‘Gringo’ profiles rogue mogul; more secrets, lies
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Has the tech tycoon become the new go-to bad guy? The TV season is young, but that seems to be the trend. The CBS drama “Bull” kicks off with the case of the spoiled son of a tech billionaire accused of murder. And a rich software genius appears to pull an O.J. at the beginning of ABC’s deliriously cynical media soap “Notorious.”
We don’t need to watch fictional tales to find a seriously twisted Silicon Valley villain. “Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee” (8 p.m. Saturday, Showtime) explores the strange tale of a man who put his name on a popular anti-virus software only to become a renegade expatriate in the jungles of Belize.
There, some say, his behavior became increasingly erratic, threatening and ominous. Figures interviewed in this film by Nanette Burstein describe a man whose money insulated him from the law, who surrounded himself with armed bodyguards, procured poverty-stricken women and girls, sexually assaulted a research assistant and who may have even had troublesome neighbors tortured and killed.
It’s a new season, a new setting and a new murder mystery for “Secrets and Lies” (8 p.m. Sunday, WATN-TV Channel 24). While the first season covered the investigation of a child’s murder in an affluent leafy suburb, the new installment begins after Kate Warner (Jordana Brewster) fell, or was pushed, from the penthouse of a sleek office tower. The fact that she was the wife of Eric Warner (Michael Ealy), the son and heir apparent to super billionaire John Warner (Terry O’Quinn), only makes this more interesting.
Juliette Lewis returns as blunt detective Andrea Cornell, who has a habit of insinuating herself into the Warners’ lives and posh surroundings even as they are planning Kate’s funeral. Socially awkward, she has the tenacity of a heatseeking missile, ferreting out unpleasant facts about the beautiful victim and her relationship with her husband and father-inlaw’s company.
This is hardly as giddy and over-the-top as ABC’s “Notorious.” It unfolds more like a melodramatic procedural, and as such it is quite engaging. But the network’s glossy touches abound. Flashbacks to Kate and Eric’s wedding make it look like it was held at “The Bachelor” mansion.
Ross resists help on the second season premiere of “Poldark” on “Masterpiece” (7 p.m. Sunday, WKNO-TV Channel 10). I’ve long held that one of the attractions of British TV, or British TV on American public TV, is that the actors are often hired more for their talent than their looks. This series — strong on scenery, smoldering stares and long horseback rides to the east and west, is an exception to that rule. It’s not bad. And neither is cheesecake.
I would suspect that whole Ph.D. dissertations have been written on the subject of “When ‘The Simpsons’ Stopped Being Great.” But the 28th season premiere of “The Simpsons” (7 p.m. Sunday, WHBQ-TV Channel 13) is among the first to feel seriously flat and forced — to me, at least. A story about Mr. Burns throwing a charity variety show never really takes off and a subplot about Homer and the gang goofing off at the nuclear plant seems recycled at best.
Sadly, the most notable aspect to the season premiere is the nod to characters from “Adventure Time” in the credit sequence.
SATURDAY’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
College football action includes LSU at Auburn (5 p.m., ESPN); Oklahoma State at Baylor (6:30 p.m., WHBQ-TV Channel 13); Stanford at UCLA (7 p.m., WATN-TV Channel 24); Louisville at Marshall (7 p.m., CBS Sports) and Arkansas at Texas A&M (8 p.m., ESPN).
A tense urban couple takes up a house in the country whose weird noises and bumps in the night give them sudden, strange urges in the 2016 shocker “House of Darkness” (7 p.m., Lifetime).
“Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” (7 p.m., CNN) glances back at its Emmy-winning seventh season. Segments on Shanghai (8 p.m.) and Borneo (9 p.m.) follow.
Snoop Dogg and his bodyguard hire expensive lawyers after facing murder charges on “Rich and Acquitted” (8 p.m., Reelz).