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As Agatha Harkness continues to make magic in Disney+’s new “WandaVision” spin-off series “Agatha All Along,” it’s time to countdown the top seven TV shows streaming on the platform. While the streamer’s original programming has so far been dominated by new “Star Wars” stories and Marvel spin-offs, Disney+ is the home of shows from Disney Channel, Disney Junior, ABC, Fox, National Geographic, and more, from the long-running (and often prophetic) “The Simpsons” to the beloved international kid’s show “Bluey.”

Ready for adventures across the space-time continuum, short-lived animated mystery comedies, and puppet-led parties? Here are the top seven TV shows streaming on Disney+!

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Top 7 Shows Streaming on Disney+ Right Now:

No. 7: “The Mandalorian”

No. 6: “Doctor Who”

No. 5: “Star Wars: Andor”

No. 4: “WandaVision”

No. 3: “Gravity Falls”

No.

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Twilight of the Gods is an adult animated fantasy action-adventure series created by Zack Snyder, Jay Oliva, and Eric Carrasco. Based on Norse mythology, the Netflix series revolves around Sigrid and Leif, an iron-willed warrior and a mortal king who survive the wrath of Thor but in the process lose everything. Then they go on a bloody quest for revenge against the most powerful god known to man. Twilight of the Gods’ voice cast includes Sylvia Hoeks, Stuart Martin, Pilou Asbæk, John Noble, Paterson Joseph, Rahul Kohli, Jamie Clayton, and Peter Stormare. So, if you loved the wrathful gods, a quest for revenge, and compelling characters in Twilight of the Gods here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Kaos (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Kaos is a British mythological dark comedy-drama series created by Charlie Covell. Based on Greek and Roman mythology,...

Kaos is a fantasy dark comedy-drama series created by Charlie Covell. The Netflix series works as a contemporary reimagining of Greek mythology and it follows the story of six humans as they discover that they are a huge part of the prophecy that will destroy the Greek gods led by the king of the gods Zeus. Kaos stars Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTeer, Aurora Perrineau, Billie Piper, Nabhaan Rizwan, David Thewlis, Leila Farzad, Killian Scott, Cliff Curtis, Rakie Ayola, Debi Mazar, Misia Butler, and Fady Elsayed. So, if you loved the hilarious dark comedy, cruel and narcissistic gods, and a fantastical story in Kaos here are some similar shows you should check out next.

American Gods (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Starz

American Gods is a fantasy thriller drama series developed by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green. Based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman, the Starz series follows the story of Shadow,...

Into the Badlands is “a high-octane sci-fi martial arts series” created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The AMC series is set in a dystopian future with humanity in ruins because of wars, and it follows the story of Sunny, a fierce warrior who rescues a teenager with a bounty on his head. They both journey through a dangerous territory known as the Badlands to survive. Into the Badlands stars Daniel Wu in the lead role, with Orla Brady, Sarah Bolger, Aramis Knight, Emily Beecham, Oliver Stark, Madeleine Mantock, Ally Ioannides, Marton Csokas, and Nick Frost starring in supporting roles. Into the Badlands is a unique series with a unique setting, and that’s why it is hard to find a series with a similar setting and story elements, but we have tried very hard to find shows with similar story elements and many high-octane action sequences.

Warrior Credit – Max...

This post contains spoilers for "The Boys."

In "The Boys," Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) has always been hounded by his own demons. After losing his wife Becca (Shantel VanSanten), Butcher trampled on his vulnerabilities to wield brutality as a weapon, and this worked in his favor several times, giving the titular group the advantage they needed. However, beneath this devil-may-care unpredictability lies layers of emotional baggage: unresolved childhood trauma revolving around Lenny's death and the constant clash between morality and purpose that defines his arc. By the end of Season 3, Butcher was reduced to a shell of a man — a predicament made worse by the unchecked use of Temp V, which contributed to a tumor consuming his psyche. In the latest season, Butcher has oscillated between opposing impulses, giving into a gentler, more compassionate side while retaining his signature brutality, unleashing it when one least expects it.

I talked at...

This article contains spoilers for "The Boys" season 4, episode 5, "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son."

"The Boys" is always upping the ante. It's the most subversive superhero show on TV and one that not only perfected the idea of "What if superheroes bad" but made it more than just a gimmick, exploring the ramifications of a world that would allow and push for superheroes to be actively terrible while delivering poignant social commentary (especially with Homelander). As grim and bleak as this show can get — and it often gets extremely bleak — "The Boys" also knows when to lean on absurdity for a laugh, whether it's the hilarious terror of The Deep being forced to eat his aquatic friend Timothy, the explicit chaos of Herogasm, the dildo fight in season 3, or everything about Love Sausage.

