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Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Ed Sheeran have a supremely busy week and aespa go all in on AI. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Ed Sheeran — “End Of Youth”

Sheeran has a lot to celebrate right now: The Marvin Gaye plagiarism trial was just ruled in his favor and his new album – (aka Subtract) released shortly after. A highlight from the vulnerable LP is “End Of Youth,” which sees the singer sorrowfully reflecting on seeing his childhood in the rear view.

aespa — “Welcome To MY World” Feat. nævis

aespa has quickly become of the the strongest forces in K-pop over the past few years. Their last album, Girls, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart last year, and now they’re looking to continue that success with the new My World EP. They shared “Welcome To MY World” last week and if you’re wondering about that featured artist, it’s actually the group’s AI-generated character.

will.i.am and Lil Wayne — “The Formula”

Last week saw a meeting between hip-hop legends as will.i.am and Lil Wayne linked up on “The Formula.” Uproxx’s Alex Gonzalez notes of the collab, “on ‘The Formula,’ the hip-hop veterans remind listeners of their place in the game. Will experiments with drill sounds as he delivers snappy, clever bars. […] Swooping in with some more heat is Wayne, with a verse chock-full of car metaphors.”

Gucci Mane — “Pissy” Feat. Roddy Ricch and Nardo Wick

Gucci Mane has plenty to brag about, and that’s just what he does alongside Roddy Ricch and Nardo Wick on “Pissy.” Congratulations are in order for Roddy, for managing to use “pissy” as a flex, as he raps in the hook, “B*tch, I got the yellow gold, I got the yellow stones and my wrist and ring, it look pissy.”

Toosii and Khalid — “Favorite Song”

Toosii has a hit on his hands with the recent single “Favorite Song,” the first top-20 song of his career. Now he’s upped the star power on the track by bringing Khalid in, who himself brings a smooth new verse, for a fresh remix.

IDK — “Pinot Noir” Feat. Saucy Santana and Jucee Froot

Of IDK’s new album F65 as a whole, Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes it has everything “from high-speed battle rap to soulfully meandering introspection.” “Pinot Noir” is a highlight, as it sees IDK team up with Saucy Santana and Jucee Froot on the jazzy, head-bobbing track.

Armani White — “Billie Eilish Legends Mix” Feat. Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, and N.O.R.E.

For the past few months now, White has been riding the wave of his viral hit “Billie Eilish.” He just added a new dimension to the track by getting some icons on the “Legends Mix,” which features Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, and N.O.R.E.

Gayle — “Don’t Call Me Pretty”

On “Don’t Call Me Pretty,” Gayle is done putting up with compliments from people who don’t have the best intentions, as she sings on the rocking chorus, “I don’t wanna be pretty to you / I don’t wanna be nice / I don’t wanna be the girl who kept you warm for a night.”

Destroy Lonely — “How U Feel?

Destroy Lonely is an exciting up-and-comer who generated some attention with his TikTok hit “If Looks Could Kill.” His album of the same name is out now and it opens with “How U Feel?,” a blend of grunge and hip-hop that sets a heavy mood.

Fred Again.. and Brian Eno — “I Saw You”

Times are good for Fred Again..: He’s fresh off a huge Coachella performance, and now he’s just released Secret Life, a new album with ambient and production icon Brian Eno. Eno’s a big Fred fan, as he recently wrote, “I’ve known Fred since he was 15 and even then it was clear he had an extraordinary musical talent – and a sweet nature too. That sweetness runs through everything he touches.”

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

The Succession Report Card is a weekly recap feature where we attempt to assign grades to the important people, things, and themes from each episode of Succession. The grades are entirely subjective and the criteria for scoring will change from week to week and occasionally mid-week. Someone might get detention. It’ll probably be Roman.

SEASON 4, EPISODE 7 – “Tailgate Party”

Shiv

Shiv is in trouble, man. She hitched her future to Matsson after her brothers squeezed her out of the leadership of the family business. She responded by going behind their backs to work with Matsson to hose them, presumably to get some high-ranking position in the GoJo-led new operation, which has now backfired on her due to the revelation that Matsson’s numbers are all screwy and he might be flakier than anyone imagined. And her brief and torrid reconciliation with Tom ended in dramatic fashion, with the two of them shouting mostly true things at each other on a balcony while a bunch of powerful people mingled inside their home.

