BBC America’s ‘Killing Eve’ first framed itself as procedural: a show about assassins and the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service that attempts to take them down. More than that, though, the show tangoed through an elaborate cat-and-mouse game between Jodie Comer’s assassin and Sandra Oh’s MI6 agent. This season, that game evolves for the better, and our weekly coverage will keep an eye on how this show’s transforming, and it (along with those kills) is only growing bolder with the passage of time.

Killing Eve took a break this week from its usual format at an unexpected time, right after Niko’s possible death due to Dasha-Magda’s pitchfork-surprise attack. We don’t know whether he survives (it doesn’t look good) or how Eve will react to this attempted murder on her estranged husband. Will this inspire her to push harder into investigating The Twelve and/or truly drive a wedge between the former MI6 agent and her assassin-love? That’s a decent question, but the series has pressed the “pause” button on answers, so that Villanelle can take Konstantin’s findings on her family to pursue the past.

Yet, right as Eve hits a pivotal moment that could propel her character away from that inertia that’s plagued her this season, we’re getting a Villanelle bottle episode, and one with an origin story. Given that she’s an established villain, it’s a fascinating prospect for viewers once the realization sets in that this is happening. In the end, Villanelle rejects the story of her origin (as told by her mother) and literally sends it up in flames. And we really don’t know whether we can trust this story either, since mom’s an unreliable narrator and overall shady character. Of course, it seems fitting that this episode aired on Mother’s Day, but that wasn’t the original plan — this season got bumped up a few weeks due to a pandemic schedule shuffle on behalf of The Walking Dead.

Clearly though, Villanelle’s been curious about her childhood for a while, and the show’s been sending up blatant signs of this preoccupation lately: (1) A rare, physical display of her vulnerability (those hiccups when Konstantin teased the fruits of his research); (2) Her choice to spare a baby from death, although she kidnapped him; (3) Her bedtime interrogation of Konstantin about whether she was cute as a baby (and she admits in this latest episode that her head was indeed “bulbous” as he claimed). Yet we also saw a longing for her childhood back in Season 2 with that sticker fixation in the hospital. So, how does Villanelle’s trip back to Mother Russia go? Not too well, in the end.

Yeah, she didn’t find the connection to her roots that she desired, which was inspired by an ache to find what’s been missing in her life. Who survived the fire? Villanelle made sure that younger half-sibling Bor’ka wasn’t in the house before she lit the flames. The way that she did so was remarkably tender, for her, since she left a note (which also reminds us that her own handwriting differs from the note on Dasha’s pitchfork) leading to money for him to buy Elton John concert tickets.

Another brother, Pyotr, was also sleeping in the barn; Villanelle knew that he’d be close to his anger-couch, and he showed kindness during her visit, so presumably, she intended to spare him as well. As for the others who didn’t show warmth toward her (or sided with mom during conversations), she wished for them to perish after the fatal confrontation with mom. And the fleeting display of fondness between Villanelle and Bor’ka and Pyotr might be the closest thing we ever see to softness from this sociopath, who appears to be quite broken on her trainride back to… London?

Probably London, yep, which means that she’ll be close to Eve and the swirling, ongoing mess of The Twelve. The anxiety-music that’s playing during the end scene (while Villanelle’s choking back tears) does not bode well for what’s to come. Villanelle’s been chasing her own identity, and now she might fully funnel that into her ambition to become a keeper, but here’s how her current state of crushed disappointment happened:

After an episode full of Villanelle embracing life in her family’s Russian village — a game-filled festival, singing and dancing around the dinner table, arguing over whether mankind went to space — everything hinged upon what happened while Villanelle was chopping veggies in the kitchen after everyone else went to sleep. Her mom, who’d placed “Oksana” into a orphanage, instructed her to leave the family home, which turned into an argument about the source of “darkness” in their relationship. Both are convinced that the other is the source of their misery, and Villanelle’s incensed by the idea that not crying as a baby meant that she was inherently “bad from the beginning.” There was another beef, as well, with the revelation that Villanelle’s father favored her, along with more talk of the darkness and mom’s jealousy.

