I think it’s safe to say at this point that Breaking Bad will go down in history as one of the best TV shows of all time. It’s somehow been almost 13 years since that harrowing series finale, and there are still dozens of Breaking Bad moments that blow our minds. So it’s hard to imagine that anyone — even creator Vince Gilligan — could ever have doubted whether the series was “good enough,” but according to Bryan Cranston, that’s exactly what happened.

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul — who famously starred as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively, on Breaking Bad’s five seasons — sat down with the Friends Keep Secrets podcast, and Cranston recalled Vince Gilligan always fretting about making the show better — a trait the actor says all of the best in the entertainment industry share. Cranston said:

Knowing what resulted from his efforts, it seems like Vince Gilligan had no reason for such concern, but he undoubtedly was under pressure from naysayers — including the TV exec who called his Breaking Bad pitch “the single worst idea I’ve ever heard” — and maybe if he hadn’t pushed so hard, the show wouldn’t be what it is.

Aaron Paul noted how Vince Gilligan complicated his characters’ circumstances in ways that made it challenging to figure out how Walt and Jesse were going to continue to get away with their operation. He said:

Bryan Cranston credits Vince Gilligan’s dedication to his craft for making Breaking Bad as good as it is. His efforts were worth all the struggle, because the series they created is going to live on:

Breaking Bad’s legacy appears to be safe, and Vince Gilligan is no one trick pony, either. His prequel/spinoff Better Call Saul was arguably better than Breaking Bad, running for six seasons on AMC. Now Gilligan’s doing great things with Pluribus, which stars Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn and has been a must-watch since its gripping pilot episode. That series can be streamed with an Apple TV subscription, and you’ve probably got plenty of time to catch up as we wait for Pluribus Season 2.

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, meanwhile, are two of the best shows to binge on Netflix right now, so fire up that Netflix subscription to watch (or rewatch) these series that hopefully Vince Gilligan knows by now are more than just “good enough.”

James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU is currently in hype mode for Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl, with the cast enjoying red carpet premieres around the globe. But the studio has also quietly screened its upcoming horror movie Clayface, which will be joining other 2026 movie releases when it hits theaters in October. Early reactions appear to be more positive than negative, but with some seemingly major spoilers also being discussed, including the key casting of a Breaking Bad vet.

Though everything we’ll be talking about below is technically unconfirmed and comes from people who allegedly attended the early Clayface viewing, it’s worth putting a SPOILER WARNING here to ward off those who would be most upset to learn details ahead of time, including one that kinda concerns me as a general horror fan. We’ll dive in deeper below the logo.

Clayface's Cast Apparently Includes An A+ Breaking Bad Vet

According to Feature First, the upcoming DCU movie will feature an appearance from none other than Aaron Paul, arguably best known to fans as Jesse Pinkman. The actor is always aces regardless of the project or role, and he almost always chooses movies and series that appeal to his fan sensibilities, as opposed to merely doing it for the payday. (See: Invincible, It’s Always Sunny, his upcoming role in Fallout Season 3, etc.)

Interestingly, Paul’s involvement in Clayface is more on the minimal side than anything meaty, and it’s claimed he will only show up for a “brief and minor role.” So was this just a chance for Paul to say he’s in the DCU’s first horror movie, or is it perhaps a role that will be fleshed out in a future project?

Considering James Watkins, James Gunn and others have all plainly stated that Clayface doesn’t have overarching ties to other projects and won’t feature a Batman cameo, it’s not the most likely outcome. But I can’t fully believe that an actor with Paul’s Breaking Bad pedigree would only show up for a throwaway part. It doesn't help that the timeline is still somewhat unclear, as far as exactly when it's taking place.

The Major Clayface Detail That Has Me Most Concerned

Again, anything said about Clayface at this point is meant to be taken with the usual grain of salt, and it's specifically worth pointing out here that several posts about the early screening noted that the CGI and some special effects were not finalized. So it's theoretically possible that the finished product releasing in October will feature some updated visuals. But let's just pretend nothing too noteworthy will change between now and then.

One of the alleged screening attendees took to X to share a smattering of information about the movie, including this gut-punch of a claim:

The lack of Batman is hardly an issue, since it's been well-publicized that James Gunn & Co. have yet to cast an actor to be the DCU's Caped Crusader. And I'm not mad at this being a villain-centric movie that doesn't need one of DC's Big Three to be involved.

But Clayface is an R-rated body horror movie, so one of my most basic expectations was for Matt Hagen to suffer through one or more actual full-body horror moments. If they're not going to play up this character's most preeminent trait, then what's the point of basing it on this particular character? Sure, I realize that Mike Flanagan's story and initial script are probably more of a character study than an effects bonanza, and I love his storytelling choices in everything. But a Clayface movie without Clayface-level transformations just seems baffling.

It's like saying, "We're going into production on a King Tut movie, but this version of the Batman villain will be more fixated on Greek mythology." Well not exactly, but on a similar level of bizarreness.

Clayface Has Been Compared To A Quartet Of Other Movies

These may not be the only four movie comparisons that have surfaced from early Clayface chatter, but I think in particular, this grouping shared on X gives fans a pretty good idea of what to expect from its tone and story.

• Joker
• The Substance
• The Incredible Hulk
• Vanilla Sky

The Joker comparison is perhaps the most polarizing, but I assume that's mainly from it being a villain-centric origin story without a hero to anchor it. The Substance is a great comparison point, theoretically, but is maybe less impactful knowing about the lack of transformation scenes.

I like the Marvel namedrop here for Ed Norton's The Incredible Hulk, since it likely implies Tom Rhys Harries' Matt will be on the run from others as he tries to gain control of his changing biology. And I get that the Vanilla Sky ties are likely due to Matt's face being all bandaged up the way Tom Cruise's was after his car crash in that movie, but I do wonder if the unreliable nature of that film is also at play.

I'm calling it now. At the end of the movie, Aaron Paul wakes up in bed next to Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette, and it's revealed Clayface's storyline was just a dream.

Clayface is set to hit theaters on October 23, 2026.

Breaking Bad is a show filled with character tragedies of all sizes and flavors, but one scene that still bludgeons my brain all these years later is Brock’s poisoning, since that was one of the most unforgivable acts. (If any character actions that go down throughout the 2026 TV schedule even come close, I’ll be surprised.) Brock’s situation specifically led to one of the show’s most dramatic Walt and Jesse scenes, and Bryan Cranston has made the sequence all the more powerful to me with a BTS reveal.

Cranston, somewhat fresh off his 2026 Emmys win for his wild and mostly soundless performance in The Studio’s Season 1 finale, sat with fellow Vince Gilligan alum Rhea Seehorn (of Better Call Saul and Pluribus fame) and Variety to talk about working with one of television’s most celebrated creators. The two Emmy winners addressed the fact that Gilligan (and Saul co-creator Peter Gould) are known for holding off on giving actors scripts for future installments. As one might imagine, that detail brought interesting wrinkles to certain scenes, such as the aforementioned argument.

The scene in question took place in the back half of Season 4’s “End Times,” with Jesse holding Walt at gunpoint while accusing him of poisoning Andrea’s son, which Walt denies with heightened efficiency. Here’s how Cranston described playing out that dialogue without knowing the truth:

That all makes sense as an actor playing a character who, despite much evidence suggesting otherwise, often comes across as somewhat empathetic to those closest to him. But then Walt is also as desperate as characters can be, which also plays into his overtly frightened responses.

Of course, Walt DID poison Brock, so that entire scene is really an exercise in extreme duplicitousness. Which Cranston addressed when he continued, saying:

Gotta love that even Bryan Cranston seemed surprised to learn just how dark his character's actions could be. But did he really believe his own acting in that scene? Maybe so. When Rhea Seehorn asked him if he'd have played that argument any differently knowing the truth, to which he responded with:

Even knowing that Walt was responsible for so much of the horrible sh-t that happened in Breaking Bad, I still probably would have believed him during that exchange, given how hardcore Cranston's acting was. We're all just trusting Jesses deep down, I guess.

The wonders of the Breaking Bad-verse will likely never cease to make themselves known. All episodes can be streamed via Netflix subscription while waiting for Rhea Seehorn's return as Carol in Pluribus Season 2, which will presumably find its way back into our lives in 2027 via Apple TV subscription.

Malcolm in the Middle is returning, as Frankie Muniz and the cast reunited to shoot a four-part miniseries that’ll debut amid the 2026 TV schedule. The prospect of seeing the stars reprise their respective roles is very exciting, and that’s especially true when it comes to Bryan Cranston. Fans seem pumped to see Cranston play devoted but occasionally irresponsible father Hal again, and even Aaron Paul is psyched. That was evidenced by the excellent, Breaking Bad-related comment Paul left under Cranston’s recent post.

An official teaser for Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair was released just days ago, and it reaffirmed that the show would premiere for Hulu subscription holders in 2026. However, the clip does delightfully play on the classic scene of Hal having his back shaved. Bryan Cranston shared the video to his Instagram, with a portion of his caption reading, “Some things never change.” Take a look at the video below:

I never thought I’d ever say this in any context, but that video of a man getting the hair on his back shaved is making me nostalgic. Based on the comments section, I’m not the only one who feels that way either. Aaron Paul – who played Jesse Pinkman to Cranston’s Walter White on Breaking Bad – hyped up his longtime pal. He also included an excellent reference to the Vince Gilligan-created drug drama:

While Walter White sports the white undergarments on a few occasions throughout Breaking Bad, the most iconic instance in which he wears the tighty-whities while cooking meth and later while trying to defend himself from drug dealers. I’d like to think that Cranston is now indeed giving the people what they want by reprising his role as Hal. Of course, fans shouldn’t expect the humorous father of six to be slinging meth when he returns in the miniseries.

Life’s Still Unfair focuses on Malcolm – now a father with a daughter of his own – as he reunites with his family to celebrate parents Hal and Lois’ 40th wedding anniversary. In addition to lead actor Frankie Muniz and Bryan Cranston, other franchise veterans like Jane Kaczmarek, Christopher Masterson and Justin Berfield are also returning. Some of the stars have expressed enthusiasm about working together again, including Cranston, who’s kept tabs on his TV family in the years since the OG show ended its seven-season run on Fox in 2006.

I can’t see Cranston covering himself in blue paint again for the sake of this limited series, but what I can easily imagine is for Hal to have become somewhat kookier with age. My theory also extends to the various members of Hal’s family and, honestly, what would this franchise be without this large brood’s distinct eccentricities? Needless to say, like Aaron Paul, I’ll be tuning in for this TV revival.

For now, Malcolm and the Middle fans – as well as series newcomers – can stream all seven seasons of the show now on Hulu. A Disney+ subscription will grant access to the beloved single-camera comedy series as well.

Invincible Season 3 blew fans' minds with its wild last couple of episodes and, as brutal as they were to watch, I'm even more hype for what's ahead in Season 4. Unfortunately, ahead of the new episodes premiering in March amid the 2026 TV schedule, it's been revealed that at least one star won't be back to lend his voice to a major character. Aaron Paul is out as Powerplex, but I get his reasons for stepping away.

Paul, who voiced the villain who lost everything and swore vengeance on Invincible Season 3, revealed his exit from the Prime Video show during an interview on the Kinda Funny Gamescast. Based on the actor's explanation (via Comicbook.com), this wasn't a decision he made lightly. Paul said:

Well, I suppose if Robert Kirkman was trying for a Breaking Bad reunion by casting Bryan Cranston, he can stop asking the Heisenberg actor. It's a shame to hear Aaron Paul is no longer going to voice Powerplex but, if it was impacting his mental health, I'm glad he put himself first. Also, Invincible has plenty of talented voice actors, and given its popularity, it'll find another to succeed Paul.

I have to admit, when it comes to the characters in Invincible, Powerplex is one of the most tragic. The hero inadvertently ruined his life after inadvertently killing his wife and child and, while it may be wrong to put that blame squarely on Mark, a lot of people (within the universe of the show) share that sentiment toward the end of Season 3. I can only imagine what storyline Powerplex will have in the new season, and whether the material is as emotionally draining as what Paul acted out so perfectly in the third season.

The Season 3 finale of the Kirkman-produced show tested the limits of gore, with several cities being leveled by Invincibles from other dimensions. Without a moment to breathe, Mark was forced to face the Viltrumite Conquest soon after. It was close, but the hero emerged victorious. Unfortunately, it looks like the problems never end, as new threats were hinted at, and the Viltrumites won't back down from their desire to conquer Earth.

Fortunately, it looks as though Omni-Man is doing what he can off-world with Allen the Alien to try and take down the Viltrumites, so it's not like Mark will be going at it alone. There are also the heroes still on Earth, including Atom Eve, who almost lost her life during the finale. Let's hope they have what it takes to keep the world safe as more threats -- with Powerplex possibly still being one of them -- approach.

I'm getting hype just thinking about new episodes of Invincible, so I'm counting down the days until Season 4 premieres in March. Be sure sure to get a Prime subscription to watch it, and maybe rewatch the first three seasons ahead of that to prepare yourself.

Some SPOILERS are ahead for all of the Mission: Impossible movies, now streaming with a Netflix subscription (except for The Final Reckoning, which is in theaters).

I’m still in shock over here. Are the Mission: Impossible movies really over and done with? Watching Tom Cruise hang off a biplane and try to recover a module in the depths of the ocean on the big screen really awakened something in me. And that something was going back over the Mission: Impossible movies now that they recently joined the 2025 Netflix releases.

And I have to say… I really forgot how many incredibly talented actors have shown up in the movies over the years! Of course, I had remembered Ving Rhames' Luther being there from the beginning, and it only made knowing his death in Final Reckoning hit harder. And, there’s no way I’m ever forgetting Philip Seymour Hoffman’s role as Owen Davian. But, there were quite a few appearances that genuinely shocked me. I’ll break them down below:

Jon Voight

Starting with the first Mission: Impossible movie, it pretty much felt like I was watching it for the first time when I kicked it on first. I’ll be honest, the last time I watched it before this, I found it boring in comparison to the newer installments, so I kind of have been sleeping on it, but I really enjoyed going back to basics with it this time around.

One of the reasons I actually decided to watch it was because Final Reckoning had a flashback to Jon Voight’s role as the leader of the IMF, Jim Phelps, and I had no memory of him in the movie. But, what a great role for the Oscar winner. He plays an excellent first villain for the M:I franchise.

Emilio Estevez

And, early in the Mission: Impossible, I did not have it on my bingo card to see The Breakfast Club’s Emilio Estevez! He plays an IMF agent who dies in an elevator shaft, but what a treat. It’s a fun little role for the actor because both Cruise and Estevez were in The Outsiders together over a decade earlier.

Kristen Scott Thomas

Another pleasant surprise in the first Mission: Impossible was Kristen Scott Thomas as another IMF agent. I’ve seen her in a ton of movies and TV shows over the years, but I just didn’t realize one of the first movies I likely saw her in was actually the first Mission: Impossible.

Jean Reno

And Jean Reno? I was literally going through my viewing of the 1996 first film, gasping left and right at the list of talent. Reno is an accomplished French actor first and foremost, but I’ve loved English-language movies like Léon: The Professional or The Pink Panther with Steve Martin. He’s so solid in Mission: Impossible as an ex-IMF agent who is the man who’s holding up Ethan during his iconic scene where he’s suspended by a wire.

Henry Czerny

The last one I want to bring up from the first movie is Henry Czerny. The character of Kittridge, the director of the IMF, is obviously in The Final Reckoning after being in Dead Reckoning as well, but I had sincerely forgotten that he was actually brought back from being in the original film. Rewatching the first movie after Final Reckoning is honestly so satisfying because they added so many callbacks from the first movie, that it’s even better because the last movie exists.

Brendan Gleeson

I moved on to Mission: Impossible 2 next, which I know is not a favorite among fans, but actually remained in my memory a lot more clearly than the first for some reason. I absolutely remembered Dougray Scott and Thandiwe Newton’s key roles in the John Woo film. But the first actor that caught me by surprise was seeing Irish actor Brendan Gleeson of the Harry Potter movies, The Banshees of Inisherin, and 28 Days Later. He plays a CEO who gets kidnapped in the 2000 sequel.

Anthony Hopkins

The other surprising actor in Mission: Impossible 2 was none other than Anthony Hopkins at the very end of the movie. I never would have guessed him showing up late in the action movie just to play Mission Commander Swanbeck for a little scene with Tom Cruise, but it definitely exists. I read that he was actually uncredited in the movie in order to give audiences at the time a shock when he made his appearance, and I find that fun.

Laurence Fishburne

Moving on to J.J. Abrams’ Mission: Impossible 3, I thought I had this one figured out, but yet again I was short-sighted by a few unexpected actors in the mix. This is a great rewatch because it has the first appearance of Simon Pegg’s Benji, and I loved seeing Ethan and him interact for the first time. But Laurence Fishburne being the IMF director? It’s literally perfect casting, and I had no memory of it.

Aaron Paul

Another fun one in Mission: Impossible 3 is Aaron Paul being in a key scene just a couple of years before he officially became Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. He plays Ethan Hunt’s future brother-in-law, Rick, whom he calls during a pivotal scene where the agent is worried about the safety of his fiancée, Julia (played by Michelle Monaghan). Rick is completely clueless; he just aids the movie’s villain in capturing his sister, but Ethan ultimately saves her, so it all turns out OK.

Léa Seydoux

The last movie I watched is one of my favorites, Ghost Protocol. And, I’ve seen this one a lot. I had remembered that Lost’s Josh Holloway briefly shows up in the beginning and dies, because I was obsessed with that show at the time, and that Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner were part of Ethan’s team. Somehow, I forgot the insanely talented Léa Seydoux played an assassin named Sabine. This movie somehow almost came out fifteen years ago? Seeing Seydoux looking much younger made me realize that, but yeah, she’s still a perfect fit for M:I. I only wish she were in it more!

What a blast of a mission for me. The M:I movies really hold up. They continue to be exciting, unexpectedly funny, and full of great talent that have continued to do some great work after being in these movies.

Breaking Bad is undeniably one of the greatest TV shows ever. And with any superb series, any major catchphrases attached to the characters are bound to stick around, including Jesse Pinkman’s frequent and flagrant use of the word ‘bitch.’ Star Aaron Paul just confirmed that, even ten years after the finale, he still hears that profanity thrown at him regularly, even when his children are present.

The actor and producer was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to talk about his upcoming 2025 movie, the sci-fi thriller Ash. Eventually, the duo got into talking about his longstanding friendship with Bryan Cranston, as well as their iconic AMC show. During the interview clip, the host asked if the word "bitch" still regularly got thrown around in Paul’s presence. He immediately confirmed it does, and that the count is higher than ever, thanks to a new generation of viewers. Smiling about it, he shared:

Chalk it up to the powers of streaming! To think the El Camino star may never live down the word is a little bonkers. But with each new set of TV watchers aging into the show, he may have many more decades ahead of him. And though Pinkman did mature through the Breaking Bad's spinoff-inspiring five-season run, the actor knows better than anyone that “Bitch” will likely remain intergral to his fandom for many years to come.

Even if the Need For Speed actor can deal with that as a general nickname, he does find it somewhat problematic that fans still call him that in front of his kids. However, he shared that they're still young enough to not be aware of the word’s definition or full context of how it relates to Jesse Pinkman. As Paul said:

Learning that his kiddos get that earful when that certain type of fan comes around is a bit bonkers. On the bright side, it’s a relatively mild profanity and doesn’t rival any of the mind-blowing BB moments, otherwise, the Paul family would maybe have a different feeling about it. Regardless, it makes the best Walt and Jesse moments all the more them, and I believe the pair who play them know that, too.

With the teacher-turned-drug-lord series ending over 12 years ago, both stars have moved on to some great projects. Paul has the aforementioned Ash premiering on March 21 and is presumed to be returning to Invincible Season 4 as one of the main villains.

But, if you are missing your Walt-Jesse fix, there are plenty of shows like Breaking Bad out there to catch. And on the off chance you come across Aaron Paul–with or without his kids–consider not throwing bitch around, bitch.

There have been all kinds of different eras throughout WWE’s history. The New Generation, the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression phase, the PG-TV days, and others quickly come to mind. But one that is thankfully mostly forgotten these days is the WWE Raw Celebrity Host era between 2009 and 2014. Celebrity involvement in WWE has always been a thing going back to WrestleMania 1, but the company went overboard over a decade ago, and so many random names hosted or appeared on the flagship show.

Here are 32 random celebrities who hosted Monday Night Raw…

Bob Barker - September 7, 2009

In addition to being one of the best game show hosts of all time, the late Bob Barker was also one of the most unforgettable Raw hosts. Appearing on a September 2009 episode, the The Price is Right legend held a WWE-themed version of the show, which included an appearance from the villainous Irwin R. Schyster.

William Shatner - February 1, 2010

William Shatner has had multiple appearances on Raw over the years (his 1995 run-in with Jerry “The King” Lawler is hilarious), so it only made sense for the Star Trek icon to host WWE’s flagship show in February 2010. Captain Kirk singing WWE superstars’ entrance themes was not what anyone expected, but it was still wild and low-key great.

Pee-Wee Herman - November 1, 2010

Pee-Wee Herman, aka the late Paul Reubens, hosted Monday Night Raw back in November 2010 when the weekly show was broadcast from the iconic Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York. Herman had some great run-ins throughout the night and was even paired up with Big Show, who was dressed up like the beloved character.

Jeremy Piven - August 3, 2009

If you’ve watched any WWE clip shows over the years, you have more than likely seen the infamous “SummerFest” promo from Jeremy Piven. Appearing on Raw to promote The Goods in August 2009, the Entourage star flubbed and gave WWE’s SummerSlam an unintentional new name on live TV.

Jerry Springer - February 15, 2010

Jerry Springer and WWE go hand-in-hand, so it was only a matter of time before the late TV show host popped up on Monday Night Raw. In February 2010, the former mayor of Cincinnati showed up to host the weekly wrestling show where he added some of the gimmicks from the long-running Jerry Springer show.

Betty White - February 10, 2014

Betty White did a lot in her nearly 100 years on this planet, including hosting Monday Night Raw in February 2014. Though the Golden Girls star didn’t clothesline anyone or compete in the Elimination Chamber, she did have some great moments on the mic in various promo segments.

Seth Green - July 13, 2009

Seth Green was one of the first Monday Night Raw celebrity hosts. But the Robot Chicken co-creator did more than just talk, as he got himself involved in a six-man tag main event in which he teamed up with John Cena and Triple H where they defeated Legacy.

Hugh Jackman - September 19, 2011

Hugh Jackman has been on Raw a couple of times over the years, with the better of the two being his time on the show promoting Real Steel in September 2011. Near the end of the match, Wolverine got in on the action and clocked United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in the jaw, helping Zack Ryder win a non-title match. That punch was just so great!

Arnold Schwarzenegger And Joe Manganiello - March 24, 2014

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Manganiello showed up on Monday Night Raw in March 2014 to promote their action flick, Sabotage. But while doing so, the pair of actors also got physical with The Miz, who tried to crash their in-ring promo with Hulk Hogan.

Shaquille O’Neal - July 27, 2009

Shaquille O’Neal famously showed up in the 3rd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, but that wasn’t his first time in WWE. Back in 2009, when he was still playing basketball, Shaq appeared on Raw and had a hilarious interaction with Chris Jericho. Seriously, Y2J looks like a child next to the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer.

The Muppets - October 31, 2011

The Muppets and WWE are two things you probably never thought you’d see together. Well, that happened in October 2011 when beloved characters like Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Beaker (his run-in with Sheamus is hilarious) all showed up on the Raw Supershow.

David Hasselhoff - April 12, 2010

A couple of weeks after WrestleMania 26, David Hasselhoff showed up on Monday Night Raw recorded from London’s O2 Arena. The special guest host entered the ring to one of his own songs, danced around with some ladies, and then kicked off the night’s festivities. It was wild, it was random, and it was just something to see.

The Hot Tube Time Machine Cast - March 29, 2010

Around the release of Hot Tub Time Machine, Rob Corddry and Clark Duke served as the guest hosts of Monday Night Raw. Much like the movie itself, this appearance is largely forgotten by most. However, there was an incredibly awkward hot tub segment that was saved by Mark Henry and Hornswoggle.

Pete Rose - March 22, 2010

Pete Rose had some unfortunate run-ins with Kane back during the height of the Attitude Era (the Big Red Machine put a beating on the Hit King at WrestleMania 14 and 15), and history repeated itself when the notorious baseball player hosted Raw in March 2010. The man was shook when an unmasked Kane confronted him backstage.

Cyndi Lauper - June 18, 2012

Cyndi Lauper, who famously sang “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” has long been connected with WWE, having appeared during the inaugural WrestleMania. So, it only seemed natural for her to show up and have some fun on Raw in June 2012 when she helped put a beating on Heath Slater, who was in the middle of a run in which he got destroyed by all kinds of returning stars.

Kevin Hart - June 16, 2014

Kevin Hart, who was in the middle of his unprecedented rise to the top of the pop culture mountain, appeared on Monday Night Raw in June 2014. He made jokes, he got in the ring, and he hung out with Adam Rose and his Rosebuds. It was a strange time in WWE, and this was one of the wildest moments of that summer.

Ashton Kutcher - May 31, 2010

Ashton Kutcher showing up on Raw is so random, but again, this was WWE in May 2010. It was a weird transitional period where the company was trying anything and willing to throw anything at the wall to see if it stuck.

Mike Tyson - January 11, 2010

A little over a decade after showing up and making WrestleMania 14 one of the biggest nights in wrestling history, Mike Tyson hosted a January 2010 episode of Monday Night Raw where he did everything from intimidate wrestlers to hang out with Hornswoggle. The image of the notorious boxer hanging out backstage surrounded by Fight Night Round 4 posters and games was a sight to see.

Flavor Flav - May 10, 2010

If you thought Flavor Flav giving a weather report on the Salt Lake City news was something, wait until you hear about his May 2010 appearance on Monday Night Raw. During the Public Enemy rapper’s one-night stint on the show, he joked, he rapped, and he worked with R-Truth. Can we get him to come back and team up with Truth again? Please?

Freddie Prinze Jr. - August 17, 2009

Freddie Prinze Jr. showing on Monday Night Raw isn’t the most random thing, considering the I Know What You Did Last Summer and She’s All That star was a longtime writer for WWE’s creative team. The man knows wrestling and knows how to have a laugh at his own expense, as was shown in a segment on an August 2009 episode where Santino Marella approaches Prinze with an idea for a new chapter in his slasher series.

Jon Lovitz - May 24, 2010

Jay Sherman from The Critic would probably say “It stinks!” when talking about WWE’s celebrity host era, but Jon Lovitz, who voiced the character, seemed to have a lot of fun when he hosted Raw in May 2010. Did he look like a fish out of water? Sure,

Jon Heder And Don Johnson - January 18, 2010

Did you know Jon Heder and Don Johnson made a movie together? Well, it’s true. Back in January 2018, the Napoleon Dynamite star and Miami Vice legend shared the screen in When in Rome led by Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel. On top of that, the two co-hosted Raw where they formed a short-lived (one-night) tag team.

Larry King - October 8, 2012

Legendary talk show host Larry King died in January 2021, leaving behind memories of some of the best interviews in the history of radio and TV. But did you know that King appeared on an October 2012 episode of Monday Night Raw where he gave fans a new spin on his classic format? Well, it happened, and it involved The Miz getting all heated when pressed by King. Sadly, King didn’t choke him out, but it was fun to watch.

The Three Stooges - April 9, 2012

The Three Stooges, or the versions played by Will Sasso, Sean Hayes, and Chris Diamantopoulos in the 2012 comedy inspired by the classic comedy trio, showed up on Monday Night Raw to promote the Farrelly Brothers movie. The saving grace of the whole appearance was Sasso coming out dressed as Hulk Hogan. It was incredible and you could tell the MadTV star was genuinely having fun out in the ring.

Aaron Paul - March 3, 2014

When making his rounds on the promotional circuit for Need for Speed in March 2014, Breaking Bad alum Aaron Paul showed up and hosted Monday Night Raw. This was one of the final guest host spots, and it’s one that’s pretty forgettable more than a decade later.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. - August 24, 2009

A year and a few months after defeating Big Show at WrestleMania 24, boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. showed up on Monday Night Raw in August 2009. During the appearance, Mayweather had a confrontation with Big Show and Chris Jericho (Jeri-Show) and eventually stood in the corner of Mark Henry and MVP in a tag match later that night.

The MacGruber Cast - April 19, 2010

Will Forte and Kristen Wiig popped up on Monday Night Raw in April 2010 to promote MacGruber, but they didn’t come as themselves. Instead, the SNL alum came in character, which resulted in some hilarious run-ins with WWE superstars, several of whom showed up in the satirical action comedy.

Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi - March 14, 2011

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, best known for her time on Jersey Shore, had a little WrestleMania run back in 2011, which included a spot on Monday Night Raw. A few weeks later, the TV star would pull off the impossible and get a win at the “Showcase of the Immortals.”

Mark Cuban - December 7, 2009

Mark Cuban knows a thing or two about tense situations, though none of his work on Shark Tank could have prepared him for what happened when he hosted Raw in December 2009. After moderating a segment involving Sheamus and John Cena prior to their TLC match, the Celtic Warrior slammed Cuban through a table propped up in the corner.

Dennis Miller - December 14, 2009

Dennis Miller showed up for the 2009 Slammy Awards on Monday Night Raw and spent the better part of his time making political jokes and providing commentary on WWE superstars with some so-bad-it’s-good Photoshop skills. People chuckled but quickly forgot the segment.

