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Fear the Walking Dead continued this week with its terrific run of episodes (as it maintains one of the most unlikely creative comebacks on television in recent memory). The talent in front of the camera in the form of Lennie James, Colman Domingo, Garrett Dillahunt, Alycia-Debnam Carey, and Ruben Blades (and previously Kim Dickens) has always been there, but more recently, the writing has finally caught up. Showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss have also leaned into their strengths — telling smaller stories focused on only a few characters in each episode — and even the dialogue itself is better, in part because Goldberg and Chambliss are no longer afraid to use silence to their advantage. I have no evidence to support this theory, but I also feel like Scott Gimple has stepped back from Fear and turned more of his attention to The World Beyond, which has been great for Fear but hasn’t been working out as well for the other spin-off.

A lot of things are working well this season, too. There’s intriguing mythology surrounding “the key”; Morgan’s rebirth has been a godsend; Dwight and Sherry’s reunion has provided a lot of heart; and Strand returning to his weaselly roots has been the best thing to happen to that character in years. But the thing that is really working well for this season — the ingredient that has been missing on Fear since the beginning — is that the series finally has a formidable villain.

It’s been a problem since the beginning of this series (and it’s part of what is plaguing The World Beyond right now). While The Walking Dead is often defined by its villains — The Governor, the Terminus Cannibals, Negan, the Whisperers — Fear has never really had a great one. They didn’t even try until Season 3, which was characterized less by villains and more by “bad guys,” like Troy and Jeremiah Otto. Even when Season 4 was working, it was in spite of its terrible villains, beginning with the nonsensical Vultures before crashing and burning the hobo lady, whose only motivation to kill was the fact passersby didn’t stop and help her husband after a car accident. Season 5, meanwhile, largely revolves around a nonsensical villain in Logan, who we later learned was being controlled by Virginia and the Pioneers, who — in Season 5, anyway — were woefully undeveloped.

In Season 6, meanwhile, it feels like “The Pioneers” have mostly been scuttled, and replaced by “rangers,” who are mostly red-shirts/stormtroopers for Virginia, played by Colby Minifie, who has low-key been the MVP of this season (she was also promoted this week to series regular on The Boys).

Virginia is a terrific villain for a number of reasons, not least of which is because she’s formidable enough to have actually won. Like Negan did with Alexandria, she’s now in control of the Fear protagonists, but unlike the Alexandrians in TWD, she hasn’t broken their spirit. Virginia prefers, instead, to build her enemies up and make them work for her. For instance, she gave Strand an impossible mission, and when he succeeded, Ginny promoted him to ranger and put him in charge of his own people.

It’s that kind of relationship that is also at play in this week’s Fear between Virginia and John Dorie. Virginia, again, has fully enabled John Dorie by putting him in charge of the community of Lawton, where he has been allowed to thrive. It’s not necessarily his ideal situation, but it’s allowed Dorie the illusion of independence and freedom, and also allowed him to believe that he’s done good work for the community. There were no deaths in Lawton for months, and in his heart, Dorie takes credit.

Then a ranger named Cameron is found dead, wrapped up in the barbed wire fence, and eaten by zombies. Virginia wants to blame Cameron’s death on his drunkenness — he fell into the fence and was eaten. Dorie, however, insists on investigating, and with the evidence that he unearths, Virginia manages to frame Janis for the murder. Janis didn’t kill Cameron; they were sleeping together and had planned to run off together, but Janis did not kill him. Strand knew it. Virginia knew it. And Dorie knew it. But they all also knew that if Dorie continued to investigate the case, he’d get himself killed, so Janis basically confessed to Cameron’s murder in order to save Dorie.

Dorie didn’t want anything to do with Janis’ confession, and he sought to help Janis escape from prison before she was executed for the murder of Cameron. However, both Strand and the Rabbi double-crossed Dorie with the help of Janis herself and moved up her execution date to ensure that Dorie didn’t get himself anymore involved. By the time Dorie arrived to help Janis escape, she was already dead, and Dorie was left devastated.

And this is how clever Virginia is: instead of punishing Dorie for trying to help Janis, she rewarded him with a promotion for helping out in the investigation. The guilt, however, was killing Dorie (and that guilt manifested itself in a rotten tooth), and so Virginia granted Dorie the one thing he couldn’t turn away: a reunion with June.

Dorie, meanwhile, is left saddled with all that guilt over the death of Janis, but knowing that if he tried anything, not only might he die, but so might June. It’s a hell of a bind, and a stroke of brilliance from Virginia, who continues to illustrate the importance of a great villain, a character that viewers respect, but who we also want to see die a miserable, painful death.

