She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Are Back to Kick Butt and Emote

There was a time when TV animation consisted of Saturday morning cartoons and The Flintstones. But while Saturday morning cartoons are a thing of the past (on network TV, anyway), the reality in 2019 is that animated series are some of the biggest boundary-pushers on TV.

With Steven Universe on Cartoon Network introducing queer themes in a way that’s both forthright and remarkably sweet, and Netflix delving into issues of depression and addiction in BoJack Horseman and puberty and sexual development in Big Mouth, we’re in something of a golden age for socially-relevant animation.

A show like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power fits right into that trend. A reboot of the ‘80s children’s adventure series (a sister series, quite literally, to He-Man), She-Ra tells the origin story of our titular heroine in a way that shows both empowerment and empathy. The frank fludity (of both gender norms and sexuality) in the show come at the perfect time in our culture, and really set it apart, making it well worth a quick weekend Netflix binge.

SEASON PREMIERE: When last we met our faves on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Adora/She-Ra had regained her sword, while Catra had advanced up the ladder of Hordak’s underlings. With season 2 finally here, expect more swordplay, more super-friends-teamwork with Glimmer and Bow and Swift Wind, and more of the gloriously complicated Catra. Streaming on Netflix

SERIES PREMIERE: The new Netflix mystery/thriller series Chambers springs from an intriguing premise: what if you were the recipient of a heart transplant, only to find out that the girl whose heart now beats in your chest came from a really … weird family. Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn play the parents of the dead organ donor, and if Uma’s mega-intense stares don’t sell you on this, then Tony Goldwn doing Very Intense Yoga will (watch the trailer). Streaming on Netflix

SERIES PREMIERE: If you’ve ever lost an entire day binge-watching Netflix’s plentiful food content, then Street Food is sure to be your jam. Following in the footsteps of Chef’s Table and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Street Food goes on a global tour of local cuisine sold in the streets of Thailand, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and more. Streaming on Netflix

SPECIAL: In a special episode of Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures, Zak and the crew investigate a 130-year-old estate in California that’s been the location for many film and TV shoots, most prominently American Horror Story. 9:00 PM ET on Travel

ALSO TONIGHT

• The Blacklist airs back-to-back episodes, which is a fine way to celebrate being renewed for a 7th season. One involves a true-crime podcast, and another where we once again encounter Katarina Rostova. 8:00 PM ET on NBC
• The first season of Unspeakable, Sundance’s drama about the emergence of HIV and Hep C in Canada from the ‘80s to present day, comes to a close tonight. 12:00 AM ET (Saturday) on Sundance
• If today’s big movie premiere leaves you with a thirst for more Avengers, cable TV has got you covered, with six MCU movies overlapping each other in the early evenng. On USA. it’s The Avengers followed by Avengers: Age of Ultron... 5:30 PM ET on USA
• … on Syfy it’s Paul Rudd in Ant Man followed by Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man ... 5:30 PM ET on Syfy
• ...and on FX, it’s a clash of the Chrisses, with Thor followed by Captain America: The First Avenger. 5:30 PM ET on FX

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.