By Robert Scucci
| Published 23 seconds ago

Studies suggest that in most cases, a child is abducted by someone they know, like a parent in the middle of a rancorous custody battle who just wants to see their kid. 2022’s The Stranger, on the other hand, tells a far more sinister story, resulting in a sting operation designed to take down a suspected child killer by forcing him to confess when he finally lets his guard down.

Inspired by the real-life murder of Australian child Daniel Morcombe, The Stranger is ultimately a work of fiction that uses real events to drive its narrative. It’s worth noting, however, that the real family who suffered the loss of their son wanted nothing to do with the movie, so names have obviously been changed, and the granular details tied to the true crime story were modified for the sake of respecting their wishes.

How Deep Does It Go?

The Stranger takes its time setting up the conflict, as we first see events from Henry Peter Teague’s (Sean Harris) perspective. A seemingly broke loner riding the bus, he encounters a man named Paul Emery (Steve Mouzakis), who offers him low-level work for a criminal organization. This encounter eventually leads Henry to Mark Frame (Joel Edgerton), an undercover officer who has been building a case against him for years with the help of Detective Senior Constable Kate Rylett (Jada Alberts).

Mark Frame is the true protagonist in The Stranger, and we see the toll the investigation takes on him. Authorities are certain Henry is responsible for the disappearance and likely death of a young boy years earlier, but he had a solid alibi when he was initially questioned. To make matters worse, there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime. Having a young boy (Cormac Wright) around the same age as the missing child, Mark has a personal stake in the investigation, which is essentially built around a Mr. Big procedure.

For those of you not up to speed on your true crime lingo, a Mr. Big procedure is a tactic used to coax a confession out of a suspected criminal by pretending to be part of a criminal organization yourself, and slowly gaining their trust over time.

With the stakes made crystal clear, The Stranger becomes a brooding exercise not in figuring out who made the child disappear, but in proving that one specific person was responsible. Henry is understandably guarded whenever anybody pries about his past, but he’s also eager to find gainful employment, something that has eluded him ever since he was convicted for an unrelated violent altercation years earlier. The supposed criminal organization recruiting him is simply biding its time until he fully lets his guard down, often reassuring him that if he ever gets into trouble, they will take care of it.

Not A Whodunit, But A “How Do We Get Him?”

As The Stranger moves into its second and third acts, you can see the mental toll the case is taking on every officer involved in the sting operation. They know they have the right guy, but they have no evidence. They have nothing to work with aside from old traffic cameras, appointment sign-in sheets, anecdotes from bystanders in the area, and witness testimonials. They know Henry committed the crime, but if he’s not absolutely dead to rights when they bring him in, he walks. Mark knows this, and so does Kate Rylett.

The tension comes from knowing what they know and watching them bide their time until they finally have enough evidence to lock Henry Peter Teague up for good. The problem is that everybody is at their wits’ end after spending years on the case trying to bring the right man to justice. Everybody has a trigger finger and wants to use it. Everybody wants to heroically slap cuffs on the man who they believe, without a sliver of doubt, is the guilty party, but they need to exercise restraint if they want the operation to succeed.

One of the finest examples of how a slow-burn crime thriller can push you to your breaking point, The Stranger is currently available to stream on Netflix.

Bridgerton is returning for a fifth season but not every cast member is confirmed to reprise their role.

Bridgerton, which is based on the book series written by Julia Quinn, centers around members of the wealthy Bridgerton family as they search for love in 19th century London. Season 1 followed Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset’s (Regé-Jean Page) romance, who were the central couple in the first book, The Duke and I.

Season 2, meanwhile, took inspiration from The Viscount Who Loved Me, which followed Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) finding love with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). Despite Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) being the subject of the third novel — An Offer From a Gentleman — his love story with newcomer Sophie (Yerin Ha) was pushed to season 4.

Instead, the third season focused on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) as seen in Quinn’s book Romancing Mister Bridgerton.

