“We’d like to make a film but trying to get everyone together is very difficult,” Gatiss told Deadline while he was on the green carpet at the 2024 Olivier Awards, where he was nominated for Best Actor for his role in The Motive and the Cue. He also pointed out that any Sherlock movie hinges on Freeman and Cumberbatch wanting to come back, and suggested that those who want a surer answer should ask the actors their take on the idea.
The potential for another installment in Sherlock is an enticing one, even though the final season left a sour taste in many a fan’s mouth. If Freeman and Cumberbatch were on board and if the script harkened back to the show’s earlier episodes—two very big “ifs”—the idea is one I’d be excited about. Time will tell how things play out, but I’m not going to plan on another trip to Baker Street anytime soon. [end-mark]
The SYFY series Reginald the Vampire, starring Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Jacob Batalon, is sinking its teeth into a second season, and based on the trailer released today, it looks like things are going to get biblical.
Not caught up on the series, which is based on the books by Johnny B. Truant? Here’s the official synopsis for the show:
Reginald Andres (Batalon) finally got his life together—when he was turned into a vampire. While he doesn’t fit into the stereotypical expectations of what a vampire looks like—he’s not chiseled or classically handsome—Reginald has found his place amongst an unlikely cohort that includes the cool vampire who sired him, the former vampire chieftain turned unexpected ally (or is she?), and his co-worker/former girlfriend. A show with a lot of heart and just enough blood, Reginald the Vampire proves the undead life is just as complicated as life itself.
The trailer for the second season tees up the stakes for the upcoming episodes: Reginald’s new vampire clan has been warned by a badass angel with a flaming sword that he’s going to slay them all in a month’s time if they don’t leave this mortal plane. Reginald, however, is ready to become a fighter as well as a lover and take the angel on. How things play out remains to be seen, but it looks like it will be a bloody time for all.
In addition to Batalon, the show stars Mandela Van Peebles as Maurice Miller, Em Haine as Sarah Kinney, Savannah Basley as Angela, Aren Buchholz as Todd, Marguerite Hanna as Ashley, and Thailey Roberge as Claire.
Season Two of Reginald the Vampire premieres on SYFY and the free SYFY app on May 8, 2024.
You know it's a Serious Television Program when it gets real philosophical about time. What is time? What is a day? What, rancher Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin) wonders, does it even mean that God created Earth in six days?
That's one question on his mind. Given that there's a weird hole in his backyard that might be a portal through time, more questions are likely to follow.
Prime Video's Outer Range returns next month for its second season of portal-induced pondering—and regular old mundane problems, like rival ranchers and mysterious drifters. Here's the synopsis:
Outer Range centers on Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin), a rancher fighting for his land and family, who discovers an unfathomable phenomenon at the edge of Wyoming's wilderness, in the form of a dark void. The mystery surrounding the enigmatic void on the west pasture of the Abbott family ranch deepens in Season Two, as Royal and his wife Cecelia (Lili Taylor) struggle to keep their family together in the aftermath of their granddaughter’s sudden disappearance. The stakes have never been higher for the Abbotts, who now face threats on multiple fronts. Outer Range’s second season propels its characters deeper into the void with profound and unforeseen circumstances that could shake the very foundations of time itself.
For its second season, Outer Range has a new showrunner, with Charles Murray taking over from creator Brian Watkins. Murray's resume includes time as a writer on Luke Cage, Sons of Anarchy, and three Star Wars shows: Rebels, The Clone Wars, and Tales of the Jedi. The rest of the show's cast includes Lili Taylor, Imogen Poots, Shawn Sipos, Tamara Podemski, Lewis Pullman, and Will Patton.
Royal Abbott's musings wind up in a promising—or at least intriguing—place, narratively speaking: "Nobody understands that in the creation of man time had to be broken and nobody knows if God fixed that break or if he wanted see what we do with that particular problem." What's he going to do with that particular problem? Odds are good you can find out when Outer Range returns on May 16th.[end-mark]
Previously, in Doctor Who news, it was announced that current companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) would have only one season of adventures in the TARDIS before being replaced by a new, unnamed companion played by Varada Sethu (Andor). Radio Times noted, at the time, that Gibson would still be on the show, but in a smaller role.
But maybe that's not quite the case. It turns out that Sethu is joining the show as the Doctor's second companion, with Gibson also staying on board. There's even a cute picture of the whole season-two gang, looking very happy and like they might invite you over for drinks if they like your vibe.
Showrunner Russell T. Davies said in a press release, "Right now in the studio, shooting for 2025, we've got Ncuti, Millie and Varada fighting side by side—we need all three, because the stakes are higher than ever!”
Sethu won't show up until Gatwa's second season, next year, but there is another tidbit of news floating about regarding the upcoming season. Davies told Empire the name of the character Jinkx Monsoon is playing: Maestro. Which is either a very unsubtle return of the Master, or a huge misdirect—and Davies is capable of either. Or both, somehow.
