‘Severance’ Returns, Double Duty for Sam Heughan in ‘Outlander’ Finale and ‘Couple Next Door’ Premiere, NFL Icons, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz ‘Back in Action’

Severance

Whose mind is it, anyway? Questions like this—and “What’s happening?”—come with the territory as the trippiest series of 2022 (yes, 2022!) finally returns after a ridiculously long absence to dazzle and mystify us with more suspensefully satirical adventures in the surreal world of Lumon Industries, where employees opt to have their “outie” real lives severed from their “innie” workplace personas via computer chip. In Season 1’s climax, the walls temporarily came down for the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) workers, and nothing’s quite the same in the office as team leader Mark S. (a droll Adam Scott) returns to a bizarre surprise. The shocks don’t stop there. (See the full review.)

Outlander

Patience also paid off for the fans of the time-tripping historical romance, who waited more than a year for the second half of Season 7, which concludes with Claire (Caitríona Balfe) once again in mortal jeopardy, struck by a stray bullet while tending to wounded soldiers in the Revolutionary War’s battle of Monmouth. Her beloved Jamie (Sam Heughan) frets while young doctor Denzell (Joey Phillips) tends to her in triage surgery. Jamie contends with other personal matters when his biological son William (Charles Vandervaart) puts aside his animosity to consult his dad, and his adoptive dad Lord John (David Berry), for help in rescuing camp follower Jane (Silvia Presente).

The Couple Next Door

Is this what they meant by “love thy neighbor?” A sizzling British psychosexual drama stars Outlander’s Sam Heughan in a contemporary role as hunky traffic cop Danny, nearly bursting through his white T-shirt when he and frisky wife Becka (Jessica De Gouw) welcome the new couple on the block, restless schoolteacher Evie (Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson) and earnest reporter Pete (How to Get Away with Murder’s Alfred Enoch). As they help the new arrivals through a rough patch, the attraction between Evie and Danny can’t be ignored, as well as the neighbors’ swinging lifestyle. A prologue suggests things end badly for the foursome, and the six-episode series reveals how these forbidden passions go awry.

NFL Icons

With interest in the NFL at a seasonal high with the divisional playoffs looming this weekend, a fourth season of the biographical docuseries NFL Icons couldn’t be better timed. First up: a profile of Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, whose unlikely pro football career began with stints in the Arena League and NFL Europe after he was undrafted by the NFL and cut during a tryout in Green Bay. His breakout 1999 season with the St. Louis Rams led to a Super Bowl victory, with two more Super Bowl appearances to follow.

Back In Action

Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz lend star power to a familiar spy formula in a high-octane action comedy. They’re Matt and Emily, former CIA agents who gave up the espionage trade for the PTA 12 years ago, starting a family and playing it safe—until their cover is blown and they’re thrown back into the Bondian world of car chases and explosions. “Just like old times, baby,” Matt crows. That’s the point.

Silo

Renewed for two more seasons, the subterranean sci-fi thriller ends Season 2 with the rebellion in Silo 18 in full force. Over in Silo 17, Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) makes final plans to return to her home base, if she can win over a reluctant Solo (Steve Zahn). And stay tuned after the fiery cliffhanger for a mystifying coda.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Henry Danger The Movie (7/6c, Nickelodeon; streaming on Paramount+): The sidekick gets a superfan sidekick of his own in a feature-length movie sequel to the teen superhero comedy. Henry (Jace Norman) and his best bud Jasper (Sean Ryan Fox) are joined by an eager superfan, Missy Martin (Glee Dango), who has a device that opens up alternate realities, which sets off a new adventure.
• Yellowstone Wolves: Succession (7/6c, National Geographic): A nature special depicts the battle for supremacy among a pack of wild wolves in the fabled national park.
• RuPaul’s Drag Race (8/7c, MTV): Sandra Bernhard is the guest judge as the queens create outfits inspired by the board game Monopoly. Can’t wait to see the “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
• Happy’s Place (8/7c, NBC): Bobbie (Reba McEntire) overreacts with concern about Emmett’s (Rex Linn) whereabouts when the cook fails to show up for work. Followed by Lopez vs. Lopez (8:30/7:30c), where Rosie (Selenis Leyva) has a new beau, who happens to be Quinten’s (Matt Shively) boss.
• True Crime Watch: ABC’s 20/20 (9/8c) presents an episode postponed from last week, pre-empted by coverage of the L.A. wildfires, that reports on the 2015 disappearance in Florida of Michael Shaver, whose wife Laurie claimed he’d abandoned the family—a story that held up for three years until his body was found under a concrete patio in their backyard. On Dateline NBC (9/8c), Keith Morrison reports on the 2018 murder of Georgia lawyer Gary “Big Daddy” Farris, which exposed a family’s dark secrets.
• Real Time with Bill Maher (10/9c, HBO): The provocateur returns for a 23rd season of interviews, panel discussions and commentary, with L.A. realtor and civic leader Rick Caruso as his one-on-one guest.

ON THE STREAM:

• The Agency (streaming on Paramount+): In the penultimate episode of the cerebral spy drama’s first season, Martian (Michael Fassbender) is torn between his desire to save his captured lover Samia (Jodie Turner-Smith) and his duty to set a trap to rescue the CIA’s asset in Ukraine.
• Roy Wood Jr.: Lonely Flowers (streaming on Hulu): The hilarious The Daily Show alum riffs in a stand-up special on what annoys him about today’s culture, including self-checkout lanes and people who insist on calling instead of texting.
• Acclaimed movies making streaming debuts include the animated feature Memoir of a Snail (on AMC+) and A Different Man (on Max, premiering Saturday on HBO), featuring Sebastian Stan’s Golden Globe-winning performance.