Looking for your next binge-watch, or just need to fill an hour? Welcome to Your Weekly Watch List, our curated collection of the best shows on television. Here’s what to watch from Sunday, April 16 through Saturday, April 22.
This week, Bill Hader masterminds Barry’s long-awaited conclusion from inside a prison cell, while Betty Gilpin’s badass nun fights off an A.I. named Mrs. Davis. Plus, Keri Russell practices high-stakes intrigue in The Diplomat, and not one but two Rachel Weiszes reimagine the body horrors of Dead Ringers for a new millennium.
Sunday, 10:00 PM ET on HBO
With Bill Hader’s hitman turned actor finally locked up for (one of) his murderous crimes, Barry’s fourth and final season examines the fallout from Season 3’s shocking finale. For Emmy-winner Hader, who directs all eight episodes, Barry’s masterful tonal balancing act enters its blackly comic endgame, as both his former girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg) and acting coach/surrogate father Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) must confront their relationship with a convicted killer. Meanwhile, Barry’s underworld associates (Stephen Root’s Fuches and Anthony Carrigan’s scene-stealing NoHo Hank) contemplate what Barry’s arrest means for them. The first two episodes premiere Sunday.
Thursday, Peacock
Co-creators Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof have successfully kept the lid on this Betty Gilpin-starring sci-fi drama. But now that the full trailer has been released, we can at least surmise that it’s about a cycle-riding nun named Simone (Gilpin) leading a revolution against artificial intelligence (called Mrs. Davis) that has the entire world under its seemingly benevolent thrall. Joined by Margo Martindale, Ben Chaplin, and David Arquette, Gilpin's Sister Simone pits her faith (and her kickass motorcycle skills) against an A.I. determined to make the world over in its own image. Lost creator Lindelof has teased that the high-concept show is part The Sound of Music, part Black Mirror, and part True Romance, so make of that what you will. He further promises that his dystopia will be a fun one, and if the sight of Simone leaping her bike through a giant donut in slow motion doesn’t scream fun, what does?
Thursday, Netflix (Full Season)
The Americans star Keri Russell is on the other side of the espionage fence in Netflix’s The Diplomat, in which she plays Kate Wyler, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Encumbered by her own self-doubt and the presence of her unreliable career-diplomat husband (Rufus Sewell), Russell’s rookie ambassador quickly finds herself called upon to defuse various incidents, all while her husband and skeptical colleagues (including Rory Kinnear, Pearl Mackie, Celia Imrie, and Michael McKean) hint that she’s in over her head. Created by Deborah Cahn (Homeland, The West Wing), The Diplomat’s high-pressure mix of real-world intrigue and character drama gives Russell plenty to sink her teeth into.
Friday, Amazon Prime Video (Full Season)
Fans of David Cronenberg’s 1988 medical-psychological thriller Dead Ringers — starring Jeremy Irons as a pair of identical twin gynecologists — should be prepared for the deeply queasy twists and turns of Alice Birch’s updated reimagining. Rachel Weisz steps into the four shoes of sisters Elliot and Beverly Mantle, dangerously codependent twin doctors who aim to radically revolutionize the way that babies are born via some experimental and deeply questionable procedures. In addition to giving viewers plenty to squirm about, Dead Ringers looks to recapture the original’s technical wizardry with Weisz’s double performance, and combine it with a dark exploration of sex, gender, and reproductive health. All six episodes premiere today.
An Hour
The Mandalorian Season 3 Finale: Wednesday, Disney+
Abbott Elementary Season 2 Finale: Wednesday, 9:00 PM ET on ABC
Snowfall Series Finale: Wednesday, 10:00 PM ET on FX
Star Trek: Picard Series Finale: Thursday, Paramount+
An Evening
Totally, Completely Fine: Thursday, Sundance Now
Judy Blume Forever: Friday, Amazon Prime Video
Dear Mama: Friday, 10:00 PM ET on FX
A Full Day
Chimp Empire: Wednesday, Netflix
Slip: Friday, Roku Channel
From Season 2 Premiere: Sunday, April 23 on MGM+
Saint X: Wednesday, April 26 on Hulu
Love & Death: Thursday, April 27 on HBO Max
Citadel: Friday, April 28 on Amazon Prime Video
Dennis Perkins is a freelance entertainment writer with bylines at The A.V. Club, Paste, Ultimate Classic Rock, The Portland Press Herald, and elsewhere.
TOPICS: Barry, Dead Ringers, The Diplomat, Mrs. Davis, Bill Hader