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Tag: HBO

  • Industry’s Myha’la and Marisa Abela on Fighting, Friendship, and Platonic Kissing in the Club

    “We are old now,” Myha’la says with a smile to her Industry costar Marisa Abela on Zoom. Considering the fact that both actors are 29 years old, that sentiment is far from true. However, four seasons into the buzzy British banking drama, it does feel like we’re a long way from the early days of Industry when their respective characters, Harper Stern and Yasmin Kara-Hanani, were first-years on the trading floor at Pierpoint & Co, diving headfirst into the wild world of finance.

    In the penultimate episode of Industry’s fourth season, “Points of Emphasis,” Harper and Yas run through the gamut of human emotions. They begin the episode as business adversaries, hurling insults at one another, and end the episode as friends dancing till dawn in a perfect girl’s night out, sealed with a kiss—a fact that makes both actors giggle, recalling the shoot. For Abela, the club scene was both sentimental and nostalgic. “It felt like season one of Industry in that we’re just two girls dancing in a club,” she says. “It felt like that time in Berlin in season two, or all the season one stuff with Robert. It really felt like, ‘Oh yeah, this is the show that we set out to make.’”

    But before they can get to that point, the frenemies have to hash it out. “I really resented you for being a breathing example of how I was less than,” Harper says to Yasmin, over drinks at a pub. “And I choose to love you for being a breathing example for how I can be more,” Yasmin responds. That conversation was “the most honest and vulnerable conversation that they ever have” in Myha’la’s opinion. “They both ask for each other’s comfort in a way that there’s no hidden agenda, there’s no nothing,” she continues. “It’s pure, platonic need for comforting each other.”

    Many important characters have come and gone from the Industry universe—Gus (David Jonsson), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and most recently Harper’s mentor Eric Tao, played by Ken Leung. But throughout all the shifts and changes, Harper and Yasmin’s friendship—flawed though it may be—has served as the anchor of the buzzy HBO series. Below, Marisa Abela and Myha’la go deep on Yasmin and Harper’s complicated relationship, their sometimes toxic tether, and what we can expect for Industry’s season four finale.

    Spoilers for Industry below.

    Vanity Fair: After a season of being either separate or at odds, at the end of episode seven, we finally get to watch our girls together again, dancing at the club. What was it like filming that moment?

    Myha’la: It was so special. As much as we know the audience wants our girlies together and to have their dancing at the club moment, we really wanted it too. It does feel like an accumulation of all the seasons, everything they’ve gone through together. It’s the most intimate they could possibly be—that they’ve ever been. It was also really fun. It was a very fun shoot day.

    Chris Murphy

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  • George R.R. Martin Makes Delightfully Terrible Mistake of Entrusting Major Spoilers to Small Child

    In A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Egg is around 10 years old. A major reveal comes midway through the season when we learn the scrappy little squire is actually Aegon Targaryen. He is a few notches down the line of succession, but the Iron Throne looms in his future. By contrast, our other misfit hero, Dunk, hails from humble Flea Bottom. His life plan is to roam Westeros, being a hedge knight.

    If you’ve only watched A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, you wouldn’t know much more than that. But George R.R. Martin book readers have a lot more context for both characters. And with one offhand remark, Dexter Sol Ansell—who plays Egg—swiftly upended some of that long-held lore.

    As you can see in this talk show clip, Ansell and Peter Claffey, who plays Dunk, are asked if they’ve been told anything about their characters’ futures. Ansell answers—maybe too freely.

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms viewers will recall that in episode three, “The Squire,” the pair happen upon a woman who offers to read their fortunes. For Dunk, she says, “You shall know great success and be richer than a Lannister,” which seems so far-fetched Dunk laughs it off.

    For Egg, though, she says, “You shall be king and die in a hot fire, and worms shall feed upon your ashes. And all who know you shall rejoice upon your dying.” This prediction comes before Dunk realizes Egg could be king and again he laughs it off. Viewers, however, can see Egg is spooked.

    Fans of Martin’s books know that Egg does eventually become King Aegon V, long after his boyhood adventures in the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas. They also know of something referred to as “the tragedy at Summerhall,” a great inferno that destroys one of House Targaryen’s castles—maybe, probably, caused by the king’s attempts to bring dragons back to life.

    It’s always been said that’s how Egg will die as an older man—and that Dunk, who becomes his Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, also perishes there.

    Until, well, this new bit of information. “I do know a bit about when Egg’s trying to make dragons in Summerhall, and then there’s a huge fire,” Ansell tells the interviewer in the above clip. “We know from George…”

    Here, Claffey interrupts and talks over Ansell: “We don’t know if that is exactly what happens.”

    Ansell continues. “We know Dunk survives. But we don’t know if Egg survives yet.”

    Claffey makes a playfully frantic “Cut him off!” hand gesture and reiterates, “We don’t know exactly what happens. Let’s just get this season one out of the way, and we’ll see.”

    Dunk and Egg forever! Maybe that fortuneteller was just blowing smoke after all. If anyone’s going to retcon this one, Martin is clearly the guy to do it, even if he might want to be more careful who he shares spoilers with moving forward.

    New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms arrive Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.

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    Cheryl Eddy

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  • HBO Is Making a ‘Baldur’s Gate’ TV Show

    We’re going down, down, down by the river, and back to the city of Baldur’s Gate… albeit on TV, rather than in a game.

    Deadline reports that HBO is working with Hasbro to develop a Baldur’s Gate TV series, which will be set immediately after the events of Larian’s third entry in the beloved RPG series. Craig Mazin, who has been the at-times-controversial figure behind HBO’s other big-ticket video game adaptation, The Last of Us, will create, write, executive produce, and showrun the new series.

    Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Connor, and Hasbro Entertainment’s Gabriel Marano will join Mazin as executive producers, while Chris Perkins—the former senior story designer for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, who jumped ship from the company to join actual-play company and rival TTRPG designer Critical Role last year—will serve as a consultant on the series.

    Baldur’s Gate 3 saw an unlikely crew of characters brought together by the threat of the Cult of the Absolute—itself a front for the machinations of the sinister ilithid Mindflayers and a plot to invade the Forgotten Realms—and save the city of Baldur’s Gate from certain doom, generations after the events of the first two games in the trilogy. It was released in 2023 to critical acclaim and mass success, and developer Larian repeatedly confirmed that they would not be responsible for developing a fourth game in the series in the wake of its reception, leaving Hasbro with the reins on this particular vision of Dungeons & Dragons after bidding farewell to the game with an open-ended epilogue that teased the potential for further adventures for the party, six months after the events of the main game.

    Since then, Hasbro has struggled to capitalize on the popularity of Baldur’s Gate 3, largely sticking to merchandise (some better than others) and some awkward integrations of key characters from the game into projects like the scrapped Virtual Tabletop system Project Sigil. But a TV show continuation also faces a series of challenges for Hasbro and HBO alike to overcome: the strongly baked-in popularity of the performers who brought Baldur’s Gate 3‘s characters to life with fans, how the show approaches providing a “canonical” conclusion to the player-driven choices of the game, and even the very nature of its central customizable protagonist, Tav.

