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
A few years ago, Sundance TV aired the series Deutschland 83, a German-American spy drama set during the Cold War in 1983, which ended up being one of my favorite shows of 2015. Late night tonight, the sequel, Deutschland 86, finally premieres. In the first series, 24-year-old East German Martin (Jonas Nay) was recruited by his Aunt Lenora (Maria Schrader) to become an undercover spy for the HVA, the intelligence branch of the Stasi. He was sent into West Germany posing as a soldier and aide to the Major General to gather military intelligence. By the end of the season, Martin had to reveal the truth about his actions to both the East and West German governments in order to prevent a nuclear war from breaking out, but this also put him in danger in the process, leaving him a wanted man by both sides of the country. Meanwhile, Annett (Sonja Gerhardt), Martin’s former fiancée and mother of his child, was also recruited to work for the Stasi. It was revealed in the finale that Walter Schweppenstette (Sylvester Groth), Lenora’s boss, was Martin’s father.
Tonight, the new series, Deutschland 86 picks up 3 years later (as is evident by the title). Things are getting rough in East Germany, which is running out of food and money. Lenora has a plan to raise money by selling weapons in South Africa. So she once again recruits her nephew, who had been banished “for his own safety†to an orphanage in Angola, where he’s been teaching the children German for the past three years. Needless to say, he’s not thrilled to see his aunt but is willing to go along with her plan as long as it means he can return home and see the child he hasn’t seen in ages. Joining Lenora and Martin in their mission is tough undercover agent Rose (Florence Kasumba). Meanwhile, Annett and Walter are working on their own way to raise money, involving some questionable West German drug trials for a pharmaceutical company in the West. It looks like this series should be another fun and exciting show. Though, I won’t be trying to watch/read subtitles at midnight, so this will be one for the DVR to watch the next day.
On tonight’s premiere, “Tar Baby,†banished for his sins in 1983, Martin wallows in limbo until his Aunt Lenora conscripts him into her plan to drum up hard currency abroad.
Check out the second season premiere tonight on Sundance at 3:01AM/2:01AMc.
I’ll also be watching/recording Grey’s Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Superstore, The Good Place, Will & Grace, I Feel Bad, and Legacies.
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch.
Jenny’s Choice
I’m enjoying the second season of S.W.A.T. as much as I enjoyed the first. I thought maybe when they broke up Hondo and Jessica that I would have issues, but I’m actually enjoying that part more. Last week, Michael Trucco guest starred as US Marshal Eric Wells (the soon-to-be ex-husband of Deputy District Attorney Nia Wells, who Hondo’s been casually…seeing for a few episodes now). Wells called SWAT out to the scene of a train car robbery/murder and asked for their help tracking down the fugitive who has been stealing drug shipments and selling them to the local gangs. They were able to find the guy, with the help of an old neighborhood friend of Tan’s, who’d gotten himself in with the guy to earn some extra cash. The case itself was pretty secondary to all the personal story lines this week, so even though it was interesting, the personal stuff was a lot more fun.
First, Wells didn’t let on to Hondo that he knew him, but Hondo knew right away that Wells knew. He called Nia and told her that somehow, her husband was basically stalking her. In the end, it turned out Hondo was right. Wells tried to get Hondo to back off, and he even seemed to do it nicely, but Hondo told him it was Nia’s call about who she chose to spend time with. Also in that episode, Street was at the apartment when his mother’s parole officer came by for a surprise inspection. Everything was going okay, until Street came across a bag of white powder in his mom’s room while the parole officer was doing a spot check in the room. He was able to hide it from her, but just barely. When his mom got home, he confronted her, and she swore the drugs must have been the guy’s she’s been seeing, who was supposed to be sober but obviously had slipped, but Street didn’t believe her. He asked what she had in her purse, and over her objections, he went through it and found more of the white powder. She tried to tell him how hard it was, being on the outside after all those years, and then she tried the guilt thing, where she said she’d only gone in because she’d been protecting him. Street FINALLY wised up and said maybe, but she’d also forced him to play a roll in his father’s murder and she hadn’t left him before then when she could’ve. He said she could stay in the apartment and he’d keep paying rent, but that he couldn’t live with her anymore, and he left. I literally clapped for him when he walked out the door.
