Nate Haduch

Using AI image processing software, Hidreley Diao creates photorealistic portraits of familiar cartoon characters. The one of Moe from The Simpsons is kind of amazing — he’s got the look of a long-time character actor who’s developed so much depth over the years that he starts getting bigger roles and everyone’s like, this guy is actually kind of enigmatic and attractive and fantastic.

You can find more of his efforts on Instagram, where he also makes AI-assisted portraits of people we don’t have photos of (e.g. Michelangelo) and fictional people (e.g. Hercules and the Statue of Liberty).

See also the “Reverse Toonification” of Pixar Characters and What Homer Simpson Would Look Like in Real Life.

Tags: artificial intelligence   Hidreley Diao   photography   The Simpsons

In late June, semi-elusive indie-pop greats Alvvays teased some new music and announced a fall tour of the United States with openers Slow Pulp. Now, Alvvays have officially announced the long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s dreamy and delightful Antisocialites. Their third studio album is called Blue Rev and is out on Oct. 7 via Polyvinyl. Rejoice!

I came to Sonic Youth just as they were getting old. As fate would have it, the band released their easing-into-middle-age resurgence record the same month I graduated from high school. I can’t say for sure whether most old heads considered Murray Street a return to form upon its release 20 years ago this Saturday, though the rave reviews sure gave me that impression. “If you’ve never heard them before this is a great place to start,” opined the BBC’s Nick Reynolds. “It’s one of their best, and an object lesson to any pretender.” What this one-time pretender can confirm is that Murray Street kicked off a prolific final stretch for Sonic Youth, one marked by thrilling live shows and rewarding records aplenty.

New legislation in New York State will require ticketing companies to show “all-in” ticket prices that show all inclusive and ancillary fees up front. That means that the final ticket cost — on both primary and resale sellers — must be disclosed on the ticket’s initial listing, as opposed to many pages later in the buying process. As of June 3, the bill has passed the state senate and the assembly and is awaiting Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature.

Drenched in sunlight, with a quick, breezy pace that keeps the plot engaging and moving, and tangible camaraderie between its main cast, “Fire Island” proves to be a breath of fresh air in a genre looking to reinvigorate itself.

"Severance" is not a comedy. Those who hear that the show is executive produced/directed by Ben Stiller and stars Adam Scott might make that assumption, but as Apple TV+'s marketing materials keep reminding us, the show is a workplace thriller — no funny business found here.

But "Severance" does have funny moments, as great dramas often do, and it's also much more than a straightforward workplace thriller. The show, written and created by Dan Erickson, meets the qualifications for that genre with a gripping, ever-escalating plot that leaves you clambering for answers each episode. "Severance," however, is also a deep character piece and a commentary on capitalism — how much does where we work dictate our lives, and how far will a corporate conglomerate go to achieve their so-called strategic vision?

The crux of these issues is explored via the speculative premise of the series — Lumon Industries, a hundred-plus-year-old venerated corporation, has created a technology that severs a person's memories. Lumon then looks to hire people for "severed" positions, where the new Lumon employees willingly undergo a procedure where the company inserts a probe-like object into their brain that effectively cleaves their minds in two.

We're introduced to Lumon through Mark (Scott), a man who has faced great grief in his personal life and decides to be severed to escape his pain for at least eight hours a day. Through Mark, we get one answer to one of the many questions that come up on the show: What would drive someone to willingly cut their life in half?

The Terror Of Corporate Culture

Mark's work persona, Mark S., has no memory of his past, and no knowledge of what goes on when he leaves the office. All Mark S. ever knows is his life inside Lumon's windowless corridors. He doesn't even know the respite and relief of sleep since his "outie" — the severed's nickname for their outside selves — takes on all the sleeping responsibilities. Conversely, Mark outside of Lumon's walls has no knowledge of his "innie's" life. Mark's workplace persona could be psychologically tortured all day and he'd be none the wiser. The commentary on capitalism here is pretty clear — in this world, your employer literally owns and controls you from 9 to 5 — and the show hammers this point home.

