Crave has removed the option to subscribe to its lower-cost Mobile subscription.
The change quietly went into effect at the start of the month, per an email sent to subscribers. However, Crave didn’t make a formal announcement on its blog or social media channels, so it went unnoticed by some. MobileSyrup has reached out to Crave for comment and will update this story once a response has been received.
That said, Crave Mobile isn’t going away entirely. Crave notes in the email that users can remain on that $9.99/month plan as long as they maintain an active subscription.
Notably, this comes a little over a year after Crave launched Mobile in late October 2021. At the time, Crave Mobile replaced the ‘Basic’ tier as the entry-level Crave subscription. It includes base Crave content, like Letterkenny and The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as HBO titles like The Last of Us and The White Lotus.
One other change, though, is that Crave Mobile now allows you to cast to your TVs. Previously, Mobile streaming was locked to the Crave mobile app or a web browser.
Now, there is only one Crave membership, a ‘Total’ plan, that costs $19.99/month or $199/year ($149.90 until March 15th). A $5.99/month Starz add-on is also available.
Crave’s removal of its lower-cost option comes just a few months after Netflix launched its cheapest membership, the $5.99/month ‘Basic with Ads’ plan. Other streamers in the U.S., like HBO Max, Hulu and Disney+, also offer their own lower-cost, ad-supported options It’s unclear whether Crave intends to introduce an alternative to Mobile that’s similarly more affordable than Total.
On Instagram, Irish-Canadian photographer Mark Cogan posted images of Canmore, the town featured prominently in the series’ sixth episode, “Kin.” As part of this visit, Cogan held up stills from the show to match them with where they were filmed on the actual 8th Street in Canmore. These scene recreations include when Joel (Pedro Pascal) has an emotional reunion with his brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel on horseback. In the show, Canmore stood in for Jackson, Wyoming.
It’s unclear why Cogan picked Canmore, specifically, to visit, but it’s possible he was taking cues from Pascal and Ramsey themselves. The pair told MobileSyrup that it was their favourite place to visit in Alberta, with Pascal even calling it a “magical little town.” The most recent episode of The Last of Us, “When We Are In Need,” took Pascal and Ramsey to another snowy area, Waterton Park.
This weekend, HBO’s The Last of Us delivered a gripping adaptation of one of the most important chapters from Naughty Dog’s game. It also introduced us to the haunting antagonist David alongside James, played by Troy Baker.
Baker is intrinsically tied to The Last of Us. He’s provided the masterful voice of Joel in the game alongside motion capture. Pedro Pascal now helms the role of Joel in the series adaption. However, Baker was cast as David’s secondhand man in the episode dubbed “When We Are in Need.”
Baker recently sat down with Daily Hive for a roundtable interview where he recounted his time spent in Calgary, Alberta. “They were very prepared and to be able to find the sound stages that they shot at and be able to literally take that over like they did… all of the locations that we found within Calgary to be able to shoot… it was surprising how much they could be completely transformed.”
Over the season, Alberta has been shown to be transformed to create many backdrops for this post-apocalyptic tale. For instance, the small town of Canmore was turned into the blooming community of Jackson. Last week’s mall set piece used a real abandoned mall in Calgary.
Throughout the interview, Baker states what many Canadians already know, Calgary is a marvel to look at. Now, it’s put in the spotlight on one of HBO’s most popular series to date. “Calgary provided this beautiful landscape — inside the city and far outside of it,” Baker said to Daily Hive.
This week’s episode used Alberta’s Waterton Park for David’s community in this week’s episode. The extent of the area isn’t shown in full. However, there are many exterior shots showing the snowy streets. It was then up to production to make the area feel like a world living in the age of the Cordyceps virus. “Waterton is the town where we shot a lot of our episodes. It’s a far cry away from Calgary but the landscape that it provided really set the stage and you could believe that this was what the world could look like absent of civilization.”
HBO’s The Last of Us is barrelling toward its season finale on March 12th. Canadian viewers can catch up on the season, and see Alberta’s beauty captured on screen, via Crave.
