Fox’s fall 2026 primetime lineup includes the return of Best Medicine, Doc, Animal Control, and season 25 of Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. Fox’s popular Animation Domination roster also returns for the 2026-2027 broadcast season, with The Simpsons, Universal Basic Guys, and Grimsburg filling spots on Sunday nights.
Game shows The Floor, 99 to Beat, Celebrity Name That Tune (with Robin Thicke joining as bandleader), and Celebrity Weakest Link will return in September, along with season five of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
Additional 2026-2027 primetime series include Baywatch, Memory of A Killer, Murder in a Small Town, and The Interrogator. American Dad!, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy, and Krapopolis are also joining the lineup later in the broadcast season.
Premiere dates are still to be announced for new seasons of Crime Scene Kitchen, Don’t Forget The Lyrics, Extracted, Fear Factor: House of Fear, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service, LEGO Masters, Marriage Market, Next Level Baker, Next Level Chef, and The Masked Singer.
FOX FALL 2026 PREMIERE DATES
Monday, Sept. 21
8:00-9:00 PM Celebrity Name That Tune (Season Six Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM Celebrity Weakest Link (Season Two Premiere)
Tuesday, Sept. 22
8:00-9:00 PM Best Medicine (Season Two Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM Doc (Season Three Premiere)
Wednesday, Sept. 23
8:00-9:00 PM The Floor (Season Six Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM 99 to Beat (Season Two Premiere)
Thursday, Sept. 24
8:00-9:00 PM Hell’s Kitchen (Season 25 Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test (Season Five Premiere)
Fridays (Beginning Sept. 4)
5:00 PM PT – 8:00 PM ET Fox College Football Friday
Saturdays (On Going)
4:00-7:30 PM PT / 7:00-10:30 PM ET – Fox Sports Saturday
Sunday, Sept. 27
7:00-7:30 PM NFL On Fox
7:30-8:00 PM The OT / FOX Animation Encores
8:00-8:30 PM The Simpsons (Season 38 Premiere)
8:30-9:00 PM Animal Control (Season Five Premiere)
9:00-9:30 PM Universal Basic Guys (Season Three Premiere)
9:30-10:00 PM Grimsburg (Season Three Premiere)
Ryan Murphy’s latest drama, The Shards, is set to premiere on August 5, 2026 at 9pm ET/PT on FX. The series is based on Bret Easton Ellis‘ 2023 bestseller, and the official trailer introduces the very mature-looking high schoolers at the heart of the drama, setting up a story of sex, drugs, and danger.
Igby Rigney, Kaia Gerber, Homer Gere, Hayes Warner, and Graham Campbell star. The ensemble also includes Yellowstone‘s Wes Bentley, Westworld‘s Evan Rachel Wood, and Jordan Roth.
Poster for ‘The Shards’ (Photo Credit: FX)
FX offers this synopsis: “Set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of privileged high school seniors at an elite prep school as they navigate identity, sex, jealousy, obsession, and the dangers lurking beneath the surface of American adolescence.
At its center is Bret (Rigney), an aspiring writer and keenly observant teenager whose reality begins to unravel with the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic new student, Robert Mallory (Gere). Transferring in just before his senior year, Robert’s appearance coincides with the growing terror of The Trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city.
Alongside Bret is his elite social circle, which consists of Susan Reynolds (Gerber), Debbie Schaffer (Warner) and Thom Wright (Campbell), a glamorous and deeply entangled group drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties, and excess. The promise of their youth is contrasted with the dark and cynical world of the adults surrounding them: Terry Schaffer (Bentley), Liz Schaffer (Wood) and Steven Reinhardt (Roth).”
Ryan Murphy, Bret Easton Ellis, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson, Nissa Diederich, Tanase Popa, Nick Hall, Michael Uppendahl, Max Winkler, Kathleen McCaffrey, and Brian Young executive produce.
Kenneth Branagh rescues Ryan Reynolds and then teams up for a daring escape behind enemy lines in Apple TV’s Mayday. Described as an action-packed buddy comedy, the official trailer highlights Branagh as the Oscar-winner transforms into a fighting machine.
The cast also includes Marcin Dorocinski, Maria Bakalova, and David Morse. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the duo behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, co-wrote, co-directed, and served as producers.
Mayday‘s landed a September 4, 2026 premiere on Apple TV.
