Ira Parker intended the very last scene of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” Episode 6 (titled “The Morrow”), to be just “something that was a little funny.”
Sunday’s season finale of the HBO fantasy series ends with everyone, including the royal Targaryen entourage, departing Ashford after the conclusion of the trial and tournament. Just before the credits roll, Prince Maekar, who notices his young son Aegon is once again missing, frantically shouts, “Where the f— is he?”
“To be honest, the very, very, very end was almost just meant as a joke,” the showrunner says during a recent video call. “But I think people — both in my writing camp and in the HBO camp and probably in the world — took that quite literally. So I’ve maybe had to deal with it a little bit more in Season 2 than I was planning to.”
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” showrunner Ira Parker, right, with director Sarah Adina Smith on the set of the fantasy series.
(Steffan Hill / HBO)
Starring Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell as Prince Aegon Targaryen, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is an adaptation of George R.R. Martin novellas set in the same world as his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. These “Tales of Dunk and Egg” stories take place around 100 years before the events depicted in “Game of Thrones.”
The moment in question could be a big deal for some fans of Martin’s novellas. The scene is not included in “The Hedge Knight,” the book upon which the first season of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is based. Whether Egg had Maekar’s permission to join Dunk’s travels as his squire is left more open ended in the novella itself.
While the young prince said he had his father’s blessing, “it’s not confirmed canonically” in the book, says Parker. “We haven’t done anything egregious here, I don’t think. [And] I believe it from a character perspective. I believe that Egg would do that again, because he’s already done it. We’ve seen him. He runs away. That’s sort of his thing. And he lies to people.”
Without sharing any details, Parker teases the situation will be addressed again next season.
Dunk (Peter Claffey) in the season finale of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”
(Steffan Hill / HBO)
The showrunner, who co-created the series with Martin, admits that approaching “The Morrow” was “daunting.” Set in the aftermath of Trial of Seven, Episode 6 involved “a lot of creation” to stretch out the remaining events from the source material.
“Very early on, all of us knew that we weren’t going to add any story,” says Parker, who previously worked on “Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon.” “The story is the story. We’re going to be 100% faithful to the novellas in that respect. But where we could add, because we needed about another 50% of material in order to fill out even our six 30-minute episodes, was going to be in the characters.”
This has meant the show has spent more time with the very relatable Dunk and his precocious charge Egg. Its supporting ensemble including Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) and Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas), who give Dunk a helping hand, have also been more fleshed out. This has allowed audiences to just “enjoy hanging out in this world.”
“I wasn’t always convinced that people would allow us to do it,” Parker says. “Hanging out in Westeros. It meant a little bit of a slower start. Luckily, people have come along with us on the ride. … We really just hoped that people would be charmed enough by these characters and the story and want good things for Dunk.”
Like “The Hedge Knight,” the episode concludes by teasing Dunk and Egg’s journey to Dorne, but Parker confirms Season 2 will be an adaptation of the second novella, “The Sworn Sword,” which takes place a year and a half or so after the events of “The Hedge Knight” and sees the pair in a part of the Reach.
“I love ‘The Sworn Sword’ because I think it’s very funny, and I think the sort of ‘will they / won’t they’ between Dunk and Lady Rohanne is just good territory for us,” he says. (Parker said they considered setting Season 2 in Dorne but that it would have taken too much time to flesh out the story even with Martin’s notes.)
In a conversation edited for clarity and length, Parker discussed his collaboration with Martin, every aspect of the show being a reflection of Dunk, and “A Knight of the Nine Kingdoms.”
Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings), left, and Dunk (Peter Claffey) while a maester (Paul Murphy) looks over the injured hedge knight.
(Steffan Hill / HBO)
The show is called “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” but in the finale, Egg points out to Dunk that there are actually nine kingdoms in Westeros. Can you explain that moment and actually showing the alternate title card?
The situation is so overwrought in this episode. With Baelor’s death and with everything that Egg has gone through, which we see him struggling with. Where Dunk’s head is at, going off alone again. The fact that they both get together is wonderful and uplifting, but we sort of had to reassure the audience — that even though Egg is now officially a prince and Dunk knows that, and this tragedy has come to pass between the two of them, the core of that relationship, what we learned to love about their relationship before all of this happened, actually still remains. So that was the importance of having a type of conversation like that. It didn’t necessarily have to be the conversation about the kingdoms, but just Egg, in his way, making sure that Dunk never feels like he knows anything. And it is a wink to the audience and to the fans [who have raised questions about the number], but we’re not changing the name of the show.
You mention Egg’s struggles and we do see just how much anger he has toward his brother Aerion in this episode. What were your thoughts on depicting that onscreen and what it says about Egg?
I talked to George a little bit about Egg and his motivations early on, and George said kids feel disappointment more acutely and that that is a huge part of it. It’s not to be discounted. I don’t want to go out there and say it’s because of Targaryen trauma and everything he’s been through. He’s a boy. Things were happening that were very nice for him that he was very happy about. Then it was all taken away and he blames people. He feels like he’s caused all these problems [for others], and when that doesn’t have a place to land, that’s what turns into anger. It just sort of brews up inside of you.
He sees Aerion as the true cause of all this. At that young age, he doesn’t know how to undirect that. He has some sort of a father there in Maekar. But the fact that he ends up with Dunk, that’s the whole story of Episode 6. Is Dunk, after all this, going to decide to save this kid who is just going to be thrown to the wolves otherwise? Who’s not going to get what he needs to direct his frustration and his disappointments to good energy targets? Kids who have that end up, generally, in better situations than kids who don’t.
It’s very important for me to show the importance of having a mentor in your life. We’re obviously very thematically about fathers and sons, knights and squires, and, to a certain extent brothers. But it is, at the core of it, what it is to have a teacher. Dunk had that in Ser Arlan. Dunk certainly has no obligation to do anything for this family at this point and he does it … because it was done for him. So he’s paying it forward, being a benefit to the person next to him.
Dunk (Peter Claffey) is ready for his next journey.
(Steffan Hill / HBO)
That’s one thing that sets Dunk apart. He’s one of the few people we see in this world who believes in doing good and that that’s what he’s supposed to be doing.
There’s an addition to that, which is that he wants so badly to do good and do right by his mentor who taught him what a knight was supposed to be. But there is this feeling that the world isn’t going to let you do that. We see somebody like Ned Stark, who’s very honorable, [but] probably suffered ultimately from his naivety — his belief in others. Dunk, I think, has one extra level. Or maybe I’m just projecting that onto him because sometimes I think about how to protect myself in this world where not everybody always has the best intentions. You so badly want to do good, but then there’s also the reality of that, and a big part of Dunk’s early journey in this world is learning those lessons.
Maybe that’s just because my head is also stuck in Book Two, where I think that is brought even more to the forefront. But he’s never going to change. He’s always going to be hopeful.
You did a Reddit AMA recently and you responded to someone who had asked about the show’s production budget that everything in this show was a reflection of the lead character. Can you explain what you meant by that?
It’s very chilling at the beginning to realize that you have one [point of view] character, but then when you realize how many facets go into making up that one person — from costumes, cinematography, music, everything — you realize you actually are telling a lot of different stories, just about one person and how they relate to the world. You have to make sure that that is one hell of an immersive experience, because it’s not like you could just have an audience member tune out if they don’t like the Dunk story this week. We had to make you feel in every single episode that you are in that situation, that you can somehow relate to Dunk and what he’s going through. This is because it’s about to get even tougher for him. Hopefully the people who come to us for the light, fun, enjoyable take on Westeros will stick with us through some of the harder, trickier, grimmer moments. Because this is George R.R. Martin’s world, and it gets dangerous.
But it was actually a very nice, natural way for us to differentiate ourselves [from the other shows]. We’re not a prequel. These are novellas that have existed for 30 years. It’s more organic. Rather than being so grand and epic in scale, it’s still small and simple and hopeful. [Dunk’s] still basically just a kid. It’s two kids setting out to have a little bit of fun. There’s got to be some some whimsy about it. That very easily allowed us to find our own voice.
Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) has a lot of anger for his older brother.
(Steffan Hill / HBO)
How is it like to work with George R.R. Martin?
