Entertainment
2 Years Before ‘The Wire,’ Its Creator Made a Gritty 6-Part HBO Crime Miniseries That Aged Perfectly
The Wire is not only one of the best shows to ever air on television, but it’s also one of the most important pieces of pop culture in American history. Overlooked upon release, the Baltimore-set HBO crime drama by David Simon explores police procedure, the drug trade, politics, education, and journalism with the vigor of a riveting novel and the precision of a tell-all documentary.
What happens in The Wire, a series framed around the systemic failure and neglect of our most trusted institutions, represents America in the 21st century, where we’ve seemingly lost our way. Before aspiring to such lofty heights, Simon, a former Baltimore Sun crime reporter, cemented his journalistic voice for an HBO miniseries that aired two years before The Wire‘s premiere. Based on a book by Simon and Ed Burns, The Corner, which features various cast members and hallmarks of its spiritual successor, is every Wire obsessive’s next watch.
‘The Corner’ Laid the Groundwork for ‘The Wire’
From the outset, Simon aspired to forever alter the fabric of the television medium, which was then dominated by sensationalized police procedurals and lurid cop thrillers. His journalistic instincts first pushed the boundaries of network dramas on Homicide, also based on a book by Simon. He took things to an even grittier and unflinching scale with The Corner, a six-episode miniseries about the life of an impoverished family amid the rampant drug trade in West Baltimore that became the prototype for The Wire.
Airing on HBO in 2000, The Corner follows Gary McCullough (the recently deceased T.K. Carter), his ex-wife Fran Boyd (Khandi Alexander), and their son DeAndre (Sean Nelson), whose lives have crumbled after his parents succumb to drug addiction. The street-wise and assured DeAndre must hold his own against the perils of the slums of Baltimore, as his quest for education and familial stability is compromised by the alluring pathway to dealing drugs — a quicker way to earn some much-needed cash for the family. Fans of The Wire will take delight in seeing familiar faces in the cast, including Clarke Peters, Lance Reddick, Corey Parker Robinson, Robert F. Chew, and Delaney Williams. Every episode is directed by prolific character actor Charles S. Dutton.
David Simon Revolutionized Gritty Television With HBO’s ‘The Corner’
As expected, The Corner, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries, raises the bar for grittiness, making The Wire look like a glossy Hollywood soundstage musical. Something with this much grain and visual grime making it to a mainstream platform on HBO spoke to the channel’s artistic fearlessness and curiosity. Sentimentality is nowhere to be found in the series, with Simon and Burns crafting this unforgiving world with the sobering authenticity it deserves. Showrunners tend to find some unseemly fetishization with neighborhoods hindered by poverty and crime, but the duo’s background in journalism and law enforcement allows Baltimore to appear mundane and a reflection of decades’ worth of government neglect. Simon and Burns exhibit restraint on their own end, as they limit their scope to the troubles of DeAndre and his run-ins with the drug trade, which makes this weighty treatise on the decay of urban America into an intimately constructed character drama.
With The Wire, David Simon, thanks to contributions from Hollywood directors like Ernest Dickerson and crime novelists like Richard Price, sharpened his abilities as a dramatist and narrative storyteller, attributes that eased the show into the good graces of casual TV audiences. The Corner is less engaging on an emotional level for the audience, as everything on screen is more or less a reflection of a pre-existing world. Thanks to Dutton’s narration and interviews with the subjects, the series never lets you gloss over the text’s nonfictional roots. In the shadow of the “hood” crime thrillers of the ’90s, drug-running and activity in the projects were lurid cinematic devices, but Simon urges the audience that this downtrodden lifestyle could happen to anyone, including Gary, who once lived an upstanding, healthy middle-class life.
Things that would’ve been marginalized or cheapened in other shows are treated with austerity in The Corner, particularly the characterization of DeAndre, a teenager who carries the burden of his entire family. Dabbling in illicit crime circles is a punishing, necessary evil for DeAndre, and not a proud demonstration of his independence and toughness. Sean Nelson’s performance retroactively works as a composite of some of The Wire‘s most conflicted characters, from the street’s Robin Hood, Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), to the matured corner veteran, Bodie (J.D. Williams). DeAndre is emblematic of the modern-day Greek tragedy that is the average urban neighborhood in America. He is forced to engage with the American Dream as a survival tactic.
Entertainment
‘Dark Winds’ Showrunner Unpacks Season 4’s Terrifying New Villain After That Intense Premiere: “She’s Demented”
Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for the Dark Winds Season 4 premiere.
Well, it’s official. Dark Winds has been renewed for a fifth season ahead of the fourth season premiere, which is great news for those of us thrilled with the AMC neo-Western. With Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), and Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) set for a plethora of new changes heading into Season 4, Collider had the pleasure of speaking with executive producer and showrunner John Wirth about the show’s future — namely, why now was the time to head to Los Angeles, what Franka Potente‘s new villain brings to the show, and what audiences can expect in the coming weeks.
