Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!
[Note from Jenny: Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. I was a senior in high school in a town 45 minutes from OKC. I happened to be in the office turning in the absentee list for one of my teachers moments after it happened, and the secretaries had their little TV on, so I was in there watching when the plane hit the second tower. My brother had a friend/classmate whose mother was at the building for a meeting that morning, and she was killed. So this is a very personal date for me. To all those affected, know that you are remembered and thought of often. To those who weren’t, remember how lucky you are and give a moment of silence for those 168 people who didn’t make it home to their families that day. Thank you.]
Kyle’s Choice
Tonight, FX’s anthology series, Fargo, returns for its third season with a brand new cast and a new story. This third installment is set in 2010 and follows twin brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy (both played by Ewan McGregor, T2 Trainspotting). Emmit seems to have all the luck – he’s got the looks, has been married to his wife for 25 years, and has become the “Parking Lot King of Minnesota.” Meanwhile, slightly younger brother Ray is overweight and balding, spends his days as a parole officer watching people pee in cups, and has had one failed relationship after the next. However, Ray thinks he has finally met the woman he wants to marry, Nikki (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, BrainDead), one of his recent parolees. Ray blames his brother for his life’s misfortunes and soon finds himself mixed up in a plan to get payback that goes horribly wrong; and Emmit also discovers that things with his business aren’t exactly going the way he planned either, thanks to the mysterious V.M. Varga (David Thewlis, Harry Potter). Meanwhile, newly divorced mother/local police chief Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon, The Leftovers) finds herself personally and professionally pulled into the brothers’ feud.
The series comes from writer Noah Hawley, who also recently created Legion for FX. This series also has an amazing visual style and makes nice use of music to help set the usine tone of the series, which is both a gripping drama but also darkly humorous. What’s nice about this show is that while all of the seasons are set in the same overall world and have a consistent feeling, each installment is its own unique story, set in a different time period with different characters, which means anyone can jump in without having seen the previous seasons. It’s looking like this is going to be another great season with an interesting story that weaves around this unique cast of characters. And it also looks like there will be some excellent guest stars coming up in future episodes.
On tonight’s premiere, “The Law of Vacant Places,” a petty sibling rivalry between two brothers escalates and brings chaos to a small Minnesotan community.
Meet the Stussy brothers tonight on FX at 10/9c.
I’ll also be watching/recording Designated Survivor, Survivor, Archer, The Magicians, and The Expanse.
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch.
Jenny’s Choice
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders has really been growing on me lately. I’ve enjoyed it from the beginning, but it’s coming into its own finally. Last week we were gifted two episodes. The first took place in Singapore, and let me tell you… No way am I ever traveling there. The whole “you’re guilty because we say you are, even though we have no proof†thing really gets my goat. Thankfully the IRT found the missing-turned-kidnapped woman and were able to work it out with the police that he would release her into their custody because she was coerced into smuggling the fish (fish! And she might have gotten the death penalty because of it!) into the country after her brother was kidnapped. Poor woman. Then in the second episode, the IRT was in Mexico after an American high school senior was found with his throat split. Then while they were there, an American businessman (who turned out to have two families – one in the US, one in Mexico… One too many, my husband said! LOL) was also killed. The killers for them turned out to be sisters who were sacrificing them according to their “religion†in the hopes that their brother would be returned to them. Unfortunately, their brother was dead – having died on his way to enter the US illegally. Whether he was killed or died some other way, I don’t know, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was they wanted him back and they killed two – and nearly killed a third – people to make it happen.
But the biggest news was that while questioning a cartel about the killings, Jack and Simmons ran into none other than Jack’s son Ryan, who was deep undercover. Thankfully his cover wasn’t blown, but it was close. Unfortunately, that meant they had to activate a special protocol, and at the end of the episode, Jack had to take him to a Mexican prison, telling them he tried to extradite him but couldn’t, so he’d been arrested for possession with intent to distribute, assault on a federal agent, etc. Then he had to walk away, knowing it could be the last time he saw his son alive. Scary!
On tonight’s episode, “Pankration,†when an American visiting Greece to get more involved in his family’s business is found beaten in a rough part of Athens, the IRT is called to investigate. Also, Jack struggles with having to tell his wife, Karen (Sherry Stringfield), where their son is.
