***The following is a detailed recap of the episode "Lux,” and it contains major spoilers for the episode. You can also read our spoiler-free review here.***

In 1952, the pre-film clips play in the Palazzo cinema of the latest atom bomb test on the Gaumont British News as a few people in the audience watch. Up in the projection booth, a man (Linus Roache) stirs his drink and leaves the metal spoon on the table. He goes into the other room and chooses a film reel which he then sets up to play. It’s a cartoon featuring Mr. Ring-a-Ding (voiced by Alan Cumming). A blue-skin cartoon character is approached by a female character with yellow skin (voiced by Millie O'Connell) who asks who he is. He says, “Don’t make me laugh!” He then starts singing that he’s Mr. Ring-a-Ding. The moonlight shines down through the skylight in the projection booth and hits the spoon on the table, bouncing up onto a poster then floating like dust into the light from the projector and down onto the screen. Mr. Ring-a-Ding asks the girl her name, and she says it’s Sunshine Sally. He says not to give him sunshine, because he’s more interested in moonlight, that icy cold beam of Heaven touching his sole and giving him life. He asks people in the audience what they think and then talks directly to a man in the audience. He says if he won’t tell him he’ll have to find out for himself. He says they are going 3-D as he climbs out through the screen and repeats again not to make him laugh.

The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) talks to Belinda (Varada Sethu) as he works under the console of the TARDIS. He questions she left Earth May 24, 2025, which is the one time the TARDIS can’t reach. He tries to move them again, and they bounce off the date. She questions he can’t get it fixed and says that he’s a Time Lord, to “take it back to Time Lordia; they must have garages.” He says he wishes it was called that, but Gallifrey. She says to go there, and he just says not today. The Doctor says he never asked her, but who does she have: a girlfriend, boyfriend, other friend? She says she has her mom and dad. Her father works in taxes and her mother is a violinist in the orchestra.

The second episode of the season of Doctor Who, “Lux,” which was once again written by Russell T. Davies, takes the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) on their next adventure together when the TARDIS spits them out in Miami 1952. Still unable to figure out why they can’t return Belinda to the time she left, she agrees to take a detour and check out what it can be like traveling with the Doctor.

On exiting the TARDIS they happen upon the abandoned cinema, the Palazzo Picture Palace, where fifteen people have vanished never to be heard from again. Investigating, they discover an enemy that isn’t as two-dimension as he seems, when the cartoon, Mr. Ring-A-Ding (voiced by the marvelous Alan Cumming), steps out of the screen.

Blending a cartoon villain with real people can go either way, but overall, to me, the episode was a positive experience. The adventure was so much fun, and there was a lot to really enjoy about this episode. Doctor Who is often quirky and this episode is exactly that, and it’s something very different. There were some bits with them escaping the cartoon, while corny it had me chuckling. Also, as a fan, there were parts of this episode that I absolutely loved, because one scene is full to the brim with Easter eggs, like so many my head was spinning, and I plan to break down all of them after the episode airs. Aside from the in jokes, I also was pleased to see continuity in the episode, pulling in some pieces from season one and the previous specials that I won’t spoil.

Tonight, the second season of The Last of Us, which was created by Craig Marin and Neil Druckmann and was based on the video game of the same name, premieres tomorrow on HBO and Max. Before watching the premiere, catch up with our quick guide below that tells you everything you need to know before diving into the premiere, and tune in tomorrow night at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

Be sure to check out our Youtube channel for our live reviews and breakdowns of The Last of Us each week. You can currently watch our review/breakdown for season one.

***The following is a detailed recap of the episode “The Robot Revolution,” and it contains major spoilers for the episode. You can also read our spoiler-free review here.***

Seventeen years ago, Alan Budd (Jonny Green) sits with his girlfriend, Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) looking at the stars. He gives her a birthday gift, a certificate for ownership of a star. She questions if it has to say “Miss” with her name. He asks her if she’s married, and she tells him she’s not, so he says then it is miss and asks if she likes it. She tells him it’s the nicest thing anyone has done for her, and they share an awkward kiss.

