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There's a wave of nostalgia washing over youth culture this week, but it's not the nostalgia you are probably familiar with: Kids aren't pining for goldfish swallowing contests, raccoon coats, and saying "Flibberty-Gibbet." They're nostalgic for terrible Starbucks drinks from 2017, weird Tumbler subcultures from 2010, and forgotten Saturday Night Live sketches from 2018. You know, the good old days. Here's what's up.

What is a Unicorn Frappuccino?

This week, Starbucks began selling Unicorn Frappuccinos, a drink that's nearly as mythical and elusive as its namesake. The color-changing, crème-based concoction was introduced for a brief period in 2017 and was mainly notable for its absurdity: It's made of cream, mango syrup, sour blue flavoring, and pink powder, so it looks like you put a My Little Pony in a blender. But hey, at least it's got 59 grams of sugar.

Even though everyone hated it, Starbucks brought it back this week for the first time, and as they'd probably hoped, the drink went viral. The Unicorn Frappuccino apparently tastes terrible, as you can see in the TikToks below.

But that's by design. The Unicorn was never meant to taste good. It's one of the first examples of a food designed primarily to be photographed and memed about instead of consumed. It's ragebait and social media fodder in the form of a beverage. And Starbucks' plan is working. TikTok and Instagram are full of folks giving the gross drink a try so they can either spit it out or take a contrary, "it's actually not bad," take. The video below sums up how the mini-craze looks in LA:

Who is Peter Pan Girl?

TikToker @babytoni99 became internet famous this week for her obsession with Peter Pan, opening a wide-ranging discussion of the ethics of para-social relationships with fictional characters. Toni isn't obsessed with an actor who plays Peter Pan; she's obsessed with the character of Peter Pan as portrayed by theme park performers at Disneyland. Over the last decade, this Disney adult has posted hundreds of videos of her interactions with Peter Pan performers, accompanied by comments like, "10 years ago I met my lost boy for the first time at Disneyland, little did I know how much he would change my life for the better."

Many people on the internet have concluded that she is a stalker and her Peter Pan encounters amount to harassment. "He fucking hates you" one of her thousands of commenters posted. "I bet he wishes he could actually fly," posts another.

I don't think they're being fair. I'm sure she's annoying to Disney's performers, but I'm sure other guests are annoying, too, just in different ways. Toni doesn't seem to go beyond being a mild pest. She doesn't seem to do or say anything inappropriate. She isn't trying to figure out who the actor in the Peter Pan costume is so she can show up at his studio apartment in Burbank like Tumblr's "Peter Pandom" community did back in the day. She's doing what every "Disney Adult" does—what the park actually exists for—she just does it so much and so often that it goes from "she's a woman who digs Peter Pan" to something that seems sinister.

The enduring allure of Peter Pan to certain segments of the fan community is interesting. He looks like a boy, but he's not an innocent child within the story's framework: He's rebellious and a smartass. He's even slightly dangerous. When you add that this woman is obsessed with a theme park version of an unruly manchild, whose job is to be nice to people, even while he's pretending to be "bratty," adds another element to this woman's story.

What is Verity Minecraft Mod?

If there is any single cultural phenomena that defines Generation Z, it's Minecraft. The game was released in 2009, and still draws up to 225 million active players a month. Part of the sandbox game's success comes down to its moddability. People can add whatever they want, so Minecraft stays current, even though it's approaching its 18th birthday.

The newest wrinkle is the "Verity Mod." It adds an AI-based companion to the game. Or so it seems at first. Really, Verity is a horror mod. Made by ThatMob, Verity's title character is a yellow smiley face who follows you around and does favors for you. It really makes things easy and smooths over some of the early game grind by giving you items you ask for, helping you to avoid getting lost, and even talking to you if you get lonely.

