Netflix’s Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts returns for an engaging second season

By Allison Shoemaker | June 12, 2020 | 5:00am

TV Lists What's On Tonight

Netflix’s Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts returns for an engaging second season

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Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13. All times are Eastern.

Top picks

Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete second season): Here’s what Shannon Milller has to say about the delightful new Kipo season: “Season two moves the adventure forward, from learning the beats of the fairly unknown surface world to a more focused mission of recovering Lio and saving the human and mute races from Scarlemagne. Fortunately, streamlining the story does nothing to diminish the show’s signature whimsy. As Kipo begins to uncover multiple mysteries (including one that quite literally exists within her own body as she realizes that she is part mute), she learns more about the complexities of the long-maligned surface world and the creatures that inhabit it. Such heavy doses of reality might have a dimming affect on similarly bright figures of positivity. For Kipo, growing with this knowledge seemingly strengthens her resolve to seek common ground with every being she meets, further confirming that Kipo is a show that leads with empathy, even during the moments when she must fight.” Click here to read the rest of Shannon’s warm pre-air review.

Regular coverage

RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars (VH1, Friday, 8 p.m.)

Wild cards

Prideland (PBS, Friday, 9 p.m., one-hour special): Pose’s Dyllón Burnside hosts this one-hour special which looks at the lives of LGBTQ+ people across the American South. There’s also a terrific digital-only companion series, with new episodes arriving weekly throughout the months.

Crossing Swords (Hulu, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): Look for Danette Chavez’s review of this adult stop-motion animated series from Robot Chicken’s John Harvatine IV and Tom Root later today. The cast includes Nicholas Hoult, Luke Evans, Tara Strong, Maya Erskine, Tony Hale, Seth Green, and many others; the jokes include stop-motion penises, a jam-like substance as blood, and jousting, motherfuckers!!!

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “Set mostly in the present day but with flashbacks to the ’60s, Da 5 Bloods follows Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), four vets who return to Vietnam to retrieve the body of their fallen brother, Norman, and a bunch of gold they hid during the war. As soldiers, they formed a bond and began referring to themselves as Da Bloods. While the gold the men hid was intended as payment to a native tribe, Lee’s film decides they deserve it because they were victims of hypocrisy: They fought for freedoms abroad that they did not receive in America as Black men. Upon arrival, the men journey through the Vietnamese wilderness, where they’re forced to come to terms with what they actually do deserve—an approach that’s worked for some of the war films Lee references throughout Da 5 Bloods. Bilson and DeMeo provide the foundation for a fairly generic parable on war: The men face their demons and come to terms with the past. They question each other but ultimately build a deeper friendship.” Click here to read the rest of Ashley Ray-Harris’ film review.

Artemis Fowl (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “The words ‘Artemis Fowl’ make up a significant chunk of the dialogue in Artemis Fowl. The title character, a child criminal mastermind introduced in a series of YA fantasy novels by Irish author Eoin Colfer, has few defining traits beyond how often everyone refers to him by his full name. Under Kenneth Branagh’s featureless direction, he’s just a bratty, self-involved heir. And the only interesting thing about this irritatingly smug and cheaply campy adaptation is how uninterested it is in its own source material. Artemis Fowl, the first Disney movie to have its theatrical release completely scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is bland and incoherent, with paper-thin character development, unimaginative world building, and a lot of daddy issues.” Click here to read the rest of Roxana Hadadi’s film review.