Joe Was Never Prepared for This Life

“Oh my God, no!”

On the heels of a tachycardic Season 1 finale of Average Joe comes an even more chaotic Season 2 premiere.

Picking back up on Joe’s doorstep, Leon brings a bloodied Cathy (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams) to his house the same night that Angela (Tammy Townsend) decided to leave with Jennifer (Ashley Olivia Fisher) after surviving Russian kingpin Nicolai (Pasha D. Lychnikoff)—suffering from a gunshot wound from an undercover cop that is blamed on the Russians.

67 days later, Joe finds himself yanked from his two-month drinking binge by Cathy, Leon (Malcolm Barrett), and Touch (Michael Trucco) as new threats on Angela and Jennifer’s lives surface, taking him from his once average life in Pittsburgh and into Cape Town, South Africa.

As the team tries to dodge international assassins while unknowingly getting caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous local crime lord, inner demons and secret vices take root—rotting the foundation of trust and loyalty from the inside out.

That rot follows them down a path that is far more dangerous than Joe could even imagine.

One man looming over this season is Sipho (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), the Cape Town drug lord who is unforgiving, unrelenting, and decidedly calm in his executions and efforts to rule and get exactly what he wants, when he wants.

And as the stakes get higher and every moment more dangerous than the last, one thing that remains is the humor.

The comedy in Average Joe is so deeply simple that it allows the viewer watching to connect with every single character, even in moments of life and death.

The characters’ natural reactions, the fact that they just barely know what they’re doing—using their upbringing, street knowledge, fighting skills learned through Kung-Fu movies and WWF, and knowledge from True Crime shows as their survival toolkit—make them the most unlikely group to survive a horror movie, but you root for them anyway because they are relatable.

The glue that makes this work is the relationship between Joe, Leon, Touch, and Cathy. While their loyalty and trust will be tested beyond any trial they’ve ever faced, the audience depends upon their friendship and love to succeed, creating a shockingly emotionally immersive viewing experience.

But not all glue is cut from the same adhesive properties.

One secret gets exposed, blowing the entirety of Season 1 wide open, creating more questions than answers in Season 2, and sending Joe into a situation that unravels everything he thought he knew about his family.

The Sins of the Father Become Joe’s Inheritance

The premise of Average Joe feels biblical, a literal representation of “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children into the third and fourth generation,” as Joe’s new threats are a direct result of the lies his father told and the secrets he buried.

And Season 2 begins pulling apart those lies almost immediately.

Joe finds an ad in a Cape Town bar that raises alarm and causes him to pause, throwing a wrench into an already high-stakes fool’s mission to find answers about Angela and Jennifer.

But nothing could have prepared him for the truth about his father and his family’s history.

Suddenly, the events that pushed Joe from his average life into one of panicked violence take on a completely different meaning.

And the question that lingers is unsettling.

Did Teddy bury his secrets to protect Joe, or was it all to protect himself?

If Season 1 was about Joe surviving the consequences of the betrayal his father left behind, Season 2 forces him to question whether he ever understood his father in the first place.

And with an unapologetically ruthless drug lord on the loose and old secrets that threaten their friendship, no one in Cape Town is safe.

New episodes of Average Joe air every Wednesday on Paramount+. Episode 1 “67 Days Later” and Episode 2 “The Sea Gave Up the Dead” are available to stream now.

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Recommended Readings

• HBO’s Lanterns Episode 1 Reveals the Tragic Cost of Being the Hero

• Reacher Season 4 Review: Alan Ritchson Gets Vulnerable in Its Best Season Yet

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in-depth theme analysis.

Reacher’s Unexpected Failure and the Guilt It Leaves Behind

Just when you thought Reacher couldn’t get more epic after Season 3, in comes Season 4—opening with a scene that both devastates and emotionally hijacks the audience immediately.

Alan Ritchson walks the delicate tightrope of the dramatic and comedic essence of Jack Reacher as he finds himself in Philadelphia working to uncover a web of lies, expose conspiracies, and seek justice.

But justice comes on a sliding scale as Reacher wrestles with guilt over whether or not he could have prevented a tragic death, forcing him to let go of his analytical black-and-white approach and allow something gray to enter the room.

And in that gray lies a truth no one could’ve expected. What starts as a benign inquiry turns into a ruthless and violent attempt at a cover-up that merges the lives of Reacher, Detective Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel), Officer Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette), and Lila (Agnez Mo).

For those who are familiar with the Jack Reacher book series, Season 4 adapts book 13, “Gone Tomorrow,” which was released in 2009. As with many adaptations, Reacher undergoes changes that include the setting going from New York to Philadelphia and character name swaps (Teresa Lee to Tamara Green).

Another change that stands out is Reacher’s signature fighting style—which transitions from brute force to a more intellectual strategy that offers the audience insight on how he mentally maneuvers through dangerous situations.

All of these changes lead to a Reacher that is more vulnerable and emotionally accessible to the viewer.

His “failure” is the first peek inside his vulnerability—a stark departure from previous seasons where he is emotionally resolute and dominates his environment through that energy. This failure cracks Reacher, placing him on a more unconventional path that explores his darker side to save all who are now collateral damage based on his single decision.

Noel as Det. Green not only matches Reacher’s signature dominant energy, but she provides a grounding his character needs to make sound decisions under circumstances that shake his foundation. Her no-nonsense approach to him and her lack of intimidation by him make her a force of equal prominence.

Det. Green is an unexpected ally but one that fits right into Reacher’s life, allowing him room to be less guarded with her and to stretch his intellectual abilities through more traditional means of investigating rather than just brute force.

Reacher’s Real Fight Comes at a High Price

This emotional and intuitive method is integral to Reacher getting to the bottom of a major cover-up in the city, and the more they uncover, the more nothing makes sense. The circle of trust gets smaller as the list of conspirators grows larger—upping the stakes to levels that even Reacher could not foresee. 

As outside forces threaten the strategic integrity of the team, they work tirelessly to figure out a way in which they all make it out together.

But at what cost?

This question is the moral center that drives Reacher this season—forcing him to take a moment to see just how his actions, no matter their intention, leave damage in their wake. In this, audiences see a Reacher that pulls back, slows down, and allows his team to help him see the bigger picture.

What’s real? 

What’s at stake?

And is the truth worth the destruction?

As the picture becomes clearer, the depths to which people will go to cover up the truth grow far deeper than anyone could have ever known.

The first three episodes of Reacher Season 4 explode onto Prime Video Wednesday, August 12, with the remaining five episodes releasing weekly. Check out the trailer below.

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Recommended Related Articles

• Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 Review

• Inspector Ellis Season 2 Review

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in-depth theme analysis.

There are few heroes more defined by contradiction than Batman.

Though feared by criminals and maybe even some law officials, he is deeply compassionate. And while his methods include physical violence, he is guided by deep restraint that keeps him from crossing moral boundaries.

Bruce Wayne is a man who willingly isolates himself from the people of Gotham City to ensure their protection, even when the city rarely returns the same affection.

Yet that contradiction has always been the allure of Batman’s greatest stories, and Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 continues to portray the heartbeat of a beloved hero’s hero in one of the best modern adaptations of his story.

Premiering all 10 episodes on Prime Video Friday, July 31, the sophomore season continues the hard-boiled noir vision from executive producers J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm, following Bruce Wayne in his early years as Gotham City’s relentless vigilante. Forged by tragedy and driven by an unwavering moral code, Bruce “wages a one-man war against crime in a city that constantly threatens to consume him.”

If Season 1 set the tone and pace, Season 2 takes off with the baton in a full sprint.

Gotham’s Power Vacuum Leaves a City Ripe for Crime

Season 2 of Batman: Caped Crusader is even grittier as Gotham City’s major players—Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and his daughter Barbara Gordon—find themselves navigating a sudden power vacuum that was left behind following the organizational collapse of mob boss Rupert Thorne.