COLLIDER: After the team has been split apart over the last two seasons now — Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito [are] all back and finally reunited in Season 4 — how has their dynamic changed in the last few years, and why is now the right time to move them from the Navajo Nation to Los Angeles, at least temporarily?
JOHN WIRTH: That’s a good question. I don’t know if this was foreknowledge or after-knowledge, but given the circumstances of the way we started this season with Leaphorn’s ruminations on retirement and then his thinking about succession… and who of those two [Chee and Manuelito] — because they do have the same rank in the police station, they do the same job. They have different backgrounds, law enforcement backgrounds, but I think Leaphorn thinks of them as being his lieutenants, “junior” lieutenants. So, his ruminations lead him to make a decision on who is going to succeed him, of those two, which is a great set-up for drama in a show like this. You’ve got multiple relationships there — Bern and Chee, Bern and Leaphorn, Leaphorn and Chee, Chee and Bern — so it’s just a really good, juicy way to get into the inner workings of their relationship.
Taking them out of their environment, especially taking them to a place like Los Angeles, these people are… They’re not hicks. They have lived in cities. Chee went to Berkley, he went to California, he lived in Los Angeles, as we find out this season. But they’re Navajo people. And one thing I know about Navajo people, having learned it by working with a lot of Navajo people over the last five years, is [that] they are connected to the land in a way that I am not. I wear shoes all the time, I’m inside all the time. It’s very unusual for me to spend a night outside or even six hours outside, unless I’m on location filming this TV show.
But the Navajo people are extremely connected, on an electrical way or something, to the world around them — the sky, the water, the air. It’s really amazing. I’m making too big a deal out of it, of course, but it’s amazing to be with them and talk with them about it. So, I think taking these three characters that are Navajo, that have that connection to their world, and yank them out of that world and put them in another world (which they are not comfortable in), add an element of danger, add an element of mistrust between the three of them because of what’s happening (both in the succession story and in the ghost-sickness story), just made for good drama. It’s just a really good situation for us to explore.
I had wanted to get off the reservation — first of all, in the novel, The Ghostway, they go to California, so it was kind of a no-brainer. That’s where the idea came from initially. I thought, “Let’s take this show to a place where the audience is maybe not expecting it to go and see what happens, and then return our people back to the place where the audience wants to see them, probably.” At the end of the season, I was like, “I’m so glad to be back.” It’s just easier in some ways. You can die of exposure, but at least you’d be with your landscape.
John Wirth Teases ‘Dark Winds’ Season 4’s Biggest Threat
The big threat this season is Franka Potente’s Irene Vaggan. What can you tell audiences about her? When we spoke on set, you compared her to Nicholas Logan’s Colton Wolf, but what sets her apart as a Dark Winds antagonist?
WIRTH: She’s a sociopath. And a psychopath. I mean, she’s demented. I used to have fun with Franka; when I would see her, I would say, “Dr. Demento!” Because she plays that demented thing so successfully. She would tell you — and if you’ve spoken to her, I’m sure she has — that she likes playing the bad guys because they’re interesting. They’re weird and broken and dysfunctional. She loves playing those characters, and she really got her teeth into this character.
In the book, Vaggan was a man, and he was just too close to Colton Wolf. And I thought Nick [Logan] was spectacular as that character, and I just didn’t want to bring in another big, hulking white dude to be the bad guy. We decided to make Vaggan a woman, and then there were lots of discussions of what kind of woman she would be, what kind of woman in 1972 would have that job. Was that even remotely realistic, even in the film and television business? And it was a little bit out on the edge, but giving her this background of having been raised in Germany during World War II, and her father was a Nazi, and her grandfather was a Nazi who is now living with her. And I just loved Udo’s — R.I.P. [Udo Kier, who passed back in November] — performance as that character, and how she resolved her issues with him.
A new location, a new villain, and old favorites make ‘Dark Winds’ Season 4 the most ambitious one yet.
Once we had that backstory in place — and we wrote a pretty specific, lengthy backstory for her — it really made sense that she would land in the Southwest. And, in the course of her work for this very urban gang leader — Dominic McNair, played by Titus Welliver, which was also incredibly thrilling to have him on the show — she goes to the reservation, and this is the place of her dreams. She had been fixated with Native Americans and the whole life of the Southwest and warriors. She had read all these books written by Karl May — who is a real novelist, still quite successful in Germany — [who] had written all of these books, fantasy books, about the Southwest and Native Americans in the Southwest that Europeans were reading at the time. It got her through the tough days of the war, and then her family emigrated to South America, and then they ended up in California, and suddenly, she finds herself on the reservation working and lays eyes on Joe Leaphorn — and there is the man of her dreams. The fantasy come to life. There he is in the flesh. From that moment on in the story, her obsession starts to build, and it plays out in a really kooky way, I thought.
