Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 86

PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS Trailer Shows the Alien Hunter Stalking Humans Across History

Director Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey breathed new life into the Predator franchise when it hit Hulu a few years back. Now it seems Trachtenberg has become the unofficial shepherd of the long-running sci-fi series from Twentieth Century Studios. Not only is he directing Predator: Badlands, which arrives this summer, but he’s also the co-director, along with Joshua Wassung, for the animated anthology Predator: Killer of Killers. This new film, also arriving this summer, will feature several stories of the vicious alien hunter coming to Earth and fighting formidable foes across history. And judging from the new trailer, which you can see below, it pulls no punches regarding the gore and violence.

Here’s the official synopsis from Hulu for Predator: Killer of Killers:

The anthology story follows three of the fiercest warriors in human history: a Viking raider guiding her young son on a bloody quest for revenge, a ninja in feudal Japan who turns against his Samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession, and a WWII pilot who takes to the sky to investigate an otherworldly threat to the Allied cause. But while all these warriors are killers in their own right, they are merely prey for their new opponent – the ultimate killer of killers.

Hulu/Twentieth Century Studios

Prey showed us that the alien hunter species has had Earth in its sights for a very long time. Long before the events of the original 1987 movie. Now, we know they’ve been fighting our fiercest warriors for sport for over a thousand years. Given that the Predator species only fights formidable foes, we suppose that speaks highly of us. It speaks highly of us as purveyors of violence, anyway. Not so sure that’s a good thing. Fun fact; Killer of Killers features a prominent voice role for Michael Biehn, of Terminator and Aliens fame. Now he’s part of all three of the “Holy Trinity” of R-rated ’80s sci-fi properties. How cool is that?

Predator: Killer of Killers premieres exclusively on Hulu on June 6, and will hopefully launch a new animated spin-off for the iconic franchise.

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JAKKS Brings ‘Treehouse of Horror’ King Homer to Life

Earlier this year JAKKS announced an all-new wave for its fantastic The Simpsons line. It includes more figures, dolls, and sets celebrating some of Springfield’s most iconic characters and locales. But one item stands above them. And we mean that both literally and figuratively. JAKKS’ King Homer Plush celebrating the Marge-loving beast from “Treehouse of Horror III” is one of the best The Simpsons toys ever.

JAKKS

The new JAKKS’ officially-licensed King Homer Collector Plush stands 16-inches tall. It features “faux fur and premium soft boa, with a vinyl roto head for extra fine details.” It also comes in “bespoke packaging featuring a scenic backdrop inspired by “Treehouse of Horror III.” 

That official description only tells part of the story of this toy, though. It can’t convey what I learned when JAKKS sent me a review sample: King Homer is even better in person. This plush feels much bigger, its fur looks real, and its themed-box the box captures the tone and look of the King Kong parody. It’s the single best The Simpsons toy I’ve ever seen in person. And I’ve owned and received a lot of them in my life.

JAKKS

JAKKS lists the King Homer Collector Plush ($29.99) as appropriate for kids 14 and up. But it’s especially ideal for 41-year-olds who have spent many hours of their life watching and writing about every episode of “Treehouse of Horror” ever. Good thing that guy now has one.

That’s also true of the other additions to the company’s line of Springfield toys. The latest editions also includes 2.5-inch figures of Grampa Simpson, Milhouse, Ralph Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Bart with Krusty the Clown Hat, Principal Skinner, Nelson Muntz, Martin Prince, Selma Bouvier, and Dancin’ Homer. JAKKS latest 5-inch The Simpsons action figures feature Baseball Homer, Lenny Leonard, Milhouse, Marge Simpson, Barney Gumble, Carl Carlson, Bumblebee Man, and Bart with Blue Shirt variant. The latest set is a Krusty Burger Diorama Set that comes with accessories and a 2.5-inch Krusty figure. And if you’re looking for another plush you can grab a Bartman one exclusively at Walmart.

Click To View Gallery JAKKS JAKKS JAKKS JAKKS JAKKS JAKKS

This King Homer Plush is so good I half expect it to eat these other JAKKS Simpsons toys, but hopefully the Marge action figure can keep him in line.

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THE LAST OF US and Its ‘Song in the Middle of a Nightmare’ Is a Perfect Trope

We’re all suckers (in the best way) for certain story tropes, and during its second season The Last of Us has more than delivered on one of my favorites. The series has featured two incredible scenes, both adaptions from the video game, where someone in a horrible situation expresses their humanity by singing. Why does this particular trope always work on me when done even marginally well, let alone as beautifully as it has been done on The Last of Us? Because it’s the kind of moment that exemplifies why art matters at all.

