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R-Rated, Netflix Original Action Thriller Is A Violent, High-Stakes Protection Job

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R-Rated, Netflix Original Action Thriller Is A Violent, High-Stakes Protection Job

By Robert Scucci
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One unfortunate reality about most action movies is that the person who needs a bodyguard the most is often the most annoying, insufferable person you could ever encounter. 2019’s Close is no exception, but we eventually learn that the spoiled heiress in question can’t help being totally clueless about how the world works or how people operate. In this case, it leads to a satisfying character arc because our clueless damsel in distress eventually decides to take control of her situation with the help of one of the most badass hired guns money can buy.

Your Typical Protection Job

The dynamic in Close is about as simple as it gets when we’re introduced to Zoe Tanner (Sophie Nélisse), the spoiled heiress of Hassine Mining. Zoe’s stepmother, Rima Hassine (Indira Varma), is horrified to learn that her late husband, Zoe’s father Eric Hassine, left all his shares in the company to his daughter, causing immediate tension within the family. Rima, the acting CEO of Hassine, a company founded by her family, asks Zoe to tag along on a trip to Morocco, where she intends to close a billion-dollar mining deal.

Close 2019

Now that we have the brat out of the way, we can talk about Sam (Noomi Rapace), the close protection officer hired to keep an eye on Zoe at the fortified family compound while Rima is out handling business. As you would expect in a movie like Close, the house is raided by armed intruders, and Sam has to not only win Zoe’s trust, but also figure out who sent these hired goons to the private residence to shake things up.

Rima’s business dealings begin to go south during this all-guns-blazing odyssey because her daughter has been reported missing by every news media outlet, and she’s implicated in the murder of a police officer, causing Hassine Mining’s share prices to plummet. There are plenty of shots of Rima sitting in an empty boardroom looking at market reports involving her mining company and Sikong, the mining company competing with it to drive this point home.

Close 2019

Since global market reports typically involve more than two companies in the real world, it’s reasonable to believe that the board members of Sikong have something to do with Zoe’s abduction and the events that transpire shortly thereafter. Or maybe, perhaps, this is Rima’s way of reclaiming the company that she believes she deserves full ownership in. It’s one of those things that happens in modern movies because people are only half paying attention, so really obvious visual cues are pretty much a requirement.

Good Gunplay With A Forced Girl Power Arc

Like most action thrillers released exclusively by Netflix, Close has the same flat lighting and muted color grading you’ve seen a hundred times before. Generic visuals notwithstanding, the action sequences are tight, controlled, and grounded enough to make you want to stick around. They’re not so over-the-top that you have to suspend an insane amount of disbelief, and the overall conflict is simple enough to sink your teeth into on an intellectual level. 

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Close 2019

Within this framework, I actually liked the chemistry between Sam and Zoe, which is adversarial at first, naturally, but warms up once they spend some time together. What works really well is how Sam treats this whole thing like a job because, to her, that’s all it is, which humbles Zoe on more than one occasion. Sometimes, all a spoiled brat with no real concept of how the world works needs to hear is, “I don’t care about you, this is just work,” in order to be truly put in her place. I liked this dynamic a lot, but also understood that whatever character development happens here eventually has to move beyond that initial setup because the movie needs somewhere to go.

What really pissed me off, however, was the third-act moment when Zoe stops Sam and asks why she never told her about her estranged daughter. It’s a weird, entitled “we’re supposed to be besties who tell each other everything” moment that comes out of nowhere and makes no sense.

Close 2019

At this point in the film, Sam comes off as a hardened veteran who’s seen some things. Her ability to size up a room and plan alternate escape routes on the fly is beyond impressive, and she’s able to adapt to every scenario with barely a moment’s notice. She straight up told Zoe earlier that this is a professional relationship, and even though their dynamic changes throughout the film, it’s reasonable to assume Sam rightfully has qualms about telling some trust fund baby she barely knows about the child she put up for adoption when she was 16.

The movie doesn’t benefit from exchanges like this, but it’s certainly made worse by them. On one hand, I get it. Zoe is a rich kid who’s had basically no parental supervision her entire life, and she’s trying to make a human connection during an extremely heightened situation. But maybe you shouldn’t ask personally invasive, potentially upsetting questions to the person hired to protect you, especially when you’re caught in the middle of a hail of gunfire. I’m no bodyguard, but I believe the better approach is: survive now, chat about missed, life-altering opportunities later.

Close 2019

Close is just another girl power John Wick kind of thing, and after a while they all start to blend together. So do the male-driven ones, relax. If you want something similar but better, you can stream Gunpowder Milkshake on Netflix or Atomic Blonde on Hulu. If you eventually want to see them all, though, you’ll probably circle back around to Close, which is currently streaming on Netflix.


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Forget ‘Chernobyl’ — Prime Video’s 3-Part Political Thriller Is a Near-Perfect Weekend Binge

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Rafe Spall in the Salisbury Poisonings series

On March 4, 2018, Sergei Skripal (Wayne Swann) and his daughter, Yulia (Jill Winternitz), were poisoned with Novichok, a Russian nerve agent, in the quiet, sleepy town of Salisbury, England. The attack took place just months before Russia hosted the World Cup, an event overshadowed by the international crisis, and saw Russian diplomats expelled and numerous world leaders weighing in. Fear and paranoia were heightened to a level few had seen in a long time, as it appeared a nuclear power — Russia — had committed a chemical attack on a fellow atomic power — Britain — to assassinate a former Russian spy. Yet, for the people who directly suffered as a result, these emotions were more devastating than anyone could imagine, and that is exactly what the three-part miniseries, The Salisbury Poisonings, portrays so poignantly.