He has been wonderfully collaborative. It’s been the most fulfilling creative partnership of my whole life. A lot of people can start out in this industry reading your stuff and telling you what they think is wrong without asking you why you did something the way that you did it. Giving you the benefit of the doubt and the conversation jumping off from there, George is very good at that. Whenever he would call me about a new script, we’d talk out what’s in my head in the version of events that led me down this path. And then he talks about why he either did it another way or has issues with it. It becomes a very natural conversation. It’s an extension of a writer’s room with a living legend, one of the greatest living writers in the world today. He just likes talking about this stuff with you, and I like talking about it with him.
What were your earliest conversations with him about “Dunk and Egg” like? Did you already have an idea of how you wanted to do the show before you talked to him?
I swung pretty wildly at the beginning from the point where HBO sent it to me — where I thought “Game of Thrones” shows are 10 episodes, an hourlong each, how could we possibly do that with these three novellas — to finding out what HBO’s intentions were for it, finding out what George’s intentions were for it. Having conversations with George about what he likes, why Dunk is his sole POV character. Why, for example, he never wrote any Egg chapters. He has so many specific thoughts on all of this that that really helped inform what my approach was going to be.
I think it was very important for me to go into that first meeting, when I flew to Santa Fe to meet him, with a mile-high preparation. I knew everything possibly in and around this world and these characters, and I had a lot of pitches, if it came to that. But I didn’t go in there and lead with that. I just went and I sat down and we had conversations. I asked a lot of questions and I listened a lot. And then I went back and I re-formed and I went off and wrote a pilot. Then we were off to the races.
Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas), left, was a true friend to Dunk (Peter Claffey).
(Steffan Hill / HBO)
You worked on “House of the Dragon,” which is such a different show, even though it’s in the same world. How did your time there affect how you wanted to approach this show?
That room was one of my favorite rooms that I’ve ever been in. Ryan Condal is a true writer’s writer. He has so much love for this world. It’s funny because everybody thinks comedy rooms are just so funny all the time, everybody’s cracking jokes, and drama rooms are so serious because of the material. It’s actually often the exact opposite. In drama, because comedy is not currency, everybody’s just cracking jokes all the time. And Ryan has such a sharp wit; we share a very similar sense of humor. I think it was him who put me forward for this to HBO when they were looking for a writer for “Dunk and Egg,” and I’m very grateful.
Our room for “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” was very different. We hired all drama writers, just people that have different sensibilities. I felt like I was living my very best days. We had 11 days in that writer’s room because the writers’ strike shut us down so quickly, but we knew that that was coming up. So we got going as fast as we possibly could and we broke as much as we could. Then I assigned scripts the very last day. But those 11 days in that room, I think we broke, ultimately, 20 seasons of a show by accident.
We were having so much fun, we were creating it all for the first season. We did it all for six episodes. As soon as we got back from the strike, a few of my writers were just like, “How do you expect us to write 35-minute episodes with these beats to be broken?” We pulled it a lot, lot back from what that was, but writers rooms are the happiest place on Earth, or least lonely place on Earth. It’s not always happy — it’s hard sometimes.
The latest episode of Ryan Murphy’s JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette show features a mysterious warning letter
23:09, 21 Feb 2026Updated 23:18, 21 Feb 2026
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette previewed
*Warning – this article contains minor spoilers for Love Story.*
Ryan Murphy’s newest series has thrust the turbulent romance of John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette back into public consciousness.
The fourth instalment of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette arrived this Friday (February 20) and explored a troubling chapter in the pair’s relationship.
During a casual American football match, John (portrayed by Paul Anthony Kelly) discovers a letter in his gym bag containing damning claims about his new partner, Carolyn (Sarah Pidgeon).
Whilst the programme takes creative freedom with particular aspects of the celebrated couple’s narrative, the letter reportedly existed and apparently caused JFK Jr. and Bessette to separate, reports the Daily Record.
Did JFK Jr receive a letter about Carolyn Bessette?
As viewers will be aware, Love Story draws inspiration from Elizabeth Beller’s biography entitled Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
In the book, Beller alleges that JFK Jr. was given a scathing letter about Bessette in 1992, precisely when their romance was flourishing.
Whilst the programme depicts John challenging Carolyn about the accusations at his apartment, the biography suggests they actually engaged in a public row during an evening meal at iconic eatery El Teddy’s.
Based on Beller’s account, the couple separated for a year following the devastating letter, before reuniting in 1993.
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.
Who wrote the letter?
Beller doesn’t disclose the writer’s name. Nevertheless, she explains that they “came from a milieu of boarding schools, Ivy League universities, and ‘old money’ families of New York”.
She continued that it supposedly took Bessette several years to uncover who penned the note, but upon learning the identity, she proceeded to “freeze them out”.
Bessette and JFK Jr wed in an intimate ceremony in September 1996. The pair tragically perished together in an aircraft accident in July 1999.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette is streaming on Disney+
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The epic series, which takes its cue from George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, is comprised of six half-hour episodes.
Here’s a look at when you can watch the final episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms after a recent schedule change due to the Super Bowl.
When does A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 6 come out?
In the UK, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode six – titled The Morrow – will be airing on Monday, February 23 at 3am GMT on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
The episode will then be available on NOW for those to watch on demand if they didn’t stay up in the early hours to watch the season one finale.
Sky Atlantic will then be repeating the episode at 9pm for those who didn’t stay up to watch the Transatlantic simulcast.
Meanwhile, in the USA, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode six will be on HBO on Sunday, February 22 at 10pm and will be available to watch on HBO Max.
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What will happen in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode six?
HBO previously dropped a sneak peek at the forthcoming season one finale, which shows Ser Duncan ‘Dunk’ the Tall (played by Peter Claffey) talking to Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) in the aftermath of the Trial of Seven.
Dunk feels deeply guilty for the death of Baelor ‘Breakspear’ Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) as the Targaryens conduct his funeral.
Valarr Targaryen (Oscar Morgan) says to a despondent Dunk: “He had it in him to be great king. Why would the god take him and leave you?”
Dunk responds: “I’ve wondered the same.”
The scene cuts to Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell) speaking to Dunk about how much his son Aegon ‘Egg’ Targaryen (Dexter Sol Ansell) wishes only to squire for him and no other knight.
However, it looks like Dunk doesn’t want any more to do with Egg after the fallout from the Trial of Seven and responds to Maekar: “I think I’m done with princes.”
The preview ends on an ambiguous note as Egg tells Dunk: “Maybe you’re not the knight I thought you were.”
Although the show might be coming to an end, season two is already in the works after HBO confirmed that it had renewed A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for another outing.
The recommission was announced back in November 2025, even before the first episode had hit screens.
Along with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, House of the Dragon was renewed for season four ahead of its highly-anticipated third season premiere this June.
HBO executive Francesca Orsi said at the time: “We are thrilled to be able to deliver new seasons of these two series for the next three years, for the legion of fans of the Game of Thrones universe.
“Together, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms reveal just how expansive and richly imagined George R. R. Martin’s universe continues to be.
“In January, I think audiences will be delighted by the inspiring underdog tale of Dunk and Egg that George and Ira Parker have so beautifully captured.
“And this Summer, House of the Dragon is set to ignite once again with some of its most epic battles yet.”
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ series finale will air on HBO Max and HBO in the USA tonight at 10PM ET and on NOW and Sky Atlantic tomorrow at 3am GMT
**For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website**
Now, two months after the tragedy, the comedian has broken his silence about the death of his good friends.
“To have that experience of saying good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone … I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward,” O’Brien said in an interview for “The New Yorker Radio Hour” podcast. “I mean, there’s no other word for it. It’s just very — it’s so awful. It’s just so awful.”
As host of the Dec. 13 party, O’Brien was among the last people to see the Reiners alive. Their 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested the following night and charged with murdering his parents. Two sources who attended the party described witnessing a loud verbal exchange between Nick Reiner and his parents.
In an interview published Friday, O’Brien said he and his wife were very close with the couple, describing them as “just such lovely people.”
O’Brien praised Rob Reiner’s talent as a director and his tireless advocacy efforts. The “When Harry Met Sally …” director was a prominent Democratic donor, noted critic of President Trump and a champion for causes such as early childhood education and gay marriage.
“I think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there — and to have that voice go quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend,” O’Brien told The New Yorker.
O’Brien said he considers Reiner “one of the greats” given his impressive track record of directing a series of blockbuster movies.