From the very start, "The Boys" has given us great fight scenes involving the weirdest and most messed up adversaries.

The Boys Season 4: Could Sameer Shah Be the Secret Weapon We've Been Waiting For? - Main Image

Billy Butcher and the others are running out of time on how to get rid of their Supe problem. This is where Sameer Shah comes into play in The Boys season 4 and the story of how he may have just given the show their next big solution.

Content Spoilers: This article contains spoilers for Prime Video's The Boys season 4, proceed with caution.

Who is Sameer Shah? The Boys Ep 5 Introduces New Supe

Sameer Shah is a relatively new character introduced in The Boys season 4 episode 5 titled Beware the Jabberwock, My Son. Dr. Shah happens to be the "top man" at Vought R&d and the father of Zoey (aka Victoria Neuman's daughter).

He is portrayed by Iranian-born American actor Omid Abtahi, who is best known for playing his prominent roles in popular...

City on Fire will not return for a second season. Apple TV+ has cancelled the drama, which wrapped its eight-episode season in June, per Deadline. Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage created the show.

Starring Wyatt Oleff, Chase Sui Wonders, Jemima Kirke, Nico Tortorella, Ashley Zukerman, Xavier Clyde, Max Milner, Alexandra Doke, Omid Abtahi, Kathleen Munroe, and John Cameron Mitchell, City on Fire is based on the novel by Garth Risk Hallberg. The story follows a teenager (Oleff) as he investigates the mysterious murder of his friend (Wonders) in New York City in 2003.

Read More…...

Apple TV+ has extinguished City on Fire.

According to Deadline, the crime drama has been canceled after just one season.

The decision comes six weeks after the conclusion of City on Fire Season 1.

The series failed to garner much buzz, a surefire sign that a show is not long for this world.

We rarely get viewership statistics for streaming shows, so the buzz is the only indicator of success to observers.

City on Fire was saddled with terrible reviews from critics, with a 39% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fans were considerably more positive, with an audience score of 78%.

Apple TV+ recently launched Silo, which became the most-watched drama, achieving considerable buzz and acclaim.

Hijack also seems ripe for success after breaking through in ways many shows haven't.

On City on Fire, an NYU student is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003.

Samantha is alone; there are no...

The Apple TV+ crime drama “City on Fire,” which wrapped up its 8-episode first season two months ago, will not be getting a second season, TheWrap has confirmed.

Based on the novel of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg, “City on Fire” wasn’t listed as a limited series. But the story shown in Season 1 covered the entire book, which means viewers won’t be stuck with a never-resolved cliffhanger similar to Hulu’s 2020 “High Fidelity” adaptation.

Set in 2003, the story follows the aftermath of the shooting of a young student in Central Park, New York city. The investigation uncovers ties to a series of fires, the Manhattan music scene, and a secretive and wealthy real estate family.

Created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the show was executive produced by Schwartz and Savage alongside Lis Rowinski and Jesse Peretz.

“City on Fire” stars Wyatt Oleff, Chase Sui Wonders,...

Apple TV+ has snuffed out City on Fire, opting not to renew the crime drama for a second season, TVLine has confirmed.

Streaming TV Scorecard: Renewals, Cancellations and Premiere Dates View Gallery9 Images

In case you missed out on the action, here’s the streamer’s official logline for the series, inspired by Garth Risk Hallberg’s novel of the same name: “An NYU student is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003. Samantha is alone; there are no witnesses and very little physical evidence. Her friends’ band is playing at her favorite downtown club but she leaves to meet someone,...

Exclusive: Apple TV+ has opted not to pick up a second season of crime drama series City on Fire. The news comes a month and a half after Season 1 finished its eight-episode run on the streamer. It is not surprising as the adaptation of the novel of the same name didn’t get a lot of buzz the way other recent Apple TV+ entries like Silo and Hijack have.

While City on Fire was ordered and marketed as a drama series, not a limited series, and there were seeds for a second season planted in the finale, viewers will not be left hanging as Season 1 covered the arc in the book.