Now, with the three-part documentary Salisbury Poisonings: The Untold Story surging up streaming charts and featuring previously unheard testimonies from those involved, there’s renewed attention on the case — making it the perfect moment to revisit the earlier dramatization.

Through The Salisbury Poisonings, we primarily follow Tracy (Anne-Marie Duff), the head of public health for Salisbury and wider Wiltshire, and Nick Bailey (Rafe Spall), a police officer who accidentally became exposed to the nerve agent whilst investigating. Not only does this miniseries show just how large a task was undertaken to prevent further contamination, but the focus on Bailey, Tracy, and other victims, such as Dawn Sturgess (MyAnna Buring), empathetically portrays the suffering ordinary people faced in a far larger geopolitical game that governments and world leaders, on both sides, seemed somewhat unfazed by.

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‘The Salisbury Poisonings’ Uses the Stories of Average People to Portray Devastation

What can always be difficult in weaving a narrative through real-world events is making the audience care about something when they know the outcome. Many might not know about the Novichok poisonings, but they do know there hasn’t been a war between Russia and the UK, so it can be argued that, on the international level, the stakes aren’t high for the viewer. That is where the genius of The Salisbury Poisonings shines through, as it uses individuals’ stories to make us feel the emotional stakes of fear, loss, and paranoia.



















































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Collider Exclusive · TV Medicine Quiz
Which Fictional Hospital Would You Work Best In?
The Pitt · ER · Grey’s Anatomy · House · Scrubs

Five hospitals. Five completely different ways medicine goes sideways on television — brutal, chaotic, romantic, brilliant, and ridiculous. Only one of them is the ward your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out exactly where you belong.

🚨The Pitt

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🏥ER

💉Grey’s

🔬House

🩺Scrubs

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01

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A critical patient comes through the door. What’s your first instinct?
Medicine under pressure reveals who you actually are.





02

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Why did you go into medicine in the first place?
The honest answer says more about you than the one you’d give in an interview.





03

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What do you actually want from the people you work with?
Who you want beside you under pressure is who you are.





04

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You lose a patient you fought hard to save. How do you carry it?
Every doctor who’s worked a long shift has had to answer this question.





05

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How would your colleagues describe the way you work?
Your reputation on the floor is usually more accurate than your self-image.





06

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How do you feel about hospital protocol and procedure?
Every institution has rules. What you do with them is a choice.





07

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What does this job cost you personally?
Nobody works in medicine without paying a price. What’s yours?





08

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At the end of a long shift, what keeps you coming back?
The answer to this question is the most honest thing about you.





Your Assignment Has Been Made
You Belong In…
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Your answers have pointed to one fictional hospital above all others. This is the ward your instincts, your temperament, and your particular brand of dysfunction were built for.


Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center

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The Pitt

You are built for the most unsparing version of emergency medicine television has ever shown — one that puts you inside a single fifteen-hour shift and doesn’t let you look away.

  • You need your work to be real, not romanticised — meaning over drama, honesty over aesthetics.
  • You find purpose inside the work itself, not in the chaos surrounding it.
  • You’ve made peace with the fact that this job takes from you constantly, and gives back in ways that are harder to name.
  • Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center demands exactly that kind of person — and you would not want to be anywhere else.


County General Hospital, Chicago

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ER

You are the person who keeps the whole floor running — not the most brilliant in the room, but possibly the most essential.

  • You show up, do the work, absorb the losses, and come back the next day without needing the job to be anything other than what it is.
  • You care about patients as individual human beings, not as cases to solve or dramas to live through.
  • You believe in the system even when it fails you — and you understand that emergency medicine is about holding the line just long enough.
  • ER is television about endurance. You have it.


Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Seattle

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Grey’s Anatomy

You came to medicine with your whole self — your ambition, your emotions, your relationships, your history — and you have never quite managed to leave any of it at the door.

  • You feel things fully and form deep attachments to the people you work with.
  • Your personal and professional lives are permanently, chaotically entangled — and that entanglement drives both your greatest disasters and your most remarkable saves.
  • You understand that extraordinary medicine often happens at the intersection of clinical skill and profound human connection.
  • It’s messy at Grey Sloan. You would not have it any other way.


Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, NJ

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House

You are drawn to the problem above everything else — the symptom that doesn’t fit, the diagnosis hiding underneath the obvious one.

  • You’re not primarily motivated by the patient as a person — though you are capable of caring, even if you’d deny it.
  • You work best when the stakes are highest and the standard answer is wrong.
  • Princeton-Plainsboro exists to house one extraordinary, impossible mind — and everyone around that mind is there because they’re smart enough to keep up.
  • The only way forward here is to think harder than everyone else in the room. That is exactly what you do.


Sacred Heart Hospital, California

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Scrubs

You understand that medicine is tragic and absurd in almost equal measure — and that the only sane response is to hold both of those things at the same time.

  • You are warm, self-aware, and funnier than most people in your field.
  • You use humour to get through terrible moments — and at Sacred Heart, that’s not a flaw, it’s a survival strategy.
  • You lean on the people around you and let them lean back. The laughter and the grief are genuinely inseparable here.
  • Scrubs is a show about learning to become someone worthy of the job. You are still very much in the middle of that process — which is exactly right.

