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    ‘Severance’ Fans Celebrate Season 2 Finale With Lumon Industries Cosplay and Waffles

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    The sci-fi thriller “Severance” is about an enigmatic, cultlike company and its “severed” employees, whose brains have been surgically divided into an “innie” work consciousness and an “outie” home one. The show itself has a kind of bifurcated existence, becoming Apple TV+’s most popular series ever while inspiring fans in the non-TV world to spin fanciful theories — some of which have been borne out — and otherwise wallow in its imagery and mysteries.One of the most colorful examples of this happened at a venue in Kingston, N.Y., on Friday, as the series closed out its second season. The owners of two area restaurants that served as filming locations in the series, Phoenicia Diner and Eng’s, a Chinese restaurant in downtown Kingston, co-hosted a watch party for the season finale that included costumes, dance-offs, themed snacks and other “Severance”-related festivities.An unsevered photographer was inside to document all the choreography and merriment for The New York Times. Please try to enjoy each photo equally, and not show preference for any over the others.Held at Assembly, a venue in Kingston, the event included costume and dance contests and “Severance” souvenirs, like finger traps and Lumon Industries badges.Phoenicia Diner, seen in the show as a restaurant called Pip’s, offered attendees their own waffle parties.Goats, one of the most beloved bits of “Severance” iconography, were well-represented.Attendees paid tribute to characters including Lorne, the goat minder, and Miss Huang, the young deputy manager.Unlike in “Severance,” attendees were allowed to remember their innies’ experiences.Audience Report is a series that looks at people looking. Produced by Jolie Ruben and Amanda Webster. More

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      Jon Stewart Thinks He May Be in the ‘Bomb Yemen’ Chat Group

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      The “Daily Show” host suspects that he, too, might have been invited to a discussion of secret war plans by a bumbling official in the Trump administration.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Invite OnlyTop officials in the Trump administration discussed secret plans to bomb Yemen on Signal, unaware that one of them had mistakenly added a journalist to the chat group.On Monday’s “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart applauded the administration for “once again carrying out its plans with competence and professionalism.”“You know, back in my day, if you were a journalist who wanted leaked war documents, you had to work the sources: meet them in a dark garage, earn their trust, pound the pavement. Now? You just wait for the national security adviser to be distracted by ‘White Lotus’ while he’s setting up his ‘Bomb Yemen’ group chat.” — JON STEWART“By the way, I might be in this group chat, I don’t know. I don’t check my group chats.” — JON STEWART“This is not helping Pete Hegseth’s reputation as a guy who is always drunk. I mean, this is a drunk guy mistake. This is the national security equivalent of airdropping a [expletive] pic to everyone in the office.” — TAYLOR TOMLINSON“I thought top-secret war meetings were held in a vault on top of a mountain. I didn’t know we were just droppin’ ’em in the chat. Turns out Hegseth was planning wars like a mom in a busy grocery store talking on speakerphone.” — TAYLOR TOMLINSON“Worst of all, now that journalist knows they’re all hanging out at Buffalo Wild Wings tonight, and they can’t uninvite him or it would be so awkward.” — TAYLOR TOMLINSON“He thought it was disinformation. Turned out it was just a bunch of fools, because the strikes started happening exactly as described in the texts. In other words, our national security is being guarded by a bunch of doofs you wouldn’t trust to throw your cousin a surprise party.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“No one on the chain thought to ask, ‘Who is JG? What are these initials?’ For all — they could have been leaking secrets to Jeff Goldblum, for all they know.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Skin-Colored Skin Edition)“Donald Trump truly is focused on the issues that matter most — to him, specifically.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Yesterday, he posted — this is real — ‘Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the governor, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before.’ He doesn’t like this painting of him that they hung in the State Capitol building in Colorado. This is the portrait. I have to be honest: I agree with him on this one. It’s not a very good likeness. I mean, look how inaccurate the skin color is. His skin is the color of skin.” — JIMMY KIMMELWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ Has Parents Talking About Phones

