After years of Star Wars expanding outward into larger wars, bigger timelines, and interconnected mythology, Obi-Wan Kenobi succeeded upon release in 2022 because it locks onto something far more personal. The Disney+ series strips the franchise back down to one relationship that never healed and one tragedy neither character ever escaped. That focus gives the show a level of emotional weight a lot of modern Star Wars projects struggle to maintain, and it is exactly why the six-episode series remains such an elite sci-fi weekend binge.

The compact format helps enormously. Kenobi moves with the momentum of a long film instead of a sprawling television season, which makes it incredibly easy to finish in a weekend. More importantly, the shorter structure forces the series to stay emotionally centered. This is not a story about saving the galaxy: it is a story about grief, failure, guilt, and the terrifying reality of what Anakin Skywalker became after Revenge of the Sith. That emotional core gives the series some of the strongest post-prequel storytelling the franchise has produced.

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Turns Darth Vader Into a Horror Villain Again

Image via Lucasfilm

Darth Vader has always been brutal, but Kenobi reminds audiences that brutality becomes far more disturbing when it is directed at ordinary people instead of faceless soldiers. That distinction is exactly what makes the village sequence so effective. Most modern Vader showcases lean on spectacle. The hallway massacre in Rogue One is iconic because of how overwhelming and unstoppable he feels against Rebel troops trapped in darkness. Kenobi goes somewhere uglier. When Vader arrives in Mapuzo searching for Obi-Wan, he drags civilians through the street, snaps a child’s neck, and murders random people purely to draw his former master out of hiding. There is no tactical purpose behind it. The violence is casual, cruel, and deeply personal.

That shift changes the entire atmosphere of the sequence, and the horror comes from how unnecessary it all is. These are not combatants standing against the Empire. They are civilians being terrorized because Vader knows Obi-Wan is emotionally incapable of ignoring suffering. It is one of the few times modern Star Wars fully commits to showing how terrifying Vader would actually be to ordinary people living under Imperial rule. The series continues pushing that brutality throughout Obi-Wan and Vader’s confrontations. Vader dragging Obi-Wan through fire mirrors Mustafar in a way that feels intentionally vindictive, as though he wants his former master to experience even a fraction of what happened to him years earlier. Hayden Christensen’s physical performance, combined with James Earl Jones returning as the voice of Vader, gives the character an exhausted fury that hangs over every scene, his anger truly feeling like it has been festering for a decade.

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Finally Lets the Prequel Tragedy Breathe

One of the smartest things Obi-Wan Kenobi does is acknowledge that the emotional fallout of the prequels deserved more room than the films ever had time to give it. The prequel trilogy moves through enormous political collapse and galactic war at such an aggressive pace that the personal devastation underneath it can sometimes get buried beneath the scale. Kenobi slows everything down long enough to actually sit with the damage. Ewan McGregor’s performance is a huge part of why the series works so well. This version of Obi-Wan is exhausted, isolated, and spiritually hollow. The confident Jedi Master from the prequels is gone. He can barely connect to the Force, he avoids his past, and he speaks about Anakin with the kind of pain that makes it clear he didn’t survive Mustafar either — not emotionally, at least.

That deterioration gives the series a dramatic weight that separates it from more adventure-driven Star Wars stories. Obi-Wan is not chasing artifacts, unraveling conspiracies, or bouncing between side quests. He is confronting the collapse of everything he believed in while trying to accept that the person he loved most helped destroy the galaxy. The show’s best scenes understand that silence often carries more power than exposition. Small moments carry enormous emotional force because the audience already understands the history underneath them. The series trusts viewers to sit inside that grief instead of constantly interrupting it with lore explanations or franchise setup. That restraint gives the emotional payoffs far more impact once the story reaches its final confrontation.

The Final Vader Duel Contains Some of Disney’s Best ‘Star Wars’ Material

The final duel between Obi-Wan and Vader stands among the strongest scenes Disney-era Star Wars has produced because it fully commits to the tragedy at the center of these characters. The fight itself is excellent, but the emotional collapse underneath it is what makes it memorable. Once Obi-Wan damages Vader’s mask and Anakin’s voice begins breaking through the respirator, the scene stops functioning as a standard lightsaber battle and becomes something far sadder.

“You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker,” Vader tells him. “I did.”