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Through Nick’s poisoning and recovery, we see how his family is put through an emotional wringer, constantly terrified of losing their husband and father as well as being shown Nick’s horrifying symptoms, such as driving a car before blacking out for a few seconds, which the real-life Bailey told an inquiry made him feel like his life was “in frames.” Furthermore, the subplot of Dawn’s struggles as a mother in shared accommodation builds our connection to this woman who only wants a better life for her and her daughter, only to be killed when, in the most unlikely of circumstances, she comes into contact with the nerve agent. It’s heartbreaking because we see these people, with their own lives, families, and dreams, being dragged into a geopolitical conflict they had no intention of ever joining. They weren’t killed because they did something wrong. They were killed by accident as collateral damage by people who didn’t care who else got hurt.

‘The Salisbury Poisonings’ Shows Unsung Heroes Who Deserve the Most Credit

Rafe Spall in the Salisbury Poisonings series Image via BBC
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With all the tragedy, one could be forgiven for refusing to watch The Salisbury Poisonings because they worry it would be overwhelmingly depressing. However, the strength of our protagonist, Tracy, and her willpower in the search for the source of Novichok and her commitment to making Salisbury safe again for its inhabitants are key to giving us a character whom we can admire and root for. Far from being an archetypal detective/investigator, Tracy is not some kind of confident veteran, nor does she have some kind of dark past where she is fighting inner demons. She is just someone trying to do the best she can.

In the show, she admits she has never done anything like this before and might not be qualified, reminding us of the scale of the issue. Working to decontaminate the sites identified by Tracy, where Novichok was found, took so long to clear that officers got hyperthermia. Scenes such as Tracy having to brace herself in front of a mirror before giving briefings or her constant fidgeting remind us of how this is a normal human being with flaws and anxieties of her own. Yet, this only makes the character more likable, and the final scene, where it is stated and reaffirmed that she is a hero, makes for thoroughly satisfying moments where we can choose to still believe in humanity, even after what has happened.

‘The Salisbury Poisonings’ Focus Means It Slightly Downplays Government Failings

By focusing on the victims rather than turning this into a geopolitical thriller, The Salisbury Poisonings emphasizes the personal human cost of the attack. By doing so, they engage audiences on a far more emotional level. However, for those who might not do their own research, the show does not truly cover the ways governments responded or the failings that occurred. On the latter, both in the case of the Skripals and Sturgess poisonings, the UK government certainly failed to act as it should have. Speaking at a 2024 inquiry into the matter, it was heard that police investigating the incident found that counter-terrorism was “dismissive” of claims that a Russian spy had been poisoned, and they even told them there was no Russian spy living in that area.

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Furthermore, in the case of Dawn Sturgess, The Salisbury Poisonings displays how members of Whitehall, a government agency, are mostly focused on reducing panic and moving on from the incident, and in real life, people were not given a warning to not pick up discarded waste, despite health officials at the time considering this to be done. Though The Salisbury Poisonings acknowledges these failings through its portrayal of Whitehall characters, it could have delved deeper into the government’s shortcomings.

Going beyond the UK government’s response, The Salisbury Poisonings also put limited focus on Russia or other allies’ responses to the incident. We are only told via radio and news channel clips, and we are shown Americans heavily sympathizing, while Russia reportedly denies it. Putin not only denied involvement but also called Sergei Skripal a “scumbag” and a “traitor”, highlighting the animosity held and showing why it was so likely civilians like Yulia, Nick, and Dawn would become victims. The Salisbury Poisonings tried to present the West as united in its opposition against Russia.


Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer in '24'

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However, the then-president, Donald Trump, greatly downplayed the significance of the incident. According to the BBC, at a meeting in Chequers, Trump and Theresa May’s team “were arguing about how bad and destabilizing that was – he asked why,” and when the point was made, it was chemical warfare between two nuclear powers, Trump only quipped, “I didn’t know the UK had nuclear weapons.”

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This isn’t to say that The Salisbury Poisonings failed in its mission. It succeeded in what it set out to do. This was to make people understand the human suffering that occurred because of an international incident, displaying how civilians live every day with the fear they may be accidentally targeted in a far larger game than they even know is at play. The Salisbury Poisonings display the victims and heroes of the ground level brilliantly, and that makes this a show more than worthy of a watch to truly understand what happened in Salisbury that fateful day. However, viewers must understand the wider context surrounding these events. The tension between English local and national services, as well as international enemies and allies, skyrocketed in the wake of these poisonings, and in all of this lie the innocent victims we witness suffer because of this tension.

The Salisbury Poisonings is available to stream on Prime Video.


03169762_poster_w780.jpg
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Release Date

2020 – 2020-00-00

Network
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BBC One

Directors

Saul Dibb

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Writers

Declan Lawn

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  • instar51866046.jpg

    Anne-Marie Duff

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    Tracy Daszkiewicz

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Duncan Pow

    Dr James Haslam

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    Rafe Spall

    DS Nick Bailey

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    MyAnna Buring

    Dawn Sturgess

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‘The Bear’s Surprise Prequel Reframes the Entire Series in the Best Way Possible

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Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has a pained expression, his reflection split in a layered mirror in The Bear.