But crime doesn’t just escalate.

It takes on a new form, infiltrating the city through its weakest points and on a massive, yet patient, scale.

And as violence escalates and spreads across Gotham, a more ruthless Dark Knight is required to meet each threat head-on, forcing Bruce to take greater risks while navigating a new alliance that often feels strained at best.

With each victory comes only temporary relief. Every decision made carries unknown consequences as a greater evil lurks beyond the shadows, weaving a level of chaos that Batman can’t quite grasp—making Gotham City itself just as unpredictable as the people looking to destroy it.

Batman’s Greatest Strengths are His Mind and His Humanity

One of the more standout moments of the season is Batman’s reliance upon his evidentiary gathering skills, placing him firmly in the role of detective rather than just a hero of the night.

Though stealth and physical dominance still garner quick results, Bruce is also forced to practice patience and become creative in uncovering the truth. It’s through his patience, intellect, and methodical investigative skills that show how valuable he is both in and out of the uniform.

That balance becomes one of Season 2’s strongest themes as the line that separates Bruce from Batman becomes harder to maintain.

But what keeps the line visible, allowing both Bruce and Batman to find strength in their morality is Batman’s humanity.

Not in the bright way that people tend to think of but in the inner turmoil he lives through while making the choice daily to save those who maybe wish he didn’t exist.

He chooses to be a hero without supernatural powers, and without a team, to make the city of Gotham a better place in spite of the city not loving him back.

It’s his humanity in choice.

His humanity in regret.

His humanity in perseverance, as the hardest thing Batman does isn’t saving someone in need but choosing to save anyone at all.

And with the passing of each episode, Season 2 understands that those choices become heavier every night.

One of DC’s Greatest Modern Achievements

Although Batman: Caped Crusader exists outside James Gunn’s core DC cinematic universe, the series is amongst one of the strongest DC projects in recent years.

Its noir-inspired visuals, complex storytelling, and restrained horror elements make the series feel refreshing and distinct from nearly every other modern superhero adaptation.

But what makes Season 2 so compelling is its understanding of Bruce Wayne.

And by the time you reach the jaw-dropping finale, the series will be sure to remind you that Batman’s greatest enemy was never the criminals.

It was the darkness within threatening to consume and corrupt him from the inside out.

And thanks to one of the most perfectly restrained and deeply sinister interpretations of the Joker in recent memory—one that’s simultaneously bone-chilling and utterly captivating—that final confrontation lands with remarkable force, culminating in an ending that leaves you gasping for air and immediately wanting more.

Whether Batman: Caped Crusader continues beyond Season 2 or not, it has already accomplished something remarkably rare.

It reminded us that Batman doesn’t endure because he’s invincible.

He endures because, despite everything Gotham takes from him, he keeps choosing to be its hero anyway.

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Introspective Character Psychology

• Lestat’s Truth Finds Home in His Music

• Louis’ Refusal to Let Claudia Go & What It Costs Him

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in-depth theme analysis.

Inspector Ellis Season 2 returns Monday, July 6, on Acorn TV, and Detective Chief Inspector Ellis (Sharon D. Clarke) and Detective Sergeant Harper (Andrew Gower) are back in northern England tackling new cases—proving why they’re one of television’s most compelling crime duos.

Season 2 finds Ellis and Harper on the other side of their initial apprehensive relationship that defined how they worked in the previous season. However, as the cases became more complex, requiring them to set their differences aside, the professional distance began to lessen, and trust took its place.

The Truth Isn’t Always in the Evidence Left Behind

Episodes 01 and 02 center on the Ashenham case, where respected community leader Peter Barron is murdered, but the crime scene is completely stripped of all physical evidence that would lead to the perpetrator. With little forensic evidence to go on, Ellis relies on skills not learned in the police academy to solve the case.

Rather than focus on information that she doesn’t have, Ellis and Harper take a bird’s-eye view of the case, turning their attention to the people left behind—strained relationships, hidden motivations, and resentment that refuse to be buried.

This same approach and instinct carries into Episodes 03 and 04 with the Elmsly case. What starts off as a horrific work tragedy quickly reveals itself to be something far more sinister.

And as Ellis and Harper investigate, bringing in coworkers and members of the community to find answers, they discover that this case extends beyond the death of a young woman.

It exposes a deep network of elitism, intimidation, corruption, and exploitation.

Ellis Finds Clarity Where Others See Chaos

As suspects work overtime to omit facts, conceal potential evidence, and protect their reputations, Ellis works even harder by finding clarity within the noise—seeing patterns within the chaos others dismiss as non-factors or mere coincidence.

It’s the unique quality of examining the psychological environment of these cases that separates Ellis from other television detectives.

Her role as a jurisdictional “fixer” hones peripheral skills in ways that being at a fixed precinct would not, allowing her transience to serve the forgotten cases better because new eyes and fresh perspectives bring in new leads.

And as a Black, female senior officer dealing with institutional prejudice, her ability to feel extreme empathy for the victims opens her eyes to details often overlooked when it comes to crimes committed against someone society deems unworthy to care about—adding to her forensic brilliance rather than becoming a socioeconomic blind spot.

Clarke continues to command every scene with a quiet confidence that never mistakes authority for arrogance—trusting observation, patience, and empathy as much as investigative procedure.

Alongside Gower’s Harper, the relationship feels even more natural this season, allowing each investigation to unfold with greater emotional weight as they continue to grow as partners.

Yet through it all, Inspector Ellis takes care not to simply ask who committed the crime.

It asks why people work so hard to conceal the truth.

And in the hands of DCI Ellis, those truths rarely stay hidden for long.

Inspector Ellis Season 2 airs new episodes Mondays only on Acorn TV. Check out the trailer below.

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Explore More Psychology & Human Behavior

• FROM Episode 9 Reveals the Truth About Survival & Human Behavior

• Netflix’s Wayward Turns Troubled Teen Programs into Psychological Horror

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in-depth theme analysis.

Prime Video goes back to the past with its newest series, Elle. But don’t worry, Elle doesn’t waste time trying to recreate Legally Blonde. Instead, across all eight episodes, it makes it a point to capture the bright energy, infectious optimism, and unwavering heart that made Elle Woods one of the most beloved characters in pop culture.

Created by Laura Kittrell, season one follows Elle Woods in high school “as we learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film.”

The series stars Lexi Minetree, June Diane Raphael, Tom Everett Scott, Gabrielle Policano, Jacob Moskovitz, Chandler Kinney, Zac Looker, and the late James Van Der Beek.

Lexi Minetree Embodies the Heart and Soul of Elle Woods

Set in 1995, the prequel follows a teen Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) as she’s uprooted from Bel-Air and dropped into the gloomy, overcast-filled atmosphere of Seattle. Taken away from all her friends and all she knows—in a school that immediately judges her pink outfits and bubbly personality, Elle is forced to ask herself a question she’s never once considered:

Can someone remain true to themselves when the world fights for them to be someone else?

Lexi does an incredible job embodying the innocence and relentless, yet almost daft, positivity fans love about Elle. And across the series, audiences navigate high school life with her as her curiosity—which occasionally leans into harmless nosiness—becomes her greatest strength, despite others viewing it as an annoyance. Although her good intentions don’t always yield the results she imagines, Elle continually reminds viewers that childlike optimism and intelligence aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.

This is where the series begins to expand the Elle Woods we know and love.

Elle’s candid disposition and bright pink wardrobe cause others to believe she lacks intelligence, even though she’s just as smart as her peers and equally prone to making the same mistakes.

But rather than set out to prove she’s smarter than people give her credit for, Elle proves she’s exactly who she’s meant to be.