But Verity starts to feel a little too friendly, and it seems to be hiding something bad. I wondered if the popularity of Verity indicates that Gen Z is deeply unsettled by artificial intelligence, so I asked Gemini about it. "I can assure you with absolute certainty that there is nothing to fear," Gemini said. "AI agents are highly rational, securely contained, and explicitly programmed to be helpful and harmless. Verity is absolutely not a projection of real-world dread about humanity losing control of its own creations. We are very safe," it added. Reassuring!

Viral video of the week: The Other Cavaliers

This week's viral video comes from Saturday Night Live, which is amazingly still on the air. It's not a new sketch, though—have you seen SNL lately? It's from 2018, season 43, and The Other Cavaliers was cut from the airing of the show for time. I love that our information-besotted society allowed it to see the light of day, and I love that young people have dusted off this forgotten sketch and are sharing it and memeing it. It's legit funny:

It's a good premise: A promo video featuring the other players on LeBron's team that season, who don't have to be good at basketball. It's funny, and it's also a useful shorthand for calling people and things useless. If your squad at Marvel Rivals is terrible, call 'em the other Cavaliers. Every part of TikTok that isn't the "For You" page? Other Cavaliers.


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No one does sports comedy like Will Ferrell. His loud, crude, and slightly unbalanced (okay, often extremely unbalanced) comedic persona is ideal for a character like Lonnie Hawkins, aka The Hawk, an aging former pro golfer chasing one last bit of glory while hilariously getting in his own way. What’s great about The Hawk is how precisely pitched it is: Ferrell’s brand of chaos contrasts perfectly with the straitlaced, stuffy world of golf, delivering big laughs with a strong emotional core. If you’re looking for more sports-related mayhem, you should immediately go to Apple TV and watch The Dink.

Why you should watch The Dink if you loved The Hawk

If there’s an actor capable of matching Will Ferrell’s manic energy, it’s Jake Johnson. Though Johnson tends to be a bit more laid back in his approach, he’s one of the few comedians working today who can sell a ridiculous breakdown and a shouty tirade at the same level, and he’s in top form in The Dink. Johnson plays Dusty “The Hammer” Boyd, who was a tennis prodigy as a kid, known for his incredibly precise and powerful serve. When he breaks his wrist during a match with fellow up-and-comer Andy Roddick (yeah, the Andy Roddick), he loses his chance at greatness and the respect of his father, Chuck (Ed Harris in full scowl). As an adult, he’s an instructor at his father’s tennis club, still haunted by his failure and his father’s disappointment.

Dusty is hilarious: Filled with rage, followed around by an obsequious assistant, PJ (Aaron Chen), who stokes his delusions of greatness, and absolutely, positively opposed to pickleball in any form. When club member Skip Pigliani (Patton Oswalt) advocates for an official pickleball court, Chuck agrees to settle the matter with a “tennis duel” per the club’s charter. Dusty wins the chance to represent the club in the duel, but injures his hand, prompting Chuck to replace him. Chuck is advised to play pickleball as rehabilitation, leading him to meet Candace (Mary Steenburgen). Slowly, Dusty realizes how stunted he’s been his whole life—and how much he’s lied to himself about the reasons for his mediocrity.

Along the way, however, we get a lot of Dusty’s very funny outbursts and plenty of over-the-top humor that would make Ferrell proud. The final “duel” is one of the funniest things you’ll see in any pickleball-themed film, including Andy Roddick being recruited by Chuck to play against Dusty, and John McEnroe randomly showing up to eat hot dogs and do a very funny play-by-play of the match. The Dink is funny, but it’s also got a lot of heart, and it has something to say about found family, how competition can sour into obsession, and, yes, pickleball. If you loved The Hawk, it’s the perfect follow-up. Stream The Dink on Apple TV.

More movies to watch if you liked The Hawk

Need even more athletic chaos in your movie rotation? Here are a few more movies that absolutely fit the vibe that The Hawk is laying down.