‘Dark Winds’ Showrunner Reveals the Process Behind Choosing Which Book To Adapt Each Season
I actually have my copy of The Ghostway right here, and I was curious: What goes into choosing which Hillerman novel you adapt each year? How do you decide which parts you lean into and which you take out?
WIRTH: Well, that’s a really good question. The novels are challenging to adapt. You know, there’s a whole story of Hillerman writing the Joe Leaphorn book, the original novel [The Blessing Way], which he sold to Universal, and then he wrote the screenplay for a movie, and the movie did not get made. Then he went back to Albuquerque, or wherever he lived, I’m not quite sure, and wrote another Joe Leaphorn book and found out that he had lost the rights to the character because the movie studio owned it. So then he created Jim Chee. And then at some point, with the success of his novels, he got the rights to Joe Leaphorn back. So then, some of these books in the early books are Jim Chee novels, and then Leaphorn comes back in, and they become the Leaphorn & Chee novels.
In The Ghostway, Leaphorn is not really in that story. I had wanted to do the LA part of it, that’s what attracted me to it, and so we just decided to do that story. It felt right in terms of my sort of circadian rhythm of what the show should be. In Season 2, Leaphorn wasn’t in that novel [People of Darkness] either. The world of the novels and the world of the TV show are connected, but they’re not mirror images of each other. We do a lot of invention to make the novels fit into our stories. In Season 3, we used two novels [Dance Hall of the Dead and The Sinister Pig] and kind of mashed them up because there were elements of The Sinister Pig that I liked a lot, and we had Bernadette leaving. It’s just kind of a feel thing.
For Season 5, I had thought that we would do one novel, and then I got into some discussions about it with Zahn McClarnon, and he wasn’t quite sold on the novel that I wanted to do. So, he recommended a couple of others. And so, I started to take a second look at the novels that he recommended, and then we ended up negotiating our way to the novel that we ended up using. He’s influential in that as well, because he has to be the guy on screen, so he wants to be sure that we’re making the right decision. And we’re never sure because it’s all a crapshoot. You just hope to get in an interview like this with a guy like you who says, “I loved the season!” You’re like, “Oh, thank God.”
Entertainment
Starfleet Academy Finally Finds The Sweet Spot For Storytelling
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published

If we’re being honest, there have been plenty of problems with NuTrek since it premiered in 2017, but one of the more persistent problems has been figuring out what stakes a story should have. Discovery and Picard exhausted fans by having huge stakes, whereas early episodes of Starfleet Academy annoyed the fandom with hilariously low stakes. In the latest SFA episode “Come, Let’s Away,” however, NuTrek has finally found a storytelling sweet spot, delivering the kind of medium stakes that typified the Golden Age of Star Trek.
For better or for worse, Star Trek: Discovery was always a show swinging for the fences with high-stakes storytelling. Season 1 involved saving the Federation from Klingons who were intent on destroying the Earth, and Season 2 involved saving the entire galaxy from evil AI. Season 3 involved saving the Federation yet again (this time, in the far future), while Season 4 was all about stopping a threat that destroyed entire planets. The final season wrapped things up with a plot about keeping reality-rewriting technology from ending up in the hands of the scariest aliens the galaxy has ever known.
Star Trek Fans Experience Disaster Fatigue

Star Trek: Picard continued this tradition: Season 1 turned Picard’s quest to help Data’s daughter into an adventure involving an ancient Romulan conspiracy, android rebellion, and all-powerful machine gods from outside the galaxy. Season 2 had Picard and his buddies fighting to keep their entire future from becoming a freaky fascist dystopia. Oh, and Season 3 wrapped things up by having our heroes prevent the Borg from taking over and rewriting the entire galaxy into their cybernetic image.
Understandably, audiences grew tired of what amounted to disaster fatigue; as with superhero movies, the simple truth is that it’s just exhausting when the stakes are always impossibly high. It’s hard to care that the entire galaxy is in danger when this is happening in literally every season. Strange New Worlds tried to fix this problem with simpler, episodic adventures, but some fans thought the adventures were too low-stakes, and it was hard to care about stories with plots like “will everyone stop singing?” and “will Spock fulfill his naughty nurse fantasy?”
Star Trek’s Drama Loses Its Shirt

When Starfleet Academy began, it arguably replicated the problem of Star Trek’s low-stakes stories. It’s a show modeled after Young Adult franchises like Harry Potter, so the episodes mostly revolve around the young cadets discovering the power and value that has been hidden inside of them all along. That makes for some interesting coming-of-age stories, but some fans found story hooks like “will Starfleet Academy win the prank war?” and “will SAM stop arguing with her holographic parents?” so low-stakes that they couldn’t really care about these episodes.