Although The Bear is all about pressure, chaos, and avoiding emotions through various means, the portrayal of Mikey Berzatto (Jon Bernthal) is surprisingly restrained. The series begins following Mikey’s death; however, his presence is felt throughout each season, like smoke trapped inside walls. Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) spends years trying to outrun him, Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) clings to him, and Sugar (Abby Elliott) seems exhausted by the sheer weight of remembering him, yet despite how central Mikey is to the emotional architecture of the show, The Bear has always kept viewers at a distance from the actual person underneath the mythology.

This disconnect is what makes “Gary” such a smart piece of storytelling. On the surface, the surprise prequel episode is deceptively simple: Richie and Mikey drive out to Gary, Indiana, for a delivery job years before the events of Season 1. They waste time, get drunk, do cocaine, wander into a bar, and slowly spiral into the kind of ugly emotional confrontation both men were probably always heading toward. Plot-wise, very little actually happens. Emotionally, though, “Gary” changes almost everything. Because for the first time, The Bear stops treating Mikey like a memory and starts treating him like a person.

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‘Gary’ Changes How We Understand Richie’s Anger in ‘The Bear’

Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has a pained expression, his reflection split in a layered mirror in The Bear.
Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has a pained expression, his reflection split in a layered mirror in The Bear.
Image via FX

Richie has always been one of the show’s most emotionally revealing characters, even when he’s actively trying not to be. From the beginning, his hostility toward Carmy carried a strange intensity that went beyond simple resentment. Yes, Carmy left Chicago while Richie stayed behind to deal with the implosion of The Beef and Mikey’s decline, but The Bear often hinted that Richie’s anger came from somewhere deeper than abandonment. “Gary” finally clarifies what that deeper wound actually is.

The episode exposes that Richie understood Mikey’s deterioration far more clearly than the series initially let on. He notices the mood swings, the self-destructive behavior, the flashes of cruelty hidden inside the charisma. Richie spends most of “Gary” trying to keep Mikey stable and preserve the version of their friendship that still feels salvageable, even as Mikey repeatedly sabotages the day. That dynamic completely reframes Richie’s behavior in Seasons 1 and 2. His volatility no longer reads as simple immaturity or resistance to change, but as exhaustion. Richie was, in addition to doing so after Mikey’s death, also grieving him while he was still alive.

One of the cruelest realities of addiction and mental illness is that grief rarely begins at the moment of loss. Sometimes it begins years earlier, in small moments; people try to excuse it away or survive through it, and “Gary” plays into this idea. By the time Mikey humiliates Richie in the bar, mocking his future as a father and predicting he’ll fail his child, the scene lands like the inevitable collapse of a relationship Richie has been desperately trying to hold together alone, and yet Richie still leaves space for him. The episode makes it painfully clear why Richie struggled so deeply to let Mikey go, and why Carmy became such an easy target for the unresolved anger left behind.

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Mikey Finally Feels Like More Than a Ghost

Jon Bernthal as Mikey Berzatto in 'The Bear' Season 4
Jon Bernthal as Mikey Berzatto in ‘The Bear’ Season 4
Image via FX

The Bear has always excelled at building characters through absence. Long before viewers properly met Mikey, they already understood his impact. The restaurant existed because of him, Carmy’s guilt revolved around him, Richie’s identity depended on him; even episodes like “Fishes” presented Mikey less as a stable person than as an emotional force capable of energizing or detonating an entire room. “Gary” is the first time the show really allows him to exist without the framing device of family chaos or collective memory.

Bernthal plays Mikey with an exhausting emotional unpredictability that explains why everyone around him loved him so fiercely, even as they struggled to survive him. He’s magnetic throughout the episode, especially in quieter moments where his warmth feels genuine rather than performative. His conversations drift between hilarious, intimate, cruel, vulnerable, and self-destructive, sometimes within the same scene.

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The bathroom monologue about Donna Berzatto (Jamie Lee Curtis) is especially revealing, exposing the emotional contradiction at the center of Mikey’s entire personality. He remembers his mother comforting him as a child, scratching his back, and reassuring him about the next day, only to later erupt into anger without warning. Mikey describes the confusion of realizing both versions of her were real at the same time.

Carmy’s anxiety, Sugar’s hypervigilance, Mikey’s instability — all of it suddenly feels connected through the same inherited emotional volatility. The Bear has always explored generational trauma, but “Gary” sharpens the picture by showing how deeply that instability shaped Mikey long before the series began. In doing so, the episode transforms him from a symbolic tragedy into something far more difficult: a fully recognizable person.

‘Gary’ Makes ‘The Bear’ Ending Feel Much Sadder

Richie talking to Nat about mold in the ceiling while looking frustrated in Season 2, Episode 2 of The Bear.
Richie talking to Nat about mold in the ceiling while looking frustrated in Season 2, Episode 2 of The Bear.
Image via FX
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The most interesting thing about “Gary” is that it changes the emotional framing of the series heading into what’s expected to be its final season. A lesser show would use a surprise prequel to explain plot mechanics or tease future twists, while The Bear used it to revisit emotional damage that never fully healed in the first place.

The reason it works so well at the end is that Richie is alone in his car when he is struck by an oncoming vehicle. This is a thematic representation of how no one in this story truly escapes the traumatic events of their lives. Although The Bear is known as a restaurant drama, it has never really been about food; it has always been more about how the kitchen is a pressure cooker for unresolved grief, guilt, shame, and resentment – all of which can no longer be ignored once the kitchen is no longer available. “Gary” supports this by showing that the emotional chaos in The Bear existed before Carmy came back.