Johnny Knoxville - October 4, 2010

Long before Johnny Knoxville defeated Sami Zayn in one of the most chaotic matches on the WrestleMania 38 card, the stuntman-turned-Hollywood star hosted an October 2010 episode of Monday Night Raw. Taking place days before the release of Jackass 3D, Knoxville pulled out some hilarious pranks, with Ted Dibiase Jr. on the receiving end of the torment.

Ozzy And Sharon Osbourne - November 2, 2009

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne were inescapable in the 2000s, so it was only natural for the pair to host an episode of Monday Night Raw in November 2009. Their Raw’s Got Talent segment is without a doubt one of the worst things to ever happen on Raw, which is saying something.

The X-Files is an iconic show to come out of the early '90s, and the combination of mythology stories and Monster of the Week episodes created enough of a hit to last nine original seasons, two revival seasons, and two feature films. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson aren't the only big names to come out of the show, however, as a number of the guest stars went on to become stars of their own shows. Read on for the standouts!

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds is known for big screen ventures like the Deadpool films nowadays, but The X-Files fans saw a very young version of the actor in the Season 3 episode “Syzygy” in 1996… briefly, anyway! His character was killed off before the end of the cold open, but Reynolds would go on to star in ABC’s hit Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place sitcom from 1998-2001.

Bryan Cranston

Bryan Cranston proved a master of comedy with Malcolm in the Middle and of drama with Breaking Bad, but he flexed his acting muscles on The X-Files earlier on. While playing the ill-fated Patrick Crump in the Season 6 episode “Drive” wasn’t his first TV credit, the 1998 gig introduced him to executive producer Vince Gilligan, who would go on to cast Cranston as Walter White.

Jack Black

Long before School of Rock and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Jack Black played Bart “Zero” Liquori in Episode 3 of The X-Files’ third season in 1995. He would later star in TV projects like Tenacious D between 1997-2000, The Brink in 2015, and the Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight animated series from 2022-2023.

Terry O'Quinn

Terry O’Quinn portrayed three different franchise characters. He played Lt. Brian Tillman in the “Aubrey” episode of Season 2 in 1995, SAC Michaud in The X-Files: Fight the Future feature film, and Shadow Man in the “Trust No 1” episode of Season 9 in 2002. Best known now as John Locke on Lost from 2004-2010, he also recurred on shows including Hawaii Five-0, FBI: Most Wanted, and Resident Alien.

Luke Wilson

Luke Wilson holds a special place in the hearts of many X-Files fans for starring as the vampire sheriff Lucius Hartwell in arguably the show’s best episode: “Bad Blood” in 1998. Following that Season 5 episode, he landed multi-episode gigs on shows including That ‘70s Show and Roadies before starring in the DC Comics-based series Stargirl from 2020-2022.

Lucy Liu

Future Kill Bill actress Lucy Liu played Kim Hsin in The X-Files’ third season episode called “Hell Money” back in 1996. She debuted in her first series regular role on the sitcom Pearl later that year, but her big TV break would be Ling Woo on Ally McBeal before playing Dr. Joan Watson in CBS’ Elementary from 2012-2019.

Tony Shalhoub

Before he was an Emmy- and Tony Award-winner, Tony Shalhoub appeared in the Season 2 episode of The X-Files called “Soft Light” as the very stressed Dr. Chester Ray Banton. While he was already starring on NBC’s sitcom Wings at the time, his most acclaimed (and award-winning) work came later with Monk starting in 2002 and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel starting in 2017.

Jane Lynch

The ninth season of The X-Files wasn't the most popular, but the “Lord of the Flies” episode in 2001 featured Jane Lynch as Mrs. Anne T. Lokensgard years before she introduced the world to Sue Sylvester on Fox’s Glee. For that role, she'd be nominated for three Emmys and win one over the course of six seasons from 2009-2015.

Felicity Huffman

Considering Felicity Huffman's later fame for Sports Night, American Crime, and Desperate Housewives, it can be easy to overlook her very early episode of The X-Files as Dr. Nancy Da Silva in 1993. The Season 1 episode was an homage to the iconic horror film The Thing and remains one of the show’s best more than thirty years later.

Shia LaBeouf

When one thinks of Shia LaBeouf as a child star, his lead role as Louis Stevens in Disney Channel’s Even Stevens from 2000-2003 probably comes to mind first. One year earlier, however, the future household name played a sick youngster by the name of Richie in a Season 7 episode of The X-Files called “The Goldberg Variation.”

CCH Pounder

While CCH Pounder only appeared as Agent Lucy Kazdin in one episode of The X-Files, Season 2's “Duane Barry” was pivotal. Starting later in 1994, Pounder appeared in the first four seasons of ER before arriving on The Shield in 2002. Her longest-running role has been playing NCIS: New Orleans' Dr. Loretta Wade for all seven seasons from 2014-2021.

BD Wong

While BD Wong appeared in Jurassic Park in the early ‘90s, small-screen stardom would take longer. He played Detective Glen Chao in The X-Files’ “Hell Money” episode of Season 3 in 1996, before he’d go on to a role in Oz from 1997-2003 and Law & Order: SVU starting in 2001. He’d eventually become one of the Law & Order stars to appear in most episodes.

Donal Logue

Donal Logue guest-starred in The X-Files' very first Monster of the Week episode, called “Squeeze,” in 1993. He went on to recur in later seasons of ER before starring in all five seasons of Grounded for Life and all five seasons of Gotham, which wrapped after 100 episodes in 2019.

Peter Boyle

Peter Boyle’s career goes back to the 1960s, but X-Files Season 3 fans will remember him for playing the title character in “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” in 1995, for which he won an Emmy. He would then score another seven Emmy nominations for playing Frank Barone across nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996-2005.

Laurie Holden

Laurie Holden wasn’t a one-off guest star on The X-Files but would appear in ten episodes as Marita Covarrubias between 1996-2002. She’d become more of a household name as part of the original cast of The Walking Dead regulars, and she ranks among the Walking Dead cast members to appear in most episodes.

Aaron Paul

The future Breaking Bad star can be found in a Season 9 episode of The X-Files, called “Lord of the Flies” in 2001, where he played a character with the distinguished name of “Sky Commander Winky.” He would go on to recur on Big Love before landing his career-making role as Jesse Pinkman opposite Bryan Cranston. Post-Breaking Bad credits include The Path, BoJack Horseman, and Westworld.

Michael Emerson

Years before his Emmy-winning portrayal of Ben on Lost, Michael Emerson guest-starred in the final Monster of the Week episode of The X-Files’ original run. Called “Sunshine Days,” the Season 9 episode in 2002 preceded his guest stint on Without a Trace, his role in Saw, and of course five seasons of Lost. Other long-running roles since The X-Files include Person of Interest and Evil.

Jesse L. Martin

Jesse L. Martin arrived on The X-Files to play baseball-loving alien Josh Exley in “The Unnatural,” the Season 6 episode written and directed by David Duchovny in 1999. Later that year, Martin joined the cast of Law & Order, where he remained for nine seasons and nearly 200 episodes. The Flash was his next series regular gig until 2023, followed by The Irrational early in the 2024 TV lineup.

Bradley Whitford

While Bradley Whitford is likely best remembered for his work as Josh Lyman in The West Wing starting in 1999, he had a very different part to play in The X-Files’ second season in 1994. He portrayed the unfortunate Daniel Trepkos in “Firewalker.” Whitford has three Emmy wins to his name since the early ‘90s thanks to his work on The West Wing, Transparent, and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Paul McCrane

Paul McCrane played the titular character in the Season 4 episode called “Leonard Betts” in 1997. He’s also responsible for one of the most iconic lines in The X-Files history: “I’m sorry, but you’ve got something I need.” McCrane joined the cast of ER later that year to play Dr. Robert Romano across seven seasons, ending his time in one of the medical drama’s most memorable deaths.

Kurtwood Smith

Although he would later be quite well known for a different Fox series, Kurtwood Smith portrayed Agent Bill Patterson in the Season 3 episode called “Grotesque,” which aired on the network in 1996. Two years later, he was back on Fox for That ‘70s Show to play Red Forman for eight seasons and 200 episodes. Smith more recently reprised the role for Netflix’s That ‘90s Show.

Octavia Spencer

Octavia Spencer’s episode of The X-Files in 1999 may be better remembered as the one that delivered the first actual kiss between Mulder and Scully, but you can find the actress in the Season 7 episode titled “Millennium.” In addition to winning her Academy Award for The Help, Spencer landed many guest and recurring TV gigs before her lead role in Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told from 2019-2023.

Seth Green

Seth Green was a guest in the very first episode of The X-Files following the pilot, as Emil in “Deep Throat” in 1993. While it wasn’t his first TV role, it preceded his work as Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1997-2000. He really hit his stride as a voice actor with Robot Chicken and Family Guy in particular, with hundreds of episodes of each show to his name.

Garrett Dillahunt

The X-Files is one of Garret Dillahunt’s earliest credits, as he played Edward Skur in the flashback-heavy Season 5 episode “Travelers” in 1998. He may be better remembered for his work in Deadwood which started several years later in 2004, followed by TV projects including all four seasons of Raising Hope, three seasons of The Mindy Project, and three seasons of Fear the Walking Dead.

Dean Norris

Dean Norris is a master of playing characters in law enforcement, including Marshal Tapia in The X-Files’ Season 2 episode “F. Emasculata” in 1995. His biggest TV break would come years later as Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, and he appeared in all three seasons of CBS’ Under the Dome and all four seasons of TNT’s Claws before recurring in Law & Order: Organized Crime’s fourth season as well.

Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless’ most iconic work to date was likely as Xena in Xena: Warrior Princess for syndication from 1995-2001, but she came to network TV primetime in 2001 for two episodes of The X-Files Season 9 as alien super-soldier Shannon McMahon. She’d go on to recur across the last three seasons of Battlestar Galactica and become one of the faces of Starz’s Spartacus franchise of shows starting in 2010.

Brad Dourif

Brad Dourif is one of The X-Files’ most memorable early guest stars as serial killer Luther Lee Boggs in Season’s “Beyond the Sea” in 1991, but he really made a mark on TV starting in 2004 with playing Doc Cochran in Deadwood. More recently, he has been voicing the demonic doll himself in the Chucky series that premiered in 2021.

Bruce Campbell

After the Evil Dead films, Bruce Campbell was a perfect casting for a show like The X-Files in its sixth season. He played Wayne Weinsider in the twisted “Terms of Endearment” episode of 1999. Campbell would later spend seven seasons on USA as part of the Burn Notice cast, and – of course – reprise his role as Ash for all three seasons of the Ash vs Evil Dead TV show.

Willie Garson

The late Willie Garson played two different characters on The X-Files: Quinton “Roach” Freely in Season 3’s “The Walk” in 1995 and Henry Weems in Season 7’s “The Goldberg Variation” in 1999. His most well-known work is likely playing Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City across all six seasons starting in 1998. He would also star in all six seasons of USA’s White Collar following its 2009 premiere.

Giovanni Ribisi

Giovanni Ribisi certainly wasn’t unknown in television when he guest-starred as Darin Peter Oswald in Season 3 of The X-Files in 1995, but it was before he made his Friends debut as Frank Buffay Jr. More significantly, he starred in Fox’s Dads opposite Seth Green from 2013-2014 and then all three seasons of Prime Video’s Sneaky Pete from 2015-2019.

Mark Sheppard

Mark Sheppard only had a couple of credits in the entertainment industry to his name when he appeared as Cecil L’Ively in the Season 1 episode “Fire” in 1993. He then landed ongoing roles in shows like Soldier of Fortune, Inc., 24, and Battlestar Galactica, but he’s best known for portraying the fan-favorite demon Crowley on Supernatural for eight of the show’s fifteen seasons.

Danny Trejo

Danny Trejo came to The X-Files in Season 8 to play Cesar Ocampo in “Redrum” in the show’s early post-Mulder era. In addition to some film credits following TXF, he arrived on The Young and the Restless in 2008 and – most notably – Sons of Anarchy to play Romeo Parada starting in 2011. He’s also a prolific voice actor for shows including King of the Hill, The Adventures of Puss in Boots, and Big City Greens.

From the moment it debuted with a two-hour pilot episode in September of 1994 until it left the air in 2009, ER was a ratings monster. It regularly topped the ratings for the year during its 331-episode run and launched careers left and right. George Clooney for goodness sake! Not only did it have big stars in its regular cast like Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Maura Tierney, and Eriq LaSalle, but it also had a huge amount of guest stars and up-and-coming actors roll through the show. Here is our list of some of the biggest. 

Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman is most well known for playing the great Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation where he regularly delivered some of the funniest lines on the show. He didn't have anything funny to say in his one role on ER where he played a bandmate of a bass player in distress in the emergency room.  

Taraji P. Henson

The accolades for Taraji P. Henson's acting have come fast and fierce in recent years, but she's been showcasing her talent on screen since the late '90s. One of her earliest roles was in a Season 4 episode of ER, and then in Season 5, she returned in a different role. She kept landing guest roles for years on shows like CSI and Boston Legal before landing her starring turn in Empire and the rest is history. 

Bradley Whitford

A few years before the role of Josh Lyman on The West Wing would make him a star, Bradley Whitford appeared in two episodes of ER in 1995. He'd been working regularly for almost a decade at that point and would find small roles here and there for another few years before The West Wing. He's been an in-demand actor ever since. 

Kristin Davis

Before she was a regular on Melrose Place, and before she was one of Jerry's many girlfriends on Seinfeld, Kristin Davis played a woman who was very into George Clooney's character very briefly in one episode of the first season of ER. While she only showed up once on the show, it clearly opened some big doors - and big martini glasses - in the future. 

Zac Efron

Before becoming a star in High School Musical, Zac Efron was almost type-cast as a troubled teen. On ER he played a teenager who turned up in the emergency room after being shot. He was also a troublemaker in an early role on NCIS. These days he's one of the biggest stars to grace the screen, but he used to just be in trouble on screen! 

Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor is something different to different generations. For some, he'll always be Renton in Trainspotting. Of course, for many, he'll always be a young Obi-Wan Kenobi. For even others, he's known as the guy who drove his motorcycle around the world in Long Way Round. You can't help but wonder if that name was inspired by his guest spot on ER in a Season 3 episode called "The Long Way Around" in 1997. 

Julie Bowen

While Julie Bowen is best known these days for playing Claire Dunphy in Modern Family, her career stretches way further back. Her first TV role came in the early '90s and her breakout role came in the 1993 Adam Sandler smash hit Happy Gilmore. In the late '90s, she had a nine-episode run on ER as the reoccurring character named Roxanne Please, who was John Carter's (Noah Wyle) girlfriend. 

Ving Rhames

1994 was a big year for Ving Rhames. Not only did he star in Pulp Fiction, but he also landed a reoccurring role as Walt Robbins, father-in-law to Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle). In total, he appeared in eight episodes over three seasons, but by then he'd also starred in Mission: Impossible and the rest is history. 

Lucy Liu

Lucy Liu is no stranger to hit television shows. She was a star of Ally McBeal in the '90s and '00s, and in Elementary in the teens. Early on, she also appeared in cameos and supporting roles on big shows like NYPD Blue and The X-Files. She also made it onto three episodes of ER, in 1995. 

Chris Pine

Believe it or not, there was a time when Chris Pine wasn't one of the "Chrises" and wasn't one of the biggest movie stars in the world. He was, in his early days, just like so many other actors, just looking to snag any role they could. Luckily for Pine, it was on a show like ER. In fact, the show he appeared in during Season 9 of the show was his first credited acting performance. 

Don Cheadle

When Don Cheadle appeared as a doctor in a 4-episode arc in 2002 on ER, he was already well-established as an actor. In fact, it came not long after he was established enough to take his name off the credits of Ocean's Eleven, despite delivering some of the best one-liners in the movie. 

J.K. Simmons

Any fan of Law & Order knows just how ingrained J.K. Simmons was in prime-time television around the turn of the century. He was a regular on that show, and he turned up in a bunch of others as well, including an episode of ER in 2004. you can always count on a great J.K. Simmons performance, no matter what he is in. 

Christina Hendricks

While she had been cast in a number of shows before Mad Men, Christina Hendricks had never really broken through as a star. That changed with the AMC show, but before that, she was just a regular hard-working actress in Hollywood. One of her earliest gigs was on ER in 2002. 

Adam Scott

Adam Scott is not the only Parks And Recreation star to appear in ER early in his career, but he did have a pretty intense role as an injured man clinging to life in the emergency room way back in 1995. It's hard to imagine it took 15 more years to get the big-time attention he deserves when he landed his role on Park & Rec. 

Glen Howerton

In 2005 Always Sunny In Philadelphia took the world by storm and went on to become one of the longest-running sitcoms of all time. Glen Howerton played a huge part in that, as one of the stars and co-creators. A couple of years earlier, he was playing a very different role as a doctor in six Episodes of ER during its 10th Season. 

Keiko Agena

Gilmore Girls regular and co-star of Prodigal Son, Keiko Agena is one of the few actors who played two different characters on ER. She first appeared on the show very early in her career, in 1998, then later appeared in the final season in 2009. 

Jessica Chastain

With three Oscar nominations and one win, Jessica Chastain has proven she's among the best Hollywood has to offer. She proved her acting years ago though, in shows like ER. In only her second credited role, she appeared on ER in 2004 in an episode called "Forgive and Forget."

Aaron Paul

For most people, Aaron Paul is best known for his legendary role in Breaking Bad but years before that show would become a hit, he played a pretty similar character on ER in an episode called "A Saint in the City," way back in 2003. 

Octavia Spencer

In 1998 when Octavia Spencer appeared on ER, it was the latest in a string of supporting roles she landed early in her career. That string would continue for a little while longer before she emerged as one of the most beloved stars of the teens and '20s after her star-making role in The Help.

Mena Suvari

As it was for a lot of cast members, American Pie was huge for Mena Suvari. She had been working for a few years in Hollywood before that, picking up roles here and there in shows like Boy Meets World and movies like The Slums of Beverly Hills. Another early role came in a 1998 episode of ER where she played a high school cheerleader who didn't want to listen to her doctors. 

Kirsten Dunst

As a child actor, Kirsten Dunst's career started when she was just six years old. It would be a few years before she landed a brief reoccurring role as a troubled teen in six episodes of ER in the show's third season. 

Dakota Fanning

Quite a few child actors who went on to greater fame came through the doors of the emergency room at Cook County General Hospital, including a young Dakota Fanning. Fanning played a young girl named Delia who came in after a car accident and viewers find out she's a cancer survivor. 

James Cromwell

One of the ultimate "that guys" in Hollywood, James Cromwell has been acting for decades. His career really started in earnest in the mid-'70s and he's been playing supporting and starring roles ever since. On ER, he played a drug-seeking priest in four episodes in Season 7. 

Josh Peck

Josh Peck was a breakout Nickelodeon star as half of Drake & Josh. That wasn't his first role though. After a few small roles and a reoccurring spot in The Amanda Show (which led to Drake & Josh), he landed a small role in an episode of ER in 2002 as a kid with heart problems. 

Eva Mendes

Before Eva Mendes semi-retired to raise her family with Ryan Gosling, she was one of the biggest stars on the planet. You can trace her career all the way back to her very first role which came in 1998 on an episode of ER. It's wild to look back and watch her doing her first on-screen performances with George Clooney and not think about what lay ahead for both of them. 

Shia LaBeouf

Without a doubt, Shia LaBeouf has had one of the wildest careers of the 21st Century. There have been times when he was on top of the world, and others when he... definitely wasn't. One high point early in his career was of a kid in the emergency room of Cook County General in 2000, during Season 6. 

Milana Vayntrub

Milana Vayntrub eventually became one of the most recognizable actors in commercials as the AT&T pitchwoman. Long before that though, she was like a lot of child actors who got their start on ER. She appeared in three episodes, her first three credited roles, as a Russian girl, way back in Season 1. 

John Mahoney

Before scoring the role of a lifetime as Martin Crane on Fraiser, John Mahoney had been a steadily working actor going back to the '70s. After Frasier, he could pretty much write his own ticket. One role he chose to take was that of a self-professed "drag queen" whose long-time boyfriend was in rough shape in the hospital on ER in 2006, making a strong statement about gay marriage before many were brave enough to join him. 

Janel Moloney

One of the many great actresses who found early work in their career on ER was Janel Moloney. Moloney scored only a handful of roles between that and The West Wing, but boy was the West Wing lucky to have her - as was ER in its first season when she appeared in one episode. 

Amy Ryan

One of the most underrated characters in The Wire has to be Beadie Russell, played by Amy Ryan. About a decade before she joined The Wire in Season 2, she starred in a single episode of ER in the show's first season. She's been in many TV shows and movies since, including a beloved recurring role on The Office and in the underrated Netflix original Worth.

Rosemary Clooney

George Clooney isn't the only famous person in his family. His aunt is, of course, the inimitably Rosemary Clooney, who was one of the most beloved singers of her generation. She only had about a dozen acting credits on her impressive resume, but one was ER during the show's first season. What a great experience for her and her nephew. Her son, actor Miguel Ferrer, also appeared in an uncredited role in the series premiere of the show. 

Dan Hedaya

If you grew up in the '90s, Dan Hedaya was seemingly everywhere, but he's probably best remember by that generation as Cher Horowitz's angry but loving father in Clueless. On ER, he plays a lawyer with... questionable ethics, but a heart of gold. He appeared in four episodes over the length of the whole show. remembered

Sometimes, a character and a project come around that impacts the zeitgeist deeply, and when that happens, the role becomes permanently attached to an actor’s legacy. This list includes over 30 actors from some of the greatest movies and TV shows who will forever be remembered for one role. 

Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter, Harry Potter 

While Daniel Radcliffe’s list of best movies is long and notable – with entries like Swiss Army Man and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – he will always be known first and foremost as The Boy Who Lived. The actor took on the titular role of Harry Potter when he was 12 years old, and he’s the face of a franchise of movies that have raised countless people. So, while he is beloved for lots of things, nothing will ever be as big and prominent as his role in the Wizarding World.  

Aaron Paul – Jesse Pinkman, Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad and its cast truly took the world by storm, and the guys leading the charge, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, became certified legends because of it. It’s hard to separate Paul from Jesse Pinkman, and the impact he made with his fellow ensemble members in this incredible show.  

Sarah Michelle Gellar – Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

When you play one of the greatest TV characters of all time, obviously, it’ll be the thing you’re most remembered for. For Sarah Michelle Gellar, she’ll always be known as the legendary Buffy the Vampire Slayer after playing the empowering and strong titular character for seven seasons in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 

Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man/Tony Stark, Iron Man

Yes, Robert Downey Jr. won an Oscar for Oppenheimer, and yes, he’s well known for roles in other films, like Sherlock Holmes. However, when you single-handedly help successfully start a cinematic universe like the one Marvel has and star in nine of those projects, yes, you are going to be known for playing that character forever.

So, when it comes to RDJ’s legacy, his role as Iron Man/Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be the thing he’s remembered forever for.  

Elijah Wood – Frodo, Lord of the Rings

Like Daniel Radcliffe and Harry Potter, so many grew up with Elijah Wood and Lord of the Rings. His portrayal of the hobbit Frodo Baggins was incredibly impactful, and while he has gone on to play a variety of memorable roles, there’s no denying the power of the Rings. 

Carrie Fisher – Princess Leia, Star Wars

You can’t talk about the late great Carrie Fisher and her career without mentioning Princess Leia and the Star Wars movies. She inspired a whole generation as her intelligent, stubborn and empowering princess, and the five films she was a part of helped define sci-fi in film. 

Leonard Nimoy – Spock, Star Trek

Live long and prosper, my friend. Forever and always the legendary Leonard Nimoy will be known for originating the role of the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock in Star Trek. 

Christopher Reeve – Superman, Superman

Christopher Reeve’s legacy is rooted in him playing Superman in four films. Even the documentary that came out about his life in 2024 leans into his time playing Clark Kent, as it’s called Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. 

James Gandolfini – Tony Soprano, The Sopranos

The Sopranos is considered one of the greatest shows on television, and James Gandolfini’s performance as Tony Soprano is a major reason why. The actor won three Emmys for his performance in the series, and his name, face and voice are synonymous with the beloved HBO drama. 

Alicia Silverstone – Cher Horowitz, Clueless

When I think of Alicia Silverstone, I immediately think of Cher, because she is and always will be best known for her iconic performance in one of the best movies of the ‘90s, Clueless. 

Sigourney Weaver – Ellen Ripley, Alien

Sigourney Weaver changed the sci-fi game when she starred in Alien. Ellen Ripley is a magnificent and strong leading woman in this sci-fi horror flick, which in 1979, was not something we saw very often. 

Jim Parsons – Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory

“Bazinga!” Will always follow Jim Parsons, and that’s because of his tenure playing Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The actor has four Emmys for playing the role, he starred in all 280 episodes of the comedy, and his character even inspired a spinoff, Young Sheldon, which came to an end in 2024 after its own seven-season run. 

Kit Harington – Jon Snow, Game of Thrones

The world was introduced to Kit Harington because of Game of Thrones, and he will always be remembered as the heroic Jon Snow. His role in the GOT cast was vital, and over the years, as we watched him battle it out at The Wall and work toward saving Westeros from winter, it was impossible not to fall for him. Now, while Harington has been in numerous other projects since then, it’s impossible not to think of him as this epic fantasy hero first. 

Emma Watson – Hermione Granger, Harry Potter

These days, Emma Watson doesn’t act anymore, and she’s killing with her gin company Renais. However, she’ll also always be remembered as a wonderful actress who brought life to the beloved witch Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films. 

The Entire Cast of Friends

Yes, the cast of Friends all went on to have successful careers after the NBC sitcom. However, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox are best known as Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Monica, and they always will be, because they’re the ones with a hit TV show. 

Ralph Macchio – Daniel LaRusso, The Karate Kid

After three Karate Kid movies, and six seasons of its highly successful spinoff Cobra Kai, you’d be silly not to think that Ralph Macchio will always be remembered for playing Daniel LaRusso. 

Linda Hamilton – Sarah Connor, The Terminator

Linda Hamilton played Sarah Connor in The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator: Dark Fate. She’s beloved for portraying the protagonist in this sci-fi franchise, and she’s synonymous with this series that she starred in alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Chris Hemsworth – Thor, Thor

While many Marvel actors have become synonymous with their characters, one who really stands out is Chris Hemsworth and Thor. Physically, the Australian actor perfectly embodies the God of Thunder, and throughout his time playing the character he added an unexpected sense of humor to the role – especially post-Thor: Ragnarok – that he’ll be remembered forever for. 

Kristen Stewart – Bella Swan, Twilight

Twilight, the debate about Team Edward vs. Team Jacob and Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan took over the zeitgeist between 2008-2012. To this day, while she’s gone on to star in incredible films like Spencer and Love Lies Bleeding, the role that made her a household name is one of the parts she’ll always be remembered for. 

Heath Ledger – The Joker, The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger is widely regarded as the best Joker, because of his commanding performance as the legendary Batman villain in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. This movie was also one of his last before his untimely death, and he won a posthumous Oscar for his incredible take on the infamous big bad. 

Millie Bobby Brown – Eleven, Stranger Things

Millie Bobby Brown has made quite a few successful films, like the Enola Holmes movies. However, it’s undeniable that the role that will define her career is Eleven in Stranger Things. She was only 12 when she started playing the mysterious super-powered human, and over the course of the show’s five-season run, both she and the ensemble of the Netflix series, have become pop culture icons because of the show. 

William Shatner – Captain Kirk, Star Trek

If you take a look at the four projects listed at the top of William Shatner’s IMDb page, all of them are Star Trek movies where he played Captain Kirk. The man starred in seven films and a long-running TV show as the beloved captain, so of course it’s what he’s best known for. 

Michael J. Fox – Marty McFly, Back to the Future

From Family Ties to Teen Wolf, Michael J. Fox and his shows and movies were ‘80s staples. However, there’s no denying that the project he’ll always be remembered for is Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future. To this day, the project is considered one of the best ‘80s movies, and Fox is still beloved for playing the charismatic, funny and heroic Marty McFly. 

Reese Witherspoon – Elle Woods, Legally Blonde 

In the over two decades since Legally Blonde’s release, so many have been inspired to pursue their dreams and wear lots and lots of pink. That’s because Elle Woods truly left an amazing mark on the zeitgeist, and it’s because of Reese Witherspoon’s heartfelt, funny and preppy performance as the incredible lawyer-in-training. 

As Elle Woods would say, “What like it’s hard” to create one of the best characters and movies of the 2000s? 

Jon Hamm – Don Draper, Mad Men

While Jon Hamm is a wicked comedic actor, and he’s starred in a myriad of fun movies, nothing will ever come close to Mad Men. For 92 episodes, Hamm led the Mad Men cast as Don Draper – which he took an Emmy home for in 2015 – and he’ll always be recognized for playing the charismatic creative director of Sterling Cooper.

Judy Garland – Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is a film that has raised generations of kids since 1939, and it’s still a family classic. So, when you lead a beloved musical like that, as Judy Garland did, and it remains relevant and loved for over eight decades, obviously, the role you’ll always be known for is that one. 

David Tennant – The Doctor, Doctor Who

While everyone who has played the titular timelord on Doctor Who is known for that role specifically, David Tennant is a fan-favorite Doctor, and it’s single-handedly the project he’s best known for. While he’s dabbled in many other critically acclaimed projects, like Good Omens and Broadchurch, he is and always will be the beloved actor who graced our screens as the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors first and foremost. 

Anthony Hopkins – Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs

Silence of the Lambs is one of the greatest horror movies of all time, and it’s in part thanks to Anthony Hopkins' truly terrifying cannibal Hannibal Lecter. In fact, his character became so popular that it inspired three more movies and a TV show. 

