Disney+ is getting into the spooky swing of things by releasing the house of mouse’s latest blockbuster Haunted Mansion to streaming this month, but there’s much more ahead on the service for all the little boils and ghouls to enjoy!

Genre fans will be delighted to hear that there’s a brand-new spin on R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps coming to Disney+ and Hulu in October. The new horror-comedy show is headed up by Scream King Justin Long (Tusk, Barbarian, Jeepers Creepers) and follows five teens who accidentally release supernatural forces and must work together to recapture them, all while discovering their parents’ juicy secrets from their own teen eras.

The jewel in Disney+’s crown this October belongs to the God of Mischief, though. That’s right, the MCU’s most popular series Loki is finally back for a second season, and we’ll be finding out how Thor’s brother (adopted) will be faring against all the multiversal Marvel chaos he unleashed at the end of season 1.

Here’s everything coming to Disney+ in October…

Sunday, October 1

New Library Titles

• Toy Story Funday Football (Livestreaming at 9:30am ET)

Monday, October 2

New Library Titles

• Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats

Tuesday, October 3

Live on Disney+ 

• Dancing with the Stars (Season 32) Episode 2 (Live 5:00-7:31pm PT) 

Disney+ Originals

• Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 8 Finale

Wednesday, October 4

New Library Titles

• Haunted Mansion
• Hailey’s On It! (S1, 5 episodes)
• Kiff (S1, 1 episode)
• SuperKitties (S1, 3 episodes)
• The Villains of Valley View (S2, 4 episodes)

Thursday, October 5

Disney+ Originals 

• Loki (Season 2) Premiere (Available at 6:00pm PT) 

Friday, October 6

New Library Titles

• Bobi Wine: The People’s President
• Camping Out 
• Chips Ahoy 
• Fiddling Around 
• Inferior Decorator 
• Old MacDonald Duck
• When the Cat’s Away
• Wyken, Blyken and Nod

Tuesday, October 10

Live on Disney+ 

• Dancing with the Stars (Season 32) Episode 3 (Live 5:00-7:31pm PT) 

Wednesday, October 11

New Library Titles

• Alice’s Wonderland Bakery (S2, 7 episodes)
• Broken Karaoke (Shorts) (S2, 3 episodes)
• The Simpsons (S34, 22 episodes)
• Heartland Docs, Dvm (S5, 12 episodes)

Disney+ Originals 

• 4EVER Premiere – All Episodes Streaming 

Thursday, October 12

Disney+ Originals

• Loki (Season 2) Episode 2 (Available at 6:00pm PT)

Friday, October 13

New to Disney+

• Goosebumps Premiere – Episodes 1-5 Streaming

Tuesday, October 17

Live on Disney+

• Dancing with the Stars (Season 32) Episode 4 (Live 5:00-7:31pm PT)

Wednesday, October 18

New Library Titles

• PJ Masks: Power Heroes Music Videos (Shorts) (S1, 10 episodes)

Thursday, October 19

Disney+ Originals

• Loki (Season 2) Episode 3 (Available at 6:00pm PT)

Friday, October 20

New Library Titles

• Werewolf by Night in Color

New to Disney+

• Goosebumps Episode 6

Tuesday, October 24

Live on Disney+

• Dancing with the Stars (Season 32) Episode 5 (Live 5:00-7:31pm PT)

Wednesday, October 25

New Library Titles

• Big City Greens (S4, 5 episodes)
• Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge (S2, 8 episodes)
• Theme Song Takeover (Shorts) (S3, 7 episodes) 

New to Disney+

• Primal Survivor: Extreme African Safari All Episodes Streaming

Thursday, October 26

Disney+ Originals 

• Loki (Season 2) Episode 4 (Available at 6:00pm PT)

Friday, October 27

New Library Titles

• Explorer: Lake of Fire (Special)

Disney+ Originals

• LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red Premiere 

New to Disney+

• Goosebumps Episode 7

Tuesday, October 31

Live on Disney+

• Dancing with the Stars (Season 32) Episode 6 (Live 5:00-7:31pm PT)

This article contains spoilers for Gen V episode 1.

Just like its parent series, The Boys spinoff Gen V is a searing satire of the superhero genre.

Set in the fictional Godolkin University, Gen V follows a handful of young Compound V-enhanced superpowered young’ns as they try to make a name for themselves at either the Lamplighter School of Crimefighting or the Crimson Countess School of Performing Arts. As such, the eight-episode Prime Video series has plenty of opportunities to skewer our DC and Marvel-saturated entertainment landscape.

The show’s Sept. 29 three-part premiere contains many such examples of comic book satire. There’s the hyper-violence, acts of superhero selfishness, and depraved sexual acts we’ve come to expect from The Boys, of course. But in one particular instance the series gets ultra specific in its references to the Marvel-ization of pop culture. Simply put: there’s a sneaky WandaVision joke in here and you may have missed it!

The moment comes about 20 minutes into episode 1 “God U.” Accompanied by her cynical roommate Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Emma (Lizze Broadway), gins up the courage to go talk to super famous young actress Justine (Maia Jae Bastidas). As Emma and Marie approach Justine and her friends, we catch a snippet of their conversation in which Justine mentions trying out for a very unique-sounding Vought superhero project:

“So my guys at Innovative are sending me out for this limited series on Vought+,” Justine says. “It’s an elevated superhero thing – a meditation on grief told through 70 years of sitcoms. And Zach Braff is directing.”