More importantly, it reveals that the tragedy of Mikey Berzatto wasn’t confined to his death. The people around him had already been slowly breaking under the weight of loving him for years. “Gary” is an effective prequel in that it doesn’t overwrite The Bear or dramatically alter its story. Instead, it deepens the emotional logic underneath everything the series has already done. Scenes that once played as anger now feel like grief, moments that looked like resistance now read as fear. Richie’s inability to move forward becomes inseparable from the fact that part of him never really left that car ride with Mikey in the first place. And somehow, a show that was already devastating becomes even harder to shake afterward.

The Bear‘s final season will air on June 25.

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So What the Hell Is Going on With Kevin Costner’s Doomed 4-Part Western Series?

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After three hours of meticulous world-building, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 ends with an ellipsis, a “To Be Continued” preview montage that teases what will be in store in the following chapter of Kevin Costner‘s four-part Western epic. Since the film opened to tepid reviews and lackluster box office returns, the studio, Warner Bros., has adopted this cliffhanger approach by leaving audiences in the dark over the future of Costner’s ambitious series.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 does exist, as the film was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2024, but no release to the public, whether in theaters or at home, has been scheduled. Since walking away from Yellowstone, Costner has been hyping up his passion project, but amid the underwhelming response by the public at large, the actor-director has expressed doubt about Horizon‘s future. Regardless, adversity and naysayers have never prevented Costner from pursuing his dreams.

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No Release Date for Chapter 2 of Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon’ is In Sight

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With Chapter 1 of Horizon, released in June 2024 to a lowly $11 million opening at the box office, now streaming on Netflix, the film has opened up to a brand-new audience. To its own detriment, Horizon plays better as a glorified TV series in your home, explaining why it sits at the top of Netflix’s viewing charts. Unfortunately, those longing for a continuation of Costner’s story about Western expansion during the mid-19th century are forced to wait around for Warner Bros. to make a decision ever since they pulled Chapter 2 from its intended theatrical release on August 16, 2024, due to the first film’s underwhelming performance. The second installment was merely left with a premiere at the Venice Film Festival. “It didn’t have overwhelming success,” Costner said, commenting on the film’s financial performance at Venice. While concerned about the resources at his disposal, Costner is adamant that Chapters 3 and 4 will see the light of day. “I don’t know how I’m going to make ‘Three’ right now,” he said. “But I’m going to make it.”

Recently, at the Savannah Film Festival, Costner stated he is looking for “the right distribution partner,” while adding that he has shot roughly “eight days” of Chapter 3. Praising the saga as an essential American text like Treasure Island, he said, “I would hope that Horizon takes its place in a more classic vein.” This comment suggests that Warner Bros. might be disinterested in releasing the film theatrically, which would not be the first time the studio has displayed such indifference towards the big screen. After all, Costner, who partially financed Horizon, boldly walked away from a steady gig in Yellowstone to revive the Western on the big screen.

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How the Release of ‘Horizon’ Went Awry

As a media and film distribution company, Warner Bros. has cryptically decided not to release movies in its catalog. Following the controversial cancelation of films like Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, the studio tainted their legendary partnership with Clint Eastwood by dumping his presumed final film, Juror #2, a critically acclaimed mid-budget courtroom drama, in 50 theaters nationwide. If they didn’t think a sturdy, highly entertaining legal thriller was commercial enough, the theatrical life of Horizon – Chapter 2, a serialized three-hour Western, is likely in jeopardy. Warner Bros. is worthy of blame for the current Horizon quandary, as the first two chapters should never have been intended for release six weeks apart from each other in the summer of 2024. Chapter 1 needed to accrue viewership and audience anticipation gradually on VOD and Max. When the first film underperformed, the studio, expecting to suffer two giant flops in less than two months, panicked and shelved the second film indefinitely.

As long as Warner Bros. stands silent, and Costner continues talking about future installments in the vaguest terms, the future of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 will remain a mystery. For such an expansive and event-worthy project, the hush-hush nature of its production and distribution is puzzling, but trying to make sense of the industry is a lost cause. The only announcement surrounding Costner is his involvement in Headhunters, a tropical surf-set thriller he plans to co-write and star in for director Steven Holleran. This film may serve to help finance unfinished Horizon chapters or ultimately side-track him from completing his ambitious project.





















































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Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz
Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?

Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown

Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.

🤠Yellowstone

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🛢️Landman

👑Tulsa King

⚖️Mayor of Kingstown

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01

Where does your power come from?
In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.




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02

Who do you put first, no matter what?
Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.




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03

Someone crosses a line. How do you respond?
Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.




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04

Where do you feel most in your element?
Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.




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05

How do you feel about operating in the grey?
Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.




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06

What are you actually fighting to hold onto?
Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.




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07

How do you lead?
Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.




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08

Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction?
Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.




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09

What has your position cost you?
Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.




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10

When it’s over, what do you want people to say?
Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.




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Sheridan Has Spoken
You Belong In…

The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.

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🤠
Yellowstone

🛢️
Landman

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👑
Tulsa King

⚖️
Mayor of Kingstown

You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.

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You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.

You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.

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You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.

