Family drama on The Flash means trying to connect with your cousin, the metahuman assassin
Plus: Clark Kent strolls down a dark memory lane, T-Pain reflects, David Makes Man returns, and hats! Made! From! Lego!
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, June 22. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Flash (The CW, 8 p.m.): When it’s at its best, The Flash is a fun, empathetic series about good people trying to help others with their superpowers and/or time travel while also trying to just live their lives like normal superheroes. That means family drama is a staple. Sure, sometimes it’s big—like, surprise, here’s a whole brother you never knew existed (we miss you, Kid Flash!)—but sometimes it’s just that Barry’s bad at delegating, or that Caitlin’s mom is being a butthole. Here, the family drama is simple enough: Say you’re an intrepid young reporter anxious for familial connection. You might reach out to your cousin, the only family you have left on the planet, right? Right. Even though she won’t stop trying to murder you.
Watch for Scott Von Doviak’s recap of this episode, directed by Danielle “Killer Frost” Panabaker.
Regular coverage
Superman & Lois (The CW, 9 p.m.)
Wild cards
Time for another wild card lightning round.
This Is Pop (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): If you saw Usher trending last night, this is why.
Lego Masters, “Hats Incredible!” (Fox, 8 p.m.): Dear VH1/World Of Wonder: If you’re reading this, please give the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race a ball challenge where they have to make three looks out of Lego. Please. The jokes would be so plentiful and probably filthy! And look: eleganza extravaganza!
David Makes Man (OWN, 9 p.m., second-season premiere): “The phrase ‘like nothing else on television’ has earned its rightful place on the master list of hackneyed critical pull quotes, alongside such esteemed company as “fun for the whole family” and “… will leave you breathless.” That becomes a problem upon stumbling onto something like OWN’s coming-of-age drama David Makes Man, a show singular enough to make me regret my role in the dilution of “like nothing else on television.” Even describing it as a coming-of-age story or a family drama—though it’s both of those—feels inadequate given its breadth and fierce experimental streak. David is one of those shows that precedes the pithy genre descriptor that will eventually define it.” Read the rest of Joshua Alston’s pre-air review of the excellent first season of this OWN gem from Moonlight’s Tarell Alvin McCraney. Season two begins tonight.
Motherland: Fort Salem (Freeform, 10 p.m., second-season premiere): There’s a “you and what army”/“no, you and witch army” “Who’s On First?”-style joke to be made here, but it eludes us. Anyway, the witch army show returns tonight.
Capital One College Bowl (10:01 p.m., NBC, series premiere): Peyton Manning hosts this “battle of the brains” in which smarty-pants college students compete for academic scholarships on a TV show bearing the name of a massive credit card company. The world is broken, huh?
Conan (TBS, 11 p.m.): It’s Conan’s last week. Tonight’s guest is Seth Rogen.