Seventeen years later, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) arrives at the hospital in his TARDIS. He goes inside where Belinda is working as a nurse. He’s looking for someone. A doctor tells Belinda on her way out that there is a doctor looking for her, but she leaves. The Doctor asks the woman at the front desk (Belinda Owusu) for information, but she is not allowed to give that out. He distracts her and then uses his sonic on her computer, and it knocks out the power in the whole building. He apologizes.

Later, Belinda lays in bed when her room starts to shake and the star certificate, which is framed on the wall, falls down. She goes to the window and sees a rocket ship land outside.

Large red robots smash their way into the apartment through the wall. One points a ray gun at her. She says they can’t be actual robots, because it’s ridiculous, and scolds them as they wreck the apartment.

The second season of Disney’s Doctor Who kicks off with “The Robot Revolution” and the introduction of Belinda Chandra (Varada Seth), who is abducted from her house in the middle of the night by some large robots telling her she is their queen. Having no choice but to follow, she starts on a journey that takes her across the stars. Arriving on a planet where the humans have been subjugated and robot overlords rule, she’s told she must marry and weld with a robot that knows no pity or mercy, and it’s there that she meets the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) who has a plan to save her and start a rebellion.

The series is back with an exciting start. The episode itself is a fun story that spans across seventeen years, the whole adventure kicking off because of a gift Belinda got as a teenager from her ex. Throw in some timey-wimey and you’ve got an excellent premiere.

As often with Doctor Who, the episode blends a lively adventure but also touches on real world issues and lessons to be learned. Without getting into spoiler territory, there are themes of control and independence which come out in different ways.

The Last of Us, which is based on the video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog of the same name, was created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for HBO. The series starts with a mass parasitic fungal infection caused by a mutated strain of the cordyceps fungus which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures, and this leads to the collapse of society. The story follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), who sees his daughter, Sarah (Nico Parker), shot down by the military when they and his brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), try to escape the outbreak to the safety of the city.

Twenty years later, Joel and his partner, Tess (Anna Torv), work as smugglers in the Quarantine Zone trying to trade for a working vehicle so that Joel can find and rescue his brother, who left the QZ and stopped sending messages, and he therefore believes to be in danger.

After being double-crossed by the man they try to buy a battery off of, they run into Marlene (Merle Dandridge), the leader of the Fireflies, a rebel group fighting against the oppressive regime of FEDRA. Injured, she promises Joel all the equipment he needs if he and Tess smuggle a teenage girl, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), out of the QZ and take her to the Firefly base.

The second episode picks up from the events of the season finale, but showing the outies’ points of view. Mark’s outie “wakes up” after having shouted at everyone that “she’s alive!” Devon hugs him, questioning it’s really him now and asks him her name. He jokes it’s Persephone. Mark notices he’s still holding the picture frame of Gemma.

Helena stands staring at the long conference table rubbing her neck when Drummond comes in, followed by her father. He’s not happy and calls her a fetid moppet. After he leaves, she tells Drummond they’ll have someone from the floor liaise with the outies. He says that they need to find out who they talked to.

Dylan’s outie leaves Lumon with an ice pack on his head as Milchick watches him from the walkway above.

Helena tells Milchick she wants him to go see all the outies and find out what they said and to who. He asks if he should fire them, and she says to let Kier guide his hand.

Following the review/breakdown is a detailed recap.

After a three year wait, Severance is finally back for season two with some answers but even more questions. When we last left our team, Dylan had activated the Overtime Contingency Protocol, transporting the innies of Helly, Mark, and Irving into their outies’ bodies, where they each made their own revelations: Helly discovered her outie is Helena Eagan, part of the family who runs Lumon, while Irving found his outie’s paintings of what is likely the testing floor, as well as that the outie of the man he loves, Burt, is in a relationship. Meanwhile, perhaps the biggest reveal for the innies was when Mark discovered that his grieving outie’s wife, Gemma, who everyone thought was dead, is actually Ms. Casey.