Specifically, the series’ latest (and penultimate) episode, “When We Are In Need,” takes place in the snowy wilds of Colorado and was actually shot at Alberta’s Waterton Park. Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie in the series, had namedropped the hamlet in an interview with MobileSyrup, but we now get to see it in action.
Photos from the set of The Last of Us in Waterton Village.
Lakeside Resort: “The cars had Colorado plates on them.”
— Keep Alberta Rolling 🎥✨ (@KeepABRolling) March 6, 2023
In the latest episode, Ellie’s hunt for food for her and an injured Joel (Pedro Pascal) leads her to encounter two strangers, David (Scott Shepherd) and James (Troy Baker, who played Joel in The Last of Us video games). Without spoiling anything, let’s just say they don’t become friends.
Interestingly, though, David and James belong to a larger community of survivors who live in an abandoned resort. In a later scene between Ellie and David, the two can be spotted in a place called Todd’s Steakhouse. Notably, the exterior of this set is Lakeside Chophouse, the only Waterton restaurant by the lake.
Over the course of the last several weeks, one of the highlights of The Last of Us for Canadians has been to see where all of the episodes have been filmed in Alberta. It remains to be seen where, exactly, the March 12th finale was filmed, so we’ll have to keep an eye out.
Every week, MobileSyrup outlines some of the most notable movies and TV shows that recently hit Canadian streaming platforms.
Our ‘Streaming in Canada’ column typically focuses on new content from Amazon Prime Video, Crave and Netflix, but other services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ are mentioned when relevant. Premium video-on-demand (PVOD) platforms are also fair game as movies continue to come to digital early.
Finally, we’ll highlight shows or movies that are made by Canadian companies, involve notable Canadian cast or crew and/or are filmed in Canada.
Amazon Prime Video
Daisy Jones & The Six [Amazon Original]
Amazon Prime Video Canada premiere date: March 3rd, 2023 (first three episodes, new episodes every Friday) Genre: Drama Runtime: 10 episodes (around one hour each)
Presented in a documentary style, this series explores why a massively popular ’70s band called it quits.
Based on Taylor Jenkin Reid’s 2019 novel of the same name, Daisy Jones & The Six was created by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer) and stars Riley Keough (Zola), Sam Claflin (Peaky Blinders), Camila Morrone (Valley Girl) and Suki Waterhouse (The Divergent Series: Insurgent).
An Amazon Prime Video subscription is included at no additional cost with an Amazon Prime membership, which is priced at $99/year.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Amazon Prime Video Canada this month can be found here.
Apple TV+
The Problem with Jon Stewart (Season 2 Part 2) [Apple Original]
State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-OK) has penned several bills loosening gun restrictions, including the nation’s first anti-red flag law. He thinks these bills protect the Second Amendment – and that they make us safer. We think it's probably one or the other. Watch it on @AppleTVPlus. pic.twitter.com/T7fLFLjTQ5
— The Problem With Jon Stewart (@TheProblem) March 3, 2023
Apple TV+ Canada premiere date: March 3rd, 2023 (first episode, new episodes every Friday) Genre: Current affairs Runtime: Six episodes (around 40 minutes each)
A standard Crave subscription is priced at $19.99/month, with Starz costing an additional $5.99/month. A mobile-only subscription is also available for $9.99/month.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Crave this month can be found here.
Disney+
The Mandalorian (Season 3) [Disney+ Original]
Disney+ Canada premiere date: March 1st, 2023 (first episode, new episodes every Wednesday) Genre: Sci-fi drama Runtime: Eight episodes (around 30 to 50 minutes each)
Reunited with Grogu, the Mandalorian returns to Mandalore to redeem his past transgressions.
The Mandalorian was created by Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), Carl Weathers (Rocky franchise), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) and Emily Swallow (SEAL Team). It’s also worth noting that Toronto’s own Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience) appears again this season as Captain Carson Teva.
Netflix Canada premiere date: March 2nd, 2023 Genre: Drama Runtime: Eight episodes (44 to 53 minutes each)
Billie encounters new challenges and desires while lusting after her dream life.
