A pairing, a pilot, a preview and a plot twist might be just the right thing to distract everybunny from the injustice of having to go to class with an Easter candy hangover.
This week Netflix teased a dramatic new season of “Ginny and Georgia,” indie animation pilot “The Gaslight District” debuted to an enormous audience and “The Last of Us” shocked the show’s devoted audience.
But first, indie darlings Julien Baker and Torres join forces with country-fried results.
Here are some freshly-hatched distractions from April 14 to April 21.
‘Send a Prayer My Way’ by Julien Baker & Torres
Indie powerhouses Julien Baker and Mackenzie Scott (known as Torres) teamed up to release a new album April 18. “Send a Prayer My Way” diverges from Baker and Torres’s usual work, highlighting a new twang on this country record. Torres brings her Southern upbringing to the forefront of “Send a Prayer My Way” and Tennessee native (and MTSU grad) Baker shows off her country chops.
Songs such as “Dirt” and “Tape Runs Out” paint the picture of a sad, Southern landscape. “Sugar In The Tank,” “Tuesday” and “Sylvia” focus on love in a way only Baker and Torres can explain — with “Sugar In The Tank” and “Tuesday” alluding to their sapphic love lives and “Sylvia” as a love letter to Torres’s adopted dog.
“Send a Prayer My Way” is an impressive first foray into country music for both Baker and Torres. Its sappy, lovey lyrics, stripped-down country sounds and soft vocals build an album of country perfection. Emma Burden
‘The Gaslight District’
Indie animation studio Glitch Production’s newest pilot “The Gaslight District” is an instant hit. The studio known for “Murder Drones” and “The Amazing Digital Circus” did it again — in the first 24 hours, the pilot reached 5.5 million views on YouTube. Nick Szopko created the series, a supernatural dark comedy about an undead gangster family, The Smiling Dead. The pilot throws a lot of plot at viewers in its 26 minute runtime, which can be hard to follow. If the team gets the funding to green light the series, it’s likely to equal the success of other Glitch Production shows.
“The Gaslight District: Pilot” is now streaming on YouTube. Victoria Stone
‘Ginny and Georgia’ season three trailer
Netflix’s “Ginny and Georgia” season three trailer teases new relationships, old wounds and even bigger secrets, making it clear the mother-daughter duo’s story is far from over.
The trailer opens with Georgia behind bars awaiting a court hearing, setting the stage for a season filled with more tension following last season’s dramatic cliffhanger. Fans have watched Ginny and Georgia’s mother-daughter dynamic unfold ever since they left Texas for a fresh start in the small town of Wellsbury.
Season three of “Ginny and Georgia” premieres June 5, 2025, on Netflix. Brianna Sorrell
‘The Last of Us’ season two, episode two: ‘Through the Valley’
On a Sunday full of TV surprises, one shocking episode of a well-known story will keep people talking this week. “Through the Valley,” the second episode of “The Last of Us” season two, is one of the most pivotal episodes of the series thus far. Spoilers below.
Newcomer Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) does the unthinkable after a rampage of infected tears apart Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) Jackson, Wyoming, community with mass casualties. With a breathlessly suspenseful battle scene of Jackson trying to fend off a horde of infected, this episode sings all the right notes in its notable sequences separately. But in practice with both sequences in tandem, one can’t help but feel these should have been separate episodes.
Even with the unevenness, the production design and battle action is amazing. The performances all ring true, particularly Dever’s in her anger and fear. “Through The Valley” deserves a watch, even with each major story beat deserving more than an hour’s runtime. Richard Maneiro
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