Streaming in October: East of Eden, Carrie and VisionQuest

October is a busy month for streaming. Here’s every new series, returning season, finale and movie worth knowing about, week by week, with our pick of the month at the end.

New and returning shows

Oct. 1 to 4

• THU1

  

  NetflixLimited seriesTV-MA

  East of Eden

  John Steinbeck’s novel about two families in California’s Salinas Valley, spanning from the Civil War to World War I. Florence Pugh plays Cathy Ames, a woman who marries into the Trask family and turns the lives of brothers Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles (Mike Faist) upside down. Zoe Kazan wrote it, and all seven episodes drop at once.

• THU1

  

  HBO MaxNew seriesTV-MA

  War

  A legal drama built around what the show calls the divorce case of the century. Dominic West plays tech entrepreneur Morgan Henderson and Sienna Miller plays his estranged wife, film star Carla Duval, while two rival London law firms fight over their split. It’s eight episodes from George Kay, who co-created Lupin.

• THU1

  

  FreeformDisney+HuluNew seriesRating TBA

  Coven Academy

  A supernatural teen drama about a group of teenage witches-in-training at a magic boarding school. It premieres Thursday on Freeform, and the whole season hits Disney+ and Hulu on Friday.

• FRI2

  

  AMC+New seriesRating TBA

  Kill Jackie

  Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Jackie Price, a former international cocaine dealer who has spent 20 years quietly living as a fine art dealer. When she finds out a squad of seven elite hitmen has been hired to kill her, she decides to take them out first. It’s AMC+ in the US. Some listings say Prime Video, which is only right for the UK and Canada.

Oct. 5 to 11

• WED7

  

  Prime VideoNew seriesRating TBA

  Carrie

  Stephen King’s story of Carrie White, a bullied high school girl with telekinetic powers and a deeply religious mother. Mike Flanagan’s eight-episode version looks at the story from a wider angle than the classic movie. Summer H. Howell plays Carrie and Samantha Sloyan plays her mother, Margaret.

• WED7

  

  Apple TVSeason finaleTV-MA

  Ted Lasso

  The comedy about an endlessly upbeat American football coach who ends up in English soccer. Season 4 put a women’s soccer team at the center of the story, and Wednesday is the season finale.

Oct. 12 to 18

• WED14

  

  Disney+New seriesTV-14

  VisionQuest

  Paul Bettany is back as Vision, who has rebooted and escaped the people trying to turn him into a weapon. While hiding, he talks with the AI voices in his programming, including Jarvis and Ultron. Then a bounty forces him to run with a mysterious boy who may be his son reborn. It’s the last part of the story that started with WandaVision and Agatha All Along, with James Spader also in the cast.

• THU15

  

  PeacockNew seriesRating TBA

  Crystal Lake

  A prequel to the original 1980 Friday the 13th, told through the eyes of Jason’s mother, Pamela Voorhees, played by Linda Cardellini. The showrunner calls it a paranoid 1970s psychological thriller with slasher moments. It’s eight episodes from A24, and it’s a Peacock show even though some listings put it on Netflix.

• THU15

  

  NetflixNew seasonTV-MA

  The Diplomat

  Keri Russell plays Kate Wyler, a career diplomat who lands the job of U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and has to handle world crises and a complicated marriage to fellow diplomat Hal, played by Rufus Sewell. Allison Janney co-stars. All of Season 4 drops at once.

• FRI16

  

  Paramount+New seasonTV-MA

  Tulsa King

  Sylvester Stallone plays Dwight Manfredi, a New York mob boss who gets out of prison after 25 years and is sent to Tulsa, where he builds a new crew from scratch. In Season 4, he tries to make his operation legit while new threats close in.

Oct. 19 to 25

• WED21

  

  Prime VideoNew seasonTV-MA

  The Terminal List

  Chris Pratt plays Navy SEAL James Reece. Season 2 is based on Jack Carr’s novel True Believer and takes Reece across the Indian Ocean, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. All eight episodes drop at once.

• WED21

  

  Apple TVSeason finaleTV-MA

  Slow Horses

  Gary Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, the boss of Slough House, the run-down office where MI5 sends agents who messed up. The spy series wraps Season 6 on Wednesday.

• THU22

  

  NetflixNew seasonTV-MA

  Nobody Wants This

  Kristen Bell plays Joanne, an agnostic podcast host, and Adam Brody plays Noah, a rabbi. The romantic comedy follows what happens when two people with very different lives fall for each other. All of Season 3 drops at once.

Oct. 26 to 31

• FRI30

  

  Paramount+New seasonTV-MA

  Dexter: Resurrection

  Michael C. Hall is back as Dexter Morgan, the serial killer who only goes after other killers. Season 2 stays in New York City, where Dexter and his son Harrison try to stay ahead of the law. Brian Cox and Dan Stevens join as two new killers, and Uma Thurman returns. It’s on the Paramount+ Premium plan.

Movies hitting streaming

• THU1
  HBO MaxMoviesVarious

  The October horror drop

  The Shining, Poltergeist, the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and Freddy vs. Jason all arrive for Halloween. The Departed lands the same day, which around here basically counts as a holiday.

• FRI2
  HBO MaxMovieR

  Evil Dead Burn

  A widow moves in with her late husband’s family at their remote home, and then her in-laws start turning into Deadites. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub and Hunter Doohan.

• FRI9
  NetflixMovieRating TBA

  Animals

  Ben Affleck directs and stars as Los Angeles mayoral candidate Milo Bradford, whose son is kidnapped. He and his wife, played by Kerry Washington, have only a few hours to pay the ransom. Gillian Anderson co-stars.

• FRI16
  NetflixMovieRating TBA

  Sacrifice

  Chris Evans, who grew up in Sudbury, plays an action star taken hostage at a charity gala by a doomsday cult leader, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who believes three sacrifices to a volcano will stop the end of the world. Romain Gavras directs.

Pick of the month

Set a reminder for Thursday. See you next month.