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      ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2, Episode 6 Recap: Go Fish

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      Miriel tests the waters. Sauron tests everyone’s sanity.Season 2, Episode 6: ‘Where Is He?’By the end of this week’s episode of “The Rings of Power,” Adar’s Orc army is fully besieging Eregion, beginning a battle that will play out in the next episode. But before the show shifts into military mode for a while, the show’s creators, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (along with this episode’s credited writer, Justin Doble, and director, Sanaa Hamri), reset the stage across Middle-earth and far away in Numenor, to make sure we know exactly where all the players are, as Season 2 enters its endgame.The result is an unusually busy hour for this series. Every major character makes an appearance, in scenes that run a bit shorter than usual. This is a welcome change of pace from last week’s sometimes interminable conversations, which kept circling topics long after they had been exhausted. Granted, some of this episode’s segments — like most anything involving the Durin family or Annatar — do hit familiar beats, dredging up those old arguments for another round. But there is some forward progress here, even if everyone is now racing headlong into various bloody melees.Here are five takeaways and observations from Episode 6:The Valar decidesIn a startling turnaround, the Numenor sequences in this episode are responsible for one of the most thrilling moments of the season — although, typical of the Numenorians, we have to get a few speeches out of the way first.The matter before the island’s leadership is whether Elendil will apologize for the crime of sedition, bend the knee to Pharazon and be spared a death sentence. When he refuses to comply fully, Miriel comes to her loyal subject’s aid, claiming an ancient legal right to face the judgment of the Valar in his place. This requires Miriel to wade into the surrounding seas and wait for an enormous underwater beast — “the sea worm” — to swim up to her, at which point this slimy thing will either swallow her up or deem her worthy.The buildup to the big plunge takes a while. But the payoff is sublime, in a terrifying sequence of the sea worm yanking Miriel into the deep, staring her down, surrounding her with giant tendrils and then letting her live. The assembled crowd — with the exception of the new king’s partisans — erupts into jubilant shouts, dubbing her “queen of the sea.” Pharazon tries to recover from this setback by scrambling into his chambers to consult the palantir.What does he see? A dark, fiery future. And a face familiar to us: Sauron’s.Going battyI don’t want to dwell too much on what goes down in Khazad-dum this week, because frankly the dwarf story line has fallen into a deep, deep rut. The underground sets remain amazing, and the performances by the actors — some of them sporting thick beards, no less — remain impressive. But the plot is going nowhere new. King Durin III is still being driven mad with greed by his ring and making decisions that endanger his people, while Prince Durin IV keeps arguing with Disa about how they should handle the situation. There are some strong emotional underpinnings to the father-son relationship; but those bonds have been well-established and don’t need as much screen time as they get.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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      Aaron Sorkin Thinks Life Still Imitates ‘The West Wing’

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      When it premiered on NBC on Sept. 22, 1999, “The West Wing” contained elements of both what great television had been and what great television would become.It had the strict structure, self-contained episodes and PG-13 language of esteemed network contemporaries like “NYPD Blue” and “ER.” (John Wells was an executive producer of both “ER” and “The West Wing.”)But the show’s sophisticated content, idiosyncratic sensibility and season-long story lines anticipated the prestige-television boom of cable and eventually streaming. It was a ratings hit and won the Emmy for outstanding drama series four times, one of only five programs to do so. (The others: “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “Mad Men” and “Game of Thrones.”)Twenty-five years later, “The West Wing” is a cultural touchstone: dissected by podcasts, parodied for its trademark style, still viewed regularly on Max — more than 212 million viewing hours’ worth since 2020, according to Nielsen. Several cast members were feted at the Emmy Awards last Sunday, and on Friday, the first lady, Jill Biden, will honor the series at the real White House.“It is particularly gratifying that a whole new generation of people, thanks to streaming, are watching the show,” Aaron Sorkin, the show’s creator, said in an interview last week. Sorkin wrote or co-wrote nearly every episode of the first four seasons and then left the series, which continued for three more seasons without him and ended in 2006.Although it took place in an alternative universe, “The West Wing” initially resembled the late Clinton era in Washington (minus the sex scandal). Played by Martin Sheen, President Josiah Bartlet — economist, Nobel laureate and descendant of a delegate sent to the Continental Congress in 1776 — strove to balance progressive principles with the realities of governing, all while combating the small-government conservatism of the Republicans who controlled Congress.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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      Jimmy Fallon: With Trump in Town, New York Is ‘a Lot More Florida’