So why would anyone choose to do this? We get Mark's answer early on, but we don't know at first what drove Mark's severed colleagues, played by John Turturro, Zach Cherry, and Britt Lower, to undergo the same procedure. What we do see at the beginning of the season is their work environment. The four make up Lumon's Macrodata Refinement team, and spend their entire existence sitting in their own cubicles in a white-walled, windowless room undergoing computer tasks they don't understand.

The look of Lumon's severed floor is highly stylized, making for some stark and surreal imagery. One of the things that's so chilling about the show, however, is that the life for the innies at Lumon is too recognizable for comfort: the corporate-speak; the forced social functions; the endless identical corridors; the seeking of refuge and a veneer of privacy in a bathroom stall. Many who have worked a corporate job will see familiar flickerings of it here.

There are also moments when the stylization gets turned up a notch or three, and it's these scenes that showcase how effed up this all is. (Not that we needed that reminder, but those psychologically twisted moments, such as the sanctioned dance social replete with maracas and blinking colored lights, serve their purpose in profoundly freaking us the hell out).

The Emotional Underbelly Of Macrodata Refinement

What truly sets "Severance" apart, however, is when the show delves into the psyches of the series' ensemble cast. We get ample time with Mark, yes, but we also get deep emotional moments with his Macrodata Refinement co-workers.

And then there's the unsevered who supervise them. Mark's boss at Lumon is Patricia Arquette's Ms. Cobell, an intensely complex individual who contains multitudes. Arquette is masterful in this role, and I'll be surprised if she doesn't get all the awards for her performance. The way she softly says, "Mark," to Scott's character, for example, emotes a sinister faux-concern that chills you to the bone.

Arquette is only one of many fantastic performances in "Severance." Scott's conveyance of both Marks is uncanny, and Turturro, Cherry, and Lower also bring nuance to their severed characters. Dichen Lachman and Christopher Walken also touchingly play severed Lumon employees while Tramell Tillman plays another complex and intense unsevered supervisor. Rounding out the impressive cast is Mark's sister and brother-in-law, deftly portrayed by Jen Tullock and Michael Chernus.

As the episodes progress, we learn more about these characters and what may be going on at Lumon. What we find out, however, is never enough. "Severance" is a show that gets more mysterious the more it reveals, and the last two episodes of the season had me so anxious that my dog started whining at me in concern.

My biggest critique of the show, if you can call it that, is that the first season is incomplete — the first act in a much larger story that doesn't give you any closure or satisfaction on where things are left. If Apple TV+ doesn't pick this up for a second season, I will write a strongly worded letter to their manager.

Season 1 of "Severance" premieres on Apple TV+ on February 18, 2022.

Read this next: The 15 Best Netflix Original Series Of 2021 Ranked

The post Severance Review: This Mind-Blowing, Unpredictable Series From Apple TV+ is a Must-Watch appeared first on /Film.

Right before he dropped DAMN., Kendrick Lamar released a non-album track called “The Heart Part 4,” the fourth in a long-running series of loosies. And now, five days before the release of his apparent double-LP Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Kendrick is back with “The Heart Part 5.” It’s a decidedly sparse and funky track, one that puts a bright spotlight on K.Dot’s verse.

After setting up cryptic billboards, drawing a mysterious hand-drawn map of California, performing at Coachella, and launching a hotline, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Western Wind” era is upon us. Jepsen notably performed the new single in Indio and shared video teasers on social media, which made Jepsen’s “Western Wind” aesthetic fall somewhere between Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On” and Midsommar.

We’re refreshing and revising our old Counting Down lists to make room for new albums and insights that have come along since their initial publication. Our ranking of Yo La Tengo’s albums from worst to best originally ran on October 12, 2012.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure is a new exhibition of the life and work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, curated by his two younger sisters, Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux. It opened this past weekend in NYC and includes a bunch of work that’s never been exhibited before. From the NY Times:

The show, “Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure,” features more than 200 artworks and artifacts from the artist’s estate — 177 of which have never been exhibited before — in a 15,000-square-foot space designed by the architect David Adjaye. Providing perhaps the most detailed personal portrait to date of Basquiat’s development, the show comes at a time when the artist’s market value continues to soar and his themes of race and self-identity have become especially resonant. (The mayor’s office is to proclaim Saturday, the show’s opening, Jean-Michel Basquiat Day.)

“They’re literally opening up the vaults,” said Brett Gorvy, a dealer and a former chairman and international head of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s. “These are paintings I’ve only seen in books.”

