Sometimes it’s more difficult to dress for a casual day than for a fancy occasion. But Jessica Alba just gave us a spring outfit formula that’s more elevated than wearing jeans or leggings. You might not think to wear high-waisted trousers on the weekends, but hear us out: They’re just as comfortable yet more stylish.

Alba’s cool-mom outfit was spotted as she was leaving the Beverly Hills Hotel. Her trousers look just like the Nimin High-Waisted Work Pants on Amazon, which means you can get that effortlessly put-together look, too. The actress and Honest Company founder paired her straight-leg pants with a white tank top, a white, unbuttoned button-up shirt, white sneakers, a brown designer bag and sunglasses.

Get the Nimin High-Waisted Work Pants for $39 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.

You might not think of work pants as being the most comfortable bottoms, but you won’t say that after trying this Amazon find. Although they don’t have an elastic waistband, the 8% spandex makes the fabric easy to wear without losing its structure. The pleated pocket area and relaxed straight-leg silhouette are all the makings of a flattering option.

Related: Gisele Bundchen’s Office Trousers Look Is So Chic — And Like Sweats

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If squeezing into dress pants has you dreading it the night before, same. But Gisele Bündchen‘s latest trouser style is honestly a life hack. It makes you look professional while feeling like you’re in loungewear . . . because you basically are. These pants are something between polished slacks and comfy sweats, making them the workwear […]

What we love about the Nimin work pants is that there is a range of sizes, including short, regular and long inseams. The apricot color is a similar spring-ready hue to Alba’s tan pair, but it also comes in a range of other neutrals. No matter what color you choose, these pants can be dressed up for the office or dressed down for hanging out around town.

Amazon shoppers agree that these pants look more expensive than they are and are comfortable for all-day wear (even on an airplane).

“Absolutely love these pants! So comfortable and can dress up for work or down with some sneakers and a jean jacket. They are very stretchy and not cheap material,” one five-star reviewer shared.

“I LOVE these pants and plan to buy in multiple colors. Bought these for a trip to Europe. Wore them on the plane (nine hours), layover tour of Paris and subsequent travel to Spain. They were comfortable and still looked good at the end of it (better than I did!),” a happy shopper wrote.

Elevating your everyday look can be as easy as upgrading just one item in your outfit. Copying Alba’s formula isn’t a bad place to start!

Get the Nimin High-Waisted Work Pants for $39 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.

Looking for something else? Explore more work pants here and don’t forget to check out all of Amazon’s Daily Deals for more great finds!

Related: Airy Linen Work Pants Will Be Your BFF This Spring and Summer

Your work wardrobe is ever evolving, transitioning with fashion trends, dress codes and seasons alike. And while you probably already have your go-to slacks down pat, you might want to give them a rest for the spring and summer months when temps heat up. Those heavy options just won’t do it, which is why investing […]

Here’s a rundown of Us Weekly‘s top stories making headlines in celebrity news, sports and entertainment on April 27, 2026. Here are key takeaways:

• Steven McBee Jr. accuses girlfriend of cheating: The McBee Dynasty star accused girlfriend Allie Eklund of cheating at the Stagecoach Music Festival, saying he woke up to DMs, phone calls and videos of Eklund with another man at an afterparty. McBee, 33, indicated the relationship is over, while Eklund later denied the allegations in a separate social media post.

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• Jason Kelce shows off weight loss: The retired Eagles center displayed a noticeably slimmer figure during a Waffle House stop in Pell City, Alabama, while in town for a surprise pit crew appearance at Talladega Superspeedway. Kelce told Us Weekly in May 2025 he was down to about 270 pounds from his playing weight of 295.

• Heather Locklear and Lorenzo Lamas go public: The pair made their first appearance as a couple at the 2026 Chiller Theatre Expo in New Jersey on April 26, two weeks after Lamas’ rep confirmed to Us Weekly that the two “are seeing each other.”

Edited by Samantha Benitz. Story produced with AI assistance

Resurfaced magazine clippings of Brooke Shields as a pre-teen are reigniting uncomfortable questions about how she was portrayed at the start of her career.

