Revisiting ‘Deutschland’ in ’86, ‘Good Place’ in a New Place, ‘Legacies’ Premiere

Matt Roush
19 Comments
Maria Schrader as Lenora and Jonas Nay as Martin in Deutschland 86 - Season 2, Episode 2
Anika Molnár/SundanceTV

A critical checklist of notable Thursday TV:

Deutschland 86 (Midnight/11c, SundanceTV): Proving that suspense is a universal language, this long-awaited sequel (largely subtitled) to the acclaimed Deutschland 83 shifts gears from John le Carré spy territory to a geopolitical thriller worthy of high-end Robert Ludlum. Jonas Nay is back as Martin Rauch, a young East German soldier recruited three years earlier to cross into West Berlin as an undercover agent. He’s been in exile ever since, toiling in an Angolan orphanage and longing to get back home to meet the son he never knew — but first, a new and dangerous mission. A scheme to raise money for the impoverished Communist regime sends Martin and his calculating Aunt Lenora (Maria Schrader) to South Africa for a perilous arms deal that leads to harrowing events in the Libyan desert and back to Paris. If you miss The Americans, you might want to pledge allegiance to Deutschland.

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The Good Place (8:30/7:30c, NBC): Few shows are as adept at shifting gears as frequently and cleverly as this fantastical comedy, which now dubs our stuck-in-limbo quartet as “The Soul Squad,” helping others get in the “Good Place” with the astral help of Michael (Ted Danson) and Janet (D’Arcy Carden). First stop: Jacksonville, FL, where Jason (Manny Jacinto) reunites with his peeps to try to put them on the right path without their knowledge. The dilemma facing Chidi (William Jackson Harper) is trickier: how to break up with the fabulous Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste).

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Legacies (9/8c, The CW): A new generation of supernatural heroes is getting schooled in this spinoff of The Originals, with Alaric (Matt Davis) serving as headmaster at The Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted. (It’s no Hogwarts, but what is?) Among the students: Originals carryover Hope (Danielle Rose Russell), a “tri-brid” vampire-werewolf-witch; Alaric’s own twins, Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) and Josie (Kaylee Bryant); newbie werewolf Rafael (Peyton Alex Smith) and vivacious vamp MG (Quincy Fosse).

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Heathers (10/9c, Paramount Network): Bad things come to those who wait. That’s the only possible way to explain the resurrection — over five nights, through Monday — of a series that was wisely shelved last spring in the wake of the deadly Stoneman Douglas high school shootings. Here’s how I reviewed it back before it was pulled: Don’t even try to distinguish the nice girls from the mean girls in this tiresomely nasty camp cartoon homage to 1989’s pitch-black cult comedy. They’re all hateful Heathers, and if it’s meant to show progress that one of the vicious high-school vipers is not a flashy gay teen (Brendan Scannell), such novelty wears thin. So does this stylish but shrill celebration of a murderous culture of cruelty, designed for those who may have thought Scream Queens was too subtle. What once seemed audacious is now just atrociously mean-spirited. Only Grace Victoria Cox as Veronica, the enigmatic honorary Heather, brings nuance to this toxic parody of poisonous peer pressure.

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Inside Thursday TV: A favorite returns to The CW’s Supernatural (8/7c), when Sam (Jared Padalecki) turns to Sheriff Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) to help solve the mystery of Dean’s (Jensen Ackles) whereabouts… Howard (Simon Helberg) may regret dressing up as the notoriously humorless Sheldon (Jim Parsons) as a Halloween prank on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory (8/7c)… It’s another emotional setback for the support group of CBS’s Mom (9/8c), when Marjorie’s (Mimi Kennedy) husband passes away, prompting a road trip to honor his memory… Tony winner Katie Finneran guests on CBS’s Murphy Brown (9:30/8:30c) as Frank’s (Joe Regalbuto) new date — who happens to be an anchor on the competing Wolf Network… NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (10/9c) handles a trickier case than usual, involving an assault victim who wakes up with no memory of the attack — then she vanishes.

