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      ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Episode 6: Like Father

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      A series of flashbacks traced the evolution of Joel and Ellie’s relationship in Jackson, Wyo., filling in some blanks about her current state of mind.Season 2, Episode 6What is the opposite of a love story? A disenchantment story, perhaps?That may be the best way to describe this week’s haunting and heartbreaking “The Last of Us,” which features a years-spanning flashback. The episode functions a lot like the award-winning episode “Long, Long Time,” from Season 1, except in reverse. We follow Joel and Ellie from their early days living in Jackson, closely bonded; and then, over time, we see how that bond weakened and broke.This episode begins with a prologue, set in 1983 in Austin. We learn that Joel and his younger brother, Tommy, were the sons of a cop (played by the great Tony Dalton of “Better Call Saul”) who was quick to smack them around whenever they stepped out of line. One night — after Tommy was caught buying pot — Joel tried to shoulder the punishment, telling his dad to leave Tommy alone. In a moment of bracing self-awareness, Officer Miller admits that he may be following in the footsteps of his own father, who once beat him so hard he had to be hospitalized.“But I’m doing a little better than my father did,” he says to Joel. “When it’s your turn, I hope you do a little better than me.”Post-prologue, the episode cycles through five vignettes — four set on Ellie’s birthdays, and one on the New Year’s Eve night we saw in the Season 2 premiere.The first vignette catches Joel and Ellie at a somewhat awkward place in their relationship: still recovering from the trauma of Salt Lake City, and in the first few months of living in a normal domestic situation, as a surrogate father and a daughter. Nevertheless, Joel makes what might be his first grand parental gesture (besides saving her life) as he rebuilds a guitar for her for her 15th birthday, using real bone for the saddle and carving a moth design from one of her notebooks into the neck.But these two have not really found a relaxed family groove yet. Joel can’t figure out how hard to play “dad” when Ellie intentionally burns her arm, trying to hide a bite mark. And when he describes how he fixed up the guitar, he becomes adorably awkward, going deep into the weeds on the machinery. (“Used a Dremel. That’s a rotary drill. Or it could be a saw, depending on the tip. Actually it’s a pretty versatile tool.”)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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      On ‘S.N.L.’, Bad Bunny and Scarlett Johansson Have a Couples’ Feud

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      This weekend’s broadcast, hosted by Scarlett Johansson and featuring the musical guest Bad Bunny, began with a sendup of President Trump’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.There was only one way for the final episode of the milestone 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” to begin: with Lorne Michaels announcing that his chosen successor will be — nah, come on, it was another sketch with James Austin Johnson playing President Trump.This weekend’s broadcast, hosted by Scarlett Johansson and featuring the musical guest Bad Bunny, began with a sendup of President Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East.Sharing the stage with Emil Wakim (who was playing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia), Johnson said that he’d been enjoying their meals together, “sitting on the floor, dipping our fingers straight into various goops and spreads that I politely scrape under the rug and go eat at a mobile McDonald’s that you built for me.”He added that he was a “big fan of everything that Saudi Arabia has to offer, from the oil to the money to end of list.”Johnson vowed that he didn’t make this trip for his own benefit. “I want to make that clear,” he said. “I did this for the American people and, in many ways, myself. My personal enrichment. I did that too.”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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      Jason Sudeikis, Spike Lee and Fans Cheer on WNBA Champions New York Liberty

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      At halftime at Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn, where the New York Liberty, the defending W.N.B.A. champions, were leading in their season opener against the Las Vegas Aces, the team’s mascot, Ellie the Elephant, danced to Nicki Minaj.Downstairs in the Crown Club, a space reserved for select ticket holders, the “Severance” actors John Turturro and Zach Cherry chatted in the front of the room. In the back, Robin Roberts, the broadcaster, had a quiet meal with Russell Wilson, the quarterback of the New York Giants. Joining them were the owners of the Liberty, the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center, Clara Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai, who is also the founder and chairman of the Chinese tech company Alibaba.After dominating much of the game, the Liberty won, 92-78.Jonquel Jones, a power forward for the Liberty.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesSabrina Ionescu, a guard for the Liberty.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesBefore the game, the team was presented with rings commemorating their 2024 championship victory.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesThe filmmaker Spike Lee was also in the Crown Club, browsing a room filled with free popcorn, water and candy, including boxes of Milk Duds and Swedish Fish.“It’s just such a great moment for the city,” he said, reflecting on an unusually momentous weekend for New York sports teams, which also included a subway series between the Mets and the Yankees, as well as a playoff run for the Knicks.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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      ‘Love on the Spectrum’ Delivers on the Promise of Reality TV

