‘Picard’ in Bizarro World, ‘B Positive’ Finale, ‘Black Bag’ Salutes Spaghetti Westerns, ‘Desus & Mero’ Returns, ‘Walker’ Then and Now
Like season 2 of Star Trek: Picard gaining momentum, Jean-Luc Picard finds himself in an alarming alternate world, thanks to Q. B Positive leads a parade of season finales. AMC+ pays homage to spaghetti westerns with That dirty black bag. Showtime’s award-winning late-night talker Desus & Mero welcomes Denzel Washington to its 4 season premiere. Even as the reimagined Walker continues on The CW, getTV celebrates the 82nd birthday of the first Cordell Walker, Chuck Norris, with a one-day marathon of Walker, Texas Ranger. And buffy the vampire slayer celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Trae Patton/Paramount+
Star Trek: Picard
“I’m not myself,” realizes Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), as he finds himself – and eventually the rest of his team – in a creepy, bizarro new world, courtesy of the mischievous entity Q ( John de Lancie), who informs the revered Admiral, “You are the very board on which this game is played.” But what game, and for what purpose? That remains to be seen, but for now Picard’s so-called ‘penance’ involves posing as a tyrant until he can plan his escape and time travel to save the galaxy with Seven (Jeri Ryan), Rios (Santiago Cabrera), Raffi (Michelle Hurd), Elnor (Evan Evagora) and a particularly pissed off Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill). Another surprise guest arrives for the ride, but that’s a spoiler.


SCS
Star Trek: Discovery
Picard’s the second season is just beginning, but like season 4 of Discovery nearing its end, the crew led by Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) finally prepares to make first contact with Species Ten-C, the mysterious beings responsible for the anomaly threatening Earth and Ni’Var in only 15 hours. As our heroes try to figure out the best way to communicate, you might remember classics like Dating of the Third Kind. But it could have the worst case scenario if rogue scientist Tarka (Shawn Doyle) continues its apocalyptic mission.


Sonja Flemming/CBS
B Positive
The sitcom’s second season essentially reinvented the show, with a mind-blowing song-and-dance theme song and a new setting in the Valley Hills assisted living facility owned and operated by Gina (Annaleigh Ashford). But for how long ? In the Season 2 finale, Gina receives an offer to sell the place to posh rival, Golden Horizons. As Gina ponders this lucrative offer, weighing heart against profit, she also grapples with her feelings about the recipient of her donated kidney, Drew (Thomas Middleditch), who is about to fly off to the Alaska.


AMC+
That dirty black bag
Preacher Dominic Cooper returns to the AMC family as laconic Sheriff Arthur McCoy, who oversees lawless life in a ghost town parched by the gold rush. He faces off against notorious bounty hunter Red Bill (Douglas Booth) – whose titular bag is filled with human heads – in a gory, stylized homage to classic Spaghetti Westerns. Filmed in Italy, Spain and Morocco, Black bag is a mashup of wild frontier justice that takes an intriguing turn when Red Bill crosses paths with an eccentric farmer (game of thrones’ Aidan Gillen).


Greg Endries/SHOWTIME
Desus & Mero
Oscar nominee for Macbeth’s Tragedy (and previously two-time winner), Denzel Washington is a guest in-studio to help kick off the fourth season of the WGA Award-winning late-night talker hosted by Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, who have opinions on everything. Future guests scheduled as the show returns to a weekly format include Mark Wahlberg, Tom Holland and Snowfall Damson Idris.


Hulu
The stall
Succession Alan Ruck joins the gripping docudrama as Elizabeth Holmes’ (Amanda Seyfried) latest dupe, starstruck Jay Rosen from Walgreens, who is advocating to put Theranos’ supposedly state-of-the-art blood-testing equipment in their stores despite skepticism from colleagues. Back to the Theranos lab, chief chemist Ian Gibbons (the wonderful Stephen Fry) also begins to express his doubts, to his detriment. And as Elizabeth aggressively tries to connect with the government, she makes a good first impression on the former secretary of state. george shultz (Law and order avuncular Sam Waterston).


The CW
Walker
Cordell (Jared Padalecki) searches for the right time to share news with the family, while his father Bonham (Mitch Pileggi) has secrets from his past to reveal or not. Also a treat for fans of Walker, Texas Ranger (1pm/12pm, getTV): Who’s tougher than Chuck Norris? While you ponder that imponderable question about his 82nd birthday, you can binge on a daytime mini-marathon of his CBS classic with five episodes from 1996 that involve a cannibal, children buried alive on a bus, and even a Devil tribute.
More Season Finals:
- Joe Millionaire: for the richest or the poorest (8/7c, Fox) has reached the point where farmer Steven and construction brother Kurt finally confess their respective financial situations as they choose the mate of their dreams. Will love conquer all, even if there is no giant salary? Later, Swivel (9:30 a.m./8:30 p.m.) ends its first season with the best friends taking the ashes of the late Coleen to a girls’ night out to celebrate their beloved friend’s birthday. What could go wrong or miss?
- Go Big Show (9/8c, TBS): Which of the four remaining contestants – “Dare Daughter” Annaliese Nock“Motocross” James Carterbull jumper Manu Lataste or “Professor Splash” Darren Taylor– impress the judges with their final acts and walk away with the grand prize of $100,000?
Also on stream:
- buffy the vampire slayer (streaming on Hulu and Prime Video): The moment I don’t feel old about today: The brilliant allegory of dark fantasy celebrates its 25th anniversary today, so what better time to begin a seven-season binge with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and friends? Or, as they sing, “Once More, with Feeling”.
- Theodosia (streaming on HBO Max): Eloise Petit (Its dark materials) plays the title role of a fantasy adventure based on Robin L. La Fevers’ Children’s books. Theodosia, the precocious 14-year-old daughter of Egyptologists, lives at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London, where she and her friends battle the ancient and magical forces of cursed Egyptian artifacts.
- Last Exit: Space (streaming on discovery+): In a speculative documentary, the director Rodolphe Herzog leaves this world to explore the possibilities of humanity finding a new home on another of the 100 billion planets of the Milky Way. His famous director father, Werner Herzogserves as narrator.
- The secrets of the universe (streaming on Curiosity Stream): Also taking us to the stars and beyond, an eight-part docuseries about the groundbreaking missions and inventions (the James Webb telescope, Skylab, the Perseverance rover) that help us understand the universe.
- bust down (streaming on Peacock): Lorne Michaels produces this comedic tale of four friends (Jak Knight, Langston Kerman, Sam Jay and Saturday Night Live/Kenan star Chris Redd) trying to rise above their dead-end jobs at a Midwestern casino.
Inside Thursday TV: