Entertainment News - TV

THIS ISSUE: The 70th Annual Tony Awards, Game of Thrones, Penny Dreadful, Preacher TOP MOMENT OF THE NIGHT Hamilton Is a "Non-Stop" Tony Winner CBS BECAUSE: How does a musical about a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman grow up to be a Broadway phenomenon? To quote another Great White Way sensation: "How about love?" It was no surprise that Hamilton took home Best Musical, multiple acting awards, and earned a standing ovation for its Obama-introduced performance at the 70th Annual Tony Awards on Sunday night. But Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's sonnet honoring the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando while accepting the Tony Award for Best Original Score overwhelmed audiences both at home and in the room where it happened: "Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside," he said. (Oh and the rest of the Tonys were pretty great, too -- James Corden for permanent host of...everything?)

Game of Thrones HBO WHAT HAPPENED: "A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell, and I am going home." To which we say: YAAAAAS! Don't-call-her-a-lady Arya Stark finallyfaced off with the Waif in Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones, and though it took the destruction of a number of Braavosi fruit stands, and the sacrifice of sweet Lady Crane, Arya (with the help of Needle) was the one adding the Waif to the Hall of Faces in the end. And Jaqen H'ghar? He seemed pretty cool with it if his smirk at "a girl's" declaration of her name and next known terminus was any indication. Elsewhere, the Hound chopped down Brotherhood Without Banners fellas until he discovered that Beric Dondarrion was also looking to punish the men who massacred the Sandors sept; Tyrion had a bit of a leadership problem in Meereen, but luckily Daenerys swept back in on a dragon at the last minute; Cersei was informed by Lil' King Tommen that trials by combat are now outlawed so she's -- what's the word? -- screwed; and that other Lannister brother, Jaime, reunited with Brienne at Riverrun -- and it was as bittersweet as you thought it would be. Despite a number of deep stares into each other's eyes, Jaime and Brienne remained on opposite sides of the war as Podrick rowed Brienne away from Riverrun, which was officially surrendered to the Lannisters by Edmure Tully. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Baby, remember her name -- Arya Stark is back, and she's on a mission. Well, another mission. Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams told EW that when director Mark Mylod asked her about Arya's journey to becoming a Faceless Man, she told him Arya never really believed she could give it all up: "She tried. She really tried ... But what's totally shaped her is the whole reason why she's here. If everything hadn't happened she'd be home at Winterfell with her mom and dad. She can't think like how they want her to because the whole reason she's there is that she wants to go back." And she is -- a girl is going back to Winterfell! According to Williams, Arya's bloody run through Braavos might have been part of the plan all along: "People are going to watch and be like, 'Don't put your blood on the wall. Have you learned nothing, Arya? I hate you.' And then they're going to be like, 'Oh, she's a smart girl.' ... I wanted her to look like she was struggling." A Stark struggling? Never heard of it.

Preacher AMC WHAT HAPPENED: What to do when given the God-like power of control? Make your new vampire BFF hop around, sing Johnny Cash, and admit he likes Justin Bieber, but of course. At least that's what Jesse is up to in Sunday's episode of Preacher, testing the limits and virtues of his powers. As always, he's feeling morally conflicted, but Tulip finally convinces him to go after a "stealing, children-killing son of a b----" named Carlos. On the way, Donnie interferes, ready to get his revenge on Jesse, but on account of all the new omnipotence coursing through Jesse's body, that ill-advised plan just leads to a chilling scene in which Jesse instructs Donnie to put the gun he's holding in his own mouth. He stops short of telling Donnie to pull the trigger, and suddenly, he "gets it," and reverses course on his trip with Tulip, leaving Carlos' fate (and Donnie's, ugh) up to God. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Speaking of God, remember the resurrected corpses of DeBlanc and Fiore? Yeah, they're from Heaven, apparently, sent bysomeone to get that something out of Jesse and trap it in a tin can. Until we get to all that, Preacher seems to be taking it slow. As HitFix said in its review, Sunday's straightforward approach does "[allow] us to see Jesse do something that these kinds of stories sometimes skip over, which is to really test the limits of what he can do." On the other side of this coin, "We know from Dominic Cooper's other work that he can play the wily, charismatic rogue, and while I suspect we're going to get there eventually, for the moment I'm on Tulip's side of wanting him to get there already."

Penny Dreadful Showtime WHAT HAPPENED: In response to Dorian telling Lily that they're "at the ebb tide," EW recapper Kelly Connolly asks, "Has anyone ever taught him how tides work? ... What we're moving toward feels more like high tide. Change is coming in waves, and it's fitting that for a season so focused on mental health and memory. The action here is rooted in what people know." Vanessa, for example, finally knows that Sweet is Dracula. And she finally sees the Creature, recognizing him as the orderly she once knew. The latter encounter leads Vanessa to encourage the Creature to reconnect with his wife; and the former with Dracula. Correct us (and Kaetenay's visions) if we're wrong, but did Vanessa just tell Dracula that she doesn't necessarily accept him but accepts herself by offering up her neck to him for feasting? There's got to be a plan here... WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: And the same goes for Lily, who's mad as hell and not going to take it anymore! Even though her mission to round up her army of sex workers and have them deliver the severed hands of every bad man in chopping distance ends with her in chains as Henry, Victor, and Dorian look over her, the A.V. Club thinks it's a win for the character: "Through both of her lives, [Lily had] been defined by men: the Johns she relied on to make her living; the scientist who brought her back from the land of the dead; the immortal who shared his home and his vision of a world under their domination. Now she's beyond all that, beyond the world of men... Lily represents a sort of shadow feminism doomed to be smacked down by the Victorian patriarchy upon discovery. During their time in the spotlight, however, they burn bright, casting their shadow over the male characters." We're hoping she burns bright enough to break those chains.

One More Thing...

The Bastards Are Coming on GoT HBO WINTERFELL OR BUST: We have four words for you: "Battle of the Bastards." In the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones' sixth season, everybody's favorite bastard Jon Snow is facing off against Ramsay Bolton -- the most hated bastard in Westeros -- and HBO has just released next week's epic trailer.