Second Bites, Polin, Dollish Hell And More

Another monthly round up of some of the shows I've watched in the last few weeks.

Bridgerton: Netflix really won't go down the weekly releases, so they'll compromise for these split seasons instead. Also this show decided to switch book orders and instead of Benedict/Sophie, we've got Penelope and Colin instead. These first four episodes certainly ended on the cliffhanger of a marriage proposal but between then, Penelope has an alternative with Debling and Colin was enjoying threesomes. Other than the Polin romance, there was wedded Anthony/Kate bliss, an interesting friendship with Eloise/Cressida, the arrival of Lady Danbury's brother and the Queen taking an interest in Francesca. I'd say this was a strong first half to the season, which will conclude on June 13th.

Chucky: With a fourth season not yet confirmed, this season chose to end on a massive and rather mad cliffhanger. Even if we don't get a fourth season, Don Mancini will likely get a movie to tie up loose ends. As for the cliffhanger. Well, Chucky escaped death yet again, Tiffany went back into a Belle Doll body, Caroline's definitely beyond saving and Nica walked in on Jake, Lexy and Devon as marionettes. In between all of that, Chucky nearly nuked another country, we had trips into the afterlife with multiple Chuckys and the White House got burned to the ground. I enjoyed this mad season a lot.

Fallout: Video game adaptations continue to be a massive seller and Amazon have struck gold with this one. I've never played the game and I don't intend to but I enjoyed watching the arcs of Lucy, Maximus and Howard the Ghoul throughout the eight episodes that made up the first season. There's a career defining performance from Ella Purnell and she's an excellent protagonist as Lucy. The pacing's a bit slow in parts but it's certainly worth the watch.

Interview With The Vampire: The first season of this Southern Gothic series certainly got a lot of buzz when it was released in October 2022 but I'm thinking the meagre marketing and early summer release might not have helped this second season. A shame because while the first episode was sluggish, I really liked the second episode. Lestat might be relegated to brief scenes for now but it's given Louis and Claudia time to shine in Paris with Armand, Santiago and the rest of the gang. The present day interview with Daniel now aware of Armand's existence certainly upped the tension.

Shogun: FX's lavish reboot of this popular miniseries certainly has become the biggest show of the year so far. The popularity skyrocketed that this went from a one off miniseries to getting a two season renewal with most of the cast slated to return. I have to admit there were times I did struggle with it as the show alternated between Japanese and English but the cast were brilliant, the show looked gorgeous and it's nice to see these type of shows connect with a wider audience.

• Jonathan Bailey will guest as Jack Maddox in the third season of Heartstopper, which Netflix will release in October.
• The fourth and finale season of The Umbrella Academy will be released from August 8th on Netflix.
• Walker has been cancelled after four seasons on the CW.
• Sean Teale has joined the cast of upcoming medical nautical drama Dr Odyssey. The show will air on ABC in the Fall and be paired with 911.
• Travis Kelce recently filmed a guest spot for FX's upcoming detective horror show Grotesquerie.
• And Just Like That's third season has began filming. Rosie O'Donnell will be guesting in the new season.
• The second half of American Horror Stories third season will air in October on FX on Hulu.
• Agatha All Along will premiere in September on Disney+. A series focusing on Vision is also in the works.
• The second season of The Rings Of Power will be released on Amazon from August 29th.
• The Boys has been renewed for a fifth season by Amazon. Gen V will write out Chance Perdomo's character instead of a recast.
• Max have cancelled The Girls On The Bus after one season.
• The Conners has been renewed for a seventh and final season.
• Industry Season 3 will premiere from August 11th on HBO.