    Where other video game adaptations have decided on trying to hew as closely as possible to the source material, going their own way, or attempting to avoid that issue entirely, a Baldur’s Gate TV show will have a lot of hurdles to contend with to get its audience on board, well before it gathers its party and ventures forth.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    James Whitbrook

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  • ‘Baldur’s Gate’ TV Series Continuing Game’s Story In Works At HBO From ‘The Last Of Us’ Co-Creator Craig Mazin & Hasbro Entertainment

    EXCLUSIVE: Craig Mazin, co-creator of arguably the most acclaimed TV adaptation of a video game to date, HBO‘s The Last Of Us, will be taking on another hugely popular and acclaimed game title next, Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3, which is set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

    HBO is developing Baldur’s Gate, a drama series based on Hasbro Entertainment’s video game franchise, with Mazin attached to create, write, executive produce and showrun the TV adaptation. Also exec producing are Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Connor and Hasbro Entertainment’s Gabriel Marano. Chris Perkins, the longtime Head of Story at Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, which is behind the D&D game franchise, will serve as consultant.

    Unlike HBO’s The Last Of Us, which retold the story from the PlayStation games, the Baldur’s Gate TV series will be a continuation to the games, telling a story that takes place immediately after the events of Baldur’s Gate 3, as the characters — old and new — are dealing with the ramifications of the events in the third game.

    Like with The Last Of Us, Mazin’s passion for Baldur’s Gate 3 and its characters led to his decision to adapt it as a TV series. He has proudly completed the Swen Vincke-developed game on the challenging honor mode, and he is also a longtime D&D fan, a Dungeon Master who has been playing the game weekly for the past 15 years, including tonight.

    “After putting nearly 1000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a dream come true to be able to continue the story that Larian and Wizards of The Coast created,” Mazin said. “I am a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it. I can’t wait to help bring Baldur’s Gate and all of its incredible characters to life with as much respect and love as we can, and I’m deeply grateful to Gabe Marano and his team at Hasbro for entrusting me with this incredibly important property.”

    With no ties to another Baldur’s Gate game in development, Mazin has freedom over the direction of the story, making it more of a traditional show vs. The Last of Us whose plot and lifespan were determined by the existing games. As Deadline has reported, the post-apocalyptic drama is expected to end with its upcoming third season. Baldur’s Gate slated to be Mazin’s followup series for HBO where he also created and executive produced the Emmy-winning Chernobyl.

    Baldur’s Gate is designed to be ongoing and continue with different kinds of stories within the sprawling world of the game. The series draws deeply from the source material of Baldur’s Gate 3 — how it begins how the game ends — and not so much from the first two games which are not official source material. Still, there are some commonalities across those games that are connected to Dungeons & Dragons lore, which Mazin plans to draw upon under the agreement with Wizards of the Coast.

    The TV series will feature both existing characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 and new ones. It is expected to keep the D&D tradition of taking new characters who are not that powerful and follow their journey through adventures that make them powerful. The new protagonists are bound to run into beloved characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 — some of them heroes, some of them villains, some of them literally devils — who occupy the same world. Now incredibly powerful, they will meddle, helping or hindering the new heroes.

    Mazin, who is just now starting his own journey with the material as his deal just closed, plans to reach out to voice cast members of Baldur’s Gate 3 with ideas for them to participate in the TV adaptation, if possible. He and The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann did it on their HBO series with several actors from that game, most notably Merle Dandridge who reprised her role as Marlene. Mazin, who has an overall deal with HBO, is now in final prep on Season 3 of The Last of Us.

    “We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Craig Mazin on Baldur’s Gate,” Francesca Orsi, EVP, Head of HBO Drama Programming said. “His deep and long-standing passion for the source material paired with his remarkable talent for building immersive worlds filled with rich, compelling characters promises groundbreaking results.”

    HBO’s Baldur’s Gate is designed to co-exist alongside The Forgotten Realms live-action Dungeons & Dragons series Hasbro Entertainment has set up at Netflix with Shawn Levy producing. The two share D&D’s The Forgotten Realms campaign setting, which is vast and could accommodate multiple TV series.

    “The fans have been eagerly awaiting an adaptation of Baldur’s Gate, and we could not ask for better partners than HBO and the incomparable Craig Mazin to build this world with,” Gabriel Marano, Head of Television, Hasbro Entertainment said.

    Hasbro Entertainment also has a Power Rangers live-action series in the works at Disney+ and a couple of other high-profile series in the marketplace.

    Part of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise, the Baldur’s Gate character-driven role-playing video game series originated in 1998 and became known for its mature setting of crime, political intrigue, and edgy adventure. The most recent game, Baldur’s Gate 3, launched to massive critical and commercial success with over 15 million lifetime players, over 34 industry award wins, and made history as the first game to win all five major Game of The Year awards.

    Mazin is repped by CAA; Hasbro Entertainment is repped by WME.

    Nellie Andreeva

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  • Avalanche’s record-selling Pride Night became a ‘Heated Rivalry’ celebration

    Mary Myers is a huge football fan and loves the Denver Broncos.

    As she put it though, being a women and a fan in male-dominated sports is not always welcoming. Myers and one of her best friends, Andrea Slora, are not big hockey fans. But like many other people, they are very much fans of “Heated Rivalry,” the Canadian television show that streamed on HBOMax in the United States and has become a pop culture phenomenon.

    Myers, who is bisexual, read the “Game Changers” series of books by Canadian author Rachel Reid, on which the show is based, and then was tuned in when the show premiered on Thanksgiving. She recommended it to Slora, who is queer, and both “have been consumed by it.” So much so that Myers was at Ball Arena on Monday night, wearing a sweatshirt featuring the two main characters, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, with Slora, sporting a Boston Raiders shirt with No. 81 and Rozanov on the back.

    Show’s popularity drives ticket sales

    They weren’t alone. It was Pride Night for the Colorado Avalanche, and on the concourses, it was also a celebration of the show that has brought hockey to a whole new audience. Just in the span of a five-minute interview, six people came up to Myers and Slora to compliment them on the shirts they were wearing.

    “One of my close coworkers is a huge Avs fan and she’s also queer,” Slora said. “So I was like, ‘OK, I have a spot here.’ Also, just seeing how into it she is, like she will watch the games when we’re at work and get so into it.”

    The Avalanche has had a Pride Night on the promotional schedule for nearly a decade, and the organization was one of the first sports teams to participate in the Denver Pride Parade. The team did not incorporate specific “Heated Rivalry” themes into its plans for Monday evening, but it was easily its most successful Pride Night.

    Sales on the Pride Night ticket packages were up 47% from last year, which was previously the best-selling night. A portion of the proceeds will go to You Can Play, a campaign that promotes inclusion and hopes to eradicate homophobia in sports.

    There were some allusions to the show — the phrase “Heated Rivalry” was on the scoreboard before the game with the Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings logos, and “All The Things She Said,” which has become synonymous with the show, also played in the arena shortly before puck drop.

    There’s also little question that the popularity of the show and the books helped drive the record sales.