This looks great; definitely hitting this the next time I’m in NYC. Tickets are available here. (via pentagram, who did the identity for the exhibition)

Tags: art   Jean-Michel Basquiat   NYC

Nine Inch Nails have announced that they will replace Foo Fighters on the lineups for Welcome To Rockville and Boston Calling. The change comes after Foo Fighters cancelled all tour dates following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last month.

An annual city “impact fee” that would take 3 percent of all revenue from recreational cannabis shops was dropped Monday, with city councillors agreeing that the money would be of minimal help to the city while putting a significant hurt on a new class of small businesses.

John Mulaney returned to "Saturday Night Live" to officially join the Five-Timers Club, and he had some much deserved company. Since Paul Rudd was unable to completely enjoy his own induction into the exclusive "SNL" club due to the surge of coronavirus infections at the end of 2021, the forever young star came back to Studio 8H to get in on the cameo-filled fun. 

But let's not forget that this is Mulaney's show, and not only did he deliver another great monologue to kick off the show, he also followed through on the now-expected tradition of doing a musical based on the seedy underbelly of New York City. So let's dig into the latest John Mulaney-hosted episode of "Saturday Night Live."

The Best

Ukraine - Before we get to the breakdown of each sketch, I wanted to take the time to acknowledge the beautiful yet somber opening of the show, with the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performing the song "Prayer for Ukraine" in tribute to the people of the nation being needlessly invaded by Russia. This is an unjust war and we hope the outcome of this unfortunate conflict finds the people of Ukraine claiming victory over their oppressors.

Nickelodeon Show - As a Nickelodeon kid of the 1990s, I can't tell you how much I loved this sketch. Tears streamed down my face as this faux retrospective looked back at the origin of the cable network's famous slime. The reactions from the likes of Cecily Strong, John Mulaney, and Mikey Day are uproariously funny. On top of that, the host interludes with Chris Redd and Alex Moffat are equally as funny, from the reactions to the dated teen interactions to Redd's mustache malfunction. Honestly, I'm not sure if that was a genuine make-up flub that Redd used to its full comedic potential, or if it was a scripted element of the silliness, because the mustache gag carried over to the point that Redd appeared to throw it at Moffat in one of the cutaways. 

Subway Churro - In previous "SNL" hosting stints, John Mulaney has given us "Diner Lobster," "Bodega Bathroom," and "Airport Sushi," so everyone was waiting to see what New York City staple would get the musical treatment this time. Mulaney didn't disappoint with "Subway Churro," featuring variations on familiar songs from the likes of "Fiddler on the Roof," "The Music Man," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Jesus Chris Superstar," and a surprise with Evan Hansen belting the big ballad from "Dreamgirls." If you've loved Mulaney's previous musical efforts, this one does not disappoint, and it gets bonus points for having an impressive set with a moving subway train. It's just great all around.

Please Don't Destroy: Good Variant - After being somewhat disappointed with the last Please Don't Destroy sketch (that made it to air), I'm happy to see them back with a vengeance this week. Initially, I wondered if this sketch was intended for Paul Rudd's hosting stint, but didn't make it to air in spite of being a pre-recorded sketch. That suspicion was only elevated when John Mulaney initially only popped up via television. But as soon as he showed up with a huge sandwich in Please Don't Destroy's office, it was clear that this was recorded much more recently. The appearance of Al Roker only makes things more ridiculous alongside all the positive symptoms of the good variant of coronavirus, and this is the kind of stuff you love to see from Please Don't Destroy.

The Average

Five Timers Club - Since Paul Rudd's Five-Timers Club induction was a little awkward, despite Tom Hanks and Tina Fey getting in on the fun, it was splendid to see him back for a proper sketch ceremony. Tina Fey returned for Mulaney's welcoming, along with favorite host Steve Martin, as well as Candice Bergen, Elliot Gould, and Conan O'Brien. Under normal circumstances this would have been one of the best sketches of the night, but there were a lot of fumbled lines and moments where the timing of punchlines was completely ruined. O'Brien did a good job of recovering by mocking his dialogue stumbles, but his entrance was wrecked by poor cutting in the control room. Meanwhile, Bergen botched a couple of lead-ins to what would have been great jokes. However, you'll notice in the YouTube version above that a few quick edits have fixed these errors that aired live during the show's original broadcast. Even with these missteps, it was still quite enjoyable, but not one of the best Five-Timers Club sketches.

