What I'm Watching This Week 4/14

3rd installment of What I'm Watching which will include some follow-ups from previous weeks, some new additions, some great sports, and the potential TV Show of the Year (which I haven't written about yet). Another slow week for movies, but I will start including movies in this as well -- hoping to see Warfare and Sinners in the coming weeks in theaters, but let me know if you have streaming suggestions!

The Last of Us

Season 2 Premiere - Max

I thought this Season 2 Premiere was okay, but broadly a letdown. Season 1 was a show I didn't expect to love and truly enjoyed, so maybe my hopes were set too high. But the opening scene of it's Pilot in 2023 was such a banger, setting the stage for the season and world of the show as a whole -- and this season was a 30-second nothing-burger that will probably be referenced 5 episodes later. Ellie and Joel right off the rip are much less endearing characters -- Ellie more so, but both. It's just stereotypes that we've seen way too many times: overbearing "father" who can't connect with his rebellious, independent "daughter."

I like Catherine O'Hara's Gail character - she seems like a wildcard. Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, sure. Too early to tell, I know the Abby character is a controversial one among fans of the game, so we will see. The Dina character is at least fun/upbeat. I think a trend I'm noticing with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey is I don't think they're doing the greatest acting with their words, but are better when reacting/doing facial expression-acting. The new type of Zombie that we see in this episode is terrifying though and that scene was pretty suspenseful.

Just a slightly disappointing return to The Last of Us, but I still have faith and am excited for the season as a whole. I don't think we're getting the awesome Nick Offerman/Murray Bartlett standalone episodes like last season -- I think it'll be a lot more linear. But I'm excited to find out who Eugene was, who Jeffrey Wright's creepy-looking character is from the trailers, and what will happen when Abby and crew track down Joel and Ellie.

The Pitt

1st Season - Max

A longer blog about this new show on Max is coming later this week - so if you've watched and are looking for specific thoughts, you'll get it then. But this is the show I teased in the intro that (despite recency-bias) has unseated Severance as my favorite show of 2025. No spoilers below.

This is a medical-drama set in Pittsburgh focused on the ER unit of a major hospital. The debut season is 15 episodes, and the season as a whole covers one singular day-shift in the ER (each episode covering 1 hour of the shift, 7:00-8:00 am E1, 8:00-9:00 am E2, and so on). It stars Noah Wyle, who is known for his role in the 1990s show ER, as Doctor Robinavitch, aka Dr. Robby. The cast is essentially all complete unknowns to me, which I think is incredibly helpful for viewing experience because you have no preconceived notions about past characters they may have played.

It's tough to explain what makes this such a great show, especially for me because I'm not a Medical-Drama guy at all. I'm squeamish, not crazy about blood, and get overly connected and passionate about characters. But I've never watched a show that's so frenetically-paced, intense, gripping, and real. The way they give time to countless storylines, weave them together, and move seamlessly from one to the next. It genuinely makes you feel like you're in the ER with them shadowing the doctors. It also seems to be extraordinarily accurate -- I obviously don't have experience working in medicine, but my girlfriend does, and by all accounts from medical professionals that watch, it's an accurate depiction and the medical situations are realistic.

This is a show I didn't have massive expectations for, but was a gripping and emotional rollercoaster to watch (a rollercoaster I wanted to get right back in line for). It can be brutally sad and hit closer to home than you may be comfortable with, but it's worthwhile for the laughs, joy, and connections you make to the characters. And even though it's just a TV show, I felt this overwhelming sense of respect and admiration toward healthcare workers after watching. I hope no nurse or Doctor ever has a day like these characters do in the ER, but the reality is there are a lot of bad days. Horrible things happen every day, people die, families go through unthinkable tragedies. But the amount of lives they save, people they help, hope they inspire, is staggering. Doctors and nurses are genuinely miracle workers -- they dedicate their lives to solving the most complex problems imaginable just to help others. And this show really emphasizes the hardships these people go through in order to provide care, and the mental strain that inflicts on them, which I think is incredibly special and admirable.