HBO

“The Price” featured a series of flashbacks that covered Ellie’s birthdays during her time in Wyoming. For her first Joel gave her a refurbished guitar. He had said before, when she struggling after another traumatic experience, he would teach her. Now he was going to make good on that promise. But first Ellie wanted to hear him play. And so he did, shortly after he had murdered a bunch of Fireflies and doomed mankind. He played while the world outside the commune’s walls burned. He played even though neither him nor Ellie knew if they’d ever live to see another tomorrow. For a brief moment none of the horrors of life, of their pasts, and of the terrors that waited matter. It was just the two of them alone with a guitar and a song.

While Joel was never going to win Jackson Idol, his acoustic rendition of Pearl Jam’s “Future Days” definitely didn’t suck. It showed a gentler sider of Joel, a man seemingly better built to live in a brutal zombie apocalypse than civilized society. It was also a tender, perfect moment rich with meaning both for the characters and the larger story. And it gave even greater context to Ellie’s failed attempts to sing that song in season two’s fifth episode. The opening lyric, “If I ever were to lose you,” was too much for her to handle. The very song—written before the world died—that connected her to Joel also kept her from playing it. “Future Days” was too powerful, but that’s exactly why she turned to it in the first place.

Ellie was able to sing a whole song in episode four. Amid the ruins and death in Seattle she found a working guitar. And despite the enormous grief and anger that brought her to that moment, Ellie sat and played. She played for herself, so she could remember better times. She played to feel closer to the man who’d loved her enough to teach her how. Then when Dina walked in Ellie played for the woman she loves, her best friend.

While better than Joel, Ellie was never destined to win any singing competitions, either. But how well they sang didn’t matter. It was the fact they did at all. Despite living in a literal nightmare, despite the horrible things they’d done and had suffered, and (in Ellie’s case) despite what they planned to do, they each managed to show they’d kept part of their soul in song.

That’s something no cordyceps monster will ever do. It’s what sociopaths who lack empathy never understand about music, literature, movies, TV, comics, video games, and every other way our species has learned to express itself. They turned to art to connect with their better halves and with each other. They relied on our how our species has learned to tell all of us “we are not alone.”

That’s why this one trope turns me into Dina sitting in an abandoned building listen to A-ha. Art makes us human more than anything else. It’s not that we do it better than other creatures, it’s that we do it at all. A song can lift our spirits when we’re at our lowest. Art reminds us our pain, our hopes, our fears, our dreams, our worries, all of it is not a burden we carry by ourselves. We are, even if it doesn’t always seem like it, in this together. It can be easy to forget that, but that’s why art exists. It lets us know, even in a dystopian wasteland, the very act of being human binds us. And there’s strength in numbers, even if it’s just one person singing the song of another.

HBO

Whether it’s a squire singing the night before literal death arrives, three very different men carousing on a boat while a killer shark looms outside, a dad comforting his daughter as the world ends, or a soldier performing for men doomed to die in war, I will always be a sucker for this trope. It captures why art matters. It makes us feel good in good times and it comforts us in bad ones. Art reminds us in all its forms—as it always has and will for the last of us someday—our humanity is worth fighting for. And it’s worth fighting for the most when the world and others want to destroy it.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. Please tell him your favorite version of this trope. You can do that on Bluesky at @burgermike.

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DC x SONIC Writer Ian Flynn on Bringing the Iconic Hedgehog Together with the Justice League

It’s been a decade since Sonic the Hedgehog crossed over with another property, but this year, Sonic and pals were welcomed as friends of the Justice League, in the new series DC x Sonic the Hedgehog. And in this five-part collaboration between DC Comics and Sega, they take on the DCU’s greatest villain of them all, Darkseid. We got a chance to chat with DC x Sonic the Hedgehog writer Ian Flynn, about what it was like to craft one of the most wacky and fun IP crossovers yet. Below, you can also check out the cover art and the first several pages from DC x Sonic the Hedgehog’s third issue, which arrives on May 21.

DC Comics/Sega

Nerdist: It’s safe to say the DC Universe and the Sonic world are very, very different, but you found a way to make them mesh pretty seamlessly. What was the hardest part of making these two mythologies feel cohesive?

Ian Flynn: I guess the biggest thing was just deciding on which iterations of the characters would be showing up, but DC and Sega weighed in on that from the very get-go. So they did most of the heavy lifting there. Beyond that, it’s a matter of treating both worlds and both casts with love and respect. And if you do that, everything else falls into place.

DC Comics/Sega

In the first issue, you get the most important thing out of the way first, which is “Sonic trying to race the Flash.” Did you feel that was something that needed to happen right away? Or did you consider making the readers wait?