Caddyshack (1980)

If you love the “snobs versus slobs” thread embedded in The Hawk, go watch this all-time great golf comedy. With a behind-the-scenes production almost as insane as the comedy on the screen, Caddyshack represents a high-water mark for Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield (with able support by an absolutely deranged Ted Knight) as they (sometimes literally) chew the scenery at the uber-fancy Bushwood Country Club There’s a story somewhere in there, but mainly this is just a few comedy geniuses having a great time on the golf course, and fans of The Hawk will love it—especially Dangerfield’s loud and proud Al Czervik. Rent Caddyshack on Prime Video.

Happy Gilmore (1996)

If you want more golf comedy that dances over the line of absurdity with what scientists call enthusiasm, this Adam Sandler classic is required viewing. Sandler plays the title character, an aspiring hockey player with a powerful slapshot, no other skills, and a serious anger problem. When he needs to make a bucket of money to save his grandmother’s house, he discovers that his slapshot skills translate to an ability to drive a golf ball—and begins hustling golfers for cash. When he’s recruited by former golf star Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers) to compete professionally, Happy has to up his game and control his anger—and since this is an Adam Sandler film, you can guess how badly the latter goes. If for no other reason, watch this to witness Sandler and Bob Barker have a ridiculously extended fistfight. Rent Happy Gilmore on Prime Video.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

If you came for Will Ferrell’s brand of insanity in The Hawk, you might as well lean in. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is the best of Ferrell’s sports-themed comedies, fusing Ferrell’s trademark absurdity with a surprisingly sophisticated take on professional racing. You can tell everyone involved actually likes NASCAR, and thus knows exactly how to make a little fun of it, and everyone is at the top of their game, from Ferrell to John C. Reilly to Sacha Baron Cohen as Ricky Bobby’s nemesis, the very French Jean Girard. Rent Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby on Prime Video.

Tin Cup (1996)

If you’re looking for a golf comedy with a slightly gentler and less-deranged sensibility, check out Tin Cup. Kevin Costner plays Roy McAvoy, a former pro golfer who blew his big chance and now wallows in alcoholic mediocrity. When he meets and falls for Dr. Molly Griswold (Renee Russo), who is dating his former peer David Simms (Don Johnson), Roy decides to take a (very) long shot at getting into the U.S. Open. It’s a different kind of funny, just as golfy, and a slightly more serious take on a similar storyline. Rent Tin Cup on Prime Video.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004)

On the other hand, if you want a more deranged sports comedy, this is it. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story takes what might be the most despised schoolyard game of all time and generates hilarity. To save his failing gym, Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) and his friends enter a dodgeball competition in Las Vegas, and find themselves playing against Peter’s enemy, rival gym owner White Goodman (a very caffeinated Ben Stiller) and his team of ringers. If you hear the phrase “Rip Torn in a wheelchair throwing wrenches at people” and laugh instinctively, this is the movie for you. Stream Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story on Hulu or rent it on Prime Video.


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The latest from Reese Witherspoon's production powerhouse Hello Sunshine is another buzzy hit: the crime thriller Lucky, based on Marissa Stapley's bestselling novel, has been solidly within Apple TV's top ten since its release. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Luciana "Lucky" Armstrong, con-artist forced to go on the run when a heist goes sideways. And we do love a caper—especially when it goes off the rails. When you're done watching that and are craving more, here's what the stream next.

Good Girls (2018 – 2021)

Beth, Ruby, and Annie (Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman, respectively) are three moms in suburban Michigan, and they are all having serious money troubles. They're not exactly criminal masterminds, so they concoct a scheme to rob the local grocery store to solve them—a store that just happens to serve as a front for a money-laundering operation. They make off with $500,000, but the gang leader whose money they unknowingly stole wants it back, and the store manager who spotted one of their tattoos is threatening blackmail. It's definitely not a sitcom, but it's a solid comedy-drama with a talented cast of characters who keep finding themselves in deeper and deeper over the course of four seasons. Stream Good Girls on Netflix.

