Zac Efron stars as a New Yorker who volunteers to deliver beer to his buddies fighting in Vietnam in Apple Original Films’ The Greatest Beer Run Ever. If that description of Efron’s role sounds weird, consider the fact the film is based on an incredible true story.
Peter Farrelly, Pete Jones, and Brian Currie adapted John “Chickie” Donohue – the man Zac Efron plays – and Joanna Molloy’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty and War for the screen, with Farrelly directing.
In addition to Zac Efron, the cast includes Russell Crowe, Jake Picking, Will Ropp, Archie Renaux, Kyle Allen, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, and Bill Murray.
In an April 2020 interview with Publishers Weekly, the real Chickie Donohue explained what he did when he actually met up with his friends in-country.
“I went and patted them on the back and told them I cared for them, and their community cared for them,” said Donohue. “I told them we thought about them, we prayed for them. In the middle of that unrest, one side was condemning our own kids, and the other side was lying to us about the conditions. I did the best I could. I went and showed the guys who were really in harm’s way — and in fact dying — that we loved them.”
“What I love about this is there’s been Vietnam movies, but there’s never been one told from [this] point of view, and that’s what’s interesting,” said writer/director Peter Farrelly in an interview with People. “He’s looking at it from where America looked at it, not where the soldiers looked at it. They were in the throes of it, but we were on the outside looking in, and this is a guy who thought he knew what was going on from what he saw on the news. But he went over there and found out it was quite different.”
The Greatest Beer Run Ever will be released in select theaters and on Apple TV+ on September 30, 2022.
Russell Crowe and Zac Efron in Apple Original Film’s ‘The Greatest Beer Run Ever’
The Plot, Courtesy of Apple Original Films:
To show support for his neighborhood friends serving in Vietnam, Chickie Donohue (Efron) decides to do something totally outrageous: travel to the frontline by himself to bring the soldiers a little piece of home — their favorite can of American beer. However, what started as a well-meaning journey quickly turns into the adventure of a lifetime as Chickie confronts the reality of this controversial war and his reunions with his childhood buddies thrust him into the complexities and responsibilities of adulthood.
Based on an incredible true story, The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a heartfelt coming-of-age tale about friendship, loyalty and sacrifice.
The cast of Paramount+’s ‘School Spirits’ (Photos Courtesy of Paramount+)
In June 2022, Paramount+ announced they’d given a series order to School Spirits based on the upcoming graphic novel by Nate Trinrud, Megan Trinrud, and Maria Nguyen. Today, the streaming service confirmed production is officially underway in Vancouver on the young adult drama.
Cobra Kai‘s Peyton List will be joined by Kristian Flores (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) as Simon Elroy, Spencer MacPherson (Reign) as Xavier Baxter, Kiara Pichardo (The Society) as Nicole Herrera, and Sarah Yarkin (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) as Rhonda for season one. Nick Pugliese (Dramarama) will play Charley, Rainbow Wedell (The Wilds) stars as Claire Zolinski, and Milo Manheim (Zombies 3) has joined the cast as Wally Clark.
Recurring guest stars include Josh Zuckerman (The Offer) as Mr. Martin and Maria Dizzia (13 Reasons Why) as Sandra Nears.
Both the graphic novel and the series are targeting a 2023 release. Season one is expected to consist of eight episodes.
The graphic novel’s authors, siblings Nate Trinrud and Megan Trinrud, are involved as executive producers and wrote the first episode. Pretty Little Liars‘ Oliver Goldstick is the showrunner and executive produces with director Max Winkler (Cruel Summer).
Paramount+ describes the series as focusing “on a teen stuck in the afterlife who decides to investigate her mysterious disappearance alongside a group of other students who are also stuck in limbo at their high school.”
Peacock’s just released the official trailer for Vampire Academy, a supernatural drama based on Richelle Mead’s bestselling book series. The network’s also showing off a batch of photos from season one along with a brand new poster.
Season one will kick off on September 15, 2022 with the release of the first four episodes. New episodes of the 10-episode season will arrive on subsequent Thursdays.
Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, Legacies, The Originals) returns to the world of fanged creatures of the night as co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer with longtime collaborator Marguerite MacIntyre. The cast is led by Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway, Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir, Kieron Moore as Dimitri Belikov, and André Dae Kim as Christian Ozera.
Season one also features J. August Richards as Victor Dashkov, Anita-Joy Uwajeh Tatiana Vogel, Mia Mckenna-Bruce as Mia Karp, Rhian Blundell as Meredith, Jonetta Kaiser as Sonya Karp, and Andrew Liner as Mason Ashford.
The official trailer release was accompanied by a note from Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre sharing their thoughts on the series.
“Shot in a castle in Spain, filled with grandeur, palace intrigue, exciting fight sequences, and romance, at its heart VA is a story about the revolutionary power of friendship, particularly female friendship as we follow the extraordinary Rose Hathaway and Lissa Dragomir, two young women on the brink of inheriting a world order they never questioned until now,” stated Plec and MacIntyre. “And as they begin to see their world for what it is, not only do idols fall, but they realize even their own friendship isn’t immune to the cruelties of the system they were born into. A hard truth with the power to tear them apart, or spark a revolution.”
Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir and Sisi Stinger as Rose Hathaway in ‘Vampire Academy’ (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)
The Plot, Courtesy of Peacock:
“In a world of privilege and glamour, two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter vampire society. One as a powerful Royal, the other a half-vampire Guardian trained to protect against the savage ‘Strigoi’ who threaten to tear their society apart. That is, if Royal infighting doesn’t do the job first.”
Kieron Moore as Dimitri Belikov and Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir and Kieron Moore as Dimitri Belikov (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)The Strigoi in season 1 (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway and Kieron Moore as Dimitri Belikov in season 1 (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)Javier Ramos as Dean Barnes, Rhian Blundell as Meredith, Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway, and Blake Patrick Anderson as Eddie Castile (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir, André Dae Kim as Christian Ozera, Mia McKenna-Bruce as Mia Karp, and Joseph Ollman as Jesse Zeklos (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)Mia McKenna-Bruce as Mia Karp (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir and Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir in season 1 (Photo by: Jose Haro/Peacock)
Bailee Madison, Malia Pyles, Chandler Kinney, Maia Reficco, and Zaria in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ season 1 episode 5 (Photo by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max)
It’s Halloween 1999 and the original five girls are smashing pumpkins with a baseball bat as HBO Max’s Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin season one episode five opens. They convince poor Angela Waters (Gabriella Pizzolo) to throw a bag of dog poop at a house. She’s worried about being seen so Davie (Ava DeMary) gives her a scary jack-o’-lantern mask to wear while claiming this is part of their initiation.
Angela really doesn’t want to do it, but she ends up caving. As Angela reluctantly tosses the bag at a front door, the other girls get in the Jeep and drive off leaving her to fend for herself.
Present Day, October 29th: Imogen (Bailee Madison) is certain this all has to do with their mothers after Noa (Maia Reficco) tells them about the text she got from A. Imogen asks Noa what her mom did to Angela, but Noa doesn’t know. The text didn’t provide any details or hints.
