📺 'Severance' is Almost Back (Finally!)
plus reviews of The Traitors, The Pitt, and the end of Bad Sisters
Hail Kier! After three long years, Severance is nearly back with new episodes. Jess got the chance to watch the first two episodes of S2 early, so read to the bottom of today’s newsletter to see her thoughts on that. And for everyone else—Lumon will re-open its doors tomorrow.
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
The Pitt (Max)
Bad Sisters - S2 (Apple TV+)
The Traitors (Peacock)
Severance (Apple TV+)
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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Below is a selection of new shows and movies premiering this week. Our unabridged list of January releases, including theatrical releases and streaming debuts, is available here and published monthly for our premium subscribers.
Unstoppable — This biographical wrestling drama tells the true story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), a young man who was born with one leg who fights through adversity to earn a spot on the Arizona State Wrestling team. Jennifer Lopez, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, and Don Cheadle also star.
Watch on Prime Video: January 16A Real Pain* — This comedy drama written, directed, and produced by Jesse Eisenberg follows odd-couple cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their recently deceased grandmother.
Watch on Hulu: January 16 (*Streaming premiere)XO, Kitty (Season 2) — Kitty Song Covey returns for more matchmaking adventures, romantic entanglements, and self-discovery at her prestigious boarding school in Seoul. Noah Centineo is set to return as Peter Kavinsky.
Watch on Netflix: January 16 (all 8 episodes)Back in Action — Cameron Diaz returns to acting after a ten year hiatus to star in this action comedy alongside Jamie Foxx as married former CIA spies who are pulled back in after their secret identities are exposed.
Watch on Netflix: January 17Severance (Season 2) — The acclaimed sci-fi thriller continues as employees of Lumon Industries uncover even darker secrets about their severed lives.
Watch on Apple TV+: January 17 (2 of 10 episodes, new weekly)Prime Target (Season 1) — A brilliant post-graduate mathematics student (Leo Woodall) discovers an unseen enemy trying to destroy his work. As he investigates, he begins to uncover a troubling conspiracy.
Watch on Apple TV+: January 22 (2 of 8 episodes, new weekly)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
The Pitt
Keywords: medical drama, hospital, ER
Watch if you like: ER, Chicago Med, The Resident
Jess’s Rating: B+
The Pitt, a new medical drama that follows the hour-by-hour events of a Pittsburgh emergency room, is not technically a revival of ER. But when Noah Wyle approached former ER showrunner John Wells about a spin-off, and he, in turn, brought in former ER writer R. Scott Gemmill, their collaboration engendered The Pitt, a show so similar to ER that Michael Crichton’s widow is suing.
Controversial origins aside, The Pitt is a refreshingly grounded hospital drama in a sea of melodramatic medical procedurals. Taking a page from 24, each episode covers one hour of a single 15-hour shift. By pacing the episodes in real time, the show sucks you into the whirlwind of managing an unpredictable caseload of traumatic incidents, bizarre and inexplicable symptoms, and freak tragedies. Like other medical dramas, The Pitt juggles multiple characters, from seasoned veterans to administrators to fresh-faced students, and these characters feel realistic from the jump. Wyle, as the senior-most doctor on the floor, brings a lived-in weariness to the role that doesn’t have the performative, glossy sheen of other TV doctors (looking at you, Dr. Hawkins of The Resident).
Of course, The Pitt still succumbs to certain medical drama conventions. Every patient seems to be on death’s door, and coincidences pile up a bit too neatly. Certain cases feel a little too “after school special” to feel organic, like the son of a patient who might be a future school shooter, and another teen who overdoses on fentanyl. But if you can forgive a small dose of melodrama, the series otherwise achieves a rare level of authenticity, giving us a window into the horrors and hopes of a department dealing around the clock in life and death stakes.
— Jess
Length: 50-min runtime, 1 Season / 2 of 15 episodes available, new on Thursdays
Watch on: Max
A popular show has come to an end. Here’s what we thought about its final bow.
Bad Sisters - Season 2
Keywords: dark comedy, whodunnit, Irish
Watch if you like: Dead to Me, Fargo, Catastrophe
Jenni’s Rating: B
‘End of an Era’ is maybe a strange section header for a show with only two seasons, but this month’s finale marked the final episode of this series. It’s a bittersweet moment—while the finale gives closure to some of the psychological wounds dealt to the Garvey sisters, it also underscores the weaker points of the second season, which, compared to its predecessor, felt more formulaic and less impactful.
The first season of Bad Sisters was a masterclass in tonal balance, blending sharp humor, emotional resonance, and intricate character dynamics. Unfortunately, Season 2 struggled to recapture that magic. Its focus shifted away from the rich interplay between the Garvey sisters—arguably the heart of the series—and leaned into plot-driven twists. The emphasis on "gasp-inducing" moments often read like an attempt to replicate Season 1’s success rather than build organically on its strengths.