Cupid Shuffle - First of all, let's just recognize how good Kenan Thompson is at doing the voice of the guy who narrates the "Cupid Shuffle," that almost never fails to make an appearance at weddings. In this case, the instructional dance song has popped up at a family reunion, but it comes with hilarious Atlanta flair. Even though this sketch didn't make me laugh out loud, I appreciated how well it was constructed as a piece of comedy. First, you have the laughs that come from the unique lyrics in this special remix. Then, you have what originally seemed like a sketch predicated on Mulaney being the only white guy at a Black family reunion turned on its head to have him being more recognized and comfortable than his own wife. The interludes with Punkie Johnson and Chris Redd were very funny too. But overall, this sketch was more amusing than downright hilarious. 

COVID Dinner Discussion - It's always nice to see "Saturday Night Live" veer into comedic tension by approaching a controversial topic in this way. These are discussions that people everywhere are afraid to have for multiple reasons, whether it's the fear of being judged or the desire to avoid discomfort, and the depiction of the awkwardness is heightened but accurate. Having said that, there were some timing issues, and it felt like this sketch went on a little too long, even though it was only five minutes long.

The Worst

Blue River - Here's the thing: this sketch takes some weird turns in the backend that absolutely made me laugh. But the entire lead-up to it feels so odd. It starts off as a commercial parody, but becomes something bigger than that. There's some really funny threads here, but honestly, I think this is one of those cases where it's played too seriously to be funny. That's the only reason I can think of when it comes to why this didn't work for me. There are instances when playing a silly scene straight results in even greater comedic returns, but in this case, it felt more odd than anything. Frankly, I'm surprised that this aired so early in the show instead of being the 10-to-1 sketch.

Monkey Trial - Here's another example of a sketch that felt like it was a little too strange to land earlier in the broadcast. Mulaney is probably the only one who could make this work, mostly because the cadence and tone of his voice makes the deadpan dialogue from a monkey that much funnier. There are a couple of amusing moments, especially when Mulaney does sign language, but the overall concept of the sketch still didn't land for me. 

Weekend Update

Oops! All Jokes! That's how Colin Jost appropriately referred to this edition of Weekend Update, and thanks to the gauntlet of gutbusting one-liners from him and Michael Che, it's totally accurate. This was my favorite edition of Weekend Update headline jokes in a while, so much that I wasn't actually upset that there weren't any other guests at the desk. I'm willing to bet that there was a plan to have other cast appearances, but the show also felt packed to the brim with sketches, including a seven-minute stand-up monologue from Mulaney and the eight-minute "Subway Churro" sketch. This edition also has exactly the kind of energy I like to see between Jost and Che, chuckling at each other, ad-libbing when jokes take a turn, and acting more as a duo rather than two comedians doing bits next to each other. 

The Host

What can we say about John Mulaney that hasn't already been said? Not only is he a stellar stand-up comedian, he's also a great sketch comedian as well. Even if Mulaney's comedic persona doesn't allow for a wide range of characters, the kind of comedy he's good at is so satisfying that it often doesn't matter. 

In this case, his stand-up monologue was filled with more personal anecdotes regarding his intervention after being addicted to drugs, not to mention the birth of his infant son last year. The way Mulaney talks about such intimate topics and weaves them together is simply pitch perfect. It's clear that these are honed bits he's been working on since returning to the stand-up stage last year, and I'm sure there are even more if you're lucky enough to catch him on tour. Personally, I'll always be psyched to have Mulaney host "Saturday Night Live," and since he's been hosting once a year since his debut in 2018, we're hoping this is a tradition that continues for a long time.

The MVP

John Mulaney - Typically it takes something special for the host to deserve the MVP title, because they're meant to be the star of the show. But when that host is John Mulaney, you can't help but love what he brings to the table, both in his wit and his overall comedic energy. Mulaney brings out the best of "Saturday Night Live" because he's a former writer who knows the ins and outs of the series, and he even poked fun at the substance-abusing, stress-inducing annals of the sketch comedy staple. Though Mulaney doesn't have much variation in the characters that he plays, he knows the sweet spot with the audience and he brings "SNL" squarely into that arena to make the series sing. Even in the worst sketches of the night, Mulaney had bright spots, and in the face of missteps and flubs, Mulaney rolled with the punches.

