WHEN they talk about saving the best for last, it means season two of White Lotus comes to Showmax – on October 31.
Season one was the most awarded show at the 2022 Emmys, winning 10 awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Directing and Writing – and Supporting Actress for Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya – the only season one character confirmed to return for season two. It premieres in the US on October 30 and we’ll be getting weekly episodes every Monday.
This chapter swaps Hawaii for Sicily, following a new group of vacationers jetting off to a different White Lotus resort. Previously, the series gradually peeled back the glossy veneer of picture-perfect travellers, cheerful hotel employees, and the idyllic locale itself to reveal something far uglier beneath, in equal parts funny and sad. It’s likely then, we can expect more of the same or similar.
The incredible new cast includes People’s Choice winner Theo James (Divergent), Oscar winner F Murray Abraham (Amadeus, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Emmy winner Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), Peabody Award winner Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), BAFTA winner Tom Hollander (The Night Manager), Teen Choice nominees Meghann Fahy (Sutton in The Bold Type) and Haley Lu Richardson (Five Feet Apart), BAFTA nominee Will Sharpe (Landscapers, Giri/Haji), multi-award-winning Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore and Adam DiMarco (Todd/Elliott in The Magicians).
In the meantime, there is a diverse bag of series to stream, playing out over the month. Season one of Minx is available now. It has a very respectable 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, always a good indicator. It’s set in 1970s Los Angeles, where an earnest young feminist (Ophelia Lovibond from Feel Good and Elementary) joins forces with a low-rent publisher (Critics’ Choice nominee Jake Johnson from New Girl) to create the first erotic magazine for women. HBO Max has already renewed the comedy series for a second season.
Also up now is a reboot of the multi-award-winning 2006 series, The Game, which offers a modern-day examination of Black culture through the prism of pro football. Image Award winner Wendy Raquel Robinson and Hosea Chanchez return from the original series, with Adriyan Rae (Chicago Fire’s Gianna Mackey) and Emmy nominee Tim Daly (Madam Secretary, The Practice) co-starring.
Arriving on October 10 are The Rehearsal and season two of P-Valley. The Rehearsal explores the lengths one man will go to to reduce the uncertainties of everyday life. With a construction crew, a legion of actors and seemingly unlimited resources, Nathan Fielder (2022 Emmy nominee How To With John Wilson) allows ordinary people to prepare for life’s biggest moments by “rehearsing” them in carefully crafted simulations of his own design. When a single misstep could shatter your entire world, why leave life to chance? Clearly a show designed for anxious over thinkers, and this is not a joke to us; knowing what we are walking into, and being prepared for it is like a dream come true.
The Rehearsal has been a hit with fans and critics alike, with an 8.7/10 rating on IMdb and a 94% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. HBO recently renewed it for a second season.
In season two of P-Valley, the strippers are moving with the times. With Covid having shut down the Pynk, Uncle Clifford (Nico Annan, nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, an Image Award and a Queerty for the role) and Autumn Night (Elarica Johnson) come up with a pop-up alternative: a drive-through car wash, where masked women will give you a neon-lit show…
Created by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall, season two has a 90% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Salon calling it “incomparable to much else on TV” and Guardian saying “the opening is as brilliant a spectacle as you’ll find on television”, adding, “There is an easy confidence to P-Valley that makes it an utter pleasure to watch. Season two is funnier than the first, going further into its campiness, but it also feels as if it is now fully at ease with itself. There is a glut of prestige television, but this is a standout that is well worth tracking down.”
Narrated by two-time Emmy winner Gillian Anderson (Sex Education, The Crown, The X-Files), Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter (October 13) is an epic, Emmy-winning animated series from Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro), based on the bestselling book by Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking).
Ronja is a 10-year-old girl born into a band of robbers. Over the course of 26 episodes, she befriends the son of her father’s rival and explores the beautiful but frightening forest, which is full of strange creatures. In its four star review, Common Sense Media recommends Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter for children over the age of seven.
A Million Little Things is old fashioned television – it has 20 episodes in season four. The series revolves around a group of friends who become motivated to live fuller lives after the unexpected death of a close friend. The soapy drama can become a bit much at times but I’ve been invested in it since season one so I will keep watching, I cannot help myself. Season four will be available from October 17, and it’s been renewed for a fifth.
B Positive revolves around Drew (Emmy nominee Thomas Middleditch from Silicon Valley), a therapist and newly divorced dad. He needs a kidney donor when he runs into Gina (Annaleigh Ashford), a rough-around-the-edges woman from his past who volunteers her own. Together, they form an unlikely and life-affirming friendship as they begin a journey that will forever impact both of their lives. Season two (October 24) opens after the transplant, as the pair have to figure out how to move forward with their lives.
Season one of Billy The Kid is up on the 24th as well: From BAFTA nominee Michael Hirst, the creator of Vikings, comes an epic romantic adventure based on the life of Billy the Kid (eye candy Tom Blyth), from his humble Irish roots and his early days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier to his pivotal role in the Lincoln County War and beyond.
Don’t forget you can watch new episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale season five every Thursday. Having got her revenge in the season four finale, June is facing its consequences in season five, while struggling to redefine her identity and purpose. The widowed Serena attempts to raise her profile in Toronto as Gilead’s influence creeps into Canada. Commander Lawrence works with Nick and Aunt Lydia as he tries to reform Gilead and rise in power. June, Luke and Moira fight Gilead from a distance as they continue their mission to save and reunite with Hannah.
And that’s all I want to know for now, thank you; I’m waiting for the whole season and a free weekend to indulge.
