By Brian Myers
| Published 1 hour ago

The 1988 film Heathers not only helped launch the careers of three of its stars but also captured the cynicism and black humor that grew to become two of the defining characteristics of Generation X. The film’s dark subject matter is remarkably lightened with Daniel Waters’ script and director Michael Lehmann’s touches, who both worked to produce a movie that was the polar opposite of the more optimistic teen films of the John Landis/John Hughes era.

Mean Girls Before Mean Girls

Heathers follows high school student Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) who inadvertently falls into the popular girl clique at Westerburg High School. The three girls she runs with are snarky, cruel, and from wealthy families, and seem to revel in making life harder for anyone they believe is beneath their station in life. Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk), and Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty) are collectively known as “The Heathers,” and serve as a group that Veronica strives to separate from.

Enter a new guy J.D. (Christian Slater), who becomes the object of Veronica’s affection. His zany behavior includes firing a gun (loaded with blanks) at bully football players, and a fascination with explosives. He and Veronica quickly bond and concoct a plan for revenge on Heather Chandler after the snobby girl has a falling out with Veronica at a party.

In true black comedy fashion, Heathers has the worst-case scenario come to life multiple times throughout its 103-minute run. J.D. and Veronica end up killing Heather Chandler, setting off a course of events that lead to insane murder plots that culminate into an explosive ending.

Heathers follows the darkest of plotlines but successfully pulls off becoming a comedy with its quirky one-liners and outrageous plot twists. The film itself is the penultimate definition of irony captured on celluloid, as each action taken by J.D. and Veronica have the most unintended consequences imaginable. Though entirely unbelievable, the writing and the characters are able to make the environment and the vibe of the film familiar and leave you wanting a bit more.

Ryder and Slater Knew The Assignment

Heathers gives a great look at Winona Ryder’s jump from little Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice) into teen comedy and drama roles that would be her mainstay in the years before her co-starring role on Stranger Things. The movie certainly made her a commodity in Hollywood and elevated her to elite status among Gen X audiences.

The same could be said for Christian Slater, who’s J.D. made it possible for the actor to be cast in offbeat comedy films Kuffs and Pump Up the Volume. He and Ryder play off one another without missing a beat and are truly one of the film’s components that shine the brightest.

Heathers proved to be well ahead of its time, but the cult status it quickly earned made filmmakers pay attention to a new subset within teen audiences who wanted so much more out of films than love stories and happy endings. Its legacy is far reaching, as Slackers, Reality Bites, and Jawbreaker would likely not have been made if not for the example set by this underappreciated 1988 film. Heathers gets 4.0/5.0-stars for its acting, hilarious screenwriting, and the overall vibe that Lehmann was able to capture with the project. 

As of this writing, you can stream Heathers for free through Tubi, YouTube, Pluto TV, and Amazon Prime Video.

Peacock is having a quiet month in July compared to other streamers like Netflix and HBO Max, but that doesn’t mean it’s not offering must-see content.

Watch With Us has been a huge fan of Jennifer Garner since Time of Your Life (remember that Party of Five spinoff?), and we’re pumped for her newest streaming series, The Five-Star Weekend, which also stars Chloe Sevigny, Regina Hall and Gemma Chan.

The NBC-owned streamer will host the streaming debut of Reminders of Him, the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation, and season 20 of The Real Housewives of Orange County.

July 1

27 Dresses
The Abyss
The Adjustment Bureau
Alita: Battle Angel
Bad Moms
Big
Blink Twice
Blue Crush
Born on the Fourth of July
Braveheart
Bridesmaids
Challengers*
Clear and Present Danger
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Crisis
The Dictator
A Dog’s Journey
A Dog’s Purpose
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
Fast Five
Fast & Furious 6
Focus
Ford v Ferrari
Forrest Gump
Furious 7
Fury*
Hall Pass
Heist
Hellboy
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Holes
The House Bunny
The Hunt for Red October
I, Robot
The Idea of You
Jaws*
Jaws 2*
Jaws 3-D*
Jaws: The Revenge*
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle*
Just Go with It
Kick-Ass
Knives Out*
Lone Survivor
Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
Man on Fire
The Mask
Men in Black*
Men in Black II*
Men in Black 3*
Men in Black: International*
Mission: Impossible
Monsters vs. Aliens
Nobody*
Ocean’s Eleven
Ocean’s Twelve
Ocean’s Thirteen
The Patriot*
The Prestige
Pretty Woman
Profile*
The Punisher
Red
Red 2
Rio
Robocop
Role Models
Seven
The Shallows
Shark Tale
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Straight Outta Compton
The Sum of All Fears
Tammy
Titanic
Tropic Thunder
Twister
Van Helsing
War of the Worlds
We Were Soldiers
Wet Hot American Summer
Who Framed Roger Rabbit