“To make seven — in, like, a nine-year, 10-year, 11-year period — is insanity,” O’Brien said. “With ‘Spinal Tap’ alone, if that’d been the only thing he ever did, he influenced my generation enormously.”
O’Brien fondly recalled first watching the rock mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap” in college, calling it a “splitting-the-atom moment.”
The pair were not only friends, but also collaborators. Reiner was a guest on a 1999 episode of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and also appeared on episodes of O’Brien’s podcast, “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” in 2023 and 2025.
Authorities allege Nick Reiner fatally stabbed his 78-year-old father and 70-year-old mother at their Brentwood home sometime in the early morning hours of Dec. 14. The couple’s bodies were discovered in the master bedroom by their daughter around 12 hours later, and Nick Reiner was arrested that night in South L.A. by Los Angeles police.
Nick Reiner was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Dec. 16 and has yet to enter a plea. In January, his arraignment was postponed to Monday after his lawyer, famed defense attorney Alan Jackson, stepped down and was replaced by a public defender.
Nick Reiner has a history of struggles with mental health and substance use. It is unclear how prominently those struggles will feature in criminal proceedings.
Times staff writers James Queally and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
Actor Eric Dane, best known for wooing “Grey’s Anatomy” audiences as plastic surgeon Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan, has died following a public battle with ALS.
A TV star whose career spanned from “Saved by the Bell” to “Euphoria” and beyond, Dane died Thursday, his publicist announced in a statement. He was 53.
“With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS. He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world,” the statement reads. “Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight. He will be deeply missed, and lovingly remembered always. Eric adored his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he’s received. The family has asked for privacy as they navigate this impossible time.”
Dane publicized his ALS diagnosis in April 2025. A former competitive swimmer and water polo player, he said ALS — also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease — initially caused the right side of his body to stop working. Prior to his death, the actor channeled his personal experiences with the condition to portray a firefighter living with ALS on TV and advocated for legislation related to the condition.
In Shonda Rhimes’ “Grey’s Anatomy,” Dane’s Sloan was a welcome addition to Seattle Grace Hospital’s staff of heartthrobs who couldn’t seem to keep their gloved hands off each other amid shifts of wild and dramatic cases. He first appeared in Season 2 of “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2006. Sloan, within minutes of his arrival, takes a punch to the face from Patrick Dempsey’s Dr. Derek Shepherd and introduces himself to Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey as one of the fellow “dirty mistresses” who broke up Shepherd’s marriage to ex-wife Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh).
Dane had initially agreed to appear in only one episode of the long-running ABC drama, but remained a fixture — and eye candy for fans — for more than 130 episodes until 2012. Nicknamed “McSteamy” for his looks, Sloan pursued relationships with Drs. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) over the course of Dane’s tenure. His character was killed off early in Season 9 after a devastating Season 8 plane crash that also claimed the life of Leigh’s Lexie.
In 2021, Dane returned to “Grey’s Anatomy” for a cameo in Meredith’s COVID-19-induced dreams.
Prior to breaking out with “Grey’s,” Dane played minor roles in series including “Saved by the Bell, “Roseanne,” “Gideon’s Crossing” and “Charmed.” Dane followed up his “Grey’s Anatomy” tenure with appearances on the ABC spinoff “Private Practice,” a leading role in TNT’s “The Last Ship” and a stint as a secretive real estate developer and dad in HBO’s teen drama “Euphoria.”
He also appeared in several movies following “Grey’s Anatomy,” including “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Marley & Me,” “Burlesque” and Garry Marshall’s “Valentine’s Day,” which reunited him with co-star Dempsey.
Dane did not plan to be an actor until he unexpectedly landed a role in his high school’s production of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” but he “fell in love with it,” he told the Gulf Times in 2014.
“I was like this is the greatest feeling ever,” he added.
Eric William Dane was born Nov. 9, 1972, in San Francisco. His father, a Navy man-turned-architect, died of a gunshot wound when the actor was 7, leaving his mother to raise her two children with assistance from her parents.
Dane attended Sequoia High School and San Mateo High School but dropped out prior to graduation to pursue acting in Los Angeles.
He partied often in his 20s and first entered rehab at age 26. Amid his “Grey’s Anatomy” fame, Dane struggled with addition to painkillers and prescription medicine. He relapsed in 2007 during the Writer’s Guild of America strike, he recalled in 2024.
Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart bring their daughters to the March 2015 world premiere of “Cinderella” in L.A.
(Richard Shotwell / Invision / Associated Press)
“If you take the whole eight years I was on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ I was f— up longer than I was sober and that was when things started going sideways for me,” he said at the time. Notably, he entered rehab again in 2011 to address issues with prescription drugs he had been prescribed for a sports injury.
Dane also spoke openly about his struggles with depression, which reached a head in 2017 amid production on his series “The Last Ship.” During a 2017 “Today” appearance, Dane explained that he was taking medication to manage the disorder, which he said hit him “like a truck.”
“I had to take some time off,” he said at the time. “I went away, I took care of it, and I’m feeling great.”
Dane married “Loving” actor and model Rebecca Gayheart in 2004 in Las Vegas the same day he proposed to her. Infamously, their relationship was subject to scrutiny when in 2009 leaked video showed the spouses in the nude and intoxicated lounging in a bathtub with actor Kari Ann Peniche. Marty Singer, attorney for the spouses at the time, dismissed the controversy.
However, the couple separated in 2017 and Gayheart filed to divorce Dane in 2018, but the split was never finalized. Then in March 2025, right before he went public with his ALS, she filed a request to dismiss the original petition.
In Dane’s role after revealing his diagnosis, he appeared in an episode of the NBC medical drama “Brilliant Minds” as a heroic firefighter struggling to tell his family he has ALS. The episode aired in late November; Gayheart revealed in a late December New York magazine essay that the actor was receiving 24/7 nursing care and she was covering most of the caregivers’ missed shifts.
“We haven’t lived in the same home for eight years; he’s dated other people, I’ve dated someone,” Gayheart wrote in the essay, which discussed Dane’s diagnosis and how it had affected the family. “It’s a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people. Our love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love. Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him. That I’m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me.
“So whatever I can do or however I can show up to make this journey better for him or easier for him, I want to do that,” she continued. “And I want to model that for my girls: That’s what you do. That’s the right thing to do.”
Dane is survived by daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, whom he shares with Gayheart.
The following article contains spoilers forEpisode 7, “1:00 P.M.,” of “The Pitt” Season 2.
The education begins almost immediately. A young woman who has just experienced a sexual assault is in triage, and “The Pitt’s” Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) enlists Dr. Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) to assist charge nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) with the patient.
“We can call for a SANE,” another nurse suggests when Dana says she’ll be occupied.
“On a holiday? Could be hours,” responds Dana, a veteran who knows better, as the Fourth of July shift enters afternoon hours. “We’re not going to make this patient wait. And since I’m the only SANE on staff …”
A what? The quick reference sets in motion what “The Pitt” aims to shed light on: a sexual assault forensic exam, also known as a rape kit exam. The episode delves into the confidential medical procedure to collect DNA and evidence and gives one of the most detailed depictions of the process for television.
But before cameras venture into the room with the patient, Dana gives recent nursing school graduate Emma (Laëtitia Hollard) — and the audience — an overview. A SANE is a sexual assault nurse; they perform forensic exams, collect evidence and hand it over to the police, if a report is made. They also provide resources, support and may even testify in court.
The storyline serves a dual purpose, according to Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman, who co-wrote the episode with the show’s creator, R. Scott Gemmill. “We wanted to highlight the very important and incredible work of a SANE, especially in the department setting,” she says. “And we also wanted to see the bravery it takes for a survivor to come forward, let alone do a rape kit … It’s not an easy decision for somebody to make, and it’s not an easy process for somebody to go through.”
“I wanted people to understand the extent of the exam, I think that’s a misconception among a lot of people,” said Dr. Kathleen Sekula, a SANE at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh who also consulted the show’s team.
Ilana (Tina Ivlev) arrives at the ER in Episode 7 of “The Pitt.”
(HBO)
The case in Episode 7, “1:00 P.M.,” involves a visibly shaken young woman, Ilana, played by Tina Ivlev. The writing team knew they wanted to detail the process, not the trauma, Pierre-Geyfman said, so the information about what Ilana experienced is minimal: She was at a barbecue with friends when she was assaulted by a male friend.
