If We Controlled Your Remote… 10/29/19

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!

Jenny’s Choice

On the last new episode of The Conners, Darlene’s secret relationship with David finally came to light, and it spelled bad news for her relationship with Ben. After Darlene got a flat tire, she texted pretty much everyone, and the first two to show up were Ben and then David. She got out of that awkward spot with neither man the wiser (or so she thought), but when chatting with Jackie (who’s kind of been an annoying witch about the whole thing, actually) about it later, Darlene realized that her decision about the two men was already made – her text to Ben had been long, sweet, talking about needing to cuddle, while her text to David had been short and to the point about needing a ride. Nothing sweet or romantic about it. She decided to go with David to his therapy appointment (which he’d been after her to do for a while) and break up with him there so he had the therapist’s support right away. But before she could tell him, he actually broke up with her, stating that she never “heard” him, that she hadn’t since they were 15 (and what an emotional flashback to the OG series!) and he needed and deserved more. Good for David. Darlene actually got emotional and realized it hurt, even though it was needed, because it closed the door on their long-standing relationship for good. She then decided to confess to Ben, but Ben figured it out at the tire standoff, and he was just finishing up a breakup letter to Darlene when she got to work to tell him. He broke up with her but didn’t fire her…which can only lead to some interesting times ahead at the office! (And I do hope they eventually get back together. He’s a good guy and is good for her.)

As for the others in the family… Harris has a new friend, Odessa, and they were headed out to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was before Darlene’s lie blew up in her face, and Harris blackmailed her into letting her go out in a skimpy outfit. Odessa is not exactly an ideal friend for Harris – tattoos, smelling like pot…and indeed, though Darlene told Harris she better not smell it on her later that night, Darlene and Odessa smoked pot that night in Harris’s room. Becky walked in, reminded Harris they had an addiction problem in the family, and took away their bong (or whatever. I don’t do it, so I don’t know if that’s what it was or not. LOL).

Speaking of Becky… She told Louise that she wanted the open bartender position, but Dan secretly told Louise not to give it to her. Becky noticed and got upset. Dan said he was worried about her because of her problem with alcohol, and she reminded him she hadn’t had a drop since finding out she was pregnant with the baby. Things got heated again between them later, when he arrived home to find that Becky had gathered all of his beer and was in the process of throwing it all away. They found peace, and Dan realized he had to trust Becky. It’s really nice seeing them grow closer this season.

On tonight’s episode, “Nightmare on Lunch Box Street,” Jackie learns that the Chinese restaurant is going out of business and sees an opportunity to reopen the Lunch Box, but she’s caught by surprise when she uncovers a secret. Meanwhile, Mary gets upset when a woman assumes she is adopted, and Darlene continues to deal with her complicated love life.

See how the Conner family celebrates their first Halloween without Roseanne tonight on ABC at 8/7c.

I’ll also be watching Chopped, Treadstone, & The Misery Index.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch.
 

Kyle’s Choice

Tonight, the aftermath of The Purge continues on USA Network. Last week, Marcus was determined to figure out who had tried to purge him the night before. He headed to work at the emergency room, where he noticed a tattoo on the hand of one of the patients that resembled the one he saw on his attacker. Before the man died, he uttered the words “Ivory Road.” When Marcus visited his son at college, Darren told him that Ivory Road was a dark web site – someone had put a bounty on him, and it would remain active until the next Purge, since he was still alive. Darren’s teacher was Professor Drew Adams, the woman Esme saw being chased out of her house and killed on Purge Night. But who wanted her dead, and why? She seemed to be beloved by her students. Upon searching Professor Adams’ house, Esme found an envelope hidden in the staircase, so she grabbed it just before the police arrived to inspect the house.

Elsewhere, Ryan headed to the assisted-living home with his score from the bank robbery to pay the bill for his mother, who had Alzheimer’s. When he got back to the hideout, Tommy had returned, and the cops had surrounded the building. He felt guilty about cutting Tommy loose, but they had no choice since Tommy broke the Purge laws by running back into the bank after the Purge siren had gone off. Now Tommy was on his own. Meanwhile, the rest of the group was contemplating why their score seemed smaller and smaller each year – it looked like the banks were purposely hiding their money on Purge Night. So they started to try to figure out what was happening.

