Announcements

• As if it had to be announced, HBO renews The Last of Us for a third season

• UK seeks to add a 5% streamer levy to support TV industry

A Rewatch Story

I’m revisiting Star Wars’ Andor to celebrate its second season. It’s fitting that the best TV series about the galaxy far, far away is attached to the best spinoff film of the modern era.

Set as a prequel to Rogue One, viewers experience the casualties of war through the eyes of a man whose homeland was demolished by genocide. With revenge in his heart and an ache to find his missing sister, he becomes an agitator against the Empire—a mere thief who, in one fateful night, becomes an enemy of the galactic state.

For me, the series made the peril of Star Wars much more palpable. The space soap opera always was a story about fighting a fascist regime, but it got lost in the lightsaber beams, force grabs, and space battles. Not to mention, all of its players were white. Like a lot of science fiction and fantasy hybrids, Black people and people of color somehow don’t exist in the future. Andor recognized this error, opting to place viewers on the ground, where the wars are planned. And their consequences are most felt.

Of course, the series holds up and feels ever more prevalent as our emperor-in-training wheels seeks to restore America to its original fascist roots. Fight, the Empire!

Season one of Andor is available to stream on Disney+, purchase on DVD, or stream via Hulu through April 22.

Shall We Dance?

Season one’s penultimate episode found our devil and his nemesis in close quarters at the mayor’s inaugural ball. The show finally feels worthy of its predecessor, building hand-wringing tension and bone-crushing violence throughout, until exploding in a mouth-gaping conclusion.

The characters felt fully realized, especially the supporting cast, who seemed underused in previous episodes. Not only is this the best entry since episode six, but it also signals a tonal shift that hopefully carries throughout season two.

Catch the season one finale of Daredevil: Born Again next Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on Disney Plus.

Lucky Number Seven

Netflix unleashed the seventh season of Black Mirror, the dystopian tech-fi anthology series from Charlie Brooker. The latest six episodes deliver an array of tales that pack a more solid punch than the previous season from 2023. With an incredible cast, stories vary from the evolution of subscription services (“Common People”) to the joy of experiencing memories (“Eulogy”). Of course, the tour de force is the anticipated sequel to season four’s iconic “USS Callister.”

Q1 Recap - Top 5

As we shift into April, we bid the first quarter of 2025 behind us. That means it’s time to start tallying up my favorite TV series of the year. Each quarter, I’ll compile a top 5 list for the past three months, culminating in my top 20 list in December.

Get into my favorites and let me know if any of your “Best Of” options made the list.

The Pitt

While the jury is still out on whether this is an original work, Max’s primetime medical drama brought must-see TV to streaming. Led by Noah Wyle, the medical staff at a Pittsburgh trauma medical center accurately portrayed the various emergencies with excellent writing, profound performances, and clutch cliffhangers. Word on the street is that season two takes place over the July 4th weekend. Happy holidays.

Stream season one of The Pitt on Max.

Severance

Dan Erickson’s obscure workplace drama went the distance, stretching its mythology and lore this time around, producing a surreal and profoundly emotive televised experience. All of its glorious quirks — from goats to watermelon molds — culminated in a breathtakingly beautiful examination of love and loss, and ultimately, who deserves to experience both; experience life.

Season two of Severance is available on Apple TV+.

Dark Winds

After voicing a thousand-year-old vampire, Zahn McClarnon returned to lead the AMC noir crime series, Dark Winds. The third season is the series’s best, showcasing a hauntingly rich storyline with superb performances. It also holds one of the year’s best hours of television in an episode deeply rooted in Navajo cultural folklore and history. McClarnon gives a tour de force performance and should be among Emmy favorites.

Episodes of Dark Winds air on AMC/AMC+ on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

Adolescence

Netflix scored a ratings juggernaut with the taut social thriller, Adolescence. The four-part series about a teen’s horrific murder chases the elusive motive behind the act. With a stunning performance from newcomer Owen Cooper, the show forces one to pause and study how we wield “masculinity.”

Stream all four episodes on Netflix.

Castelvania: Nocturne

While I’ve never played a second of the video game franchise, I purchased the original Castlevania saga and its sequel series, Nocturne, on Blu-Ray. The fantastic anime continued with Nocturne’s second season. Crafting a tale with gruesome historical fiction, Richter Belmont and Dracula’s son battle a vile white woman possessed by a sinister Egyptian goddess. The bloody tale explores themes of power, organized religion, and the evil of man.

Stream seasons 1 and 2 of Castlevania: Nocturne on Netflix.

Honorable Mentions

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Disney+)

Paradise (Hulu)

Bosch: Legacy (Prime Video)

The Residence (Netflix)

Beyond the Gates (CBS/Paramount Plus)

Coming Attractions

4.13 The Last of Us arrives tonight at 9 p.m. on HBO

4.18 Ryan Coogler’s Sinners hits theaters