“Cross” Season 2 is currently in full flow over on Prime Video.
It’s definitely worth watching as well, even more than the first season. The crime thriller television series has an impressive 93% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, compared with “Cross” Season 1’s still reasonable 76%.
In “Cross,” Aldis Hodge stars as Alex Cross, a Washington, D.C. police detective and forensic psychologist. Together with his partner, Detective John Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa), he’s tasked with taking down some of America’s most dangerous killers.
Prime Video’s much-talked about TV show, based on the popular Alex Cross novel series written by James Patterson, premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Nov. 14, 2024. Its ratings led Prime Video to commission a second: that eight-episode second season premiered Feb. 11, 2026.
Where to watch ‘Cross’ Season 2
“Cross” Season 2 is exclusive to Prime Video, requiring a subscription to the platform in order to watch.
‘Cross’ Season 2 Release Date
“Cross” Season 2 premiered with its first three episodes on Feb. 11, 2026.
‘Cross’ Season 2 Episodes List
Here are the eight episodes of “Cross” Season 2 and when they air.
Amazon is never going to win awards for promoting its exclusive anime titles, and I’m not the first or last person to point that out. It completely dropped the ball with Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, City: The Animation, and New Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt, basically leaving it to the studios themselves to hype each episode on X/Twitter week after week. In essence, Prime Video is where shows go for anime fans to say, “Oh, that came out?” which sucks because they have a lot of weird titles worth watching on the streamer.
Granted, the above series are relatively easy sells to folks just starting their anime-watching journey, thanks to their name recognition and word-of-mouth recommendations alone in the anime community helping them bail out of streamer obscurity. However, one new Prime Video series that feels like it materialized out of thin air—and whose whole intrigue is that it’s a hard sell—is The Darwin Incident. And honestly, that’s kind of the whole magic of the show: it makes absolutely no sense on paper, yet somehow compels you to keep watching just to see what bizarre development hits next.
For everyone who remembers the opening scene in 28 Days Later and looks back on the new Planet of the Apes movies fondly, The Darwin Incident kind of kicks off in a similar fashion. Based on the seinen manga of the same name by Shun Umezawa, the anime starts with a bunch of eco-terrorists claiming to be from the Animal Liberation Alliance breaking into a secret testing facility to free all the critters inside from being used for experiments. The icing on the cake for the would-be terrorists already out of their depth is when they discover a pregnant chimpanzee who gives birth to a half-human baby, aptly called a “humanzee.” Just when your eyebrow raises at the obvious WTF implications of this whole deal, which happens in the span of the show’s opening moments, the show jumps forward 15 years later.
Here, we see Charlie, the humanzee, adjusting to a new life with doting foster parents as he tries to integrate into society by going to high school. His goal, or at least the goal thrust upon him, is to gain human rights by proving how normal a boy he is, which he fails to do with flying colors. To his credit, he gets a friend in a girl named Lucy, who is giving “girl who dives headfirst into political discourse because she’s crushing on a boy who’s different” hard, but their friendship and inevitable romance (?) are pretty much the only things keeping his curiosity about humanity from being apathetically antagonistic. Whenever he’s not getting incessantly bullied for being vegan, and let’s not forget, he’s a human-chimpanzee hybrid, he’s being positioned as the symbol of a vegan terrorist plot.
If the above description didn’t drive the point home, allow me to reiterate: the show is very weird. And to its credit, it leans into the weirdness of its premise by walking the line between seriousness and being completely unserious, with scenes where Charlie, a real IDGAFer, nonchalantly speaks his mind to shut down adults and teenagers alike, showing how apathetic he is to the discrepancy between what separates humanity from animals. Like, we’re talking first-year psychology levels of debate bro shit slinging coming Charlie’s way that tries to shut down his nonchalant interlocutors, really selling the whole petulant nature of high schoolers in a way that feels pretty genuine despite the show’s wild premise.
If anything, every other word coming out of his mouth is genuine rage baiting to anyone on the receiving end of his disconcerned disposition to his whole existence being perpendicular to the world through the monotone delivery of his voice actor, Yenni Ann, so that it becomes a pretty entertaining watch to see Charlie throw down verbally and physically whenever the moment arises. And when the latter happens, the monkey boy aura farms like crazy, standing in the threshold of doorways and punching the lights out of terrorists and police alike.
While the show is only a handful of episodes deep, it’s easy to find yourself coming back to it just to see what the monkey boy will do next. Although its overarching conspiratorial plotline is a slow burn, the seinen anime’s smattering of comedy—intentional or otherwise—lands pretty well on the whole. My favorite scene to date sees Lucy and Charlie spending their lunch break trying to endear him to his classmates by butting in on cafeteria conversations about how cool Heath Ledger’s Joker and Immortan Joe from Mad Max: Fury Road are… only to settle on not needing more friends besides themselves when they fail, naturally attracting new friends by the reverse psychology of how teenagers work.
Plus, did I mention Charlie is a “humanzee”? It also doesn’t hurt that the show’s opening and ending themes are bops, sweetening the pot for folks who are morbidly curious to see how this whole thing pans out.
So if you’re hurting for a real off-kilter anime to feed your morbid curiosity for a story that can practically go any direction from episode to episode, you can check out new installments of The Darwin Incident every Tuesday on Prime Video.
Universal Pictures’ post-apocalyptic action movie starring Kevin Costner has just been added to Prime Video‘s library. The 1995 film’s production was notorious for being the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its release. Despite being one of the highest-grossing movies of that year, it still failed to recover its massive budget, which was reportedly around $172-175 million.
What Kevin Costner movie is now available on Prime Video today?
Beginning today, Costner’s iconic Waterworld movie is now officially available to stream on Prime Video. During its theatrical run, the movie received mixed reviews from critics and the audience, who, despite being impressed with the movie’s futuristic sets and promising premise, were disappointed by its direction and plot. It currently holds an approval rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though it was initially labeled as a box office failure, the movie eventually garnered a cult following after the studio found success in its home video release and post-cinema sales.
“After the melting of the polar ice caps, most of the globe is underwater. Some humans have survived, and even fewer still, notably the Mariner, have adapted to the ocean by developing gills,” reads the synopsis. “A loner by nature, the Mariner reluctantly befriends Helen and her young companion, Enola (Tina Majorino), as they escape from a hostile artificial island. Soon, the sinister Smokers are pursuing them in the belief that Enola holds the key to finding the mythical Dryland.”
