What’s on TV this week—Loki, Our Flag Means Death, and Lupin return
Plus, Chucky kicks off a new season, Eli Roth unveils an animated horror series, Bob's Burgers is back, and more
TV Lists Loki
Welcome to What’s On, our weekly picks of must-watch shows. Here’s what you need to watch from Sunday, October 1 to Thursday, October 5. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekend edition of What’s On drops on Fridays.]
The biggies
Our Flag Means Death (Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
David Jenkins’ unexpectedly delightful and sappy pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death is back for round two. Set in the 18th century, the show centers on pampered gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), who is determined to make a career out of robbing ships at sea. His plans shift when he meets and falls for the elusive Blackbeard (Taika Waititi), who reciprocates his feelings. In season two, they’ll have to navigate relationship problems while dealing with new foes and friends, like Minnie Driver’s Anne Bonny. The cast includes Con O’Neill, Samson Kayo, Kristian Nairn, Vico Ortiz, and Leslie Jones. Our Flag will premiere with three episodes. The A.V. Club will recap the show weekly.
Lupin (Netflix, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
Acclaimed French hit Lupin is back with its long-anticipated third season. The mystery thriller follows Assane Diop (Omar Sy), who is inspired by the fictional thief Arsène Lupin. He turns into an expert burglar to extract revenge from the rich family who falsely imprisoned his father. In the new episodes, Assane is still in hiding, struggling to live without his wife and son. But, of course, he returns to Paris to seek them out—only to fall back into familiar criminal patterns.
Loki (Disney+, Thursday, 9 p.m.)
It’s a good week to be a dapper, mischief-seeking criminal. First Our Flag Means Death and Lupin, and now Loki. The Disney+ Marvel series is back for season two, with Tom Hiddleston reprising his titular role. Loki spent season one trying to escape from captivity at the Time Variance Authority. In the new episodes, he’s right back where he started, except he wants to help his new friends face a powerful new enemy. Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku, and Eugene Cordero return, with Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan joining the cast. (We still don’t know how Loki will handle Jonathan Majors’ Kang.) Loki breaks the streamer’s pattern and will air new episodes at 9 p.m. ET instead of dropping them at midnight. The A.V. Club will recap the show weekly.
Hidden gems
Chucky (Peacock, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m.)
The funniest, cruelest, tiniest villain of all time returns in Chucky’s third season. SYFY’s drama now finds Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) residing at the White House, making sure he kills people at the highest political level in America. Meanwhile, Hackensack’s favorite teen trio—Jake (Zachary Arthur), Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), and Devon (Björgvin Arnarson)—make their way from New Jersey to Washington D.C. in another attempt to kill their insane nemesis. Season three is split into two halves, with four episodes airing in October and the remaining four scheduled for next year. The A.V. Club’s review publishes on Monday.
Everything Now (Netflix, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
Talk To Me’s Sophie Wilde leads the British dramedy Everything Now as 17-year-old Mia Polanco, who rejoins sixth form after her anorexia led to a lengthy hospital stay. To try and catch up with her friends, who have seemingly moved on without her, Mia makes a bucket list of all the firsts she wants to attempt and finds a new community in the process. The cast includes Stephen Fry, Niamh McCormack, Vivienne Acheampong, and Lauryn Ajufo.
Bargain (Paramount+, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
Paramount+ adds to its K-drama slate with Bargain. Based on Lee Chung-hyun’s short film, the action drama follows strangers who are trapped in a remote motel after an earthquake. With no one else to trust, they have to try and team up to survive.
More good stuff
Fright Krewe (Hulu, Monday, 12:01 a.m.)
Eli Roth’s 10-episode animated-horror comedy Fright Krewe follows a group of misfit teens in New Orleans who are thrust into an adventure to save the world from a demonic threat. That might be an easier task for them than forming friendships. The show drops on Hulu and Peacock simultaneously.
Beckham (Netflix, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m.)
