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.

The Cottage Again, 90s Love And Game Time

And once again, here we are with a catch up of everything I've been watching since the last time I did one of these.

911: Will this show ever give audiences what they truly want with Buck and Eddie or are doomed to this weird place both characters are stuck in for eternity? They continue to act like a couple without actually being one and Eddie went into protective boyfriend mode during Buck's kidnapping episode. It's really long past time for this show to either go there with Buddie or give them permanent love interests.

911: Nashville: There's no denying that this show might be the weakest in the brand but there's a few moments where some hints of improvement are creeping in. I liked Don's flashbacks with Dixie and Blythe, the Blue/Taylor romance has potential and we even got some backstory for Roxy. Not to mention having Buck and Eddie appear certainly didn't hurt things.

Bridgerton: Into the second half of the love story between Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek. While their wedding was a mid credit scene (odd choice), the show did an excellent job with building towards their romantic conclusion. Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha absolutely delivered in their scenes together. Also, who the hell is the new Lady Whistledown? There was also Anthony/Kate's return, Francesca losing John, Violet choosing herself and good scenes with Queen Charlotte/Lady Danbury but the show could've done something with Cressida and Araminta. 

How To Get To Heaven From Belfast: How do you follow up a show like Derry Girls? Lisa McGee certainly had a task on her hands but this turned out to be a worthy follow up. Saoirse, Robyn and Dara working together to solve the mystery of their "dead" friend. Some familiar faces in the mix with Bronagh Gallagher on fine form as well as the more skittish Saoirse Monica Jackson. Oh and that ending nicely set up a potential second season.

Love Story: Ryan Murphy will forever stoke ire for these anthologies based on real people but the more they're watched, the more he's gonna keep making them. Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon are on great form with the show giving a good depiction of John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette's turbulent relationship. I do think Pidgeon's the stronger actor of the two but Kelly held his own. Saying that, Naomi Watts was a bit wasted as Jackie Kennedy.

Vladimir: You know what, I totally get it. Netflix wanted a more unhinged version of Fleabag and this show kind of did that. I can't blame Rachel Weisz going cuckoo for Leo Woodall's titular character and her obsession with him was oddly entertaining to watch. Less interesting was anything involving the family of Weisz's character and some of the MeToo commentary just didn't land as well as it could've done. Given it's viewership numbers, I wouldn't expect a second season though.

• Netflix have officially cast their Scooby Doo live action show. McKenna Grace, Tanner Hagen, Abby Ryder Forston and Maxwell Jenkins will play Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Fred respectively. Frank Weller will voice Scooby Doo.
• Amazon Prime has renewed Cross for a third season. The second season is currently being released weekly.
• The White Lotus has added more to its cast including Max Greenfield, Kumail Nanjiani and Chloe Bennett to name a few. Filming begins in France next month.
• Danielle Deadwyler has been cast as a lead in the reboot of Hulu's The X-Files.
• Firefly is being revived as an animated series with the original cast slated to reprise their roles.
• The Bear will end with it's upcoming fifth season. It'll air on FX during the summer.
• AMC have renewed The Audacity for a second season, ahead of it's first one airing next month.
• The Harry Potter series will film it's second season later this year. The first will premiere on HBO in 2027.
• FOX have renewed Doc for a 22 episode third season.
• ABC have renewed both 911 shows for further seasons.
• Family Guy is getting a Stewie based spin-off. FOX have given a two season order for the show, due to debut in the 2027-2028 TV season.
• The Vampire Lestat (aka Interview With The Vampire Season 3) will premiere on AMC from June 7th.

Space Races, Tornadoes And Serving The C Word

I did one of these about two months ago and I might slip in another before the year ends. Anyways, a lot of other things I've been watching the last few weeks.

9-1-1: I can't believe we're on to a ninth season of this show but I can also believe that ABC will bleed this show dry. Anyways the first four episodes had Athena and Hen up in space because at this point, it's not even the most ridiculous thing the show can do these days. There was Eddie losing his grandmother, May and Harry becoming regulars, Buck dealing with Bobby's absence more than Athena and Howie officially becoming captain. It's a bit of a weak start for the show.

