‘Diplomat’s Explosive Second Season, ‘Ghosts’ Witch Trial, Frasier Back in Seattle, ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’
Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell return for a second season of the international thriller The Diplomat, with Allison Janney appearing as the U.S. Vice President. Ghosts stages a witch trial on behalf of its new Puritan spirit. Frasier brings the former radio host back to Seattle for a fraught reunion. Hallmark seeks a new yuletide leading man in the reality competition Finding Mr. Christmas.
The Diplomat
Picking up directly after the Season 1 cliffhanger, with a car-bomb explosion in Central London, the witty international thriller plunges Kate Wyler (Emmy nominee Keri Russell), U.S. ambassador to the U.K., into more intrigue as she and CIA station chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) work to expose a global conspiracy that may have ties to the British government. More cause for worry: her ex-diplomat husband Hal (the droll Rufus Sewell) and the embassy’s deputy chief Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh) were caught in the blast. The great Allison Janney (The West Wing) appears late in the six-episode season as the U.S. vice president, whose job may be Kate’s next assignment. The climactic bombshells will have fans clamoring for a third season, which has already been ordered. (See the full review.)
Ghosts
No sitcom is better suited for Halloween than this spirited hit, and once again, it doesn’t disappoint. This year, it’s the judgmental Puritan ghost Patience (Mary Holland) taking center stage, convinced that their mortal liaison Sam (Rose McIver) is a witch and demanding she be held to account. Cue the witch trial — “How Halloween is that?” chirps Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones). Given the genre, even a good-natured stunt is likely to have unintended consequences.
Frasier
Returning to its roots for one of the best episodes of its second season, the revived sitcom sends Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and son Freddie (Jack Cutmore-Scott) back to Seattle with his producer Roz (Peri Gilpin) for a visit to his radio home of KACL, which has seen better days. With welcome cameos by Dan Butler (Bulldog) and Edward Hibbert (Gil), and a special celebrity guest voice, the reunion also brings the radio shrink in contact with a superfan (Rory O’Malley) whose life wasn’t changed for the better when he took Frasier’s advice to follow his dream. Back in Boston, Professor Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst) has a falling-out with his long-suffering assistant David (Anders Keith).
Finding Mr. Christmas
Given the surplus of holiday movies Hallmark produces each year, it’s little wonder they’re on the hunt for a fresh face and a new leading man. They’ll find one through this reality competition, hosted and co-created by Hallmark veteran Jonathan Bennett (The Holiday Sitter), in which 10 dapper hunks embark on Yule-themed challenges and screen tests to gauge their talent, charisma, heart and authenticity, with the winner scoring a starring role in one of this year’s Countdown to Christmas movies. Melissa Peterman (Happy’s Place) serves as the lead judge.
Teacup
More suited to Halloween, the final two episodes of the sci-fi chiller build to a shattering climax as the families trapped on a Georgia farm try to discern which of them may be possessed by an extraterrestrial Assassin. This invisible menace, passed by mouth from body to body, has one goal: to stop the heroic Harbinger nestled within little Arlo (Caleb Dolden). Sacrifices will be made as the survivors look to take the fight for the planet’s future beyond their own backyard.
Elsbeth
It’s always fun to see a mystery procedural shake up the formula, even slightly. Instead of revealing whodunit in the opening scene, this week’s Halloween-themed episode suggests who might have done it when Mac (Brittany O’Grady, The White Lotus), a spoiled former child star, wakes up after a blurry Halloween Eve worried that she may have shot and killed someone. But who? And why? Enter Elsbeth (Carrie Preston), resplendent in an Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany’s costume, to figure out if Mac is a killer or a victim herself. As usual, the culprit is fairly obvious, but sealing the deal is part of the fun.
INSIDE THURSDAY TV:
- Law & Order (8/7c, NBC): When a student is accused of killing a teacher, the school’s policies are put on trial after the suspect’s young age creates a legal hurdle. Followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), where a TV reporter’s career is jeopardized by a sextortion scheme.
- My Sweet Austrian Holiday (8/7c, Hallmark Channel): Who needs Halloween when Christmas is, um, right around the corner? This is the story of American transplant Charlotte (Brittany Bristow), who inherited her grandparents’ chocolate shop in Vienna and is determined not to lose it to a developer. She finds an ally in Henry (Will Kemp), a charmer with a sweet tooth.
- Matlock (9/8c, CBS): Matty (Kathy Bates) uses her natural warmth to console a client (John Billingsley) when the firm has a conflict of interest in a wrongful death suit. At home, there’s conflict when her husband Edwin (Sam Anderson) objects to her using their grandson Alfie (Aaron Harris) as an accomplice to their secret mission.
ON THE STREAM:
- Mistletoe Murders (streaming on Hallmark+): Sarah Drew (Grey’s Anatomy) stars in a six-part cozy mystery series as Emily Lane, a Christmas-shop owner with a secret past who can’t stop meddling in local crimes — with the help of swoon-worthy Detective Sam Wilner (Peter Mooney).
- Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words (streaming on Prime Video): The outspoken rapper reflects on her career and turbulent events in her very public life in a revealing documentary.
- Despicable Me 4 (streaming on Peacock): The latest film in the animated hit franchise makes its streaming debut.
- Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End (streaming on Prime Video): Based on Manel Loureiro’s novel, a Spanish horror film finds a man (Francisco Ortiz) and his cat trying to survive a global zombie outbreak. Feliz Halloween!