Terrifying serial killers, breathtaking acts of heroism, and heists gone terribly wrong. These stories and so many more grace our screens this weekend. October is upon us, and with it a whole bevy of new shows and movies to watch. Some movies have made their way from theaters and video-on-demand to streaming services. Others are out on streaming, skipping a theatrical release.

I spent a good portion of this past week traveling, not for my TV and movie coverage, but to attend the big Call Of Duty event and play the upcoming game, Black Ops 7 which is now running an early beta before release. It’s pretty fun!

Call Of Duty was actually one of things I talked with actor Tom Hopper about when I interviewed him about his role as Raife Hastings in the recently-concluded Prime Video series, The Terminal List: Dark Wolf. You can read (and watch) the interview right here.

I wrote one of my favorite reviews of The Walking Dead this past week, though I was essentially throwing my hands up in bemused frustration at this point. Daryl Dixon continues to be a monumentally goofy show.

Check out more TV show recommendations in my Top Shows Of 2025 Part 1 video below:

In the world of entertainment, we have the sentencing of Sean “P Diddy” Combs coming up this week. Other bits of controversy include the “AI Actress” Tilly Norwood, who is ruffling feathers in Hollywood as apparently agencies are set on “signing” her. SAG-AFTRA’s new president, Sean Astin (who I interviewed recently) says the union will address the matter. What a ridiculous timeline we live in.

As always, I have scoured the internet for the best movies and TV shows on Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV, Disney+ and everywhere else. It’s October and there’s a lot of new stuff out, and plenty of older movies recently dropped on Netflix and other streaming apps.

If you have any tips or I missed something, shoot me a message on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. You can check out last weekend’s streaming guide right here. Let’s dive right in!

Probably the biggest new series out this weekend is the latest in the “Monster” franchise. This one follows Ed Gein, played by Sons Of Anarchy star, Charlie Hunnam. It’s a very different role for Hunnam, who typically plays more of a heroic (or anti-heroic) character—roles that typically focus on his attractiveness. Not so here. Ed Gein was known as the Butcher of Plainfield and the Plainfield Ghoul. He was not only a serial killer, but a body snatcher, exhuming corpses and making keepsakes out of the body parts. The 90s grunge band, Blind Melon, wrote a pretty hilarious song about Gein including the lyric “I’ll make a shoehorn out of your shin, I’ll make a lampshade of durable skin...”

I’m a fan of the “mockumentary” style sitcom — The Office is one of my favorites, and I quite liked its recent spinoff, The Paper, too — but for whatever reason, I have still never watched this popular series about teachers and staff at a Philadelphia public school. Maybe it’s because I spent some time earlier in my career writing about education. In any case, Season 5 is here and I’ve always heard lots of good things about this show. Maybe I’ll give it a shot (I’m also curious about A.P. Bio).

The Tom Blyth-led Billy The Kid series on MGM+ has flown under my radar all these years, probably because it’s on MGM+. I still don’t understand why Amazon doesn’t just roll that into Prime Video and bring these shows to a wider audience. FROM absolutely deserves more viewers. I’ve heard mixed things about this Western, which looks a bit like Young Guns or the CW version of a gritty Western. I just watched a Western movie the other night that I highly recommend: Old Henry, starring the marvelous Tim Blake Nelson.

Apple’s latest big drama is based on a true story. The film tells the story of a devastating California wildfire and a school bus driver, Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) and teacher, Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera) who a buss filled with children during the blaze. The film was directed by Paul Greengrass, who directed Captain Phillips and several Jason Bourne films.

I’ve been very curious about Steve starring Cillian Murphy in his first major role since winning Best Actor for Oppenheimer. The film was directed by Tim Mielants (who apparently has a tendency toward making films with first names, like Patrick and Wil). Steve was written by Max Porter and is based off of Porter’s novella, Shy. It’s about a headteacher in charge of a school for boys with behavior problems and looks quite gripping and dramatic and probably depressing (though perhaps also uplifting). The 76% Rotten Tomatoes score is decent but not as high as I was expecting.

Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield team up in this crime thriller about a pair of thieves out to make a score on the New York mob. I do enjoy a good caper movie, and Stanfield is always terrific (and Wahlberg is always very entertaining). Unfortunately, reviews from critics and audiences are hovering just under 50% at Rotten Tomatoes. I’m sure it’s as dumb and entertaining as most Prime Video movies, which tend to be just that. It’s the algorithm, baby, driving everything toward the center (whereas the political algorithm drives everything toward the extremes!)

Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Charlie Day and Kristen Connolly star in this Ethan Coen crime drama, written by Coen and Tricia Cooke. Qualley’s character, Honey O’Donahue, investigates a murder that leads her to a religious cult as she butts heads with Plaza’s police detective, MG Falcone. Not the best-reviewed movie from a Coen brother, but it looks like a fun time.

This creepy-looking psychological/supernatural thriller from A24 and directors Danny and Michael Philippou looks disturbing and scary and I actually don’t want any spoilers, so I didn’t read much about the plot. Orphans move in with a counselor who has secrets and is probably evil, that’s the gist. The film has really solid reviews, so I’m adding it to the list! Along with Weapons, Sinners and some other great horror films recently, it’s really feeling like a horror renaissance. Then again, this trailer is so creepy and disturbing, I’m wondering if I even have it in me to watch!

So many shows have come to an end recently, including Dark Wolf and Alien: Earth, but many are still airing. Here’s what I’m watching these days (though some are on my backlog).

I’m terribly late with my Slow Horses review—my apologies, I’ve been busy and tired and a little deflated lately for various reasons—but the British spy thriller remains one of the best shows on TV. Season 5 is no exception, though I do rank it lower than the previous four. It’s a little goofier than usual, and while this show is always very funny, a few things about this season just didn’t work quite as well for me. Still, if you’re sleeping on Slow Horses, wake up and watch it! I’m rewatching from the beginning and it’s just delightful. The best spy show on TV without a doubt.

This wacky crime dramedy is airing weekly on Hulu. The Lowdown is the latest show from Reservation Dogs director, Sterlin Harjo, and Ethan Hawke is absolutely wonderful in the lead role. Hawke plays citizen journalist and “truthstorian” Lee Raybon as he goes toe-to-toe with local corrupt businessmen and white supremacists, seeking truth and justice and maybe just a bit of glory on the way. It’s very quirky and entertaining. Read my review here.

Tom Pelphrey and Mark Ruffalo are both giving Emmy-worthy performances as the leads in Task, the latest crime thriller from the creator of Mare Of Eastown. It’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse story about an FBI agent and his task force hunting down a group of thieves that are knocking off a biker gang’s stash houses. But it’s so much more than that, grappling with loss and family and grief and betrayal. Easily the best show on TV at the moment. You can read my review here.

Honestly, last week’s episode of Peacemaker was better than James Gunn’s Superman even though it clocked in at just a quarter of the runtime. Season 2 didn’t grab me at first, but at this point I think it’s quite a lot better than Season 1. John Cena is great. The whole cast is great. And for the first time in a long time, I’m actually enjoying a superhero show that has alternate dimensions (though this is handled somewhat differently than the “multiverse” has been handled in recent years). I can’t wait to watch this week’s episode! I just wish the episodes, and the season itself, were longer.

I had a little bit of fun with my latest The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon review. I’m just at a point with this show, and with this entire franchise, where I can’t take any of it too seriously. The creators certainly don’t! The writers and producers have abandoned all sense of realism and plausibility, and that’s a shame because The Walking Dead used to be a really gritty, plausible take on the zombie apocalypse. Now it’s The Three Amigos with zombies but only funny on accident.

The Boys spinoff Gen V had a really good first season. The show tells the story of “supes” at a superheroes-only university and Season 1 had some great mysteries and twists and turns. But I think Season 4 of The Boys just really soured me on the whole affair, and I haven’t even finished the first episode of Gen V season 2. I’m curious to hear what readers think of the show at this point, and if I’m being too harsh.

Only Murders In The Building is a charming, cozy murder mystery series about two old guys and a young woman who keep solving mysteries in their upscale Upper West End building, which would be a nice place to live if there weren’t so many murders in the building. Season 5 has been a mixed bag to say the least. I’m not grooving with the mystery the way I did in previous seasons, and I think maybe the humor is starting to grate more than amuse at this point. Something is off, and this week’s episode felt very flat to me (whereas the week before was quite good). I’m seeing it out to the finish line, of course, and hopeful that things pick up.

There’s actually not a new episode of Outlander: Blood Of My Blood this week. The show is taking a week off before next week’s season finale. The show follows the parents of Jamie and Claire from the original series, who have their own little time-traveling adventure in Scotland. While I found some aspects of the show pretty engaging in its first few episodes, I have fallen behind. Maybe I’m just burnt out on Outlander. Here’s my review.

Be sure to check out last weekend’s streaming guide right here.

Other shows like Tulsa King continue to air as well, and I’m probably missing some. You tell me: What else did I miss? What should I put on this list or add to my backlog? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.