Winter be Bingeing 26' - House of the Dragon - Season Three

House of the Dragon is an American fantasy drama television series created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. 

A prequel to Game of Thrones (2011–2019), it is the second television series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. Based on parts of Martin's 2018 book Fire & Blood, the series begins about 100 years after the Seven Kingdoms are united by the Targaryen conquest, nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. 

Featuring an ensemble cast, the show portrays the events leading up to the decline of House Targaryen, a devastating war of succession known as the "Dance of the Dragons".

House of the Dragon was renewed for a third season in June 2024, which premiered late June. Season three consisted of eight episodes. Each of approximately one hour. The season covers the events of the book Fire & Blood, a prequel novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. 

A fourth and final season is in development and expected to be released in 2028.

The season follows in the aftermath of the second season's final episodes, in which the war known as the "Dance of Dragons" between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon II Targaryen continues, causing House Targaryen to become further divided. 

Aegon is supported by the Green Council and his mother Alicent Hightower, while Rhaenyra is supported by the Black Council and her husband and uncle Daemon Targaryen, both sides seeking allies from the great houses of Westeros and fighting for the support of their armies to claim their rightful positions to the Iron Throne.

So how'd it all go down on Monday? Spoilers below. Up next on HBO, Lanterns. We return back to DC comic land.

After learning Aegon survived, Rhaenyra becomes more ruthless. She detains Baela, dismisses Mysaria, and has a despondent Helaena force-fed. She later has Alyn kill the High Septon after he refuses to anoint her. Rhaenyra tells the smallfolk of Aegon the Conqueror's dream, stating that she is prophesied to rule. 

Alys informs Aemond that she became cursed with immortality after failing to save her dying son with magic. Aegon asks a remorseful Aemond to help retake the Iron Throne once they find Vhagar. With the Tully army outside Tumbleton, Ormund lines the ramparts with children to dissuade Daemon from using Caraxes. Daeron has Gwayne free Corlys and negotiate with Daemon to divide the realm, but Daemon refuses. Both sides search for Ulf. 

Ormund finds him hungover and beats him. Roderick's Winter Wolves scale Tumbleton's walls while Caraxes destroys the main gate. Ulf mounts Silverwing and attacks the Tully forces. He then burns Tumbleton, killing Ormund and Roderick while they fight. Jon duels Daemon, but Ulf's attack interrupts them. 

Corlys convinces Daemon to retreat. Gwayne cannot find Daeron. Hugh finds Kat dead. Rhaenyra learns that Helaena jumped from a window to her death, leaving embroidery showing Rhaenyra bleeding on the Iron Throne.

With all the special effects, dragons breathing fire and killing multiple extras, season three is done and a bit dusted.

This is the second Game of Thrones series to air in 2026. The battle scenes were epic, the people are loving it. Bring on the fourth and final season in 2028.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - 9-1-1 - Season Nine

9-1-1 is the first instalment of the 9-1-1 franchise.

Since 2018, the series explores the high-stakes professional and personal lives of Los Angeles first responders—firefighters, police officers, and paramedics—as they endeavour to protect and save those in danger.

Leand by Angela Bassett, Oliver Stark, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Guzman, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Corinne Massiah, Elijah M. Cooper, plus Gavin McHugh. 

Back in March 2026, the series was renewed for a tenth season which is slated to premiere on October 15.

In Australia Channel Seven gets the first run of the OG 9-1-1 series. Disney+ releases it as a binge, thereafter. Hence I just caught up. This was a particularly addictive, easy to watch season.

That said, this is an achievement as a series approaches its tenth season.

Without Peter Krause as Robert "Bobby" Nash, this season finds its new captain of the 118. We also get more of Anirudh Pisharody as Ravi Panikkar, who was first introduced in season four.

Why was season nine so dramatic + engaging? Well if you read below the trailer about the season nine finale, you will see. There was also no cliffhanger, which makes me think, was season ten not always a given?

As the ABC (US network channel) approaches its tenth run, will the show have a long future ahead?  

In the action packed finale, Athena is rushed to the hospital at the same time the 118 bring in a patient. With Athena in a medically induced coma, Anatoly Castor stabs Eddie in the hospital rectory and shoots another man, sending the hospital into lockdown. 

Ravi and May hide Athena from Anatoly while Buck sneaks through the hospital to stop the shooter. Anatoly is caught, Hooks is arrested for working with the mob, and the 118 find Eddie bleeding out in the elevator and save him. 

While in her coma, Athena had visions of her former partner and decides after waking up to undergo a career change from sergeant to detective. 

Eddie sends Esteban, one of the immigrants who was having a difficult time finding housing, to go live with his parents in Texas. 

After a chat with Harry while at the 1st birthday party of Maddie and Chimney's son, Buck fills out the paperwork to begin fostering Theo and welcomes him home.

So Buck with a child in season ten. Does that mean there will be no swinging couple storylines for the hunky firefighter?

Will Eddie ever get a new lady friend? Will Athena's kids May and Harry remain regulars in season ten? Will May be a nurse who engages the 118 a lot?

