In many ways, this episode is the culmination of five seasons and more than 50 years of fictional history. 'Even though this has always been an ensemble show that follows a lot of different characters, Ed has a little special place in the center of the show,' Kinnaman tells Inverse.
Fargo feels like Blood Simple, the Coens' neo-noir debut, got fed through the genre, well, woodchipper, producing a pitch-black comedy about the emptiness of greed. It's messing with you from the moment it opens with a blatant lie about being a true story, with Joel Coen later saying, 'If an audience believes that something's based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they may otherwise not accept.'
After a decade floundering both critically and at the box office, DC Studios has regained their footing under James Gunn. With the moderate success of last year's Superman and the groundwork laid by a relatively well-received second season of Peacemaker, it seems as if the days of DC's cinematic outings getting pummeled by the MCU are over, as well as their days of approaching the plate without a plan in hand.
Obnoxious jewellery dealer Rodney Manderson has been killed outside the Bowery auction rooms, stabbed through the eye with the Victorian hatpin that his boss, Rose Bowery, has brandished in front of the nation on Bargain Hunt. As she discussed the pin's virtues as a deadly weapon as well as its millinerial uses, the fiercely loyal Rilke decides while feeling grateful to have skipped lunch and trying not to think of jelly to remove it before calling the police.
Jamie Campbell Bower gave the standout performance as the big bad in the otherwise ho-hum fourth season of Stranger Things, and in this tawdry but fun occult-themed thriller, like Satan himself, he's back to his same old scene-stealing tricks. Once again, he's not the protagonist but a sinister figure first met literally in the shadows, making ominous pronouncements in that posh-boy accent. When finally revealed, he is dipping his chin and looking up with those uncannily blue eyes like a vogue dancer catching the spotlight. If he keeps at it with roles like this, he could be the Peter Cushing of modern horror, but with catwalk-queen hair, or the goth equivalent of the young Ralph Fiennes in his rent-a-villain era. What's not to love?
It was once commonly understood that fiction was in the wisdom business, that it offered not only aesthetic pleasure but also moral improvement. This function of literature was not tough to spot. One of the first English novels was Samuel Richardson's 1740 work, Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded-a title not meant ironically. Through the 19th century, many authors turned directly to the reader with philosophical and social (if sometimes ironic) commentary: "It is a truth universally acknowledged"; "It was the best of times"; "All happy families are alike." For readers not up to the challenge of full George Eliot novels, her enterprising publisher compiled a volume of Eliot's many Wise, Witty, and Tender Sayings, in order to more broadly distribute "a morality as pure as it is impassioned."
The series follows new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Lantern legend Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
What the show captures so well is the price we're willing to pay to stay comfortable, especially inside relationships that feel like oxygen. The college campus, where most of the show's drama plays out, is a particular kind of pressure cooker. In a certain small world, with certain people, during a certain window of time, the need to make things work can override almost everything else.
Hijack, originally conceived as a limited miniseries, is back on Apple TV for its second season with Idris Elba again at the center of a large-scale hostage situation. This time, the action unfolds underground in the Berlin U-Bahn with hundreds of passengers on their daily commute. Impressively, Hijack remains virtually intact from its freshman season. It's still the same high-stakes yet grounded thriller for grownups that assumes you're giving it undivided attention, not laundry or doomscrolling at the same time.