    “Heated Rivalry has been a conversation topic in the office,” Avs marketing director Megan Boyle said. “It’s pretty cool to see how many people that have never even watched hockey or cared too much about hockey have started to take interest in hockey and the Avalanche.

    “I think it just shows that community and a sense of belonging is really important. That’s one of the biggest reasons why we continue to do Pride Night is to be part of our community.”

    Corey Masisak

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  • The Success of ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Is Already Influencing HBO’s Other ‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoff Plans

    Ever since Game of Thrones came to its controversial end, HBO has had grandiose plans, in scope and scale, for what it wants to get out of telling more stories in Westeros and beyond. But for all that epic dreaming, it turns out that the quiet success of one of its intentionally smaller shows could turn all that on its head.

    That show is, of course, the ongoing Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which, despite its oversized hero in the form of Ser Duncan the Tall, has charmed audiences with its lighter, more intimate take on the world of Game of Thrones—a story that is about ordinary people getting by underneath and away from the grand politicking of the realm, rather than huge wars and giant, mythical monsters. It’s not just audiences that are charmed, though. Apparently HBO head Casey Bloys is, too.

    “If you think about the novellas, it’s a two-hander. It’s two unlikely friends and heroes wandering Westeros. From its inception, from the starting point, it is not warring families, it is not dragons, it is not giant battles. So the creative made sense first, and then the production follows,” Bloys recently told Deadline of the show’s source material, making the case for a project that is smaller in scope.

    But according to Bloys, Knights‘ success doesn’t mean that suddenly every Game of Thrones spinoff to come will be a miniseries that eschews major events in Westeros’ past or future—more that the world of the seven kingdoms and the lands beyond are large enough to be able to host series ideas of varying sizes, so that shows like Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon are able to coexist. Bloys also made note that the smaller-scale ideas could also allow for shows to have tighter production turnarounds, suggesting a series like Knight could be a yearly show, rather than have sizeable gaps between seasons (Knight‘s second season will air next year, sandwiched between 2026 and 2028 releases for House of the Dragon‘s third and fourth seasons).

    “I’m not looking to change the way that we make television at all. Our business has always been a portfolio business, which means you can have shows like The Last of Us or House of the Dragon, and you can also have smaller-scale shows like Somebody Somewhere or The Chair Company, adding things that can come back on an annual basis, like The Pitt,” Bloys continued, “or adding things where the creative lends itself, in Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, I don’t want to say an easier production, but something that allows you, on a smaller scale, to produce and come back on an annual basis.”

    With new Game of Thrones material planned at least through 2028, it’ll be interesting to see how that lesson is applied for the myriad other spinoff projects still in the works for the franchise. Although Bloys didn’t comment on further plans, Deadline did note that there are several projects being planned at the moment, including the recently resurrected Thrones sequel focusing on Jon Snow and Arya Stark, the animated project Nine Voyages based on the life of House of the Dragon‘s Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake (with animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky attached), the Nymeria-focused mythological prequel 10,000 Ships, and a series based around Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros.

    Time will tell which of those could get the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms treatment—or make it to the screen at all. But at least the future of Game of Thrones on the small screen is looking a bit brighter thanks to Dunk and Egg… much to the pleasure of their creator, we imagine.

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    James Whitbrook

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  • Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Linda Cardellini Enter a Deadly Love Triangle in ‘DTF St. Louis’

    The Midwest is usually associated with uncomplicated kindness—nice, polite people who like college football, a cold beer, and (recent events in Minnesota notwithstanding) treating their neighbors with dignity and respect. But as an oft repeated phrase on Steven Conrad’s new HBO show warns, there’s more to Midwesterners than meets the eye.

    “No one’s normal,” says Conrad, Zooming in from California. “It just looks that way from across the street.”

    In the HBO limited series DTF St. Louis, Conrad explores the darkness just beyond a Midwestern city’s white picket fences. The seven-episode dark comedy stars Emmy favorites Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Linda Cardellini as three middle-aged St. Louis residents grappling with ennui, loneliness, and hidden desires, becoming enmeshed in a love triangle that leaves one of them dead.

    As a writer, Conrad—who sold his first screenplay at the age of 19—has always been interested in messiness. “[There’s] a set of themes I’ve liked since I was a young person learning how to write: You watch somebody you like make a mistake, and you watch them try to make up for it,” he says. “You cheer for them to be able to do that. But like most of the consequential mistakes in our life, there really is no complete way to make it all better again.”

    Harbour in DTF St. Louis.

    Tina Rowden/HBO

    Conrad doubles down on that central theme in DTF St. Louis, creating a series that explores how our mistakes—and desires—only compound with age. “The older I got, it occurred to me that we keep making them. There are plenty of middle-aged mistakes,” he says.

    Bateman—also an executive producer on the series—was the perfect vessel to convey these ideas. He stars in the show as Clark Forrest, a hot weatherman and a micro-celebrity in the greater St. Louis area. While reporting on a storm, he’s paired with a good-hearted yet simple ASL interpreter named Floyd, played by Harbour. An unlikely friendship between the two blossoms, leading Clark to meet Floyd’s wife, Cardellini’s Carol—a previously single mother struggling to support a troubled tweenage-year-old son and an under-employed husband. The also-married Clark introduces Floyd to a new app called DTF St. Louis, made for singles and swingers looking to spice up their marriages. After a few fateful swipes, everyone’s lives begin to change.

    “We show some billboards for DTF St. Louis, and their log line is, ‘All of the excitement, none of the consequences,’” Conrad tells me. “A smart person would know that that’s impossible.”

    Chris Murphy

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  • Does It Matter If Dunk Was Really Knighted on ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’?

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms kicked off its run with a makeshift funeral: Dunk (Peter Claffey) buries Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), his longtime master, on a muddy hillside. It’s a turning point for the former squire, who decides to take Ser Arlan’s sword and head to the nearby tournament at Ashford to try his luck. After all, he’s a real knight now. Or… is he?

    It’s unclear if Ser Arlan actually got around to knighting his protégé before he passed. But Dunk’s nervousness when he’s teased by the steward at Ashford—who jokingly (but convincingly) warns him of the hideous torture that awaits any man who pretends to be a knight—suggests maybe the ceremony didn’t quite come to pass.

    Later in episode one, “The Hedge Knight,” Dunk blurts out that the sword he carries is rightfully his, a statement so odd even self-involved Ser Steffon Fossoway takes note of it.

    But, in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter if Ser Arlan knighted Dunk—or are the life lessons and innate heroism that “Ser Duncan the Tall” carries within him more important? A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner, Ira Parker, makes a solid point for the latter.

    Speaking on the official Game of Thrones podcast (via Winter Is Coming), Parker said it’s more important to consider what makes a good knight, rather than whether or not an official ceremony happened.

    “It’s not like it’s an easy thing to do. It’s not like anyone can just stand up and say, ‘I am a knight; here we go.’ You need things. You need horses, you need armor, you need to be able to fight … These guys are professional fighters,” Parker pointed out.

    He continued. “I think that’s ultimately, hopefully, what it comes down to, whether or not you have the name and the arms and the armor… you don’t even have to be a good person; you don’t even have to be a moral person. But if you try and help out in the immediate vicinity, you don’t have to go off and change the entire course of history in the realm. You just have to help the guy next to you that’s struggling at the moment. And I think Dunk… as we will see, sort of takes that as his guiding light, and you know, maybe gets him in a little bit of trouble.”

