4 New Shows to Watch This Week
Happy Earth Day Week! The environmentally-themed holiday brings with it some terrific new documentaries (“Sea Lions of the Galapagos” on Disney+ and “Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey” on Netflix), which is very exciting. And if you aren’t interested in Mother Earth, what about journeying into outer space with the long-awaited return of “Andor” (on Disney+)? Elsewhere, “The Conners” finally comes to an end (on ABC) and there are a couple of edge-of-your-seat action movies on Netflix (“Havoc” and “Bullet Train Explosion”). Also, “The Rehearsal” comes back to HBO just in time to make you feel uncomfortable again.
Below, we round up four new TV shows and five new movies to watch this week.
Andor
Tuesday, April 22, Disney+
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away … The most celebrated live-action “Star Wars” series finally returns for its second and final season. If the first season of “Andor” detailed how the title character (played by Diego Luna) went from a small-time smuggler to a key figure in a galaxy-wide rebellion, the second season ups the ante considerably. This time around, the show takes a more epic scope – every three episodes, the story jumps forward an entire year, detailing how the Rebellion (and the Empire’s villainous grip) is spreading across the cosmos. Andor is attempting to unify discordant factions of the Rebellion, as they struggle to uncover the truth behind an Imperial mining operation that contributes to the construction of the Death Star. Joining Luna are returning stars Adria Arjona (as Andor’s love interest Bix Caleen), Stellan Skarsgård (as Rebel leader Luthen Rael) and Genevieve O’Reilly (as senator Mon Mothma), joined by Ben Mendelsohn (as Death Star architect Orson Krennic) and Alan Tudyk (as Andor’s robot cohort K2SO), both from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Disney+ is rolling out the new season in a unique way – each week they will stream three episodes, over the course of four weeks. It’s like getting a new “Star Wars” movie every week. And not only a new “Star Wars” movie but one of the best “Star Wars” movies. Exciting, beautiful and deeply moving, “Andor” goes out on a high note. It’s one of the greatest things Disney+ has ever aired.
The Conners
Wednesday, April 23 at 8:30 p.m., ABC, Streaming on Hulu
It’s pretty incredible that “The Conners” stuck around as long as it did. It started as a revival of “Roseanne” in 2018, more than 20 years after the original series aired. But following Roseanne’s controversial social media posts, she was written out of her own show, with the series reconfigured around John Goodman and the rest of the family. It went on for seven seasons and more than 100 episodes, which is, again, insane. This week, the final two episodes air, ending the seventh season (and the entire series) – for now. After all, stranger things have happened.
Havoc
Friday, April 25, Netflix
One of the most anticipated movies of 2025 is “Havoc,” the new feature from writer/director Gareth Evans and star/producer Tom Hardy. In “Havoc,” Hardy plays a morally nebulous cop named Walker in an unnamed, urban sprawl of a city. After a drug deal involving the mayor’s son goes horribly wrong, Walker is tasked with finding the kid and bringing him in, safe and sound. That’s easier said than done when a squad of crooked cops, some Chinese gangsters and the more stand-up police are looking for him too. Evans is something of a wunderkind, bursting onto the scene with 2011’s modern action classic “The Raid” (followed by a similarly bone-crunching sequel in 2018). But it’s been a little while since he’s made a film. In 2018 he made “Apostle,” a woefully underseen folk horror gem for Netflix and then got sidetracked by his television series “Gangs of London,” which debuted in 2020. (A third season just debuted in the UK.) And with “Havoc,” it’s good to have him back. It features all the hallmarks of his previous work, with some of the most dazzling action you’re ever likely to see, with a more streamlined narrative and even more unrelenting drive. Turn up the home sound system for this one and get ready to annoy the neighbors. This is one of the best, most blood-soaked movies of 2025.