Either way, we won't have to wait too long to find out: Monsoon appears in the second episode of the upcoming season, which is called"The Devil's Chord." Doctor Who premieres May 10th on Disney+.[end-mark]
“Born to the Purple” Written by Larry DiTillio Directed by Bruce Seth Green Season 1, Episode 3 Production episode 104 Original air date: February 9, 1994
It was the dawn of the third age… Sinclair and G’Kar finally find Mollari in a strip club. He is supposed to be engaged in negotiating the Euphrates Treaty with G’Kar. However, the pair of them do join Mollari at his table for a drink and to watch the dancers. This lasts until G’Kar’s new aide, Ko D’ath, shows up. She does not approve of the establishment, and G’Kar reluctantly shows her to her quarters, thus denying himself the ability to ogle dancers. Mollari, meanwhile, is focusing most of his ogling on one Centauri dancer in particular.
That same dancer, Adira, is waiting for him in his bed when he goes back to his quarters. How she was able to break into his quarters is left as an exercise for the viewer, though Mollari certainly doesn’t give much of a shit…
The next morning, negotiations on the Euphrates Treaty are supposed to start. Sinclair is there. Vir is there. Winters is there, hired to keep the negotiators honest with her telepathy. G’Kar and Ko D’ath are there. Of Mollari, there is no sign. Vir contacts him for the eighty-fourth time (roughly), and Mollari finally answers, reluctantly leaving Adira in his bed.
Mollari shows up at the negotiations late, but quite happy. Meanwhile, Adira is contacted by her owner, Trakis. Turns out she’s his slave, and he sent her to play Mata Hari with Mollari to get his Purple Files. Those are the files containing the dirt that Mollari and his family have on other Centauri aristocrats. It’s how wealthy Centauri stay in power: blackmail. If Trakis gets his hands on Mollari’s Purple files, it’ll give him massive influence over Centauri politics.
Garibaldi has found an unauthorized use of Gold Channel. It’s a secure communications channel, one that’s far more reliable than the standard commercial ones, but it’s also only available with Sinclair’s permission, and indeed only even known to a select few on the station—the command staff and the ambassadors. He reports it to Ivanova who says she’ll look into it when she has time, and orders him to continue monitoring it.
Mollari brings Adira flowers he had specially grown for her, and also gives her a piece of jewelry that has been in his family for generations. Adira doesn’t wish to accept so lavish a gift, but Mollari insists. He further surprises her by declaring that he’s made reservations at Fresh Air, the fanciest restaurant on the station. While appearances are very important to Centauri, especially ones of Mollari’s station, he also doesn’t care about appearances when it comes to her.
Later, we see Mollari and Adira having dinner and making smoochy-faces at each other. Sinclair has also taken Winters to dinner at Fresh Air as a thank-you for the work she’s done in the Euphrates negotiations, as both the anger from the Narn at Mollari’s tardiness and the erotic thoughts that Mollari kept having during the negotiations wore her out something fierce…
Garibaldi detects another unauthorized use of Gold Channel, but his attempt to trace it is stopped by an invasive program. The best he can see is that it went to the Russian Consortium on Earth. He reports this to Ivanova, who thinks it might all just be a figment of Garibaldi’s imagination since there’s no record of it that she can find or that he can show her—maybe it’s gremlins!
Adira slips Mollari a mickey in his drink and he falls unconscious. She then uses a mind-probe to get his password and then she downloads the Purple files. (He should’ve had a two-factor authentication set up, obviously…) She then flees his quarters, leaving the brooch behind. At her quarters, Trakis contacts her, but she doesn’t want to meet in her quarters, lest Mollari come looking for her. They meet in the Zocalo, instead. But once there, Adira flees, Trakis giving chase.
Mollari wakes up with a headache and without Adira. Leaving Vir in charge of the negotiations, Mollari goes in search of Adira. G’Kar is sufficiently livid at this insult that he leaves Ko D’ath in charge of the Narn side of the negotiations and storms out in a huff.
Trakis and Mollari both go to Adira’s quarters to find it empty. Trakis tells Mollari that Adira’s his slave, but that she’s secretly a Narn agent sent to steal his Purple files. Trakis says his concern is that, as her owner, he’s liable if she’s arrested for espionage. He and Mollari go their separate ways, but not before Trakis puts a bug on Mollari’s shoulder.
Mollari confirms the copying of the Purple files. He then continues his search for Adira, but is interrupted by Sinclair, who wants to know what’s going on. Mollari begs Sinclair for help, which the commander gives on the proviso that Mollari agree to Earth’s compromise on the Euphrates Treaty. They go back to the club where Adira dances, but undercover, posing as employees of another establishment that wants to hire some of the dancers. They learn that Adira was recently in Brown Sector.
Trakis hears that and sends two thugs provided by N’Grath to delay the pair. However, before they can finish off Sinclair and Mollari, Trakis alerts them that he’s found Adira, so all is well. The two thugs bugger off.
Sinclair approaches G’Kar, saying he can give him the opportunity to purchase Mollari’s Purple files. They set up a meeting with Trakis that also includes Winters. Winters is unwilling to probe Trakis directly, as that would violate Psi Corps regulations, but she engages in some verbal trickery instead: when the meeting with G’Kar commences, and Trakis objects to her presence, she says that she can only sense surface thoughts, and it’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t think of anything specific, like where Adira’s being hidden.
That, of course, makes him think of it, and he runs off—right into Mollari’s fist. Mollari then kicks him in the ribs for good measure and takes his files back. He thanks G’Kar for helping him restore his honor, which annoys the hell out of G’Kar.