In the meantime, in the episode’s tag, we see Morgan in search of Grace, using a hound dog (and a behind-the-scenes assist from his friend Daniel). However, the two men we saw spray paint “The end is the beginning” in the season’s opening episode crash into Morgan’s car. Violence ensues, and Morgan easily dispatches the two men, who we learn are after the key that Morgan took away from Ginny’s assassin. So, that key is valuable, and related to the “end is the beginning” people, who — according to Dwight — probably are not associated with Ginny. It’s an interesting mystery on top of a great ongoing storyline.

I can’t wait to see if Fear can go five-for-five with next week’s episode.

The Chargers may have moved from San Diego to Los Angeles and may have moved on from Philip Rivers to rookie Justin Herbert, but rest assured, they are still the Chargers. A team that has been tortured by close calls for years, with a somewhat impossible ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, moved to 2-5 on this season with their latest blown fourth quarter lead against the Denver Broncos.

It is the fourth straight game L.A. has seen a 16-point lead evaporate on them — although they were able to go back in front to beat Jacksonville a week ago — which sets a new NFL record.

They can’t help but play in one-possession games that come down to the wire, as that Jaguars game, a 39-29 win, is the only game they’ve played this season that wasn’t decided by 7 or fewer. They have twice lost in overtime, once to the Chiefs and once to the Saints, and on Sunday found a fate worse than an OT loss, allowing Drew Lock and an otherwise anemic Broncos offense to explode for 21 fourth quarter points to come back from as many as 21 down, winning on a game-winning pass from Lock to rookie K.J. Hamler.

That was set up by a pass interference call in the back of the end zone, and while they seem to have their quarterback of the future in Justin Herbert, they just can’t get in the win column enough — Herbert is now 1-5 as the starter despite putting up incredible numbers. On this afternoon, Herbert was 29-of-43 passing for 278 yards, three touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions, so he’s not absolved from blame, but he’s doing pretty incredible things as a rookie, like tossing this dime to Mike Williams.

That said, the offense can’t finish off late drives with touchdowns, settling far too often for field goals — they kicked two in the fourth in this one — and the defense has the opposite issue, failing to keep the opposing offense out of the end zone. Lock found the end zone three times through the air himself, going 26-of-41 passing for 248 yards and one interception, with this TD strike to DaeSean Hamilton helping to reel the Chargers in in the fourth quarter.

It is the same old story in L.A., one that Chargers fans have seen far too often but seem destined to watch more and more as this season wears on.

John Mulaney’s second SNL hosting gig of the year hit all the notes you would expect. There was a stronger-than-usual monologue and, of course, a musical sketch that both brought back a recurring Mulany-SNL favorite and celebrated the wonderfully weird realities of life in New York City.

Mulaney’s much-beloved “Diner Lobster” sketch has gotten a new spiritual sequel each time he’s hosted. The show has covered bodega bathrooms, and in February skewered New York’s La Guardia airport with an airport sushi-themed sketch. But the latest sketch managed to cover life in New York during a pandemic while still serving as a celebration of the city both Mulaney and the show call home.

Pete Davidson and Chris Redd once again encounter Mulaney in an iconic New York City location, this time a Times Square souvenir shop. Davidson foolishly says he wants to buy some ‘I <3 NY’ underwear, which kicks off a long series of musical numbers about life in quarantine. There’s a number called “Send In The Crowds,” a song from the “diddler on the roof” and a powerful number from Maya Rudolph as the Statue of Liberty.

The sketch was what often makes SNL its best. There are knockoff costumed Times Square impersonators, show-stopping numbers about chain coffee shops — “Even Tim Hortons is closed, Canadians weep” — and the Bubba Gump shrimp mascot doing its best to steal the show. By now Mulaney’s hosting gigs on SNL have developed their own bits; he later reprised his role as a hopelessly meme’d man getting embarrassed at work by his nephew. But by now “Diner Lobster” one has clearly become the most fruitful of the bunch.

The Saints and Bears met on Sunday in a matchup between likely NFC Playoff squads who both have some offensive issues, and the result was a defensive slugfest many anticipated in a windy, cold Soldier Field.

What few saw coming was the weirdest fight in the NFL this season in which Bears wide receiver Javon Wims walked over to Saints DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson well after the end of a play, tapped him on the chest (or maybe pretended to snatch a non-existent chain) and then threw two sucker punches to Gardner-Johnson’s helmet who was completely confused by the entire interaction before a minor brawl broke out with Saints players tackling Wims to the ground.

Wims was tossed and the broadcast eventually found what was the catalyst for the fight, Gardner-Johnson reaching through Anthony Miller’s facemask and poking him on the cheek.