Waterworld was directed by Kevin Reynolds from a script written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. The movie also starred Dennis Hopper as The Deacon, Jeanne Tripplehorn as Helen, Tina Majorino as Enola, Gerard Murphy as The Nord, Robert LaSardo as Smitty, Michael Jeter as Old Gregor, and Lee Arenberg as Djeng. It also featured a brief appearance from a then-up-and-coming actor, Jack Black, before his breakout role in 1999’s High Fidelity. It was produced by Costner, Charles Gordon, and John Davis.
In and amongst all of that has been Lore Olympus, Rachel Smythe’s wildly successful Webtoon series retelling the relationship between Persephone and Hades in a modern context. After winning a slew of awards and being viewed millions of times during its tenure from 2017 through 2024, the series is finally getting adapted into a new medium.
On Tuesday, it was officially announced that a Lore Olympus animated series is moving forward at Prime Video. The project has been in the works at the streamer for over half a decade, first being put into development in 2019. It is being brought to life by Webtoon Productions and The Jim Henson Company, and is being showrun by Julia Cooperman (The Winchesters, Pantheon).
“I am beyond thrilled to partner with Prime Video, The Jim Henson Company, and Webtoon on the series adaptation of Rachel Smythe’s wildly popular web comic, Lore Olympus,” Cooperman said in a statement. “My fascination with Greek mythology has spanned grade-school libraries and college seminars. Reading Lore Olympus, I was reminded of the enduring power of these tales, which echo through so much of our modern-day storytelling. We can’t wait to share this frisky, soulful, and timely reimagining of Persephone and Hades’ story with new audiences and longtime readers alike.”
“Lore Olympus redefined what mythology can look and feel like for a new generation, and we’re thrilled to bring this beloved story to our global Prime Video audience,” echoed Melissa Wolfe, head of animation for Amazon MGM Studios. “Julia’s vision, combined with Rachel Smythe’s iconic world and our extraordinary collaborators at Webtoon Productions and The Jim Henson Company, makes this an exciting addition to Prime Video’s growing animation slate.”
Jenna Anderson is the host of the Go Read Some Comics YouTube channel, as well as one of the hosts of the Phase Hero podcast. She has been writing professionally since 2017, but has been loving pop culture (and especially superhero comics) for her entire life. You can usually find her drinking a large iced coffee from Dunkin and talking about comics, female characters, and Taylor Swift at any given opportunity.
Season two of Falloutmay be almost over, but the tie-ins keep on a-coming via Magic: The Gathering’s Secret Lair line.
Earlier this week, Wizards of the Coast announced four new drops spanning “the Fallout world…in one unmistakably irradiated lineup.” One drop, “Beyond Vault 33,” has characters from the show—the core trio of Lucy, Maximus, and Ghoul—making their Magic debut, complete with “new-to-Magic” designs. Other drops have cards focused on dogs, the irradiated wasteland, and New Vegas. Similar to the Monster Hunter collab, some cards are reskins of pre-established ones: “Mesmeric Orb” is here reflavored as “Mothman Egg,” “Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful” is “Dogmeat, Constant Companion,” and so on.
Non-foil packs for “Beyond Vault 33” will run $40, and the foil version will be $50. Non-foils for “Greet the Dog,” “Rad,” and “Welcome to New Vegas” are $30 each, and their foil versions are $40.
This marks the second time the RPG franchise has been part of Magic: in 2024, Wizards released a quartet of Commander decks based specifically on the games, as part of a larger collaboration with major gaming series like Final Fantasy and Assassin’s Creed. No word yet on if Magic will double dip on Creed when that live-action show eventually arrives, but depending on this upcoming Fallout drop fares, that might be in the cards.
Fallout will come to Secret Lair on Monday, January 26, with a pre-queue opening up at 8 AM PT, an hour before sales go live.
What makes TV shows that don’t suck? Personal opinions… lots of them, usually. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. These are my treasures. TV shows to help you get through a cold Michigan January. Personally, I am a fan of sci-fi, comedy, drama, and reality shows. These are all shows I have watched. I’m also including a couple that I want to check out based on Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
This show left me guessing right up until the end. It’s 6 episodes, but it felt like less because the show moved along so fast while still being suspenseful. Streaming on Netflix
Jimmy is back, and another 5 million dollars is up for grabs. Season 2 has brains against strength… sort of. The two also need to work together… and this season has a crossover element with Survivor. I loved season one, and I’m loving this season as well. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
A gritty, darkly funny sci-fi drama set in a post-apocalyptic world. You don’t need to know the video game to get pulled in. This show is a beautiful, messed-up sci-fi dark comedy. The season gets a little slow in the middle, but hang in there… okey dokey? Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
The show follows the book series about a kid who finds out he’s the son of a mythology god. I love this show, and so does my son. There was a significant amount of time between season one and two (two years), which is standard on big production shows, but the kids are growing up! Sources say there will be a much shorter gap between seasons two and three. Streaming on Disney+
Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson) of It’s Always Sunny plays a brilliant mind hiding in plain sight. It’s clever, fast-paced, and built for viewers who like crime shows with personality and humor. This is an ABC show – Streaming on Hulu
Tim Allen and Kat Dennings form a workplace-meets-family comedy about change, second chances, and learning how to adapt. It’s a cute show! Tim Allen plays the curmudgeon father to Kat Dennings’ rebellious adult daughter when she and her two kids move in with him. The fridge in this show is the coolest fridge (pardon the pun) I have ever seen. This is an ABC show – Streaming on Hulu
Billy Bob Thornton is a landman with decades in the business, and it’s a risky job. John Hamm and Demi Moore are a part of this show, too. It’s a power-packed cast with juicy characters and some strong plot twists. Streaming on Paramount+
I’m three episodes in on season one, and I’m digging this show too. The second season is airing now. The first season follows the night manager at a hotel (Tom Hiddleston) as he finds himself in the role of an undercover agent. Season one aired on the BBC back in 2016… the new season (and the first season) are streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Rotten Tomatoes Picks
I haven’t seen these shows yet, but they have super high ratings.
The Pitt has a 97% rating. It’s an E.R. drama set in Pittsburgh.
Ponies has a 95% rating. Set in the ’70s in Moscow, it follows two Ponies (person of no interest) working at the American Embassy.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has an 85% rating. The series focuses on a young bunch of Starfleet cadets pursuing their dreams.
Donielle Flynn has two kids, two cats, two dogs, and a love of all things rock. She’s been in radio decades and held down top-rated day parts at Detroit, Philadelphia, and Washington DC radio stations throughout her tenure. She enjoys writing about rock news, the Detroit community, and she has a series called “The Story Behind” where she researches the history of classic rock songs.
Despite a lukewarm critical response, a 2025 German war movie has found unexpected success on Prime Video. The Tank has rapidly climbed the charts and is drawing fresh attention from viewers. The film’s sudden rise in popularity has turned it into a breakout hit following its limited theatrical release.
