What to Watch This Week: April 1-7

From documentaries to reality TV to Netflix exclusives, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

 

1. Big Little Lies – Sunday, April 2, 8 p.m., 11 p.m. & 2 a.m., HBO Canada – Series Finale

This star-studded whodunit has captivated cable audiences thanks to big-name actresses (Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern et al.) and universal themes (motherhood, marriage, bullying). But now the series based on the scintillating bestseller by Liane Moriarty comes to a close with the seventh episode, wherein we’ll finally learn exactly what happened the fateful night at the school fundraiser, and what that revelation will mean for our sprawling ensemble of suburbanites. Will the ending match the shocking conclusion that Moriarty unleashed upon her readers, or will the folks behind the show opt to put their own, equally jarring stamp on the material? Alas, this was always designed to be a miniseries with a finite ending, so no hope of season two. (These movie stars have to get back to starring in movies, after all.) But we’re sure to hear lots more about Big Little Lies come September, when Oscar winners Kidman and Witherspoon (and maybe even French-Canadian helmer Jean-Marc Vallée) will look to add some Emmys to their respective mantles.

 

2. 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards – Sunday, April 2, 8 p.m., CBS

Las Vegas might not be the first city that pops into your head when it comes to country music, but the city’s definitely got a flare for the all-out pageantry that this annual awards gala demands. Some of the genre’s hottest acts are expected to attend as well as perform, as the likes of Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert and more will grace us with a few of their chart-toppers. The three-hour ceremony airs from the T-Mobile Arena, where hosts/bestest buds Dierks Bentley and? Luke Bryan will emcee for the second year in a row. Heading into the night, Keith Urban leads the pack with seven noms, while Maren Morris and the aforementioned Lambert are right behind with six.

 

3. Abortion: Stories Women Tell – Monday, April 3, 7 p.m. & 1:05 a.m., HBO Canada

Forty-four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court officially made it legal for women to choose to have an abortion if they so desired. But just because it’s the law doesn’t mean that it’s going to go over well in all areas. More than half of the states in the country, particularly the Bible Belt, have major restrictions enacted on having abortions, and in Missouri, there’s precisely one abortion clinic. Director Tracy Droz Tragos, a Missouri native, has put together a film wherein? she talks to women who’ve had to deal with these difficulties, chronicling their deeply personal, often-heartbreaking stories.

 

4. Louis CK.: 2017 – Tuesday, April 4, Netflix

With his Louie officially on “extended hiatus,” the wait may truly prove interminable for another season of the Emmy-winning autobiographical sitcom. But Louis C.K. certainly hasn’t quit his day job: this week brings the first of his two new standup comedy specials for Netflix. At least that’s something!

 

5. Chicago Fire – Tuesday, April 4, 7 p.m., Global; 10 p.m., NBC

Casey puts his heart on his sleeve again when he connects with a drug addict who’s living in a crack den near the firehouse. Meanwhile, Severide’s dad (guest star Treat Williams) drops by for an unplanned visit, and Dawson and Brett find themselves in an awkward situation with a trainee.

 

6. New Girl – Tuesday, April 4, 8 p.m., City & Fox – Season Finale

As the sixth season of New Girl winds its way to a close, Jess has decided that it’s finally time to let Nick in on her true feelings. Meanwhile, Cece and Schmidt get some pretty major news; Aly helps Winston get back in touch with someone very important; and Nick meets with a book publisher. Boy, that sure sounds like a lot of plot points for just a season finale, doesn’t it? Our guess is that’s because the writers wanted to make certain that all their proverbial bases were covered. In an interview with The Daily Beast, co-star Jake Johnson—otherwise known as Nick—said that Fox “won’t tell us” if there’s going to be ?a seventh season of New Girl, “but we shot a finale where, if this was the end, the core fan base would be OK.” As far as he’s concerned, though, “I think after this season it’s done.”