“The thing that struck me was the fact the other shows might focus on what happened and then dive into that,” Ivlev said. “What I loved about this, the minute she starts talking about it, they cut [away]. There’s so much underneath it. I wanted it to be similar to real life when you have a traumatic situation happen — sometimes you can be hyperfocused on certain details, then other things are cloudy. Her head is spinning. She’s in shock.”
As with many of “The Pitt’s” cases, the story serves to bolster the emotional arc of the show’s healthcare providers, in this case Dana, who assists with the exam from start to finish as the department’s certified SANE nurse. Last season, she was brutally punched in the face by a disgruntled patient while taking a smoke break. That violent attack left her rattled and contemplating an exit from the job, but after taking a few weeks off, she ultimately returned to work — though the assault’s lingering impact has sharpened her edges.
“With Dana’s arc and her own assault last season, she’s definitely calcified a little this season,” Pierre-Geyfman said. “She’s trying to create a little bit of distance between her and her patients, and is really trying to prioritize her nurse’s safety. You see her struggle a little bit with that with this patient. She’s wanting to do more for her.”
On screen, the assessment begins with Dr. Al-Hashimi checking to see if Ilana has any injuries that need immediate attention and getting an intake of prescription medications and any known allergies to medications. Securing two triage rooms to complete the exam as a way to ensure privacy in the busy emergency department, Dana, with help from Emma, begins the evidence collection while carefully outlining the process to Ilana. For starters, once Dana opens the kit, Ilana cannot leave the room but is free to take a break as needed.
To avoid contamination, Dana puts on a face shield and opens the kit, which is a rectangle-shaped box that contains items like paper bags to store evidence and swabs for collecting biological samples. The first step requires Ilana to change into a robe, undressing on top of pads placed on the floor so each item of clothing can be packaged into separate bags and collected as evidence. She’ll be given new clothes, Dana assures her. Dana raises a large piece of cloth to give Ilana privacy as she completes the process.
Eventually Dr. Al-Hashimi returns to examine Ilana, checking for any pain on her body or need for X-rays or imaging — she notes two areas of bruising to be documented by Dana with photos. Dana seals the camera’s memory card in an evidence envelope. Next, with the lights off, Dana runs a black light over Ilana’s body. Dana relays that if there’s a part of Ilana’s skin that glows, she’ll swab it with a wet, then dry, cotton swab. Dana next swabs Ilana’s mouth — the inside of her cheek and along the gum line — and her finger nails. At various points, Dana is careful to assess Ilana’s comfort with each step and uses statements like “This will not define you,” while Ilana shows signs of stress about the length of the process.
Emma (Laëtitia Hollard) assists Dana (Katherine LaNasa), who leads the exam as the SANE (sexual assault nurse) on duty.
(HBO)
At one juncture, an advocate from Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, otherwise known as PAAR, arrives to further detail the resources and assistance they can offer, a service that’s available regardless of whether a patient decides not to complete the rape kit exam. Throughout the process, Ilana is assured that she can complete the exam even if she’s vacillating on whether to file a police report — that decision can be made at a later time and none of it goes on her permanent medical record. But when the exam pivots to external and internal vaginal collection, Ilana panics once she’s instructed to place her feet in stirrups to get into position. Dana suggests a break.
“I don’t want a break, I want to stop,” Ilana proclaims. “He’s my friend. He knows all my friends. It was just a dumb — he was drunk. He didn’t mean — it didn’t mean anything.”
It brings a pause to the process, which will carry over into Episode 8. In trying to show the scope of the exam, the medical drama takes liberties in its completion time. Sekula said it’s rare for an exam to be completed in under three to four hours.
Not all nurses are certified to be a SANE, and certification requirements vary by state, according to Sekula. It’s a role that requires extreme attention to detail and thoroughness, as their work bridges the healthcare and legal systems. While preparing for the episode, Hollard said she marveled at the precise protocols involved and the support that’s provided.
“On a technical level, it’s so meticulous,” Hollard said. “There’s so many parts, so many envelopes. You have to take these swabs and they can’t touch each other. And the legality of it all — the way this kit is happening is how they would do it with PAAR in Pittsburgh, but that’s not the same way they do it in California, or [the way] they do it in different states.”
While “The Pitt” is frequently recognized for its hyperrealistic medical procedures, the episode’s director, Uta Briesewitz, knew she wanted to film the exam in a way that mirrored the sensitivity healthcare professionals strive to exhibit, with shots that weren’t invasive or fixated on Ilana’s body. For example, when Ilana is undressing, the camera is fixed on Dana being mindful to give her privacy even in their close proximity — an out of focus glimpse of Ilana’s bare backside comes only when getting a reaction of Emma taking in the weight of the moment. Later, when the blue light is being run down Ilana’s body, her hospital gown is carefully place to avoid exposure. In addition to a SANE consultant being on set to assist with queries about the process, there was also an intimacy coordinator to help with the comfort level of filming the scenes.
“On a technical level, it’s so meticulous,” said Laëtitia Hollard of the process. “There’s so many parts, so many envelopes. You have to take these swabs and they can’t touch each other.”
(HBO)
“It was a very sensitive line because women can get re-traumatized,” Briesewitz said. “I remember one of our more detailed conversations with our SANE nurse was about when Dana had to look with the black light for bodily fluid. How do we make sure she would not miss anything but, at the same time, give the victim the feeling that they’re still protected? It was super helpful to have our SANE advisor on set to say the way she would do it. ‘One arm comes out of the sleeve, then I hold up her gown this way, and I would do it like that …’”
LaNasa found her time at the UCLA Health Rape Treatment Center crucial to chart both her character’s ease in the room and her sensitivity to the task at hand: “I went back a second time because I knew I was going to have to use the kit … I wanted it to look like I had used the kit many times and I knew what I was doing.”
Reflecting on the case as a mirror to her character’s journey, LaNasa pointed out that Dana never pressed charges against Doug Driscoll, the man who assaulted her.
“It’s different in this situation,” LaNasa acknowledged. “I thought it was great information that we got out of this, which is that you can go and do a rape kit, you can have the evidence collected, and you don’t have to decide on that day when you’re traumatized if you want to press charges or not. I think that part of Dana’s hypervigilance is probably because there was no justice for her. I think why she’s cracked this season is because she didn’t take care of herself. She’s reeling from that. She let him beat her up. At the same time, she doesn’t want Tina’s character to feel any pressure, but I think she wants it for her. She wants her to have the ability to change her mind later.”
“We’re going to hear Dana, later in the season, refer back to this process that these people have to go through, in defense of a sexual assault victim,” LaNasa teased. “It’s big on her mind. She’s been doing it quite a while.”
Tom Noonan, a character actor and filmmaker known for playing villains in “Manhunter” and “The Last Action Hero,” died on Valentine’s Day. He was 74.
The death was confirmed by Fred Dekker, director of “The Monster Squad,” who wrote on Facebook, “Tom’s indelible performance as Frankenstein … is a highlight of my modest filmography.”
Noonan had a nearly 40-year career on TV and in film, making his mark with a role in “Manhunter,” the 1986 movie based on a Thomas Harris novel.
In “Manhunter,” which starred William Peterson of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” as an FBI agent and “Succession” star Brian Cox as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Noonan played Francis Dolarhyde, the serial killer also known as the Tooth Fairy. It was a performance that “knocked out” Dekker, who then pursued Noonan for “Monster Squad.”
Playing a killer wasn’t unusual for Noonan, who stood 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6, depending on who you trust. On a 2013 episode of TV’s “The Blacklist,” he played “the Stewmaker,” a man with a taste for dissolving human bodies in acid. In the 1993 comedy “The Last Action Hero” he was the Ripper, a fictional nemesis who comes to life in the high-concept film-within-a-film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as action star Jack Slater.
Born in Greenwich, Conn., on April 12, 1951, Noonan was raised by his math-teacher mother Rita and a large extended family after the death of his father, John Ford Noonan Sr. He went to school at Yale Drama and later founded New York’s Paradise Factory theater with Jack Kruger at the site of the Paradise Ice Cream Factory, where the ice cream cone was invented. The two built a theater and rehearsal rooms where the condemned building stood.
Paradise Factory now bills itself as “bringing the rigor of theatrical discipline to the process of cinematic art, and bringing the intimacy and immediacy of the cinema into theatrical performance art.”
