Doctor Who
Season 10, Episode 8 “The Lie Of The Land”
Directed by Wayne Yip
Written by Toby Whithouse
Starring Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, Matt Lucas, Michelle Gomez
BBC America
Air date: June 3, 2017

Ever since the dawn of modern mass media, there has been this concern that media has a meta-textual element designed to mislead the public. Call it subliminal advertising or even the Discordian fnord, but there is always this notion that the newspapers, the TV, the Internet that people so willingly and gleefully consume is actually putting us to sleep somehow. Though it informs us, that very act also allows it to control us. It creates a method for the direct manipulation of the human psyche, and since mass media systems make the replication of controlling information so easy, the many can be controlled by the very few.

This dystopian idea of control through mass media is what Doctor Who examines with Episode 10.8 “The Lie Of The Land.” Having established last week that a new alien species (the Monks) has arrived on Earth that behave something like a shadowy, Illuminati-like group, the gimmick of “The Pyramid At The End Of The World” was the setup for a choice. Bill (Pearl Mackie) must pick the uncertain future of life on Earth with the Monks, or let the Doctor die. She chooses the former, and now we see what life with the Monks looks like.

Gotham
Season 3 Episode 20: “Heroes Rise: Pretty Hate Machine”
Directed by Danny Cannon
Written by Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt
Created by Bruno Heller
Starring Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, Sean Pertwee, Robin Lord Taylor, David Mazouz, Camren Bicondova, Cory Michael Smith, Erin Richards, Chris Chalk, Jessica Lucas, Drew Powell, Morena Baccharin
FOX
Air Date: Monday, May 30th, 2017, 8pm

Last week on Gotham, Penguin and Nygma (Robin Lord Taylor, Cory Michael Smith) called a truce to help each other escape. Killing each other could wait. Selina (Camren Bicondova) tried to kill Bruce 2 (David Mazouz), but he knocked her out right after she told Alfred (Sean Pertwee) the truth. Then Bruce 2 knocked him out. Lee (Morena Baccharin) blamed herself for Mario’s death after a nightmare and a visit to the Mad Hatter (Benedict Samuel). She stole the virus and then injected herself. The real Bruce put away his bad memories and felt nothing. Barnes (Michael Chiklis) almost killed Jim (Ben McKenzie), but he was saved by the GCPD. Jim and Bullock (Donal Logue) questioned Kathryn (Leslie Hendrix) who gave away nothing, even after Alfred put a knife through her hand. She ordered Barnes to save her so he cut off her head in response.

Spoilers below.

House of Cards
Season 5 Episode 1: “Chapter 53
Directed by Daniel Minahan
Written by Frank Pugliese
Created by Beau Willimon
Starring Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Paul Sparks, Joel Kinnaman, Neve Campbell, Boris McGiver, Jayne Atkinson, Damian Young
Netflix
Air Date: Tuesday, May 30th, 2017

Somewhere over the past year the line between television drama and reality blurred. There is a President who talks down to people, commit heinous acts of violence and depravity, we have issues with the Russians, and we live in a perpetual state of fear from terrorist cells worldwide… quick, am I talking about America 2017 or Season 4 of House of Cards? A show that cuts this close to reality is not going to be shy with the current scope of American politics, and I expect this will be a unique and interesting season for Netflix’s award winning political thriller. I wait with baited breath to see how far the writers will push the boundaries.

Spoilers below.

Prison Break: Resurrection
Episode 9: “Behind The Eyes” (Finale)
Directed by Nelson McCormick
Written by Paul Scheuring
Created by Paul Scheuring
Starring Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Sarah Wayne Callies, Rockmond Dunbar, Robert Knepper, Amaury Nolasco, Augustus Prew, Mark Feuerstein, Marina Benedict, Steve Mouzakis, Inbar Lavi
FOX
Air Date: Tuesday, May 30th, 2017, 9:00pm

Warning! Spoilers below for tonight’s season finale of Prison Break: Resurrection!

Last week on Prison Break, we were filled in on some of the Poseidon/Michael (Mark Feuerstein, Wentworth Miller) story through a flashback. Michael texted Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) to give her an update and instantly knew it wasn’t her. Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) told his story to Michael, which happened to be their ticket out of there, courtesy of an Abruzzi. They got out of that sticky situation with the help of C-Note and Sheba (Rockmond Dunbar, Inbar Lavi). Jacob set them up. Michael was reunited with his son, but then a shot rang out. Lincoln was the victim of an Abruzzi drive-by.

Spoilers below.

Doctor Who
Season 10, Episode 7 “The Pyramid at the End of the World”
Directed by Daniel Nettheim
Written by Steven Moffat and Peter Harness
Starring Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, Matt Lucas, Togo Igawa
BBC America
Air date: May 27, 2017

This week on Doctor Who, the Doctor continues his adventure in the world of the occult conspiracy thriller. An Egyptian-style pyramid appears in the middle of a hot zone in Central Asia. The Doctor and Bill are summoned to investigate. The Doctor is still blind, and has not yet told Bill about it.

What do they find? What does it all mean? The episode pulls together some interesting literary symbols and ideas in order to create jeopardy, but it falls apart a bit at the last minute. To find out why, read on…