The Tank becomes a streaming hit on Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video’s World War II drama The Tank is gaining significant traction on streaming. The film has drawn renewed attention months after its low-profile theatrical release.
According to FlixPatrol, the World War II drama climbed to the Number 1 position on Prime Video’s Top Movies chart on January 11, 2026. This shows a sharp rise in viewership after the movie already appeared in the platform’s Top 10 earlier in the week. The chart also shows that film’s strongest performance has been recorded in Germany. The movie has consistently ranked at or near the top of Prime Video’s daily charts since its streaming debut.
Directed by Dennis Gansel, The Tank is set in 1943 on the Eastern Front. It centers on a five-man German Tiger tank crew tasked with a high-risk mission behind enemy lines. Ordered to locate a missing officer hidden in a classified bunker, the crew must navigate hostile territory while facing constant danger. As the operation progresses, increasing pressure and psychological strain begin to negatively impact the group.
The film features performances from Laurence Rupp, David Schütter, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Leonard Kunz, André Hennicke, Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey, Tilman Strauss, and Yana Shevchenko. The Tank released theatrically in Germany in September 2025 under the title Der Tiger. It later expanded to international audiences with Prime Video release on January 2, 2026.
While critical reception has been mixed, The Tank currently holds a 61 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Its swift climb on streaming platforms suggests that the film has gained fresh traction online after a modest theatrical release.
Prime Video will soon begin streaming an underrated ’80s slasher movie from iconic horror director Tobe Hooper. The Funhouse was released in 1981 and garnered a lukewarm response from the general audience. However, it fared better with critics and currently has a 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Funhouse sets Prime Video streaming date
The Funhouse arrives on Prime Video on January 31, 2026. Some of the other movies that will become available on the platform that day are The Big Lebowski (1998), Waterworld (1995), Earthquake (1974), and The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988).
Hooper directed the movie from a script by Larry Block. The cast includes Elizabeth Berridge as Amy Harper, Cooper Huckabee as Buzz, Largo Woodruff as Liz Duncan, Kevin Conway as Freak Show Barker / Strip Show Barker / Conrad Straker, Miles Chapin as Richie, Wayne Doba as Gunther Twibunt, Sylvia Miles as Madame Zena, and William Finley as Marco the Magnificent.
The plot of The Funhouse revolves around four friends who decide to spend the night on the eponymous dark ride at a sleazy traveling carnival. They witness a man in a Frankenstein’s Monster mask killing a woman and realize that they have to survive murderous carnival employees.
Hooper garnered widespread fame for helming classic horror movies, including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Eaten Alive (1976), and Poltergeist (1982).
In a review, Matt Brunson of Film Frenzy noted, “The imaginatively designed funhouse, oddball characters along the periphery, and a masterfully staged climax allow this to stand out.” Brunson added, “The Funhouse was released during the glut of countless Friday the 13th and Halloween slasher rip-offs (e.g. My Bloody Valentine, The Burning, Hell Night, all also 1981), and it was unfairly dismissed as more of the same. Don’t you believe it.”
Two seasons in, and the Fallout TV show may soon expand its horizons. Not with a spinoff set in the same universe with new characters, but a reality competition show, of all things.
Per reporter Jeff Sneider, the streamer’s got designs on such a project dubbed Fallout Shelter. He alleges the series will take place inside one or perhaps multiple Vaults, and take inspiration from the video game of the same name where a player (dubbed the “Overseer”) manages their Vault and its citizens by giving them food, supplies, and generally making sure they survive. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are expected to executive produce this series, as they do for the adaptation.
The Fallout Shelter game debuted on mobile back in 2015 and was the first mobile spinoff for the franchise. (It’s since been ported to other systems, including Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.) If it’s true that Prime Video’s expanding the franchise with a competition show, it’s not too surprising: the streamer already has series for Mr. Beast and 007, and Netflix has a similar offshoot for Squid Game, which recently wrapped its second season and will get a third.
Does that make it good that Fallout’s post-apocalyptic setting may end up the backdrop for an otherwise standard reality show? Not really. Either way, we’ll have more on this show as news emerges, and whether Prime will make an in-universe Fallout spinoff, or even just more seasons of the main show.
Fallout is not a direct adaptation of the beloved games—neither the Black Isle/Interplay classics nor the revived Bethesda/Obsidian era of the series—which means that there’s plenty of space for it to carve out its own imagining of the franchise in its corner of the wasteland. That hasn’t stopped game fans, especially as the show begins to play more directly with plot beats from the games, from bristling when the show makes a departure from the source material, big or small. But in this week’s episode of the show’s second season, the series is already returning to its biggest and most controversial swing away from the games… and tying it all into another fascinating twist it’s dealing with this season.
After the premiere episode caught us up with the Ghoul and Lucy’s journey towards New Vegas, “The Golden Rule” checks in on the now-separated Maximus, back firmly within the arms of the Brotherhood of Steel after he was cut off from finding Lucy again in the climax of season one. It’s an episode that is more broadly about how the ramifications of Maximus’ actions across season two have come home to roost and his willingness to survive in spite of those ramifications regardless of the cost. But before we even get to all that (and a potential simmering schism among the Brotherhood), it opens with a flashback to a defining moment in both Maximus’ life and one of Fallout‘s most controversial choices: the destruction of Shady Sands, the heart of the New California Republic, through the machinations of Vault-Tec.
In isolation, it’s a great sequence—tense and tragic in equal measure, not just for the impact it has on poor young Maximus’ life as his parents sacrifice themselves to keep him protected from the blast, but because of that inevitable gutwrench of getting to see a civilization that managed to really thrive and establish itself in the aftermath of the war get snuffed out just as it was on the verge of endurance. An endurance, of course, that Vault-Tec (mostly through Hank and his personal spite at the NCR for taking his wife from him) cannot abide, because a future for the wasteland championed through community rather than capitalism is a bigger threat to its own survival than any nuclear war could be.
But it’s also interesting that the season comes right back to this moment before we rejoin Maximus as an adult, the horrors of his childhood losses having shaped him into the man he is. The destruction of Shady Sands was a major shock in Fallout‘s first season—and for game fans, not for good reasons. In the game series, Shady Sands was the heart of the NCR as a thriving, major faction in the Fallout universe’s political landscape. Although the main show itself is set decades after the modern games, the destruction of Shady Sands was established as taking place between the events of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4—representing what some saw as a disruption to the franchise’s continuity and a perceived betrayal of what the games had established, not just in terms of canon, but in wiping the slate for a viable future for Fallout‘s world in order to maintain the wasteland status quo forevermore. Of the many settlements and attempts at renewal Fallout had given us over the years, Shady Sands and the NCR’s continuation was arguably one of the most hopeful outcomes—but in the show, it was all just gone in an instant.
