With the 2025 Fall TV Season finally upon us, Team TVLine is ready to crank up the Andy Williams and celebrate what is truly the most wonderful time of the year.
In the list below, you’ll be treated to exclusive photos and scoop you can’t find anywhere else, all about your favorite returning series across broadcast, cable and streaming. What bad news is coming for Alex on The Morning Show? When will Chicago Med reveal Hannah’s baby daddy? In what capacity will crash victim Lala continue to appear on NCIS: Origins? And what’s this about a new bachelor pad for 9-1-1′s Buck?
You can find the answers to those questions below, along with the latest intel on Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Grey’s Anatomy, High Potential, The Diplomat, Nobody Wants This and many more shows. So, get scrolling! And be sure to hit the comments with the season premiere(s) you’re most anxiously awaiting.
9-1-1
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC
9-1-1 Season 8 ended with Buck between homes, so we’re happy to confirm that Oliver Stark’s character will have a roof over his head this fall. “He’s got a cool little house, he’s really moving up in the world,” Stark tells TVLine, adding that his new place will have “a lot more character than his last apartment, which was more minimalist and toned down.” And while the 118 will soldier on in the wake of Bobby’s death, Stark warns that grief “can resurface and start dragging people down at any moment.” The three-part premiere moves the show “in a direction that we haven’t necessarily gone before,” he says, the events of which “push a lot of other aspects of the characters’ lives onto the back burner.” Does that mean Buck won’t have time for love? “I don’t know if he’s in a good place for it,” Stark admits. “I don’t know that it’s necessary in his life right now, but if something happens to come along, that’s great.” Fortunately, with Eddie back in L.A., we can at least look forward to classic Buck-Eddie-Christopher bonding moments. “Those are two very important relationships, so to speak, and I know for sure that there will be some of that coming up as we move forward,” Stark says. One thing not coming up, however, is a crossover between 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville. Despite his recent trip to Music City, Stark confirms that no crossover has been shot…yet.
BONUS SPOILER!: Though Buck will forego a costume this Halloween, the rest of the 118 will not disappoint. “There is maybe my favorite costume that we’ve ever had on the show,” Stark teases.
RETURN DATE: Thursday, Oct. 9, at 8/7c (ABC) — Andy Swift
Abbott Elementary
Image Credit: Courtesy of Disney/Gilles Mingasson
Attention, class: There will be some big changes on ABC’s schoolhouse comedy in Season 5, with a group of new teachers joining the faculty. That spurs an identity crisis in Janine, executive producer Patrick Schumacker tells TVLine: “She starts to kind of question, when younger teachers come in, what her role is, now that she is not the spring chicken she once was.” She’s still happy with Gregory, though, and their relationship gives them both a chance to grow as people this season. “I think a relationship is also a good way for them to learn about themselves,” EP Justin Halpern says:. Ava will explore a surprisingly sweet romance with IT guy O’Shon as well, but don’t expect it to turn her into a big softie, Halpern says with a laugh: “We always like to keep Ava as Ava, and Ava is a bit of an agent of chaos.” Plus, Barbara will be “reinvigorated” by running the school’s music class. “We wanted to find something to kind of give her a new lease on life,” Schumacker says, “or at least a new lease on her career. And yeah, she’s found that in the music class, for sure.”
BONUS SPOILER!: We’re getting another Christmas episode this season, and it’s a big one, Schumacker hints, calling it “a very consequential episode for our school, and for the daily lives of the people at Abbott.”
RETURN DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 8:30/7:30c (ABC) — Dave Nemetz
Brilliant Minds
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC
After a slight time jump, Season 2 will open with Oliver “deep into” the questions raised in the cliffhanger involving his recently resurfaced father, Noah, and the elder Wolf’s troubling illness, says series creator/executive producer Michael Grassi. “The way it plays out is the most surprising version of it possible and really sends Wolf on his season arc, which is a new mystery that I can’t spoil too much.” Also an enigma: Dr. Amelia Frederick (played by Scandal’s Bellamy Young), the clinical director for a long-term mental health facility who, Grassi previews, will “really feel like she’s going toe-to-toe with Wolf in an interesting way you won’t necessarily expect.” (The trailer, released after our chat with the show boss, certainly backs that up.) Another new face, neurology resident Dr. Charlie Porter (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’s Brian Altemus), will bring some “interesting conflict” to the “loving dynamic” among Wolf’s group of interns, the EP adds: “His approach to medicine is a little bit different from our other characters.” (And he has seeeecrets, we have learned.) Wolf will hit another emotional speedbump when the season premiere reveals that his bestie, Dr. Carol Pierce, is no longer working at Bronx General. “We find her in a surprising place,” Grassi says, chuckling, and Oliver “has big feelings about it.”
BONUS SPOILER!: Wolf let Nichols down big-time by skipping that black-tie event (with good reason, but still!), but the way Grassi talks about the couple in Season 2 puts us as ease. The dating docs “will address things head-on, early on,” Grassi says. “There’s a lot of great stuff between them — I would say, even more than last season — and it’s juicy, and it’s good.”
