‘Mare of Easttown’ Finale and ‘Oslo’ on HBO, History’s ‘Tulsa Burning,’ A ‘Pose’ Wedding

Two grown-up dramas on HBO—the fact-based movie Oslo and the gripping whodunit Mare of Easttown—bring substance to the Memorial Day weekend. History airs the first of many specials this week that commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre. On a happier note, the flamboyant cast of Pose gathers for a celebratory wedding in the series’ penultimate episode.

HBO

Mare of Easttown

Season Finale

The shattering revelations pile up in the tremendously emotional climax to one of the year’s best limited series, starring the terrific Kate Winslet as the grimly determined small-town Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan. So much more than a whodunit, the series ends on a powerfully redemptive note, with Emmy-worthy work from Winslet, Jean Smart as her tart but supporting mother and Julianne Nicholson as her best friend Lori, who like so many in Easttown has secrets she wishes Mare would let lie. Unlike last year’s anticlimactic The Undoing, this series sticks the landing. (SUNDAY)

Oslo HBO
HBO

Oslo

Movie Premiere

Especially timely in the wake of the recent conflict in Israel and Gaza, this judiciously trimmed film adaptation of the Tony-winning stage opus depicts the risky and secret negotiations that led to the historic 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. Ruth Wilson (The Affair) and Andrew Scott (Fleabag) star as a Norwegian junior minister and her idealistic sociologist husband who bring together skeptical Israeli and Palestinian representatives to try to give peace a chance. The adversaries bond over meals and jokes, learning to see each other’s humanity during these back-channel meetings. It’s history on a refreshingly personal scale. (SATURDAY)

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre

Documentary Premiere

Monday is the 100-year anniversary of the massacre that destroyed the prosperous African-American Greenwood District of Tulsa, killing hundreds of Black citizens in a race riot that was covered up for many years. This two-hour documentary, directed by Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders) and Marco Williams (Two Towns of Jasper), recounts the tragedy and updates the current excavation recovery efforts of the town’s many unmarked graves. More documentary remembrances follow on Monday. (SUNDAY)

FX

Pose

The fabulous Janet Mock writes and directs the next-to-last episode of this triumphant series, built around the idyllic wedding of Lil Papi (Angel Bismark Curiel) to the ethereal Angel (Indya Moore), who has a bout of cold feet after Papi’s domestic situation suddenly changes. Not to worry: Though Pose doesn’t ignore the tragedy of AIDS and the pain of prejudice against its proudly gay and trans ensemble, there are times when it’s happy to just be an escapist wish-fulfillment fairy tale. (SUNDAY)

Inside Weekend TV:

  • 90 Day: Foody Call (Saturday, streaming on discovery+): Insatiable fans of the 90 Day franchise can chow down on a new series in which several of the celebrated couples open up their kitchens as they prepare meals with an international flair from their home countries. Along the way, they also dish relationship insights, which is what viewers are most hungry for.
  • Inside Mayweather Vs. Paul (Saturday, 9:30/8:30c, 6:30/PT, Showtime): In advance of Sunday’s pay-per-view exhibition bout between Floyd Mayweather, the 44-year-old boxing Hall of Famer, and his 18-years-younger rival Logan Paul, Showtime embeds cameras in both athletes’ camps as they train for the big event. The special is followed by a boxing tripleheader, featuring WBC Bantamweight World Champion Nordine Oubaali taking on Nonito Donaire in a championship match.
  • Hot Wheels: The iconic Indianapolis 500, a Memorial Day weekend tradition, runs its 105th race on NBC on Sunday, with coverage starting at 11 am/ET (9 am/ET on NBCSN for those who can’t get enough). 2008 champion Scott Dixon leads the field in the pole position as the race gets underway at approximately 12:30 pm/ET. Long after the checkered flag is waved, racing fans can turn to Fox for coverage of the Coca Cola 600 (Sunday, 6 pm ET/3 pm PT) at Charlotte Motor Speedway for NASCAR’s longest event.
  • National Memorial Day Concert (Sunday 8/7c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): Another annual TV tradition, now in its 32nd year, salutes our troops all over the world and marks the anniversaries of the Korean War (its 70th) and the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago this fall. The program, hosted by Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise, also honors the nurses who served in Vietnam. Performers include Gladys Knight, Vince Gill, Sara Bareilles, Denyce Graves, Alan Jackson, The Four Tops, Brian d’Arcy James and Mickey Guyton delivering the National Anthem.
  • Gladiator (Sunday, 8/7c, CBS): The Oscar-winning Best Picture of 2000, a violent epic of Ancient Rome, won Russell Crowe a Best Actor Oscar as the wronged general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who seeks revenge as a gladiator against the corrupt Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Gladiator airs as a holiday special edition of the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which will return in June for a special Juneteenth weekend presentation of 2014’s Selma.