Instead of addressing that controversy, Fallout simply stands by it with confidence that it is still telling its own story, rather than being beholden to or riffing off of the games’ established events. If anything, the sequence represents the series telling the audience that this change is even more important to the show than being simple worldbuilding tweaks, and this interpretation of Fallout is willing to explore the emotional and thematic impact its loss has on the world and its characters. Fascinatingly, in revisiting it now, Fallout also ties the destruction of Shady Sands into another controversial step away from the games that is forming a major part of season two: the arrival of Robert House as a major player and his plans (and seemingly Vault-Tec’s in turn) to dominate the minds of others with the brain-computer interface chips.
In almost cheeky style, Fallout pays direct homage to the games by integrating the role of the chip into Shady Sands’ destruction. It’s revealed that the nuke is smuggled into the heart of the city by an NCR trooper who’s been implanted with one of the devices, only capable of muttering “patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter” over and over before he keels over, a nod to an oft-repeated line of NPC dialogue from New Vegas, the NCR equivalent of Skyrim‘s “arrow to the knee” meme. But the interface chips, and their connection to Mr. House and Hank MacLean alike, are themselves quickly becoming another similar point of controversy for the show among game fans: while there are definitely plenty of mind-control-adjacent pieces of tech in Fallout, there’s nothing really like the interface chip in the games, and definitely nothing related to anything House was planning as he and RobCo prepared to survive the coming war as explored in New Vegas.
By tying these two points of controversy together—or rather, points of differentiation between the show and the games—Fallout is having the confidence to say to its audience that it is telling its own story, inspired by, but not beholden to, the games. It’s a refreshingly candid tone for a video game adaptation to take, as we increasingly see more and more of them, and more and more of them making a selling point of being faithful to the gaming source material. Fallout‘s not dismissing the games here, so far at least: it’s showing its love for the franchise by being bold enough to push things in new directions and make things of its own volition. They might clash sometimes, but it’s an overall additive effect that enriches both the show and the wider franchise. Even if they have to nuke a city to make the proverbial omelette, in this case.
Week 17 of the NFL starts on Christmas Day, and Thursday Night Football is going to be a whole day of football.
The Holiday games are set to feature big guest stars throughout the day, including Kelly Clarkson, Snoop Dogg, Lainey Wilson, the voices of Netflix‘s KPOP Demon Hunters, and more.
What time will the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders start on Christmas Day?
The first NFL game on Christmas Day will be the Dallas Cowboys (6-8-1) vs. the Washington Commanders (4-11) at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The game will begin at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT and stream on Netflix.
Kelly Clarkson will be the show opener and the Army will perform the anthem. Ian Eagle is doing the play-by-play, Matt Ryan and Nate Burleson will analyze the game, and Melanie Collins and Sara Walsh will be sideline reporters. Comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura are set to guest star.
What time will the game between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings start on Christmas Day?
The second game of the day will be between the Detroit Lions (8-7) and the Minnesota Vikings (7-8) from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT and stream on Netflix.
Kelly Clarkson is set to open the show with SZN4 performing the anthem. Snoop Dogg will perform during the Holiday Halftime Party and feature the singing voices of Netflix’s KPOP Demon Hunters, as well as country music star Lainey Wilson. Noah Eagle will do the play-by-play, Drew Brees will analyze the game, and AJ Ross and Dianna Russini will be featured as sideline reporters. Seth Rollins is set to guest star.
What time will the game between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs start on Christmas Day?
The primetime NFL game of Thursday Night Football between the Denver Broncos (12-3) and the Kansas City Chiefs (6-9) will be played at Geha Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The game is set to start at 8:15 p.m. ET and 5:15 p.m. PT, streaming on Prime Video.
How to stream all Christmas Day games on mobile devices?
Netflix and Prime Video are the streaming services NFL fans will need to be subscribed to to livestream the games on mobile devices. However, if you’re not a subscriber to any of those services, the NFL offers the NFL+ streaming service, which lets users live stream all games on their mobile devices. NFL+ provides fans with access to stream all NFL games on their phones or tablets for $6.99 a month.
2026 is only a few days away. This year marked an important time for the entertainment sector. Numerous high-budget movies failed, whereas several low-budget films made a huge impact at the box office. Today, we will discuss the movies that underperformed at the box office yet gained significant affection from viewers due to their remarkable success on OTT platforms.
Coolie
Rajinikanth’s Tamil film was launched in August. The movie created significant excitement and anticipation. Nevertheless, when it was launched, its profits did not come to fruition. Reports suggest that the movie was produced with a budget of ₹350 crore and earned Rs 285.1 crore at the Indian box office. The movie is available for viewing on Prime Video. The movie garnered considerable views on streaming services.
War 2
The list also features Hrithik Roshan’s spy action movie. This film garnered significant buzz as well. This film featuring Hrithik Roshan was launched on August 14th and competed with Coolie. Although the movie underperformed in theaters, it garnered significant viewership on the streaming service Netflix.
Maalik
Rajkummar Rao’s crime thriller also performed badly at the box office. As per a report from Koimoi, the movie was produced with a budget of Rs 54 crore (540 million rupees). Nonetheless, its box office revenues reached only Rs 263.6 million (263.6 million rupees). The movie was later launched on Prime Video, where it garnered substantial viewership.
Maa
This paranormal movie featuring Kajol premiered on June 27th. Netflix reported that the movie earned Rs 36.8 crore. Nonetheless, following its launch on Netflix, it turned into a success and garnered positive responses from viewers.
The Bengal Files
This movie, which is part of Vivek Agnihotri’s Files trilogy, hit theaters this year. The narrative is grounded in real occurrences. Regardless of significant debate over its launch, it nonetheless premiered in cinemas. Nevertheless, it did not succeed in terms of box office performance. It launched on the Zee5 OTT platform and received positive feedback.
Azaad
Following that is Rasha Thadani’s debut film, Azad, daughter of Raveena Tandon. This film also created considerable excitement. Ajay Devgn was featured in the movie as well. Following its debut in theaters on January 17th, the film premiered on Netflix on March 14th, garnering a significant audience.
Emergency
Kangana Ranaut’s movie, Emergency, encountered a comparable outcome. Drawing from the 1975 Emergency, the movie garnered a varied reception at theaters when it premiered, yet it became an exceptional triumph on OTT platforms.