“I wish I had more success as an actor,” the New York-based actor told The Times with a dash of melancholy in 2015. “I think people call me because they’re channel surfing late at night and they see me in a movie on cable.”
In that story, about the actor and his friend and collaborator Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman’s stop-motion animation film “Anomalisa,” a Times staff writer described Noonan: “Like Kaufman, he has a dark worldview, an idiosyncratic sensibility, blackly comic thoughts and, at times, an endearing crankiness.”
In “Anomalisa,” Noonan was credited with playing “Everyone Else” — and that wasn’t an exaggeration. Jennifer Jason Leigh and David Thewlis played the leads; Noonan voiced more than 40 other roles in the film.
“Even I can’t tell if it’s me sometimes,” he told The Times in 2015 about the extensive studio-recording process. “I mean, I recognize the voice, but I’m not sure where it came from.”
“My first TV interview was with Tom Noonan for a local NYC show called MIDDAY(?),” actor Jerry O’Connell wrote early Wednesday on Instagram, including a blurry image of them on the show’s set. “I was so nervous. Tom was so kind. I saw him in every (NYC) play he was in after. He bought my brother and I tickets to Eddie Murphy’s RAW (we were too young to purchase). Btw, on this episode, I was talking about a movie about to come out (Stand By Me) and Mr. Noonan was talking about his movie (Manhunter). Rest In Peace LEGEND.”
Noonan appeared in the famous 1980 flop “Heaven’s Gate” and cast a creepy gothic shadow decades later in “The House of the Devil” (2009). He was a ghoulish host of a late-night television horror program in the 2005 vampire movie “The Roost,” then played a wagon-train missionary in the 2007 western “Seraphim Falls.”
In 18 episodes of the series “Hell on Wheels,” which ran for five seasons on AMC, he was the Rev. Nathaniel Cole. Other TV credits included episodes of Fox’s “The X-Files,” HBO’s “The Leftovers,” CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and the Louis C.K. series “Louie” (FX) and “Horace and Pete.”
Noonan’s half-dozen directing credits include the 1994 film “What Happened Was …,” which was produced as a play, then became a movie and then won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for dramatic feature. In addition to writing and directing the movie, Noonan played the lead male role opposite actor Karen Sillas. Noonan also won Sundance’s Waldo Salt screenwriting award for the script.
The next year, his feature “The Wife” — a dark comedy once again written, directed by and starring Noonan — was a nominee for the same Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Described by the New York Times as a “bleakly funny evisceration of modern marriage,” the movie co-starred Karen Young, who was Noonan’s wife from 1992 to 1999.
And Noonan’s 2015 movie “The Shape of Something Squashed” was born out of confusion and some despair after his agent called him with what initially looked like a part in one of the “Mockingjay” installments of “The Hunger Games” franchise. When he got the script, though, he saw only one role for someone his age, and that job — playing President Snow — already belonged to Donald Sutherland.
Turns out there never had been a part in the offing. Sutherland was just busy, and Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the “Hunger Games” cast needed someone to rehearse with them for a week.
After recovering from a brief emotional tailspin, Noonan knocked out the script for “The Shape of Something Squashed” — then directed and acted in the film.
He was preceded in death by his older brother, “A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking” playwright John Ford Noonan Jr., who died in 2018 at age 77.
Former Times staff writer Steve Zeitchik contributed to this report.
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fans were left stunned by an unexpected death in episode five.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode five trailer
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continues to surprise fans with the Game of Thrones’ prequel ending on a major cliffhanger this week.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Returning for episode five, entitled In the Name of the Mother, on Sky Atlantic and NOW, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms this week revolved around the dreaded Trial of Seven.
Depicted as a “man of the people”, Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (played by Bertie Carvel) surprisingly chose to join Dunk’s (Peter Claffey) in a bid to protect his brother and nephews on the other side.
It was also his way of doing what was right and honorable and initially after the Trial of Seven, it appears that Baelor comes out unscathed.
But unfortunately for him and fans, Baelor didn’t have the happy ending that fans were hoping for.
The two Ser Humfreys Beesbury (Danny Collins) and Hardyng (Ross Anderson) were killed and the prince emerged among the victors after Dunk forced Aerion (Finn Bennett) to yield.
However, when Baelor does take off his helmet, it is revealed that the back of his head had been caved in by Maekar’s (Sam Spruell) mace.
Fans were hopeful that he would still survive but Baelor ultimately dies from his gruesome injuries, leaving his loved ones heartbroken.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, a distraught user wrote: “All of us at Baelor’s funeral,” followed by a crying emoji.
A second exclaimed: “Baelor take me with you,” as another stated: “Baelor Targaryen you will be missed by all.”
Someone else shared: “What I love the most about how A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms portrays Baelor is that he is not just this perfect man who’s inherently good, but rather his goodness and honor is A CHOICE he makes every time.
“One that he could choose differently, and it ultimately makes what he does choose have meaning.”
While a fellow viewer added: “Just want to give a huge round of applause to Bertie Carvel for his performance as Baelor Targaryen.
“He really brought to life one of the best Asoiaf characters.”
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
Silent Witness viewers spotted a “huge flaw” just minutes into Tuesday’s episode
22:18, 17 Feb 2026Updated 22:23, 17 Feb 2026
Silent Witness viewers spot huge ‘error’ as pulled episode airs on BBC(Image: BBC)
Viewers of Silent Witness believed they’d identified a “huge flaw” just moments into Tuesday’s (February 17) pulled episode.
The 29th series of the enduring BBC crime drama premiered earlier this month, with Emilia Fox and David Caves returning as Dr Nikki Alexander and Jack Hodgson, joined by Maggie Steed and Fran Mills as Harriet Maven and Kit Brooks.
The programme has now relocated to Birmingham, delivering five compelling new investigations across ten instalments. Silent Witness has recently experienced multiple schedule changes, after this evening’s episode was withdrawn from broadcast last week in light of a horrific incident that occurred in Birmingham.
A BBC representative informed TV Guide at the time: “Due to the attack in Birmingham over the weekend, this week’s episodes of Silent Witness will not transmit as planned and instead they have been replaced with two episodes from later on in the series,” reports the Express.
Just a week after the adjustments, the programme made its comeback to BBC One this evening, airing the opening chapter of The Enemy Within.
During the episode, the forensic specialists were tasked with examining a fatal knife attack in Birmingham. Initially, the incident seemed to bear the hallmarks of racial motivation, but as enquiries progressed, the team gradually discovered evidence suggesting a probable perpetrator.
As the team persisted in pursuing clues, racial tensions rapidly intensified throughout the city. At the same time, Jack discovered that his new gym mates weren’t who he thought they were, whilst Kit started having second thoughts about her relationship with DC Jonno Magath (Gerard Kearns).
The episode boasted a star-studded cast list, with guest appearances including Chris Reilly (Slow Horses), Selin Hizli (Am I Being Unreasonable?), and Phaldut Sharma (EastEnders).
However, just moments into the episode, BBC viewers spotted a “huge flaw”. Many fans believe that the episode was originally intended to be the series opener, after Nikki was shown cheerfully walking through the new Bowman Centre, whilst Harriet kept getting lost on her way to work.
“Does anyone actually know which order the episodes are actually supposed to run in because I assumed this one was just swapped out for Creekwood last week but seems to make more sense as the first episode of the series before Alice Hill?” one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Another added: “So we can all agree this was originally meant to be episode one, right?” whilst a third said: “I’m sorry but where did all these people working there suddenly come from.”
A fourth fan echoed the sentiment, saying: “I’m so confused by the order of these eps. This looks like the first ep not last week’s. Huge airing flaw or what?”
Silent Witness is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website
Corrie fans joked ‘someone is getting fired’ after the groundbreaking flashforward episode was uploaded to YouTube on Friday, giving away vital details ahead of tonight’s show
11:33, 16 Feb 2026Updated 11:33, 16 Feb 2026
Will groomer Megan be the one to meet her maker? (Image: ITV)
Bosses at Coronation Street were left reeling after accidentally leaking tonight’s flashforward episode days before the top secret show was due to air.
Fans were stunned after finding out which five characters are in the firing line early, with one set to be murdered in April. This morning, Corrie put out the names of those at risk of a grisly death as the identities of the ITV soap’s stars who could meet their end were announced.