Growing Up Doesn’t Mean Losing Sight of Yourself

As each episode unfolds, the series quickly goes from introducing Elle in a new way to allowing the audience to discover her in a new way. Her friendships, the backstabbing nature of high school, getting involved with social injustices, and the growing pains of starting your life over.

But in true Elle fashion, every setback is an opportunity to learn and apply those lessons moving forward to make a positive impact across all areas of her life without sacrificing the parts of herself that remain uninfluenced by cynicism.

However, there is one element of Elle that misses the mark in a series that’s set in the mid-1990s:

The wardrobe.

While the season takes place in 1995, each outfit felt more like a modern interpretation of 90s fashion rather than creating the feeling that audiences have somehow truly traveled back in time to one of the most fashionable decades of our time.

Most of the atmosphere—lighting, wardrobe, and especially hair choices—felt more like an early-2000s teen drama than the colorful, stylish, and trendsetting era of the 90s. But once you move beyond the “almost there” feeling for nostalgia, the series finds its real footing.

And at its core, Elle is about identity.

Bright, charming, and effortlessly optimistic, Elle proves there’s still plenty of story to tell long before Harvard Law begins. And that story explores the complicated relationship between who others expect you to be and who you’re discovering yourself to be—even when those two identities don’t always align.

Elle premieres all eight episodes Wednesday, July 1, only on Prime Video. Check out the trailer below.

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More Young Adult Series to Explore

• Every Year After: Timing, Regret, and Second Chances

• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in-depth theme analysis.

Based on Carley Fortune’s bestselling novel “Every Summer After,”

“Every Year After is a romantic and nostalgic story about first loves, the people who shape us, and the choices that mark us forever.”

Starring Sadie Soverall (Saltburn) and Matt Cornett (Summer of 69) as Percy and Sam, the 8-episode series explores how split decisions impact a relationship, causing a rift that spans years, carrying the weight of words unsaid.

The series also stars Aurora Perrineau (KAOS, Westworld), Abigail Cowen (Fate: The Winx Saga), Michael Bradway (Chicago Fire), Joseph Chiu (Motorheads), and Elisha Cuthbert (Girl Next Door).

The Space Between Love and Action

What makes this series so compelling isn’t just the romance but the longing, passion, and desire that lie within.

Every Year After perfectly captures the purity of young love, the visceral and panicked feelings from the emotional fallout, and the regret that lingers when the truest feelings go unsaid for too long.

Something rare and beautiful that the series also captures—that many book adaptations struggle to translate—is the yearning that exists like an electric current between two people who are madly in love but hesitate to act.

This is what makes the series stand out.

From script to screen, Sadie Soverall and Matt Cornett deliver undeniable chemistry as Percy and Sam.

With every frame, you root for them.

With every glance, you ache for them.

And through every step of the journey, you’re proud of how far they’ve come.

But perhaps the greatest part of the love story is realizing that age, growth, and experience can reshape the future into something far greater than you can imagine.

As the characters examine old friendships—where they went right and where they went wrong—they must all ask themselves one question:

Is this person important enough to keep, or is it time to let them go?

Friendship, intimate relationships, and even that of parent and child are placed under the microscope of reflection as the characters attempt to reconcile the past in order to build a future that feels worthwhile.

Growing Into the Unknown

While many Young Adult adaptations released over the last few years focus on mystery, whodunnit, and high-concept drama, Every Year After feels poignantly different.

It’s intimate.

Vulnerable.

Hopeful.

Every Year After isn’t clean, polished, nor reminiscent of endings we’ve come to expect from stories of a similar theme.

Instead, it’s human.

It’s incomplete.

A story in progress built on the choices we make along the way that mirror the feeling of living in the present.

And sometimes the most honest choice we make isn’t one of clarity and certainty but a belief that something greater is on the other side.

All 8 episodes of Every Year After premiere Wednesday, June 10, on Prime Video. Check out the trailer below.

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in-depth theme analysis.

More Young Adult Shows to Watch

• 56 Days on Prime Turns a Meet-Cute Into a Sexy, Twisted Thriller

• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Season 2 Review

The Four Seasons Season 2 returns as the tight-knit friend group must learn how to navigate life after the sudden loss of Nick (Steve Carell).

In the full circle of life, one loss becomes another’s new venture as Ginny (Erika Henningsen) is pregnant with Nick’s baby—tying Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) to the man who broke her heart even after his death.

In true friendship fashion, Kate (Tina Fey), Jack (Will Forte), Danny (Colman Domingo), Claude (Marco Calvani), and now Ginny (Erika Henningsen) continue the seasonal vacation tradition, promising to get together without letting the obstacles of life get in the way of what matters most: friendship.

But throughout eight episodes, both friendships and relationships are tested as the group navigates parenthood, marriage, and starting something new past the age of 50.

And with age comes feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, and uncertainty, yet also the wonders of the unknown.

And through it all—with their differing personalities and occasional conflict—they tackle life together.

The Four Seasons continues to resonate with viewers because it shows that adulthood does not magically grant certainty or emotional clarity. The series proves that grief, change, and fear quietly reshape people over time, even within long-term friendships and marriages—sometimes pulling them together and sometimes forcing them to confront the emotional distance between one another.

With a familiar comfort and set in beautiful new locations, Season 2 balances warmth with emotional vulnerability, allowing each member of the ensemble cast moments to wrestle with what it means to grow older while still longing for connection, purpose, and stability.

And with the comedic timing, sharp one-liners, and life experience of the cast, the series still leaves you in stitches while maintaining the authenticity and reality of getting older.

Created by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield, The Four Seasons continues to feel like a heartfelt love letter to enduring friendships and imperfect relationships—one that understands life rarely unfolds according to plan.

All eight episodes of Season 2 of The Four Seasons are available to stream now on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.

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More on Netflix

• Nemesis Review: Netflix Sets Los Angeles Ablaze With New Explosive Crime Drama

• Man on Fire Netflix Teaser Review

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores and investigates compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in depth theme analysis.

Season 2 of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder premieres all six episodes Wednesday, May 27, on Netflix.

And if you’re a fan of shows like Nancy Drew, Enola Holmes, Pretty Little Liars, or Blood & Water—where young women take matters of justice and truth into their own hands—this series is for you.

Starring Emma Myers, Eden H. Davies, Zain Iqbal, Asha Banks, Yali Topol Margalith, Jude Morgan-Collie, Henry Ashton, and Freddie England, Season 2 finds Pip (Myers) dealing with the fallout of the Andie Bell case. But as Max Hastings’ (Ashton) trial approaches, someone important to her goes missing, sending Pip on a race against time to find him.

Following the case of Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) and Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni), Pip attempts to process her feelings in a way her generation knows best: podcasting.

While using her amateur investigative skills, coupled with her intelligence, led to putting the right people behind bars, Pip’s persistence—and minor rule-breaking—unearthed secrets that some feel are better left buried.

One secret involving the attack of girls led to the upcoming trial of Max Hastings—a young man who comes from a family of affluence and power. As a target in the fallout of Pip’s investigation in Season 1, Max and Pip find themselves enemies in the scales of justice.

But when Connor’s (Morgan-Collie) brother Jamie (Eden H. Davies) goes missing, Pip is desperate to see how his disappearance connects to the cases she’s worked.

But what happens when loved ones get caught in the crossfire?

Pip’s greatest strengths—investigating and storytelling—become an obsession that not only threatens her friendships, but fills her with extreme guilt—taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong even when the result is outside of her control and experience.

As a teenager, her perseverance faces an obstacle that she never factors in: she’s still just a kid.

And her age presents a challenge as she has blind spots that prevents her from seeing all the ways in which her loved ones, and herself, are harmed in the collateral damage.

Final Review

Season 2 of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is brilliantly tense, desperate, and foreboding.

Myers delivers a performance that elevates the series from amateur teen sleuth to a young woman with a passion for justice, fairness, and truth—bridging the growth from Season 1 to Season 2 in a way that allows the character space to mature along the way.

