This week, we bid February goodbye with action-packed humor: Elk Grove’s chainsaw-handed hero returns to fight evil for the third time, while Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman arrive with a new comedy about desperate housewives breaking bad. Then, we kick off March with the long-awaited second season of Donald Glover’s acclaimed series. The late ’90s are also a recurrent theme: a new true crime anthology series revolves around the murders of the era’s biggest hip-hop legends, while Hulu’s latest political drama looks back at the years that preluded 9/11. Finally, a Netflix documentary series drives our attention back to Flint, Michigan, while the latest installment of PBS’s Independent Lens takes a closer look at rats and racism.
To help you keep track of the most important programs over the next seven days, here’s our guide to everything worth watching, whether it’s on broadcast, cable, or streaming for February 25th –March 3rd (all times Eastern):
Ash vs Evil Dead (Starz, Sunday 9pm)
The last time we saw Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell), our favorite chainsaw wielder went from despised citizen to hometown hero. Now, the third season finds him happily cashing in his newfound fame in Ashy’s Slashy hardware store. But bad blood never runs dry, and battling evil becomes a family business when he meets his long-lost daughter Brandy (Arielle Carver-O’Neill). With a supernatural war of epic proportions brewing and the threat of Ruby (Lucy Lawless) lurking underneath, Ash joins Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) and Pablo (Ray Santiago) to reluctantly save the day once again. Following the exit of former showrunner Craig DiGregorio, with Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica, Netflix’s Daredevil) taking over, Season 3 will explore in greater depth the cult classic’s mythology and dive into who is Ash and why is he foretold in an ancient book, but the traditional bloodshed and action-packed thrills are still guaranteed. Come get some.
Good Girls (NBC, Monday 10pm)
If you mix Set It Off and Thelma & Louise with the slightest touch of Bad Moms, the result would be something like NBC’s latest series Good Girls. Created by Jenna Bans (Desperate Housewives), the show centers around three cash-strapped suburban moms who, tired of trying to make ends meet, decide to rob a local supermarket at (toy) gunpoint. But when the loot turns out to be the laundered stash of a criminal gang and the manager figures out who committed the crime, the trio realize that they might have traded their old predicaments for a new world of trouble. Good Girls assembles Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman as the unlikely squad breaking bad, along with Matthew Lillard, Reno Wilson and Manny Montana.
Rat Film (PBS, Monday 10pm)
What do rats have to do with racial segregation and lending practices like redlining? More than you’d think. Debutant director Theo Anthony begins examining our relationship with rats — in their many facets: as pest, as science test subjects, or as part of the economy of extermination — and winds up with a deep exploration of the history of Baltimore and the systemic racism that established the low-income and predominantly black neighborhoods of the city, historically affected by the rodents.
Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. (USA, Tuesday 10pm)
For some reason, true crime anthology series and the ’90s go inherently together. Following the path trailed by American Crime Story and Law and Order: True Crime, USA’s Unsolved debuts with a season dedicated to one of the most tragic events of the decade: the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. The 10-episode series chronicles the dual police investigations of Detective Greg Kading (Josh Duhamel) and Detective Russell Poole (Jimmi Simpson) into the infamous shootings of the rap godfathers (played by Marcc Rose and Wavvy Jonez), in a quest for justice that might never come to fruition. Unsolved also stars Bokeem Woodbine, Jamie McShane, Brent Sexton, Luke James, Aisha Hinds, and Letoya Luckett. Anthony Hemingway (The People v. O.J. Simpson) directs the pilot.
The Looming Tower (Hulu, Wednesday)
While we patiently wait for the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu takes another shot at politically charged drama with The Looming Tower. Based on the Pulitzer winning book by Lawrence Wright, the 10-episode miniseries traces the rising threat of Osama Bin Laden in the late ’90s and how the competition between the FBI and the CIA to see who would get the drop on Al Qaeda first may have inadvertently paved the way for tragedy in 2001. The cast is loaded with star power: Jeff Daniels and Peter Sarsgaard play the heads of the federal agencies’ counter-terrorism divisions, accompanied by Tahar Rahim, Wrenn Schmidt, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bill Camp, and Alec Baldwin. We can expect a good balance between truth and drama, since Dan Futterman (Capote, Foxcatcher) acted as showrunner and documentarian Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) directed multiple episodes.
Atlanta (FX, Thursday 10pm)
The only reason why Atlanta’s second season didn’t arrive sooner is because Donald Glover is so damn busy. After debuting the show and receiving a myriad of critical acclaim for it (including two Emmys and two Golden Globes), Glover went on to release the Grammy-nominated album Awaken, My Love! under his stage name Childish Gambino, and on to play the legendary Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story – you know, minor stuff. Now, after a long and patient wait, Earn, Paper Boi, Van, and Darius finally hit the streets of Atlanta again. Subtitled “Robbin’ Season,” alluding to the period before Christmas where people have more money and robberies increase accordingly, the sophomore season finds our protagonists with much gained, but also much to lose, as they navigate what it’s like to be successful and black in white America. Like much of what Glover does, it’s anybody’s guess where exactly this season is taking us, but you can be sure it will be a cool ride.