Related: ‘Bridgerton’ Cast: See the Hit Netflix Show’s Stars Then and Now

Bridgerton fans have watched the cast change on and off screen since the series first debuted. The historical drama, which is based on the book series written by Julia Quinn, follows the members of the wealthy Bridgerton family as they search for love in 19th century London. When Bridgerton premiered in 2020, the show centered […]

Showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed in January 2026 that Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Phillip Crane (Chris Fulton) or Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela (Masali Baduza) are next in line. The suspense has kept readers on their toes — as has former cast members stepping away from the show.

Page became the most memorable exit when he chose to wrap up one season in. While Bridgerton didn’t recast Simon, Page has stood by his decision not to return. Dynevor later confirmed her own exit from the series, which didn’t appear to be her choice.

The cast has continued to evolve as new leads took over. Keep scrolling to see which Bridgerton characters are returning — and which aren’t — in season 5:

Claudia Jessie

Regardless if Eloise is or isn’t the season 5 lead, she will be a major character on the show.

Hannah Dodd

Francesca is another key role that will be front and center despite the focus of season 5.

Masali Baduza

After getting extended screen time in season 4, Michaela is now a major player on Bridgerton.

Chris Fulton

While Chris Fulton hasn’t returned as Phillip Crane since season 2, the character is expected to either lead season 5 or have a big presence leading up to Eloise’s love story.

Luke Thompson

Despite his season coming to an end, Benedict has a key role in Eloise’s story and will likely be a large part of season 5 regardless.

Yerin Ha

The same goes for Benedict’s now-wife, Sophie, after Yerin Ha confirmed exclusively to Us Weekly that she was expecting to reprise her role.

Jonathan Bailey

With Jonathan Bailey’s screen time getting shorter and shorter, it isn’t clear what the show’s plans are for Anthony.

Simone Ashley

Simone Ashley has also showed support for Kate to return but she has been largely absent since season 2.

Luke Newton

Colin is probably coming back in season 5 but not in the same way he was featured in past seasons.

Nicola Coughlan

The question about how Penelope will be involved in the show has been asked since Lady Whistledown was taken over by someone else.

Victor Alli

John isn’t coming back after he was killed off based on Julia Quinn’s novel.

Florence Hunt

The actress’ role has gotten larger as the show builds up to Hyacinth taking the lead.

Will Tilston

The same can be said for Will Tilston, who is playing Gregory a.k.a the next lead after Eloise and Francesca.

Phoebe Dynevor

Daphne hasn’t been part of the show since season 2.

Regé-Jean Page

Phoebe Dyenvor’s onscreen love interest Regé-Jean Page, meanwhile, exited the show in season 1 and hasn’t been back.

Golda Rosheuvel

Despite the real Queen Charlotte’s death in 1818, showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed the show would get creative to keep Golda Rosheuvel on the show.

Julie Andrews

When Penelope’s identity as Whistledown was a secret, iconic film actress Julie Andrews did the voiceover for the character. Season 3 shook things up by having Penelope take that over after revealing she was behind the Whistledown columns but Andrews remained as the voice in season 4. The same can be said for the new author of Whistledown, who Andrews voiced with a bit of a vocal difference.

Adjoa Andoh

Lady Danbury may have left London but Adjoa Andoh hasn’t left the show.

Ruth Gemmell

Violet is a continued presence as each of her kids find love.

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By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 45 seconds ago

Now that Daily Wire’s The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin has been fully released, finally, someone besides me and a few other small outlets has paid attention to it. At least, a little. The men’s magazine Esquire decided to run a piece about the show, and they had nothing nice to say.

Its title, “There’s a Right-Wing Game of Thrones and It’s as Terrible as You’d Think,” already displays the bias the writer, Josh Rosenberg, took into this “review” with him. By putting “right-ring” in the title, he’s telling you he’s not happy it’s produced by Daily Wire.