The unearthed material shows the young star being described in ways many now view as inappropriate, including comments that framed her as having “the face of a gorgeous woman” and the ability to drive men “crazy.” The renewed attention also brings fresh scrutiny to her controversial Calvin Klein campaign, which Shields has since said she didn’t fully understand at the time.

For decades, Shields has been linked to a complicated mix of innocence and provocation, particularly after starring in the 1978 film “Pretty Baby.” In the movie, she played a child living in a 1917 New Orleans brothel, a role that drew intense scrutiny, given she was just 12 years old at the time.

That scrutiny only intensified in the early ’80s, when a 15-year-old Shields fronted a controversial Calvin Klein jeans campaign. The ad featured the now-infamous line, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” Many interpreted this as a sexual innuendo, suggesting she wasn’t wearing underwear, which sparked widespread backlash.

Resurfaced Magazine Clippings Paint An Even Darker Picture

Resurfaced magazine features are shedding new light on how Shields was portrayed as a child at the height of her early fame.

In a widely shared excerpt of the clippings on Reddit, a writer described being “shocked by the child who drives men crazy,” while also labeling her an “up-and-coming fast sex symbol.” Another headline referred to her as “America’s Newest Sexy Kid Star” while promoting her role in “Pretty Baby.”

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A separate feature went even further, calling Shields the “world’s youngest sex symbol” and remarking that the then-12-year-old had “the body of a child and the face of a gorgeous woman.”

Online Reactions Condemn Brooke Shields Coverage

The resurfaced material has drawn strong reactions online, with many questioning how such coverage was ever approved in the first place.

“The words ‘sexy’ and ‘kid’ should never appear in the same sentence. What the f–k was that?” one Reddit user wrote.

Another commenter argued that those responsible for publishing such headlines should be held accountable, calling the coverage “abhorrent” and suggesting it crossed into exploitation.

A third added, “Goodness, she came out alive and still intact. The poor girl was exploited. Horrible parents/mother.”

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Shields Reflects On Controversial Calvin Klein Ad

In a 2021 interview with Vogue, Shields looked back on her role in the controversial Calvin Klein campaign directed by Richard Avedon, revealing that the brand had initially approached her mother.

“She was like, ‘Do you want to put on these jeans and do this commercial?’” Shields recalled.

At the time, she said she didn’t fully grasp the significance of the brand, but was excited by the opportunity to work with Avedon, whose creative vision appealed to her. She also described the shoot as demanding, requiring numerous takes and precise direction.

“Nobody was allowed on set,” she said. “Because it was Avedon’s first foray into the commercial world, I think he was pretty nervous. Stakes were pretty high, and I think there was a lot of pressure. We did multiple, multiple takes of everything.”

Brooke Shields Admits She Didn’t Anticipate The Backlash

Shields has since admitted she wasn’t prepared for the intense backlash and media scrutiny that followed the campaign, explaining that she never viewed the now-infamous tagline as suggestive at the time.

“I was away when they came out, and then I started hearing that the commercials were being banned,” she recalled. “The paparazzi would scream at me and my mother, ‘How could you!’ It just struck me as so ridiculous.”

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Shields added that she didn’t interpret the ad as sexual, describing herself as “naive” and far less aware than people assumed.

“I didn’t think it was about underwear or sexual in nature,” the actress said. “I think the assumption was that I was much more savvy than I ever really was. I was a virgin, and I was a virgin forever after that.”

Despite the controversy, Shields noted that the campaign ultimately proved successful.

“The controversy backfired. The campaign was extremely successful, and then the underwear overtook the jeans,” she said. “[Calvin Klein] understood how to push the envelope. It set the tone for decades.”

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By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 35 seconds ago

The dense, interconnected world of Stargate supports three series, SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe, with another on the way so that fans can handle a little bit of awkward worldbuilding. For example, let’s say an early Season 1 episode introduces a friendly species capable of turning the tide against the Goa’uld with advanced technology that breaks the dimensional barrier and can even resurrect the dead. Then they do nothing. Ever.

That’s the Nox, a race so frustrating that even the SG-1 team comments on it in-universe. Yes, O’Neill, a lesson was learned: the Nox are useless. 

