A Teacher departs
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, December 29. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
A Teacher (FX on Hulu, 3:01 a.m., limited series finale): “In its final episodes, which we won’t give away here in their entirety, A Teacher begins to grapple with the consequences of Claire’s actions, and who is actually bearing the brunt of them. There’s a feint toward a happy ending, and a stirring speech: ‘I have to live with this forever. And so do you.’ But the four hours of storytelling that come before the finale have plenty of narrative heft and groundbreaking twists on their own. Like BoJack Horseman, A Teacher contemplates redemption, but not before reform, and certainly not before acknowledging an offense has been committed. In focusing on the aftermath of abuse and on historically overlooked victims, both series contribute to a new chapter of #MeToo stories.” Read the rest of Danette Chavez’s thoughts in her piece on the connective tissue between BoJack Horseman and A Teacher.
Regular coverage
Wild cards
We’ve reached the point in this long, long year when most of the broadcast options are either a) festive or b) repeats. So for the rest of 2020, we’ll be highlighting some of those festive things, but also some great shows or episodes from the year you might have missed.
American Masters, “Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie To Page” (PBS, 8 p.m.): The latest in the invaluable American Masters series looks at the life of the author “whose books helped shape American ideas of the frontier,” and who permanently lodged the image of a man sucking snot out of his baby’s nose into the minds of certain writers for certain pop culture-focused publications.
Harley Quinn (HBO Max): “What was obvious from the moment Harley Quinn premiered was that the DC Universe-turned-HBO-Max series, which follows the off-kilter Miss Harleen Frances Quinzel (Kaley Cuoco, successfully shedding any residual Big Bang gloss), was the most graphic offering in the Batman-related animated oeuvre. Season one focused solely on Harley’s revenge against Joker (Alan Tudyk) and established the former sidekick as a supervillain in her own right. 2020’s season two picked up with Harley living her dream—Joker, the Justice League, the Legion Of Doom, and Gotham as a whole destroyed. ‘This is what I’ve always wanted,’ a content Harley tells pal Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), ‘anarchy and sushi.’ But even as Harley rested on her laurels without a Big Bad, Harley Quinn did not.” Read the rest of Patrick Gomez’s thoughts on this series and others in our list of the year’s best television.