Garibaldi is able to trace the next unauthorized use of Gold Channel with an invasive program of his own, and he discovers that it’s Ivanova using it to communicate with her father, who is dying. He later tells Ivanova that he traced the transmission and yeah, it was a gremlin, and he won’t have to worry about it anymore, cough cough, ahem ahem. He also offers to buy Ivanova a drink.
Mollari sees Adira off. Trakis has granted her freedom as part of a plea deal, and Mollari gives her the brooch back, urging her to wear it as a free woman. She promises to return to him some day.
Nothing’s the same anymore. Sinclair poses as a sleazy dude quite well, having studied Garibaldi’s rather extensive files on the various lowlifes in downbelow. He also uses both Mollari and G’Kar to get Earth’s agenda on the Euphrates Treaty some traction (though given how things end up with G’Kar, it’s unlikely that G’Kar continued to agree to those concessions…).
Ivanova is God. We learn a great deal about the first officer in this episode. Ivanova’s relationship with her father has never been all that great, and got worse after her mother died. In addition, her brother died in the Earth-Minbari War. But her father is now dying, and they’re able to reconcile during Ivanova’s illicit Gold Channel conversations with him.
The household god of frustration. Garibaldi is able to penetrate Ivanova’s illicit use of the Gold Channel, because he’s just that awesome. But once he finds out why she’s doing it, he lets her off the hook. Because he’s just that awesome.
In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… One of the sources of Mollari’s power—indeed, the source of most Centauri aristocrats’ power—is their dirt on other folks. So losing his Purple files would be very bad, both for him and the Republic.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free. G’Kar finds his new aide annoying, since she takes him away from ogling pretty women, and he views giving her the reins in negotiating an insult to the Centauri.
The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. Winters is not willing to break Psi Corps regulations, but she is, apparently, willing to bend them a little. She gets Trakis to think about where Adira is hiding using the old pink-elephant trick.
No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. Adria’s seduction of Mollari works like a charm, but she also returns the feelings, which makes it hard for her to betray him—though not impossible…
Welcome aboard. Mary Woronov makes her one and only appearance as Ko D’ath, for which she is uncredited. Fabiana Udenio plays Adira, while the great Clive Revill plays Trakis, Jimm Gianni plays Ock, and Robert Phalen plays Ivanova’s dying Dad. Phalen will return in “TKO” later this season, while Udenio will be back in season five’s “Day of the Dead.”
Trivial matters. Mary Woronov was intended to be a series regular in the role of G’Kar’s aide. However, she could not handle the prosthetic makeup (and refused to wear the red contact lenses) and so did not remain in the role. Caitlin Brown, who will finally make her first appearance as G’Kar’s aide Na’Toth two episodes hence in “Parliament of Dreams,” has been in the opening credits all along, including this episode. (As has Bill Mumy, who will also finally debut in “Parliament…”)
While Udenio does not appear again until season five, the character is mentioned, and also seen in flashback in “Interludes and Examinations,” in which the character is killed.
This is the first appearance of the Fresh Air restaurant, which will continue to be used as the fancy-shmancy restaurant of choice for folks on B5.
The working title of this episode was “Amaranth.”
The echoes of all of our conversations.
“Don’t give away the homeworld.”
—Mollari’s instructions to Vir when putting his aide in charge of negotiations, and also G’Kar’s instructions to Ko D’ath when he does likewise.
The name of the place is Babylon 5. “What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?” As is often the case with stories involving the Centauri and/or Narn ambassadors, the A-story in this episode is elevated entirely by the performances, not just of Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas, but also of Fabiana Udenio, whose radiance and reluctance are both played quite well.
Which is good, because, man, this story has whiskers on it. The old man seduced by the pretty young sex worker with the heart of gold, and they fall for each other, and she still betrays him because she has to, but she doesn’t want to, and it all comes out okay in the end, and ugh!
But this one mostly works because Jurasik and Udenio make it work. So does Clive Revill, who has made a career out of playing snotty bad guys (he was the original person playing Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back) and is snotty as all get-out here.
The B-plot is of more interest, mostly because it provides useful exposition on Ivanova and also illuminates character, both Ivanova’s and Garibaldi’s. It’s also a big honkin’ cliché, but, again, the performances elevate it, especially the pained stoicism of Claudia Christian. Her dismissal of Garibaldi’s concerns plays up as her usual I’m-too-busy-to-deal-with-your-bullshit attitude, and it modulates effectively into sad resignation, with pain eking out through the cracks when she’s talking to her father.
G’Kar is still being played annoyingly like a doofy villain, and his interactions with Ko D’ath are just painful, the straitlaced aide cramping the boss’s style. Not that Mollari’s interactions with Vir are much better. Although the “moon-faced assassin of joy” comment was magnificent, the portrayal of Vir as a dork playing videogames while waiting for Mollari to show up is also cringe-inducing.