Noa confesses A “went full f**kin’ Michael Myers” on her, which is a decent summary of the events at the end of episode four. Mouse (Malia Pyles) wonders if it’s time to tell someone but Imogen thinks they’re so close to finding out why this is happening (doubt it) that they can’t tell anyone.
Tabby (Chandler Kinney) has a point when she brings up that after what A did to Noa, disobeying A isn’t a good idea. She’s sure they shouldn’t tell anyone anything.
Imogen reveals Angela was never mentioned anywhere in her mom’s diaries but now they know there’s a connection. Tabby assumes the missing pages from the diary could be about Angela.
Imogen has spent hours going through all the stuff at her old house but now that she knows what she’s looking for, she feels like she needs to start over. Faran (Zaria) speaks for the group and offers their help.
Chip (Carson Rowland) realizes Tabby’s angry at him because she doesn’t say two words to him in Mr. Smithee’s class. She finally tells him she’s upset because he stepped in and filmed the rest of the scene. Tabby feels this entire project was about changing the perspective of horror films. She wanted it to be shot from a female perspective with a female director and by stepping in, he negated that. Chip apologizes; he didn’t mean for that to happen.
The girls split up in Imogen’s old house to look for the missing diary pages. Mouse retrieved old walkie-talkies from her mom’s pawnshop, and Noa seems to have gotten the short end of the stick; she’s in the attic walking through spiderwebs.
Tabby’s assigned the basement and, of course, the light switch isn’t working. Just as she discovers a chest, she’s called back upstairs.
Faran summons everyone back to the living room after finding burnt-up pages in the fireplace. Imogen doesn’t take this setback well and confesses she doesn’t want to let go of her house. Mouse suggests maybe they could take over the mortgage payments. That’s not happening as Imogen only has $400 in the bank that she’s saved from her last 10 birthdays.
Faran had asked Henry (Ben Cook) to volunteer to give Kelly a foot rub, and he reports in that she did in fact have a scar on her foot. (Karen cut her foot on a razor blade, but Kelly shouldn’t have a matching scar.) However, Henry thinks there could be several reasons she has scars and that doesn’t mean she’s really Karen.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But something very weird is going on here,” says Faran.
And now for something truly bizarre… Mouse is chatting online with a much older man named Steve (Alexander Chaplin) who wants to meet her in person. She agrees but wants to plan it for somewhere she won’t be recognized. She asks Steve if they can go trick-or-treating after they have dinner, explaining her moms have never let her go before. Steve says Rachel loved trick-or-treating. As he speaks, Mouse looks down at a missing person flyer of a little girl named Rachel.
Steve agrees to take her trick-or-treating and buy her a costume.
Friday, October 30th: Imogen’s back at her old house going through boxes when she finds a quilt and has a flashback to when her mom, Davey (Carly Pope), gave it to her after making it for the baby. Her mom suggested a baby shower and when Imogen passed on the idea, Davey warned her she was missing out on presents and cold hard cash.
The flashback gives Imogen an idea.
Oddly enough, Faran thinks it’s a good idea to let Madame Giry (Kate Jennings Grant) know she believes Kelly is really Karen. Of course, Madame Giry thinks that’s a ridiculous accusation. Instead of abandoning the idea, Faran doubles down and tells her about the scars on Kelly’s foot.
Madame Giry orders Faran to stop talking and, after closing her office door, she warns Faran she needs to stop this line of inquiry. Apparently, in the past, Kelly had a problem with self-harm. Faran’s skeptical because she doesn’t think Kelly would cut the bottom of her feet. Madame Giry brings up that people who self-harm often do it where people can’t see.
Imogen has a Hail Mary idea to save her house. She’s going to host a Halloween party at her house and charge admission. Mouse says she can’t go, lying that she has to help her moms with inventory at their shop. She thinks about it for a minute and says she might be able to swing by afterward with Ash.
Later, Mouse tells Ash (Jordan Gonzalez) about the party but when he offers to pick her up, she says she’ll meet him there around 9:30pm.
Tabby returns to the theater and asks Wes (Derek Klena) for her final paycheck. It’s the first time she’s seen him since she bailed on his dinner, grabbed the flash drive, and left his house. She tells him what he did was not okay…luring her there to have dinner, almost kissing her in his car the night he drove her home. After apologizing he promises to never put her in that position again.
Wes offers Tabby her job back and she takes it. Halloween’s going to be busy because they’re hosting their annual Halloween extravaganza, giving away free concessions to whoever comes in costume. Tabby agrees to work the day shift but at night she has Imogen’s party.
Mouse is having dinner with her moms when she blurts out that she’s going to a Halloween party with Ash. Her mom Elodie (Lea Salonga) isn’t pleased but her other mom, Shirley (Kim Berrios Lin), allows it. She negotiates her curfew to 10:30pm.
Chandler Kinney, Bailee Madison, Maia Reficco, Malia Pyles, and Zaria in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ season 1 episode 5 (Photo by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max)
Saturday, October 31st: Tabby’s working at the theater when Tyler (Brian Altemus) shows up and tries to walk off with free popcorn and a drink. She wants him to pay $8 but he insists it’s free. Tabby reminds him that only applies to people in costumes.
Tyler changes the subject and says, “You made that sick video about Karen.” Tabby counters with he’s the one who filmed it. They argue back and forth, with Tyler accusing her of almost getting him in trouble. Tabby reminds him she DID get in a lot of trouble.
He makes what he thinks is a joke, asking if she still has her cherry. Tabby is justifiably angry about his stupid comments.
Mouse puts a mask on and tries on different costumes, taking selfies in each one.
Faran’s not letting go of the Kelly being Karen thing and invites Kelly (Mallory Bechtel) to the local pizza joint. They have a friendly chat and Faran says she never realized how great of a dancer she is. Kelly points out she’s always been a good dancer; she just wasn’t allowed to show it. Faran asks what she means by “allowed.”
“Karen always had to be the star and if I started to outshine her, she would put me in my place,” Kelly confesses.
Kelly admits she can’t stop thinking about Karen and the night of the dance, playing out different scenarios in her head…her stopping Karen, her going up there and taking Karen’s place, both of them staying home. Faran notices a cut that’s healing on Kelly’s hand and asks if she did that to herself. (It happened the day of her sister’s funeral.) Kelly admits it’s a cliché – the ballerina who hurts herself. She asks Faran not to tell anyone and Faran promises she won’t.
Faran assures Kelly that if she ever needs someone to talk to, she can talk to her. She also invites Kelly to Imogen’s party.
The party’s in full swing when Noa and Shawn (Alex Aiono) show up as Gomez and Morticia Addams. Faran’s in the kitchen when Tyler puts in an appearance as a smurf. He’s being creepy, like usual, and hits on her. Tabby steps in and asks who invited him and he says it was his boy, Greg.
Tabby points out they must go to a lot of parties, being so popular and all. She asks if he was at a bonfire in the woods behind the school over the summer and he seems not to remember. He claims they party in the woods all the time but doesn’t remember any bonfire.
Tabby calls Tyler garbage of a person and warns him to stay away from her and her friends.
Back to that truly twisted storyline… Mouse meets Steve at a hotel and he calls her Rachel. He says he ordered breakfast for dinner, her favorite.