    You can check out the full interview here; it starts around 24 minutes in:

    Follow that trouble when new episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms arrive Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Cheryl Eddy

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  • ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Is an Absolute Triumph

    The success of Game of Thrones—divisive last season notwithstanding—naturally inspired HBO to go back for more. House of the Dragon arrived in 2022, a prequel about warring royals patterned so closely after Thrones that it uses the same theme song. But A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which premieres January 18, is cut from a different cloth. A rougher, stinkier cloth. It’s an approach that perfectly suits the source material, George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas—and it makes for a wonderfully entertaining TV show that explores Westeros from an entirely new point of view.

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms—co-created by Ira Parker and Martin, and showrun by Parker—takes place between the events of House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, which are themselves separated by 200-odd years. The new show, therefore, takes place generations after the Dance of the Dragons but generations before the Mother of Dragons. The Targaryens are still very much in power at this point, something that’s of zero concern to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ protagonist… until it suddenly becomes his biggest problem.

    Dunk (Peter Claffey) and his beloved horses. © Steffan Hill/HBO

    When we first meet Dunk (Peter Claffey), he’s burying his master, the very recently deceased Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb). A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms takes place far away from the castles we’ve seen in the previous Westeros shows. Instead, it shows us how people not born with fancy titles get by on the day-to-day—including hedge knights and their squires. It is a life of rain, mud, and sleeping under trees; dealing with buzzing flies and unpalatable food; and not owning much more than your horse, your sword, and the clothes on your back.

    Being a knight gives a man a certain status, but there are limits to that. As Dunk—“Ser Duncan the Tall” is the plainly descriptive name he chooses for himself—is made to understand again and again, a dirt-poor hedge knight is the lowest rung of the ladder. That’s brought into clear focus when he ambles to Ashford Meadows, intent on entering a tournament where the other competitors include highborn lords and princes. He’s got close to no money, and this is a place where loyalty tends to be intertwined with whoever’s paying the highest price.

    As A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms explores over its six episodes (all of which io9 was able to view for review), being a knight—sworn by oath to “protect the innocent”—and being an honorable man are not always the same thing. In fact, as the unintentionally blundering Ser Dunk discovers, there’s often a deep divide between the two. Even worse, the people with the most power can sometimes be the most despicable of them all, a timeless lesson that Dunk learns in the hardest way possible.

    Aknight Aerion Dunk
    Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennet) meets Dunk (Peter Claffey). © Steffan Hill/HBO

    Deciding to check out the tourney at Ashford Meadows is literally Dunk’s first move after Ser Arlen’s passing. And he’s not on his own for long; though he resists the idea, he’s worn down by a bald-headed little oddball named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) who really, really wants to be his squire. No spoilers here, but even if you haven’t read Martin’s novellas, close viewing of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will reveal Egg’s secret before the narrative comes right out with it.

    And that narrative is a compressed one, especially compared to the sprawling likes of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Though there are flashbacks to add important details—since Martin’s stories rely heavily on Dunk’s internal dialogue, this frees the show from needing any voice-over—A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms basically takes place over a couple of days in a single location.

    But the stakes are still sky-high. They’re life or death both in the jousting ring, where men compete knowing the considerable risks, and also in the rowdy camp that springs up around the tourney. There, Duncan sees firsthand what an angry, impulsive, bratty Targaryen prince is capable of—bolstered by the confidence that comes with being above the law simply because of who his family is.

    House of the Dragon fans are well familiar with that signature Targaryen trait, but you don’t need to have seen that show or even Game of Thrones to enjoy A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Previous Westeros know-how is a bonus, since you’ll recognize certain names and have a working familiarity with the kingdom and its tumultuous history. But with Dunk—an unconventional, immediately likable protagonist—as its entry point, the perspective here is much more immediate and intimate.

    Aknight Lyonelbaratheon
    Daniel Ings as Ser Lyonel Baratheon, sure to be an instant fan favorite. © Steffan Hill/HBO

    That extends to the supporting characters, who enter the story naturally as part of the bustle of the tournament and make an immediate impression, thanks to the show’s consistent blend of clever writing and wonderful performances. Claffey and Ansell are a fantastic leading pair, but the character actors who fill the rest of the cast are also memorable, whether they’re playing sleazy villains, sleazy guys just trying to get ahead, or sleazy good guys. That latter group includes Daniel Ings as the raucous, terrifying yet endearing Ser Lyonel Baratheon, as well as Webb’s craggy old Ser Arlen; the more we learn about Dunk’s time with him, the more it becomes a surprisingly touching backbone to present-day events.

    Touching and full of deep ruminations on personal integrity? Yes. Gruesome violence? Indeed, lots of it. But also, bawdy humor and fart jokes? You better believe it. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is confident enough to embrace all of the above. It’s as self-contained as any Martin-adapted Westeros work could ever be, with an almost anthology format set down by the Dunk and Egg novellas. (This first season draws entirely from his first story, “The Hedge Knight.”) And while it takes place in a world Martin fans already know and love, it’s got its own flavor.

    One example that illustrates this quite well: while its most recurring musical cue is a whistling motif that underlines the story’s Western feel, it also brings in that famous Game of Thrones theme in two important places.

    Aknight Dunkeggtavern
    © Steffan Hill/HBO

    One is a stunningly heroic, goosebumps-raising moment. The other is a cheeky-as-hell invocation—followed by the show’s first display of ridiculously crude humor, a tactic used sparingly but effectively throughout the series. This show takes its characters and situations seriously, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that makes all the difference.

    It’d be easy to complain that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is too short, because we’d love to spend more time hanging out with Dunk and Egg. But six episodes is actually pretty perfect—much like the show itself ends up being. Thank the Seven there’s already a season two on the way.

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres January 18 on HBO and HBO Max, with a weekly rollout of new episodes.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Cheryl Eddy

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  • “Abbott Elementary” star Chris Perfetti on his stage experience, creating memorable characters

    Chris Perfetti’s breakout role was as history teacher Jacob Hill in the hit comedy “Abbott Elementary,” but the actor, who’s co-starring with Jason Bateman in HBO’s new limited series “DTF St. Louis,” tells “CBS Saturday Morning” that his versatility comes from his stage experience.

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  • The Pitt Season 2: Why Didn’t Tracy Ifeachor’s Character Return to the Medical Drama?

    Jesus House is led by Irukwu, who told The Times in 2015 that his goal was to “reChristianise” Britain. It is part of the Redeemed Christian Church of God denomination, a holiness Pentecostal network headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, which spread across the world in the second half of the 20th century, following the country’s diaspora. In 2022, one Nigerian Pentecostal bishop estimated that RCCG churches exist in 200 countries, and there are numerous outposts in the New York City area as well.

    Though left-leaning UK citizens have criticized Jesus House—as leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer issued an apology after he visited and praised the church in April 2021—it is still considered part of the country’s religious mainstream. King Charles visited the church twice as the Prince of Wales, once in 2007 and again in 2021. Irukwu was invited to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth as a faith representative in September 2022. In May 2023, he was again on the officiating list for the king’s coronation.