Harry is also to handsome and mature for around 18. He also hangs out with Buck a lot with no female interests. Is this a thing?

So many questions between now and October. That said Australia won't get this loaded to Disney+ until at least August or September. Sad Face.

That said, how many episodes will the tenth season be. ABC has a couple of new shows including an untitled Grey's Anatomy spin-off. Will that get a Thursday night spot? Also where will the new Rookie spin-off, The Rookie: North find home? Also this was a million times better than the second (cheap) spin-off 9-1-1: Nashville. 

Man 9-1-1: Nashville was bad compared to this series, so deep in its episode count. I was shocked how good the ninth season of the OG was compare to season one of Nashville.

Until next time. Bye-bye.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Sugar - Season Two

Colin Farrell is John Sugar, a dashing private eye navigating the dark corners of sunny LA, haunted by a secret too dangerous to expose. 

Sugar's second season is now streaming all episodes on Apple TV.

Sugar is a contemporary, unique take on one of the most popular and significant genres in literary, motion picture and television history: the private detective story. Season two ushers in the return of Los Angeles’ iconic private detective and film connoisseur, John Sugar. 

Emmy Award nominee Colin Farrell returns for a new case, tracking the troubled older brother of an up-and-coming local boxer as his search for his beloved missing sister continues. As the investigation expands into a citywide conspiracy with sinister intentions, Sugar must reckon with himself to answer the question, how far will he go to do what’s right?

In addition to Farrell, the second season of Sugar introduces a brand-new cast, including Jin Ha, Raymond Lee, Tony Dalton, Laura Donnelly, Sasha Calle and special guest star Shea Whigham.

The second season flew by after taking 2025 off. The first season wrapped mid-May 2024, the second season started mind June, concluding last Friday. Friday was a big finale day. With Power Book III: Raising Kanan series finale also streaming.

Whilst Apple Tv also continued the third season of Silo.

Thus far there is no word on a third season of Sugar. This joins a large list of Apple shows awaiting their fate. Bad Sisters, Hijack, Loot, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and finally, the recently rebooted, returned, Ted Lasso.

I enjoy the alien weirdness, the slightly different crime drama that is Sugar, however will it be strong enough for Sugar to see another mission? That's all up to Apple TV.

NOT another streaming Movie - Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is one of the weirdest fucking movies I have ever seen. If the title isn't weird enough, the movie itself was fucking bonkers. That said, the reviews have been insanely good.

Written + directed by Jane Schoenbrun, starring Hacks legend, Hannah Einbinder, with X-Files queen,  Gillian Anderson.

Jack Haven + Patrick Fischler, also have supporting roles. 

The film follows a filmmaker (Einbinder) who is hired to direct a new instalment of the slasher franchise Camp Miasma, and eventually becomes fixated on casting the actress (Anderson) who played the final girl in the original film.

Okay, so I loved Einbinder in Hacks. Easily one of the best comedies ever. Right up there next to Veep. However, I just couldn't get into this film.

Premiering at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, as the opening film of the Un Certain Regard section, it won the Queer Palm.

A little more about the super random plot. A filmmaker is hired to direct a new instalment of the long-running slasher franchise Camp Miasma. The director becomes fixated on the prospect of casting the reclusive actress who played the final girl in the original film. 

As the two women begin to work together, they descend into a frenzy of psychosexual mania. Schoenbrun has described the film as their "best attempt at the 'sleepover classic': an insane yet cozy midnight odyssey that beckons to unsuspecting viewers from the horror section at the local video store."

I think I completely missed the point of this film. Honestly I left wondering going, what did I just watched.

Two stars. One each for the stars, Einbinder + Anderson.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Power Book III: Raising Kanan - Season Five/Series Finale

Over the last two seasons of Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Kanan Stark has slowly learned the truth about not only his mother, but also himself. It has been a tortuous journey for him and everyone around him. With each new revelation, Kanan has been forced to confront his family’s seemingly never-ending web of secrets and lies. He has spent much of this time in a state of denial, but now, Kanan’s blinders are finally off, and he doesn’t like what he sees. 

In season three, Kanan finds himself grappling with the very notions of right and wrong. Good and evil. Fidelity and disloyalty. And he’s not alone. Every member of the Thomas family must confront an existential crisis that challenges their very identity. Whether it’s Marvin, who’s still trying to redeem himself, or Raq, who’s finally coming clean, or Lou, who’s wrestling with his own evil, or Jukebox, who’s simply trying to break free from her family’s pathology, they are all attempting to redefine and reinvent themselves. They won’t all be able to complete this intensely personal quest, but for those who do, the destination may reveal the most terrifying secret of all. 

There is no right and wrong or good and evil. There are no absolutes. In the end, there’s just you.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan, or simply Raising Kanan, concluded on Friday on Stan. In the USA, this story will continue on Starz, as the standalone prequel, second spin-off to Power, continues with Power: Origins, potentially next year.