Viewers are quickly sucked back into the drama and intrigue right from the opening of the episode with the camera whipping around Mark as he runs through the corridors. It presents a sense of urgency and confusion pulling viewers right back even after such a long absence.

The acting across the board is unsurprisingly fantastic, honestly making it hard to choose a favorite amongst the four main characters. Even the supporting characters are an enjoyment to watch, especially Milchick, who is always hilarious.

The script is excellent all around. The writers did a fantastic job of quickly catching us back up on what we missed and how the innies using the OTC protocol led to the Macrodat Uprising.

As for the mystery itself, I was happy to see that the episode still kept it at the forefront, leaving pieces of the puzzle to dissect, yet still gave us enough on each of the four main characters in the episode to get a picture of where the season is heading, as well as keep us invested in each of their lives.

Fans have been waiting nearly three years, and season two of the psychological thriller Severance is finally around the corner. At Lumon Industries, employees voluntarily undergo a controversial “severance” procedure that splits their consciousness into two distinct identities: “innies,” who exist only at work and have no memory of their outside life or their past, and “outies,” who live outside in the real world with no memory of their jobs.

At the end of last season, Dylan (Zach Cherry) stays behind at Lumon to help the rest of the team at Macrodata Refinement by activating the Overtime Contingency Protocol, waking their innies in the real world. Each makes game changing discoveries.

During a visit with his sister, Mark (Adam Scott)’s innie begins piecing together the life of his outie, who had been grieving the death of his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman). When he discovers a photograph of her, he realizes that she is actually Ms. Casey, the wellness counselor at Lumon who is very much alive.

Helly (Britt Lower)’s outie is revealed to be Helena Eagan, a member of the powerful Eagan family that runs Lumon. Her outie, who voluntarily underwent the severance procedure, is about to make a speech at a Lumon gala promoting it, but Helly instead uses it to try to expose the company’s unethical practices.

Irving (John Turturro) discovers that his outie has been obsessively investigating Lumon and finds a room full of disturbing paintings of the black hallway of the mysterious testing floor. Finding a map of Lumon employees, Irving sets out to find the home of his innie love interest, Burt (Christopher Walken), only to discover his outie is living happily with another man.

***The following is a detailed recap of the season three finale of FROM, “Revelations: Chapter Two,” and it contains spoilers for the episode.***

Tonight, FROM closed out the third season as promised answering big questions. The episode was fast-paced but also left a lot of time for emotional character scenes.

The search for Fatima is of course the main part of the story. I was glad that Ellis picked up on Elgin’s deception right away. I still wonder though that Elgin, since he does seem to be such a nice guy, didn’t at all question what he was doing or that it could hurt Fatima. At least Sara didn’t want to kill Ethan, regardless that she tried to. Elgin almost seems to be under a spell.

I was really surprised that Boyd went through with torturing Elgin to find out Fatima’s location. I appreciated that Father Khatri showed up to attempt to get him to think it through, regardless of whether he’s actually in Boyd’s mind or not. I’m honestly not sure if Boyd can come back after this. He really in my opinion crossed a line and is completely unraveling. What surprised me more though was that so many people stood by and let it happen, especially Kenny and Donna. I expected them to try to stop Boyd. Regardless, the scenes were very powerful and I found it almost hard to watch, because Harold Perrineau is so brilliantly scary in the scenes. In this instance, when Acosta (Dani!) comes into Colony House, she is the voice of reason, and I think it’s also super important that she stands up to Boyd when no one else does. In the end though I loved that Sara took over and what she said to Elgin. She really believes it’s too late for her, and I do believe she really was trying to protect Boyd. I also enjoyed the previous foreshadowing of what she did to Elgin. As soon as she picked up the screwdriver, I remembered Jade’s vision of the man with the railroad spike through his eye and knew that’s where it was going. So many things in this town are cyclical. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that something similar happened to him in the past.