‘FBI’ Shows Back in Business, Dionne and Danielle’s Roots, ‘La Brea’ Finale, Taylor Tomlinson Stand-Up

Season Premiere

8/7c

It’s back to business, after a long hiatus, for the FBI troika from Dick Wolf’s production factory. First, the mothership launches Season 6 with the hunt for a terrorist group responsible for blowing up a bus with innocent people on board. In more personal news, Agent Scola (John Boyd) struggles to balance being a dad with being a fed. (The mother of his child, played by For All Mankind alum Shantel VanSanten, is switching shows, joining the cast of FBI: Most Wanted.)

Season Premiere

9/8c

Yet more explosions as the third season of the Europe-set spinoff kicks off with the Fly Team investigating the destruction of their Budapest HQ—with the help of new team member Special Agent Amanda Tate (Christina Wolfe), replacing for No. 2, Jamie Kellett (Heida Reed). The ever-active revolving door has also claimed a member of the FBI: Most Wanted team, with Alexa Davolos out as Kristin Gaines and the afore-mentioned Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase, joining the Fugitive Task Force in the Season 5 premiere. Their latest mission takes them to Virginia to sort out the deadly mess when a mysterious deal goes awry, while Remy (Dylan McDermott) reconnects with his long-lost nephew.

8/7c

The illuminating genealogy series offers a particularly strong episode featuring electrifying personalities: music legend Dionne Warwick and the effervescent Orange Is the New Black alum Danielle Brooks, a current Oscar nominee for The Color Purple. As Henry Louis Gates, Jr. walks them through their respective ancestral pasts, they confront the “brick wall” of undocumented enslaved people, often shown only as numbers on a balance sheet. And yet Gates’ team is able to tear down parts of that wall, revealing one of Brooks’ forebears who fought in a Black regiment for the Union army and a great-great-grandfather of Warwick’s who owned a Georgia farm before heading North. “I am because of these people,” Brooks marvels, a common reaction for the subjects of this rewarding series.

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Not since Dorothy has there been such an arduous journey for people trying to find their way back home—in this case, through portals and sinkholes that transport people across time, from prehistoric 10,000 B.C. to random points on the calendar (lately, 1965 appears to be the popular destination). But at least Dorothy had enjoyable traveling companions. This dreary, drably cast, fussy, and overly complicated sci-fi action drama has reached its final chapter, presumably with closure for all, and the promised return of den mother Eve (Natalie Zea, who won the jackpot by sitting out much of this final season).

Special

The rising young comedian certainly seems to have it all: a new late-night show (After Midnight on CBS), which got an extra bump with a special episode on Super Bowl Sunday, and now her third stand-up special for the streaming giant, filmed at Virginia’s Capital One Hall during her largest tour to date. But Taylor Tomlinson’s sardonic humor is here to remind us that no one is perfect—and if they think they are, she’ll have something to say about that.

Inside Tuesday TV:

• The Bachelor (8/7c, ABC): More jet-setting for Joey and his bachelorettes when the singles head to Spain, where in Andalusia, two one-on-ones and a group date build to another fraught rose ceremony.
• Inside the NFL (8/7c, The CW): With the NFL season officially over, the panel recaps the highs and lows of the nail-biting Super Bowl LVIII. Will their shot list include Taylor Swift?
• Quantum Leap (10/9c, NBC): Ben (Raymond Lee) could teach the La Brea folks a thing or two about time travel. In this episode, the last before a two-part season finale, he leaps into the early 1980s, working alongside a seasoned Denver TV journalist to uncover a major scoop. Back at HQ, Ian (Mason Alexander Park) is on the hot seat over his past actions.
• Good Trouble (10/9c, Freeform): Callie (Maia Mitchell) is in trouble with her future mother-in-law when she suggests throwing an engagement party for her and Jamie (Beau Mirchoff).
• sMothered (10/9c, TLC): More in-law angst in the reality show’s season finale, where three is almost always a crowd.