That line fundamentally reshapes Obi-Wan’s guilt while simultaneously confirming how deeply Vader has consumed whatever remained of Anakin. The visual of Christensen’s face partially exposed beneath the cracked mask creates one of the franchise’s most haunting images because it finally merges the prequel and original trilogy versions of the character into the same broken person. It also gives McGregor one of the best moments of his entire time in the franchise. Obi-Wan apologizing to Anakin before finally walking away feels like the emotional conclusion the prequels never fully had space to deliver.

That emotional clarity is exactly why Obi-Wan Kenobi works so well as a binge. The series is not trying to sprawl outward forever. It knows precisely what story it wants to tell, and it follows that story all the way to its devastating conclusion. For a franchise often at its strongest when balancing myth with emotion, Kenobi remembers something essential: the galaxy far, far away only matters because the people inside it do.

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Release Date

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2022 – 2022-00-00

Network

Disney+

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Showrunner

Joby Harold

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Directors

Deborah Chow

Writers

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Stuart Beattie

Franchise(s)

Star Wars

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Tiger Woods is currently undergoing an “intense” 90-day rehabilitation program following his recent run-in with the law for driving under the influence.

The golf icon has seen support from his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, but reports suggest she has told him she’s only doing this once and will not go through such an experience again.

Meanwhile, fans continue to speculate that Tiger Woods might be ready in time for the U.S. Open in June, but CEO Mike Whan has cast doubts over the claims.

Woods recently reached a critical 30-day milestone in his “intensive,” overseas rehabilitation program amid support from his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump.

Reports suggest that the former daughter-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump has been forthcoming and welcoming with the golf legend as he looks to put his recent missteps behind him and forge on to better horizons.

Both of them have reportedly been in constant communication with each other since he flew to Zurich, Switzerland, to take part in a structured rehab following his recent arrest for driving under the influence.

However, sources say she has maintained a strict demeanor and has told him that they’re only doing this once as a couple,  meaning he’ll either turn a new leaf or a possible strain could ensue.

“He gives her a day-by-day account of what he’s doing,” a source told the Daily Mail. “She asks questions. She has made it clear that she is only doing this once. This rehab has to take. It has to be successful. She’s not going to do this again and again. So she’s really invested in his recovery.”

The Golf Star Has Been Apologizing To His Loved Ones

The source went further to share that the three-time U.S. Open champion has been pleading for forgiveness from his loved ones as part of the requirement for his comprehensive rehab program.

“He’s apologizing to all the people he hurt, which is part of the rehab,” the insider noted, adding that he has been “positive” and also “sounds healthy.”

It comes after sources told People Magazine that Woods was feeling “ashamed” and “embarrassed” by his actions and was focused on turning the situation around.

“Tiger can be defensive at times, but he was embarrassed and ashamed at the latest accident. He wants to fix his problems,” an insider told the publication shortly after his arrest. “There is nobody more interested in seeing Tiger come out a winner again than Tiger. He doesn’t do well with defeat and embarrassing public situations.”

Tiger Woods Was Charged With A DUI After His Car Crash Incident

Woods made headlines in March when he got involved in an accident close to his home in the billionaires’ enclave of Jupiter Island.

As soon as the authorities got there, they reportedly discovered two hydrocodone pills in his pant pocket and, after issuing a field sobriety test, “observed several signs of impairment,” including “bloodshot and glassy” eyes and “extremely dilated” pupils, an affidavit obtained by People stated.

He was then taken into custody for driving under the influence and spent several hours there before his release.

Woods was charged with DUI with property damage, refusal to submit to a lawful urine test, and careless driving, after which he released a statement saying he was “stepping away” to seek treatment.

He has since pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Golf Legend Is Unlikely To Feature In 2026 U.S. Open

Meanwhile, fans have continued to speculate on his fitness ahead of the 2026 U.S. Open in June, with many suggesting he could yet make it. However, U.S. Open CEO Mike Whan expressed doubts, citing Woods’ need for ample recovery time.

“I’d be super surprised,” Whan told Sports Illustrated. “It would be wonderful for the event, and if he was ready, it would be wonderful for him.”

“Obviously, what he’s going through is much bigger than golf. He’s proven before that when he puts his mind to something, he’s going to be great at it. I’m sure he has a lot of years to play in USGA championships. I don’t think he’s going to play in any 2026 USGA championship,” the sports executive continued.

He added, “If he ends up playing in USGA championships, great. But when I think of Tiger, my friend, that’s not really what’s important to me right now.”