Shiv is staring down a situation where she has no family, no job, and no husband. And she’s secretly pregnant, too. It’s not going great.

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: Let’s just go with general “life choices” here

Cousin Greg

Uggggghhhhhhhhhh.

I used to love this lanky goofball so much. Now he’s taking pleasure in firing people and becoming a goon of the highest order and I would not be heartbroken to see someone crack him really hard in the back with a shovel. I don’t love any of it. It’s like watching Walter White go from chemistry teacher to meth kingpin but without any of the competence.

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: Maybe the shovel-whacking would help, actually? I don’t know. I’m in shambles over here.

Hosting a party, generally

Hosting a party seems fun. “Oh, we’ll have people over. It’ll be a hoot,” you think, naively. But then it starts getting late and people are getting too comfortable on your couch and making a mess in the kitchen that you’ll have to clean up and they’re touching all your stuff and JUST GO HOME ALREADY, GOD, COME ON.

Not worth it. Being a guest is better than being a host, every time, even in a best-case scenario that doesn’t involve years of resentment in your marriage bubbling over just outside of your guests’ earshot. You will never convince me otherwise. Do not come to my house. Please invite me to yours, though.

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: I SAID JUST GO HOME

Roman

Wellllllll Roman tried to convince Connor to drop out of the election and ended up shouting at Willa a little and it all backfired.

Aaaaaand the thing with Gerri is going to cost the company he’s now co-CEO of many millions of dollars.

Aaaaaaaaaand Kendall and Shiv are both sneaking around in the shadows trying to do big solo things that would cut him out a little in separate and opposite ways.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I don’t actually have a fourth thing but I got a little carried away with the bit so here we are.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: It’s too late now but it would really be great if he stopped sending pictures of his privates to people who can use them as leverage in a massive payout after he fired them on a whim

Matsson

Matsson is:

• Showing up late to parties he was barely invited to
• Goosing his own numbers in a way that would require a second entire India to be legit
• Trying to cover up that second thing by buying a massive media conglomerate as fast as possible

He should get an F. He really should. But I liked his shiny gold jacket a lot so I slid him up into this section. I don’t have to explain myself to any of you.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: Numbers

Nate

Nate got invited to a fancy party in the home of a couple he slipped between romantically and then got pitched on political stuff by America’s Least Subtle Boy until it got uncomfortable and then he had to slink out after word leaked that a political operative was sipping champagne with the enemy in a swanky high-rise, basically confirming everything anyone has ever suspected or feared about the one percent’s influence on global affairs.

Nate has some thinking to do.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: Comfort with the tenor of conversations

Rava

The interesting thing here is that Rava had an A on my first draft of this whole Report Card. I just liked that she yelled at Kendall and kind of accurately pointed out that the reason their children — the ones he isn’t calling on the phone and barely exist on the show because their dad is doing BIG DEALS on SIX CONTINENTS to MAKE THE WORLD SAFE (lol) —are getting bullied at school is because he runs a crappy racist organization that a lot of people hate. But then I thought about it some more and realized… I mean, it’s never a good day when you have to shout at your deadbeat dipshit billionaire ex on a sidewalk and then march off while he’s yelling about global safety. I imagine she sighs a lot.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: Selecting romantic partners

Tom

Tom is very tired. He’s so tired. He’s just been up a lot for various reasons, some related to a marathon of intercourse with the wife he reconciled with, some related to preparing for the big fancy party at his home with all the wines and snacks and such, and he’s just so, so tired. And the problem with being tired is that it can make you edgy. Maybe a little cranky. Sometimes it can wear down the defenses you’ve worked so hard to keep rigidly erected around you that you, to choose an example at random, unload about a decade of not-entirely-unjustified resentment in a single five-minute argument with your wife on the balcony of the gorgeous Manhattan townhouse where she has just discovered that the eccentric Swedish billionaire she’s been working with to screw over her idiot brothers has some funky numbers in his books that could maybe blow up the deal and leave her without a job or a family or a liferaft at all. We’ve all been there.

