Worth Watching: ‘Triple Frontier’ on Netflix, a ‘Survivor’ Switch, the Return of ‘Empire’
A selective critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:
Triple Frontier (streaming on Netflix): It’s not quite a Dirty Half-Dozen, as Ben Affleck leads a starry cast in an action movie from director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call, All is Lost) about a group of former Special Forces ops (including Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal and Garrett Hedlund) who reunite to pull off a very secret, and illicit, mission. This time they’re out for themselves, targeting a South American drug lord (Reynaldo Gallegos) and his fortune, which they plan to steal — if their getaway over the Andes Mountains goes off without a hitch. (The movie’s title refers to the area where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet.)
Survivor (8/7c, CBS): Well, that didn’t take long. With the “Manu” tribe already down three contestants to none for the dominant “Kama,” it’s already time for a tribal shakeup. Off go the buffs, as the two remaining tribes become three. And over on Edge of Extinction island, things get tense when the newly ousted Chris finds himself facing two tribe members he helped blindside. How awkward.
Empire (8/7c, Fox): Returning from a three-month hiatus, the intrigues within this hip-hop dynasty have been upstaged by the offstage scandal surrounding Jussie Smollett, recently indicted by a grand jury on 16 felony charges related to the alleged attack on the actor in late January. While fans wait to see how the real-life drama plays out, the fictional Lyons continue their efforts to regain control of Empire — if they can prove Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Becky (Gabourey Sidibe) are innocent of their own scandal involving data-mining.
Inside Wednesday TV: The visually thrilling Free Solo, winner of this year’s Oscar for documentary feature, begins streaming on Hulu… Cable’s UPtv launches a syndication run of former TNT fan favorite The Librarians (8/7c and 9/8c) with special extended episodes… One of four final acts from around the globe will be named a winner in the two-hour season finale of CBS’s The World’s Best (9/8c)… ABC’s Whiskey Cavalier (10/9c) jets to Rome on a new anti-terror mission, which could be jeopardized if Will (Scott Foley) and Frankie (Lauren Cohan) can’t get over their personality beefs.
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O
Boy, Empire will be interesting going forward with everything going on in real life but anyway I\'m excited to have my show back. Also, Modern Family for me tonight
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R
Wow. Once again, there\'s NOTHING that I\'m interested in. CBS can\'t get rid of it\'s competition shows quickly enough for me.
The Librarians is a fun show. I\'ll have to look into UpTV to see if I get that channel.
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G
CBS is still airing World\'s Best after Survivor. I\'ve been seeing lots of previews for Seal Team though. Not sure when it starts up again.
I laughed a couple of times while watching FBI last night. Jubal was curiously speaking low during the first half of the episode. And boss profiler Dana didn\'t put on her glasses. By mid episode Jubal was back yelling orders and Dana was putting on glasses and taking them off multiple times in one scene! I literally laughed out loud.
Brainy analyst Kristen wants to be a special agent like OA and Maggie. So I guess smart computer guy Ian will assist in the office more often.
As for the forgettable case this week. It didn\'t make all that much sense to me. I was mostly focused on the supporting characters for some odd reason.
Wonder if Kristen will be part of the new spin-off this season?
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R
Yeah, I wondered if the young analyst would be in the spin-off. But then, she\'s only going to the FBI academy, so she might be too \"green\" for the high-profile team in the spin-off.
BTW have you seen the promos for the upcoming series The Code? About a bunch of young gung-ho Marine lawyers. Basically it\'s JAG all over again. Except probably with more Marine stuff, and less law stuff.
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G
If they show her training at the academy in Quantico, it will be more like ABC\'s Quantico during the first season. I bet they speed up that portion and have her on the beat sooner rather than later. She already went undercover once earlier this season . Jubal also did.
That was an above par episode. Last night was a disappointing one .
Yes, I have seen previews for The Code. Doesn\'t seem my type. But of course my mom will be watching it.
NBC\'s Enemy Within is improving. Yet another FBI/CIA show, but this one has a twist. Primarily about moles within the agencies.
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G
Most of the time these competitions score higher ratings than scripted and they cost less. Hence why every network is loading up on them.
Curiously , World\'s Best is a low rated show and CBS has been sticking with it.