No, no, no. You know that’s when people are coming for first thing. It’s the two iconic speedsters. You’ve got to give the people what they want. And once you get all that out of the way, then you can just have fun with the entire premise.

DC Comics/Sega

Each of Sonic’s friends has a little bit of a bonding moment with a member of the Justice League, but the most touching one was Batman and Shadow, funnily enough. As usual with Batman, it’s trauma bonding. Is Batman and Shadow your favorite Sonic/DC pairing?

I don’t know, but each one of them has got something fun to them, and it’s like, “Ooh, could we just get like a whole miniseries of any one of these pairings, please?” But the Shadow and Batman scene was one of the first ones that came to mind when we presented the premise. And it’s like, yeah, I see how that’s going to fit together very easily.

Can you talk a little about working with Adam Bryce Thomas? His art captures the Sonic world perfectly, and I feel his Justice League draws inspiration from the animated series. Did you talk with him about which version of the League you wanted him to evoke the most?

I’ve worked with Adam for a long time. Years and years now, and we’re actually collaborating on an original project, which we’re hoping to get out later this year. So when this came to me, I told D.C, “If you need someone who’s going to be able to nail the Sonic model and the DC models, you need Adam, he can do both. He can make it feel holistic and organic together.” As for the specific designs, I left that up to DC, and how they wanted these kinds of evergreen versions of the characters to be represented.

DC Comics/Sega

DC’s biggest bad guy, Darkseid, is the main villain in this series. Was it always the plan to use the most powerful enemy the Justice League has, or did you ever consider the Legion of Doom or others? I know Legion members Joker and Luthor make cameos in issue #3.

There were a few pitches at the very beginning, because who do you have that’s going to be a big enough threat for both Team Sonic and the Justice League at the same time? I put those pitches in and DC and Sega reviewed them, and they settled on Darkseid and it’s like, all right, let’s go!

If not Darkseid, who do you think might have been the central villain?

I know Mongul was one. And with a premise kind of surrounding War World. And I think Brainiac was another one early on. But we wanted someone kind of major and central, because it’s such a large ensemble book. If we started off with the Legion of Doom, it would be so many characters and so much introduction. It’d be hard to get it all well paced out.

DC Comics/Sega

If DC x Sonic is successful, who would you like to see in a potential sequel from each property’s respective universes?

It’s a bit of a cop-out, but the answer is “Everybody.” When we got the initial roster, it’s like, “Okay, this is really cool. But what if we had these two characters? And what about these two? What about these two? Which is, you know, like extra cameos in the background?” Then I was like, let’s not go too crazy here. These are the ones that have met all the approvals from all the people involved. Let’s keep this focused on just the Just League and this team of assigned characters. But the Sonic world is huge with a large cast of characters. And the DC Universe is even larger, like. So I’m spoiled for choice. If we get another shot at this, I would love to just go ham on both universes again. But within reason, of course.

In issue #3, Sonic and pals actually get to become the Justice League. Was it always part of the plan to have them step up and put on the costumes?

Right. This is a much bigger project, and the miniseries is just the tip the iceberg. And one of the major driving points was we’re going to have the Sonic characters as the Justice League. So one of the objectives of this miniseries was, how does that make sense? How do we put them in the costumes? And I wanted it to be more than just, “Oh, they threw on all the costumes for no reason.” Or it’s Halloween or something throwaway. I wanted it to actually have some meaning. So that’s where issues 1 through 3 go, to set up why they find inspiration to take up these mantles, and why they would be wearing these costumes and doing what they do.

DC Comics/Sega

And finally, what was your favorite part about writing such a unique crossover event?

It’s the fun of it. It’s the kind of creative puzzle element. How do you take something like the DCU and Sonic and make them make sense at all? How do you combine these two very different universes in a way that feels cohesive and acceptable? Something that a DC fan can feel like they’re being treated with respect and Sonic fans feel like their characters are going to be getting the appropriate amount of love. And if you don’t know either side, you come in and say “Oh, hey, that’s pretty cool. Maybe I’ll check out more of that later.” You know, try to give route in the same boat and having a good time.

The first two issues of DC x Sonic the Hedgehog are available now. Issue #3 hits in May 21.

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SESAME STREET Is Heading to Netflix for Season 56

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? I’ve never had anyone actually help me figure the answer to that question, which is really sad. I truly do want to go to Sesame Street and never return home. While this will never happen, at least we know where the long-running children’s series will reside. Sesame Street will head to Netflix later this year for season 56, which will have a brand new format. 

This comes after HBO Max (yeah, that’s the name again) did not renew Sesame Street’s streaming deal at the end of 2024. This new season will have format changes, like one 11-minute story that focuses heavily on specific characters.