It’s funny to think about how much different this episode would have been if Tom had taken a 45-minute nap in the afternoon.

GRADE: C

MUST IMPROVE: I don’t know, man… maybe don’t give your wife a scorpion as a gift

Kendall

I have no clue why I’m giving Kendall a C. He’s shouting about continents on the street as a defense to why he’s a crappy father. He’s riding a little too high after that big speech about maybe helping people live forever. He’s getting into passive-aggressive arguments with Swedish billionaires inside his sister’s house. He’s somehow talked himself into a kind of reverse judo maneuver where he wants to buy Matsson’s company now, which is maybe the most hilariously Kendall thing I’ve ever heard.

I think I might just be giving him a C because I bought into his mania a little bit, against truly staggering odds. I should give myself a D for this.

GRADE: C

MUST IMPROVE: Settle down, guy

Connor

I find myself liking Connor more and more every week, which is weird. He’s as dumb and useless as a puddle of melted ice cream and I suspect any aspect of his doomed presidential platform would make me groan and/or puke. But he’s somehow ended up being the most mature of the Roy children about Logan’s death. I know saying “the most mature of the Roy children” is kind of like saying “the least nauseating rotten egg” but still. It’s progress for him. And he didn’t get strong-armed into taking an ambassadorship in some far-flung country he would not enjoy. These are all very minor victories but Connor so rarely gets to be victorious at anything that it feels like a big deal. Good for him.

GRADE: C

MUST IMPROVE: Let’s just take the passing grade here

Various Karls, Frank, and Karolina

Frank was the only member of this brain trust that was prominently featured at the party and he got pulled into a room and pitched on a plot that involves Kendall flip-flopping on Matsson and trying to fold GoJo into WayStar with Kendall as the mastermind of it all, and I suspect every part of everything I typed before that comma made and continues to make Frank very uncomfortable. And poking holes in the sale also pokes holes into various golden parachutes, which is not great. Please stop here and get a real good mental image of Frank explaining this to Karl at some point in the future. Picture Karl’s face.

So, that said, why did this entire group slide up into the B range? Simple: Because I did not see Karl at all, which leaves open the possibility that he spent the whole night at home on his couch watching The Fugitive with a glass of scotch in his hand. I want this for him.

GRADE: B

MUST IMPROVE: Getting out, once and for all

Willa

The best-case scenario for Willa in all of this is that Connor gets cooked in the election and gets so turned off by the whole process that he leaves politics behind and settles into a nice quiet life as a rich dope who never has diplomatic duties to attend to in assorted countries on the other side of the world, so let’s go ahead and call this one a win for her.

GRADE: B

MUST IMPROVE: I would have laughed a lot if she had stood up and smacked Roman in the mouth when he told her to be quiet

Ebba

It’s fun to remember that Ebba is doing this because her boss sent her a lot of his own blood as a form of sexual harassment. That’s why she’s blowing up the deal and spilling the beans about India. I mean, there are other reasons, too. Matsson is an all-time weirdo and not someone you’d wanna hang out with for more than, like, 30-40 minutes total. The blood thing is a symptom of a larger disease. But that’s the main thing. I still want to see her explain this in a tell-all primetime interview or maybe in front of Congress. Or maybe I just want her to sign an NDA with a massive check attached to it and go buy a little island somewhere.

I like Ebba. I want her and Jess Jordan to sit down and tell each other war stories about their man-child bosses.

GRADE: B

MUST IMPROVE: She needs to talk to Gerri, too, for names of lawyers if nothing else

Coffee, generally

Coffee is:

• Delicious
• Great at waking you up in the morning
• A good excuse to get together with someone without the commitment of a whole dinner
• Absolutely ruinous personally and professionally if you drink it too much at once or too late in the day

In conclusion, coffee is a land of contrasts.

GRADE: B+

MUST IMPROVE: Jitters

Oskar

ON ONE HAND: I… I think I’m supposed to hate him? He’s a big loud idiot and he’s a bully and he works with and for a guy who likes to do Holocaust tweets and fudge important business numbers. None of which is great.

ON THE OTHER HAND: He showed up to a party full of powerful people that he was barely invited to and promptly started vaping and calling people dingleberries all while maybe blitzed on psychedelics.

