetta. The show has been ordered for two seasons.
• HBO have renewed Industry for a fourth season.
• Netflix will be releasing second season of Squid Game on Christmas Day.
• UK audiences will have two Christmas specials of Call The Midwife to enjoy over the festive period on BBC1.
• Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny will be the main cast for the second season of Beef for Netflix.
• Kathy Bates version of Matlock has bagged an early second season renewal by CBS.
• Expect a crossover between Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
• Family Guy will release a Christmas special on Hulu from November 25th.

The Future Of Ryan Murphy Shows Part 2

I didn't think I'd be writing this again so soon but that Ryan Murphy just went and did some interviews and a lot of stuff came trickling out. Let's do this.

9-1-1/9-1-1: Lone Star: Both shows continue to be the highest rated scripted shows on ABC and FOX respectively with their premieres scoring big for both networks. The former show going through a Beenado and the latter about to go through some poison air. With the latter also ending this season (why, FOX, why?), Ryan Murphy has confirmed that both him and Tim Minear will be crafting a new spin off aimed to air for ABC for the Fall 2025 season. I got to be honest, I saw this one coming.

All's Fair: In less than a year, Jon Robin Baitz has immersed himself in the Ryan Murphy world and filming for this legal drama has gotten underway. The show will air on Hulu in 2025 and will star Kim Kardashian, Glenn Close, Niecy Nash-Betts, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Teyana Taylor, Ed O'Neill and Matthew Noszka. It's being described as Murphy's take on a legal drama and will be sexy.

American Horror Story/American Horror Stories: It looks we might finally be getting information on the main show's upcoming thirteenth season very soon with Ryan Murphy implying that Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters could be returning for the FX stalwart. Meanwhile the second half of Season 3 of the spin off show will be released on FX on Hulu from October 15th. The episodes are titled Backwoods, The Thing Under The Bed, Clone, Leprechaun and X. Henry Winkler, Victor Garber, Michael Imperioli, Jeff Hiller, Debby Ryan and Jessica Barden are among the guest cast.

American Love Story: Expect this show to start filming in Spring with casting for both JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy to be announced over the next few months. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will executive produce this upcoming series for FX.

American Sports Story: Currently airing on FX and while it's decent, it seems to have gotten a bit lost in the sea of Ryan Murphy shows at the moment. Ratings seem to be good though the online chatter for the show is virtually nonexistent.

Doctor Odyssey: The opening episode pulled in 4.23 million viewers on ABC upon it's Thursday night premiere and mixed reviews. It's definitely getting a second season while this first one will have a total of 18 episodes. Joshua Jackson definitely seems to be a high attraction for this show along with Don Johnson, Philippa Soo and Sean Teale. UK viewers will get it on Disney+ from October 24th. Upcoming episodes will have Chord Overstreet, Shania Twain, Gina Gershon, John Stamos and Cheyenne Jackson to name a few.

Grotesquerie: Another hit for FX with Ryan Murphy admitting that he had a five season plan for this horror/crime drama. Niecy Nash-Betts has been great as weary detective Lois Tryon but I'm not sure if the title villain can be sustained for multiple seasons. The finale will now air on October 30th.

Mid-Century Modern: Yes, this Ryan Murphy/James Burrows collaboration is still happening with three older gay men (Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham) and the mother figure (Linda Lavin), who are basically doing The Golden Girls for a 2025 audience on Hulu for a ten part series. My hype for this one is nonexistent but I'm willing to be proven wrong.

Monster/s: While Ryan Murphy has not handled the discourse surrounding The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story particularly well, Netflix have seen a lot of people tuning in and both Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch have been social media favourites overnight. Meanwhile Charlie Hunnam has signed up to play Ed Gein for the third season, due to go into production soon.

The Beauty: Based on an Image comic book series by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, this one will be a sci-fi, medical and detective drama. Evan Peters will be a detective trying to crack a case involving an STD that brings out beauty while Ashton Kutcher will be a tech billionaire. Jeremy Pope and Anthony Ramos also make up the main cast. The show will air on FX, filming will begin in both New York and Europe from November onwards and will contain eleven episodes. The show was created by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson.

Currently up in the air are future seasons of American Crime Story, Feud, The Politician and The Watcher while a second season of Ratched was cancelled months ago. Saying that, there's a ridiculous amount of shows from one man for the foreseeable future.

