This Weekend and Into October (TV & Streaming)

 

   Not meant to be in the least comprehensive, but some of what's on my list of upcoming watch items:

    Now that the Writer's strike is functionally over (next week will see the late night talk shows, and things like the much-missed John Oliver's Last Week Tonight returning this Sunday to HBO, as I saw it come back to life in my DVR pre-sets) - and hopefully the actor's strike soon to follow, with the new WGA contract template ideally helping to light the path - the gears of the entertainment machine should soon begin to turn again. Everyone seems very anxious to get back to work. With the promise of new work beginning to be more likely, we should see some more of what's been held in reserve begin to be officially scheduled -- those projects shot prior to the strike, that streamers had held back should the strike roll on into progressively leaner times.

    Arriving today on Amazon Prime is a three-episode kick-off for the eight-episode first season of Gen V.
     Set in the same continuity as the baudy, often depraved and almost always violent, power corrupts and some folks have way too much of it, The Boys, this new series focuses on a rising crop of "supes" being processed through the corporate-run Godolkin University School of Crimefighting. Can any personal ideals and high-minded aspirations survive a corporate media machine with all the perks?

     So this one has more of a teen drama focus. I stuck with the general trailer as that's a more blog-friendly link. There is a redband trailer, too, with more of the profanity and bloody violence on display, but I know from experience that they'll only let that play over on YouTube, so that's linked here.
     This series is meant to be concurrent with the as-yet-to-be-released fourth season of The Boys. As the filming for that wrapped back on April 12th, approaching six months ago, we won't go much longer before a premiere date's announced.
     
     As I roll into this weekend, one of the bittersweet things I'm looking forward to is catching the series finale of Reservation Dogs over on Hulu. The tenth episode of the third and final season aired Wednesday night. I'm going to miss these people, and I hope this won't be the last we see of them.

     In time for spooky season, a third season of the surprise supernatural homicidal comedy drama with a genderqueer tilt series Chucky is set to begin next Wednesday (Oct. 4th) on Syfy, and so will be appearing on Peacock the following day. Continuing the characters from the film franchise, the series' success was unexpected by many. This season, Chucky's new home base brings new stakes and complications.

     Next Thursday, the 5th, Disney+ will see the return of Tom Hiddleston's god of mischief, Loki, as the show returns for a six-episode second season.

     Owen Wilson also returns as Agent Mobius, along with various other characters from season one, as they try to regroup and address the fallout from season one. This is part of Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, btw, a phase that's particularly focused on the Multiverse - the possibilities and threats of potentially infinite realities.

     A key element of all this is the continuing, out-of-sequence reveal of the history of the man who will be known as Kang, the self-described Conqueror, who so far has been played by Jonathan Majors. This is a role - the Big Bad at the center of both this and Phase Six - and so is currently slated to be central to films into 2027 - presuming the delays caused by the strikes, along with corporate recalibration of the pace of releases, doesn't see this pushed back even farther.
     Given a possible court calendar for Majors on various charges of assault and abuse, the likelihood that they will be recasting him has seemed at least moderate. Then again, the person who claimed the initial assault almost immediately recanted the charges, but the genie was out of the bottle. Reports that Majors was also a suspect in multiple cases of assault and abuse came along quickly, but it remains uncertain whether this is indication of a real pattern of behavior, or sheer opportunism at work, with people seeing an opportunity and smelling all that Disney and Creed money.     I think Disney's taken advantage of the various other delays to provide some cover in all this, not wanting to rush to judgement by acting on the court of public opinion. Such an ill-advised move arguably ended up costing them director James Gunn when they made the hugely stupid move several years back, temporarily severing ties with the writer/director based on ancient tweets he'd made years before they first hired him - when he was a struggling talent, being "edgy" on social media, and which he'd publicly recognized as mistakes years earlier. That resulted in a period where he was suddenly a free(r) agent, which some smart folks over at the former Warner management took advantage of, leading to a new and successful Suicide Squad movie, and the wonderful Peacemaker streaming series that spun out from it. Once that door was opened, it proved too inviting, and Gunn is now contractually-bound to building up the DC universe of screen adaptations for the next few years at least. 
     Soon after the time SAG (actors) strike is settled Disney will need to make an official call on Majors' contract with them, and association with the role. If asked recently I'd have said I'd be surprised if they don't just recast, but taking the time to look it all seems fairly clouded. Still, all of the second season of Loki was filmed a while ago, so for now Majors remains the face of the character here in late 2023.
     My loosely-planned rewatch of season one of Loki may be in the cards for this weekend.

    Finally arriving October 12th on Max will be the back half of season four - the series finale - of the DC comics series Doom Patrol.
    We had the first half of this season between December 8, 2022, and January 5th of this year... then came the long, mostly silent wait, as the new corporate regime that had already pulled the plug on this series and so much else, left the show's fans twisting in the wind.
     So, finally, starting October 12th and finishing November 9th, we'll have the final six episodes.

     Returning October 20th to Freevee is the second season of Bosch: Legacy, following the lives of former LAPD homicide detective "Harry" Bosch, now a private investigator, and of his daughter, Maddie, who has joined the police force. This series is a direct continuation of the Amazon Prime series Bosch, which ran there for seven seasons.

     The series has already been renewed for a third season.