The Final Word

After the long break for the 2022 Winter Olympics on NBC (that nobody seemed to be watching), it was great to get back into "Saturday Night Live" with a banger of an episode. John Mulaney is a reliable host, and the cast and writers were fully prepared to get back into the groove. Cecily Strong in particular made a big comeback, and if she was in a couple more of the funniest sketches, she might have been the MVP. Either way, it was nice to have her back with the rest of the cast, even though Pete Davidson was not in attendance this time. 

Now that "SNL" is back in the swing of things, we're hoping they can keep this momentum going into next week when "Star Wars" franchise star Oscar Isaac takes the stage just in time to host in conjunction with the upcoming premiere of his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in "Moon Knight" on Disney+. We'll be back with a review of the episode next weekend, so stay tuned.

Read this next: The 10 Best Comedies Of The Last 10 Years

The post John Mulaney Sings, Shuffles, and Gets Slimed in a Superb Saturday Night Live appeared first on /Film.

The scope of the bike lane mandate is so broad and complex that the City Council might reasonably have put it on the ballot for residents to vote on in a municipal referendum before acting on it. We are finally starting to see the beginnings of the kind of vigorous, contentious, factual debate that is needed for democracy to work and that we as Americans expect.

If white men can’t jump, then how is Jack Harlow making the leap from rapper to movie star, huh? Deadline reports that Harlow, the ascendant Louisville hit-maker, will star in 20th Century’s reboot of Ron Shelton’s 1992 comedy White Men Can’t Jump, which featured Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as hustlers specializing in street basketball. Apparently Harlow got the part off his first ever screen audition.

Kanye West just released a version of his new album Donda 2 exclusively on his Donda Stem Player. The first 16 tracks feature Migos, Jack Harlow, Soulja Boy, Travis Scott, and more… and the next batch might end up featuring beloved indie band Beach House.

Charli XCX has been hardcore promoting her forthcoming studio album, Crash, which is currently due out March 18. Today, she even released a new song and video, “Baby.” Anyway, it looks as if Charli has been watching the reactions roll out on social media. Naturally, some of those reactions included criticism; she even responded to a Stan who called her “mother.”

Megan Thee Stallion will make her acting debut in Fucking Identical Twins, an R-rated musical comedy from A24 inspired by The Parent Trap. Variety reports that the film is about two business adversaries, played by comedians Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, who realize they’re identical twin brothers and decide to switch places in an attempt to reunite their divorced parents.

Onetime Band To Watch MUNA recently teamed up with their new Saddest Factory label boss Phoebe Bridgers on the queer love pop anthem “Silk Chiffon.” And last night, they went on The Late Late Show With James Corden to play it live, bringing Bridgers along to sing her part. (Also, fun fact: that’s former Stereogum editor Amrit Singh’s brother Sarab on drums.) Watch their performance below.

Yaeji released her debut full-length mixtape WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던, last year and she’s put out a few songs since then, including one that was initially a CD-exclusive track and a single that utilized a bunch of PAC-MAN video game sounds. Today, she’s sharing two new songs, “29” and “Year To Year,” both collaborations with OHHYUK, the leader of Seoul-based group HYUKOH. “29” straight up sounds like Yaeji fronting a rock band, which as you might imagine sounds pretty cool; on “Year To Year,” Yaeji and OHHYUK’s vocals blend together against a spacey throb.

Charli XCX has released “Beg For You,” the third single from her upcoming new album Crash following last year’s “Good Ones” and “New Shapes.” “Beg For You” features Rina Sawayama, who has a new album of her own expected out later this year, and it samples the mid-’00s dance hit “Cry For You” by September, a moniker of the Swedish pop musician Petra Marklund.

It’s crazy to think that Kamasi Washington, by far the most famous and acclaimed jazz musician of his generation, had not performed on US television before last night. Or, at least, it’s crazy until you think about the general lack of overlap between ambitious astral jazz epics and American television programming. In any case, when Kamasi Washington did musical-guest duties on last night’s Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon billed it as Washington’s TV debut, although he was on Later… With Jools Holland in 2018.