I love Oskar. I think it’s the beard.

GRADE: A

MUST IMPROVE: I don’t see where I have any right to tell this man how to live

Gerri

Gerri is:

• Showing up to parties out of spite
• Lawyered up
• Demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in hush money to stay silent about the very many unsolicited penis pictures the new co-CEO of Waystar RoyCo sent her before firing her on a whim within days of acquiring any sort of authority

I hope Gerri buys an island, too.

GRADE: A

MUST IMPROVE: Gerri is doing pretty great but it does not seem like she has had a lot of luck in love and I hope she finds happiness

The transition from Greg laying off a bunch of people straight into Tom talking about the fancy wines they’re going to drink at their big stupid party

I mean, there’s razor-sharp satire and then there’s “the most incompetent nepo baby alive fires hundreds of people via video chat followed by a smash-cut to wine chat at a party for powerful billionaires who have their entire fists pressed into the levers of power.” Pretty good show we have here.

GRADE: A

MUST IMPROVE: We could probably sneak the Curb Your Enthusiasm music into sucker somewhere, but that’s just nitpicking

Late last month, Pras Michel of Fugees was found guilty of 10 counts of money laundering, campaign finance violations, acting as an unregistered agent for China, concealment and false record-keeping, witness tampering, and making false statements. But one thing he insists that he’s not guilty of is being an FBI informant, as was rumored due to some reporting of the trial that mentioned the rapper’s interactions with the law enforcement agency.

Speaking to a TMZ photographer over the weekend, Pras denied being an FBI informant. He compared his situation to Tekashi 69’s, the New York rapper who became infamous for testifying against the Nine Trey Bloods after using his association with the gang to increase his notoriety in hip-hop.

“Look, I was never in the past, present, or future an FBI or a CIA informant,” Pras said. “Never ever. If people want to check it out, look at the testimonies — they could see that all within the records, and all the DC courts. This is not a Tekashi 69 situation, respectfully. Because he admitted he was an informant, basically. So I was never. I never said I was. I am not now and never will be an FBI or a CIA informant.”

Pras faces 20 years in prison now that he has been convicted. The charges against him stemmed from an investigation into Malaysian financier Jho Low, who was accused of stealing billions from his home country’s sovereign wealth fund. Pras was accused of making political donations on Low’s behalf — which is illegal — and helping him set up bank accounts to hide his ill-gotten riches.

Bad Bunny turned heads in a Jacquemus backless blazer at the 2023 Met Gala last Monday, May 1, and his back was out again days later — but in much less pristine shape.

Bad Bunny was the star of WWE Backlash 2023 on Saturday, May 6, at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He received an electric embrace from his home fans, as they sang along to his “Chambea” single from 2017, before entering the ring and delivering what Uproxx described as “one of the most entertaining matches in WWE this year.”

The following day, Bad Bunny shared his battle scars on his Instagram Story. His victory came at a price. He posted a photo of his bare back marked with bruises and scrapes.

In December, Bad Bunny graced the cover of Billboard and shared his plans for 2023 in the accompanying story.

“I’m taking a break. 2023 is for me, for my physical health, my emotional health to breathe, enjoy my achievements. We’re going to celebrate. Let’s go here, let’s go there, let’s go on the boat,” he told the publication. “I have a couple of sporadic commitments, and I’ll go to the studio, but there’s no pressure. Remember yourself, cabrón. You’ve worked your ass off.”

If the last five months have been what Benito considers “a break,” then the rest of us should be ashamed.

Bad Bunny opened the 2023 Grammys and won Best Música Urbana Album (Un Verano Sin Ti). He was one of James Corden’s final guests for “Carpool Karaoke,” and he was honored with the 2023 Vanguard Award at the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards. The tabloids are committed to finding undeniable evidence that he’s dating Kendall Jenner, a rumor that was fueled as he headlined Coachella last month.

Check out clips from Bad Bunny latest successful outing below.

Chris Pratt went heavy on the biblical references when asked how he feels about the “haters” who’ve dubbed him the “Worst Chris” over the years. The actor has been routinely criticized after claims that he belongs to an anti-LGBTQ church. There was also the recent backlash over him voicing Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but according to Pratt, he doesn’t mind.

