The following interview contains slight spoilers for the premise of Shining Girls.

Today, the new series, Shining Girls, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Lauren Beukes, premieres on Apple TV+. The series follows Kirby Mazrachi (Elisabeth Moss), who after a traumatic assault where her attacker was never found, is left in an ever-changing reality. Years after the attack, her world is upended when she realizes a recent murder victim suffered identical injuries to her own. Kirby, now an archivist working at a newspaper after putting her career on hold, enlists the help of reporter Dan Velazquez (Wagner Moura) to identify her attacker and understand the shifting world around her.

The eight-episode series is a thriller but also involves science fiction elements. Executive producer Michelle MacLaren, who also directed some of the episodes, loved the “genre bending” of the project, which was new for her. “I always feel it's fun to take on things I haven't done before that I find challenging and a little bit scary,” MacLaren told SciFi VIsion. “It had all those factors involved, and so I was very fortunate to say, ‘yes,’ and also it was Apple TV plus that was making it, who I love working with.”

This upcoming Monday starts the semi-finals of NBC’s American Song Contest. Riker Lynch, who represents Colorado, performed on week three with his song “Feel the Love,” which was later chosen by viewers to move on to the next round. Lynch describes his music as “trop pop,” or “tropical pop.” When speaking with Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview, Lynch talked about what that really means to him. “[It] still has that dance-y sort of synth-y electronic element,” explained the singer, “but at the same time, it always has an undertone of tropical beach.”

Apple TV Plus’ latest anthology series, Roar, is grabbing viewers with its feminist themes and all-star cast. Each of the eight chapters centers on an ordinary woman in an extraordinary situation, and each story is slightly dark and offbeat. The cast features Alison Brie, Cynthia Erivo, Betty Gilpin, Nicole Kidman, Issa Rae, Fivel Stewart, Meera Syal and Merritt Wever.

In chapter eight, “The Girl Who Loved Horses,” Stewart (Atypical) stars as Jane, a young woman who prefers the company of horses to people. When her father is killed, she grabs a gun and sets out to find the man responsible. It looks like a straightforward vengeance tale until Roar throws us a curveball with Millie (Kara Heyward, Moonrise Kingdom), a girly-girl who insists on tagging along.

On Friday, AppleTV+ dropped its new anthology series, Roar. Based on Cecelia Ahearn’s collection of short stories, this offbeat series tells the stories of eight women – mothers, daughters, wives and sisters - navigating love, marriage, motherhood and even murder.

Apple TV+ calls the stories “darkly comic feminist fables,” which perfectly describes episode eight, “The Woman Who Was Fed by a Duck.” Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie) stars as Elisa, a single woman who spends most days sitting beside a duck pond, studying for her med school entrance exam. She’s stuck in a bit of a rut until she meets a talking duck who might (or might not) be just what she’s looking for.

Recently, it became a lot easier in the US to stream all things Taskmaster, when at the beginning of the month, Taskmaster Supermax+ streaming service became available. Today the first episode of season nine of the series drops, soon to be followed by the rollout of subsequent seasons, as well as international versions. Having their own streaming service rather than being hosted allowed more control, according to creator and star Alex Horne, who spoke with SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview last week. “Everything's going to be in one place,” said Horne, “no adverts, and all the ones from around the world. So, it's all there, and it just means that we're in control of it. They will still go up on YouTube for free, but it just seems like this way, we don't have to bother with any other middleman.”

***The following interview contains spoilers for 11.15***

This week, on an all-new episode of The Walking Dead, we saw Mercer reflect on what he did, killing two Commonwealth soldiers and covering it up. According to Michael James Shaw who plays the character, in the moment, Mercer felt that was his only choice. “I think from from the moment where he finds out in the house safe room that Sebastian (Teo Rapp-Olsson) has been behind the whole thing, he's pretty upset and a little shaken that it all transpired under his nose,” Shaw told SciFi Vision during an exclusive interview. “It's the only action that I think he feels he has the power to take in that moment, because you can't take out the root of the problem. The only way to eliminate the cancer is to take out the soldiers that were involved.

“…[Y]ou see him act. You see him react, as opposed to making a calculated move. He just he reacts. When he hears that they sent forty other civilians and Commonwealth soldiers into this house to get money, I think that's baffling to him, that they would have that kind of disregard for these Commonwealth lives.”

***The following interview contains spoilers for 11.15***

On tonight’s all-new episode of The Walking Dead, Princess, played by Paola Lázaro, gets closer to Mercer (Michael James Shaw) and gets him to open up. “I think they tear each other’s walls down,” Lázaro told SciFi Vision during a recent exclusive interview. “They disarm each other, and I think that's how they connect, and I love that.”

“Princess has always seen more to Mercer than what lies behind his armor, which is a very vulnerable and beautiful human being,” added the actress, saying that Mercer sees what’s behind Princess’s comedic behavior as well. “He sees a really interesting, vulnerable woman that he's actually interested in getting to know more.”

The actress went on to talk about how Princess doesn’t question it when Mercer admits killing the soldiers and covering it up. “I think Princess is such a loyal character,” said Lázaro, “and she would do anything for her friends, if she knows they're good people. I think at this point, she knows that he's a good person. So, she's willing to sit down with him and go through the logistics of why this event happened…She's a very tough woman, too, so she's ready to sit down and hear the nitty gritty of what happened and willing to support him if she believes that it was warranted.”

The following interview contains spoilers for 11.13

In last week’s episode of The Walking Dead, Aaron, played by Ross Marquand, sided with Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) in wanting Alexandria to join the Commonwealth. According to Marquand, Aaron has grown weary of trusting others, but he wants the Commonwealth to work out. “I think he instinctively is very dubious of every new community that he interacts with,” Marquand told SciFi Vision during a recent interview, “but he wants desperately to believe that Lance and the rest of Commonwealth are good people.”

“[P]rotecting all of the survivors that are left is his ultimate and really only goal, I think,” the actor added. “He puts so much of his personal life aside for the sake of others and making sure that everyone's safe and has a chance for the future. So, as much as he wants to believe that Lance is a really good guy, he's certainly on his guard.”

However, even though Aaron moves to the Commonwealth, he doesn’t expect it to be permanent, likening it to visiting a hotel while your home is being fixed. “Commonwealth for him is that hotel that he's going to stay at for a temporary amount of time until his home is rebuilt, and then he's right back there, because Alexandria is his home,” said Marquand.

Earlier in the week, Syfy aired the mid-season finale of its hit comedy, Resident Alien. In the series, based on the comic book of the same name, an alien (Alan Tudyk) crash lands in a small town in Colorado and takes over the identity of the town doctor, Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle. During his time he meets Asta Twelvetrees (Sarah Tomko), who tries to teach him how to be human, which causes him to start to question his secret mission to destroy the human race.

Gary Farmer plays the role of Dan Twelvetrees, Asta’s adoptive father who owns the town’s diner.

Dan is a member of the Ute Native American Tribe. To Farmer, who is Haudenosaunee, representation is very important, and Resident Alien, which features many Indigenous performers and incorporates Native culture, shows them in a positive light. “As a performer,” said Farmer to SciFi Vision, “[I’m] very conscientious about representation and how we're portrayed on television, which for this particular show is very positive.”

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.”