Sarah Jessica Parker – Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

I’m sure Carrie Bradshaw inspired many women to become writers, and I know she left many of us fantasizing about living out our lives in New York City. Sarah Jessica Parker truly slayed the role, and her own sense of style and charismatic personality meshed perfectly with Carrie. Along with playing the writer in the OG series Sex and the City, SJP has also portrayed her in two movies and the series And Just Like That. 

Emilia Clarke – Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones 

Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen, those are all the names Emilia Clarke’s dragon rider went by in Game of Thrones, and she gave an absolutely commanding performance as her. While her ending wasn’t what most wanted, there’s no denying how amazing it was to see Daenerys rise from a woman trying to survive to a powerful leader, and that’s because of how brilliant Clarke was in the role. 

Mark Hamill – Luke Skywalker, Star Wars

He was the face of the original trilogy, and you can’t think about Star Wars without thinking about Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker. While the actor is well-known for other roles, especially in the world of voice acting, his most prominent part has to be this. 

Gal Gadot – Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman

Sadly, there aren’t many superhero movies led by women. However, luckily, we do have a few wonderful ones, and that includes Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. She played the beloved hero with so much grace, poise and strength, and she’ll 100% always be remembered for it. 

Obviously, while all these actors have played other prominent roles in well-known movies and shows, there’s no question that when we consider their legacies, these parts will be the first ones we think about. They’re that iconic, and we have these performers to thank for them. 

Despite a limited number of seasons and episodes, Black Mirror has, since the beginning, killed it with its casting. The Charlie Brooker-led show has landed some of the biggest stars in the world for episodes and chooses some of the best character actors from both sides of the pond as well. Here are 32 casting examples that prove Black Mirror crushes it. 

Daniel Kaluuya

Before Daniel Kaluuya hit the really big time with break-out roles in Get Out and Black Panther, he had a role in just the second episode of Black Mirror, called "Fifteen Million Merits." Kaluuya played a low-level bike rider looking to escape his boring life by performing in a reality TV show. It's a powerful performance and helped set the tone for the series. 

Hayley Atwell

Season 2 of  Black Mirror started with a bang, with an episode called "Be Right Back" starring Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson in a real mind-bending episode about a couple with a classic Black Mirror twist. 

Jon Hamm

In between Season 1 and Season 2, Black Mirror aired a Christmas special featuring its first big American star, Mad Men's Jon Hamm. It's a super disturbing episode in a ton of ways, not the least of which is just how evil Hamm's character turns out to be. 

Bryce Dallas Howard

Season 3 marked a big change for the show when it moved to Netflix. It also started with a band with the episode "Nosedive" starring Bryce Dallas Howard. It felt a first like a different take on the general premise of Black Mirror, being brighter and seemingly more upbeat. But that didn't last long, of course, and Howard's performance made it all work perfectly. 

Kelly MacDonald

Kelly Mac Donald isn't often the star of her projects but she is consistently excellent in everything she is in. She does star in one episode of Black Mirror, the Season 3 episode "Hated In The Nation" which is the show's take on a police procedural, with  MacDonald playing the main investigator. 

Salma Hayek

There are few stars bigger than the great Salma Hayak and her role in the episode "Joan Is Awful" in the Sixth Season is just perfect. She plays a version of herself, playing the character Joan and her no-BS attitude is just pitch-perfect. 

Jesse Plemons

The first episode of Season 4, "USS Callister" often ranks among the best episodes of Black Mirror, and a big reason why is the performances of the actors in the episode. There is no character more important than manipulative Captain Robert Daly played wonderfully by Jesse Plemons. 

Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott elevates basically everything he is in. Whether it's shows like Sherlock and Fleabag or movies like 1917, he also turns in one of the most memorable performances. Black Mirror is no exception. While the episode he appears in, "Smithereens" isn't well regarded among fans, there's no denying that Scott's performance is excellent and even earned him an Emmy nomination. 

Anthony Mackie

Anthony Mackie has never shied away from playing Gay men, with his first breakout role coming as a Gay art student in the film Brother to Brother. His role in Black Mirror wasn't quite as clear cut, as he played a man clearly struggling with his feelings and identity in the Season 5 episode "Striking Vipers." 

Kate Mara

The Season 6 episode, "Beyond the Sea," is one of the more messed up episodes of Black Mirror and that's really saying something. Kate Mara stars in the show as a woman trapped in the middle of a love triangle by two astronauts, one her husband, and one her suitor. It's a polarizing episode, like many, but there's no question it's as disturbing as the show can get. 

Miley Cyrus

In the final episode of Season 5, Miley Cyrus stars as Ashley O, a pop star not unlike her real-life self. Of all the Black Mirror episodes, it's maybe the least disturbing, but that really makes it underrated, if anything. It still makes the viewer question modern culture and tech, it just doesn't end in tragedy. 

Topher Grace

In Smithereens, Topher Grace plays a Jack Dorsey-type tech CEO who leads a social media company. While the episode is often criticized for its simplistic social commentary, by Black Mirror standards, Grace's performance is actually pretty perfect. All the acting performances are great in this uneven performance. 

Letitia Wright

Letitia Wright had been building a solid career in the U.K. before 2018 when she exploded on the world stage with her appearance in Black Panther. Prior to becoming a big part of the MCU, however, she starred in the Season 4 finale, "Black Museum." It's a fun episode with an almost greatest hits-type vibe, as it's filled with easter eggs to previous episodes. 

Benedict Wong

Benedict Wong has low-key become one of the most popular side characters in the MCU as... well... Wong. The same year he joined the MCU, in 2016's Doctor Strange, he also starred in the Season 3 episode "Hated in the Nation." He has a smaller role in the show compared to some of the other stars (like Kelly MacDonald) but he's great, as he always is in his many roles. 

Aaron Paul

Aaron Paul will likely forever be known first and foremost as Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad. There's nothing wrong with that, but Paul has had an impressive career outside of the legendary AMC show as well. One very notable role came in Season 6 of Black Mirror when he appeared alongside Josh Harnett and Kate Mara in "Beyond the Sea." It wasn't Paul's first appearance on the show, however. He had a quick cameo in "USS Callister" during the show's 4th Season. 

Zazie Beetz

Zazie Beetz hit the big time as a member of the hit show Atlanta starting in 2016. She later gained an even larger fanbase as Domino in Deadpool 2. In 2023, she got to star in an episode of Black Mirror called "Mazey Day" which broke new ground for the show, dipping into the supernatural for the first time. Though it wasn't the most well-received episode of the series, Beetz put together a great performance as a paparazza. 

Josh Harnett

Over the last 25 years, Josh Harnett has quietly put together one of the most underrated careers in Hollywood. He's played all kinds of roles, from heartthrobs to nuclear physicists. Of course, he also appeared as part of the star-studded cast of "Under The Sea" in Season 6. 

Michael Cera

Michael Cera has never been afraid to play ridiculous versions of himself. Most notably, in This Is The End, but also in the Season 6 episode "Joan is Awful." Everyone in the episode is playing some sort of version of themselves and Cera, as the character Beppe is, of course, over the top in his performance and we're here for it. 

Tobias Menzies

As character actors go, they don't get much better than Tobias Menzies. The English actor seems to pop up constantly in "prestige" shows. He was Brutus in HBO's Rome, he was Edmund Tully in Game of Thrones and he won an Emmy for playing Prince Philip in two seasons of The Crown. In the second season of Black Mirror, he played a British politician running for office against an animated bear named Waldo in "The Waldo Moment."

Domhnall Gleeson

Sure, Domhnall Gleeson is part of two of the biggest franchises in film history as a member of the Weasley family in the Harry Potter movies and General Hux in the Star Wars movies, but he's also been one of the best actors around for a couple of decades now. He appeared in the first episode of Season 2, "Be Right Back."

Wyatt Russell

Even though he has two very famous actors as parents, Wyatt Russell originally strived to play professional hockey. When injuries cut his career short, he fell back on acting. Lucky, huh? Still, he's putting together a really nice career, one that includes an appearance in the 2016 episode "Playtest."

Jodie Whittaker

Jodie Whittaker made history when she became the first woman to play The Doctor in three seasons of the modern era of Dr. Who. That wasn't Whittaker's first dabble in  science fiction TV, however, as she appeared in the third-ever episode of Black Mirror called "The Entire History of You." She is excellent in the episode, which ranks tops all-time on quite a few rankings. 

Jerome Flynn

One of the most disturbing episodes of Black Mirror came in its third season. "Shut Up and Dance" is a complicated episode, as viewers are repulsed by the characters, including, most notably, the one played by Game Of Thrones vet Jerome Flynn. Viewers are also taken aback by what those terrible characters have to do. It's a polarizing episode, but that's part of what makes it so great. 

Rory Kinnear

There are two roles that Rory Kinnear is likely most recognized for. One is Bill Tanner in four of the Daniel Craig-era James Bond movies. He's one of the most important characters from the Craig-led Bond films. The second is from the now-legendary premiere episode of Black Mirror called "The National Anthem." His performance as the beleaguered Prime Minister forced to do unspeakable things in the episode is, frankly, legendary.  

Rupert Everett

Rupert Everett has been killing on screen for more than 40 years now and though his role in the second episode of Season 1 is small, he's brilliant. He plays a Simon Cowell-type on a dystopian version of Britain's Got Talent and he, like Cowell, steals the show as a judge. 

Cherry Jones

Season 3's first episode, "Nosedive" is a fantastic episode, and a big reason why is the acting performances, including from Cherry Jones, who appears in only one scene of the show, but it's the pivotal moment in the show. Jones is one of the more underrated character actresses in Hollywood, but she's probably best known for playing President Allison Taylor on 24 and Holly Maddox in two seasons of The Handmaid's Tale. 

Oona Chaplin

Oona Chaplin comes from a family of true film royalty. Her grandfather was the legendary Charlie Chaplin. She's carved out an impressive career as well. She's best known as Talisa Stark, the ill-fated wife of Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, where she was the first death at the infamous Red Wedding. She stars alongside Jon Hamm in the Christmas special of Black Mirror in a smaller role, literally and figuratively, but her performance is sure to freak out everyone who watches. 

Jimmi Simpson

It's hard to believe that Always Sunny In Philadelphia first hit the airwaves in 2005, but it did. Jimmi Simpson has been along for most of the ride, as the oddball frenemy to "The Gang" and member of the McPoyle family, Liam McPoyle. He also appeared one of the most star-studded casts of Black Mirror in the "USS Callister."

Annie Murphy

Annie Murphy is most famous for playing Alexis Rose in Schitt's Creek and in 2023 she appeared as a strange version of herself playing "Joan" in "Joan in Awful" alongside Salma Hayek in the sixth season.  

Kirsten Dunst

"USS Callister" has one of the more star-studded casts and one of the stars you may not have even seen, Kirsten Dunst. Dunst's cameo in Black Mirror is truly a blink--and-you-miss-moment in the episode. She appears as a fellow office worker in the show and it's so brief most people missed it. 

Cristin Milioti

The multi-talented Cristin Milioti started her career on the stage on Broadway where she became a Tony-nominated actress, but made her on-screen breakthrough as "The Mother" in How I Met Your Mother. Since then, she's shined in shows like Fargo, The Resort, and The Mindy Project, as well as starring in "USS Callister" in Black Mirror. 

Will Poulter

Will Poulter seems to like showing in prestige TV shows. In addition to starring in the groundbreaking interactive "choose your own adventure" Black Mirror movie called Bandersnatch, he's also shown up in a cameo on The Bear. That's in addition, of course, to his film roles in The Revenant, Midsommar, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3., among many others. 

Channing Tatum has been lying low since getting engaged to Zoe Kravitz last year. There hadn’t been much news about his upcoming film projects. Well, that silence concluded as Tatum hopped online to confirm he was still bringing his childhood love The Maxx to the big screen. Following the Magic Mike star’s confirmation, numerous celebrities, including Jason Momoa and Aaron Paul, reacted to the news.

The Hollywood A-lister set his sights on the comic book adaptation after the Gambit movie fell apart. Taking the cult classic comic to the big screen has been a labor of love for Tatum after watching one of MTV’s greatest cartoons. The actor-producer couldn’t hold back his excitement as he hopped on his Instagram account to express his love for the original animated series. Tatum said:

The Lost City star tapped into the obsession Millennials and Gen Xers had with the music channel’s late-night animated lineup. The block was filled with adult animated shows focusing on gritty and suggestive subjects. So Tatum had to sneak to stay up those 1990s late nights. His true fandom came out as the dancer-turned-actor spoke about the MTV series’ effect on his creativity, saying:

It appears the comic-to-screen adaptation will bring the beloved cult classic to a new audience after being off the air for three decades. Channing Tatum is more excited to see The Maxx coming to the big screen as a fan rather than the project’s producer. Look at his tribute carousel from the comic and animated series in his Instagram post below.

Tatum’s excitement was infectious as multiple celebrity fans couldn’t hold back their joy over seeing the upcoming comic book adaptation. The first celeb to speak up was Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, commenting:

Paul wasn’t the only one reminiscing about the original MTV animated series as Jason Momoa decided to chime in, saying:

More celebrities posted in Tatum’s comment section about their love for the comic and original series. Actress Brandy Ledford kept things simple by saying:

The 21 Jump Street star’s words resonated with other fans of the MTV series as they reminisced about other late-night animated shows. Celebrity DJ Ruckus brought up another beloved MTV series, posting:

However, it wasn’t just celebrities riled up by Channing Tatum’s announcement. A few followers took a moment to leave a comment. A commentator was waiting for the comic-to-film adaptation, sharing:

Like the Hollywood actor, fans couldn’t wait to relive their childhood memories. Another fan channeled Tatum’s excitement, commenting:

Even though the comment section was filled with numerous The Maxx fans, there was a small group of followers who weren’t familiar with the comic or MTV series but were here for the 43-year-old actor producing his dream movie. One follower said:

Another commentator expressed their excitement over the Hollywood A-lister’s child-like enthusiasm. They stated:

As fans wait for more news on The Maxx movie, there are more things to know about the cult classic comic before the movie drops. Channing Tatum has upcoming movies hitting theaters in the future. Tatum will appear in an untitled romantic comedy with Scarlett Johansson, set to arrive in cinemas on July 12. The Hollywood A-lister will appear in fiancée Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut Pussy Island, which still doesn’t have a release date. if you want to see what other movies are coming to theaters and streaming, look over our 2024 movie schedule.

Breaking Bad may have ended over a decade ago, but the bond between lead actors Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston is still strong. Not only do the two still hang out on occasion, but they even went into business together a few years ago. The pair launched an alcohol brand that includes a line of mezcal. Considering they’re well versed in producing drinks, it’s actually not all that surprising that they teamed up to serve as bartenders at Drake’s recent birthday party. And after the event, Paul marked the occasion by sharing a sweet photo. 

Drake turned 37 this week, and the Grammy winner celebrated by throwing a party in Miami. The soiree was held at a restaurant called Casadonna, which is an Italian-style restaurant located on the coastline. According to TMZ, there was plenty of mango juice on tap, but the two Breaking Bad alums were also treating guests to cocktails. And of course, they also had plenty of their Dos Hombres brand mezcal. Based on the footage obtained by the news outlet, everyone – including “Champagne Papi” himself – had a good time. The Jesse Pinkman actor took to his Instagram story to reshare a picture of himself, his old co-star and the rapper. Check it out:

I definitely didn’t have this meet-up on my bingo card, but I’m certainly not upset that it happened. (Also, Bryan Cranston is really rocking that shirt.) Aaron Paul also dropped another message on his Instagram story. In that case, he dropped a brief message for the “Best I Ever Had” performer:

This event is just another major moment for Drake, who’s had an eventful 2023. From dropping his new album to being thrown a bra during a concert, the singer really has quite the life. By having the two actors at his party, he’s certainly living a number of BB fans’ dreams. I have to be honest, as a lover of the franchise myself, I can’t help but be slightly jealous. Still, I think those slight feelings of envy are far outweighed by my sense of admiration.

What never ceases to delight me, though, is the enduring bromance between Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston. Many would surely agree with me that their chemistry on screen was nothing short of fantastic. But their interactions off camera are far more delightful (and don’t involve crystal meth). There’s even a familial connection between them now as, last year, Cranston was named the godfather of Paul’s son, Ryden. These two are definitely friendship goals, and I’m so here for it. 

While their friendship lives on, I think we’ve pretty much seen the last of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. The characters appeared together again in the 2019 Breaking Bad movie, El Camino, which wrapped up Jesse’s journey. And in a delightfully surprising turn of events, the actors reprised their respective roles on Better Call Saul during its final season last year. Though Vince Gilligan’s fictional universe of drug dealers and lawyers seems to have reached its end, Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston could always reteam for another show or movie. And if not, based on the success of Drake’s party, I’d say joint bartending could be a solid gig for them. If you're hoping for another reunion, we've rounded up some shows like Breaking Bad to keep you busy.

You can stream all seasons of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul using a Netflix subscription and, for more info on more recent small-screen fare, checkout the 2023 TV schedule.

Is it the end of the line for Breaking Bad? It’s been over a year since Vince Gilligan put the franchise to rest for the second time with the ending of Better Call Saul. As the TV show creator is currently getting ready to start production on an original sci-fi series for Apple TV+ that is void of methamphetamine and crime, he shared his thoughts on whether he thinks he would return to the world he started with Walter White. His answer has me hoping it doesn’t happen. 

While reflecting with Variety on the 10th anniversary of the Breaking Bad finale, Vince Gilligan was asked whether he believes he has said goodbye to the franchise “forever.” Here’s how he answered: 

It sounds like if Gilligan could have his way completely, he would never look back on the Breaking Bad franchise because he’s said what he wanted to say through both series. However, he shared one caveat. If his next couple projects completely flop and he finds a way back into Walter White’s world, he’s willing to open the door again. 

Gilligan sounds caught between loving the universe he created with Breaking Bad, and not wanting to overstay its welcome on TV screens even knowing how popular and powerful it is. The TV creator has been entrenched in telling the Breaking Bad story since 2007, bringing five seasons of the initial show starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul before lightning struck a second time with the success of prequel series Better Call Saul, which bowed out after six seasons. Gilligan also had this to say: 

It’s a fair answer, because who knows? Perhaps Vince Gilligan will figure out a really great new storyline from Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul and blow our minds years from now. However, I’m inclined to be content with the two incredible TV shows we’ve been given and hope Gilligan doesn’t simply go back to it out of boredom or peer pressure. I'd love to see him put his talents into his new original ideas and for them to pay off. 

Both series are so well made and I’d hate for more to come from the franchise and downgrade the quality Vince Gilligan has set up for what we’ve seen before. For the time being, Gilligan is placing his focus on a mysterious Apple TV+ sci-fi show, which has already received a two-season order. Gilligan shared he is planning to get started with production on the show this winter in New Mexico. 

In the meantime, you can watch both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul with a Netflix subscription. If you’re looking to rewatch it, check out the different orders you can watch both shows and if you've had your fill, here are some shows like Breaking Bad to try next.

Veronica Mars is one of the pivotal shows of the early 2000s. It was a critically acclaimed show with a dedicated fan base. Therefore, of course, many actors and actresses longed to be a part of it. The Veronica Mars actors were also talented and really helped give the show its identity. 

Even the Veronica Mars actors who guest starred added to the show’s appeal. Some of these guest stars and recurring characters were once unknown on Veronica Mars and are now household names. 

Let’s look back at some of the many now well-known actors who once appeared on the show.

Melissa Leo 

Academy Award winner Melissa Leo appears in over a hundred film and television projects. The Fighter earned her her first Oscar but she received critical acclaim and award-season recognition for many performances, including ones in Mildred Pierce, Louie, Prisoners, and Frozen River. 

Leo appeared in Veronica Mars Season 1 Episode 3, “Meet John Smith.” She plays Julia Smith, a transgender woman who reunites with her son after Veronica (Kristen Bell) helps him track her down. 

Jane Lynch 

You can’t think of Jane Lynch without thinking of Sue Sylvester from Glee. Sue is terrible but hilarious and often creates iconic moments with the main cast and the unforgettable Glee guest stars. In 2020, Lynch began hosting a revival of The Weakest Link. She has appeared in Two and a Half Men, Criminal Minds, Party Down (which is also co-created by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas), Mascots, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. 

Lynch makes a brief appearance in Veronica Mars Season 1 Episode 6, “Return of the Kane.” She plays Mrs. Donaldson. a faculty member that Veronica approaches about voter rigging at a Neptune High election. 

Jessica Chastain 

As one of the most respected actresses of the last decade, Jessica Chastain has won numerous awards, including an Academy Award. Her first Academy Award happened in 2022 for her performance in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. She also received Academy Award nominations for Zero Dark Thirty and The Help. Her filmography includes A Most Violent Year, Scenes from a Marriage, George and Tammy, and It Chapter Two.

Before Chastain could deliver one of her many great performances, she appeared in Veronica Mars. It was one of her first screen roles. She appears in the 7th episode of Season 1, “The Girl Next Door” as Sarah Williams. Sarah is a neighbor friend of Veronica's who goes missing. 

Aaron Paul 

Aaron Paul became a household name for playing Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad. He also played the character on El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and Better Call Saul.  Some of Paul’s screen highlights include roles in Truth Be Told, Westworld, The Path, and BoJack Horseman. He’s also had a great cameo or 20 in various projects and made plenty of guest appearances, including in Black Mirror and The Simpsons. 

Paul plays Eddie LaRoche, the main suspect in a murder and disappearance case in Veronica Mars Season 1, Episode 11, “Silence of the Lamb.” His sketchy behavior makes him a likely culprit. 

Anthony Anderson 

Anthony Anderson has created many memorable characters throughout his career. A few include Dre in black-ish, Detective Kevin Bernard in Law & Order, J.D in the Barbershop movies, and Antwon Mitchell in The Shield. He also appeared in Psych, Shameless, Beats, and Scream 4. Anderson has so many great forgotten performances as well.

He plays a gangsta rapper and former criminal named Bone Hamilton in Veronica Mars Season 1, Episode 13, “Lord of the Bling.” He hires Keith (Enrico Colantoni) to help him locate his missing daughter, who also used to be a friend of Veronica.

Adam Scott 

Adam Scott is best known for comedic roles in television shows such as Parks and Recreation, Step Brothers, The Good Place, and Party Down. He’s also the star of the AppleTV+ hit series Severance. 

Scott takes on a much more serious role in Veronica Mars. He plays Mr. Rooks, a teacher that divides Veronica and Keith in Veronica Mars Season 1, Episode 14, “Mars v. Mars. He’s accused of having an affair with a student. Veronica believes that he is innocent, but Keith can’t ignore the evidence. It’s one of the best Veronica Mars episodes. 

Leighton Meester 

Leighton Meester’s performance is the reason Blair Waldorf is such a beloved Gossip Girl character. Her film and TV credits include The Roommate, Single Parents. Life Partners, Making History, The Orville, and How I Met Your Father. 

Meester appears on multiple episodes of Veronica Mars as Carrie Bishop. Her first appearance is in “Mars v. Mars.” Her character accuses Adam Scott’s character of having a secret sexual relationship with her. The character of Carrie Bishop returns in the Veronica Mars movie, but Andrea Estella plays her. 

Tessa Thompson 

Tessa Thompson’s fame really blew up when she started playing Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, she has been in many well-known movies and TV shows. Some of her most popular movies include For Colored Girls, Dear White People, Selma, the Creed franchise, Sorry to Bother You, Passing, and Men In Black: International.

Tessa Thompson may be one of the people on this list that you do remember from Veronica Mars because she was a main character all throughout Season 2. She plays Jackie Cook, the main love interest of Wallace (Percy Daggs III). The character immediately left at the end of Veronica Mars Season 2. 

Taylor Sheridan 

Taylor Sheridan is an actor, director, and screenwriter. He has written many popular movies and TV shows, including Yellowstone, Mayor of Kingstown, 1883, and 1923. He also wrote the screenplay for the films Sicario, Hell or High Water, Wind River, Without Remorse, and Those Who Wish Me Dead.

Sheridan’s few acting credits include Veronica Mars. He had a recurring role as Danny Boyd in Veronica Mars Season 2. The character first appeared in Veronica Mars Season 2 Episode 8, "Ahoy, Mateys!" His character is part of a notorious crime family in Neptune.

Michael Cera 

Michael Cera may currently best be known for playing Allan in the Barbie movie. Before being the best male in Barbieland, he appeared in Juno, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Arrested Development, Black Mirror, and Life and Beth. 

Cera appears alongside his Arrested Development co-star Alia Shawkat in Veronica Mars. They appear in the episode “The Rapes of Graff” from Season 2. He plays Dean, a student at Hearst College who leads Veronica and Wallace’s tour of the campus

Armie Hammer 

Armie Hammer first stepped into the spotlight by playing the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network. He then appeared in such popular movies as J. Edgar, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Call Me by Your Name, Sorry to Bother You, and Death on the Nile.

Hammer appears in Veronica Mars Season 3 Episode 3, “Wichita Linebacker.” He plays Kurt Fenstermacher, a football player who may lose his scholarship if he can’t retrieve the team’s playbook that was stolen from him.

Paul Rudd  

It’s hard to imagine anyone who hasn’t heard of Paul Rudd. He’s been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ant-Man. He was Josh in Clueless. Mike in Friends. He’s also been in many iconic comedies such as Wet Hot American Summer, the Anchorman movies, The 40-Year Old Virgin, I Love You Man. He has so many great movies. Rudd has appeared in TV shows such as Parks and Recreation, Party Down, iZombie, and Only Murders in the Building. 

Rudd appears in Veronica Mars Season 3 Episode 17, “Debasement Tapes.” He plays Desmond Fellows, an aging rock star who Piz (Chris Lowell) gets to interview. However, the man is a disaster. 

There are a lot of other great actors and reality stars that you may have forgotten appeared on Veronica Mars, including Paris Hilton, Lisa Rinna, and Dianna Agron. You can catch all these stars and more by rewatching Veronica Mars. It’s definitely worth another rewatch.

Stream Veronica Mars on Hulu. 

Breaking Bad is considered by some to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time, as it's known for its incredible storytelling and a legendary performance by Bryan Cranston among other things. The show is mostly a gritty drama that's firmly set within the world of drug dealers. However, it turns out things weren’t always serious behind the scenes. The cast behind the acclaimed AMC show recently opened up about off-camera shenanigans, specifically one particular day on which Cranston was "fucking around" and brought a penis shaped water gun to set. 

In a recent profile of the Walter White actor from GQ, his Breaking Bad co-stars talked about what it was like working with him. This includes details on his personal acting process. While some actors like to remain “in the zone” while on set, the Emmy winner was no such actor. The Saving Private Ryan alum apparently loved goofing around as Saul Goodman actor Bob Odenkirk revealed: 

It's great to hear that the leading man wanted to have fun when the cameras weren’t rolling. Walter White was such an intense character and, as a result, a lot was asked of the actor throughout the show's run. He has a lot of highly emotional scenes and is extremely intimidating throughout. While his character had to act a certain way, the Trumbo star clearly didn't and let his silly side reign. Fellow BB star Aaron Paul, who played Jesse Pinkman, corroborated Bob Odenkirk’s thoughts about the actor. He did so by backing them up with the aforementioned moment involving a penis water gun:

Poor Aaron Paul. The Jesse character had a lot to carry as well, with his complicated background and his entanglement in a criminal underworld. Paul was probably performing his heart out and then his co-star decided to mess with him using a water gun and a penis-shaped one no less. To be honest, the thought is absolutely hysterical and is likely part of the reason the former co-stars share a familial connection today. They even own a mezcal brand together called Dos Hombres, further proving they were able to bond off screen. 

It's not at all surprising that the jovial-seeming Bryan Cranston tried to infuse fun into Breaking Bad whenever he could and that some of the cast was game. A lot of actors, including Cranston himself, had comedy backgrounds, which probably helped keep the atmosphere on set light when the cameras weren't rolling. The Your Honor actor, in particular, was starred on the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle (and he wants more of it) before he cemented his leading man status. And years before nabbing the role of Saul, Bob Odenkirk was known for his comedic work before his turn, as he was a head writer on SNL. I'd wager that they all had a fun time on set, and I'm now also wondering if there's any way to top the craziness of bringing a penis-esque squirt gun to a job.

Bryan Cranston can be seen flexing his comedy chops once again in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, which hits theaters worldwide on June 23rd. Fans can also revisit his award-winning performance in Breaking Bad by streaming all five seasons with a Netflix subscription. And of course, if you're looking for current shows to watch, take a look at CinemaBlend's 2023 TV schedule.

A cameo can be the ultimate wink and a nod if done right. Legacy cast members can appear in reboots, actors can mock themselves in fictionalized versions of their personas, or in the case of the new movie release Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, original Al actor Aaron Paul can pop up to connect the past to the present. 

At least, that’s what was supposed to happen, as a last minute roadblock forced the Westworld star to bail. As we previously reported, Aaron Paul was supposed to make a cameo, in a nod to his participation in the original Funny or Die short. However, COVID-19 had other plans, forcing him to bow out at the last moment. 

Recalling this fact to co-writer/director Eric Appel, I asked him what role Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’s original Al would have played, if all had gone as planned with the Roku original. Appel revealed that mystery role to CinemaBlend with the following details:

Having Aaron Paul heckling Daniel Radcliffe in that Weird bar scene is just the sort of meta-humor you’d expect. “Previous actor heckles new actor” is a trick that’s pretty ingrained in the cameo rulebook, and this is a standard example of why. That being said, this moment could have eventually given over to sweetness, as that biker heckler eventually respects and approves of Al’s performance as it progresses. 

So who ended up taking this spot on the Weird: The Al Yankovic Story arc? None other than famed comedian/I Love My Dad star Patton Oswalt, which technically still serves those twin purposes mentioned above. For those of you keeping score at home, Patton Oswalt played the original Doctor Demento in the shorter version of Eric Appel’s Weird concept, alongside Aaron Paul’s Al and Olivia Wilde’s Madonna.

