‘Good Doctor’ Tearjerker, A Missed ‘Calling’ on ‘Manifest,’ Kimmel in Brooklyn
A critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
The Good Doctor (10/9c, ABC): It’s a three-hanky workout on TV’s most emotional medical drama as the primary storylines deal with parenting challenges, choices and regrets. For Dr. Glassman (a very moving Richard Schiff), it’s more of an exorcism when he confronts the specter of his late daughter Maddie, played by The Americans‘ tremulous Holly Taylor, in post-op hallucinations. (Not to worry; this won’t drag on like Denny’s ghost on Grey’s Anatomy.) These scenes are often dramatically blunt in their recriminations and reconciliations, but Schiff and Taylor sell them. An even more moving subplot finds the doctors, including Shaun (Freddie Highmore), counseling a mother who may need to separate from her developmentally challenged teenage son — which triggers flashbacks to teenage Shaun’s (Graham Verchere) memorable experience with a tough-love caretaker (Brooke Smith). Adding some comic, yet also lump-in-the-throat, relief: Shaun’s efforts to win back Lea (Paige Spara), who’s looking for new digs after her less than triumphant homecoming.
Manifest (10/9c, NBC): The mysteries surrounding the passengers of Flight 828 continue to escalate, when Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) and Dr. Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) experience new and alarming visions that relate to a secret being kept by one of the plane’s flight attendants. When Michaela misinterprets this week’s “calling,” there are serious consequences on the job. (How long before they just accept her as a “psychic detective?”) Her brother Ben has his own issues, involving a wayward daughter (Luna Blaise) who brings him face to face with his wife’s love interest (Rescue Me‘s Daniel Sunjata) during his absence.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (11:35/10:35, ABC): The late-night host returns to Brooklyn for his fourth week-long gig at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House. Guests include, on his first night, Adam Sandler and Eminem, with Jack Ryan star John Krasinski scheduled for Tuesday, Cardi B. and upstart politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday, Julia Louis-Dreyfus Thursday and Wu-Tang Clan on Friday.
Inside Monday TV: NBC’s The Voice (8/7c) transitions from the end of the Blind Auditions to the beginning of the Battle Rounds, with Keith Urban, Halsey, Thomas Rhett and former Voice coach CeeLo Green helping the singers prepare for the sing-offs… The CW’s Arrow (8/7c) begins its seventh season with Oliver (Stephen Amell) five months into his prison sentence, after revealing his identity as the Green Arrow to the feds. Followed by a special broadcast of the CW Seed animated series Constantine: The Legend Continues (9/8c), with Matt Ryan returning to voice the demon fighter… New cast member Jennifer Love Hewitt, as Maddie, goes on a ride-along with Angela Bassett’s Athena on Fox’s 9-1-1 (9/8c)… CBS’s Bull (10/9c) finds a replacement for the departed Cable, with Mackenzie Meehan joining the cast as cyber-investigator Taylor Rentzel. Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan) guests as Cable’s mother, when Bull (Michael Weatherly) and the TAC team engage in a civil suit against the bank that funded the terrorists responsible for the bridge collapse that took Cable’s life.