While attending a special New York screening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Pratt responded to questions about whether he feels he’s attacked for his Christian faith.

“I sure do but that’s nothing new, that’s nothing new, you know?” Pratt told Page Six before quoting The Bible and noting that Jesus also wasn’t accepted during his time, which is quite the comparison to make:

“If I was of this world, they would love me just like that but as it is, I’ve chosen out of this world. That’s John 15:18 through 20,” he shared.

“That’s the way it is, nothing new, 2,000 years ago they hated him, too,” he added, referencing Jesus Christ.

For the record, Pratt officially denied attending Hillsong Church back in June 2022 after accused of attending the church which has known anti-LGBTQ beliefs. And the actor did tell the truth. Pratt does not attend Hillsong Church. However, he does attend Zoe Church, which has close ties to Hillsong and modeled itself after the controversial church that has ties to major celebrities like Justin Bieber and the Kardashians.

(Via Page Six)

In case you went off the grid over the weekend, King Charles was officially coronated on Saturday in a lavish, gold-encrusted ceremony that inspired Monty Python jokes and reportedly cost the U.K. taxpayers up to $125 million in a time of economic turmoil. At least we got a good Katy Perry moment (and response) to watch from this side of the pond, but it would be understandable if the British public wasn’t so thrilled after a lip reader’s claims about what Charles allegedly said within his golden carriage.

Not too terribly long after Charles appeared to be testily demanding that a staffer clean his desk, this new claim isn’t going over well either.

Sky News posted video footage that shows Charles appearing to be displeased with something. The footage is superimposed with alleged complaints such as “this is boring,” “we can never be on time,” and “there’s always something.” According to The Daily Beast, this took place while Charles spent five minutes waiting outside of Westminster Abbey before the coronation ceremony. Here’s the footage, so you be the judge.

He’s seemingly not thrilled about something. There’s no telling whether the lip reader’s claims are accurate, but lest one think that a Yank interpretation of British temperament is to blame, it sure seems like some Londoners aren’t thrilled either, from the looks of these reactions.

Again, this ceremony mostly happened on the taxpayer’s dime since the coronation was considered to be a state function. There’s been no comment from Camp Charles as of yet.

(Via The Daily Beast)

The Weeknd has been one of the most successful pop stars of the past decade-plus, but at some point soon, The Weeknd may be no more.

In a new feature for W, the singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, said, “I’m going through a cathartic path right now. It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter. I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”

He also noted, “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”

Elsewhere, he spoke about letting his home be used for filming The Idol, saying, “The bedrooms were now greenrooms; the bathrooms were for hair and makeup. We built a music studio in the basement so Mike Dean, who helped compose, and I could score the show while we were filming. I had to stay in character, so I took my dog and we lived in another house. My home belonged to the show; it was a hub of activity. We were trying to blur the line between fiction and reality. We had cameras going all the time. It was weird when they all left. I changed all the furniture. I replastered the walls. But the soul of Jocelyn’s house is still in there.”

Check out the full feature here.

Ed Sheeran is celebrating the May 5 release of – (Subtract), his latest mathematical and perhaps most vulnerable album, but he kept adding vehicles to his subsequent “The Subtract Experience Pop-Up” performances over the weekend.

In New York, New York on Friday, May 5, Sheeran climbed atop a Volvo in the middle of the street outside of his pop-up and performed “Boat,” one of his Subtract singles. The North American leg of his Mathematics Tour kicked off on Saturday, May 6, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but not before Sheeran visited “The Subtract Experience Pop-Up” in Dallas that afternoon.

Sheeran arrived in an ice cream truck and served ice cream to his fans before, yet again, climbing to the roof of the vehicle. This time, he serenaded everyone with an acoustic version of “Eyes Closed.”

“The Volvo took too much weight yesterday, so I got an ice cream truck for the Dallas pop up. LA I’ll see ya tomorrow x,” he captioned his Instagram post capturing his Dallas appearance.

And as promised, Sheeran attended the Los Angeles pop-up on Melrose Avenue on Sunday, May 7.