A crashes Imogen’s party, entering unnoticed through the basement. He opens the chest Tabby spotted earlier and it’s full of items belonging to Angela, including the teddy bear and the pumpkin mask. He puts on the mask and makes his way out of the basement.
Mouse is trick-or-treating with Steve when he suggests she can call him dad if she wants.
Imogen dumps all the cash she made from the party in a drawer in her room. As she exits her room, A is standing in front of the bathroom where her mom died. She doesn’t realize it’s A and asks what he’s doing. When he doesn’t respond she tells him there’s another bathroom downstairs he can use.
Henry and Faran talk, and he wonders if she and Kelly are BFFs now. She answers “hardly” and wonders if maybe she’s going Black Swan crazy. He suggests that maybe she has unresolved issues with Karen that she’s trying to work out now. Faran thinks she should forget about it; she is at a party, after all. Henry suggests letting him help her do just that and kisses her.
A watches them kiss.
Mouse is still with Steve when Ash texts her, worried about where she is. It’s 9:55pm and she’s late, and Steve offers to drive her to the party. She accepts but tells him he has to drop her off a block away because people can’t see them together. He begins to cry and begs Rachel to forgive him. Mouse says, “I forgive you, dad.”
Imogen gets a call and says yes, she did call about Angela Waters. The person on the other end hangs up on her.
Faran’s getting something out of the fridge when she catches Kelly making out with her dead sister’s boyfriend, Greg.
Mouse finally shows up and responds to texts from her mom that she’s fine. She then blocks her mom’s number. Ash, dressed as Freddie Mercury, tells her she looks beautiful. Mouse confesses she’s ready to close the sad chapter in her book and asks if he has gummies.
Chip finds Tabby outside and offers a beer as a peace offering. He explains that he talked to Mr. Smithee, told him what happened, and asked if she can reshoot the clips. Surprisingly, he gave them an extension.
Tabby thanks him but says they need a new Norman Bates. Chip volunteers…but he won’t do it in a speedo. Chip suggests they get out of there and offers to watch her favorite Freddy movie. She says she would, but she should stay. This night is important to Imogen.
Faran confronts Kelly about Greg, telling her that had she known she was dating someone, she would have invited them both. Kelly asks what she’s talking about, and Faran reveals she saw her kissing Greg. Faran accuses Kelly of trying to gaslight her.
Faran points out there’s that word again. She brings up how Karen use to call her girl and that Henry says dancing with her is like dancing with Karen again. And now she’s kissing Karen’s boyfriend. (The audience can see A lurking in the background watching this.) Faran finally admits she thinks she’s Karen and that she sent Kelly up to the rafters to do her dirty work. Kelly thinks she’s losing it.
Faran says if she doesn’t want to admit it, that’s fine, but she should know her life may be in danger because maybe “Kelly” didn’t fall. Maybe someone pushed her, thinking she was Karen.
“Keep the hell away from me. I mean it, Faran – don’t you ever talk to me again, you f**kin’ psycho!” says Kelly, storming off.
Mouse and Ash are lying in Imogen’s old bed high on gummies when they kiss. She has the munchies and tells him to stay there while she gets some snacks. As she’s getting snacks, Tyler tries to hit on her. He doesn’t take the hint and says he’s going to get her a beer.
Noa comes over to support Mouse and soon after Faran joins them. Sleazy Tyler is back with a drink for Mouse, who absolutely doesn’t want it (or trust that it’s not spiked), and Noa warns him to back off or she’ll get her boyfriend to kick his butt.
Faran also tells him to go away, and Greg (Elias Kacavas) jumps in, trying to defend his friend. Tabby, who was already on edge, shoves Tyler while telling him to back up. Tyler slings a string of disturbing racist and misogynistic insults and Tabby’s had enough. She’s tired of white cis males like him going into the locker room and talking about girls they never really had sex with.
Tyler manages to make her angrier by asking what her deal is tonight and if she’s on her period. She starts in on Greg about breaking his word when it came to filming. Tyler doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut and claims Tabby will be begging for him to give it to her. And that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. Tabby has had enough and punches him in the nose.
A’s taken in all the action and watches as Tyler runs upstairs. Tyler rips the off-limits sign of the bathroom where Imogen’s mom died, and A follows him in. Tyler uses a homophobic slur and A attacks him and strangles him to death.
The girls take a brief break from the party on the porch and laugh about Tabby clocking Tyler in the nose. Imogen seems pleased she just threw her first – and last – rager, and Noa’s happy there was no A in sight. (She has no idea he’s been mingling with the guests.) Imogen asks them to help her break up the party, and Noa suggests they can clear the house by saying the cops are on their way.
A exits the basement carrying Tyler’s dead body wrapped in a shower curtain. He places him in the back of his van.
Bailee Madison in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ season 1 episode 5 (Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max)
The next morning Imogen experiences a series of flashbacks while cleaning up. She recalls hanging decorations with her mom, watching a movie together, painting each other’s nails, and what happened when she showed her mom the positive pregnancy test.
The rest of the girls start to wake up and offer to help clean. Imogen gets a call from a man who says he knew her mom – and he knew Angela and her family well. He suggests they meet.
Mouse was supposed to be home on Halloween after the party and when she finally returns home on Sunday morning one of her moms, Shirley, is waiting for her. Shirley thinks the party must have been fun since she stayed out all night. Mouse explains she didn’t mean to scare her, but she needed just one night for herself.
Viewers still don’t know what happened to Mouse but she drops a cryptic explanation of why she needed to get away. “I know what happened was scary for everybody, but it happened to me and I feel like I am constantly being punished for it. Even years later. He’s gone and he’s never coming back,” says Mouse.
Mouse is shown going through a box of pictures that she and other people are in. Is she pretending to be kids who have been lost and why?
Kelly filled Madame Giry in on Faran’s accusation and Madame Giry calls Faran to inform her that starting Monday she’ll no longer be dancing the Black Swan. Also, she will no longer speak to Kelly Beasley. With that, Giry hangs up on Faran.
Kelly shares the good news with her mom, Martha (Jennifer Ferrin), that she’s going to be the lead in the ballet. Her mom looks completely out of it and replies, “That’s wonderful, Karen.”
Kelly reminds her she’s not Karen.
Episode five ends with Imogen asking Tabby what that whole thing between her and Tyler was really about. Tabby confesses that over the summer there was a party in the woods. “Imogen, something happened to me,” says Tabby. Imogen and Tabby hold hands and Imogen replies, “Tabby, something happened to me too.”
The first teaser trailer for Tim Burton’s Wednesday series dropped, appropriately enough, on Wednesday, August 17th. The two-minute teaser opens with students arriving at Nancy Reagan High School. It all seems quite normal until their chatter ceases and they edge away from Wednesday as she walks purposefully down the hallway. This version of The Addams Family‘s Wednesday doesn’t take kindly to bullies torturing her brother – that’s her job, not theirs – and dumps a load of piranha into the pool where the water polo team’s practicing as payback for picking on her brother.
This is definitely not your parents’ Wednesday Addams.
Jenna Ortega (Scream, The Fallout) leads the cast in the title role. Catherine Zeta-Jones is Morticia Addams, Luis Guzmán is Gomez Addams, and Isaac Ordonez is Pugsley. The cast also includes Gwendoline Christie as Principal Larissa Weems, Jamie McShane as Sheriff Galpin, Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe, Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin, Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, and Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay.
