‘Shadows’ Finale, More ‘Sugar,’ Doctor-‘Patient’ Suspense, ‘Frontline’ on Democracy

Season Finale

10/9c

The fourth season of the wickedly funny vampire comedy ends with choruses of the Fiddler on the Roof standard “Sunrise, Sunset” (also the episode title), lamenting the extreme growth spurt of baby-no-longer Colin (Mark Proksch), whose adolescent rebelliousness has surrogate dad Laszlo (Matt Berry) in a state of despair. Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) is just as distraught, having lost her nightclub’s main novelty attraction. Even Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) is at his wits’ end, seeing that nothing ever really changes in this haunted house of fools. Until it does.

Season Premiere

9/8c

Continuing its tradition of being directed solely by women, nearly three dozen of whom made their directing debuts during its run, Ava DuVernay’s soulful family drama returns for a seventh and final season. The story jumps ahead six months with a happy event—the christening of Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla’s (Bianca Lawson) baby—and some potential bad news for the Bordelons, when Sam Landry (David Jensen) delivers a bombshell that could once again threaten the family’s land.

In the final moments of the two-part premiere, we became aware that there was someone else in the house besides serial-killer Sam (Domnhall Gleeson) and his chained-in-the-basement therapist, Dr. Alan Strauss (Steve Carell). A new element only intensifies the stakes in their unorthodox and suspenseful sessions, with Sam insisting that all of his victims deserved it and Alan using everything in his playbook to keep his patient from killing again, while also arguing for his freedom.

Season Premiere

10/9c

Frontline, arguably TV’s most important public-affairs documentary series, opens a new season with veteran producer Michael Kirk’s unsparing analysis of the state of democracy in America post-Jan. 6. (Don’t be surprised if excerpts from President Biden’s recent speech are included.) As the title suggests, the report examines how the heated political rhetoric of the former administration and disinformation about the 2020 election led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol that attempted to subvert a peaceful transfer of power.

Inside Tuesday TV:

• TMZ Investigates: Who Really Killed Michael Jackson (8/7c, Fox): Let’s hope this two-hour dive into the web of physicians and advisers surrounding the former King of Pop as he spiraled in addiction during his final days is more illuminating than TMZ’s recent Richard Simmons tease.
• Teen Mom: The Next Chapter (8/7c, MTV): Cast members of Teen Mom OG and Teen Mom 2 come together for a follow-up series as the moms share stories of parenting, with some of their kids still in diapers, others now teenagers themselves.
• Good Bones: Risky Business (9/8c, HGTV): Good Bones star Mina Starsiak Hawk spins off to her own series, focusing her renovation prowess on her most ambitious project to date: the 7,000-square-foot Sanders House in Indianapolis with a Victorian main home and carriage house.
• Claim to Fame (10/9c, ABC): A game of Truth or Dare narrows the field as the final contestants vie for the $100,000 prize in the season finale.
• Destination Paris (streaming on Paramount+): Soccer journalist and CBS Sports analyst Guillem Balagué presents a documentary recapping the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League season, when the outbreak of war caused the organization to move the finals from St. Petersburg to Paris.
• Sheng Wang: Sweet and Juicy (streaming on Netflix): Comedian Ali Wong is the first-time director of a comedy set, from L.A.’s Belasco Theatre, featuring observational comic Sheng Wang.