That’s part of why I was so impressed by “Come, Let’s Away:” the most recent Starfleet Academy episode effectively found a narrative sweet spot by giving us an adventure where our cadets were in mortal peril. After a training mission goes sideways, several cadets are kidnapped by killer cannibals, forcing Starfleet to ask space pirate Nus Braka for help. While the cadets are ultimately saved, Braka doublecrosses our heroes, destroying a starship and ransacking a starbase while leaving a trail of bodies in the cold vacuum of space.
How Star Trek Got Its Groove Back

I personally loved this episode for many reasons, including the fact that it ditched the show’s signature bad humor to deliver a tense thriller reminiscent of the Golden Age of Trek. Seeing the characters cut the jokes and pool their different skills to overcome an impossible situation reminded me of why I fell in love with shows like The Next Generation. Eventually, I realized the other big reason this episode reminded me of TNG: it finally found the sweet spot between insanely high stakes and laughably low stakes.
The cadets being in mortal peril is certainly higher-stakes than, say, stories focusing entirely on Caleb’s love life or prank battles with the War College. But it’s not like Discovery or Picard, where the crew regularly had to save the entire galaxy from some insane threat or another. Instead, Starfleet Academy finally found that sweet spot by giving us the ultimate Trek trope of a story: a simple mission goes wrong, and everyone must put their training to the test to overcome impossible odds.
Only time will tell if Starfleet Academy can maintain this sweet spot for future episodes or if we will go back to low-stakes adventures punctuated by cringeworthy potty humor. But as I mentioned in my review of “Come, Let’s Away,” my fingers are crossed that this represents a turning point for this controversial show and that it is becoming the kind of series older franchise fans have been begging for. With any luck, the writers realize they are dealing with their own high-stakes story about whether Star Trek survives another 60 years or gets a Dr. McCoy-like assessment from a bored fandom: “it’s dead, Jim!”
Entertainment
‘Train Dreams’ Wins Best Feature
The Film Independent Spirit Awards remain a meaningful fixture of awards season. While they are not always a definitive predictor of Academy Award outcomes, the ceremony plays a vital role in recognizing distinctive achievements in independent film and television. This year’s winners offer a fascinating snapshot of the beautiful landscape of titles in both mediums.
One of the evening’s most notable victories went to Eva Victor‘s film Sorry, Baby. The A24 release marks Victor’s feature directorial debut, in which they also star as Agnes, a person grappling with unresolved trauma as their friend, Lydie (Naomi Ackie), moves forward with her life and begins a family. The film presents an intimate and affecting portrait of heartbreak and resilience, centering on a protagonist who is copping, yet striving to grow. Although the film was overlooked by the Academy Awards, the Spirit Awards’ recognition of Victor’s work underscores its impact within the independent film community.
Adolpho Veloso‘s win for cinematography on Train Dreams was another significant moment of the night. In Clint Bentley‘s film, much of Joel Edgerton’s performance is internal and understated, placing greater emphasis on visual storytelling. Veloso’s cinematography shapes the emotional texture of the film, effectively functioning as a narrative force in its own right. His Spirit Award follows a Critics Choice Award win, further strengthening his standing this awards season. Train Dreams enjoyed a strong showing overall, with Bentley earning Best Director and the film taking home Best Feature among its honors. A complete list of this year’s Spirit Award winners is available below.
The Full List of Winners
You can see the full list of winners below:
Best Feature
Peter Hujar’s Day
The Plague
Sorry, Baby
Train Dreams – WINNER
Twinless
Best Director
Clint Bentley, Train Dreams – WINNER
Mary Bronstein, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Lloyd Lee Choi, Lucky Lu
Ira Sachs, Peter Hujar’s Day
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby
Best First Feature
Blue Sun Palace
Dust Bunny
East of Wall
Lurker – WINNER
One of Them Days
Best Lead Performance
Everett Blunck, The Plague
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – WINNER
Kathleen Chalfant, Familiar Touch
Chang Chen, Lucky Lu
Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams
Dylan O’Brien, Twinless
Keke Palmer, One of Them Days
Théodore Pellerin, Lurker
Tessa Thompson, Hedda
Ben Whishaw, Peter Hujar’s Day
Best Supporting Performance
Naomi Ackie, Sorry, Baby – WINNER
Zoey Deutch, Nouvelle Vague
Kirsten Dunst, Roofman
Rebecca Hall, Peter Hujar’s Day
Nina Hoss, Hedda
Jane Levy, A Little Prayer
Archie Madekwe, Lurker
Kali Reis, Rebuilding
Jacob Tremblay, Sovereign
Haipeng Xu, Blue Sun Palace
Best Breakthrough Performance
Liz Larsen, The Baltimorons
Kayo Martin, The Plague – WINNER
Misha Osherovich, She’s the He
SZA, One of Them Days
Tabatha Zimiga, East of Wall
Best Screenplay
A Little Prayer
Sorry, Baby – WINNER
Sovereign
