‘The Last of Us’ Returns, Look ‘Who’ Else Is Back, Flashbacks on ‘Dark Winds’ and ‘Gemstones’

The Last of Us

SUNDAY: We’ve become unhappily accustomed to long waits between seasons of too many shows. But few have been more eagerly anticipated than the return after two years of this gripping, emotionally wrenching and unbearably suspenseful adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game. The story picks up five years later, with Ellie (the astonishing Bella Ramsey) a child no longer, preparing for the fights ahead in a world overrun by “infected” human mutant monsters. “Don’t pull punches,” she tells her trainer. The series certainly doesn’t, and the body blows to the soul come early and often. But what distinguishes The Last of Us is its attention to emotional detail, especially in regard to Ellie’s turbulent relationship with her mentor and father figure, Joel, played by a soulful Pedro Pascal. (See the full review.)

Doctor Who

SATURDAY: Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, all that a nurse named Belinda Chambers (Varada Sethu) wants is to return to Earth after being kidnapped into outer space by alien robots. The only one who can get her home is the Fifteenth Doctor, played for a second exhilarating season by the magnetic Ncuti Gatwa. Belinda uses the word “ridiculous” several times during their first encounter, which this effervescent Doctor no doubt considers a compliment. And while she may be among the more reluctant of his companions, we can’t wait to see where the TARDIS takes them next.

Dark Winds

SUNDAY: A remarkable episode of the evocative mystery series based on Tony Hillerman’s novels sends its Navajo hero, Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), on a hallucinatory journey into his past. With a Native American myth as a framework, Leaphorn confronts troubling memories of a fiend from his childhood while pursuing a supposed monster who’s been haunting his latest case. The symbols and metaphors make for potent drama as Leaphorn comes to realize, “There’s no such thing as monsters. There’s just people who do bad things and other people who do bad things to stop them.”

The Righteous Gemstones

SUNDAY: Another blast from the past as the irreverent comedy flashes back to 2002 for an entire episode that explores the friendship of matriarch Aimee-Leigh Gemstone (Jennifer Nettles) and Lori Milsap (Megan Mullally), her best friend who in the present day has started a relationship with Aimee-Leigh’s widowed husband, Eli (John Goodman). The tone gets serious when Lori flees her troubled marriage to Cobb (Michael Rooker), who operates an alligator farm, and begins recording a new album with Aimee-Leigh. Cobb’s jealousy of the Gemstones reaches a fever pitch, which resonates into the future. Check out the spot-on casting of the kids playing the younger versions of the Gemstone offspring, who were just as obnoxious and combative back then. Heaven help them all.

Suits LA

SUNDAY: Every time Gabriel Macht appears in this spinoff as the original series’ leading man Harvey Specter, I keep wishing he’d bring some of that show’s playful spirit with it. But he’s still trapped in Ted’s (Stephen Amell) dour storyline about the former prosecutor’s vendetta against a mob boss in a case that derailed his career. In the 2010 timeline, Ted puts Harvey on the spot to bolster his case when the trial hits a roadblock. In 2025 L.A., Ted is pressuring Amanda (Maggie Grace) to lead his depleted firm’s criminal division, while his entertainment head Erica (Lex Scott Davis) clashes with the new head of HR (Mad Men‘s Rich Sommer).

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• The Masters (Saturday and Sunday, 2 pm/ET, CBS): The final rounds of the revered golf tournament will decide who gets to don the coveted green jacket at Augusta National’s legendary Butler Cabin. Early coverage each day can be livestreamed on Paramount+.
• The Ten Commandments (Saturday, 7/6, ABC): It’s an annual tradition this time of year as ABC devotes an entire night to Cecil B. DeMille‘s Oscar-winning 1956 epic about the life of Moses (Charlton Heston).
• Not My Family: The Monique Smith Story (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): Chicago Med alum Yaya DaCosta stars in and executive produces a docudrama based on the memoir by Smith, who realizes after a rough childhood that her family wasn’t hers and sets out to discover her identity.
• Kiki’s Fourth Ingredient (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): In the latest Hearts Across the Table romance, Kiki (Kathryn Davis) finds love while catering a wedding.
• #Somebody’s Son (Saturday, 9/8c, OWN): Following new episodes of Love & Marriage: Detroit (8/7c), the premiere of a dating show in which three Black bachelors look for love with their moms along for the journey.
• True Crime Watch: On CBS‘s 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c), CBS Mornings‘ Vladimir Duthiers interviews Reggie Reed Jr., author of The Day My Mother Never Came Home, a memoir about his investigation into his mother’s murder decades ago, a search that would implicate his father. A special Sunday Dateline NBC (10/9c) examines the investigation into the murder of Jasmine “Jazzy” Pace in Chattanooga during Thanksgiving week of 2022.
• Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Jon Hamm, whose new drama Your Friends & Neighbors just premiered on Apple TV+, returns as guest host for the fourth time, with Lizza the four-time musical guest.
• 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7/6c, CBS): Scott Pelley checks in with embattled Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Jon Wertheim visits Danish-controlled (for now) Greenland and Lesley Stahl checks out the ballpark phenomenon of Banana Ball.
• American Idol (Sunday, 8/7c, ABC): From Hawaii’s Aulani resort, 12 of the top 24 perform for America’s vote, with Ashanti as mentor and Jelly Roll as artist in residence.
• The Simpsons (Sunday, 8/7c, Fox): A mystery blackmailer threatens to expose the angry woman within Marge’s “nice lady” façade. Later in the evening, Krapopolis (9/8c) switches time periods with The Great North (9:30/8:30c.)
• Tracker (Sunday, 8/7c, CBS): Colter (Justin Hartley) lives up to the show’s title when he helps a friend find two missing sisters in the snowy Montana wilderness. Followed by new episodes of Watson (9/8c) and The Equalizer (10/9c).
• The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (Sunday, 8/7c, CNN): The latest in correspondent Donie O’Sullivan’s series of “MisinfoNation” reports uses the 30^th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing to explore the changing face of extremism.
• Godfather of Harlem (Sunday, 9/8c, MGM+): The 1960s-set crime drama returns for a fourth season, with Harlem mob boss Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) looking for funding for his new club, while daughter Elise (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy) testifies in Malcolm X‘s trial.

 ON THE STREAM:

• The Last Supper (streaming on Pure Flix): On Palm Sunday, a movie recreating the final days of Jesus Christ (Jamie Ward) makes its streaming debut.
• MobLand (streaming on Paramount+): Mob family fixer Harry (Tom Hardy) goes into damage control mode to protect his own family and the Harrigans when rival mobster Richie Stevenson (Geoff Bell) reacts explosively to his son’s disappearance.