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After finding some success after debuting on the streamer Netflix, Horizon – Chapter 2 is now set to hit Prime Video on May 23rd where it will be available to potential new audiences. This does not guarantee any sort of future for the franchise as it remains on life support, though enough positive responses on Amazon’s service could provide a glimmer of hope for the sequel to finally see the light of day. But given that the actor-director has no major updates in the months since it was originally shelved, one shouldn’t be eager for an update.

In the end, maybe we’re not supposed to understand Kevin Costner’s motivations. An enigmatic public figure in his later years, his stardom across multiple decades is defined by taking big risks and proving doubters wrong, most triumphantly demonstrated with his directorial debut, Dances With Wolves. The writing on the wall suggests that the Horizon saga will conclude as just a failed experiment, but in Costner’s hands, there is hope, shall we say, on the horizon.

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Simone Ashley Dishes On Possible ‘Bridgerton’ Return

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Simone Ashley at The Devil Wears Prada 2 European Premiere In London, UK

Actress Simone Ashley is still open to returning to her role as Kate in Netflix’s hit series “Bridgerton,” which released its fourth season earlier this year. Since finding love in the second season of the regency period drama, Ashley’s character has only appeared in a handful of episodes. Even though she is not the focus of the story, as each season focuses on a new Bridgerton sibling romance, she would “love” to return for future seasons.

Simone Ashley Discusses Her Relationship With ‘Bridgerton’

Simone Ashley at The Devil Wears Prada 2 European Premiere In London, UK
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While promoting her new role in the sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada,” Ashley talked about returning to her “Bridgerton” roots in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter. She revealed that she has already discussed her return as Kate with showrunner Jess Brownell despite her busy schedule.

“I can only speak for myself. I would love to keep returning to the show until the end,” Ashley said. “It’s a show about family and I think it changed my life and it’s such a joy and an honor to be a part of this show.”

“So I’ll always try my best to make it work with my schedule when I’m on other projects or doing other things,” she continued. “And Jess is our showrunner at the moment and she’s been so cool in talking about the future of Kate and what her role in future seasons is going to look like.”

Nicola Coughlan Is Taking A Step Back From ‘Bridgerton’

Nicola Coughlan - London Celebrity Sightings - 17 March 2022
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Throughout the show’s past four seasons, actress Nicola Coughlan has been in the spotlight for her dual role as Penelope Featherington (now Penelope Bridgerton) and Lady Whistledown. Although she decided to retire her gossip column in the last season, it appears that someone else has taken up the Whistledown mantle.

Unfortunately, the Irish actress revealed that this means that she will also be taking a step back from the spotlight. “Season five had started filming already, so I won’t be in it very much,” Coughlan noted on Dish. “I’m always happy to come back. I think it’s a genuinely lovely job to come back to.”

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Jess Brownell Reflected On Penelope’s Character Arc

During the show’s third season, Penelope reveals her identity as Lady Whistledown after tying the knot with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). The two were shown to have welcomed a child at the end of the show’s third season, although their new role as parents didn’t factor much in the last season of the show, which focused on Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) romancing Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha).

Brownell reflected on Penelope’s character growth in a conversation with Tudum, saying, “She’s not the powerless girl who needs Whistledown to take back her voice anymore. While she stands by everything she believes about gossip being information, gossip being power for the voiceless, she realizes that it’s time for her to stop being in that role.”

Phoebe Dynevor Has Not Been Asked To Return To ‘Bridgerton’

Phoebe Dynevor on the red carpet
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Actress Phoebe Dynevor was thrust into the spotlight due to her role as Daphne Bridgerton in the show’s first season. Although she made a guest appearance in the show’s second season, she hasn’t been seen since. In April 2026, Dynevor gave a very honest answer when she explained why her character had not returned.

“I just want to say I have not received a call,” she told Collider Ladies Night in an interview published April 11, “and when I get that call, I will be there if I can.”

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“When the first season came out they didn’t know what they needed to put in place,” she explained. “So we were like the ones that got away I think, in a certain way. But like we would—I can only speak for myself—I would always come back if I was asked.”

Simone Ashley’s Role In ‘F1: The Movie’ Was Cut

Simone Ashley at Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2026
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Simone Ashley can also relate to waiting for a phone call to return to a coveted role. Before starring in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” she was supposed to star in “F1: The Movie.” However, her role was left on the cutting room floor before the film made it to theaters.

“I had such a blast making that movie. I’m such a fan of Formula One,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “To work with Joseph Kosinski was such an honor. He is a wonderful director and someone that [remained] so confident and calm in such a chaotic environment.”

“I loved working with Damson [Idris], Callie [Cooke], who’s just killing it at the moment, the whole crew. I got to travel the world,” she continued. “And it was such a joy to go to the premiere and celebrate everyone and reunite with everyone. And the movie was awesome.”

When asked if she would be open to returning to a potential sequel, she replied, “Oh God, I’d love to.”

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The Internet Is Completely Wrong About Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Trailer

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A section of the poster for Chrstopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'.