See if the team can find the perpetrators tonight on CBS at 10/9c.
I’ll also be watching/DVRing Cooks vs Cons.
Phoebe’s Choice
For two years, I have ranked The Expanse at the top of my list of sci-fi television shows. Heads and shoulders above the comic book TV genre, it is even ahead of my other consistently highly ranked favorites, like 12 Monkeys & Dark Matter. The first thing that really caught my attention was the production values; it felt like each episode was shot with a blockbuster-movie budget and equivalent cameras and effects. Next, I really appreciated that they had a great attention to science in this sci-fi. I loved, for instance, the way Belters, people born and raised in the Asteroid Belt, are all tall and thin as a result of coming of age in much lower gravity. The series is based on the books by James S.A. Corey, which is a pseudonym for the writing team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Much of the plot the first 2 seasons followed the escalation and de-escalation of possible war between Mars, Earth, & the Belters. Somehow, always at the center of key events, we found James Holden, Naomi Nagata, Alex Kamal, & Amos Burton, who through season two have crewed the commandeered Martian warship the Rocinante. On Earth, UN representative Chrisjen Avasarala was always strenuously patching failing political alliances in her attempt to stop the outbreak of war.
Season two introduced a newer set of characters, a pod of Martian Marines led by Sergeant Bobbie Draper. Draper is a tall, lithe, dangerous & beautiful woman with a body enhanced by cyborg parts. Midway through the season, the rest of her troops got slaughtered by a mysterious figure that appeared to be a human functioning on the moon of Ganymede without a space suit. Her unwillingness to lie for the Martian Military was spoiling their attempts to lure Earth into war. Draper eventually beat her commanding officer for information on the incident and absconded with a piece of hardware that had the proof. She requested asylum on Earth and is now working to avenge her fallen friends.
Last week, Alex, Holden, and tagalong biologist Prax were flying around on Ganymede in pursuit of the beast on the prowl – that humanoid that exists without a space suit and tears through metal with its bare hands. By now we know that the mysterious “alien protomolecule†that they have been dealing with in both seasons is in fact man-made. And the “beast†is probably a mutated human child infected with the molecule. They managed to corner the proto-mutant and fired shots on it with a rail gun. Incoming Martian war vessels forced them to flee the scene before scoring the kill though. Meanwhile, Naomi and Amos were busy helping repair the ark that they were hoping will get everyone off Ganymede station safely. Once they fixed it though, they were told that the oxygen is depleted and only 52 of the remaining 300 people on the station can board the ship. There was chaos, but eventually mothers and children were allowed on board and they departed with the survivors.
Earth representative Errinwright met with Martian Defense Minister Korshunov, poisoning him, but made it look like a heart attack. He also killed Mao’s Martian protection, while ordering the vaporizing of the Martian black-ops ship that was going to pick up the protomolecule monster on Ganymede. In the last moments, a missile was launched at the arc that was ferrying the refugees from Ganymede. Just before they exploded, Alex showed up in the Rocinante to save the day by shooting down the torpedo.
This week is the season two finale, and we won’t have a lot of time to resolve the two main plots of the season: Draper and her uncovering of the Martian conspiracy that got her friends/mates killed & the surfacing of all the truth in regards to the protomolecule. Thankfully it’s already been renewed for a third season, so whatever we don’t get answers to tonight, we can expect to get them next season!
On tonight’s episode, “Caliban’s War,†the relief of the Roci’s narrow escape is shattered by an unexpected enemy and the crew is forced to fight to save the ship. Avasarala is trapped by enemies and far from help, Bobbie Draper her only chance to survive.
If you’re as excited about this one as I am, tune in to Syfy at 10/9c.
I’ll also be watching Archer & The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Megan’s Choice
Cooks vs Cons is a fun cooking show to kick back and relax to…when it’s not driving me crazy guessing who are the actual cooks. Sometimes these cons are so incredible, they fool us all, and that is the best part of the show by far.
On tonight’s episode, “Fry, Fry Again,” the pros and amateurs must use pineapple in their fried chicken dishes for round one; the cooks and cons make potato dishes in round two; Alex Guarnaschelli and Simon Majumdar judge.
To see if Alex and Simon can figure out the cons, tune in to Food Network at 9/8c.
I’ll also be watching Shots Fired, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, and The Magicians.