Flint Town (Netflix, Friday)
Flint, Michigan, has been present in the national consciousness ever since the 2014 water crisis, but even four years later, the city’s problems are far from over. For instance, for its 100,000 inhabitants, there are only 98 people staffing the police force. Directors Zackary Canepari, Jessica Dimmock, and Drea Cooper embedded themselves with the local law enforcement to reveal throughout eight episodes a department struggling to gain support from the community they serve, with decreasing resources and infrastructure issues in the aftermath of the water crisis. A reminder that the dust hasn’t settled just yet.
SUNDAY
XXIII Olympic Winter Games Closing Ceremony (NBC, 6pm) – live event
Counterpart S1E6 “Act Like You’ve Been Here Before” (Starz, 8pm)
Our Cartoon President S1E4 “Family Leave” (Showtime, 8pm)
Ash vs. Evil Dead S3E1 “Family” (Starz, 9pm) – season premiere
The Walking Dead S8E9 “Honor” (AMC, 9pm)
Victoria S2E7 “The King Over the Water” (PBS, 9pm)
Divorce S2E7 “Going, Going… Gone” (HBO, 10pm)
The Chi S1E7 “The Whistle” (Showtime, 10pm)
A.P. Bio S1E2 “Teacher Jail” (NBC, 10:30pm)
MONDAY
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow S3E12 “The Curse of the Earth Totem” (The CW, 8pm)
Lucifer S3E15 “High School Poppycock” (FOX, 8pm)
The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X (Smithsonian, 8pm) – documentary special
iZombie S4E1 “Are You Ready for Some Zombies?” (The CW, 9pm) – season premiere
Jonestown: The Women Behind the Massacre (A&E, 9pm) – documentary premiere
Star Wars Rebels S4E12&E13 “Wolves and a Door” & “A World Between Worlds” (Disney XD, 9pm)
The Alienist S1E6 “Ascension” (TNT, 9pm)
Living Bibically S1E1 (CBS, 9:30pm) – series premiere
Good Girls S1E1 (NBC, 10pm) – series premiere
McMafia S1E1 (AMC, 10pm) – series American debut
Rat Film (PBS, 10pm) – documentary premiere
Scorpion S4E17 “Dumbster Fire” (CBS, 10pm)
The Good Doctor S1E15 “Heartfelt” (ABC, 10pm)
Trouble No More (Cinemax, 10pm) – music documentary premiere
Final Space S1E1 “Chapter One” (TBS, 10:30pm) – series premiere
TUESDAY
Marlon Wayans: Woke-ish (Netflix) – standup comedy special
Lethal Weapon S2E16 “Ruthless” (FOX, 8pm)
NCIS S15E15 “Keep Your Enemies Closer” (CBS, 8pm)
The Flash S4E14 “Subject 9” (The CW, 8pm)
Black Lightning S1E6 “Three Sevens: The Book of Thunder” (The CW, 9pm)
LA to Vegas S1E6 “#PilotFight” (Fox, 9pm)
This Is Us S2E16 “Vegas, Baby” (NBC, 9pm)
Kevin (Probably) Saves the World S1E15 “World’s Worst Domino” (ABC, 10pm)
Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. S1E1 (USA, 10pm) – series premiere
WEDNESDAY
The Looming Tower S1E1&E2&E3 (Hulu) – series premiere
The Blacklist S5E14 “Mr. Raleigh Sinclair III” (NBC, 8pm)
The X-Files S11E7 “Rm9sbG93ZXJz” (FOX, 8pm)
Speechless S2E14 “E-i-Eighteen” (ABC, 8:30pm)
9-1-1 S1E7 “Full Moon (Creepy AF)” (Fox, 9pm)
Law & Order: SVU S19E14 “Chasing Demons” (NBC, 9pm)
Modern Family S9E14 “Written in the Stars” (ABC, 9pm)
Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block S3E4 “Alice in Slaughterland” (Syfy, 10pm)
Designated Survivor S2E11 “Grief” (ABC, 10pm)
The Assassination of Gianni Versace S2E6 “Descent” (FX, 10pm)
Waco S1E6 “Day 51” (Paramount, 10pm) – series finale
THURSDAY
Gotham S4E12 “Pieces of a Broken Mirror” (FOX, 8pm)
Grey’s Anatomy S14E13 “You Really Got a Hold on Me” (ABC, 8pm)
RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars S3E6 (VH1, 8pm)
Supernatural S13E14 “Good Intentions” (The CW, 8pm)
Superstore S3E13 “Video Game Release” (NBC, 8pm)
Arrow S6E14 “Collision Course” (The CW, 9pm)
Project Runway All-Stars S6E8 (Lifetime, 9pm)
Scandal S7E12 “Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself” (ABC, 9pm)
Will & Grace S9E12 “Three Weiss Men” (NBC, 9pm)
Atlanta S2E1 “Alligator Man” (FX, 10pm) – season premiere
How to Get Away With Murder S4E13 “Lahey v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” (ABC, 10pm)
Portlandia S8E7 “Most Pro City” (IFC, 10pm)
S.W.A.T S1E13 “Fences” (CBS, 10pm)
FRIDAY
Flint Town S1(Netflix) – documentary series premiere
Les Affamés (Netflix) – movie American debut
Once Upon a Time S7E11 “Secret Garden” (ABC, 8pm)
Jane The Virgin S4E11 “Chapter Seventy-Five” (The CW, 9pm)
SATURDAY
Planet Earth: Blue Planet II S1E7 “Our Blue Planet” (BBC America, 8pm) – series finale
Top Gear S25E1 (BBC America, 10:30pm) – season premiere