The U.S.S. Cerritos will soon be flying off your screens. Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek mastermind/executive producer, announced that the upcoming fifth season will be the last go-round for the animated series, saying in a note to fans:
While five seasons of any series these days seems like a miracle, it’s no exaggeration to say that every second we've spent making this show has been a dream come true. Our incredible cast, crew and artists have given you everything they have because they love the characters they play, they love the world we've built, and more than anything we all love love love Star Trek. We’re excited for the world to see our hilarious fifth season which we're working on right now, and the good news is that all previous episodes will remain on Paramount+ so there is still so much to look forward to as we celebrate the Cerritos crew with a big send-off.
It is unfortunate that we now live in a world where creators have to reassure audiences that their shows will remain on streaming, not get pulled and stuffed in a vault, but good on Paramount for keeping all its Star Trek series available. (Aside from Prodigy, which has now been shuffled over to Netflix.)
Also on the plus side: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for a fourth season. Captain Haircut (Anson Mount) and his extremely likable crew have yet to even take off on their third season adventures; that season is currently filming, and expected to premiere in 2025.
No premiere date more specific than "fall" has been announced for Lower Decks’ final season, which will have season four's cliffhanger to resolve (for more on that, see Keith R.A. DeCandido's overview of last season).[end-mark]
There’s something about Sasquatches and Yetis that makes certain authors and auteurs want to turn them into Giant Furry Friends. Maybe it’s the inherent coolness of the beast. He is usually huge, and he’s canonically stinky, and he’s extremely hairy. And yet, cleaned up and set in a fantasy world, he is just about irresistible.
Robinson’s almost-but-not-quite-real Nepal of the late Eighties would not be half as cool a place without its population of yeti. The collection of novellas published as a novel under the title of its first section, Escape from Kathmandu, is a lighthearted but subversively serious look at the community of Western expats on the roof of the world. Protagonists George and Freds join a shifting (and sometimes shifty) cast of characters to explore wonders both real and mythical, from the true nature of Shambhala to the real-life weirdness of the Nepali government. In among all the adventures and the capers, they contend with real-world problems: poverty, politics, exploitation of land and people and resources, ecological destruction.
They first meet through a slight criminal act on George’s part. George owns a company that runs treks into the mountains, including Everest. At one point, when he’s in between gigs in Kathmandu, he raids the dead-mail rack at the Hotel Star, and appropriates an unusually thick packet. It’s addressed to a person whose nickname is Freds, from a zoologist turned trekker guide named Nathan. Nathan helped organize a scientific expedition into the Himalayas, officially to set up camp along the treeline and study the wildlife, from insects and birds on up. But as he quickly reveals in his long letter, there’s another mission, and Nathan just happens to have fulfilled it.
Inadvertently and accidentally, and incredibly, Nathan has met a yeti. He can’t tell anybody about this, but he’s just about to explode with the strain of keeping the secret. Therefore he’s sharing it with his old college roommate Freds.
Nathan had been helping ornithologist Sarah with her research on the honey warbler. Nathan has a terrible crush on Sarah, but Sarah’s boyfriend Phil is the expedition leader. Also, an asshole, but Nathan is honorable and tries not to poach.
One day when Nathan is sitting alone at the pool where they found the warblers, he finds that he’s being watched by a pair of human-like eyes in a bearded face. It’s about to become clear that mammalogist Phil is searching for the yeti—and Nathan has found him. Or he’s found Nathan. It’s not completely clear which.
That night in camp, the members of the expedition start talking about the yeti. They’re all speculating about what would happen if they found actual physical evidence. And better yet, says Phil, finally showing his hand, if they captured a live one.
Nathan can’t help himself. He declares that if they did find one, they should let it go and never tell anyone about it. If the world knew that this creature exists, this part of it would be inundated with hunters and tourists and scientists. The ecology would be ruined. The yeti would become a scientific specimen, a zoo animal. He needs to stay unknown and officially undiscovered, for his own sake and for the sake of his habitat.
The other scientists beg to differ. Except Sarah: she gets it. The rest are all about sharing scientific knowledge with humanity. It won’t do any harm to the animal. Or not much. And think of the value to Science!
Science wins out. They set up a blind and lie in wait for the yeti. The creature is nocturnal, supposedly; therefore they watch by night as well as by day. And one night, when Nathan is on duty, the yeti reappears.
He’s human-sized, which is an important detail for this particular plot. His head is oddly shaped, with a tall crest, but it’s almost human. He’s covered in dark hair, except for his face, with a protruding nose and a strong jaw. There’s a stick in his long, skinny hand, and he’s wearing a necklace of fossilized shells.
He is, Nathan concludes, some form of hominid. He carries a tool, he decorates his body. And he speaks a humming language punctuated with whistles, looking Nathan in the eye and showing clear intelligence.
Phil comes crashing in, and Nathan and the yeti flee together. When they’ve shaken off pursuit, the yeti makes Nathan a gift of his necklace, and heads back into the wilderness. Nathan is left stunned and deeply thrilled, and more determined than ever not help Phil collect this prime zoological specimen. He sabotages the camp’s access to the yeti’s range, and makes sure the expedition has to shut down.
He does it for the best of reasons. “There’s a creature up there, intelligent and full of peace. Civilization would destroy it. And that yeti who hid [from Phil] with me—somehow he knew I was on their side.”
That’s it for the letter, but not for Nathan or Freds or, as it turns out, George. Nathan shows up in the Hotel Star, looking for his letter. He can’t find it because George stole it, but George never actually confesses. What he does instead is help Nathan find Freds, and end up joining them in a rescue mission.
