The Last of Us: Season 2
Vibe: Fungal zombies and humanityâs scattered remnant.
Deets: The second season of one of the best shows in recent memory is upon us. The Last of Us is an adaptation of a PlayStation series that far surpassed its incredible source material. Season 2 picks up 5 years after the shocking conclusion of the first season.
This season is uncharted territory for me. I played through the first game but never got around to the sequel because I lowkey hated the controls. Itâs also a very heavy story. Usually I game to relax, not to feel a sort of listless dread.
Season 1 had the same vibe, but reality didnât feel nearly so awful in 2023. Iâm finding it hard to watch bleak television right now.
Streaming on HBO.
Wolfs
Vibe: Pitt and Clooney buoy a lo-fi action flick.
Deets: Wolfs is a film about two professional fixers forced to work together to clean up a murder. It doesnât really give anything away to say the film is really about these two lone wolves discovering life is better with a good bro at your side. The Clooney/Pitt relationship is what weâre there for. Obviously, that dynamic has to be central to the story. Otherwise what are we even doing here.
Just donât expect Oceanâs 11 style chemistry. Both Pitt and Clooney dial back their inborn charisma like 50%âstill beyond the realm of mere mortalsâbut it makes the film feel a bit stilted. Like, you can tell these guys are holding back. Wolfs is also a bit of a genre mutt. Itâs a little bit of everything and not enough of anything to pin it down.
Wolfs exists to let Pitt and Clooney be Hollywood movie stars together. Itâs frankly entertaining just watching them.
Streaming on Apple TV.
Andor: Season 1
Vibe: Star Wars has never felt more real.
Deets: My rewatch of Andor left me feeling a certain kind of way:
Watching 'Andor' in 2025 Is Terrifying
I enjoyed Andor a lot more when fascism was a distant concept. It hits differently with news of, well, everything, going on in America today.
Cord Organizers
Vibe: Blatant desk porn.
Deets: I seriously love the âclear desk space with a few carefully curated itemsâ aesthetic. The problem is itâs so easy to see all that empty space and set something down âjust for a second,â and then months later itâs still sitting there. Sometimes cleaning off my desk off just means moving the piles to the floor.
All the cords required by modern living was also killing my feng shui. I recently bought these cheap cord organizers to wrangle the mess. They keep the mess tidy and also the business ends of the cords handy. Itâs the little things.
Trying: Season 4
Vibe: TV equivalent of a warm hug and a bit of chocolate.
Deets: This adorable show is Apple TVâs best-kept secret. How is nobody talking about it? Itâs so good.
Trying is about two British 30-somethings who are trying to start a family, and the various twists and turns therein. I once said Trying is better than Ted Lasso. I donât know if thatâs trueâI tend to trade in hyperbole in order to make my point. However, itâs close enough that you should basically drop everything to watch this show if you like Ted Lasso or if you enjoy TV that makes you feel good about being alive.
Fair warning: Some of the British accents are a bit hard to decipher. You get used to it, but the main characterâs sister occasionally remains elusive. This may just be my American showing.
Streaming on Apple TV.
Good Links
New Fantastic Four Trailer: Looking pretty great, though Iâm much more enthused about Thunderbolts. I am a Bucky Barnes apologist, what can I say.
Star Wars Celebration: the annual Star Wars convention is underway in Japan. This handy link includes everything thatâs been announced so far, and will be updated throughout the weekend. The thing Iâm most excited about right now: the newly-announced film Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling. Details are scarce but itâs set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker and is an adventure in the mold of the original films. Sold!
While My Guitar Gently Weeps | 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction: Every few years, I rewatch this performance from George Harrisonâs induction. Prince enters midway through the song and completely eclipses a stageful of rock stars. At one point, he makes a face like, âare you seeing this shit Iâm doing?â Like even he canât believe it.
Watching this reminded me of how it felt when you got together with friends to play Rock Band. It was nothing like this, of course, but it sure felt that way while it was happening. This video sent me down a Prince rabbit hole, including his Super Bowl halftime performance and ending, naturally, with Chappelleâs Show.
You should play Last of Us 2. It's excellent.
Agreed on The Last of Us. It has such excellent characters, writing, and performances that itâs hard not to opt in. But. Seeing hope and humanity drain away on the screen given what weâre experiencing day to day isâŚa lot. Youâre the second person who has championed Trying! Thanks for the nudge and the promise of a television hug because: see above comment.