With that role going to Rainn Wilson in the Roku Channel original film, it was still fantastic to see Oswalt still taking part in the madness that was covered in the trailer for this Daniel Radcliffe-led faux biopic. It’s even funnier when you consider the fact that Oswalt’s heckler is part of the scene where Wilson’s Demento “discovers” Al. 

With its tongue firmly planted in its cheek and Aaron Paul sadly sidelined for the moment, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story still got its moment of heckle-ception. Sometimes not even COVID can stop a good joke, and some of the critical responses to Weird would agree.

Everyone who wants to get on the Weird: The Al Yankovic Story bandwagon doesn’t have to do much. All you have to do is pull up the Roku Channel and select the movie, put your face right up against the screen and soak up all of the Al you can hand-al. Those looking for seconds can also watch UHF on the platform’s library, and the best part is it’s absolutely free.

Fans of HBO’s Westworld were delivered a shock late last week, when the award-winning dystopian sci-fi drama was canceled ahead of its fifth season. Despite its twisty plots and exciting commentary on humanity vs. artificial intelligence, Westworld was apparently the victim of an aggressive cost-cutting mandate enacted by the network. The series’ big budget, combined with declining ratings over the past two seasons, proved to be its downfall, but it turns out the A+ cast members are still going to get paid.

Deadline reports that Westworld’s actors had “pay-or-play deals” for Season 5, ensuring that the cast — which includes Aaron Paul, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Tessa Thompson and Jeffrey Wright — will still be paid, despite the cancellation. The site reports that contracts may have been renegotiated ahead of Season 4, and that networks making such guarantees to its actors is not unusual, particularly for ensemble casts that might be difficult to reassemble otherwise.

HBO is expected to pay out between $10 million and $15 million to the actors, which is still considerably more financially feasible than paying for another season, as THR reports that Season 4 cost “at least $160 million” to make what turned out to be its final eight episodes.

Despite ratings for Westworld dropping for 2020’s Season 3, and falling further two years later when it returned from pandemic-related delays, co-creator Jonathan Nolan said he’d always planned for a fifth and final season. It’s terribly frustrating for fans, including myself, to know there was a plan that would bring the often-confusing storylines to a conclusion, and now we will likely never get to see that play out.

Over its four seasons, the series accumulated 54 Primetime Emmy nominations, taking home nine trophies. There’s no question the HBO drama has made its mark on the TV world, with another good benchmark of that being the fact that it was brilliantly parodied in The Simpsons’ annual Halloween “Treehouse of Horror” episode this year.

As the actors will still collect a check from HBO, we can keep up with them through their other projects. Evan Rachel Wood can currently be seen with a spot-on portrayal of Madonna on The Roku Channel’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. And following Teddy’s surprising return to Westworld Season 4, you can take a look at any of James Marsden’s best movies and TV shows.

There may not be any more stories from the Divine on their way, but the first four seasons of Westworld are still available to stream for fans with an HBO Max subscription. You can also check out some of HBO Max’s best original series, and see what’s coming to cable and streaming for the rest of the year with our 2022 TV schedule. 

A good way for an actor to start out is by making a guest appearance on a TV crime procedural series like Bones — the Emmy-nominated show starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz that ran for 12 seasons on Fox. In fact, the fun, clever, and romantic drama inspired by the life of forensic pathologist Kathy Reichs was an early credit, or even first credit, for many actors before really making a name for themselves. Take a look at the 18 actors below and see if you remember when they crossed paths with Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan and Agent Seeley Booth.

Michael B. Jordan (Perry Wilson)

Before becoming one of the most popular and respected actors of his generation with stellar performances in Fruitvale Station, the Creed movies, and Black Panther as one of the MCU’s most memorable villains, Michael B. Jordan was best known for television roles of varying magnitude, such as the time he was guest star on House. Earlier than that, however, he appeared on Season 5 of Bones as a young man who encounters Booth’s protective side when he starts dating Camille Saroyan’s (Tamara Taylor) adoptive daughter, Michelle (Tiffany Hines).

Jaimie Alexander (Molly Briggs)

Another Marvel movies star who guested on Bones just a few years before playing Lady Sif in the Thor franchise was Jaimie Alexander. In the Season 4 episode “The Beaver in the Otter,” Brennan and Booth eventually learn her character knows more than she would let on about the body of a fellow college student found inside the school mascot uniform.

Sean Gunn (Dr. Howard Fitch)

Yet another Marvel movie veteran with a Bones episode on his resume is Sean Gunn, who plays both Kraglin and provides the motion capture for Rocket Raccoon in his brother James’ Guardians of the Galaxy films. Actually, Gunn had already completed his stint in the Gilmore Girls cast and made his MCU debut when he a made a small appearance as a forensic science convention attendee in the crime procedural’s tenth season.

Jennifer Holland (Nicole Twist)

Another actor with both personal and professional connections to James Gunn is his real-life romantic partner and Peacemaker cast member Jennifer Holland. In 2011, the former model also had a brief role on a Season 6 episode of Bones as the sole social media friend of a recent murder victim, with whom she had suffered a falling out regarding a counterfeit handbag.

Aldis Hodge (Jimmy Merton)

Speaking of DCEU actors, Black Adam cast member Aldis Hodge is also known for the TNT series Leverage, Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, and the Oscar nominated movie, One Night in Miami…, to name few. He also starred on the first season of Bones as a military veteran still struggling to overcome painful memories when he is questioned by Booth and Brennan about the death of his former comrade.

Laz Alonso (George Warren)

Speaking of comic book adaptation stars, Laz Alonso is best known today for taking out corrupt supes as Mother’s Milk on Amazon Prime’s hit series based on Garth Ennis' The Boys. Years earlier, he appeared on Bones Season 1 as the brother of a woman whose mummified remains were found, along with a bag of methamphetamines, by Brennan inside the wall of a night club.

Giancarlo Esposito (Richard Benoit)

Speaking of The Boys cast members, Emmy nominee Giancarlo Esposito is also known for many other legendary (and very sinister) roles in TV series like Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian. One of his lesser-known (but still pretty sinister) TV characters is that of a New Orleans voodoo shop owner who threatens to curse Brennan when she suspects him of murder in Season 1 of Bones.

Aaron Paul (Stew Ellis)

Speaking of Breaking Bad cast members, three-time Emmy-winning Jesse Pinkman actor Aaron Paul just happened to appear on the first season of Bones before he was cast on the hit AMC series as well. He played a comic book store owner whom Brennan and Booth confront about the murder of a teen who was so obsessed with superheroes that he tried to become one.

Dean Norris (Don Timmons)

Aaron Paul’s Breaking Bad co-star and DEA Agent Hank Schrader actor, Dean Norris, also appeared on Bones — and not just once, but two times. In Season 4, he played the owner of a pitbull who may have been responsible for the death of his own veterinarian, and would return in the uncredited and unrelated role of a court juror in the following season.

Michael Cudlitz (Lucky)

Speaking of actors from hit AMC shows, Michael Cudlitz would join The Walking Dead cast in Season 4 as military veteran Abraham Ford, which is just about his best-known role to date. Years before then, he had a guest spot on Bones Season 3 as the operator of a lodge where people indulge in a unique form a sexual role play involving one person pretending to be a horse and the other their “rider.”

Kyle Gallner (Jeremy Farrell)

In addition to a very brief stint on The Walking Dead (one episode), Kyle Gallner is a bit of an underrated Scream King for his appearances in Jennifer’s Body and the fifth installment of the Scream movies from 2022, most notably. However, his role on the Bones Season 2 episode “The Girl with the Curl” as the older brother of a 9-year-old beauty pageant star harboring a dark secret was not particularly scary, albeit a bit upsetting.

Theo Rossi (Nick Arno)

Theo Rossi of Sons of Anarchy cast and Luke Cage fame dealt with a very different kind of zombie horde when he was cast in Army of the Dead — writer and director Zack Snyder’s Netflix original action-horror flick that was set in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. Coincidentally, the actor also appeared on a Season 2 Bones episode that took place in Sin City, playing the owner of a fight club that Brennan and Booth infiltrate by posing as a couple.

Indira Varma (Inspector Cate Pritchard)

There are also members of the Star Wars universe who have made appearances on Bones — such as Obi-Wan Kenobi cast member Indira Varma, who played Tala Durith on the Disney+ original limited series. The actor played a Scotland Yard inspector  whom Brennan refers to as the “British version of Booth” while working a case together in a 2008 two-part episode set in the United Kingdom.

Jordan Fisher (Ian Johnson)

While he was already well on his way to securing himself as one of his generation’s most exceptional, multi-talented young performers, actor, singer, dancer, and Work It star Jordan Fisher got to put his best talents on display when he appeared on Bones. In a Season 11 episode that is easily one of the more musical of the whole series (not to mention how Pentatonix stars Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying also guest star), Fisher plays a member of collegiate a cappella group whose leader is found dead.

Justina Machado (Lupe Rojas)

Also known for busting some epic dancing moves (particularly with her successful stint on Dancing with the Stars) is Netflix’s One Day at a Time star Justina Machado, who had previously had a major role on HBO’s Six Feet Under. In between, she appeared on a Season 6 Bones episode as the ex-girlfriend of a man who was found dead in a cave along with the woman he left her for, which automatically makes her a prime suspect in the case.

Ariel Winter (Liza)

Fellow sitcom star Ariel Winter (who played Alex Dunphy in the Modern Family cast for 11 seasons) also has a recurring voice role on Disney Channel’s animated series, Elena of Avalor, in common with Justina Machado, in addition to both guest starring on Bones episodes. Actually, the then-8-year-old also appeared alongside Kyle Gallner in the aforementioned Season 2 episode “The Girl with the Curl” as a young dancer.

Taylor Kinney (Jimmy Fields)

Also known for playing a solder in the Oscar-winning 2013 film, Zero Dark Thirty, Taylor Kinney is best known from his recurring role on The Vampire Diaries cast and on Chicago Fire as regular character Kelly Severide. Before any of these credits came about, the actor played a collegiate basketball player whose hot-shot teammate is found dead underneath the gym bleachers on a Season 3 episode of Bones.

Ryan Michelle Bathe (Erin Miller)

Speaking of NBC drama stars, Ryan Michelle Bathe had a memorable recurring role alongside her real-life husband, Sterling K. Brown, in the This is Us cast before becoming the heroic lead of The Endgame cast in 2022. Much earlier, she had a guest appearance on Bones in a Season 4 episode as a woman with a “Cleopatra haircut” who serves as the estate lawyer to a family whose recently deceased loved one is discovered by Brennan to have been murdered when she attends his funeral. 

How many of these guest appearances by Hollywood’s soon-to-be stars rang a bell for you? If you still feel the need to refresh your memory by revisiting these episodes, you can stream Bones on Hulu, or stream Bones on Amazon's Freevee app for free, now.

Better Call Saul is now only two weeks away from completing its wildly ambitious and exceedingly excellent trip into Albuquerque’s underworld in the pre-Breaking Bad years. Of course, the timelines have now all converged with the airing of Episode 611, “Breaking Bad.” But just as fans were finally able to wholeheartedly celebrate Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul making their long-awaited reprisals of TV icons Walter White and Jesse Pinkman within Saul’s world, the AMC drama was surprisingly (and perhaps on-brandedly) hit with a lawsuit over an episode that aired earlier this season. 

AMC Networks, Sony Pictures and Better Call Saul’s producers were namechecked in a lawsuit filed by the company Liberty Tax Service, which is suing on the grounds of trade dress and trademark infringement. According to TheWrap, the company is going after the legal drama for its “intentional misuse” in depicting Betsy and Craig Kettleman’s company Sweet Liberty Tax Services, which was introduced to the show in the first half of the season with Episode 602, “Carrot and Stick.”

Liberty Tax Service goes on to allege the show is responsible for “dilution, defamation, disparagement and injurious falsehoods” over how the fictional company was depicted, as headed up by the money-hungry and embezzlement-friendly Kettleman family. Beyond the similarities in the name itself, the real-world tax company claims the Better Call Saul team purposefully copied the Liberty Tax logo and style, which includes various imagery involving the American flag and the Statue of Liberty. 

Here’s some specific language from the lawsuit implying the AMC drama’s intent.

At this point, it doesn’t appear as if AMC Networks, Sony Pictures, or any of Better Call Saul’s producers have spoken out about the lawsuit’s existence, which is understandable. It’s hard to tell just how seriously they’ll take the new filing, since it doesn’t seem likely that any one particular tax company has ultimate rights over using the Statue of Liberty or other American iconography in its logos and such. To me, the Kettlemans’ company looked like 100 other small-scale tax assistance operations, but that’s apparently not reflective of reality, or else Liberty Tax Service might have 100 other lawsuits on the table.

As fans will no doubt remember, Sweet Liberty Tax Services was the very place where Bob Odenkirk’s Saul Goodman procured the inflatable Statue of Liberty that stands atop the character’s strip mall law office both in the prequel and in Breaking Bad proper. It was also the place where the Emmy-nominated Rhea Seehorn found more of her footing on Jimmy’s shakier side of lawfulness, which inevitably led to all kinds of terrible things like her leaving Jimmy and New Mexico altogether. 

While waiting to see how this lawsuit shakes out, Better Call Saul’s final episodes will air over the next two Mondays on AMC at 9:00 p.m. ET. Fans can watch Aaron Paul currently on Westworld Season 4 on Sunday nights on HBO, and he’ll be seen later this year (or next) in the upcoming season of Netflix’s Black Mirror. Bryan Cranston, meanwhile, has the second and final season of Showtime’s legal-ish drama Your Honor coming this fall. Head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what else is on the way.

Spoilers below for the latest episode of Better Call Saul, so be warned if you’re not yet caught up!

With its eighth episode, AMC’s Better Call Saul at last drew the line in the New Mexico desert sand for Bob Odenkirk’s Jimmy McGill and his most significant other, Rhea Seehorn’s Kim Wexler. Following a moral-deflating visit to the memorial for the dead-and-buried Howard Hamlin, Kim ended things not only with Jimmy, but with her entire career. With that split now set in stone, Saul Goodman can emerge in full, and the Breaking Bad timeline can officially commence. Which means we’re right around the corner from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s respective returns as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. 

Given that glorious eventuality, the two actors spoke with the Albuquerque Journal about bringing the duo back to television following their previous reprisals for the AMC/Netflix feature El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. And Bryan Cranston, ever the joker despite his dramatic chops, deadpanned the claim that co-star Bob Odenkirk had become a bit more full of himself and demanding in the years since he’s been a lead on Better Call Saul. According to Cranston:

Of course, if Bob Odenkirk has changed in recent years, it’s only been for the better, at least according to seemingly everyone who’s worked with him. And the love for the Mr. Show vet only grew stronger while filming the final season, when Odenkirk suffered a production-stopping heart attack. (The near-tragic scene in question happened in Episode 608.) The actor had nothing but love to share for everyone he worked with once the drama wrapped filming earlier this year. On-screen, however, things are not at all so kind-hearted and cheery, as the final dots will soon be connected for this interconnected universe. 

Not that we have any real clue yet how Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will show up, as far as whether or not they’ll be together on screen or not. After all, Walt could appear in a flashback, while Jesse could show up in one of the black-and-white Gene flash-forwards. But it seems like they’ll be paired up again, since they were flown out to the production together. Cranston did open up about the heighted secrecy involved, saying:

The need for secrecy is obviously understood, since fans would have no doubt flocked to whatever establishments the actors went to had the public at large known about Cranston and Paul’s trip to New Mexico at the time. And while they obviously weren’t tortured or anything so drastic, it does sound like the duo went through some less-than-optimal experiences just so viewers could experience their cameo returns in fully unspoiled bliss. 

Of course, the original idea was for no one to know about Walt and Jesse’s return until it happened, and Aaron Paul joked about co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould putting them through all those complications just to troll them, seeing as how the news was revealed fairly early on that the biggest Breaking Bad crossover possible was imminent. Here’s how Paul put it:

Someone who’s not messing around is Gus Fring, who is now living far easier without Lalo haunting his daily existence. And with construction set to start up again in the lab beneath the laundromat, it’s only a matter of time before he needs someone in there cooking up the signature blue meth at the heart of Breaking Bad. 

Better Call Saul airs Monday nights on AMC at 9:00 p.m. ET, with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s returns rumored to be happening in Episode 610, airing on July 25. While waiting to see that happen, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.

Tons of spoilers below for Westworld Season 4’s fourth installment, “Generation Loss,” so be warned if you haven’t yet watched!

Westworld seemed to clue audiences in on the importance of Episode 404 in the way it eschewed the usual cold open, so that the constant flow of details, twists and revelations wouldn’t be interrupted. And it was quite a gripping hour of television, thanks in part to a finale-worthy bevy of big reveals and twists that completely changed this show’s universe up from what we understood going into it. While I don’t think Westworld can ever quite match the pummeling shock of Season 1’s William/Man In Black timeline, I dare say “Generation Loss” comes as close as possible, with a villainous declaration that seemingly paid homage to Watchmen’s endgame shocker.

Considering everything we know now about Caleb, Maeve, and other main characters, it’s almost baffling to think that half of Season 4’s eight episodes have yet to air. Clearly, creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan aren’t finished putting viewers through the narrative wringer, so let’s take a closer look at the major and minor twists peppered throughout Episode 404. (While also quietly pondering the connection the episode’s number has to 404 errors that occasionally plague web browsing.)

Major Twist #1: Caleb Was Killed And Turned Into A Host 

Well, it finally happened: the twist that some Westworld fans have been guessing at and waiting for ever since Aaron Paul’s Caleb was first introduced in Season 3. Caleb is no longer a living and breathing human, and is instead one of many hosts under the ruling thumb of Charlotte Hale, though I’m not entirely certain how much of what we’ve seen from him so far this season has been part of his sentience-asserting fidelity test. The early-episode flashback (within a flashback) played viewer expectations in that respect, making it seem as if Caleb had died from a bullet wound during a mission with Maeve. 

It was indeed bullets that killed him in the end, though, with Hale’s team taking Caleb out somewhat soon after Maeve’s self-sacrifice. And yet, Hale chose to keep him around as a host, likely due to the strong impact he’d made on Dolores and Maeve, despite that making him something of an obvious threat. Such is Hale’s pride and arrogance, I guess.

•  So What Happens Next? 

Caleb obviously isn’t a mindless worker-bee drone that’ll dutifully go about his host duties without further clashing, even if Hale has the upper hand by way of controlling things. But surely Paul’s character gaining sentience similar to Dolores, Maeve and the Man in Black indicates he’ll soon bring his human and host skills together to become Hale’s nightmare. Assuming it doesn’t take him two more decades to figure out how to gain powers.

Major Twist #2: Charlotte Hale’s Fly Scheme Worked, And The Tower Is Real

With its very first sequence in Season 4, Westworld hinted at more timeline shenanigans as the Man in Black utilized a fly army to gain access to the Hoover Dam, while much of what we’ve seen after that depicted the early trial phases of Hale’s fly-weaponizing scheme. But it was confirmed in Episode 404, whose title “Generations Loss” is itself a reference to her reveal, that her plan to take over humanity via airborne parasites was a vast success. And as Caleb soon discovers, it’s been 23 years since his humanly death, and the world is now populated by millions (perhaps billions) of adults who were infected with the flies as children, an age range when such perfect symbioses are best formed. 

As it turns out, the mysterious Tower that we’ve seen and heard about is actually a massive version of the device within Delos’ labs that uses soundwaves to control those who’ve been infected, and is located just off the coast of NYC. (Which definitely ties back to Peter killing himself in front of Christina, as suicides were part of the trial-and-error testing.) Tessa Thompson was divine in laying out the hope-destroying line of “Welcome to my world,” and it looks like humanity doesn’t have a shot at rising back up.

•  So What Happens Next?

I mean, obviously humanity is going to rise back up, but it’s a matter of how. Because for all that Hale appears to be a world-conquering tyrant, viewers have only seen the Tower’s effects on display within New York City specifically. Which could mean other highly populated cities around the world aren’t yet under her grasp, and could provide assistance in taking her down. Although I don’t really get what the rest of the world would think the Tower is for. 

Major Twist #3: Aurora Perrineau’s C Is Caleb’s Daughter 

To be clear, I’m sure there are some fans who guessed this from the start, since there are only a certain number of characters/twists to populate such theorizing. But it was still a jolt to the “aha” sense when it was made clear that Aurora Perrineau’s mystery character, dubbed C, is actually Caleb’s daughter Frankie. Nobody came out and said that her letter-specific name was in reference to her dearly departed pops, but that’s gotta be the case, right?

Now that we know what this character’s motivations tie into, it’s easier to understand why she’s working with Daniel Wu’s rebel leader J. And why she doesn’t have much time for taking nonsense from anyone else. She went through a pretty traumatic experience with her mom, and we don’t even know yet what happened to them after Caleb and Maeve’s mission went so awry. Nor what Uwade’s fate was, or is.

•  So What Happens Next?

Frankie gets revenge, naturally. Of course, we don’t know exactly how it’ll happen yet, but one can only assume it will involve the mystery person that J and others were going to extract. Could that end up being Uwade?

Major Twist #4: Maeve Is The Weapon Bernard Was Talking About 

Before we had a real clue of how the timelines worked in Season 4, I can’t imagine many fans out there expected for Bernard’s big weapon in the desert to be Maeve. Now that we do know it’s her, it sorta makes all the sense in the world, since she’s one of few hosts who was able to tap into empathy and humanity, which led to her sacrificing herself in order to take the Man in Black down. (Not that the whole “saving Caleb” part of that plan worked, but she doesn’t know that yet.)

I’m still not sure how all of these geographical changes make sense, as far as this desert area goes, though I’m curious to know what park was going to be built there, and why Delos didn’t just go forward with construction despite all the explosions and whatnot. Granted, Bernard likely would have found her even if she was beneath a fake medieval castle or a fake African jungle, but it’s odd that the land was left barren. 

•  So What Happens Next?

Only Bernard knows that, but it’s easy to imagine Bernard will get Maeve back online somehow, so that she can get caught up with the past 23 years of events. But she’s almost definitely going to need some big upgrades of her own in order to take down Hale and her seemingly endless army. She could probably use some old friends by her side, too. 

Major Twist #5: Olympiad Entertainment Is (Probably) The New Delos 

This one also starts with a caveat, in that fans started theorizing about Delos connections as soon as Westworld namechecked Olympiad Entertainment as the company that Evan Rachel Wood’s Christina works for. It happens with every organization and brand name that comes up, and it’s often a safe bet to make. So it wasn’t so much shocking as highly intriguing when Episode 404 revealed that Hale was giving Caleb his fidelity test within the Olympiad building. 

To be sure, there’s always the possibility that this wasn’t quite what it seemed to be, and that the location switcheroo was just to throw audiences off. But that seems like it would create unnecessary storytelling hurdles, as it’s far easier to believe that a company responsible for crafting narrative games is actually a front for a devious corporation ruled by A.I. to control people’s minds. It’s the Delos mission statement, post-Ford. 

•  So What Happens Next?

Considering this reveal appears to fully connect Caleb to Christina’s timeline — despite the fact that the Tower isn’t visible during her scenes — we can hopefully expect to see Paul and Wood to share the screen again, as confusing as it’ll be for all involved. (Viewers included.) I’m guessing this will also lead to the reveal that Hale figured out how to digitize the fly parasites, and decided it would be easier and cheaper to bypass physical parks to make way for infections via video games.  

Minor Twist #1: Maeve Missing Caleb Is What Got Her Caught

Westworld answered one of my big questions about the Season 4 premiere with this reveal, as I did not understand Maeve outing herself with that trip down memory lane. Now we know it was her first big mental jaunt in years, and she wasn’t trying to tap into her own memories of her daughter and Hector. Instead, viewers learned that after Caleb regained consciousness from a post-wound coma, Maeve didn’t say goodbye before retreating into solitude, and that she remained out of contact as a way to keep him safe. But then she went and botched it all by missing him enough to try and hack into his limbic implant, which is what caused the power outage that drew the Man in Black to her. Maeve is a true friend, since true friends aren’t exactly perfect.

• So What Happens Next?

I doubt Maeve would need additional reasons to go ballistic on Hale & Co. upon being reawakened, but she will almost definitely take Caleb’s death (and eventual host-ing) personally. Which probably won’t be good for Hale’s face. 

Minor Twist #2: Christina And Teddy Are Totally Dating Now 

The previously confirmed-to-return Teddy appeared at the end of the premiere in “handsome stalker” mode outside of Christina’s apartment building, and Episode 4 revealed him to be her blind date. Because this is Westworld, their predestined meet-cute in the bar was sparked when he picked up her lipstick rolling across the ground, marking yet another echo of Teddy and Dolores’ origin story. Their scene ends on a cheers to Christina and her path, wherever it leads, and if all these callbacks and on-the-nose references don’t lead directly to Super Dolores, my fidelity will begin decaying.

• So What Happens Next?

Super. Dolores. Obviously! Ahead of that, though, I was already guessing Teddy 2.0 was specifically created as a means to break through the weirdness happening with Christina. And now I’m wondering if Maeve took part in that creation, or even if it’s actually Maeve’s brain pearl inside Teddy’s head.

Minor Twist #3: Maya Seemingly Remembers Being Infected By Hale’s Flies 

For all the thoughts and theories I’ve considered regarding Christina’s existence, I’ve less mental ammo when it comes to Ariana DeBose’s Maya. That confused feeling only escalated with “Generation Loss,” as Maya described her most recent nightmare, which involved a childhood picnic with her parents being disrupted by a swarm of flies that first attacked the screaming adults before descending on young Maya. If these characters’ actions are indeed happening concurrently with Host Caleb’s story, then Maya’s inherent nature could very well be tapping through the parasitic facade that Hale uses to control everyone. But there's also something to be said for the way the scene remained partially focused on the clothes-changing Christina as Maya talked, as if her roommate's dream had stoked her own memories.

• So What Happens Next?

Not a clue for Maya, really. My only hope is that Westworld doesn’t reveal her to be another Dolores clone, and that she’s an organic being inside and out. Ariana DeBose deserves the best that Westworld can give. 

I’m not sure there’s anything left to say, beyond at least a dozen or so other spirited manifestos I could easily lean into. But for now, let’s mull over Episode 404's big reveals while anticipating the second half of the season. Just gonna drop this "MORE CLEMENTINE" note in the suggestion box before I go...

Westworld airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET, with episodes available to stream for HBO Max subscribers as soon as they air.

With Better Call Saul now in its final stretch, with several big deaths and twists having already heightened the stakes in its sixth season, fans are extremely eager to see how Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will finally appear anew as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively. But before we can witness what will presumably be another depressing peek into Jesse’s tumultuous life, Paul has landed a new role on another series that has long been known for disturbing the shit out of its viewers: Black Mirror. 

Aaron Paul is currently already in the midst of dealing with hyper-disturbing issues within the fourth season of HBO’s sci-fi thriller Westworld, where he stars as the military vet Caleb. But he apparently hasn’t yet been sated when it comes to taking on complicated and challenging stories in his career, thus his upcoming role in at least one episode of the darkly satirical anthology Black Mirror, where technology is prone to go dangerously haywire even when created under the best of intentions. Which does sound like a pretty solid mixture of Jesse Pinkman and Westworld elements, making Paul a superb addition for the long-awaited Season 6.

According to Variety, Black Mirror’s sixth season is believed to already be in production, with several other new cast members being announced alongside Aaron Paul (as listed below). But for as much as we can celebrate the actor’s presence in the hit series created by Charlie Booker, it’s not yet clear who he will be playing, with all episode and storyline details being kept behind locked doors and such. But considering Black Mirror’s biggest stars each season tend to be the ones invested in the most disturbing situations, I doubt we’ll see a whole lot of Paul’s charming smiles during the installment.

Aaron Paul already has ties to both Netflix and Black Mirror at this point, which further makes this casting addition a solid one. For the Season 4 premiere, "USS Callister," Paul provided a vocal cameo as an online gamer. That episode was co-led by Jesse Plemons, whose creepy AF character Todd notoriously put Paul's Jesse through hell in both Breaking Bad and the Netflix-housed feature spinoff El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. To bring it all together, Paul also played a character named Todd for the streaming service, though for the animated neo-classic BoJack Horseman.  

All The Black Mirror Season 6 Cast Members Announced

Let's take a look at the other cast members who were announced besides Aaron Paul, with the obvious understanding that we also don't know who any of these talents will be playing in the new season.

• Kate Mara (House of Cards, Pose, A Teacher)
• Danny Ramirez (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Top Gun: Maverick, Tales of the Walking Dead)
• Josh Hartnett (Penny Dreadful, The Fear Index, Oppenheimer)
• Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts, Killing Eve, Cyrano)
• Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, Gangs of London, Anne Boleyn)
• Clara Rugaard (Love Gets a Room, The Rising, Press Play)
• Auden Thornton (This Is Us, Doubt, Palm Trees and Power Lines)

All of the cast members listed above are reportedly set to star in the first three episodes of Black Mirror's sixth season, with more cast members expected to be added and revealed in the near-ish future. In other episode news, the upcoming season will allegedly have more episodes than the critically maligned Season 5, which comprised three 2019 installments. (Including the one with Miley Cyrus.)

So it's definitely been a while since the last time we've been disturbed by Black Mirror's dystopian takes on society and our tech-heavy obsessions. But now we can take comfort in things going forward with stellar new stars. And since Aaron Paul has long been known to be tech-averse himself, and famously doesn't use a cell phone, he may very well be the hero this show deserves.  

While waiting to see how Paul's episode ranks among the 10 best eps of Black Mirror so far, stay tuned to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are popping up soon.

