Weekend Watch: Dune: Prophecy, Cobra Kai Season 2, Part 2

The Bene Gesserit look to secure their power while the dojos head to Spain

Image Credit: HBO

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, the Dune universe expands and the Cobra Kai gang hits the midpoint of their final season. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite

Frank Herbert’s sprawling sci-fi novel saga Dune was already considered a challenge to adapt, one attempted by David Lynch in 1984 (an intriguing failure) and finally cracked by Denis Villeneuve with his two films, the latter of which landed this year.

In this world of corporate synergy, success breeds expansion (the Great Houses featured in the books would no doubt approve), so now we have small screen spin-off Dune: Prophecy.

Set roughly 10,000 years before the events portrayed in the films, the new show is certainly on screens, but it is by no means small. This is a suitably sprawling televisual epic, which finds intimate moments to build character but has more in common with, say, Game Of Thrones than the movies from which it derives.

While Villeneuve is best at big-scale ambition and coldly logical character moves, the show shares some of that DNA, but in its story of Valya Harkonnen (a superb Emily Watson), it finds a new focal point. She’s the current leader of the mystical Bene Gesserit set that runs through the Dune universe, consolidating power through becoming advisors to people in power (such as Mark Strong’s emperor) and also figuring out a complex breeding program so as to guide the future.

Drawn from the Dune series own spin-off book Sisterhood Of Dune by Brian Herbert (son of Frank Herbert) and Kevin J. Anderson, it weaves its way through the halls of power in the Imperium, following a variety of characters including Valya and sister Tula (Olivia Williams, matching Watson in terms of power and quality) and various members of the Great Houses.

Don’t go expecting lengthy trips to Arrakis this time, as refreshingly, the story only touches on the desert planet for one of its storylines (involving a charismatic soldier played by Travis Fimmel who has his own motivations).

It’s certainly a worthy companion to the films, feeling of a piece while also carving its own identity. AI fears, the power play between the sexes and rulers with serious confidence issues are all explored here.

Dune: Prophecy starts on HBO and Max in the US on Sunday. It’ll air simultaneously on Sky Atlantic in the UK with a repeat later on Monday 18 November. I’ve seen four of the six episodes.

Image Credit: Netflix

Yes, Cobra Kai fans, the scrappy schoolkids (not that they all always look like school-age people anymore, but I’ll allow it) and sometimes stupid senseis are back.

I’m still deciding whether I’m happy with Netflix’s decision to split this season into three chunks (you can find my review of Part One here), looking to wring out as large a viewing figure and as much buzz as it can for one of its heavy hitters, but at least it means I still have some episodes to look forward to in 2025.

While the show certainly is showing small signs that it’s not what it once was, it remains miraculous how much show creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, working with their writing team, cast and crew, have squeezed out of a 1980s movie trilogy.

The second part of the sixth season finds the various players in Barcelona for the Sekai Taikai tournament, a world series of karate that unlike the baseball version, actually features other countries from around the globe.

If sometimes the show’s ambition outpaces its grasp, at least it still has ambition, looking to portray plenty of drama (occasionally some melodrama) and entertaining karate combat while keeping up the twists and turns.

One of the major subplots this season has included casting some dark aspersions on Mr. Miyagi’s past, and even to the point where the character is resurrected in flashback form, something I must admit I have issues with. Leave Miyagi alone, darn it! Still, I’m putting my trust in the trio to bring this storyline to a thematic, satisfying conclusion.

Will I be sorry to see Cobra Kai take its final bow next year? Yes. Is it time for it to leave the mat? Probably, but for now, let’s all enjoy the ride to the big finish.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 is on Netflix now. I’ve seen all five episodes. Part 3 follows next year.