Hide And Seek Champions Of The Galaxy

“The Nox” is Season 1 Episode 7, notable for being the first appearance of the Nox and the first time Stargate Command stumbles across an advanced civilization that can rival the Goa’uld. The episode begins with the team coming across Apophis (Peter Williams) on the planet Gaia. Both groups are hunting down a strange creature that can turn invisible. In the process, Apophis kills the SG-1 team when, to reach the next plot beat, they forget all of their tactical training.

Like random ninjas in a martial arts movie, the team attacks Apophis one by one, easily overwhelmed after his personal force field deflects bullets. Sure would be convenient if they could all be returned from the dead after the commercial break. 

That’s our introduction to the Nox, an advanced species that can restore life to the dead, turn animals invisible to protect them from predators, and, as we learn at the end, hide a floating city. Their leader, Anteaus (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Quark, Armin Shimerman), espouses their philosophy of non-intervention and no killing; even if someone is threatening their life, they won’t kill.

A Goa’uld kills Anteaus’ wife, Lya, and the alien’s reaction is, again, to bring her to life. They won’t give the SG-1 team back their weapons to you know, defend the Nox against the Goa’uld, because that would make too much sense. 

Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) points out they’re now unarmed, and Apophis is invulnerable, but he has a theory. Working together again, the team, Carter (Amanda Tapping), Jackson (Michael Shanks), and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) take out all of Apophis’ personal guard, setting up O’Neill to take a shot with a bow and arrow, assuming that a slow-moving projectile can penetrate the energy shield that deflects bullets and energy weapons.

We never know if this is correct, as Anteaus intervenes and makes Apophis disappear. Notably, he doesn’t kill him, allowing the villain to return over and over, continuing to kill across the galaxy. Great work from the enlightened alien species. It’s easy to be a pacifist and non-interventionist when you can return the dead to life.

Stargate’s Most Frustrating Alien Species

We learn later that the Nox are one of the Four Great Races, alongside the Ancients, Asgardians, and Furlings. Together, the four would work to maintain peace and order across the galaxy. They failed, spectacularly in the case of the Furlings (whom, notably, we never see leading to one of the great gags in “Wormhole X-Treme”), and even then, the Nox refuse to help clean up the mess that is the Goa’uld. 

You’d think that this would eventually lead to Stargate Command convincing the Nox to join the fight against the System Lords in a thrilling climax that reveals a war-winning weapon, kept invisible until the exact moment it takes the Goa’uld off guard. That never happens.

The Nox make two more appearances during the entire franchise. Turns out the ultra-powerful space Amish, good at only hiding, doesn’t translate to exciting stories. “Nox” is one of the most frustrating episodes of Stargate SG-1’s first season, and upon rewatching it, it only gets more frustrating. 

If multi-season shows are too much of a commitment, miniseries — especially those on Prime Video — are a great alternative. They’re ideal for viewers with limited time or anyone who wants a complete story without keeping up with multiple seasons. With a tight run of three to eight episodes, these series are designed to deliver strong plots within an allotted timeframe.

Contrary to popular belief, that limitation doesn’t weaken the storytelling. If anything, it sharpens the focus, pushing showrunners to make every moment count and avoid filler. What viewers get are stories that are worth watching right from the beginning to the end. With that in mind, here are the Prime Video miniseries that are perfect from start to finish.

‘Dead Ringers’ (2023)

Image via Prime Video

Inspired by David Cronenberg‘s 1988 movie of the same name, Dead Ringers follows twin gynecologists Beverly (Rachel Weisz) and Elliot Mantle (Weisz) in Manhattan, who literally share everything. Driven to open their own experimental birthing center, the two receive the financial backing of billionaire Rebecca Parker (Jennifer Ehle). However, their unethical fertility research goes into frenzy. It doesn’t help that the two sisters are just inches away from tearing each other apart due to the trauma from Beverly’s repeated miscarriages and Elliot’s sociopathic tendencies.