Groomer Megan Walsh, manipulative Theo Silverton and family-wrecker Carl Webster could soon be getting their comeuppance with quirky landlady Maggie Driscoll and suspicious newcomer Jodie Ramsey also picked as possible murder victims. But some viewers found out days ago.
The programme, which is set to air tonight, was briefly uploaded on the YouTube on Friday before being hauled offline. It didn’t go unnoticed as one fan took to X to write: “Someone at Corrie leaking Mondays episode on a Friday afternoon oh dear someone’s getting fired.”
The groundbreaking episode begins with a police interview taking place on April 23. A a shocked and Betsy Swain is seen telling detectives about finding the dead body of someone she knows.
Dressed in wedding clothes, the cop’s daughter explains that she had been at the marriage of her mum Lisa Swain to Carla Connor, but was heading into town when she made the shocking discovery. As the episode returns to the present day we begin to see how the behaviour of the five characters could lead to their possible death two months later.
Twisted teacher Megan is caught up in a web of lies as she continues to groom impressionable teen Will Driscoll. Doing anything to protect her family, Maggie gives a fake alibi for Will to stop him being charged with the Christmas Day attack on Daniel Osbourne.
Carl has burnt all his bridges when he let Debbie take the blame for the Corriedale accident which saw Billy Mayhew perish. Since finding out Debbie is actually his mum and not his sister, Carl has pressed the self-destruct button and as he continues to goad both family and neighbours – he would have no shortage of people looking to settle a score.
Theo’s coercive control over Todd has reached new lows and with their wedding looming, will Todd finally confide in his friends about what has been going on before it is too late?
Despite initial reservations, the Platts have welcomed Shona’s estranged sister Jodie Ramsey into their home. But Jodie has been keeping secrets from them, and it seems she has got mixed up with some pretty shady characters in her past. Will trouble follow Jodie to Weatherfield, or could she upset people closer to home with her behaviour?
As the episode comes to a close we flash forward again to April 23 and the five characters are on the cobbles as Lisa and Carla’s wedding fireworks light up the night sky.
As the lights flicker a battered and bruised Carl, frantic Jodie, a menacing Maggie, a bloody-nosed Megan and a furtive Theo stare into the darkness. In the final moments the terrified scream of Betsy Swain fills the air – but which Weatherfield resident will be the murder victim?
Social Media Murders is an anthology docu-series that looks into the shocking murders of young people.
Where is Brandon Clark now as ITV airs ‘alarming’ Social Media Murders episode(Image: ABC/YOUTUBE)
Social Media Murders returns to screens this evening, examining the tragic killing of 19-year-old Bianca Devins.
The documentary series Social Media Murders first broadcast in 2021, and now the 10-part programme is being reshown, with its third episode airing tonight, Wednesday, February 11, at 11.40pm on ITV.
Titled The Murder of Bianca Devins, this episode explores the teenager’s death in July 2019. She was killed by Brandon Clark, 21, an acquaintance she’d connected with on Instagram.
The pair were travelling home from a gig in Queens, New York City, when he fatally attacked her with a knife before sharing disturbing photographs of her body online.
Clark then tried to end his own life after murdering Bianca but survived. Following his arrest, authorities discovered he had also recorded footage of her final moments.
Where is Brandon Clark now?
Brandon Clark admitted to the second-degree murder of Bianca Devins in February 2020 and is presently incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility in New York, serving a 25-year sentence.
According to Distractify, during his sentencing hearing, Clark stated: “I hate myself for what I did to her.
“I don’t understand how I could do something like that. It disgusts me.”
That wasn’t his only public statement. Three years ago, he participated in a contentious interview with Yinka Bokinni for Channel 4‘s Interview With A Killer.
At the time, Bianca’s mother Kim penned a letter to Channel 4 and Plum Productions pleading with them not to broadcast the documentary, expressing her concern that it would inflict “immense emotional distress” on Bianca’s family and friends.
In the wake of her daughter’s tragic passing, Kim has been campaigning for reform in the realm of social media as images of Bianca’s body continued to circulate online.
Bianca’s Law was introduced in 2020, criminalising the posting of offensive images of crime victims within New York State.
Social Media Murders is available to watch on ITV and ITVX.
The Nordic noir thriller has been praised for its ‘excellent’ action and gorgeous visuals
Megan Nisbet Content Editor
10:45, 09 Feb 2026
The fourth series of a very popular thriller has just dropped on Channel 4(Image: Channel 4)
The fourth series of a very popular thriller has just dropped on Channel 4.
Arctic Circle is the latest box set to dop on the broadcaster’s streaming platform and has been described as a “gripping Finnish crime drama” that follows detective Nina Kautsalo as she investigates a string of dangerous cases that straddle the border between Russia and Finland.
The series first aired back in Finland in 2018 for four seasons, and now all of them are available to binge on Channel 4. Arctic Circle stars Iina Kuustonen in the lead role, alongside fellow cast members Pihla Viitala, Mikko Leppilampi, Venla Ronkainen, and Taneli Mäkelä.
The fourth season sees Nina, now chief of police in Ivalo, investigate a possible threat to an astrophysicists’ conference occurring during the rare Eiscat comet.
As her former boss Jaakko Stenius joins the inquiry, a carbon‑monoxide incident killing 24 care‑home residents, initially ruled accidental, reveals evidence of mass murder.
The synopsis reads: “When the rare Eiscat comet blazes across the endless night sky in its first appearance in two thousand years, it draws scientists from around the world to Ivalo for an international conference.
“After the FBI warns of a potential threat, Nina’s former boss, Jaakko Stenius (Kari Ketonen), arrives to lead a covert investigation with her. As they dig deeper, chilling links emerge between the comet and a fanatical sect determined to fulfill an ancient prophecy before the comet disappears again.”
Set in Lapland, the show has been praised by viewers for its “sublime” casting and gorgeous visuals.
One viewer wrote: “This series has it all: interesting story with multiple plot lines, nice balance between drama and thriller, good acting by everyone involved (Finnish actress Iina Kuustonen is a marvel to watch), and beautiful shots of vast snowy landscapes in Lapland.”
While another said: “Outstanding. This is a top quality show with fine performances and a terrific plot. Good production values with characters that are fully explored.”
Adding: “All good shows there must be an array of engaging characters. Artic Circle has that in spades. The countryside is both haunting beautiful and bleak. It’s an unforgiving environment and has been captured to perfection.”
And a third commented: “The show itself has a brilliant storyline and the location for filming sets the scene nicely. The acting is superb, especially the young girl who plays Venla.”
It come after Channel 4 announced its “most watched show” of 2026, Patience, would be returning to screens for a third season. You can read more on this here.
Series 1 to 4 of Arctic Circle are available to stream on Channel 4 now.
How did a gay hockey romance made by a little-known Canadian streamer become a global cultural phenomenon?
The answer, as it turns out, was by leaning into female and queer audiences. Since the debut last November of “Heated Rivalry,” which chronicles the clandestine love story between two fierce hockey rivals, the drama series from Bell Media’s Crave has emerged as an unlikely success story, defying a broader industry trend of media consolidation and waning commitments to diversity in Hollywood.
The mastermind behind the show’s success is Jacob Tierney, who read author Rachel Reid’s “Game Changers” series during the COVID-19 pandemic and then optioned all of the books after reading a Washington Post story about the proliferation of romance novels. After writing a pilot on spec, he approached the executives at Crave — where he had previously produced “Letterkenny,” “Shoresy” and “Canada’s Drag Race” — about green-lighting a series. From the outset, the gay writer-producer had a clear idea of how he wanted to adapt the “smutty” story for TV, starting with casting relative newcomers Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, respectively.
“Jacob was very open to our feedback, but his common [refrain] back to us was, ‘We need to be true to the source material because the built-in fan base will expect certain things from us, and that includes the appearances of these actors and their ages,’” says Justin Stockman, Bell Media’s VP of content development and programming. “He’s like, ‘We found them. These are the people from the book.’ And that’s where we had to trust him.”
Brendan Brady, Tierney’s producing partner through their Accent Aigu Entertainment banner, notes that the Canadian TV model diverges from the American one, in that the producer retains ownership of the IP while collecting a licensing fee from the broadcaster. To fund the series, Tierney and Brady reinvested their personal fees to cover about 10% of the budget, while another 30% was sourced from tax credits. This included the Canada Media Fund, a resource derived from government and industry contributions that national broadcasters can allocate at their discretion. The rest of the financing usually comes from third parties.
