Tonight in HD: June 13

Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms (TV3, 8.30) The tensions with Jock’s western chapter make a mockery of club loyalty; Snoddy and the city chapter reject their Comancheros colours to join the Bandidos. “The colloquial term for Australian motorcycle gangs may have a cutesy ring to it compared with their Sons of Anarchy cousins, but according to this latest output from the makers of Underbelly, our local bits of rough manage to be just as dangerous and ridiculous,” observed The Age. “Tonight, the pissing contest intensifies as Snoddy (Callan Mulvey) turns traitor, while resentment brews over the guest list at the wedding of Jock (Matthew Nable) and Vanessa (Susie Porter).”  Change the Channel said the episode “moved at a brisk enough pace to keep things interesting” but argued: “Basing a mini-series on a sub-culture of Australia that fascinates a lot of people and stacking the cast with an endless sea of familiar faces are really the only truly great decisions that have been made in this production; everything else about the show is a hedged bet … no television show about bikies should feel this safe or this soft.” Among the new familiar faces joining the fray tonight are Todd Lasance (above, Home & Away, Cloudstreet, Rescue Special Ops) and Manu Bennett (Spartacus, Street Legal). ✭✭✭

The Big Bang Theory (TV2, 8.30, 5.1) Sheldon chooses to participate in a guys-only Star Wars gaming marathon weekend rather than go with Amy to her aunt’s birthday party. Said the AV Club: “By shifting the focus away from madcap slapstick to more character-driven comedy, The Big Bang Theory has been revitalised in the second half of the season, and The Weekend Vortex gives everyone a chance to shine, even Raj. Sheldon decides to ditch Amy’s 93-year-old aunt’s birthday when Raj suggests an old-fashioned weekend sleepover of Star Wars video games and junk food, a decision that sends ripples through all the series’ couples. It’s the best use of the ensemble all season, incorporating all seven cast members seamlessly into a storyline that builds naturally without sacrificing any of the nerd appeal.” ✭✭✭✭

Home & Away (TV3, 5.30) Heath visits his father in jail; Casey has his first counselling session; Hayley gets an unexpected job. ✭✭

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Despite Phoebe’s admonitions, Ross asks Rachel to move in with him; Chandler and Monica bicker over their living arrangements; Joey interviews potential flatmates. ✭✭✭✭

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Josh’s secret threatens to destroy him; Ula clings to independence; Bree resorts to desperate measures. ✭✭✭

Two and a Half Men (TV2, 7.30, 5.1) Alan and Lyndsey introduce their mothers to one another; Jake and Eldridge enlist Walden to drive them to a high school house party that they never find. ✭✭

Road Cops (TV3, 7.30) Officers are called to a turf-war in the suburbs; a drunken female driver causes confusion on the streets; Constable Rob Illingworth pulls over an eel fisherman with previous history. ✭✭

2 Broke Girls (TV2, 8.00, 5.1) Max and Caroline take a vacation from their lives when they are asked to dog-sit at a couple’s posh apartment. ✭✭

The GC (TV3, 8.00) DJ Tuini returns to her marae for the first time; the centre piece of Cole’s gym runs behind schedule; can Jade and Jessi finally patch up their stormy relationship? ✭✭

Happy Endings (TV2, 9.00, 5.1) Penny and Max are determined to finally beat an annoyingly perfect couple in the annual “Rosalita’s Run and Scavenger Hunt”. ✭✭

Castle (TV One, 9.30, 5.1) Castle and Beckett track a sniper who is terrorising New York City. ✭✭

Breakout Kings (TV3, 9.30, 5.1) The team hunts a paedophile they believe could be going to the school that the children he’s accused of molesting attend. ✭✭✭

Nikita (TV2, 10.30, 5.1) Nikita is upset when she finds information in the black box indicating a man named Ramon, who she captured years earlier and turned over to Percy, is now working for Division as an assassin. ✭✭

This Is Not My Life (TV One, 11.55, R, F) Season finale: Alec’s plans run smoothly at first, until Hope takes her revenge and Richard extracts information that throws everything into jeopardy. ✭✭

Sky Movies Premiere: The Eagle (Sky 20, 8.30, 5.1) Said the Christian Science Monitor of this gladiatorial action-adventure: “However you slice it, The Eagle is hokum, but modern-day Scots may get a kick out of the film’s depiction of their ancestors as mud-caked hellions. Modern-day Romans will have to settle for less.” Most critics clipped this Eagle’s wings but Entertainment Weekly thought it soared: “The story and setting may be ancient, but under the direction of Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), and with a nicely textured screenplay by Macdonald’s Scotland co-screenwriter Jeremy Brock, the vigour is fully modern.” Channing Tatum, Donald Sutherland and Jamie Bell star. (2011) ✭✭✭