Sea Lions of the Galapagos
Tuesday, April 22, Disney+
In 1948 Walt Disney released “Seal Island,” a 27-minute-long movie that documented seals off the coast of a volcanic island in Alaska. It was the first of his “True-Life Adventures” and the first nature documentary ever. So it makes since that for Earth Day this year Disney, through their Disneynature label, will return to sea lions – this time in a much warmer climate. “Sea Lions of the Galapagos” follows Leo, a sea lion pup. According to the official synopsis, Leo “leaves his mother’s colony to find his own home following swimming lessons, fishing expeditions and some growing up. Male sea lions must fight to earn the best spots, and only the strongest will become beachmasters. Leo’s lifelong quest is fraught with challenges and filled with new encounters with an array of creatures, from marine iguanas and racer snakes to yellow fin tuna and huge Galapagos sharks.” Sounds dangerous and sweet, with Brendan Fraser providing some warm-hearted narration. For animal lovers and Disney aficionados alike, the Earth Day debut of a new Disneynature film has become an annual event. “Sea Lions of the Galapagos” is no different.
The Rehearsal
Sunday, April 20 at 10:30 p.m., HBO
Nathan Fielder’s one-of-a-kind documentary-slash-conceptual-comedy-show returns. If you never watched “The Rehearsal,” that’s fair – the finale aired way back in August 2022. In the show, Fielder helps people “rehearse” difficult problems before they go through with it in real life. It eventually devolved into him pretending to be in a marriage with a woman and the father to a child actor. It was surreal and oddly profound and early reviews for season 2 suggest that it is even wilder, as he confronts anxieties around air travel. Few things this weird are also this good.
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey
Monday, April 21, Netflix
Filmmaker Pippa Ehrlich’s last movie was “My Octopus Teacher,” an Oscar-winning chronicle of a documentary filmmaker named Craig Foster and his relationship with an octopus in a South African kelp forest. It was heartwarming and strange and ultimately tragic (we won’t give it away here), but also singularly powerful. And it looks like Ehrlich will bring that same magic to their latest production – “Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey.” A pangolin is a small, scaly mammal that is hunted in Asia and Africa and is one of the most trafficked animals on the planet. According to the official synopsis, the new documentary “follows a man who finds new purpose when he helps rescue a baby pangolin, Kulu, in a sting operation in South Africa. He leaves the city and embarks on a heartfelt mission to rehabilitate and prepare the vulnerable animal for a life of freedom in the wild.” Netflix describes it as a “poignant exploration of the connection between humans and the creatures we share our world with.” If you can make it through the trailer without crying then you’re stronger than us.
Bullet Train Explosion
Wednesday, April 23, Netflix
In 1975, “The Bullet Train,” a Japanese thriller directed by Junya Sato and co-starring the legendary Sonny Chiba, debuted. It featured a bullet train that was rigged with explosives; if it went below a certain speed, the explosives would detonate. Not only would the film inspire Jan de Bont’s brilliant American action movie “Speed” but it would also lead to this, a kind of legacy sequel/remake, “Bullet Train Explosion.” This time, the mayhem is choreographed by director Shinji Higuchi, whose credits include “Shin Godzilla” and “Shin Ultraman” (both made with Hideaki Anno). And you can feel some of that “Shin Godzilla” energy in the new film, the way that Higuchi explicitly details the bureaucratic response to the terrorist threat and how he is able to expertly build tension while never losing sight of the human element (those on and off the train). There are a couple of ludicrous plot elements and some clunky throwbacks to the long-forgotten original film but honestly it is tough to notice when you’re having this much fun. One of the most exciting, calamitous movies you’re likely to see all year, it’s time to buy a ticket and step aboard the “Bullet Train Explosion.”
The Children of October 7
Wednesday, April 23, Paramount+
Paramount+ recently acquired this documentary, which features social media activist Montana Tucker and concerns the survivors of the October 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. According to the official synopsis, it “features deeply sensitive conversations between Tucker and these children who bravely share their experiences of trauma and survival as they continue to process the unthinkable – being held captive, witnessing the deaths of their parents and enduring violent invasions of their homes. Alongside Tucker’s support, the children present a poignant and heartfelt depiction of their terrifying experiences.”
Étoile
Thursday, April 24, Prime Video
This new series from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino returns to the world of ballet, which is where their short-lived 2012 series “Bunheads” was also set. “Set in New York City and Paris, the eight-episode Étoile follows the dancers and artistic staff of two world-renowned ballet companies, as they embark on an ambitious gambit to save their storied institutions by swapping their most talented stars,” reads the official synopsis.
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