When TV was in its glory days, powerhouse dramas would collide – especially on Sundays.
Now we get a reminder: At 9 p.m. April 27, two shows have superb finales.
It’s the season-finale for AMC’s “Dark Winds,” which will be back, and the series-finale for PBS’ “Wolf Hall” (shown here), which won’t. Both are worth catching:
“Wolf Hall” debuted in 2015, with King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis), eager to shed his queen and marry Anne Boleyn.
He turned to Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), a blacksmith-turned-lawyer with the proper combination of smarts and ruthlessness. Minds change, of course, so Cromwell later arranged Boleyn’s accusations and beheading.
The show waited a decade, then returned to where it had left. Henry was ready for his third (and then fourth) wife; he needed Cromwell to make things happen, including get Henry’s angry daughter back to court.
Cromwell has persisted – usually sullenly, sometimes imagining conversations with his late mentor, Cardinal Wolsey. But he has built up enemies and can only survive with the king’s protection.
“Dark Winds” has been quicker – three seasons, spread over four years.
Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) is a police lieutenant for the Navajo nation, even more sullen than Cromwell. He’s been battered by his son’s death in a mining accident, and by the horrors he’s seen at work.
Now that has peaked on two fronts:
— Joe thought there’s a surreal monster lurking. There isn’t, but there is a killer who’s chasing a terrified teen.
— An FBI agent (Jenna Elfman) thinks Joe killed a rich white man. This is a hard thing to duck because … well, he did do it. He considered it a righteous killing of the man whose greed spurred his son’s death.
Now Joe’s only alibi is from his wife … who told him to leave home, after his secrets and solemnity became unbearable.
Alongside that is a separate story involving his former deputy. Now a border guard, she isn’t sure who to trust as she faces a rancher (Bruce Greenwood) with an elaborate drug-smuggling operation.
These are tough, taut stories, beautifully crafted. Watch one, time-shift the other … then return a week later.
AMC will be back to its natural turf – zombies or witches. In this case, it’s the latter with “The Walking Dead: Dead City.”
And PBS will have a four-week tale that starts after Jane Austen’s death, with her sister (the terrific Keeley Hawes) rushing into action.
One week has killers and a king; the next ranges from Austen to zombies. In different ways, Sundays keep us watching.