In addition, Naomi J Ogawa stars as Yoko Tanaka, Moosa Mostafa is Eugene Ottinger, Georgie Farmer is Ajax Petropolus, Riki Lindhome is Dr. Valerie Kinbott, and Christina Ricci (Wednesday in 1991’s The Addams Family and 1993’s Addams Family Values) plays Marilyn Thornhill.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar serve as writers, executive producers, and showrunners. Tim Burton directs and also executive produces along with Steve Stark, Andrew Mittman (1.21 Entertainment), Kevin Miserocchi (Tee and Charles Addams Foundation), Kayla Alpert, Jonathan Glickman (Glickmania), Gail Berman, Tommy Harper, and Kevin Lafferty.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Alfred Gough says they were shocked when Tim Burton agreed to be a part of Wednesday. Burton turned down the 1991 Addams Family film and Gough admits he didn’t expect Burton to say yes to the series.
“He was interested in where it was going, the mystery of the show,” explained Gough. “He had a lot of questions about the previous television work we’d done, like how we were able to achieve it. He really loved that you had time to be with Wednesday and explore the character and you didn’t have to, you know, wrap things up in an hour and 45 minutes.”
Netflix hasn’t confirmed a premiere date but did release new photos from the series along with the following synopsis:
“The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the murder mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”
Malia Pyles, Zaria, Bailee Madison, Maia Reficco, and Chandler Kinney in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ season 1 episode 4 (Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max)
Season one episode four of HBO Max’s Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin starts off jumping back in time to 1999. Marjorie (Sarah-Anne Martinez) convinces Angela (Gabriella Pizzolo) to try smoking, but when a man comes over to see what’s going on Marjorie blames her friend. Marjorie shoves the pack of cigarettes and the lit cigarette at Angela, claiming Angela was smoking and she’s totally innocent.
Present day and Marjorie (Elena Goode) is at the hospital working when she notices a gift bag’s been left for her. Inside is a teddy bear wearing a shirt that reads: “Mother of the Year.” The A is in red. There’s a pill bottle stuck to the bear and written on it is “Addict.”
Another flashback to 1999 shows Marjorie got Angela that same bear as a thank you for taking the blame. The bear’s shirt reads: “Best friends forever.”
Once again, the scene switches to the present day. The girls are in detention when Imogen (Bailee Madison) receives a phone call from Mr. Thompson, a man her mom went to high school with. The conversation seems pleasant enough until she asks about Angela Waters. After telling Imogen he doesn’t know anything about Angela and can’t help her, he abruptly hangs up.
Later, the girls celebrate finishing two weeks of detention and Mouse (Malia Pyles) asks what’s next. They seem to think A is a thing of the past because they haven’t heard from him in two weeks. Mouse wonders if they’re planning on telling their moms what really happened to Karen. Imogen doesn’t think they should until they know what really happened with Angela Waters. Imogen explains that everyone she’s called has refused to talk about Angela.
“It’s like she’s a ghost or urban legend,” says Imogen.
After the girls part ways, Tabby (Chandler Kinney) sneaks into the boys locker room to retrieve her hidden camera. Greg and Tyler surprise Tabby and she’s forced to hide in a stall. They’re being disgusting and disrespectfully talk about girls they claim to have had sex with.
While sitting down at dinner, Sidney (Sharon Leal) shares the good news with Imogen and Tabby that there’s an offer on Imogen’s house. Imogen doesn’t seem excited and asks to be involved in the packing process.
Friday, October 23rd: Tabby’s in film class when they are given a new assignment with a partner and, of course, her go-to is Chip (Carson Rowland). The assignment is to select a director from the approved list, choose one of their movies, and recreate a scene from that movie explaining why it’s relevant today.
Faran (Zaria) sees Kelly (Mallory Bechtel) using Karen’s dance locker and asks if she’s switching lockers. Kelly acknowledges she is because she likes Karen’s better.
Faran gets her Black Swan role back and Madame Giry (Kate Jennings Grant) instructs her to get caught up by doing one-on-ones with Kelly. Faran questions if Kelly’s up to it considering she just lost her twin. Madame Giry assures her that Kelly has dedicated herself to Swan Lake and views it as a welcome distraction. She adds in a snide remark about how Faran can use all the help she can get.
Noa (Maia Reficco) gets back to training for the track team she was once a part of, but it’s obvious she’s out of practice. Her coach promises to get her back in shape.
Mouse and Ash (Jordan Gonzalez) meet up and he thinks she should come to his club’s meetings. Or they can hang out on Halloween, dress up, and get decked out…maybe find a party to crash. Mouse breaks it to him that her moms never let her out on Halloween because it’s too dangerous. Ash offers to help her pass out candy, and Mouse says she’ll try to sneak out on Halloween.
Imogen returns to her old house alone and has a flashback of when she and her mom, Davie (Carly Pope), first moved in when she was little. She hears a noise coming from the basement and just like a clichéd horror film she calls out, “Hello…anyone there?”
She walks down the stairs, and we see the creepy masked man is lurking under them. She’s not down there for long before she hears laughter coming from the porch. It’s the couple who are going to buy the house. She adopts a not-so-friendly attitude and asks if the realtor told them what happened in that house.
Later, Sidney asks Imogen why she told the buyers a woman was murdered in the house. Imogen confesses she can’t imagine someone else living there. Sidney doesn’t have sympathy and just rips the band-aid off, revealing Imogen’s mother had a lot of debt and she’s hoping the sale of the house would cover it. Sidney also reveals she heard from an old classmate that Imogen’s poking around and asking questions about Angela Waters.
Imogen explains she believes there’s a connection between what happened to Angela and what happened to her mom. She wonders why Sidney won’t tell her what it is. Sidney suggests she’s seeing things that aren’t there.
“Or are you trying to cover up something that actually is there?” Imogen counters.
Sidney suggests she move on from Angela Waters, but Imogen won’t let it go and asks, “What are you all hiding?”
Tabby and Chip go over which director they want to pick, and she has an idea for not only who to pick – she wants to choose Alfred Hitchcock – but which of his famous scenes they should reenact.
Monday arrives and Tabby and Chip (mostly Tabby) explain to the class how females have been attacked in horror films since forever. For their project, they’re going back to the famous shower scene from Psycho.
When the teacher says something about putting another vulnerable woman in Norman Bates’ crosshairs, Tabby points out how it’s funny that if there’s going to be a naked murder victim people assume it’s going to be a woman. On the contrary, their victim will be a male being murdered by a female.
“Horror from the point of view of the female gaze,” declares Tabby.
At lunch, Tabby fills the other girls in on the scene she’s doing and the role reversals. She asks who wants to be her modern-day Marion Crane leading lady and everyone except Faran has an excuse not to. Faran wants to know who she’ll be stabbing in the shower and Karen’s ex Greg (Elias Kacavas) catches their attention.
Tabby asks him to be a part of her film and with hardly any persuading he agrees after hearing it’s a shower scene with a hot girl.