Netflix

The debut of Sesame Street on Netflix will also be familiar old segments like “Elmo’s World” and “Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck.” Listen, I don’t know if you have kids or not but my kids loved Elmo’s World… and so did I.

Viewers of all ages will get to hang out with Cookie Monster at his shiny new cookie cart and explore with Abby in her fairy garden, which is full of magical creatures. Programming like Sesame Street continues to be vital in preschool and early childhood development and deserves to be available and accessible to all. In addition to streaming on Netflix, Sesame Street will still air on PBS KIDS for free. 

RELATED ARTICLE

HBO and Max Opt Not to Continue Deal for New SESAME STREET Episodes

Now, I just need those exact directions to Sesame Street. A sunny day would be extremely nice.

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Guillermo del Toro Says His FRANKENSTEIN Is Not a Horror Movie

It’s safe to say that we are very excited about Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. The upcoming film stars Oscar Isaac as the eccentric doctor himself alongside Mia Goth and Jacob Elordi. The film will hit Netflix in November 2025. Of course, most people would assume that del Toro will put a terrifying twist on a classic tale that’s already haunting enough. But, that’s not the case, according to the famed director. According to Variety, Guillermo del Toro says that Frankenstein will not be a horror movie with scary scenes. 

Instead, the film will lean into more emotional aspects of Frankenstein’s life and his creation of a being. “Somebody asked me the other day, does it have really scary scenes?” del Toro said at the Cannes Film Festival. “For the first time, I considered that. It’s an emotional story for me. It’s as personal as anything. I’m asking a question about being a father, being a son… I’m not doing a horror movie — ever. I’m not trying to do that.”

Netflix

Honestly, this story is so ripe for that type of exploration. And we know that del Toro does blend horror, gothic vibes, and thought-provoking thematic underpinnings with ease.

RELATED ARTICLE

Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN Reveals First-Look Images of Oscar Isaac as the Nefarious Doctor

Even though Frankenstein will not be a straight up horror flick with abject violence and scares, it will still be worth the emotional journey that Guillermo del Toro takes us on.

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THE LAST OF US Made a Mistake Including This (Great) Video Game Scene

It’s weird to say a TV series should have omitted a meaningful moment between its two main characters. It’s counterintuitive to suggest a show, which exists entirely to entertain, shouldn’t have included an incredibly moving scene featuring two great actors. And it’s an even stranger suggestion when that scene was adapted straight from the source material. And yet, that’s exactly what HBO’s The Last of Us should have done with Joel and Ellie’s final conversation on the porch. Not having that last interaction before Joel’s unexpected death would have been far more true to a story that’s powerful because it embraces authenticity. And ultimately, including it on The Last of Us feels like a mistake.

HBO

HBO’s The Last of Us made a few changes to how and when Ellie learned the truth about what really happened with the Fireflies in Salt Lake City. In the second video game, Ellie’s doubts over Joel’s story lead her to return to Salt Lake City to discover the truth. There, Ellie finds evidence Joel has been lying to her about many things, about what happened to her, how many immune people exist, and whether a cordyceps cure is possible. After Joel admits the truth in The Last of Us—Part II game, Ellie cuts him off. On HBO’s The Last of Us series, Ellie has her own doubts, but it’s the circumstances of Eugene’s death that cause their estrangement instead. On the TV show, it wasn’t until the night before his death that Joel told her what he really did in Salt Lake City.

While it included extra information, Joel and Ellie’s conversation on the porch in season two’s sixth episode came straight from The Last of Us Part II. That included how it’s shown out of chronological order. Neither players nor viewers saw that talk until long after they watched Joel die on The Last of Us. But just like in the The Last of Us video game, on the porch, Joel tells Ellie he would save her all over again before she tells him she’d like to eventually forgive him. In both versions, the conversation is…well…convenient. It’s the exact type of interaction you’d expect from a scripted drama. It’s the type of highly emotional moment of catharsis you would write because you were killing off one of those characters the very next day.

Which is exactly why HBO’s The Last of Us shouldn’t have done it.

HBO

The Last of Us show is telling a story that has always thrived, in both mediums, because of authenticity. It might be a world full of fungal and human monsters alike, but the people surviving in that dystopia feel real. They’re flawed. They make mistakes that hurt people. And sometimes those people die without getting a chance to say goodbye. This episode of The Last of Us did exactly that with a dying Eugene. He begged to see his wife one final time. But Joel knew that was reckless. He’s a character on a horror series, but he doesn’t exist in one, where everyone acts like an idiot. He acted with prudence to keep others safe, even though it meant doing something awful. Eugene’s death and the fallout from it worked so well on The Last of Us and for the viewers because it felt all too painfully real.

