Worth Watching: ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Returns, ‘Chernobyl’ Finale, a ’90 Day Fiancé’ Spinoff
A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
So You Think You Can Dance (9/8c, Fox): Still high-kicking and leaping and popping after all these years, TV’s most enjoyable dance competition is back for a 16th season, with host Cat Deeley welcoming a new batch of hopeful young dancers into the audition round. Judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy are joined this year by Laurieann Gibson, known for her collaborations and choreography with Lady Gaga, and Dance alum Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval. Watch to see who impresses them enough, in all styles of dance, to get a ticket to the next round.
Chernobyl (9/8c, HBO): The grueling miniseries comes to a close on another dark note, as scientists Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) and Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson in a composite role) put their futures on the line in a desperate attempt to expose the truth about the devastating nuclear accident during what amounts to a show trial. In chilling flashbacks to the fateful evening in April 1986, we finally witness the domino of events and countdown to disaster that led to the explosion, revealing systemic flaws that contradict the Soviet line that the horror of Chernobyl was due to operator error.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way (9/8c, TLC): No, the guilty-pleasure relationship series isn’t suggesting there’s another way to follow your heart. (Nielsen ratings gods forbid.) This spinoff, opening with a two-hour premiere, turns the tables by profiling couples in which it’s the American who must decide whether to ditch everything to move to a far-off land to be with his or her would-be soulmate. Destinations include Qatar, India, South Africa, Ecuador and South Korea. Are we talking one-way tickets, just saying…
Inside Monday TV: In the penultimate episode of the first season of HBO’s delightful period drama Gentleman Jack (10:15/9:15c), Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) devises a scheme to mine her own coal and expose the dastardly Rawson brothers in the process. If only her beloved Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle) could have as much luck on her trip to Scotland with family, which she discovers is a ruse to try to marry her off to a penniless relative… While CBS’s military drama The Code (9/8c) awaits word of whether it will be renewed for a second season, the legal team heads to Afghanistan to defend a Marine accused of killing a local commander… ‘Tis the season for weddings, which means it’s the perfect time for a second season of Food Network’s Wedding Cake Championship (10/9c), hosted by Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski — who are not a married couple.
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