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      The Netflix series, which follows a group of autistic people as they search for love in their hometowns, feels good to watch, but don’t just call it feel-good TV.You know the story: A superstar surprises a fan on a talk show, and the online crowd goes wild, sending the clip viral. But when the affable actor Jack Black surprised Tanner Smith on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in April, a particularly poignant and joyful alchemy was conjured.“Jack! Jack! I’m so excited to finally meet you,” Smith exclaimed as they embrace. “You’re so handsome, you’re looking good, Jack!”“I love you on the show, and I can’t wait for the next season,” Black told Smith, referring to the Netflix reality series “Love on the Spectrum,” which recently wrapped up a memorable third season. “I’m so happy for you for having all of this success,” Black said. “To meet you in person is really amazing for me, too.”Smith is a beloved star in his own right. Online — his handle, tannerwiththe_tism, nods cleverly at his having autism — he has about 2.5 million followers. It’s a number that is not unusual among his castmates, all of whom are autistic.On the viral clip, one commenter called Smith “easily one of the most beautiful humans to walk this earth.” Another wrote, “This was a moment where humanity remembered what love, truth, and presence really looks like.”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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      Eurovision 2025 Final: Time, Running Order and How to Watch

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      It has never been easier, no matter where in the world you are.The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest final will be broadcast live at 9 p.m. (3 p.m. E.S.T.) from the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel, Switzerland. You can watch it from pretty much anywhere on a variety of platforms.The contest is run by the European Broadcasting Union, an umbrella organization of public-service broadcasters around the world. If you’re in the United States, you can stream the contest on Peacock because it is owned by NBCUniversal, and NBC is an associate member of the union.In Britain, you can watch on various BBC outlets (or listen to it on the radio). In Italy, tune in to RAI and in Spain, head to RTVE. The European Broadcasting Union’s members are mostly in Europe, but can also be found in such countries as Israel and Algeria.Australia has been competing at Eurovision since 2015, and there you can watch on SBS. Many people do in that pop-mad country, despite the contest airing at 5 a.m. on the Australian East Coast. If no broadcaster in your country of residence holds the rights to show the contest, you can check out the livestream on the Eurovision Song Contest channel on YouTube.Each broadcaster supplies its own commentary, and many of the pundits have followings of their own: Graham Norton’s fantastically funny play-by-play has led people in many countries to install a VPN so they can access the BBC coverage. And then there are nods to regional languages: SVT offers commentaries in Swedish and in two Sámi languages through a collaboration with the Finnish public broadcaster, Yleisradio.In other words: Nowadays, watching Eurovision is easier than ever, no matter where you are.The acts will appear in the following order on Saturday:1. Norway2. Luxembourg3. Estonia4. Israel5. Lithuania6. Spain7. Ukraine8. Britain9. Austria10. Iceland11. Latvia12. Netherlands13. Finland14. Italy15. Poland16. Germany17. Greece18. Armenia19. Switzerland20. Malta21. Portugal22. Denmark23. Sweden24. France25. San Marino26. Albania More

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      In ‘Sirens,’ Meghann Fahy Sounds the Alarm

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      “People underestimate melon,” the actress Meghann Fahy said. ”I don’t think they give it a chance.”Fahy was speaking on a drizzly morning in April, two weeks before her 35th birthday, in an Edible Arrangements outlet on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. In the first episode of “Sirens,” a Netflix limited series, Fahey’s character receives an arrangement, the deluxe Party Dipped Fruit Delight, which weighs as much as a toddler.“I dragged that arrangement around for weeks,” Fahy said. Now Fahy had come to make her own, a gesture that felt a little like homage, a little like revenge.With some help from the store’s owner, she set about crafting a more modest assemblage. She combined cut pineapple and melon balls to form daisies, then speared honeydew and cantaloupe onto plastic skewers above a kale base. “And that’s how she stabbed herself,” she said, narrating the activity. “Sad.”Meghann Fahy stars in “Sirens” as a protective sister with self-destructive tendencies and, in early scenes, an enormous fruit basket.Macall Polay/NetflixFahy knows what it’s like to be underestimated. She performed on Broadway as a teen in 2009 and then barely worked until 2016, when she landed a role on the go-getting Freeform show “The Bold Type,” the rare series that makes a career in journalism look fun. She didn’t properly break out until 2022, in an Emmy-nominated turn in the second season of HBO’s “The White Lotus.”This year, she has her first proper leads, as an imperiled single mother in the date-night thriller “Drop,” which premiered last month, and as a class-struggle chaos agent in “Sirens.” Created by Molly Smith Metzler (“Maid”), the series premieres on May 22.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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      Stephen Colbert on the President’s Trumped-Up Birthday Plans