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      The Netflix hit has touched off debates about smartphone use by children and, in Britain, fed into calls for a social media ban.The British screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne has written several TV dramas that he hoped would stir political debate. Until last week, they never quite took off.Then, his new show, “Adolescence,” appeared on Netflix.In the days since its March 13 release, the four-part drama about a 13-year-old boy who murders a girl from his school after potentially being exposed to misogynist ideas online has become Netflix’s latest hit. According to the streamer, it was the most watched show on the platform in dozens of countries after it debuted, including the United States.In Britain, the show has been more than a topic of workplace chatter. It has reignited discussion about whether the government should restrict children’s access to smartphones to stop them from accessing harmful content.Newspapers here have published dozens of articles about “Adolescence,” which Thorne wrote with the actor Stephen Graham. A Times of London headline called it “The TV Drama That Every Parent Should Watch,” and campaigners for a phone ban in schools have reported a surge in support.In Britain’s parliament, too, lawmakers have used the show to make political points. Last week Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the House of Commons that he was watching “Adolescence” with his two children, and said that action was needed to address the “fatal consequences” of young men and boys viewing harmful content online.In the show, Ashley Walters, center left, plays a police officer whose son has to instruct him on the meaning of emojis online.Netflix, via Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lionizing Mark Twain, Conan O’Brien Subtly Skewers Trump

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      In accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the comedian mounted a bristling political attack artfully disguised as a tribute.Conan O’Brien faced a thorny question when accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday night.In the headlining speech for the most-high-profile event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since President Trump purged Democrats from its board, cashiered its leaders and made himself chairman, how political should he be? Considering artists like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Issa Rae have said they are boycotting the Kennedy Center in protest, should he even show up?Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the puppet voiced by Robert Smigel, who was on the original writing staff of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” captured the dilemma of his position when he welcomed the audience in a gravelly voice: “Thank you for coming and shame on you for being here.”The assignment was especially tricky for O’Brien, because unlike past recipients like Jon Stewart or Dave Chappelle, his comedy has always steered clear of ideological fervor. But moving out of his comfort zone, O’Brien delivered what amounted to a bristling attack on the current administration artfully disguised as a tribute to Mark Twain.“Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money-obsessed mania of the Gilded Age and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance,” O’Brien said, steadily, soberly. “Above all, Twain was a patriot in the best sense of the word. He loved America, but knew it was deeply flawed. Twain wrote: ‘Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time and your government when it deserves it.’”O’Brien’s speech, which along with the rest of the show, will air on Netflix on May 4, followed a murderers’ row of comedians — who put on the best Twain Awards in recent memory. Among those gushing about O’Brien were father figures (David Letterman), peers (Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Stephen Colbert) and his comedic children (Nikki Glaser, Kumail Nanjiani, John Mulaney).We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jennifer Tilly Is In On the Joke

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      She has been electrocuted, hatcheted, murdered by a doll with her soul trapped inside it. She has also notched up an epic kill count of her own, decapitating one victim with a nail file, eviscerating another and melting one unfortunate’s face off with boiling water. And that was before she joined “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”“At least in the ‘Chucky’ movies you get stabbed in the front,” Jennifer Tilly says coolly, shooting a knowing look at this reporter as she lands the rimshot.We are in a booth of the Margaux restaurant at the Marlton Hotel in Greenwich Village. It is midafternoon and we are the only customers in the place. Ms. Tilly is wearing a simple black minidress with a flounced neckline cut low. Décolletage is her wardrobe default.Picking at a mesclun salad, Ms. Tilly appears young enough to force a double-take; at 66, she has spent four decades in the public eye. The Academy Award nomination she sometimes fudges in conversation to make seem like a win came so long ago that Bill Clinton was president.That was for her inspired portrayal of a mobster’s floozy hellbent on a theatrical career in Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway.” The role, as written, was a camp inside a parody inside a million show business clichés. And it was a keystone in a career whose watchword could be “meta.”Ms. Tilly has a knack for embodying characters who somehow stand above or outside themselves. Think the scream queen Tiffany Valentine in the endlessly recurring “Chucky” horror series. Think of her stylized lesbian femme fatale, Violet, in the thriller “Bound,” the directorial debut of Lana and Lilly Wachowski. Think of her turn as a conniving gold-digger in the Jim Carrey comedy “Liar Liar.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Mid Century Modern,’ Plus 8 Things to Watch on TV this Week