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      The “Tonight Show” host quipped about the former president’s rally in Long Island on Wednesday.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.Hard to Be HumbleFormer President Donald Trump held a campaign rally on Long Island on Wednesday.“Yeah, tonight the rest of the country found out New York is a lot more Florida than you think,” Jimmy Fallon said.“Organizers said that there were 60,000 online ticket requests. It turns out Rudy Giuliani just passed out with his head on the keyboard.” — JIMMY FALLON“But the rally at Nassau Coliseum was historic. The last time a president appeared at the Coliseum was when President Biden fought the lions in Rome.” — JIMMY FALLON“At a Trump campaign rally last night, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that her kids keep her humble and added, ‘Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything to keep her humble.’ Though I’m not sure the math checks out there, because doesn’t Trump have, like, five?” — SETH MEYERS“Everyone knows if you don’t have biological kids, you can’t be humble. It’s like that famous Ernest Hemingway story, ‘For Sale: Baby Shoes. Didn’t Need ’Em Cuz I’m a Playa!’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Poll Position Edition)“According to a new poll, Vice President Kamala Harris has a 6-point lead over former President Trump following last week’s debate. And if you think that’s a big lead, then you just don’t follow New York football.” — SETH MEYERS“That same poll found that 61 percent of likely voters believe Harris won the debate, which seems low to me, but it seemed very high to Trump, who posted last night, ‘Finally everyone is agreeing that I won the debate with Kamala. It was like a delayed reaction, but as one political pundit said, Trump is still the GOAT.’ He thinks his caddy at Mar-a-Lago counts as a political pundit.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“According to a new poll, young people are nervous about the 2024 election. Oh, my God, am I young?” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingJimmy Kimmel dug out footage of Jon Hamm rapping in his high school production of “Godspell” for the actor’s appearance on Wednesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightDemi Lovato will discuss her new documentary, “Child Star,” on Thursday’s “Tonight Show.”Also, Check This OutAaron Hernandez has been the subject of multiple books, true crime podcasts and documentaries.Pool photo by Steven Senne“American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” delves into the saga of the pro football player who murdered his friend less than a year after playing in the Super Bowl. More

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      ‘Agatha All Along’ Review: Toil and Trouble

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      Marvel’s “WandaVision” spinoff has more witchcraft but less magic.This review contains spoilers for the first episode of “Agatha All Along.”Jac Schaeffer, who created the first of the Disney+ Marvel series, “WandaVision,” and has now created the 11th, its spinoff “Agatha All Along,” is not one to let an idea go to waste.In Schaeffer’s first series, a grieving superheroine used her magical powers to create a world for herself based on classic American sitcoms. It was entertaining to watch how the show reimagined those familiar comedies within a dark fantasy-science fiction framework. (At least until “WandaVision” went off the rails toward convoluted Marvel business as usual in its last few episodes.)Now she starts “Agatha All Along,” which premiered Wednesday night on Disney+, with another detailed sendup. This time she puts her new main character — Agatha Harkness, a dangerous witch with a half-century history in Marvel comic books — inside a parody of the grim HBO crime drama “Mare of Easttown.” Still stuck where she was at the end of “WandaVision,” under a spell that strips her powers and any memory of who she really is, the fallen sorceress is now a cynical, violence-prone small-town police officer.You may ask yourself how, in the three years that have elapsed between the two shows, Agatha has undergone a complete personality shift, from chirpy neighborhood noodge to hardened cop. You should be more concerned, though, with why the cop-show pastiche is so disappointing — so dull and aimless that talented comic actresses like Kathryn Hahn (who stars as Agatha) and Aubrey Plaza seem at a loss.It is a relief when that show-within-a-show ends during the first episode, apparently a quick diversion rather than an integral element like the sitcom burlesques in “WandaVision.” (Four of the nine episodes of “Agatha All Along” were available for review.)It has set a bad precedent, though. Even when the series shifts into its actual format — a jokey, jaggedly comic fantasy quest in which a group of unfulfilled women hit the road in search of their powers — the results are mostly perfunctory. Spells are cast, but not on the audience.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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      Valarie D’Elia, Travel Reporter on TV and Radio, Dies at 64