Poster for ‘Mayday’ (Photo Credit: Apple TV)
“When hotshot U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy ‘Assassin’ Kelly (Reynolds) is sent on a top-secret mission into Russian territory at the height of the Cold War, the operation implodes, leaving him stranded behind enemy lines,” reads Apple TV’s synopsis. “Discovered by Nikolai Ustinov (Branagh), a gruff ex-KGB agent with a penchant for American culture, Troy thinks he’s toast—but could an unlikely alliance between the two lead to Troy’s rescue and a bond neither saw coming?”
Producers include David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Ashley Fox, and Johnny Pariseau. Reynolds, George Dewey, and John G. Scotti executive produce.
Peacock’s showing off the first teaser and a batch of photos from the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel, Crystal Lake. Linda Cardellini stars as Pam Voorhees in the series created by Brad Caleb Kane (IT: Welcome to Derry) and premiering just in time for Halloween 2026.
The series also stars William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom. Callum Vinson, Nick Cordileone, Joy Suprano, Danielle Kotch, and Phoenix Parnevik appear in recurring roles. All eight episodes will premiere on October 15, 2026.
Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees in ‘Crystal Lake’ (Photo by: Matt Infante/PEACOCK)
“A prequel to the Friday the 13th franchise, the series follows single mother Pam Voorhees who has been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before,” reads Peacock’s synopsis. “When two strangers arrive at Pam’s door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events is set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees?”
Brad Caleb Kane serves as showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers include Marc Toberoff, Victor Miller, Robert M. Barsamian, Robert P. Barsamian, Stuart Manashil, Tyson Bidner, Michael Lennox, and Roy Lee. Lennox, Celine Held & Logan George, and Quyen Tran are the directors.
Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees (Photo by: Peacock)Welcome to Crystal Lake (Photo by: Matt Infante/PEACOCK)Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees (Photo by: Peacock)
Prime Video’s Murder 101 episode two takes us further down the path of possibly discovering whether Jerry Johns was a serial killer. Picking up where episode one ended, the students in Mr. Campbell’s sociology class ask Linda (the surviving victim) questions. She talks about her life back then and how Jerry seemed so nice. Even when he was tying her up, he would make sure she was comfortable. Linda reveals that the jacket she wore got stuck in the makeshift ligature and she believes that’s what saved her life.
(The following is a recap of episode two and there are spoilers.)
Linda recalls giving repeated interviews to the police and notes that the dead girls looked like her. She’s certain there are bodies the police haven’t even found yet. Linda testified against Jerry Johns because she believed he was a serial killer and didn’t want more women to die.
After the video call with Linda, Alex confirms that it was very difficult for her to talk about what happened to her 40 years ago. Linda’s memories of Jerry are incredibly important because she’s the only one with first-hand knowledge of his MO.
Mr. Campbell feels that, if they are going to categorize Jerry Johns as a serial killer, the class needs to look at the most recent Jane Doe to be identified, Lorie Pennell. The class’s FOIA request paid off and they’re able to get their hands on the Pennell police report. Pennell had an incredibly difficult life and went missing from a truck stop.
Campbell challenges the class to identify similarities in Linda’s and Lorie’s cases that connect Jerry Johns to both. Receipts show Jerry was in Mississippi when Lorie was murdered, and body hairs and fluids could have been tested against his samples. However, for an unknown reason, all the evidence was thrown away two years after the murder.
Hannah, the student who seems most interested in the case, is putting together a map/murder board of where Jerry Johns was when each of the murdered women were taken. Her murder board starts with Jerry in 1978 in Rockford, Illinois, and the first victim, Tracy Sue Walker, was found near an abandoned coal mine next to Knoxville. It turns out that Jerry worked for a trucking company that handled coal-mining materials. Tracy went missing from a mall on Jerry’s route and her body was discovered near a coal mine Jerry frequented.
In 1984, the second victim, Tina Farmer, had Jerry’s DNA on her body and was taken from an area near where his family lived. Her body was found near Lorie’s.
In a surprising—or not so surprising—discovery, Hannah and Andrew uncover that these victims were not only on the routes Jerry was taking, but their bodies were also found on those routes. A business card from a hotel in Texas was found near a murder victim in Tennessee, and a gas receipt shows Jerry was near that hotel.
