With the bloom of spring, quite a few already-beloved TV series are popping out of the soil with new seasons. April's television releases include the second chapter in an apocalyptic series about a pandemic that changed the world; the final chapter in a dystopian Margaret Atwood adaptation that feels increasingly prescient; and the latest season of Nathan Fielder's nutty experiment, in which he attempts to untangle the airline industry's deadly patterns.
'Dying for Sex'
Nikki Boyer's podcast "Dying for Sex" followed the real-life exploits of her close friend, Molly Kochan, who reacted to a terminal cancer diagnosis with a renewed lust for life — and a supercharged libido. Michelle Williams stars in the TV adaptation as Molly, a woman locked in a sexless marriage with a husband who treats her ailing body with kid gloves. Jenny Slate plays pal Nikki, who "becomes a kind of sexual counselor and cheerleader for Molly, helping her dying friend enjoy the wonders of the human body before it's too late," said The New York Times. (April 4 on Hulu)
'The Last of Us'
Almost two years after its bombshell first season, the TV adaptation of the popular video game "The Last of Us" returns. Season two finds Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Belly Ramsey) five years older than we last saw them, still navigating a country ravaged by the cordyceps pandemic. "The real narrative of this season is about consequences, and by extension, choices, which makes it far more inward-focused than the first," said the Los Angeles Times. Emmy-nominated actor Kaitlyn Dever ("Unbelievable") also joins the cast as Abby. (April 13 on Max)
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'The Rehearsal'
Certified weirdo Nathan Fielder is back for a second season of "The Rehearsal," a reality show where the comedian grants people the chance to "rehearse" future moments of their own lives. Earlier this year, HBO dropped a teaser that promised fresh episodes would be centered on an "issue that affects us all."
And boy, does it deliver: This time around, Fielder is investigating America's recent slate of plane crashes, as he "believes that role-playing exercises could improve air traffic control and help prevent calamities," said Variety. "So, he builds a replica of an airport on a soundstage and recruits dozens of actors and real-life pilots to engage in his televised experiment." (April 20 on Max)
'Étoile'
The famed husband-and-wife team behind cozy series "Gilmore Girls" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" — Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino — are trying their hand at yet another dance show (their short-lived series "Bunheads" was also about ballet). "Étoile" stars Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg as the leaders of prestigious ballet companies, located, respectively, in New York and Paris. The show "generates comedy and drama from the very different theatrical cultures in Europe and America," said the Times, and the supporting cast is "filled with professional dancers, so the ballet sequences should be realistic and dynamic — and not just something to fill the space between the creators' usual fast-paced, witty banter." (April 24 on Amazon Prime)
'The Handmaid's Tale'
"The Handmaid's Tale" is back for its sixth and final season. The first premiered in April 2017, mere months after President Donald Trump assumed office. Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1985 dystopian novel, depicting America under an authoritarian regime where women are stripped of their rights, felt eerily prescient then. Eight years later, Trump is once again in office, and real women continue to lose their reproductive freedoms amid state-wide abortion bans and the fall of Roe v. Wade. But there is "good news for those who tuned out," said The Washington Post. "As the show reaches its climactic conclusion, there's a drop of hope — maybe even some inspiration — amid the darkness." (April 8 on Hulu)
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