9-1-1: Nashville: As one spin off ended, another rose in its place but I can't tell if this show will be a success story like 9-1-1: Lone Star or crash and burn like Doctor Odyssey. It's a very haphazard show so far with the opening three parter tornado story doing little to properly establish the character dynamics. Right now, it feels like a spin off for the sake of having one rather than a show that genuinely justifies it's existence.

All's Fair: Ryan Murphy might be having one of his most challenging years in a long time because not only have some of his shows gotten cancelled, his new line of shows seem to be leaving audiences rather cold. I guarantee if this show had been released a decade ago, it would've been lapped up. It's got a strong cast with Sarah Paulson, Glenn Close, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor and Naomi Watts and then there's Kim Kardashian. The first five episodes threw in some big guests, moments of sheer opulence and savage one liners from Paulson's venomous Carrington Lane but it's also a case of Murphy reheating past triumphs in an underwhelming way.

Big Brother UK: It's been twenty five years since the most influential reality show hit UK screens and this series was a very mixed bag. Fortunately we got a likable winner with Richard but we also had to endure unbearable people like Caroline, Sam, Nancy and George and the inconsistencies with rule breaking and often disastrous late night spin off often tested my patience with the show. It'll be back for a 2026 series but ITV2 need to make some changes if they're going to continue with the show.

Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy: For those who find Netflix's Monster series on the exploitative side of things in it's depiction of real life serial killer, Peacock has an alternative. This first season might have been about John Wayne Gacy but the emphasis was more on the lives of his victims and the trauma their families had to endure more than Gacy himself. At eight episodes, it did lag a little but it's a good alternative to it's Netflix counterpart.

Marvel Zombies: I gotta admit, this really just came and went. Aside from Daredevil: Born Again, it feels like none of the MCU shows really made much impact this year. This didn't even need to be a four part series. It could've been a 70 minute animated movie and it would've worked better. If you're a fan of Ms Marvel, Kate Bishop and Ironheart, this one's for you.

Only Murders In The Building: Season 5 hasn't been the show at its strongest but it hasn't been horrible. I do feel there's a lot of life left with the show but the Lester mystery was by far the weakest in terms of execution and eventually resolution as well. I mean the killer was someone we barely knew and therefore it was harder to care about them being caught. Saying that, I am looking forward to seeing what things will be like next season when Charles, Oliver and Mabel head to London.

• The fourth season of Bridgerton will be released from January 29th and February 26th respectively on Netflix.
• Stranger Things Season 5 will be released on Netflix from November 26th, December 25th and December 31st.
• Peacock have cancelled Poker Face after two seasons but have renewed Twisted Metal for a third season.
• Fallout Season 2 will premiere on Amazon Prime from December 17th.
• The BBC have renewed both Line Of Duty and Doctor Foster for seventh and third seasons respectively.
• The Sophie Turner starring series, Steal will premiere on Amazon Prime from January 21st.
• FX have cancelled English Teacher after two seasons.
• Jason Momoa has signed on for another Apple TV series called Nomad.
• Grotesquerie has been rumoured to be cancelled after one season by FX.
• Season 2 of The Night Manager will be released on Amazon Prime from January 11th.
• The eighth and final season of Outlander will air on Starz from March 6th.
• Amazon Prime have ordered Escorted to series, which will be written, produced and star Brett Goldstein.
• FX have renewed Alien: Earth for a second season.

Understanding The Other Side

Yeah, it's been over a month since I've done one of these and I've not watched that many things since then but here's a look at what I have seen.

9-1-1: The real test for this show will be next season. Will the decision to have killed off Bobby Nash been a disaster or can the show actually survive without him? These last three episodes at least put his successor to bed with Howie assuming the mantle along with the birth of his and Maddie's son. There was some closure for Athena, Hen and Karen's family being completed, more of Ravi (make him a regular already) and plenty of Buck/Eddie scenes with side order of Tommy. Not a great ending but not awful either.