Hannah knows these are not coincidences. Plus, all the murders took place before Jerry’s arrest. Hannah and Andrew note that the victims were in a triangular area and near major highways that Jerry Johns traveled.
Crimson, a student in Mr. Campbell’s class, is getting her nails done when she receives a phone call from her father, who is currently in prison. She’s currently in foster care and that’s how she ended up at Elizabethton High School. For that reason, she feels like she can relate to the victims, especially Lorie.
Another student, Lacey, opens up to Mr. Campbell that although she was initially unsure about staying in his class, now she wants to investigate her mother’s death. Her mother passed away in a car accident caused by a boyfriend. It was all very suspicious, and Lacey doesn’t believe her mom ever got justice. She asks Mr. Campbell for advice on what she needs to do to investigate it. He promises to help her get the answers she deserves.
The class get their hands on Tina Farmer’s autopsy report. Tina’s the only victim who was officially determined to have been murdered by Jerry. Alex explains to his class that Lorie Pennell’s strangulation doesn’t match the method Jerry used to strangle Tina or Linda.
A student also points out that while Tina was hit in the left eye, Lorie’s right eye was injured. Jerry was right-handed, so hitting Tina in the left eye makes sense. Mr. Campell has also discovered that Lorie’s killer’s blood type was A. Jerry’s blood type was O. The class is feeling that Jerry did not kill Lorie.
Mr. Campbell reveals he would love investigators to talk to his class, but all his calls to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation go unanswered. So instead, he sets up an exercise with his class and former student Will about how they think differently and how being in his class has affected them. His students think they’ve really advanced their life skills and look at people from a different perspective now.
School breaks for winter and we see more of Lacey and Austin’s relationship and dive more into Lacey’s life. She reveals she and her sister were both born addicted to drugs, and her dad was in and out of prison. She doesn’t want to be like her parents, but she does want to know what really happened the night her mother died.
Lacey decides she doesn’t want to stay at school; she wants to go find the answers.
TBI Agent Brandon Elkins admits he wasn’t quite sure what Mr. Campbell’s sociology class was about but after learning more, he thinks the class is fascinating. Elkins’ job involves investigating cold cases, and he loves it. (Alex is astonished when Elkins says he has 479 cold cases.) Agent Elkins finally agrees to meet Mr. Campbell and his class.
Agent Elkins believes any publicity about the cases would help, and he talks about one of the victims, Tracy Sue Walker, and how in her case he found only one piece of paper in her case file. When his neighbor, who had been the ex-chief of police, passed away, his wife gave him a box. It contained evidence from Tracy’s case, including photos of where her remains were dumped.
Her body was found in 1985, and because of genealogy, years later they were able to figure out who she was. (Prior to that, she was called Baby Girl Jane Doe; she was just 15 at the time of her murder.) She was abducted in Indiana and killed in Tennessee. Tracy’s and Tina’s bodies were discovered just seven miles apart. The agent would like to take the class on a field trip to where Tracy’s remains were discovered.
The field trip takes place, and the students are introduced to a couple who are long-time residents of Elk Valley. The couple describe an area of Elk Valley they call ‘the back door’—the seedier side of town. Tracy was seen in Elk Valley for many years … until she wasn’t seen again.
The location where her remains were found does not match the MO of other victims found near highways. The class doubts that Jerry Johns is her killer.
Hannah seems to be taking this trip the hardest, since she was very invested in Tracy’s case. She had opened up about times in her life where she tried to run away, relating to Tracy because she was a runaway.
Episode two ends with Hannah in tears, saying, “I just want to find out the truth before it’s too late.”
Oxygen’s Unknown Serial Killers of America returns for season two on August 2, 2026, with cases that take place in cities including Maryland, Miami, Phoenix, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. New episodes will air on Sundays at 10pm ET/PT.
“Unknown Serial Killers of America takes viewers across the nation to take a closer look at some of America’s most prolific, unfamiliar killers,” reads Oxygen’s synopsis. “This season, viewers will discover several of the utmost heinous killers that shocked communities across the nation with some of the most sinister slayings to this day.”
The true crime series is produced by Pantheon Media Group. Executive producers include Steve Michaels, Ariel Brozell, Steffanie Siebrand, Elvia Van Es Oliva, Brad Bernstein, David Karabinas, James Macnab, and Matthew Watts.