In City on Fire, which hailed from executive producers and showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, a suburban teenager, Charlie (Wyatt Oleff), must unravel the mystery of his friend’s (Chase Sui Wonders) murder after she’s shot in...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2023 Emmy Predictions:

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Weekly Commentary:

Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Primetime Emmy predictions in the major categories.

The rankings for the category are below.

The final Emmy voting rounds open on Aug. 17 at 9 a.m. Pt and close on Aug.

Reading Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Fire well after its initial publication hype, it isn’t always clear what generated that buzz in the first place.

At 900+ pages, it’s an unquestionably ambitious first novel, but Hallberg’s distinctive prose feels mostly in service of obfuscation. It’s a book in which all manner of structural and aesthetic trickiness — an occasionally evocative ’70s setting, faux Dickensian sprawl, flashbacks, flash-forwards, digressions in the form of a punk rock ‘zine and a fireworks-obsessed piece of long-form journalism — offer distraction from the run-of-the-mill mysteries that make up the core storyline. It’s full of vivid moments, but less full of effective twists or compelling characters.

Watching Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage’s Apple TV+ adaptation of City on Fire, which arrives with no particular hype, it isn’t always clear what connection it even has to the book in the first place.

One of the standout episodes of season 3 of "The Mandalorian" is Chapter 19, "The Convert," in which the show takes an episode-long interlude away from our protagonists Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze's (Katee Sackhoff) adventures on Mandalore to update us on what life is like on Coruscant during the rise of the New Republic. Spoiler alert: underneath the thinly veiled surface of restored peace and democracy, it's not all that different from life under the Empire.

"The Convert" follows ex-Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) collaborator Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi), who has been given a chance to rehabilitate himself into society through the Amnesty Program (a "Star Wars" parallel for the disturbing real-world Operation Paperclip). Using his technological expertise for the New Republic, Pershing befriends a fellow ex-Imperial co-worker, Elia Kane (Katy O'Brian), who shares his strange love of Imperial travel biscuits they used to snack on. Though the New Republic...

Apple TV+ will be premiering the eight-episode series City on Fire, inspired by Garth Risk Hallberg’s bestselling novel, on May 12, 2023. The first three episodes will be released simultaneously, followed by new episodes on Fridays. The season’s finale is set to air on June 16th.

City on Fire takes place in New York City, and in an interview with NPR in October 2015, author Hallberg – who grew up in North Carolina – explained why he chose NYC as the setting. “I fell in love with New York at some indeterminate point in my early years,” said Hallberg. “Something about the city captured my imagination in a way that even Middle-Earth and Narnia couldn’t — because it was somehow real.”

Hallberg added: “So I guess I was dreaming my way into it long before I realized that I was going to write about it.”

Hallberg’s book was set in the 1970s,...

Spoiler Alert: This story discusses major plot points in the Season 3 finale of “The Mandalorian,” currently streaming on Disney+.

It took all eight episodes of Season 3 for “The Mandalorian” to find its way back to itself, which is to say, back to Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his (now officially!) adopted child, Grogu. For most of Season 3, the core relationship of the series — the reason why “The Mandalorian” became an instant global phenomenon — was shunted aside in favor of tracking how Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze rallied the estranged factions of Mandalorians to take back their devastated homeworld.

Audiences have not responded kindly. Legions of reviews, tweets and YouTube videos vivisected this season of “The Mandalorian” for being “detached,” “unsatisfying,” “sloppy” and “the worst.” What had been a loose and uncomplicated story of Din and Grogu’s ongoing adventures had become instead a sprawling narrative steeped in Mandalorian lore that...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the mystery thriller The Last Lullaby, starring Tom Sizemore. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Directed by Jeffrey Goodman from a screenplay written by Max Allan Collins and Peter Biegen, The Last Lullaby has the following synopsis: A retired hit-man can’t pass up one last high-priced contract. In his final job, he is directed to kill the beautiful and intriguing librarian Sarah, but his violent ways begin to fail him as he falls for this totally unsuspecting mark.

Sizemore is joined in the cast by Sasha Alexander,...

Apple TV+ has revealed the trailer for ‘City on Fire,’ the upcoming, eight-episode mystery thriller written and executive produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

Inspired by the acclaimed novel of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg. The story is a music-driven tale and family saga.

An NYU student is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003. Samantha is alone; there are no witnesses and very little physical evidence. Her friends’ band is playing at her favourite downtown club but she leaves to meet someone, promising to return. She never does. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she’s revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious citywide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.