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      A new comedy starring Nathan Lane and Matt Bomer comes to Hulu, and this season of “The Bachelor” wraps up.Dive into dating.“The Bachelor” franchise has had a couple of explosive seasons in recent years, but for better or worse, Grant Ellis’s journey to find love has been pretty uneventful. With two women left vying for his attention, the three-hour finale will reveal who receives the final rose, if he gives one at all. Afterward, ABC often debuts its next female lead of “The Bachelorette,” but earlier this year the network announced that it would be skipping this season. Instead, we’ll have the more fun, raunchy and relatable “Bachelor in Paradise” coming back sometime this spring or summer. Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC.After writing a book of essays entitled “Survival of the Thickest,” Michelle Buteau created a Netflix series in which she stars as Mavis Beaumont, and it is returning for a second season. The first installment saw Mavis catch her partner in bed with another woman and deal with that fallout while receiving support from her crew of besties. Season 2 will continue to follow Mavis’s dating journey as a plus-size woman of color. In an interview, Buteau also noted that the show is her love letter to New York City, where it’s set. Streaming on Thursday on Netflix.Some international favorites.The third season of the British comedy “Big Boys” is coming stateside this week. The series, loosely inspired by the creator Jack Rooke’s university days, follows Jack (Dylan Llewellyn), a gay student who’s closeted and mourning the death of his father. He forms an unexpected bond with his roommate Danny (Jon Pointing), who is most often found chatting up girls but is also hiding his mental health struggles. The third season got rave reviews when it premiered in Britain in February — The Independent called it “one of the finest British comedies of the past decade.” Streaming on Tuesday on Hulu.The French show “Bref” started out as a YouTube series in 2011, with its one- to two-minute episodes amassing 131 million views. Now they have lengthened to 30 minutes, which allows the protagonist, played by Kyan Khojandi, to explore different facets of all his relationships. Streaming on Wednesday on Hulu.In “Caught,” a new Argentine series based on a book of the same name by Harlan Coben, Soledad Villamil plays an investigative journalist with a knack for exposing criminals who are often able to avoid justice. She’s faced with a dilemma when the prime suspect involved in the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl is someone she knows. Streaming on Netflix on Wednesday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3, Episode 6 Recap: The Morning After

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      Drinks were drunk, decisions were made. This week’s episode was all about the consequences.Season 3, Episode 6: ‘Denials’This “White Lotus” season moved at a lulling pace early on, putting the viewers in the same head space as the vacationers, feeling equal parts enchanted and dazed by an exotic, sun-splashed locale. The show’s creator, Mike White, then cranked up the energy considerably over Episodes 4 and 5, in which several characters made sudden, fateful choices — perhaps without fully understanding what they were doing.This week? It’s hangover time.In terms of narrative progress, this episode inches along. It ends just before three significant events begin. Saxon and his parents (and maybe Belinda?) are about to attend a dinner party hosted by the dangerous Gary. Rick and Frank are walking into their meeting with Sritala’s husband in Bangkok, which could very well turn violent if Rick follows through on his need for revenge. And Piper and Lochlan are spending a night at the Buddhist temple, at Victoria’s request.But while there is more anticipation-building than action this week, White does develop the season’s major themes in ways that help them strike a little deeper. Over and over, as they face crises mostly of their own making, many of these characters find themselves asking: Is there a better way to live?The Ratliffs are the most in need of a new path. When last we saw Tim, he had Gaitok’s pistol by his side and had just finished writing a suicide note. By the end of this day, he still has not pulled the trigger. But he does imagine shooting himself, and he perhaps stops himself from doing it for real only because he also imagines Victoria and Piper finding his body. Later, he imagines shooting Victoria and then killing himself, thus sparing his wife from having to live on in shame and poverty.At the moment though, Tim is leaving his options open. He stashes the gun in a chest of drawers and spends the day on an assignment handed to him by Victoria. She wants him to check out Luang Por Teera (Suthichai Yoon), the senior monk whom Piper is planning to spend a year following. (“He better be the best Buddhist in China,” Victoria harrumphs.)Victoria expects that Tim — her confident, successful, morally upright husband — will give this phony guru a good dressing-down. But instead, Tim is captivated by Teera’s thoughts on the inescapable pain of everyday existence, which he blames on an insatiable hunger for self-gratification born of a spiritual emptiness and a loss of connection with nature. Teera also describes death as the end of suffering (“a happy return, like coming home”). Which may not be the best thing to say to a suicidal man.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’ Review: No Century for Old Men

