Television

Tonight, Team Flash comes face-to-face with the foe they've been warned about ever since Flash encountered Abra Kadabra, the magician from the future: DeVoe. That would be Clifford DeVoe, whom we will come to know as The Thinker, a classic villain for the Golden Age Flash in the comics.

After an intense search for DeVoe, once it was learned that Ralph Dibney was hired by DeVoe to investigate the mayor, they've finally located the one they believe they are looking for, and are shocked to find him in a wheelchair. But then, so was Harrison Wells / Eobard Thawne (it's complicated) in the first season, so we know that's not an impediment.

By the episode title, you'd think this is the MOONLIGHTING-esque ending you've been waiting for in this series. But, of course, you should know better than that.

The story opens with Lucifer (TOM ELLIS) and Chloe (LAUREN GERMAN) laying side-by-side on the floor, engaged in obvious innuendo to the audience. However, what they're really doing is preparing to play Monopoly with Chloe's daughter, Trixie (SCARLETT ESTEVEZ). This leads Lucifer down the path of thinking that he has become boring. And, in truth, throughout much of the series, Lucifer has been portrayed as less "Luciferian" than one would expect from someone with his millennia of experiences; he misjudges frequently and makes mistakes. You'd think the Devil would be more calculating than that, but I suppose the writers are trying to play up his vulnerable side when he's around Chloe.

CHICAGO meets SWEENEY TODD in this episode of GOTHAM as Professor Pyg (MICHAEL CERVERIS) moves up from attacking the GCPD cops on Penguin's payroll to the very elite of the city itself. When the bodies of several homeless are left on the GCPD doorstep, Captain Gordon (BEN MCKENZIE) and Lucius Fox (CHRIS CHALK) discover the bodies have been excavated of their organs. When Gordon traces Pyg to the location where the bodies were butchered, he loses another cop and runs across a cryptic message--a quote from Jonathan Swift's A MODEST PROPOSAL. The implications are clear: Pyg plans to make the rich eat the poor. Literally.

Archie (KJ APA) and Jughead (COLE SPROUSE) evade the police in no less than two scenes in the latest episode of RIVERDALE before they engage in a madcap car race that ends with them narrowly evading the police a third time!

And somebody didn't get Waylon Jennings music approved for the scene? I mean, after all, Archie and Jug are just some good old boys, never meaning no harm.

Betty (LILI REINHART) has just about had it with taking orders from the Black Hood -- so much so that she's actually changed her ringtome from "Lollipop" by The Chordettes to a simple chime. Fortunately, he says he only has one job left for her: Find the identity of the so-called Sugarman, the main supplier of the drug Jingle Jangle -- that stuff Reggie Mantle (CHARLES MELTON) gave everybody last week at the party.

I've been a fan of THE FLASH since the pilot. It wasn't the easiest thing to be some of the time, particularly last season. So it's quite relaxing to be an ardent fan and be able to honestly say that the current episodes are some of the best of the series.

"When Harry Met Harry" gets its name from Cisco's advice to Harry Wells (TOM CAVANAGH) to make some friends. Harry does so -- with himself, from different corners of the Multiverse. This brings together the "Council of Wells," as Cisco (CARLOS VALDES) calls it, a think tank that does a lot of arguing with itself. But if they can get along, they may just be able to track down which of the many "DeVoes" out there is the one that Team Flash is looking for, having advance knowledge that he/she will be one of his greatest foes.

When Reese Getty (BETTER CALL SAUL's PATRICK FABIAN) wakes up in a hospital, he's told he just had a brush with death. But now that he's got a second chance at life, he's going to try to turn things around with his wife. He shows up with roses, only to hear her canoodling with another man -- and that man is revealed to be Lucifer Morningstar (TOM ELLIS). Reese follows Lucifer to Lux, and Lucifer buddies up to him. He learns that Reese is out to destroy the man who stole his wife, and Lucifer--not realizing it's him--gives him the encouragement to truly punish the man.

