The Last Kingdom Season 3 Episode 10 If that were the final ever hour of The Last Kingdom—and with the show on such excellent form, I dearly hope it won’t be—it would make a fitting finale. After painful tragedy and thrilling action, episode ten gave an answer to the drama’s central question. Is Uhtred Saxon or Dane? Thor’s hammer, or Bebbanburg amber? Both, of course. “My name is Uhtred, son of Uhtred....

When Air Force One is hijacked and forced to crash land on the island, the federal government turns to ex-Special Forces soldier-turned-criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) to get onto the island and rescue the President (Donald Pleasance) in under 24 hours. At stake: the president’s life and his appearance at a critical peace summit with China and the Soviet Union. If Snake succeeds, he gets a full pardon for his crimes....

“We knew there was a reason it was sitting on a shelf,” Bullock says. Then came the lightbulb moment. “Oh my God, I see it! I see it! I know what it should be,” she declares. “Then you get really excited, then you panic because you’re absolutely convinced that there are no writers out there that can then bring it to the level we had in our head.” Luckily for star and producer Bullock and co-producer Liza Chasin, that writer did in fact exist, and her name is Dana Fox....

The Magicians Season 3 Episode 1 The Magicians is not messing around, and season three is off to an amazing start with “The Tales of the Seven Keys.” Not only are we presented with an impending “epic quest,” but there are also several foreshadowed confrontations in the mix as well as lessons to be learned from enemies of the past. Add in one of the most enjoyable pop culture laden conversations ever between Eliot and Margo, and the result is a season premiere that bodes well for an exciting set of stories to come....

Chapter 11 of The Mandalorian, “The Heiress,” packs an absolute punch. Not only does the episode mark the live-action debut of Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze, who is played once again by the wonderful Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), but it also brings Mercedes Varnado (better known as the WWE superstar Sasha Banks) to the franchise. After weeks of speculation, we finally learn during the action-packed half-hour that Varnado plays a new Mandalorian character named Koska Reeves....

Fans might be leaving the theater a bit exhausted by the time the credits roll on The Matrix Resurrections. After all, it’s quite a chaotic and disorienting trip for Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), Bugs (Jessica Henwick), and Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) too, as they try to decipher what’s real and what isn’t in this new version of the simulation. The surprises aren’t over when Neo and Trinity fly away happily ever after, though....

October means we’re officially in spooky season, so what better time to explore some of the more terrifying corners of Magic: The Gathering? Plenty of monsters and villains occupy each color of Magic, but it’s the black swamps that host the most vile and decrepit. Among the infinite shadows of these landscapes, few threats are as immediately fear-inducing as zombies. If you’re looking to build a deck that’ll send shivers down your opponent’s spine, or just devour anything they throw at you, an army of the living dead is the way to go....

I will avenge you, father! I will save you, mother! I will kill you, Fjölnir! By the time The Northman concludes, Alexander Skarsgård’s wayward Viking prince has accomplished two out of the three. But was any of it worthwhile? Before the credits roll, Uncle Fjölnir (Claes Bang) is well and truly dead by his nephew’s hand; his head cleaved clean off with a massive stroke of Amleth’s arm. However, the prince without a kingdom is also slain, stabbed through what I believe is the heart and left to simmer by a lake of fire that both men recognize as Hel....

It’s not the image that first springs to mind when you think of chess. In a swanky Parisian parlor, with a bank of breathless photographers following her every gesture, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Beth Harmon rushes in while still in a daze. She’s clearly missing a step after a late night of bad decisions, yet even at her most disheveled she emanates ‘60s style. Like Ann-Margret in The Cincinnati Kid, Beth’s fiery mane of red hair is turned up at the sides in a flip....

The Simpsons Season 33 Episode 22 Even with the ever-delightful Hugh Jackman at his most Broadway melodic as a magical singing janitor, “Poorhouse Rock” is the most punk episode The Simpsons has offered in a long time. It’s like having Johnny Rotten narratively croon a “Schoolhouse Rock” with the ultimate lesson: There’s no future for you. Of course, The Simpsons would never make such a blatant musical choice for its most anarchic episode....