Circuit des Yeux went fully orchestral for last year’s -io, but the new outtake Haley Fohr is sharing today forgoes that sound in favor of acoustic guitar and brushed drums. It’s called “The Manatee,” and it’s about her encounter with a manatee almost exactly two years ago today.

We haven’t heard too much from Metz since they released 2020’s Atlas Vending. That changes today, though, as the Toronto hardcore group have announced a new split 7″ with UK punk torchbearers Adulkt Life. Metz’s contribution, “Demolition Row,” is out now. “It’s quite singular,” Metz’s Alex Edkins says of “Demolition Row,” adding, “We’ve never sounded this way before.”

Norwegian director Joachim Trier rounds out his Oslo Trilogy with an engrossing tale named this week to the Academy’s list of Best International Film nominees – an inward-focused, emotional journey with some standout scenes that might carry a bit of shock.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday, which means that the ads are coming. Zendaya and André 3000 are featured in a new advertisement for Squarespace that will air during the big game. It was directed by Edgar Wright. André 3000 narrates the spot (and shows up dressed as a sailor at the end), using his linguistic skills to stretch out the whole alliterative “Sally sells sea shells at the seashore” bit. Zendaya plays Sally. Watch below.

Since last year, Charli XCX has been rolling out her next studio album, Crash, which is due out in March. Most recently, she released the Rina Sawayama collaboration “Beg For You“; it was also just leaked that she’s attached to perform at Afterparty, “the world’s first NFT-gated art and music festival” that will take place in Vegas next month. This morning, the pop star posted a statement on her social media accounts talking about the toll that public negative feedback has taken on her mental health.

Yesterday, superproducer Steve Albini sparked a social-media debate when he posted to Twitter that Juggalos (a nickname for Insane Clown Posse fans) are superior to Deadheads, after arguing that if ICP can learn from their problematic lyrics, Joe Rogan should be able to properly apologize for his use of the N-word. “Yes, I’m saying the Juggalos are good,” Albini wrote. “A non-judgmental, inclusive community for people on the fringe, built on a beautiful communion they call ‘family.’ They remind me of punk/queer chosen families and I love them. I haven’t heard much of the music, it’s atrocious. Who cares.”

The first episode of the final season of "The Expanse" is finally here! It's so great to have more time with these characters and meet some ... strange new ones as well (sorry, not sorry). Below is my spoiler-full recap/review of season 6's first episode, "Strange Dogs," which also includes some quotes from the cast and creative team about certain scenes.

Read on for more and this is your final warning — spoilers abound below for "Strange Dogs!"

We're Introduced To Laconia

The beginning of "Strange Dogs" may have "Expanse" fans, especially those who haven't read the book series, scratching their heads. We see a young girl in a forest greeting a wild menagerie of alien creatures. One of these alien creatures she names a dog, though it doesn't seem particularly dog-like. Before she get to know this dog better, however, one of the flying creatures dies and, upset, she grabs it and runs away. We then pull up from the forest and see the words "Ring 673 planet 2," followed by the name — Laconia – right before we get a glimpse of a damaged ship glowing with protomolecule.

Those who've read the "Expanse" novella, "Strange Dogs," know what's going on here. I'm going to keep it vague for those who haven't read the books by Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham (AKA James S. A. Corey), so all I'll say is that this season will also give us a glimpse of some of the goings-on in this particular planet as the episodes unfold.

Including the "Strange Dogs" novella is an interesting choice, and one that the creative team addressed when I interviewed them for /Film. "We had the questions of the protomolecule and the breakaway Martian folks from season 5 and we didn't want to just drop those and not have that figure in it all," Abraham explained. "This is a way to have that story touch the mainline and inform it, and keep everybody in place."

The Solar System Is A War Zone, And It's Taken A Toll On Everyone

Most of our time, however, will be spent away from the protomolecule and in the trenches of the war in a future version of our solar system. As we leave Laconia, we get a barrage of newscasts telling us that Earth is still being battered by asteroids; that Marco's Free Navy has taken over much of the Belt; and that the Roci crew is fighting against Marco as well.