Phil and Sarah and company came back with a rich American, a big-game hunter, who bankrolled a new expedition. The expedition has returned from the mountains to Kathmandu, and they’re holding something or someone prisoner at the Sheraton. Nathan and Freds, not to mention George, can well imagine what it is. Phil has captured a yeti.
Their response is immediate and inevitable. They mount an expedition of their own to rescue the yeti and return him to his home. It’s as wacky a caper as you might imagine, complete with wild disguises, clever subterfuges, a bicycle chase (with echoes of the iconic chase in ET), and a Famous Celebrity Walk-On: none other than Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
The yeti turns out to be the one Nathan met by the pool on the earlier expedition. He’s small enough and intelligent enough to wear human clothes and impersonate a hirsute, mostly inarticulate person with the monumental calm of an enlightened sage. For this, George et al. (including Sarah, who finally dumps Phil and hooks up with Nathan) call him Buddha.
George isn’t sure if Buddha is typical of his species, or if he’s possibly mentally ill. These days George might wonder if Buddha is, by yeti standards, neurodivergent. He doesn’t appear to have resisted capture, and he’s content to be rescued. He’s a deeply mellow, calm, unflappable person who goes where he’s directed and does what he’s asked to do.
When he’s finally home, George makes him a gift of the Dodgers cap that concealed his oddly shaped head. In return, he breaks up the necklace he gave Nathan, that Nathan tries to give back to him, and gives each of his rescuers one of the shells that had been strung on it. He even offers a human word: “Namaste.”
That’s the end of Buddha’s arc in the novel/story collection, but he has a cameo later, in The True Nature of Shangri-La. Freds pulls George back into his chaotic life, in an attempt to keep the government from building a road to the hidden village of Shambhala. This is the true Shangri-La, the mystical monastery ruled by an ancient reincarnated lama. It lies deep in the mountains, in the land of the yeti.
When it comes time to defend the town, the human forces are joined by a contingent of yeti. Among them, George sees one in a Dodgers cap. It’s a nice moment, and a good feeling, to know that Buddha still cherishes the gift George gave him.
The yeti of Robinson’s Nepal is an enlightened being, a creature of peace. He’s an image of humanity before the Fall, and he lives in a pristine part of the world. He’s an ally of the monks and the people of Shambhala; in many ways he’s the embodiment of the Buddhist ideal.
I find myself wondering if the monks learned at least some of their practices from the yeti. If he’s a hominid, after all, it's likely he comes from a very old lineage, even if he isn’t an actual human ancestor. The necklace he shares with Nathan and George and Sarah seems to represent his own antiquity as a subspecies: he’s as much a fossil as the shells he wears.[end-mark]
Isabel J. Kim’s debut novel, Sublimation, has been picked up by Universal International Studios for a potential television adaptation. The book has yet to be released, though Tor Publishing Group has acquired the novel as part of a three-book deal with Kim.
Sublimation is her first novel, and here is the official synopsis for it:
Sublimation is a literary science fiction novel and speculative thriller set in a version of our world where a process called "instancing" splits a person into two distinct copies when they cross a country’s border. The story unfolds when a woman who instanced returns to Seoul and must face her other self, while her childhood best friend's New York self draws her into a conspiracy to control the future of instancing, bringing both versions of him back into her life with global repercussions.
In a statement, Kim described her book as “originally based on one of my 20 short stories. Steven Salpeter, my manager, had originally reached out to me because he had read the short story Sublimation is based on—Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self—because there was a visual quality to the narrative and concept he thought would translate to TV. Our discussion led to my expanding the original short story into a novel, and we’re also hearing from studios about my stories for features.”
“From the very first page, you feel drawn to these characters and this world that explores such rich themes through this paradoxical existence that Isabel has captured so sublimely,” Kelsey Balance, SVP, Global Scripted Series, Universal International Studios told Deadline. “It’s staggering that this is her first novel as it’s so compelling but also so fresh and creative. We can’t wait to bring her vision to audiences around the globe.”
The project is still in its early days, so no news on if/when the adaptation will make its way to the small screen. [end-mark]
One of last year's best new SFF series is not over yet. Apple TV+ has renewed Monarch: Legacy of Monsters for a second season—and what's more, it's adding an unspecified number of spinoff series to the Monsterverse's small-screen lineup.
That's very vague, right? But the press release literally says "multiple spinoffs," with no further details. Vagueness aside, the return of Monarch is very good news. Even if you have not been keeping up with the various Godzilla-related films of the last decade (I certainly have not), the series is a fascinating, character-driven drama with an appealing cast of both established actors and new faces.
The Russells elder and younger—Kurt and Wyatt—play the same character, Lee Shaw, in two time periods. In the 1950s, Shaw is part of a team that discovers titans. (Said team includes Mari Yamamoto as brilliant scientist Keiko Miura and Anders Holm as Bill Randa). Decades later, in the wake of the Titans’ battle in San Francisco, an older Shaw joins up with a younger generation of characters who have their own reasons to be invested in the secrets of the Titans and Monarch, the mysterious agency that has a connection to the giant creatures.