It’s always impressive when the same actress plays twins on screen. The point of Dead Ringers isn’t to determine which twin is “better,” but to explore why they behave the way they do — a nuance Weisz delivers through a detailed character study. It’s one thing to build chemistry with another actor, but it’s an entirely different challenge to do it with yourself. On a broader scale, the miniseries critiques the medical industry’s shortcomings, particularly the questionable ethics surrounding women’s reproductive health and infertility.

‘Swarm’ (2023)

Image via Prime Video

Stan culture turns sinister in Swarm. Dre (Dominique Fishback) is a young woman who, just like any other person her age, is a huge fan of pop star Ni’Jah (Nirine S. Brown). However, her parasocial love for the Beyoncé-like figure goes sideways when she murders someone for insulting the singer. The series then follows Dre as her obsession literally takes her on a journey: from Ni’Jah’s house in Houston to Ni’Jah’s concert in Atlanta — not without a few devotion killings in between.

It’s one thing to be part of a fandom, but Swarm is more than just a simple story about an overzealous fan. Beneath Dre’s string of bloody murders is someone deeply hurt — someone who never learned a healthy way to cope with trauma. She may be difficult to root for, given her behavior. Swarm shows that sometimes, people are in the fandom not necessarily because of the pop star itself, but because it’s a form of escape.

‘I’m a Virgo’ (2023)

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Coming-of-age becomes larger-than-life in I’m a Virgo. Cootie (Jharrel Jerome) isn’t just like any other 19-year-old. For one, there’s his height, which is a staggering 13 feet tall. Because of his physique, his aunt and uncle keep him hidden in Oakland, fearing that someone would exploit him. Having been sheltered for most of his life, Cootie finally breaks out of his comfort zone, learning to embrace a world that sees him differently.

In a way, I’m a Virgo is a surreal, superhero story. Although Cootie doesn’t fit the conventional hero mold, he embodies the spirit in his own way. Aware of the responsibility that comes with his immense size, he feels compelled to confront the injustices he sees around him. At the same time, his sheltered upbringing shapes him into a gentle giant — both curious about the world’s wonders and easily frightened by its smallest details.

‘The English’ (2022)

Image via Prime Video

No woman is safe in the wild, wild West. The English follows Lady Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt), an Englishwoman who arrives in the American West in 1890 seeking revenge on the man she blames for her son’s death. Along the way, she meets Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout traveling to Nebraska to claim land promised for her military service. As they journey together, they discover a shared past that forces them to confront the brutal realities of the frontier.

The English stays true to Western storytelling by relying on showing rather than telling. It also examines how privilege loses its power in these lands. Money can only guarantee so much, and as a woman in a hypermasculine world, Cornelia’s wealth offers limited protection. At the same time, the series portrays Native characters like Whipp with a grounded, spiritual connection to the land, shaped by deep-rooted grievances over its dispossession.

‘A Very English Scandal’ (2018)

Image via Prime Video

Based on John Preston‘s book, A Very English Scandal dramatizes the real-life Thorpe affair. At a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain, Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant) chose to pursue an illicit relationship with stable boy Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw). As Thorpe’s political ambitions grow, he tries to keep Scott under wraps, but secrecy isn’t enough. Scott must be silenced, which leads to a failed murder plot and a 1979 trial for conspiracy.

A Very English Scandal questions who the victim is in situations like this. In a perfect world, the two could have pursued their same-sex relationship openly without repercussions. However, because Thorpe is an upper-class public figure and a target of the ravenous English press, his romance ultimately means little. At the end of the day, the privileged tend to prioritize their image to protect their interests — and no matter how “real” the relationship was, Scott, as a working-class man, matters less to Thorpe.

‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ (2023)

A rock ‘n roll story of the ages, Daisy Jones & The Six is the television parallel of A Star is Born. Set in 1977, the miniseries follows a rock band from the pits of obscurity to the peaks of popularity. Much of their fame comes from the constantly feuding singers, Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) and Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin). The two might fight a lot, but it definitely drives the band’s record sales — that is, until the two call it quits at a sold-out show at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Decades later, the band reunites to recount what went wrong.

