Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Wednesday, February 10. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Riverdale (The CW, 8 p.m.): It’s not often that you gear up for a new episode of a TV show thinking, “Well, who the fuck knows what this is going to be like.” The second season premiere of The Good Place did that. Alias managed a couple, actually. There are others, but this one seems sure to be a doozy. It’s time-jump time, and we’re headed seven long years into the future. Here’s Charles Bramesco on last week’s pivotal Riverdale:
This episode wisely leaves room for one last chill in the school’s common area, a reminder of how much time we’ve spent with these people in this space, and the rich bond we’ve formed with it. (Likewise, we get a farewell peek at the sex bunker while Jughead crashes there between homes.) They’re leaving their youth behind and we’re going with them, entering an uncertain new age undoubtedly distanced from the milieu of teens and academia that has thus far defined this show. No one knows what this show will look like as soon as next week, and for once, we viewers can share in the uncertainty that the grads feel instead of watching them improbably stick together, as in Gossip Girl. Betty’s commencement address articulates Gen Z’s despair about being forced to live in an era characterized by relentless life-claiming crisis, but her unease works more broadly than that as well. Everything’s going to be wiped away and redrawn from scratch, and for real this time. No retcons here. This could be the death of the show or the beginning of its revitalization. I have no idea, and I can’t wait to find out.
Same here, Charles. Watch for his recap.
Regular coverage
Wild card
Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): Netflix pays a visit to the notorious Cecil Hotel in this docuseries, and our true-crime aficionado Katie Rife will be checking in as well. (That’s a hotel pun for you.) Look for her review today.