Yesterday, AppleTV+ dropped the third episode of its new series, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey - a heartbreaking examination of aging, memory and the devastating effects of dementia. This week, Ptolemy (Samuel L. Jackson) and Robyn (Danielle Fishback) explore a promising new treatment that comes with a tremendous caveat. 

Although Ptolemy’s wife, Sensia (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams), passed away years ago, her presence has overshadowed the first two episodes. This week, as Ptolemy’s memories are restored, viewers get a look into their complex relationship and how she continues to influence Ptolemy’s actions.

Cynthia Kaye McWilliams told SciFi Vision that “Sensia's real power in the story is that when she was alive, and when she was in Ptolemy's life, the way that they impacted one another was so vibrant and so electric, and such a challenge to each other. That level of fierce love and connection is what allows her to…pierce through the fog of his dementia and encourage him again, and challenge him again, and ask him to face his fears again.”

The science fiction film Expired, which premieres today in theaters and On Demand, stars Ryan Kwanten as Jack, a hitman whose life is forever changed after meeting a club singer, April (Jillian Nguyen). The two fall in love, and Jack finds himself with a strange affliction that only gets worse the deeper he falls.

One of the things that attracted Kwanten to the project was the blended genres. “I've always loved sci-fi, and the amalgamation of a love story and a thriller under the sci-fi guys guise was pretty powerful to me,” said the actor to SciFi Vision, adding that he also enjoyed that it was character driven and the science fiction wasn’t that far out there. “[T]he high tech gadgetry and imagery, it really felt like an extension of the world as it is now: more near-fi than sci-fi and kind of almost tangible, almost, scarily so.”

Last night NBC premiered the second season of its hit comedy Young Rock, inspired by the life of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 

Other than Johnson, who also appears in the show, three actors play him at different points in his life, from childhood into the beginning of adulthood. That means that the actors have to have a consistency throughout their performances to make them seamless. According to Bradley Constant, who plays the character at age fifteen, the success of this partially had to do with the casting, but they didn’t really worry too much about it. “From our end,” said the actor to Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision during a recent roundtable interview, “I think we really are so similar already in a lot of ways, and we just get along; we hang out together. It's in the writing too, and I don't think we really stressed too much about trying to make sure that it all aligned.”

Adrian Groulx, who plays Johnson at age ten, agreed that it happens without effort. “While we were hanging out together and doing these different events with each other, I think it kind of naturally did it itself with the similarities…we didn't really have to talk about it too much,” said the youngest actor.

Today the third season of the UK crime drama The Bay comes to American audiences via BriBox. The series follows DS Jenn Townsend, played by Marsha Thomason, the new FLO (family liaison officer) at the MIU. She must help a grieving family while also trying to solve a murder.

Thomason was a fan of the series before taking on the role, and she really liked that you get to see more than just Townsend as a detective. “What I really liked about getting the opportunity to play Jenn,” said Thomason during a recent exclusive interview with Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision, “is that she's at work, and she's a badass, even though she's not necessarily feeling her badassery when we find her, but she’s a badass. Then, we see her at home with all of the turbulence that’s going on there. So, we get to see a fully rounded person, which is what attracted [me to it].”

The role of a FLO is not something that most people know about, and Thomason wasn’t familiar with it either, which she feels is one of the reasons the series is so popular. “I don't know of any other show that comes up at it from the angle of the family liaison officer,” said the actress. “…We all love police dramas, but what we're dealing with is a cop who’s very specifically tasked with working with the family who are going through this horror…that's really interesting.”

Mr. Mayor is back this week for its second season with Los Angeles’ new chief executive still learning to manage City Hall. Created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the comedy stars Ted Danson as Neil Bremer, a retired billionaire who runs for mayor of Los Angeles almost on a whim; once elected, he’s quickly in over his head. With a year of experience under his belt, the mayor is ready to shake things up at City Hall – by hiring a team of “innovation” experts. Holly Hunter costars as Arpi Meskimen, the no-nonsense deputy mayor who uses her decades of experience to steer Bremer into and out of trouble.

After a first season cut short by COVID-19, the cast was delighted to get back to work.  In a roundtable discussion last week, Hunter described the atmosphere on set as “joyful” and “delightful.”

Friday marked the return of CW’s Charmed with Season four. This season is anticipated to have some twists since the Power of Three has been shattered with the season three death of Macy. The first episode reveals the newest addition to the cast as well as the name of the “big bad” that infiltrates this season.