Fans of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, rejoice. With Fleetwood Mac‘s chemistry serving as the backbone of the original book behind the television miniseries, Daisy Jones & The Six is no less burning with passion (which Nicks herself has acknowledged). There’s a constant push-and-pull that drives the miniseries, made even more complicated as their hearts are tied to their shared artistry. There’s a difference between making music as bandmates and as lovers — and when the two collide, it affects not only those in the relationship but everyone around them as well.

‘The Underground Railroad’ (2021)

Image via Prime Video

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Set in the 1800s, The Underground Railroad follows Cora Randall (Thuso Mbedu), an enslaved woman on a Georgia plantation, who escapes with newcomer Caesar Garner (Aaron Pierre) using a literal underground train hidden beneath the South. With the help of conductors and secret tunnels, they travel through dangerous slave states toward the North and Canada, constantly hunted. Based on the real abolitionist network of safe houses and routes, The Underground Railroad is a historical truth swept in magic realism, bringing out the fragility of their promise of freedom.

Such is the nature of historical dramas, especially those about American slavery — there’s often a tendency to over-sensationalize trauma for shock value. However, The Underground Railroad feels no need to do that. Thanks to its miniseries format, it creates layered stories that touch on the complexity of the era. Even as the main characters are hunted, it never fully turns into a thriller. Much of the priority goes into unpacking their backgrounds, and helping audiences understand the people who lived through this period.

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The Underground Railroad

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Release Date

2021 – 2021-00-00

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Network

Amazon Prime Video

Showrunner

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Barry Jenkins

Directors

Barry Jenkins

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If you or your child is a Mets fan, please know that professionals are here to help as you attempt to navigate the team’s abysmal season.

“If your kid is learning what it is to be a Mets fan right now, they’re actually learning one of the most important [Dialectical Behavior Therapy] skills there is,” board certified DBT therapist Belinda Bellet explained in a video via Instagram on Friday, April 24.

The Mets snapped their brutal 12-game losing streak last Wednesday, April 22, but shortstop Francisco Lindor suffered an injury during the game. Bellet explained that it’s normal for fans to celebrate the long-awaited victory and simultaneously grieve the loss of a star player.

“In DBT, we call this the dialectic. Two opposite things can be true at the same time,” she continued. “You don’t have to pick one. Sit with your kid in both experiences. This is where grit is built.”

Bellet expanded in the caption, writing, “that’s what it feels like to love a team.”

“You can be relieved AND heartbroken. You can celebrate AND grieve,” she added. “You don’t have to pick one feeling and throw the other away. Don’t rush your kid out of the complicated feeling.”

What isn’t complicated is the Mets’ standing in the National League East. They enter Monday, April 27, at 9-19 overall, coming off a sweep at the hands of the also woeful Colorado Rockies.

Things have become so bad in Queens that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was even asked what he can do to improve the team’s fortunes. Mamdani, 34, was jokingly blamed for the team’s losing streak when their 12-game skid coincidentally began around the time he posed for photos with the team’s beloved mascots, Mr. and Mrs. Met.

“I’ll say there’s a lot of baseball left to be played and I am still keeping the faith, as I know that many Mets fans are across the city,” Mamdani told reporters during an April 12 press conference.

Related: Hamilton’s Christopher Jackson Botches NY Mets National Anthem

We’ve all been there — maybe not in front of thousands of fans at a Major League Baseball game, but we’ve all had that moment where our brain just… glitches. For Hamilton star Christopher Jackson, that moment came on national television. The Tony Award nominee took the mic before the New York Mets’ opening night […]

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As for Bellet, she has also offered New Yorkers advice on how to talk to their kids about the New York Knicks. The NBA franchise is facing the Atlanta Hawks in a first-round playoff series and unexpectedly fell behind 2 games to 1 after Mikal Bridges missed what would have been a game-winning jumpshot in Game 3.

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“If your kid is crying right now because Mikal Bridges missed that shot — don’t fix it. Don’t say ‘it’s just a game,’” she urged in another video posted Tuesday, April 21. “Their body is genuinely feeling it. The disappointment is real. The heartbreak is real. Validate it first.”

Bellet added that parents could then show their kids how, despite losing, the players walked off the court “with their head held high.”

