‘The Split’ on Sundance, Finales of ‘Survivor,’ ‘SVU’ and More
A selective critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:
The Split (10/9c, SundanceTV): Love is a legal minefield in this engrossingly soapy high-end British drama about a family of female divorce lawyers. Enjoy Suits? Consider checking out this smart, sexy show. Think of it as Skirts. Nicola Walker (Last Tango in Halifax) leads a superb cast as the formidable Hannah, who left the firm run by her mother (a steely Deborah Findlay). Hannah often faces both her mom and carefree sister Nina (Annabel Scholey) in court or in negotiations over high-profile prenups and breakups. Her own marriage to affable barrister Nathan (Episodes’ Stephen Mangan) is strained by workplace and personal intrigue, heightened by the return after 30 years of her estranged father (Anthony Head). The Split verdict: an addictive guilty pleasure.
Survivor (8/7c, CBS): The “Ghost Island” season hasn’t been among Survivor’s most memorable, except for the long losing streak for the Malolo tribe and the inability of the players to disrupt the dominant Dom-Wendell alliance. Surprise shifts have been known to happen in the final episode, so there’s still hope as the game’s biggest maze ever and a fire-making challenge help decide who are the last to join the jury and bestow the $1 million prize on a sole survivor. (My money’s on Dom.) A cast reunion follows, and with that, the traditional broadcast TV season is over.
Law & Order: SVU (9/8c, NBC): Renewed for a 20th season, which will tie the spinoff with the still-missed mothership, SVU wraps its 19th year with a two-hour episode. The story opens with a hostage situation that ultimately reveals a criminal network known for taking no prisoners. Which may mean more misery for Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and her team.
Brockmire (10/9c, IFC): Jules (Amanda Peet) steps back into Brockmire’s (Hank Azaria) life during a long layover in New Orleans at a pivotal point in the sportscaster’s career, prompting some soul-searching and a confession: “I may not be in the major leagues, but I’ve really upped my game when it comes to my alcoholism,” Brockmire humble-brags. “New Orleans, it’s really the place to go pro.” Stay tuned for the first appearance of Carrie Preston in a role that’s an outrageous stretch even for this gifted Emmy-winning character actress.
Inside Wednesday TV: More finales: The battle for control continues on Fox’s Empire (8/7c) as Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and Lucious (Terrence Howard) square off against Eddie (Forest Whitaker) and a vengeful Anika (Grace Byers)… PBS’s Nature ends its 36th season with a plea on behalf of “The World’s Most Wanted Animal” (8/7c, check local listings at pbs.org), which would be the pangolin, a scaly mammal heavily trafficked for medicinal use in China, Thailand and Vietnam… Just picked up for a second season, Syfy’s Krypton (10/9c) closes book on its freshman year with Superman’s grandfather Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) forced to make tough choices to save his planet from Brainiac (Blake Ritson), who’s close to taking over the city of Kandor… A special edition of ABC’s 20/20 goes behind the scenes of summer blockbusters with “Lights, Camera, Summer!” (10/9c), featuring interviews with Deadpool 2’s Ryan Reynolds and anniversary celebrations of Jurassic Park (its 25th) and Animal House (its 40th).
Conversation19 Comments
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Later tonight, I'll watch David Letterman on Seth Meyers in the same studio Dave was on when he was on NBC back in the '80s and early '90s. I believe he's keeping his beard...
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Watched "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" all night which I don't usually do. Pretty intense three hours especially concerning the Olivia Benson character. Will probably watch next season...
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I occasionally watch that in the middle of the night when reruns are on. She's always intense, isn't she?
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Since Rectify ended...I haven't really watched ANYTHING on SundanceTV…
But...after Roush's remarks...I fired up the ol' Channel Guide to find its channel #...then put in a Season Pass on my DVR for The Split...just to check it out...
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No idea what I'm going to watch tonight. But I have to laugh-- my power went out last night, with 10 minutes to go before the end of NCIS season finale. Luckily NCIS isn't one of my "Tier One" shows, which I hate to miss. As it is, even though I missed the last 10 minutes, I really don't feel like I missed anything. 😮
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O
Must comment on the NCIS finale. Certainly the worst episode of NCIS ever produced. The whole thing with "Jack" was so over the top. Can only hope that the writers will find a way to make the "Abby replacement" watchable. They have made her a caricature---sort of a smart Stepin Fetchit. Sad and demeaning. Hard to understand after so many years as the "most watched" show on the air.
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I have to correct you-- in my opinion, Ducky's asst (Abby's TEMPORARY replacement) is already totally unwatchable. I have railed repeatedly that NCIS writes/creates terrible female characters, and always seem to give them some quirk or other. But this young woman is quirk-laden, which is extremely annoying.
Jack isn't much better, and I agree, her actions in the finale were definitely "over the top." As far as I'm concerned, she can be the one who doesn't return next season. (See article on this site about this topic.)
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C
Krypton is the only show I'll be watching tonight. I can hardly believe it!
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Did you watched the last "The Middle" ? I loved it, I had something in my eyes that made my eyes produce a watery substance, I don't know what it was!
Something that is bothering me, the last scene with the Hecks in the car, Sue
was looking like a paper cut out with a very strange look, even her voice was strange! Am I crazy? Am I the only one that noticed that?
Anyway missing this great show already.
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I just looked again, and I don't see it. At the very end, she was thinking about her bf catching up with them and how she felt about him. Maybe that's what you're picking up on.
I was very satisfied with the ending. I especially got a kick out of Axl ending up with 3 boys exactly like him.
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I was so satisfied with how The Middle ended. Such grace and class. I cried tears of joy.
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I just received the latest issue of TV GUIDE Magazine in the mail. ABC will be airing all of the remaining episodes of The Crossing .
Starting Monday May 28, Monday June 4th at 10:00 (but strangely doesn't designate a new episode) and burning off the final two episodes Saturday June 9th at 8:00-10:00.
I wont have very much to watch until Fall so my posts will vary in subject matter.
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Thanks for that. I will be watching it.
We have Salvation to talk about this summer, and I'm sure there will be a couple of other shows that deserve our comments.
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If CMT magically reappears on my cable tier, I'll comment about Nashville.
And just read an interesting article in the TV GUIDE about NBC's new summer show Reverie . It's a fantasy/drama about an advanced virtual reality program.
Stats Tuesday May 29
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The ads look somewhat interesting. I didn't realize it was starting so soon.
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Actually Reverie starts Wednesday May 30 at 10:00 PM
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Online, they show episode 8 on the 28th and ep. 9 on the 4th.
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I'm just glad ABC didn't let it disappear like they did with last season's Time After Time. My DVR is set to record The Crossing, just in case I miss the live airing.
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Wish I could do that.
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