Sound familiar? Save for the Zach Braff directing detail (that poor man has been catching satirical stray bullets for years now), Justine clearly auditioned for The Boys‘ universe’s own version of WandaVision.

Premiering in January of 2021, WandaVision was the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s very first* foray into streaming television on Disney+. It was also quite good as far as we’re concerned! The show’s depiction of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) coming to terms with her grief over losing The Vision (Paul Bettany) while paying homage to classic sitcoms was pretty compelling stuff. But it’s also hard to argue that it doesn’t sound like the most deranged thing you’ve ever heard when you merely right down the premise, sans context. A superhero show that’s a meditation on grief told through 70 years of sitcoms? Sure thing, bud. Next you’ll tell me Zach Braff is directing.

*Previous Marvel properties like Daredevil on Netflix and Agents of SHIELD on ABC weren’t technically considered part of the MCU. But it’s a bit of a gray area now as Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock has returned to the MCU proper in Spider-Man: No Way Home and will continue on in Daredevil: Born Again.

It’s a little curious that Vought is only getting to its WandaVision-style show now. That’s pretty old news in Marvel world with the franchise moving on from Phase 4 of its storytelling and into Phase 5. But hey, better late than never. As Gen V progresses through its first season, we’re curious to hear of what other titles are on Vought+. Perhaps The Deep will find himself in some sort of time traveling bureaucracy or Starlight will become a superhero lawyer.

The first three episodes of Gen V are available to stream on Prime Video now. New episodes premiere Fridays culminating with the season 1 finale on Nov. 3.

This article contains The Wheel of Time spoilers.

Actress Hayley Mills may have upended her parents’ lives in Disney’s The Parent Trap back in 1961, but her cameo in The Wheel of Time similarly showed how one Aes Sedai appearing in a flashback could influence the course of history for several of the show’s major characters. What at first glance appears to be a Dragon Reborn prophecy of which viewers were already aware becomes, upon closer inspection, a turning point not only for Rand as the subject of the vision, but also for Siuan, Moiraine, and the entire Damodred family.

Mills portrays an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah named Gitara Moroso, who was Keeper twenty years ago when Siuan and Moiraine were still among the Accepted in the White Tower. In The Wheel of Time, they are shown as a happy, carefree couple, who are particularly glad to announce the end of the Aiel War to their elder. However, the blind sister is struck by the clairvoyant certainty that the Dragon is being born at that exact moment, a prophecy we saw fulfilled in an action-packed season 1 flashback.

Without a doubt, Gitara’s vision is important in the sense that, without it, the Aes Sedai wouldn’t have found Rand and the others in time to save them from the Dark One’s forces. However, there’s also the overwhelming sense that Siuan and Moiraine would have perhaps formed a joyful life together had the Keeper not put them on the mission to find the Dragon Reborn and guide him. Maybe Siuan wouldn’t even have become the Amyrlin at all!

But more than that, we know that Moiraine hasn’t seen her family in decades, and it seems very possible that her mission to find the Dragon became an all-consuming quest once Gitara set her on her path. Alanna Sedai even tells Lan in an earlier The Wheel of Time episode that Moiraine became much more serious quite suddenly just before she bonded her Warder. Her estrangement from her sister might also spring from Gitara’s sudden vision and subsequent events.

Because Gitara, Moiraine, and Siuan were all in the Blue Ajah, the secret of Rand’s birth on the Dragonmount was likely known only to the three of them, and Gitara did not survive the shock of the history-changing vision. The responsibility placed on the two young Accepted became a crushing weight, far too heavy to sustain a viable romance, and we see the aftermath of that burden in the latest The Wheel of Time, particularly in the final heartbreaking moments.

Siuan clearly thinks that six months should have been enough time to prepare Rand for the coming battle, but Moiraine argues that the Amyrlin has failed to prepare the Aes Sedai to accept and support the Dragon Reborn. Siuan recalls that her predecessors planned to use the Dragon as a weapon that they controlled rather than as a general leading an army of the  Light. Perhaps if Gitara had not set them on their mission, Siuan and Moiraine would have seen eye-to-eye on the issue.

Readers of the Robert Jordan novels are likely aware that Gitara’s influence extends even further, to the point where she creates the circumstances for Rand being born in the first place, but as it stands in Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time, a cameo from a notable classic Disney star had the appropriate amount of impact for a pivotal moment in the lives of the show’s principal characters.

This Power Rangers Cosmic Fury article contains spoilers through episode 9.

2025. A year that’s loomed over Power Rangers since 2005 when Power Rangers S.P.D., the 13th season of the franchise, aired. S.P.D.’s unusual jump forward in the timeline (previously each season had more or less matched it years of airing) was so the show could tell stories about an Earth that, to quote the shows first episode, “has become a haven for all alien races who come from the farthest reaches of the galaxy.” 

The world of S.P.D. was one where aliens lived freely amongst humans, just a regular part of everyday life, and the titular Space Patrol Delta protected Earth against the few aliens who refused to live in harmony. It set up the idea that, within twenty years of the season’s airing, Earth in the Power Rangers universe would soon be crawling with aliens. But as each subsequent season got closer to 2025 and aliens never showed up to Earth en masse? Fans began to worry that the show would never address it. It seemed more and more likely that a season would air and be set in 2025 and there would be no mention of aliens. This would shatter the (admittedly already battered) Power Rangers timeline.