Poster for ‘Unknown Serial Killers’ season 2 (Photo Credit: Oxygen)
Unknown Serial Killers of America Season 2 Cases:
• When four women are found murdered across four states, police race to track down a charismatic drifter whose charm conceals a deadly rage toward women.
• After a mother is found murdered, investigators launch a manhunt for a long-haul trucker whose killing spree leaves a trail of victims.
• When police discover a string of deaths at an upscale retirement community, they uncover what could be one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.
• After bodies are dumped across Miami, a rising body count fuels a desperate hunt — until one woman’s escape exposes the predator.
• As bodies of gay men appear along I-95, each marked by the same chilling signature, the FBI tries to corner the predator before he strikes again.
• As Phoenix reels from a wave of violence, a rapist turned murderer and a random sniper plunge the city into fear—forcing detectives to hunt two deadly predators.
Poster for ‘Murder 101’ (Photo: Amazon MGM Studios)
Prime Video takes us on a compelling three-part journey into the “Redhead Murders” in the docuseriesMurder 101. Elizabethton, Tennessee high school sociology teacher Alex Campbell dedicated class time to delving into the series of murders, beginning with a class in 2018 and continuing with new classes for seven years. Alex fueled his students’ curiosity by asking them to work on decades-old murder cases, and what they learned about themselves and about life in general far exceeded the normal sociology class curriculum.
Alex’s classes have uncovered quite a few clues. When he began the project in 2018, it only generated a few newspaper articles at the time. The docuseries follows his 2025 class as they navigate the classroom and share their personal lives, revealing many students are underprivileged and at-risk.
(The following is a recap of episode one, and there are spoilers.)
Teacher Alex Campbell describes Elizabethton as an old-school small town in the hills of Appalachia. Episode one opens with Alex’s 2025 class listening to a police recording of an interview with Linda, a surviving victim. A very enthusiastic Alex Campbell asks his class when the victim was attacked and proving they’re paying attention, one student responds, “March 6, 1985.” Mr. Campbell points out it was during the night
The recording continues as evidence photos are shown of Linda following the attempted murder. As Linda describes her horrific attack and being strangled, one of Alex’s students points out she sounds young.
Linda told the police she was naturally a brunette but dyed her hair red. When she told her soon-to-be attacker this information, he looked at her strangely. Her reaction was to ask, “Are you mad at me?”
Linda is the only surviving victim of the Redhead Murders.
Mr. Campbell reveals he hadn’t heard much about the ‘Redhead Murders,’ stating, “These murders were happening in our own backyard. If no one remembers them, how are these cases ever going to get solved? That’s the reason I wanted to teach this case.”
Campbell believes talking to his class about the victims might help identify the killer. In late 1984, early 1985, bodies of women were popping up, and the police noticed a pattern. Campbell breaks down with the class the similarities of these murders: race, age, and the way they were murdered (by strangulation). What started as a list of 22-24 possible victims was narrowed down based on the causes of death and location. Additionally, it appears the murderer was active from late ‘84 to March ‘85. When you take those pieces and put them together, it narrows down the victim list to six or seven.
Alex firmly believes all students should be involved in project-based learning. He wants them to really care about learning. Brittany Campbell, Alex’s wife, describes her husband as a man of many trades and hobbies, but once he sets his sights on something, he is all in. He will not take no for an answer.
Throughout the docuseries, Andrew, a student interested in videography, interviews other students in Mr. Campbell’s sociology class. He’s not a true crime fan but is fascinated by filmmaking, and Alex’s class is the perfect subject.
Alex talks to his class about FOIA requests and one thing his classes have never been able to get their hands on is the original medical examiner’s reports. He challenges his class to obtain the materials. (Tennessee law dictates they should be able to release the original police reports and the original autopsies.)
Andrew videos his fellow classmates as they try to track down the reports. Frustrations begin to mount when the students’ calls either go unanswered, police stations claim they don’t deal with FOIA reports, or official numbers are out of service.
Andrew interviews Will, a student of Alex’s in the 2018 class that started this investigation and he admits they didn’t get very far on the case. Will talks about trying to profile the killer and suggests that maybe there was trauma involving a redheaded woman. Will also believes the killer could be a truck driver because they found the bodies mostly near highways. Will’s father, a truck driver, says, “You could get away with being a murderer … you really can because no one was there to watch you.”
