TV Show Reviews | The Verge

Fallout’s season 2 finale left plenty unanswered as it expanded in scope

2026-02-04T11:49:26-05:00

There's been a clear shift over Fallout's second season. While the show started out as a relatively goofy introduction to the postapocalyptic wasteland, one that nailed the vibes of the games perfectly, season 2 has been intent on making the world even bigger. And nowhere was that more clear than in the season finale, in which a number of story threads and characters raced toward what seemed to be some kind of conclusion. Instead, the show left everyone hanging, with the promise that things will get even bigger going forward.

Spoilers to follow for the first two seasons of Fallout.

While much of this season could be described as plodding, …

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As Marvel pivots back to the Avengers, Wonder Man goes its own way

2026-01-29T12:06:06-05:00

When Marvel first announced that Avengers: Doomsday would be directed by the Russo Brothers and star Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, it seemed like the studio might be using the feature as a massive nostalgia play. Though the film will feature a number of characters from more recent projects like Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the studio made a big deal out of revealing that Chris Evans will reprise his role as Steve Rogers. It's not clear whether Doomsday will bring back even more actors from the original Avengers whose characters either died or aged out of the team. But the project feels primed to work as a kind of re …

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Game of Thrones shows its playful side in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

2026-01-15T13:38:50-05:00

Though House of the Dragon tells a different story than Game of Thrones, there are enough tonal similarities to make the spinoff feel more like a remix of its predecessor than a show with its own distinct voice. That's part of what made it a little hard to get excited when HBO first announced that it was producing yet another Game of Thrones prequel focused on digging into the annals of Westeros' bloody history. But unlike House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms takes a unique and very refreshing approach to fleshing out the details of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. It even has a sense of humor.

At just six e …

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The Stranger Things behind-the-scenes doc is a lot more boring than a secret episode

2026-01-12T14:57:56-05:00

It's a weird time in the Stranger Things community. Following a monthslong lead-up to a finale that was so big it screened in theaters, the show's superfans have been spending their time dissecting the fifth season in order to prove that a hidden ninth episode is coming that represents the true ending of Stranger Things. So far that hasn't happened - but that doesn't mean Netflix is done with the series. The streamer just released One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, a two hour-long documentary about, well, the making of season 5. And while it's far removed from a secret episode and provides little in the way of new conspirac …

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The Pluribus finale showed there’s a lot more to the story

2025-12-24T11:09:51-05:00

It's a good thing that we already know a second season of Pluribus is on the way. Because the season finale for the show - a sci-fi drama on Apple TV, helmed by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan - made it clear that things are just getting started. The episode brought together a number of significant threads but, more importantly, opened up potentially explosive (literally) new lines of inquiry for what comes next.

Spoiler to follow for the first season of Pluribus.

First, a little reminder of how we got here. The inciting incident of Pluribus was the release of a virus of unknown, but extraterrestrial origins, that turned almost the ent …

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Fallout’s goofy apocalypse gets serious in season 2

2025-12-18T11:59:38-05:00

The most impressive thing about Fallout's first season was how well it nailed the tone. The games are a mix of grim and goofy, a postapocalyptic story in a bleak world that's also full of crude jokes and ridiculous characters. It's a tough balance to get right - too serious and it's a miserable place to be; too silly and it renders the whole thing meaningless - but the Amazon Prime Video series struck the right balance. It was even accessible to viewers who had never played the games. With the scene-setting out of the way, the show's second season makes a push to expand Fallout's world and tackle headier subjects. But in doing so, it loses s …

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Stranger Things 5 begins with a frantic race to the finish line

2025-11-27T04:47:27-05:00

It has been a decade since the Stranger Things phenomenon began, and the Duffer brothers have had ample time to craft a strong finish to their breakout hit series. But the beginning of the show's fifth and final season feels like a frantic race to the end.

While Stranger Things wasn't Netflix's first breakout hit, it catapulted the streamer to a new level of pop cultural prominence by telling a wildly captivating story that got everyone talking. Modern day nostalgia for the '80s never really went away, but Stranger Things kicked off a new wave of shows and movies that made it feel like other studios were doing everything in their power to r …

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Apple’s latest sci-fi series Pluribus luxuriates in its mystery

2025-11-06T15:16:08-05:00

Toward the end of the first episode of Pluribus, Carol (Rhea Seehorn), a woman put in a bizarre and impossible scenario, asks a very straightforward question: "What the fuck is happening?" It's something you'll likely be asking yourself a lot while watching. I certainly did. But that ongoing sense of mystery, and the measured pace with which Pluribus reveals itself, is one of the best parts of the new series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. I can't tell you a lot about Pluribus just yet - but I can tell you that being bewildered is part of the appeal.

Okay, so what can I tell you? Carol is a successful writer of fantasy novels - ex …

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Liam Hemsworth isn’t the problem with The Witcher’s fourth season

2025-10-31T15:20:13-04:00

Let's just get this out of the way: Liam Hemsworth actually makes for a pretty solid Geralt of Rivia. Hemsworth assumes the mantle in the fourth season of Netflix's The Witcher, picking up from Henry Cavill. And while it can be distracting at first, especially since Cavill inhabited the role so well, it only took a few episodes before I was mostly on board with the new face under the blonde wig. He still knows how to wield a sword, and he still answers most questions with a cranky "fuck." The problem isn't that the show has a new lead actor; it's that it continues to be a bloated mess, and season 4 doesn't do anything to fix that.

In case y …

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HBO’s Welcome to Derry series just ain’t it

2025-10-22T15:32:00-04:00

You've never had to wait all that long for Hollywood to adapt another one of Stephen King's tales, but the past couple of years have felt unusually flush with films and series based on the prolific author's work. Some of the recent projects, like Carrie, Children of the Corn, and 'Salem's Lot were duds that couldn't re-create the terrifying magic that made earlier adaptations of those stories horror classics. But others, like The Life of Chuck and The Long Walk, were (for the most part) critical hits that reminded audiences how powerful King's narratives could be in the right filmmakers' hands.

This new wave of King adaptations was jumpstar …

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