The Future Of Ryan Murphy Shows

I've been wanting to do this particular blog for a while now and with the increased amount of shows that Ryan Murphy is involved in, here's a rundown of what to expect.

911: Season 8 of the long running firefighter show will return to ABC from September 26th and will be paired with another Ryan Murphy production, making Thursday nights a Murphy double bill. Expect more of Buck/Tommy and maybe Eddie, lol.

911: Lone Star: Season 5 of the hit show got delayed and pushed to the Fall on FOX. The date has yet to be officially confirmed but there are rumours that this might be the final season for the popular spin off series. Season 4 ended with TK and Carlos tying the knot.

All's Fair: Kim Kardashian clearly enjoyed working with Ryan Murphy and vice versa because now they're working on an all female led law firm drama for Hulu. The better part though would be Jon Robin Baitz executive producing this and the castings of Glenn Close and Halle Berry. Expect this to debut in 2025 with filming due to start shortly.

American Horror Stories: Last October, FX on Hulu premiered the first four episodes of the third season as part of their Huluween event. Expect the remaining five episodes in October with leprechauns, clones, things under the bed, werewolves and the backrooms being the order of the day.

American Horror Story: It's been three months since the second half of Delicate wrapped but there's been no word on Season 13 as of yet. My guess is that it's been pushed to 2025 and FX have yet to officially decide whether it'll be the final season or not. I'm sure we'll know in due course the fate of this long running series.

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez: Ryan Murphy just loves his anthology shows and this is another one for FX. Airing with a double bill from September 17th, the show will delve into the rise and fall of disgraced NFL player Aaron Hernandez. Josh Andres Rivera will play Hernandez with the cast also including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jake Cannavale, Lindsay Mendez and Tony Yazbeck to name a few.

Doctor Odyssey: If you wanted a show that looked like Grey's Anatomy met 911, then this series might be for you. The cast includes Joshua Jackson, Sean Teale, Philippa Soo, Don Johnson and Callum Swan. The premise being on a cruise liner does have a lot of potential and I don't doubt it'll put the naughty in nautical as well. Premieres September 26th on ABC.

Grotesquerie: Potentially filling the void for American Horror Story and even American Crime Story, this upcoming detective horror show rounded out its cast with Niecy Nash, Leslie Manville and Courtney B. Vance. It's also added both Travis Kelce and Nicholas Alexander Chavez to the cast. An airdate for FX has yet to be confirmed but expect it late 2024.

Mid-Century Modern: Of all the upcoming shows, this might be the one I'm the least excited for. It's also potentially not going to happen as only a pilot episode has been commissioned for Hulu so far. Basically, Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane and Linda Lavin are in a Golden Girls knock off, playing variations of Rose, Dorothy and Sophia. There's also a role for a hot pool boy that's yet to be cast. I'd be shocked if this gets picked up as a series. 

Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story: The follow up from the successful Dahmer series has both Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez playing the Menendez brothers as well as Chloe Sevigny and Javier Bardem as their parents. The series will premiere on Netflix in late 2024.

I'll catch up with most of not all these shows over the next year. Some I'm looking forward to more than others.

911 - Network Changes, 100 Episodes And Evan Buckley

Yes, it has been a long while since I've talked about 911, the firefighter drama created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, but I decided to write this short piece.

Why, you may ask? Reasons could vary. I mean, 911 did spend six seasons on FOX (2018-2023) and managed to spawn the equally successful spin-off, 911: Lone Star. The show then moved to ABC for it's seventh season and with four episodes having just aired on it's new home, it bagged itself an eighth season. It also hit a very massive milestone for network television.

In the seventh season's fourth episode, titled Buck, Bothered And Bewildered (a crossover event with The Bachelor), the main takeaway from was that along with being the 100th episode of the series in general, this episode also had another milestone in it. The milestone involving regular Evan 'Buck' Buckley (Oliver Stark).

For as long as the show has ran, the character of Buck was mostly presented as a straight man with various female romantic love interests, the most notable being a relationship with 911 operator Abby Clark (Connie Britton) during the show's first season. Of course there were others, but far less successful ones in terms of audience interest in them.

With this seventh season, the reintroduction of another firefighter named Tommy Kinard (Lou Ferrigno Jr) brought some unexpected change. Buck initially saw Tommy as a rival for his friendship with fellow firefighter Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) but by the end of last night's episode, it was revealed that Tommy was interested in Buck and the feeling was mutual. Buck was definitely into that kiss Tommy planted on him.