Overcompensating: What can I say about this Amazon college coming of age comedy series? The following actually - a) it's the type of show that would've felt fresh and original had it been released twenty years ago, b) Benito Skinner really shouldn't have cast himself or Adam DiMarco because they both looked too old for their respective roles c) the Charlie XCX references were a bit much as was Megan Fox and d) the potential romance between Benny and Miles was just disappointing. I appreciate some of the hot guys and I liked the budding friendship with Benny/Carmen and certain guest actors but overall, this show was mostly lacking.

Poker Face: It's been two years since the first season ended with Natasha Lyonne's Charlie Cale incurred the wrath of various mob families. The first five episodes saw the show on great form with some brilliant guest characters. Cynthia Erivo as five different siblings, Giancarlo Esposito as a creepy undertaker, Rhea Pearlman and Richard Kind as a mob couple, Kumail Nanjiani as a throwback to Tiger King (but with an alligator) as wdll as Simon Rex and Carol Kane in a baseball themed episode. Overall, a very enjoyable bunch of episodes so far this season.

The Last Of Us: There's no denying that the decision to kill off Joel so early in the second season has had such a ripple effect. I think for a chunk of the audience, losing the character and Pedro Pascal was enough for them to sign out. I'll admit, I did struggle with the rest of the season, so the brief reappearance of Joel was nice but do general audiences care enough about Ellie vs. Abby or the Ellie/Dina romance to help Season 3? We'll see.

• The second season of Netflix's The Gentlemen has gone into production. 
• Showtime have renewed Yellowjackets for a fourth season.
• AppleTV+ have renewed The Studio for a second season.
• A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms will now air on HBO in 2026.
• Welcome To Derry will premiere on HBO Max during the Fall.
• T'Nia Miller has been cast as Jocasta for upcoming Disney+ MCU series, Vision.
• David Tennant will remain as a regular for the second season of Rivals for Disney+. It's currently filming and will be twelve episodes.
• Dexter: Resurrection will premiere from July 11th on Paramount+ on Showtime from July 11th.
• Kaia Gerber has signed on as the lead for upcoming FX adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's The Shards. The show will be executive produced by Ryan Murphy.
• Krysten Ritter will reprise her role as Jessica Jones for the second season of Daredevil: Born Again for Disney+.
• The Wheel Of Time has been cancelled by Amazon after three seasons.
• The upcoming Harry Potter series for HBO has officially cast Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton as Harry, Ron and Hermione respectively.
• Bridgerton has officially been renewed for both a fifth and sixth season by Netflix. Season 4 will premiere in 2026.

The Future Of Ryan Murphy Shows - Part 3

Last year, I did two blogs (months apart) on the future of Ryan Murphy shows and I thought I'd do another one. Buckle in.

9-1-1/9-1-1: Nashville will form a double bill for ABC on Thursdays during the 2025-2026 TV season. I expected this to be honest. ABC have made it clear that the former show won't end with it's upcoming ninth season while the latter not only has Chris O'Donnell and Jessica Capshaw as series regulars but joining them will include LeAnn Rimes and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.

Although it was announced ages ago as a series, it's only been in recent weeks that actual progress for FX's upcoming anthology series, American Love Story has been made. The casting so far includes Naomi Watts, Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon as Jackie Kennedy, JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette respectively. No release date has been given, so I'm assuming it'll likely be a 2026 release.

Given the biggest push during Disney's upfronts this week was upcoming Hulu legal drama, All's Fair. The series which has Kim Kardashian, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor and Glenn Close certainly delivered a very camp trailer. It's uber glossy, focusing on a group of women lawyers working only to represent women while dealing with the men in the lives. It'll premiere during the Fall and it certainly looks like it could be a lot of fun. Sarah Paulson in particular seems to be playing a more antagonistic role.

Then there's the imminent arrival of FX's upcoming comic book series adaptation The Beauty. You've got the four main leads with Evan Peters, Anthony Ramos, Jeremy Pope and Ashton Kutcher. There's also Rebecca Hall, Vincent D'Onofrio, Isabella Rossellini, Ben Platt and Bella Hadid. It's getting comparisons to The Substance (which may or may not be a good thing) and while a trailer played at the upfronts, it has yet to be released. An airdate has yet to be confirmed.