A following scene on Earth with Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams) hammers home that it's been six months since Marco first pummeled Earth and that the planet remains a total mess, with the UN fleet tied up shooting down additional rocks that the Free Navy continues to throw at the planet. It's a powerful and efficient scene in terms of getting us up to speed, and it's always good to see Avasarala and Bobbie together, though neither of them are in anything close to good spirits.

Speaking of people not feeling so great, the crew on the Roci are a complete wreck. They've been fighting against the Free Navy for 187 days, and you can see in all the faces the toll it's taken on them. Steven Strait, who plays Holden, said he even lost weight to reflect the strain his character was going through. It worked — he and the rest of the crew look haggard. The crew isn't getting along so well either — Amos' (Wes Chatham) decision to have Clarissa (Nadine Nicole) join the crew hasn't been received well by Holden and Naomi (Dominique Tipper). Alex's death is still weighing on them all as well, and we see both Amos and Naomi having moments of missing him.

When they notice a drive engine strapped to an asteroid, they almost look too tired to deal with it. Eventually, however, they do deal with it, but it's clear they're all breaking apart at the seams. There's a silver lining, however — Naomi realizes that she can chart the path of the Free Navy spotter ship that has been triggering drive engines like the one they found to drive rocks toward Earth.

Meanwhile, Within The Free Navy...

You know who should be feeling a bit better? Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander). We spend time with him and Filip (Jasai Chase Owens) on the Free Navy-run Ceres Station. Filip is all grown up and we first see him in one of the show's few sex scenes. Alexander jokingly shared in my interview with him that he "had to close my eyes and was slightly grossed out to watch my TV son doing the nasty." Filip isn't my TV son, but I get where he's coming from. They grow up so fast!

But back to Ceres. A post-coital Filip meets up with Marco, Ceres' new administrator Nico (Joanne Vannicola) and Marco's Number Two, Rosenfeld (Kathleen Robertson). It's here we find out that Marco killed Dawes (played in an earlier season by the very talented and very busy Jared Harris), and that Ceres is facing a food shortage. Filip, however, cares more about getting it on with the bartender than listening to Free Navy administrative matters, and his father notices.

But Marco has other things on his mind — he gives a rousing speech calling Ceres the capital of the Free Navy. The Belters feel good about it, and Filip looks like he might feel a bit better after Marco's speech as well. Filip, however, is still very much messed up, his emotions a whirlwind as he grapples with the fact he killed billions. He's so screwed up in fact, that he ends up killing his friend after getting rejected once again by the bartender.

"Strange Dogs" also spends time with Drummer (Cara Gee) and her family. We first see them hiding out from a Free Navy bounty hunter. They ultimately get away but Michio (Vanessa Smythe) almost gets them killed. Later on in the episode, Drummer and her other polyfamily member Josep (Samer Salem) have the hard talk with Michio about dropping her off somewhere out of the battle zone. It doesn't go well, and these scene hammers home how Drummer's remaining family is breaking up after all that they've been through. 

Things Are Dark, But Avasarala Sees A Spark Of Hope

The end of the episode includes a scene with a floating Avasarala on the UNN Zenobia talking with Bobbie. "We need something big. Something to give us hope," Avasarala says. Bobbie asks her if she has something in mind and she smiles as we cut to the Roci burning away after blowing up the asteroid.

"Strange Dogs" is a heavy episode, and establishes that almost everyone is near rock bottom after the events of season 5. Things could always get worse of course, but everyone is trying to crawl their way out of horror that Marco has caused. We now know the mindset of the main characters, and we also know what's at stake. "Strange Dogs" thankfully, however, ends on a hopeful note, promising us that there is at least a path toward making things better.

Other Thoughts

• There's a quick reference to Laconia in the main part of the episode when Marco and Rosenfeld mention giving platinum to the planet.

• In my interview with Shohreh Aghdashloo, she talked about filming that floating scene on the Zenobia. "Our director, Breck [Eisner], is holding my feet," she told me. "I have the picture. You don't see it in after CGI, obviously. They've removed him from the set, but I love that picture. And Avasarala is in a floating position. And the director is holding to her shoes, trying to make sure that it's in the right place."

New episodes of "The Expanse" drop Fridays on Prime Video.

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