TV Watchlist: 'Daryl Dixon' Returns, 'Rings of Power' Concludes and 'Salem's Lot' Spooks Max

Plus an indie horror hit makes its Netflix debut Week of September 28 – October 4 October is here. And you know what that means – spooky season is upon us, in a big way. In fact, nearly all of this week’s big titles are Halloween adjacent, from the returning of AMC’s juggernaut “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” (this time with Carol!) to the return of “Unsolved Mysteries” (Netflix) and the “Gremlins” animated series (Max) to a new version of “’Salem’s Lot” (Max), everything this week is covered in gore, slime and lord knows what else. Also, the second season of “The Lord of the Rings” is coming to a close, in case you’re too scared by the other offerings. On with the television! The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Sunday, September 29 at 9 p.m., AMC Source: AMC For a television series called “The Walking Dead,” that’s concerned with a plague of resurrected corpses, the one thing the series (and its many spin-offs) really can’t kill is Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon. Created for the show and introduced in the first season, biker, traker and expert zombie killer Dixon has become a fan favorite, to the point that he became the leader of the mainline series and now has his own successful spin-off. The first season of the show was meant to include fellow survivor Carol Peletier, but complications with actress Melissa McBride’s schedule prevented it from happening. Now McBride is back, Daryl and Carol are together and all hell is going to break loose. Based on the marketing materials, Carol will be journeying from Maine to France, where the first season took place and where the virus outbreak originated (in “Walking Dead” canon), to reunite with Daryl. The trailer promises large scale battles (including a cool glow-in-the-dark zombie free-for-all) and high stakes. And by the end of the season, expect a change of scenery too – the show has been renewed for a third season, with filming taking place in Spain and not France. Imagine your 9 p.m. dinner getting interrupted by zombies! [[TRAILER](] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Thursday, October 3, Prime Video Source: Prime Video The second season of Prime Video’s mega-budget “Lord of the Rings” series, “The Rings of Power,” comes to a close. Set thousands of years before the events of “The Hobbit” and the original “Lord of the Rings,” it is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s history of Middle Earth and the events of that world’s Second Age – specifically, the forging of the titular jewelry. The bigger question, perhaps, than how Sauron rose to power is whether or not the hugely expensive show, which had lower ratings than the first season (but the same warm critical notices) will return for a third season. Does anybody know a psychic elf that could tell us? [[TRAILER](] Salem’s Lot Thursday, October 3, Max Source: Max Welcome (back) to “’Salem’s Lot.” While this new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 novel was originally meant for theatrical exhibition, it makes sense that it’s debuting on Max. The two previous adaptations, a two-part 1979 CBS event (that starred David Soul and James Mason) and a 2004 made-for-cable (also two parts, this time starring Rob Lowe and Rutger Hauer), had both aired on television, along with a prequel series on Epix that lasted for a season and elements of “Castle Rock” (more on that later). The only adaptation to actually make the big screen was 1987’s cheap charmer “A Return to ‘Salem’s Lot.” Just as the town of ‘Salem’s Lot is cursed with tragedy, so are the adaptations damned to television. In this latest iteration, Lewis Pullman stars as Ben Mears, the Soul/Lowe character, a novelist who returns to his sleepy (and potentially doomed) home town of Jerusalem’s Lot to work on a new novel and finds that this hamlet has been taken over by filthy vampires. (Don’t you hate when that happens?) Writer/director Gary Dauberman seems to be updating the original 1979 as much as he is attempting to capture the soul of King’s original novel. The results are somewhat mixed, with the story feeling at times rushed (there was a reason every other adaptation stretched across multiple broadcast nights), but it is also undoubtedly thrilling, with a killer cast that includes Alfre Woodard, King regular William Sadler, Bill Camp, Pilou Asbæk and Makenzie Leigh. And Dauberman and his collaborators (including “The Conjuring” mastermind James Wan) do stage some nifty set pieces, like a climactic vampire battle at the local drive-in (the story’s 1970s setting is mercifully maintained). This will get you some much-needed, pre-Halloween thrills. Boo! [[TRAILER](] Unsolved Mysteries Wednesday, October 2, Netflix Source: Netflix This new version of “Unsolved Mysteries” is really, really good. Sure, we miss Robert Stack and the recreations in the episodes could be a little bit more impressionistic, but the one-mystery-per-episode format gives each crime room to breathe and serves to humanize the