Armed with a suspect profile in 2018, the class held a press conference. Will spoke from the podium and did a remarkable job of addressing the press about this case.
Calls started coming in after the press conference suggesting the identity of the killer. But more importantly, callers provided leads on the unidentified victims. In the first break in years, DNA tests identified victim Tina Farmer’s attacker as the same man who attacked Linda. Jerry Johns was convicted in 1985 and died in prison in 2015.
Alex’s 2025 class’s FOIA requests pay off, and the class receives audio interviews that haven’t been publicly available.
Mr. Campbell discusses how people viewed Jerry Johns, who has not been connected to the other murders. His wife, Phyllis, made a shocking confession and claimed that when she met Jerry, she was unaware that he was her half-brother. It wasn’t until after she got pregnant that they were told. Phyllis talks about how intelligent and caring he was. She didn’t believe he was a murderer, but she admitted the female victims in the photos looked like her. All the women were white, small, and redheaded.
Jerry’s wife was 12 when she met him, which grosses out the class.
Mr. Campbell also plays audio from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations agent who interviewed Jerry and saw another side of him. He claims Jerry had no soul. You could label him anything, but the bottom line is that he was evil. It was also confirmed he was a truck driver, and Jerry’s timeline shows he could have been involved in the murders.
Alex asks his class if Jerry was evil or the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back. Linda, the surviving victim, might be able to fill in some gaps. Alex tells Andrew to put his camera to the test and send Linda a video asking for an interview.
Andrew, Hannah, and Mr. Campbell go through Jerry’s records and discover his last name on his original birth certificate was not Johns. When the courthouse was burnt down and his mother asked for his birth certificate, she said his last name was Johns. They also uncover a long history of crimes, including arson, confirming he didn’t start off with murder.
Andrew points out that when Jerry separated from his wife, the first redheaded victim was murdered. The class and Mr. Campbell put together a timeline, and Lisa was the only victim identified at the time. She was a prostitute, and her pimp saw her getting into a truck at a truck stop.
Mr. Campbell stresses that the news articles focused on Lisa being a prostitute. “When the media devalued these women, it seemed like the world did too, and maybe that’s why these cases have been cold so long,” says Alex.
Mr. Campbell also points out that it wasn’t until his class’s plea to the public in 2018 that things started happening in these cases. And in 2022 & 2023, victims were identified through DNA. Now the class’s task is to try to figure out if Jerry Johns was a serial killer.
The first episode closes out with the beginning of a video chat with Linda, the surviving victim who appears nervous.
It’s up to Tom Cruise’s character to save the world after his actions led to its impending destruction in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Digger. The official trailer shows Cruise, who’s barely recognizable in the titular role, making bad decisions and then being forced to live with the consequences.
Discussing his character, Cruise told journalists at the trailer launch, “There’s nothing better than to physically and metaphorically stand on the edge of a cliff and go, ‘Let’s do this. And I trust you and whatever we’re going to do, I know this is going to be a hell of an experience and let’s come together and let’s do it. Let’s all do it.’ I have never had something that could challenge me in this way and neither has Alejandro when we went in, ever. And when you see this film, it’s totally original.”
Oscar winner Cruise teamed up with Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro Iñárritu for the project, which also stars Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons. Rounding out the cast are Robert John Burke, Emma D’Arcy, Burn Gorman, and Sophie Wilde.
Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures offer this synopsis: “The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.”
Iñárritu directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman. Producers include Iñárritu, Cruise, Mary Parent, and Michael Sharp. Joshua Grode, Berman, Dinelaris, Giacobone, Jez Butterworth, and Emmanuel Lubezki executive produce.
Warner Bros. Pictures is releasing Digger, shot in VistaVision, in theaters on October 2, 2026 (internationally on September 30, 2026).
Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith in ‘House of the Dragon’ season 3 episode 4 (Photo by Ollie Upton/HBO)
The action in HBO’s House of the Dragon season three, episode four begins in Tumbleton, where Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton) orders his men to take up residence. The townsfolk protest, but there are 15,000 men to house and Ormund doesn’t care about the citizens. He also doesn’t care when the rich homeowners of the house he takes over are upset with his presence. They bent the knee to the dragon queen and resent his presence.
(The following is a recap of season three, episode four, and there are spoilers.)