Chase Sui Wonders stars as Samantha, and Wyatt Oleff plays Charlie, a friend...

Wyatt Oleff, Max Milner and Alexandra Doke in “City on Fire,” premiering May 12, 2023 on Apple TV+. Apple TV+ has revealed the trailer for “City on Fire,” the upcoming, eight-episode mystery thriller written and executive produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and inspired by the acclaimed novel of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg. A music-driven tale and family saga, “City on Fire” is led by an ensemble cast starring Wyatt Oleff, Chase Sui Wonders, Jemima Kirke, Nico Tortorella, Ashley Zukerman, Xavier Clyde, Max Milner, Alexandra Doke, Omid Abtahi, Kathleen Munroe, John Cameron Mitchell, Geoff Pierson and Beth Malone. The series will make its global premiere on Apple TV+ with the first three episodes on Friday, May 12, followed by one new episode weekly through June 16, 2023. In “City on Fire,” an NYU student is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003. Samantha is alone; there are no witnesses and very little physical evidence.

Apple TV+’s new trailer for City on Fire teases the murder at the heart of the series while briefly dipping into the lives of the key players. The mystery thriller, inspired by Garth Risk Hallberg’s popular novel, premieres on May 12, 2023 with the release of the first three episodes.

Additional episodes of the eight-episode season will air on Fridays leading up to the June 16th finale.

The cast is led by Wyatt Oleff as Charlie and Chase Sui Wonders as Samantha, the murder victim. Jemima Kirke, Nico Tortorella, Ashley Zukerman, Xavier Clyde, Max Milner, Alexandra Doke, Omid Abtahi, Kathleen Munroe, John Cameron Mitchell, Geoff Pierson, and Beth Malone also star.

The O.C. and Gossip Girl‘s Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage wrote, executive produced, and served as showrunners. Executive producer Jesse Peretz directed four of the eight episodes.

Chase Sui Wonders and Wyatt Oleff in ‘City on Fire...

"A mysterious death. A best friend as the suspect. And a city on fire." Apple has revealed an official trailer for an upcoming crime thriller series titled City on Fire, adapted from the book of the same name written by Garth Risk Hallberg. It's premiering on Apple TV+ for streaming this May if you're curious to find out who did it (and why??). This is not a true crime story, this time, though it is another series about a murder and a conspiracy and mysteries and more. An NYU student is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she's revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious citywide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep. The ensemble cast includes Wyatt Oleff, Chase Sui Wonders,...

Are you a fan of mystery shows where a crime, mainly murder, is involved?

You should then check out City on Fire, a new TV show premiering this May on Apple TV+.

Apple TV+ released the trailer for City on Fire, based on the novel of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg.

In "City on Fire," an NYU student is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003. Samantha is alone; there are no witnesses and very little physical evidence.

Her friends' band is playing at her favorite downtown club, but she leaves to meet someone promising to return. She never does.

As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she's revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious citywide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.

City on Fire promises a grand narrative,...

It's official, Daisy Ridley is returning once again as Rey Skywalker for one more film in the "Star Wars" timeline, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and written by Steven Knight ("Peaky Blinders"). Despite the missed potential, I remain a massive fan of the sequel trilogy and its characters, so I should be happy to see it, right? Here's a perfect opportunity for Lucasfilm to set things right; to wash away the sins of "The Rise of Skywalker" and do justice to one of the Skywalker Saga's most promising and fresh characters.

Since it was just announced last week at this year's "Star Wars Celebration," details on the film are currently as vague as possible. We know that the untitled film is set 15 years after the events of "The Rise of Skywalker" in a new "era" of the timeline called "The New Jedi," in which an older and wiser Rey will pick...

The Gold Derby predictions center event for the 2023 Emmy Awards has now added the Drama Guest Actor category. We have compiled lists of nearly 40 eligible performers in each of the four guest acting races that reflect our educated guesses on who will be submitted for consideration. More names will be added in the next few months and when the Television Academy releases this year’s ballots in June. Make your very first selections now!

Last year, “Succession” dominated this category with four of the six slots for guests Adrien Brody, James Cromwell, Arian Moayed, and Alexander Skarsgård. As of this writing, we anticipate both Cromwell and Moayed will be guest eligible — Moayed has already appeared in one Season 4 episode so far — while Skarsgård may appear in enough episodes to be deemed supporting. With the 2022 victor Colman Domingo (“Euphoria”) and nominee Tom Pelphrey (“Ozark”) ineligible, there will be at least three...