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      In the long-awaited sequel to “Wolf Hall,” Henry VIII’s royal fixer pays the price for success. (It’s his head.)“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” picks up where “Wolf Hall” left off, amid the gruesome beheading of Anne Boleyn in 1536, which we get to see this time in even more gruesome detail.In real life, however, there has been an unusually long gap between series and sequel. It has been 10 years since the release of “Wolf Hall,” based on the first two novels in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell series. This means that in “The Mirror and the Light,” based on the final novel, the actor Mark Rylance is a decade older than the 50-something character he is playing.And it works, because the Cromwell in the new six-episode series (beginning Sunday on PBS’s “Masterpiece”) is haunted and beaten down by his work as Henry VIII’s political and matrimonial fixer, a job that included fabricating the evidence that led to Boleyn’s murder. In that first scene both we and Cromwell are reliving the beheading (necessary, from Henry’s point of view, because Anne, his second wife, had not borne a son).“The Mirror and the Light” is very much of a piece with the earlier “Wolf Hall,” written and directed by the same men — Peter Straughan and Peter Kosminsky — and with many actors returning to their roles, including Rylance and, as Henry, Damian Lewis. Among relatively recent historical costume dramas, the shows set a standard for polish and seriousness.But as the story of the commoner Cromwell’s decline and abrupt fall, “The Mirror and the Light” has an entirely different feel than the up-by-the-boot-straps, grimly celebratory “Wolf Hall.” The mood is nervous and ominous, as Cromwell begins to make errors and give in to his emotions. And it habitually casts its eye back in time, as Cromwell reassesses the often dirty work he has done. Picking up on a device from the novel, “The Mirror and the Light” continually drops in snippets of Cromwell’s guilty memories in the form of bits of film we have already seen across the two series.His guilt even has a supporting role in the form of the dead Cardinal Wolsey, the beloved master and mentor whose downfall Cromwell was unable to prevent. Cromwell now has late-night conversations with Wolsey’s slightly diaphanous ghost, scenes that are a little cringey but that do us the favor of keeping Jonathan Pryce and his archly disapproving eyebrows in the show.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Meghan Markle-Approved Doll That Gives Toddlers a Taste for Finer Things

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      Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is a fan.“With Love, Meghan,” the Netflix series starring and produced by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, immerses viewers in her world of at-home luxury. But for the most part, it diligently avoids mentions of specific brands.Certain episodes offer glimpses of brand-name items in Meghan’s universe. In one, while describing the outfit she is wearing, Meghan names three labels (Loro Piana, Zara, Jenni Kayne) to telegraph a preference for mixing high and low. In a later episode, she identifies another product — a doll belonging to Lilibet, her 3-year-old daughter — that, by Meghan’s description, comes across as squarely luxurious.It has “a little baguette and a little cheese,” Meghan says, “and the name of the doll is Stella Al Fresco.” (Its full name, in fact, is Wee Baby Stella peach Al Fresco.)These plush dolls, which are marketed for toddlers, are from a line called Love, Stella. They have a Cabbage Patch quality thanks to features like round faces and chubby arms. Stella dolls are very popular among customers of the Acorn Store, a toy store in Santa Monica, Calif., which is about 80 miles down the coast from where Meghan and Prince Harry live in Montecito.As are other toys involving breads and cheeses.“Baguette toys have been trending like crazy,” said Heather Hamilton, 53, who owns the store. “It’s rampant across Southern California: the baguette, the charcuterie, the cheese boards. Kids really like imitating life, and if this is what they’re seeing on their parents’ patio, then they just pretend play.”Stella dolls, which start at around $20, take various forms: Some look like toddlers, others look like newborns and all come with pacifiers that magnetically attach to their mouths. The line also includes a variety of clothing and accessory sets, like an extravagant picnic collection that costs $35 and comes with a checkered blanket and snacks including a plush sandwich and watermelon wedge.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More