Gal Gadot’s ‘Heart of Stone,’ ‘Outlander’ Midseason Finale & Putting on the ‘Kilts,’ ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’

Movie Premiere

Gal Gadot leaves her Wonder Woman costume in the closet, but participates in just as many high-flying stunts, as super spy Rachel Stone in an action thriller that introduces a covert Mission: Impossible style agency known as The Charter (as in: “When governments fail, the only thing left is The Charter”). Rachel’s cover is as a low-level MI6 techie, but when The Charter’s “Heart” is hacked by the sinister Keya Dhawan (Alia Bhatt), it’s time to shift into Save the World mode.

Midseason Finale

8/7c

The moment Outlander fans have been dreading has finally arrived: No, not the looming Second Battle of Saratoga, which will send Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) back to the front lines and cause Claire (Caitríona Balfe) no end of worry. It’s the midseason finale, with the remainder of Season 7 awaiting in 2024. (Oh, if only there were time-traveling stones to bridge the gap.) Elsewhere, in 1981, Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) search for kidnapped Jemmy (Blake Johnston Miller)—which portends another trip to the past for the desperate dad.

Season Premiere

9/8c

As consolation for those about to go into Outlander withdrawal, the travelogue starring Scottish actors Sam Heughan and co-star Graham McTavish sets its sights way Down Under for Season 2. Over four scenic episodes, the buddies explore New Zealand, starting with a trip down the mountainside, where they encounter an apex predator. Let’s hope it’s not wearing a red coat.

Movie Premiere

This cross-pond romcom takes the cake—and not just because the amorous protagonists, American “first son” Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and British prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), are covered in frosting during a slapstick altercation at their initial and very public love-hate meet-cute. Based on the delightful novel by Casey McQuiston, adapted and directed by Tony-winning playwright Matthew López (The Inheritance), Royal Blue tracks the relationship between the bisexual son of the first female president (Uma Thurman) and the closeted prince, which could become a distraction to Madam President’s re-election bid as well as an international tabloid obsession.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Washington Week with The Atlantic (8/7c, PBS): The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg becomes moderator of the long-running and newly rebranded political public-affairs panel show.
• Secret Celebrity Renovation (8/7c, CBS): In a first for the makeover show, the design team of “Boston Rob” Mariano and Sabrina Sato decide the house in question is beyond repair—so a “Plan B” is put into action when comedian JB Smoove visits his childhood home in Plymouth, N.C. with hopes of restoring its former glory.
• Minx (9/8c, Starz): Life in the fast lane with a hot rock star and a fashion makeover distracts Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond) while publisher Doug (Jake Johnson), with an assist from “probationary secretary” Bambi (Jessica Lowe), prepares a flashy presentation for Constance (Elizabeth Perkins). Think Chippendales.
• All Up in the Biz (9/8c, Showtime, also streaming on Paramount+): As part of the ongoing 50^th-anniversary celebration of hip hop, a documentary profiles the late “clown prince of hip hop” rapper Biz Markie.
• BET Her Live! Hosted by Yo-Yo (9/8c, BET Her): The hip-hop star gets personal with four pioneering women in back-to-back 30-minute interviews, featuring Lil’ Mo, Da Brat, 702 and MC Lyte.
• CMT Summer Sessions (10/9c, CMT): Tyler Hubbard performs new music from his solo album and hits from his time as half of Florida Georgia Line in a concert from the Sandy Creek Barn Amphitheater at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia.

ON THE STREAM:

• Sound of the Police (streaming on Hulu): From ABC News Studios, co-directed by Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders) and Valerie Scoon, a wide-ranging documentary explores the complex history of Black Americans’ fraught relationship with police and law enforcement in Black communities.
• Asteroid City (streaming on Peacock): Wes Anderson’s whimsical, genre-bending art-house film, released in June, beams into the streaming universe.
• The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (streaming on Prime Video): Alycia Debnam-Carey (Fear the Walking Dead) assumes the title role as the Australian drama takes a time jump. Learning more than she wanted about her grandmother June’s (Sigourney Weaver) lies, 24-year-old Alice flees Thornfield to start a new life in the desert town Agnes Bluff.
• Foundation (streaming on Apple TV+): Send in the clones! This wonderful plot description will only make sense to those who are immersed in the dense, visually lush adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s work: “Dawn and Dusk are suspicious of Day.” Also on Apple: the Season 2 finale of coming-of-age basketball drama Swagger.
• Toast of Tinseltown (streaming on The Roku Channel): What We Do in the Shadows’ Matt Berry is pretentious London thespian Steven Toast in a Hollywood satire about a delusional actor who believes he has landed a “leading role” in the next Star Wars movie. Fred Armisen co-stars.