But Tierney recalls that the notes from potential financiers did not align with his creative vision. Some wanted to delay the graphic depictions of gay sex and expand the world to include more characters. Someone even suggested introducing Rose Landry (Sophie Nélisse) earlier and putting her in a love triangle with Shane and Ilya, because they believed “this show won’t work without a female entry point,” Tierney recalls. Ultimately, Bell Media opted against a co-financier, instead covering the remaining costs through its new distribution branch, Sphere Abacus. But, Brady says, the budget was still “far south” of CA$5 million (approximately $3.6 million) per episode. “It’s so much less than that, it’s almost silly,” Tierney adds.
Sean Cohan, an American executive who worked at A&E Network and Nielsen before being appointed president of Bell Media, does not think “Heated Rivalry” could have been made in the U.S. For starters, “green-lighting” stateside is a “slower” process; Tierney could have been stuck in development hell for years. The show also contains numerous Canadian references — cottage country, loons, McGill University — which would have not made sense outside of the Great White North.
From left, stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, creator Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady on the set of “Heated Rivalry.”
(Sabrina Lantos)
For his part, Tierney doesn’t believe that “Heated Rivalry” would have even been made at another Canadian network or streamer. “There’s lots of ways to put your fingers in and get them sticky and screw things up, and these executives wanted the same show that we wanted to make and they supported us 100%,” he says. Those executives were so confident in the show’s success that they decided to move up the premiere date from February to late November to take advantage of the increase in viewership around the holidays. The accelerated release schedule meant that Tierney delivered his cut of the Season 1 finale a week and a half before it aired.
At the time of our interview, Tierney was already trying to break the story for Season 2, which he and Brady say will not premiere until spring 2027. “As much as I appreciate how rabid and interested people are at this point, the first season worked because I trusted my gut with this, and I’m going to do that again,” Tierney says.
Like the audience, Bell Media executives are waiting with bated breath for the next chapter of “Heated Rivalry.” And given that Accent Aigu has optioned all of the “Game Changer” novels (including Reid’s forthcoming “Unrivaled”), everything is on the table — more episodes or seasons, one-off specials, maybe even a spin-off. “We’re open to anything that keeps the quality where it was, but also brings our show back as quickly as we can,” Stockman says. (HBO Max will not be involved financially and remains merely a distributor.)
Tierney declines to reveal whether he will split “The Long Game” into one or two seasons, but he volunteers that he does not see himself making more than six episodes per season. “I don’t need to do 10. I would always rather tighten the belt than get loosey-goosey,” says Tierney, who will have a co-writer for Season 2 but continue to direct all the episodes himself. “I would rather be like, ‘Let’s see how much story we can pack into these episodes.’”
“We want everybody to be left yearning,” Brady adds. “That’s what everybody loves about this show. Less is more!”
“Heated Rivalry” may center on Shane and Ilya, but there will “absolutely” be “diversions” to other characters in the canon. “Just like you can’t tell the story without Scott Hunter, you can’t really tell the story without Troy Barrett,” Tierney says, alluding to a character from Reid’s books who is yet to appear in the TV series. And while there may be a lot more incoming calls about higher-profile casting, he adds, “We need Canadian talent, and we love Canadian talent. It’s not a burden, but it’s also something we literally have to do to get our financing.”
For Cohan, “Heated Rivalry” is valuable proof of concept as he attempts to convince more Canadian creators to return to their roots, regardless of where they now live in the world. “It certainly helps to feel like we’ve got a dramatic illustration, a data point — a pretty good one too — to say, ‘Yeah, look, we Canadians, not just Bell, can make great, global and profitable [shows], and we can do it by being authentic,’” Cohan says.
Some actors who appear right on the edge of becoming household names and who happen to be hosting “Saturday Night Live” for the first time might be leery of letting a famous relative steal their spotlight.
Alexander Skarsgård let it happen twice in the same “SNL” episode when his father Stellan Skarsgård appeared in a returning sketch about immigrant fathers (in which Cardi B also appeared) and one about a Scandinavian film’s giggly production. To be fair, though, his dad is currently Oscar-nominated in the supporting actor category for “Sentimental Value.”
If the Alexander of the Skarsgård was bothered, it sure didn’t show; the first-time host of the 1,000th episode of “SNL” was loose and committed throughout, even if not all the sketches hit. And yes, before you go racing to Peacock to confirm, Alexander gave his father Stellan a big ol’ hug in the closing goodbyes. Aww.
If “SNL” shied away last week from directly addressing the quickly devolving situation in Minneapolis last week, it found its footing with a cold open about ICE that didn’t rely on James Austin Johnson’s impression of President Trump. Instead, it featured former cast member Pete Davidson as border czar Tom Homan taking over command of clueless ICE officers. This was followed, after the monologue, by a well-executed sketch about a mom (Ashley Padilla) slowly changing her mind about the Trump administration.
As the younger Skarsgård’s career has shown (“Murderbot,” “True Blood,” “The Northman”), he’s used to playing odd, extreme characters and “SNL” was a nice fit.
For the first time in a while, Trump didn’t dominate the cold open of the show; instead, Davidson came back to the show, wearing a bald cap to portray Homan. Homan points out the irony that things have gotten so bad in Minneapolis with ICE that he’s now considered the voice-of-reason adult in the room. ICE commanders (Kenan Thompson, Andrew Dismukes, Johnson, Ben Marshall, Mikey Day and Jeremy Culhane) claimed their orders were “wildin’ out” and wondered if they’re supposed to be releasing the Epstein files. As Homan pointed out, the ICE raids were to distract from those, but now the Epstein files are being released to distract from ICE. Davidson is remembered more for his “Weekend Update” segments and his Chad character on “SNL,” but he does some nice work here even if he breaks character at one point.
Skarsgård’s could have spent his monologue discussing his TV and movie roles, like his upcoming film “Wicker” or his role in the new Charli XCX mockumentary “The Moment,” but instead he focused on the band members who appear on stage but rarely get to speak on the show. He interviewed some of the band members, poorly, and then grabbed a saxophone to do some inspired fake playing. It was silly and fun, a nice start to Skarsgård’s night.
Best sketch of the night: Mom’s having a change of heart, but you can’t say anything
For most of this season you can count on at least one sketch to feature a standout performance from featured player Ashley Padilla, who has become a ringer for playing women who are either very deluded and are trying to pretend they’re not, or who are trying to manage other people’s reactions to her odd behavior. For this sketch, she gets to do both, playing a mother who, after a lengthy preamble, reveals to her adult children and husband (Skarsgård) that she’s starting to change her opinion about Trump’s policies, from immigration to guns to trans people. As her kids struggle to hold back their reactions, lest she swing back the other way, her husband just wants to go to Red Robin for his birthday scoop. Best line: “If I hear a single ‘I told you so,’ I will go see the ‘Melania’ movie tonight!”
Also good: Having the right body shape for Olympics-level luge, even if it’s a corpse
Wickline, another featured player, has become a polarizing cast member among fans, some of whom simply don’t get her humor or appreciate her performances, while others love her quirky songs and see her as bringing a unique vibe to the show. For this Olympics-themed pre-taped piece, she gets to have a lot of fun as a reluctant luge competitor who is terrified to go down the mountain and tries to fake being sick to avoid going to Milan. This might remind you of Patti Harrison’s perfect performance in the “Capital Room” sketch on “I Think You Should Leave,” but Wickline manages to make the character her own.
‘Weekend Update’ winner: They scored again ahead of the Super Bowl
Sherman was promoted to “Weekend Update” weather correspondent in a segment that included a surprise appearance from “30 Rock” star Jack McBrayer, but it was Dismukes and Padilla as a couple who just had sex winning the week with their awkward, infatuated banter, which tied in nicely to a discussion about next week’s big game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. The couple predict that the Patriots will be on top the first half, but at some point the Seahawks will come from behind and dominate the Patriots for a little while. “Maybe the Patriots get tired and ask the Seahawks to play themselves for a while,” Dismukes suggests. Things go off the rails when he says no matter what happens, someone’s getting a ring, which puts tension on the budding relationship. “I didn’t say that night!” he explains to a disappointed Padilla. The two previously hooked up for the first time in the Glen Powell episode.