“That is what resilience actually looks like,” she said.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 32 seconds ago

Navigating the early stages of a potentially world-ending event is no easy feat, especially if you’re the characters living within the fiction that Leave the World Behind establishes. After all, when airplanes start falling from the sky and self-driving cars start piling up on the interstate, you may find yourself wondering how you’re going to be able to watch the series finale of Friends on streaming while society crumbles around you, which is something that needs to be addressed immediately.

Taking a local approach instead of a global one, Leave the World Behind offers a startling glimpse of how a family vacationing in a remote area copes with getting suddenly cut off from the rest of the outside world. They scramble to find resources to make sure they can survive whatever faceless horrors are coming their way. 

We’ve Become Too Reliant On Technology

Leave the World Behind wastes no time establishing how critical technology is to the Sanford family’s sense of well-being, as Amanda (Julia Roberts) decides to go on a spontaneous weekend getaway with her husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke), and their two children, Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans). On the ride from New York City to the vacation rental, everyone is distracted and disconnected from each other because the only connections they care about are those accessed through the devices in their hands. 

Settling in for the weekend, Amanda shows just how unlikeable she is when the owner of the house G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), and his daughter, Ruth (Myha’la), show up unexpectedly in the middle of the night, claiming that they’re seeking shelter due to a blackout. Though G.H. seems to have some inside knowledge about what’s happening back in the city, he doesn’t reveal any more information than he has to, so as not to cause any unnecessary panic. 

Instead of trusting G.H. and Ruth and letting them be comfortable in their own home (something that Ruth makes clear several times), Amanda lets them stay the night after conversing with Clay, but only if they stay in the basement in-law apartment and leave after everybody gets a good night’s sleep. 

Waking up the next day, Amanda sees a number of emergency alerts on her cell phone, but they quickly vanish before she can show anybody else. 

A Vacation Gone Wrong 

Having reason to believe that a global catastrophe is about to occur, both families begin to panic when they realize they have no way to communicate without their cell phones. Clay sets out to find locals who have more information than he does, while G.H. reveals to Amanda that the United States may be the victim of a massive cyberattack of unknown origin. Archie, your typical apathetic teenager, feels indifferent about the whole thing, while Rose takes note of the surrounding wildlife acting in increasingly strange ways, like a whole bunch of deer surrounding the vacation home that disappear as quickly as they make their presence known to her. 

However, Rose’s primary concern is streaming Friends because she’s working through the series for the first time (poor girl), and it provides a great amount of comfort to her as the family dynamic begins to break down. 

Preppers Be Preppin’ 

Thankfully, Amanda recalls encountering a doomsday prepper named Danny (Kevin Bacon) stocking up on supplies when she went into town for groceries, resulting in Clay and G.H. seeking him out for answers. With no access to radio, internet, or television, there’s no way for anybody to know how far-reaching the problems they’re facing are in Leave the World Behind, which demonstrates just how hopeless human beings are without being constantly dialed into their devices. 

Stuck in the middle of nowhere, both families in Leave the World Behind have to use what limited resources they have to find answers, all while emergency sirens blare in the distance, which can only be heard when the entire sky isn’t shrieking at an unthinkable frequency that may be the result of the alleged cyber attack that they’re in no way prepared for. 

Streaming Leave The World Behind On Netflix 

While you may think that Leave the World Behind suffers from not showing how the rest of the world is coping with the blackouts, it’s quite effective in generating suspense because there’s no strength in numbers at the vacation house, and the entire situation could quickly devolve into an “every man for himself” scenario at the drop of a hat. Not fully understanding just how deep the alleged cyber attack goes, there’s no reasonable way for anybody to know how to find safety, or if everything will blow over and return back to normal. 

However, Leave the World Behind gets in its own way on more than one occasion by trying to create conflict that doesn’t necessarily need to be there to move the story along. From the weird, semi-romantic encounters that Amanda has with G.H. when they bond over their distrust of humanity to Clay’s disproportionate amount of hopefulness and strange conversations with Ruth while they’re sitting poolside, hitting a vape pen, this movie felt bloated in a way that makes me wish a 90-minute cut existed instead of the 140-minute version we get on Netflix. 