While a few aliens had shown up on Earth in the interim between 2005 and 2025, restaurateur Piggy in Mystic Force (2006), Andresian Orion in Super Megaforce (2014), and some Rafkonians in Dino Fury (2022), they weren’t integrated into society the way S.P.D. portrayed. Fans would try and explain it away with theories such as the aliens only live in New Tech City (where much of S.P.D. takes place) but you think someone in at least the last five or ten years of the show would mention aliens living on Earth at some point. You could try and fudge the dates but S.P.D. was clear. Episode 32, “Wormhole” conclusively gave an onscreen date of 2025. The chances of Power Rangers addressing this impending massive gap in its continuity looked impossible.

Then, out of nowhere, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, the 30th season of the franchise, addressed it in a single line.

In episode 9 of the season, the Rangers’ backs are against the wall. Lord Zedd has returned and the entire galaxy is in trouble. MMPR Blue Ranger Billy (David Yost) informs Cosmic Fury Red Ranger Amelia (Hunter Deno) that “alien civilians caught in the battle are losing their homes. Our forces are having to take them to New Tech City back on Earth.”

With two years to spare, Power Rangers finally managed to do it. The aliens in New Tech City are refugees from the battle with Zedd. It’s perfect! Power Rangers finally addressed the looming continuity disaster… But did it really?

The world of S.P.D. isn’t one that lines up with the idea that aliens came to Earth in large numbers only two years previously. The biggest piece of evidence was the S.P.D. episode “Sam Part 2” where Yellow Ranger Z remembers her time at school when she was 12 years old. In that flashback several aliens bully her. Z was an adult in 2025, so that doesn’t make sense with what Cosmic Fury just established, right? 

In truth, this was an impossible task from the start. Outside of the Power Rangers TV show world, it’s understandable that most of the team behind the shows in the years after S.P.D. aired didn’t want to bother with slowly introducing aliens into the population of Earth. It’s certainly not the first time Power Rangers has ignored its past continuity but also characters in Power Rangers traditionally should be relatable to their audience. The more you make their world different to ours the less it may appeal to a general audience. Plus, alien makeup costs money and Power Rangers is notoriously a very cheap show to produce.

It’s not dissimilar to how the revival of Doctor Who in 2005 slowly made aliens attacking Earth more and more common, to the point most people in London would evacuate on Christmas just because an attack happened there every year at that time. Later seasons under new production teams sidestepped this because having the people of Earth aware of aliens made it less relatable to the casual viewer. Much like Power Rangers, Doctor Who could have become far too burdened with its own continuity instead of simply telling fun and engaging stories. So it chose to sidestep it as much as it could.

Then why did Cosmic Fury even bother with giving an explanation for aliens on Earth at all? The simplest answer is that it knew it had a chance with the story it was telling and went for it. Cosmic Fury, and Dino Fury before it, have made a point to find engaging ways of back filling old continuity errors in the franchise. Dino Fury did a whole courtroom drama with it! The S.P.D. timeline issue is something that writers were aware of and took the opportunity to address,

Could Billy have gone more in-depth that actually there were some aliens on Earth already just to satisfy anyone who remembered “Sam Part 2”? Possibly, but Power Rangers Cosmic Fury wisely focuses on its own unique story and only adds little references and explanations in a way that organically makes sense. As much as hardcore fans would want the longer explanation, it would kill the pacing of the show for anyone else watching. 

There’s also a key difference with Cosmic Fury that most other seasons have not had. Cosmic Fury looks to be the last Power Rangers season for awhile. There’s a Netflix reboot in development and it’s extremely unlikely it’ll even address the TV shows continuity. There’s a solid chance that Cosmic Fury could be the end of 30 years of continuity. 

This means the people behind Cosmic Fury knew there probably wouldn’t be another season that would have to worry about aliens suddenly living on Earth. With no upcoming season they could finally shift the status quo of Power Rangers continuity to what S.P.D. had set up without alienating new audiences. This was the only chance and they took it. 

So yes, the smaller details don’t match up, but it mostly works. If you really want to make it work, perhaps a few more aliens came to Earth, lived with Piggy, and had a settlement of sorts that flew under the radar. Z did live most of her life on the streets, it’s not impossible she fell into a small alien community. 

And like previously stated, Power Rangers continuity has almost always had major issues. Lost Galaxy claimed it was set “sometime in the not too distant future” after the previous season of In Space and in that time Earth had constructed a giant space colony that was meant to cross the galaxy. Yet later seasons made it so there was only a gap of about a year between In Space and Lost Galaxy. It’s not impossible Earth was able to construct a giant space worthy colony in a year but it’s pretty unlikely.

Still, it can work and that’s what really matters in a franchise that lasts as long as Power Rangers.

Power Rangers Cosmic Fury is now streaming on Netflix.

The Boys universe is getting even bigger on Prime Video in 2023 with the launch of brand new spinoff series Gen V! Yep, even more Compound V babies are all grown up and studying crimefighting in college, so there are a lot of new Supes to meet this year. Some of them are nice, and some of them are definitely gonna be a problem for Butcher and the boys down the line. As for the others? Well, the jury’s still out.

If you’ve been watching Gen V and have spotted some people you want to get to know a little better, we can surely bring you up to speed with their characters and their acting background. Let’s get to know the cast and characters of Gen V!

Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau

Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) is the main character in Gen V, and it’s safe to say she may be in way over her head while surrounded by the more privileged and protected students of Godolkin University. She also has a very strange superpower that sets her apart from the rest of the crowd: Marie is a blood bender, with a tragic past. She can be quite insular, but manages to be courteous and friendly with others, like her roommate Emma.

Those who already gobble up tales of the weird and unusual may recognize Jaz Sinclair from her role as Sabrina’s witchy best friend Rosalind “Roz” Walker in the hit Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. She also played Beatrice Bennett in The Vampire Diaries, and Chloe in the supernatural copypasta horror film Slender Man back in 2018.

Chance Perdomo as Andre Anderson

Another Chilling Adventures of Sabrina vet in Gen V is Chance Perdomo, who played Sabrina’s warlock cousin Ambrose Spellman in the Netflix show! In this Boys spinoff, Perdomo is Andre, a popular metal bender and best friend of “Golden Boy” Luke Riordan (yes, that’s Arnie’s son Patrick Schwarzenegger). Andre has a lot to live up to at Godolkin, as his father is the famous superhero Polarity (Save the Last Dance star Sean Patrick Thomas). Even though he’s protected to a certain degree at college, it’s important that Andre maintain a level of good behavior – at least in public!

Lizze Broadway as Emma Meyer

Emma Meyer is as cute as a button and almost the same size! Marie’s roommate is a half-inch sized Supe with the deceptively-unthreatening name of Little Cricket. She is typically regular size but can shrink down given the right circumstances – and sometimes with distressing results. Emma is played by Lizze Broadway, who is best known for roles in the TV series Splitting Up Together and The Rookie, and her role in the feature film American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rules. Gen V has undoubtedly offered up her biggest role yet, but she’s so good in the show, we should be seeing a lot more of her in the future.

Maddie Phillips as Cate Dunlap

Golden Boy’s girlfriend Cate Dunlap is a mind empath who can convince people to do pretty much anything, which is a very dangerous superpower, and one that makes her a top Supe at Godolkin University. Cate is definitely someone you wouldn’t want to cross. Canadian actress Maddie Phillips plays Cate. You may recognize her as Randeen from Ghost Wars, Devon D’Marco from Project Mc2, or Sterling Wesley from the Netflix teen comedy-drama series Teenage Bounty Hunters, which was unfortunately canceled after just one season on the streaming service.

Derek Luh and London Thor as Jordan Li

Gender-shifter Jordan Li is another very powerful Supe at Godolkin. They’re also the trusted assistant of renowned professor Richard “Rich Brink” Brinkerhoff, who can be the reason Supes sink or swim at the college. As Jordan switches between male and female throughout the series, the character is played by two different actors – Derek Luh and London Thor. Luh has had a few acting roles in the past, but is mainly known for his music. He has been the artist behind four solo albums to date, and has toured with Machine Gun Kelly. Korean American EDM writer and actress London Thor, meanwhile, has had parts in Never Have I Ever, Shameless, and Netflix’s You.

Asa Germann as Sam

Baby-faced Supe Sam has super strength, invulnerability, and a big ol’ bag of issues to overcome. He’s played by Asa Germann in his first proper Hollywood role. Previously, the most we’ve seen of Germann is as “Blonde Jogger” in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix!

Other Familiar Faces

Arguably the most famous actor in Gen V is Clancy Brown as Professor Brink. Brown has so many IMDb credits to his name we’re not sure where to begin, but his notable roles include The Kurgan in Highlander, Capt. Byron Hadley in The Shawshank Redemption, Sgt. Zim in Starship Troopers, Brother Justin Crowe on Carnivàle, and Waylon Jeffcoat on Billions. Recently, he played Kurt Caldwell on Dexter: New Blood. He’s also the voice of Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants – you won’t be able to unhear it!

Elsewhere, Shelley Conn plays “normie” Indira Shetty on the show. Shetty is superintendent of Godolkin University, and doesn’t seem very trustworthy. Conn is best known for playing Lady Mary Sharma in Bridgerton, Dr Elizabeth Shannon in Terra Nova, and Beelzebub in the second season of Good Omens.

You’ll also spot a ton of appearances from The Boys alums Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett), Claudia Doumit (Victoria Neuman), P. J. Byrne (Adam Bourke) Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy), and Chace Crawford (The Deep).

Gen V is now streaming on Prime Video

This Castlevania review contains spoilers.

When Netflix’s Castlevania animated series first released in 2017, it was nothing short of a miracle: at last fans had a video game adaptation that was not only worthy of its beloved source material but was also a hell of a lot of fun to watch in its own right, especially in its early, Dracula-focused seasons. Netflix got the formula very right back then and its sequel, Castlevania: Nocturne, largely nails it too, even if its 8-episode first season sometimes drags in the middle.

Set in 1792, about 300 years after the adventures of Trevor Belmont, the events of Nocturne unfold during the chaos of the French Revolution, a very suitable backdrop for all the gruesome violence that ensues at the crack of a Belmont whip. Returning directors Sam and Adam Deats go for broke with action sequences that extract every last ounce of blood, guts, and body parts from the Night Creatures that stalk the darkest corners of Paris (there are some really sick monster designs on this show). The original series wasn’t exactly kid-friendly, but Nocturne makes the guillotine look like a children’s toy in comparison.