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Amazon has responded to viewers catching errors in its AI-generated season recaps by apparently pulling them from Prime Video. The company announced its new Video Recaps feature in November as a way to make it easier to jump into a new season of a show, but the feature had issues: A recap created for Fallout included factual errors about the plot and the setting of the show.
On Prime Video, recaps can be played in the “Extras” section if you’re watching on the web, or via a dedicated “recap button” on the show’s page, according to Amazon’s original Video Recaps announcement. If you head to the Fallout season two page now, the erroneous recap has been removed. In fact, at least on the web, there are currently no video recaps available on the show’s Amazon was testing the feature on, which includes Fallout, Bosch, Upload, The Rig and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
Engadget has contacted Amazon for more information on why the recaps were removed. We’ll update this article if we hear back.
Video Recaps are just one of the ways Amazon is trying to integrate AI into its different products and services. The company offered AI-generated English dubs for select anime shows on Prime Video, before it pulled the dubs after users complained. Amazon also uses AI to generate recaps for long-running book series that are sold through the Kindle Store.
Academy Award nominee Amanda Seyfried has signed on for the leading role in the upcoming series adaptation of Skinny Dip, based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2004 caper novel. Before Amazon MGM Studios acquired the project, it was originally set up at HBO Max earlier this year.
What do we know about Amanda Seyfried’s Skinny Dip show?
According to Deadline, Seyfried will be playing the role of Joey Perrone, a woman who is pushed off a cruise liner by her cheating husband. She managed to survive the fall, giving her a chance to plot revenge with a former cop. It is being written and executive-produced by Once Upon A Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis.
“Perrone’s second anniversary didn’t go quite as planned. She expected earrings, but instead, her husband Chaz had alternate plans,” reads the show’s logline. “After unexpectedly finding herself on the other side of those plans, she vows to get revenge. Teaming up with a disgraced ex-cop, Joey sets out to make Chaz pay.”
In addition to leading the cast, Seyfried is also serving as an executive producer along with Bill Lawrence for Doozer, Hiaasen, Jeff Ingold, and Liza Katzer. The Prime Video adaptation is a production by Warner Bros. Television.
Seyfriend’s most recent TV project was the Peacock miniseries Long Bright River, which debuted last March. She will next be seen in the psychological thriller The Housemaid with Sydney Sweeney and in the musical drama The Testament of Ann Lee with Lewis Pullman. The latter recently earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
It’s not uncommon for a streamer on the precipice of premiering one of its banner shows to release a helpful little recap video to catch folks up to speed. What shouldn’t be a sentence written, let alone read, is that Prime Video appears to have rake-stepped once more with AI, making new slop in the form of a Falloutahead of its second season. Surprise! It comes complete with inaccuracies and hallucinations about the show.
GamesRadar+ first reported on the news; Prime Video’s Fallout season one recap video was also shared on Reddit. You can currently view the three-minute clip on Prime Video by going to the Fallout page, selecting season two, and clicking “Bonus: Fallout Season 1 Recap.”
Immediately, it hits viewers with a monotone text-to-speech-sounding voice. It’s not unlike the streamer’s anime AI beta dub that pissed a bunch of users off—to the point that Amazon quietly rolled back the implementation of its English AI beta for shows like Banana Fish and No Game No Life.
Key among the Fallout trailer’s errors is the robotic narrator claiming the show’s flashbacks to a pre-ghoul Walton Goggins are set in 1950s America. In fact, as GamesRadar+ notes, these scenes, while both a throwback to the novelty of the time and featuring a nuclear-powered futuristic visage, actually take place in 2077.
Another inaccuracy within the recap video is its characterization of season one’s climax, stating the Ghoul’s offer to Ella Purnell‘s Lucy MacLean to hunt after her father was of the “die or leave with him” variety.
In reality, both characters were fed up with all of Kyle MacLachlan’s Hank and his bullshit, so they decided to pretty amicably join up to hunt him down. That is seemingly the whole thrust of the show’s upcoming second season. But no one would’ve gleaned that by watching this particular recap video.
io9 has reached out to Prime Video for comment and will update this post should we hear back.
Prime Video’s AI recap videos aren’t a new thing, it seems. As with AI beta dub tracks introduced back in March, Amazon has been testing AI-generated recap videos as recently as last month, according to the Verge. In fact, the company was so proud of it, it wrote a whole blog touting that AI video recaps would “use AI to identify a show’s most important plot points, combining them with synchronized voice narration, dialogue snippets, and music to create a visual summary that prepares viewers for the new season.”
“Video Recaps marks a groundbreaking application of generative AI for streaming,” Gérard Medioni, vice president of technology at Prime Video, wrote in the post. “This first-of-its-kind feature demonstrates Prime Video’s ongoing commitment to innovation and making the viewing experience more accessible and enjoyable for customers.”
But as noted earlier, the program clearly isn’t built to do what it says it would, like identifying all the crucial details of a show, when it even gets the simplest and most nuanced details wrong. Then again, AI is wont to do that. But even if it did those things right, who is asking to sit down and listen to an emotionless voice summarize plot details for a show with all the enthusiasm of a wet dishrag?
On any given day, all of this is just another bad look for a media corporation. But it’s especially messed up considering a lot of folks will likely take a gander at it, what with Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards taking place later today. Last year, Fallout won Best Adaptation, bringing out Bethesda developers like Todd Howard to accept the award. Two years ago, Fallout stars Purnell, Goggins, Aaron Moten, and a dude wearing full power armor took the stage to announce the show.
Fallout is a good show that deserves kudos, so seeing the platform that houses it not give enough of a shit to do the bare minimum of hiring someone to cut a quick little recap of the show’s “things to remember” moments is all kinds of hacky and lazy.
Fallout season two premieres December 17 on Prime Video, should this instance of AI chicanery not have yucked your Vault-dwelling yum.
Aaron Paul has been in his voice acting bag since leaving Breaking Bad, with one of his most recent being over on Prime Video’s Invincible. There, he played Powerplex, an electricity-controlling supervillain with a beef against Mark because his sister and niece died during the Invincible vs. Omni-Man fight during season one. However much you liked Paul in that role, turns out it was a one-and-done part that he won’t be reprising.
In a recent episode of the Kinda Funny podcast, the actor said he turned down an offer to come back for future seasons. His reason? It was “too grueling” on him, and he “didn’t feel comfortable” putting himself back in the animated skin of ol’ Scott Duvall. While a fan of the show and its team, he just simply “didn’t want to do it anymore. What it did to me, I didn’t like.”