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      A military parade marking the anniversary of the Army’s founding will be held on the president’s birthday. “He wants overwhelming force,” Stephen Colbert said.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.Never Have I EverPresident Trump will soon return from his Middle East trip, and he already has big plans for June — specifically, the 14th.On Thursday, Stephen Colbert remarked that Trump might be leaving “his autocratic buddies behind, but he’s going to bring a taste of dictatorship back home when he does, ’cause he’s throwing a military parade on his birthday, featuring 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles and 50 helicopters.”“He wants overwhelming force, because this is more important than D-Day: It is his B-Day.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“It also happens to be the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, so to honor the troops, soldiers will be housed in a former government warehouse, where they will receive one hot meal a day and have been told, ‘Bring your sleeping bags.’ [imitating Trump] ‘It’s my birthday slumber party! OK, fellas, let’s play Never Have I Ever. I’ll start. Never have I ever served in the military.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“And before you ask, yes, there will be costumes. Service members will be wearing period uniforms from the Revolutionary War to the present. Yes. It’ll be June in one of the most humid cities in America, and they’ll be dressing them in wool pants.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Wrong Man for the Job Edition)“When asked yesterday if he would vaccinate his own children against the measles today, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said ‘Probably’ and then added, ‘I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’ Yeah, not what you want to hear from the Secretary of Health and Human Services. That’s like if your pilot got on the P.A. and said, ‘We’re about to hit turbulence and I’d love some suggestions!’” — SETH MEYERS“Well, guys, R.F.K. Jr. just testified before Congress, and he said, ‘I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’ It’s ironic, because it’s actually some great medical advice.” — JIMMY FALLONWe 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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      ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Wraps Up Its Sexy, Shameless First Season

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      The ABC series is only sort of a doctor show. It is better understood as a fantasy.“Doctor Odyssey” finishes its first season on Thursday at 9 p.m., on ABC, and as of press time it still hasn’t been renewed (nor has it been officially canceled). My candles are lit; my fingers are crossed. I love this stupid — so stupid, oh God, stupid, stupid — show. The season thus far is available on Hulu.Joshua Jackson stars as Dr. Max Bankman, the doctor for the luxury cruise ship the Odyssey. He works closely — extremely closely — with Avery (Phillipa Soo), a nurse practitioner who wants to go to medical school, and Tristan (Sean Teale), a nurse. “Love triangle” is too quaint a term, but “throuple” is too resolved. Both men are in love with Avery, though neither holds her full attention. In the sixth episode, prompted by a nourishing goal-setting exercise, they have a steamy, adoring and mutually enjoyable threesome. In fandom parlance, “shippers” are viewers who want the characters to get into a romantic relationship. And oh, “Doctor Odyssey” has plenty of ship.I’m old enough to remember when a time when a devil’s threesome on network television would have been on the news. But here on the high seas, everyone is so sexually liberated that the show loops back around to being wholesome. Sexy, sure. Dirty, no.“Odyssey” operates like “The Love Boat” in that each episode features new guests to both the ship and the show. Each cruise has some kind of theme, which inevitably leads to a series of medical crises, at which point our heroes take a brief break from all the sexual bliss and hobnobbing to save some lives. All the medical instruments and machinery are in a brushed gold instead of stainless steel because intravenous poles deserve glam, too.The show was created by Jon Robin Baitz, Joe Baken and Ryan Murphy, and “Odyssey” feels like a lot of other Ryan Murphy shows, most especially “Nip/Tuck,” the lush, bonkers plastic surgery drama that ran from 2003-2010. But where that show was framed by the recurring prompt “Tell me what you don’t like about yourself,” “Odyssey” is a bacchanalia of self love, of acceptance, of validation. It can feel as if “Nip” got a gentle-parenting glow-up, its luridness revised for the more empowered, enlightened standards of today.“Odyssey” is in some ways the inside-out version of “The Pitt” (streaming on Max), TV’s buzziest doctor show. Jackson’s Max and Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby are both brilliant and ethical leaders with high standards. They are both haunted by their experiences at the beginning of the pandemic, Robby by his mentor’s death and Max by the fact that he was among Covid’s earliest patients — he was hospitalized and in a coma, near death. Both Max and Robby cope admirably with a partner’s reproductive choices. Both shows indulge in a bit of medical gore, and both use a sense of “Oh no, we don’t have the resources we need” to intensify the drama. In “The Pitt,” it’s for budgetary reasons; in “Odyssey,” it’s because they’re at sea.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