Well, Villanelle wasn’t about to let her allow her history to be authored in such a way, so she burned it all down: the story, the house, everything. It was somehow worse, even, that mom didn’t appreciate this gesture of humor from daughter.

Ultimately, Villanelle realized that she wasn’t going to find the connection that she sought with mom, who ended up being the episode’s main kill, and she was fine with tossing in collateral damage — the others who did not embrace her in Mother Russia. No peace has arrived from her quest, and the assassin will likely be even more alternately unhinged and calculating once she returns to “civilization.” I can only imagine the fallout that Dasha and Konstantin will witness in the weeks to come. We’ll also be waiting to see what Eve does about the attack on Niko, and of course, we haven’t heard the end of how the MI6, the Bitter Pill, and Eve will continue to dig into Kenny’s death. How will Villanelle deal with finding out about Dasha’s strike on her connection with Eve, and will this lead us to more revelations about The Twelve? This season’s setting up a pretty big score to settle as it continues to unfold.

BBC America’s ‘Killing Eve’ airs on Sundays at 9:00 PM EST with simulcasting on AMC.

After a famous singer passes away, it’s a natural response to want to listen to your favorite song of theirs. The same is true for actors and actresses, except instead of a song, it’s a movie or TV show. Or maybe just a scene. After hearing that comedy legend Jerry Stiller had died from natural causes at 92 years old, I immediately went to YouTube and watched my favorite scene of his from Seinfeld. It’s not “serenity now,” or Frank Costanza’s agitated phone call to Jerry (“Mr. Steinbrenner’s here. George is dead. Call me back”), although both of those are incredible, and show how Stiller was a master of comedic-screaming. (I bet Adam Sandler was a student of his work.) It’s a blooper from season eight’s “The Little Kicks,” best known for Elaine’s twisting-jerking dance moves.

But I think of it as the episode where Stiller makes Julia Louis-Dreyfus lose her sh*t.

All it took for Louis-Dreyfus, one of the most accomplished and decorated sitcom stars ever, to break character was Stiller asking her, “The hell does that mean?” Jason Alexander, too, couldn’t keep it together, rolling off the bench and onto the floor in giggles. But he eventually regained his composure — JLD, not so much. As you can see in the blooper reel above, multiple takes are ruined by Louis-Dreyfus laughing hysterically at Stiller’s threats, although I’d argue, they’re improved with the breaking.

What a one-of-a-kind talent.

Jerry Stiller is survived by his son Ben, who tweeted, “I’m sad to say that my father Jerry Stiller passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed.”

Last week, there were reports that Drake’s surprise new release, Dark Lane Demo Tapes, might not debut at No. 1, a feat that has been accomplished by a bunch of Drake projects before it. Drake’s latest faced stiff competition from Here And Now, the 19th album by country music legend Kenny Chesney. Now the numbers are out, and Chesney managed to beat Drake for the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart dated May 16.

It was a real close call: Here And Now earned 233,000 equivalent album units in the US for the week ending May 7, while Dark Lane Demo Tapes managed to rack up 223,000 units.

This release was a big one for Chesney, as this No. 1 placement has tied him with fellow country icon Garth Brooks for the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 for a country act, with nine. Here And Now had the third-biggest sales week of the year so far, following the debut weeks of projects from BTS and The Weeknd. The album also had the biggest week for a country album in over a year, since Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty back in September of 2018.

As for Drake, Dark Lane Demo Tapes is his 12th top-10 release, joining every other charting release Drake has put out. Drake earned his ninth straight No. 1 release last year with Care Package, and Dark Lane Demo Tapes could end that run if it doesn’t find its way to the top of the chart in the coming weeks.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

View Entire Post ›

Mother’s Day was this past weekend, and that was made clear by the millions of social media posts that were made yesterday in honor of moms everywhere. Taylor Swift crafted a heartfelt post in honor of her mother as well, in which she shared a cute home video of herself as a child, having a conversation with her mother, Andrea Swift.

The minute-long clip starts with Andrea prompting Taylor to count, and being supportive even when Taylor jumped from two all the way to five. Taylor used this video to highlight how chats with her mom are among her fondest memories. Swift wrote, “My conversations with my mom have always been and will always be some of my favorite memories – from when I was 10 months old in this video from October 1990 to now talking every day on the phone. Our talks are everything to me. Myyyyyyyy goodness I love you Mom. Happy Mother’s Day. PS for those of you who are separated from your loved ones or struggling with this day, my heart is with you.”