Faran and Kelly practice alone and although Kelly tries to give Faran a compliment, Faran seems to be taking out her experiences with Karen bullying and insulting her on Kelly. Faran brings up that her sister seemed to think she was only cast as the Black Swan because she’s the only Black girl.
Kelly reminds her Karen never actually said “Black” and Faran’s had it. She claims Madame Giry only picked Kelly to work with her because her sister died. Faran gets the creeps when Kelly says something to her that Karen once said. “You just be a queen, girl.”
Sheriff Beasley (Eric Johnson) is being a bully and telling Noa he isn’t done with her yet. If she meets the requirements of her probation for one year exactly, her record will be wiped clean. Otherwise, there will be consequences.
That night Noa tells Shawn (Alex Aiono) that Sheriff Beasley’s really riding her. He wastes no time blaming her mom for everything and Noa defends her – again. Marjorie walks in and asks them if they want to go to a movie. Shawn says he can’t go.
Imogen’s going through the stuff at her house when she finds a Ouija board. She experiences a flashback of her mom showing it to her and wanting to contact the dead.
Imogen asks Tabby if they all can hang out tomorrow, confessing she wants to use the Ouija board to contact her mom.
Tuesday, October 27th: Henry (Ben Cook) confronts Faran about what she said to Kelly and wants to know why she’d say that. Faran explains that just because her sister died doesn’t mean she’s going to pretend to like Kelly; she isn’t wired that way. She points out how it’s hard to work with Kelly when she’s not even a good dancer.
Faran’s alarmed when Henry reveals that while she was in detention, he had been dancing with Kelly. Henry thinks she’s gotten a lot better and says, “It’s almost like I’m dancing with Karen again.”
Faran shows up to dance practice and apologizes to Kelly for being out of line. She brings up reading an article one time about twins and how if something bad happens to one twin, the other one can feel it too. Kelly agrees that’s true. Faran read that twins would do anything for each other and, again, Kelly agrees.
Faran notices Kelly’s leotard and asks if it’s Karen. Kelly doesn’t reply and instead says they should get started with practice.
The five friends gather at Imogen’s place and Imogen leads the séance, attempting to summon her mom. Imogen asks if her mom’s at peace and the planchette moves to yes. They’re all freaked out and Imogen orders everyone to take their hands off the planchette because one of them must have moved it.
She asks a series of questions, including “why did you leave me?” Imogen begins to cry and demands her mom say something after she abandoned her, leaving her all on her own.
Tabby tries to interfere, but Faran warns her to let Imogen work it out. Imogen screams, “F**k you! I hate you!” and wants to leave. Tabby reminds Imogen she’s wrong about saying she has no one; she has them now. And in true Tabby horror film fanatic fashion, she quotes Chucky, “Friends till the end.”
Maia Reficco and Eric Johnson in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ episode 4 (Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max)
Sheriff Beasley isn’t done terrorizing Noa and shows up to search her place under the terms of her probation – even though he hasn’t done it before. Her mom acts sketchy and grabs her purse, keeping it near her during the search.
When Beasley asks about some pills he found in the bathroom, Marjorie blurts out, “They aren’t mine.” (Real nice mother!) Noa tells him she got them from the school nurse to help her sleep.
After he leaves Noa asks her mom what’s in her bag and if she’s using again. Her mom insists sometimes she takes a quarter of oxycodone for her back.
Wednesday, October 28th: Noa goes through her mom’s bag and finds pills that don’t belong to her.
Tabby, Chip, Faran, and Greg go over the plan of sneaking into the locker room after school hours to shoot the scene. Tabby wants to make sure everyone feels safe and supported since it is an intimate scene. Greg uses the occasion to say something sleazy to Faran.
Imogen cleans out her old room and finds the journal her mom gifted her. She has a flashback of her mom telling her she wrote down everything when she was Imogen’s age and if she’s like her, she will keep it for life. A lightbulb goes off in Imogen’s head and she sets out to look for her mom’s journal. She finds several!
As Imogen reads her mom’s journals, she discovers pages have been torn out of one.
As Tabby and Faran are waiting to be let into the school by Chip, Faran starts to tell Tabby she has a crazy theory about Kelly really being Karen. However, before she can finish that sentence, Greg shows up.
Noa gets a text from A right after ordering a pizza that reads: “She never learned her lesson. Mommy was going to throw you under the bus again, just like she did with Angela Waters.”
After giving Faran a rundown of what she wants from her, Tabby begins to film the scene and is pleased with what Faran does. Tabby then turns her attention to Greg and explains what’s expected from him. She suggests that maybe Faran’s character slipped something into his drink and now he is a damsel in distress.
Greg takes off his speedo which pisses off Tabby. She goes off on him but neither Faran nor Chip back her up. Upset, she steps out for a break and memories spring up of a party in the woods, causing her to have a panic attack.
After getting it together, Tabby returns only to discover Chip’s the only one left. He explains he shot the rest of the scene and sent Faran and Greg home. Tabby’s mad but doesn’t say anything to Chip.
Noa goes downstairs to get her pizza after the pizza guy refuses to bring it upstairs. She finds the pizza on the ground smashed up and the glass on the door broken. She races back to her apartment and suddenly sees the masked man attempting to get into her place.
Noa takes off running, banging on doors, and screaming for help as he gives chase. He manages to grab her but gets away. She makes it to the roof and takes a running leap to an adjacent roof.
They engage in a standoff but then she realizes he has the advantage when her ankle monitor begins to beep. As she edges closer to the edge of the roof it stops. Sobbing, she screams, “What do you want!” He actually replies, “Punish the guilty.”
Noa asks who’s guilty and he simply states, “Your mother.”
Noa has a flashback of the night she was arrested while her mom stood by. She realizes what she must do. As tears run down her face, she calls the hospital where her mom works and informs them her mom has been stealing drugs. As she collapses to the ground, the masked man vanishes.
Tabby looks through the footage they shot and pauses the video on a closeup of Greg. The image upsets her, but we don’t know why.
Faran goes through social media and looks at photos of Karen and Kelly. It gives her an idea of what she can do to verify if she’s right that Kelly really is Karen.
Thursday, October 29: Faran wants to enlist Henry’s help in proving Kelly is really Karen. She tells him why she thinks this, and he isn’t on the same page. Faran wants him to offer to rub Kelly’s feet. If it’s Karen, she will have a scar on her foot from the razor blades that were put in her ballet shoes.
At lunch, Imogen shows the girls her mom’s journal with pages missing from her senior year. Imogen questions why a girl would rip out pages from her own journal. Tabby says, “Unless there was something so bad, she wanted to rip it out of existence even for herself.”
Imogen thinks it’s possible the pages are hidden in her house.
Noa shows up and is obviously distraught. She explains that A is back and he came after her in person. They want to know why he would come after her, and the episode ends with Noa confessing that, according to the text she received, it’s because of something her mom did to Angela Waters.
Daniel LaRusso is out to expose Terry Silver for the snake that he is in Netflix’s Cobra Kai season five. The new trailer shows the upcoming season picks up after Cobra Kai’s win at the All Valley Tournament and finds Daniel closing his dojo to focus on taking down Cobra Kai. Meanwhile, Johnny’s attempting to get by as a rideshare driver, and Robbie and Miguel continue to be sworn enemies.
