Broadcast Finales (‘Flash,’ ‘Chicago,’ ‘Survivor,’ ‘Jeopardy! Masters’), Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen Strictly ‘Platonic,’ Disney’s ‘American Born Chinese,’ ‘Mayans’ Final Season
The final night of the official broadcast TV season brings the series finale of The CW’s The Flash, the season finales of NBC’s Chicago procedurals, the three-hour Survivor blowout on CBS and the last round of ABC’s Jeopardy! Masters. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen are Platonic besties in an Apple TV+ comedy. Mixing coming-of-age comedy with mythical action, American Born Chinese features Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu from the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. FX’s Mayans M.C. revs up for its final season.
The Flash
After nine seasons and countless multiverses, the iconic speedster has finally run out—of time. In the epic series finale, Barry/Flash (Grant Gustin) makes a mad dash to save the timeline and existence itself, calling on friends from his past and present to battle for Central City.
Chicago Med
It’s last call for now for the popular Chicago triumvirate of procedurals, starting with the hospital drama, ending its eighth season with the future of Med owner Jack Dayton’s (Sasha Roiz) controversial AI-driven OR 2.0 in jeopardy. The Season 11 finale of Chicago Fire (9/8c) welcomes back Casey (Jesse Spencer), who may be able to help his ex, Brett (Kara Kilmer), deal with a life-changing decision. Things are tense on Chicago P.D. (10/9c), wrapping its 10th season with Intelligence undercover cop Ruzek (Patrick John Fleuger) in danger when white-supremacy leader Richard Beck (Lee Tergesen) moves up the timeline of his attack, sending the rest of the team scrambling.
Survivor
And then there were five, and four, and a Final Three as the last castaways on the island climb to gain immunity, hoping to make their case to their peers about why they deserve the $1 million prize—awarded right there in Fiji as Season 44 concludes. The two-hour finale is followed by the inevitable After Show cast reunion, hosted by Jeff Probst.
Jeopardy! Masters
James Holzhauer is the clear front-runner as the two-game finals get underway, with the final three masters vying for the $500,000 grand prize and the Alex Trebek trophy. If James triumphs, will he demand a G.O.A.T. rematch with host Ken Jennings?
Platonic
Having played a married couple in 2014’s Neighbors, Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen give friendship a try in an engaging comedy (launching with three episodes) that asks the question, “When did it become so hard for men and women to socialize?” So wonders Sylvia (Byrne, also of Apple’s Physical), who seeks to reconnect with her former bestie Will (Rogen) after a bitter split. He’s a newly divorced hipster, she’s married (to handsome Luke Macfarlane) with children and regrets having cut Will off when he married someone she despised. Their rekindled tight bond in their 40s might raise eyebrows among family and friends, but hey, it’s strictly platonic, right?
American Born Chinese
A fun mix of coming-of-age high-school comedy and rip-roaring martial-arts fantasy, this enjoyable eight-episode hybrid (available to binge in its entirety) stars Ben Wang as Jin Wang, a 10th-grader yearning for normalcy who gets anything but when he’s assigned to help show new Chinese student Wei-Chen (former Taekwondo champ Jimmy Liu) around the school. Turns out Wei-Chen has ties to a mythical realm, and he’s come to Earth to avert a cataclysmic uprising—cue the arrival of Everything Everywhere All at Once Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh as a mighty goddess. Also appearing in the series are Everything co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu.
Mayans M.C.
The violent biker melodrama returns for a fifth and final season, with “EZ” Reyes (JD Pardo) now leading the Santo Padre M.C., including his brother Angel (Clayton Cardenes) and his fellow Mayans. The war against their rival Sons of Anarchy escalates in the two-episode opener, when EZ tries to reclaim the pipeline as they defend their turf in the California territory.
Ted Lasso
It’s a little late for Mother’s Day, but in the sports comedy’s emotionally charged penultimate episode (once again supersized at an hour-plus), the gregarious Mama Lasso—call her Dottie (Becky Ann Baker)—pays a surprise visit to her rattled son Ted (Jason Sudeikis). While Nate (Nick Mohammed) receives urging from several parties about returning to the team he betrayed, star player Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) is feeling his own crushing pressure, returning to his home turf where the crowd delights in taunting their once-favorite son.
INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:
- Masterchef: United Tastes of America (8/7c, Fox): The 13th season of the cooking competition gathers chefs from four regions of the country—the Northeast, Midwest, West and South—to present their signature dishes in hopes of receiving a coveted white apron. First up: Northeast chefs, hoping to impress judges Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez, Joe Bastianich and guest judge Daphne Oz. Followed by the series premiere of Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars (9/8c, Fox), in which 15 food-industry entrepreneurs tackle challenges—starting with the creation of a food shack on the beach—with the goal of earning Ramsay’s respect and a $250,000 investment in their big idea.
- Vanderpump Rules (9/8c, Bravo): The dish is especially dirty as the reality show’s much-anticipated reunion begins, with Andy Cohen joined by Lisa Vanderpump, Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval and others to dissect the scandal when it was revealed Tom had been cheating on Ariana for months with costar Raquel Leviss (who joins the group separately to share her side of the story).
- The Prank Panel (9/8c, ABC): In a preview of a summer comedy series scheduled for July, “pranx-perts” Johnny Knoxville, Eric Andre and Gabourey Sidibe present hidden-camera stunts in which people get payback on loved ones, including a repo man who gets a taste of his own medicine.
- Dave (10/9c, FXX): Has Dave (Dave “Lil Dicky” Burd) found the one? Fantasy and reality commingle as the rapper fixates on his dream girl (Rachel McAdams playing a version of herself).
- Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens (10:30/9:30c, Comedy Central): Nora’s (Awkwafina) latest gig: Toiling as runner for Grandma (Lori Tan Chinn) in her successful weed cartel.
- The Clearing (streaming on Hulu): A moody Australian thriller, premiering with two episodes, stars Teresa Palmer (A Discovery of Witches) as a survivor of a childhood cult who fears the nightmare has begun again when a local child is kidnapped with the same MO as the Kindred she escaped years earlier.
- The Ultimatum: Queer Love (streaming on Netflix): With 10 episodes spread over three weeks, the relationship reality series returns with five couples, women and non-binary, whose commitment issues (or lack thereof) are tested as they choose potential new partners.