NFL Divisional Playoffs, Ruth Wilson in ‘The Woman in the Wall,’ ‘SNL’ Returns, Back to ‘The Way Home’

SATURDAY: The big draw all weekend will be on the gridiron, as eight teams battle to move forward to next weekend’s NFC and AFC championship games, deciding who’ll play in this year’s Super Bowl. The games, in order: No. 4 Houston Texans at No. 1 Ravens (Saturday, 4:30 pm/ET, ESPN and ABC), with a pro tip that the Texans have never won a game in this round and have also never won on the road in the playoffs; No. 7 Green Bay Packers vs. No. 1 San Francisco 49ers (Saturday, 8 pm/ET, Fox); on Sunday, No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. No. 3 Detroit Lions (3 pm/ET, NBC), with the Lions back in the divisional round for the first time since 1992; and last year’s Super Bowl champs the Kansas City Chiefs (No. 3) vs No. 2 Buffalo Bills (6:30 pm/ET, CBS, also streaming on Paramount+), the third time in five seasons they’ve met in the playoffs.

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SUNDAY: No one sleeps easily in this provocative six-part Irish mystery—least of all Norma (the mesmerizing Ruth Wilson), whose sleepwalking already pegs her as damaged goods, never having fully recovered from having her baby taken away from her 30 years ago at a notorious convent and workhouse for unwed pregnant girls. Plot twists include a priest’s murder, an anonymous note promising information about Norma’s daughter and a dead female stranger whom Norma impulsively hides within a wall in her home. All of these elements intertwine when a Dublin detective (Bad Sisters’ Daryl McCormack) comes to town, himself plagued by nightmares from his childhood before being adopted. The whodunit angle is mostly perfunctory, because this series’ true focus is on bringing justice and peace to women like Norma who have spent their adult lives under a cloud of grief and unresolved shame. (See the full review.)

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SATURDAY: With the political campaign season in high gear, it’s a fortuitous moment for the late-night comedy show to return from holiday hiatus. The first-time guest host is Australian heartthrob actor Jacob Elordi, whose TV career (The Kissing Booth, Euphoria) has lately been eclipsed by movie stardom (Priscilla, Saltburn). He’ll be joined by first-time musical guest Reneé Rapp (Mean Girls).

Season Premiere

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SUNDAY: More mysteries of the past haunt the popular family drama as Season 2 opens in the wake of Kat (Chyler Leigh) shocking her mother Del (Andie MacDowell) with news that she knows what happened to Jacob—her brother who disappeared years ago at 8 years old. What other revelations does the pond, a portal into the past, have in store for Kat, Del and Kat’s teenage daughter Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow)?

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SUNDAY: The chilling mystery deepens when police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and trooper Navarro (Kali Reis) find connections between the bizarre icy deaths of the scientists—the most gruesome thing you’ll see all week—and the murder of local activist and midwife Annie. While wondering if she and Navarro can work together again after their estrangement, Liz fends off a jurisdictional challenge from Capt. Connelly (Christopher Eccleston) from Anchorage. And all around Ennis, Alaska, there are creepy suggestions that the dead walk among them. As local eccentric Rose (Fiona Shaw) puts it: “I think the world is getting old, and Ennis is where the fabric of all things is coming apart at the seams.” Good times.

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SUNDAY: With Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) away at war, the veterinary practice could use some help—and James (Nicholas Ralph) is eager to play mentor to the new arrival: Richard Carmody (James Anthony-Rose), a book-smart lad fresh from London, who’s got quite a bit to learn about bedside manner and people skills. What James doesn’t expect is for the ever-demanding Siegfried (Samuel West) to take an instant liking to the green doc. Their current challenge involves Tricky Woo’s imperious owner Mrs. Pumphrey (Patricia Hodge), who’s taken in an excitable and somewhat noxious foster dog, prompting Carmody to make his first mistake, asking the grande dame: “Do you always treat your animals like people?”

Inside Weekend TV:

• Betty’s Bad Luck in Love (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): Laci J. Mailey is unlucky-in-love Betty, who hopes Alex (Marco Grazzini) will reverse her curse.
• Dying in Plain Sight (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): A cautionary drama stars Raffa Virago and Nicola Correia-Damude as an overweight teen and newly single mom whose lives are nearly ruined by eating disorders.
• 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): To prove Mark Howerton killed his 19-year-old girlfriend Cayley Mandadi in 2017, experts track down his car in which she died, critical evidence for a second trial. (The first ended in a mistrial.)
• Monsieur Spade (Sunday, 9/8c, AMC, streaming on Acorn TV and AMC+): “You might want to protect yourself with something more reliable than just your wits,” the local police chief warns Sam Spade (Clive Owen) as he begins to investigate the massacre of nuns at a nearby convent. Solid advice, because it’s not long before someone’s shooting at Spade and his ward, Teresa (Cara Bossom).
• Belgravia: The Next Chapter (Sunday, 9/8c, MGM+): Newlywed Lord Frederick (Benjamin Wainwright) takes his bride Clara (Harriet Slater) to his country estate to try to peel back the layers of his childhood trauma that threatens to sour their relationship.
• Love & Translation (Sunday, 10/9c, TLC): A reality series sets out to discover if love truly is an international language. Three American men are about to find out, when they head to a seaside villa to woo 12 women who don’t speak English.