Powerplex debuts in the season three episode “All I Can Say is Sorry,” where during his battle with Invincible, he accidentally kills his wife and son. It’s a downer episode that leaves Mark in a bad emotional spot, and Powerplex then appeared in the immediate follow up “What Have I Done?,” where he helped heroes kill a bunch of alt-universe Invincible variants and wanted to continue his vengeance against the prime Mark as he went off to save the day. Powerplex appears throughout the comics going forward, so we’ll be seeing more of him, and even with a new voice, he’ll likely be as dangerous as ever for Mark or anyone else crossing his path.
Invincible will return with season four in March. For those who want to hear Paul in a superheroic role that’s not a bummer, there’s always AdHoc Studio’s Dispatch, which was recently nominated at the Game Awards.
Being Eddie — Did you know that Shalimar Seiuli, the trans hooker Eddie Murphy was caught with in 1998, died a year later, after falling five stories down the face of her apartment building? Don’t expect to hear that fun factoid in this official retrospective of the legendary comedian’s career. But maybe we’ll get to see “James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub Party” again. (Netflix)
A Merry Little Ex-Mas — On the cusp of their divorce, Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson have plans to spend one final holiday together. But when his new girlfriend shows up, even that humble aspiration becomes a tall order. See, this is why it’s always better to make a clean break, like the Murdaughs did. (Netflix)
Premieres Thursday:
The Beast in Me — Afflicted by writer’s block since losing her son, an author (Claire Danes) gets interested in life again when a suspected murderer moves in next door. And why shouldn’t she? In the best-case scenario, she could get a whole new novel out of it. Especially if she can figure out how to outsource the adverbs to ChatGPT. (Netflix)
Tiffany Haddish Goes Off — The irrepressible comic actor and some of her childhood buddies take a wacky girls’ trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. No Nigeria, though, because a Signal chat they’re all on said some shit is about to go down. (Peacock)
Premieres Friday:
Come See Me in the Good Light — Documentary cameras follow married poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley as they navigate Gibson’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer. This doc won the Festival Film Favorite Award at this year’s Sundance, just five months before Gibson passed away. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame want you to know they could be just as punctual if this country would get off its ass and standardize Daylight Saving Time. (Apple TV)
The Creep Tapes Season 2 — David Dastmalchian is among the guest stars as the found-footage series profiles new victims of the insidious Peachfuzz. Coincidentally, “the insidious peach fuzz” is what Usha has been calling JD ever since he started coming home smelling like Erika Kirk and White Claw. (Shudder and AMC+)
Malice — It’s Saltburn without the whacking off, as a vengeful nanny (Jack Whitehall) plots the destruction of an upper-class British family headed by David Duchovny. Wait a minute, if it’s Fox Mulder we’re talking about, this is probably more like BRIGHTburn. WITH whacking off. (Prime Video )
Nouvelle Vague — Richard Linklater dramatizes the filming of Godard’s Breathless in what Variety called “an enchanting ode to the rapture of cinema.” In their spare time, they all break into Barnes & Noble together and lick the Criterion Collection. (Netflix)
The Seduction — The umpteenth riff on Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a prequel series that has roles for Anamaria Vartolomei, Diane Kruger and Vincent Lacoste. Not to be outdone, Disney+ has placed an eight-episode order for Cruel Intentions Babies. (HBO Max)
Premieres Sunday:
Landman — High-profile cast additions in Season 2 of the Texas big-oil drama include Colm Feore, Andy Garcia and Sam Elliott. Wait a minute, you’re telling me Sam Elliott wasn’t already in this thing? I thought SAG had a rule that you have to hire him if your show is set west of New Orleans and there’s a role for Dennis Weaver with pharyngitis. (Paramount+)
Premieres Monday:
Epic Ride: The Story of Universal Theme Parks — This glorified ad for the Universal family of parks has now been delayed two times since its promised launch last July. The problem is that they keep having to update it every time somebody snuffs it on Stardust Racers. (Peacock)
The Mighty Nein — While you wait for the fifth and final season of The Legend of Vox Machina, enjoy the same cast of Critical Role principals in this stopgap animated show set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Or you could just visit your local comic shop on whatever day of the week everybody’s mom cleans out the basement. (Prime Video)
Selena y Los Dinos: A Family’s Legacy — The Tejano sensation’s short but groundbreaking career is recapped in a doc that also won big at year’s Sundance, this one in the category of Archival Storytelling. The runner-up in that category: “The Inspiring Life and Brilliant Future of Andrew Cuomo.” (Netflix)
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Emma Thompson in ‘Down Cemetery Road’ Credit: courtesy of Apple TV
Premieres Wednesday:
Ballad of a Small Player — Filmmaker Edward Berger (Conclave) casts Colin Farrell as an inveterate gambler and swindler living under an assumed identity in China. The Wall Street Journal called it “a failed attempt to wring laughs out of this abundantly awful man.” That was on page B25, directly opposite a full-page profile of Peter Thiel. (Netflix)
Down Cemetery Road — Emma Thompson plays a private investigator whose search for a missing girl uncovers a shocking secret: Vast numbers of Britons who were believed dead are secretly still alive and well. “How does a guy get in on that?” asks Keir Starmer. (Apple TV)
Hazbin Hotel Season 2 — With the forces of Heaven vanquished, Charlie finds her infernal hostelry overrun with new guests who see no need to renounce their evil ways. See, God? This is what happens when you think you’re putting Charlie Kirk somewhere where he can’t do any more damage. (Prime Video)
Ink Master — The prize is not only $250,000 but recognition for one’s origins in Season 17, which carries the theme “Hometown Heroes.” That’s a significant departure from the previous 16 seasons, the theme of which was “hepatitis.” (Paramount+)
Selling Sunset — Season 9 adds new realtor Sandra Vergara, who just so happens to be Sofia Vergara’s cousin. And also her adoptive sister. How does that work, you ask? Forget it, Jake, it’s Sunset! (Netflix)
Star Wars: Visions — Season 3 of the animated anthology hearkens back to Season 1 by once again focusing entirely on anime. I don’t know, do we think that genre is really bankable yet? (Disney+)
Colin Farrell in ‘Ballad of a Small Player’ Credit: courtesy of Netflix
Premieres Thursday:
Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers — Archival footage and interviews with survivors paint a documentary portrait of the criminal psychopath who made living in Central Florida a waking nightmare in the late 20th century. And here you thought everyone had forgotten Glenda Hood! (Netflix)
Amsterdam Empire — Famke Janssen takes on the role of a former Europop star who tries to ruin her husband’s cannabis business as revenge for his infidelity. I never thought I’d say this, but J.Lo’s inability to find true and lasting love suddenly seems kind of trivial. (Netflix)
Hell House LLC: Lineage — The fifth and final installment in the franchise about a cursed haunted attraction is the first one that isn’t based on found footage. Which I’m assuming means it was stolen. (Shudder)
Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will — Four documentary episodes retrace the remarkable career of the flamboyant Mexican balladeer, who became a gay icon despite having fathered six children with three different women. In related news, my strategy of hanging around the Parliament House for four years is due to put me up to my neck in it any minute now. (Netflix)
Son of a Donkey — The Australian YouTube duo known as Superwog launches a new series that explores the lighter side of modern challenges like road rage, online scams and failing kidneys. It must be nice to live in a country where those are your biggest problems. Some of us would gladly give up a kidney to be that close to Kylie. (Netflix)
The Witcher Season 4 — The eagerly anticipated penultimate season finds Liam Hemsworth taking over the title role from Henry Cavill. But don’t worry, Henry fans: You’ll be able to see him soon enough, in … oh, I’ll think of something. (Netflix)
Premieres Friday:
Bad Influencer — A single mother with a special-needs child to take care of runs afoul of the law when she conscripts an aspiring influencer to help her sell phony handbags. And she might have gotten away with it, if Kim Kardashian hadn’t spotted the unauthorized knockoff of her pubes. (Netflix)
Breathless — The Joaquín Sorolla Hospital has gone entirely private as Season 2 begins, forcing our already taxed resident physicians to make some tough choices. For example, when they have to tell a cancer patient that insurance won’t cover her treatment, do they do it through the portal or as a Zoom puppet show? (Netflix)
The White House Effect — Return with us now to the complicated days of Bush 41, when warring factions of the Republican party problematized the administration’s response to climate change. Nowadays, the warring factions are the ones who want to ignore it and the ones who want to ignore it while wearing blackface. (Netflix)
Premieres Monday:
Crutch — This spinoff from the CBS series The Neighborhood has Tracy Morgan as a Harlem businessman who’s having to do a lot of recalibrating now that his grown son and daughter have moved back in with him. In the hilarious third episode, the son comes out as gay and Tracy stabs him to death with a kitchen knife. (Paramount+)
In Waves and War — Follow the healing journey of three Navy SEALs who had to travel overseas to be prescribed psychedelics for their PTSD. Meanwhile, ICE want you to know they’re going to shoot you in the face if you try to charge them for that vanilla latte. (Netflix)
Premieres Tuesday:
All’s Fair — And speaking of Kim Kardashian, she’s been cast in the lead role of a divorce attorney in Ryan Murphy’s new legal drama. Supporting parts go to Glenn Close, Naomi Watts and Sarah Paulson, who might be stars themselves someday if they can just get their muffs on Candies. (Hulu)
Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things — Taking a momentary step away from her Netflix sitcom, the Tennessee comedian fills us in on everything that’s been going on in her life, like adjusting to success and trying gummies. As opposed to Pete Davidson, who’s adjusting to gummies and thinking about trying success. (Netflix)
Squid Game: The Challenge — The spinoff competition show stays married to the bit in Season 2, pitting another 456 contestants against each other in pursuit of $4.56 million. High concept, right? Now give me my two tickets to Tucson, because my flight is boarding at Gate 2 in two minutes. (Netflix)
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Plus everything else debuting on Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock and the rest
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After reflecting on the conclusion of The Boys season four, it became time to shift our focus back to its surprisingly good, and dare we say even better, spin-off series, Gen V.
Season two had a lot to build upon, especially considering the cliffhanger that season one left us with: Homelander ruining the fun and Billy Butcher pursuing the Supe-killing virus. While the series retained some elements that fans have come to love and appreciate more than its predecessor, season two showed signs of senioritis, suggesting that a series known for satirizing the management of other superhero franchises and their overflowing release schedules can’t monkey-see, monkey-do its way into mimicry.
When cast member Chance Pedromo passed away, many fans questioned how Gen V would address the character of Andre Anderson. Instead of recasting the role, the showrunners chose to honor Perdomo by incorporating his character’s off-screen sacrifice into the storyline, making it the driving force behind the ensemble. Although this approach could have been clumsy, it ultimately resulted in a stronger narrative.
Not only did it closely resemble Ryan Coogler’s approach to addressing the passing of Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther 2, but it also highlighted a glaring blind spot in the shared mythology of both The Boys and Gen V: despite the presence of superpowered beings and the rise of fascism, racism persists, and having superpowers does not exempt one from being viewed as disposable by those in power.
It’s a delicate line to walk, but the show succeeded by illustrating that the powers that be at Vought are no different from any other fascist regime. Andre served as a significant catalyst throughout the season, with characters donning his hoodie and reminding others of his light, becoming a poignant high point in an otherwise lackluster season.
Liked: Hamish Linklater’s scene-stealing performance as Cipher
Being the new headmaster at God U, especially amid the looming threat of Homelander, required a commanding presence to rival the menace of that insecure, overpowered man-baby. Casting Hamish Linklater as Cipher in Gen V was a sensational decision. In a meta sense, it made perfect sense to have Linklater in this role, especially considering his recent subdued yet charismatic portrayal of Batman in Batman: Caped Crusader, which cleverly folded into the character’s mythos. And fans of Midnight Mass know that he has the power to convince anyone of anything with his monologues, regardless of their length. He truly has a way with words.
In this season of Gen V, Linklater’s performance as Cipher acted as a stimulus to the show’s quality while cranking the dial to 11 on the scale of villains you definitely don’t want to mess with in The Boys universe. His unnerving portrayal combined elements of Kilgrave from Jessica Jones with a heavy-handed dash of quirky Gen V humor and quips, elevating every scene he was in and stealing moments of the spotlight. It’s unfortunate that the show took some of the momentum away from his character toward the finale. We’ll discuss that later.
Emma had a tough break last season. Her powers to grow and shrink intrinsically tied into her body dysmorphia, and she basically ended up being the butt of the joke for everyone on campus. While she was off on her own side quest, the rest of the gang did their thing, converging every so often. That meant Emma got some much-needed character development to address the elephant in the room: her powers, their harmful triggers, and how to try to overcome them. In a show all about gross-out moments, it was nice to see this handled with a modicum of maturity and a deft hand, even as her antics this season were no less madcap than last. More of this, and less of that going-nowhere-fast love-triangle subplot, please.
Liked: The on-the-ground approach to The Boys‘ political anarchy
With the ever-expanding parody of our political landscape that The Boys represents, it’s refreshing to see its aftereffects and consequences from the ground level. This was one of the qualities that made season one of Gen V a welcome companion to The Boys. Gen V is not bound by source material, allowing it more freedom to explore themes without being confined to the mean-spirited plot developments typical of The Boys, which often boil down to someone being a sex pest and viewers having to watch how in exhaustive detail.