Monarch was co-created by Chris Black (Severance) and comics writer Matt Fraction, who also serve as co-showrunners. It is—and I cannot stress this enough—very good. It also stars Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Joe Tippett, and Takehiro Hira, all of whom I hope to keep watching for many seasons to come.
No production schedule has been announced for season two of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters or any of its mysterious spinoffs, but in the meantime, you can catch up on the first season on Apple TV+. [end-mark]
Who’s up for practice? Who wants Rincewind on their team? (Me, I do.)
Summary
Glenda and Juliet head back to the university to give themselves an alibi for not being at the match. Ottimony comes in to tell them all about it after leading the wizards there, and he swears that Juliet looks like the girl at the match. Glenda is summoned to the Stollops because Juliet’s dad got a letter from Vetinari, asking him to attend a dinner with the wizards to talk about the future of football. Trev finds Nutt asleep at the university, having eaten a large quotient of Glenda’s pies. He tells Glenda and Juliet what happened, and when Nutt comes to, he start up his work again. But he says a few things about how Trev really feels about his late father that sends Trev catatonic. Glenda asks Nutt how he knows all these things, how he managed not to die, and where he comes from. Nutt isn’t entirely sure; he only knows how he came to be in Ladyship’s castle and that there’s a door in his mind that he can’t access. Nutt thinks about writing love poetry for Trev to give Juliet, and Juliet bothers Glenda the next day about going to a fashion show, which has an ad in the paper next to an article about the origins of football going back a millennia. Glenda agrees to the show, but only after she gets a chance to listen in on the University Council meeting.
The wizards are putting together thoughts for what they need as a team, including the pies, the uniforms, and the fans. Glenda is bemused by the whole conversation and accidentally interjects herself, letting them know that they’ve got it largely wrong—they won’t be able to change much about how football functions, and they won’t be able to dictate how people enjoy it. She also tells them not to make their uniforms sport a UU across the front, or it’ll make the team look like they have bosoms. Ridcully asks what she does, and they all learn that she runs the Night Kitchen and makes the incredible pies they’re all so fond of. After she leaves, Ponder notes that Glenda’s talk of football invoked memories in the group, whether or not they had them; it was a kind of religious experience. Glenda goes with Juliet to a dwarf chainmail fashion show run by Madame Sharon, who has her assistant Pepe measure Juliet and asks them to help her because her model dropped a pickaxe on her foot. Glenda negotiates a hefty sum for Juliet to model the new cloth-like micromail. The wizards begin their first practice round of football, which they don’t rightly understand.
Glenda sees Juliet through her first fashion show. She’s very drunk and stumbles into the next room after it’s over, having a talking with Pepe, who turns out to have converted to being a dwarf with Madame Sharon’s help. They want Juliet to keep working for them, planning to pay her lots of money travel her around the Disc. They know Glenda is the key to her cooperation, so they ask her to consider it, and Glenda decides they’re going home for the night first. Despite the fact that Ridcully promised never to use it for these sorts of purposes, he demands that Ponder let them in to the Cabinet of Curiosity so that it can make them a proper football—because they don’t have one. They can only keep the ball outside the cabinet for about fourteen hours before causing trouble, so Ridcully stops Trev and Nutt in the hall and asks them if they know where to have the ball replicated. He gives them money for the job and they set off. Glenda tells Juliet that they’ll open up a bank account for her so that her father can’t get at her money. Trev and Nutt run into Andy again, and when he threatens Trev, Nutt threatens to break his hand. They make it to a dwarf shop, and ask him to replicate the ball in exchange for money and a university license to make more of them.
Juliet decides she agrees with Glenda about staying in her job at the university, which makes Glenda feel wretched; the next day her picture is in the paper. Trev goes to pee out back while Nutt and the dwarf artisan are working and sees two vampire women outside, which Butt later tells him are protection for Ladyship. Nutt delivers the love poem he wrote for Trev to Glenda, so she can give it to Juliet. Glenda reads the letter for Juliet and knows that Trev didn’t write it, but doesn’t tell her. Pepe wakes to Times reporters in their store and everyone asking about Juliet. King Rhys has the paper sent via clacks, and the grags are in a tizzy about Juliet’s appearance, deeming it undwarfish. Ponder returns the Cabinet’s ball to the Cabinet and they begin creating teams again. (Rincewind tries to get out of this to no avail.) The (former) Dean has arrived at the university, but the game is interrupted by Nutt, who means to tell Ridcully that they’re playing the game all wrong, and more strategy is needed and, indeed, more theater. Trev comes to Nutt’s defense to make sure no one gets upset with him for speaking out of turn, but Ridcully is amenable to the idea. Glenda sells a lot more for Stronginthearm and gives him ideas for whole new troll fashion lines.
Commentary
There are several overlays going on with the Juliet and Trev story, one of them obviously being the Romeo and Juliet angle that you get from her name and the “two houses” being their two football teams. This is mostly funny to me because I saw some Tumblr post just a few days ago that was pointing out that the Montagues and Capulets being “both alike in dignity” as houses did not preclude any level of poshness—they just needed to be the same. Hence, footballer families.