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      She steered vacationers and business travelers to choice destinations, talked about the best deals, and offered up savvy tips on how to avoid vexation.Valarie D’Elia, a travel reporter who visited 102 countries on all seven continents to advise her viewers and listeners on where to go, how to get there, what the best bargains were and what to pack, died on Sept. 10 in Manhattan. She was 64.The death, in a hospital, was caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the degenerative neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, her husband, Ron Cucos, said.From 1998 to 2017, Ms. D’Elia appeared regularly in a segment called “Travel With Val” on the local cable TV station now known as Spectrum News NY1. She also hosted a syndicated radio program, “The Travel Show,” and wrote a blog, which included the trademark feature “D’Elia’s Deals.” (Her personal mantra was “Travel with VALue.”)Her viewers, listeners and readers might learn that ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies were opening in early November that year because of snow storms; that a hotel near London was offering complimentary honeymoon accommodations to couples who got married there; or that rare winter discounts were available at a resort in the Florida Keys timed to school vacations the first week of January in several Southern states.Her advice was coveted. (Her favorite was “Pack light, forget the blow-dryer — who wants to worry about all that stuff?”) Her wanderlust was celebrated. Her documentary “The Making of a Maestro: From Castelfranco to Carnegie Hall,” the story of the conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, won first place in the North American Travel Journalists Association’s competition for travel videos in 2018.From 1998 to 2017, Ms. D’Elia appeared regularly in a segment called “Travel With Val” on the cable channel now known as Spectrum News NY1.NY1We 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 Menendez Brothers: What to Know Ahead of the New Netflix Series

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      “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” chronicles the trials of two brothers who killed their parents in 1989, and their aftermath. Much has changed since then.On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez, ages 21 and 18, shot and killed their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion. Both were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 after two highly publicized trials, the first of which was broadcast on the then-nascent Court TV.But in the 35 years since the crime, the public has become increasingly divided on whether the brothers were merely the stone-cold opportunists the prosecution said they were. Now Ryan Murphy — who has a longstanding knack for taking on stories at the intersection of true crime, celebrity and media — is weighing in with a new scripted version of their story, premiering Thursday on Netflix.Titled “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” the series stars Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik, with Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny playing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. It is the second installment of the Monster anthology, created by Murphy with Ian Brennan. The first focused on the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.A lot has happened since 1989 — including numerous documentaries, podcasts and a “Law & Order” series — as the case and cultural attitudes have evolved. Need to get caught up? Here’s a brief refresher and an update on more recent developments.The Menendez family storyFrom left, Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Cooper Koch as Erik and Javier Bardem as Jose in a scene from the scripted series “Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.” Miles Crist/NetflixJose Menendez was a successful entertainment executive who fled his native Cuba for the United States on his own at the age of 16, shortly after Fidel Castro took power. He married his college girlfriend, Mary Louise Andersen, better known as Kitty. They had two sons, and after some time on the East Coast, the family settled in the Los Angeles area.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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      Late Night Calls Out Violence Against Trump