“LA pop up, see you there this morning,” he wrote to his Instagram Story. “I have a different vehicle for more fun. RIP the Volvo.”

LA’s vehicle du jour was a double-decker tourism bus. Sheeran delivered “Eyes Closed” and “Boat.”

Sheeran is next scheduled to bring his Mathematics Tour to NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on May 13. His more intimate Subtract Tour will begin at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida on May 19. See all of his upcoming tour dates here.

– (Subtract) is out 5/5 via Asylum and Atlantic. Find more information here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For everything Barry has said about the self-delusion of redemptive paths, the screwball soul of organized crime, and the messed up ways we seek and express love, it’s the show’s darkly comedic take on the Hollywood shuffle that thrills me most. And no character has embodied that dysfunctional dance better than Sarah Goldberg’s Sally Reed, a character that has been on a roller coaster from attention-seeking student to artsy “It” talent, to showrunner, pariah, teacher, and scheming acting coach. Through it all, Sally has also existed in the show’s central relationship, forming a powerfully mismatched duo with Bill Hader‘s Barry.

As we saw at the end of last week’s episode, though, something about that pairing still works for Sally, leading her to step, arm in arm with Barry into a whole new life of repression, routine, and the occasional dance with the bottle, violence, and the prospect of getting found out. So, why did Sally go with Barry and, perhaps more importantly, why has she stayed? Uproxx spoke with Goldberg (who Hader has praised for her ownership of the character) about those decisions, whether she judges her character, and what it feels like to walk away from the show.

What was your reaction when you found out that the show was going to come to an end after this season?

It was a mixed bag. I was obviously sad. And there are so many people I’m going to miss working with. But at the same time, I felt like the story was ready and the pitch of where they wanted to go with the story was so excellent and it felt like the right thing to do for the story. So there was an acceptance as well that, yeah, it’s time.

Sometimes actors will say they don’t want to judge their character, sometimes it’s just human nature to judge. How has your relationship with the character changed from the start of the show to where we are at this point?

I mean, I’ve always cared a great deal about Sally, and she gets a lot of criticism, but I’ve always felt like defending her. I’ve always thought you don’t have to like her, you just have to know her. And I felt in the beginning that she had all these qualities of vulnerable women I’ve met in Los Angeles. And she had ambition and tenacity and all these things, but maybe in too many scoops. And she would always set out with these great intentions, but push things too far, and tilt things too far until her Achilles heel I think was going too far in every direction.

And I’ve always had huge empathy for her. I’ve never really judged her. I mean, I think she makes bad choices, so I guess that’s judging her. But I’ve never really come at it from that angle. You try to see everything from their point of view and understand why someone’s making the decision that they’re making in that moment. And with all these characters that are morally dubious and often making the selfish choice or the wrong choice, it would always be about getting underneath why, what’s motivating that choice? Why are they behaving that way? And that was the fun, and the agility in the writing and with all these characters of figuring out what makes people tick. And so often they’re given the opportunity to better themselves and they’ve got a better path to take and they don’t take it. So that leads to endless fun and drama.

I know you’ve been involved in shaping the character too. Can you talk a little bit about just the decision that she makes as we go from episode four to episode five where she goes along with Barry and he and Sally create this whole other life? Is that something where you need to dig in a little to understand her reasoning for making that decision?

I think on first read, I couldn’t see the building blocks there, so we had to build her a clearer path. Which we tried to set up in episode two when she goes to see Barry in prison and the line she says, “I feel safe with you.” And I think her reasoning behind saying that is that Barry was the only person present when she was the most animal version of herself. And she’s committed this crime and has this overwhelming guilt and fear around what she did. And the only person who was there was him. And so there’s a relief in being with the person who bore witness and is accepting of her anyway and loves her anyway. And their love story has never been a love story, it’s always been a tragedy.

And I think in that moment, the closest they’ve ever been when they connect is in those moments right after she’s killed this guy. And I think that where we see her in episode two when she sees Barry and she says she feels safe with him, it’s rooted in the fact that they connected, their pact was forged in blood.