Starz return to their other franchise, Outlander: Blood of My Blood. Their spin-off of Outlander is Starz other big franchise, next to the Power run. Power: Origins however, is the last Power standing, with Force ending earlier this year, now Power Book III: Raising Kanan concluding. Power: Legacy has been announced, continuing Tommy Egan and Tariq St. Patrick's journey.

Starz also have S.W.A.T. Exiles to stream later this year. The spin-off of S.W.A.T.. When the hell will P-Valley return????

So no spoilers, however this could have easily concluded with the fourth season, which streamed on Stan last March. The fifth + final season also was the shortest of all five seasons. With only eight episodes, a lot of this felt like filler, lead in to Power: Origins.

There is even an early Tommy meeting to we your whistle.

For me, the addition of Leslie Grossman as Florence "Flossie" Siegel was the highlight, alongside the excellent Patina Miller as Raquel "Raq" Thomas, Kanan's mom.

Does Raq survive though? I'll leave you to stream the final hour. However, in the end this felt more like a promotional vehicle for the next run of Power. How much longer can Starz keep the Power series alive? Time will tell.

Back to the movies tomorrow...

NOT another streaming Movie - Tuner

It's been a hot minute since I saw, The Odyssey at the cinema. With Spider-Man: Brand New Day sold out on the days/nights I can currently go, limited other films showing, it's been a little more tricky getting to the old cinema this August.

So it was off to my other local cinema, at Central Park. Tuner is a film, I saw the trailer for a while back and always wanted to see it. The crime/thriller starts out more chill, then escalates, fast.

Tuner stars Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno and Dustin Hoffman. It follows a piano tuner, Niki White (Woodall), with a hearing condition that gives him heightened sensitivity to sound. When his mentor Harry (Hoffman) racks up a medical debt, White earns cash to pay it off by using his sensitive hearing to crack safes and becomes embroiled with a criminal group.

Niki is a gifted young piano tuner whose heightened sense of hearing draws the attention of criminals, who see his talents as useful for opening safes as for tuning Steinways. 

With his once-promising musical career over, he works across New York with his mentor Harry Horowitz (Academy Award-winner Dustin Hoffman), encountering a range of characters, including composition student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), with whom he forges an unexpected connection. 

Niki’s safecracking work threatens his budding romance with Ruthie and pulls him into increasingly dangerous territory. Blending romance, drama, and the taut suspense of a heist thriller, this film was a multi-genre fun return to the cinema.

I enjoyed Tuner, I wish my other local cinema gave it more session times. That said, it was nice to venture out to a different cinema for once.

It is nice being back in the cinema. 3 Stars.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Elle - Season One

Elle (also marketed as Elle: From the World of Legally Blonde) serves as a prequel to the Legally Blonde. Taking place six years before the events of the first film and it explores the high school years of teenage Elle Woods (originally portrayed by Reese Witherspoon), portrayed by newcomer Lexi Minetree.

Production began in April 2025, season one dropping all episodes on July 1. In January 2026, the series was renewed for a second season. BRING IT ON!

A prequel to Legally Blonde, the series explores Elle Woods’ teenage years in the 1990s as a high school student in Seattle, long before she became the ambitious Harvard law student in the films.

So Seattle and 90's music! I am SOLD!

Alongside Minetree, June Diane Raphael & Tom Everett Scott were cast as Elle's parents, Eva and Wyatt. 

Chandler Kinney, Gabrielle Policano, Jacob Moskovitz, Kimberly, Liz, Miles, Zac Looker, Jessica Belkin, Logan Shroyer, Amy Pietz, Lisa Yamada, Chloe Wepper, David Burtka, Brad Harder, Kayla Maisonet, and James Van Der Beek, in what would be his final role before his death. It was very sad seeing Dawson's final role.

For season two, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan joined the cast as Sam.

In the finale, Elle's reputation is ruined so she and her mother move back to LA. Elle returns to her old life while interning at Cosmopolitan, but she feels uncomfortable with the familiar and safe setting. 

Meanwhile, the winter formal is canceled due to budget cuts, so Liz, Dustin, Miles and Kimberly, all missing Elle, host their own formal at CarpetMart as a fundraiser called "Winter Informal". 

Elle takes a risk at Cosmopolitan and wins a spot at the Golden Globes, but feels like everything has become too expected for her and misses the challenges of Seattle. Her boss convinces her to take challenges in stride and she convinces her mother to return to Seattle after an encounter with her father's failed nose job patient. Elle bids a heartfelt goodbye to Madison. 

Back in Seattle, Elle reconciles with Shannon, while Eva blames Wyatt for dictating how her life has turned out. Elle races to Winter Informal where Liz is performing, who just kissed Kimberly. Elle sees the layout and feels like she did make a difference. Everyone is happy to see Elle, except Dustin, who is upset that she left. He kisses her, which Miles sees, and both boys leave jealous, leaving Elle conflicted.

The love triangle fully explodes in this fun season finale. I enjoyed this fun, light, colourful first season.

Let's hope Amazon bring this one back next year. If you need something light, Elle is for you!