    According to the Jesus House Instagram account, Ifeachor’s Q&A session with the pastor’s wife, Sola Irukwu, covered topics such as “standing firm in faith” and how to “navigate being a Christian in the marketplace.” In a reel filmed at the conference, Ifeachor added that she doesn’t like to “compartmentalize” her public persona from her faith. “You are a whole person—that you’re not a Christian here but not-a-Christian there,” she said. “You might not feel like you are the right person to share the gospel or whatever it is. But sometimes your life is a whole prayer; it is a testimony.”

    Ifeachor’s exit from The Pitt was confirmed on July 10 of 2025. By July 11, her representative was emphasizing to The Mirror US that the actor is not homophobic: “Any rumors about Tracy participating in any discrimination through her religion are completely incorrect, defamatory, and hurtful,” he said. “This gossip could not be further from the truth. She is a woman who leads with love, kindness, and compassion, and as her very gay publicist, I can say that I see this daily, firsthand.”

    If there were any behind-the-scenes issues on the set of The Pitt, it wouldn’t be the first time a medical drama fostered a contentious work environment. A year after Grey’s Anatomy premiered in 2005 and became a massive hit for ABC, reports emerged that Isaiah Washington used a homophobic slur during an on-set argument; in the following months, his costar T.R. Knight came out as gay in a statement to People. Washington apologized for the incident publicly, then revoked his apology in a backstage interview at the 2007 Golden Globes. Following the Globes, Washington apologized for using the slur, but when alluding to the incident in 2020, claimed that he had a right to exercise “free speech.” Eventually, his character, Dr. Preston Burke, was written off the show. (Burke leaves his fiancée, Dr. Cristina Yang, at the altar during the show’s second season finale; Washington did return to the show for a guest appearance in 2014.)

    Grey’s Anatomy is now in its 22nd season, and Ellen Pompeo continues to play its title character, Meredith Grey. “The first 10 years we had serious culture issues, very bad behavior, really toxic work environment,” Pompeo said in a 2019 interview with Variety. She added that she only continued in the role afterward because there were “some big shifts in front of the camera, behind the camera” as time went on.

    Erin Vanderhoof

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  • HBO Max’s Most Influential TV Show Returns for Season 2 Today

    One of HBO’s biggest shows is back beginning today, with one of the most anticipated Season 2’s of television premiering today on HBO Max.

    What show is back for its second season on HBO?

    The Pitt, the hit medical drama created by R. Scott Gemmill and starring Noah Wyle, is back for its second season. Season 2 of the show premieres on HBO Max tonight, at 9:00 p.m. EST on the streamer. The new season of the show will pick up ten months after the Season 1 finale, and is set on a chaotic Fourth of July shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.

    The Pitt was created by showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, who also wrote for the past hit medical drama ER. Alongside Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, The Pitt also stars Tracy Ifeachor, Patrick Ball, Katherine LaNasa, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Birones, Gerran Howell, Shabana Azeez, and Sepideh Moafi in starring roles.

    Season 2 of the show will also introduce new recurring characters, portrayed by Lawrence Robinson, Charles Baker, Irene Choi, Laëtitia Hollard, Lucas Iverson, Zack Morris, Brittany Allen, Bonita Friedericy, Taylor Handley, Jeff Kober, Meta Golding, Luke Tennie, Christopher Thornton, and Travis Van Winkle.

    Originally premiering in 2025, The Pitt was an immediate smash hit for HBO. The series won five awards at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, Casting, and acting wins for Wyle, LaNasa, and recurring guest star Shawn Hatosy. The series has already been renewed for a third season as well.

    Anthony Nash

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  • Meet Your New Favorite ‘Game of Thrones’ Character in This ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Featurette

    He’s Ser Duncan the Tall—but if, like Dexter Sol Ansell’s pint-sized Egg in this new featurette for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, you’ve never heard of him, you soon will. If this glimpse at Peter Claffey’s endearing performance is any indication, he’ll also soon shoot to the top of your list of favorite Game of Thrones-adjacent characters to ever stomp around Westeros.

    We’ve seen Dunk in action in trailers so far, but this is our best look yet at the hero of George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas—at least until the show hits HBO in a couple of weeks.

    Claffey recalls nervously barfing at his first rehearsal and feeling embarrassed about it—only to be told “That’s great, that’s just like Dunk!” by showrunner Ira Parker. Claffey describes Dunk as a “typical underdog” at the start of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, learning to make his way through Westeros without his mentor, the recently deceased Ser Arlen of Pennytree.

    His first stop is a nearby tournament, where he’s soon snarkily classified as a hedge knight—”like a knight, only sadder“—and as Claffey explains, Dunk’s journey will involve squaring that awkward naivete with the feeling that maybe he could be a “glorious knight” if he wanted to.

    Claffey also briefly touches on the show’s stunts and unexpected sense of humor—and calls working on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms “the greatest experience of my entire life.” The show premieres January 18 on HBO, and a season two is already on the way.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Cheryl Eddy

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  • Inside Filming Around Los Angeles for Rachel Sennott’s ‘I Love LA’ – LAmag

    Spoiler note: This article discusses I Love LA episodes 1-7 

    I Love LA had bear wranglers as part of its production team.  

    If you aren’t among the nearly 2 million average viewers per episode, the new series is not a survival thriller or forest-set drama. Rather, it’s a Los Angeles-set comedy about a group of late 20-somethings navigating ambition, love, careers and the chaos of the city itself. With season one coming to a close on Dec. 21, HBO notes the show is among its fastest growing original comedies and second top freshman comedy in platform history.  

    And as the name suggests, the series filmed all across Los Angeles (aside from the upcoming stint in the finale’s New York City-set episode). Much of the show rolls around the Eastside at hotspots in Silver Lake and Echo Park, but filming also took the crew into Los Angeles County’s less urban terrain, like the charming town of Sierra Madre on the edge of the San Gabriel Mountains. These foothills happened to have the perfect house for an episode set at an influencer party taking place at Elijah Wood’s home. 

    “We had probably four or five [black] bears patrolling the property trying to get onto the street and knock over trash cans,” says location manager Jonathan Jansen (Barry), who recalls that there were also deer, coyotes and a couple of rattlesnakes. “They were more focused on the trash cans than on what we were doing up there.” 

    Rachel Sennott and True Whitaker in episode four.
    Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO
    Elijah Wood, Rachel Sennott and True Whitaker in episode four.
    Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO

    Over the course of eight episodes, I Love LA creator, writer and star Rachel Sennott — whose profile first rose on the internet and in the alt-NYC comedy scene before earning laughs in applauded comedies like Shiva Baby,Bodies Bodies Bodies and Bottoms — weaves a transplant’s earnest love letter to Los Angeles.  

    Scroll to continue reading

    “I love that every neighborhood is its own world,” Sennott shares over Zoom. “You never feel like you know the whole city. It’s changing and moving, and you get to keep exploring.”  

