Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET
Last night, the Kansas City Royals waited until the eighth inning to wrest control of the game from the New York Mets – but did so with emphasis, taking advantage of ill-timed Mets errors to tie, then win, Game 4. That gives the Royals a 3-1 edge in games in this year’s World Series, and they can win it all unless the Mets, on their home field, manage to triumph tonight and earn the right to fight, and play, another day.
NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET
On Thursday, one of the NFL’s few remaining undefeated teams this season, the New England Patriots, beat the Miami Dolphins to maintain its undefeated status. Tonight, one of the teams playing will not be so fortunate, because two undefeated teams are playing each other – the first time that’s happened this late in the season. It’s the Green Bay Packers vs. the Denver Broncos, and only one team will emerge with a perfect record – unless they tie, in which case they both lose that particular bragging right.
CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
Last week’s episode ended with the same surprising cliffhanger that has ended at least three other episodes of The Good Wife: The offer from one lawyer to another to partner up. And each time it happens, the ground beneath this show’s characters shifts, as do the many complicated allegiances. Few TV shows shake up the status quo of the established format once, much less regularly – but The Good Wife is superb at serving up surprises, and making the most of new situations, venues and characters. Case in point this season: bond court.
AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET
What a controversy surrounded last week’s episode, when one of its favorite characters appeared to have met his demise at the hands, and teeth, of a horde of walkers. But it seems obvious, as well as probable, that this particular character will live to fight, rather than bite, another day. And to its credit, the follow-up talk show last week, The Talking Dead, did not add that character to its constantly updated tally of victims. So I’m predicting a happy outcome for once – and on The Walking Dead, once, most of the time, is more than you can ask for.
HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET
SEASON FINALE: In last week’s show, the fledgling director finished shooting the film just as time, and daylight and permits, was running out. In this week’s show, the finale, he’s in the editing room, trying to make sense, and a movie, out of the compromises forced on him during filming.