The same can’t be said for Ellie and Joel’s talk on the porch in The Last of Us season two, episode six. Not having that final, cathartic conversation between them would have more true to life than what actually happened. Everyone who has ever lost a loved one without warning carries regrets after for the things forever left unsaid. Every unspoken “I love you,” “I’m proud of you,” and “I’m sorry” lingers like an infection that slowly eats away at us. And yet they also teach us something important, that tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us or the people we care about. It reminds us we shouldn’t wait to say what we should/need to say right now because we might never get that chance again.

HBO

Not giving Joel and Ellie that moment would have been brave piece of storytelling from The Last of Us (which makes giving it feel like a mistake). It would have been brave the way killing off Joel was both in the game and on the show. It’s why Joel’s execution of Eugene, a subplot developed entirely for HBO’s series, was so evocative. It felt authentic to both this world and our own. It felt like The Last of Us.

To its credit, despite feeling too narratively convenient, the scene is still really good in both mediums. It’s a testament to the nature of drama itself, which can provide the kind of pathos real life is so fond of robbing us of. But HBO’s version was even more frustrating because the show made us believe it wasn’t going to happen. In season two’s premiere, Ellie walked away from Joel that night.

Seeing her ignore him added to the emotional weight of what happened the very next day on The Last of Us. She didn’t talk to him, and she’d never again get the chance. Instead, that was a fake out that played with our emotions so the show could have it both ways. We’d feel Ellie’s regret when Joel died, but then still get the big final, emotional scene between them later. It was pure melodrama in a story that works because it avoids melodrama.

On an obvious level, it is weird to say a great dramatic scene with great actors having a great final moment was a mistake to include in a scripted drama. But The Last of Us is great because it always feels all too real. A final goodbye right before an unexpected death certainly didn’t.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. Despite being right about this he thought Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsery were incredible on that porch. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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THE LAST OF US Season 2, Episode 6 Recap: New Revelations and Questions

The Last of Us season two, episode six brings us an unusual episode. As the showrunners promised earlier in the season, we get to see a bottle episode of sorts, except this time, it’s Joel and Ellie who are at the center of it. The Last of Us season two’s sixth episode is comprised entirely of flashbacks that help us fill in the time between seasons one and two. These scenes let us track the dissolution of Joel and Ellie’s relationship, but also bring us new insights into the time they spent with one another. And yes, these flashbacks matter greatly for how we view season two. So, let’s dive into our recap of The Last of Us season two, episode six, and all the answers it brought us.

New Revelations From The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 6The Secret Between Joel and Ellie Tore Them Apart HBO

The Last of Us season two, episode six takes us back in time to different points in Joel and Ellie’s relationship, allowing us to see how it evolved between season one and season two. We see flashbacks to their relationship five years back, four years back, two years back, and one that leads us exactly to episode one of The Last of Us season two. Through this montage of scenes, we come to understand how exactly Joel and Ellie became so estranged.

Although initially their relationship was loving and strong, the suspicion of Joel’s lie juxtaposed with new lies he told her eventually came between them. In the five years between The Last of Us season one and two, Joel and Ellie went from a loving father and daughter to arguing to having a huge gulf between them. It was a painful journey to experience.

Joel Killed Eugene and Broke His Word to Ellie in The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 6HBO

The most harrowing flashback occurs in the two years back flashback. Joel finally agrees to take Ellie on patrol, but nothing good greets them. They find their fellow townsperson Eugene in the woods, and he’s been bitten by an Infected. Eugene pleads to say goodbye to his wife, Gail, in a safe way, claiming he has time, and Ellie wants to allow him the chance.

Joel promises Ellie he’s onboard to let Eugene and Gail say goodbye and sends her away. But he breaks his word, leading Eugene to clearing with a pretty view and shooting him in the back. Although this was arguably protocol, the action horrifies Ellie, bringing to mind the way Joel promised her he’d help her create a cure and then lied about the actions that followed.

Ellie reveals all this to Gail when they return to Jackson and yells at Joel, “You swore.” But she’s clearly talking about more than just Joel’s word that he would let Eugene say his goodbyes.

Joel and Ellie Spoke One Last Time Before He DiedHBO

The Last of Us season two, episode one, and other episodes that followed, made us believe that Joel and Ellie never got to say a real goodbye. And that honestly felt to us like a very poignant statement about how loss works. It just strikes you suddenly in some cases.

But episode six reveals that Joel and Ellie actually DID get to speak after the New Year’s altercation we see in episode on and Joel’s death in episode two. Ellie comes to stand by him where he’s waiting on the balcony and they have a final emotional conversation.

