‘Gilded Age’ Finale, JFK Jr. the ‘American Prince,’ Hallmark’s Chicken Sisters Return, Escape from ‘The Institute’

The Gilded Age

SUNDAY: The Russell family is in crisis after last week’s shocking shooting incident, but the main event in the Season 3 finale of the diverting period drama is set in Newport, the setting for two balls serving the old and new-money elite and the Black aristocracy. Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) pledges to allow divorced women into her grand affair, much to the consternation of Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy). And Peggy Scott (Denée Benton) hopes her budding relationship with the well-heeled Dr. Kirkland (Jordan Donica) can survive revelations about her unhappy past. While the return to America of new duchess Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) is a point of pride for her manipulative mother Bertha, there are consequences in her own marriage. But as Scarlett O’Hara once famously said, “Tomorrow is another day.” And a fourth season is forthcoming.

American Prince: JFK Jr.

SATURDAY: The hunk who would be king, a global celebrity who rivaled the similarly gone-too-soon and telegenic Princess Diana, John F. Kennedy Jr. is the subject of a three-part biographical docuseries. His lineage, a martyred president as father and a world-famous style icon as mother, made him a media sensation from the moment he saluted his father’s coffin on his third birthday. American Prince follows the young and charismatic Kennedy’s path toward rejecting a political career and embracing journalism as the founder of George magazine. After wedding Carolyn Bessette, the couple became relentless tabloid fodder until their death in a small-plane crash in 1999, when he was only 38.

The Chicken Sisters

SUNDAY: Hatchets and grudges were buried at the end of the first season of this charming dramedy when chicken-restaurant rivals Gus (Wendie Malick) and Nancy (Lea Thompson) created their own Chicken Sisters establishment, with Gus’s daughters Amanda (Schuyler Fisk) and Mae (Genevieve Angelson) on board. But they didn’t count on Amanda’s estranged husband and Nancy’s son, Frank Jr. (James Kot), who unfairly won the Kitchen Clash TV showdown, opening his own chicken franchise in the heart of town. As Season 2 opens, JAG alum David James Elliott joins the cast as a mystery man from Gus’s past.

The Institute

SUNDAY: It took long enough, but with only two more episodes to go after this week, the adaptation of Stephen King’s page-turner finally brings its two heroes together: Luke (Joe Freeman), the telepathically gifted young prisoner who’s managed to escape the horrors of The Institute, and ex-cop good Samaritan Tim (Ben Barnes), whose suspicions about the secret facility bear fruit when he encounters the desperate Luke. Their ordeal is just beginning, though, with cold-blooded Institute director Ms. Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker) determined to contain the damage from the Institute’s first escape in 70 years.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• Finding Faith (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): Paula Patton stars as newly widowed Faith, who spirals in a spiritual crisis until her family, friends, and a caring pastor (Stephen Bishop) help her climb out of the darkness. Costars include Loretta Devine and Keith David.
• Providence Falls (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): Cora (Katie Stevens) and Liam (Lachlan Quarmby) work together to solve a murder in the romantic time-travel fantasy, while Liam puts aside his own affection to guide his partner toward D.A. Finn Walsh (Evan Roderick), whom the fates have decreed is the man for Cora.
• Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller (Saturday, 10/9c, National Geographic): The investigative journalist heads to Vietnam, following reports of young women being trafficked to China as brides against their will.
• Nautilus (Sunday, 9/8c, AMC): Capt. Nemo (Shazad Latif) loses control of the Nautilus when the crew believes he’s gambling with their lives. An outbreak of metal-eating bugs on board may have them second-guessing their mutiny.