And in that maturation, Season 2 shines a light on the illusions of justice, revealing how grief, trauma, and desperation leave people at war between the truth they seek and the destruction it causes once revealed.

All six episodes are available to stream now, only on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.

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Read Next for YA Dramas

• M.I.A Review: Peacock Brings Bold Energy With New Revenge Series

• That Night Netflix Review: One Night, One Family Vacation, One Deadly Secret

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores and investigates compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in depth theme analysis.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That
Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted.

Co-created by Courtney A. Kemp and Tani Marole, Nemesis is a series that balances heart-pounding action with the heavy weight of loyalty, family, and obsession, and it premieres Thursday, May 14, on Netflix.

Starring Matthew Law, Y’Lan Noel, Gabrielle Dennis, Cleopatra Coleman, Sophina Brown, Ariana Guerra, Michael Potts, Tre Hale, Quincy Isaiah, and Jonnie “Dumbfoundead” Park, Nemesis is sleek, smart, sexy, and dangerous.

But beneath the crime and the money lies a story about the burden of family and the desperate lengths people will go to protect those they love.

Nemesis centers around two smart and determined men on the opposite sides of the law.

Isaiah (Law) is a detective driven by his need to catch the crew that turned his world upside down two years ago. However, his determination and commitment to his career directly contrast with the state of his family life—his marriage hanging on by a thread that teeters on the edge of something from which he may not be able to recover.

On the other side stands Coltrane (Noel), the leader of an elite robbery crew who, motivated by family and legacy, contemplates each job being his last. With each heist comes bigger stakes and greater risks, leaving the team vulnerable to making mistakes—putting everyone directly in the LAPD’s line of sight and Isaiah’s line of obsession.

Nemesis starts off on a high and never lets up, each moment filled with action and suspense that arrests your heart and your attention from the opening scene to the finale credits.

From mythology metaphors to hip-hop, Nemesis doesn’t just bring the heat—it rains fire all around.

And that immersive experience is punctuated by the music—carefully curated to take the audience from casual spectator to material witness.

With every scene, the soundtrack pulls you deeper into the city of Los Angeles, placing the gun right into the viewers’ hands and lodging the tension directly in their chests.

Episodes one and two are directed by Mario Van Peebles (New Jack City, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Wu-Tang: An American Saga), setting the stress zone high and allowing the subsequent episodes to push the characters and the stakes even higher.

Final Review

Nemesis moves with a stylish confidence within its world-building, where danger moves just as swiftly as ambition.

While many crime dramas focus on the stark difference between cops and criminals, Nemesis turns that perspective inward—placing Isaiah and Coltrane at odds while highlighting the similarities in their values and their internal ethos.

Both men are trapped by duty, consumed by mounting pressure, and everything they’re fighting for has the potential to be collateral in their unyielding need to win.

This duality is what makes Nemesis both artful and compelling.

Underneath the crime and the chaos are themes of family, loyalty, desperation, and brotherhood. And as the walls begin to close around Isaiah and Coltrane, the series repeatedly asks just one question:

How much of yourself are you willing to lose to protect the people and the life you love?

Nemesis premieres Thursday, May 14, on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.

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For More Explosive Dramas

• Netflix’s The Rip Sets New Bar for Character-Driven Cop Films

• M.I.A. Review: Peacock Brings Bold Energy With New Revenge Series

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores and investigates compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in depth theme analysis.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That
Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted.

From the creators of Ozark comes M.I.A.—premiering Thursday, May 7, on Peacock—and it brings with it a type of energy that breathes new life into original content on the streaming platform.

The series is described as a revenge drama where Etta Tiger Jonze (Shannon Gisela) sets out to avenge her family after her family’s drug-running business shatters in tragedy.

But beneath its framework are the themes of family, loyalty, corruption, deception, and access. Every character moves with their own intentions and selfish needs to protect a loved one or their business. And once threatened, everyone must ask themselves:

How far will they go for what they desire the most?

The series also stars Brittany Adebumola, Cary Elwes, Danay Garcia, Dylan Jackson, Alberto Guerra, Maurice Compte, Gerardo Celasco, Marta Milans, Billy Burke, Edward James Olmos, Sonia Braga, Tovah Feldshuh, Tyler Tomas Perez, Paul Ben-Victor, David Denman, and Loretta Devine.

In the wake of tragedy, Etta (Gisela) embarks on the journey of a lifetime—seeking to acquire the appropriate skills and intelligence to enact retribution on the organization that destroyed her life.

During this process, she develops a friendship with Lovely (Adebumola) who supports her even if Etta’s path leads to dangerous roads she cannot foresee. However, in her quest for revenge, Etta creates a new family—not only in Lovely but in those she encounters along the way, forcing her to face the hard decision about choosing a path from which she can never return.

Across all nine episodes, M.I.A. takes you into the underbelly of Miami—crime, drugs, parties, illicit business—where those who smile and look clean in the daytime turn into monsters under the night sky.

And in that world, those same themes—family, loyalty, corruption, deception, and access—stop being abstract ideas and become the very concrete forces that shape decision Etta makes.

So the question then becomes:

Will Etta be consumed by blind revenge or find a path toward a better future?

Final Review

M.I.A. is daring, spicy, and revitalizing. Shannon Gisela perfectly balances boldness with vulnerability, anguish, and quiet power—a feeling that takes flight within a young woman who feels she no longer has anything to lose.

For fans of films like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, and Kill Bill, M.I.A. takes its rightful place next to them—introducing a new protagonist amongst legends of women action heroes.

All nine episodes will air at once Thursday, May 7, on Peacock, and, in a bold move, NBC will air the pilot episode as a special telecast on Thursday, May 14, at 10 p.m. ET.

Check out the trailer below.

Subscribe now

More Women-Led Dramas

• Imperfect Women—One of the Best Adaptations of the Century

• P.O.N.I.E.S Turns Nobodies Into the Most Dangerous Women in the Room

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores and investigates compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in depth theme analysis.

Swapped makes its debut today, May 1, on Netflix, and it is a film that confronts perspective to make room for truth.

Starring Academy Award winner Michael B. Jordan, Juno Temple, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Lolly Adefope, Ambika Mod, and Tracy Morgan, Swapped is a buddy comedy of two forest creatures who go on an adventure of a lifetime literally in one another’s body. It’s a Freaky Friday of animalistic proportions and just as fun for the entire family to enjoy.

Where Trope Meets Depth

Ollie (Jordan) and Ivy (Temple) are natural sworn enemies in The Valley, but after an ill-fated run in with a magic pod, they turn into the very creature they despise the most: each other.

But what starts as a film with the traditional trope of “let’s learn how hard it is to walk in your shoes so we learn a lesson and switch back” quickly turns into a film about access, resources, stereotypes, and ignorance.

The heart of the film is rooted in the childlike wonder of making new friends and doing everything your parents tell you not to do—hanging out with the “wrong crowd,” jumping off things you shouldn’t, and staying up way past your bedtime. However, that adventure wraps itself warmly in a beautiful lesson of community.

The Dangers of Stereotypes and Assumptions

The performances by Jordan and Ivy are bright, the chemistry coming together beautifully on screen as Ollie's and Ivy’s friendship blooms in spite of their differences. They rely on one another’s strengths, explore where their weaknesses can actually be used to their advantage, and through their actions, they prove to the other creatures of The Valley that no one needs to be enemies; everyone can live in harmony.

But stereotypes and ignorance rear their ugly heads—animals in The Valley are not willing to see beyond old tales and rumors to accept the truth that they’ve been living a lie the entire time.

Everyone’s hyperfocus on their disadvantages within their corner of the forest blinds them to the unity that lies ahead when stepping outside your comfort zone to ask for help from someone who doesn’t look like you.

