Nick Fury Battles ‘Secret Invasion,’ Tennis Drama in ‘Break Point,’ NBC’s Real-Life ‘LA Fire & Rescue,’ ‘Class’ Finale

Series Premiere

“What if the ones closest to us were someone else entirely? What if they weren’t even human?” The latest thriller from the Marvel Cinematic Universe poses these questions, urgent enough to poach the iconic Nick Fury (Samuel J. Jackson) from deep space to lead the charge on Earth against a rogue faction of shape-shifting alien Skrulls who have infiltrated positions of global authority. Making the heroes’ job more difficult is the knowledge that your most trusted ally might be an imposter. Adding some bite: Oscar winner Olivia Colman as MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth, who has a fiendish way of making even the most recalcitrant Skurll talk. Ben Mendelsohn (The Outsider) costars as Skrull ally Talos, with Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke as his rebellious daughter, G’iah. Be forewarned that the premiere’s climactic action sequence includes one of those “did that just happen?” moments.

The docuseries that plunges as deeply into professional tennis as F1: Drive to Survive does for Formula 1 racing returns for the back half (episodes 6-10) of its freshman season, covering major events of the 2022 Grand Slam season. Episodes cover the excitement at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, with featured players including Nick Kyrgios, who made it to the Wimbledon final opposite Novak Djokovic, and U.S. Open women finalists Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur.

Series Premiere

8/7c

Dick Wolf’s busy production company takes a break from Chicago and New York to focus on the real-life exploits of the first responders on land, water and sky who cover the vast 2,300-plus square mile terrain of Los Angeles County. The first season embeds with seven of the county’s 117 stations, including in the opener Station 8 in West Hollywood, where the crew rallies around third-year probie and cancer survivor Dave Castellanos; busy Station 16 in Watts; and Station 37 in Palmdale, a desert community where wildfire suppression is among the top priorities. The series also profiles those in the Air Operations (aka “Angels in the Sky”) unit and the Lifeguard Division.

Series Finale

FX’s ambitious time-tripping thriller ends with momentous events in each of its three intertwined time periods. In the near future, Tayo (Brian Tyree Henry) takes control of the FBI and puts his visionary AI system into place—which in the future of 2034 has become an uncontrollable nightmare, causing Tayo and his fellow 2009 Quantico grads to plot the system’s takedown. The finale also features the class graduating back in 2009, when things were so much simpler.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• High Desert (streaming on Apple TV+): Also ending its first season: the wacky dark comedy starring Patricia Arquette as unstable P.I. Peggy, whose wrangling with the Gattchi crime family reaches a head.
• Platonic (streaming on Apple TV+): The hilarious buddy comedy takes a dive into farcical slapstick when Sylvia (Rose Byrne) enters the workforce after many years and finds the law and her young associate coworkers more than she bargained for. Can Will (Seth Rogen) come to her rescue or just make matters worse?
• MasterChef: United Tastes of America (8/7c, Fox): With the Top 20 now set, the first challenge involves creating state fair-inspired dishes. The winner claims immunity for their entire region. Followed by Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars (9/8c), where the remaining entrepreneur contestants head to Arizona to create an outdoor dining experience.
• The Stroll (9/8c, HBO): Timed for LGBTQ Pride Month, a documentary features co-director Kristen Lovell’s reflections on the history of transgender sex workers in New York City’s meatpacking district before and after gentrification.
• Dr. Pimple Popper (9/8c, TLC): Dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee is back with the first of 10 new episodes, starting with the case of Elyse, whose burning mystery rash smells “like hot garbage.”
• Holmes Family Rescue (9/8, HGTV): Contractor Mike Holmes returns with his offspring, home-renovation experts Michael Jr. and Sherry, to fix the messes left behind by subpar contractors, including a botched kitchen and basement addition and an unfinished backyard pool.
• Mayans M.C. (10/9c, FX): In what is described as a “fatal journey,” EZ (J.D. Pardo) takes brother Angel (Clayton Cardenas) on a road trip on the anniversary of their mother’s death.
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (10/9c, FXX): The words “trust your gut” take on new meaning when Frank (Danny DeVito) gets extra help from Charlie (Charlie Day) as he faces a Russian grandmaster at a chess tournament. Elsewhere, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) shares his “foolproof” system for attracting a man with unlucky-in-love Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson).
• Below the Belt: The Last Health Taboo (10/9c, PBS): The subject is endometriosis, too often misdiagnosed or left untreated too long. This documentary focuses on four patients: a young Black nurse in L.A., an affluent Boston teen, a 30-year-old Canadian and a Korean-American artist, whose stories provide a wake-up call to the medical community and society at large.
• China’s Corporate Spy War (10/9c, CNBC): In the wake of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing, a documentary sheds light on China’s corporate espionage tactics designed to steal high-tech trade secrets from U.S. companies.