EEK! A RAT!
A Plague Tale: Innocence is one of the coolest games based around real historical events I've seen in a while. You play as a young girl armed with a sling who must flee from the Inquisition and swarms of plague rats with her sickly brother in tow. Use torches to scare away the nipping rats before they chew your flesh to the bone. The game takes some more fantastical twists with alchemy and "ratnados," but it's all in good fun. On Xbox One, PS4 and PC. (QUINN WELSCH)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Some noteworthy new music arrives online and in stores Aug. 30. To wit:
Lana Del Rey, Norman F—-ing Rockwell. Lana Del F—-ing Ray starting releasing singles from this a year ago, including her utterly unnecessary Sublime cover.
Bon Iver, I,I. Justin Vernon's latest has been streaming for a few weeks now, but you know you want a physical copy.
Sheryl Crow, Threads. Crow claims this set featuring guests like Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson and Keith Richards is her last. Don't bet on it.
TOOL, Fear Inoculum. TOOL took 13 years to make their latest, and it's only seven songs. You can really tell when a band has no bosses around.
BOYS CLUB
Amazon's new series The Boys takes the typical superhero stories we're so used to seeing and does a complete 180. The show is centered around a group of superheroes, reminiscent of The Justice League, called the Seven — the twist being that "heroes" are actually awful and corrupt people. This show begs the question: What happens when you capitalize on your hero-ness? It examines the ideas of celebrity, corruption and the truth in a unique and compelling way, turning modern superhero entertainment on its head and creating something more edgy, vulgar, thought-provoking and entertaining in the process. (RILEY UTLEY)
DOES CONAN NEED MORE FRIENDS?
The truth is Conan O'Brien seems to have an infinite number of friends, friends he interviews on his Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast. This podcast proves that using a celebrity like Conan to interview other celebrities allows for more genuine back and forth about their life — and his. Conan perfectly strikes the balance between comedy and longform interview throughout. Meanwhile, his assistant Sona and producer Matt help balance his comedic ego with reality. Season 2 arrives this fall. (CARSON McGREGOR)
MAC PASS
A new partnership between the Spokane Public Library and the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture now allows local families to check out passes to the museum, offering admission to two adults and up to four kids. Library card holders can reserve the passes online up to 30 days in advance, saving themselves $40 on their next visit to the museum's exhibits. The library has two of these already-popular passes available; find details and reservations at bit.ly/MuseumPassesSPL. (CHEY SCOTT)
