Severance season 2, Skeleton Crew, Netflix’s XO, Kitty, and more new TV this week

It’s the doldrums of the new year now; we’re over the hump, past the exciting bits, and settling back into a rhythm (albeit, in the States, with an eye toward the early three-day weekends of the year). But TV is not having those same slow times. No — right now it’s go go go, with plenty of high-profile shows premiering and ending.

For me, this week, I’m keeping an eye on XO, Kitty and Severance, two sophomore seasons that both surprised me with their sturdiness. Both are examples of a show returning with exactly the same spirit of the original season, just with new obstacles pooling out from dramatic season 1 cliffhangers. (Though clearly in very different ways — one is about the navigating the laborious, often byzantine matters of nefarious corporate structure, and the other is about navigating the laborious, often byzantine matters of what we owe to each other, and also how to not fail out of boarding school while wrapped up in several romantic entanglements.)

But that’s not all that’s out there! Here are the best premieres and finales happening in TV this week.

Genre: Teen romance
Release date: Jan. 16, with all episodes
Showrunner/creator: Jenny Han
Cast: Anna Cathcart, Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee, and more

In XO, Kitty season 2, Kitty (Anna Cathcart) is three things, officially: bi, back, and seriously confused. The love triangle that first greeted her in South Korea is not the one that is currently plaguing her — or even the other one that’s causing her head to spin. Love abounds on XO, Kitty, which is all the better for the perfect soapy plunge.

Castlevania: Nocturne season 2

Genre: Action-horror
Release date: Jan. 16, with all episodes
Showrunner/creator: Clive Bradley
Cast: Edward Bluemel, Thuso Mbedu, Pixie Davies, and more

After adopting a new member of the team at the end of season 1 (the son of Dracula, no less), the vamps of Castlevania: Nocturne have found themselves in a race against time. Erzsebet Báthory (Franka Potente) seeks the full power of the goddess Sekhmet so she can plunge the world into endless night, making her even more powerful than she was in season 1. There will be more promise, more power, more locales, and more opera.

Skeleton Crew season 1 finale

Genre: Star Wars Goonies
Release date: Jan. 14
Showrunners/creators: Jon Watts and Chris Ford
Cast: Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Jude Law, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and more

Season 1 of the Star Wars show is wrapping up and bringing the kids… back to At Attin? To the Jedi academy of their dreams? A third, even more canonical location? We’ll have to wait and see what Tuesday’s finale brings. (And whether it wraps up the show entirely or leaves room for season 2.)

Genre: Raunchy animated comedy
Release date: Jan. 16
Showrunner/creator: Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
Cast: Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, and more

Perhaps you got into Harley Quinn because you heard about the Harley/Poison Ivy stuff. Perhaps it’s because you love DC or animated comedies (or both). Maybe you were late to the bandwagon, but just eager to see what all the fervor over Nightwing’s butt was. Either way, Harley Quinn and its titular bat-wielder are back for more.

New shows on Apple TV Plus

Genre: Prestige mystery box
Release date: Jan. 17, with one episode
Showrunner/creator: Dan Erickson
Cast: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, and more

In season 1, Innie Mark (Adam Scott) learned that Outie Mark’s (also Adam Scott) wife was still alive, though being held in the bowels of Lumon, for… whatever reason. Then the finale cut us off. Season 2 picks up moments later in Innie Mark’s life, as he and his fellow innies have to figure out what to do now, and Severance dives deeper into the mysteries of what the company’s deal is.