HD Heads-Up: May 9-15

TV2 looks set to replace How to Get Away With Murder, which ends its Tuesday night run in a May 12 double-episode, with the highest-rating network drama in years, Empire.

HTGAWM is one of several high-profile season finales, with others including Gotham, Arrow and TV3’s Hawaii Five-O.

If you overlooked Last Resort’s SD run on TV4, TV3 is resurrecting it in HD late-night Saturdays from May 9. Shawn Ryan (The Shield, The Unit) was behind this 13-hour drama that’s undermined by network TV conventions but is still thought provoking and engrossing. Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) plays the captain of a nuclear submarine who defies Washington when ordered to nuke Pakistan and seeks safe harbour on a small island while a chilling geo-political conspiracy unfolds.
Although axed mid-season, the producers had time to conclude the scenario so you won’t be left wondering what might have been.

Expect Gotham to be succeeded by previous Sunday stablemate Agents of SHIELD while H50 fans can look forward to TV3 starting season five the following week.

TV2’s advance schedules for ad agencies show the US re-make of Secrets & Lies taking over from HTGAWM.

But Empire would be a much stronger bet and already is being promoted as coming soon on the network.

Said Variety of the HTGAWM denouement: “‘Who killed Lila?’ didn’t exactly rise to the Laura Palmer (as in Twin Peaks) or Rosie Larsen (The Killing) level, but How to Get Away With Murder certainly milked the mystery for all it was worth.

“That said, the serialised plot that gave this ABC series its name was almost beside the point, as the programme ginned up a fast-paced mix of procedural courtroom drama, as-far-as-broadcast-TV-can-go sex and old-fashioned star quality, thanks to Viola Davis’ ferocious attorney.

“Based on the two-hour finale, future enjoyment will likely require not sweating the how – or for that matter, who, what, when, where or why.

“Initial skepticism about the durability of the concept pretty quickly melted away, as series creator Pete Nowalk juggled enough elements to keep audiences hooked.

“The question now based on the conclusion (and SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t watched) is how long this latest Shonda Rhimes-produced hour can continue to play Lucy with the football, inasmuch as its big reveal invited more questions than it answered.”

Other HD highlights for the week starting May 9 include the return of Top Gear, in a “best of” compilation that TV3 will air 7.30 Wednesdays (starting with episode two of season 16), the off-peak season three premiere of Suburgatory (TV2, 2.30 Sunday), and the tabloid-sounding docos Sun, Sea And Love Cheats (TV3, 9.25 Monday) and The Weirdest Family in America (TV1, 9.30 Wednesday).

The week’s HD movie premieres include Oblivion (TV3, 8.45 Wednesday) and the obscure Bruce Willis thriller, Fire With Fire (TV2, 8.30 Friday), while the dark horse of the re-runs is True Detective fore-runner Texas Killing Fields (TV2, 3.20am Sunday). Michael Mann’s daughter, Ami Canaan Mann, directed this astonishingly atmospheric thriller about three Texas City cops investigating serial killings in the town’s sinister badlands. The outcome is disappointingly pat, and a couple of loose ends frustratingly linger, but Mann’s action skills rival her father’s and the brooding, unsettling intensity she creates will have you locking your doors. Other coming attractions in HD include Shanghai Noon (TV2, 7.00 Saturday), Déjà Vu (TV2, 9.15 Saturday), Country Strong (TV1, 10.30 Saturday), I Love You Phillip Morris (TV2, 11.40 Saturday), Law Abiding Citizen (TV2, 1.30am Sunday), The Amazing Spider-Man (TV2, 8.30 Sunday) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (TV3, 8.30 Sunday).