‘Dark Winds’ Finale, Dr. Pol’s 200th Milestone, History of the Colosseum, ‘Blood & Treasure’

Season Finale

9/8c

SUNDAY: Mystical black magic, deadly greed and other dark impulses of the human soul have fueled this excellent adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s “Leaphorn & Chee” mysteries, recently renewed for a second season. In the suspenseful Season 1 finale, Navajo Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (the soulful Zahn McClarnon), former deputy/newly outed FBI agent Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) and officer Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) face grave danger as they confront the Buffalo Society activist-killers and a surprise accomplice in their secret cave. Though justice comes at a tragic and morally ambiguous cost, this looks like the beginning of a memorable partnership between the veteran cop and his protégé.

Special

9/8c

SATURDAY: Ahead of the lovable vet’s milestone 200th episode, a two-hour special retrospective (at 7/6c) relives many of the doc’s most memorable animal encounters. In the new episode, Dr. Pol tends to a racehorse with a damaged hoof, with other needy critters including a bull reindeer, a guinea fowl and a cute little dog with an eye injury.

Series Premiere

9/8c

SUNDAY: An eight-part docuseries charts the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through the history of its most famed arena, the Colosseum, where slave-warrior gladiators battled to the death and emperors displayed their almighty power. With re-enactments and special effects bringing the Colosseum’s former glory to life, each episode focuses on a singular character from history. The series opens in 80 A.D. with a match between gladiators Priscus and Verus before a crowd of 50,000 spectators.

Season Premiere

SUNDAY: Fans of the international caper action series, which first aired on CBS in the summer of 2019, have waited three years for a second season, and is now an increasingly common custom, the show finds a new home on the parent company’s streaming platform. Matt Barr (the upcoming Walker: Independence) and Sofia Pernas return as Danny, the former FBI agent, and art thief Lexi, who team up to travel the world in pursuit of a terrorist funding his evil deeds through purloined treasure.

SUNDAY: Another CBS transplant continues its terrific third season with a regrettably relatable episode in this social media-besieged age. In “The Demon of Algorithms,” a single mom turns to the team of paranormal/spiritual investigators to snoop around a viral app called TipTop—three guesses what this is parodying—when she fears its demonic agenda is terrorizing her family.

Inside Weekend TV:

• Transplant (Saturday, 8/7c, NBC): In the Canadian medical drama’s Season 2 finale, Bash (Hamza Haq) and mentor Dr. Bishop (John Hannah) try to save each other’s careers, disrupted by a malpractice suit, while colleagues Mags (Laurence Leboeuf), Theo (Jim Watson) and June (Ayisha Issa) each make big decisions.
• Planet Shark (Saturday, 8/7c, National Geographic): The channel’s SharkFest continues with a three-part series enlisting scientists to explore why sharks, with 500-plus species, continue to thrive around the globe. Another special, Jaws vs. Boats (Sunday, 8/7c), investigates the rise of sharks attacking boats as captured on video.
• Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth (Saturday, 10/9c, HBO): The comedian and host of FBoy Island shatters taboos in her first hourlong HBO stand-up special, taped at Denver’s Paramount Theater.
• 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): The true-crime newsmagazine repeats its episode about “The Murdaugh Mysteries” in the wake of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh’s indictment this week in the murders of his wife and son.
• MLB Draft (Sunday, 7 pm/ET, ESPN): Major League Baseball analysts are hand as the first round of the baseball draft begins from Los Angeles.
• Steve Bannon: Divided We Fall (Sunday, 8/7c, CNN): Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin leads a CNN Special Report profiling the polarizing former presidential advisor and political disruptor whose role leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has come under scrutiny by the House Select Committee.
• Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks Showdown (Sunday, 9/8c, National Geographic): Captains from Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina battle for bluefin in a new season of competition.
• History’s Crazy Rich Ancients (Sunday, 10/9c, History Channel): It’s no secret the rich are different, and this half-hour series digs through the gilt-edged archives to reveal the profligate ways of tycoons and wealthy rulers through history.