Grab your hankies, it's going to be a rough night.
The Walking Dead returns from hiatus with Episode 9 of Season 8 at 8 p.m. today on AMC. If you're recording, note that this is an expanded episode and will run until 9:22.
That's followed immediately by the return of The Talking Dead. Host Chris Hardwick and guests will discuss the episode and probably have a good cathartic cry.
When last we saw our intrepid heroes on Dec. 10, Rick Grimes' (Andrew Lincoln) finely tuned assault plan to rid the world of the vile Negan and his sadistic Saviors had fallen apart. Rick's son Carl (Chandler Riggs) stalled for time at the front gate, allowing everyone else to escape out the back before Negan and crew blasted Alexandria to smithereens.
Once Carl, Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) made it to the safety of the sewers, Carl raised his shirt to reveal the mortal wound he'd received a few episodes prior. Yes, Carl has been bitten by a zombie and there's no cure for that. Tonight's episode, "Honor," will be Carl's swan song.
About his last hurrah, Riggs told The Hollywood Reporter, "[The episode] is really Carl trying to teach Rick as much as he can about what he's learned and trying to convince Rick to not kill every single Savior because there's still good people out there.
"The Alexandrians, the Hilltop and the Kingdom -- all those people probably see him as a villain like the Saviors. There's some humanitarian aspects that Carl is going to try and teach Rick in his final moments."
Viewers have watched Riggs, 18, grow from a kid to a young man over the show's eight seasons. He and Lincoln are the only cast members left who have been with the show since the pilot.
Riggs will be taking a year off to focus on acting and music before starting college. He had a final farewell.
"Thank you to all the fans for giving me a job for eight years and for giving me this amazing experience and blessing me with this career and this chance at having so much opportunity."
The Walking Dead has been renewed for a ninth season that will debut late this year.
• Victoria on Masterpiece wraps up Season 2 at 8 p.m. today on AETN and PBS. Yes, the season is way too short, but those Brits do things in smaller packages, just like Jenna Coleman, who plays the queen.
Season 2 of Victoria only had eight episodes plus a Christmas Special. This is the special, "Comfort and Joy," where Albert (Tom Hughes) "seeks the Christmastime joy of his youth" and "romantic tension surrounds the palace." Oooo.
Good news: A third season (set in 1848) has been ordered.
Trivia: Coleman and Hughes have been a couple off-screen since 2016, so those romantic scenes between Victoria and Albert have an extra spark.
• 2018 Winter Olympics, 7-9:30 p.m. today on NBC. It's the Closing Ceremony from PyeongChangOlympic Stadium.
• Celebrity Big Brother.The first season finale goes down at 7 p.m. today on CBS.
If you think that was quick, you're right, The limited series was designed to offer a CBS alternative to the Olympics and only had 13 episodes. The regular versions of Big Brother run from 30 to 40 episodes beginning in early July and lasting past mid-September.
The winner will be revealed at the end of tonight's two-hour episode.
• The Voice returns with Season 14 at 7 p.m. Monday on NBC. It'll be another glorious year where someone will win and then disappear into obscurity. Not producing any talent we remember (Quick -- who won last season?) doesn't seem to bother fans. The thing is a showcase for the coaches anyway, not the competitors.
Coaches this season will be Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Alicia Keys and newcomer Kelly Clarkson, winner of Season 1 of American Idol. They'll be operating with redesigned chairs with a button that allows them to block one another from recruiting talent.
Trivia: Chloe Kohanski won last season. Chloe who? Exactly.
• Ash vs Evil Dead kicks off Season 3 at 8 p.m. today on Starz. The series, starring low-budget cult film favorite Bruce Campbell as Ash, finds the demon hunter returning to action when mankind is threatened by a Deadite plague.
• Good Girls premieres after The Voice at 9 p.m. Monday on NBC. The new comedy/drama follows three money-strapped suburban moms after they rob a supermarket and learn that a life of crime isn't as easy as it looks on paper.
The series stars Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Retta (Parks and Recreation) and Mae Whitman (Parenthood).
• McMafia premieres at 9 p.m. Monday on AMC. The crime drama stars James Norton (Grantchester) as Alex Goodman, the English-raised son of Russian exiles who is "drawn into the murky world of global crime."
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 02/25/2018