    I Love LA positions its version of L.A. very specifically as a place where people go to execute big city dreams, particularly ones with goal posts like 5 million TikTok followers and giftings from Balenciaga. In the show, the city is (for its focal characters, as it is for many people) a projection of ambition and fantasy. Even when it knocks you on your ass.  

    I Love LAI Love LACredit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO

    The comedy follows Maia (Sennott), a newly 27 aspiring influencer talent manager battling a reckless best friend/ client (Odessa A’zion), a drifting-away boyfriend (Josh Hutcherson), an impossible boss (Leighton Meester) and the turmoil of her Saturn Return (an astrological milestone that, as touched on in the first episode, throws your life into chaos before you achieve an authentic version of yourself around age 30). She also has her best friends — stylist Charlie (Jordan Firstman) and Alani (True Whitaker), the daughter of a famous director born-and-raised in Los Angeles — by her side.  

    While I Love LA makes the occasional drop into the likes of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, it, at its core, is an homage to the Eastside, which Sennott considers home. Maia and co. make a showcase of the region from the Silver Lake Reservoir to Tenants of the Trees, Capri Club and Canyon Coffee (though we love the nods to Dan Tana’s, Katsuya and Din Tai Fung). 

    I Love LAI Love LA
    Jordan Firstman, True Whitaker and Odessa A’Zion in episode 1.
    Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO

    The show forgoes tackling traditional Hollywood for the more timely world of content creators and their adjacent bubbles (“I think that a lot of today’s artists are artists online,” Sennott says.), so it only makes sense that I Love LA unfolds in be-seen locales for affluent Angelenos (and the aspiring-to-be affluent).  

    This is perhaps most notable in the pilot’s montage of Erewhon, described by Charlie as “an experience, not a grocery store.” Sennott recalls that she loved to go to the Silver Lake location (where they filmed) when she first moved to L.A. from New York. After smoking a joint, she’d walk around for hours, enjoying the beautiful products and colorful juices, but not buy anything. “Shooting it and make it feel how it feels when you go in there and you’re high was fabulous.”  

    After Jansen, the production manager, spent a few phone calls convincing Erewhon executives (and, eventually, the president) of their vision, the Erewhon shoot took place in the wee hours of the night between the store’s operating hours. The mid-day-set scene required lots of lights, cranes and rigging (and therefore the covering up of nearby apartment windows). “We didn’t get any complaints from the residents,” Jansen says. “There’s a lot of moving pieces on that one, but we made it work.” The result is an approximately seven-second technicolor kaleidoscope of (no doubt organic) produce, juices and pre-packaged meals. “I understood why Rachel really wanted to shoot there because it’s such a symbolic place,” adds production designer Yong Ok Lee (Minari, The Farewell, Drive-Away Dolls).  

    Joining the masses at trendy, pretty places — even if you can’t buy more than a smoothie — can be a balm when navigating uniquely L.A. punches to the gut while on the turbulent path to achieving life’s greatest ambitions. An expensive parking ticket, a grueling crawl up the 405, a stolen catalytic converter, a smashed car window or sudden fender bender (What is SoCal without cars?) can be cured by the tranquilizing effects of a rooftop happy hour drink, a glorious breakfast burrito on a sunny morning at the beach, dinner where the Rat Pack used to feast, strolling a world-famous museum to look at world-famous artifacts or even waiting in line for free sample designer products and matcha at a Melrose Avenue pop-up — depending on your vibe, of course.  

    Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO
    Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO

    These sorts of salves can become more frequent and gratuitous as one’s star (or star adjacency) rises. If you can’t afford health insurance, at least you can get free outfits to wear to Coachella. Whether a micro-influencer or A-lister, events overflowing with bites and drinks and goody bags are abundant. Free omakase goes from a privilege to an expectation.  

    As I Love LA season one comes to an end, Maia is on the cusp of a potential career game changer: getting her client/BFF Tallulah to a high-profile fashion dinner in New York City. The world around Maia is getting prettier (even despite fumbles like accidentally stabbing herself through the foot with a knife) as she also becomes a worse version of herself, mimicking the flourishing, sunny paradise and industrial wasteland reputations of Los Angeles itself.  

    Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO
    Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO

    This duality is among what Sennott loves most about the city. “L.A. can be so glamorous but so dark or feel haunted, and I love that juxtaposition,” she says. Co-writer and executive producer Emma Barrie, who sits next to Sennott while on Zoom, reminds her of a photo she first took when she got to L.A.“You thought it looked really beautiful,” Barrie says of the hotel rooftop pic, even with the DaVita dialysis billboard in frame.  

    For newcomers, understanding and getting to know the good parts and people of Los Angeles can take time, just as it takes a bit of willpower to not be drowned by power, money and fame (both real and cosplay). “You realize some people — not everyone, of course — but the people who look fake [do so] actually because of their vulnerability,” says Lee. “They are lovely and kind people.”  

    Barrie, who is from L.A., was excited to romanticize her hometown. “It turns these places you’re at every day into this more cinematic experience… It’s so exciting to be able to show other people like, ‘Yes, this place means something to me’ and now we get to see it, and it can live on forever in a way.”  

    “[Los Angeles] feels like a living, breathing thing,” she concludes. “L.A. just constantly is changing for better or worse.” 

    I Love LA is streaming on HBO Max.

    Haley Bosselman

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  • Greg & Ted’s Excellent WBD Adventure With Studio Lot Tour, David Zaslav As Their Guide; Check Out The Photos

    Wasting no time checking out their potential new home away from home, Netflix‘s bosses Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos made a most awesome visit to the Warner Bros Discovery studio lot today with David Zaslav as tour guide.

    In a series of photos released late Wednesday by WBD, the Netflix co-CEOs practically announced “we are Greg and Ted and we are your future,” to paraphrase that killer quip from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. If not going full on Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter from the 1989 metalhead comedy, Sarandos and Peters did look a lot like guys about to get the keys to their new digs.

    Getting some very touristy shots in with Zas in front of the WB water tower, between the sound stages and chatting with the troops, the near matching white kicks wearing executives’ appearance in Burbank had all the hallmarks of a big staged F.U. to WBD bid rivals David Ellison and Paramount.

    Coming on the very day that the WBD board unsurprisingly rejected Paramount’s $108 billion hostile takeover bid for the the whole company to stick with Netflix’s December 4 sealed $83 billion offer for the studios and streaming assets, the afternoon visit and the images were a flex meant to be felt all the way down at Par’s Melrose lot.

    Neither WBD nor Netflix had a comment about the Hump Day get together. However, the images did come with a caption of “today, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav welcomed Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters to the historic Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank to meet with leaders across the company.”

    In point of fact, Sarandos and Peters met around 400 members of WBD’s leadership (some of whom are going to be very very very well compensated if the deal between the iconic studio and the streamer goes through) in the lot’s Ross Theate. Hosted and, to some degree, MC’d by Zas, the co-CEO asked and took questions from the crowd. In the conversation, Sarandos and Peters offered assurances that they were interested in growing the business and had no interested in shuttering theatrical release — which WB has scheduled out until 2029 right now.

    Really though it was a lot of optics for a corporate buddy movie that just over two months ago, Peters openly scoffed at and almost everyone in town thought was a de facto done deal for David Ellison and his second richest man on the planet and Donald Trump whisperer Larry Ellison.