Don’t stop me if you’ve heard this one before, since I’m admittedly something of a broken record on the subject, but I very much prefer Marvel’s television series, which tend to be fleet, original and unpredictable, to its movies, which tend not to be. “Loki,”“Ms. Marvel,”“Moon Knight,”“Echo,”“WandaVision” and its spinoff “Agatha All Along” — all (among others) are worth watching, even the ones that are dumped after a season.
Developing longer stories with less money, the TV shows makers need to be inventive, creative with their resources, so they invest in characters and ideas rather than special effects and action. They focus on secondary or ensemble figures who would never be given a theatrical feature of their own to carry, are particular about culture and family and place, and are often less contingent on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with its phases and stages, its crossovers and cross-promotions and long-range marketing plans. At once higher concept and more grounded than the movies, they’re interesting on their own, to the point where, when they finally hitch on to the Marvel multi-mega-serial train, I find them disappointing.
“Wonder Man,” whose eight episodes premiere all at once Tuesday on Disney+, is perhaps the most grounded of these series. Created by Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) and Andrew Guest (who has written for “Community” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), the series is a (generally) sweet, disarming tale of actors in Hollywood, tricked up with picture-business details that you don’t need to be au fait with the MCU to appreciate. There are things it might be helpful to know, but you can work out everything that matters through context. (Locals will enjoy playing Spot the Locations.)
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Simon Williams, who as a child became a fan of a B-movie superhero called Wonder Man — not a “real” superhero, in this reality, merely a fiction. Now in his 30s, he’s a struggling actor in Hollywood, good enough to land a small part in an “American Horror Story” episode, but not clever enough to keep from slowing down the production with questions and suggestions when all he needs to do is deliver a couple of lines before a monster bites his head off. He loses the part and a girlfriend directly afterward.
Taking in a revival house matinee of “Midnight Cowboy,” he meets Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who is back from having played the Mandarin — that is, he acted the part of a terrorist called the Mandarin, believing it was just a job — in “Iron Man 3” and providing appealing comedy relief in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” The character here is more fleshed out, something of a mess (but 13 years sober, he likes to point out), serious but not a joke. Before it all went wrong, Trevor played King Lear (in Croydon), appeared in “Coronation Street” and in a movie with Glenda Jackson, was off-off-off Broadway in “The Skin Our Teeth” and briefly had the lead in a hospital show with Joe Pantoliano, who’s very funny playing himself.
Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), left, and Simon Williams (Yahya Adbul-Mateen II) team up in “Wonder Man.”
(Suzanne Tenner / Marvel Television)
Slattery tells Simon that European art director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić) is rebooting Wonder Man, a role Simon feels born to play. He makes an end run around his unconvinced agent, Janelle (X Mayo), and wheedles an audition — where he again meets Trevor, auditioning for Barnaby, Wonder Man’s pal, or sidekick or something. There are wheels behind wheels in this setup, some of which could use a little grease, but for most of the series they do their squeaking off to the side. It’s a love story, above all — “Midnight Cowboy,” not an accidental choice, is more of a touchstone than any Marvel movie.
Simon does have powers — things shake, break or explode around him when he’s upset, and his strength can become super in a tight spot — which puts him in the sights of the Department of Damage Control, embodied by Arian Moayed as P. Cleary, who would like to contain him. But he struggles to keep them secret, especially in light of something called the Doorman Clause — its history established in a sidebar episode, a cautionary Hollywood fable with Josh Gad as himself — which prohibits anyone with super powers from working in film or television, all Simon lives for.
There is little in the way of action, and you won’t miss it. The fate of the world is never in question, but a callback for a second audition means everything. The only costumed characters are actors playing costumed characters; the only villains, apart from the bureaucracy that seeks to bring him in, are Simon’s own self-doubt and temper. As things progress, Trevor will become a mentor to Simon. As is common in stories of love and friendship, a betrayal will be revealed, but if you have seen even a few such stories, you know how that’s going to go, and will be glad it does.
Whether discussing acting techniques or the traffic they’re stuck in on Hollywood Boulevard (Trevor: “Probably the Hollywood Bowl.” Simon: “It’s too late for the Bowl.” Trevor: “It’s usually the Bowl. I remember seeing Cher there once — breathtaking. Chaka Khan, now there’s a woman”), Abdul-Mateen and Kingsley work well together; their energies are complementary, laid back and loose versus worked up and tight and, of course, each will have something to teach one another about who they are and who they could be. I was genuinely anxious for them, as friends, more so than just wondering how such and such a superhero (or team) might defeat such and such a supervillain (or team).
“Our ideas about heroes and gods, they only get in the way,” says Von Kovak, putting a room of hopeful actors through their paces, and essentially speaking for the series he’s in. “Too difficult to comprehend them. Let’s find the human underneath.”
WASHINGTON — The crisis touched off by President Trump’s demand to take ownership of Greenland appears over, at least for now. But the United States and its European allies still face a larger long-term challenge: Can their shaky marriage be saved?
At 75 years old, NATO has survived storms before, from squabbles over trade to estrangement over wars in Vietnam and Iraq. France, jealous of its independence, even pulled its armed forces out of NATO for 43 years.
But diplomats and foreign policy scholars warn that the current division in the alliance may be worse, because Trump’s threats on Greenland convinced many Europeans that the United States has become an unreliable and perhaps even dangerous ally.
The roots of the crisis lie in the president’s frequently expressed disdain for alliances in general and NATO in particular.
Long before Trump arrived in the White House, presidents from both parties complained that many NATO countries weren’t pulling their weight in military spending.
But earlier presidents still considered the alliance an essential asset to U.S. foreign policy and the cornerstone of a system that prevented war in Europe for most of a century.
Trump has never seemed to share that view. Even after he succeeded in persuading NATO members to increase their defense spending, he continued to deride most allies as freeloaders.
Until last year, he refused to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to help defend other NATO countries, the core principle of the alliance. And he reserved the right to walk away from any agreement, military or commercial, whenever it suited his purpose.
In the two-week standoff over Greenland, he threatened to seize the island from NATO member Denmark by force, an action that would have violated the NATO treaty.
When Britain, Germany and other countries sent troops to Greenland, he threatened to hit them with new tariffs, which would have violated a trade deal Trump made only last year.
Both threats touched off fury in Europe, where governments had spent most of the past year making concessions to Trump on both military spending and tariffs. When Trump backed down, the lesson some leaders drew was that pushing back worked better than playing nice.
“We do prefer respect to bullies,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.
“Being a happy vassal is one thing. Being a miserable slave is something else,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said.
The long-term danger for the United States, scholars said, is that Europeans might choose to look elsewhere for military and economic partners.
“They just don’t trust us,” said Richard N. Haass, a former top State Department official in the George W. Bush administration.
“A post-American world is fast emerging, one brought about in large part by the United States taking the lead in dismantling the international order that this country built,” he wrote last week.
Some European leaders, including Macron, have argued that they need to disentangle from the United States, build military forces that can defend against Russia, and seek more reliable trade partners, potentially including India and China.
But decoupling from the United States would not be easy, fast or cheap. Europe and Canada still depend on the United States for many of their defense needs and as a major market for exports.
Almost all NATO countries have pledged to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product, but they aren’t scheduled to reach that goal until 2035.
Meanwhile, they face the current danger of an expansionist Russia on their eastern frontier.
Not surprisingly for a group of 30 countries, Europe’s NATO members aren’t united on the question. Macron has argued for more autonomy, but others have called for caution.
“Despite all the frustration and anger of recent months, let us not be too quick to write off the transatlantic partnership,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at Davos.
“I think we are actually in the process of creating a stronger NATO,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb. “As long as we keep doing that, slowly and surely we’ll be just fine.”
They argue, in effect, that the best strategy is to muddle through — which is what NATO and Europe have done in most earlier crises.
The strongest argument for that course may be the uncertainty and disorder that would follow a rapid erosion — or worse, dissolution — of an alliance that has helped keep its members safe for most of a century.
The costs of that outcome, historian Robert Kagan warned recently, would be borne by Americans as well as Europeans.
If the United States continues to weaken its commitments to NATO and other alliances, he wrote in the Atlantic, “The U.S. will have no reliable friends or allies, and will have to depend entirely on its own strength to survive and prosper. This will require more military spending, not less. … If Americans thought defending the liberal world order was too expensive, wait until they start paying for what comes next.”