The Simpsons Season 32 Episode 6 Without dipping into political waters, The Simpsons season 32, episode 6, “Podcast News,” rides the wave of fake news into a less likely swamp: True crime reporting, and the amateur sleuths who’ve gone pro broadcasting it. Not on broadcast stations, though, those are outdated, and rely on the painstaking drudgery of the finding of facts, which are terrible for ratings. The episode opens in a state of frantic paranoia, eschewing the couch gag entirely, which always bodes well....

It’s been reported that the movie will not only include Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, taking over from the late Tony Stark as Peter’s mentor, but also Jamie Foxx and Alfred Molina, reprising their roles as Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Dr. Octopus from the original Spider-Man 2 respectively. It’s also long been rumored that these villains will be bringing along their own Spider-Men, played once again by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire....

Those of you who have seen the movie now that it ends with an epilogue featuring Audrey and Morgan in Japan a year following their stint in Europe. They are spies working with Sam Heughan’s Sebastian Crenshaw. In giving Audrey and Morgan actual spy jobs, the epilogue somewhat undermines the realism of the world. However, it is also a whole lot of fun and would act as a jumping off point for a would-be sequel, said director Susanna Fogel....

The Suicide Squad might just be the best DCEU movie yet. Not only is it a sterling ensemble piece about the horrors of American imperialism but it’s also the world’s weirdest buddy comedy. And in a film full of stunning performances–Idris Elba, David Dastmalchian, and Daniela Melchior please stand up–we got another killer turn from Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. After kicking all kinds of ass in Birds of Prey, the Mistress of Mischief is back and better than ever....

But the biggest surprise doesn’t come in John Cena’s Peacemaker expounding on his willingness to eat as many penises as liberty requires, and it’s not Idris Elba’s Bloodsport in some really cool battle armor, or Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn misbehaving just as Harley should. Nor is it in the reveal of Peter Capaldi’s Thinker, or even the wonderful CGI creation of King Shark (who appears like he might finally deliver on the promise of the character from Gail Simone’s glorious Secret Six run)....

It’s not a gradual softening; it’s something that happens all at once like an elaborately drunken night out, or a sneeze. One day, the lively da-derr da-derr da derr of The Antiques Roadshow theme song signifies the approach of stultifying boredom, the next, it signifies the approach of some charming Royal Doulton egg cups and a fascinating nineteenth century object for scraping bits of poor people from the hooves of an aristocrat’s horse....

The Walking Dead: World Beyond Episode 6 Perhaps I’m just projecting the character of Abraham onto the actor, but as a director, Michael Cudlitz seems to be able to have fun with his material, no matter how dark. Throughout “Shadow Puppets,” there are a lot of fun little touches and moments to lighten things up and serve as an effective tension break during some of the more nervous moments. Towards the end of the episode, as Iris is skulking into an abandoned department store, there are two back-to-back scares, one a fake-out involving a mannequin that’s really amusing, then a legitimate one where a walker, out of nowhere, thrusts a hand out of a gated area into the middle of a scene in which Iris and Percy are talking....

The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 12 When it comes to untrustworthy characters on The Walking Dead, there’s not a ton of subtlety. Sure, the Governor talked nice, but he had an eye patch. Eye patches are evil; anyone who has ever seen a soap opera knows that. Negan was introduced killing two beloved characters in brutal fashion; tough to come back from that even if you traditionally keep your word....

Where is Shadow and Bone set? Shadow and Bone is set in a fictional world where some people, known as Grisha, have magical powers. Ravka Most of the main action in the first season of Shadow and Bone is set in Ravka, a kingdom that is fighting a war on two fronts: with Fjerda, its neighbor to the North, and with Shu Han, its neighbor to the South. But Ravka has its own internal problems, too....

Just how cosmic are we talking? Well, picking up on threads from Avengers: Endgame, where Thor and Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill were quickly becoming best frenemies, it looks like Star-Lord and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy will play a significant role in Thor: Love and Thunder. The team-up element of Ragnarok, where Thor got to smash stuff with his old “friend from work” Hulk worked out pretty well, so why mess with success, right?...