“The Savant” can’t catch a break.
The Apple TV+ original was slated to debut Sept. 26, but the assassination of Charlie Kirk appeared to give the streamer pause. The show is loosely based on a real hate-crime investigator, played by Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain.
Her character goes digitally undercover to smoke out White Nationalists, all the while trying to lead a normal life on the home front.
Team Apple wasn’t clear about the reasons for the show’s delay, but the timing suggested some kind of Kirk connection. The conservative leader was killed Sept. 10, with all signs pointing to alleged killer Tyler Robinson.
(Unless you’re a certain unhinged podcaster)
Perhaps “The Savant” demonized a Kirk-like figure, and that wouldn’t be a good look following the pundit’s murder? Or was there something in the show’s DNA that would make it problematic to run as scheduled?
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This critic was able to screen several episodes in advance, and all signs pointed to “no, not really.” The show isn’t as political as some TV fare, like HBO Max’s “The Pitt” which jams progressive talking points into its storylines.
“The Savant’s” delay still seems curious, although studios have been quick to pull violent entertainment when real-world violence erupts.
One example? USA Network’s “Shooter” got yanked in 2016 after an actual sniper targeted cops in Dallas.
Sometimes a movie studio is quick to pause a film’s release if it appears too hot to handle, culturally speaking. Remember how “The Hunt,” a film pitting conservatives and liberals against each other, got bumped from the calendar?
Yet “The Savant” is now back on schedule, slated for a July release. Now, there’s another real-world problem facing the series.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a group that allegedly smokes out White Nationalists, was caught allegedly cutting checks for some of the very haters it supposedly targets.
It’s a shocking turn of events, and the group’s fingerprints are allegedly all over the 2017 Unite the Right rally. That imbroglio left one woman killed and allowed the media and Democrats (but we repeat ourselves) to unfairly malign President Trump.
The “very fine people” hoax remains an indelible stain on modern journalism.
A series focused on White Nationalists looks even more odd given the SPLC headlines. Imagine Chastain’s character tracks down a potentially violent Neo-Nazi only to learn he was funded by an SPLC-like group.
That isn’t the Narrative™ Hollywood wants to share. Last year’s “Sovereign” is another project that captures the industry’s zeal for right-leaning ghouls.
Their standoff triggers a deadly cat-and-mouse chase. Watch the trailer for ‘Sovereign’. On Digital HD 15 September in & @Nick_Offerman pic.twitter.com/IhpBPVrQCF
— Signature Entertainment (@SignatureEntUK) September 2, 2025
It appears the supply of racial bigotry isn’t meeting the progressive demand, another issue plaguing “The Savant.”
The other problem facing the show, one not directly tethered to a single news event? The vast majority of political violence is being conducted by the Left and/or radical Islamic types.
It’s so overwhelming even The far-Left Atlantic admitted as such last year.
Remember those burning Tesla dealerships? The antisemitic attacks on Jewish people in a post-Oct. 7 world? Liberal college students raging against Israel and attacking Jewish students? The multiple assassination attempts on President Trump?
And it’s only gotten worse of late. The man accused of storming the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday with plans to take out Trump officials (and likely the president himself) is a No Kings progressive.
Cole Allen’s manifesto reads like a cross between a Jimmy Kimmel monologue and MS NOW programming.
Here’s betting “The Savant,” should it survive to season 2, won’t frame an episode around that inconvenient truth. That’s assuming Apple TV+ doesn’t just mothball the show entirely.