Then there's everything else. Ryan Murphy has a lot of shows on his plate, has been spreading himself too thin for too long and it's starting to become noticeable that it's almost too much.

Plus side, Monster: The Original Monster with Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein should release on Netflix later this year. However once that's released, it'll mark the end of Murphy's collaboration with the popular streamer.

As for everything else, both Doctor Odyssey (airing it's last episode tonight on ABC) and American Horror Story (FX) are down to Ryan Murphy in terms of getting future seasons, though it wouldn't surprise me if the former has been cancelled.

Then there's American Crime Story, American Sports Story, American Horror Stories, Feud, Grotesquerie and Mid-Century Modern. None of these shows as of now have been confirmed for further seasons. I'll admit that's a lot of shows to have up in the air in terms of future seasons. I can see some of them being quietly cancelled with others eventually brought back. 

Which Ryan Murphy shows should return and which should be cancelled? Which upcoming ones are you looking forward to?

You Don't Get To Rush This

And here's a brief catch up on some of the shows I've been watching the last few weeks.

9-1-1: Oh god, the second half of this season was going pretty well, in terms of stories. You had Maddie dealing with a serial kidnapper, Bobby reuniting with his mother, Eddie rebuilding his family in Texas, Buck/Tommy hooking up, Hen's birthday, Chimney's excitement for fatherhood again, Athena taking another boat trip and Ravi popping up again. Then a contagion two parter aired and with it, possibly the most short sighted decision the show has ever done. Yup, they killed Bobby Nash and there's three episodes left. How the fallout from this plays out will determine if the show has true staying power.

Daredevil: Born Again: I'll admit that for the most part I have enjoyed Disney+ revival of this show but at the same time, something feels missing and it's not just Karen and Foggy. The handling of the Muse story in particular was bad, Fisk really reverted to form too quickly (though Vanessa has emerged as a more complex character) and the Matt/Heather relationship just fizzled out. I did however like the Daredevil/Punisher team up in the finale and Bullseye on the loose does have potential for next season.

The Last Of Us: Two episodes into the show's second season and they went for the most controversial moment out of the gate. Then again, given Pedro Pascal's increasingly full dance card, perhaps sooner was better than later for that scene to happen. Hats off to Pedro , Kaitlyn Dever and Bella Ramsey because the scene where Abby killed Joel and Ellie couldn't prevent it was easily one of the most brutal death scenes in 2025. With five episodes left, it's going to be interesting to see if the show can sustain the momentum now that they've played their biggest hand. The show has been renewed for a third season. 

The White Lotus: The second half of the third season proved a few things. You can't escape financial ruin, some friendships are a mystery, brothers shouldn't be that physically intimate with one another, good people aren't above taking bribes from bad people and the two graves saying about revenge is true. All of these things came to pass in those final few episodes and they made for some of the best and most shocking moments. Season 3 might have taken a bit longer to find it's footing but it got there and I cannot wait for next season.

Toxic Town: While everyone everywhere was hyping Adolescence, there was another Jack Thorne Netflix miniseries that had been released two weeks beforehand and with less fanfare. Featuring a cast that had Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Karla Crome, Claudia Jessie, Brendan Coyle and Robert Carlyle to name but a few. The four part miniseries took a good look into the Corby toxic waste case. I can see why this might have gotten lost in the shuffle but you should check it out if you've already seen Thorne's other miniseries that has stirred such debate.

Yellowjackets: Season 3 hasn't quite hit the heights of the first season but it's not been without it's shocking moments. There was the resolution to Lottie's murder and then Van got killed by Melissa in the present day. Hillary Swank is going to have quite the task on her hand next season getting audience to like Melissa next season. Add some more appearances from Jackie, Shauna showing her awful side in both timelines along with her own family, Taissa and Misty being done with her and that Natalie scene in the picture above, where else can this show go? It should end next season.