July 2

Black Bag*
Brilliant Minds, Season 2 – Finale (NBC)

July 4

Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular 2026 (NBC Simulcast)

July 6

On Patrol: First Shift, Season 4 – Finale (Reelz)
On Patrol: Live, Season 4 – Finale (Reelz)

July 9

The Five Star Weekend – Premiere, All Episodes, 8 Episodes, 60 Min (Peacock Original)*
The Five Star Weekend Podcast – Premiere, 2 episodes (Peacock Original, Batch Drops 2-2-2-2)
Love Hurts*

July 10

Reminders of Him – Premiere (Peacock Exclusive)*
The Real Housewives of Orange County, Season 20 (Bravo)

July 11

On Patrol: First Shift, Season 5 – Premiere (Reelz)
On Patrol: Live, Season 5 (Reelz)

July 12

Love Island USA, Season 8 – Finale (Peacock Original)*
Married at First Sight, Season 20 – Premiere, One Episode, 60 min (Peacock Original)*

July 15

In the City, Season 1 – Finale (Bravo)

July 19

The Real Murders of Atlanta, Season 4A – Premiere (Oxygen)
Killer Couples, Season 18B – Finale (Oxygen)

July 22

In the City, Season 1 – WWHL Reunion (Bravo)

July 23

Team Mekbots: Animal Rescue, Season 2C – Premiere (Peacock Original)*
The Valley After Show Podcast, Season 2 – Finale (Bravo Digital)

July 25

Jeopardy!, Season 42 – Finale (Syndicated)

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July 29

In the City, Season 1 – WWHL Reunion (Bravo)

July 30

Dog Man*
The Valley, Season 3 – Finale (Bravo)

July 31

Surviving Earth, Season 1 – Finale (NBC)

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 6 seconds ago

Before the rise of dedicated networks for cartoons, the Saturday morning and after-school animation blocks were the day’s highlight for most kids. We got to enjoy such classics as Denver the Last Dinosaur, Cowboys of Moo Mesa, Dinosaucers, Bravestar, and not one but two Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons. As fun as those shows were, story and character development weren’t their selling point, which is what Exosquad was created to change about American animation.

Airing from 1993 through 1994, for 52 episodes, Exosquad was the response of Jeff Segal, the head writer from Challenge of the Go-Bots, to match the quality output of Japanese anime. Typically, American cartoons were structured more like sitcoms than dramas, and the status quo would always be reset by the end of the 22-minute episode. Taking heavy inspiration from Mobile Suit Gundam, the original storyboard designs for the series even refer to it as “American Anime.”

In The Grim Darkness Of The Far Future

Exosquad is set in the future after humanity has colonized and terraformed Venus and Mars, where the Neosapiens, a bio-engineered slave race used by humanity for menial labor, have launched an uprising. Taking control of the planets, the Exosuit pilots that form Able Squad and their allies form the core of humanity’s fight against the Neosapiens.

Unusual for an American cartoon of the time, Exosquad treats the war completely seriously, with characters dying and multiple episodes of fighting followed by more episodes of clean-up and what to do as an occupying force.

While the long-form storytelling was something unique and groundbreaking, what wasn’t new and different was that each member of Able Squad had a different exoframe that they would pilot. From the winged blue frame used by squad leader J.T. Marsh, to the green reconnaissance frame of Alec DeLeon, and the extra-large two-pilot vehicle design of Diana and Thrax’s frame, it’s clear that while Exosqaud broke storytelling ground, it was still designed to sell toys.

When Afternoon Cartoons Go Dark

The colorful designs of the exoframes covered the dark nature of the story, with Episode 22, “Fire Ship,” remaining a standout that has stuck with me for decades. After being betrayed, Able Squad is captured and held on board a captured ship rigged with explosives as a booby trap for the Terran leadership. I was 10, and here was an episode with the heroes contemplating mortality and debating a plan to explode the ship prematurely so that no one else would die.

