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!
Kyle’s Choice
Last week, The CW premiered the new drama Life Sentence. As a teenager, Stella Abbott (Lucy Hale, Pretty Little Liars) was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and so for the past 8 years she has been living in the moment without worrying about the consequences of her actions. However, at one of her routine visits to her doctor, she suddenly learns that she is cancer free. When she tells the rest of her family, the floodgates open as they all reveal many things they’ve been hiding from her over the past 8 years, as they tried to keep up appearances for her health’s sake.
Stella’s mother Ida (Gillian Vigman, New Girl, Lopez) and father Peter (Dylan Walsh, Unforgettable, Nip/Tuck) have split up, and Ida is now pursuing a bisexual relationship with Stella’s godmother Poppy. The family home is about to be repossessed due to all the mortgages that had been taken out to pay for Stella’s treatments. Stella’s brother Aiden’s (Jayson Blair, Young & Hungry, The New Normal) grief over her illness led him to have a series of destructive relationships, dealing Adderall to soccer moms and sleeping with married women, one of whom is currently pregnant. Her sister Elizabeth (Brooke Lyons, iZombie, Jane by Design) gave up a college scholarship and her dreams to be a writer in order to stay home and take care of her baby sister. And husband Wes (Elliot Knight, American Gothic, Once Upon a Time) revealed several things he lied about, including his desire to have children. Now Stella must deal with the aftermath of her illness and figure out how to live life with consequences.
The series feels like a nice throwback to those classic CW family dramadies we used to see all the time a decade ago, such as Everwood or Hart of Dixie. I enjoyed last week’s premiere and look forward to learning more about this dysfunctional family and what other secrets they’ve been hiding and seeing how things shake out now that everyone has let their true colors fly. I’m also curious to see how Stella deals with going from feeling an outpouring of love from her family to receiving an outpouring of resentment and how she adapts to her new lease on life. Did she and Wes only get married because they thought they just had a small amount of time together? They promised to love one another and be together forever, but “forever†just got a whole lot longer. Wes seems to have held back a lot of his own desires and feelings just to spare Stella any heartache when she was sick, and now they must deal with that.
On tonight’s episode, “Re-Inventing the Abbotts,†Stella and Wes must defend their marriage to the INS; Peter and Ida decide to sell the house; Stella tries to help Aiden face reality; Elizabeth’s husband is not thrilled with Stella’s plan to deal with her sister’s writer’s block.
Check in on this new show tonight on The CW at 9/8c.
I’ll also be watching/recording American Housewife, Designated Survivor, Survivor, The Blacklist, The X-Files, 9-1-1, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Schitt’s Creek, Let’s Get Physical, and The Magicians.
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch.
Jenny’s Choice
Last week’s Criminal Minds ended in a shocker – well, sort of. In a move that most of us viewers saw coming, Assistant Director Barnes basically disbanded the entire BAU team. Prentiss’s suspension was lifted, but she and Tara were going to be reassigned within the FBI. Reid was going to be a full-time professor for the FBI. Rossi was thanked for his years of service and told to enjoy his retirement. Garcia’s skills are useful but since she’s “too loyal to the team,†she’ll be sent to another department. Luke and Simmons are staying put, as is JJ, who will be in the new role Barnes got created specifically for her, as conditional unit chief. And yay for JJ… Barnes won’t be going into the field (which is doubly good, considering what a mess she was in this episode!), but JJ has to run each and every decision, no matter the size or importance, through her. I guess that’s what happens when they dared cross her by standing up to her and fighting her reign of terror. Eek!
So what will happen? Will they somehow take her down? I can’t imagine that this will last THAT long…but what would make more sense? Them finding a way to get her out of the way and them all back at once or seeing them able to get back to the team one at a time? I can’t imagine that it would be easier one at a time. So somehow…they do have to fight her and win. It’ll be interesting to see how that happens and when! Obviously they’ll find a way around her for now, since without them, there would be no show!
On tonight’s episode, “Last Gasp,†away from the watchful eye of the FBI’s assistant director of national security, Linda Barnes (Kim Rhodes), the BAU meets in secret to investigate an UnSub who appears to be kidnapping and photographing young women.
See how the team investigates in secret tonight on CBS at 10/9c.
I’ll also be watching/DVRing 9-1-1, Guy’s Grocery Games, Property Brothers, American Housewife, & Chicago PD.