Deutschland 86Heathers (2018)LegaciesThe Good Place



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  1. R

    RedQuill

    I'm going to put Season Passes into the ol' DVR for...Legacies (although I didn't watch The Vampire Diaries or The Originals)…Heathers (although I haven't seen the movie)...and Deutschland 86 (although I never ran across Deutschland 83)…

    I mean...why not???

    If after viewing their first episodes I decide to stick with them it will be interesting to see what "happens"...I'm already close to my "4 backed-up episodes => GONE" category with The Resident, AHS:Apocalypse, Murphy Brown and Last Man Standing...

    1. C

      CyanCoathanger

      Last Man Standing is on Fridays.

    2. This comment was removed by its author.

    3. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I've had Heathers on my list of films to watch for years, and I always seem to miss it.

  2. G

    GoldSubmarine

    My DVR recorded Purge: Election Day last night. Will watch that now that it won't cost me extra to view it. I hope it is as frightening as the original Purge or the sequel Purge:Anarchy. After I watch this one, I just have the new prequel The First Purge to complete the movie series.

    I watched every Halloween movie this month except for Halloween Resurrection (2002) - still cost $$ to watch it , and the new one in theatres.

    Already watched all of Friday The 13th Jason movies and Freddy Kruger's Nightmare on Elm Street movies All very scary.

    But Michael Myers frightens me more.

    1. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I saw that was on, but I don't care to watch it all chopped up by commercials, censored, and edited for TV.

    2. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Movies shown on cable aren't edited too badly and sometimes not at all. These movies are still very violent and graphic. If they were shown on broadcast then I would agree.

      1

    3. C

      CyanCoathanger

      It was basic cable in prime time, so I wouldn't count on it being unedited. I don't have time to watch it right now anyway.

    4. G

      GoldSubmarine

      I see your watching lots of shows this season. I still have to catch up with The Purge show, I only watched a few episodes so far. Good stuff.

    5. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I'm still enjoying it. I'm really, really enjoying American Horror Story this year! I think it's their best season ever.

    6. G

      GoldSubmarine

      No show scared me more than FOX's The Exorcist. Only lasted two seasons, but it was superior to the movies.

      Did you ever watch the Amityville Horror movie series? The first two were extremely frightening. After that diminishing returns but still scary to me.

      I will check out American Horry Story soon. Been a while since I watched it .

      1

    7. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I saw the original Amityville (1979) in a theater once. I thought it was rather amusing, but the woman with me was scared sh*tless by it! She was still shaking an hour after it ended! I'm sure I've seen Amityville II on TV, but I don't remember it. I'm not a fan of the Exorcist movie or the TV show.

    8. G

      GreenWrench

      Totally agree about AHS; I've watched every season and I think this is one of their strongest yet. I've also enjoyed most of The Purge episodes, although I find I've been rolling my eyes more and more lately at some of the characters' stupid decisions. Still, I'll stick with it to the end to find out who all survives.

    9. C

      CyanCoathanger

      The stupid decisions are part of the horror film tradition like having a character go in the basement to check something or open a door when they don't know who's there.

    10. G

      GreenWrench

      Lol. So true. I roll my eyes at those decisions too, but I keep watching. 🙂

  3. R

    RedCupcake

    Supernatural, Murphy, and SWAT.

    1. G

      GreenElephant

      All CBS except "SWAT".

  4. C

    CyanCoathanger

    A battle of the network comedies again: Superstore and Good Place against Big Bang and Sheldon! Then, Will & Grace for me.

    Anyone going to check out Legacies? I don't know enough about it to form any ideas yet.

    1. R

      RedCupcake

      I watched The Vampire Diaries (although not as much in the last season). Never watched The Originals. Legacies is actually a spinoff of BOTH shows, as a popular TVD character will apparently be the "dean" or headmaster of the school. Anyway, I don't think I'm going to immerse myself in it. Actually, I started watching Vampire Diaries sort of by accident, as I caught the premier episode when I thought Supernatural was going to be on. But it was interesting, and I kept watching.

    2. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I've never watched either of them, so I'd probably be lost.