In 1993, this was unlike anything else on the air, and while yes, the heroes survived this time, that wasn’t always the case. Characters would routinely be injured and unseen for episodes at a time as they recovered, nameless pilots would die in almost every episode, and there was a very palpable sense of dread as the war ramped up and it was clear that not everyone would be making it home alive.

Tragically Ahead Of Its Time

No matter how dark the story became, the animation remained spectacular throughout, but it was the same studio, AKOM, in South Korea, that handled X-Men ’92, Batman: The Animated Series, and Gargoyles, so of course, it’s going to look good. For an American 90s cartoon that is, compared to its contemporary, Gundam Wing, Exosquad doesn’t hold up.

Exosquad came out during an interesting time for American animation, as the industry was quickly evolving and changing, going from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the start of the decade, to Spongebob Squarepants by the time it came to a close. The saga of Able Squad and the Neosapien War still stands out as a series that was unique and ahead of its time. Thankfully, if you want to experience the war yourself, is available for rent or purchase through Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 42 seconds ago

Nature documentaries are incredibly informative if you want to learn how different species interact, feed, and mate in the wild. Taking a page from the National Geographic playbook, The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human is the ultimate mockumentary about how humans interact with one another while trying to find a romantic suitor. If you’re familiar with Nathan W. Pyle’s Strange Planet comics, you’ll love how the unnamed alien narrator in this movie tries to make sense of human dating rituals through his limited understanding of life on planet Earth.

An Alien’s Explanation Of Human Interaction

Narrated by none other than David Hyde Pierce (Frasier), The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human is an absolutely hilarious exploration of misguided anthropology. The film is framed as a nature special using humans as its subject of study, and Pierce’s dry delivery gives it a convincing nature documentary vibe. The Narrator’s long-winded attempts at explaining simple concepts, like shaving and phone call etiquette, are detailed to the point of agony and the primary source of humor in this film.

The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human starts out in a nightclub, and we’re introduced to “The Male,” Billy Waterson (Mackenzie Astin), and “The Female,” Jenny Smith (Carmen Electra). Billy and Jenny immediately hit it off and start dating shortly after their initial exchange. As their romance develops throughout the film, The Narrator attempts to make sense of, and explain to his equally confused audience, the various human interactions he witnesses, highlighting the complexity of modern dating.

The Narrator’s Enthusiasm Will Win You Over

While I think Mackenzie Astin and Carmen Electra deliver flawless performances in this satire, The Narrator’s enthusiasm and curiosity in The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human is what really got me laughing out loud. For example, when describing how women prefer romance movies and how men like action movies, The Narrator explains, “Human females enjoy stories about one person dying slowly. The males prefer stories of many people dying quickly.”

An equally hilarious observation made by The Narrator in The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human involves Billy’s use of a computer mouse at his job, which is described as “a toy named after one of the small rodents of his planet.” Extrapolating his observation to the point of absurdity, The Narrator goes on to say that “He presses his fingers against the rodent’s buttocks and gently taps upon its cheeks. Still, he prefers the female of his own species.”

The Narrator’s descriptions range from making sense of human technology to the use of prophylactics, which is acted out by a bunch of actors dressed in white running into a wall to demonstrate how they’re being blocked from the female’s egg after the male and female engage in intercourse.

Fully committing to its bizarre nature documentary premise, The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human is highly quotable and convincingly points out why and how human dating is such an exhausting ordeal on planet Earth. It’s also worth pointing out that there is some truth behind The Narrator’s assumptions, but his intelligence, coupled with his naivety, adds a layer of ridiculousness to the narrative that makes for a truly unforgettable movie-watching experience.

Pokes Fun At Rom-Coms

The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human effectively uses satire to poke fun at romantic comedies while being a romantic comedy itself, which is easier said than done. Through its self-awareness, it lampoons every single trope found in the genre without wearing out its welcome. David Hyde Pierce’s ability to play it straight while reading The Narrator’s lines is nothing short of commendable, and I’m going to reasonably assume that he had to work through several takes in the voice-over booth to actually nail his lines without laughing out loud himself.

If you’re looking for a romantic comedy that doesn’t succumb to the usual genre trappings, The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human comes with strong recommendations. This anthropological analysis of human dating as perceived by an intelligent alien life form can currently be rented or purchased on-demand through Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and Fandango at Home.