    Look at the smiles on their faces, look at the hope in their eyes …it’s just looking all wine, blue blazers and roses.

    Of course, even with the WBD board’s latest no thanks to Paramount and recommendations to shareholders to say the same, David Ellison still wants his second studio. No matter that Zas and gang have thrown serious shade on the Ellisons’ backstop promises and money on the table, everyone expects David and his father are going throw more money at WBD to get it before the January 8, 2026 deadline they set.

    While all that plays out, can we get some consensus here on if Greg Peters’ really is the Bill to Sarandos’ Ted? Asking for a friend…

    (L-R) Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter at 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey Hollywood Premiere (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

    Dominic Patten

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  • This ‘Welcome to Derry’ Figure Is Festively, Gloriously Gory

    It: Welcome to Derry wrapped up its first season earlier this week, and while horror hounds wait to hear whether HBO will make good on that “Chapter One” end-title card and announce a “Chapter Two,” NECA has revealed another figure from the show to add to your Pennywise collection. Step right up, children: this clown is ready to feast on you and all your friends!

    As fans of the show well remember, the Bill Skarsgård-portrayed character was just about to slink into 27 years of slumber when the U.S. Air Force made the genius decision to leave a gaping hole in the cosmic “cage” that’s been keeping him contained for centuries.

    Most of his body has already submerged into his hibernation muck—but Pennywise’s eyes snap open when he gets a whiff of freedom. His encore rampage through 1962 Derry features a gruesome makeover, since he’s now stained a ruddy color from the cheeks down—the collective blood and guts of his victims, presumably.

    The detail here is immaculate, and by that we mean repulsive (in the best way). Here are more looks at the figure:

    “From the twisted world of Stephen King and the HBO series IT: Welcome to Derry, NECA unleashes Ultimate Blood Pennywise!,” NECA’s site, where you can pre-order the figure, exclaims. “The nightmare-inducing Dancing Clown is back to terrorize Derry—and your shelf—as a fully articulated Ultimate action figure. Standing in 7-inch scale, Pennywise features gruesome, blood-soaked deco and interchangeable heads and hands. Comes in collector-friendly window box packaging with opening front flap.”

    Of course he comes with a balloon! All this is missing is another alternate head exposing Pennywise’s many, many rows of teeth poised to strike, though we wouldn’t be surprised if NECA is working on one of those.

    He’ll set you back $38 and is estimated to ship in the second quarter of 2026.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Cheryl Eddy

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  • Heated Rivalry Recap: Dancing On My Own

    Last week’s cutesy, comedy-less rom-com was all good and well — a little something for the moms watching — but thank god we’re finally back to the story between Ilya and Shane that got us invested in this show in the first place. Their long-distance, slow-burn situationship is well portrayed through a montage at the beginning of the episode that spans 2014 to 2016. We see them continue to text, Ilya partying and Shane shooting brand deals, and both checking their calendars for the next game they have against each other. Those games are intercut with glimpses of the sex they’re having afterwards, and after Shane wins two cups, Ilya texts him, “The only cup you’ll have next year is the one I’ll take off with my mouth.”

    But naturally, over this long stretch of time, people are asking about their respective romantic lives. During a trip to the aquarium with Hayden and his four kids, who only appear off-screen (saving production money that they can then spend on body oil), he asks about an ex of Shane’s, and tries to set him up with one of his wife’s friends. Even Shane’s parents try to set him up with a Swedish princess — a brief break from their usual focus on his brand deals. Even Ilya gets pressed by Svetlana about whether he’s dating, and she asks about the mysterious “Jane” he’s texting. But neither of them seems open to any romantic prospects outside of one another.

    Finally, the pair meet again at Ilya’s place, and waste no time kissing right there in the entryway, where Ilya lifts Shane up onto the counter. We then cut to Shane riding him in bed like a Zamboni, before getting spun around in a smooth position switch. Afterwards, when Shane suggests that he should go, Ilya asks him to spend the night, adding, “I’m not done with you.” Even hotter than the bare asses.

    It’s also a marked shift from what we’re used to seeing between them, especially from Ilya. In the first two episodes, their relationship was predominantly physical, but naturally, over such a long stretch of time, a personal connection has grown. Amongst other things, a-yo! What happens when Shane stays is far more intimate and vulnerable than anything we’ve seen thus far — they cuddle, Ilya asks if Shane’s ginger ale is cold enough, and even offers to make him a tuna melt. A tuna melt! Get a room, you two, Jesus. But with this evolution comes confusion. Purely sexual or fully romantic are much easier connections for someone to wrap their head around than this grey, in-between area on that spectrum.

    For example, when they’re sitting on the couch, Ilya mentions sleeping with Svetlana and dating women, which Shane seems to bristle at. In turn, Shane says he likes girls too, even though Ilya hasn’t seen any proof of this. “I like girls, but I also like you,” Ilya tells him. “Not as a person, of course. But you have a good mouth.” The barb points out the elephant slowly wandering into the room — are they just mouths (and butts), or are they people in each other’s lives? While the first half of this conversation points to the former, the next part, in which Shane asks if Ilya’s father is okay after overhearing a tense phone call, suggests the latter. “Oh, you speak Russian now?” he asks, to which Shane replies, “I know the word for father.” Yeah, I bet he knows the Russian word for daddy, too.

    Cuddling on the couch quickly turns to Shane getting on top of Ilya yet again, this time jerking them both off. But post-completion, Shane suddenly has a change of heart and quickly decides to leave, saying, “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” It’s like he’s reading off that Post-It note Berger left for Carrie Bradshaw. That grey area might just be too much for him to wrap his head around.

    Later in the episode, Shane gets invited to a party where the show essentially presents him with his two potential paths. First, when he orders a drink, a seemingly flirtatious male bartender gives it to him for free — so that’s what’s available behind Door Number One. But behind Door Number Two is the actress Rose Landry (played by Yellowjackets’s Sophie Nélisse). Impossible to say which is the gayer choice: gay sex or hanging out with Young Melanie Lynskey. Ultimately, he chooses the latter. She’s in town shooting a new “X-Squad” movie, and being that she grew up in a family of hockey fans, the pair naturally hit it off.

    But what’s really driving this connection? A high profile relationship would make sense if Shane was facing questions about his sexuality from the public, but any pressure to date has really just come from his close friends and family. There’s also the possibility that he’s actually into Rose. But the timing of this is interesting, with it happening right after Ilya mentioned sleeping with women himself. Is this some kind of competitive bi-off? Or maybe he’s scared that his connection with Ilya is beginning to shift more toward the romantic than the physical, and this is an attempt to run or course-correct.

    In any case, the relationship soon goes public. Paparazzi photos of the pair are taken, Rose wears his jersey to a game, and they quickly become the hot celebrity/sports couple — like Travis and Taylor. Ilya, being the Karlie Kloss in this situation, is, of course, disgruntled by the coverage.