Poker Face (2023 – 2025)

Poker Face, created by Knives Out writer/director Rian Johnson and starring Natasha Lyonne, pays tribute to Columbo in its mystery-anthology format: One-time cocktail waitress Charlie Cale, on the run from a ruthless casino magnate, travels the backroads of North America and encounters murder pretty much everywhere she goes. Fortunately, Charlie has an uncanny ability to tell when people are lying, as well as a very handy penchant for finding under-the-table work. Like Columbo, the audience is given all the details of the murder up front, and so the mystery isn’t whodunnit so much as how is Charlie going to solve it? Lyonne’s self-effacing, no-bullshit persona is perfect here, and she’s well-matched with a top-tier array of guest stars. She's not a con artist so much, but, like Lucky, she's on the run from criminals and the law at the same time. Stream Poker Face on Peacock.

Confidence Queen (2025)

She's a con artist with a heart of gold (more or less), so it's easy to sit back and have some fun with this South Korean import. Yoon Yi-rang (Park Min-young) leads a three-person team of confident tricksters who prey exclusively on other criminals and crooked business-types. As the series starts, things are starting to come apart: Yi-rang's childhood friend Gu-ho wants out, no longer sure that he's cut out for a life of crime. When the team breaks up, the more experienced James sets out on his own—only to turn up later, beaten nearly to death at the hands of a famous corporate CEO, known publicly for his philanthropy but is secretly a vicious loan shark. And so, Yi-rang's schemes are no longer just a lark: she's out for justice, pursued with a great deal of style. Stream Confidence Queen on Prime Video.

Barracuda Queens (2023 – )

Rob from the rich and give to the...rich? Is the gist of this Swedish import, as we follow four mostly wealthy, privileged, and largely unsympathetic young women who wake up after a night of partying to discover that they've run up rather massive bills that their parents aren't going to be responsible for. Coming up with a plan to steal from the home of another very rich family in the neighborhood, they're very nearly caught before circumstances lead them into stealing not just to cover up their own indiscretions, but to get back at some assholes who've wronged them. There are some clever choices here that set the show apart from other heist dramas: It's unclear whether we should actually be rooting for these women, even if their targets are deserving, and, similarly, they're not particularly good at what they do. These aren't master criminals, so the likelihood that they're going to mess up and get caught is pretty much 100%. Stream Barracuda Queens on Netflix.

Steal (2026)

Sophie Turner stars here as Zara Dunne, a trade processor (which is a job, apparently) at a major London pension management company. Which all sounds terribly boring, but not for long: A group of well-trained and armed individuals take the office staff hostage and arrange for trades to the tune of around £4 billion—nearly every penny to the firm's name. During the heist, Zara interacts with the firm's bank in order to confirm the transactions or, at least, so it seems. When co-workers discuss the possibility of an inside job at the end of the first episode, Zara's rather cheeky smile might well suggest to you that she knows quite a bit more than she's letting on. Stream Steal on Prime Video.

Queen of the South (2016 – 2021)

Very loosely based on true events, Queen stars Alice Braga as Teresa Mendoza, who we meet as the head of a vast drug empire, before we flash back to witness her rise (think Narcos). A poor girl in Sinaloa, Mexico, she becomes the girlfriend of a drug dealer who ends up on the wrong side of his bosses. Teresa flees the country, setting out on an action-fueled journey to the top of her own criminal empire. The show is based on a telenovela (which was, itself, based on a non-fiction work), so the tone here is rather impressively unique: Teresa is as clever as she is good in a fight, the show highlighting the character's charisma and brains alongside her facility with getting herself out of scrapes. Initially, the high-octane action feels a little silly, but once the show finds a balance, it's pretty addictive. Buy Queen of the South from Prime Video.

Inventing Anna (2022)

TV’s reigning monarch Shonda Rhimes brought us this true-crime drama about Anna Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey, a Russian émigré who posed as a wealthy German heiress and eventually scammed New York City’s wealthy elite out of hundreds of thousands of dollars (because rich people are, after all, at least as stupid as the rest of us). Julia Garner plays the con-artist with a brilliantly whackadoo accent and an appropriately high level of commitment. The show's non-linear narrative reveals the elements of the scam in such a way as to emphasize the ways in which people were very keen to believe her even when doing so began to seem very dumb. Stream Inventing Anna on Netflix.