THE MATING HABITS OF THE EARTHBOUND HUMAN SCORE

Director Steven Soderbergh hasn’t been shy about answering questions related to his scrapped “Star Wars” film, “The Hunt For Ben Solo.” He and actor Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the sequel trilogy, worked on the project for years before it was ultimately scrapped by Disney.

Before unveiling his new John Lennon documentary ahead of its Cannes premiere, Soderbergh spoke to Deadline about the shelved Ben Solo movie. They asked what other major franchise could “tempt” him; however, it seems that the director has absolutely no plans to create another franchise film after his deal with Lucasfilm fell apart.

“It’s not coming to mind … I’m not a snob, clearly,” Soderbergh said. “You can see that from my list of credits. [But] the feeling has to be, ‘I can’t bear the idea of somebody else doing this. I’m the person to do this.’ It has to be that.”

“So given my background, there are just certain genres that I’m not steeped in: Didn’t read that stuff, wasn’t exposed to that stuff. You know what I mean?” he continued. “I didn’t buy or read comic books, for instance. So that whole space, I don’t have a problem with it — it’s just not in my DNA, and I wouldn’t be good at it.”

Soderbergh Thought His Scrapped ‘Star Wars’ Film Would Be ‘The Biggest Thing’ He Ever Made

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Soderbergh admitted that he had been taking on smaller projects over the past few years and thought that a trip to a galaxy far, far away would be the kind of ambitious project he was looking for.  

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“Star Wars was going to occupy that slot. That was going to be the biggest thing I’ve ever attempted to make. And I was excited about working on a big canvas,” he said. “You know, it’s been a while. I’ve got other stuff that I’m trying to get going that’ll satisfy that desire.”

He admitted that he had been working on the canceled “Star Wars” film for a “long time,” but compared complaining about its cancellation to “complaining about the weather,” adding, “You just have to figure it out.”

Steven Soderbergh Has No Plans To Return To A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh says even with new Star Wars leadership, he doesn’t plan to pursue his Hunt for Ben Solo project with Adam Driver

“If it was gonna happen, it would have happened”

via: The Playlist pic.twitter.com/sF0RkgNuej

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— ScreenTime (@screentime) April 7, 2026

Although some “Star Wars” fans are hopeful that the script may someday get made, Steven Soderbergh told The Playlist that the film is dead, saying, “Look, if it was gonna happen, it would have happened.”

“It’s that simple,” he added, giving a clear “Nope” when asked if he would ever return to the project.

However, he said that he had no regrets about working on the project. “I don’t regret one minute of the time we spent working on that,” he said. “I felt the work was good. It’s just good for you to be in that room and working on it. It’s like CrossFit—it’s good for you. It’ll have a residual effect that will be unexpected at some point.”

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Soderbergh Reveals The Idea Came From Adam Driver

During the same interview, Soderbergh also revealed that Driver was the one who had brought up the idea of making another movie focused on the character. “It was strictly Adam saying, ‘I think there’s still somewhere to go with this character.’ That’s how it started,” Soderbergh revealed.

While speaking to Variety, he revealed that Driver “felt bad” about getting him involved in the project, only for it to be shut down.

“Adam felt bad for having gotten me into it. I think he felt like he wasted my time, and I made it clear to him, ‘Dude, that was not wasted time.’ It’s a problem-solving experience that will get applied to everything I do going forward,” Soderbergh said.

“I’m not upset,” he continued. “I feel positive about everything that we did together.”

Steven Soderbergh Is Still ‘Disappointed’ About How It All Played Out

Steven Soderbergh says he wasted 2 and a half years on his Star Wars film ‘THE HUNT FOR BEN SOLO’

“I’d made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it. It’s insane. We’re all very disappointed.”

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(Source: https://t.co/85OT35Hwzi) pic.twitter.com/DkR3wO4auJ

— Cinema Solace (@SolaceCinema) February 18, 2026

Even though he doesn’t consider it wasted time, he told the BK Mag that they were “all frustrated” that the film was canceled after they had already written the script.

“You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and [writer] Rebecca Blunt,” he explained. “When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, ‘Look, do not editorialize or speculate about the why. Just say what happened, because all we know is what happened.’ The stated reason was, ‘We don’t think Ben Solo could be alive.’ And that was all we were told. And so there’s nothing to do about it, you know, except move on.”