Major spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Westworld Season 4’s second episode, so be warned!

After making its long-awaited return with a surprisingly straightforward premiere (at least when compared to some of its more confounding installments), HBO’s Westworld delivered more enjoyably low-impact progression with the second episode of Season 4. Which isn’t to imply the sci-fi thriller is moving slowly or has become boring, but rather to celebrate the showrunners for introducing mysteries that spark legibly formed questions instead of flat-out confusion. 

“Well Enough Alone” featured some major character/actor returns that no doubt delighted viewers, while also putting its main stars into various interesting and troublesome situations that will no doubt get increasingly more complicated as the season goes forward. So let’s take a look at the four biggest takeaways from Westworld’s latest, starting with a brand new Delos Destination! 

Westworld Introduced Its Newest Park: The Golden Age 

Westworld co-creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan are no doubt keen on knowing just how obsessed viewers are with the idea of new parks being introduced. As fans will remember, Season 2 brought in Shōgunworld and The Raj, while Season 3 brought audiences inside Warworld (and also hinted at a medieval, dragon-filled Game of Thrones-esque park, as well as a Jurassic Park-inspired dino area). Even though viewers still aren’t quite clear on the current state of Delos after the seven-year jump, it appears things are going quite well, given the opening of the company’s newest Destination: The Golden Age.

This newest attraction was stumbled upon by Maeve and Caleb, who were assisted just by returning actress Lili Simmons, and it’s assumed that her character Sofia is as much as host as her prior character New Clementine was. The Golden Age appears to be recreating the U.S. in the 1920s, give or take a few years, with jazzy tunes and golden light bulbs aplenty, from marquee signs to street lamps to the headlights of classic cars. Though none of the other first-time visitors were showcased, I can’t help but feel like there were some very important people on that train.

The Golden Age was partly bankrolled by the U.S. government, with the Vice President now a host puppet for Man in Black and others, and that’s presumably not the extent of such professional relationships. Perhaps most interestingly so far, the location depicted in The Golden Age is “Temperance,” which either suggests that it’ll be an alcohol-free establishment fitting for the time period, or that the town will feature a variety of speakeasies for its guests to get liquored up in. Either way, depraved sex and violence are likely the end results.

Christine’s Peter Mystery Is Somehow More Complicated Than Expected 

To be expected, Christine has something of an epiphany after watching “Peter” throw himself off a building to his death, and remembers having crafted a game story similar to his. (Not exactly the same as the presumed-dead Dolores having memory flashes from earlier loops, but not entirely dissimilar, either.) While on her way to the mental facility namechecked in Peter’s obituary, she listens back to her notes on the story, which basically matched up with the “real life” character. Since that reveal was already telegraphed, it served as window dressing for the actual twist, for lack of a better word, that came shortly after. 

When Christine arrived at the facility, she found it to not only be empty — I’m curious about that group of possible contractors and buyers in hard hats — but more or less abandoned. It’s hard to tell exactly how long the building would have been sitting empty, but all the leaves and whatnot implied many months, if not years. Coupled with the discovery of the “Peter Myers Wing” dedication plaque, the Hope center hinted at some major timeline fuckery happening.

Even if Christine was correct in guessing there were two different Peter Myers at play, it still wouldn’t explain how a fund was started there in Peter’s name after his death, unless that obit detail was falsified. But it definitely looked like the place that Peter would have spent a lot of time, given the room that Christine looked into with all those drawings of what’s assumedly the Tower that keeps getting mentioned. And it’s the same design that’s featured in the opening sequence as composer Ramin Djawadi’s credit comes up. 

Charlotte Hale Returned, And She Apparently Doesn’t Just Want To Kill All Humans 

As frightening as Ed Harris’ Man in Black is without any human morals, he’s still just a worker bee following the orders of a higher power, and Charlotte Hale made her Season 4 debut in true Westworld fashion: through a host’s remotely accessed memory bank. Maeve discovered that Charlotte spearheaded hosts replacing a U.S. senator and his wife (as portrayed by guest stars Jack Coleman and Saffron Burrows, respectively). It appears her efforts to take over the world hadn’t exactly faded away over time, which wasn’t too shocking to learn.

But Charlotte doesn’t appear to be your everyday TV big bad, and not only due to her synthetic origins. While many plot-minded villains don’t give a second thought to the body count required to reach their overall goals, Charlotte’s plan doesn’t hinge on killing all humans and populating the planet with hosts, at least not at this point in the process. As a being who doesn’t age, she naturally has more patience than those with blood flowing through their veins. One of her motivations, as discussed below, revolves around an “eye for an eye” sense of revenge, but that doesn’t seem to be her only exception. 

Charlotte made good on not killing the Senator’s wife, and it can be assumed that Anastasia was useful for the research Charlotte alluded to. It can also be assumed that Charlotte’s research-acquiring methods completely broke Anastasia’s brain. At least, that’s what I gathered from her being covered in blood and slicing up a dead horse’s stomach when Maeve and Caleb discovered her in the barn. But we won’t be finding out what happened to her, since Maeve shot her in the head during her attempt to stab Caleb. 

William Confirmed To Be Still Alive, Though Imprisoned 

One of the Season 3 finale’s post-credit scenes finally addressed one of Westworld’s biggest ongoing questions, with the Man in Black host slitting the throat of his human counterpart William. It was unclear what happened in the aftermath, since we didn’t technically see William die, and the series surprisingly didn’t keep us guessing for very long, as “Well Enough Alone” revealed Charlotte is keeping the still-living William in cryogenic stasis. And as she explained it, she’s keeping him alive so that he can be the ever-present “loser” in the hosts’ and humans’ battle for supremacy. She said it with the same disgusted tone she used in comparing Anastasia to “other livestock” earlier on.

On the one hand, I loved the scene, as it showcased how intimidating Tessa Thompson can be without ever raising her voice or appearing directly threatening. And to me at least, it also sort of extends the initial purpose of flies within Westworld to indicate a host going off the scripted path. Charlotte keeping William around just to witness humanity’s downfall is the epitome of hubris, which is a human foible that properly functioning hosts likely wouldn’t adhere to. Perhaps she should have been remembering the saying “pride goeth before the fall” instead of whatever William used to say.

On the other hand, though, I don’t wholly understand why that scene happened at this particular point in the series’ timeline, considering their conversation implied they haven’t talked much (if at all) since he was replaced in the real world all those years ago by the Man in Black. Perhaps she was just waiting until they reached a certain level of success, such as replacing the Vice President with a host. Still, since William probably didn’t know what year it was, it was odd for Charlotte to be speaking to the present while his questions were presumably still based on what was happening when his throat was slit. 

Other Delos-Approved Thoughts About "Well Enough Alone”

• Are we to assume that the Man in Black has been hunting/repurposing all the hosts in the real world who weren’t under Charlotte’s rule? Will that have anything to do with James Marsden’s Teddy showing up in the Season 4 premiere?
• So we now have to keep up with 250 different emissaries of the New World Order? 
• What’s up with all the dead birds that Christine saw? And I can’t tell if it’s a good or a bad sign that I have no firm assumptions regarding that moment’s legitimacy, as far as why she was seemingly the only person who noticed them. That’s so Westworld. 
• In a similar vein as the above point, it’s also not entirely clear if any of what Dolo…Christine witnessed inside the Hope 
• Christine only gets 4 paid days off for sick leave in a year? Can’t tell if it’s a sign of the company being shitty, or that people just don’t get sick as often in this COVID-free timeline. 
• I get that The Man in Black’s multiple holes in one were meant to impress and then disturb the Vice President, but was that entire scene just artifice? Because if his programming allows for that sort of perfection each time, what’s the point? I guess I can believe that the Man in Black is so full of himself that even the host version needs daily reminders like that. 
• “I’ve always wondered, why do they call you the secret service? Aren’t you a little…obvious?” This line made up for having to watch the Man in Black shooting and slicing Clementine in the cold open. Welcome back, Angela Sarafyan!
• I may never be comfortable by how clear and visible people are in their cars on Westworld. Do people not go get fast food while wearing their shittiest pants in this universe?
• I love how many buildings in Westworld (and similar fare) feature massive, high-ceiling rooms whose central purpose is to store something that requires 1/20th the space.

Westworld airs new episodes every Sunday night on HBO at 10:00 p.m. ET, and are also available to stream with an HBO Max subscription. While waiting for the next episode, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what other less-confusing shows will be arriving soon.

The television landscape has produced a plethora of formidable actor duos over the years, from I Love Lucy’s Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance to Law & Order: SVU’s Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, widely known for their roles as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad, respectively, certainly stand amongst the best. While their on-screen work was entertaining, their off-camera relationship has been especially sweet to see. The two actors have remained close since the acclaimed AMC drama ended in 2013. In fact, Paul revealed a new familial connection he shares with his co-star, while discussing his return as Jesse on Better Call Saul. 

This is an incredibly exciting time for Aaron Paul and, no, it’s not just because Jesse is set to appear during the sixth and final season of Saul. The 42-year-old Paul and his wife, Lauren Parsekian, recently welcomed their second child, a baby boy named Ryden. This week, Paul appeared on The Tonight Show, where he gushed about the newborn (and jokingly lamented the lack of sleep he’s had). He also revealed that his son now has a godfather in Bryan Cranston:

Though the two Emmy winners were already linked for life through Breaking Bad and their  mezcal brand Dos Hombres, this latest connection is certainly the sweetest. It’s a true testament to the bond between the two men and, if I were in Bryan Cranston’s position, I’d be flattered as well. 

Still, for many people, their roles as the chemistry teacher-turned-drug kingpin and his ex student are probably what come to mind when one first thinks of them. With that, fans are definitely pumped to see the actors reprise their famous roles on the spinoff series. During his chat with Jimmy Fallon, Aaron Paul didn’t give away specific plot details, though he did discuss what it was like to reprise his role as the humorous, yet sympathetic, Pinkman:

The Saul Goodman-centric series doesn’t mark the first time the two stars have reprised their characters since BB ended. Aaron Paul’s Pinkman led 2019’s El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, in which Bryan Cranston briefly reprised the role of Walter White as well. The acclaimed film (streamable with a Netflix subscription) continued Jesse’s journey and  also featured cameos from other major characters.

Throughout their show’s five-season run, Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston developed tremendous chemistry, providing fans with some excellent Walt and Jesse moments in the process. It’s unclear as to whether or not they’ll appear on Better Call Saul together but, whatever happens, it’s sure to be special – and something that young Ryden can someday watch and be proud of. 

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul can both be streamed on Netflix. CinemaBlend’s 2022 TV Schedule is also available for those curious about this year’s new and returning shows.

One of the more exciting developments in the film world right now is director Eric Appel’s upcoming Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Set to star Daniel Radcliffe as the titular legendary parody artist, the feature is based on a Funny or Die sketch starring Aaron Paul from 2010 – which is a sendup of overly dramatized musical biopics, and remains as funny today as it was twelve years ago.

Given Paul’s involvement with the original project, it probably won’t surprise anybody to learn that he was approached to do a cameo in the upcoming movie – but unfortunately those plans fell apart because the Breaking Bad/Westworld star tested positive for COVID-19 the day he was supposed to report on set.

Speaking with Aaron Paul this morning in promotion of his new movie, Dual (arriving in limited theatrical release this weekend), I concluded the interview by asking for his thoughts about the feature version of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and he effusively explained his personal excitement for the project. He mentioned that he first had the chance to read the script years ago when Eric Appel and “Weird” Al Yankovic were toying with the idea of making the movie, and he anticipates seeing Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role (a part Radcliffe won for a perfectly nerdy reason):

At this point, Aaron Paul segued into his story about the cameo that was not to be. He told me that Al Yankovic invited him to the set of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story so that he could make an appearance in the film that would serve as a nod to the original Funny or Die video. That idea sadly fell apart, however, when he took a precautionary COVID-19 test and was shocked to get a positive result. Said Paul,

I think that probably a lot of people can sympathize with Aaron Paul here, as it would have been amazing to see him pop up in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. His performance in the Funny or Die sketch is fantastic and hilarious – the high point certainly being the moment when he drunkenly berates a crowd, declaring, “You’re all a bunch of slaves!” You can revisit the magic watching the video below:

Aaron Paul may not be in the feature length adaptation, but he is anticipating it as much as anyone, and already has high expectations for it. Lauding the brilliant talent that is “Weird” Al Yankovic, he continued,

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which is being made as an exclusive for The Roku Channel, doesn’t have a release date yet, but Aaron Paul fans everywhere should get excited for Dual. Directed by Riley Stearns, and co-starring Karen Gillan, Beulah Koale, and Theo James, the dark comedy got a positive reception premiering at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and will be arriving on the big screen tomorrow, April 15 (find local listings on Fandango). The film will then be going digital on May 20, and will be available on demand and streaming on AMC+.

To learn more about all of the features set to hit theaters and streaming in what remains of the year, check out our 2022 Movie Release Calendar.

It was the first question out of every Breaking Bad fan’s mouth as soon as the prequel series Better Call Saul was announced: Will we see Walter White and Jesse Pinkman? As the Bob Odenkirk-led series’ final season is set to premiere April 18, we finally have a definitive answer. Co-creator Peter Gould confirmed that Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will reprise their roles and guest star in Season 6 of Better Call Saul, and based on what he and Odenkirk have said, I think fans have reason to be really excited about this.

Saul Goodman was introduced in Season 2 of Breaking Bad as the sleazy attorney who Walt and Jesse kidnapped in an attempt to make sure his client Badger doesn’t rat them out. Saul did help them, and continued to be an integral character for the rest of the series. Since Better Call Saul went back in time to show Saul’s transition from a fledgling public defender into the character we came to know, it was unclear whether Walt and Jesse would have a place in that universe. But speaking at PaleyFest LA (via Variety), Peter Gould finally gave us the confirmation we’d been waiting for.

This is amazing news for Breaking Bad fans. The fact that Peter Gould is out-right confirming that we’re going to see Walt and Jesse makes me think they planned something epic. Otherwise why get fans’ hopes up? Co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould know how much these characters mean to fans, and they’ve given us no reason to think seeing Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul reprising the roles will be anything less than satisfying.

Bob Odenkirk himself joined in on the teasing, following Peter Gould’s announcement by saying:

The co-creator cut the actor off before he could reveal any more, but that’s definitely enough information to push my excitement levels through the roof. Prior to that panel, Bob Odenkirk also had some interesting things to say to Variety on the PaleyFest red carpet:

Any excuse for a Breaking Bad binge, right? Does that mean that something is going to happen this season on Better Call Saul that changes something we thought we knew about the original series? 

Better Call Saul has already featured a number of crossover characters from Breaking Bad (other than Saul Goodman, of course) — notably Jonathan Banks’ Mike Ehrmantraut and Giancarlo Esposito’s Gus Fring. But in addition to the series regulars, fans have also been treated to cameo appearances by Walt’s brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and his DEA agent partner Steve Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada), as well as fan favorite Gale Boetticher (David Costabile), Huell Babineaux (Lavell Crawford) and many others.

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul have always expressed interest in appearing on Better Call Saul, and it’s super exciting to know we’ll have that to look forward to when the series returns. The first two episodes of Season 6 will air at 9 p.m. ET Monday, April 18, with one episode per week airing in that timeslot thereafter. If you need a refresher in the meantime, check out 6 things to remember ahead of Better Call Saul Season 6, and be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what other new and returning shows are premiering soon.

Ever since I saw Karen Gillan transform from Doctor Who’s fiery Amy Pond into troubled, yet badass Nebula for Guardians of the Galaxy, I should have known we were in for a fantastical ride from the Scottish actress. Now here comes her latest film, Dual, which is absolutely wild, darkly humorous and straight up depressing all at the same time. I kind of loved it. 

CinemaBlend is currently covering Sundance during this year’s virtual festival, and I need to talk about Dual. The science fiction movie was written and directed by Riley Stearns, who previously made the critically-acclaimed 2019 movie The Art of Self-Defense. Following the indie movie’s premiere, it’s already been acquired and will be distributed into theaters sometime this year. Before you see it, I’ll prime you with a bit about its incredible concept and why you’ll want to see it once it does come out. 

The idea of cloning has been in discussion among not only the scientific community, but sci-fi fans for years, and Dual imagines a future of it becoming a reality in a super dark and entertaining way. Karen Gillan plays the gloomy and awkward Sarah, who finds out she is unequivocally going to die. In an effort to ease the pain of her loved ones, she decides to look into “Replacement,” which lets her clone herself, teach the clone her likeness and then allow it to take her place once she’s gone. 

But when Karen Gillan’s Sarah meets her double, she does not want to live in her likeness. Instead, the clone wants to be a better version of Sarah; one that is not ridden with anxieties or boring fashion choices and addictive habits. I won’t get into depth about what happens next, but as you can imagine, Sarah finds herself in quite a pickle with her double. 

It’s been over two years since we’ve seen a new season of Black Mirror, and Dual feels like it comes straight out of the series’ best episodes. It finds some of its tone, as it just plops you into a near future through the eyes of one circumstance rather than spoon-feeding exactly when and where. It has an intense discussion with the audience about the power and pitfalls cloning could have on our society. It also really reminds me of The Hunger Games. 

That’s right. Again, I’ll stay cryptic, but the second half of the movie involves Karen Gillan’s Sarah hiring a trainer, played by Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, to help her kill her clone. There’s an entire framework built around how the two Sarahs must duel each other, which will be broadcast to the world. There’s nothing like Districts or love triangles involving a boy who likes baking named Peeta (this is an independent film, remember), but there’s something about having to fight someone in front of others because you have to save yourself in a sci-fi setting that completely took me back. 

With all that being said, Dual stirs a lot of emotions in its runtime. It’s funny, but most definitely not all fun and games. I recommend it once it gets a release date. While we wait, check out what other upcoming movies are on their way here on CinemaBlend. 

The esteemed actors of the Criminal Minds cast not only had the honor of starring on one of the longest-running and most beloved crime procedurals on TV, but also had the pleasure of sharing the screen with many guest stars who would go on to become some of the biggest stars of today. Considering how it ran for a whopping total of 15 seasons on CBS, you can only imagine how many future Hollywood heavies appeared on the series. The following are some of the most recognizable names we dug up after their roles on Criminal Minds completely slipped our minds, starting with one actor who just a few years away from becoming TV royalty.

Aaron Paul (Michael Zizzo) 

In the premiere season of Criminal Minds (when Mandy Patinkin was still on the show), a 27-year-old Aaron Paul played a young man suspected of murder due to his involvement with a local group of Satanists who were framed by the high school student who turned out to be the real killer. In 2008, the actor played crystal meth dealer and manufacturer Jesse Pinkman on AMC’s Breaking Bad, for which he earned three Emmy Awards and a newfound reputation as a leading man on both the small screen and the big screen. 

Dean Norris (Det. John Barton) 

Speaking of Breaking Bad cast members, Dean Norris is still known best to this day for his role as Hank Schrader - devoted DEA agent and unsuspecting brother-in-law of notorious drug lord Walter White (Bryan Cranston) - on the acclaimed drama. He had actually already been cast on the show when he was temporarily demoted to police detective for a 2010 episode of Criminal Minds, on which his character helps the crew locate the last victim of a serial killer with clues he strangely left after taking his own life.

Walton Goggins (John Cooley)

Speaking of strange criminals, Walton Goggins received his sole Emmy nomination (so far) for playing Boyd Crowder on FX’s Justified, which would lead to an increasingly esteemed film career that includes a villainous role in the Marvel movies (namely 2018 Ant-Man and the Wasp) and becoming a frequent player in Quentin Tarantino’s recent filmography. In between his stint on The Shield and joining the Justified cast, the actor played a longtime friend of Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) who almost falls prey to a murderous priest (Carmen Argenziano) in a creepy Criminal Minds episode from Season 4.

Sterling K. Brown (Fitz) 

Sterling K. Brown also became a Marvel movie star in 2018 after appearing in Black Panther, following his Emmy-winning turns on both FX’s American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson as Christopher Darden and NBC’s This Is Us cast as Randall Pearson. Before all of that, in 2015, the St. Louis native appeared as a security guard for the United States embassy in Barbados in a Season 10 episode of Criminal Minds that served as back door pilot for the series’ short-lived spin-off Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.

Mike Colter (Colin Bramwell)

Mike Colter would become a Marvel TV show star in 2015 after appearing on Netflix’s Jessica Jones as the indestructible Luke Cage before getting his own self-title spin-off and, then, reprising the role on the streaming platform’s crossover series, The Defenders. Before that short-lived, but much-loved, phenomenon blew up his career, the Evil cast member played a former Special Forces sniper turned serial killer hired by his former colleague to kill his ex-wife on Season 9 of Criminal Minds.

Evan Peters (Charlie Hillridge) 

Someone who is also known for both Marvel movies (he was Quicksilver in the X-Men movies) and Marvel TV shows (he sort of reprised the Quicksilver role when he joined the WandaVision cast) is Evan Peters, who would initially acquire household name status as a series regular on American Horror Story since 2011. About a year before that creepy anthology premiered, the actor guest starred on Criminal Minds’ sixth season as a young man who was abducted as an 8-year-old by married murderers who would later make him their reluctant accomplice.

Finn Wittrock (Harvey Morell) 

On the other side of that coin, Harvey Morell was the willful accomplice to a killer named Caleb Rossmore (Jeff Newburg), with whom he shared an obsession with the Zodiac Killer, on a Season 7 episode of Criminal Minds. Playing that young killer was fellow recurring American Horror Story cast member Finn Wittrock, who will also add superhero TV shows to his resume when he plays Guy Gardner - a member of the Green Lantern Corps - on HBO Max’s upcoming original series based on the cosmic DC comic book.

David Mazouz (Ryan Hall) 

Speaking of DC TV shows, in 2014, David Mazouz had the honor of joining the Gotham cast as a young Bruce Wayne dealing with the recent murder of his parents for five seasons. Years before the Batman prequel series premiered, the actor also appeared on a Season 7 of Criminal Minds as a boy whose battle with leukemia sends his boxing champ father (Shawn Hatosy) into a murderous rage.

Cameron Monaghan (Jeffrey Charles) 

David Mazouz’s Gotham co-star Cameron Monaghan (who plays a particularly clownish criminal named Jerome Valeska) is also famous for playing Ian Gallagher on the Shameless cast for 11 seasons. You could say that he had some decent preparation for the former, more villainous (and Joker-esque) role when he landed a guest spot on Criminal Minds’ sophomore run as a young boy abandoned by his mother who takes his anger out on three people by bludgeoning them to death.

Elle Fanning (Tracy Belle) 

Cameron Monaghan’s Jeffrey Charles almost claimed a fourth victim - a little girl named Tracy Belle, whom he lures out into the woods before Mandy Patinkin’s Jason Gideon saves her at, essentially, the last minute. Tracy Belle was played on Criminal Minds by Elle Fanning, who - like her older sister, Dakota - would grow up to become one of the most sought after actresses of her generation, known for movies like Super 8 from 2011 and for leading Hulu’s The Great cast as Catherine the Great.

Jessie T. Usher (Daniel)

If we could switch gears for just a moment back to stars of superhero TV shows, Jessie T. Usher is known today as Samuel L. Jackson’s son in Tim Story’s 2019 Shaft movie and Will Smith’s son in the 2016 sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, but especially from Amazon Prime’s The Boys cast as A-Train. Before he had a starring role in anything, he had a guest spot on Criminal Minds’ two-part Season 4 finale in which the BAU investigates a series of murder that leads to make a shocking discovery at a pig farm in Canada.

Ariel Winter (Katie)

Although best known as Alex Dunphy on the Modern Family cast, Ariel Winter also has experience playing a superhero, having voiced a later incarnation of Robin named Carrie Kelley in one of the best DC animated movies, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, in 2012 and 2013. Years before the ABC sitcom made her a star, Winter was on Criminal Minds Season 3 as a young girl abducted and left for dead by her own aunt (Suzanne Cryer) who blamed her niece for ruining her marriage to her pedophile husband (Emmanuel Xuereb).

Melissa Leo (Georgia Davis)

Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (for the 2011 sports biopic The Fighter) would actually make her superhero movies debut in 2021 with the Netflix original action comedy Thunder Force. In Criminal Minds two-part Season 2 finale, the actress played a small town sheriff whose abduction leads to the BAU’s first encounter with prolific serial killer Frank Breitkopft, played by Keith Carradine.

Julia Butters (Gabby) 

Another notable abduction victim from Criminal Minds is the title character of “Gabby,” the 16th episode of the series’ ninth season, which was also the acting debut of then-5-year-old Julia Butters. The starlet would then land a recurring spot on the Transparent cast, a starring role on CBS’s American Housewife, and a memorable, scene-stealing role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as Rick Dalton’s precocious Lancer co-star. 

Sydney Sweeney (Dani Forester)

Fellow Once Upon a Time in Hollywood cast member Sydney Sweeney also made one of her earliest appearances on Criminal Minds as a young girl murdered along with her brother and mother by a serial killer who specializes in taking out whole families in Season 5. She would later achieve acclaim after joining the Handmaid’s Tale cast as Eden Spencer, the White Lotus cast as Olivia Mossbacher, and on HBO’s Euphoria cast as Cassie Howard, to name just a few notable roles. 

Anton Yelchin (Nathan Harris)

In lieu of the many notable roles that prove Anton Yelchin as one of the most exceptional talents of his time (Green Room, Charlie Bartlett, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies, etc.), he gave one criminally underrated performance on Criminal Minds’ second season as a teen with sexually sadistic tendencies. Sadly, Yelchin passed away in 2016 at the age of 27 when his Jeep Cherokee, which appeared to be in park but was really in neutral, rolled backward and pinned him against the security fence outside his Los Angeles home.

People who work in law enforcement likely rarely forget the faces of anyone they investigate, swore to protect, or failed to save. However, if you are guilty of forgetting any of these Criminal Minds characters and the now famous actors who played them,  you are forgiven.

I don't think it's a particularly blasphemous judgment to say that Breaking Bad fans are of different minds when it comes to the highly discussed series finale, titled "Felina." From those who don't believe Bryan Cranston's Walter White actually died to those who will forever begrudge Todd's neo-Nazi uncle (to the millions of opinions in between), Breaking Bad fans are a detail-oriented group. One particular character action that has flummoxed some viewers for years is the moment in the finale when Walt parts with the wristwatch that Aaron Paul's Jesse gave him. Creator Vince Gilligan previously shared his reasoning for Walt's decision, but now Cranston has offered up a different explanation.

After the Breaking Bad finale aired back in 2013, Vince Gilligan actually did clarify the choice to show Walt taking off his watch and leaving it atop the payphone he used to scam information about Elliott and Gretchen Schwartz. Gilligan claimed the practical explanation came down to continuity. The writers only came up with the idea to have Jesse give Walt the watch as a birthday present after the diner birthday was filmed for the Season 5 premiere, in which Walt wasn't wearing a watch, so the pay phone bit in the finale was written to reverse-engineer justification for the premiere.

A fine explanation, to be sure, but Bryan Cranston isn't buying such tomfoolery. While appearing on the podcast That Scene with Dan Patrick, the actor brushed aside that error-tethered excuse and shared his thoughts on the creative choice being much more tied to story and character. In his words:

It's 100% understandable that Bryan Cranston is going to side with a notion that speaks to the storytelling brilliance of Vince Gilligan and Breaking Bad's writing staff, and that he wouldn't be as quick to chalk it all up to the idea that the premiere's flash-forward was filmed before all the narrative puzzle pieces were formed. Granted, Walt and Jesse's watch connection wasn't as integral to the story as, say, Dennis Hopper's watch was to the plot of Speed, but it still enjoyed as meaningful an arc as a non-living Breaking Bad object gets.

Bryan Cranston continued, explaining that the motivation behind leaving the watch at that payphone was all about separating End of Days Walt from the person he was before.

To be sure, when Vince Gilligan first explained the idea behind Walt's watch moment, he did share a similar sentiment to what Bryan Cranston said, calling it the artsy-fartsy reason. And in the scheme of things, Cranston isn't necessarily wrong, in that I'm sure the finale's script wouldn't have featured a note about there being continuity errors. That said, Cranston possibly would have remembered the continuity aspect had it come up on the set at all, so that conversation must have been relegated just to the writing team.

There are still lots of Breaking Bad mysteries to debate while rewatching the series on Netflix, and while waiting for Better Call Saul Season 6 to debut and link the prequel spinoff to the flagship drama, hopefully with Bryan Cranston involved in some capacity.

Breaking Bad fans watched Aaron Paul go through all kinds of various hell over a number of years, his journey as Jesse Pinkman concluding last year with the release of the Netflix movie El Camino – but just because he's done playing a meth dealer from New Mexico doesn't mean that Paul is done experiencing some serious shit as an actor. Take, as a perfect example, this new behind-the-scenes shot that seems to be from the upcoming sci-movie Dual, which has the performer looking, to put it nicely, a bit worse for wear:

Dual has been shooting in Tampere, Finland since late October, and while we don't know too much about the role that Aaron Paul will be playing in the story, it certainly looks like he is going to be right at the center of the action. Based on the makeup seen here in this Instagram post, it looks either like his character was just involved in a hand-to-hand fight sequence that resulted in a bunch of scrounging around on the ground, or he was standing a bit too close to an explosive device. Either way we're excited to see the events that transpired.

The film is the third feature from writer/director Riley Stearns, who broke out in 2014 with the the odd drama Faults and followed it up last year with the fantastic The Art Of Self-Defense starring Jesse Eisenberg. The film is set in the future, and centers on a young woman (Karen Gillan) who is left devastated following a terminal medical diagnosis. The good news is that thanks to modern technology she can clone herself, meaning that even when she dies her exact replica will remain with her friends and family, but the twist that she doesn't see coming is that she miraculously starts to recover from her illness. She attempts to get her clone decommissioned, but when that effort fails she is ordered by a court to face her duplicate in a duel to the death.

