Worth Watching: ‘Line of Duty,’ ‘9-1-1’ and Other Finales, a New ‘Bachelorette’
A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
Line of Duty (streaming on Acorn TV): The hit British crime drama from the creator of Bodyguard offers up its most electrifying dirty-cop candidate yet in its fifth season: John Corbett, a volatile undercover detective who’s gone off the grid, played as a fiery bolt of tightly wound fury by Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire). As the anti-corruption AC-12 unit gets closer to this target, who may have crossed the line into criminal behavior, they begin to doubt the integrity of their own boss, Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar). Expect gut-wrenching twists along the way. It’s creator Jed Mercurio’s stock in trade.
9-1-1 (8/7c, Fox): The first-responders action drama wraps its second season with the 118 crew even busier than usual. If it weren’t enough that a stunt driver and social influencer find themselves in perilous situations, there’s a possible serial bomber threatening L.A. with mail bombs.
Other season finales include The CW’s Arrow (8/7c), which marks Emily Bett Rickards‘ last appearance as a series regular — Felicity, say it isn’t so! — and CBS’s Bull (10/9c), in which the title consultant (Michael Weatherly) must convince a jury that a 3-year-old’s death was an accident and not alleged murder by her stepmother.
The Bachelorette (8/7c, ABC): Former Miss Alabama Hannah Brown is the latest lovelorn lady seeking a permanent soulmate on TV as the dating game enters its 15th season. In the premiere, she meets 30 telegenic bachelors, a group that she’ll winnow down to 22 by the time the night is over. To help her make the tough call, she’ll lean on “Hannah’s Angels” — Demi Burnett and Katie Morton from The Bachelor’s 23rd season — who’ll be watching the action from a hidden surveillance van. What, they were expecting privacy on this exercise in exhibitionistic courtship?
Inside Monday TV: Before he was a Jeopardy! sensation (returning May 20 after the Teachers Tournament concludes), James Holzhauer killed it on Game Show Network’s The Chase in 2014. That episode will be rebroadcast with commentary from Jeopardy!’s other record-breaker, Ken Jennings, in Game Show Network’s Must Watch: The Chase (4 pm/3c)… Think Junior Baywatch — or, better yet, don’t think, with Netflix’s Malibu Rescue, a movie comedy about junior lifeguards from The Valley who go up against snobby locals at Malibu’s beach. A series version will follow June 3… Gabrielle Union reprises her Bad Boys 2 role of Syd Burnett in the police drama spinoff L.A.’s Finest, where she’s teamed with LAPD detective Nancy McKenna (Jessica Alba). The first three episodes drop on Spectrum’s On Demand platform, with two episodes each following Monday for the first season… The Daily Show‘s “Woman-American” contributor Desi Lysic goes global in Comedy Central’s hourlong special The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents Desi Lydic: Abroad (11/10c). Her mission: traveling to countries including top-ranked Iceland, plus Namibia and Spain, all of which outrank the U.S. when it comes to gender equality, for tips on how our nation can improve the lot of women in education, economics, health and politics. (Maybe shows like The Bachelorette don’t help?)