• Chris O'Donnell and Jessica Capshaw will lead upcoming series, 9-1-1: Nashville for ABC this autumn. 9-1-1 itself was renewed for a ninth season
• Grey's Anatomy has been renewed for twenty second season on ABC.
• Wednesday Season 2 will be released on Netflix in two parts - Episodes 1-4 from August 6th and Episodes 5-8 from September 3rd respectively.
• Heartstopper will conclude with a movie for Netflix, based on Alice Oseman's upcoming sixth volume. Joe Locke and Kit Connor will be executive producers.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar has signed up for upcoming series, Bad Summer People.
• Dexter: Original Sin has been renewed for a second season by Showtime/Paramount+. Dexter: Resurrection will premiere in June.
• Tom Ellis has signed up as the lead for FBI: CIA for CBS.
• Will Sharpe and Ayo Edebiri will lead upcoming Apple TV+ romantic comedy series Prodigies. 
• Amazon have We Were Liars for June 18th.
• Season 3 of And Just Like That will premiere on Max from May 29th. The Gilded Age Season 3 will on HBO in June. Both feature Cynthia Nixon.
• Stranger Things will be getting an animated spin off titled, Stranger Things: Tales from 85. 
• Outlander: Blood Of My Blood will air from August 8th on Starz.
• Lindsay Logan will star in Count My Lies for Hulu.

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Casino Week"

 

Written by Tracy Taylor And Jessica Grasl And Mike Schaub

Directed by Jennifer Lynch

Max: "All of that sounds circumstantial to me at best."

Athena: "Which is why we need to catch them cheating."

Max: "We?"

Athena: "If they saw me arresting Henry, my cover is blown, but you, you're just a friendly doctor. You ever wear an earpiece?"

Finally it happened. It took eleven episodes but Doctor Odyssey did the inevitable and crossed over with 9-1-1. Now while I would've preferred having Buck (Oliver Stark) and Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr) boarding The Odyssey and flirting up a storm with Max, we had a different scenario play out instead.

Athena Grant-Nash (Angela Bassett), the icon she is ended up on the ship because of a Bonnie & Clyde con duo. She had seemingly arrested the Clyde part of the duo but ended up being locked in a room, only to find out that the ship was sailing. As we already know, Athena's not a cruise kind of woman. Too many bad memories of one particular incident.

The moment ABC announced that Doctor Odyssey was going to be a series, a part of me had assumed that the seventh season premiere of 9-1-1 factored into it and its rather fitting for Athena to be on this ship and this show certainly didn't waste the character for a moment. Athena dominated this episode in a way that no guest star has done this far and all the better for it too.

I loved Athena's dynamic with Max. He was the good cop to her bad cop. The rookie to her seasoned police officer and yes, despite being a married woman, Max flirted a little bit with Athena. They also mildly disagreed on potential suspects when we weren't getting gambling metaphors for a lot of the themes of the episode too.

The thieves being a grandmother and her grandson, connected to Henry was a nice but pretty obvious reveal. I didn't buy Granny's sweet and innocent act one bit but after this episode, can we return the favour and have Max help Athena out on a case on land? Also if the writers want to put him in scenes with Buck, Tommy and Eddie, that'd be nice too.

Athena also had some rather nice scenes with both Robert and Avery, especially with the latter. She gave Avery some sage advice on motherhood, which Avery took to heart. Avery made something of a point of telling Max that she's keeping the baby while also reminding him that he might not be the father. For some reason, Max's become a punching bag for Avery and Tristan and I don't like it, plot wise. I'm also not convinced the show will have Avery remain pregnant either.

- While Athena didn't get any big scenes with Tristan, there was a slight missed opportunity in not having her interact with Corey. I'm sure he would've reminded her of someone.

- Due to spoilers leaked, this episode seemed to setting up a drinking problem for Tristan. They could've seeded that a lot better.

- There was a nice subplot with a guest named Daphne in which the character needed a new heart.

- Chronology: From where the last scene of that 9-1-1 episode left off.

Casino Week might be just the best episode so far and yes, I know the bar's not too high. The show had fun with Athena as the main guest and I could have watched more and more scenes with her and Max, along with the glitzy backdrop of the casino theme.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

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.