Tonight in HD: May 24

SoHo Highlight: Veep (Sky 10, 9.00, 5.1) “Third episode in, and this should be where the series is hitting its stride,” said The Guardian. “Instead it tripped on its shoelaces and landed face-down. Except that might have been funny. Which this wasn’t. In fact this episode nudged the needle from so-so to bad.” But bear in mind The Guardian hasn’t liked this hilarious White House spin on Westminster satire The Thick Of It from the outset, likening it to “an episode of The West Wing but without the laughs“. On the other side of the Atlantic, however, Time “was very impressed with the way the third episode built comedy not just out of zingers but out of the considerations and manipulations of politics, not just the big stuff (the maneuvering with the oil industry), but—especially—the petty stuff, like the imagined ‘feud’ with the First Lady, Selina sharing a name with a potential future hurricane and the way even Selina’s deciding to buy a dog conflicts with the plans to acquire a ‘First Dog, or FDOTUS.’” ✮✮✮✮

Girls (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) Hannah meets up with her erstwhile college flame to find out how she contracted HPV, uncovering much more in the process; Marnie’s art-gallery boss introduces her to a cocky artist who piques her interest, while Jessa gets a babysitting gig. If you’re struggling to warm to this HBO comedy, the NZ Herald reckons this could be the turning point: “It’s not until the third episode, when Hannah reconnects with an ex-boyfriend, that the laughs come readily, and the intimacy between best friends Hannah and Marnie feels genuine.” ✮✮✮

Home & Away (TV3, 5.30) Liam tries to help Hayley; Sasha realises she needs to deal with the Stu situation; tension rises between Casey and Townsend. ✮✮

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Chris’s bid for freedom is crushed; Callum’s dissatisfaction increases; Murray is forced to face his discontent. ✮✮✮

Once Upon a Time (TV2, 8.30, 5.1) Emma arrests Mary Margaret for the suspected murder of David’s wife, and Prince Charming must stop Snow White from attempting to assassinate the Evil Queen. ✮✮

The Finder (TV3, 8.30, 5.1) When a family employs Walter to find their missing father and husband, the only help they can offer is a partial voicemail recording of his last message to them. ✮✮

Fringe (TV2, 10.30, 5.1) “The strange story of a lonely kid and his pet disembodied brain (or was it the story of a lonely disembodied brain and his pet kid?), Alone in the World was a clever spin on the old ‘boy and his monster’ trope and made for a creative way for Walter Bishop to grapple with his Flashing Peter angst,” Entertainment Weekly said. “One of the best things about the episode was Walter’s constantly evolving theories about the true nature of the episode’s freak of the week.” House vet Miguel Sapochnik directs his first Fringe episode. ✮✮✮✮