Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Wednesday, December 2. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Arrow (The CW, 8 p.m.): Listen up, nerds! Part two of The Flash & Arrow Crossover Extravaganza To Vanquish Vandal Savage (also known as VandalMania) is on tonight! If you’re out of the loop, all of this is leading to the mid-season Flash/Arrow spin-off Legends Of Tomorrow, so this week’s Arrow is appropriately titled “Legends Of Yesterday.” We’re assuming it’s because yesterday comes before tomorrow, but we’re not the time travelers here. (Oh yeah, there’s time travel involved. You really should watch the Legends Of Tomorrow trailer if you’re this behind on the general premise.) The press release for this episode calls of this an “epic crossover,” but we think we pretty much covered that with the “Extravaganza” and “VandalMania” of it all.
So what’s happening in the episode? “Oliver and Barry Allen take Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall to a remote location to keep them hidden from Vandal Savage while they figure out how to defeat him. Malcolm arranges a meeting between Vandal, Green Arrow and The Flash that doesn’t go as planned. Meanwhile, Felicity, Thea, Diggle and Laurel work with Team Flash to come up with a weapon powerful enough to destroy Vandal Savage.” Too bad they fail, right, Alasdair Wilkins? Here’s to tomorrow!
Top pick No. 2: The Streets
The Challenge: Bloodlines (MTV, 10 p.m.): Damn you, Arrow! Damn you straight to Lian Yu! Of course we’d pick that show above all other shows during VandalMania. But tonight also marks the return of what should actually be America’s pastime: MTV’s The Challenge. Apparently this season has ripped off an entire premise from Survivor, but because it’s The Challenge, we’ll say it was purely coincidence. (We said the same thing about The Challenge: The Island, even though that was blatantly a Survivor rip-off. But it was also purely coincidence.) Have you ever thought, “Johnny Bananas is great, but I wish I could see him team-up with his family member?” If so, that’s a problem on every possible level; but it’s also the basis for this entire season. So get ready for 90 minutes of sloppy drunken antics, ruthless aggression, and host TJ Lavin’s absolute contempt for quitters and dummies (just wait until the trivia challenge of the season).
Also noted
Modern Family (ABC, 9 p.m.): “Catherine O’Hara (Best In Show, Temple Grandin) Guest Stars.” Congratulations, Kyle Fowle. We’re completely sold, no need for an actual plot.
Empire (Fox, 9 p.m.): Empire is going out with its mid-season finale, and it’s probably for the best. This season is kind of… Well, think of the season this way: It’s “Snitch Bitch,” in a world where “Drip Drop” already exists. So what can we expect in “Et Tu Brute”? Oh. Wow. We can expect a synopsis that spoils one of the major plots of the season so far: “Lucious makes a reckless play for the streaming service that he believes will make him the most powerful man in music, only to learn that the entire business strategy was part of a scheme that might jeopardize everything for which he has worked so hard.” In case you’re thinking that’s not really a spoiler, do not check out the guest star list for this episode, because the first actor mentioned really does give away the whole plot. But hey, it looks like Empire has brought Da Brat back from the dead, so that’s fun. Right, Joshua Alston?
Black-ish (ABC, 9:30 p.m.): In “Men At Work,” Wanda Sykes arrives, which is pretty great. But apparently she “starts to question Charlie’s work ethic,” so she must be stopped. Sorry, Wanda Sykes. LaToya Ferguson would never question Charlie’s work ethic, but that’s mostly because she’s still thinking about how D’Angelo moment from “Charlie In Charge.” Oh, and Dre’s “childhood friend Sha (guest star Faizon Love) comes to stay at the house for a few days, [but] Bow thinks he is taking advantage of Dre’s generosity.”
Star Wars Rebels (Disney XD, 9:30 p.m.): Ooh, “The Future Of The Force,” huh? Clearly all roads lead back to VandalMania. Here, “the rebels learn that the Inquisitors are seeking out Force-sensitive children, and they work together to protect the young ones from the Inquisitors’ pursuit.” Seriously, we can’t tell the difference between this and one of Vandal Savage’s plans, so good job, Rebels. And good luck, Kevin Johnson.
American Horror Story: Hotel (FX, 10 p.m.): With this week’s episode of American Horror Story: Hotel, “The Ten Commandments Killer,” “John closes in on The Ten Commandments Killer.” We really do love how matter-of-fact these Hotel synopses are, especially since we know nothing about the actual episode will be. Even more so because this synopsis ends with “Written by Ryan Murphy.” Emily L. Stephens is still holding out hope that one episode of Hotel will be just as cut-and-dry as its synopsis. Bless her heart.