Now, having the previously assumed straight Buck revealed to be a bisexual character was definitely something I didn't expect the show to actually do. For years, a certain fandom has wanted Buck and Eddie to become a couple and I never entertained the idea of it ever being a reality. However thanks to co-creator, Tim Minear, maybe it will be one.

I'm not expecting Buck and Eddie to be a couple anytime soon. Even I think if it happened in the remainder of this season, it might be too quick for it's own good. I also want to see how Buck and Tommy's relationship develops during the rest of Season 7. Buck and Eddie can wait at least until next season tbh.

In terms of LGBT representation, 911, prior to this latest development with Buck wasn't exactly lacking. We have fellow firefighter Henrietta (Aisha Hines) and her wife, Karen (Tracey Thoms) as well as Athena's (Angela Bassett) former husband, Michael (Rockmund Dunbar) and Maddie's (Jennifer Love Hewitt) co-worker, Josh (Bryan Safi). 

Then there's spin-off, 911: Lone Star. This show has ran for four seasons and in that time, we've had the very prominent relationship between firefighter/paramedic TK Strand (Ronen Rubenstein) and police officer Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva). Those two have been through the ringer but managed to get married in the fourth season finale while fellow firefighter Paul Strickland (Brian Michael Smith) is a trans man to boot. 

911's seventh season continues to air on ABC, Thursdays at 9pm while 911: Lone Star's fifth season will premiere on FOX during the autumn. 

Aloha, Do Come Again

Yup this one has been a while but you know the drill, folks.

911: Season 4 has flown by quickly and with the fifth season just starting on US television, it'll be a while before I catch up with it. The latter half of this season had Bobby and Athena's nearly in jeopardy, Eddie getting shot, Buck reconnecting with Taylor, Hen's mother arriving as well as Maddie and Howie becoming parents. Not to mention Josh getting his own flashback episode. Four seasons in and this show still has it.

911: Lone Star: I wasn't entirely blown away with the first season of this show but what a difference a second season has made. I felt a stronger connection with the characters and Gina Torres has been a revelation as Tommy. TK an Carlos relationship has developed nice, Owen got a great plot with the mystery arsonist, Mateo stepped up as a character and the flashback episode with Judd and Grace was a season highlight. I'll definitely be tuning in next season.

Pose: Relegated to double bills on a Sunday night, BBC2 finally got around to airing the last season of this groundbreaking series. There's a part of me that wishes this show had gotten another season but at the same time, this felt like a perfect closing chapter. We got to see Blanca, Elektra, Angel and Lulu live their best lives, even if Pray Tell himself did not make it in the end. I really hope it's not long before we see this talented cast in other things.

Supergirl: With a lengthy absence, the second half of the final season has aired and it's been a modest adventure so far. Kara's settled back into National City, her father left for Argo, the Superfriends are a strong unit and Nxyly has proven to be a strong foil while Lena, Kelly and Nia are all coming into their own power. William and Andrea remain the weak link of the show.

The White Lotus: Aside from a certain starring vehicle from Kate Winslet, this six part anthology series became the other big deal for HBO this year and suffice to say, I can see a lot of Emmy nods next year, especially for Murray Bartlett. The show might not have had the most sympathetic of characters (Shane and those two teenagers being particularly awful), but it definitely had some of the sharpest writing and acting this year. I'm wary about it coming back for seconds but will undoubtedly give it a go.

What If?:  So far in the MCU, courtesy of Disney+, we've had three excellent live action and while this animated series has prompted some interesting ideas (T'Challa being Star Lord, Doctor Strange really messing with fixed events, zombie apocalypse, etc), the whole thing has felt a bit like a distraction until the next live action event. It's a mildly diverting show but the weakest MCU streaming entry so far.

• The second half of Gossip Girl's first season will be released on HBO Max from November. The show was renewed for a second season.
• HBO Max however did cancel Generation after one season.
• Krysten Ritter has joined Elizabeth Olsen and Lily Rabe for HBO Max's upcoming limited series Love And Death.
• Virgin River has been renewed for a fourth and fifth season on Netflix.
• Disney+ has renewed Only Murders In The Building for a second season.
• The CW will end The Outpost after four seasons.
• Motherland: Fort Salem will end with its third season.
• Matthew Fox and Joanne Froggatt will start in upcoming series Last Light for peacock.
• The third season of Succession will premiere on HBO from October 17th.
• The third season of You will be released on Netflix from October 15th.