As mentioned, we don't know anything presently about Aaron Paul's role in the plot, but he is joined in the supporting cast by Jesse Eisenberg and Hawaii 5-0 star Beulah Koale.

Dual is being produced by XYZ Films, and while it doesn't look like the film has distribution set up, hopefully it won't take long for a deal to get made, and if that happens it doesn't seem impossible that we could see the movie be released sometime in late 2021.

The movie is currently the only one on Aaron Paul's upcoming slate, but if you're looking for some of his work to watch right now the good news is that there are plenty of options. The aforementioned Breaking Bad and El Camino are both streaming on Netflix, and his follow-up series, The Path, is exclusively on Hulu. If you're looking for something a bit more recent, the third season of Westworld is now available in its entirety on HBO Max, and you can also check out his latest movie, the Michael Uppendahl-directed drama Adam, on Amazon.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie provided longtime fans of the franchise with plenty of closure when it came to the story of Jesse Pinkman. The film was still bittersweet, as it could make the last time we see the beloved character, unless he manages to make that long-awaited appearance on Better Call Saul. Still, fans will be able to preserve their last outing with Pinkman through the film’s release on DVD and Blu-ray. Those who pick up the film will also be treated to never-before-seen extras, including a stroll down memory lane with Aaron Paul and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.

Aaron Paul and Vince Gilligan are two of the biggest reasons that Jesse Pinkman has become one of the most iconic characters in television history. So it’s only appropriate that the two took some time to reflect on how Breaking Bad molded him into the hardened character we see in AMC and Netflix’s film. And we just happen to have an exclusive clip in which they give some of their thoughts on Jesse’s evolution. Check it out down below:

If there’s one thing Vince Gilligan has proved with Breaking Bad (and Better Call Saul) it's that he knows how to develop his characters, and this was definitely the case for Jesse. As Gilligan stated in the clip, Jesse began as a young slacker with no true direction but, by the series’ end, he grew up immensely. This was in part due to the influence of his chemistry teacher-turned-drug partner Walter White, for better and for worse.

Of course, Gilligan is just as good as putting characters through harrowing situations, and Jesse is among one of the Breaking Bad characters to suffer the most during the show’s run. Aaron Paul pointed out some of the most tragic moments in Jesse’s story, which are actually some of the show’s most powerful. I’m sure plenty of us still remember how rough it was to see both Jane and Andrea’s deaths. And I don’t know about you all, but it still hurts me to see Jesse held in captivity by Jack’s gang.

This pain and suffering, however, helped to create what is easily one of the best character arcs in all of television. Gilligan and his writers more than succeeded in mining the humanity from Jesse, and Paul’s affecting performance only improved as the seasons progressed. It’s sometimes hard to believe the actor went from nearly being a one-season character to become a three-time Emmy winner. But I, for one, am glad that things panned out the way they did and that both Paul and Gilligan can talk about it now.

Their discussion on Jesse’s story is only one of several excellent features that are included on the DVD and Blu-ray releases of El Camino. Both include Making El Camino, a behind-the-scenes documentary that includes never-before-seen interviews with the cast and crew. There’s also a Super Commentary, an audio commentary which features 46 members of the cast and crew. The releases also contain Snow Globe: A Breaking Bad Short, the Skinny Pete in the Box and On the Radio teasers, the Rocker Salvage Vamonos Pest commercials, the music video for ChloexHalle’s “Enchanted” and visual effects design galleries.

The Blu-ray edition of the film contains even more Breaking Bad goodness, including an audio commentary solely featuring Vince Gilligan and Aaron Paul, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel and Scene Studios with Vince Gilligan.

The story of Jesse Pinkman may be over, but it’s a ride that none of us likely regret taking and are sure to remember it for years to come.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is now available to own on DVD or Blu-ray, or you can own both with the special edition steelbook. And be sure to keep it here at CinemaBlend for more news from the world of TV and movies.

Few shows have found the same success as Breaking Bad. Creator Vince Gilligan's masterful, addictively compelling exploration of a seemingly mild-mannered man transformed into a coldly calculating drug kingpin was an early favorite during the rise of Peak Television, resulting in what's widely considered one of the best shows ever. While the praise is high, it's also warranted. Commanded by Bryan Cranston's excellent, multi-Emmy-winning lead performance, AMC's acclaimed drama series proved to be an excellent showcase for its long-working lead actor, while also bolstering the careers of all its outstanding supporting talents, including Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jesse Plemons.

After the show's incredible success, which continues with the prequel series Better Call Saul and last year's El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, what has the award-winning Breaking Bad ensemble been up to now? Let's take a look and see.

Bryan Cranston (Walter White)

At the forefront of Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston's transformative performance provided the actor with his most celebrated performance in an already exceptional career. Previously best known for his roles in Malcolm in the Middle, The X-Files, and Seinfeld, this intense drama series turned Cranston into one of the most revered, well-sought actors working today. The show's success saw him playing roles in Drive, Contagion, The Lincoln Lawyer, Argo, Total Recall, John Carter, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and more. Following Breaking Bad's run, Cranston starred in The Upside, Godzilla, Wakefield, Why Him?, The Infiltrator, Power Rangers, Last Flag Flying, Isle of Dogs, Kung Fu Panda 3, and Trumbo, for which he was Oscar-nominated.

Most notably, Bryan Cranston took to Broadway to star in All The Way, where he won a Tony award. He also played Lyndon B. Johnson in HBO's 2016 film adaptation.

Most recently, Bryan Cranston starred in The One and Only Ivan. He also co-created Amazon Prime's Sneaky Pete (which he also acted in) and The Dangerous Book For Boys. Additionally, in 2016, Cranston published his memoir, A Life in Parts. Next, Cranston stars in Showtime's new drama series, Your Honor. He also reprised his role as Walter White in El Camino.

Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman)

Introduced in the pilot for Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman was once meant to be killed off by Season 1's end. However, Vince Gilligan and the show's other creatives had the good sense to keep the character on, and it's a very good thing they did. It's hard to imagine what Breaking Bad would be without Jesse Pinkman, Walter White's former student and drug-making accomplice, and it's harder to imagine what the character would be without Paul's astounding, Emmy-winning performance.

Previously in Big Love, Van Wilder, Mission: Impossible III, and Veronica Mars, Breaking Bad was Aaron Paul's star-making role, resulting in lead roles in Smashed, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Eye in the Sky, Triple 9, Need for Speed, A Long Way Down, and Fathers and Daughters. Following Breaking Bad, Paul led Hulu's The Path. He also provided his voice to BoJack Horseman.

Last year, Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman became the focal point of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, a two-hour epilogue for his long-troubled character. Recently, he starred in Truth Be Told and Westworld Season 3. He was also seen in the long-delayed Adam earlier this year. Next, he'll star in Dual.

Anna Gunn (Skyler White)

As the vigilant and concerned Skyler White, Anna Gunn gave a phenomenal performance in Breaking Bad, for which she won two consecutive Emmys. While her performance was widely critically acclaimed, she was also the subject of intense online bullying and harassment, quite unfortunately, as she detailed in an op-ed for The New York Times. Previously seen in Down to Shore, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, The Practice, Junior, Enemy of the State, and Deadwood, Breaking Bad remains her most well-known and most prestigious role.

During her time on the program, Anna Gunn also starred in Red State, Sassy Pants, and Law & Order. Following the show's finale, Gunn took a lead role in Fox's limited series, Gracepoint. She also starred in Shades of Blue, Sully, Being Frank, Equity, and Portlandia. Most recently, Gunn appeared in Deadwood: The Movie. Next, she'll star in Land of Dreams.

Dean Norris (Hank Schrader)

In the role of Hank Schrader, a DEA agent and Walter White's brother-in-law leading an investigation for the city's new drug kingpin without realizing how close his target truly is, Dean Norris became one of Breaking Bad's most complex and dynamic characters. Previously seen in movies like Total Recall, Hard to Kill, Lethal Weapon 2, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Starship Troopers, and The Firm, as well as shows like NYPD Blue, The X-Files, Walker Texas Ranger, and 24, Norris was typically typecast as certain law enforcement personalities prior to his work in this acclaimed series, which paved the way for more unique parts in his future.

Near Breaking Bad's conclusion, Dean Norris starred in Under the Dome and Claws. He was also seen in Girlboss, The Big Bang Theory, Scandal, The Book of Henry, The Hustle, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Recently, he reprised his role as Hank in Better Call Saul. He'll next be seen in Nova Vita, El Tonto, and Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark 2. Norris also recently launched his own version of Schraderbräu.

Jonathan Banks (Mike Ehrmantraut)

Previously meant to be a brief substitute for Bob Odenkirk's Saul Goodman whenever he was unable to commit to the Season 2 finale, Jonathan Banks' steely-eyed Mike Ehrmantraut became a pivotal personality in the Breaking Bad universe, proving himself to be one of the most long-standing characters in this expanding narrative. As an established film and TV actor best known for his breakthrough role in CBS' Wiseguy and his work in Airplane!, 48 Hours, and Beverly Hills Cop, Breaking Bad still proved to be a monumental Emmy-nominated role for the hard-working TV actor.

Following his time in Breaking Bad, Jonathan Banks was seen in Community, Identity Thief, Horrible Bosses 2, Mudbound, and The Commuter. He also lent his voice to Incredibles 2. Now, Banks reprises his role as Mike in Better Call Saul. Most recently, he starred in Showtime's The Comey Rule.

RJ Mitte (Walter White Jr.)

As Walter White Jr., sometimes known simply as "Flynn," RJ Mitte played Walter White's teenage son, who has cerebral palsy. With the exception of an episode of Hannah Montana, Breaking Bad was the actor's first screen credit, and it was his breakthrough role. During his time on the show, Mitte was also seen on Switched at Birth. Following Breaking Bad, Mitte continued to bounce between film and television, notably with appearances in Robot Chicken, Chance, and Now Apocalypse. He's also been seen in Dixieland, The Recall, Rivers Run Red, Standing Up For Sunny, All the Little Things We Kill, Carol of the Bells, and Time Share (which is quite underrated, in my view).

Most recently, RJ Mitte starred in The Oak Room, which premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival. He'll next be seen in Triumph, Isaac, and Escape from Paradise — all of which he'll produce.

Betsy Brandt (Marie Schrader)

In the role of Marie Schrader, Skyler's sister, Hank's wife, and Walt's sister-in-law, Betsy Brandt didn't get as much time to shine compared to her co-stars, but she always made the most of her appearances on this acclaimed series. As a performer on the stage and screen, Brandt was seen in Without a Trace, Judging Amy, ER, Boston Legal, The Practice, and NCIS prior to this AMC series. During the show's success, the actress played parts in Magic Mike, Private Practice, and Parenthood.

When Breaking Bad came to a close, Betsy Brandt starred in NBC's short-lived The Michael J. Fox Show, then CBS' Life in Pieces. She also appeared in Masters of Sex, Flint, Pearson, The Unicorn, Claire in Motion, Run Sweetheart Run, and Straight Up. Brandt recently acted in A Million Little Things. Next, she'll star in Killing Eleanor.

Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodman)

Previously meant to be a comedic side character in the midst of this intense drama, Bob Odenkirk's Saul Goodman became a key player in the expanding Breaking Bad universe. Now, he's the focal point of the acclaimed spin-off series, Better Call Saul. As a well-established actor, writer, and director in the comedy world, Odenkirk is best known for co-creating and starring in HBO's Mr. Show with Bob and David. He also wrote for Saturday Night Live, The Dana Carvey Show, The Ben Stiller Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and more.

Following Breaking Bad's success, Bob Odenkirk continued expanding himself as an actor. He was seen in Nebraska, The Spectacular Now, The Post, Long Shot, and Little Women, as well as heard in Incredibles 2 and Hell & Back. He also wrote, produced, and starred in Girlfriend's Day.

In 2015, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross briefly revived their cult-favorite HBO sketch comedy series with Netflix's W/ Bob and David. He was also the director for the short-lived sketch comedy series, The Birthday Boys. Next, Odenkirk produces and stars in the upcoming thriller, Nobody.

Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring)

As the politely-spoken chain restaurant owner operating a vast underground drug operation, Giancarlo Esposito played a stealthy cruel, ruthless Machiavellian character who became one of Walter White's greatest foes in Breaking Bad's incredible fourth season. Prior to this Emmy-nominated role, Esposito was known for Do the Right Thing, School Daze, Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, The Usual Suspects, Sesame Street, Homicide: Life on the Street, Rabbit Hole, The Electric Company, and Law & Order.

Following this award-recognized performance, Giancarlo Esposito played a lead role in NBC's short-lived Revolution, and he appeared in The Get Down, Allegiance, Once Upon A Time, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Okja, The Jungle Book, and Money Monster. He was also seen in Unpregnant and Stargirl earlier this year, while he also played main roles in Jett and Godfather of Harlem last year.

Currently, Giancarlo Esposito can be seen in The Mandalorian and The Boys, while he's also part of the main cast for Dear White People and Better Call Saul, in which he reprises his role as Gus Fring. Additionally, in 2017, Esposito produced, directed, and starred in The Show. He has upcoming roles in Beauty and The Long Home. He's also appearing in Far Cry 6.

Laura Fraser (Lydia Rodarte-Quayle)

In the role of Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, the woman who supplied methylamine to Gus Fring before working with Walter White, Laura Fraser played an intriguing late-in-the-game addition to Breaking Bad. Previously, the Scottish actress was seen in Neverwhere, Lip Service, Vanilla Sky, and A Knight's Tale. Following Breaking Bad's run, Fraser starred in Retribution, The Missing, The Loch, Traces, Black Box, I Am Not A Serial Killer, In The Cloud, and Beats. She also reprises her role as Lydia in Better Call Saul. Most recently, Fraser starred in an episode of Doctor Who earlier this year.

Jesse Plemons (Todd Alquist)

As the quietly menacing Todd Alquist, Jesse Plemons was a late addition to Breaking Bad, but he made quite an impression. After finding his breakthrough role with NBC's Friday Night Lights, in addition to his strong turn in 2012's The Master, Plemons only continues to establish himself as an excellent rising actor following Breaking Bad's finale. Notably, Plemons starred in the second season of FX's Fargo, and he was seen in Bridges of Spies, Black Mass, The Post, Game Night, Other People, The Irishman, Vice, Hostiles, Black Mirror, and American Made.

Most recently, Jesse Plemons starred in Netflix's I'm Thinking Of Ending Things. He also reprised his role as Todd in El Camino last year. Next, he'll be seen in Antlers, Judas and the Black Messiah, Jungle Cruise, and The Power of the Dog — all expected in 2021.

Do you love Breaking Bad? Who is your favorite character? Be sure to let us know in the comment section!

Against all odds, AMC's acclaimed drama Better Call Saul has not only stood tall in the shadow of its flagship successor Breaking Bad, but it will also close out its run with more seasons and more episodes. (Okay, just one more season and one more episode, but still.) The crime drama spinoff had definitely embraced its roots across its first five seasons, putting Bob Odenkirk's Jimmy McGill-turned-Saul Goodman in contact with plenty of people that audiences first met in Breaking Bad. But there are still many O.G. characters that could still appear in the final BCS season.

Let's take a look at the noteworthy Breaking Bad character who deserve to return to the franchise for a fun cameo in Better Call Saul's final season. Or, more likely, a "hectic and stressful as shit" cameo in Better Call Saul's final season. Let's go ahead and start off with the golden goose himself, since he could be the lone entry in this list and it would still be relevant.

Walter White (Bryan Cranston)

We all know how Walter White's story ends within the Breaking Bad universe. And sure, we think we know how it started, but Better Call Saul has one more season to throw an interesting wrinkle into the mix that allows fans to revisit and reinterpret Heisenberg's arc in new contexts. And if that's asking too much, then perhaps just a simple doctor's office scene where Walt is seen prior to his cancer diagnosis. However it goes, fans need one more scene with Walt, even if Bryan Cranston would be okay if it didn't happen. I would not be okay. The world would not be okay.

Patrick Kuby (Bill Burr)

It's almost hard to believe that comedian and F Is for Family star Bill Burr only appeared in five episodes of Breaking Bad, since Kuby and Lavell Crawford's Huell felt like they were hovering around the outskirts of Saul's interactions with Walt and Jesse. In any case, while Huell's relationship with Jimmy/Saul has been addressed in a few episodes, audiences have yet to see how Saul comes into contact with Kuby, and how the duo end up on Saul's payroll. This final season is calling for you, Kuby, and then we can hopefully get a Kuby and Huell animated spinoff in the aftermath.

Jane Margolis (Krysten Ritter)

Krysten Ritter's drug-loving Jane provided one of Breaking Bad's biggest and ever-present tragedies, with Walt purposefully failing to intervene upon seeing her choking to death on her own vomit. And while it was fine enough to see her in that flashback later in the season, and then again during Jesse's memories in Netflix's El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, those instances only offered situations from the past. Better Call Saul could give viewers an in-the-present Jane, so to speak, and show audiences what she was like before Jesse tumultuously entered her life.

Badger and Skinny Pete (Matt Jones and Charles Baker)

Like Krysten Ritter, Matt Jones and Charles Baker returned to the franchise for El Camino and helped Jesse out after he'd escaped the neo-Nazis. It was pretty great, but that was a very dark and emotionally harrowing situation all around, so Badger and Skinny Pete didn't get quite as many levity-building comedic moments as I would have liked. Not that they aren't effective in more dramatic moments, but there's no one else in this TV universe quite like Badger and Skinny Pete, so I hope they're able to return for something 100% absurd and ridiculous in Better Call Saul Season 6.

Tortuga (Danny Trejo)

Perhaps the least essential entry in this list, the drug-running DEA informant known as Tortuga only appeared in a pair of Breaking Bad episodes. However, he received one of the franchise's most memorable deaths – explosive disembodied head atop the back of a tortoise – and was played by Danny Trejo. Considering all TV shows should always try and get Danny Trejo involved, Better Call Saul would score some big thumbs-up signs if Tortuga's involvement with the cartel was introduced in Season 6. Or even if Danny Trejo just came in to play a completely different character...

Elliott And Gretchen Schwartz (Adam Godley and Jessica Hecht)

The two people who unwittingly inspired Walter White's turn to the Dark Side, Elliott and Gretchen Schwartz generally seem to be good people who didn't really deserve the terror that Walt ended up putting them through. So they probably don't need to show up for any potential terror in Better Call Saul, but it would still be awesome if Gray Matter entered the story in Season 6 in some way, perhaps if Kim (or someone from one of the firms she's worked with) took the tech company on as a client. Hell, that might even be a subtle way to make a Walt appearance happen.

Andrea Cantillo (Emily Rios)

Many fans were hoping that Brock Cantillo would show up in El Camino, but it didn't happen outside of a photo being seen. While this isn't a complete one-to-one situation, bringing Emily Rios back as a younger (and obviously still alive) Andrea in Better Call Saul would be a great way to pay respect to a pair of characters that became extremely important to Jesse right as his life was heading for a complete upheaval. I doubt the timing would work out to show her pregnant with Brock, but something could happen.

Todd (Jesse Plemons)

Yeah, I know Jesse Plemons was utilized a lot for El Camino. Yeah, I know that Todd is a bigoted murder-monster. Yeah, I know that Todd was partially responsible for ruining Jesse's existence. You know what else I know, though? Todd is a hilariously bizarre treasure. Bring him back! Bring him back!

Wendy (Julia Minesci)

In hindsight, it's almost weird to think that Julia Minesci's meth-loving sex worker Wendy was introduced via Hank and Gomez in Season 1, as opposed to her being someone in Saul Goodman's bag of tricks, as it were. However, Better Call Saul could easily bring this recurring character back in Season 6 for one reason or another (that probably involves someone being paid for sexual acts that may or may not actually occur).

Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul)

Now that El Camino showed everyone that Jesse Pinkman eventually gets to escape much of his dangerous past, no one has to worry about him anymore. So Better Call Saul could provide the perfect opportunity for Aaron Paul's final scene in this universe to be something completely light-hearted that has nothing to do with overdoses, Nazis, drugs or ground-shaking betrayals. I'm not sure if Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould could figure out a way to have Jesse nonchalantly testing out a giant magnet (bitch), but that's at least one option. A second option would be to have him showing up at Gene's Cinnabon, which would be amazing.

In a perfect world, Better Call Saul would bring every single one of these characters back for its sixth and final season. But in a perfect world, Better Call Saul would last longer than just six seasons, so there's a conundrum.

In any case, stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates as they become available, and relive the first four seasons of Better Call Saul on Netflix, with Season 5 likely not getting added to the service until shortly before Season 6 premieres. In the meantime, head to our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.

Breaking Bad fans are about to get a reunion between Aaron Paul and Krysten Ritter. The actors, who have remained remarkably busy since their respective days on the AMC series, will be collaborating on a new project. In this case, it will be a twist on the old adage of being seen and not heard. For Paul and Ritter’s latest project, they will be heard and not seen.

What is going on? Well that's an excellent question. Variety reports that both Breaking Bad stars have signed on to voice characters in the Audible adaptation of James Patterson’s The Coldest Case: A Black Book Drama. They will also be joined by Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel, marking another exciting role for that franchise's actress as well.

The Coldest Case: A Black Book Drama is a prequel to James Patterson’s The Black Book. While that might give readers insight into the Audible project, we do know a little more information. The Coldest Case follows Bill Harney, a homicide detective who sends his partner Kate undercover to investigate a drug ring. Bill’s decision to suddenly pull her out causes Kate’s to cover to get blown, and their investigation is subsequently tanked. Kate’s informant disappears along with the drug ring, and the eponymous “black book.” Another investigation ensues, and it uncovers an elaborate web of criminal activity.

It sounds like it will be another dark dive for Aaron Paul and Krysten Ritter, who are no strangers to the ins and outs of portraying characters in a criminal underworld. They did star on Breaking Bad, which hinged on the dealings of the drug business. After their days on Breaking Bad, Ritter’s work on Marvel's Jessica Jones also had her in the investigation business, so this new role should be a good fit.

Breaking Bad enthusiasts will recall that the two co-starred on the series as love interests. Paul’s Jesse Pinkman was the boyfriend of Ritter’s Jane. The latter incurred a tragic end, although Ritter did later put in an appearance as Jane for the Breaking Bad movie, El Camino. It does not sound like this new project will be all that romantic, so the similarities to Breaking Bad will end with the criminal underworld component.

As far as television roles go, on-screen Paul recently starred in the third season of Westworld. In other work, Aaron Paul took a bite out of crime, starring as a convicted murderer claiming his innocence in AppleTV+’s Truth Be Told. Meanwhile, Krysten Ritter has a new dark comedy about a female serial killer, so stay tuned for that. It seems both actors enjoy dabbling in the crime genre.

In addition to the upcoming Audible release, you can watch Aaron Paul and Krysten Ritter on Breaking Bad on Netflix. It is streaming there along with a lot of new 2020 content and El Camino, if course. While you wait for The Coldest Case: A Black Book Drama to drop on Audible, be sure to also check out this summer’s premieres.

The Breaking Bad universe is still alive and well, as Better Call Saul has taken the reins and continues to expand on the franchise, all while carving out a unique corner for itself. However, the show is now headed for its final stretch, with the upcoming sixth season slated to be its last. As such, fans are likely expecting some big things to happen, including appearances from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. Both actors are very much aware of fans’ desire to have them appear on the spinoff, and they’re just as on board with the idea as they are.

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul came together for an Instagram live Q&A, during which they addressed possibly returning for Better Call Saul. Both seem very interested in the idea of bringing their fan-favorite characters to the show, especially Bryan Cranston. In addition to expressing his interest, he even jokingly mentioned that creator Vince Gilligan doesn’t care about them anymore:

Seeing Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul appear during Better Call Saul’s final season would be a dream come true. With the show quickly headed towards the Breaking Bad timeline, it would make plenty of sense for them to somehow pop in (or around) Jimmy McGill’s world. Nevertheless, Vince Gilligan and showrunner Peter Gould are very shrewd when it comes to using characters from the parent show. So for them, it would likely all depend on whether their appearances make sense to the story being told.

While they’ve yet to appear on Better Call Saul, Paul and Cranston have reprised their famous roles since the show ended its run back in 2013. Last year, Paul headlined El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, which continued the story of Jesse Pinkman. Along the way, fans were treated to a flashback that featured an appearance from Cranston’s Walter White.

If they were to appear, Walt and Jesse would be far from the first Breaking Bad characters to find their way onto Better Call Saul. Aside from Bob Odenkirk’s titular lawyer and Jonathan Banks’ Mike Ehrmantraut, Giancarlo Esposito’s Gus Fring was added to the cast in Season 3. The most recent season also featured appearances from Dean Norris and Steven Michael Quezada’s Hank Schrader and Steve Gomez. Even Robert Forster managed to make one last cameo as Ed Galbraith (“The Disappearer”) before his death.

It remains to be seen if Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould grant Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul their request, but there’s no doubt the two producers have big plans for the final stretch of Saul Goodman’s story.

Both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are now available to stream on Netflix.

To start things off on the proper footing, Westworld ranks as one of my favorite TV shows of the last decade, both in terms of sci-fi escapism and theory-indulgent conversations. I'm an adorer of the ensemble cast's consummate excellence, and a fan-apologist for the creative team's more questionable ebbs and whims. Actively seeking out Westworld's story issues isn't part of my narrative, as it were, but even I had to lower my rose-colored glasses more than a few times during the now-concluded Season 3.

Like many other fans, my hopes for the third season were as lofty as Westworld's plant-covered skyscrapers, coming after that game-changing Season 2 finale, with the strength of new cast members such as Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul and Black Swan's Vincent Cassel. And certainly, much about Season 3 can be celebrated as achievements, with the show's acting and cinematography as lovely as ever. Still, I couldn't help coming away from the season as a whole with a host of lingering issues that I'd managed to avoid in previous years. So here are my biggest peeves and grievances from "The New World," in no particular order.

Serac And Rehobaom Were Never Mentioned Before

Engerraund Serac and his predictive A.I. Rehoboam were so vital to humankind that a data breach was the catalyst for mass riots, suicides, etc., and that's on top of Serac's company being a gigantic tech-world quasi-rival of the Delos Corporation that hunted and effectively "killed" outliers who didn't mesh with Incite's vibe. Yet none of the human characters in Season 1 or 2 ever mentioned any of it. Plus, I guess it means none of the sadistic monsters who went to Westworld and the other Delos parks were considered to be outliers at all.

Obviously creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy didn't have every Westworld story beat planned out from the beginning, but they did inevitably choose to make the Incite way of life so universally adopted. Is it dumb that I'd be perfectly fine with them going back and adding new dialogue/scenes to Season 1 and 2 that did incorporate references to the Serac brothers and their devices?

The Real-World Chaos Undercut Dolores’ Big Plans

Westworld set many up to think Dolores would lead a Host army into waging war on a tech-obsessed humanity in Season 3. But while people were indeed consumed by gadgets and data, Dolores' vengeful mission lost nearly all of its steam once it became clear the "real world" was just as fucked up and pre-programmed as the Delos parks. The parallel riffs might have felt more dynamic and poignant under different pretenses, but her revolution and death were sorely muted by Rehoboam's massive impact on human behavior, as well as the lack of morally upstanding flesh-and-blood characters.

The Man In Black’s Erratic AF Storyline

For two seasons, Ed Harris' anti-villain The Man in Black was one of TV's most intriguingly enigmatic characters, especially when incorporating his youth. However, the character's staggered Season 3 arc was a largely blasé and empty affair, save for the group therapy session and the finale's post-credit reveal of the Man in Black Host. Sure, I'm still excited about what's coming next, but without as much confidence that it'll wow me beyond the power of Ed Harris' sneer.

Caleb Is Apparently The Only Non-Rapist To Have Visited A Delos Park

I know Dolores doesn't have a contact list full of dependable human beings who might also be sympathetic to sentient androids, but certainly she should have had more candidates for confidantes than "the guy who lightly convinced other supposedly respectable soldiers not to rape any robots several years ago." What a savior.

Too Much Confusion Over Dolores’ Pearls

When Dolores smuggled a handful of Host pearls out of the Delos parks in the Season 2 finale, it seemed like a great way to build mystery in Season 3. At times, that was achieved. For the most part, though, Westworld dripped those reveals out until confirming that the non-Bernard pearls were just clones of Dolores, which felt more like a "Gotcha!" than a germane bombshell at that point.

Bernard’s Most Interesting Moments Were His First And Final Scenes

Similar to how Ed Harris' excellence felt partly squandered in Season 3, Jeffrey Wright was faced with Bernard's meandering storyline. Things opened promisingly, with Bernard as a self-controlled fugitive living and working among real people, but he immediately reverted back to confused-detective mode. Thankfully, the character's story ended just as confidently, which included an emotional visit with Arnold's wife Lauren before an extended voyage into The Sublime. In between those sequences, though, Bernard bounced from location to location (alongside the returning Stubbs) as little more than glorified exposition. Be better, Bernard.

No Real Resolution For All The Frozen Outliers

Sure, Westworld is a dark show, but what's more disturbing than the reveal that Aaron Paul's Caleb was quasi-brainwashed by Serac's people into kidnapping and/or murdering people as guided by Rehoboam data, all for the still-living people to be declared dead put into permanent states of hibernation until an eventual "cure" is found for their outlier status. But did all those people actually die when Dolores hit that EMP in Episode 9? Are there now a bunch of rotting corpses smelling up the Solomon facility in Sonora, Mexico?