Ellie Has Known What Happened in Salt Lake City with the Fireflies for the Entirety of The Last of Us Season 2HBO

The Last of Us season two, episode six delivers the conversation between Joel and Ellie that they’ve both needed to have since season one. “You lied to me,” Ellie accuses Joel, noting that she thinks she’s known Joel has lied to her the whole time, that he had the same look, the same face, when he lied to her about Salt Lake City as when he lied about Eugene. She cautions that if he lies to her again, they’ll be done and then demands that he tell her what happened with the Fireflies in Salt Lake City.

“Were there other immune people?” No, Joel shakes his head. “Were there raiders?” No, again. “Could they have made a cure?” Yes, Joel nods, though, I feel like that one is a hard MAYBE. “Did you—” Ellie asks, the implied question being “Kill all the Fireflies,” “And Marlene?” Joel confesses everything.

“Making a cure would have killed you.” Joel sobs, but for Ellie, dying for a cure would have been worth it, would have helped her fulfill her purpose. But not for Joel. He confesses, “I did it because I love you.” And reveals that he would do the exact same thing again.

At the end of the conversation, a part from a flashback with Joel and his dad from earlier in the episode comes back into play. Joel tells her, maybe in a bit of foreshadowing. “I love you in a way you can’t understand, maybe you never will, but if that day should come, if you should ever have one of your own, I hope you do a little better than me.” It’s a truly intense conversation.

Ellie Was Ready to Forgive Joel Before His DeathHBO

Perhaps the most important and heartbreaking revelation that The Last of Us season two, episode six brings us is that Ellie was ready to forgive Joel on the night before he died. She tells him after this exchange, “I don’t think I can forgive you for this, but I would like to try.” We’re glad the pair found absolution with one another, but the idea of what could have been remains painful.

Joel Appears Again in the Opening Credits SceneHBO

After Joel’s death, he no longer appeared in the final moments of the opening credits scene. Instead, Ellie’s silhouette rose out of the ground on her own. This made for a tragic change. But with Joel back in The Last of Us season two, episode six, he and Ellie get to rise together again. Perhaps for one last time.

New Questions From The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 6Will We See Pedro Pascal’s Joel Again on The Last of Us Series After Season 2, Episode 6?HBO

Pedro Pascal’s Joel Miller returned to us for one episode, and we were so happy to see him. But is that it for Pascal’s Joel on The Last of Us? We can’t begin to say, but we certainly hope not. Seeing him on The Last of Us season two, episode six reminded us just how great Joel and Ellie are together. We’d love to have more time with them as a duo.

The Last of Us airs Sundays at 9 pm on Max and HBO. There’s only one episode left this season, so it’s the perfect time to catch up.

Previous recaps: Episode One, Episode Two, Episode Three, Episode Four, Episode Five

The post THE LAST OF US Season 2, Episode 6 Recap: New Revelations and Questions appeared first on Nerdist.

Who Is Mrs. Flood in DOCTOR WHO? Her Appearances in Season Two Are Sinister

“The Church on Ruby Road” gave us a really cute Christmas special starring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday. We met Ruby’s delightful family, including her loving adoptive mum Carla and her witty gran Cherry. Her neighborhood is also delightful, including her neighbor Mrs. Flood, played by Anita Dobson. The special teases an ongoing mystery about Ruby’s biological family but something strange is also going on with Mrs. Flood, too. She breaks the fourth wall at the end of the Christmas special as well as the season finale and it makes us all wonder what’s going on with her.

We may discover something wild about her in season two (more on that later) but we probably won’t get an explanation for why she’s breaking the fourth wall. As RadioTimes reports, Russell T Davies spoke with SFX and said that Mrs. Flood breaking the fourth wall does have a reason but he may decide to keep it under wraps. “That hasn’t been explained, and it might never be, frankly,” said Davies. “It’s very interesting, within the Doctor Who offices, we know exactly why that happens and yet I’m showing no sign of putting that on screen.” He said an early draft of “The Star Beast” explained why, but he doesn’t feel the need to explain it at this point. Well, that sure is something…

Who is Mrs. Flood in Doctor Who? Let’s dig into how she appears throughout season one and what we could see in season two.

James Pardon/BBC Studios

Near the beginning of the Christmas episode, Ruby Sunday comes home with two handfuls of groceries. We watch her neighbor Mrs. Flood argue with Abdul, another neighbor, about a large object that she’s sure he put on the sidewalk. That object is none other than the TARDIS. Abdul insists he knows nothing about this blue box. Ruby comes up and Mrs. Flood, who calls her Rubes, complains to her as Ruby looks at the box with lots of curiosity. She asks Mrs. Flood what it is and her neighbor says it is a police box. She admits she hasn’t seen one on the streets of London in around 50 years… and doesn’t want to see one now. 