Tiger Woods Might Pump The Breaks On His Vanessa Trump Romance Post-Rehab

While Vanessa has been a source of support for Woods since his arrest and ongoing rehabilitation, sources previously claimed the golf champion might put a pause on their romance to focus on his recovery.

A source told the National Enquirer that while Woods “loves Vanessa deeply and is incredibly grateful that she’s sticking by him during this nightmare,” he might not be as fully committed to their relationship after he’s done with rehab.

Woods reportedly intends to do whatever it takes to “stay sober” for his kids and return to golf.

“That’ll be a tough pill for her to swallow, but if it’s what Tiger needs right now, she’ll go along with it,” the source added. “She loves him and is desperate for them to make it in the long-term.”

General Hospital reveals Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) having mysterious conversations with Ava Jerome (Maura West) and being very secretive about something. However, it may not be the big betrayal that his brother Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) assumes that it is.

So, we are going to dig into what is really going on with Ric and whether he is up to something sketchy or it is some other sort of secret. A big secret, maybe a bad secret, but not necessarily something to do with Sonny. Let’s get into it.

Sonny Catches Ric In a Lie on General Hospital

All right, so this week we saw how upset that Sonny was after he caught Ric in a lie. So, Sonny had Ethan Lovett (Nathan Dean Parsons) doing some recon for him and he reported back to Sonny that Ric had an intense conversation with Ava at the Metro Court. But Ethan was inflating what he saw.

He was making wild guesses almost about what Ric and Ava were talking about. It was kind of a whole pile of assumptions and Sonny did push back on that to some extent because it is clear that Ethan wants Ric out of the way so that Ethan himself can have Sonny’s focus and his influence. And Ethan is keeping big secrets. So ironic, right?

Sonny Catches Ric in a Lie on GH

But things took a turn when Sonny asked Ric where he was when Sonny knew that he was actually chatting with Ava at the Metro Court. And Ric said he was at the DA’s office for a meeting. But Justine confirmed to Sonny that Ric was never up at the office for any reason.

So, Sonny jumped to the conclusion that Ric is betraying him. And he told Justine this was Ric’s last shot to be his brother and now he blew it. Thankfully, Justine talked Sonny down and said just because Ric’s keeping a secret, it doesn’t mean it’s something harmful to Sonny.

And we know he leaps to conclusions that aren’t right routinely. So, it is kind of easy to understand why though he assumes the worst because Ric has done genuinely awful things in the past. He definitely betrayed Sonny more than once before. This time though, Ric seems different.

Is Ric Dying of a Blood Disease on General Hospital?

And based on some spoiler/rumor/leak chatter that I heard, I don’t think that he’s betraying Sonny at all. We shared a couple of leaks recently from a reliable source about a rumored upcoming Ric storyline. The leaker said that Sonny’s brother is dying of a blood disease. Now, I’m not saying Ric will die, but the rumor that was tipped to us said it’s a life and death medical crisis. And based on a couple of conversations Ric’s had recently, it honestly seems plausible.

So, last week when Ava and Ric spoke, almost none of their conversation was seen or heard. We saw a little bit, but we didn’t hear what they were saying. Basically, we heard Ric say that Ava will be happy with this news he has. And then the next day, Ric was on the phone with Ava saying he wants to go through with it, but Ric said that there has to be absolute secrecy. So, at the surface, it sounds dodgy. And since Sidwell’s seeing Ava, you might think, “Oh, okay. Ric’s plotting against Sonny with her.” But I think this has nothing to do with his brother.

Why Would Ric Be Talking to Ava About This?

Here’s what I suspect is going on. Remember, Ava, Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), and Christina held Ric hostage in Alexis’s basement for a month, strapped to a gurney with a ball gag in his mouth. Ric even referenced that moment when he told Ava he wouldn’t keep her hostage for too long, which was a nice little nod.

So, after Cody got him free, Ric went over to General Hospital and they ran some medical tests. And those tests might have turned up something suspicious, maybe something that Ric was supposed to follow up on, you know, and it could be that he finally did follow up on it or got some more symptoms, you know, and something concerning has turned up.

So, I wonder if he told Ava that she would be happy with his news because the news is that Ric is sick or the news is that he actually needs to thank her for the kidnapping because this has come out. Um, you know, Ava still resents him for loving Elizabeth instead of her and of course for making that cash grab to cut Ava out of the blackmail scheme. So, the question is why would Ric be talking to Ava about this? Well, the leak said Ric had a blood disease and Ava has experience with that. Do you remember?

General Hospital: Ric Needs Medical Advice from Ava?

