The Bear Cooks Up More High-Stress Kitchen Drama

Looking for your next binge-watch, or just need to fill an hour? Welcome to Your Weekly Watch List, our curated collection of the best shows on television. Here’s what to watch from Sunday, June 18 through Saturday, June 24.

What will Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) cook up next? That's the question of the week, as The Bear returns for its second season on Hulu after emerging as a breakout hit last summer. Elsewhere, And Just Like That... Season 2 reunites Sex and the City fans with a few familiar faces, Samuel L. Jackson's Marvel character Nick Fury launches a Secret Invasion, and I'm a Virgo toys with its own set of superhero tropes.

Secret Invasion

Wednesday, Disney+

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to play with tone and genre in Secret Invasion, an espionage thriller centered on Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury hasn't been seen since the 2019 film Spider-Man: Far From Home, but he comes out of hiding when he discovers a rogue group of Skrulls — the shape-shifting aliens introduced in Captain Marvel — are planning to infiltrate Earth. With the help of Skrull ally Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and former CIA agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman), Fury sets out to stop the Skrull invasion and save humanity, yet again.

Though Secret Invasion is connected to the MCU and its ongoing Phase 5, it also functions as a standalone story about Fury, who, like any good hero, insists the battle with the Skrulls is "personal." Creator Kyle Bradstreet (Mr. Robot) looks to the Cold War-era thrillers of John le Carré for inspiration, placing Jackson's character in high-stakes situations that breed paranoia. Can he really trust Olivia Colman's MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth or Don Cheadle's Rhodey? Tune in every Wednesday through July 26 to find out.

The Bear Season 2

Thursday, Hulu (Full Season)
*Our must-watch pick of the week*

The Original Beef of Chicagoland gets a face lift in The Bear Season 2. After receiving a windfall of cash from his late brother, Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) commits to turning his family's sandwich joint into a next-level restaurant worthy of its own Michelin star. For the first time in years, Carmy is excited about the future, but with so much to do before the opening — including crafting an entirely new menu with Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and overcoming a bureaucratic permitting system — it's not long before the pressure starts getting to him. Meanwhile, Sydney runs up against her own challenges as she attempts to hire new staffers, as Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Fak (Matty Matheson) spar over the renovation, and Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) and Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) expand their knowledge in culinary school.

Creator Christopher Storer and executive producer Joanna Calo have been careful not to reveal too much about Season 2, but they've said one major theme is "hospitality," both in terms of serving diners and each other. That said, don't expect this crew of foul-mouthed cooks to suddenly play nice with one another. As was the case last season, an explosion seems imminent; it's just a matter of who will be around to get stabbed in the butt (either literally or metaphorically) when it happens.

And Just Like That Season 2

Thursday, Max

And Just Like That..., Max's Sex and the City sequel is back. When Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) last strutted across our screens in her Manolos, she was closing the book on her marriage to Big (Chris Noth) by spreading his ashes in the Seine. One year later, Carrie is officially done grieving, and though she says it's time to "try something new," she finds herself falling back into old patterns with Aidan (John Corbett). Uptown, a liberated Charlotte (Kristen Davis) mulls a new job opportunity, and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) attempts to make a bicoastal relationship with Che Diaz (Sara Ramírez) work.

Much of the response to AJLT's first season revolved around Che, who quickly became the most hated person on the internet, but now, Kim Cattrall is swooping in to take her rightful spot at the center of the discussion. After a very public feud with her SATC co-stars, Cattrall will reprise the role of Samantha Jones in the Season 2 finale. Cattrall will only appear in one scene — she reportedly shot her dialogue without crossing paths with any of her former castmates — but that's reason enough to stick with the show even through its most cringe-inducing moments.

I'm a Virgo

Friday, Amazon Prime Video (Full Season)

Four years after winning an Emmy for his performance in Netflix's When They See Us, Jharrel Jerome returns to television in I'm a Virgo, the first series from Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You). Jerome plays Cootie, a 13-foot-tall young Black man who's shielded from the outside world by his aunt (Carmen Ejogo) and uncle (Mike Epps). When a group of politically-active friends discover Cootie, he joins their crew in hopes of finding adventure. And find adventure, he does: Beyond the walls of his supersized home, Cootie expands his worldview as he navigates awkward situations, searches for love, and even meets his idol, a real-life superhero named The Hero (Walton Goggins). Cootie's jaunt into the real world sends him on a bizarre coming-of-age journey that interrogates the "hero odyssey," as a concept, and cements Riley's reputation as one of the preeminent surrealist filmmakers of our time.

If You Have...

An Hour

Ridley: Sunday, 8:00 PM ET on PBS
The Walking Dead: Dead City Linear Premiere: Sunday, 9:00 PM ET on AMC
The Righteous Gemstones Season 3 Premiere: Sunday, 10:00 PM ET on HBO
Swagger Season 2 Premiere: Friday, Apple TV+

An Evening

Loudmouth: Sunday, 10:00 PM ET on Showtime
Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom: Monday, 8:00 PM ET on CNN and OWN
Where Is Baby Gabriel?: Tuesday, Peacock

A Full Day

Break Point Part 2: Wednesday, Netflix
Glamorous: Thursday, Netflix

Up Next

Claim to Fame Season 2: Monday, June 26 on ABC
Hijack: Wednesday, June 28 on Apple TV+
The Witcher Season 3, Part 1: Thursday, June 29 on Netflix
Warrior Season 3: Thursday, June 29 on Max

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.