‘Doomsday’ recalls Warren Jeffs
Television’s obsession with cults, their leaders and unfortunate followers continues on “The Doomsday Prophet: Truth and Lies” (8 p.m., ABC). A production of ABC News, it returns to the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), who have defied laws and mainstream Mormon practice to embrace polygamy and violently control those who defy their perverted patriarchy.
“Doomsday” focuses on the so-called prophet Warren Jeffs. His violence and habit of grooming young girls put him on the FBI’s most-wanted list before his capture in 2006.
“Doomsday Prophet” includes interviews with former cult members lucky enough to escape; Jeffs’ half-brother, Wallace Kenton, and Jeffs’ wife, his 65th bride.
Jeffs remains in federal prison. Some continue to follow his teachings, and what others describe as his “mind control.” “Truth and Lies” also streams on Hulu.
› “Vigil” returns to Peacock after a layoff of nearly three years. The first season of the BBC police procedural thriller had Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) embedding herself on a Royal Navy submarine to investigate a murder and possible enemy sabotage.
Season two takes place on dry land, with Silva investigating mystery attacks on a British military intelligence installation by high-tech drones. A veteran of British TV dating back to “Coronation Street,” Jones appeared on HBO’s period drama “Gentleman Jack,” about a strident gay British woman from the first half of the 19th century whose formidable personality shocked her neighbors and colleagues and who kept a lengthy coded diary detailing her private life and affairs.
Rose Leslie co-stars as Detective Sergeant Kirsten Longacre. Leslie is best known to American viewers as Gwen, the maid-turned-typist, on “Downton Abbey” and Ygritte on HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
› The best crime dramas remind us that criminals are far from masterminds. Many turn to crime because they are lazy, impulsive and dim. The best way to illustrate this point is through humor, a substance sadly lacking in most cliche procedurals and elaborate heist capers.
Sundance Now streams “Far North,” an unusual and often whimsical tale from New Zealand based on real-life intrigue. At first glance, Heather (Robyn Malcolm, “My Life Is Murder”) is your average middle-aged wife. She works at a local pool running an aqua-aerobics course. Her husband, Ed (Temuera Morrison, “The Mandalorian”), is a 70-year-old diesel mechanic. Into their quiet life arrives an inept gang of would-be drug smugglers, working in cahoots with dealers from the Chinese mainland trying to unload a fortune in meth. Only nobody counted on a nosy couple of retirement age.
› A self-appointed investigator worries that her relative may have been a serial killer in the docuseries “The Truth About Jim,” now streaming on Max.