Later in the episode, Mrs. Flood is walking home when she witnesses the TARDIS dematerializing. Of course, she’s in shock and drops her shopping bags. After the Doctor returns from saving baby Ruby in the past, he parks the TARDIS on the other side of the street. Mrs. Flood is rather chipper and waves hello to him. When he comes back out, they have a short conversation, including Mrs. Flood asking who he is. Predictably, the Fifteenth Doctor just says he’s passing through and she tells him to take care. At the end, Ruby comes out to inquire about the Doctor and Mrs. Flood points her to the TARDIS. Strangely, she calls her Ruby and wishes her good luck. Mrs. Flood is even nice to Abdul, who is shocked to see the TARDIS disappear. She then turns directly to the camera and says “Never seen a TARDIS before?”

Further along in the season, we see Mrs. Flood in “73 Yards.” Ruby returns home after the Doctor’s disappearance and devises a plan with her mom to figure out who the mysterious lady is and why she’s following Ruby around. Mrs. Flood comes out of the house, asking Ruby if she’s “having a good time” and questioning why she’s standing in the street talking to her mom on the phone. She says “nothing to do with me” and then scurries away. Again, she doesn’t seem to be perturbed by anything weird going on around her.

Her last appearances in the final two episodes are even stranger. Mrs. Flood volunteers to look after Ruby’s grandmum while Carla goes with her to UNIT to figure out more about Ruby’s birth mom. While there, she’s quirky until everyone leaves. Then, she goes dark, saying that she will not be getting Ruby’s grandmum a cup of tea. She tells Mrs. Sunday that she’d be very careful because there’s a storm coming in. She breaks the fourth wall again and says “he waits no more,” which we now know is Sutekh.

As they disintegrate, Mrs. Flood says that she has been hiding away and had “plans.” What kind of plans?!

Does Mrs. Flood Have a Connection to Clara Oswald or Others Like the Rani in Doctor Who?

When Fifteen saves everyone, she calls him a “clever boy,” which is a phrase that fans recognize from back when Clara Oswald was his companion. She called him a clever boy and that’s interesting considering Mrs. Flood’s wardrobe with sweaters and collared shirts looks a lot like what Clara would wear. Quite a few fans are picking up on this.

Why is Mrs Flood on @bbcdoctorwho dressing up in all the clothes of the former companions? Last week she was wearing the same clothing as Clara, and now this week it’s Romana I. #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/R8wVQutrLI

— Daniel Glauser (@GlauserDan13) June 22, 2024

What Is Going on with Mrs. Flood in Doctor Who?

In the very final scene of the finale, she turns into a narrator of sorts, saying Ruby was having a happy ending but the Doctor’s end would be full of absolute terror. She’s wearing a white fur jacket with a hood and gives us a menacing “night night” before the episode ends. This outfit looks a lot like what Romana, a Fourth Doctor companion who was a Time Lady, wore before. Mrs. Flood hints that she’s been hiding herself away. Is she the Rani (an anagram of “rain,” which can cause a flood)? She’s been hinting at hiding herself away and the Rani, a renegade Time Lady and nemesis of the Doctor, hasn’t been seen in a long time.

BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+

So, what’s up with this lady? Is Mrs. Flood is a villain? Maybe. She could be yet another god that this Doctor must face. And that would make Ruby’s story all the more interesting considering a great threat lived next door to her. Who knows what Russell T Davies has in store.

Mrs. Flood Returns in Doctor Who Season Two

In the Doctor Who season two trailer, we saw Mrs. Flood (or at least someone who looks and sounds just like her) at an interstellar song contest. She’s sitting beside an alien and says that she loves a good show. So it is pretty clear that she’s much more than just some friendly and weird old lady next door.

Speaking of being the old lady next door, the first episode of Doctor Who season two features Mrs. Flood, who also seems to be Belinda Chandra’s neighbor. She seems to be shocked by the robots abducting Belinda but then switches gears and wishes her a cheerful “bye-bye.” The Doctor arrives and Mrs. Flood purposely hides, breaking the fourth wall again and saying “You ain’t seen me!”

In the next episode, she appears at the end after Belinda and the Doctor save a theater full of people (and the world) from Lux. She encourages a few of them to watch the TARDIS disappear, saying that it’s a great show that will end in May. This certainly means that she has something to do with why Belinda and the Doctor cannot return to Earth.

