Tonight in HD: May 16

Season Finale: Sons of Anarchy (TV3, 9.30, 5.1) In the season-four conclusion, Jax meets with the Irish Kings to complete the cartel gun deal and the Charming City Council prepares to vote on Charming Heights. After a ferocious build-up, US critics were disappointed with the denouement. Time says the season ends “with some too-convenient plotting, leading to a resolution … that felt like a concession to the TV need to make sure the show can, in fact, go on, and on, and on.” Entertainment Weekly thought it “both magisterially dramatic and oddly hasty” and Newsday argued it “didn’t wrap the whole thing up as much as let the air out of the balloon. Fffffzzzzttttt. That was it: No great operatic conclusion, but a slow close to credits, with an old Animals’ hit covered, and a long tracking shot of the SAMCRO war room.” ✮✮✮✮

Sky Movies Premiere: Conviction (Sky 20, 8.30, 5.1) The trailer made it look dreadful but critics thought this drama about a working mother who puts herself through law school to acquit her brother of a murder conviction wasn’t without merit. “The film is in the tradition of fighting-the-system stories drawn from real life such as Erin Brokovich,” The Hollywood Reporter said. Time liked the fact Hilary Swank’s protagonist was “never portrayed as a fish suddenly taking brilliantly to judicial waters. Instead of being a legal savant, she’s a persistent lunatic tilting at windmills for the sake of a familial love no one else can quite understand.” But the New York Times said even telemovies are better than this: “braver, darker, more willing to explore odd corners of feeling.” (2010) ✮✮✮

Home & Away (TV3, 5.30) Romeo thinks Indi’s gold-digging; Xavier realises Sasha won’t disagree with him; Ruby drives Casey to meet Henri. ✮✮

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Ross becomes upset when someone at work takes his sandwich from the refrigerator and eats it; Joey finds himself in a terrible mess when he tries to cover for Chandler and Monica’s dating. ✮✮✮

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Callum gets a wakeup call; Rachel makes a painful choice; TK’s joy ride turns serious. ✮✮

Two and a Half Men (TV2, 7.30, 5.1) Walden tries to loosen up Zoey by sharing a couple of Berta’s “special” brownies. ✮✮

Road Cops (TV3, 7.30) A boy-racer lands himself in hot water; a gang of youths are confronted by officers on top of a high-rise building; acting sergeant Tony Sharp deals with an over-zealous local security guard. ✮✮

2 Broke Girls (TV2, 8.00, 5.1) Max and Caroline must prove their cleaning skills to upstairs neighbour Sophie to be hired as maids for her cleaning business. ✮✮

The GC (TV3, 8.00) Rosie takes Alby along to her glamour model shoot with a difference; Zane, Tame and Jade check out the progress of Cole’s new gym; Jade Louise assesses her singing career. ✮✮

The Big Bang Theory (TV2, 8.30, 5.1) Sheldon’s selfish demands force Leonard to reconsider their friendship; Howard tries to pick his astronaut nickname. NASA astronaut Mike Massimino guest stars and will be seen again in the season finale. He likened being on the set to being with the Space Shuttle crew on two missions: “Being around [the cast and crew] felt like being around a family. That feeling was similar to what I feel at NASA … I felt the same camaraderie when I was on the set with these guys.” ✮✮✮✮

The Almighty Johnsons (TV3, 8.30) Axl and Gaia’s escape from the real world takes a turn for the surreal, while Mike discovers his world is not his alone, as Dawn’s world comes to an unexpected end of the line. ✮✮✮

Happy Endings (TV2, 9.00, 5.1) The road to romance is rocky for the gang, as Penny has a new boyfriend she wants to dump, while Dave is afraid his new girlfriend is about to dump him. ✮✮

Castle (TV One, 9.30, 5.1) Castle and Beckett channel their inner ghost busters as they search for a supernatural killer. ✮✮

Nikita (TV2, 10.30, 5.1) Michael learns that Percy has ordered Divison to kill anyone with the ability to decrypt the black boxes, so he sends Nikita to protect the final person on the list, a CIA cryptographer named Malcolm. ✮✮

CSI: New York (TV3, 11.15, 5.1, R) The CSIs investigate the death of a woman in Central Park whose body is drained of blood and is missing part of an ear. ✮✮

This Is Not My Life (TV One, 11.55, R) Alec finally meets the mysterious Harry who has come to Waimoana with a bold plan for Alec and Becky’s escape, but Alec quickly learns Harry cannot be trusted. ✮✮