Season five, which promises a “showdown decades in the making,” stars Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence. The season five cast also includes Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz, Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene, Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso, and Jacob Bertrand as Hawk.
Gianni Decenzo plays Demetri, Vanessa Rubio is Carmen, Peyton List is Tory, Martin Kove is John Kreese, Dallas Dupree Young is Kenny, Oona O’Brien is Devon, Griffin Santopietro is Anthony, and Thomas Ian Griffith plays Terry Silver.
Cobra Kai season five premieres on September 9, 2022.
Counterbalance Entertainment’s Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg write and executive produce. Additional executive producers include Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Susan Ekins, and Westbrook Entertainment’s Will Smith, James Lassiter, and Caleeb Pinkett.
The Season 5 Plot: Following the shocking results of the All Valley Tournament, Season 5 finds Terry Silver expanding the Cobra Kai empire and trying to make his “No Mercy” style of karate the only game in town. With Kreese behind bars and Johnny Lawrence setting karate aside to focus on repairing the damage he’s caused, Daniel LaRusso must call on an old friend for help.
Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ (Photo Credit: Murray Close)
Lionsgate’s released the first official photo from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes featuring the film’s stars Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) and Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid). Zegler is playing District 12’s tribute Lucy Gray Baird and Blyth is a teenage Coriolanus Snow, the character played by Donald Sutherland in the first four Hunger Games films.
The cast of The Hunger Games prequel also includes Peter Dinklage as Cesca Highbottom, the Dean of the Academy; Jerome Lance as Marcus, tribute from District 2; Ashley Liao as Clemensia Dovecote, one of Coriolanus’s closest friends and mentor to a tribute from District 11; Knox Gibson plays Bobbin, tribute from District 8; Mackenzie Lansing is Coral, tribute from District 4; and Aamer Husain plays Felix Ravinstill, mentor to a tribute from District 11.
Jason Schwartzman is on board as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, the host of the 10th Hunger Games and an ancestor of Caesar Flickerman, played by Stanley Tucci in the previous The Hunger Games films.
On August 15, 2022, it was announced that Oscar winner Viola Davis had joined the prequel as Head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul. “Dr. Gaul is as cruel as she is creative and as fearsome as she is formidable. Snow’s savvy as a political operator develops in no small part due to his experiences with her as the games’ most commanding figure,” stated director Francis Lawrence (Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1, Mockingjay Part 2).
“From the beginning, Viola has been our dream for Dr. Gaul because of the finely layered intelligence and emotion she brings to every role. A brilliant and eccentric strategist, Gaul is instrumental in shaping a young Coriolanus Snow into the man he will become,” said producer Nina Jacobson. “We are incredibly fortunate to have an actor with Viola’s extraordinary range and presence to play this pivotal role.”
Michael Arndt and Michael Lesslie adapted Suzanne Collins’ novel for the screen. Director Lawrence and Brad Simpson are producing, and Suzanne Collins, Jim Miller, Tim Palen, and Mika Saito are executive producing.
The Hunger Games prequel will open in theaters on November 17, 2023.
Lionsgate’s official synopsis:
Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor.
Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy Gray’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.
Series creators Cormac and Marianne Wibberley joined the cast of Disney+’s National Treasure: Edge of History for the show’s first San Diego Comic-Con panel, revealing new details about what’s described as a continuation of the popular National Treasure films. The 10-episode first season stars Lisette Olivera as Jess, a young DREAMer who attempts to find out more about her family by searching for a lost Pan-American treasure.
Jake Austin Walker plays Liam Sadusky, a struggling musician who comes from a long line of treasure hunters. Liam’s the son of Peter Sadusky, played by Harvey Keitel in the films, and Keitel will even show up as a special guest star in the series.
In addition to participating in the Comic-Con panel, Lisette Olivera and Jake Austin Walker teamed up for roundtable interviews to further delve into the world of National Treasure: Edge of History. Olivera and Walker discussed what fans of the films can expect from the series, the action, and whether history nerds are going to enjoy the show.
Lisette Olivera and Jake Austin Walker Interview:
How do you feel as a Latina that this show will resonate with undocumented youths who may not feel like they are being seen in the media?
Lisette Olivera: “Something I adore about Jess is that she is just this really bright young woman who has so much potential. She’s smart. She wants to make everyone feel loved. She really is just this tenacious young woman. Yes, she’s a DREAMer but that is not all she is. And I really do feel that throughout the show we get to see all these different aspects and layers of who she is underneath a paper, underneath a citizenship status that other people may not be able to see past. To be able to explore that is just an honor.”
Jake Austin Walker: “And I got to say she kills it. She kills it. She does an amazing job. She’s going to be a huge role model. It’s going to be awesome. I just had to spit that out.”
Is there a lot of action and did you have to train for that?
Lisette Olivera: “Oh, there is a lot of action, I will say.”
Jake Austin Walker: “There is a ton of action.”
Lisette Olivera: “Yeah, every episode just increasingly gets more intense as we go. And I think it kind of kicks off even after episode five…you see a good amount of action, but after that it’s like…”
Jake Austin Walker: (Looking at Lisette) “It’s very roller coaster, right?”
Lisette Olivera: “It is a very big roller coaster, for sure.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Yeah, I mean, obviously we can’t spoil too much but it’s almost like when you first get taken away [on a coaster]. When you step in you, go like, ‘Whoa!’ right? That’s like the first bit. And then it’s just this (demonstrating with his hand going up on a rollercoaster). And then once it hits, it’s like oh my gosh. It really, really doesn’t stop.
And I just remember we’d get the scripts and we’d just go, ‘Oh, okay, we’re going here.’ (Pretending to flip through a script) ‘Oh my gosh…oh my gosh!’ It just didn’t stop. It was crazy.”
Lisette Olivera: “We didn’t really train for it, but we had good people on our team taking care of us while we were filming making sure that we didn’t get hurt or anything.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Oh yeah, our stunt department was insane. Russell (Towery) was amazing. Yeah, it was a blast. I think the audience too…I would even go as far as to say our action sometimes parallels the films or sometimes even goes a little above. I don’t know – I can’t give away too much.”
Lisette Olivera: “That’s true. A little above the action.”
On a scale of 1-10 how much do you think the show is going to cater to history nerds?
Lisette Olivera: “I would say, especially if you were interested in a different type of history like with the indigenous people that was never told authentically… For me, growing up I never heard the truth about my indigenous culture. I never really understood it because it just was never really told in history books, you know? So, I think like now to be able to have the exposure, especially on a show this scale and for the people that are the creators that are honoring it, it really is going to make people think, ‘Oh my god, yes! That’s exactly what happened. When Cortes came over and the indigenous women and men were there originally, you know they were the founders of this land that they called the United States.’ So, it is great.”
Jake Austin Walker: “And also, we had, my goodness the writers would talk to actual history professors. We had professionals on this. This is no, like, ‘Oh, let’s just say this happened.’ No, no, no, no. Like, there are so many people that cleared it and checked. I mean, we do not just mess around. We dive into the true history of so much.”
Lisette Olivera: Like Cortes and Malinche and a lot of other historical icons.”
Jake Austin Walker: “If you’re a history nerd, you will get a full cup – that’s for sure.”