    Two weeks later, they’re playing against each other again, and per usual, Shane is on his phone before the game. But this time it’s Rose he’s texting, who wants him to go out to the club with her afterwards. Old habits die hard, though, and we see him check his messages with Ilya…but nothing. Maybe that’s why they both end up underperforming in what turns out to be a dud of a game, though we do at least get one quick glimpse of Ilya throwing Shane up against the glass out on the ice. Oh, I didn’t realize this was an exhibition match.

    After the game, Shane meets up with Rose as planned, and despite being exhausted, agrees to dance with her at the club. But guess who also decided to go to what seems to be Montreal’s only club after the game? Ilya, who watches on after spotting hockey’s new it-couple together across the dance floor. But two can play at that game, so Ilya finds a girl of his own and ups the ante by making out with her in front of Shane. I can already picture the fan edits of this scene set to “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn. But since this is a Crave Original, that of course isn’t the song actually playing, it’s “All The Things She Said” by (fittingly) Russian duo t.A.T.u.

    But quick sidebar: what’s the deal with Rose’s friend Miles? He’s actively flirting with Shane at their table, makes eyes at Ilya at the bar, and then, in the strangest move of all, joins Shane and Rose on the dance floor and not only grinds up behind Shane, but kisses his neck like they’re in Challengers? And it goes completely unacknowledged by everyone. What the fuck is that about?

    Perhaps because the club refused to play Robyn’s music, both of our hockey players soon leave. Shane has sex with Rose, which feels a little like watching a dog walk on its hind legs, whereas Ilya is left to jerk off alone in the shower. But as we cut back and forth between their respective completions, it feels like the moment they’re both actually still in is the brief eye contact they made on the dance floor.

    • 12:34: Shane’s butt in motion, grinding as he rides Ilya. Classless.

    • 12:50: A rear shot of him walking toward Ilya in bed, fully nude. Tasteful.

    • 41:28: Ilya’s hockey butt narrowly avoids shattering the glass as he jerks off in the shower. Christmas came early and so did he.

    Tom Smyth

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  • Now That Pennywise Has Arrived on ‘It: Welcome to Derry,’ Bob Gray Is Close Behind

    At long last, this week’s episode of It: Welcome to Derry gave fans what they’d been waiting for: Pennywise the Dancing Clown in full circus regalia, complete with glowing eyes and way too many pointy teeth. The big moment was well worth it, and even if it felt like episode five was a long time to hold out on It‘s signature villain, the show’s creative team—which includes Barbara Muschietti, Andy Muschietti, Brad Caleb Kane, and Jason Fuchs—has often spoken about why they wanted to build that anticipation. But now that Pennywise is here, what’s next?

    For starters: more details about his past, beyond what we already know about the asteroid thanks to the It movies and Stephen King’s book, not to mention earlier episodes of Welcome to Derry. Speaking to TV Guide, Fuchs promised “a lot of Pennywise” moving forward, with Kane teasing, “He’s in! He’s another character,” meaning Welcome to Derry‘s already large ensemble is simply going to have to make room for more.

    If you watched the teaser for episode six, which arrives Sunday on HBO, you might have spotted a familiar face: Bill Skarsgård, not in his Pennywise greasepaint, but instead in the guise of Pennywise’s most notable human form: “Bob Gray.” He pops up in King’s book, but Welcome to Derry aims to dig even deeper into what he means to the story.

    “Certainly, when we talk about the mysteries we’re excited to discover, we’re excited to understand why the shapeshifter has chosen to return, time and again, to the form of Pennywise,” Fuchs told TV Guide. “And what was that first encounter with Bob Gray? What did that look like? Who is Bob Gray? We have a lot of whys we want answers to, and the story of Bob Gray and the story of Pennywise are certainly in that bucket. So without spoiling anything in those final episodes, you’re going to see that mystery looked into in a really serious way.”

    But what will Bob Gray’s chompers look like? Find out on It: Welcome to Derry, which drops new episodes Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.

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    Cheryl Eddy

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  • ‘Game of Thrones’ Will Get a Proper Sequel, Eventually

    For the past few years, HBO has kept Game of Thrones going by looking back further in its history. While that’s not changing for the rest of the 2020s, creator George R.R. Martin revealed the TV franchise knows it has to move forward, and indeed plans to do just that.

    At a recent event in Iceland attended by Los Siete Reinos, the author revealed some of the “five or six” other spinoff projects in the works he’s involved in. Of those, “some” are sequels that’ll pick up where the original series left off back in 2019. HBO certainly seemed poised to continue the stories of Arya and Jon specifically, and he even had a spinoff announced. Those plans eventually fell through, while Martin teased last year that something could be percolating with Arya’s actor, Maisie Williams.

    Beyond the just-renewed House of the Dragon and A Knight of Seven Kingdoms, Martin has previously talked up spinoffs for Aegon the Conqueror, the animated Nine Voyages focused on Corlys Velaryon, and a prequel focused on Queen Nymeria. (There might even be a movie too, remember?) A lot of Thrones, the apparent move on HBO’s end being to fill fans with enough prequels to soften them up for whatever’s next in Westeros. Has everyone moved on from hating the ending to where that’s possible? We’ll find out if such a follow-up ever actually gets announced, much less made.

    [via IGN]

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    Justin Carter

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  • We’re Getting New ‘Game of Thrones’ Until at Least 2028

    2025 has been a bit of a holding pattern for Game of Thrones fans (even beyond whatever is perpetually happening, or not happening, with Winds of Winter). With no House of the Dragon and a long wait until early 2026 for the next Game of Thrones spinoff, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, ravens from Westeros have been few and far between. But with HBO’s new plans, it’s hoping that the next three years will be much more plentiful.

    This morning HBO confirmed that it had renewed both Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon for new seasons, setting out an alternative release schedule that will see the shows both broadcast in 2026, before alternating releases in 2027 and 2028.

    “We are thrilled to be able to deliver new seasons of these two series for the next three years, for the legion of fans of the Game of Thrones universe,” HBO head of Drama Series and Films Francesca Orsi said in a statement provided via press release.  “Together, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms reveal just how expansive and richly imagined George R. R. Martin’s universe continues to be. In January, I think audiences will be delighted by the inspiring underdog tale of Dunk and Egg that George and Ira Parker have captured so beautifully. And this summer, House of the Dragon is set to ignite once again with some of its most epic battles yet.”

    To mark the announcement, HBO also released new images from both shows—check them out below.

    Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set to premiere January 18 next year, with the third season of House of the Dragon slated for a summer 2026 release window. After that, Knight‘s sophomore season will broadcast in 2027, and House‘s fourth season in 2028.

    Although HBO did not confirm it in its renewal announcement today, showrunner Ryan Condal previously stated shortly after the conclusion of House of the Dragon‘s second season that the plan for the Targaryen-focused spinoff would remain to tell the story of the Dance of the Dragons across four seasons, bringing the series to an end in 2028.

    What HBO has planned for the future of Game of Thrones beyond 2028 remains to be seen. If House does indeed finish that year, it might be time for another Westerosi spinoff to emerge—although it’s not been for a lack of ideas that another series hasn’t made it to production in the years since Game of Thrones itself came to a controversial end.

    And if there isn’t? Well… at least we’ll have Winds at some point.

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    James Whitbrook

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