‘Starfleet’ Finale, Return to Virgin River, Remembering Roberta Flack, St. Patrick’s Day ‘Ghosts’

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

“As far as final exams go, this one is a doozy,” engineer and commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) tells her skeleton crew of cadets, the last line of defense against the vengeful Nus Braka (a gleefully hammy Paul Giamatti), who’s trapped the entire Federation behind a potentially devastating minefield. In the eventful and plus-sized Season 1 finale of the latest Trek spinoff, Braka puts all of Starfleet on trial, with Capt. Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), the defendant and Caleb’s (Sandro Rosta) fugitive mother, Anisha Mir (Orphan Black‘s Tatiana Maslany), as juror and potential executioner. Back on the Athena, the only vessel outside the formidable weapon wall, Reno coaches her young team through what is no longer a training exercise: “One emergency at a time.”

Virgin River

The popular romantic drama based on the novels by Robyn Carr picks up its seventh season in the wake of Mel’s marriage to Jack (Martin Henderson). But it’s anything but a honeymoon for the Northern California community when Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) and her twin babies go missing following the discovery of drug-dealing Calvin’s body. Amid the intrigue, Mel and Jack take steps toward adoption while Denny (Kai Bradbury) and Lizzie (Sarah Dugdale) anticipate the birth of their first child.

OWN Spotlight

Music fans of a certain age will remember the first time they heard Roberta Flack sing “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” She killed it softly with her songs, the first artist to win back-to-back Record of the Year Grammy Awards (in 1973 and 1974) on her way to a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. The life and career of Flack, who died at 88 in February 2025, is the subject of a two-hour documentary profile using her own words through archival footage, with commentary from the late Rev. Jesse Jackson and fellow artists including Peabo Bryson.

Ghosts

It’s St. Patrick’s Day at Woodstone, which means it’s the one day a year that the proudly Irish Hetty (the fabulous Rebecca Wisocky) can be seen by and interact with the living. Series star Rose McIver directs a terrific episode in which each of the storylines pays dividends. Most notably, Hetty’s unexpected excursion into the world of menial labor, when she volunteers to step in to replace a waiter (Emmy winner Jeff Hiller) at Jay’s restaurant, whom she drives away with her attitude. Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) isn’t thrilled, but he’s got other worries, including his sister Bela’s (Punam Patel) weird but funny love triangle involving dream lover Sasappis (Román Zaragoza) and popular ghost-sitter Kyle (Ben Feldman).

The Pitt

With computers still down, the emergency room at Pittsburgh’s Trauma Medical Center spends the 4 pm hour dealing with victims of a water-park collapse. “This place is relentless,” says newbie med student Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), who gets caught up in a particularly grisly case. “I’m not sure it’s healthy for anybody.” Even so, the beat goes on, causing one doctor to have a panic attack with several hours yet to go on their grueling 4th of July shift.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (8/7c, CBS): It’s Georgie’s (Montana Jordan) 21^st birthday, but Mandy (Emily Osment) isn’t in the partying mood after her career crisis.
• 9-1-1 (8/7c, ABC): Eddie (Ryan Guzman) and Buck (Oliver Stark) hit the road for a cross-country drive when their flight home from Nashville is canceled. Followed by 9-1-1: Nashville (9/8c), where firefighter Taylor (Hailey Kilgore) gets an opportunity to further her music career and goes public with her relationship with Blue (Hunter McVey).
• Law & Order (8/7c, NBC): While trying the case of a fashion designer’s murder, the DA’s go after the private life of a witness in hopes of securing a conviction. Followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), where a dispute at a fan convention turns deadly.
• Matlock (9/8c, CBS): When the team goes after a landlord whose building collapsed, one of their colleagues is arrested for jury misconduct.
• Animal Control (9/8c, Fox): Emily’s (Vella Lovell) relationship with Shred (Michael Rowland) is no longer a secret after Frank (Joel McHale) discovers the truth during a break-in. Followed by Going Dutch (9:30/8:30c), where the Colonel (Denis Leary) extracts perhaps too much truth from his troops after using a serum to expose a mole in their midst.
• Elsbeth (10/9c, CBS): Steve Buscemi guest-stars as a crossword-puzzle champ who tries to hide clues from Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) involving the suspicious death of a puzzle editor and championship organizer. (Kudos to Broadway’s Ann Harada, seen warbling a few bars of the Maltby-Shire ditty “Crossword Puzzle.”)
• Grey’s Anatomy (10/9c, ABC): Richard (James Pickens Jr.) returns to work, greeted by a difficult case, while Bailey (Chandra Wilson) delivers hard truths to a favorite patient.
• The Hunting Party (10/9c, NBC): The team pursues a villainous neuroscientist who does bad things to his victims’ brains and who may have information about Shane’s (Josh McKenzie) past.

ON THE STREAM:

• The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (streaming on Hulu): The fourth season follows the MomTok group as members venture into the wider world of reality TV, with Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck appearing on Dancing with the Stars while Taylor Frankie Paul prepares for her Bachelorette gig.
• The Stroke (streaming on Viaplay): A Polish dramedy depicts the ordeal of a popular and openly gay middle-aged TV personality who re-examines his life after suffering a stroke.
• Wild Rose (streaming on ALLBLK): R&B musician/actor Omarion stars in an eight-part thriller as a hitman with heart whose wife and daughter disappear while he’s assigned to be bodyguard, and potential assassin, to a famous singer.