This article contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian."

"The Mandalorian" season 3 has been going pleasantly strong so far, and while there has been no shortage of our favorite duo, Din (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu, it also has been an effective vehicle and character study for Bo-Katan Kreez (Katee Sackhoff). Focusing a lot more on Mandalore, the displacement of the Mandalorian people, and the Children of the Watch's religious way of life, this season has largely hit the reset button on the show's formula. We haven't seen any Jedi or huge legacy characters, and episode 3, "The Convert," served as a great standalone showing us the post-"Return of the Jedi" ride of the New Republic.

In a perplexing decision for casual "Star Wars" fans, Grogu and Din actually reunited with each other in an episode of the spin-off series "The Book of Boba Fett," which played much more like a "Mando" season 2.5 interlude.

Season 3 of “The Mandalorian” deviated from the central plot in an intriguing manner during Episode 3, “The Convert.” Most of the running time was focused on the former-Imperial Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) as he tries to rehabilitant his life with the New Republic on Coruscant. Pershing is ultimately betrayed by his supposed ally Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian), which is curiously the first villainous action of Season 3. Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) is sidelined and supposedly mind-flayed (though it’s a good bet we haven’t seen the last of him), leaving a void in the series for a new “Big Bad” to fill. Several clues were present during the adventures of Pershing and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) this week, pointing to a larger menace lurking behind the scenes. Here are the best guesses as to who may serve as the villain of the season.

See ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 recap: Relive the adventures...

[Warning: The following contains Major spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3, “The Convert.”] First, The Mandalorian swiped a couple of episodes from The Book of Boba Fett—and now, Andor seems to have pilfered an episode from The Mandalorian. (Not really. But kind of.) You’d be forgiven for watching Season 3’s third episode and thinking it a different show entirely; aside from the opening and closing minutes, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) are absent. We cross the galaxy to land on cotton-candy-colored, skyscraper-littered Coruscant, where the lead roles for the following 40-ish minutes go to Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian). This duo of ex-Imperials has enlisted in the New Republic’s “Amnesty Program,” and while it seems Pershing truly wants to leave the Empire behind, Elia’s motives are murkier. By the episode’s end, she turns on Pershing and uses a torture device to scramble his mind.

This article contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" episode, "The Convert."

As "The Mandalorian" embarks on its third season, it faces tougher challenges than Pedro Pascal's beskar armor-clad Din Djarin does on a daily basis. For one thing, the return of Grogu neé Baby Yoda in the other Disney+ series, "The Book of Boba Fett," may have confused some of "The Mandalorian" viewers who skipped that show, as well as people who had tuned in for more Boba action and not "Mandalorian 2.5." For another, like most series entering their third season, the show faces many questions about its future: how long is it going to run, is there an endgame in play, and where else can the show (and Din and Grogu) go exploring?

That last question began to be answered with the show's latest episode, "The Convert." Although the beginning and end of the episode followed the further adventures of Din,...

This Star Wars article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.

It’s the dawn of a new age on Coruscant, as The Mandalorian season 3 revisits the familiar locale but under different management. As the center of the Star Wars galaxy during the Prequel era, at the height of the Empire’s rule, and five years after Return of the Jedi, the city planet has gone through several seismic cultural shifts from one regime to the next. As you might expect, with the fall of the Empire happening between Andor and The Mandalorian, things have changed quite a lot since Mon Mothma was defending the Ghormans.

While the darkness of the Empire has slunk back into the shadows, largely relegated to the Outer Rim planets, the New Republic now reigns supreme on Coruscant. But in The Mandalorian season 3 episode “The Convert,” we learn from returning characters Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and...

The following article contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3.

"The Mandalorian" season 3 has yet to show us a glimpse of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), but the events he put in motion have had a major effect on Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal). Gideon's plan to kidnap a Force-sensitive child and have Doctor Pershing (Omid Abtahi) figure out how to make clones for the Imperial army ended up with Din and Grogu becoming a clan of two. How that will change the galaxy is still up in the air, but it certainly reminded Mando that he has a heart and pushed him to feats of heroics. It created allies where there were enemies, and even caused our hero to remove his helmet.

Moff Gideon is a former Imperial officer who is willing to kill his own troops if they get in his way. When we first meet him, he has the legendary Darksaber,...

The following post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 3, "The Convert."