It is easily the weirdest fight you’ll see in the NFL this season if for no other reason than one of the parties involved had no idea he was supposed to be in a fight and seemed utterly confused by the entire situation. Wims, on the other hand, gets ejected and caused Gardner-Johnson absolutely no harm because he punched him in the helmet and facemask, which remains the dumbest football thing that happens so regularly I cannot believe it. The only person that gets possibly feels any pain in that sequence is going to be the person throwing punches, not the one being punched. It is the most “hustling backwards” thing in football, because not only could you hurt your hand (which is an important body part for a wide receiver) but you’re also losing money in the process from the inevitable fine.

If you are going to get in a fight on the football field, at least have the wherewithal to rip the other person’s helmet off like Andre Johnson did to Cortland Finnegan that one time he gave him a two-piece in a Houston-Tennessee game.

At least that way the guy you punch knows about it.

On Saturday’s John Mulaney-hosted episode of SNL, Colin Jost and Michael Che did their final “Weekend Update” before the election, and they acknowledged the elephant in the room: all that bottomless dread most if not all of us are feeling about what on earth could happen on and after Tuesday. Maybe Trump will win. Maybe he won’t concede. Maybe his army of lawyers and judges will spend the next weeks, even months battling the results.

But Jost did what he could to plead for sanity in a nation that has gone mad. Jost and Che tend to try to stay detached, to make jokes no matter what, sometimes to even take unpopular stances on certain issues. But that all dropped three minutes into this week’s “Update.”

“What I believe is we cannot do another four years of Trump,” Jost said, of the president who hosted the show around this time back in 2015. “It is too much. Every day I wake up after two hours of sleep and I Google ‘America still democracy?’” He even reached out to Trump’s legions of fans — or at least the ones who can be reasoned with.

“Even if you like Trump, at this point you have to be exhausted. Remember that friend you had who at 4am would be like, ‘Yeah, where we going next?’ And you’re like, ‘This is fun, but if I keep hanging out with this dude I’m going to die. Right now it feels like Trump wants us to do another bump of whatever he got from his Muppet doctor and see where the night takes us. I don’t know about you guys, but I think this time I’m calling a designated driver.”

He then brought up a photo of Trump’s presidential rival, Joe Biden. He added, “And I hope he brings this guy with him,” cutting to the new viral video of his former running mate, President Barack Obama, casually scoring a three-point shot.

Earlier in the segment, Jost had another message for Trump supporters: He’s gotten a lot of them sick and dead. He discussed recent instances in which Trump supporters were left in the lurch after rallies in cold weather, including one in Nebraska that left multiple fans in the hospital with hypothermia. That he’s been claiming, without explanation, that doctors “get more money if somebody dies from COVID,” makes the acts even more appalling.

“That’s our president, recently saved by doctors, saying doctors want more COVID for money,” Jost said. He also brought up a new, horrifying study that directly ties 30,000 cases of the coronavirus and 700 COVID-related deaths to his rallies. “That means he’s officially killed more people across the Midwest than Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy combined.”

You can watch Jost and Che’s comments in the video above. Election Day is on November 3.

After ending a five-year break from new music last year with Western Stars, Bruce Springsteen kept going, promising he would reunite with the beloved E-Street Band, his collaborators and touring band over the many year. No shock that that proved to be a great idea. The result is the new album Letter To You, which he’s promoted with an Apple Music radio series as well as a documentary. Lo and behold, that stormed onto the Billboard albums charts, bowing at No. 2.

That may not be No. 1, but it still made for big new: It makes Springsteen the first artist to have a top-five album in each of the last six decades. The previous albums are: 1975’s Born to Run, 1980’s The River, 1992’s Human Touch, 2002’s The Rising, and 2012’s Wrecking Ball, and this year’s Letter To You.

“I love the emotional nature of Letter To You, and I love the sound of the E Street Band playing completely live in the studio, in a way we’ve never done before, and with no overdubs,” Springsteen said when he announced the album in September. “We made the album in only five days, and it turned out to be one of the greatest recording experiences I’ve ever had.”

You can check out our review of Letter To You here.

(via Billboard)

The Mandalorian’s second season dropped on Disney+ Friday, and though there’s certain developments that make it more than just more of the same, let’s face it: Everyone’s still mostly talking about Baby Yoda. To the shock of no one, the breakout star of Disney’s breakout Star Wars show made an appearance on Saturday night’s John Mulaney-hosted SNL, appearing as a surprisingly gabby guest on “Weekend Update.”

As portrayed by Kyle Mooney, SNL’s take on Baby Yoda not only talked but was curiously plugged into modern pop culture. Fitted with an earring, he said he’d spent the summer quarantining with fellow internet celebrities, including the ever-controversial Logan Paul. But he made sure to talk smack about another, lesser fictional internet phenom.