The show follows Richter Belmont, this era’s own smart-ass vampire hunter, voiced by Edward Bluemel, who has a lot of fun with the more fresh-faced Belmont. Richter is a bit of a departure from Trevor. While he has a dark past like Trevor did, Richter embraces his Belmont heritage and it’s clear from the start of the series that he feels he has something to prove, whereas Trevor just wanted to be left alone to drink. His motivation for fighting monsters is a lot more personal too, going back to his mother Julia Belmont (a new Belmont created for the show) and her death at the hands of her vampiric nemesis Olrox (a terrific Zahn McClarnon).

But Richter isn’t so much the star of Nocturne as one part of a larger ensemble of monster killers, which really works in this case, since most of the other characters are just as interesting, sometimes more so, such as in the case of the reimagined Annette (Thuso Mbedu), who is by far the highlight of the series, along with her partner Edouard (Sydney James Harcourt), an opera singer whose story turns out to be quite heartbreaking.

Like its predecessor’s take on Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Nocturne is inspired by the Konami games but not completely beholden to them. The show definitely takes some liberties with Rondo of Blood, which is the game this sequel is largely based on. A lesser known installment that was originally released on the TurboGrafx-16, Rondo of Blood is your classic Castlevania fare: Dracula has kidnapped Richter’s beloved Annette and now the young Belmont must venture into the vampire’s castle to save her. But the Annette we meet in Nocturne, an ex-slave who’s arrived in France on a quest for vengeance, is no damsel in distress in this adaptation. She’s a badass sorceress who needs no saving and is at the best of times the driving force of the series.

It’s through Annette, and the show’s main antagonist, the cruel vampire queen Erzsebet Báthory, that Nocturne also explores its other big influences beyond the games and the history of the French Revolution: the religion of Voodoo and Egyptian mythology. It’s an interesting mix of inspirations that takes the series in some unexpected directions, including in its final act when Bathory’s plan comes into full view.

Both Bathory and her vicious lieutenant Drolta Tzuentes (Elarica Johnson) are technically inspired by the games, but they’re basically whole new characters in Nocturne, which works just as well. Also accounted for is a new take on the Shaft character from Rondo of Blood, although the villain is somewhat more sympathetic here, even if he does turn out to be a grimy sleazeball by the end. (This show is about as kind to the clergy as the original was, which means not at all.) But all the other villains of the series pale in comparison to Olrox, who is easily one of the better baddies these shows have produced. While Bathory, Drolta, and the other vampiric French aristocrats are your power-hungry antagonists, Olrox is a bit more complicated than that, and he’s again a big departure from his video game counterpart. You may even sympathize with him a bit by the end.

The story, penned by Clive Bradley this time around, is well-told overall and keeps the pace up for the most part, especially when it’s focused on Annette and why she’s so determined to take down the vampire plot in Paris. But some plot threads fall pretty flat as well, such as a major third act twist that changes what we thought we knew about Richter’s partners in crime, Tera (Nastassja Kinski) and her daughter Maria Renard (Pixie Davies). Their story in general drags along, and so does Richter’s after a particularly embarrassing defeat sends him cowering away from the central conflict for a spell. A big reveal about Richter’s past at the midway point is an eyebrow-raiser but also doesn’t really end up going anywhere interesting — presumably it’ll get some payoff in a second season.

Indeed, Nocturne ends on a very clear to be continued that will leave fans buzzing and demanding more. But this first entry is satisfying, full of brutal action sequences, cool character designs and weapons, plenty of easter eggs and references to video game lore, and even a bit of history thrown in for good measure. Most importantly, it bravely separates itself from the original and goes in its own direction instead of just retreading Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard’s quest, and we’re very much looking forward to seeing where Nocturne takes us next.

Castlevania: Nocturne is streaming now on Netflix.

This Star Wars: Ahsoka article contains spoilers.

It’ll be a race to the finish line in the final episode of Star Wars: Ahsoka. Both sides want to escape Peridia and return to New Republic space, but in the penultimate episode, “Dreams and Madness,” it really looks like it’s the villains who hold all the cards. While Thrawn has a Star Destroyer, Night Troopers, the Witches of Dathomir, two dark siders, and the Eye of Sion on his side, Ahsoka and friends don’t even have their purrgil anymore. How the hell are the heroes supposed to not only stop Thrawn’s plans of galactic conquest but also get back home? Only showrunner Dave Filoni knows at the moment.

But what Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra plan to do to thwart the Grand Admiral isn’t the finale’s only big mystery. There’s also the question of what’s in those coffin-like containers the Empire is transferring to the Chimaera ahead of the trip back to the galaxy far, far away. An exchange between Thrawn and Lady Morgan in episode 6 revealed that the containers were coming from the Nightsister catacombs on the planet’s surface. This quickly sparked theories that the Nightsisters planned to bring their dead ancestors back to the New Republic and resurrect them with their dark magic. As The Clone Wars fans know, these witches have used necromancy in the past to take down their enemies.

Fast forward to “Dreams and Madness” and the episode’s biggest callback. No, we don’t mean Anthony Daniels’ return or those references to Senator Leia Organa (which were neat, of course), but the big Clone Wars era villains who are namedropped in the episode. The scene in question sees Ahsoka practicing her lightsaber forms while a hologram of Anakin Skywalker offers words of encouragement. We learn Anakin recorded several training holograms for Ahsoka during the Clone Wars, and this one offers a particularly fan service-y pep talk about the many trials his padawan will face on the battlefield. Not just battle droids, Anakin says, but also General Grievous, Count Dooku, and even…Asajj Ventress, who so happens to also be a Nightsister who Filoni used quite a bit during The Clone Wars.