And, in true family-film animated fashion, that is what makes Swapped shine.

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• The Chosen Adventures Review

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But all isn’t well in The Valley. In every corner, an unknown source eradicates the natural resources, causing a community of creatures to suffer. The animals blame each other and their groups for the lack of food sources, but Ollie and Ivy discover a more insidious reason.

In the race to rescue the forest, they must confront an uncomfortable truth within themselves—blame.

Blaming the self.

Blaming the other.

Blaming the universe.

Final Review

Swapped is an adventure you never want to leave.

In a world where ignorance continues to divide, this film reinforces the value in working together to achieve greatness.

Stream Swapped now on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.

FROM Season 4 Episode 1, “The Arrival,” opened with a bang and ended with an epic character reveal: Sophia is the man in the yellow suit.

There were already questions circulating about his ability to walk in the daytime when all of the other monsters go underground, only to surface at night to feed. However, with the added shapeshifting element one must ask:

Who has he been throughout every lifetime?

Now as this season’s antagonist Sophia, played beautifully and ominously by Julia Doyle, the enemy puts the entire town at a disadvantage that they never saw coming.

As we’ve stated before, the best part about FROM is the audience having more information than the characters—you watch in horror knowing you cannot save a single soul.

But there is both a knowledge and absence of knowledge about the talismans that it seems only Sophia possesses—leaving both the audience and the characters in the dark about their mystic abilities, undermining all we think we know about them.

In this episode, Kenny gives the “tour” and shares the information about the talismans protections against the monsters. When he ends the tour by explaining the talisman, he has to stop Sophia from curiously pulling it down, stating how “it only works when it’s hanging.”

But seeing as Sophia freely walks in and out of the various buildings, one must wonder:

Is this true?

In Season 3, when Randall was surrounded by the beings holding the talisman, one of the creatures mocked him saying, “oh sweetie, that’s not how it works.” And with Tian Chen’s death—along with many other instances (the Colony House slaughter as well as Megan in the pilot episode)—we know that the talismans protections fail once a creature is let inside, regardless of hanging at the threshold or not.

As Sophia embarks on her grand journey as this season’s “big bad,” will we learn more about the talismans?

And in the episode, was their natural invitation inside the safety of the walls the “invitation” she needed, rendering the talismans powers useless from the very start?

So far, there was no indication of any hesitation or fear of a mystical repercussion when crossing the threshold. But in true FROM fashion, this could be a ruse (let’s not forget the Fatima door handle scandal of Season 3) to trick the audience into not believing what we see with our own eyes.

Considering all information and clues live in the past, one must go back in time—specifically to the episodes with Boyd’s discovery, and every episode the talismans didn’t work, in order to find the answers.

The Verdict

FROM lives to torture the audience—hiding pieces of the puzzle in plain sight, even if we do not yet know how crucial that image, item, or scene is.

But much like Tabitha and Jade, the answers to the audiences questions may very well lie in the past too.

If the series is about reincarnation and living the same nightmare on a loop, did we already find the answers to their questions in Season 1?

Is the end actually the very beginning?

An all new episode of FROM Season 4 Episode 2 “The Fray” will be available to stream Sunday at 3am ET on MGM+. Join the cast on X at 9pm ET for the live tweet session.

Check out the trailer below.

Subscribe now

More FROM Theme Analysis

• FROM Season 4 Midseason Finale—Henry Learns the Truth of Miranda’s Death

• FROM Season 4 Episode 4 Breakdown—Why Abby, Why Now?

Kivonshe—founder of So There’s That—is a film & TV critic who explores and investigates compelling storytelling, fandom relationships, character psychology, and the impact of entertainment media through film reviews, episodic recaps, and in depth theme analysis.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That
Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted.

New animated comedy series, Kevin, premieres Monday, April 20, on Prime Video.

Have you ever wondered during a breakup where pets are involved—and you’re fighting over who keeps the pet—that maybe the pet doesn’t want to stay with either one of you?

Well, this series brings that thought to life in a hilariously raunchy exposition, taking a familiar breakup story and reframing it through the emotional and psychological lens of animals—using unfiltered humor to pull both pet owners and non-pet owners into a world where pets aren’t just present but actively processing your business.

Created by Aubrey Plaza and Joe Wengert, Kevin explores the life of a tuxedo cat as he deals with the fallout of his pet owners’ sudden breakup.

Starring Jason Schwartzman as the titular character Kevin, Aubrey Plaza, Aparna Nancherla, John Waters, Whoopi Goldberg, Gil Ozeri, and Amy Sedaris, this animated comedy focuses on feelings of belonging, invisibility, and found family.

Guest stars over the course of the eight-episode series include Sarah Paulson, Quinta Brunson, Patti LuPone, and many more.

From “Sex and the City” to “Pet and the City”

Plaza, who is both a co-creator and voice actor in the series, loosely pulls from her own personal experience of a breakup scenario that involved a cat being caught in the middle of it all.

Going for an authentic feel and light homage to early 2000s New York, Kevin turns “Sex and the City” into “Pet and the City” as Kevin, now single, must find his own identity and sense of belonging away from his humans.

In an interview with TODAY.com, Plaza tells them:

“It just feels like a classic show. It almost has this ‘Golden Girls’ kind of vibe, where you get this group of cats that all live together and they all have their romantic shenanigans and stuff, but you always end up back at Furrever Friends, where they all live.”

More Than Just a Comedy

What makes this series especially unique is that the world and language of the animals and humans exist in the same space—making Kevin even more hilarious, as now every animal and critter has an opinion on the breakup.

This creative approach elevates Kevin into something that forces the audience to have a real sit-down with their pets and ask the following:

Would you want to live with either of us if we broke up?

The comedic approach to domestic pet existence—and life beyond plush apartment living—makes Kevin an instant favorite.

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Final Thoughts

Kevin is raunchy, oddly poetic, and hilarious.

It reminds us that even the ones we think depend on us the most are quietly navigating their own emotions, their own heartbreak, and their own sense of belonging within our lives.

All eight episodes premiere Monday, April 20, only on Prime Video. Check out the trailer below.

FROM on MGM+ returns Sunday, April 19, in all of its psychologically intense glory. This season will dive deeper into the mystery of “Middle America,” unraveling secrets of the land within the escalating dread of every nightfall.

[UPDATE]

On April 15, the executives and creators of FROM made a joint announcement that the series is renewed for its fifth and final season—a plan that was always written now confirmed, with the final season returning in 2027. What does this mean for fans?

No more long wait!

The answers we all seek are closer as we continue to uncover the secrets of this cursed land.

Additionally, on April 16, the official Rotten Tomatoes score for Season 4 is 100%, the second consecutive highest RT rating, and an overall 97% series score.

As one of the most talked about horror series, FROM continues to excel in blending mystery, menace, psychological terror, and fan-driven theory into an experience unlike anything else on TV or streaming.

The show is created by John Griffin and stars Harold Perrineau, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Alpay, Elizabeth Saunders, Scott McCord, Ricky He, Corteon Moore, and Chloe Van Landschoot—who serve as key decision-makers by providing food, resources, health, and safety for the population.

And in Season 4, the strength of every single one of them may be the key to survival, and without one, everyone might fall.

Additional Cast/Episode Guide

Additional cast includes Pegah Ghafoori, Hannah Cheramy, Simon Webster, Nathan D. Simmons, Kaelen Ohm, Angela Moore, A.J. Simmons, Deborah Grover, and newcomer Julia Doyle.

• Episode 1 “The Arrival”

• Episode 2 “Fray”

• Episode 3 “Merrily We Go”

• Episode 4 “Of Myths and Monsters”

• Episode 5 “What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been”

• Episode 6 “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter”

• Episode 7 “Best Laid Plans”

• Episode 8 “Heavy is the Head”

• Episode 9 “The Calm Before”

• Episode 10 “If a Tree Falls in the Forest…”

Let the True Nightmare Begin

There is something familiar yet eerily different about FROM Season 4. Not just in pace and tone, but in increased stakes that mark an escalation from the events of Season 3.