At the very least, Leave the World Behind is a solid watch on Netflix because it shows just how hopeless most of us would be if we couldn’t simply log onto social media to see what’s going on. Proving just how quickly the world can become such an incredibly small place if the technology we rely on for our day-to-day interactions disappears overnight, this film will most certainly make you consider hoarding water bottles and canned goods for your survival, and DVDs for your bunker so you don’t lose your mind while you wait for everything to blow over. 

Ethan Plath’s grand gesture of surprising ex-girlfriend Teegan Nichols in Minnesota on Welcome to Plathville appears to be backfiring.

“I was just shocked seeing him. I don’t know. I think just too shocked to really feel anything else,” Teegan admits in Us Weekly’s exclusive clip from the Tuesday, April 28, episode showing their reunion after Ethan, 27, drove to Minnesota from Georgia. “You know, [it’s] nice seeing an old friend. I don’t know what to say. Yeah, just shocked.”

Teegan is visibly surprised that Ethan is in her hometown after they broke up ahead of filming season 8, which premiered in March.

“I mean, we aren’t dating. So he’s supposed to be down in Georgia, not here,” she tells the cameras as Ethan stands quietly next to her by a lake.

Teegan makes it clear that Ethan’s impromptu arrival in town hasn’t changed things for her romantically — at least not yet.

“I told him when we broke up that I would never date him again if he wasn’t living here or nearby. So that was and is a deal breaker for me,” she explains. “I also talked to him when we broke up and I reminded him last night that I don’t want to date him if he’s still married. And so those are just the two main, I guess, dealbreakers per se with him.”

Teegan then notes that “as far as I know,” Ethan is “still married” to Olivia Plath. (Us confirmed in April that Ethan and Olivia, 28, had finalized their divorce after announcing their split in October 2023.)

Related: Inside Olivia and Ethan Plath’s Finances After Finalizing Divorce

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Welcome to Plathville stars Ethan and Olivia Plath have finalized their divorce nearly three years after calling it quits. According to documents obtained by Us Weekly and filed in Minnesota’s First District Court in February, Ethan, 27, and his ex-wife, Olivia, 27, both signed off on a financial agreement to dissolve their marriage. As part of […]

Ethan, for his part, isn’t giving up on his possible second chance with Teegan.

“Now that I’m here and I’ve told Teegan everything, she’s waiting to see me actually move here. Is that right or no?” he asks Teegan while staring at her awkwardly on the lakeshore.

Teegan is taken aback by the question, replying, “Yeah. I’ll believe it when I see it and that our current relationship isn’t going to change for the time being.”

She appears unimpressed by Ethan’s claims that he wants to live in Minnesota to be with her, telling the cameras, “If he moves here, he moves here. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t. Move here, move to Minnesota, stay down there, move to Africa. Like whatever you need to do.”

“I am moving here,” Ethan declares, getting a big grin on his face.

Teegan, however, admits she’s still not sure about her future with Ethan even if he’s living close.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of believing or not. I don’t think you should distrust people. I think you should just trust people based on what they’ve shown you,” she explains. “I trust [him] already [and] how he is. So we’ll see if the patterns change.”

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Related: Welcome to Plathville’s Olivia Claims Estranged Husband Ethan Is Engaged

Welcome to Plathville’s Olivia Plath is spilling the tea about her estranged husband Ethan Plath’s love life, claiming he’s engaged amid their ongoing divorce. Olivia, 27, broke down her and Ethan’s split timeline via a TikTok video on Monday, April 28. She alleged that while fans saw Ethan sign divorce papers during an August 2024 […]

Ethan smiles, telling Teegan it’s “perfectly fair” for her to want to wait and see if his actions match his words.

“I think it’s just a personal choice I need to make,” Teegan confesses. “This all happened yesterday and so I sort of need some time.”

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Ethan confirmed his relationship with Teegan in January 2025. He shared during the Welcome to Plathville season 8 premiere in March that they had parted ways.

Neither of them have revealed their current relationship status.