Continuing with poor Street… He was as upset as everyone else when Jessica announced that due to budget cuts, even after she and Hicks negotiated as much as they could, SWAT would have to lose four officers, who would be moved back to uniform, and they would only be able to hire one SWAT member from the officers who went through SWAT Training Academy. That meant that even though Street was smartening and growing up, he wouldn’t be able to just rejoin SWAT. He had a great conversation with Hondo, though, who told him that if he really wanted it, he should do as much as he could during “SWAT school†and do his damnedest to be the one picked to move up. It was a great moment between them.
On tonight’s episode, “S.O.S.,†Hondo and Lina go undercover to infiltrate and take back a cruise ship that’s under siege by drug smugglers who will execute passengers if they detect police on board. Also, Street enters the SWAT Training Academy and finds the competition fiercer than he expected, with the applicants all vying for the one SWAT position available for the year. The episode was filmed aboard the historic ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary. Lou Ferrigno Jr, Josh Cooke, Bre Blair, Christian Kane, & others guest star.
See how Hondo and Lina take down the smugglers and keep the passengers safe tonight on CBS at 10/9c.
I’ll also be watching/DVRing The Big Bang Theory, Will & Grace, Beat Bobby Flay, & Impractical Jokers.
Phoebe’s Choice
If you’ve read my blog in the last year, you know I consider The Good Place the funniest show on TV right now. I may prefer other shows in the sci-fi/superhero genres, but The Good Place is the best concept and progressive plot arc that anyone anywhere on TV has, though of late, Kidding is giving them a run for their money with a strong season one. On TGP on the other hand, the writing team is doing hilarious back-flips to keep the story of four people cursed to eternal damnation in hell alive and well.
Last week, one more time, the gang caught Michael in the act of something duplicitous as he and Janet were just about to travel through an inter-dimensional portal back to the afterlife, after meddling in their (recently restored) lives. After he initially tried to lie his way out of it, as a demon like Michael is prone to attempt, Janet convinced him they must come clean to the group. They were all stunned with the revelation they had been in hell. In explaining that the afterlife exists on a timeline that resembles the signature of the name “Jeremy Bearimy,†which loops back into itself via an underline that assures it loops forever, Michael and Janet finally broke Chidi. The dot in the “i,†which they informed him was “Tuesdays, Julys, and Never†in the afterlife was too much for his already anxiety ridden mind, and he snapped.
Elanor saw the revelation that they were unable to acquire more “Good Points†now that they knew about the system as an excuse to going back to being selfish. Tahini decided to try to give away money anonymously after she realized she was such an awful attention-fiend socialite that she’d earned a place in hell. Jason helped her. She even decided to marry him to better pass her fortune on to him, who has never had money. Elanor, who had been scamming free drinks at a bar, found a wallet and decides to try true altruism for its own sake. Chidi meanwhile went off the deep end and was making chilli out of Easter candy in front of his college students, whom he ranted at, encouraging them all to become Nihilists. The group all met up again at Chidi’s University, where we learned Jason & Tahini got married (and Tacos!). Elanor related her recent experiment with altruism in the face of certain doom, and they decided they should at least “try†to be good people, for others in the world who were not cursed and doomed for hell. Thus the “Soul Squad†was formed.
On tonight’s episode, “The Ballad of Donkey Doug,†Jason visits with some people from his past while Chidi gets help in resolving a problem.
Find out who Jason visits tonight on NBC at 8:30/7:30c.
I’ll also be watching Titans coz it’s rad AF thusly and Murphy Brown because its perfect blend of nostalgia & current events hits me in the relevant feels.