I never thought I’d here Hayden christensen as anakin skywalker talk about asajj ventress wild #Ahsoka pic.twitter.com/bV7dQUA1x4

— Eddie🐝 #HIVESZN (@YaBoyEd) September 27, 2023

The timing of the reference couldn’t be more suspicious. Ventress, a fan-favorite Nightsister villain-turned-sorta-anti-hero, died in the final days of the Clone Wars, and now she’s being referenced on a show about witches who are moving their dead sisters out of their catacombs, presumably to resurrect them? Not to mention that she’s a favorite of Filoni’s, and he’s even considered bringing her back from the dead in the past.

“We had Mika Grey, who, originally, early on, was actually Asajj Ventress in the storyline. That was going to be an older version of Asajj Ventress. And that was [Dave] Filoni’s idea,” Star Wars Resistance writer and producer Brandon Auman revealed to the Friends of the Force podcast (via Screen Rant) in 2021. Filoni and the rest of the animated series’ creative team initially planned to bring Ventress forward to the Sequel Trilogy era for that show, where she would at one point face off against another big Star Wars villain. “We were even gonna have a scene where Asajj Ventress takes on Kylo Ren. That was something that we had discussed very early on.”

That didn’t end up happening, of course. As of this writing, Ventress’ last chronological appearance in the canon was in the novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden, in which she sacrificed herself to save Quinlan Vos, a Jedi she fell in love with during the Clone Wars (you heard his name referenced on Obi-Wan Kenobi). That book was originally meant to be an eight-part story arc on The Clone Wars before the series was canceled in 2014, so it’s clear Filoni always meant to explore a lot more with the character — or at least provide her story with some closure on screen.

Well, bringing her back on Ahsoka could be that opportunity. Interestingly, the character was actually born out of concept art for an unused Sith character in Attack of the Clones, before she eventually made her onscreen debut in the Clone Wars microseries on Cartoon Network in 2003, so she’s always been kind of destined to appear in live action, anyway. And Ahsoka has already foreshadowed the Nightsisters’ ability to resurrect dark siders. In fact, they seemed to do just that with Marrok, a former Inquisitor whose body let out a mysterious green smoke when he died earlier in the season, suggesting he’d been a product of the witches’ dark magick all along. In theory, it would work the same way with a resurrected Ventress.

Now, while the Nightsisters’ catacomb plan and this reference in the penultimate episode of Ahsoka have added fuel to the fan theory of Ventress’ resurrection, there’s one little detail that technically derails the whole thing: we know that her body was laid to rest on Dathomir, the Nightsisters’ adopted homeworld, at the end of Dark Disciple. So why would she be in a coffin in the catacombs of Peridia, which is located in a completely different galaxy? Well, she doesn’t need to be.

We’ve yet to learn where in New Republic space the Chimaera is headed to if/when it leaves Peridia. But it would make a bit of sense for their first stop to be Dathomir, where the Great Mothers would presumably have even more dead sisters to resurrect and add to their numbers. Perhaps that’s the deal Thrawn made with the Nightsisters: they help him make his way back to the galaxy far, far away and he transports them back to Dathomir so that they can rebuild their coven, including by reviving one Asajj Ventress.

We’ll find out for sure whether Ventress will somehow return when the Star Wars: Ahsoka finale hits Disney+ on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

This article contains spoilers for Reservation Dogs season 3 episode 10.

Many television shows try to be about community. Hell, one series tried so hard that it violated SEO best practices to just go ahead and name itself Community. I would wager, however, that no TV program ever has better understood the concept of community, nor articulated what it means more effectively than FX’s Reservation Dogs.

The series, which just finished its three-season run on Hulu, began as a simple comedy following four Indigenous teens in their small reservation town of Okern, Oklahoma. Just as those teens – Elora (Devery Jacobs), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) – grew to realize that their world was much bigger than pilfered potato chips and petty rivalries, so too did Reservation Dogs grow.

Throughout its richly-realized third season, Reservation Dogs has carefully and empathetically communicated how little the youth sometimes realize that they need their elders. The show became as much about old-timers like Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer), Bucky (Wes Studi), Irene (Casey Camp-Horinek) and the estranged Maximus (Graham Greene) as it did about the titular Rez Dogs. By broadening its storytelling landscape to treat its elders as co-equals, Reservation Dogs tapped into what makes community so important.

Like another great TV series once said, “all of this has happened before and all of it will happen again.” Rather than regarding that declaration as a cynical comment on of human frailty, Reservation Dogs celebrated it. Aho there young warrior, do not despair! All of the things that trouble you now have troubled someone else before. And you can talk to that person right now. That’s why we built this whole community thing in the first place.

That appreciation of intergenerational support and cooperation comes to a head in “Dig,” the utterly beautiful and affecting final episode of the show. From the installment’s very first scene, “Dig” is laser focused on proving once and for all that no one can do it alone. It’s certainly a strategically smart decision to open the episode with Hokti Jackson, the character played by Lily Gladstone (who is about to become one of the most famous actors in the world when Killers of the Flower Moon premieres). But it’s also a creatively sound one.