Christiane Elin represented SciFi Vision in a virtual press round table with Melonie Diaz (Mel Vera) and Sarah Jeffery (Maggie Vera). The interview was tailored to be spoiler-free. SciFi Vision was interested in finding out about the changing dynamics with the new addition to the cast and if this is reflected in relationships with characters Harry and Jordan.

***This interview contains spoilers for 4.03***

In last night’s episode of Killing Eve, Pam, played by Anjana Vasan talked to Hélène (Camille Corrin), eager to get away from her brother (Manpreet Bachu) and start working for her, but she told Pam she was not ready. Not happy and fed up with her brother, Pam murdered him thinking it would move the timeline forward, but it only served to anger Hélène for disobeying. However, Hélène approached Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) to start Pam’s training as an assassin.

According to Vasan, Pam is miserable and desperate to start working for Hélène, because she is offering something she didn’t think she could have. “I think there's an element of grooming involved with this story between Hélène and Pam, because…she's in a kind of a desperate situation,” Vasan told Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview. “I think what Hélène promises is something more extraordinary. Just Hélène, as herself, is so aspirational, and I think she kind of feeds slowly into Pam's idea that she can get out of this place…So, I think she's kind of seduced in a way by what Hélène is offering. And I think she assumes that people who look like Hélène, who are from where they are, from a much more privileged background, must be doing important work or worthy work, and there's a reason for why they do what they do, because they're rich, expensive looking important people. So, she's very naive in that sense, but that's why she's easily influenced and molded potentially into something more dangerous.”

***The following interview contains spoilers for 11.12***

In tonight’s all-new episode of The Walking Dead, Governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) and Lance Hornsby, played by Josh Hamilton, toured Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside. Hornsby wants to bring the communities into the fold, but it’s clear to Milton it’s because he wants to run them and the power that comes with it.

Recently, Hamilton spoke with Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview about Hornsby’s motivations. According to the actor, Hornsby does believe what he’s saying, but it’s twofold. “I think that he really does believe sincerely in the mission of the Commonwealth,” said Hamilton, “which is trying to recreate as much of the world as possible and expand [that] vision and provide safety and community and options and [be] not just scraping by. On the other hand, I think he is a politician and sort of says different things to different people, depending on what he thinks they might want or need to hear.” The actor added that Hornsby is also after Milton’s acceptance, though he may not be aware of it.

Viewers see from tonight’s episode that Hornsby is willing to go far to get what he wants. “I think [he’s] constantly weighing the pros and cons of any given situation,” said Hamilton, “but in terms of, what is going to provide the greater good. Not everyone can win all the time, certainly not in society that is as class oriented and capitalistic as the Commonwealth. So, I think every situation is a balancing act for him, as it is for anyone who's in a position to make decisions.”

Apple TV’s latest offering is a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside a tragedy. The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey stars Samuel L. Jackson as an elderly man suffering from dementia. Widowed, childless and living alone in a filthy apartment, Ptolemy struggles to separate reality from memory. When his caretaker is killed, teenage Robyn (Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah) assumes responsibility for the old man. Both their lives change when they learn of an experimental treatment that can temporarily revive Ptolemy’s cognitive function. With his mind restored but time running out, he seizes the opportunity to solve a murder and unravel riddles from his past.

The show is based on bestselling author Walter Mosely’s novel of the same name; Mosely and Jackson worked together to adapt the story. The six-episode limited series premieres today on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, followed by one new episode every Friday.

Recently, Starz premiered the horror comedy, Shining Vale. The series follows a dysfunctional family that moves into a house where horrific events have taken place. Struggling author Pat, the mother of the family, is either depressed or possessed - as both have the same symptoms – and is visited by a ghost named Rosemary (Mira Sorvino). Pat’s husband, Terry, is played by Greg Kinnear.

Pat and Terry have two teenage children, Gaynor, played by Gus Birney, and Jake, played by Dylan Gage. The two talked to Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision during a recent roundtable about the parts of the characters that they had more difficulty connecting with. For Birney, it was Gaynor’s confidence. “Her tool is her sexuality,” said the actress, “She's had this long history with guys and relationships, and that's the area of her life that she feels more confident. I'm twenty-two, and I still [am] completely not like that. So, I think it was tapping into that, honestly.”

The actress added that the costumes and makeup helped with it. “[W]e worked on developing this look and this character that has a very distinct persona. So, I think that really helped me, but [it was] definitely challenging to to step into that comfort with all of that.”