On December 23, 2024, Universal Pictures revealed on X that Christopher Nolan‘s highly anticipated follow-up to Oppenheimer would be an adaptation of Homer‘s Odyssey. From that point forward, every cinephile would be staring at July 17, 2026, its release date, on the calendar for the next year and a half, begging for this day to arrive immediately. We’re now a little over two months away from The Odyssey hitting theaters and dominating IMAX screens, and the public opinion of this monumental adaptation of the Greek epic poem has never been more complicated due to the recent drop of a full trailer, which gave audiences their first extended look at what Nolan’s been cooking up beyond a few teasers. Rather than delirious excitement, the Internet has its pitchforks out at the film, as the trailer has inspired a wave of unfounded ire towards Nolan. Gripe about the dialogue all you want, but you can’t convince us that the trailer doesn’t rock.

Modern Dialogue in ‘The Odyssey’ Trailer Caused an Internet Uproar

The Odyssey is such a seismic event in pop culture that Nolan went on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert just to promote the release of its trailer, but no one had any idea he would ignite a firestorm on social media as a result of this inexplicably controversial teaser. The two-minute trailer covers the meat and potatoes of Homer’s story, particularly Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) journey home and the home front of Ithaca and the tension between Odysseus’ son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and her potential suitor, Antinous (Robert Pattinson).

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All it took was one three-letter word to stunt the enthusiasm of many online commenters: dad. For the fastidious bunch, the utterance of modern Western vernacular broke all credulity, amplified by Antinous even saying “daddy” while confronting Telemachus. While spearheading an army for battle, Odysseus shouts, “Let’s go!” something you’re more likely to hear from an athlete running onto the field rather than an ancient warrior king. On a broader level, the cast, made up of actors of various ethnicities, speaking in American accents, made everything feel off-kilter for those hoping for a faithful adaptation and traditional swords-and-sandals epic. The casting of familiar Hollywood stars like Damon and Holland registered as cosplay for many as well.

We Should Never Doubt Christopher Nolan

Speaking with Colbert, Nolan said he hoped his film would allow viewers to approach the text with a “fresh” mindset, as a story that is this old and ingrained in our understanding of narrative storytelling should be wide open to interpretation. Rather than engaging with these dialogue and accent choices, the online backlash is treating the anachronisms as embarrassing mistakes on Nolan’s part. While it’s rooted in real events, Homer’s Odyssey is ultimately a work of fiction, freeing itself from the burden of strict historical accuracy. Nolan is exercising his creative vision to adapt this canonical story for the present day. Modernizing Homer’s language is likely a wise choice considering that Nolan’s movies are massive blockbusters that play to the widest audience.


A section of the poster for Chrstopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'.

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Christopher Nolan Reveals ‘The Odyssey’ Is Longer Than ‘Oppenheimer’s 11 Miles of Film

‘Oppenheimer’s IMAX 70mm print weighed upwards of 600 lbs.

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The Odyssey is certainly not the first adaptation of historical texts to alter the language and dialect of the source material. If anything, Westernizing accents is the status quo. Historical movies like The Last Temptation of Christ, The Last Duel, Silence, Paths of Glory, and Spartacus have their actors speaking in their native accent. Other films like Gladiator and Cleopatra made audiences associate British accents with all things Ancient history, even if the respective story is set in Rome. If the actors aren’t going to speak in archaic Greek, it will only look silly if they try to mimic the accent.

Online naysayers are embarking on a bold endeavor by doubting the vision of Christopher Nolan, who is coming off arguably his crowning achievement as a director, the Best Picture-winning cultural phenomenon, Oppenheimer. Everyone is so caught up in the dialogue and accents that we’re glossing over the awe-inspiring spectacle and epic grandeur synonymous with Nolan, gloriously displayed in the trailer. The tactile and old-school Nolan looks to have stayed true to his word with the appearance of various practical effects, notably the handmade craft of Odysseus’ various foes. The operatic weight and emotionality of Interstellar and Oppenheimer track in this unfairly maligned trailer. If Nolan could turn a 3-hour biopic about the creation of the atomic bomb into a tent-pole blockbuster, then we should feel confident that he’ll have a strong grip on anachronistic dialogue. Above all else, judging a movie based on its trailer, before its released to the public, is ill-advised.

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Lindsay Hubbard Slams Michael Rapaport After Hot Take

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Everything to Know About RHOSLC Alum Jen Shah's Legal Drama

Lindsay Hubbard clapped back at Michael Rapaport after he shared his thoughts on her and Summer House.

Hubbard, 39, shut down Rapaport, 56, after he shared his “hot take” on the Bravo star via Instagram on Wednesday, May 6. “Michael Rapaport [if] you wanna say something, turn your f***ing comments on,” Hubbard said. “Don’t be a little b****. If you wanna start a media war, [I’m] happy to go to war with you.”

She continued, “You’re an old white guy who’s making comments about a much younger single mom. Did you forget that I had a baby? You think my only storyline these past two years has been my ex?”

“Keep watching. You’ll see a very long overdue conversation coming up between Carl and I and you’ll learn a lot,” Hubbard teased of an upcoming episode. “Overrated? I still have a lot more years to come, baby.”

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“Dear @Michaelrapaport I don’t like when old white men pick on younger women,” she wrote over the clip. Get a life brother 👊.”

Hubbard’s message comes after Rapaport shared his “hot take” about her and Summer House via Instagram on. “Currently, and I say this with all due respect, I know you’re a queen. Is Lindsay Hubbard the most overrated person on Bravo?”

He continued, “It’s been two years since Carl [Radke] left you at the altar. It’s been two years. Is it time to let it go? Lindsay’s entire storyline for the last seasons has been Carl, Carl and Carl. Hating Carl. Hating Carl’s mom. Hating to hug. What else you got, Lindsay?”