RETURN DATE: Monday, Sept. 22, at 10/9c (NBC) — Kimberly Roots
Chicago Fire
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC
How will our favorite #OneChicago besties Mouch and Herrmann handle their new power dynamic in Season 14 now that Mouch has taken over as lieutenant? Showrunner Andrea Newman says the new situation will require some adjustment, which will bring about “some of the biggest challenges to that friendship.” Ultimately, it’s Herrmann who will struggle the most with the new world order, as he deals with his own issues, which will add even more fuel to the flames of that friendship. (Yes, pun intended — this is a show about fire!) Fans of the show know that Herrmann has already had his fair share of rough patches, but according to Newman, Season 14 will deliver “one of his most challenging personal crises he’s ever dealt with… and how much Mouch can help, or can’t help, is a big part of it.” On the bright side, the layoffs and brownouts hitting Firehouse 51 will actually light a “fire under everybody’s ass,” the EP previews, and will set up some soapy fun as surprise visitors pass through to lend a hand.
BONUS SPOILER!: Newman says the #OneChicago team is planning on delivering mini-crossovers between two shows in the franchise “a bunch of times” this season, with Novak “crossing over a bunch with Med for intriguing reasons.” Consider us intrigued!
RETURN DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 9/8c (NBC) — Claire Franken
Chicago Med
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC
Good news, Chicago Med fans: We will not have to wait long to learn who Hannah’s baby daddy is. Showrunner Allen MacDonald shares that the Season 11 premiere will pick up almost exactly where we left off during Hannah and Archer’s conversation, so we “will find out who the father is one way or the other.” And don’t worry, regardless of whether you’re #TeamArcher or #TeamRipley, MacDonald thinks you’ll come around to the paternity reveal. MacDonald does, however, get a bit cryptic when discussing Hannah’s pregnancy in more detail. “It is a storyline we’re gonna track through most of the season,” he reveals, but “sometimes pregnancy news changes… You’ll notice I didn’t say they’re going to have the baby.” (!) Once we get the baby-daddy news, the series will jump ahead two months where we’ll find Ripley and Sadie still together and in a good place. Nothing between them is official, but Ripley definitely wants to lock things down. (How might this budding relationship factor into the baby-daddy drama? MacDonald can’t say!) Also, have you heard? Halstead will be back this season!
BONUS SPOILER!: Goodwin is certainly “not licking her wounds” after breaking things off with Dr. Washington, the EP says. Plus, her surprise visit with ex-husband Bert in the Season 10 finale was just a tease for what’s to come next; we’ll be seeing more of Bert — who, per MacDonald, “will always be home” to Goodwin — and the rest of her family in Season 11.
RETURN DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8/7c (NBC) — C.F.
Chicago P.D.
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC
Season 13 picks up one month after the events of the finale, showrunner Gwen Sigan says, when Chapman is no longer answering Voight’s calls and she stops “showing up within our unit like she used to.” For Chapman, “all hope is lost” for a possible romance with Voight, though the pair tries to remain professional amid this shift in their relationship. Meanwhile, the rest of the team faces the fallout of Voight’s finale drama as they begin to come to terms with the ways he crossed the line. “We find our unit really scattered. They’re disbanded,” Sigan shares. On top of all that, Torres is still in the dark place where we left him, though Sigan assures us he is seeking “new purpose, a new level of fulfillment and a new level of something that can provide him steadiness.” But we couldn’t let Sigan go without getting her to share a piece of brighter news: Ruzek and Burgess are still in the honeymoon phase and remain the unit’s “solid rock.” (Thank God!)
BONUS SPOILER!: Now that we can’t really ‘ship Voight and Chapman, buckle up for new romantic possibilities. Sigan teases plenty of fun romantic entanglements with “a little bit of weirdness” and a lot of guest-star interactions, and she specifically teases some fun exploration on the horizon for both Atwater and Torres.
RETURN DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 10/9c (NBC) — C.F.
The Diplomat
Image Credit: Courtesy of Clifton Prescod/Netflix
Season 2 of the Netflix political thriller left us dangling on a huge cliffhanger, with the president dying and Allison Janney’s VP Grace Penn in line to become commander-in-chief. Season 3 will pick up right where we left off, showrunner Debora Cahn assures TVLine: “We always think we’re going to do time jumps on this show, and then we just never do them, because we’re in a situation that I want to see every second of. So it’s a direct pickup.” Janney is joined this season by her West Wing co-star Bradley Whitford, who plays Grace’s husband Todd Penn, and through their relationship, Season 3 explores “how another couple deals with the kind of professional limitations that this world puts on a marriage,” Cahn teases. Kate, meanwhile, has to deal with the fallout of “more or less calling Grace a war criminal” last season, Cahn notes: “The relationship, put simply, is in a very bad place.” But despite all that animosity, Kate’s husband, Hal, is still pushing for Kate to get that VP slot this season, Cahn reveals: “This scenario does not slow him down at all.”
