Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Patriot (Amazon, 3:01 a.m., Friday): Michael Dorman stars as an unlikely, ambivalent intelligence officer tasked with preventing a nuclear war with Iran in the premiere of this darkly comic spy series. Backed up by all-star glowerers Terry O’Quinn, Mark Boone Jr., and Kurtwood Smith, Dorman’s spooked spook has to hold down an unglamorous, legit job as a sewer pipe salesman in order to keep up his overseas cover, all the while engaging in some unexpectedly bloody heroics.
I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): After winning Sundance’s coveted Grand Jury Prize at this year’s festival, this darkly violent comedy thriller from first-time director Macon Blair debuts on Netflix, which isn’t the letdown it used to be. Starring the always-great Melanie Lynskey as a nurse whose “people are all assholes” mind-set sends her on an ineptly bloody quest for revenge against the assholes who break into her house. Blair, who’s starred in the similarly toned films of director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room), teams Lynskey with Elijah Wood (as an obnoxiously helpful neighbor), and aims to make you squirm while you laugh. Our own A.A. Dowd says Blair’s got a way to go to equal Saulnier’s assured virtuosity, but that Lynskey and Wood bring some heft to the intermittently grisly proceedings.
Curling Night In America (NBCSN, 7 p.m., Friday): Oh, you’re getting two full hours of curling, America. Have no goddamned fear about that.
Media (TV One, 8 p.m., Saturday): In this TV movie, a high-powered African-American family fights for control over Jones Universal Media Properties (a.k.a. JUMP), “the world’s premier urban media conglomerate.” Penny Johnson Jerald stars as the head of the company, with the likes of Michael Jones, Gary Dourdan, Stephen Bishop, Chrystee Pharris, and Finesse Mitchell all fighting for a piece of the empire (that in no way looks at all like Empire).
Infidelity In Suburbia (Lifetime, Saturday, 8 p.m.): From Lifetime’s press release: “With her husband away at work… restless days… irresistibly hot private contractor… forbidden… wracked with guilt… deeper and darker… secret room… the object of his desire… and his rage.” Boom. Done.
Premieres and finales
Legend Quest (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): Netflix brings us this Mexican animated series about a teenager who can communicate with the dead. He uses it to fight mythical monsters like Quetzalcoatl alongside his wacky sidekicks, while sneaking some cultural lessons on you.
Ultimate Beastmaster (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): Sylvester Stallone is one of the producers of this worldwide endurance contest where exceptionally fit types from the four corners of the globe attempt to grunt and sweat their way through a dragon-shaped obstacle course called “The Beast.” Hence “Beastmaster.” Which means that Marc Singer is in no way involved. John Amos either. Hard pass.
Mama June: From Not To Hot (WE, 10 p.m., Friday): What do you do with a former reality-show star who lost her reality show when she allegedly exposed her children to the convicted sex offender who molested one of them? Why, if you’re WE, you give her another reality show because she’s skinny now! We’re all doomed!
Vice (HBO, 11 p.m., Friday): The fifth-season premiere of Vice’s newsmagazine series angries up the blood with segments about Syria and climate change.
Mythbusters: The Search (Science, 9 p.m., Saturday): The first-season finale of this continuation of the Mythbusters empire seeks to put to bed the myth that no one could ultimately take the place of those two beardy guys who busted all the myths all those years.
Regular coverage
Steven Universe (Cartoon Network, 7 p.m., Friday)
The Vampire Diaries (The CW, 8 p.m., Friday)
Grimm (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday)
Reign (CW, 9 p.m., Friday)
Star Wars Rebels (Disney XD, 8:30 p.m., Saturday)
Streaming pick
Angel, “The Trial” (Hulu): In tribute to Will Harris’ typically outstanding Random Roles with Angel, Buffy, and Dexter star Julie Benz, let’s enjoy one of her finest outings as super-evil vampire Darla. After turning back to a human (yay!) only to discover that she prefers being a vampire (boo!) and that she’s dying of the terminal syphilis that was going to kill her 17th-century prostitute self (ouch), Darla winds up turning to longtime (like, really longtime) lover Angel for help. There’s a tortuous gauntlet, a return of Juliet Landau’s always entertainingly bananas queen vamp Drusilla, a plum guest spot from Best In Show’s Jim Piddock, a killer of a twist, and, perhaps best of all, Benz’s Darla crooning the torch song “Ill Wind (You’re Blowin’ Me No Good)” at Lorne’s demon karaoke bar. (Just go with it.) In Will’s interview, Benz says she was terrified to sing on camera, but her performance says otherwise, proving conclusively that you don’t have to have a soul to be soulful.