The first two episodes of "The Mandalorian" season 3 focused heavily on Din Djarin's (Pedro Pascal) quest to redeem himself in the living waters of the Mines of Mandalore and the cuteness of Grogu. In episode 3, "The Convert," we take a detour. Din and Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) bookend this episode, though the balance of it takes place on Coruscant, the governmental base of the New Republic as it was for the Empire. We rejoin Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi), who has been given amnesty after his capture, and meet a new character named Elia Kane (Katy M. O'Brian, who you might remember as Jentorra from "Ant-Man and The Wasp."

Between the return to Coruscant, the switch in focus to Dr. Pershing, and Bo-Katan's entrance into the Mandalorian covert, there is a lot to unpack in this episode in terms of Easter eggs.

This post contains spoilers for episode 3 of "The Mandalorian" season 3.

This week's episode of "The Mandalorian," titled "The Convert," has multiple meanings.

"The Convert" starts out in familiar territory -- right after Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) saves Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) from drowning in the living waters and encounters a real life Mythosaur, her entire belief system has been challenged. Though, she won't let Din see that yet. As the two try to walk their separate ways, they are attacked by an overwhelmingly large squadron of Tie Interceptors. Who are their Imperial attackers now that Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) has reportedly been arrested? We don't know yet.

As Bo-Katan's home on Kalevala is destroyed by Tie Bombers, she makes a quick escape with Din Djarin to somewhere the Imperials can't find them. All of a sudden, after the usual "Mandalorian" title sequence, the perspective of the episode takes a bold switch...

This article discusses spoilers for the latest episode of "The Mandalorian." Read at your own risk. This is the way.

Yeah, yeah, the schmuck who caused a mini-firestorm for speaking out against our lord and savior Baby Yoda a little while back has returned to once again take that adorable little rodent's good name and drag it through the mud -- but stick with me here, because I promise this is more than just another hit piece.

To their credit, creator Jon Favreau and the rest of the talent behind "The Mandalorian" certainly know that the bond between Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu remains the heart and soul of the series ... but maybe that's not always been ideal. That mindset obviously explains why they decided to completely undo the somber ending of season 2, which split apart our lovable pair and left heartbroken viewers wondering how (or even if) they'd ever reunite again.

Well, that was an unexpected turn of events.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3 took a detour to Coruscant to explain what happened to Imperial scientist Dr. Pershing.

That's not to say the cliffhanger at the end of The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 2 was unresolved. It was, and then it left us with even more questions.

But we'll return to that in a little because the events on Coruscant were exciting as the series broke free from telling one long story per episode, making it one of the best episodes to date.

Coruscant is so profoundly rooted in Star Wars lore that any character could have gone there, and it would have still made for a worthwhile installment.

Focusing almost exclusively on Omid Abtahi's Dr. Pershing was an excellent way to showcase what became of him after the events of The Mandalorian Season 2.

It's hard to rule Pershing a villain because...

This Star Wars article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.

Grogu may not have had much screen time in this week’s episode of The Mandalorian, but “The Convert” still gave us one of Grogu’s most important milestones – his attempt to say his very first words. Before diving into Dr. Pershing’s (Omid Abtahi) redemption tour on Coruscant, the episode picks up where we left off with Bo-Katan Kryze, Din Djarin, and Grogu in the Mines of Mandalore.

Bo-Katan has just rescued Din from the depths of the Living Waters, and they’re catching their breath on the steps. As they head back to Bo-Katan’s home on Kalevala with Grogu on the Gauntlet, Din thanks Bo-Katan for saving him. She offers to celebrate with a feast, but rightfully assumes that he’ll decline so that he doesn’t have to remove his helmet. He responds with “This is the Way,...

This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of "The Mandalorian."

The planet-swallowing city of Coruscant was re-introduced in spectacular form in Chapter 19, "The Convert" of "The Mandalorian." On a star map, Coruscant is considered to be the center of the galaxy for trade and travel route purposes, although it is not technically the actual center of the "Star Wars" universe. In "The Convert," Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) returns to the series after we last saw him pursuing Grogu for potential clone research at the behest of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). It's Pershing's first time on Coruscant, and during a debriefing about the planet, the word ecumenopolis is heard — the term for an all-encompassing city-planet. This is a clear reference and homage to Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" universe and further evidence that "The Mandalorian" isn't afraid to wear its sci-influences proudly on its sleeve.

Home to the wealthiest elites and the most powerful politicians,...

This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 3, "The Convert."