Ormund’s got Alicent’s son, Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), by his side, instructing him how to treat people. A raven arrives and Ormund’s upset to learn there’s been no word from Harrenhal about when Aemond will join them. They can’t continue to battle without Vhagar.
Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is confused about why Ormund took over Tumbleton. There’s nothing worth taking there. She can’t send dragons for fear of killing her own people. Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) suggests they send an army instead to root out the Hightower army. She likes the suggestion and offers him a seat on the small council, and he can retain the Grand Maester title.
As for the lack of coin, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) believes Rhaenyra should name a master of coin. People can blame him for the lack of money. Rhaenyra thinks Ser Torrhen Manderly (Dan Fogler) might be perfect for that position.
Rhaenyra asks Alicent (Olivia Cooke) about her cousin Ormund, and Alicent doesn’t know much. She describes him as a scholar who collects tapestries. He’s apparently fatherly with Daeron. Alicent admits that it was her choice to send Daeron away. She wanted him raised as a Hightower, unlike her other two sons with Viserys.
Alicent does reveal one seemingly strange but possibly important thing: Ormund is extremely sensitive to odors.
Steve Toussaint and Abubakar Salim in ‘House of the Dragon’ season 3 episode 4 (Photo by Ollie Upton/HBO)
Alyn (Abubakar Salim) informs his father that Rhaenyra needs him at the small council. Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) refuses to attend her and suggests that Alyn go in his place. It’ll be a chance to better himself.
Meanwhile, road-tripping Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys (Matthew Needham) make their way on foot through the woods to Rook’s Rest, where Aegon was injured and his dragon killed. It’s still exactly where Sunfyre was when the nearly dead Aegon left her, and Aegon caresses Sunfyre’s face. A man approaches and demands payment for touching the dragon. Larys pays him off and it looks like the man and his friends are ready to rob them when Aegon announces that his dragon is alive! Larys warns him that they must leave before they’re murdered.
Larys declares that Sunfyre is dead, no matter what Aegon hopes.
Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and his men march to Harrenhal and discover the surrounding area is burned to a crisp. They carefully enter the castle just as the witch Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) appears and tells them the Strongs and others have all been slain. She’s the steward right now.
Criston requests to see Aemond and Alys explains that Aemond was there and seized the castle after Daemon left but left after learning Rhaenyra took King’s Landing and holds the throne. Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) believes they should send a raven to his cousin Ormund at Tumbleton to ask if they can merge their armies. Criston disagrees. They should attack the Riverlands’ armies that are heading to King’s Landing, even though they vastly outnumber their own small army. Criston suggests small attacks on the larger force.
Rhaenyra uncovers her father’s replica of old Valyria, just as Alyn arrives to say his father has left to hunt down the remaining Triarchy raiders. Rhaenyra doesn’t believe Lord Corlys needs to personally do that, but Alyn is diplomatic with his answer. Rats have filled the castle, including in this chamber, and Alyn suggests cats might be the answer.
Aegon and Larys are both limping as they hobble along, making their way to where Criston Cole’s garrison is supposed to be quartered. Their goal: hire a ship. (Aegon has a tooth from his dragon.) It’s obvious the smallfolk are suffering without food and that Cole’s men aren’t there. Princess Rhaenys’s dragon has crashed through part of the wall when it plummeted to its death and Aegon can only stare at it.
When Larys asks about lodging, he’s told there’s nothing available. Larys offers payment and he’s given a tent, promising he can help with herbs. Unfortunately, Aegon’s given a job – against his will – working in the latrines.
Back in Tumbleton, Ormund’s army is no longer behaving itself. A soldier attempts to rape Hugh’s wife, Kat, in her own home and breaks her mother’s arm. He is taken before Ormund, where he is sentenced to being gelded and having his arm broken. Ormund reminds Daeron that they must keep a firm grip on their men since tensions are so high.
Hugh (Kieran Bew) asks Rhaenyra if he can take the watch over Tumbleton since his wife is there. Ulf (Tom Bennett) was already assigned the task, and Rhaenyra agrees Hugh can join him. Before they leave, Ulf reunites with his old drinking buddies, mistakenly paying for drinks for the whole house.
Rhaenyra asks Grand Maester Orwyle for all the correspondence between the Red Keep and the Hightowers since her father’s death. She learns the Hightowers are tight with the Faith, since The Seven used to be housed in Oldtown. But they don’t wield any power over the Faith.