And by the time we get to the end of episode four, I feel like in episodes three and four, she’s suffered her final Hollywood humiliations. Like the failure as a teacher and then to be on set and have that experience where she pours her heart into a performance and thinks for one brief moment maybe she’s saved her career, maybe she’s just given the speech of her life and this director’s going to cast her in this movie and everything’s going to be okay… And to be squashed and told actually somebody prettier needs to say it like that. I think she’s really done. And so the news when Barry escapes, you’d think she’d be terrified, but I think she sees her exit strategy and just thinks, let’s get out of here. It’s not a healthy train of thought, speaking of judging, it’s not a healthy choice.

But like you’re saying though, it’s easy to have empathy because it feels like not just a commentary on the character, but also on the world. I mean, the world moves fast, especially in any industry that’s as competitive as Hollywood. I think it’s obvious that she’s lacking people in her life that can be an alternative to make her feel safe, even her family.

I know. She can leave home and search for some kind of solace or comfort, protection, security, anything, and is met with the opposite. And I like that we had that first episode going back to her home and meeting her parents because I think it also explains why Sally is the way she is. And she’s so verbose, almost to the point of belligerence at times. But once you meet her parents and realize nobody’s listening to her, nobody’s taking care of her, you can see where the origins of that person began.

So as we end episode five, Barry’s off to LA, Sally is still with him after, I guess it was eight years, and we get a sense of what we’re talking about here of why she went with him. But why has she stayed with him? And what is her mindset like at this point?

I think at that point she’s trapped in a lot of ways. And I think she’s developed a serious drinking problem. Understandably, I think. And she’s not well by the time we see her in the latest episode. And I think the one thing she has going is that she’s decided, for whatever reason, she’s going to give a performance as Emily. So in her workspace, when she’s got her wig and her nails and her accent, it’s like she’s still getting to act in a way. And I think there’s some tiny piece of solace in that.

But I think the rest of it, she’s really trapped. I think she’s afraid to go back to her old life because she doesn’t know what would happen. Would she be punished for what she did? And she doesn’t know how to face the crime that she committed, even though arguably it was self-defense. And so I think she feels trapped. I think that the feeling safe with Barry holds, it’s just she also feels miserable, safe and miserable. So she stays. She stays.

The scene with her and her co-worker in the bathroom, is that an extension of the performance that she’s doing, or is that just because she needs to feel danger and control something?

I think that there’s something in her in that scene where she’s testing how far she might go. I think that there’s a lot of rage boiled up in her, understandably after an abusive marriage. Now she’s in an abusive relationship again in a different kind of way. All the humiliation she experienced in Los Angeles and the trauma of the murder. I think she’s playing with fire in that scene where she doesn’t know how far she might go. And there’s a little aspect of her that wants revenge and vengeance for everything that she’s been through. And I think she’s punishing him and she’s testing herself.

But ultimately I think that her morality wins in that scenario and she’s never going to take it any further than that. Then she drops the accent, the wig comes off, she drops the veneer. And I think that’s a genuine moment where, yeah, I think she’s felt so much fear, I think that there is a desire to exercise some power in that dynamic and say enough is enough. And the way he treats her at work and she’s not going to have that kind of harassment again in her life.

The final season of ‘Barry’ continues on HBO Sundays at 10PM ET. Goldberg also co-created and can be seen on ‘SisterS,’ which debuts May 17 on IFC.

You’ve watched the Barbie trailer at least 50 times (no? just me?). Now, enjoy the trailer for the other big-event movie coming out on July 21st.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as the “father” of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. The cast also includes Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife, biologist, and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer; Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves Jr., the director of the Manhattan Project; Robert Downey, Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission; Florence Pugh as psychiatrist Jean Tatlock; Benny Safdie as theoretical physicist Edward Teller; and Josh Hartnett as American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence.

Nolan recreated an atomic explosion without the use of CGI for Oppenheimer, which he called a “huge challenge.” That’s quite the understatement. He also said the film, his first since the pandemic-era Tenet, is “one of the most challenging projects I’ve ever taken on in terms of the scale of it, and in terms of encountering the breadth of Oppenheimer’s story. There were big, logistical challenges, big practical challenges. But I had an extraordinary crew.”

I haven’t been this stressed out by the sound of radiation meters since Chernobyl.

Oppenheimer opens on July 21st.