The comedian’s message comes after season 10 episode 13 of Summer House, in which Hubbard was filmed having an awkward conversation with her ex-fiancé Carl’s mom, Sharon Radke. (Hubbard and the Soft Bar owner broke up two months before their wedding in August 2023.)

Rapaport added that Hubbard has not been minding her own “business” throughout season 10. “I know she’s queen!” he pointed out.

Summer House Finale Finally Shows Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard Split Exactly How It Went Down


Related: ‘Summer House’ Finale Shows Carl and Lindsay Split: How It Went Down

Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard’s split was finally shown during the Summer House season 8 finale — and the cameras didn’t miss a single moment. The Thursday, May 30, episode began with Lindsay, 37, and Carl, 39, arguing during the gang’s last party of the summer. During the fight, Carl claimed that Lindsay was “really […]

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“My counsel has advised me NOT to make this SUPER DUPER SUMMER HOUSE HOT TAKE on QUEEN LINDSAY HUBBARD,” Rapaport captioned the post. “However, I won’t be silenced, I can’t be silenced!!!!”

Rapaport later saw Hubbard’s story and posted it on his account. “Uh-Oh!!!! Old Mother Hubbard didn’t like my last post!!!!!” the Traitors star captioned the post. “#WHITEMEN 🙃🤪🙃.”

Summer House airs on Tuesdays on Bravo at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can stream the series on Peacock the following day.

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Elle Woods returns in the first trailer for “Legally Blonde ”prequel series

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Lexi Minetree stars on “Elle,” taking over for Reese Witherspoon.

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10 classic movies on Peacock for a dose of nostalgia

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A laid-back mix of comedies, dramas, and horror staples show Peacock’s library has more personality (and history) than many other streamers.

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Jane Fonda gushed about 'favorite ex-husband' Ted Turner at TCM Film Festival days before he died

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“On our very first date, he talked to me all about Turner Classic Movies,” Fonda recalled. “I do think it’s one of the great things that he did.”

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Netflix Just Secured the Future of Its Biggest Sci-Fi Universe With a Season 2 Renewal

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Netflix’s biggest franchise seemingly ended with a controversial series finale just a few months ago. Despite viewers’ general dissatisfaction with the conclusion, and even as the future of the franchise remained in question, the streamer found a way to revive Stranger Things. The animated spin-off Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 brings back the beloved story in a new way, exploring the gaps between the original series’ five seasons.

After only 10 episodes, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 has already delivered a lot of exciting moments, and it’s not over yet. Netflix has already renewed the spin-off for a second season, hinting at a whole new adventure for Mike (Luca Diaz), Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Will (Benjamin Plessala), Lucas (Elisha Williams), and Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) — and fans won’t even have to wait that long. Unlike the increasingly lengthy wait between seasons of Stranger Things, its spin-off is confirmed to return before the end of the year, keeping the franchise alive even after the original show’s end.

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‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ Has Everything Fans Could Ask For

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 follows the beloved core group on a new adventure, with monsters from the Upside Down continuing to terrorize Hawkins even after the gate has supposedly been closed. Not only does the animated continuation take place in a familiar setting, but the spin-off also fits between Seasons 2 and 3 of Stranger Things, connecting to the original series’ storyline without changing it. The stakes aren’t as high, as the central monster is no Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), but it provides a new mystery for the kids to solve, which is what the series is really all about.

By offering a scaled-back story, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 successfully returns to the franchise’s roots. Filling in the gaps allows the series to explore the character growth within the beloved group that didn’t always take place on-screen before, as Will learns to accept himself and Dustin struggles with the possibility of no longer going on adventures. Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 also provides insight into the early days of Mike and El as well as Max and Lucas‘ romances, which the original series skipped over, giving fans more time with the characters they love without dragging out the plot.


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Netflix’s Biggest Sci-Fi Franchise Is Taking Over the World All Over Again

The Upside Down didn’t stay gone for long.

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‘Stranger Things: Tales from ’85’ Is Separate from the Original Series, and That’s OK

Despite using the same characters and timeline, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is distinct from the original show. Not only is it a different format, but it also avoids issues that plagued Stranger Things throughout its original run; chief among them is the original series’ rapidly aging cast due to the long breaks between seasons, which became distracting for viewers. Here, the animation can either reflect the characters’ aging as the timeline approaches Season 3 or maintain a more consistent look, avoiding continuity problems. In a similar vein, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 sidesteps its predecessor’s overwhelming number of cast members by focusing only on the kids. Others, like Hopper (Brett Gipson), Nancy (Alessandra Antonelli), and Steve (Jeremy Jordan), appear in the spin-off but not in major roles. This approach allows the main cast to get the attention they deserve, which is a refreshing change.

That said, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 has one glaring issue because it doesn’t fully fit within the existing canon. The new series introduces Nikki (Odessa A’zion), who joins the group after moving to Hawkins, but never appears or is even referenced in the original show. Showrunner Eric Robles previously explained that Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 “respects” the canon while telling its own story, which is the clearest answer fans are likely to find on the subject. Even with lingering questions about continuity, this is also the best way to continue Stranger Things beyond the final season. Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 may not provide the answers to the original series finale that fans were hoping for, but it allows the story to grow nonetheless. Fortunately, with Season 2 already on the way, this is only the beginning of Stranger Things‘ new era.

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