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G
Can\'t blame the network for recycling old hits and putting a new spin on them. When networks attempt to be original and creative the ratings usually suffer. I can list multiple outstanding highly unique shows that were canceled prematurely.
Networks have a far greater chance of succeeding with familiarity. Sad but true.
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R
Yeah, but it\'s kind of crazy. Why not simply \'update\' JAG? The show had millions of fans, plus millions of NCIS fans would probably come along for the ride. One of the original JAG characters has appeared on NCIS-LA in the last season or so, and another character has appeared on NCIS (mother-ship) a couple of times. And since NCIS was sort of spun off of JAG, it would bring this world full circle.
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G
Good idea! NBC must still be disappointed that they cancelled Jag prematurely.
They missed out on a very successful franchise .
At least they had multiple L&Os and of course the Chicago shows.
ABC and FOX need to get on the band wagon and create procedural franchises also.
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O
It\'s also because Networks today are just lazy and greedy too. They don\'t get that something creative and fresh or unique needs time to build an audience. Can you imagine if they had cancelled Seinfeld or Cheers or All In The Family when they were first struggling? Television would have never been the same. I loved that show Stitchers which aired on Freeform. Very unique yet had a fun 80s90s throwback vibe to it. Of course that channel that thrives on mediocrity cancelled it. I guess its just easier ripping off someone else\'s homework then actually doing the work yourself
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G
Yes you are correct.
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G
Whiskey is a fun light show.. Enemy Within is dark and heavy. Very different, but enjoy both.
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C
I\'m still not completely sold on either of them, and I didn\'t watch or record either of them this week. If I don\'t watch them on demand in a day or two, I\'m probably done with them.
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C
I wondered about that too (the insurance/suicide deal), and wondered if his death could have been declared an accident.
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G
Unless the suicide part is hidden from insurance company. Family members sometimes claim it was an accidental overdose or victim was killed by a vehicle accidentally .
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G
Whiskey was very funny last night. Probably the most enjoyable show on my watch list at this time.
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C
He jumped off the balcony of his office building. Oops!
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G
Not covered! And the show should have had a disclaimer at the end of the episode stating that it is a fictional account and there is no insurance benefit.
Imagine a real live person debating whether to kill himself thinking his family will be rewarded.
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C
They could have said he tripped/slipped and fell over the railing.
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G
Insurance companies urge timely payments. But when it\'s time for them to pay up
they investigate every detail, police reports are scrutinized, witnesses are interviewed.
Not just life insurance companies either, my friend tried collecting from an insurance company when his car was legit stolen out of his driveway. Took forever!!!!
They wanted both keys (he lost one and only had one). They thought he was involved in the theft so he can collect. Police investigations were going on for months.
Later, police found out car was transported to Newark NJ and put in an empty parking garage with dozens of other stolen cars ready to be shipped overseas.
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C
All the ABC comedies are back again! I\'ve also got Riverdale, World\'s Best, and Deadly Class scheduled! Gone and Whiskey will have to wait until later!
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G
My mom likes Gone and watched all of Pure. I always feel I\'m missing out with these WGN shows. Summer favorite, Carter has been renewed , but not sure if its airing on WGN or Bravo. Reading conflicting articles.
Whiskey is a fun show to watch. Hope it can survive for another season.
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C
Gone isn\'t that good. As I said, I was only watching it because it repeated at midnight. Carter only airs on Bravo in Canada which is different from Bravo here. It wouldn\'t fit with our Bravo\'s programming. Since WGN still has Carter on its site\'s front page, I\'d assume they\'re going to air the second season.
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C
Don\'t you think it\'s weird that Project Runway All Stars is still running on Lifetime and the new Project Runway starts tomorrow on Bravo? You\'d think they\'d let one end before the other begins!
Auditions on MasterChef? All I remember is them bringing in 2 or 3 at a time, having them cook the same thing, and giving one of them an apron. Was that an audition? They never showed all of them. Sometimes, they just showed people running out with an apron.
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G
I\'ll take your word over my mom. She likes way too many shows. As I mentioned last time the only show this season that she dropped was ABC\'s For The People . Knowing her she might give it another chance this week.
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C
I always see a cook or two in about the fourth episode and wonder who the hell they are and where they\'ve been hiding. They seem to give nearly all the screen time to a limited number of them at a time.
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C
Oh, I\'ll have to start holding auditions then! ;-)
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