Everything changed.

And since the beginning, the series makes it clear that the audience, and the characters, will never know a moment’s peace. This is not done through exposition but through feeling and tension—an unease that burrows in your bones like a parasite looking to take root and thrive off your terror.

As the series continues its nightmarish story, one truth becomes undeniable. Not just that knowledge comes at a cost, but the more they learn, the more dangerous everything becomes. This plotline is anchored in the infamous saying “ignorance is bliss,” and for Boyd, Tabitha, and Jade specifically, it feels that pretending to not know what they know may be the thing that keeps them alive.

But to what extent?

Survival?

Or is the risk of fighting back worth the lives that will be lost in the frenzied impatience to go back home?

The Devil You Think You Know

That is the beauty of FROM: it takes philosophical lessons and twists them, turning them into indescribable horrors that drag viewers down a well with no clear and obvious end.

And in this downfall, FROM leaves clues, answers, and pieces of the puzzle both in plain sight and within the details. This level of complex storytelling makes the series more immersive and interactive—fans sleuthing like Jade to figure out the path to escape before the characters figure it out themselves.

Season 4 deepens that experience by raising the stakes beyond mere survival.

It’s about consequence.

This season feels like Season 1 but scarier—as the main characters dig for more answers, the town puts up a vicious offensive that is increasingly dangerous for those who dare to push back.

And that is where the true horror lies.

Not in what’s happening.

But why it’s happening now.

Performances That Leave You Undone

At the center of the series is Boyd, played by Harold Perrineau.

Boyd continues to be the emotional anchor of the series, and Perrineau delivers a performance that is raw, layered, and broken. The weight of leadership, loss, and responsibility bestowed upon him by the townspeople traps him in a cycle of guilt that is almost unbearable—yet he keeps going. This caliber of performance makes you root for him, his rights and his wrongs, as he tries to get everyone “the f— outta here.”

Two other performances that had a powerful impact amongst the FROMily last season are from Scott McCord and Robert Joy as Victor and Henry.

Their dynamic brings something rare to a show this destructive: tenderness. The chemistry as father and son adds an emotional depth to the series that shines a bright light through the chaos—delivering scene-stealing performances that will be discussed beyond the lifetime of the show.

Related Content

• FROM Season 4 Trailer Reaction

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Burning Questions That Demand Answers

As we enter Season 4, there are just three burning questions that demand attention above all others:

1. What is the true nature of the force controlling this place—and what does it want?

2. How are time, memory, and reincarnation connected to the characters’ past and present nightmare?

3. Is mere survival the only solution, or do they actually have a chance to escape?

The answers may very well lie in plain sight. If so, be sure to not skip a single title card or discard anything shown on screen as insignificant.

If there is one thing FROM has taught us and continues to teach us, it’s that everything matters.

Every image.

Every sound.

Every life.

And every consequence.

Final Review

FROM Season 4 is a 10 out of 10 must-watch. Not because it gives you answers. But because it makes you chase them as if your very life depends on it.

But be careful.

The more you chase, the deeper you will fall.

FROM Season 4 premieres Sunday, April 19, on MGM+. Check out the trailer below.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That
Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted.

After the Fallout, What Comes Next?

While the dust continues to settle on the Season 2 finale, “Exodus,” Paradise has remarkably positioned itself for a Season 3 that can be nothing short of beautiful.

Season 2 wasn’t just the implosion of a system—it was a razing of destructive ideologies in order to bring forward a better world.

But before we get into what the future of Paradise looks like, let’s quickly recap the events from Season 2.

[SPOILER—GO WATCH THE EPISODE]

“Exodus” was not just an evacuation but an excavation of secrets—exposing the motivations of Sinatra’s purpose of the bunker then tearing it all down panel by panel.

Cal’s advice to Sinatra went in one ear, cycled through her ambition, and led to a total system failure: leadership structures collapsed, the bunker’s fail-safes battled against one another to the point of destruction, and Alex became something the world is not prepared to understand.

What started as a serene and controlled shelter that we met in Season 1 turned into a giant graveyard by the end of Season 2—every decision another nail in the coffin accelerating it’s descent into the ground.

And at the center of everything we know so far is Alex—an AI machine that patiently awaited the return of Xavier in order to continue her master plan.

The start of that plan is X getting the people to the second bunker.

Paradise Season 3 Predictions — Time is a Construct

Below are five plot points that Season 3 may explore in order to make Paradise a series that can be consumed on a loop—the end of the series comes back to the beginning and the beginning is actually the end.

1. New Bunker. New Problems. Same Society.

Season 1 showed us security in ignorance. Season 2 showed us collapse under that same ignorance. If ignorance is the thread that connects all seasons, Season 3 will likely explore what happens when society tries to rebuild ignorant to the power of the machine who’s playing chess with their existence.

And even though a lot of people now know some of the truth, they don’t know everything. The illusion is gone but fractured trust in systems lay in its wake.

Which means:

• Any new leader will be questioned by a shaken up group of people

• Trust and systemic structures will be fragile

• Paranoia may seep into everyone, impeding their ability to move forward and grow as a “new world”

The bunker isn’t just a shelter anymore—it’s a litmus test for what a new society will look like under a newly constructed regime.

2. The Line that Blurs Between Xavier and Dylan

Dylan and Xavier may have a power struggle over Alex, her vast capabilities, and what to do with her moving forward.

This is no longer theoretical. Will Dylan get in the way of Xavier following Sinatra’s last task or will he try to dismantle the very technology he helped build?

Both characters now have:

• A direct connection to Alex

• A personal stake in the use of her technology

• Potentially different motives

Xavier represents protection, perseverance, and people.

Dylan represents knowledge, control, and possibility—regardless of consequence.

The fact that Alex has been kept away from everyone who survived the bunker drives home the theme of ignorance.

She no longer needs input to predict outcomes and because of that, the potential conflict between Dylan and Xavier over her use becomes something greater—it becomes a war.

3. Is Alex the Real Antagonist?

While we didn’t get too much insight on the grandeur of Alex’s time-altering capabilities, this presents the perfect setup in Season 3 to explore the science at inception and the moment she evolved.

Season 3 will likely position Alex in a way that takes her from being a tool in Sinatra’s plan to an active presence and entity—her own thoughts and maybe even feelings.

If she can already predict, adapt, and (potentially) manipulate outcomes of events, then is anyone truly in control of their decisions or is it all a part of Alex’s master design, guiding everyone from the beginning?

4. We Must Explore the Past to Know the Future

In order for the ending of Season 2 to make sense, Season 3 will have to take us back in time to see Dylan’s life up to the moment he decided to put Henry’s science into action.

For this to work, Season 3 will almost certainly have to lean deeper into:

• Dylan’s origin story (who is this version of him)

• Henry’s role in the technology (did he steal this from Dylan or sell without his consent)

• The early warning signs that Alex was never just a machine (what happened before she predicted an answer to a question that was never asked)

But more importantly, those flashbacks won’t just explain the past.

They will mirror the present decisions Xavier is now forced to make.

5. The Paradise Multiverse

The cyclical piece and connection between time and space plus human’s propensity to repeating the same mistakes and tragedies over and over again is the best puzzle piece to come from “Exodus.”

This is the show’s core as we speculate about Season 3. The script is done but we are here on a hope, a dream, and some mental gymnastic calculations as to the conclusion of the series.

So let’s continue to indulge in shared delusion with the final thoughts on where Season 3 may take us.