Daemon (Matt Smith) meets with Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) in the Vale and asks about the men she promised the crown. Lady Jeyne points out that she only received baby dragons, so maybe she should only send babies in return. Daemon cuts to the chase and asks her to send gold instead of men. Lady Jeyne doesn’t like having him there and Daemon promises to leave quickly if she hands over the gold, so she does.
Daemon’s stunned when he tries to fly off on Caraxes and Caraxes doesn’t obey. Caraxes heads to a ledge outside of a cave instead, and Daemon jumps off. Caraxes is acting strange and Daemon walks into the cave, sword drawn. A dragon roars and slowly his daughter, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), walks out of the darkness. Caraxes is upset at Sheepstealer’s presence, and Daemon’s forced to order him to stand down.
Rhaena looks horrible. She’s cut her hair off and looks lost. Daemon suddenly realizes she has a dragon and that she’s the rider Rhaenyra blames for Jace’s death. Rhaena pleads with her father to let her explain, and he’s confused as to why she didn’t go with the boys to Pentos. She assures him they’re well attended. Daemon tells her to leave the dragon behind and go there now; no one needs to know what she did. This dragon is wild and can’t be trusted, but Rhaena insists he’s hers now.
Since she won’t leave her dragon, Daemon suggests they go together to King’s Landing to tell Rhaenyra what she did. Rhaena knows she’ll be considered a betrayer and would rather live out her days in this cave in the Vale. Her family has always considered her unworthy because she couldn’t bond with a dragon. Now that she has, she’s not giving it up.
Rhaena turns her back on her dad and Daemon’s forced to run out of Sheepstealer’s way as he leaves the cave. Caraxes remains on edge until they’re out of sight.
Ormund receives a raven from Harrenhal and Daeron warns the servants to leave the room, knowing that Ormund’s about to explode. He does and calls Aemond a useless coward. They need to alter their plans.
Rhaenyra learns no messages were sent between the Red Keep and Oldtown, which means Ormund ruled Oldtown as a separate kingdom.
Ulf asks for a pardon and a house for two of his friends that he knows from the tavern. Rhaenyra explains that he now belongs to the realm and to her and that he should no longer enter taverns. If he dies, then she loses a dragonrider.
Ulf doesn’t know when to stop speaking and tells her that he’s seen “Queen of Bastards” written on walls. The smallfolk protest her. After Ulf leaves, she orders Ser Luthor Largent (Tom Cullen) to have the Gold Cloaks remove any seditious markings and find those responsible.
Matthew Needham in ‘House of the Dragon’ season 3 episode 4 (Photo by Theo Whiteman/HBO)
Over in Rook’s Rest, Aegon holds back his nausea while working in the toilets. Larys informs him they can get passage out in a few days and that Rhaenyra’s declared him dead, slain by Aemond. Aegon’s furious, but Larys points out that they can learn a lot while no one knows their true identities. It’ll help with Aegon’s eventual resurrection.
However, Aegon can’t keep his attitude under control and confronts the man in charge over the lack of food. It’s only when he’s held at knife point that he backs down. He’s ordered onto his knees and made to kiss the man’s feet or die. Furthermore, he needs to call him “My Lord.”
Aegon does as ordered.
Daemon barges into the small council with a severed head and gold. He claims the dead man is the rider of Sheepstealer. Rhaenyra’s speechless so Manderly fills the void, discussing figures in the accounting books. Daemon has no idea who he is, so Manderly introduces himself as the new master of coin.
Daemon and Mysaria argue over how the money Daemon brought should be spent. But Rhaenyra is fixated on the dead dragonrider. She orders her small council to leave and questions Daemon about the head. He claims the man rode Sheepstealer into the Battle of the Gullet, but wild dragons can’t be tamed. Daemon lies and claims Sheepstealer has flown off, riderless, and that they probably won’t see him again.
Rhaenyra’s upset because she wanted the rider taken alive so she could look at Jace’s killer. Daemon doesn’t think that would end her grief. Rhaenyra decides in Mysaria’s favor, declaring the coins will go to the smallfolk. Daemon’s gold cloaks will have to wait for their payments.
Daemon warns Mysaria that Rhaenyra will eventually see through her. Mysaria responds with, “Whose head is that?”
