TV Reviews & Commentaries

ABC's new police procedural "Conviction" starts off with great potential--and a terrific pedigree.

ABC's terrific new series "Designated Survivor" starring Kiefer Sutherland is laden with intriguing possibilities. It debuts Wed., September 21 at 10 p.m. ET.

I have been moved, inspired, and touched by documentaries before. "Three Days of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks" is the first documentary ever to bring me to tears.

What a striking coincidence that two of the most high profile supernatural fantasy shows on TV — ageless Supernatural, now in its eleventh season on The CW, and Preacher, just launched on AMC — revolve around the search for an absentee God. Some of the most profound theological and philosophical questions are being treated matter-of-factly and compellingly on pop TV. What is God’s active role in relation to mankind? To his Creation in general? Does God have a personality? Characteristics? Is he still the vengeful Old Testament God, or has He changed into the New Testament God of mercy?

One of our favorite escapes from overtly paranormal programming is the quirky romantic-comedy, murder mystery procedural, Castle. Among the pleasures of Castle — besides Nathan Fillion’s goofy charm and Stana Katic’s beauty, brains and balls — is that Castle flirts often with the spooky. Over its eight seasons, Castle has dealt with cases that seem to wander into the territory of ghosts, magic, zombies, genies, even Bigfoot. As this week’s episode, “Hell to Pay,” opens the killer in question appears to be demonic, perhaps even the Anti-Christ himself.

If Negan winds up killing either Glenn or Daryl (both fan favorites), then the call for swift justice will be even more vociferous.

Then it occurred to me that the real victim of this terror tactic is Schrödinger’s cat. The victim — whoever it is — is in a state of suspended animation, both alive and dead, for seven freaking months until Season 7 begins, just like in the famous thought experiment. To recap the experiment, loathed by cat lovers everywhere: we put a living cat into a steel chamber along with a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is a tiny amount of hydrocyanic acid, a radioactive substance, in the chamber. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, it will trip a hammer, which will break the vial and kill the cat.

An entire nation of The Walking Dead watchers is feeling very twitchy and jumpy right about now as the hours tick down to what is arguably the most anticipated episode ever of AMC’s unlikely smash hit. Why so edgy? Since it was announced last November that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would play Negan, the dreaded leader of the villainous Saviors, and make his appearance in the final episode of Season 6, there has been constant speculation as to the consequences of that freighted debut.

Is it sacrilegious to sympathize with the devil? Is it legitimate to humanize Lucifer under the pretense that he has “retired” from running hell and is now slumming with the humans as a nightclub owner in Los Angeles? Most transgressive of all, is it acceptable to present the scheming Fallen Angel as a seeker of justice and champion of personal responsibility? That’s exactly what Fox is doing with its new show Lucifer, Mondays at 9/8c.

This Valentine's Day massacre was bloody, gruesome, and unforgettable.