Oscar-winner Fisher Stevens directs the four-part docuseries Beckham about (obviously) global icon and football star David Beckham. The project gives fans an inside look at Beckham’s life, family, friends, and fellow players. Expect interviews with his wife Victoria and other notable names like Sir Alex Ferguson, Mel C, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, and Eric Cantona.
Can’t miss recaps
Only Murders In The Building (Hulu, Tuesday, 12:01 a.m., season three finale)
The Morning Show (Apple TV+, Wednesday, 12:01 a.m.)
Ahsoka (Disney+, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m., season one finale)
Gen V (Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
The Great British Bake Off (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
Arriving now
The Simpsons season 35, Bob’s Burgers season 14, Family Guy season 22 (FOX, Sunday, 8:30-10 p.m.)
Magnum P.I. (NBC, Wednesday, 9 p.m., season five premiere)
SurrealEstate (Syfy, Wednesday, 10 p.m., season two premiere)
Ending soon
Ride With Norman Reedus (AMC, Sunday, 10 p.m., season six finale)
8 Comments
I swear I didn’t do this on purpose but I’ll probably be in Charleston this month, the same city where HISTORICAL SPOILERS MAYBE Stede Bonnet was hanged in December 1718. Ironically near a place called Rainbow Row. I do hope Anne Bonny isn’t like a one episode guest, that’ll be disappointing I want at least something lengthy to historian nitpick with my girlfriend.
The show has plenty of opportunities in its world for body doubles, mistaken identities, or misinformation regarding the protagonists’ inevitable deaths, so I doubt they’ll feel constrained by history in that sense.
Hence the maybe part. Its not like they are playing anything close to history, Spanish Jackie is meant to be a 1650s woman named Jacques Devereux who is almost certainly a fictional character written up by an 1850s author. Her appearing in the 1710s is several layers of madness so really anything fucking goes.
I mean if they play fast and loose with the eras , you could get the Grace O’ Malley/Gráinne Ní Mháille cameo you’ve never realised you wanted till now .
I would kind of respect it if they dropped any pretense of history and have Grace O’Malley and Ching Shi show up and just start fighting. Throw in Roaring Dan Steevy the 1890s Great Lakes pirate and Jean Lefeat and just make it Piracy Out of Time.
“To try and catch up with her friends, who have seemingly moved on
without her, Mia makes a bucket list of all the firsts she wants to
attempt and finds a new community in the process.”I’m increasingly seeing “bucket list” used in cases like this, to mean simply “a list of stuff someone wants to try”. But the origin of this relative neologism is the Shakespearean sense of “kick the bucket”, meaning that a “bucket list” is specifically a list of things one wants to do before one expects to die. Something about this being used in the context of an anorexic teen seems especially glaring to me, unless I’m deeply misunderstanding the premise of this show and Mia does intend to connect with a new community of friends before starving herself to death.Yes, this is a massively pedantic and relatively personal pet peeve, but that’s why I’m posting it here, where I know no one will read it.
yup , I saw this mentioned in the blurb before and thought ….”thats not what a bucket list is?” I mean on the otherhand this show isnt for me and there is about zero chance I’ll watch it , so maybe I shouldnt complain.
Loki …will air new episodes at 9 p.m. ET instead of dropping them at midnight. Well ..shit . For us in Europe it means it’ll be released early in the morning on Friday , so since most sites like this base spoilers around US air dates , it means either watching it early on Friday morning , or just avoiding the internet for a day as dumb spoiling headlines like “Baby Octopus Loki is here and its is everything!!” or “Oh my god did they just tease a Marvel DC crossover?!?”(or whatever happens in the show) will crop up a lot . Generally when the show is available in other regions slightly earlier than the US it doesn’t get spoiled .I meantion this as its exactly what happened with Picard (a pretty awesome cameo and twist was spoiled by freaking StarTrek.com tweeting it shortly after it dropped in the states , and a full day before it was available here) .