Gen V feels more thoughtful about its direction, pulling at your heartstrings and engaging your mind, rather than relying on a gross-out punchline that you have to brace yourself for because you know it’s coming. While The Boys often draws direct political parallels that sometimes feel like throwaway Saturday Night Live sketches, Gen V offers a more humorous perspective on the ramifications of Homelander’s overt fascism and its impact on the students at God U. The exploration of power dynamics between superpowered and non-superpowered students, along with the propaganda disseminated online and on campus, added an intriguing depth to what could otherwise have been a shallow direction for the season.
We’re not made of stone! This budding relationship was hecking cute. Seeing them go from the kind of offhand, reluctant allies to close partners (and exes) was a pleasant bit of levity to witness in the show. Plus, seeing how their bond grew, even when they were literally pitted against each other in a school-approved superpowered fight with all the microaggressions (and aggression aggressions) lambasted at them for being who they are, was good shit. We love the tenderness that Jaz Sinclair, London Thor, and Derek Luh brought to these characters and eagerly await the fix-it fanfiction that’s no doubt being written as we speak.
It’s a pretty bad sign for a superhero show when you can comfortably look away to futz around on your phone whenever bouts of fisticuffs are on display and feel like you’re not missing much. For whatever reason, this season of Gen V lacked the sauce to make any of its fights feel like they were worth watching. Some dude gets shoved, hands are outstretched to, you guessed it, push more guys, and occasionally there will be copious amounts of blood.
It’s not that the show engendered desensitization to it all; it just looked a bit like a cheap afterthought in its presentation this season. It can sometimes feel like the show forgot that being the teen-forward CW version of The Boys doesn’t mean it has to look like it’s operating on a shoestring budget, cutting corners to make its action look worth the sliding-scale fee Prime Video is charging subscribers (with ads!).
Being the second season of a show that spins off a series nearing its conclusion, unfortunately, means that Gen V‘s more methodical pacing from the previous season—characterized by gradually building mysteries—felt rushed this time around. While it’s understandable that The Boys can seem a bit rapid in its scene transitions as it approaches its climax, the quickened pace of Gen V diluted character development and weakened the overall viewing experience. Instead of focusing on its own storylines, it seemed to prioritize adding intrigue for The Boys, ultimately hurrying through its own narrative without fully resolving the plot points it introduced well.
At first, it made its characters feel pragmatic, almost to the point of voicing every possible contingency in their hastily made plans, as if they were battle-hardened, to avoid their plot against God U gong awry. But with each passing episode, it started to feel less like the shrewdness of the ensemble and more like the writers’ room laying everything bare on the table for things to either go south or just as planned, as a way not to try to explore them fully.
As a result, people wound up exactly where they’re supposed to be. Even when things went kaput, our heroes were allowed to just… leave and reconvene later to decide what to do. Any sense of stakes this season with the Gen V cast felt all but moot; instead, the main objective seemed to be helping The Boys carry the baton to its series finale, and that sucked.
As mentioned up top, Cipher is a cool concept for a character from top to bottom. Having the power to body-snatch anyone as if he were a protagonist in Quantic Dream’s The Nomad Soul is some scary stuff, and Linklater’s performance added to the weight of his imposing presence.
All respect to SpongeBob Broadway actor, Ariana Grande’s beau, and Wicked star Ethan Slater, but the reveal that he was actually Cipher the entire time completely took all the air out of the room. He’s an entirely different character when Slater shows up. Gone are the playful, catty quips, and all we’re left with is a kind of dorky guy trying to seem imposing, but he’s clearly not that guy. Generational aura loss, as the kids say.
Didn’t like: Clunky dialogue and humor skewing more toward The Boys’ worst bits
Let’s be honest for a moment: The Boys‘ brand of humor is one short walk away from being Deadpool‘s, and not in the good way. They’re the kind of juvenile jokes that, once you’re subjected to them, don’t improve with a revisit. And sure, while comedy is subjective, the dissonance of edgy high school humor sliding out of the mouths of grown ass adults always makes The Boys feel a bit off and unserious. Gen V, with its school setting, makes its crass jokes feel a bit more at home because its shock-humor antics require less suspension of disbelief from the audience.
But for whatever reason, the types of jokes this season started to lose their armor, garnering either a cheap pity chuckle at the desperate attempt to be funny or no pop at all from viewers. It also didn’t help that this season suffered from “people don’t talk like that,” with a majority of its ensemble’s would-be funny men making the long walk to their jokes not worth suffering through.
Didn’t Like: The late-stage MCU-ification of Gen V
As we’ve expunged exhaustively at this point, Gen V‘s second season felt like The Boys crew finally buckled from talking out of both sides of their mouths about Marvel and DC Comics’ incessant need to franchise-build—all while showing signs of the same lackluster result. This time around, Gen V felt less like a refreshing offshoot and more like an episodic trailer to get folks hyped for the tentpole extravaganza that is The Boys.
We saw a lot of cameos around where The Boys characters were tantamount to TV bumpers advertising another show airing after the one you’re currently watching, rather than actually enriching the plot. It will be really embarrassing if the show isn’t picked up for a third season after spending so much time trying to beef up hype for The Boys‘ series finale. But honestly, what would be the point, since the narrative railroad for Gen V feels like it has effectively run out of track to continue on after however the hell The Boys wraps up? Watch the space, we guess.
Gen V season two is now streaming on Prime Video. The fifth and final season of The Boys arrives in 2026.
If you’ve got Falloutfever ahead of the show’s second season, Las Vegas has a museum exhibit you’re going to love.
Beginning November 14 and lasting through 2026, the city’s National Atomic Testing Museum will have a limited-time “World of Fallout” exhibition backed by franchise owner Bethesda. The exhibition will explore the cultural legacy of atomic history as it relates to the video game franchise and will feature “carefully selected objects and interpretive displays.” That includes “screen-worn Vault suits and memorabilia alongside graphic panels that explore the recurring elements of the franchise, along with the key Cold War themes that influenced the world and its lore.”
Joseph Kent, the curator and chief community officer for the museum, called this “a chance for gamers and history buffs alike to see just how closely the two worlds connect.”
The year 2025 is significant for Fallout: along with the show, it marks the respective 15- and 10-year anniversaries of Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas (released October 19, 2010) and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 (November 10, 2015). On Thursday, October 23, Bethesda is holding a livestream celebrating the franchise, which may potentially contain a look at Fallout 76’s next big update that’ll bring over Walton Goggins’ Ghoul from the show into the game. It may also have a new look at the Prime Video series before its return on December 17.
