Familiar Faces on ‘Grey’s,’ a Radical ‘Good Fight,’ Netflix Checks Out a ‘Blockbuster,’ British Suspense Thrillers

9/8c

Currently back on Broadway in the Tony-winning revival of Take Me Out, Jesse Williams reprises his role of Jackson Avery when Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) heads to Boston to discuss her ambitions of curing Alzheimer’s. Greg Germann also appears as the abrasively brilliant Tom Koracick, who may have news about the condition of Jackson’s mom, Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen). Back in Seattle, new intern Lucas (Niko Terho) is not having much luck keeping his colleagues from speculating on his secret (familial) relationship with Amelia (Caterina Scorsone).

It’s hard to believe this impassioned, inspired, over-the-top legal/political drama has only one more episode to go before the final curtain falls. They pack a season’s worth of incident into the penultimate hour, directed by Carrie Preston, which can only be described as radical. “There’s not enough whisky in the world,” mutters Diane (Christine Baranski) as she considers the state of the world while attending the memorial service for the assassinated (by mistake) leader of the DNC. Before the episode is over, Diane is fielding an unexpected offer from an unexpected source which could upend her personal and professional lives. Meanwhile, Carmen (Charmaine Bingwa) is introduced to the shadowy organization, led by an ultra-cool Phylicia Rashad, that’s combating white-supremacy terrorists in the most creative ways. Guest stars include John Benjamin Hickey as the mercurial tech giant Neil Gross and Steven Pasquale as the new party boss. Everyone’s having a blast during these end times, not the least of whom is the lucky viewer.

A great idea for a comedy series ends up playing more like a tired retread of a not-so-Superstore. And yet there’s a sweet offbeat charm to much of Blockbuster, which extols the virtues of endangered small businesses as a rare locus of human connection. The loudest cheerleader, and hapless manager of the last remaining video-rental store (set in Michigan, unlike the actual location in Oregon), is Fresh Off the Boat’s affable Randall Park as earnest, corny “Blockbuster daddy” Timmy. He carries a torch of predictable longing for neurotic and unhappily married Eliza (Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Melissa Fumero), who’s stocking shelves after flaming out at Harvard, par for the course for her wistful and forlorn colleagues. JB Smoove gets some of the biggest laughs as Timmy’s blustery buddy and strip-mall landlord.

Season Premiere

Who can you trust? Maybe no one, judging from two multi-part thrillers available for binge-watching. Season 2 of Peacock’s nail-biting The Capture (six episodes) finds DCI Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) newly promoted within the U.K.’s “Correction” unit, where she’s once again battling deepfake technology and conspiracies which underscore the show’s tagline: “Seeing Is Deceiving.” On Sundance Now’s The Suspect (five episodes), Poldark’s Aidan Turner stars as a celebrity psychologist whose seemingly perfect life begins to fall apart during the investigation into the death of a young woman found in a shallow grave. Should the profiler be profiling himself?

8:30/7:30c

Who knew back rubs were such a thing with the dearly departed that they’d use them as currency? The more we know about the spirits haunting this charming comedy, the more we love them. And so it is as Wall Street-savvy Trevor (Asher Grodman) tries to blindside the cunning Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) by trading a hot new commodity. But the big news among the long-dead is the discovery by Sam (Rose McIver) that several houses away rests the spirit of someone very close to Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long) which could melt even that Viking heart.

True Crime Watch:

• A&E’s long-running The First 48 (8/7c) opens its 23rd season with an investigation in Mobile, Alabama, into two 2020 murders that occur in the same complex just hours apart. Followed by the return of Interrogation Raw (10/9c), with the jaw-dropping tale of how a 2017 plumbing repair led Canadian police to a killer who confessed to flushing body parts.
• New to WE tv: Hip Hop Homicides (9/8c), which revisits crimes within the musical community, starting with the February 2020 home-invasion murder of rising rapper Pop Smoke.
• On SundanceTV’s True Crime Story: Indefensible (10/9c), sharp-witted comedian Jena Friedman explores the acquittal of Casey Anthony in the 2008 death of her toddler, Caylee.

Inside Thursday TV:

• Law & Order (8/7c): Imagine the surprise when ADA Maroun (Odelya Halevi) sees her name on the defense’s witness list following the murder of a fashion designer on his boutique’s opening night.
• TCM Star of the Month: James Mason is honored on Thursdays through November. Among the first night’s highlights: 1951’s The Desert Fox (9:45/8:45c), starring Mason as WWII German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
• Mountain Men: Ultimate Marksman (9:30/8:30c, History Channel): Survivor alum and World Champion shooter Mark Romano host a spinoff reality competition in which top marksmen and markswomen test their skills on centuries-old historical weapons.
• CSI: Vegas (10/9c, CBS): If a certain corpse in the morgue looks familiar, that means you’re probably a TikTok follower of Josh Nalley, who’s long made a habit of playing dead. The case of the week is particularly cold-blooded, involving the death of a Michelin-starred chef found hanging in his restaurant’s freezer.
• Race for the Championship (10/9c, USA): The high-speed fight is on to decide the final four drivers eligible to be crowned NASCAR Cup Series champ. As the reality series concludes, expect the off-track head games to get even more intense.
• Late Show with Stephen Colbert (11:35/10:35c, CBS): Musician/activist Bono is the night’s sole guest, appearing on behalf of his memoir (Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story) with a solo performance and interview.
• Chris Redd: Why Am I Like This? (streaming on HBO Max): The Saturday Night Live alum performs some humorous soul-searching in his debut solo comedy special, filmed in his childhood home of St. Louis.
• Titans (streaming on HBO Max): As the fourth season of the superhero adventure begins, the young heroes stop in Metropolis, where complications include the re-emergence of the nefarious Lex Luthor (Bosch’s Titus Welliver).
• A Wesley Christmas (streaming on BET+): Sitcom pros Jasmine Guy and Dorien Wilson are among the stars in a holiday movie about an eventful family reunion at yuletide.