As I feared, Bad Sisters Season 2 is a case of diminishing returns. While the finale serves as a fitting (and emotional) conclusion to the story, the season as a whole emphasizes the challenges of extending a series that was perfectly self-contained in its first outing. For those like me, who fell in love with the Garvey sisters' wit, camaraderie, and emotional complexity, the series' final act feels like a missed opportunity to delve deeper rather than wider.
— Jenni
Length: 50-min runtime, 2 seasons / 18 episodes
Watch on: Apple TV+
Where we give takes on docs & reality TV and give ‘unscripted’ shows a time to shine.
The Traitors (U.S.)
Keywords: murder mystery, strategy, challenge
Watch if you like: Survivor, Big Brother, Game Changer
I’m a recent convert to the “murder mystery” competition series, The Traitors. Based on the Dutch program, De Verraders, this show has spun off into iterations in several countries, with the U.S. version now entering its third season. The first three episodes of Season 3 premiered last week, and I’m loving them.
At its core, The Traitors is a high-stakes, drawn-out version of the party game “Mafia,” elevated by a studio budget that sets the action in a sprawling Scottish castle and features a cast of former reality TV stars. Alan Cumming—clad in flamboyant costumes and his signature charm—serves as the host, guiding contestants through missions and mind games to uncover the titular Traitors hidden among them. The premise is simple: “Faithful” contestants work together to build a prize fund of up to $250,000, but the Traitors aim to sabotage their efforts and eliminate the Faithfuls one by one. If the Faithfuls can identify and banish all the Traitors, they win. But if even one Traitor makes it to the end, they take it all.
The casting director for this season honestly deserves an Emmy. There are familiar faces from franchises like The Real Housewives, Below Deck, Survivor, Bachelor Nation, Big Brother, and The Biggest Loser. It’s a wild mix of personalities that’s both entertaining and unpredictable. One of my favorite quotes from this season so far comes courtesy of former Bachelorette Gabby Windey, who sums up the first breakfast in the castle with, “I feel excited, I love smoked salmon, I love the pickles on the side, I love goat cheese, and I love talking shit.”
The incredible one-liners mixed with psychological tension make The Traitors consistently addictive. It’s an amazing candidate for binge-watching, whether you’re stuck in bed with a cold, folding laundry, or killing time on the treadmill (all of which have been me at some point in the last week). If you’re a fan of reality TV, murder mysteries, or just good old-fashioned drama, The Traitors deserves a spot on your watchlist. This season’s off to a fun start, and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the game unfolds.
— Jenni
Length: 60-min runtime, 3 seasons / 26 episodes, 3 of 11 episodes in Season 3 out now, new on Thursdays
Watch on: Peacock
These popular shows came back with new episodes. Here’s what we thought and where you can watch them.
Severance
Keywords: mystery, suspense, dark humor
Watch if you like: Black Mirror, Westworld, Twin Peaks
Jess’s Season 1 Rating: A+
Severance makes its long-awaited return tomorrow, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s been almost 3 years since the first season dropped quietly on Apple TV+, and if I haven’t convinced you to watch it via newsletter, podcast, social media, or in-person proselytizing in that time, allow me to try again.
If you took the techno-dystopian angle of Black Mirror, covered it in the austere eeriness of Twin Peaks, and added a darkly comedic edge, you’d get something like Severance. The sci-fi drama follows a middle-aged employee (Adam Scott) who has elected to undergo the “severance” procedure in which memories of his home life and work life are permanently split. When he’s at work, he has no memories of his life outside of work. When he’s at home, he has no idea what he does from the moment he walks into his office until 5pm when he clocks out. But what his “innie”—the derogatory moniker for a severed employee—actually does for the big tech company he works for is a mystery, and the corporation goes to great lengths to conceal its true, potentially sinister, purpose.
The hook is the show’s blunt satire of corporate life—a commentary on how we’re all wasting our lives away at a 9-5 job—but the puzzle box elements of the show take center stage as the first season progresses, leaving you in suspense as the mystery of what the heck is going on starts to eat away at you. The first season ended on an abrupt cliffhanger, so count yourself lucky if you’re new to the series and don’t have to endure the wait for answers. And for those that did wait, having seen the first two episodes of the second season, I can safely say that it was worth it.
— Jess
Length: 45-min runtime, 1 Season / 9 episodes, Season 2 will premiere weekly on Fridays
Watch on: Apple TV+
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Do you know if Apple TV will have a recap, or “last season on” before the new season starts? I barely remember some things.