In the first season of "The Mandalorian," Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) was still in the thrall of the Imperial Remnant and Moff Gideon as a science and cloning officer. He joined the Amnesty Program of the New Republic in a bid to be useful to the galaxy once more, as well as avoid a war tribunal. As his task in the Amnesty Program, he was given the job of inventorying items slated for destruction and decommission by the New Republic. Much of his work revolves around the cataloguing of equipment on Star Destroyers in the disposal yards, ready to be junked. Some of that equipment could still be of value to the New Republic, though, and he raises the issue with his supervisor. The supervisor is skeptical that anything can be done and he mentions how behind they are in their work.

This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 3, "The Convert."

The "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian" is usually a bit more concerned with how the people on the fringes of the galaxy survive, but the latest episode gave us a peek at how former Imperial officers are enduring in the era of the New Republic. Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and Elia Kane (Katy M. O'Brian) both formerly worked together under the terrifying Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), but now they're a part of the New Republic Amnesty program. They've been through reconditioning and live in basic, brutalist Amnesty Housing, but as Pershing points out: the Empire would have handled its former enemies very differently. Their situation might seem kind of harsh, but when you realize that they were both working in major roles for the enemy and could have been imprisoned or executed instead, it's not so bad. 

In fact,...

This Star Wars article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.

The latest episode of The Mandalorian, “The Convert,” features plenty of scene-setting and world-building, as fans get to go back to Coruscant to visit with former Imperial agents Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane, while Din and Grogu take a break at the Mandalorian covert. Their true allegiance may be in question, but the amount of easter eggs and references scattered throughout this episode certainly is not. There’s so much great lore in “The Convert,” while also managing to set the stage for much bigger things to come for season 3.

Here are all the Star Wars callbacks, easter eggs, and references we found in Chapter 19 of The Mandalorian:

Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian)

Katy O’Brian returns as former Imperial communications officer Elia Kane, although how “former” she actually is remains to be seen. While she totally plays Dr. Pershing in service to the New Republic,...

This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of "The Mandalorian."

Talk about a change of pace. After easing viewers back into the flow of things during its first two episodes of the new season, episode 3 of "The Mandalorian" season 3 begins innocently enough with an extended aerial battle between Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin and Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan and a fleet of Tie Interceptors. But then it does something altogether unlike "The Mandalorian" as we've come to know it over the years. We suddenly shift gears completely and proceed to spend the bulk of the hour without any of our usual heroes. In fact, we follow one of the earliest antagonists established in the series: the sinister Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi), one of the main architects behind Moff Gideon's (Giancarlo Esposito) attempts to kidnap and experiment on little Grogu.

If such a dramatic change in perspective and setting wasn't jarring enough,...

"The Mandalorian" season 3 hit the ground running. After a so-so second season, the new one already introduced the best new character in the franchise with Captain Space Swamp Thing, showed hugely important locations brought to live-action, brought body horror to "Star Wars," and gave us plenty cute Grogu moments all in the first two episodes.

Episode 3, however, pivots. Sure, Grogu and Din Djarin still show up, but the star of the episode is Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi), the cloning scientist we met all the way back in season 1. Pershing is navigating the changing landscape of the galaxy now that the New Republic is in charge and trying to erase everything to do with the Empire, while nevertheless falling into old and nasty habits.

Exploring the New Republic politics means returning to an iconic location — Coruscant, the planet that is also a city. Forget Tatooine, this is the best place in...

This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 3, "The Convert."

Admittedly, "The Mandalorian" season 3 got off to a not-so-perfect start, with certain viewers confused as to why Mando and Grogu were reunited given what happened in the season 2 finale. That all had to do with what transpired in "The Book of Boba Fett." Beyond that, the premiere episode was largely viewed as one of the weaker installments and, given the more than two year gap between seasons, that felt underwhelming to some. But with the third episode, this season feels like it's really getting its feet back underneath it, even though "The Convert" hardly focused on our main characters at all. Though we did perhaps learn something important about Grogu along the way.

"Chapter 19" primarily focused on Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi), who was last seen trying to procure Grogu for the Imperials. He is now part of the New Republic...

This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 3, "The Convert."

"Star Wars" can't help but serve as a mirror for the world. Sometimes it's deliberate, like when George Lucas wrote "A New Hope" as a response to Richard Nixon's presidency and the Vietnam War. Other times, a galaxy far, far away is ahead of the curve, like when Lucas was writing his prequel trilogy about the rise of the Galactic Empire, unaware that 9/11, the War on Terror, and the Patriot Act were all right around the corner.