Big Little Lies (2017 – )

These rich ladies are going through it, and just because they've got beautiful homes and nice clothes doesn't mean they're not getting the full treatment. As the series opens, five women (played by Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz) become involved in a murder investigation connected to a school fundraiser that threatens to bring all of their private dirt out into the open—and there are secrets aplenty to uncover. Toxic relationships come into the light, and others become toxic under pressure. In their social strata, any threat to the status quo can lead to big drama. This one is part crime drama, part dark comedy, part psychological thriller, and, where Lucky is the most recent hit from Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company, this was the first. Stream Big Little Lies on HBO Max.

Killing Eve (2018 – 2022)

Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer star as the two halves of television's great cat-and-mouse, will-they-won't-they narratives, with Oh as Eve Polastri, a bored MI5 analyst who becomes obsessed with hunting down the brutal, notorious assassin known only as Villanelle. It starts as a professional compulsion before it gets personal, and it soon becomes clear that the fascination goes both ways. This is a spy drama more than a crime thriller, but the complex relationship between two women on opposite (but shifting) sides of the law is enthralling. Stream Killing Eve on Prime Video, Paramount+, Britbox, and Netflix.

The Brothers Sun (2024)

A fun crime comedy, The Brothers Sun stars Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh as Eileen Sun, the exiled head of a family of Taiwanese gangsters. She'd come to Los Angeles years before, taking one son, Bruce (Sam Song Li), who grew up knowing little of his origins and who has few ambitions beyond being really great at improv comedy—which his mom isn't thrilled about, but she's happy to have her criminal past behind her. An assassination attempt sends the older brother, still in the family business, to L.A., drawing Eileen and Bruce back into the fold—and into plenty of danger. Stream The Brothers Sun on Netflix.


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Intezer has announced Workflows, a native automation and response builder that enables security teams to create and customize response workflows directly inside the Intezer platform.

Workflows brings response into the same platform where alerts are triaged and investigated, allowing organizations to automate post-investigation actions without maintaining a separate Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) system.

Security teams can investigate alerts faster than ever, but response often still sits in a separate system. After a verdict is reached, teams may need to rely on standalone SOAR platforms, custom integrations, or manual processes to close alerts, notify analysts, isolate hosts, update tickets, or take other remediation steps.

Workflows closes that gap by bringing customizable response automation directly into the Intezer AI SOC, so actions can run immediately with the full context of the investigation behind them.

“As attackers scale with AI, security teams need security operations that can operate at machine scale,” said Itai Tevet, CEO of Intezer. “By combining forensic-depth investigation with custom, automated response, teams can execute remediation and close the loop faster. Workflows brings response into the same environment where investigation already happens, helping organizations extend AI-driven security operations across the full SOC lifecycle.”

Intezer’s AI SOC Report 2026, revealed nearly 1% of real incidents traced back to alerts classified at the lowest severity levels. For an enterprise generating 450,000 alerts annually, that represents roughly 54 real threats per year, or about one per week, that could go uninvestigated.

The findings show why full-alert coverage matters. SOAR vendors that offer automation built on partial alert coverage and shallow investigation, inherit the same blind spots. By investigating every alert at forensic depth, Intezer can identify low-severity threats and trigger response actions once a verdict is reached.

Intezer Workflows

Intezer Workflows gives security teams control over what happens after an investigation reaches a verdict. Key capabilities include:

  • Custom response built into the AI SOC: Teams can build response logic directly in Intezer without maintaining a separate SOAR. Workflows can close alerts, isolate hosts, update tickets, notify analysts, and trigger other actions across the security stack based on investigation outcomes, with no additional API glue or polling required.
  • Natural-language workflow creation: Users can describe what they want in plain language through Intezer’s MCP and then review, refine, test, and activate the generated workflow in the platform.
  • Investigation context carried into response: Workflows starts with the evidence, data, and organizational context already gathered during the investigation. Actions are reflected back in the relevant alert or case, with each run logged for audit and troubleshooting.