Splitsville
Twinless
Best First Screenplay
Blue Sun Palace
Friendship
Lurker – WINNER
One of Them Days
Outerlands
Best Cinematography
Blue Sun Palace
Dust Bunny
Peter Hujar’s Day
Train Dreams – WINNER
Warfare
Best Editing
Eephus
Good Boy
Splitsville
The Testament of Ann Lee – WINNER
Warfare
Best Documentary
Come See Me in the Good Light
Endless Cookie
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in Moscow
The Perfect Neighbor – WINNER
The Tale of Silyan
Best International Film
All That’s Left of You
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
A Poet
The Secret Agent – WINNER
Sirāt
Robert Altman Award
The cast, casting director, and director of The Long Walk – WINNER
Someone to Watch Award
Tatti Ribeiro – WINNER
Neo Sora
Annapurna Sriram
Truer Than Fiction Award
Tony Benna
Rajee Samarasinghe – WINNER
Brittany Shyne
John Cassavetes Award
The Baltimorons
Boys Go to Jupiter
Eephus
Esta Isla – WINNER
Familiar Touch
Producers Award
Emma Hannaway
Luca Intili
Tony Yang – WINNER
Television Best New Scripted Series
Adolescence – WINNER
Common Side Effects
Forever
Mr. Loverman
North of North
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
Citizen Nation
Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time
Pee-Wee As Himself – WINNER
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television
Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
Sydney Chandler, Alien: Earth
Stephen Graham, Adolescence – WINNER
Ethan Hawke, The Lowdown
Lennie James, Mr. Loverman
Anna Lambe, North of North
Lola Petticrew, Say Nothing
Seth Rogen, The Studio
Lovie Simone, Forever
Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex
Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
Ariyon Bakare, Mr. Loverman
Babou Ceesay, Alien: Earth
Sharon D. Clarke, Mr. Loverman
Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
Erin Doherty, Adolescence – WINNER
Stephen McKinley Henderson, A Man on the Inside
Poorna Jagannathan, Deli Boys
Xosha Roquemore, Forever
Jenny Slate, Dying for Sex
Ben Whishaw, Black Doves
Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
Asif Ali, Deli Boys
Wally Baram, Overcompensating
Owen Cooper, Adolescence – WINNER
Michael Cooper Jr., Forever
Ernest Kinglsey Junior, Washington Black
Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
Chief of War – WINNER
Congrats to all the winners! You can watch Victor’s work now in Sorry, Baby.
- Release Date
-
June 27, 2025
- Runtime
-
103 minutes
- Director
-
Eva Victor
- Writers
-
Eva Victor
- Producers
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Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Frank Ariza
Entertainment
Savannah Guthrie Begs Kidnapper to Bring Her Mom Nancy Back in Tearful Video
Savannah Guthrie
To Whoever Took My Mom… You Can Still Do the Right Thing!!!
Published
‘TODAY’ show anchor Savannah Guthrie is begging her mom Nancy‘s kidnapper to bring her home in a new video where she urges whoever took her that it’s “never too late to do the right thing.”
In the new clip, Savannah delivers an emotional plea in a direct-to-camera address, saying, “We still have hope and we still believe.”
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
She added … “To whoever has her or knows where she is … It’s never too late and you’re not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing.”
Savannah says she believes “in the essential goodness of every human being.”
Her 84-year-old mom has now been missing for 2 weeks, is in poor health and requires daily medication. It is unclear whether she’s had access to the meds she needs.
Fox News has reported that authorities are using advanced Bluetooth detection technology to track down a signal from Nancy’s pacemaker as part of their search.
Former FBI special agent Maureen O’Connell told NewsNation that pacemaker-related detection tools typically operate at a short range, meaning search crews would need to be in close proximity to pick up a signal.
Earlier today, TMZ confirmed the FBI has recovered DNA from a glove that appears to match the gloves worn by the unidentified subject captured on surveillance footage. Authorities are in the process of testing the DNA to see if they can find a match.
Entertainment
North West’s Neon Takeover With Friends at Alexander Wang in NYC
North West
Lights Up Alexander Wang Store with Neon Hair!!!
Published
North West‘s future is looking bright and so is her hair.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West‘s daughter stepped out in NYC rocking a vivid wig while hitting up the Alexander Wang store with a group of friends Saturday. The crew looked straight up rocker chic, with a few of her pals also sporting bold, colorful locks.
Check out the pics … North and company took over the store, browsing racks and scoping out the latest fits before leaving with shopping bags full of goodies.
Fashion clearly runs in the family. With Kim’s style empire, North’s already carving out her own lane in the industry and she’s only getting started.
Just last month, North joined Ye onstage during his show in Mexico, where he hyped up the crowd and let her perform her new track, “Piercing on My Hand.”
Between high-fashion shopping sprees and live performances in front of thousands, North’s résumé is stacking up fast.