More recently, the Disney+ TV shows "Andor" and "The Bad Batch" have picked up the baton, drawing clear parallels between life under the Empire and neofascism in the 21st century. By comparison, "The Mandalorian" takes place five years after the Empire's fall and examines how societies rebuild themselves in the aftermath of war. In the season 3 premiere, we saw that the...

This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of The Mandalorian.

"The Convert," the third episode of the third season of "The Mandalorian" and the nineteenth installment of the show overall, takes a hard left turn at Coruscant and follows intrigue that will likely lead us to Moff Gideon later in the season.

The episode begins with Lady Bo-Katan Kryze of Clan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) having just pulled Din Djarin from the Living Waters of Mandalore. Din regains consciousness and she asks him if he saw anything living down there. When he says he didn't, she keeps the information about the mythosaur they saw in the last episode to herself.

As they leave Mandalore, successful in their mission to redeem Din Djarin, they head back to Bo-Katan's castle only to find it under attack from Imperials. What Imperials? And how do they have so many Tie Interceptors and Tie Bombers?...

This Star Wars review contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3: Chapter 19

What’s become increasingly clear about The Mandalorian season 3 is that it feels deliberately paced and plotted, with much of these early chapters being devoted to setup for bigger, more raucous moments and reveals down the line. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? It’s impossible to tell at this point if all of these moving plot pieces will ultimately assemble in a satisfying way, but so far, the story is developing nicely and revisiting some intriguing characters and locales to give them more space to breathe.

The episode, aptly titled “The Convert,” picks up right where “The Mines of Mandalore” left off, with Din Djarin coming to moments after Bo-Katan Kryze rescued him from the depths of the Living Waters, where she witnessed with her own eyes the majesty of a living,...

This Post Contains spoilers for this week’s episode of The Mandalorian, “The Convert.”

Among the more exciting aspects of Andor was the way it proved that Star Wars could go in a very different tonal and thematic direction and still find success. It was Star Wars aiming for something more morally complex and adult, rather than trying first and foremost to appeal to kids and sell toys. Not that there’s anything wrong with the latter approach if it’s done as well as The Mandalorian has been for most of its run.

This post contains spoilers for season 3 of "The Mandalorian" and the first season of "Andor."

In the latest episode of "The Mandalorian," titled "The Convert," things take a serious turn in the ecumenopolis of Coruscant. Shifting the tone and tint of the usual storylines that follow Din (Pedro Pascal), and now Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), the episode hones in on the immediate aftermath of the New Republic overthrowing the Empire, and this transition is not as smooth as one would hope.

By bringing back former Imperial scientist Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi), "The Mandalorian" sets up parallels between the new regime on Coruscant and the standard aspects of Imperial rule, the latter being previously explored in considerable detail in Tony Gilroy's "Andor." While the aesthetic similarities between the two regimes are deliberate, the episode points towards a troubling overlap between New Republic and Imperial sensibilities, especially when it comes to indoctrination techniques and ideological conversion.

This Star Wars article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.

After a rocky start to Season 3 that saw viewership tumble, Star Wars series The Mandalorian was back for its third episode this week on Disney+, and things got very Andor-y.

“The Convert” initially picks up right where we left off in episode 2, “The Mines of Mandalore“, with Bo Katan quizzing Din Djarin on what he saw during his swim in the Living Waters. After noting that Din hadn’t in fact seen the actually very real Mythosaur on his way down to Drown Town, Bo decides to keep that information to herself, and the two end up making their way back to Kalevala, entering into a skirmish with Tie interceptors.

Thinking they might have bested the interceptors but soon coming face to face with a large squadron, Bo watches helplessly as her castle is bombed back to the Stone Age. It...

This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 3 "The Convert."

After the major Mythosaur reveal in episode 2 of the latest season of "The Mandalorian," it became clear that the path ahead for Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) has been forever altered. Episode 3, titled "The Convert," picks up directly after Bo valiantly rescues Din from drowning in the Living Waters, and the duo -- with Grogu tagging along -- cannot seem to catch a break as they are soon attacked by what seems to be a horde of mysterious Tie fighters.

This is when the episode makes a hard pivot, landing us directly in the heart of Coruscant (!), where Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) is fresh off the New Republic reintegration program and is now part of their Amnesty program. This is where things get interesting — we see the New Republic stumbling its way to stability,...