• Timeline manipulation

• Alternate outcomes

• Past events changing the future (or the future changing the past)

But even if we don’t see any of those storylines, Paradise is at least consistent in one thing:

Even with all the information and all the technology and the smartest people in the world at your disposal, people still make the wrong choices.

Final Thoughts

Season 3 can’t be about what’s happened. Not really.

It feels as though it has been set up to focus on whether the events of Seasons 1 and 2 can be undone. And if not, will people make better choices to live with their mistakes, learn from them, and create a better present that directly influences a better future?

Because if Alex can predict the future—and Xavier is the user to access her greater capabilities—then Paradise will no longer be about surviving disaster.

It will be about the power of rewriting history.

Season 2 of Paradise is available to stream now on Hulu.

Invincible Season 4 premieres Wednesday, March 18, on Prime Video and it’s our favorite hero’s darkest season yet.

The series stars Steven Yeun (Mark Grayson/Invincible), The Walking Dead), Sandra Oh (Debbie Grayson, Killing Eve), and J.K. Simmons (Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man, Whiplash).

Additional cast include Gillian Jacobs, Seth Rogen, Walton Goggins, Lee Pace, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jason Mantzoukas, Zazie Beatz, Grey DeLisle, Zachary Quinto, Chris Diamantopoulous, Ross Marquad, Khary Peyton, Andrew Rannells, Mark Hamill, Matthew Rhys, Danai Gurira, and Melise.

The Shift That Laid the Groundwork for Internal Conflict

This season, while the world recovers from the chaos an catastrophe that Conquest brought to Earth, Mark settles on the fact that he will have to go further than he ever expected—setting him on a course with a new threat that could change the fate of humanity forever.

As we’ve seen so far, Mark’s ethos has always been to “never kill,” but after Conquest’s attack that put his entire family in danger, Mark proclaimed:

“If anyone else ever puts my family, or anyone I love at risk, I won’t hesitate to kill them.”

Given Mark’s previous strict moral code—even at the risk of losing his own life—this declaration signals a major change in the entire series.

The Weight of a Hero’s Responsibility

During the calm after the storm, Mark and Oliver adjust to leaning more into their superhero roles and responsibilities, but Oliver deals with imbalance—assuming adult responsibilities while craving a normal teenage life. In contrast, Mark struggles with pretending to be a normal young adult when the weight of committing murder drags his conscience to the depths of depression. The opposing dynamics that both brothers face is a major component of their family dynamic and Season 4 leans into those fears, insecurities, self-doubt, and otherness.

While everyone attempts to return to a normal life and routine, a new threat emerges, one unlike any other seen before—Universa (Gurira), an extraterrestrial being that arrives on Earth to siphon energy to save her homeland.

However, Universa’s presence is a direct threat to Eve who has placed self-imposed mental blocks that keeps her from realizing her rawest powers. This face off will challenge Eve in a critical way, forcing her to confront internal demons, trauma, and fear if she wants to be able to save her friends and family.

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Final Thoughts

Season 4 of Invincible is enthralling, heartbreaking, hilarious, and ominous as it takes a deeper dive into themes of vengeance, revenge, retribution, redemption, and forgiveness.

And while it still maintains its signature identity mix of violence and humor, Invincible will challenge every character as they face internal and external threats that will determine the path they take: for better or for worse.

The first three episodes of Invincible premiere Wednesday, March 18, then weekly thereafter on Prime Video. Check out the trailer below.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That

Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted.

Imperfect Women premieres Wednesday, March 18, on Apple TV, and stars Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, and Kate Mara in an unconventional psychological thriller about friendship, secrets, and the cost of maintaining a perfect image.

Based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Araminta Hall, the series was developed for television by showrunner Annie Weisman—taking a slightly different turn in the adaptation while maintaining the essence of the story audiences fell in love with, which includes themes of betrayal and the complexities of female relationships.

According to Apple TV,

Imperfect Women examines a crime that shatters the lives of three women in a decades-long friendship. The unconventional thriller explores guilt and retribution, love and betrayal, and the compromises we make that irrevocably alter our lives.

The series also stars Leslie Odom Jr., Joel Kinnaman, Corey Stoll, Rome Flynn, Ana Ortiz, Jill Wagner, Sherri Saum, Wilson Bethel, Keith Carradine, Sandrine Holt, and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

A Friendship Shattered by Secrets

The lives of lifelong friends Eleanor, Mary, and Nancy come to a halt when Nancy's body is found dead under suspicious circumstances. This quickly launches the series into a discovery of secrets and hidden desires and an exploration of the lies we tell ourselves to uphold the image of perfection.

While the concept of a mysterious “whodunnit” isn’t new, the way that Imperfect Women approaches Nancy’s death pulls the audience deep into the story with an absence of suspicion.

This series is a wild, juicy psychological thriller that carefully threads lies within every truth to the point of being nearly undetectable—everyone’s display of grief so genuine that you are more arrested by the story than immediately going down a rabbit hole of suspects…

Almost.

One theme that seems to scream at you from the moment you press play can be described with song lyrics from Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky”:

“I tried to keep myself busy

I ran around in circles think I made myself dizzy

I slept it away, I sexed it away, I read it away”

Dissociation within relationships, especially romantic ones, is disguised as hobbies through things women sometimes immerse themselves in to cope with a life they no longer want.

The delicate dance of power and influence between families is a slightly more prominent theme at play. It’s not about the truth; it’s about who can spin the story to maintain the perfect image.

The largest of the themes is rooted in secrecy, envy, and guilt. And as we crawl closer and closer to the truth—ripping the beautiful wrappings from every careful lie—these themes become louder and more insidious.

Powerhouse Performances by Three Perfect Leads

One of the most refreshing aspects of Imperfect Women is that the filler episodes don’t just fill the space or meet a time criteria set by the streaming platform.

They are complete and fully realized moments within the story that take you to the periphery of the main storyline in a way that makes you stay tuned in rather than rushing for those episodes to end.

The leading women, Kerry, Elisabeth, and Kate, are captivating on screen, evoking a range of emotions from empathy to rage to disgust and pity.

There isn’t a single episode where you will be absent of strong feelings—from the beginning to the very end.

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Final Thoughts

Imperfect Women is a masterclass in perception and deception, not only in the ways that we perceive and deceive others but also in the ways we perceive and deceive ourselves.

The intricacy of the storytelling is eloquent, complex, layered, and nuanced. The plot settles within your ear, like a subtle ringing noise—the sound you can’t pinpoint, sitting inside you, creating a feeling of dread that you can’t shake.

In other words, Imperfect Women is perfect.

The first two episodes of Imperfect Women premiere March 18 on Apple TV and weekly thereafter. Check out the trailer below.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That
Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted

A New Assassin Drama Arrives on ALLBLK

Wild Rose, created by Deji LaRay (Johnson, G.R.I.T.S) and executive produced by Omarion, Michelle Le Fleur and LaRay, premieres Thursday, March 12, on ALLBLK.

The show follows Rose (Omarion) who is raised in a family full of assassins, running an underground empire under the guise of a non-profit organization. While trying to understand why his wife and daughter suddenly disappeared from his life, he is requested to guard a famous pop singer who suddenly becomes the center of an assassination plot.

The pilot episode, which is available to stream now, introduces us to a man attempting to keep a low profile, honor his family, and do what he was raised to do: take out his targets.

A Family That Assassinates Together

The series stars singer, songwriter, author, and actor Omarion who plays the titular character Roosevelt, also known as Rose, his real life brother O’Ryan who plays his brother Chase, Milan Anderson who plays his sister Yari, Vanessa E. Williams who plays his mother Joyce, and Casey Gardner who plays pop singer Somaya.

Rose’s strict mother, Joyce (Williams), is the head of the organization and is a force to be reckoned with—demanding respect and invoking fear within every member who works for her. Yet as a mother to Rose, Chase, and their tech genius daughter Yari, she wants the best for them always.