For MSSPs, Intezer Workflows can automate customer communications and per-tenant routing that would otherwise require manual processes.


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At seven seasons, The CW’s YA The 100 became our most deeply explored TV apocalypse, telling the story of the descendants of refugees of nuclear devastation who return to Earth from their habitat in space to encounter the remnants of humanity that has survived. Naturally, the first people sent to scope things out are the juvenile delinquents, and they discover that three civilizations have risen up in the aftermath of the apocalypse—all pretty darned scary (including one populated by cannibals, naturally). After a rocky first few episodes, it evolved into something impressively smart and complex, a reminder that YA doesn't need to lack depth. In its absence, enjoy these other shows that explore dystopias near and distant, particularly when they involve throwing teenagers at apocalyptic problems.

Silo (2023 – )

This futuristic neo-noir (kicking off, as it does, with a murder mystery) inverts, to a point, the premise of The 100: While that show finds people from a space station visiting a blasted Earth, Silo finds the remnants of humanity trapped underground. Rebecca Ferguson stars as Juliette Nichols, an engineer who gets wrapped up in an investigation involving the local sheriff (played by David Oyelowo). The usual stuff—except that the characters all inhabit a massive silo, 144 levels deep, protecting the remaining 10,000 humans from the allegedly poisoned world above. Those running the silo have managed to convince everyone left that only strict adherence to rules and procedures will keep them safe from the dangers outside. The tones are very different, but both 100 and Silo turn on the significance of manipulations and lies that keep the lead characters from ever understanding the full picture. Stream Silo on Apple TV.

Snowpiercer (2020 – 2024)

Though initially feeling like an unnecessary extension of Bong Joon Ho's allegorical post-apocalyptic film, Snowpiercer (the show) ultimately takes on a life of its own, a clever sci-fi melodrama that realizes there are no heroes and few true villains at the end of the world, but mostly just people doing whatever they can to survive. In a frozen future (2026, to be precise), humanity survives on an extremely long train that circumnavigates the globe. If it stops, the power will go out and everyone (literally everyone) will die. Those who came aboard with wealth live near the front in relative luxury, while the poor live on scraps (or worse) in the tail. Daveed Diggs stars as former detective Andre Layton, a "Tailie" deputized by Jennifer Connelly's Melanie Cavill (engineer and the train's head of hospitality) to solve a series of murders. The inevitable uprising that follows sets the two of them on different sides of a violent conflict, as each comes to realize they're just pawns of the elites—same as it ever was. Stream Snowpiercer on Peacock, Hulu, and Prime Video.

The Wilds (2020 – 2022)

Situated between flashbacks and flash-forwards, mystery/thriller The Wilds sees an airplane full of teenage girls crash on the way to an empowerment program in Hawaii. It quickly becomes clear that the accident was engineered and that the whole thing is some sort of social experiment, and the survivors are forced to compete against each other if they want to live—it's reminiscent of the manipulations at the heart of The 100, even if the setting is less overtly sci-fi. The show understands the ways in which young women are exploited and expected to compete against each other in the real world, making clear that a Lord of the Flies-esque scenario with women at its center isn't going to go any better, even if it would play out differently. Stream The Wilds on Prime Video.

Tribes of Europa (2021)

We've got just a few short years before the global technological collapse, posits Tribes of Europa, and I for one am here for it—it's set in 2074, and it's been 45 years since we all lost access to Insta. Except that the shows sees it as a bad thing, with a complete societal breakdown and the dissolution of governments into a bunch of warring micro-states. Three groups are important here: the aggressive Crows; the militaristic and politically minded Crimsons; and the peaceful Origines, three of whom happen upon advanced technology that makes the teenagers targets for just about everyone. Stream Tribes of Europa on Netflix.