Meanwhile, Swift is gearing up to debut her new City Of Lover concert special, which was filmed in Paris last year.

Watch the video above.

View Entire Post ›

One of the best episodes of The Office is also one of the sweetest. Season six’s “Niagra” finally found those crazy kids Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly tying the knot after years of “will they, won’t, Roy they” longing from across the Dunder Mifflin conference room. It’s an eventful two-part episode, with Jim accidentally disclosing Pam’s pregnancy in front of her family, Andy puncturing his scrotum, and the happy couple aboard the Maid of the Mist ferry boat, but it’s mostly remembered for the dance sequence down the aisle. Not Jim and Pam dancing down the aisle, but their co-workers, especially a giddy Michael.

On Some Good News, host John Krasinki got the cast back together to recreate the dance. He was inspired by Susan and John, real-life The Office fans who, as the actor jokingly put it, “elegantly ripped off our show for your proposal.” He got ordained to marry the pair, enlisted country star Zac Brown to perform “The Man Who Loves You the Most” at the virtual wedding, and brought in familiar faces to the Zoom call: Steve Carell, Mindy Kaling, Rainn Wilson, Angela Kinsey, Ed Helms, Jenna Fischer, Kate Flannery, Brian Baumgartner, Phyllis Smith, Oscar Nunez, and Creed Bratton. It’s a lovely gesture from Krasinki, even if the Chris Brown of it all hasn’t aged particularly well. Still: very cute!

You can watch the entire episode below.

I can only assume Kevin was wearing his tissue-box shoes.

Post Malone capped off April by performing a livestream set of Nirvana covers, and people who were in or close to the band gave their approval (namely, Courtney Love and Krist Novoselic). Now, the remaining surviving Nirvana member, Dave Grohl, has shared his thoughts on the livestream, and he was a big fan.

He spoke about it during a recent interview with ALT 98.7 FM, saying:

“It was so weird, because I was writing… I started this Instagram page called ‘Dave’s True Stories,’ because I thought, ‘Well, I just wrote a whole record, I don’t wanna write music. And I don’t really know what else to do, so I’ll just write all these stories.’ So I’m sitting there writing one of these stories out, and someone said, ‘Hey, Post Malone is live on YouTube right now doing a whole set of Nirvana covers.’ And I’ve met him before. He’s really nice, he’s really cool. I’ve met his dad, he’s cool too. So I was, like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of cool. I’m in the middle of writing something.’ And then I started getting hit with texts, people texting me, like, ‘Yo, are you watching this Post thing?’ And I’m, like, ‘No, I’m writing right now.’ They’re, like, ‘It’s pretty good.’ I’m, like, ‘Really?’ So I keep on writing. Another text comes in, ‘Dude, are you watching this Post Malone thing?’ And I’m, like, ‘No.’ So finally I tuned it. […] I started watching, and first of all, watching Travis [Barker] play the drums to those Nirvana songs, I was honored. I thought that was super cool. More than the sound of it and more than the chords and whatever, it just sort of felt good. To me, it didn’t feel weird. They were killing it. So I watched a bunch of it. I was like, ‘That was really cool.’ I don’t get to see other people do Nirvana songs often, and he seemed perfectly comfortable with it, and it sounded great. […] Even the die-hard Nirvana people that I know were, like, ‘Dude, he’s kind of killing it right now.’”

During the chat, Grohl also compared the upcoming Foo Fighters album to David Bowie, saying, “It’s filled with anthemic, huge, sing-along rock songs. It’s kind of like a dance record, but not an EDM, disco, modern dance record. It’s got groove. To me, it’s our David Bowie’s Let’s Dance record. That’s what we wanted to make, we wanted to make this really up, fun record.”

Watch the full interview below.

View Entire Post ›

Jerry Stiller, beloved Seinfeld actor and father to Ben Stiller, has died from natural causes at the age of 92. The news arrived through a tweet from Ben, who paid tribute to Jerry as “a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years.” Ben added, “He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad.”