Josh Rosenberg Hasn’t Watched A Lot Of The Show He’s Reviewing

Things get worse from there. In his review, Rosenberg judges the streaming service’s content based on its news branch and on a single movie, Ladyballers, a controversial comedy about gender-ideology abuse in sports. Never mind that the streamer has other movies, some of which I’ve reviewed for this site, including Run Hide Fight, starring Isabel May of Scream 7.

Guilt by Association (noun): A rhetorical tactic that attempts to discredit a person, work, or idea by linking it to another person, work, or group viewed negatively, using the connection itself as implied evidence of similar faults.

However, when Rosenberg turns his attention to the show itself, it’s pretty clear he hasn’t seen beyond an episode or two. Everything he singles out for critique is largely from Episode 1: Charis’s bull-leaping and Taliesin’s “come-to-Jesus” moment are mentioned, but nothing of the fantastic battles from episodes 3 or 4, nothing of the high drama of episode 5, or the tragic love story of episode 6. He criticizes the budget without even mentioning the large-scale warfare of episode 7 and its cast of apparent thousands. It seems likely that, as modern critics often don’t, Rosenberg didn’t actually watch the entire show he was “reviewing.”

Misrepresenting The Role Of Christianity In The Pendragon Cycle

He also attacks The Pendragon Cycle for its religious themes. One of the things I have praised about the show is that, while the first two episodes are a little preachy, the show overall has been extremely fair to other religions despite the theme surrounding “Yesu” being “the One True God.” It never openly disparages the other gods that appear in the show. It never presents Christianity as something you should believe in, and it is even sparing in portraying the faith of characters who do believe in it: a prayer here, a priest there.

Straw Man (noun): A persuasion tactic in which someone misrepresents or distorts the content of an argument, idea, or work so that the altered version is easier to attack or discredit than the original.

Jeremy Boreing did claim at first that The Pendragon Cycle was “probably the most Christian piece of entertainment since Braveheart,” and quite frankly, it’s about even between the two, so that’s a fair comparison. To imply it is “Christian” on the same level as, say, Left Behind, is a gross misrepresentation of the King Arthur epic.

Just Follow The Crowd

His next mode of attack is to compare the show to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the HBO Game of Thrones spinoff that has been a media darling since it was released. This mode of attack criticizes the number of viewers the show might have had, compared to the HBO series’ 13 million viewers.

Bandwagon Appeal (noun): A persuasion tactic in which a claim is presented as true, superior, or justified primarily because it is widely believed, supported, or followed by a large number of people.

It’s true The Pendragon Cycle probably had a smaller audience, an issue I have discussed myself, but the limited audience is not proof that the show is “bad,” it just means it isn’t accessible to a lot of people. I’ve said before that more exposure would open the show to a wider audience who would probably enjoy it.

Everything I Haven’t Tried Is Terrible

His final criticism is the most disingenuous sideswipe: that no reviewers have even glanced at the show, so it has no score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is especially underhanded in the wake of the Scream 7 review-bombing fest that critics have had about the slasher film; angry about Melissa Barrera’s firing, they panned the movie out of hand, even though audiences loved it and it broke franchise box office records.

Appeal to Ignorance (noun): A persuasive claim that treats the absence of evidence, information, or evaluation as proof of a conclusion. Instead of demonstrating that something is false, bad, or ineffective, the argument relies on the fact that it has not been proven otherwise or has not yet been examined.

The Pendragon Cycle has been suffering from the same treatment but is easier to ignore than Scream 7 or even the First Lady biopic Melania due to its lack of visibility. But, once again, a lack of reviews isn’t the same thing as being a bad show, and if Esquire and the Scream 7 kerfuffle are any indication, mainstream reviewers would probably pan it anyway just because it’s Daily Wire.

I Was Wary, But I Actually Watched The Entire Show

The Pendragon Cycle is a really good show being maligned by Esquire and ignored by everyone else for reasons that have nothing to do with its quality or its content. I can say this without bias, because all the same objections raised by the men’s magazine are the reasons I was wary of the show, but I like King Arthur content enough to have set aside those prejudices and watched every episode.