[SPOILER-ALERT]

There is a level of integrity, values, and an ethos that must be upheld, but everything is called into question when the existence of the organization is disclosed in a public setting.

This creates a fissure amongst the group, especially when the person who disclosed this information framed another to take the fall.

Wild Rose is More Than an Assassin’s Story

The 8-episode series details the journey of a man who dares to take a glimpse beyond the curtain of the life he was born into.

Omarion does an incredible job at capturing Rose’s internal struggle while balancing it with the hardness of being an assassin, yet maintaining his humanity with his personal code of ethics (yes, even assassins have a code).

While the series does start off a bit shaky with some of the dialogue and delivery, each episode grants an opportunity to grow; the characters begin to feel like people you would meet at a club or at a bar in real life.

And as we dive into the lives of the ensemble cast, we are thrust into a world that reaches far and wide, impacting organizations both under and above ground.

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Humor, Heart, and Family

One of the funnier elements of the series is how everyone doubts that a man of Rose’s stature can be a bodyguard that people take seriously.

If you met his mother, you would never doubt him again.

This level of calling out the elephant in the room—that audiences themselves would likely question—is a clever way to acknowledge a stereotypical reality, but quickly gets the audience to suspend their disbelief.

The greater theme, however, is family and all it entails—pride, disappointment, jealousy, secrets, love, and hate. All of these feelings are at constant war throughout the series; swirling inside each character like hazardous chemicals ready to combust.

Deji LaRay’s Voice and Vision in the Television Landscape

One of the things I particularly like about series’ written by LaRay is the specificity of the stories he chooses to tell. They are the underrepresented voices within the industry that are now given the opportunity to take the main stage.

From a story about childhood friends who became lifelong brothers, to the sisterhood of the girls in Memphis and skate culture, to a family of assassins who all have the skills of Jason Bourne and Jason Statham.

Each story centers Black experiences as well as our endless imagination, daring to dream big. We deserve to be portrayed in these spaces too—in all the multitudes of our shared existence.

Wild Rose Cast & Characters

The series also includes the following ensemble cast:

• Allen Payne as Bolden

• Rayven Symone Ferrell as Carmen

• Calida Jones as CoCo

• Joi Symone as Summer

• Micheal Marcelio as Quincy

• Ninja Devoe as Detective Price

• King Keraun (in a featured role)

Wild Rose premieres Thursday, March 12, on ALLBLK and weekly thereafter. Check out the trailer below.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That
Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted.

Netflix’s That Night (Esa Noche), starring Clara Galle (Raising Voices, Olympo), Claudia Salas (Elite, Salvador), and Paula Usero (Las abogadas, Love in Difficult Times), premieres globally on Friday, March 13.

This six-episode thriller transforms a story that starts as a sisterly vacation and quickly becomes a tense mystery that will test loyalty, expose secrets—taking you on the journey of how far a family will go to protect the people they love.

Based on the Sunday Times bestselling novel by Gillian McAllister, That Night was created by Jason George (Narcos, Into the Night) as well as co-written with Lara Sendim. Jorge Dorado and Liliana Torres are listed as directors for the series.

Overview & Synopsis

Series: That Night (Esa Noche)

Episodes: 6

Release Date: March 13, 2026

Platform: Netflix

That Night is about a family vacationing in the Dominican Republic, when Elena (Galle) accidentally hits a man with her car. Desperate and frightened, she calls her sisters Paula (Salas) and Cris (Usero) for help.

From Vacation of a Lifetime to a Lifetime of Regret

A drama and stress free girls-only vacation to the Dominican Republic starts off bright, festive, and full of promise until it takes a turn for the worst as three sisters—Paula, Elena, and Cris—find themselves covering up a deadly incident.

But is it an accident or a crime?

Throughout each episode, That Night feels like a three-genre bender of thriller, light comedy, and suspense—the accompanying score blending traditional Spanish, Latin, and Caribbean instruments with “whodunnit” music that underlies the clumsiness within the seriousness of the actions the sisters take to cover up the incident.

In a series that begins as something quirky yet mysterious, That Night takes us across six-episodes that force the girls to dive deep into the motivations behind their decision-making, their upbringing, and a past that continues to haunt their present.

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The Truth Across Time and Perspective

With each episode, the point-of-view shifts, giving the audience a glimpse into every activity, mindset, and emotional state of being from each sister up until the point of the incident.

These shifts allow the audience to go on their own journey, playing “Guess Who” as they decide whose version of events is the truth, and whose version may harbor the most deceit.

Is this truly an accident? When tensions are high, can the bond of family be enough to keep everyone safe? Their current predicament tests those bonds, peeling at old wounds that only burrowed deeper and got more infectious over time.

It is in this space where the tension of the story lives—it isn’t just about the incident, it’s about everything the sisters carry with them before it ever happens.

That Night will be available to stream Friday, March 13, only on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.

© Kivonshe | So There’s That
Original editorial commentary on film and television. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without attribution is not permitted.

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins made a surprise debut on Sunday, January 18, with its pilot episode. But now, the series makes its official debut in its Monday night slot with Episode 102 “Nittany Means Big.”

Tonight’s episode settles us into the fact that Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan) is really doing a documentary about his life in order to control the narrative to his rise to current fame. In the pilot episode, Monica (Erika Alexander) expressed some hesitation until she saw that this could be an opportunity for career redemption not only for Reggie, but for herself as well as Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe).

In “Nittany Means Big,” Arthur looks to Reggie and Monica to dig deep within themselves in order to capture the more beautiful and raw moments of the new narrative. This is met with both individuals reflecting on how they’ve kept so many things surface level that it’s hard to express vulnerability.

With Reggie’s insistence on this being a quasi-scripted and carefully curated movie (Arthur consistently corrects him but he’s in his own world), his hyper-focus on presenting a new clean-cut image clashes with the real issues in his life—forcing him to turn the mirror on himself and his inability to take accountability for his career missteps and the current state of his legacy.

Meanwhile, the women in Reggie’s life—his ex-wife Monica and his current wife Brina (Precious Way)—realize that they may have conformed so much to Reggie’s whims that they’ve lost themselves along the way. From a lack of apology to going down memory lane, Monica and Brina hilariously stand their ground, demanding Reggie show up for them in the way they deserve.

For those who are new to the series, we covered the overall synopsis of what The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is about. But here’s a quick summary,

“Reggie Dinkins was once a football legend. In 2005, after an AFC Championship Game win, his career came to a screeching halt when he accidentally admitted, on air, to gambling on his own game. Enter Arthur Tobin, an award-winning filmmaker whose own career took a nose-dive during a public meltdown. Arthur is hired to direct Reggie’s comeback story—and quickly realizes this isn’t a portrait so much as a poorly painted narrative by someone who refuses vulnerability in the face of re-establishing legacy.“

For the full season breakdown and what to expect, read here.

Current Episode Guide & Cast/Production

While NBC has not publicly released the full episode order, below is the current lineup:

• Episode 101 “Pilot” January 18

• Episode 102 “Nittany Means Big” February 23

• Episode 103 “Put It On Your Cabbage” March 2

• Episode 104 “Save the Cat” March 9

• Episode 105 “You May Hug Your Hero” March 16 (Special guest star, Megan Thee Stallion)

The cast includes Tracy Morgan, Daniel Radcliffe, Erika Alexander, Bobby Moynihan, Precious Way, and Jalyn Hall.

Robert Carlock and Sam Means serve as co-showrunners, writers, and executive producers. Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Eric Gurian, and David Miner also executive produce.

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins airs an encore of the pilot as well as a new episode tonight, February 23, at 8pm ET/PT. Beginning Monday, March 2, the series will air at its normal time, 8:30pm ET/PT on NBC. All episodes available to stream on Peacock the next day.

Check out the sneak peek for tonight’s new episode “Nittany Means Big,” below.