That night, Rhaenyra informs Alicent that she’s sent good men with Otto’s body back to Oldtown. She gives Alicent Otto’s ring and leaves. Helaena comes over to look at the ring and Alicent suddenly realizes her daughter’s pregnant.
Hugh flies over Tumbleton.
Ser Largent and his Gold Cloaks look for those who are traitors and loyal to the Hightowers. They’re brutal and put the fear of god into the smallfolk.
Ormund finds Daeron being kind to his dragon, Tessarion, and warns him not to be. He’s raised Daeron in the light of The Seven and the Father smiles on him. However, the Targaryen blood has tainted him and the dragons are evil. Ormund believes a woman on the Iron Throne is a desecration, and Daeron can fix that. He’s a Hightower and must be king, which means he needs to turn against his brothers.
Episode four ends with Ormund ordering the death of Janos, Kat’s brother, because he laid his hands on a Hightower. He hands his sword to Daeron, who doesn’t want to take it. But Ormund warns Daeron that he’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t do as asked. Janos begs for his life and his family, but Daeron stabs him in the heart anyway.
Ormund cleans the blood off the blade on Janos’ shirt.
When he walks off, Daeron’s dragon roars. The dragon sets the dead man on fire, and it sounds as though he eats him as episode four wraps up.
Ready for another live-action remake of an animated Disney classic? No? Well, too bad because here comes Moana, the live-action film no one was asking for.
Moana’s just the latest in a string of Disney’s animated classics that have been redeveloped and made into live-action versions. It joins a way-too-long list that includes Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, The Jungle Book, Aladdin, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Snow White, and, most recently, Lilo & Stitch.
The story is the same as the beloved 2016 original film. Polynesian teenager and daughter of a village chief, Moana (played here by Catherine Laga’aia), is called by the water to save her island and her people from the great darkness that has reached her island home of Motunui. The great darkness (an ancient curse) is causing the coconuts to rot and the fish to die.
Moana desperately wants to help her people and feels a strong connection to the ocean. It speaks to her and helps her in her quest, just like in the animated classic.
Moana’s grandmother Tala (Rena Owen) takes Moana to a secret cave filled with old boats, and here is where Moana learns that she and her people were not originally from the island but in fact are voyagers who traveled the oceans. This all ended when Te Fiti was lost to the depths of the ocean after the shapeshifting demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) tried to steal it. Tala assures Moana that the ocean has chosen her to go out, travel the seas, find Maui, and together return Te Fiti. So, Moana sets off on her big ocean quest to find the demigod.
This turns out to be way more difficult than she or her grandmother expected because when Moana does find the self-absorbed demigod, he has absolutely no interest in her foolish little quest. He is interested, however, in stealing her boat and finding his magical silver fishhook, which gives him his shapeshifting powers. The fishhook was lost during his battle with the lava demon Te Kā. But no matter how hard Maui tries to ditch Moana, she refuses to be left behind or give up on trying to convince him to help her and her people.
Disney’s live-action Moana is nothing more than a shot-by-shot, soulless remake of a wonderful animated movie classic. It is unnecessary and unwanted. This 2026 version is missing the charm, heart, and magic of the original film. It’s just not there on screen and worse yet, when the filmmakers attempt to recreate it, it comes across as forced and falls flat.
Newcomer Catherine Laga’aia looks the part of Moana but does not capture the spirit and strength of the character. This is painfully obvious, especially in her scenes with Dwayne Johnson, returning this time in person as Maui. There’s zero chemistry between the two, and Laga’aia fails to embody Moana’s sass and spunk when trying to convince the demigod to help her. It was that attitude and chemistry between Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the animated film, which gave it its heart. That, and the breathtaking animation and the original beautiful songs made the 2016 Oscar-nominated animated film a modern-day classic.
Another issue is the overuse of CGI to create the water coming alive as well as the fire demon in the big battle scene near the end of the film. This version is almost cringe-inducing. It’s a perfect example of too much CGI hurting a film instead of enhancing it.
Moviegoers should skip his empty remake and instead go and watch the original Moana again to experience the wonder and magic it holds for viewers of all ages.
GRADE: D
Rating: PG for brief thematic elements, action/peril, rude humor, and some scary images
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
Release Date: July 10, 2026
Directed By: Thomas Kail