And finally, Ben returned home to the frat house to a very surprised Turner, who had basically left him for dead. While Ben insisted he was fine, he was clearly not. Killing another human being had certainly changed him. Later, he headed to the local mall, where he got a little too excited by a virtual reality Purge game. Afterward, he headed back to the scene of his crime and retrieved the Purge mask.

I’m really enjoying how this season is exploring the aftermath of The Purge and how it affects the characters. I’m looking forward to seeing how these various stories play out and how they all ultimately come together.

On tonight’s episode, “Blindspots,” the residual effects of the purge affect the lives of Ryan, Marcus, and Esme.

Don’t miss how it continues to affect the characters tonight on USA Network at 9/8c.

I’ll also be watching/recording Bless This Mess, mixed-ish, black-ish, Emergence, This Is Us, The Flash, Arrow, and Treadstone.
 

Phoebe’s Choice

There was a time, a half decade ago, that my favorite TV show was on USA Network about a CIA agent, but Burn Notice is long gone now. Somehow USA Network has repeated the magic of spycraft on TV again this fall in their Bourne Identity spinoff: Treadstone. If you haven’t seen either of the first two episodes, don’t fret, you have time to catch up on this exciting new show. Though in the films we were told that the secret CIA mind control program that produced super soldiers was disbanded, we learned “it was bigger than we thought.” Now years later, the Cicada sleeper agents are being awoken one by one.

This story is being told in two timelines at once, with some characters already established in both eras of the telling. In the 1973 story, we’re following CIA agent John Bentley after he escaped Soviet custody and made back to the free side of the Berlin Wall. His local Section Chief debriefed him and revealed the identity of the woman who was torturing him while in holding: Petra. They didn’t believe he escaped though. They thought he was a traitor, so John had to fight his way out of the building. Back in 2019, oil worker Doug McKenna had visions of waking underwater in chains with another man in chains. He killed the guy to survive the test. Then he woke from the nightmare, but it was foreshadowing a full recall of his programing. Agent Edwards over at the CIA discussed with his commander that Kwon was assassinated within 24 hours of revealing that the Cicada Treadstone agents were being awoken.

Petra, who had guarded the Russian nuclear missile always pointed at Washington DC named Stilleto Six for decades, discovered that Moscow no longer monitored her or the missile. She made contact with her old KGB comrades to find out why she was cut off. Reporter turned cab driver, Tara Coleman, was in Paris, trying to get Kwon’s daughter to safety before the North Korean kill team could get to her. Back in the 1970s, we saw that Petra must recapture Bentley or face a grim punishment from the Kremlin. The reactivated agent in North Korea who killed General Kwon, a meek housewife named Soyun Pak, dreamed of escaping to South Korea. Her husband was taken to dinner by the military man who was his boss, as their child IDed the boss as the man who gave him the gameboy device last episode. That device was what woke her and prompted her to kill Kwon. Agent Edwards tracked down former Treadstone hypnotist, who told him another Cicada sleeper had been activated. He shared a video of a guy shooting 5 people in under a second, who then surrendered to police. Tara had to dart through Paris in a high-speed car chase to try to save Kwon’s daughter, but that ended in a wreck that flipped both vehicles a block from the embassy.

Tbh, this show does a great job in bringing back that Bourne feel that we love so much. It may be small screen krav maga fights, but they still serve some serious action scenes while presenting a new angle on the source material. As a long-term, die-hard Bourne fan, this series is all we could have hoped for and more! Can’t wait to see the rest of this season.

On tonight’s episode, “The Berlin Proposal,” Bentley searches for answers; Edwards meets an asset; Doug gets a visitor; Soyun gets a mission.

To see if we get answers or just more questions, tune in to USA Network at 10/9c.

I’ll also be watching Arrow & The Flash.