Based on B.B. Easton’s novel 44 Chapters About 4 Men, Sex/Life was created by Stacy Rukeyser (Unreal) and Belle Nuru Dayne (An Unfulfilled Love Story) and stars Sarah Shahi (Person of Interest), Mike Vogel (Bates Motel) and Adam Demos (Unreal).
The iconic cinematic assassin, played by beloved Canadian actor Keanu Reeves, faces his deadliest challenge yet in John Wick: Chapter 4. With an ever-growing bounty on his head, Wick must fight to survive while embarking on a global journey to take down the High Table.
Chapter 4 was directed by Chad Stahelski (who helmed every movie in the series) and features returning stars Ian McShane (Winston), Laurence Fishburne (The Bowery King) and Lance Reddick (Charon). Joining the cast, meanwhile, are Hong Kong legend Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai), Bill Skarsgård (It series), and Reeves’ fellow Torontonian, Shamier Anderson (Wynonna Earp), among others.
Of course, it’s been a few years since John Wick: Chapter 3, so if you wanted to refresh yourself on the story beforehand — or simply watch Reeves kill hundreds of people in gloriously stylish action — you still have time.
Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to stream the trio of John Wick movies:
The second season of The Last of Usmight begin filming later this year.
During an interview with Collider to promote The Mandalorian Season 3, Pedro Pascal, who stars as Joel on The Last of Us, was asked about the sophomore outing for the popular HBO series. While he noted that he couldn’t reveal much, he did tease that production could begin sometime in 2023.
“In the year 2023? Oh, what season are we in now? We’re getting into spring?” he said coyly. “Yes, there is a chance. Yes.”
The Last of Us was renewed last month after only two episodes had aired, with HBO saying the series had its second-biggest premiere ever after House of the Dragon. However, the network didn’t reveal any further details beyond confirming that it would adapt the 2020 PlayStation game The Last of Us Part II. Craig Mazin, co-creator of the series, has also indicated that at least two seasons may be needed to fully adapt the sequel.
For now, though, the first season of The Last of Us still has one more episode before its March 12th finale. It should be noted that we don’t actually know how far along Mazin and co-creator Neil Druckmann (co-director of The Last of Us) actually are in the writing process for Season 2, although Pascal’s comments suggest they might have made some significant progress already.
Another big question: where will The Last of Us Season 2 film? Most notably, Season 1 was filmed entirely in Alberta in what’s believed to be part of Canada’s largest TV production to date. Bella Ramsey, who stars opposite Pascal as Ellie, has also suggested that production could return to Canada, although HBO hasn’t made any official comment on the matter.
It’s worth noting that Canmore — Pascal and Ramsey’s favourite filming location — stands in for Jackson, Wyoming in the series, and the first few hours of The Last of Us Part II are set in the American town. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether HBO will return to the Alberta location — or any others — for Season 2.
Netflix has announced that if you’re in Canada and you’re using someone else’s account who doesn’t share your IP address, you’ll soon get locked out if you don’t shell out an additional $7.99 per month. However, it seems the streaming platform hasn’t yet locked freeloaders out of their accounts.
On the MobileSyrup team, no one has been locked out of an account. For example, I “borrow” my mother’s Netflix account and so does my roommate, and both of us haven’t experienced any issues — at least not yet.
With this in mind, we have a question: If you’re currently using someone else’s Netflix account, have you been locked out yet?
This poll is solely for those living in Canada, where Netflix’s new policy went into place on February 21st.
Each month MobileSyrup does separate rundowns of what’s coming to streaming services. We also so a curated guide of the hottest shows and movies coming to streaming services each week.
However, if you don’t want to go through each and every one of our links, here is your television guide-like list of everything coming toCrave, Prime Video, Paramount Plus and Disney Plus this month.
If you want a more curated list, check out our weekly roundups here.
A Disney+ subscription costs $11.99/month or $119.99/year in Canada. While a Paramount Plus subscription costs $9.99 CAD/month. Crave subscriptions start at $9.99/month for a Mobile plan, including HBO content access. A $5.99 Starz add-on is also available.
In this article, we didn’t separate Starz from other Crave content, so it’s worth noting some of the content will cost an extra $5.99. A Prime Video subscription costs $8.25 per month, and lastly,
Netflix is still on this list, for those who are still on it for the month. Netflix starts at $5.99, but plans increase depending on whether you want multiple viewers, ad-free, and 4K content.
March 1st
Monster Family — Crave
Women’s History Month Collections — Made By Women, Leading Women, Bechdel Test Approved, Funny Women, Biopics, Celebrating Pride, Docs, Gal Pals, Women in Music, Women in Sport, Oscar-Winning, Emerging Voices, and Women Who Kick Butt — Crave
Call It Love: Season 1 (New Episodes) — Disney+
Wild Crime: Season 2 (All Episodes Available) — Disney+
Wu-Tang: An American Saga: Season 3 (New Episode) — Disney+
Still Missing Morgan: Season 1 (All Episodes Available) — Disney+
Virgin: The Series: Season 1 (All Episodes Available) — Disney+
Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 2 (New Episode) — Disney+
Cheat — Netflix
Tonight You’re Sleeping with Me — Netflix
Wrong Side of the Tracks: Season 2 — Netflix
Baby Mama — Netflix
Couples Retreat — Netflix
Fakes: Season 1 — Netflix
Gran Torino — Netflix
Hunt — Netflix
The Intern — Netflix
Léon: The Professional — Netflix
Little Angel: Volume 2 — Netflix
Men in Black — Netflix
Men in Black II — Netflix
Omertà — Netflix
Promising Young Woman — Netflix
Sense and Sensibility — Netflix
Stepmom — Netflix
The Threesome — Netflix
When We Were Boys — Netflix
March 2nd
Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery: Season 2 — Netflix
Karate Sheep — Netflix
Masameer County: Season 2 — Netflix
Monique Olivier: Accessory to Evil — Netflix
Sex/Life: Season 2 — Netflix
Space Jam: A New Legacy — Netflix
March 3rd
Barbarian — Crave
Bombshell — Crave
8 Mile — Crave
Magic Mike XXL — Crave
Moulin Roug — Crave
Pulp Fiction — Crave
Stay The Night — Crave
W. — Crave
Walk the Line — Crave
Wipeout: Season 2A — Episodes 1-5 — Crave
Finding Michael (documentary) — Disney+
Soul of a Nation Presents: Black in Vegas — Disney+
The latest episode of The Last of Us, February 26th’s “Left Behind,” primarily consisted of flashbacks to Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) time before meeting Joel (Pedro Pascal).
In particular, the bulk of this episode shows Ellie with her best friend, Riley (Storm Reid), as they have charming adventures through an abandoned shopping mall. Fans of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us PlayStation game will recognize this story from the downloadable expansion, Left Behind. Now, we’ve learned a bit more about how that setting came together in the show.
As Paino notes, the mall had been “completely stripped” and didn’t have a usable second floor. However, those who have watched the episode will know that a two-story setup was key thanks to a charming scene involving an escalator. Therefore, the rooftops were created using CGI.
Meanwhile, Paino’s team built 20-25 stores to turn the dilapidated Canadian mall into an American one. That said, some of the fast-food joints got to play themselves, such as A&W.
Elsewhere, Paino says the merry-go-round featured in a key scene had to be brought into the mall just for the shoot. “It actually used to be in that mall, but when it went out of business, another mall took it, so we made a deal to rent it,” he said.
Finally, there’s the arcade. As Paino points out, the name and font of this spot (“Raja’s Arcade”) were taken straight from the game. This is a fun reference to a hot-headed character named Eddy Raja from another beloved Naughty Dog series, Uncharted.
Beyond that, though, the production team assembled a lineup of real arcade cabinets, including those for Frogger, Tetris and, most prominently, Mortal Kombat. Interestingly, though, Paino says they actually built LED displays for each game because their original cathode-ray tube (CRT) retro screens came out blurry on their modern cameras.
Naturally, seeing the old Calgary mall has brought out some fun reactions from viewers:
After “Left Behind,” only two episodes of The Last of Us remain. However, the series has already been renewed for Season 2, which doesn’t yet have a premiere window.