“Baby Groot: We ain’t friends,” Baby Yoda said into the camera. “I know you still talking smack about me, and I just want to say your Tik Toks are cringe, yo.”

That said, Baby Yoda gets along a lot better with another internet sensation. “You might have heard me on Joe Rogan’s podcast, talking about my new line of cannabis product,” he told co-anchor Michael Che. “That was a chill five hours.”

That prompted Che to ask Baby Yoda if he toked. “How do you think I got so green?” he responded. He then shilled for his line of Star Wars-themed weed goods: Dagobud, Wookiee cookies, and a CBD kombucha called Jabba the Kombucha.

You can watch Baby Yoda’s full “Weekend Update” appearance above.

With just a few days left until the 2020 presidential election, Killer Mike and former Democratic presidential candidate and current Vermont senator Bernie Sanders sat down for a conversation as a part of Rolling Stone and their Fridays For Unity event. During their conversation, Mike and Sanders discussed the upcoming election as well as the current state of the progressive moment.

Killer Mike began by sharing his feelings towards the voter turnout so far. “I want the good guys to win, meaning the progressives that are within the party, and I want to see us stay active locally,” he said. “I think that, as important as this election is, more important is, after this Election Day, we plot, plan, strategize, organize and mobilize as progressives on the ground.”

Sanders also shared his confidence for the future of America if former vice president Joe Biden and senator Kamala Harris are able to win the election. “I think if we can get Biden in the White House, we open the door — we’re not gonna solve all the problems,” he said. “But we’re gonna open the door to the kids of ideas we need to protect working families.” The Run The Jewels rapper chimed in afterward to share his thoughts on the Democratic candidates.

“I have to say, although I have not talked to Biden, I have had a couple conversations with senator [Kamala] Harris,” Killer Mike said. “I’m very encouraged by her statements in terms of what she plans to do, and help this country do in terms of policy. I’m very encouraged that, as a former prosecutor, that she wishes to steer us in a more restorative justice place.”

The two also discussed increased taxes for the wealthy, ensuring restorative justice is paired with the legalization of marijuana, and more. You can watch their sit-down on Rolling Stone here.

The Bills and Patriots met on Sunday with Buffalo looking to maintain a healthy lead in the AFC East standings over the Miami Dolphins. Neither team was able to do much through the air, as Josh Allen and Cam Newton combined for just under 330 passing yards, but both offenses found ample success on the ground in the game.

The two teams combined for almost 400 rushing yards in the game as they kept the ball out of the air in the cold, windy conditions in Buffalo and it made for a fascinating back and forth. Late in the game, the Patriots found themselves marching, down just three, with under a minute to play deep in Buffalo territory and two timeouts. With limited success in the passing game, the battle between the clock and their efforts to run the ball down the field even in a two minute drill was fascinating, but ended in disaster.

Cam Newton, who had 54 rushing yards on the day, had taken them into the red zone with his legs, but as he approached the 10 yard line, had the ball punched out by Justin Zimmer from behind, with Buffalo recovering to end the game as New England seemed in great position to at least force overtime.

Newton has struggled with turnovers this season, often interceptions, but he’d been clean through this game and was a big reason for the Pats hanging tight with the 5-2 Bills. Unfortunately, he coughed it up at the worst possible time thanks to Zimmer’s well-timed punch and New England’s hopes at the postseason all but came to an end with it. At 2-5, the Pats are effectively done, although there is, I guess, still hope for a miracle run late, but they’re now 3.5 games back of Buffalo and, likely, will be two behind the Dolphins, who lead the Rams by two scores at home.

Saturday Night Live has made 2020 the year they attempt several unprecedented things at once, starting by turning the show into a remote sketch comedy program during the early weeks of the pandemic. Its foray into Season 46 has also started with a bang, scheduling five straight weeks of new live shows for the first time in its history, then adding a post-election show to make it an unprecedented six weeks in a row.

Saturday’s episode did bring a bit of routine to the proceedings, as John Mulaney hosted for the second time in 2020 and the third time in about a year, and during the episode NBC revealed the host for its final live episode of the record-setting run would be a familiar face as well: Dave Chappelle.

Curiously, the announcement didn’t come with the traditional musical guest reveal as well. It’s likely that comes later in the week, as Chappelle is mostly known for playing musicians on Chappelle’s Show, not actually performing. Still, many couldn’t help but note the similarities between the announcement and 2016, when Chappelle hosted the show after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election.

Chappelle’s post-election monologue was widely praised in 2016, but for many the announcement was one that brought on more anxiety and made them wonder if the same result would happen in the election as well.

It will certainly be interesting to see what Chappelle comes up with for Saturday, and he has a long history of turning recent events into poignant commentary. If anything, he’ll have a very obvious starting point if things on Tuesday work out the same way they did four years ago.