Worth Watching: ‘Suits’ and ‘Magicians’ Return, WGN America’s ‘Pure’
A selective critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:
Suits (10/9, USA): The more things change at this law firm, the more we know it’s business as usual on Suits, which resumes its eighth season with Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) now the new managing partner. How will this eternal whipping boy fare as he takes the reins of one of TV’s most embattled workplaces? While we wait to find out, the much flashier Harvey (Gabriel Macht) suits up to face a longtime nemesis in a rematch.
The Magicians (9/8c, Syfy): Things are even crazier than usual for the Brakebills gang in the fourth season of the fantasy series inspired by Lev Grossman’s novels. When we last saw them in April, each had their memories wiped and were given new identities, while Eliot (Hale Appleman) was possessed by a monster. It’s going to take some bodacious magic to fix this mess.
Pure (10/9c, WGN America): The channel’s latest acquisition from Canadian TV is a six-episode crime drama that takes viewers inside the insular world of a Mennonite community. Shades of Breaking Bad when newly elected pastor Noah Funk (Ryan Robbins) gets pulled into an organized crime ring while trying to exorcise drugs and corruption from his vulnerable flock.
Inside Wednesday TV: Turner Classic Movies salutes one of TV’s early comic visionaries on what would have been his 100th birthday, in a prime-time tribute to Ernie Kovacs. Selected 1961 episodes of The Ernie Kovacs Show (8/7c) are interspersed with Kovacs’ film work including 1957’s Operation Mad Ball (8:45/7:45c) and 1960’s Wake Me When It’s Over (10:45/9:45c)… CBS’s SEAL Team (9/8c) goes underwater for a suspenseful mission aboard a submarine off the coast of North Korea, where team member Sonny (A.J. Buckley) gets stuck in a torpedo tube with limited air… Fans of Vikings may want to stick around for History’s new full-contact competition series Knight Fight (10/9c). WWE’s Jay “Christian” Reso hosts as six members of the Armored Combat League suit up in historically accurate armor to lock swords and other weapons. A prize of $100,00 is at stake, and a chance to land in the season finale’s climactic melee. Needless to say, don’t try this at home.