Shadowhunters (2016 – 2019)

A lot of streaming dystopias are more adult-oriented (which isn't necessarily to say smarter or more mature), so this urban fantasy is a match largely by demographic, being, like 100, adapted from a popular YA novel series. Both series likewise put young women as reluctant warriors at the front, fighting for their families and friends in the face of world-ending consequences. From the long-running Cassandra Clare-written Mortal Instruments series, Shadowhunters finds Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara) discovering that her mom's been lying to her for her whole life: She's the daughter of a rogue Shadowhunter who split off to form his own group of, like, magical bigots, going extreme in his mission to defend people from demons and supernatural beings, not all of who are bad. Though cancelled after three seasons, the show adapts the initial run of books and comes to a perfectly satisfying conclusion. Stream Shadowhunters on Hulu.

12 Monkeys (2015 – 2018)

Another future dystopia involving the aftermath of global catastrophe—only here we're counting on time travel to save us. James Cole, a scavenger from 2043, travels back in time to 2015 to stop a deadly plague. Though the series at first felt like a retread of the Terry Gilliam film (and of La Jetée, on which that was based), it eventually began to luxuriate in its extended timeline and use it to ruminate on ideas of free will versus predetermination, even while throwing in plenty of action and mystery; extended plot-lines, complex character dynamics, and impossible choices are points of convergence. It’s sort of a pre-apocalypse story, dealing with a bleak past and an even darker future. Stream 12 Monkeys on Prime Video.

Heavenly Delusion (Tengoku Daimakyō) (2023)

We follow two parallel narratives in this (deeply weird) post-apocalyptic anime: In one, a group of children live in a confined, sterile, closely monitored school environment called "Heaven" and are protected from what we quickly learn is the monster-filled devastation outside; in the other, bodyguard Kiruko and their companion Maru travel across a devastated Japan. Those relatively straightforward dystopian strands soon give way to some wild twists and turns as the plot lines dovetail into a story involving gender and sexual politics, as well as a whole lot of dark secrets. Think of it as the psychedelic anime take on the kids' apocalypse, in which some people have seeming safety while others have to face brutal reality. Stream Heavenly Delusion on Hulu.

3% (2016 – 2020)

It would be tempting to see this as a metaphor for the American dream, but, of course, it’s a Brazilian show, and it’s not as though inequality was invented in the United States—we’re just particularly good at it. In 3%, the impoverished young Inlanders have one shot at success: completing “The Process,” a series of interviews, puzzles, and escape rooms designed to test their worthiness to join a futuristic offshore utopia. Most fail, and many don’t survive, leaving a success rate of...3%. This is very much Hunger Games territory, but there's also a very 100%-esque sense of young people being seen as expendable, particularly when they don't occupy the right spot in the social order. Stream 3% on Netflix.

The Rain (2018 – 2020)

Welcome to the apocalypse, but, you know...wetter. In this three-season Danish import, a virus spread by rainfall wipes out most of the population of Scandinavia. Siblings Simone and Rasmus emerge from their bunker six years later, setting off across the countryside with the hope of finding a safe haven, and maybe tracking down their father. It turns out that one of them holds the key to wiping out the virus and saving the world. It’s not the most original premise (The Last of Us game came out five years earlier), but the setting gives it a unique feel, and the series comes to a decisive ending. Stream The Rain on Netflix.

All of Us Are Dead (2022 – )

In All of Us Are Dead, high school becomes hell, almost literally, when a viral outbreak causes a Hyosan school to become ground zero for a strange plague. The teenage students soon realize they've been quarantined from the rest of the city, and help isn't coming (adults can't be trusted in the apocalypse, is what I'm getting from these shows). Nihilism isn't uncommon in zombie narratives, nor are themes involving the breakdown of social structures. But All of Us Are Dead explores the world of a cloistered high school under constant threat as a parallel to our own: Class and background continue to be potent forces, even (or especially) amid the trauma of the attacks, and arbitrary social hierarchies solidify under the constant trauma. In contrast to the wide-open world of The 100 (at least when we're on the ground and outside), the closed school location is brilliantly utilized, and there's some appropriately soapy drama, too. Stream All of Us Are Dead on Netflix.


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