The CW’s superhero shows return like a bolt of Black Lightning

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, October 9. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Black Lightning (The CW, 9 p.m.): One of the best new series of 2018 is back already, and we are very excited. In case you missed it this spring: Black Lightning chronicles the trials, tribulations, and surprise superpowers of the Pierce family. Anissa (Nafessa Williams), Jennifer (China Anne McClain), and the titular crimefighter Jefferson (Cress Williams) are all supered, with various levels of control over and feelings about their abilities. Lynn Stewart (Christine Adams), Jefferson’s ex-wife and the girls’ mother, has a superpower of a more everyday kind: she’s a neuroscientist currently using her enormous brain to expose nefarious organizations and conspiracies. In the second season premiere, her quest seems likely to get her, and presumably the rest of her extremely cool family, some unwanted attention. This isn’t the only CW superhero show returning tonight, or even this week, but it’s the one that we, and recapper Kyle Fowle, are most excited about.

Regular coverage

The Gifted (Fox, 8 p.m.)
The Flash (The CW, 8 p.m.)
This Is Us (NBC, 9 p.m.)

Wild card

Terrace House: Opening New Doors (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.): An unusually pleasant corner of the reality TV universe got decidedly less pleasant. It remains to be seen if and how the show will acknowledge Shohei’s actions, or how Seina will react to them (though since these episodes have already aired in Japan, it wouldn’t be hard to find out). That finale was a rare sour moment in an otherwise soothing show, and one hopes that Terrace House will find its way back to that weirdly tranquil, let’s-run-errands-and-cook energy.