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“I’d kind of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it,” he continued. “I thought the conversation was strictly going to be a practical one—where they go, what is this going to cost? And I had a really good answer for that. But it never even got to that point. It’s insane. We’re all very disappointed.”

Adam Driver Revealed The Film’s Existence In October 2025

In October 2025, Driver told AP News that he was “always interested” in doing another film in a galaxy far, far away and worked on the idea with Soderbergh after Kathleen Kennedy had “reached out.”

They presented a script, written by Scott Z. Burns, to Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Cary Beck, and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni.

“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver explained. “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”

Although many fans are disappointed that Disney canceled “The Hunt For Ben Solo,” the franchise recently returned to theaters for the first time in years. “The Mandalorian & Grogu” was the first movie released since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” It will be followed by “Star Wars: Starfighter,” which is scheduled to hit theaters in May 2027.

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Prime Video’s Elle debut is bittersweet for the inaugural cast, as they celebrate the start of their new show while mourning the absence of costar James Van Der Beek.

The Legally Blonde prequel, streaming now, marks Van Der Beek’s final TV role before his death in February at age 48. While speaking exclusively to Us Weekly, June Diane Raphael said it was “the honor of my professional life” to serve as Van Der Beek’s scene partner in season 1.

“I loved acting with James,” she told Us about their characters crossing paths in the show.

When fans meet Elle’s (Lexi Minetree) mother, Eva (Raphael), in the show, she is struggling just as much as her daughter after leaving Los Angeles for Seattle. Enter Van Der Beek’s character, Dean Wilson, who encourages Eva to help him with his run for office.

“He is just so charming in this show. I think his fans are going to be so excited to see him and to see his work in this,” Raphael, 46, gushed. “We had so much fun together.”

Despite their bond off screen, Raphael recalled being worried that Eva’s digs at Dean Wilson would upset the actor.

“I’m really attacking the way he looks and what he’s doing,” she added. “I checked in with him at one point and was like, ‘Is this OK? Because I’m improvising a little too?’ And he was like, ‘Just give me [it] … I love it.’”

Raphael walked away from the experience with a new respect for Van Der Beek. She recalled getting to see the Dawson’s Creek alum reach a milestone when his kids visited him on set. (Van Der Beek shared six children with wife Kimberly Van Der Beek.)

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Related: ‘Legally Blonde‘ Cast: Where Are They Now?

The iconic comedy that gave us “bend and snap!” lives on! Released in 2001, Legally Blonde follows Reese Witherspoon‘s Elle Woods, a sorority girl who is dumped by her boyfriend who thinks he’s too good for her. In an effort to prove him wrong and win him back, she hits the books and is accepted […]

“There wasn’t a moment on set where he wasn’t talking about them,” she continued. “He brought two of his daughters to the set, which was really special. … Kimberly shared with me that was the first time they had really been able to be on set with him. To bring your daughters to a workplace means that he really loved it [here] and really wanted it modeled for them.”

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Van Der Beek’s wife confirmed his death at age 48 earlier this year writing via Instagram, “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace.”

Kimberly, 43, shared kids Olivia, 14, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 11, Emilia, 8, Gwendolyn, 6, and Jeremiah, 3, with the late actor.

“There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time,” she wrote at the time. “Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”

Game of Thrones is less colorful than its source material, A Song of Ice and Fire. This is true in a literal sense, except for the Night’s Watch; practically every character is described in the books as having more varied and brighter wardrobes than they ever wore on TV. But it’s also true in a larger sense. George R.R. Martin’s writing is often celebrated for its moral complexity, but it’s also broad, sweeping, and Romantic in the classical sense. He depicts a wide range of customs, worldviews, and personalities that exhibit all the extremes and contradictions of any real person in a more fantastic manner.

Even in its earliest days, Game of Thrones was more constrained in what notes it would let its characters play. The longer it went on, the more that constraint became an issue. Slowly, the color and life were leeched out of the likes of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey).

The flattening of Cersei was particularly frustrating to watch season by season. Martin is outspoken in liking gray characters, but there are still heroes and villains among them. The latter have their reasons for their misdeeds, but it’s hard to imagine anyone regarding Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) or Ramsay Snow (Iwan Rheon) as heroes. Cersei is as much a villain as the likes of them, but being present from the beginning, she looms larger in A Song of Ice and Fire.