As you continue to delve into these characters is there anything you were surprised to learn about yourselves?
Jake Austin Walker: “We were kind of talking about this earlier. Liam Sadusky, he’s a descendent of Peter Sadusky from the original films and he’s a prime example of how treasure hunting – because we kind of really make it look pretty in the movies and it’s cool and it’s action-packed, and we don’t hang too long on the severity. And I think what’s interesting about Liam’s character is they show the real impact of loss that could happen from journeying in this lifestyle.
He wants nothing to do with it, right? His emotional escape is kind of in music because he closes himself off to a lot of people because people he was really close to are just not part of his life anymore. I think he was such an emotionally guarded character that when Jess comes into his life, she kind of pulls him out of that.
I think where I parallel with the character is I normally keep a lot of myself in. Liam and this journey and this amazing cast have kind of helped me be more expressive as myself as well. At least that’s a lot of what the show has done for me, you know.”
Lisette Olivera: “Yeah, I would say I grew into myself as well. Jess, because of her citizen status, she’s programmed to stay under the radar. To not make yourself loud, to not speak your truth, I think for the most part. But for her, with her family, she’s always felt safe so now this adventure takes her outside of her family and having to figure out whether she’s willing to risk it all or not. I think that is part of like the wish fulfillment. Like, you don’t know what are the stakes. Are they worth it and will I go for it? I think she was growing into herself and the confidence that she has to do this, and that’s kind of what I felt like because of what this job entailed.”
How long after the movies is the series set?
Lisette Olivera: “About 20 years.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Yeah. As far as the timeline goes, the first two movies were based during that time when they came out and ours is 20 [years later].”
With the pandemic, how did you develop the chemistry and work on the relationships between your characters?
Lisette Olivera: “Oh my gosh, that’s so funny because we all got cast on Zoom. So, we had to do these chemistry reads through Zoom and build a relationship off of there. I don’t know if we just got really lucky, but as soon as all of us met, we hit it off.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Yeah, I’ve really got to give it to Jerry (Bruckheimer) and the Wibberlys and Veronica (Collins Rooney). It was just everyone. Just the casting process and putting us all together – it wasn’t difficult. I’ve been very blessed to be a part of some amazing casts, but you know I’m biased but this is my family. And I think it kind of happened immediately. We had a group chat going. We were arguing about who was going to be the first one to start it.
[…] But it was Lisette and I and Zuri who were cast first. We were the first round and then we finally got…”
Lisette Olivera: “…and then Antonio joined and then Jordan joined, and then everyone trickled in from there. And yeah, it’s just such a pleasure to get to work with people that are so talented and just so their characters as well. It was awesome.”
Jake Austin Walker: “And it shows in the show. It’s pretty insane. I mean, all these people are supposed to know each other for so long, except Liam. He eventually comes into the group. But their friendship on and off camera, it’s not lost on anyone. I think the audience the minute they see them interacting are going to get infected with how much fun they have.”
What was your biggest takeaway from this experience?
Jake Austin Walker: “That if you don’t give up on what you believe in…this is obviously a tough job and Liam is a character I’ve always wanted to see myself as, but I’ve just always hoped I would get the opportunity and never knew it would happen. So, this has kind of showed me – to be honest I know on paper it sounds kind of corny – but don’t let go of your dreams. Because I feel like with this cast and the showrunners and the people and with Disney and just everyone, it is a dream situation. That’s really what this has shown me.”
Lisette Olivera: “And I’m really proud of all of us for what we have done. For me, playing this part, I just could only hope that my grandparents and my parents are proud. That’s the one thing is I hope when they watch it, and even other Latinas I hope when they watch it, they are proud.”
The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico season four episode 10 reveals that falling through the sinkhole has landed Bonnie and Dallas in Dallas’ dad’s secret pocket world/alternate version of Roswell. Dallas (Quentin Plair) explains he was greeted by his dad’s hologram after falling through the sinkhole, and the hologram told him to travel to where time stands still. After that, he needs to follow the light.
They have no idea if their ultimate destination is Oasis or back to the real Roswell.
Liz (Jeanine Mason) wakes up motivated to solve their alien dilemma. She’s not willing to spend much time talking about what they’ve just been through, and Max (Nathan Dean) notices her hands are shaking. Rather than stay and relax with Max after almost dying, she wants to head out and investigate the sinkhole.
Kyle (Michael Trevino) shows up at Max’s and exchanges an awkward hug with Isobel (Lily Cowles). Michael (Michael Vlamis) provides the coffee while they get caught up on Tezca, who is no longer a bad guy. Isobel thinks they need to give Tezca time to adjust to what she just learned Jones did to her mind.
Isobel explains Tezca said Jones had Theo design a way home. Tezca believes whatever Theo designed, he hid in a pocket dimension. The answers are probably all in Theo’s Bible which Dallas had but Clyde stole.
Michael jokes about Kyle getting probed in Mexico, totally unaware of the “probing” Kyle did with Isobel. Kyle jokes that he doesn’t probe and tell, but he did bring back with him a sealed box that came with a note.
The note reads: “Time will tell you when to join these together.”
They don’t know what it means but Michael recognizes it’s his mom’s handwriting. Isobel thinks maybe it has to do with the way home.
Liz returns to her lab and since this is “Outlaw Liz,” she’s not mad at Shivani. Instead, she’s now on the same page and wants to make more of the alien cure so that nothing ever hurts any of their loved ones.
Isobel relieves Maria (Heather Hemmens) of Tezca babysitting duty, and Isobel decides their first lesson should be mastering their fear. Tezca and Isobel will practice taking down a vision of Jones until Tezca conquers her fear of him. It seems to be working until dozens of other figures, all dressed in white and most bloody, appear. They’re the people Tezca’s killed, including Dallas’ dad, Theo. He screams, “Traitor!” and she drops her weapon.
Tezca recalls being allies and friends with Theo until Jones made her turn on everyone. She storms off and Isobel catches up with her a short while later. She gives Tezca a pep talk and assures her she can be who she wants to be, not who Jones forced her to be.
Meanwhile, Kyle and Michael try and figure out what’s in the box at Michael’s secret lair. Kyle explains Eduardo’s daughter had clues as to where it was hidden and although he’s tried to open it, he can’t. After they set the box down, the room starts rumbling and lights explode. The box opens and missing parts of the console fly out. The console starts rebuilding itself but it’s only 10% complete when it stops.
Michael can’t believe there are still parts missing and instead of thanking Kyle, he’s upset he didn’t bring all the pieces. Kyle has no idea where the rest of it is.
Suddenly, an alien symbol on the console begins blinking. It’s never done that before and Michael’s determined to figure out what it means.
They begin looking through books, trying to find Dallas’ cheat sheet on alien symbols. They finally find the sentient symbology book and according to Dallas’ research, the symbol on the console either means “open” or “death.” Michael’s opting for the open definition, guessing it might open the sinkhole.
Michael puts the clues together and is sure he’s right. He thinks it’s possible this symbol makes the sinkhole not just an entrance but an exit. Kyle, on the other hand, is stuck on the possibility it means death.
