The Rewind: A long awaited reunion with my Innie, plus 'Traitors' Season 3
At long last 'Severance' returns for Season 2, plus 'The Traitors' ups the ante, and more 'Jeopardy!' Drew
Like most people, I set goals each year – not so much into resolutions. For 2024, I turned them into a bingo card with a mix of serious, silly, and "nice to have" items.
The beauty of bingo? You can win even if you don’t check every box. That mindset kept me accountable without the guilt. And guess what? I hit bingo! Twice!
Now 2025’s bingo card is set and I’ll let you in on one of my squares: “Watch 22+ First Time Movies,” aka things from past years I’ve never seen. Think classics and “How have you not seen this?!” films. Thanks to my brother’s Christmas gift of a Criterion Channel subscription, we’re two weeks into the year and I’ve already knocked out “Memento” and “No Country for Old Men” — both bangers.
Here’s to hitting goals in 2025 (and finally watching “The Godfather” trilogy). What’s one classic everyone should see? Let me know in the comments.
In the meantime, let’s rewind.
⏪ Rewind: ‘The Traitors’ is back and the drama is high in Season 3
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t watch the first season of “The Traitors.” It took “Survivor” queen Parvati Shallow to hit the Scottish highlands in order to get me interested, and even then I needed weeks of squinting memes before I fully dove in and binged the season.
The result was a middle of the road reality series – not an incredible, twisty show like everyone gushing on social media had told me. The premise of the show is really fun – basically real life “Among Us” with a who’s who of reality TV stars – and the drama and theatrics of it all adds to the ridiculousness. But the hour-plus episodes gave off big time “this could have been an email” vibes. Every single thing in the series was drawn out three times as long as it should have been. And outside of the “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “The Challenge” alumni, no one in the castle had any sense of strategy.
Now, I know this is supposed to be me recommending Season 3, not just bashing Season 2, but I had to lay the foundation to be able to highlight just how different the new season feels after its first three episodes! It’s night and day!
Bringing in big time gamers like Boston Rob (“Survivor”), Wes Bergmann (“The Challenge”) and Derrick Levasseur (“Big Brother”) has absolutely enhanced the gameplay and accelerated the pacing. Plus, you know I’m biased to other “Survivor” stars like Carolyn Wiger, Jeremy Collins and Tony Vlachos.
An early dark horse contender for me? Dylan Efron, the brother of Zac Efron and one of the few non-reality TV show alums on the season. He’s playing a strong game like Pilot Pete did in Season 2 of clocking strategies early on – let’s just hope he can keep his threat level low enough.
My strategy? Get rid of all the “Housewives” and let the real gamers cook. Sorry not sorry.
New episodes of “The Traitors” release Thursdays on Peacock.
▶️ Play: ‘Jeopardy!’ Drew advances to the Champions Wildcard tournament TONIGHT!
ICYMI literally all over my social media last week (and this newsletter!), my brother Drew Goins, returned to the Alex Trebek Stage to compete in the “Jeopardy!” Second Chance Competition.
Basically, the best of the worst (players who impressed but lost their first “Jeopardy!” game) competed in a tournament for another shot at becoming a “Jeopardy!” Champion.
And my brother did! Drew won the Second Chance Competition, all while becoming an internet darling and going viral for mixing up Tinder and Grindr, his Taylor Swift redemption, and his wardrobe choices that left little to the imagination.
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This week, the “Jeopardy!” postseason continues with the Champions Wildcard tournament – which Drew punched his ticket to thanks to last week’s victory.
This two-week tourney features players from the season who won 2-3 games in their original stint, plus the two Second Chance winners, Drew and Will Yancey. To take home the title this time, players will have to win a quarterfinal game, a semifinal, and then come out on top in the two-game final.
Don’t miss Drew’s game, Wednesday, January 15, on “Jeopardy!”
The “Jeopardy!” Champions Wildcard tournament runs January 13-24. Check your local listings for timing and channels.
⏩ Fast Forward: Nearly three years later… ‘Severance’ returns at last
The last time we had a new episode of “Severance,” “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals was the top song. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” topped the box office – for reference, “Sonic 3” came out a month ago. When we last saw new “Severance,” gas only cost 89 cents! Okay, that one’s a joke, but it sure feels like it.
Regardless, early reviews of the second season of the hit Apple TV+ drama are glowing which means this hiatus will be well worth the wait. Apple’s screening platform is usually pretty loose with access, but they’ve kept Season 2 mostly locked up, which means they must really be cooking.
If you’re anything like me, my memories of the show’s first season have practically been severed, so I’m gonna need to spend some time this week rewatching and recapping. But boy, do I remember that finale cliffhanger. We better get answers – and fast.
“Severance” Season 2 premiered Friday, January 17 on Apple TV+.
Other Recs This Week: “Jeopardy!” Champions Wildcard (Daily, Local), “Skeleton Crew” Finale (Tuesday, Disney+), “The Traitors” Ep. 4 (Thursday, Peacock), “Harley Quinn” Season 5 Premiere (Thursday, MAX), “Wolf Man” (Friday, Theaters)
That’s a wrap on this week of The Rewind!
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Stay tuned for more!