Superman & Lois navigate yet another big twist
Plus: Netflix helps you meditate, Cruel Summer departs, and Rent reaches Cuba
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, June 15. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Superman & Lois (The CW, 9 p.m.): Clark and Lois have had more than their fair share of surprises in their first season, it’s safe to say. Here’s Caroline Siede on the latest big reveal from Smallville:
Superman & Lois certainly has no shortage of ideas. What once looked like it was going to be a simple, adult-focused remake of Smallville has emerged as one of the twistiest, turniest series in The CW superhero canon. Each week, Superman & Lois seems to introduce a new Big Bad, or at least a new riff on one of its existing baddies. Just two episodes after revealing that the seemingly villainous Captain Luthor was actually the heroic John Henry Irons, Superman & Lois reveals that maniacal businessman Morgan Edge is actually… Superman’s brother!?!
So much for a quiet life in Kansas. Watch for Caroline’s recap of tonight’s episode, winningly titled “O Mother, Where Art Thou?” Oh, and maybe double-check to confirm the identity of any new cast members in your life.
Regular coverage
The Flash (The CW, 8 p.m.)
Olympic stuff
U.S. Olympic Trials, “Swimming” (NBC, 8 p.m.): A continuation of the aquatic quests for glory of some aerodynamic humans.
Wild cards
Revolution Rent (HBO, 9 p.m., premiere): How do you document real life when real life’s getting more like fiction each day? Writer/co-director Andy Señor Jr. answered that question (also, not coincidentally, a lyric from Rent) when he brought along cameras to document the first production of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer-winning musical in Cuba—a production he also directed. Señor’s connection to the show goes back decades, and his belief in it, and in the power of theater more broadly, comes through loud and clear—but Rent is far from the most compelling aspect of this warm-hearted documentary. Don’t come to Revolution Rent looking for anything like a profound exploration of life for young artists in Cuba in the 2010s. It’s an affecting but relatively slight documentary, and there’s simply not enough time to really dig into the emotional lives of the performers, Rent’s relevance today, Señor’s own complicated connection to the country, and to work in a good audition montage. Though it explores none of those threads fully, each is moving in its own way. Will Revolution Rent change your life, as it changed the lives of those involved? Probably not. But show up ready for a visceral reminder that the arts can be transformative and it’ll be 90 minutes well spent.
Headspace: Unwind Your Mind (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., premiere): The latest Netflix interactive thingamajig comes from the people behind Headspace. Think mindfulness meets choose-your-own-adventure.
Echo Boomers (Roku, 3:01 a.m.): Michael Shannon stars in this based-on-a-true-thriller about a bunch of Chicago college grads who decide to try to wipe out their debt with a series of art heists.
Cruel Summer (Freeform, 10 p.m., first-season finale): You’ve got one last chance to feel the ’90s thriller nostalgia as Cruel Summer cruelly signs off for the, well, you know. It’s court date day. What could possibly go wrong?