Maeve Constantly Getting Shafted Over Everything

Thandie Newton's Maeve wasn't created to follow a happiness-infused narrative, so it's perfectly natural that the character's rise to sentience and beyond has been one marked with various tragedies. But Season 3 heaped on the tragedies and down-trodden moments without any of the survivor savagery we've seen in seasons past, or even the story agency. Maeve was used by Serac and his simulations, she permanently lost her true love Hector, she was killed by the Musashi clone, and she was killed by Dolores, all without ever getting her promised reunion with her daughter in the Sublime. Of anyone in Westworld, Maeve is one who's least-deserving of such fates.

Neato Cityscapes Aren't As Visually Interesting As Delos' Parks

Yes, Westworld's visuals did get an aforementioned shout-out, but that's just comparing Westworld to most other TV shows. When stacked up against itself, though, the show's visual mastery sagged hard by setting the majority of Season 3 in the real world. The brief moments that did incorporate the Westworld park were a splendid reminder, as were the surrounding areas within the Warworld simulation, though they were too few and far between. It's cool to watch flying vehicles flying through various skyscrapers, don't get me wrong, but nothing about Westworld's San Francisco or L.A. locations were anywhere near as memorable as the abundance of nature within any of Delos' creations.

The Lack Of Robert Ford

Westworld understandably left a lot of familiar characters behind by largely vacating the parks in Season 3, and the creative team did a commendable job of peppering in cameos of favorites such as Angela Sarafyan's Clementine and Jimmi Simpson's younger William. But tell me this chaotic storyline wouldn't have become so much more grounded and meaningful by even a single appearance from Anthony Hopkins' Robert Ford, whose signature reflections on existence are the foundation for Westworld's ethos and pathos.

With Season 4 coming at some point in the future, Westworld can easily revert me back into a guilt-free fanatic who would cast doubt upon everything I've said above. But until those episodes start to arrive, I'll be crafting conspiracy theories about how the human Man in Black isn't actually dead yet.

Westworld Season 1-3 can currently be streamed on HBO Go and HBO Now. Be sure to keep up with all the upcoming TV goodness by bookmarking our Summer 2020 premiere schedule.

Major spoilers below for the Westworld Season 3 finale, so be warned!

As it goes with Westworld’s finales, the Season 3 capper wrapped up the majority of the previous episodes’ storylines while holding back on just enough to keep viewers in the dark until the next batch of narratives arrives. (HBO officially ordered Season 4, but it likely won’t bring itself online until 2022 or so.) Thankfully, enough happened to Dolores, the Man in Black, Caleb and everyone else to inspire lots of hopes and theories for the near future.

Below, I’m going to break down what happened with each of the main characters in the Westworld Season 3 finale, all while trying my damnedest not to completely disrupt the loop. Let’s start with the queen bee herself.

Dolores

Though many viewers have gone all season assuming that Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores’ main goal was to completely eradicate humanity in order to give the Hosts a larger world to exist in, that wasn’t exactly the case. Instead, she wanted to give humans a chance to regain their free will, which she did in part by having Aaron Paul’s Caleb and Thandie Newton’s Maeve completely erase all of the data within Rehoboam.

For those wondering why Dolores picked Caleb as her Judas cow (a callback to one of Dolores’ scenes in the series premiere), it was because she’d actually crossed paths with him years earlier. Westworld dropped the reveal that the ever-mysterious Park 5 was actually used to run military training programs, which Caleb was part of. Dolores recognized Caleb’s ability to make non-monstrous decisions when he was the one soldier in his unit who spoke up against raping all the female Hosts that were “saved” in the training exercises. Yes, Dolores was one of those Hosts, and that was one of the moments of beauty that she chose to hang onto, as opposed to all the ugliness.

Unfortunately, the finale ended similar to how the penultimate episode did, with Dolores’ “dead” body. Although in this case, Dolores had all of her memory and other data stripped from her circuits, so it’s not clear what the character will be like when/if she gets rebooted by Caleb or someone else. Here’s hoping she continues seeking out the beauty in humankind, rather than honing in on the disarray.

Caleb

Rather than losing his mind over everything like a normal person might, Caleb rolled with the punches and accepted Dolores’ explanation that he was to be a savior for the human race. Weirdly enough, Caleb’s brief ascension to being The Man felt very much like an extension of Fight Club’s Project Mayhem, with the paid-for-hire henchmen calling him “sir” and setting things up without his direct knowledge.

Caleb did kill quite a few people in the Westworld finale, but he still chose to realign himself with humanity after seeing that the final Solomon A.I. strategy would result in multiple mass-casualty events, eventually leading to civilization’s collapse in just a century, give or take a few decades. He didn’t want to go that far with the revenge plot.

Still, L.A. was in full riot mode by the end (though ahead of the post-credits sequences), with Caleb and Maeve standing together and watching explosions going off in skyscrapers across the city. I know I’m not the only one who picked up even more Fight Club vibes from that ending, with The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” replaced by Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage.” It’s not quite clear what Caleb’s next move(s) will be, though.

Maeve

For the first chunk of the finale, Maeve just had the objective to find Dolores in order to get the data that everyone thought was in her head. She definitely wasn’t wholly on Serac’s side in all of this, considering their motivations weren’t exactly matched all the way. But things changed as Maeve came to understand Dolores’ actions, and also discovered that the O.G. Host didn’t actually have the key coordinates to the Sublime as was expected.

Near the end, Dolores gave Maeve the final ultimatum: to pick a side between the humans and the Hosts. Serac didn’t give Maeve that chance, using his override button on her after Dolores blipped out. Only Maeve got a little more powerful in that moment, blowing past Serac’s kill-switch so that she could do some killing of her own.

In the end, she was a bit less perturbed than Caleb to watch all of the explosions happening. And once more, Maeve is heading into a between-season hiatus with the promise of the Sublime on the horizon, but feasibly no closer to her reach.

Serac

Finally a step behind everyone else in this season, Vincent Cassel’s Serac was pushed to the brink in trying to gain possession of the Sector 16 data, fully turning Maeve against him in the process. As his plan was falling apart, Westworld finally dropped the big character reveal that fans have been theorizing about all season.

Serac has been a living human, and not some kind of hybrid being. However, he was indeed a puppet of Rehoboam in another big way, in that he had (presumably for years) been guided entirely by the program’s voice. Seemingly every word he spoke was provided to him, and every move he made was dictated by his predictive A.I. That reveal made me want to immediately go back and watch all of his previous scenes to pick up on that odd reveal.

It’s not likely that Serac will have any big scenes in the future; he was shot in the midsection after Maeve usurped his control. Even if the blood loss wouldn’t be what took him out, Serac would likely be in the fast lane to insanity after having to readjust to living with his own thoughts and making his own decisions without Rehoboam’s supervision.

The Man In Black

During the main runtime of the Season 3 finale, Westworld barely brought out the Man in Black. His showdown with Bernard and Stubbs was short-lived, with him getting a shot off on Luke Hemsworth’s Stubbs, and escaping once the local authorities arrived. The still-wounded William was later seen drinking extremely expensive whiskey and seeking his finances, which had been frozen after he was declared deceased.

After the credits rolled, though, Ed Harris got more time to play. He showed up at (presumably) the main Delos office on a mission to kill off any hosts in the building, but he was intercepted by a mostly re-skinned Charlotte Hale (Chalores), who had a different plan in mind. In fact, she had an entirely different Man in Black to show off.

The human William was somewhat pleased to come face-to-face with a Host that was willing to fight back in full, having long sought such a thing from the parks. However, it was an ego blow to learn just how easy it was to replicate his own basic-ass impulses in Host form. Not that he had long to think about it, since the Man in Black 2.0 killed off his predecessor by slitting his throat. That moment not only set up the character’s presumably violet path in Season 4, but it also gave quite a bit more context to the Season 2 post-credits scene in which an A.I. William meets up with a Host Emily (as portrayed by Katja Herbers.)

Bernard

Having not been shot by the Man in Black, Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard was surprised to learn that the SFPD officers who arrived at the scene were more of Dolores’ minions. Kudos to creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy for bringing back Clifton Collins Jr. for this surprise cameo, since his character Lawrence/El Lazo hadn’t been seen since Season 2’s seven installment. He wasn’t the only surprise guest star, either.

Bernard was revealed to be the Host that actually had access to the Sublime, but before he took advantage, he was tasked with paying a visit to Arnold’s real-world wife Lauren, whose existence was finally confirmed, with Suits’ vet Gina Torres aged up through makeup. Lauren was in an assisted living home, and was clearly dealing with memory issues. Of course, she became lucid enough to have the emotional conversation about Lauren and Arnold’s dead son Charlie that Bernard needed to have in order to move forward.

Not that he did much moving when going forward. With the goal of discovering the answer to what comes after the end of the world, as a way of rebuilding the outside world, Bernard sat on the edge of a motel bed and sent his brainpower into the Valley Beyond. The very last shot of Westworld’s finale brought viewers back into that motel room, only it was obvious that a long time had passed in the interim, as Bernard’s entire body was covered in dust. (For me, it was one of the more disturbing images that Westworld has delivered yet.) That said, viewers have no clue how long he was gone, nor what he learned during his voyage.

Chalores

As many viewers suspected, the revamped clone Chalores had indeed found a way to refabricate her skin after most of it was burned away. It appeared the vengeful Host also completely reneged on all of the emotional growth that she’d gained while getting attached the Charlotte’s human family. That love’s all gone now, at least as far as she was willing to admit to Dolores.

Beyond her newfound disgust and disinterest in humans, Chalores also seemingly tapped into some of Dolores’ powers. She appearing to the latter as a hologram that no one else could see, and she was also able to directly stall Dolores’ motor functions from a distance.

However, it wasn’t until the post-credits scene that audiences got a bigger idea of what Charlotte was up to. Along with crafting another Man in Black, Chalores was revealed to be building something of a Host army, with an untold number of new Hosts being printed in that Delos facility. Something tells me she’s interested in more than just repopulating Westworld and the other parks.

Stubbs

Perhaps expectedly, Stubbs didn’t get a big resolution within the Season 3 finale. He was initially shot by the Man in Black, but survived that attack, and reappeared later in the episode inside the motel room with Bernard, laid out in a bathtub full of ice.

With some booze at his disposal, Stubbs was left in the tub during Bernard’s trip to the Valley Beyond. He asked Bernard what he saw upon first gaining access, hinting at Stubbs' own interest in making that his fate, but Bernard powered down almost immediately afterward. It’s unclear by the end whether or not Stubbs is still alive when the dusty AF Bernard returns from his trip to the A.I. afterlife.

Ash & Giggles

Though they never transcended mere side character status, Lena Waithe and Marshawn Lynch were enjoyable throughout Season 3 as Caleb’s RICO colleagues Ash and Giggles. Thankfully, they did make reappearances in the finale, though both of them should have probably just stayed home.

As Caleb was making his way to Incite during the episode’s big riot scene, Giggles showed up to run crowd control, while Ash was handling demolition. Unfortunately, Giggles was shot by one of the riot cops, and though Ash stayed behind to keep tabs on him, he didn’t appear to make it. Not long after, Ash was seen being hauled off by the cops, so her future isn’t looking too bright either. That said, Caleb could always find a way to let her loose in Season 4, if the story calls for it.

With more than enough questions to keep viewers talking, Westworld Season 3 has now run its full cycle, though it can definitely be rewatched as many times as necessary via HBO, HBO Go or HBO Now. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for any news concerning castings or plot information for Westworld Season 4.

Spoilers below for the second-to-last episode of Westworld Season 3, so be warned!

Westworld's penultimate installment, "Passed Pawn," put a lot of focus on explaining Caleb's dark and intentionally obscured backstory, while also introducing the Serac brothers' prototype for the Rehoboam system. Much head-scratching ensued, and that was before the climax seemingly wiped out both Dolores and Maeve thanks to a well-placed EMP device. (Don't worry, they're both "alive" and well in the season finale trailer.)

Even though Season 3 hasn't necessarily been as densely structured as the first two seasons, at least as far as we can tell, creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy weren't exactly forthcoming with fully explored answers across these first seven episodes. And wouldn't you know it? Rehoboam totally predicted that I would have a ton of questions and curiosities left floating around ahead of the finale, which are compiled below. Pop those Limbic tabs and let's get started.

Who Resurrected Maeve After Her Battle With Dolores?

Even though it was partially revealed in the Episode 8 trailer, audiences were already clued in on Caleb being responsible for bringing Dolores back online somehow. (And it looks complicated.) But, assuming Caleb didn't also do the same for Maeve, how is she alive again in the finale? Perhaps Serac and his team were notified whenever Solomon shut down, or even whenever Maeve herself shut down, since he obviously has some overarching control over her. Hopefully the EMP didn't permanently fry her pearl in any way.

Will The Valley Beyond Situation Ever Get Resolved?

By and large, Maeve's main goal in Season 3 has been to reunite with her loved ones, even though she is continuously at the beck and call of Serac. We know that her love Hector is now permanently out of the picture, but will the season finale at last grant Maeve the happiness that she (arguably) deserves by sending her into the Valley Beyond with her daughter? It really wouldn't seem right to keep stretching that story into the recently renewed Season 4.

Is Caleb Really Set To Lead A Revolution, Or Is Dolores Playing Him?

Caleb re-learned a lot about himself thanks to Solomon's revelations, including the fact that he was responsible for killing and apprehending untold numbers of supposed outliers, all while creating false memories around the RICO missions. Dolores already seemed to know all of this, though, implying that she'd been grooming Caleb this whole time into taking her mantle as Host-sympathetic revolutionary. But would Dolores really put all of her metaphorical eggs in Caleb's basket, considering how unstable he is?

What Is Solomon's Final Strategy?

Unsurprisingly, viewers haven't yet learned the details behind the final strategy that Solomon crafted for Jean Mi Serac before the metaphorical plug was pulled on that particular operation. The original version of the plan was outdated by this point, and involved some people who are currently in outlier limbo, but Dolores had the A.I. develop a revised version that revolved around Caleb. In fact, Solomon even tried to warn Caleb about something before the EMP was activated. So what on Earth will Caleb do that introduces even more chaos into the world?

What Happened To Chalores After Escaping The Burning Car?

One of the bigger shocks in the episode “Decoherence” came when Halores’ car was purposefully blown up, killing off Charlotte’s human husband and son in the process. When she pulled herself out of the wreckage, she looked ready to scorch the planet, which was complemented by her totally scorched skin. Early in Episode 7, Halores was curiously framed during a phone call in which she revealed she’d completely sold out on Dolores and tipped Serac off to the Musashi/Sato clone’s location in Jakarta. What exactly happened that shifted her worldview after getting out of that car, and is she healing at all?

Is The Final Dolores Pearl Clone Located In Berlin?

Earlier in Westworld Season 3, one of Serac’s underlings pointed out the locations of Dolores’ contacts, and to date, the only one that hasn’t been revealed yet is the one supposedly in Berlin. That unidentified being isn’t necessarily harboring the missing Host pearl that is still unaccounted for, but the story would probably make a lot more sense if those things are connected. But will the Berlin ally be someone that viewers know?

Is Serac Really Alive Or Just A Series Of Holograms?

Every time viewers are witnessing Vincent Cassel’s Serac on the screen, there’s a 9 in 10 chance that it’s merely a holographic projection. Very rarely has Serac been “proven” to be in the physical world, making contact with objects and other human beings. Episode 7 even introduced a new, prerecorded Serac hologram, one with a message meant for his brother Jean Mi if he was ever successfully reconditioned. Interestingly, though, Serac’s message claims that the man he was “no longer exists.” A nod hinting at a transition to an A.I. consciousness, or something else?

Who Is Serac's Other Delos Mole(s)?

While Charlotte Hale was the most prominent mole within Serac's Delos-infiltrating scheme, he alluded to having someone else working for him on the inside. This mystery associate is presumably the one who initially rescued Maeve's pearl from Cold Storage. As well, he or she is believed to be the one who returned her to the simulation world, as well as the one responsible for Host-printing Clementine, Hanaryo and the unfortunate Hector. Will it end up being Maeve's former compadre Felix, or perhaps his more surly counterpart Sylvester?

Will William Once Again Become The Man In Black?

After spending the entirety of Season 3 either hallucinating at home, hallucinating in virtual nightmare therapy, or begrudgingly palling around with Bernard and Stubbs, Ed Harris' William is in desperate need of a costume change. In getting perhaps unfairly ousted and committed by Halores, the tragedy-stricken gunslinger became the Man in White. but he's apparently now found his path and is set to be the hero in this tale by killing off every last Host that he comes across. (Assuming he's not a host himself.) That probably won't bode well for some normal humans, considering what happened with Emily in Season 2.

What Was Dolores’ Plan With The Jakarta Clone?

Before his death and beheading, the Musashi/Sato clone confirmed with his henchmen that a certain someone's location had been found and that everything was in order. He then sent another out to make a delivery, with the threatening message that he shouldn't return if the mission isn't completed. We know this clone had tied to a facility that appeared to be manufacturing the Hosts' bodily fluids, but where are all the bodies for that fluid to go into?

Why Is Arnold's Maze Showing Up In The Real World?

At least twice now in Season 3, Westworld has shown viewers wall graffiti that directly references the maze imagery that Season 2 was based on. In one instance, Halores walked past it while taking Charlotte's son home, and the other instance was in the tunnel walkway where Dolores and Caleb first meet. It also showed up in one of the trailers released ahead of the season, presumably from one of the finale's riot scenes, but what does it mean? How did Arnold's maze escape the park and crossover into everyday human life, and why?

Why Is Bernard Still So Important In All This?

Inarguably one of Westworld's most important characters, as portrayed by one of the show's most talented actors, Jeffrey Wright's Bernard has strangely been treading a ton of water in Season 3, and not in the normal "confused Bernard exists in 11 different timelines" way. Dolores implied at one point that Bernard was the only irreplaceable Host, but it's not exactly clear what that meant, and he hasn't exactly been doing anything all that noteworthy on his treks with Stubbs. That said, I'm still kind of awaiting a left-field twist that re-contextualizes the entirety of Bernard's Season 3 narrative.

Did Caleb Kill Any Other Outliers That Are Important To The Story?

Caleb learned a lot of terrible shit about himself in "Passed Pawn." Not only was he responsible for killing his brother in arms Francis, but the two of them somewhat unwittingly worked as Serac's hitmen through the RICO app, taking out potentially innocent outliers. Viewers got to see at least one part of Caleb's laundry list of successful missions, along with two failures for "Murder" and "Enhanced Interrogation." Will any of those other deadly missions come up as critical backstory for the rest of Season 3? Is it possible one or some of Caleb's mostly forgotten crimes will come back to haunt him?

Will Anyone Actually "Win" The Finale?

The Season 3 finale trailer plays up the pure madness that's on the way as city populations start rioting over the Incite info dumps that Dolores made public. It plays up the Serac vs. Caleb angle, as well as the Dolores vs. Maeve angle, while also making it seem like William might actually kill Stubbs and/or Bernard. But when all is said and done and the credits are rolling, will Westworld have an actual victor to grant a crown and scepter to? Or is Dolores' main plan just to leave the real world as bloody and destroyed as Westworld itself became over the course of Season 2?

If someone put on about 14 pots of coffee, I could keep cooking up questions that would last us until HBO aired the Westworld finale, but that might be overkill. Be sure to let us know your theories in the comments, and tune into "Crisis Theory" when it airs on HBO on Sunday, May 3, at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Spoilers below for the penultimate episode of Westworld Season 3!

With Episode 7, "Passed Pawn," Westworld pulled the cork on Caleb's backstory, giving audiences a deeper look at his past, and his direct connections to the overarching narrative. Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy didn't give away all the pieces of the puzzle(s), but they did show viewers what Dolores' other big-picture plan has been. Oh, and the show managed to bring back two more long-gone Hosts that were gladly welcomed back, even if it meant another's death.

Follow along below to go over the big story-twisting beats and reveals from Season 3's penultimate episode – not that I fully understand all of them – as the show drives headlong into its big season finale. Let's start with the device that kicked off a lot of this mess.

Serac And Jean Mi Created Solomon Before Rehoboam

Before the world-changing creation of Rehoboam, Serac (Vincent Cassel) and his outlier brother created another world-changing A.I. that was named Solomon, in accordance with Biblical lineages. Located out in a facility in Sonora, Mexico, Solomon seemed to be successful enough at first, but Jean Mi's schizophrenia rubbed off on the predictive technology, giving Solomon mental problems, so to speak. And speaking is something that Solomon is quite good at, with Jean Mi (Paul Cooper) as its voice.

During Solomon's conversation with Dolores and Caleb, it's explained that some outliers were able to be successfully reconditioned and were sent back out into the world. However, those who went through the process and offered no signs of getting better met a pretty unsavory fate. Hundreds of other people (at least) were shown to be held in the seemingly abandoned facility's cryogenic chambers that surrounded the central chamber which housed Jean Mi himself, and it was revealed that those people among many others were marked as dead to the public. (Even the current "Man in White" William was noted as deceased.)

Caleb Was "Successfully" Reconditioned By Solomon

As revealed by the A.I. system, Caleb was one of the first to go through a revolutionary treatment that aimed at reconfiguring outliers' brains to make them more passive. The treatment only helps one out of every ten patients or so, and Caleb's success was a major victory for the Serac brothers, even if the science hadn't advanced to its fullest potential in that iteration. The system did mention to Caleb and Dolores that there was always a risk of regression, which is clearly what Caleb was experiencing.

Prior to the reconditioning, Caleb's military squad was on a mission overseas to take down an upper tier group of insurgents. Though they pulled off the kills themselves without a hitch, Caleb realized too late that his team had also been marked for death. While most of them died, it was revealed that Caleb's buddy Francis (Kid Cudi) did not die in combat like everyone thought. Rather, he survived and kept going on a variety of RICO missions with Caleb, whose reconditioning and frequent Limbic tab-taking left him with dissociative and misinterpreted memories. Bernard and Stubbs are seeking a comprehensive list of those who made it through the process, so it's possible other familiar characters will show up on that list.

Caleb Is The One Who Killed Francis

"Passed Pawn" relayed Caleb's fractured memory through his AR reconditioning therapy, mainly by looping back multiple times to shed more light on a particular event. It was revealed that the RICO missions Caleb and Francis went on together were specifically to round up other threats to society, since using reconditioned subjects proved to be fruitful in taking outliers down. Perhaps it worked too well in the case of taking down Keith Mars...er...Whitman, the pharmaceutical bigwig played by Veronica Mars vet Enrico Colantoni.

Though originally purported to be the head of the insurgents that blew up Caleb's squad, Whitman was actually partially responsible for the Limbic tabs that screwed with Caleb's memories. After asking too many questions about the tabs' purpose, Whitman was put on the RICO hit list. He foreshadowed the inevitable by warning Caleb that RICO would often pit its criminals against each other when targeting outliers, to leave as few footprints behind as possible. That heads-up saved Caleb's life, though it was deadly for Francis, who would have greedily killed his friend for the financial windfall.

Dolores Set Caleb Up As The Real Key To Humanity's Downfall

This whole time that Dolores has been running around and digging into Incite's background, her overall motivations have been questioned by both Westworld characters and viewers. For a Host who seemed so dead-set on collapsing humanity, she'd spent a lot of time not actually taking any human beings down, save for the situations when she was specifically attacked. However, "Passed Pawn" revealed the being who's actually meant to take down humanity is indeed a human being, with Dolores having set Cal up to be the organic savior for the Hosts.

Apparently, Dolores and Caleb's first encounter was anything but a chance meeting, which isn't a complete surprise. More shocking, however, is that Dolores was prepared for their Sonora trip to be her last stop of the journey, and that she just knew that learning about his memory lapses would convince Caleb to take the reins for the vengeful Host's mission. Not that Dolores (in one form or another) can be considered 100% dead or out of the game after Maeve's attack, of course. There are still puzzle pieces that haven't been revealed just yet.

Clementine And Hanaryo Returned!

While I feel like a dolt for not recognizing Clementine's Host ID number when it popped up in Episode 6, even in the midst of questioning who those other two hosts were, that didn't take away from my excitement upon seeing Angela Sarafyan's big return to Westworld. And she wasn't alone, either, as viewers also witnessed the return of Tao Okamoto as Hanaryo, Shogunworld's counterpart for Westworld's Armistice.

Both hosts obviously had different narratives in this scenario, having been sent to kill off the Dolores clone portrayed by Hiroyuki Sanada. (Turns out Hanaryo was not happy to see this version desecrating Musashi's image.) Interestingly, Tessa Thompson's currently singed Charlotte Hale clone was the one who gave the Yakuza leader the forewarning, now having clearly pulled allegiance away from Dolores. It still hasn't been made clear what the Musashi clone has been up to, though his introductory appearance made it look like he was manufacturing lots of cortical fluid, presumably meant to get pumped into more undisclosed Host bodies.

With just one episode left in Season 3, the recently renewed Westworld airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET. Hit up our Summer 2020 schedule to see what else is on the way in the next few months, and then hit up our rundown of TV shows that the average Westworld fan would probably get into.

Spoilers below for the latest episode of Westworld, so be warned.

My brain hurts at just the thought of Westworld Season 3 already being 5/8 of the way through, but to be honest, there are many things about Season 3 that have pushed my brain to the snapping point. Episode 5, titled "Genre," certainly earned its share of quizzical looks and presumptive "Aha!" moments, from Caleb's hallucinatory experience with the drug also named "genre" to Serac's ability to set up just about any situation he pleases. (Weird, though, that he so conspicuously left Liam Dempsey Sr.'s blood spatter on that non-destroyed plane wing.)

I definitely have lots of questions about some of those moments and several others, which are currently in good company with all the unanswered questions about the Man in Black's return in "The Mother of Exiles." But rather than loose inquiries about Westworld's twisty narrative and characters, I'd rather throw out some theories that I've been forming as Season 3 has gone on. (Note that I'm not pompously under the impression that these theories are all exclusive to me, but I generally don't do a lot of online theory-searching, specifically to not be persuaded by others.)

The Maeve And Caleb Storylines Take Place In Two Different Timelines

Westworld's first two seasons were very tightly hinged on fractured timelines giving viewers false expectations, and I don't believe co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy completely departed from that approach. To me, Season 3's clearest possible time setting switch would involve the Caleb and Maeve stories being set apart by an as-yet-undecipherable gap in time. One root of this theory is the Episode 4 scene where Serac takes Maeve to Arnold's house, supposedly three months after a divergence occurred there, which we're made to assume is when Dolores created the other hosts. But what if that's not entirely the case?

For one, Arnold's house looked like it hadn't been used for Host-cloning purposes in years, rather than months, though that's hardly the strongest sign of proof. But also consider that Vincent Cassel remains ageless throughout the episode, despite Serac's flashbacks showcasing events from several different years, so it's difficult to ascertain how old he is at any given time. Finally, I'm suspicious about Maeve's story connecting only with Serac's so far, and only after she "escaped" her simulation experiment. But does this mean that Serac sought Maeve out before taking his fight directly to Dolores and Cal, or did he only draft Maeve after his previous plans were thrwarted?

Some Or All Of Westworld Season 3 Has Been A Rehoboam Simulation

Sharing a lot of the same ground as the first, this theory assumes that viewers are indeed being tricked by some of what we've seen so far. But rather than the two major storylines being separated by time, they'd be separated by the fabric of reality itself. Serac is someone who only goes on the offensive after he's established how to avoid all negative outcomes, which is where Rehobaom becomes handy AF. For all audiences know, some of Dolores' victorious moments with Caleb may be simulated fabrications originating from Serac's Rehoboam experiments to determine the best way to undermine the hosts' power.

The "everything is a Rehoboam simulation" theory was spreading before the tech had been named, but many people seem convinced that it's an all-or-nothing situation when it comes to what's "real" and what isn't. Vincent Cassel himself seemed to confirm recently that Serac is fully a human being, and neither a secret Host nor a Rehoboam avatar. Now, Cassel didn't stress that Serac has been a living and breathing human in every single scene he appears in, which is fine, since's often portrayed as a hologram. However, it still provides more than enough virtual rope to keep the partial-simulation theory lassoed close until proven right or wrong.

Caleb Was Responsible For Something Truly Catastrophic

From his mother's degenerative mental disease to the choppy flashbacks Caleb had while being psychoanalyzed by the A.I. version of his brother-in-arms Francis (voiced by Kid Cudi), Westworld has made it clear that the Aaron Paul character is dealing with memory-related issues on a regular basis. We know that he lucidly remembers certain traumas, such as the day his mother abandoned him to be raised by milkshakes, but Caleb's drug trip in Episode 5 brought a few more major memories to light, which Caleb was not ready to handle. (It was an interesting semi-reveal, given the real-world studies about how memories are linked to psychoactive substances.)

Previously, I would've guessed that Caleb's military work solely involved lower-tier Black Ops missions for the CIA or another clandestine government agency. But if Liam Jr.'s judgmental pre-death outburst in Episode 5 was sincere, and not just heightened through Caleb's P.O.V., it's perhaps implied that Caleb was responsible for something far more massively traumatic. (He was too young to have blown Paris up, though not for later divergences.) The flashbacks made it look like Veronica Mars vet Enrico Colantoni will be a victim whose death Caleb blocked out. But how important was that mystery character, and is there a deeper conspiracy behind why Caleb can't remember things?

Bernard And Stubbs Are Unwittingly Also Dolores' Clones

Though Jeffrey Wright's Bernard is one of Westworld's most important and celebrated characters, he's one of few whose narrative can remain entirely opaque from premiere to finale. As such, it's not at all surprising that the show hasn't yet delivered exhaustive explanations for why Dolores recreated Bernard ahead of her war against Serac and humanity. What if the Host pearl that she loaded with Bernard's data and Arnold's memories already had Dolores' information in its core? In other words, what if Bernard is a Dolores minion who just doesn't know it yet? As Martin put it: "You've always been of two minds, haven't you, Bernard?"

