‘Outlander’ Final Season, Netflix’s ‘War Machine’ and ‘Dinosaurs,’ ‘Stumble’s Unkindest Cut, Streaming ‘Hamnet’

Outlander

The wait is over, but the separation anxiety is just beginning as the epic romantic-historical drama returns for an eighth and final season, bringing an end to the passionate story of Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) time-tested and time-spanning relationship. The premiere brings the couple back to Fraser’s Ridge in 1779 with the Revolutionary War still raging, setting up an emotional reunion with their daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and her husband Roger (Richard Rankin) and family, who’ve returned from our present. New challenges, hardships, blessings, and revelations await them, including a sobering surprise hidden within a volume from the 20th-century book bag that Brianna brings with her. (Trying not to obsess on the timeline breach that finds Jamie discovering Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings several centuries early.)

War Machine

Has Reacher met his match? Alan Ritchson, the formidable star of the hit Prime Video action series, takes on an alien enemy in a non-stop sci-fi thriller that finds an elite team of U.S. Army Ranger trainees encountering a deadly extraterrestrial threat. He’s joined by fellow Titans alum Esai Morales, Dennis Quaid, and Stephan James in a fight for survival with all of humanity in the balance.

The Dinosaurs

Steven Spielberg, whose Jurassic Park franchise brought the prehistoric world to life, isn’t done with those creatures yet. In a dazzling four-part docuseries narrated by Morgan Freeman, his Amblin Documentaries unit collaborates with the cutting-edge filmmakers behind Life on Our Planet to depict in stunning detail life among the dinosaurs on land, sea, and sky as they ruled the planet before their cataclysmic demise.

Stumble

Cheerleading coach Courteney (Jenn Lyon) faces her toughest challenge yet in the penultimate episode of the cheerleading mockumentary’s freshman season. Having recruited new talent to the Buttons team, she now has one too many people on her squad and is forced to cut one of her beloved recruits from “making mat” before heading to the Daytona championships. The elimination process recalls A Chorus Line as each of them shows what they’ve got, and Courteney has to make her decision with her head, not her heart. Which isn’t the case with her soft-hearted husband Boon (the hilarious Taran Killam), who’s prone to blubbering over his favorites: “I’m all heart and no head, and I own it!”

Hamnet

Nominated for eight Oscars, Chloé Zhao‘s poignant adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel makes its streaming debut, starring Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and multiple award-winning actress Jessie Buckley as his wife Agnes, dealing with a shattering loss that inspires the playwright to create his most enduring work. The final scene at the Globe Theatre is the year’s most effective tear-jerker.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Happy’s Place (8/7c, NBC): Bobbie (Reba McEntire) thinks a darts tournament might help Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) and Emmitt (Rex Linn) bond. Will her scheme hit a bullseye?
• Sheriff Country (8/7c, CBS): Mickey (Morena Baccarin) discovers a conspiracy within Edgewater’s justice system. Followed by Fire Country (9/8c), where Bode (Max Thieriot) hopes to prove himself during rapid extraction REMs tryouts.
• RuPaul’s Drag Race (8/7c, MTV): Supermodel Iman is the guest judge when RuPaul surprises her queens with the season’s third design challenge.
• True Crime Watch: ABC‘s 20/20 (9/8c) reports on the 2006 shooting death of University of Miami rising football star Bryan Pata. On Dateline NBC (9/8c), Josh Mankiewicz reports on the 2010 murder of American University professor Sue Marcum in her Bethesda, Md., home and the international manhunt for her killer. Streaming on Hulu, the three-part docuseries Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese explores the 2012 disappearance and murder of 16-year-old Skylar in West Virginia, implicating her two best friends.
• Boston Blue (10/9c, CBS): It’s up to Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Lena (Sonequa Martin-Green) to stop a series of violent crimes throughout Beantown.

ON THE STREAM:

• The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control (streaming on Paramount+): A documentary follows the political battle to get Addyi, a pill described as “female Viagra,” to market, revealing gender inequities in healthcare policy.
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (streaming on Apple TV): While Monarch’s research vessel tracks the mammoth underwater Titan, hoping to keep it from nearing landfall or other ships at sea, a tentacled stowaway wreaks onboard panic.
• The Last Thing He Told Me (streaming on Apple TV): Rita Wilson guest-stars as Hannah’s (Jennifer Garner) estranged mother, who takes the fugitive and stepdaughter Bailey (Angourie Rice) into her Arizona home for a tense reunion with Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).
• Boyfriend on Demand (streaming on Netflix): A South Korean romcom series offers a romantic opportunity to an overworked webtoon producer (Blackpink’s Jisoo) through a virtual-reality dating simulation program. Will this keep her from realizing the real thing when she sees it?
• Fackham Hall (streaming on HBO Max): The Downton Abbey spoof, about a forbidden dalliance between a pickpocketing rogue (Ben Radcliffe) and the lady of the manor (Thomasin McKenzie), makes its streaming debut. The film makes its linear premiere on HBO Saturday at 8/7c.