Whatever it is that mainstream critics think The Pendragon Cycle is, they’re sorely mistaken and drunk on their own biases. To top it off, they’re trying to tell us that it’s so bad, we shouldn’t watch it. This is not criticism; it is social engineering by suppression. Maybe we need new critics.

The Pendragin Cycle: Rise of the Merlin is streaming in its entirety on Daily Wire+.

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Happy New Music Friday! The weekend is here, which means more streaming, new playlists and the best that music has to offer — and ET has you covered for everything in between.

Harry Styles’ highly anticipated fourth album, KISS ALL THE TIME. DISCO, OCCCASIONALLY is finally here. To celebrate his new album, Harry has launched pop-up shops around the world in partnership with American Express with 16 locations in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Berlin, Chicago, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Paris, Phoenix, Rome, Seattle, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. The pop-up will give fans a chance to experience and celebrate his new album with special activations and unique merchandise designs. Merchandise items will include language-specific crewnecks, limited edition media, t-shirts, hats, clocks, socks, mugs, totes, and more. Harry will perform his new album live in Manchester, England and the special performance, Harry Styles. One Night In Manchester will premiere March 8 on Netflix.

Jennifer Lopez and David Guetta have released their dance-pop single, “Save Me Tonight.” Jennifer is back in Las Vegas tonight for her residency, Jennifer Lopez: Up All Night Live In Las Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and will perform the live debut of “Save Me Tonight.” Fans have been wanting Jennifer and David to release the song after she first teased it during her set at World Pride Music Festival last summer.

LANY celebrated their latest album, Soft, with a Q&A and performance at the GRAMMY Museum. Paul Klein and Jake Goss opened up about how their album was made, their creative direction, and what they envision next for their band. They also performed “Why” “Stuck,” “Cause You Have To,” and debuted a new song “When Did You Stop Loving Me.” LANY will take their album on the road for the 2026 Soft World Tour and make stops across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, and Europe for thirty eight dates.

Plus, new music from Jennifer Lopez, David Guetta, Shakira, Ty Dolla $ign, Bebe Rexha, Gnarls Barkley, Willa Ford, Anitta, Maya Hawke, Erin Nam and more.

KISS ALL THE TIME. DISCO, OCCASIONALLY – Harry Styles

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify
 

“Save Me Tonight” – Jennifer Lopez & David Guetta

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“ALGO TÚ” – Shakira feat Béele

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

girl music vol. 1 – Ty Dolla $ign

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“New Religion” – Bebe Rexha

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

Atlanta – Gnarls Barkley

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Michelangelo” – Rita Wilson

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

amanda – Willa Ford

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Devil You Know” – Maya Hawke

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

JuanesTeban – JUANES

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Pinterest” – Anitta

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“How The Fire Started” – Eric Nam

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“JUMP” for Coca-Cola’s Anthem for the FIFA World Cup 2026 – J Balvin & Amber Mark with Travis Barker & Steve Vai

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Freedom” – Kaskade feat EZI

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Iris (Remix)” – Goo Goo Dolls & Steve Aoki

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify
 

WORTH YOUR WILD EP – Russell Dickerson

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Apambichao” – Manuel Turizo feat Maluma

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“I Went Back To Ibiza” – Mike Posner

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

OPHANIM – Voices Of Fire

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify
 

“The Weekend” – Train

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Love, Love, Love” – Stephen Sanchez

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

Make-up is a Lie – Morrissey

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify
 

Evergreen – Hunter Hayes

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Tweak” – GIRLSET

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“leaving is easy” – almost monday

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Come and Get Your Boy” – HunterGirl

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Medicine”– Channel Tres

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Island” – Sharon Marley feat Cedella Marley & Rica Newell

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

HUMILDE – Jon Z

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Same Time”– Matt Hansen

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“SOMEWHERE ELSE” – TOMORA

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify
 

“Tumbleweeds and Chewing Gum” – Lily Meola feat Willie Nelson

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

“Burning Bridges” – Southall

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

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