But the more intriguing slice here is the Cyrano parody, at least to me. Nutt is effectively playing the Cyrano part, writing letters on Trev’s behalf, who’s in the Christian role. But the intention isn’t to make a direct parallel, of course, because Nutt clearly isn’t interested in Juliet—he likes Glenda. And I appreciate the lack of conflict, but moreso, I find myself appreciating the fact that someone who’s as bright as Nutt isn’t really interested in someone who’s pretty if they’re not particularly thoughtful? Juliet’s not his type, so no issue there.
And conversely, Juliet’s route to becoming a fashion model for micromail is endearing too, namely due to Glenda learning some things for herself about snuffing out the desire to dream a little bigger. Do I like that it’s helped along by too much sherry? Yes, I do. I wish sherry talked to me like that. Tequila does, though, so I can't complain too much.
We’re getting more clues on Nutt’s true identity as we go, but I do appreciate that the mystery is drawn out and viewed from multiple character perspectives, making it that much harder to guess point blank.
The bits where the wizards are practicing football are favorites for me because it reads like it’s written by someone who feels exactly the same way about sports that I do. There’s no sense, no real interest in the game itself, nor any inclination toward athleticism (aside from Ridcully’s own personal interest and physical prowess). The only time things make sense is when everyone is thinking about how exciting the game should be, how to generate narrative around it, how to make it a spectacle. I get that part. The rest is just window dressing.
Asides and little thoughts
Of Vetinari being the wrong sort for Juliet despite being the only available “prince” around, Glenda thinks: Besides, no one was sure which side of the bed he got out of, or even if he went to bed at all. Meaning: We’re honestly not sure if the man is gay, straight, or ace.
“By his own admission, he would rather run ten miles, leap a five-bar gate and climb a big hill than engage in any athletic activity.” Me too, Ponder.
Ridcully’s entire response to the concept of possible gayness—that could really just be some wizard having an affair with a married woman and he’s not getting it—being that there’s not enough love in the world and also “Well done, that man!” (which is, itself, actually in response to people playing football and grabbing his attention) is pretty perfect, all things considered.
Pratchettisms
It has been said that crowds are stupid, but mostly they are simply confused, since as an eyewitness the average person is as reliable as a meringue lifejacket.
Ponder had found a gray hair on his comb that morning and was not in the mood to take this standing up.
The city’s walls corseted it like a fetishist’s happiest dream.
“Thank you for you input, Mister Stibbons, but may I gently remind you who is the guv around here?”
But authority must back up authority, in public at least, otherwise there is no authority, and therefore the senior authority is forced to back up the junior authority, even if he, the senior authority, believes that the junior authority is a tiresome little tit.
Next week we’ll read up to:
“I know how to do that,” said Nutt. “Mister Trev, I would be glad if you would come and help me with the bellows.”
If you saw the end-credit scene from Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, you knew that a Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover movie was likely in the works. At CinemaCon today, Paramount Pictures made it official (via Deadline): We’re getting a blockbuster at some point in the future that will include aliens who can turn into cars and/or mecha beasts AND G.I. Joe soldiers doing… whatever G.I. Joe soldiers do.
While the film is now official, Paramount didn’t share any news about who would be directing this, though the idea apparently came from Rise of the Beasts director Steven Caple Jr and it will be executive produced by none other than Steven Spielberg. The story for the film is also reportedly based on the 1980s run of comics based on the two Hasbro brands.
The first time G.I. Joe and Transformers shared a page was in 1987’s aptly named G.I. Joe and the Transformers. The four-issue mini-series saw the Autobots and the G.I. Joes (a.k.a. the good guys) face off against the Decepticons and Cobra (a.k.a. the bad guys). There also appears to be some friendly fire where Bumblebee gets destroyed(!) and reanimated/rebuilt under a different name, and the changing of sides by one key group, making it three against one in a battle to save Earth from sure destruction.
How closely the movie ties to this plot remains to be seen. But the comic run sounds like something that could make for a blockbuster film. They just better not fuck with Bumblebee too much (see the wonderful Transformer pictured above), as they are the best character in the franchise.
No news yet on when the movie will go into production or make its way to the big screen. [end-mark]
The Running Man, which King wrote in 1985 under his Bachman pen name, takes place in a future dystopia (which, by the way, was the year 2025), where the U.S. government runs a gladiatorial game show where a group of killers try to hunt down and kill a contestant. The longer one lives, the more money one makes. One man, the titular running man, enters the game to try to raise money for his sick daughter and manages to rip the game apart from the inside.
Powell will play that man. The actor is currently set to star in the upcoming tornado sequel Twisters (pictured above) and also had roles in Top Gun: Maverick, Hidden Figures and a recurring part in Scream Queens.
No news yet on when this version of The Running Man will make its way to theaters. [end-mark]
“Young Girl Reading, Gloucester” by John Sloan (1917)
On any given day, all too many new books are published. Even if one were to judge them by the strictest criteria (prose, plotting, relatable characters, and all the other good stuff that quality fiction is supposed to offer), there should be enough really, really good books to satisfy even the most ravenous of readers. Why then, do so many people happily read crap?
When I say “crap,” you know the books I mean. Paper-thin characters. Plots that reprise the plots of previous volumes. Plots that have clearly bounded out of their author’s control. Worldbuilding that is dubious at best. Stories focused entirely on the author’s particular pet peeve or hobby. Prose that suggests that the author is hellbent on revenge against the English language (the English language having killed a beloved pet, which was the gift of the author’s late spouse). Bad English!
