IN THE WEEK
MADAM SECRETARY
M-Net, Monday at 7.30pm
Téa Leoni stars in this drama as Elizabeth McCord, a CIA analyst who is appointed Secretary of State after the previous one is killed in a plane crash. In the series premiere she has to handle an international hostage situation. Morgan Freeman is one of the executive producers, and the cast includes Tim Daly, Bebe Neuwirth, and eljko Ivanek. The series premiered in the US last September and was renewed for a second season in January.
REVENGE
M-Net, Monday at 8.30pm
Ah yes. The series that should never had bothered going past one season. This fourth and final one aired in the US last year. To refresh your memory, Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp, Brothers & Sisters) had an elaborate plan of revenge against the Grayson family for whom she blamed the imprisonment and death of her father. Aidan (Barry Sloane) and Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny both died at the end of season three, but guess what? David Clarke (James Tupper) is alive. It’s like the Dallas shower scene all over again, or any soapie. It’s amazing how the dead come back to life in TV land. I’m sure a lot of people are hoping that will happen with Jon Snow.
Season four picks up six months after the events of the previous season with Emily living in Grayson Manor and Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe) still in the loony bin but trying her utmost to escape so she can poison David against Emily.
TRUE DETECTIVE
M-Net Edge, Tuesday at 2am
The first thing that came up in the Google search was “True
Detective Season 2 Review: HBO Series Falls Short of Original,” according to Variety. Well, that’s not very nice. Another news story was headlined “Brooding, Sour, and Totally Fascinating”. This one will be airing Express From The US, and in prime time on Thursdays at 9pm.
True Detective, like American Horror Story, is an anthology series which means each season introduces new cast ensembles, characters, settings, and self- contained narratives.
The main cast in season two includes Colin Farrell as Detective Ray Velcoro, Vince Vaughn as Frank Semyon, a criminal and entrepreneur, and Rachel McAdams as Ani Bezzerides, a detective in the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
The plot, briefly, is as follows: “When police officer and war veteran Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) discovers a crime scene, it attracts detectives Ray Velcoro and Ani Bezzerides to the investigation. Also involved is Frank Semyon, a career criminal and entrepreneur, who is married to Jordan (Kelly Reilly).”
THE GOOD WIFE
M-Net, Wednesday at 8.30pm
The big shock in the last season was of course the death of Will Gardner (Josh Charles). Other things that happened included Alicia (Julianna Margulies) deciding to split up with Peter (Chris Noth) but stay married in the public eye, as it benefits both their careers. Louis Canning (Michael J Fox) joined Lockhart Gardner as a partner and with David Lee (Zach Grenier) plotted to kick Diane (Christine Baranski) out the firm. She got wind of this and went hat in hand to Florrick Agos with her $38 million in clients. But will there even be a Florrick? Eli (Alan Cumming) asked Alicia if she would run for State's Attorney. So she could do that, or team up with Diane and continue to practice law.
The sixth season opened with a bang last week as Cary (Matt Czuchry) was arrested and charged with helping traffic $1.3 million worth of heroin, so there goes the Agos as well.
In episode two Alicia takes over one of Cary’s cases, which involves Neil Gross’s wife, who having been made General Counsellor of Chum Hum becomes concerned over Cary’s arrest.