victims. And, as is the case with this new batch, they still have time to devote to the weirder stuff. The four episodes include a genuine head-scratcher (about a young couple killed on a random park bench), one of the dumbest things the show has ever covered (about a British ghost hunter and the helpful spirit who aids in his investigations) and two great UFO-centered installments – one about cattle mutilations (apparently they are back) and another on the supposed UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico. The Roswell episode is the highlight of this new batch, particularly since it is in conversation with an earlier episode of the series, so we get some sweet, sweet Stack narration and some vintage recreation footage. The truth is out there. [[TRAILER](] Castle Rock Hulu Source: Hulu “Castle Rock” was an ambitious, unwieldy series that could be a perennial favorite if more people watched. The concept of the show, created by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason and produced by J.J. Abrams, was ingenious – it would throw a bunch of Stephen King characters and iconography into a blender and see what came out. The first season was set primarily in the fictional Maine town that pops up in many King stories, with the second season expanding to include the nearby town of (you guessed it!) ‘Salem’s Lot. How the various strands interweave is part of the fun of the show, but the second season introduced Lizzy Caplan as Annie Wilkes, the character that Kathy Bates won an Oscar for in “Misery,” and included elements of “The Dead Zone” and “Needful Things,” along with “’Salem’s Lot.” If you watch the new movie and are itchy for more King, there are worse things to do than revisit this underrated, short-lived curio. [[WATCH](] Source: Prime Video “Witches: Truth Behind the Trials” Sunday, September 29 at 9 p.m., National Geographic This six-part series, which mixes recreations and talking head interviews with various historians, covers the world’s most infamous witch trials. If you thought this would be all about Salem, think again! The episodes cover witch trials in Germany, Scotland, Spain and Sweden, along with the Salem witch trials (of course). Honestly, a pretty dark part of history! But, yes, compelling too. [[TRAILER](] “Gremlins: The Wild Batch” Thursday, October 3, Max The second season of the animated prequel series sends our characters to America, where they encounter wild new creatures and fearsome foes. “Gremlins: The Wild Batch” adds Simu Liu to the cast and John Glover, who played Clamp in the live-action sequel “Gremlins 2: The New Batch,” returns to play his character’s ancestor. The “Gremlins” lore is getting deep! [[TRAILER](] “Hold Your Breath” Thursday, October 3, Hulu “Hold Your Breath,” a new film by Karrie Crouse and Will Joines, recently played the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was warmly received. And it’s easy to see why – the hook for the movie is pretty undeniable. It follows a young mother (Sarah Paulson) in 1930s Oklahoma who becomes convinced that a malevolent force is hiding in the era’s many dust storms. The movie has a ridiculously wonderful cast that includes Amiah Miller, Annaleigh Ashford, Alona Jane Robbins and Ebon Moss-Bachrach and a score from Arcade Fire and Bon Iver collaborator Colin Stetson (who also scored recent horror favorites like “The Menu” and “Herditary”). This looks very, very scary. [[TRAILER](] “House of Spoils” Thursday, October 3, Prime Video Is it even Halloween without a new Blumhouse movie? “House of Spoils,” written and directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, stars recent Oscar winner Ariana DeBose as a chef who is trying desperately to get her new restaurant off the ground. She is up against, as the official synopsis reveals, “kitchen chaos, a dubious investor, crushing self-doubts and the powerful spirit of the estate’s previous owner.” So if “The Bear” was set in the haunted hotel from “The Shining?” The supporting cast includes Barbie Ferreira, Arian Moayed, Marton Csokas and Amara Karan and the trailer made us both incredibly nervous and oddly hungry. Make of that what you will. [[TRAILER](] “It’s What’s Inside” Friday, October 4, Netflix “It’s What’s Inside,” which premiered during the midnight line-up at Sundance in January and was promptly snapped by up Netflix for $17 million (the largest deal made at this year’s festival), follows a group of kids (Brittany O'Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David W. Thompson, and Madison Davenport) who play a game that ends up with them switching bodies. You know, that old chestnut. It looks to channel some of the freewheeling, slightly demonic fun of “Talk to Me” and “Ready or Not,” with the Gen Z bite of “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and the body-swapping hijinks of any 1980s comedy (“Vice Versa,” “Like Father Like Son,” “18 Again,” etc.) The trailer is very engaging and people had a blast with the movie at the festivals. Can’t wait to get a group together and watch this one ourselves. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](