‘The Crossing’ hits many hot buttons
There’s a lot of weird television washing up on shore. Seems like just yesterday that Freeform debuted “Siren,” about a small town beset with a mermaid mystery. Now its corporate cousin ABC launches “The Crossing” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14), another cosmic mystery set on the fog-bound coast of the American Northwest.
Steve Zahn stars as Jude Ellis, the sheriff of Port Canaan, Oregon. He’s recently transferred from Oakland, where his personal and professional life had become too hectic. Estranged from his wife and son, he’d been planning a quiet weekend with his boy when bodies started showing up on the beach.
Where’d they come from? “The Crossing” shows viewers scenes of refugees and dead bodies arriving on European beaches from the war-torn Middle East and Haitian bodies floating onto the Florida coast some decades back. But “The Crossing” is also shot like a sci-fi mystery. Is this the new version of “Lost” we’ve been waiting for?
Turns out, it’s a little “Lost” with a touch of “The Terminator” (a theme revisited in the Syfy epic “Krypton” some weeks back). The refugees happen to be fleeing a war, but one that won’t take place for another 180 years. Yes, they’re time-traveling humans, Americans even, escaping a world where a hyper-evolved minority has begun to exterminate mere mortals.
To make matters more complicated (and realistic), not all of the huddled masses are so innocent. Their numbers include some of the “master race” types. Worse, some of those bad guys may have already arrived and infiltrated our society — even our government at the highest levels.
Zahn (“Treme”) is the perfect everyman to navigate this paranoia. And with its combined themes of distrust of the “other” and a fear of the future, “The Crossing” may be a show for our times.
Viewers who miss the broadcast premiere of “The Crossing” can catch up on abc.com, the ABC app and Hulu. In fact, this pilot has been streaming as a sneak peek on abc.com since March 19.
CIVIL-RIGHTS DOC
The documentary “King in the Wilderness” (8 p.m., HBO, TV-14) recalls the last three years of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, a time when his philosophy of nonviolence was challenged by Black Power advocates, when the FBI actively sought his death and/or suicide and when his public turn against the Vietnam War lost him many friends in high places.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› Lynda Carter narrates “Epic Warrior Women: Africa’s Amazons” (8 p.m., Smithsonian).
› Mina reaches out to a neighbor on “The Resident” (9 p.m., Fox, repeat, TV-14).
› A winner emerges in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game (9 p.m., TBS), live from San Antonio.
› Captains discuss strategy on “The Terror” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-14).
› Good help is hard to find on “Good Girls” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
› Alex defends Semiyon on “McMafia” (10 p.m., AMC, TV-14).
› On two helpings of “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS, repeat, TV-PG), revenge (8 p.m.), wedding jitters (9 p.m.).
› Former winners mentor on “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
› Good deeds go punished on “Lucifer” (8 p.m., Fox, repeat, TV-14).
› Ryan Seacrest hosts “American Idol” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
› Anachronisms abound on “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).
› A health scare on “Young Sheldon” (8:30 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-PG).
› Behind the scenes on “Penn & Teller: April Fool Us Day” (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
› The truth hurts on “Living Biblically” (9:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
› A teen witness may be in danger on “NCIS” (10 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-PG).
Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin. tvguy@gmail.com.