Like she did in season 2 episode 9, Willie Jack pays a visit to her aunt Hokti (who was also her friend Daniel’s mother before he died) in prison to achieve some piece of mind. Back then she wanted advice on how to deal with the apparent fracture of her friend group. Now, however, she needs direction. Community medicine man and Willie Jack’s mentor Old Man Fixico (Richard Ray Whitman) has passed away. Fixico’s passing leaves the reservation without a healer as Willie Jack believes she didn’t receive the right lessons from the man to continue in his stead.

Hokti, guided by her ancestor Gram, knows that this is not true. Willie Jack got what she needed from Fixico because everyone did. We always do from the ones we love. Using a bag of Flaming Flamers as a visual aid, Hokti demonstrates how we all inherit a piece from those whose lives we touch. Though Fixico’s “bag” may now be empty, the little chips of his soul live on in everyone else.

“And some day, you’ll do it for me when I go. And then someone’ll do it for you when you go. And we’ll all carry it on. All of us. We keep going,” Hokti says.

If there’s a more succinct definition of community, I have yet to hear it. “All of us. We keep going.” The definition is even enriched by Hokti’s use of something relatively crude like a flaming hot potato chip. One of Reservation Dogs‘ best features is its ability to blend the mundane with the profound. The flat planes of Oklahoma are so still and pristine that they look like something out of the heavens themselves. And yet, those planes are dotted with the vulgar machinations of mass produced capitalism like Flaming Flamer trucks and Sonic Drive-Ins. Rather than rejecting that part of the environment, the people of Reservation Dogs embrace it. Sonic tots might as well be mana. Here, Hokti uses potato chips as essentially a sacrament.

“Dig” is so named because of the ritual that makes up most of its runtime. The burial of Fixico operates as the perfect opportunity for Reservation Dogs to make its case for community and then send its characters off. All of the residents of Okern, young and old, gather at the church to do right by Fixico. Because that’s what you do. That’s what you owe your people.

The men dig the grave with their bare hands while the women prepare fry bread and zucchini dishes in the kitchen … and also gossip about Big’s (Zahn McClarnon) sex noises. It’s all really such a joy. For as didactic a tone as I’ve probably accidentally adopted in explaining the show’s appreciation for community (sorry), its depiction of it is anything but boring or academic. Even under the grim circumstances of a funeral it’s all quite fun.

Still, there are real moments of pain here as well – most notably Elora realizing that she’ll have to leave Bear behind to go to school just like his mother is to go to Oklahoma City – but the characters know exactly what to do with that pain. They share it with one another. Bear musters the courage to say something that would make his spiritual assistant William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth) proud.

“That’s awesome. Elora I’m proud of you. You’ve had it the hardest of all of us. And you’re still the toughest.”

Of course, that moment does literally make William Knifeman proud. After being “estranged” from his guardian angel since the second episode of this season, Bear listens to his elders and chooses to summon his old friend by whistling in the black of night. Befitting his status as a celestial goofball, William comes back to Bear not in an ethereal cloud of smoke but rather by just kind of stumbling through the woods.

William isn’t here to offer Bear any advice (if he ever was) but to say goodbye and assure him that’s he’s figured it all out on his own. His people don’t need a chief out of him, they just need another warrior. And that’s what Bear is happy to be for them.

“I’m proud of you little brother,” William says. “You deserve to be loved and you deserve to love. And that’s what all those people in there are offering you.”

An “offering” as something you give to a deity or fallen ancestor is a powerful concept in most faiths. We’ve seen it play out several times in Reservation Dogs, most recently in episode 7 when Bear’s mom Rita has to be reminded by the spirit of her friend Cookie to bless a bounty of fried catfish for her ghostly self to enjoy. What Reservation Dogs posits though is that an offering isn’t just something you give to the dead. It’s what you owe to the living as well.

“Dig” ends twice and in equally satisfying fashion each time. The first ending catches up with the Rez Dogs as they walk into the proverbial sunset together. Fixico has been buried, the “I love yous” have been shared, and now all that’s left for Bear, Willie Jack, Elora, and Cheese is to grab something to eat then get on with their lives. The show fades to black to share “Mvto,” the Mvskoke word for “thank you.” Then the second ending begins. The Rez Dogs of old – Brownie, Bucky, Irene, and Maximus – sit on a bench and reflect upon the day’s activities.

“We sent our brother off in that good way,” Brownie says
“Til the next one,” Maximus offers up as a toast.

In its final moments, Reservation Dogs once again proves why it understands multigenerational storytelling on such a deep level. Community is indeed all of those ooey-gooey concepts we’ve explored thus far. It’s elders and youth. It’s an offering. It’s love. But above all else it’s a circle.

As the old-timers begin to see their way out, the kids get started on their own journey – probably a journey where they’ll make all the same mistakes but find strength in each other all the same. And then when that’s all done there will be another generation of Rez Dogs there to start the cycle again. We keep going. All of us. With bits of flaming flamers in our hearts.

All three seasons of Reservation Dogs are available to stream on Hulu now.

This Star Wars: Ahsoka review contains spoilers.

Ahsoka Episode 7

“Dreams and Madness,” Ahsoka season 1’s penultimate episode, looks great on paper but falls short in execution. We get to spend more time with Ezra and Sabine, we get to see Thrawn exert his tactical dominance from his war room on Peridea, there’s a frantic space chase inside a Purrgil graveyard, and we’re even treated to a lengthy cameo by C-3PO. So why does the episode fall a little flat?

It’s not that there’s one big issue that tanks the entire episode. Rather, it’s an accumulation of little creative decisions that don’t hit the mark. Take C-3PO saving Hera and Teva’s asses in the courtroom, for example. It’s fun to see him put Senator Xiono in his place and clear Hera’s name on Leia’s behalf, but as a courtroom scene, this thing could not have been more lacking in tension. Beat for beat, the sequence is poorly paced, and it’s as predictable as it gets (wasn’t there a scene just like this in a Mighty Ducks movie?). Hera’s back and forth with the New Republic bureaucracy is the weakest recurring storyline in the series, which is a shame, because it does serve the purpose of establishing the dire implications of Thrawn’s return. Chop’s fiery reaction to Xiono’s “mere droids” comment was pretty funny, though.

Watching Ahsoka train with an Anakin hologram is…a little awkward. The scene doesn’t add much to what we saw in “Shadow Warrior,” and kinda feels like a flimsy excuse to get Hayden Christensen up on the screen again. The subsequent minefield sequence and chase through the Purrgil graveyard features some nice nods to the asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back but ultimately feels a little too familiar to stand on its own. And speaking of Purrgil, were we not meant to feel terrible that they were being bludgeoned with magnetic mines? Huyang and Ahsoka’s comments about them “providing cover” does come off as a bit cruel…

We then get the first of several check-ins with Thrawn at his base, surveying the movements of his enemies and allies on Peridea and sharing his stratagems with Morgan. It’s becoming quite clear now that Elsbeth is simply there as a prop that gives Thrawn an excuse to vocalize his inner thoughts, which is a bummer considering how interesting she could be if she were given a bit more material to work with.

At one point, Thrawn says he plans to “put [Ahsoka] on a path of our own choosing so that no matter which direction she takes, we’ll always be one step ahead of her.” No matter which direction she takes? You just said you were choosing the path, no? The dialogue isn’t exactly razor-sharp here, either.

But we do get a sense of how Thrawn’s mind works throughout the episode: He’s constantly learning and adapting, striving to stay 10 steps ahead of his enemies and let the grunts do the grunt work while he observes and dispatches orders to Captain Enoch from his perch. It’s worth noting that unlike most Big Bads, Thrawn never underestimates his adversaries. In fact, he makes a point to overestimate them and plan for the worst case scenario, something the New Republic refuses to do despite Hera’s desperate pleas. Despite his condescending demeanor, Thrawn’s ego doesn’t seem to be his Achilles’ heel the way it is for most traditional Star Wars antagonists. 

Ezra. He’s back! And yet…it doesn’t really feel like he’s back back. Which is to say, after all this time and build-up to his return, it seemed natural that we’d get a nice, long, emotional catch-up between him and Sabine. But so far, their interactions sound a lot more chit-chat and less heart-to-heart, which makes Ezra still feel a bit distant. He deserved more of a prolonged focus here, but unfortunately he comes off as a supporting character rather than a true protagonist. That said, Eman Esfandi nails Ezra’s mannerisms and sense of humor, as if the character had jumped right out of the cartoon.

The Sabine/Ezra segments also allow us to spend more time with the adorable Noti tribe. We learn that they’re a peaceful group, and the designs of their armored caravan supports this lore tidbit beautifully. New Star Wars designs are hit and miss these days (the howlers are atrocious) but the Noti are a worthy addition to the universe. These little alien hermit crabs from the space Shire are a great bit of worldbuilding.

The coolest thing about the big fight scene between Ezra, Sabine, Ahsoka, Shin, and the Night Troopers is that we get to see how the characters’ backgrounds manifest in their fighting styles. Ezra uses the Force to accentuate the hand-to-hand combat he’s had to employ on Peridea, Sabine combines Jedi techniques with her Mandalorian artillery to deadly effect (those wrist rockets just never get old), and Ahsoka channels all of the Jedi Masters that came before her.

But overall, the action in this episode is just a bit underwhelming. Even the anticipated rematch between Ahsoka and Baylan doesn’t really deliver, and ends on more of a to be continued. With just one episode left in the season, the show hasn’t really done enough to make this particular showdown between ex-Jedi feel all that emotionally charged. Surely, there should be more conflict there?

Surprisingly, the score is one of the weakest parts of the episode, especially during the action sequences. The brilliant Kevin Kiner is without a doubt one of the best composers working on Star Wars today, but his arrangements this week just don’t evoke high drama or high stakes at all. Think about how much “Duel of the Fates” elevated the climactic battle in The Phantom Menace—the score sounded as epic as what we were seeing on screen. Or even the creepy organ theme that accompanied Thrawn’s debut last week. In this episode of Ahsoka, the music doesn’t quite give scenes the lift they need to feel as engrossing as they deserve.

Unfortunately, “Dreams and Madness” doesn’t build up as much momentum heading into the season finale as one would hope. The going concern should be the heroes’ race against time to stop Thrawn from leaving Peridia, but the urgency of this is only barely hinted at here. Ezra seems hopeful that he’ll finally get to go home, but shouldn’t the episode end on a note that he and the gang need to move their freakin’ Force-sensitive asses before the Heir to the Empire destroys everything they fought so hard for?