Better Call Saul returns, along with our excitement—and dread

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Monday, August 6. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Better Call Saul (AMC, 9 p.m.): This Breaking Bad spin-off has been quietly great for much of its run, but the fourth season—a truly impressive balancing act of pathos and humor—might finally catapult it out of whispered, Halt And Catch Fire greatness. Season four kicks off in the immediate aftermath of Chuck’s (Michael McKean) death, as Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) struggles with the precipitous end of that relationship and his miraculously still intact partnership with Kim (Rhea Seehorn). As TV editor Erik Adams notes in his early review, the new episodes are full of a “heart-palpitating sense of tension” even as the show finds “chemistry in grief.” As always, Donna Bowman will be witness to Jimmy’s ongoing decline.

Lodge 49 (AMC, 10:05 p.m.): A summer show that’s set in Long Beach feels a bit on the nose, but like its lead character Dud (Wyatt Russell), there’s more to Lodge 49 than meets the eye. This Pynchon-esque drama from Jim Gavin, Peter Ocko, and executive producer Paul Giamatti combines existential crises, late capitalism, and a great multigenerational friendship. Russell and co-lead Brent Jennings (who plays Dud’s new bud Ernie) have the kind of chemistry that offsets the creeping pace of the first half of the season, which your resident slow-burn fan, Danette Chavez, will be reviewing.

Regular coverage

The Venture Bros. (Adult Swim, 12 a.m.): It “only” took two and a half years, but Hank and Dean are back—and so is Zack Handlen on episodic coverage of the seventh season.

Wild card

The Bachelorette (ABC, 8 p.m.): Who will get Bachelorette Becca’s final rose: Jason, Blake, or Wills? Settle in for the THREE-HOUR season finale to find out.