Sunday Service

The last week of BHM...

March 02, 2025

It’s the last week of February, ending a tumultuous Black History Month near and abroad in this country we call home. Here’s a recap of some of the biggest media headlines in a new segment I call Announcements.

Andor released its season two trailer. The timing couldn’t be better. A rewatch of season one needs to be done immediately. Prepare to win April 22 on Disney+

The Pitt scores a second-season renewal

Max’s medical drama, The Pitt, was renewed for a second season midway through its inaugural season. The series is a tour de force in medical procedurals, harkening to the storytelling techniques of yesteryear. While Warner Bros. Discovery denies the show is an unofficial reboot of NBC’s ER, it feels like a spiritual revival of the Emmy-winning drama from the mind of the late Michael Crichton. And his estate seeks to prove just that.

Aside from the legal drama, the series is beautifully paced and written, delivering great performances from its supporting cast and lead, ER alum Noah Wyle. What’s truly incredible is the show’s ability to surprise you at an episode’s end with a new development in an already-established story or character. (A key factor in having a weekly procedural). The latest episode saw many of our stories pleasantly resolved, give or take; the slow-burning B-plot involving a woman’s teenage son who made a revenge hitlist has yet to drop the other shoe. Just as we thought it was safe to exhale, episode 8 dropped a disturbing ending for one of the show’s unlikeable characters. Whether we see him again doesn’t matter as much as how his act impacts the faculty and staff at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.

The Pitt airs Thursday evenings at 9 p.m. on Max.

CBS’ Black soap soars when it drops the respectable dialogue

CBS finally premiered its highly-anticipated new daytime soap, Beyond the Gates, the first to feature a leading Black cast in almost thirty years. A partnership with the NAACP, the new series examines the lives of the esteemed Dupree family and their sordid tales behind the gates of Fairmont Crest. Among their professional and personal achievements are secrets and scandals waiting to burst at the seams.

The resident scandal in the series’ infancy is a shocking betrayal. Karla Molsey’s Dani Dupree, one of Vernon and Anita’s daughters, has lost her husband to an affair with a close friend. To make matters worse, the newlyweds have moved onto the same street as Dani.

The cast stars an array of familiar and new faces, led by Tamera Tunie and Clifton Davis as Anita and Vernon Dupree, respectively. Tunie is most known for her role as lead medical examiner Melinda Warner on Law & Order: SVU. Davis’ legendary resume includes TV’s Amen, Living Single, New Amsterdam, Godfather of Harlem, and The Good Fight. Other leading cast members include Maurice Johnson, Jibre Hordges, Daphnee Duplaix, and Timon Kyle Durrett.

The show shines when in familiar syrupy soap territory. Mosley is endearing as the scorned wife seeking revenge for the ultimate betrayal. And viewers can piece together future storylines as new characters are introduced. The show becomes a bit weak in other moments, particularly scenes where small talk mostly concerns the family’s tried dedication to the advancement of colored people. No more than two episodes in and we’re already discussing the Civil Rights Movement and how these pillars of the community inspire other Black locals.

Exploring our history is fine, but some scenes felt like respectability lecturing — a bit cringe. Get to the MESS of regular soap life. Also, I hope we see more than just the people of a certain class throughout the series tenure. Black people exist beyond the respectable pedigree.

Beyond the Gates airs weekdays at 2 p.m. on CBS.

Paradise’s “The Day” explores our catastrophic class system

Paradise stunned with an emotionally charged episode chronicling the last hours before humanity collapsed. Earnest performances from James Marsden and Sterling K. Brown anchored viewers sternly as they both bid farewell to the world as they knew it. Brown is stirring in his final goodbye to the love of his life, while Marsden’s Cal proves his worth as a president and a man in the final moments.

The mere seconds it took armed agents to turn on their colleagues displayed how capitalism starves us of being humane toward each other; especially when the scarcity of resources is a falsehood. Just imagine if more countries’ leaders led like Cal in that moment. Not with his fist, but an open palm and heart.

Paradise’s season one finale airs this Tuesday and will return for a second season.

Yellowjackets: What in the hell is the Wilderness saying?

I finally caught up with Showtime’s Yellowjackets. After a terrific debut season, the series suffered a minor sophomore slump. Now four episodes into the third season, things are a bit unclear. Most of these labor. pains occur in the present storyline.

Something is stalking the girls, Final Destination style. It harkens back to the theory that the Wilderness was alive; an entity needing a sacrifice to produce benevolence upon them. Ty even sees this presence in a physical form, the slender-esque man that haunted her visions as a child. While she and Van wrestle with this antagonist, Shauna has an unwelcome house guest: Lottie. Fresh from the psych ward, she has no place to stay and has a keen interest and connection with Shauna’s daughter. Lastly, Misty, struggling the most from Nat’s death, is reconsidering her place within the friendship group.

Meanwhile, in the wilderness of horrors past, the girls are biting fighting to stay alive. Shauna has grown indifferent to everybody and everything. The loss of Jackie and her son has made her bitter and angry as hell. She takes her grief out on others — specifically Marcie. As Natalie attempts to prevent a mutiny, Lottie continues to influence Travis and his connection to the Wildnerness, which the group can no longer ignore. Finally, after months of being presumed dead, the girls stumble upon Coach, who they still suspect burned down the cabin.

The series feels stagnant. While the past storyline remains fresh stretching its imagination, the present day is just there. Juliette Lewis’ departure still hangs in the air. That mystery’s resolution felt all too premature. I’m unsure how they rebound to a satisfying stretch this season.

Severance: Best. Episode. Ever.

Apple TV’s mega-watt hit shifted to another level with its seventh episode. As Mark lay unconscious in a reintegration coma, we explored his love story with Gemma, up to where she departed. Simultaneously, we’re introduced to the floor beneath the Exports Hall elevator where Gemma resides, living a torturous existence at the whim of Lumon personnel. We learn the company can multiply the number of “realities” an Innie experiences as Gemma enters different rooms, taking on a different persona for each.

She too, is attempting to get back to Mark, a promise made to her by a direct superior obsessively in love with her. We also learn doppelgängers are monitoring the work of the MDR department, which inches closer to the development of Cold Harbor; a new reality Gemma may soon experience.

Directed by Jessica Lee Gagné, the episode was a beautifully tragic composition of a love extending beyond the present barriers. The transitions from Gemma’s POV to Mark’s memories are marvelous art, progressing what I thought was imaginable in this already otherworldly series. The parting shot of them both near the end speaks volumes of their love lost, a narrative I forget that is so central to the plot.

The episode allows Dichen Lachman to shine. She’s wonderfully magnetic in each scene. The sadness she conjures in her eyes is devastating. Adam Scott continues to deliver such a versatile performance. The amount of nominations this series deserves for acting alone is insane.

Episode seven is by far the best of the series, upending season one’s finale. And it is a contender for a TV episode of the year.

Coming Attractions