Think about it. Characters like Charlotte Hale and Martin Connells were already on morally dubious paths when Dolores stepped in, while Bernard has almost always kept to his best behavior, at least when others weren't controlling him. And what better way to keep Bernard convinced that he's on the level than by giving him brazen respect and loyalty via Luke Hemsworth's Ashley Stubbs, whose suicide-gone-wrong story never rang legit to me. The main question here is "Why?" In this case, I'd think Dolores would use Bernard and Stubbs to protagonistically earn Serac's trust through shared target, only for the Host duo to blindly double-cross the trillionaire at every step.

At Least One Of Dolores' Clones Will Rebel Against Her

The seeds for this theory were definitely planted (just below skin level) when the show revealed that the Charlotte Hale duplicate has struggled with self-mutilation impulses, presumably related to maintaining dual identities. Episode 5 went deeper down this narrative pathway with Bernard and Martin's conversation, in which the former straight-up asked the Tommy Flanagan character if he ever questioned what Dolores tasked him with doing. He mentioned worlds bleeding, which possibly ties into the idea that Dolores' memories have been popping into Bernard's head.

Actions spoke much louder than words when Martin didn't immediately respond to Bernard's question with dismissive A.I. Scottish-ness; he instead broke eye contact to contemplate the idea. Granted, Martin sacrificed himself like a motherfucker in order to take out key members of Serac's security team. Still, Westworld is always instilling in viewers the idea that Host sentience runs against the grain of Host subservience, so just because one version of Dolores is running the show, that doesn't mean her counterparts' coding will remain exactly the same. Thematically speaking, this show has just about earned the right to eventually turn into a Battle Royale of pseudo-Doloreses.

We Haven't Seen The Last Of The Dempsey Family

Westworld laid out a blueprint of Liam Dempsey Sr.'s adult life in "Genre," though almost entirely through the skewed eyes of Serac, his admittedly frank murderer. Strangely enough, the episode also (probably) killed off Liam Jr., with Lena Waithe's Ash doing the shooting. It's obviously possible that the Dempsey males' deaths coincided in order to push the focus entirely on Serac.

However, considering the family's multi-generational importance in respect to Rehoboam and Serac's history, I can't help but think that viewers still have a few things left to learn about the Dempsey family tree. Perhaps Liam Sr. had some kind of personal or business relationship with Robert Ford, or maybe someone else from the Dempsey family tree will suddenly show up to deliver some left-field chaos.

Space Is Definitely Involved... Somehow... For Someone

In the Westworld theory meta-verse, the topic of space inevitably pops up in some fashion, because science fiction demands it to be so! I wasn't part of that train of thought before, but I'm now a paying traveler. Admittedly, it's largely based on two instances, though there definitely may have been things I missed. Early in Episode 4, Bernard gazed into the distance as two space shuttles were landing, just before another craft made its fiery launch upward. An innocuous scene meant to drive home how out of place Bernard is in the real world, complete with a memory of Arnold's son? Could be, but...

Episode 5 then came along and delivered another one of Ramin Djawadi's stellar instrumental covers, this time for David Bowie's "Space Odyssey." It started up while Caleb witnessed the outside world reacting to everyone's Rehoboam info getting leaked, and the tune ended disturbingly whenever Dolores shot down those would-be assassins, all while taking a few shots of her own. Unlike Bernard's scene mentioned above, the on-screen visuals for "Space Odyssey" didn't appear to showcase anything space-related, but my expectations for Westworld to finally get spacey in Season 3 were not stunted. After seeing a legitimate Game of Thrones dragon, nothing is off the table, people.

With three episodes left to go in Season 3, Westworld airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Westworld spoilers abound below, so be warned before you keep reading!

It took nearly two years, but the Delos Host uprising is once again in full swing, with Westworld's third season finally making its highly anticipated debut on HBO (during a free preview, no less). Nearly the entire runtime was spent outside the parks' universes and completely in the "real world," where it's been three months since the Westworld-destroying events of Season 2. Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have introduced a variety of new characters to join Evan Rachel Wood's Dolores and Jeffrey Wright's Bernard in keeping things mysterious as Season 3's The New World kicks off.

Considering Westworld isn't a show where viewers are expected to understand everything from beginning to end, the Season 3 premiere was appropriately flummoxing. (Even its title, "Parce Domine" is an enigmatic, comma-free use of the Biblical phrasing, translating to "Spare Lord.") While we could spend the next week formulating questions about every bit of minutiae on display in the futuristic world, here are our biggest inquiries about Westworld's premiere.

What Should We Learn From The New Opening Titles?

With its first two seasons, Westworld set a high bar for opening credits sequences, setting its unsettling theme to a series of initially indecipherable images, and Season 3 is no different. For one, the piano-playing "skeleton" is closer to a human form than it was previously, and it looks like we're going to see a robotic eagle entering the fray this season, though it might not fare well. Beyond the imposing presence of Incite's big ball of information, the opening titles most often showcases a plain Host mold breaking through water's reflective surface, and in a way that suggests the current versions of Hosts will be usurped by something more advanced.

What's Dolores' Endgame, Besides Just Killing Everyone?

With enviable abilities comprising many different skillsets, Evan Rachel Wood's Dolores could easily become the world's most deadly and prolific serial killer or mass murderer, assuming her entire goal was just to decimate the human race. Instead, her crosshairs are focused tightly onto the company Incite and its employees. Clearly, she wants all of the personal information that Incite has been compiling about, but to what end? And how does it all connect back to the park and Hosts taking over the world? Is she developing the world's longest kill list, or will there be a more nuanced outcome?

What Kinds Of Horrifying Information Does Incite Have?

Dolores knows a thing or two (million) about the monstrous behavior that human beings are capable of, and that's just from the things that were done to her in Westworld over the years. The argument could be made, of course, that acts committed inside of the Delos parks were done with the knowledge that none of it was real, as it were. The only thing more valuable than human atrocities in a fictional world, then, would probably be humanity's most egregious sins outside of the parks, right? How many dirty deeds are up for discovery within Incite's data banks, and how many familiar characters will be responsible?

What Kinds Of Implants Do Cal And Other Humans Have?

When Aaron Paul's military vet Cal is visiting presumably his mother in the hospital, Kid Cudi's Francis can be heard asking if Cal thinks about getting his "implant turned back on" in order to smooth out life's rougher edges. But it's precisely those hardships that still feel real to Cal, so he doesn't want to. But what are these implants? Are they basically mood stabilizers that replace prescription medications, or are there other uses? The more ominous question, perhaps, is whether or not those implants can be compromised by Dolores or other A.I. beings.

What's Up With Charlotte Hale And The Delos Board?

Westworld viewers are well aware that the human form of Tessa Thompson's Charlotte Hale was killed off in the Season 2 finale after she'd murdered Shannon Woodward's Elsie. As far as anyone knows, Charlotte 2.0 has one of Dolores' cores inside her, giving the character far different motivations as Delos' director of the board. In particular, she dismisses the Westworld massacre by saying that Delos engineers and board members made up most of the body count, and wants to take the company private while producing a new wave of hosts. The board vocally disapproved, but after Charlotte was able to mute one member electronically, I started wondering how many among them are like Charlotte and Robert Ford's electro-shareholder, and how that will affect things.

How Many New Hosts Has Dolores Made?

In the Season 3 premiere's cold open, Dolores told the murderous Incite retiree that she was the last of her kind, which was quite the loaded comment, considering Bernard, Maeve and other sentient-leaning Hosts were still out there. By the end of the episode, we see that she'd also created a Host version of Tommy Flanagan's security goon Martin Connells. (Might he have the core from James Marsden's Teddy Flood inside his head?) Plus, other A.I. humanoids appear to exist elsewhere in the world, so could Dolores being "the last of her kind" mean that she's putting copies of her own core into every Host she makes?

Where Is Bernard's Story Going?

When Season 2 ended, the narrative set up a Dolores vs. Bernard scenario as an overlay for the Dolores vs. Humanity conflict, with the idea being that Bernard would continue reverting to his faux-human instincts. Jeffrey Wright's on-the-lam Host got recognized by a couple of obnoxious coworkers, and Bernard's only course of action was to flip back into survival mode and take those cretins out, after which he embarked on a boat ride back to Westworld. Before that, viewers watched Bernard flip between personalities using a button that was likely created in order to keep his go-to Host persona hidden from actual humans. Bernard has still been making sure Dolores never found them, though. But now that he's been discovered, what's next?

What Was Maeve's Post-Credits Scene About?

The final post-credit minutes of Westworld's premiere at last brought Emmy winner Thandie Newton's Maeve into Season 3. It was quite the heightened moment, with the smartly dressed Maeve waking up inside a fancy bedroom holding a gun, only to discover a dead body and a bloodied German man tied up in the next room. Her bloody knuckles offered clues about the bloody German, but the situation got far more serious when she looked outside and saw Nazi flags and citizens being rounded up by soldiers. It was already revealed that Season 3's new park is influenced by the fascist-heavy Italy during World War II. But how will that lead Maeve to Vincent Cassel's Serac (as seen in the trailers), and how will the Nazi regime play into the Season 3 narrative?

With some of these answers and more coming in during the next seven episodes, Westworld airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET. Let us know in the comments your answers for the questions posed above.

With only days to go before Westworld Season 3 arrives on HBO, viewers are in a pretty familiar place, in that we only have the vaguest clue of what the upcoming episodes will actually be about. It's almost a (Lisa) joy at this point, with anticipation butting heads with rampant curiosity while trying to remember all of the Season 2 details that will likely become relevant as the third season gets started. Westworld didn't make things any clearer with its recent trio of Season 3 trailers, either.

While waiting for showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy to unleash the beast with Westworld Season 3 (which is being dubbed The New World), let's take a deep dive into all the big questions those trailers inspired.

How Do Dolores And Caleb Meet, And Why Isn't He Way More Freaked Out?

Aaron Paul is one of a few new "human" characters being introduced in Westworld Season 3, but not that much is known about him, nor how he and Evan Rachel Wood's Dolores first meet. Whatever happened, I want to know how that first meet-cute-bot makes Caleb so enthused by Dolores that he isn't screaming to high heavens after seeing her tech-savvy skeleton without most of its skin. And is that a coffin, or some kind of shipping container?

Who Or What Is Vincent Cassel's Serac?

Portraying another new character, Vincent Cassel joins Westworld as the mysterious Serac. In one trailer, Serac welcomes Thandie Newton' Maeve into his luxurious "world," and then tasks her with finding Dolores and killing her. Then elsewhere, Serac is seen holding Caleb at gunpoint, presumably also with the intent to find Dolores. But why is he tracking Dolores? Did someone hire him, or is he the one with the personal vendetta? Also...he's human, right?

What Are Arnold's Plans With Westworld And/Or Dolores?

Now that Robert Ford's partner in artificial crime Arnold Weber will officially be out and about in Westworld Season 3, it will be interesting to see what his motivations are. The western-themed park was pretty much destroyed during the course of Season 2, so will his next step be to fix everything up and bring it back to its former glory, or will he raze it all and start over with a new park idea? Also, he's possibly a little vengeful for all the destruction, so should we expect Arnold to go hard after Dolores? Could it be that he's the one who puts Serac to the task of finding the self-sufficient host?

Does Maeve Actually Make It To The Real World?

Though perhaps not for the proper reasons, Westworld's Maeve has long wanted to defect from her host-ly ways in order to escape the park. It appears she gets to do just that in the trailers, only with a mission of death as opposed to one of reuniting with her daughter. But I'm not fully convinced that Maeve's outside-the-park moments are actually real and not a figment of her imagination.

What's So Important Inside The Man In Black's Mouth?

More than a few sci-fi shows have featured characters who were set up with tracking devices hidden in their teeth, which is the only kind of half-explanation I can think of for why a non-dentist would be using a scary AF tool to dig around in The Man in Black's mouth. Otherwise, what is happening here, as well as in the other moments with The Man In Black? Perhaps the bigger question here is whether or not the William we're seeing is the human version or the host version who appeared at the tail end of Season 2.

What Is Going Into Or Out Of Dolores' Body?

To be expected, a lot of moments in the Westworld trailer provoke questions that aren't anymore complicated than "WTF is this, though?" Case in point: Dolores appears to be going through some kind of painful blood-fluid extractions, unless she's actually having the fluids pumped into her. In any case, it seems like that process could be handled without tubes being jabbed into her chest and arms. Although I suppose the pain might be intentional...

Is Teddy's Core Inside Charlotte's Body?

At the end of Westworld Season 2, the human version of Tessa Thompson's Charlotte Hale was murdered by Dolores-as-Host-Charlotte, but we know that Dolores took the Charlotte form with her into the real world. In the episode just before that, viewers watched as James Marsden's Teddy killed himself after reaching sentience. Theories abound that Teddy's host core was one of the ones Dolores nabbed from the park, and after seeing the way Dolores and Charlotte laid together in the Comic-Con trailer last year, those theories multiplied. So is Teddy still alive, as it were, and will we see James Marsden at all?

What Happened To These Buildings?

Westworld Season 3 is said to be partially set in a futuristic Los Angeles, giving viewers our first big look at the "real" world. But what's up with that one skyscraper being overgrown with plant life? Is it another example of the dichotomy between the "living" and...the otherwise? Or is the aftermath from some kind of global event or disaster?

Is That Big Ball Connected To Incite?

Incite is the Westworld-derived company whose website is home to the show's hidden trailers. It's some kind of a data-mining company, which speaks heavily to the kinds of information that people are being tracked for within the Delos parks. But what is that big mysterious ball of lights, and how does it factor into Caleb and Dolores' stories?

How Will Nazi-Filled Italy Enter Westworld's Story?

With all the logical additions that were made for Westworld Season, one of the weirder elements was the debut of a park set in Italy during WWII, when Nazism was in full effect. Given the backlash to Amazon's polarizing Nazi-killing action drama Hunters, one might not have expected Westworld to hearken back to that terrible point in human history. I suppose it's meant to give the park visitors a chance to enter a military-centered narrative, but I can't imagine it'll be handled on the show with kid gloves and without offending anyone.

Okay, so I probably have a lot more questions that that, if we're being honest with ourselves. How long a time span does Season 3 cover? What in the world are NFL great Marshawn Lynch and rapper Kid Cudi going to get up to in their scenes? Will Anthony Hopkins' Robert Ford be back in some way? The inquiries just keep going, people, so stifle that flow by checking out the main Season 3 trailer below.

Find out the answer to some of these questions and more when Westworld debuts Season 3 on HBO on Sunday, March 15, at 9:00 p.m. ET. Check our Winter and Spring TV schedule to see what other shows are hitting the small screen around that time as well.

HBO has always been a hub for cutting edge television, but the sci-fi epic Westworld is on another level entirely. The show is cinematic and epic, featuring a killer cast of actors. Fans have been eagerly anticipating any indication of what might happen in the show's upcoming third season, which will introduce some new characters. But most importantly, it looks like the third trailer will take us out of the titular park.

Westworld Season 2 ended with both Dolores successfully leaving the park's island and venturing into the main land. Clearly the third season of HBO's acclaimed drama was going to take us new places, and the first complete trailer for Season 3 teased just that. Check out the full trailer for Westworld Season 3 below.

Does anyone else have chills? Let's break down exactly what we're being shown in this first glimpse into Westworld's third season on HBO. From the look of it, it's going to be an epic and action-packed war. Man vs. Machine, and I can't wait.

This trailer opens on none other than Evan Rachel Woods' Dolores, which should come as no surprise to the fandom. Dolores narrates that she was born in pain, which has hardened her and inspired her to declare all out war against the living. She and her fellow robots were designed not to ever leave the park, but that's exactly what the show's protagonist has done. And it's going to be a blood bath.

From there we see flashes of returning characters, although they're not going to behave nearly the same as in previous seasons. Tessa Thompson's Charlotte is actually dead, and the one that'll be in Season 3 is actually a robot crafted by Dolores herself. We also see Jeffrey Wright's Bernard, who is in the ruins of Westworld. But that's about all we see of the park, as the rest of the trailer takes place out in the real world.

The next character to get a line of dialogue is a newcomer. Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul is joining Westworld in Season 3 as Caleb and it looks like he's going to be Dolores' new ally in the battles to come. He's also disenfranchised by society, although it's unclear if Caleb is a man or machine. He's shown in some epic action sequences, full of explosions. It looks like Westworld is going to get even crazier in its third season.

This above trailer also revealed interesting developments for Maeve and The Man in Black. Thandie Newton's character has been on her own path throughout the show, and hasn't been focused on violence and revenge like Dolores. The two robots will come to a conflict in the third season, as Maeve is tasked with killing Dolores by Black Swan actor Vincent Cassel. And she may be doing it with a sword.

As for Ed Harris' William, it looks like his time tormenting the denizens of Westworld might come in handy. He believes he's meant to save the world, using his skills to take out Dolores and her compatriots. But the Man in Black also had a wild cliffhanger at the end of Season 2, so it's unclear exactly how he'll factor into Season 3's main story.

Clearly Westworld Season 3 will not be pulling any punches, and it seems like just about anything could happen. The new season will premiere March 15th on HBO. In the meantime, check out our midseason premiere list to plan your next binge watch.

In the modern age, we have seen many different forms of clashes between filmmakers and technology - particularly in the realm of presentation. It started, of course, as theaters started using digital projectors instead of actual film, and during the height of the 3D boom there were arguments about brightness. Streaming, of course, has opened up a different can of worms altogether, with the developing arena making moves that occasionally rub the director community the wrong way.

The most recent example of this has been unfolding this week, and it involves a new "player control" with which Netflix is currently experimenting. The tech is simple, giving audiences the option for variable playback speeds - including one-and-a-half times faster than normal.

After being discovered by Android Police, multiple notable members of the movie industry took to social media to express their extreme displeasure at the idea of their works being manipulated in this fashion. With over 3,000 Retweets on Twitter, writer/director/producer Judd Apatow got the most attention with his reaction to the news of the developing Netflix feature, suggesting that he would personally get every filmmaker and get them to stop the concept from being implemented:

Presumably the thinking behind the implementation of this feature on Netflix is that it will allow users to watch more content faster - but that comes at a major sacrifice in regard to filmmaker intent. If a director wanted a scene to play one-and-a-half times faster, then they would have constructed it that way during the editing process. If you're watching something at a higher speed, you're not taking in everything that the content is offering you, and that's just a waste.

Ratatouille and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird also did not mince words in his reaction to the new tech. As part of his criticism, he notes that Netflix is giving a lot of money to filmmakers to produce content right now, and it's a pretty bad thing to stab them in the back by potentially manipulating the presentation in such a way.

Peter Ramsey, co-director of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, replied directly to Judd Apatow's post on Twitter, and made a very good point: if a Netflix member doesn't have time to properly watch something, then they should go do something else and wait until they do have enough time:

And it's not only directors. Aaron Paul, who not only is the lead actor in Netflix's most recent blockbuster hit - El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie - but also a key part the Bojack Horseman voice cast, also expressed a fair amount of vitriol towards the idea of variable playback speeds:

In an official blog post written in response to the criticism, Netflix Vice President Keela Robison explained the streaming service's side of the matter, noting that it's a feature that has been requested by users, and that it's something that home video devices have been able to do since the rise of DVD:

As for creators who don't appreciate their works being manipulated, the Netflix VP says that it is only being looked at for mobile devices, and that there are specific efforts being made in regards to audio clarity:

The statement concludes that there are currently no plans to roll out this feature in a new Netflix app update, and that its existence will depend on the feedback that they receive from their experimentation. It will be interesting to see if that feedback is exclusively from users, or if they are taking external commentary into account as well.

How do you feel about this potential feature from Netflix? Do you think you would use or, or are you as offended as the filmmakers above? Answer our poll below, and hit the comments section with all of your thoughts, feelings, and opinions on the matter.

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SPOILERS ahead from El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.

Toward the end of El Camino, we finally get a flashback cameo from Breaking Bad's Walter White, and he has a key line to Jesse Pinkman that resonated strongly with Walt actor Bryan Cranston.

Walt and Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman have breakfast in a diner, and it's clear the conversation is happening early in their Breaking Bad working relationship -- during one of the good times, after a successful cook, giving them both a chance to think about the future. Walt was coughing, and the assumption was still that he would die from his cancer, leaving his money to his family. But what about Jesse? Would he go to college? What would he do next after they sold the batch? Walt wanted to know.

Walt also wanted to share his envy, and it surprised Jesse when Walt gave his young drug protege a wistful look and shared these words:

Entertainment Weekly asked Bryan Cranston about that line, and he too found it very interesting:

Fascinating. It really was a perfect line to sum up Walter White's ethos at the time -- and actually throughout the rest of Breaking Bad from there. El Camino writer/director Vince Gilligan gave credit where it was due, saying the line came from producer Melissa Bernstein, who suggested the scene should have more meaning than just fan service:

I'm glad Vince Gilligan had a strong team to watch his back while he made El Camino. He almost ended the movie with Jesse Pinkman in jail until the Better Call Saul team (and his own girlfriend) convinced him that was a bad idea. I'm also glad Gilligan is willing to listen to the ideas of others, since ultimately it was his call.

Vince Gilligan continued to EW on how that line in the diner scene took shape and what it said about Walter White's mindset:

Yes, right after Walter White's line to Jesse, Jesse gives an incredulous look -- that's the screenshot above -- and then the scene cuts to Alaska, where Jesse prepares to start his new life. Maybe he will go to college and study sports medicine or business. He can start fresh.

Jesse also ends the movie by giving vacuum salesman/disappearing maestro Ed (RIP Robert Forster) a letter for young Brock. Aaron Paul said he was disappointed that the movie cut out the voiceover that was originally planned to reveal the full contents of the letter. He gave a hint to what's in there, though.

Did you spot all of the Breaking Bad characters in El Camino? What other TV shows should get movies after Breaking Bad? Between El Camino and the Downton Abbey movie's success, you know more are coming.

Aaron Paul will have a lifelong legacy thanks to Breaking Bad for many reasons, and not the least of which is Jesse Pinkman's tendency have a "bitch!" for every occasion. Whether it's a celebration of magnets or educating a doomed DEA agent on the importance of private domiciles, Jesse made "bitch" an impressively versatile word. Paul, who recently reprised his role as Jesse for Netflix's El Camino movie, relived Jesse's best "bitch" moments in a hilarious video.

Prepare yourself for a blast from the bitch-tastic past and take a look!

Kudos to Aaron Paul as an actor, because if not for the quick clip of him cracking up at "The Evolution of Bitch" in the beginning, I might have believed that he was 100% serious about the whole thing. That's not to say his comments about his process of honing his performance and dropping a different "bitch" for each of Jesse's different moods weren't genuine, but it was entertaining to see him laugh.

Breaking Bad wasn't all doom-and-gloom meth-cooking, after all, and Jesse saying "bitch" on lighter occasions could always deliver a laugh. Honestly, I've gone back rewatched the clip of "Yeah, bitch! Magnets!" from Breaking Bad just for fun. Alas, Jesse's celebration of magnets didn't make it into the montage from the Aaron Paul video, but there were plenty of memorable ones in there, and it would take more than six-and-a-half minutes to do justice to every Breaking Bad "bitch."

In case you've already tuned in to El Camino on Netflix, then this was just the latest look back at the glory days of Breaking Bad. If you haven't seen El Camino yet, beware of spoilers that lie ahead!

El Camino was packed with appearances from Breaking Bad veterans, including Mike Ehrmantraut in a flashback to before Walt murdered him, child-murderer and tarantula-enthusiast Todd Alquist, Badger and Skinny Pete, and many more. Most importantly of all (although he didn't appear in much of the movie), Bryan Cranston reprised his role as Walter White, in a scene set before everything went south with Walt and Jesse.

Aaron Paul was back at his best as Jesse Pinkman, which comes as no surprise considering he only had to rewatch one episode for El Camino. I imagine that this might be the last we see of Jesse Pinkman, as the Netflix movie brought his story full circle, and I honestly wouldn't wish anything on him that could ruin the closest thing he could get to a peaceful ending. End spoilers.

You can find the full series of Breaking Bad streaming on Netflix now, as well as El Camino. If you're in the market for something packed with fewer "bitch" drops, swing by our 2019 Netflix premiere guide for some ideas.

SPOILERS ahead on how El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie ends.

El Camino almost pulled a Seinfeld. Thankfully, Better Call Saul's writers -- and Vince Gilligan's own girlfriend -- saved the Breaking Bad movie writer/director from himself.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie just released Friday October 11 on Netflix. The movie ends with Jesse Pinkman successfully escaping to Alaska, and driving off to start a new life. Whether you found that ending incredibly satisfying or (like me) wish more of the story moved forward into Jesse's new life rather than spending so much time looking back, you'd probably agree that Vince Gilligan's alternate ending idea is a serious downer.

Vince Gilligant talked to Vulture about another possible ending that would've left Jesse Pinkman in prison:

Poor Jesse. And he'd be at peace with it? Why even bother? Just let the ending of Breaking Bad stand, with Jesse driving off to freedom. Thankfully that prison idea did not make it to the screen. Vince Gilligan's girlfriend is a saint for putting up with his dismissive response to her reaction, since he only seemed to get it when the Better Call Saul team had the same thoughts:

Phew! Jesse Pinkman actor Aaron Paul told Collider El Camino's original cut was three hours long, so a lot was trimmed for the final version on Netflix -- which also got a limited theatrical release and will air on AMC at some point. Hopefully fans will get to see some of the deleted scenes.

Aaron Paul already said the script originally had a voiceover airing the contents of the letter Jesse wrote to Brock. At the end of the movie, Jesse gave that letter to Ed the vacuum salesman (RIP Robert Forster) to mail to young Brock from Breaking Bad, but we never got to hear what was in the letter. That's the kind of thing I'd be curious to see in a deleted scene.

But, to me, a lot of El Camino already felt like several Breaking Bad deleted scenes strung together. It was great to see characters like Mike, Jane, and of course Walter White again, but I wanted to see more of how Jesse lived after his escape, not just end the story when he finally gets ready to start that new life.

But now that I know Vince Gilligan almost left Jesse in jail, I'm grateful for what we got. El Camino is now streaming on Netflix. What do you think of that alternate ending? How about the real one? Don't forget that Better Call Saul Season 5 should be coming fairly soon in 2020.

Spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet watched El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie released on Netflix over the weekend, and in some ways, it was as if the six years since Breaking Bad's finale hadn't passed at all. The TV movie, written and helmed by show creator Vince Gilligan, did an arguably masterful job laying out the immediate aftermath of Jesse Pinkman's escape from his neo-Nazi prison. To accomplish such a feat, Gilligan did exactly what fans were hoping he would by delivering a variety of highly welcomed cameos, including one from Walter "Heisenberg" White himself, Bryan Cranston.

Let's go over Aaron Paul's reaction to both of those cameos below.

Bryan Cranston as Walter White

Lots of moments during El Camino's production threw Aaron Paul for a loop, putting him back into the mindset he stayed in during Breaking Bad's five-season run. To say the least, the secrecy concerns were a major piece of the puzzle, with Bryan Cranston's appearance being the most complicated. Here's what Paul had to say:

Understandably, Aaron Paul agreed when asked by EW if the project felt like an undercover mission at that point. The few times that Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston were in the same area of the country together, fans went wild with El Camino speculation, even though their team-up was only to launch a brand of Mezcal, and had nothing to do with Breaking Bad. Plus, the movie had apparently already filmed by the time those videos came out.

Not only was it a big ordeal to get Bryan Cranston to and from the set of El Camino, but it was also a pretty big undertaking to film the actual scene itself. After all, even a single random passerby would potentially have the power to completely ruin the secretly crafted return of Walter White.

How did they make it happen? Well for one, none of the extras in Walt and Jesse's diner scene were randomly cast. Here's how Aaron Paul explained it:

I can't imagine how amazing that must have been, both for longtime crew members and for those just entering this universe with El Camino. Even though Cranston was playing the more physically diminished version of Walt from Season 2's timeline, the character is still an intimidating force to be reckoned with.

Plus, that sounds like the smartest way to handle a scene in the most spoiler-free way possible. Assuming, of course, that everyone involved would be trusted with such highly explosive information. That's definitely not always a given in Hollywood these days.

Krysten Ritter as Jane Margolis

Coming as late as it did in El Camino, Bryan Cranston's appearance as Walter White initially appeared to be the final big payoff for Breaking Bad fans; an emotional climax beyond the narrative's climax. But Vince Gilligan had another whopper packed in, with Krysten Ritter returning to the franchise for the first time since Season 3's "Abiquiu."

As one might have imagined, Aaron Paul was very much behind the idea of Krysten Ritter's Jane appearing as a source of mental comfort for Jesse. In his words:

Jane's thoughts about doing things for oneself, as opposed to waiting for the universe to sort things out, had already been put into motion by Jesse when he killed Neil for that $1,800 (and change). But that didn't make her words any less important or necessary for him to recall in those moments as he set out on his own in Alaska.

As it turns out, El Camino viewers only got to see an abbreviated version of the scene that Vince Gilligan shot with Aaron Paul and Krysten Ritter. When asked what he remembered about shooting the longer bit, here's what the actor said:

While it might have been great to spend a lot more time with Jane and Jesse during their road trip, it ultimately wouldn't have added anything further to the end of El Camino. Her death was so important to Jesse and his crumbling relationship with Walt that using her for a longer scene might have felt too maudlin and melancholy. Instead, though, the short burst of Jane is refreshing and doesn't wear out its heartfelt welcome.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is currently available to stream on Netflix, with a debut coming to AMC at some point down the line. Let us know what you guys thought about these cameos, and the rest, in the comments below!