So, I wonder if Ric was asking Ava to put him in touch with her doctors. In case you forgot, back in 2015, so 11 years ago, she was diagnosed with terminal leukemia and Silas Clay (Michael Easton) treated her in secret and made sure that Ava got a life-saving bone marrow transplant from her daughter Avery, who was very, very young then. And after that, Silas was murdered. So, I’m sure Ava’s found another oncologist by now. Leukemia, like Ava had, is a blood disease.

And that’s the kind of illness Ric is rumored to have. So, he might be asking Ava about her doctor and you know how that whole thing went. Post-cancer, by the way, you still have to get checked out like annually, semi-annually, depends. So, I’m sure she’s got an oncologist for that follow-up. And so Ric might have called Ava, asked her to get him in with her doctor, but ask her to keep it a secret.

Ric May Not Want Anyone to Know Until He’s Sure on GH

If this is about Ric’s medical crisis, I’m guessing he wouldn’t want anybody to know until he knows for sure that he is sick, you know, what stage it is, what options he has. What would be ironic is that he may owe Ava and the ladies a thanks for kidnapping him. Otherwise, Ric might have not gotten medical testing done and the blood disease might have gone undetected until it was way too late to treat.

I also think he lied to Sonny about where he was because if Ric’s sick, I’m guessing Sonny’s on the list of people that Ric wouldn’t want to tell until he finds out all the information, what his options are. So, that’s why I think he lied to Sonny about where he was.

So, I do think that his brother’s going to push Ric away and be suspicious and then Sonny finds out that he is completely in the wrong about this. I also think Ric might be pushing forward with Elizabeth at a greater speed. Because he may worry his time with her could run out.

I do think that Ric is sincere in caring about Sonny and wanting to be his brother. I think legit Ric being kidnapped. And left to marinate in his own dark thoughts and regrets over his life choices for a full month really did affect him. I think he had a big epiphany and I think he’s sincere about his brother and Elizabeth too.

General Hospital: Sonny May Be in for a Shock

And Justine encouraged Sonny to find out why Ric lied to him and not assume that it’s a betrayal. She said, you know, we all have secrets. Makes sense. So, we’ll find out soon if the leaker was correct and maybe Ava setting up a doctor referral and Ric really might be sick. So, I do suspect Sonny’s going to feel one heck of a shock when he finds out Ethan was wrong and overblowing things and Ric has not betrayed him at all. And in fact, Sonny may feel really bad soon because his brother Ric might be fighting for his life before all is said and done.

The notion that Data never uses contractions – often brought up in Star Trek – isn’t true and never really has been.

By Michileen Martin
| Published 7 seconds ago

If you’ve watched enough Star Trek: The Next Generation, then you know Data (Brent Spiner) never uses contractions. You’re probably also aware that this aspect of the android has helped the heroes in some precarious situations; particularly when someone else has been disguised as their positronic colleague. The only problem is that Data has always used contractions, including in episodes in which the writers bend over backwards to let us know that he never uses contractions.

The Season 1 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Datalore” establishes the rule that Data can’t use contractions. In other words, he will always say “I am” rather than “I’m,” “cannot” rather than “can’t,” “should not” rather than “shouldn’t,” etc. It’s the use of contractions that tips off Wesley (Wil Wheaton) that Data’s twin Lore has incapacitated him and taken Data’s place.

Likewise in the Season 4 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Future Imperfect,” Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is able to detect treachery in part because of Data using a contraction. Riker is led to believe that he’s 15 years in the future and suffering from memory loss, and while he’s already gotten hints that someone is trying to fool him, the proverbial final straw is when Data says “can’t” instead of “cannot.”

In Season 3’s “The Offspring” Data and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) both act like they just saw Santa Claus dating the Tooth Fairy when Data’s daughter Lal (Hallie Todd) says “I’ve” instead of “I have,” leading her father to believe she has exceeded his programming. Much later, in one of the final episodes of Star Trek: Picard, Geordi (LeVar Burton) is amazed to hear Data say, “we’re” rather than “we are.”

The thing is that ever since the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data has used contractions. When the elderly Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is curious about his nature, Data tells him “I’m an android.” When Data is one of the crew members transported to Q’s (John de Lancie) courtroom, Data quips to Picard (Patrick Stewart), “At least we’re acquainted with the judge.