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      “Not only is it morally wrong, but you’re also just giving him more things to brag about,” Ronny Chieng said on Tuesday’s “Daily Show.”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.‘In His Natural Habitat’Late night returned in full on Tuesday, with a focus on what officials believe was a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.“Yes, this weekend, a crazy person tried to hunt Donald Trump in his natural habitat, his golf course,” Ronny Chieng said on Tuesday’s “Daily Show.”“Now here’s how this craziness went down: A truly deranged man went to Mar-a-Lago’s golf course and spent nearly 12 hours hiding there before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle sticking through the shrubbery. That sounds like an evil plot straight out of Looney Tunes.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Yo, again? Will you people stop trying to assassinate Donald Trump? Not only is it morally wrong, but you’re also just giving him more things to brag about: ‘They only tried to kill Abraham Lincoln once; that makes me twice as great as him.’” — RONNY CHIENG“Given that Trump’s campaign hadn’t announced any public plans for Sunday, many wondered did the suspect know the former president would be coming to play golf or was it a guess? Yes, how could he possibly have guessed that Trump would be golfing?” — STEPHEN COLBERT“This guy managed to walk into Trump’s golf course and stay there undetected for 12 hours, OK? And I don’t know if you’ve thought about this, Trump, but maybe you should consider building, like, a wall?” — RONNY CHIENG“By the way, have you noticed that the news reports are all like ‘a harrowing near tragedy sending chills through our nation!’ and meanwhile, everyone you actually know is like, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, I saw that, yeah.’ I mean, we have to act like it’s a big deal, but it doesn’t really have the same impact of the first one, you know? It’s kind of like ‘Black Panther 2.’ You’re like, ‘Yeah, I guess I’ll see it.’” — RONNY CHIENGThe Punchiest Punchlines (Swift Social Edition)“In a post to Truth Social over the weekend, former President Trump said, ‘I hate Taylor Swift!’ Sounds like he’s making a strong play for the 9-year-old brother vote.” — SETH MEYERS“Donald tweeting ‘I hate Taylor Swift?’ That’s dangerous. I mean, I would rather buy one of those Hezbollah pagers than tweet ‘I hate Taylor Swift.’” — RONNY CHIENG“I think Trump needs to stick to racism — it’s less divisive.” — RONNY CHIENG“But the assassin this weekend was probably not a Swiftie, OK? He doesn’t fit the M.O. Swifties are nonviolent — they prefer to cyberbully you until you kill yourself.” — RONNY CHIENGThe Bits Worth WatchingWe 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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      ‘American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez’ Premieres on FX and Hulu

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      The buzzy FX series delves into the N.F.L. star who murdered a friend less than a year after playing in the Super Bowl.The saga of Aaron Hernandez has riveted the sports world and beyond for more than a decade. An N.F.L. star on one of football’s best teams killed a man in 2013 even as he chased fame and glory on the field.Two years after his conviction in 2015, Hernandez hanged himself in prison, leaving unexplained his descent into crime, rumors about his sexuality, and how he was able to hide his off-field life while thriving at America’s most popular sport.Hernandez has been the subject of multiple books, true crime podcasts and documentaries. But his story is getting the Ryan Murphy treatment in a new 10-part anthology series, “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” premiering on Tuesday on FX and Hulu. Its showrunners are trying a playbook similar to one used for dramatizations of other well-known scandals like “The People v. O.J. Simpson” and “Impeachment,” about former President Bill Clinton’s sexual improprieties. But this time, they’re grappling with new terrain: pro football.Nina Jacobson, an executive producer of “American Sports Story,” said showrunners hoped to offer viewers a “more subjective experience,” rather than a rehashing of previously reported events.“I think we try, in all of these shows, to find a way to put people in the shoes of the characters and put themselves in the eye of the storm — not in a way to excuse anybody’s voices or behaviors,” she said, “but to give people a chance to maybe see them in a different light.”Ahead of the first installment, here are the key points to know about Aaron Hernandez’s football career and murder case, and the TV drama that will depict them.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