Why would readers subject themselves to such misery?
Social pressure? (Maybe your best friend loves the book.)
I think the actual answer could be much simpler: quality isn’t the whole story. Sometimes the right flawed book at the right time can be far more satisfying than the wrong aesthetic gem at the wrong time.2
People who have particular itches that are rarely scratched will treasure books that scratch that itch, even if the books in question are otherwise flawed. Indeed, the flaws may be completely invisible to a reader finally encountering a novel that scratches that itch (especially if they didn’t know the itch existed in the first place).
Sometimes, readers want to read about someone like them who is presented positively. If a book offers that, other criteria don’t matter as much.
Sometimes readers want a story where things work out in the end and they’re willing to forgive the author if the path to that satisfactory, enjoyable ending does not entirely make sense.
Sometimes a reader wants the comfort of predictability to distract from the endless chaos of everyday life. So, another book in an endless series.
Sometimes readers simply want ripping adventure stories inspired by the unusual behavior of water at 374 C under a pressure of 218 atmospheres.3
Thus, the success of books about which detractors might say:
“This is an inferior knock-off of Lord of the Rings by an author who didn’t understand what Tolkien was getting at.”
“This is a mediocre fantasy novel whose only distinguishing positive feature is sympathetic LGBTQ+ characters.”
“This is a novel featuring aliens whose forms are alien indeed and whose minds are inexplicably indistinguishable from those of human New Englanders.”
Readers are not reacting to the absence of the qualities that distinguish great books, but the presence of other elements. Entire successful careers have been built on addressing otherwise overlooked demand.
And there’s nothing wrong with this! Not every book has to be the best of all possible books. Or rather, “best” is context dependent. If it happens the qualities for which a reader is looking don’t happen to be artfully crafted prose, three-dimensional characters, and/or plots that make sense4, then it does not matter if those qualities are absent. It’s enough that the books offer readers the occasional moments of joy and comfort, or at least momentary distraction from the ever-worsening dystopias in which we live.
At least, that’s what I tell myself as I revisit old favourites. What’s your excuse?[end-mark]
Why do all the mid-list authors laugh bitterly whenever I mention their lavish ad campaigns? ↩︎
Classics forced on students under conditions seemingly designed to make the kids hate them is a matter for a different essay. ↩︎
Yes, yes, eutectic water/ammonia mixes are also cool. ↩︎
One of the more horrifying observations by John Rogers was that by and large viewers did not care if Leverage’s plots made any sense as long as they hit the right notes in the correct order. I’m a reader who loves plots and that appalls me. It’s probably best that in the long run I just accept that other people are looking for different qualities from fiction than I do. ↩︎
Star Trek is finally going to boldly head back to the big screen! During the Paramount Pictures panel today at CinemaCon (via /Film), news broke that a new Trek movie, which has been framed as an origin story, will be helmed by Toby Haynes. Haynes' previous credits include directing episodes of Andor as well as the Black Mirror episode “USS Callister,” a brutal riff on the Star Trek franchise that explores the toxic side of the fandom. The writer for the film is Seth Grahame-Smith, whose previous credits include the underrated Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and The LEGO Batman Movie.
Even more exciting is the news that this origin film is officially happening in the near future (or a least is a much surer thing than the fourth movie starring Chris Pine as Kirk seems to be). Production on the film is set to start later this year and will premiere in theaters sometime in 2025.
This prequel can’t help but raise questions about how it will affect the canonical Star Trek timeline(s). Will this story tie into the Star Trek: Enterprise series? As such, will Scott Bakula's Jonathan Archer (pictured above) make an appearance, perhaps as one of the first presidents of the Federation? Or will this film completely rewrite the timeline/create a new one just like J.J. Abrams did with his films starring Pine as Kirk?
Time will tell! And it looks like we’ll get our answers sometime next year. [end-mark]
During their CinemaCon panel today, Paramount Pictures burdened us with the news that an R-rated live-action film based on the comic run Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is in the works. The movie will be solidly in the adults-only camp, which means it will be chock full of violence, gore, and death! I feel bad for the parents, however, who miss the memo that these turtles ain’t for kiddos and take their eight-year-old to see it.
Granted, the original TMNT comics were darker, grittier affairs than the animated and live-action adaptions we’ve gotten on screen. But the average moviegoer doesn’t know that. The Last Ronin is also a more recent comic series—it ran from 2020 to 2022 and was penned by TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. According to Variety, Eastman and Tom Waltz (writer of two TMNT video games: 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 2016’s TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan) penned the script adaptation.
Here's the synopsis, per Variety:
Set in a bleak, dystopian future in which Oroku Hiroto, the grandson of the Turtles’ arch-nemesis, Shredder, rules New York City as a totalitarian despot. Hiroto has killed all but one of the Turtles, as well as their mentor, Splinter; the remaining Turtle seeks revenge by wielding all four of their signature weapons.
Uh oh, everyone’s dead! And to my uninitiated eye this premise reads like fanfic of the more family-friendly fare most people know, which I admit makes me more intrigued.
No news yet on who will play the surviving Turtle or when the film will go into production, much less make its way to a theater near you. [end-mark]