And, in episode three, which takes place many thousands of years in the future, she appears on a screen at the end. She’s supposedly Squadron Leader Chinchappa, the commanding leader of the research team they encountered. During a debrief, a survivor of the events speaks to Mrs. Flood and tells her what happened and about the Doctor’s TARDIS. Mrs. Flood even asks about the Vindicator, which thickens the plot. In the following episode, Mrs. Flood appears in a flashback/vision of a hard day in Belinda’s life, but doesn’t really do anything.

Why is she so hellbent on following the Doctor and taking him down. How is she everywhere? Welllll….

Mrs. Flood is the Rani in Doctor Who Season Two, Actually

Mrs. Flood is the Rani, that’s how. She’s a renegade Time Lady who is back after many years away. To read more about her, check out the below article.

RELATED ARTICLE

DOCTOR WHO’s Mid-Credits Scene Reveals the Truth About Mrs. Flood

Originally published December 25, 2023.

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DOCTOR WHO’s Mid-Credits Scene Reveals the Truth About Mrs. Flood

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Since the first episode of Doctor Who season one, we’ve been tracking the very strange movements of Mrs. Flood. She appeared to be Ruby’s sweet but very nosy neighbor… until she broke the fourth wall and told the viewers she knew exactly what a TARDIS is. Since then, Mrs. Flood’s more sinister and duplicitous side continued to grow as she started showing up all over space, following the Fifteenth Doctor throughout seasons one and two. She knows both of his latest companions, Ruby Sunday and Belinda Chandra, and apparently wants to use the Vindicator readings for some reason. In Doctor Who season two, episode six, we finally learn in a mid-credits scene that Mrs. Flood is indeed the Rani, a rogue Time Lord and antagonist from the Classic era. 

In this episode, we don’t see too much of Mrs. Flood overall. She’s near the beginning keeping an eye on the Doctor, Belinda, and the Vindicator. But she soon gets sucked up into that space vacuum and doesn’t return until after the credits begin to roll.

BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/Distney+

She’s the last Interstellar Song Contest attendee to be revived and she stumbles onto the platform, immediately asking about the Doctor. The cutest couple ever and the Doctor’s new friends tell her that he’s gone. She says that it is safe and that her double brainstem froze, which is lethal for a Time Lady. Mrs. Flood then bi-generates and creates a separate version of herself, like the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors did.

She splits into two, and this new entity (played by Archie Panjabi) is more authoritative and in charge of Mrs. Flood, whom she says is a Rani while she is THEE Rani. So, they are not equals at all. This isn’t too shocking to many fans of the series considering Rani is an anagram of rain and a lot of rain is a flood. The Rani takes Mrs. Flood and leaves, saying she has a date to arrange and will bring the Doctor absolute terror. Oh my. 

Bringing back the Rani forty years after her debut as well as the original companion, and Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan, is building up for a very, ahem, explosive season two finale. 

The Rani’s Past in Doctor Who, Explained

During the Classic era of Doctor Who, the Rani was an unethical scientist and Time Lord (or should we say Time Lady) played by Kate O’Mara. (Sadly, O’Mara died in 2014.) She would experiment on humans and other species, which led to her being banished from Gallifrey.

The Rani made her first appearance in the 1985 Doctor Who episode The Mark of the Rani. Unlike the Master who is obsessed (and maybe in love) with the Doctor, the Rani’s preoccupation is science and discovery by any means necessary. She’s rather stylish, glamorous, and clever with a TARDIS of her own. Her TARDIS can actually change shape because its chameleon circuit is working. 

BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/Disney+

During her first appearance, she goes against the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri Brown. The Rani is ruling a planet and using its enslaved people for experiments, which includes harvesting neurochemicals from human brains throughout history. The Doctor has to foil both her and the Master’s plans and seemingly traps them.

But, they always return, which the Rani does two more times: “Time of the Rani” (1987) and “Dimensions in Time” (1993), which was a charity special after the Classic era’s run. In fact, she was the cause of the Sixth Doctor regenerating into the Seventh Doctor. The last appearance shows her going against Seventh Doctor companion Ace, which is interesting considering Ace is still around. Perhaps she will come back for what’s next. 

The Rani’s stories are worth watching and are currently available on Tubi. Don’t say we didn’t do anything nice for ya.

What Does Mrs. Flood and the Rani Want in Doctor Who Season 2? 

Well, that remains to be seen. We do know she likes to torture species and destroy worlds for her own little science experiments. Perhaps she’s conducting something awful across space and time that causes the world to end on May 24, 2025. If so, the Doctor will have to figure out how in the world to set things right. 

Either way, fans are very hype to see the Rani back after asking for her return since the show’s revival 20 years ago. It’s time to see what Mrs. Flood and the Rani will do to the Fifteenth Doctor.

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