We often come to you with these TV broadcasts focusing on the biggest premieres of the week – which we are doing again. But this week also features a slew of finals, all big shows that started at the end of 2023. While none of these three shows made our top 50 of the year, they are all pretty great in their own way.
Noah Hawley’s Fargo ends its fifth season this week, closing yet another chapter examining American greed and the violence it engenders. There is also Reacher, TV’s biggest man, with what’s sure to be an action-packed finale to the second season (and hopefully a kickoff to the already greenlit season 3). And then there is Found itthe new splashy procedural that follows a woman tracking down missing people (and with a few dark secrets of her own).
There is more new And premiere TV to watch, of course – in addition to the current programs you follow, for example True Detective: Nightland – but it’s a good reminder that there’s plenty of television worth catching up on, even without the urgency of the new episode.
Here are the best of those new finales and premieres you can watch on TV this week.
New shows on Netflix
Love on the Spectrum season 2
Genre: Finding romance reality show
Date of publication: January 19
Relationship coach: Jodi Rodgers
Form: A group of people on the spectrum looking for love
Netflix is back with a new reality dating show, this time a second season Love on the spectrum, a show about exactly what it sounds like: people on the autism spectrum navigating the dating world. Season 2 of the show features some new cast members, in addition to some people from season 1.
New shows on Hulu
Death and other details
Genre: Murder mystery
Date of publication: January 16, with two episodes
Showrunner/creator: Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams
Form: Mandy Patinkin, Violett Beane and more
A murder mystery set in a locked room on a cruise ship, filled with a lot of staggeringly wealthy people who all have a motive. Also usefully on board: Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin), a washed-up detective, who springs into action – with the help of his also useful former protege Imogene (Violett Beane). But they soon discover that there is more to this murder (and the victim) than meets the eye.
Fargo season 5 finale
Photo: Michelle Faye/FX
Genre: Crime drama
Date of publication: January 16
Showrunner/creator: Noah Hawley
Form: Juno Temple, Jon Hamm and more
It all comes to a close as Dot (Juno Temple) hopes to regain control of her life and get rid of her megalomaniac ex-husband, Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm). The death toll has risen, and in the penultimate episode, government forces prepared to raid Tillman Ranch, which should be an action-packed, violent finale.
New programs on Prime Video
Hazbin Hotel
Genre: Animated gothic theater children’s musical
Date of publication: January 19, with four episodes
Showrunner/creator: Vivienne Medrano
Form: Stephanie Beatriz, Kimiko Glenn, Keith David and more
Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen) is the princess of hell and wants to do the impossible: rehabilitate sinners in her hotel so well that they are admitted to heaven. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that this task is harder than she thinks – luckily she has a cast of characters who are there to help her (if they don’t fully believe in her mission). Also: it’s a musical!
Reacher season 2 finale
Photo: Brooke Palmer/Prime Video
Genre: Major spy action
Date of publication: January 19
Showrunner/creator: Nick Santora
Form: Alan Ritchson, Serinda Swan, Shaun Sipos and more
The Big Man returns for his final episode of the second season. The penultimate episode ended on quite a cliffhanger, with several team members being taken hostage by Robert Patrick’s Shane Langston. But that doesn’t matter: Reacher is still Reacher, and the last time we saw him, he was strolling through the gate, ready to dish out some punishment.
New shows on Paramount Plus
The woman in the wall
Genre: Much needed detective story
Date of publication: January 19, with one episode
Showrunner/creator: Joe Murtagh
Form: Ruth Wilson, Daryl McCormick and more
When a woman wakes up to find a dead body in her house, she has two problems: first – well, she clearly has a corpse that is in her house. But the second is more important: she has no idea how it got there.
The woman in the wall continues what Showtime calls a “psychologically and emotionally compelling detective story laced with dark humor,” using six episodes to re-examine one of Ireland’s biggest scandals, the Magdalene Laundries.
New shows on Peacock
Season 1 finale found
Photo: Steve Swisher/NBC
Genre: Dramatic procedure
Date of publication: January 16
Showrunner/creator: Nkechi Okoro Carroll
Form: Shanola Hampton, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Kelli Williams and more
Gabi (Shanola Hampton) has been finding people all season and hiding the secret of having her own kidnapper in her basement. And it was a pretty wild ride, with a lot of flair for the dramatic. So I am guessing the season finale of Found it will make for a great cliffhanger, especially since it’s already been greenlit for season 2.