Entertainment
Prime Video’s Gritty 2-Part Crime Drama Is Hooking ‘True Detective’ Viewers
The first season of True Detective is irrefutably one of the all-time great seasons of TV. Between the star power of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, mixed with some of the best writing for any TV script, it’s no wonder the show picked up several Emmys and earned renewals for three more seasons. Everyone loves a good detective drama/police procedural, which is part of why the genre has flourished as well as it has on network TV. There’s something about watching a cop crack a case over the course of an intense and methodical season.
Prime Video has attempted to recreate the magic of True Detective with Cross, the hard-boiled detective series starring Aldis Hodge. The show is based on the series of Cross novels by James Patterson, and it has been brought to the screen in the past by other actors such as Morgan Freeman. Prime Video’s Cross first premiered back in 2024, and despite mixed reviews, the show was an instant hit. It earned a Season 2 renewal, and after months of anticipation, the first three episodes of Cross Season 2 debuted on Prime Video earlier this week. It’s sitting at a strong 91% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cross has returned to Prime Video with a splash, wasting no time becoming the third most popular TV show on the platform at the time of writing. It has still yet to pass the new season of Beast Games, the reality TV show from popular YouTube personality, Mr. Beast. It’s also trailing Fallout, but now that the video game adaptation is off the air for now, it will likely surge past the Walton Goggins-led series in the coming days.
What Else Is Streaming on Prime Video Right Now?
In addition to Cross, Beast Games, and Fallout, a few other shows are hanging around in the Prime Video top 10. One of those series is Steal, the hit new crime thriller starring Game of Thrones veteran Sophie Turner. The second season of The Night Manager, which stars Loki veteran Tom Hiddleston, is also a hit streaming on Prime. The most popular movie on the platform right now is The Wrecking Crew, the action smash starring Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista. Ana de Armas’ John Wick spin-off, Ballerina, is also in the Prime Video top 10.
Check out the first three episodes of Cross Season 2 on Prime Video, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the series.
- Release Date
-
November 14, 2024
- Network
-
Prime Video
- Directors
-
Craig Siebels, Nzingha Stewart
- Writers
-
Ben Watkins
- Franchise(s)
-
Alex Cross
Entertainment
17 Flattering Long-Sleeve Tops on Amazon — From $7
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Here’s a secret to looking polished with minimal effort this winter: Pair tailored pants, jeans or skirts with a fitted long-sleeved top. The style instantly elevates any outfit from frumpy to seriously chic, and shoppers are taking note.
Streamlined, fitted tops move away from bulky fabric in favor of a silhouette that accentuates your figure. Plus, the style also helps balance out high-waisted bottoms, wide-leg pants and more. It’s not hard to see why the winter style is wildly popular on Amazon, dominating its Movers and Shakers section, which lists the most purchased items in the last 24 hours. To help you start your search for a similar look, we rounded up 17 fitted long-sleeve tops that are figure flattering whether you’re headed to work, brunch with friends just running errands — and they start at just $8.
17 Fitted Long-Sleeve Tops for Under $40
1. Our Favorite: Thousands of five-star ratings agree, this perfectly-fitted classic long-sleeve tee goes with absolutely anything, including trousers and jeans.
2. Button-Down Beauty: Unlike some button-down shirts that traditionally look more relaxed, this popular one appears tailored and slim fitting. Plus, it’s on sale for less than $25.
3. Can’t-Go-Wrong Crewneck: Looking for a fitted top that could look good with virtually anything? This top-rated shirt has over 1,200 five-star ratings that shoppers like wear it with jackets, skirts, overalls and even scrubs (yes, nurses like them, too).
4. Peek-a-Boo Mesh: Sexy and sultry, this totally-sheer mesh top is fully fitted and comes in lace, dotted or solid varieties. We like to wear it layered under dresses or even with a bralette for girls’ night out.
5. Big Bell Sleeves: A simple silhouette gets a style upgrade with these flared bell sleeves and a flattering boatneck neckline.
6. Making Waves: Stand out in this stretchy top that makes ‘waves’ with statement-making curved, textured lines.
7. Cowl Neck Sweater Weather: A great choice on colder days, this body-skimming sweater has a lovely cowl neckline and a slightly cropped length. If you ask Us, it’s a total upgrade from your go-to sweatshirt.
8. Super Nice Square Neck: Sophisticated and ultra flattering, this square-neck long-sleeve tee should be a staple in any wardrobe.
9. Deeply Into This Deep V: The plunging neckline on this anything-but-basic top steals the show. However, if you don’t want to reveal too much, consider wearing the shirt with a cami.
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11. Lovely in Lace: This romantic-looking top has a high neck and a lace accent that makes it feel super expensive . . . even though it’s on sale for just $8.
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13. Hello, Henley: This fitted, lightly-ribbed shirt has nearly 1,000 five-star ratings, features a trendy henley opening in front and is available in over 30 colors.