Now, to be fair, since “Datalore” is the Star Trek episode that establishes Data doesn’t use contractions, some might argue it isn’t fair to nitpick when he used them before that episode. But even in “Datalore” he uses them. After Lore’s deception is uncovered, Picard asks Data if he’s all right and the android answers, “Yes sir. I’m fine.”

Again in “The Offspring,” another Star Trek episode that makes a big deal out of Data not using contractions, Data uses contractions. When speaking to Picard of Admiral Haftel, Data says, “I’m forced to wonder how much experience he had as a parent when his first child was born.” And this is well past the establishment of the rule in “Datalore.”

What’s the lesson to be learned here? Nothing, really. Except maybe every now and then it’s better to pay more attention to the shiny spaceships and the ray beams than the dialogue.

Sanctuary, the first show filmed entirely on green screen, is free to stream on Pluto and Tubi.

By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated 2 minutes ago

The internet was used to release “webisodes,” micro-budget television shows put together by determined artists. One of the best was Sanctuary, an eight-episode sci-fi series out of Canada.

SyFy was so impressed that it purchased the rights and made a television series out of it that ran for four seasons, from 2008 to 2011. Today, every episode is available to stream on either Pluto or Tubi, with no subscription fee and no additional charge. Great news, as the show was the first of its kind to be filmed entirely on a green screen.

Sanctuary starred Stargate-SG1‘s Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, the head of the Sanctuary network that provides a safe haven for Abnormals, mythical beings including mermaids, Bigfoot, and plenty of original creations for the show. Joining Tapping were Robin Dunne as Dr. Will Zimmerman, Emilie Ullerup as Ashley Magnus (Helen’s daughter), Ryan Robbins as Henry the lycanthrope tech genius, and Christopher Heyerdahl as Big Foot and also John Druitt, though he was known by the name “Jack” for part of the 19th century.

In addition to Abnormals pulled from myth, legend, and folklore, Sanctuary included historical figures, from a steampunk-powered Dr. Watson (Peter Wingfield) to Druitt being the real Jack the Ripper, and best of all, the delightfully deranged vampiric Nikola Tesla, played by Jonathon Young. This strange alchemy powers the first few seasons of Sanctuary as the team battles against the Cabal, a group that wants to use Abnormals for a nefarious purpose.

As with the inventive Farscape, the tight-budget constraints of a series put an emphasis on character and snappy dialogue over action sequences, giving Sanctuary a throwback feel to what sci-fi television used to be. That is, of course, except for the high-tech behind its production, since only a handful of episodes include physical sets. Other than those few episodes, the rest of the series was entirely shot on a green screen with high-definition digital cameras, the first of its kind to do so.

To help make Sanctuary a success, Amanda Tapping gave up extra pay as an executive producer, instead having her money go towards the creation of digital sets. The show was a passion project for all involved, and it shows, even if it didn’t elevate the genre as Battlestar Galactica did just a few years earlier, at its worse, it’s still a solid show that plays with the monster of the week format.

Standout Sanctuary episodes include Season 2 Episode 9, “Penance,” which features Amanda Tapping’s old co-star Michael Shanks as an Abnormal working with the mob. The multi-part season finale, “Kali,” includes a dance number, while Season 1, Episode 11, “Instinct,” plays with the found-footage genre by showing the episode through the camera of a news crew that wanders across an Abnormal hunt.

Halfway through the series, the “monster of the week” is scrapped to instead focus on an epic storyline about Hollow Earth, which significantly increases the show’s cast, adding new characters from another offshoot of humanity, including Adam Copeland (WWE’s Edge) as a Resistance fighter, and Adam Worth (Ian Tracy), the inspiration behind Jekyll and Hyde. At the same time, Sanctuary’s visual effects take a step up, with the impressive Hollow Earth city and a series of massive monsters taking center stage.

Not as funny as Eureka or Warehouse 13, but not as dark as Battlestar Galactica, Sanctuary strikes a balance between Syfy’s other original shows while embracing the “do more with less” philosophy of other Canadian shows, such as Lost Girl and Bitten. Easily binge-able thanks to Pluto and Tubi, the 59 episodes that make up the series will fly by, and though there was supposed to be a Season 5 that never happened, don’t worry, there’s a definitive ending.

Now’s a good time to watch Sanctuary, as MPCA reported a few years back that Amanda Tapping is on board for a revival series now that the rights have been purchased from NBCUniversal. There hasn’t been much news on the show since, except that they were looking around for executive producers, but as with her other famous series, fans are hopeful for a return to the world of Abnormals and twisted literary figures at least one more time.