As a viewpoint character, we see inside her heart and mind — and what we see is fascinating, the most colorful, entertaining, and sympathetic of the series’ villains to date. Most of the traits that make Cersei so interesting were never fully incorporated into her TV counterpart, and almost none were left by the time the character met her fate in the finale.

Cersei’s Backstory Is Darker in the Original Books

The Cersei played by Lena Headey is clearly derived from the one in the pages of A Song of Ice and Fire. She’s still of the House Lannister, daughter of Tywin (Charles Dance), incestuous twin of Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), and older and unloving sister of Tyrion (Peter Dinklage). The story still begins with Cersei as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms through her arranged marriage to Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy). The outside world assumes that Cersei’s three children are Robert’s, but all are bastards born of her sexual relationship with Jaime, and Cersei is one of many in the Red Keep conspiring against her husband. When Ned Stark (Sean Bean) uncovers the truth about her incest, she arranges Robert’s death, arrests Ned, and stages a coup to place her oldest son Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) on the throne with herself as regent.

On the page and the screen, Cersei’s marriage is loveless and violent. She’s openly contemptuous of Robert, shaming and manipulating him at one point into killing an innocent direwolf to satisfy her vindictiveness. A resentful Robert indulges in his appetites for food, women, and especially drink, and by the time of A Game of Thrones, he has hit her on several occasions. The Robert of the books is ashamed and frightened of what marriage and “kinging” have made of him (a shame he does his best to ignore). He’s frightened of what Cersei and Joffrey might do were they to gain power. The Robert of the show is a less troubled and more piggish brute. Left unmentioned in the show are Cersei’s threats to kill his bastard daughter if she ever comes to court, and rumors that she had two twins that Robert fathered at Casterly Rock killed. Once Robert is dead, Cersei orders the slaughter of all his baseborn children in King’s Landing.

While angry over Robert’s bastards, the Cersei of the books takes pains not to have any children by him. Game of Thrones invents a legitimate baby who died in infancy, a fact Cersei uses to her advantage but can also discuss sincerely with Robert. In A Song of Ice and Fire, pride and resentment won’t allow Cersei to go even that far. The one time she becomes pregnant, she arranges for an abortion and afterward finds ways to avoid insemination by Robert when they sleep together. Other pieces of backstory unused by the show concern the depth of Cersei’s hatred for Tyrion. Like her father, Cersei blames her little brother for their mother’s death.

But an additional grievance comes from the prophecy of the woods witch, Maggy the Frog. The show retains a flashback wherein Maggy (Jodhi May) predicts Cersei’s marriage and children, the deaths of all her offspring, and her dethronement by a “younger and more beautiful” queen. But the show cuts Cersei killing the friend who goes with her, the only witness to the prophecy. And it cuts the final prediction Maggy gives, that when everything has been taken from her, Cersei will be strangled by the valonqar – High Valyrian for “little brother.” Though Cersei precedes Jaime in birth by mere moments, making both her brothers younger by technicality, Cersei is convinced that Tyrion is the brother to fear — a conviction that becomes an obsession by the fourth book, A Feast for Crows.

George R. R. Martin’s Cersei Is a More Volatile and Compelling Character

One might argue that these adjustments to Cersei’s backstory are neutral or even necessary trims. Game of Thrones had time constraints that A Song of Ice and Fire does not. The valonqar prophecy, which book fans have long speculated will turn out to be Jaime, didn’t fit into how he and Cersei ultimately die, or the overall diminishment of prophecy and magic in the show compared to the novels. The loss of the valonqar story was one of the worst casualties of Game of Thrones, paring back the magic. But it’s true enough that most of this background material represented a clean lift, and that the Cersei of Season 1 corresponds fairly well to the Cersei of the first book. The real trouble comes when Robert is dead and Cersei begins wielding and contending for power.

Martin’s Cersei is as Trumpian a villain as you’re likely to find, far more so than her son Joffrey, who was sometimes compared to The Donald. She’s a complete narcissist: entitled, self-absorbed, boastful, and self-deluded about her talents and capacity to rule. The most basic flattery convinces her to make unwise appointments and actions. Envy, impatience, greed, and anger all cloud her already impulsive judgment. Her ruthless streak shatters potentially useful alliances and spills innocent blood, on account of paranoia or simple slights. And her moods are compared by Jaime to wildfire; the passions of the moment send her into fits of glee or torrents of rage.