14. Try a Turtleneck: Stay cozy and warm in this sleek turtleneck top that’s made with a cashmere blend for a super soft feel. The best part? It costs a fraction of what you’d normally pay for the high-end fabric.
15. Scoop-Up Multiple: Scoop necklines look good on nearly everyone, and this one proves it. Shop it in stripes and solid colors while it’s on sale for $8.
16. Cool Collar: Soft, stretchy and lightweight, this polo-style shirt will make you look country club rich. Plus, the V-neckline and long sleeves make it a work-friendly option.
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Entertainment
Too Hot to Handle’s Cam Holmes and Emily Miller’s Relationship Timeline
The moment Cam Holmes laid eyes on Emily Miller, he knew it’d be difficult to resist her charms.
Cam and Emily were both cast on the second season of Netflix’s Too Hot to Handle, which aired in June 2021, thinking they were given a free vacation to find love in paradise. However, the streaming giant’s artificial intelligence system, Lana, quickly squashed those hopes when she revealed that the conditions of their stay meant abstaining from sexual practices in favor of pursuing emotional connections.
The England natives sparked an immediate physical connection, going on to lose a chunk of change from the prize pot when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Their budding relationship was further tested when Cam was caught flirting with Too Hot to Handle new arrivals.
“In a weird, twisted way, I’m glad it happened because if it didn’t happen in the show, it could have happened later on down the line,” Emily exclusively told Us Weekly in July 2021 after the finale aired. “So at least we nipped it in the bud from the get-go and we both came out of it as better people. We are two very weird people!”
Cam ultimately lost the season 2 prize to fellow contestant Marvin Anthony, but he won Emily’s heart in the end. After the show wrapped Turks and Caicos in February 2020, the twosome decided to move in together when they returned to London.
“All my family absolutely loves her. So I think they might be dreading watching the show a little bit,” Cam told Us the following July. “I feel like my mom’s going to be on my case. … We didn’t know whether to test the boundaries. Now living together, there’s no boundaries at all.”
Keep reading to revisit Cam and Emily’s hottest moments together:
January 2020

Despite a three-year age gap, Cam and Emily fell hard for each other when they jetted off to Turks and Caicos for Too Hot to Handle season 2 — and couldn’t help breaking the sex-free rules.
“I’ve not been a relationship type of girl my whole life, but in that villa, as soon as I saw him, I was like, ‘Wow,’ and he felt the same,” she recalled during a May 2023 appearance on “The Squeeze” podcast. “I know it sounds so cringe, but it was love at first sight.”
July 2021

After the finale aired, the pair confirmed they were still dating and had moved in together.
“We are very much in a relationship. We’re actually in the same house right now, just different rooms,” Emily gushed to Us in a joint Zoom interview with Cam after the show debuted. “We’re living at my mom’s house. We are looking to move out together. That is the next step.”
Cam added at the time that the duo only spent “four days apart” since filming wrapped in February 2020.
December 2021

The couple enjoyed a trip to Inverness, Scotland, weeks after celebrating their first anniversary.
“365 days of loving you 🤍,” Cam gushed via Instagram at the time, sharing kissing pics.
June 2022

After Emily “collapsed whilst being at the shops,” she was taken to the local hospital and diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy. (According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition occurs when a fetus grows inside of a woman’s fallopian tube instead of her uterus. Since a fetus cannot survive outside of the uterus, a pregnancy loss occurs.)
“If I had left [the fetus in] much longer, my fallopian tube would [have] burst,” she wrote via Instagram. “It’s one of those things you just think will never happen to you. I was just so scared. Not only was I about to lose my baby but I was about to have my fallopian tube removed with the potential of my ovary too.”
Several hours later, Emily was taken into surgery. She recalled, “I don’t know who was crying more me or Cam but was extremely emotional, to say the least.” Emily was discharged the next day.
February 2023

To celebrate their third anniversary, Cam surprised Emily with a trip to Paris.
May 2023

One month after Cam called Emily his “world” in a glowing birthday tribute, she opened up about their future.
“I do [want to get married] really soon, but he’s not interested right now,” Emily told Taylor Lautner and his wife, Tay Dome, on their “The Squeeze” podcast, citing Cam’s age as a primary factor in the decision to take his time.
January 2024
The couple kicked off the new year by announcing that Emily is pregnant with their first baby. Sharing the announcement via Instagram on New Year’s Day, Emily confirmed she is due in June 2024.
June 2024
Emily and Cam welcomed their first baby, Reggie, and introduced their little one to the world.
“Reggie Ruston Miller-Holmes 🥹🤍 20.06.2024,” the pair wrote via a joint Instagram post, which featured a black-and-white snap of them holding their son’s hand.
October 2025
Cam proposed on a beach nearly one year after they welcomed son Reggie.
“It finally happened,” Emily wrote via Instagram, showing off her new oval engagement ring.