Maria and Rosa (Amber Midthunder) combine their alien powers to try and make contact with Dallas, Alex, and Bonnie. Rosa suggests Maria needs to “feel” where they are with her body – not just her mind. Maria gets down on her knees and runs her fingers through the dirt, with Rosa telling her to ride the wave she feels until she finds them.
Maria has a quick vision of Dallas and Bonnie by the Roswell sign. That’s where they need to go next.
And speaking of the Roswell sign, as they approach it in the pocket dimension Dallas recalls he read in his dad’s Bible that there was a time capsule buried by it. Bonnie uses her powers to dig up a box that matches the one Kyle brought back from Mexico. They can’t open it but decide that the clue Theo left meant they need to go to the church since some people think of it as a lighthouse or a beacon of light. Plus, Bonnie recalls an inscription that matches it there.
Max finds Liz in the cave and wants to know what she’s doing with his pod. She claims she’s collecting another sample and wonders why he’s checking on her. She hates being second-guessed and tosses out formulas that Max doesn’t understand. The fact he doesn’t get it proves her point that she needs to talk to someone who does – Shivani.
Max can’t believe she’s returned to working with Shivani, given that Shivani almost killed her. Liz appears to be over it and doesn’t blame her for what she did.
Back at the lab, Shivani and Liz inhale more of the alien cure. With the increased intelligence the vapor provides, they work on analyzing a frog and how suspended animation equates to what the alien pods can do. Yada, yada, yada, more science stuff…and they bring the frog back to life.
Shivani wants to get her daughter ready now, but Liz thinks they need to do more tests. For that, she needs to get more of Rosa’s blood. Shivani points out they just ran out of Rosa’s blood they had on hand and Liz thinks they can get more.
Back in the pocket dimension, Dallas and Bonnie are having a heart-to-heart in the church when Dallas remembers something important. He grabs a record player and the This Little Light O’ Mine album – and Dallas is sure it’s the “light” his dad was talking about. He plays the album and immediately a map appears. Dallas sees an alien symbol on the map in the desert and zooms in on it. He thinks he knows where the symbol leads.
Rosa and Maria make it to the sign and Maria can’t figure out why she doesn’t feel anything. Rosa helps her and finally, Maria gets a vision. She sees Bonnie and Dallas walking away from the sign and also spots the welcome sign from the church.
Rosa receives an urgent text from Liz and has to leave, but Maria thinks she’s figured out the next step in finding their lost friends.
Michael and Kyle load the console into the back of the truck and take it out to the sinkhole. It doesn’t work and a frustrated Michael says it’s like they’re stuck in the ET equivalent of a server error. Kyle wants to drop something else into the sinkhole, but Michael is ready to call it quits.
“After all these years…after everything Alex and I have been through…our love is losing out to a hole in the crowd,” says Michael.
Kyle wants Michael not to give up. He’s sure Alex is trying to get back home to Michael. Kyle promises that even if Michael gives up, he’ll keep the faith for him and for Alex.
Michael admits he hates it when Kyle’s right and wants to look through the notebook of crazy ideas again.
Liz seems high as she draws some of Rosa’s blood, going off about there being too much blue in one of Rosa’s paintings. Rosa knows something’s off about her sister and refuses to hand over the vial of blood until Liz explains why she needs it. Liz’s hand shakes uncontrollably as she tries to get Rosa to hand it over without saying why it’s important to her research.
Rosa realizes Liz is taking the alien cure. Liz insults her, grabs the vial, and leaves.
Dallas and Bonnie believe they now have what they need to return home. They walk through the desert and find a large, standing half-circle made of stone. Dallas believes it’s a portal. Nearby is a stone slab and all of a sudden, the sealed box inside Dallas’ backpack begins moving.
Alien glass bursts out of the box and sticks to the slab. What’s formed looks like another piece of Michael’s console. Dallas thinks the console would fit into the stone slab, and Bonnie points out an indenture in the slab that could hold the star map.
They now believe this is somehow a way to get home and that Clyde wasn’t looking for an actual ship.
Since Theo referenced the sunrise in his clue, Dallas believes they need to figure out a way to trigger that.
Maria has made to the location of the stone slab in the real Roswell. There’s water in the top of it and she drops in a penny and watches the ripples. She recalls Rosa telling her to read them and hits a tire iron against the slab to make noise. As soon as she does the portal appears and even though it’s dim and flickering, she can see Dallas and Bonnie through it.
Rosa texts Max and they meet at the café. Rosa reveals she thinks her sister is acting like an addict and the alien mist is acting like a narcotic. Max wants to talk to Liz and hopes he can break through.
Tezca has decided to atone for her sins through the children of the people she hurt. She tells Isobel that she used to be a friend of Nora, Louise, and Theo’s. She describes herself as a go-between who helped pass scientific plans between them.
They enter Tezca’s mindscape to a time when Theo showed her plans for the portal that could move them between worlds. However, Theo believed there needed to be a second one so they could make a bridge.
Theo knew they needed a lock that would prevent Jones and his followers from using it. They snap out of the mindscape and Isobel realizes Jones needed Liz because she could pick the lock.
Tezca confirms Clyde is a true believer.
Dallas recalls Michael saying the console pieces want to be together and decides to tap on the piece on the stone slab. Kyle notices the console is blinking purple and Michael places his hand on it. The console part in the pocket dimension blinks blue. Dallas taps again on his piece and Michael responds by tapping on his console.
Michael realizes Dallas is using Morse code!
Dallas translates the return message and it’s “Are you Alex?”
Michael and Kyle discover they’re communicating with Dallas and Bonnie. Dallas explains they don’t know where they are.
Maria calls Kyle and tells them they need to come to her location with the console. Something strange is going on and she can’t explain it over the phone.
Max confronts Liz and she admits Outlaw Liz won the standoff. He wants to help her stop but she’s excited about how the drug has super-charged her brain. She’s proud she brought the frog back and she accuses him of being scared to use his own powers when they could be useful.
Liz claims she’s evolving but Max thinks they both need to accept their limitations. Liz disagrees and says she needs to take the next steps on her own. Before he leaves, Max points out the frog has died.
Liz informs Shivani about the frog’s death and that they failed. They can’t resurrect the dead, but they should be able to use the mist to save children with incurable diseases. Shivani doesn’t care about those children – she only cares about bringing back her daughter.
Liz is giving up Max because he’s an emotional distraction. If Shivani can’t give up her own emotional attachment, then Liz will no longer work with her.
Max and Rosa fill Isobel in on what’s going on with Liz. They’ll need her help to get Max’s powers back so he can save Liz.
Michael and Kyle make it to Maria, and Michael’s stunned it’s shaped like his console. They place the console in it, and it begins vibrating and lighting up. In the pocket dimension, the console starts to form in the stone slab. The missing piece Dallas has materializes and attaches itself to the main console.
The portal opens and they can see each other through it. Michael figures out that without the star map, the portal only opens to one place.
The console and the portal flicker. Michael makes a quick decision to step through it, believing there is fruit on the alien tree in the pocket dimension. The console needs that fruit for fuel. Plus, it’s his one shot to see Alex.
Dallas decides to stay where he is too. Bonnie also chooses to stay to help Michael find the man he loves.
Michael steps through and the portal closes as the episode ends.