Welcome to Plathville airs on TLC Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 48 seconds ago

Since Starfleet Academy aired, I became increasingly aware of the full-throttle efforts among fans and even journalists to launder its reputation. Threads that criticized the show for bad writing and plotting were often disappeared from places like r/StarTrek, and many other Star Trek online spaces would block, ban, or otherwise censor anyone who said anything bad about the show. Eventually, the prevalent narrative became that SFA was the best thing since sliced bread and that anyone who didn’t like it was nothing more than a bigoted troll. 

Starfleet Academy’s haters were arguably vindicated when the show was canceled because this was proof that not enough people were watching for Paramount to justify making more episodes. Still, the narrative continues that the only people who could dislike this Discovery spinoff are mindless haters. Recently, the best evidence of this came from an exclusive TrekMovie interview with Jonathan Frakes where they prompted him with a comment about online trolls. This led to an obligatory headline about Frakes calling out the trolls. However, the real headline should be his bombshell admission that SFA focused too much on spectacle and not enough on telling good stories.

Riker Vs. The Trolls

Jonathan Frakes’ primary purpose during the interview with TrekMovie was to promote the recent Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer event. Eventually, though, they began discussing the wider world of Star Trek. Frakes lamented the “unfortunate irony” that there are currently no new shows or movies in active production despite this being the 60th anniversary of the franchise. Eventually, they began discussing why people disliked Starfleet Academy, and the interviewer basically prompted him, claiming that the show’s biggest critics were people who hadn’t even watched it. 

In response, Frakes said this was “unfortunate” and mentioned a conversation with Alex Kurtzman about the cancellation of Starfleet Academy. While the Star Trek actor and director didn’t give many details, he said that Kurtzman and SFA co-showrunner Noga Landau “couldn’t not mention as a factor, the trolls.” Based on his mild agreement with their extremely leading question, TrekMovie included in their headline how Frakes “Decries ‘Starfleet Academy’ ‘Trolls.’”

What They Don’t Want You To Know: Shoot To Thrill

What’s wrong with this headline, you ask? Earlier in that same interview, before he was prompted to talk about trolls, Frakes speculated about various reasons why “some people…either didn’t like or didn’t approve or didn’t support” Starfleet Academy. He noted that it could be because of “the changing of the guard at Paramount+ and CBS” before focusing on “the amount of money it costs.” He noted how “the level of the production has become this sort of ‘shoot to thrill’ cinematic phenomenon…when we did [Star Trek: The Next Generation] back in the ‘80s, we counted on storytelling and acting and the occasional camera move.”

He went on to say, “It’s a different beast now, and that beast is very expensive.” Now, Jonathan Frakes kept things light, but it really seems like he agrees with Starfleet Academy’s critics that the show is focusing more on expensive spectacle than on comparatively cheap “storytelling and acting.” Many in the fandom want a return to those halcyon days of episodic storytelling, and they’d gladly take a simpler, cheaper-looking show if it meant we could have shows that looked and felt like those in the Golden Age of Star Trek. Sadly, Alex Kurtzman focuses almost exclusively on expensive, cinematic effects, leaving the writing and characterizations to wither and rot. 

How They Manufacture Consent

At any rate, this is a lesson in how fans and complicit media work together to manufacture consent. Previously, all critics of Starfleet Academy were dismissed as a minority of bigoted trolls who didn’t even watch the show. Now, the show is canceled because the “minority” was actually sharing a fairly mainstream opinion: the spinoff sucked because it was poorly made. As soon as Star Trek icon Jonathan Frakes brings up how SFA focused on spectacle rather than storytelling, an interviewer steers him to say something about trolls, all so they can run a headline about how he “decries trolls” rather than honestly criticizing a failed TV series.

Unfortunately, this mindset is how the modern Star Trek writers and producers have landed in their own no-win scenario. There’s too much pride (or, in NuTrek terms, “sheer f*cking hubris”) to admit that most traditional fans don’t like Starfleet Academy and most of NuTrek, so the creators blame their failures on trolls. But as Frakes has proven, the “trolls” are the mainstream audience, and they are leaving in droves because these new shoes are Star Trek in name only. At $10 million an episode, that’s a mistake producers literally cannot afford to keep making, and Trek’s temporary hiatus may become permanent unless we get what Frakes is calling for: genuine storytelling rather than empty effects.