The Studio

Episode 4 - Apple TV+

I've written about this show each week since it's debut and will continue to do so until they stop bringing the heat. While I do think this was the weakest of the 4 episodes released thus far, it still was full of laughs and A-list celebrities. Zac Efron and Olivia Wilde were the big names as Efron is starring in Wilde's newest movie with Continental Studios. Matt Remick, being the supportive studio head he is, supports Wilde shooting the whole movie on film. But when the film reel for the last Act goes missing, Matt and Sal must put on their detective caps to find it, or risk having to pay for reshoots.

I think this was the weakest episode from a comedy standpoint and execution. Wasn't a huge fan of the noir-style they went for despite it matching the mystery theme of the ep because it was so overdone, but that's what they're going for. The mystery also isn't really a mystery at all, I think anyone with a brain knows within the first 10 minutes who took the missing film reel, so the whole episode was a wild goose chase going no where until the big "reveal." Just not their best effort.

Daredevil: Born Again

Episodes 5-8 - Disney+

Fell off of this one for a few weeks because I wasn't getting the same feeling I used to with the OG Daredevil series. This re-imagining is still dark and interesting, but the action scenes themselves didn't feel as authentic, and while I like the court room aspect of the show, I wasn't sure about the direction of the main plot.

Episodes 5-7 were decent -- I liked the bank heist episode (even though I thought it was so dumb to tie in Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan's dad as a bank manager), the serial killer episode about Muse was intriguing as well and emphasized the dark aspects I liked from the OG series. But there was still something missing from a dialogue POV, and the action felt distant from the OG.

But Episode 8 - while it didn't stick out to me from a storyline/plot perspective, it felt more like the Daredevil I know and love. Charlie Cox felt more like the character I remembered - juggling a lot, trying to keep his identity unknown, going back after Kingpin. It wasn't the most action-packed episode, but the vibes were starting to return. Then I was reminded of a big creative dispute when this show was being filmed. Lots of reshoots were scheduled because of creative differences and some episodes were scrapped because they were too much of a deviation from the original - and it sounds like this was the point where the new creative team came in. That's why the ties to the original series feel more prevalent, and is why I'm trusting the process and holding out hope.

NCAA Men's National Championship

Florida over Houston

This was on Monday of last week, but I realized I didn't have time for a post about the National Championship itself. It was an excellent, back-and-forth game that came right down to the wire -- a worthy follow-up to a pair of great Final Four Games.

The Gators came away with a 65-63 victory. Houston jumped out to an early lead that was cut to 3 before halftime, but they extended it to double-digits a few times in the 2nd half. Walter Clayton had been torching the nets all tournament for the Gators, but it was actually backcourt partner Will Richard that really delivered offensively. Scored 18 points and hit 4 three's while leading his team with 8 rebounds. Houston, who is still in search of their first Title, were led by LJ Cryer with 19 points.

The Masters

ESPN/ESPN+

The premier week in the world of Golf was this weekend as we returned to Augusta National for The Masters. It was a terrific week all-around with tons of great performances, but also lots of humbling moments that show the world's best golfers struggling on this dangerous course.

Rory McIlroy earned his first Green Jacket - completing the Grand Slam and breaking an 11-year gap between Major Victories. He beat Justin Rose in a playoff after missing a tournament-winning putt on 18, but made up for it with a birdie on the 1st playoff hole. Justin Rose bookended his weekend with a 66 on Sunday (following up his 65 Thursday). Defending champ Scottie Scheffler took 4th at -8 for the week, Patrick Reed's Eagle on 17 put him at -9 for 3rd, while Sungjae Im and Bryson DeChambeau tied for 5th at -7 (Bryson imploded with a 75 on Sunday).

There were lots of memorable moments from this year's tournament, like Jose Luis Ballister peeing in a creek on the course and getting caught by spectators, Jason Day chipping on the green, a 3-way tie for the lead coming down the stretch Sunday, Justin Rose drilling putts left and right. But no moment could eclipse the raw emotion of Rory getting over the hump and winning his first Masters. I'm not the biggest Rory fan in the world, but it was heart-warming to see him earn the Green Jacket. Best of both worlds - got to see him break the cycle of choking, while also seeing him choke right before on the 18th green.

Come back next week for "What I'm Watching" where I'll likely continue with The Last Of Us and The Studio, covering the last 2 eps of Abbott Elementary (I thought the season ended last week but there's 2 more), Alex Garland's Warfare movie, and anything else I can get my eyes on over the next 7 days.