February 2026
Emily announced that she is pregnant with twins.
“Mummy’s got two babies in her tummy,” she told son Reggie in an Instagram video.
Entertainment
Simone Biles’ Husband Jonathan Owens Spoils Her on Bottega Shopping Spree
Simone Biles is getting the full princess treatment from her husband, Jonathan Owens, in honor of Valentine’s Day 2026.
“Always spoiling me,” Biles, 28, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, February 15, sharing a selfie with Owens, 30, at the Bottega Veneta boutique in Italy.
Biles and Owens traveled to Milan to cheer on Team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics, finding time to make a pit stop at the Bottega Veneta store.
“I never knew Bottega did this, might be a special Milan thing?!” Biles captioned a follow-up slide of a white handbag accessorized with a “SBO” gold monogram on the exterior. “But how f***in cute?”
Biles did not immediately reveal what she and Owens picked up at the designer shop.
“The shopping in Milan is elite,” Owens succinctly wrote via his Instagram Stories on Sunday. “[I’m a] long way from St. Louis, man.”
After growing up in Missouri, Owens met Biles in 2020 on the celebrity dating app Raya.
“It was one of the few times in her life where everything was just shut off and she couldn’t do anything,” he told Texas Monthly in 2021 of connecting with the gymnast amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We used it to get to know each other — really get to know each other. It created our bond and made it stronger. Now, I’m so thankful.”

Owens, however, wasn’t clued into Biles’ career as the most decorated American gymnast of all time.
“I didn’t know who she was,” he told the outlet. “I just hadn’t heard of her, and when I told her that, that’s one of the things she liked.”
Owens has since become Biles’ No. 1 cheerleader, even dutifully attending the 2024 Summer Olympics when she made her long-awaited return to competition following her mental health-related withdrawal from the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“It is not much motivation you need to do, just because you don’t want to put extra, added pressure on anyone,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in July 2024 of supporting Biles. “I just tell her, ‘Go do your thing, baby.’”
Biles, who married Owens in 2023, also returns the favor by attending his NFL games. (Owens is a safety for the Chicago Bears after previously playing for the Green Bay Packers and the Houston Texans.)
“You get a different type of focus whenever you just have this one person that you’re focusing on,” Owens told Us in 2024. “I ain’t saying there’s something wrong with being single, but for me, knowing myself, I’ve played a lot better since [meeting Simone]. I’ve just been focused and locked in, and you come home, talk about my day and play with the dogs, you know what I mean? That’s just kind of like our thing.”
Biles seldom misses a Bears game either — and always while decked out in custom merch.
“Something you guys might not know about my husband, Jonathan, is he is actually an undrafted, D2 product. This is his eighth year in the league,” Biles said in an October 2025 TikTok video. “He’s broken down barriers, statistics and undrafted means a guy wasn’t drafted to a team, but they are free to sign with any team as an undrafted free agent. Another Bears win, well-deserved! Proud wife. Four in a row — that’s my man.”
Owens and the Bears made it to the playoffs this year, getting eliminated just shy of the conference championships.
Entertainment
Bianca Censori Called to Testify as Witness in Kanye West’s Legal Battle
Bianca Censori
Called To Testify In Kanye’s Legal Battle
Published
Bianca Censori could be taking the witness stand soon … at least if a former Kanye West employee gets his way.
According to new court documents, obtained by TMZ, Tony Saxon — the ex-project manager suing Kanye over the chaotic Malibu mansion remodel — says he’s calling Bianca to testify in the upcoming trial, currently set for February 21.
It’s unclear what specific testimony he believes she can provide, but she’s now potentially being lined up as a witness in the case.
As we previously reported … Saxon sued Kanye, claiming he was hired in September 2021 as project manager, caretaker and 24/7 security for Kanye’s Malibu property. In the lawsuit, Saxon alleges he worked brutal 16 hour days and was forced to sleep on the floor using a coat as makeshift bedding while overseeing the remodel.
Saxon claims things spiraled in November 2021 when Kanye allegedly demanded he remove all the home’s windows and electricity. According to the suit, Saxon raised safety concerns, warning the moves posed “extreme danger,” especially after Kanye allegedly insisted on bringing large generators inside something Saxon feared could spark a fire hazard.
He also claims Kanye threatened him, saying he’d be considered “an enemy” if he didn’t comply, and told him, “If you don’t do what I say, you’re not going to work for me.” Saxon says he refused and was fired on the spot.
Tony’s suing for unpaid wages and labor code violations and potentially dragging Bianca into the courtroom drama.
Kanye has denied all allegations. In a November 2023 filing, his attorney argued that even if Saxon suffered damages — which Kanye does not admit — they were caused by other parties, not Kanye, and any liability should be reduced accordingly. Kanye also claimed Saxon performed work without his knowledge and asked the court to toss the lawsuit entirely.
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