After the tragic confrontation with Professor Pyg, Detective James Gordon (BEN MCKENZIE) is called into the mayor's office, where Mayor Burke (LARRY PINE) offers him the paperwork that will promote him to Captain. However, Gordon doesn't want the job, particularly as the current captain is his partner, Harvey Bullock (DONAL LOGUE). But Bullock has lost the faith of his men, and even Gordon realizes this, so he promises to at least mull the offer over.

The Black Hood begins a torturous mental game with Betty (LILI REINHART) when he begins calling her with demands. He's already told her that he's begun this mission all because of her inspiration, cleansing Riverdale of sin by getting rid of the sinners. To co-opt Betty's loyalty, he tells her he knows the secret of her sister Polly's pregnancy, and he knows where she went. If Betty doesn't cooperate, he'll kill her. But Betty sets up a return flow of information. If she does what is asked, she gets to ask the Black Hood a question (other than his name) and he has to answer.

While perhaps not the "flashiest" of THE FLASH episodes, "Girls Night Out" is a fun bit of personal introspection and partying, as the members of Team Flash split up into boys and girls for the respective bachelor and bachelorette parties of Barry Allen (GRANT GUSTIN) and Iris West (CANDICE PATTON). And just to give it that extra bit of fun, we get a guest appearance from ARROW's Felicity Smoak (EMILY BETT RICKARDS).

Team Iris -- Iris, Felicity, Caitlin Snow (DANIELLE PANABAKER) and Cecile Horton (DANIELLE NICOLET) have planned a quiet little dinner at a fancy restaurant. Team Barry -- Barry, Cisco (CARLOS VALDES), Joe West (JESSE L MARTIN), and Harry Wells (TOM CAVANAGH) are enjoying a quiet brandy and home movies at the West household. Both parties get crashed by unwelcome guests that throw the whole evening into disarray.

It's Chloe's birthday, and Lucifer (TOM ELLIS) receives a disturbing phone call from the Las Vegas Police Department. It seems his ex-wife, Candy (LINDSEY GORT) has been murdered. It also turns out she's not his ex-wife, since it takes a year to annul these sorts of things. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to go alone, because while Chloe (LAUREN GERMAN) is distracted by the birthday stripper, Ella (AIMEE GARCIA), overhears that Lucifer is going to Vegas and assigns herself to be his travel buddy.

Show creator Seth MacFarlane took to twitter to announced that THE ORVILLE has been renewed for a second season on FOX.

A show that combines amazing special effects, stunning Sci-Fi, laugh out loud comedy, and deep moral questions, THE ORVILLE is a clever work-'space' comedy.

The cast of characters are lovable losers who are just trying to make the best of their ongoing mission. All while citing real world issues in the midst of trouble. One such moment, when the Orville is under attack, Lt. Malloy expresses his frustration that there's no way they're getting out at 5'oclock.

Professor Pyg (MICHAEL CERVERIS) continues to plague the GCPD, delivering 44 boxes of severed pigs heads to the precinct -- one for every cop there except for one: Jim Gordon (BEN MCKENZIE). That's because Pyg believes that Jim is the only good cop on the force and the rest are stooges for Penguin (ROBIN LORD TAYLOR). And he's not wrong. With the "Pax Penguina" in full effect, crime has dropped but only because Penguin only allows crimes if he has granted a license, which the police are forced to honor in exchange for the lower crime numbers.

From Gamespot:

There's something big happening in the sewers of New York City. Nickelodeon has announced the cast of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--the newest reimagining of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series--and there are some significant changes coming.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles taps into the mystic side of the story about four mutated turtles--Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael--who are raised as brothers by their mentor and sensei Splinter, a mutated rat. An official description from Nickelodeon says the series "follows the band of brothers as they encounter new allies and villains and discover a mystical world they never knew existed beneath the streets of New York City."

Archie's video of himself and The Red Circle has gone viral, and is making waves. Hermione Lodge forbids Veronica to continue dating him, his father wants the video removed (too late, it's already been shared), and Principal Weatherbee wants the Red Circle disbanded and a letter of apology to the community be signed, or else Archie will be suspended -- and he's eliminating the entire football team until this happens.