 

7. Imaginary Mary – Tuesday, April 4, 9 p.m., ABC

Things are still rather tenuous between Alice and Ben’s kids—it’s only been a week since the pilot, you know—but when Ben gets a last-minute opportunity ?for an inspection job and finds himself in a tight spot, he decides to go for broke and ask Alice if she’d mind picking Bunny up from her dance class. It seems like a simple enough task on the surface (probably because it is), but it calls for one-on-one time between Alice and Bunny, and that’s enough to send Alice into mild hysterics, wanting to make sure that she gets everything just right. After quizzing her staff mercilessly about how to handle the situation, she settles on a pep talk from her fuzzy li’l imaginary friend, and the pickup goes perfectly. It’s not till later that things go wrong, resulting in a trip to the hospital. Meanwhile, Ben’s impending absence also leads him to discover that Andy has no interest in learning how to drive a car, let alone own one. But after further conversation, he realizes that Andy is, in fact, petrified at the very thought of driving.

 

8. iZombie — Tuesday, April 4, 9 p.m., The CW — Season Premiere

One of the brilliant things about doing a show in which your leading zombie takes on the characteristics of the human brain she’s consumed is it keeps things from getting too predictable. What other TV drama features a main character who can become an elite martial artist one day and be breaking into an apartment with an imaginary weather man the next?

The CW’s spiritual sequel to Veronica Mars returns for its third season, with things picking up right after those shady military contractors—who, surprise, are apparently all zombies themselves—swooped into town, bought Max Rager, ate Grammy-winner Rob Thomas’s brain and tried to recruit Liv (Rose McIver) to help usher in a new, zombie-tastic world order in Seattle.

As Liv grapples with whether or not she can trust these new players and their cold-as-ice commander Vivian Stoll (Andrea Savage), Peyton (Aly Michalka) has a conundrum of her own— given that both Ravi (Rahul Kohli) and Blaine (David Anders) are vying for her affections. But if rumours are true, she may end up not just rejecting but actually hating one of them after an unforgiveable betrayal (not to spoil anything, but “unforgiveable” really sounds more like Blaine’s style, especially if that amnesia wears off).

Meanwhile, despite being cleared of all charges in the Chaos Killer case, Major finds that making headlines as a suspected mass murderer is kind of a career-ender, leaving him with only one, less-than-ideal job opportunity. And lastly, Veronica Mars fans, try to stay cool when we tell you this next part: Jason Dohring (a.k.a. erstwhile Neptune High bad boy Logan Echolls) is getting in on the brain-munching in season three, having signed on for a recurring role as Chase Graves, Vivian’s probably nefarious brother-in-law.

 

9. First Dates – Friday, April 7, 8 p.m., NBC – Series Premiere

There’s something magical about a first date, isn’t there? The allure of meeting someone new over a candlelit dinner, the air thick with attraction and potential, and everyone on their best, most charming behaviour. Of course, that’s not always how it goes. There are those dates that live in infamy within our own minds?—unbearably awkward encounters that had you faking an emergency phone call mid-dinner and which elicit a full-body shiver whenever your mind wanders across the memory.

Suffice to say, we’ve all had our share of both magic and mortification, and this new series from executive producer Ellen DeGeneres aims to capture it all. Each episode takes place over the course of one evening in a Chicago eatery, where hidden cameras show us an array of real-life first dates. And just as in life, some of them go really well, while others are total trainwrecks that are horrendous in the moment, but probably make for pretty great TV.

The first season consists of eight hour-long episodes. In tonight’s premiere, an old-fashioned flip phone proves to be a source of unexpected charm, while one pair of daters connect over “a story of loss.” Each instalment ends with the would-be couples revealing whether they’re keen to embark on a second date, or if, “Hey, you’re super great, but things are kinda crazy at work right now, and I just got out of a really messy relationship, and I actually might be moving to Japan, so… let’s just play it by ear.”

As you may have guessed, the show is based on the hit U.K. format, which previously spun off a Canadian version set right here in Vancouver. Of course, this one has something those others don’t: romantic comedy icon Drew Barrymore serving as the narrator.

 

10. Black Swan – Friday, April 7, 6 p.m., 8 p.m. & 10 p.m., FXC

Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her turn as a prima ballerina who begins to lose her fragile grip on reality when a sultry newcomer (Mila Kunis) threatens to usurp her position as lead dancer in a production of Swan Lake. This 2010 psychological thriller also stars Vincent Cassel and Winona Ryder.