All this is apparent in the first three books, but A Feast for Crows makes Cersei into a viewpoint character and lets readers see just how deep her narcissism runs. Jaime was made a viewpoint character in the previous book and revealed doubts, guilts, feelings, and his own sense of honor that made him — the man who threw a child out a window — seem a sympathetic and even piteous human being. Cersei’s chapters show her to be coo-coo for cocoa puffs. It’s glaringly obvious how deluded and self-defeating she is, but the immersion into her warped mind is so complete that you can fall into her paranoid, egocentric line of thinking. It’s a fascinating disconnect, making Cersei’s some of the most electrifying chapters of the latest two books to read.

Those chapters also reinforce a harsh truth about Cersei’s relationship with Jaime that earlier books introduced. If you set aside the fact that they’re an incestuous couple, then Jaime comes off as a devoted lover. Whatever his other faults, he never strays with other women and constantly strives to please Cersei. She, on the other hand, regularly turns to sex as a tool of persuasion. She carries on multiple affairs, including one with her cousin Lancel, and was eager to wed Rhaegar Targaryen as a young girl. Her love for Jaime is a love for an extension of herself; when he loses his usefulness to her as a knight and begins to question her judgment, the relationship quickly sours, and as of A Dance with Dragons, the fifth book, Jaime is completely disillusioned with his twin.

Cersei’s love for her children isn’t quite that transactional in Martin’s writing. Even her enemies judge her sincerely devoted to them, though a dangerously unfit mother on account of her… well, everything. But even with them, there is that element of extension. Joffrey and his brother Tommen are tools through which Cersei can wield the power of the Iron Throne, a power she is denied on account of her sex. Westerosi misogyny is a barrier for Cersei throughout the books, but she turns to it as an excuse for any challenge she faces (while also displaying a great deal of misogyny herself to other women). Men like her uncle, Kevan Lannister, don’t doubt her fitness to be regent because she’s a woman, at least not entirely; they doubt her because she’s so clearly unfit for the job.

‘Game of Thrones’ Flattened Cersei’s Character Completely

Image via HBO 

This is the stuff that sets Cersei apart from the likes of Roose and Ramsay, a cold schemer and a violent psychopath respectively. It’s what makes her such a volatile and destructive, yet still dimensional, villain. There’s schadenfreude aplenty to be had in seeing her dig her own hole in A Feast for Crows, which makes her moment of sympathy during the walk of shame all the more impactful. It’s also the stuff that Game of Thrones never knew what to do with. From the second season on, there were awkward attempts to make Cersei a more loving mother and a more sympathetic gray character that always seemed to collapse in on themselves. The murder of Robert’s children is outsourced to Joffrey, who becomes much more of a sinister tyrant than the spoiled bully of the books. The show’s Cersei is fully aware of how demented her son is, deeply troubled by his violence and her lack of control over him – and yet she mourns him just as she did in the book.

Her love and education for Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) are less insane, but that love seems to vanish the second he’s dead. She and Tyrion have more heart-to-hearts throughout the series, only for her to go back to hatred. Forget her manipulation and betrayal of Jaime; Game of Thrones has an uncomfortable reworking of a sex scene and a strange amount of sympathy for their incestuous love affair to impart instead. And all those swings of passion, those fits of narcissistic joy, rage, and paranoia that make Cersei’s book chapters so alive? That aspect of the character is diluted from the start, but it was nonexistent in the last few seasons. TV’s Cersei becomes a stone-faced whisperer by the end. Her expression hardly varies, her voice is low and icy, and her vanity and weaponized sexuality are cast aside.

That is a much flatter character than the one Martin wrote. But the problem is made worse by the fact that it happened to so many of the show’s women. Daenerys, Arya, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) – they were all rendered ice queens in the end. Such monotony is the death of the kind of color A Song of Ice and Fire injects into its personalities. With Cersei made the last villain standing, one whose defeat is inexplicably given more emphasis than the great battle to save all humanity against a horde of ice demons, such a dull antagonist is one more nail in the series finale’s coffin.

Game of Thrones is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.