Minority Mindset

The movie Avatar: Fire and Ash ends with a surprising scene: Stephen Lang’s character, Quaritch, falls to his death while interacting with the Sully family. What makes it notable is that Quaritch actually causes his own fall, immediately after Jake Sully had rescued him from a previous fall. The movie doesn’t show where he lands, which leaves open the question of whether he might still be alive. Because of this ambiguous ending, I was eager to ask Lang what he thought of the scene.

Looking for something to watch this weekend, December 19–21, 2025? We’ve rounded up three of the best Netflix series for a binge-watching session! Our picks include a surprisingly popular and moving drama, a gripping thriller, and the most-watched series globally right now.

The story begins with Millie, who is starting a new life after spending ten years in prison – a secret she keeps from her new employer. Initially, Nina, the homeowner, seems pleasant, though a bit high-strung. Her daughter, Cece, is withdrawn, and her husband, Andrew, is cautiously optimistic about having a live-in housekeeper. However, Nina’s behavior quickly becomes erratic. She has outbursts, unfairly criticizes Millie, and gives conflicting instructions. Millie learns from a nanny that Nina was previously hospitalized for threatening herself and her daughter, and local mothers whisper that Andrew deserves better than Nina. As Nina’s abuse escalates – Millie even needs rescuing from her a couple of times – and Millie notices Andrew’s good looks, she starts to believe the gossip. After a particularly unstable episode leads to an affair between Millie and Andrew, Andrew leaves Nina. But this turns out to be exactly what Nina intended – she’s been secretly planning her escape from an abusive and controlling husband all along.

If you’d rather skip to the important bits, here’s what happens in the new season: After causing a bit of a tourist frenzy in Italy, Emily returns to Paris and continues to be indecisive about her relationship with Marcello, who’s a bit of a pushover. He’s trying to launch his own fashion line instead of focusing on his family’s business, which is a distraction. Meanwhile, Emily’s marketing firm takes on a project for an absinthe company, planning a party inspired by early 1900s Paris. This leads to a bizarre side plot where Mindy lands a role as a rat in a remake of Moulin Rouge!, complete with exaggerated features. Emily also has a thoughtful conversation with Luc about nostalgia. Finally, she gets a request from Gabriel, who’s traveling the world as a chef – could she please deliver his forgotten knives to the train station?

The whole situation with Marcello and Nico is pretty ridiculous, but here’s what’s happening: Both of them didn’t inherit leadership of their families’ businesses, and now they’ve turned their backs on those families to start their own venture. It’s hard to believe they didn’t think this through! Nico claims to be broke, yet he’s somehow funding Marcello’s new fashion line. And Marcello, who doesn’t seem to have any fashion experience himself, is launching a brand. Mindy and Emily are enthusiastically supporting this risky plan. Now, they need a designer, which is strange considering they abandoned their secure positions with their families without even having a business plan or a designer lined up. Why didn’t they get a designer in place before cutting ties with everyone?

I’m really frustrated that the show is focusing so much on Marcello! It’s supposed to be about Emily, and while I’m open to seeing her relationships explored, I don’t care about whether or not this guy can succeed in fashion. He treated Emily terribly – he lied and basically took advantage of her. Now he’s back with her seemingly only because he needs her financially and has no other support system (the fact that Nico is his only friend is a major warning sign!). The show clearly loves Gabriel, and even his newfound wealth doesn’t change the fact that all this time spent on Marcello feels pointless. Why is he suddenly taking center stage?

According to Variety, Paramount+ has cancelled NCIS: Tony & Ziva, meaning there won’t be a second season.

Fun fact: all three Jumanji movies were actually mid-December releases. Certainly few, if any, would argue that the recent Dwayne Johnson-led Jumanji films would qualify as Christmas movies. However, the original film with Robin Williams does include a scene near the end that takes place at Christmas, which led one fan on Instagram to suggest it counts as a Christmas movie, and reboot co-star Karen Gillan has officially endorsed this position.