Even the South Side Serpents have seen the video, and they think Archie makes a fine target -- for Jughead! He can earn his stripes as a Serpent by bringing them Archie's head. They see the Black Hood as a hero, taking it to the Northsiders who have always looked down on them.

I recently spoke with someone who had given up THE FLASH after last season.  I had urged this person to give Season 4 a try because they were really getting it right this time.

"Elongated Journey Into Night" is no exception. The writers, stepping away from the "wicked speedster of the year" theme and the "Barry just isn't fast enough" macguffin have finally hit their groove and are hitting the show on all cylinders.

The episode opens with Cisco (CARLOS VALDES) having an intimate moment with Gypsy (JESSICA CAMACHO) which gets interrupted by a scary-looking breacher (DANNY TREJO). His name, appropriately enough, is Breacher -- but Gypsy prefers to call him "Daddy."

TRICIA HELFER returns to the role of Charlotte Richards in this episode of Lucifer. Only this time she's really Charlotte Richards. Prior to that, she was a human host occupied by Lucifer's mum, the Goddess of Creation. When Lucifer gave her a new home, the body collapsed. By rights, that should have been it, since the body was freshly murdered when mum took it over. But there's something deeper going on, and Charlotte is oblivious to it. All she knows is that she's lost six months of her life, her family, her children--and she has to go on acting like she remembers it all to avoid people thinking she's crazy. Because she's pretty sure she spent the last six months in Hell.

Judgment comes to the Gotham police as those on the payroll of Penguin (ROBIN LORD TAYLOR) start to find themselves being slaughtered, their bodies left wearing the heads of pigs. This is the introduction of the character Professor Pyg (MICHAEL CERVERIS), and his motives have yet to be explained. But he's a big fan of Jim Gordon (BEN MCKENZIE) and his stance against police corruption. Too bad he doesn't feel the same way about Gordon's partner, Harvey Bullock (DONAL LOGUE).

RIVERDALE tosses in another callback to the comics this episode as Archie (KJ APA) grows more anxious about the murderer on the loose. Now with Moose Mason (CODY KEARSLEY) and Midge (EMILIJA BARANAC) have both been attacked while parking (they're okay; Moose protected Midge with his body and took a bullet for her), Archie seeks a way to be more pro-active in his hunt.

Meanwhile, we learn that squeaky clean Kevin Keller (CASEY COTT) has been taking late night jogs through the local forest, cruising for gay hookups. He was doing this when he heard the gunshots involving Moose and Midge, and helped get them to safety. But his story doesn't ring true to Betty (LILI REINHART), who cautions Kevin against such activity, particularly with a fugitive on the loose. This causes a rift between the two friends, as Kevin feels like this is his only option for hooking up with other gay guys (although to be honest, for a small town, he hasn't had much of a problem so far in Riverdale).

In Seattle 2042, Time Bureau agent Gary (ADAM TSEKHMAN) sends out a distress call when he fails to stop an assassination. That call gets intercepted and answered by the Legends.

In this time period, ARGUS has tossed away their covert nature and taken over, turning the country into a police state. Metahumans are outlawed, as is religion. The guards were trying to take Zari Adrianna Tomaz (TALA ASHE) to their prison, when the transport was interrupted by Kuasa (TRACY IFEACHOR), a metahuman who can transform her body into water. Zari gets away, but is tracked down by the Legends for protection -- which she rejects.

THE FLASH continues its fourth-season winning streak with this episode, featuring the advent of Rebecca Sharpe, aka Hazard (SUGAR LYN BEARD), a girl with notoriously bad luck who finally has the tables turn thanks to her becoming a metahuman.

After we learn through The Thinker (NEIL SANDILANDS) and The Mechanic (KIM ENGELBRECHT) just how important Rebecca is to The Thinker's overall plans, we jump to S.T.A.R. Labs, where a breach is opening, and Wally West (KEIYNAN LONSDALE) awaits with a stuffed teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers. But it's not speedster Jesse Quick who comes through the warp, but her father, Harry Wells (TOM CAVANAGH). He's delivering something to Wally: a break-up box. And he's very uncomfortable doing it.