BONUS SPOILER!: After airing just six episodes in Season 2, The Diplomat is thankfully back to eight episodes this season, and “it creates a little bit more breathing room” to explore personal relationships. “It’s nice to be able to bring the narrative to a point where things have settled enough for people to just step back, take a breath and try to figure out where they are in the world and in their own lives,” Cahn says.
RETURN DATE: Thursday, Oct. 16 (Netflix) — D.N.
Doc
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox
Now that Dr. Amy Larsen has reclaimed her career — and perhaps rekindled things with Michael — the question before her is: “What do I want out of the rest of my life? And how can I get that when my personality is split between two time periods?” says executive producer Hank Steinberg. “Desperate” to get her memory back, Amy finds some success on that front, “but in a way that’s very mysterious and incomplete,” the EP teases. Among other Westside Hospital staff, “Jake is not going down without a fight” after spying Amy smooching her ex-husband; TJ (promoted series regular Patrick Walker) deals with “pretty dramatic stuff” in the premiere; Sonya will develop a new, “juicy” antagonism with Amy; and Gina must answer for her patient causing the Season 1 finale’s train derailment. As for the disgraced Dr. Richard Miller? We will see Scott Wolf again, Steinberg affirms, “but it’s a 22-episode season, so people will have to be patient.”
BONUS SPOILER!: Amy might assume it’ll be smoother sailing when her mentor, played by Desperate Housewives‘ Felicity Huffman, replaces Richard as Chief of Medicine, “but Dr. Joan Ridley has other ideas, ambitions for herself,” Steinberg previews. “She’s not there to hold Amy’s hand.”
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Sept. 14, following the NFL double-header (Fox); the episode will air again (in its regular time slot) on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 9/8c — Matt Webb Mitovich
Elsbeth
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS
When Season 3 opens, Carrie Preston’s titular crimesolver will have just returned from a visit to Scotland — “We hope to see Angus (Ioan Gruffud) again, but that remains to be seen,” says showrunner Jonathan Tolins — and “the precinct is still under budget pressure from above.” With Carra Patterson’s Kaya now assigned to a task force in D.C, “we are developing a fun stable of uniformed officers who work on different cases with Elsbeth,” says Tolins, though “it is definitely still an adjustment for Elsbeth.” In addition to the usual weekly parade of guest stars (including Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris and Andy Richter), “an interesting, new New York character” will be introduced a few episodes in, for an ongoing storyline, says Tolins. Viewers will also meet an old rival of Captain Wagner’s, as well as one of the Wagner children.
BONUS SPOILER!: As promised when Patterson’s exit was announced, “Kaya will make an appearance in one of our first few episodes,” Tolins teases, “but when you least expect it.”
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Oct. 12, at 9:30/8:30c (CBS, special night), then Thursday, Oct. 16 at 10 pm (regular time slot premiere) — M.W.M.
FBI
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bennett Raglin/CBS
Season 8 picks up just three days after Isobel, injured by an explosive in the finale, frighteningly collapsed in front of the team. Her fate remains “very much a question mark,” showrunner Mike Weiss tells TVLine, and won’t be resolved quickly. “We definitely want to make you wait” for answers, the EP teases. Stepping up as SAC, Jubal will have much “intensity” to deal with when Maggie and OA find themselves “stranded on an island in New York Harbor that has declared martial law;” other early cases involve “a locked-room mystery on a plane” and agents “trapped inside a prison that is threatening to devolve into chaos.” As for Scola, while Weiss is very tight-lipped on whether or not SVU vet Juliana Aidén Martinez is, in fact, clocking in as his latest partner, the hope is to get Shantel VanSanten back as Nina and address a question most recently raised on FBI: Most Wanted, of “whether or not these two could, should be married.” Says Weiss, “We also want to see Nina as the badass, fugitive recovery specialist that she is, helping us out a bit here and there.”
BONUS SPOILER!: Coming off of last season’s ill-fated EMT fling, the question for Maggie will be, “Is there anyone out there who gets her the way OA does?” says Weiss. “Dating as an adult can be hell, but she’s not giving up.”
RETURN DATE: Monday, Oct. 13, at 9/8c (CBS; new night) — M.W.M.
Fire Country
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
Is showrunner Tia Napolitano ready to confirm who died in the Zabel Ridge fire, months after word got out that Billy Burke’s run as Vince is over? Ha, think again. Season 4 picks up with Bode watching the memory care facility collapse with Vince, Sharon and Walter all trapped inside, before giving way to a mid-episode time jump that gradually reveals the outcome. “We have themes of rising from the ashes, and redemption,” Napolitano shares. “Deeper into the season, we deal with themes of vengeance versus forgiveness.” Stephanie Arcila is also done as a series regular but appears in the premiere to facilitate a “surprising” but “earned” exit story for Gabriela; notes Napolitano, “We wanted to write some beautiful ‘fan candy’ for our Gabriela fans, for our ‘Bohiela’ fans, and really service that character.” Elsewhere, Bode and Audrey will “fight for their coupledom” as the latter struggles with her shooting of Finn; Jake, who was poised to take a new job, is among those who “re-examine their future” in the wake of the finale; after myriad setbacks, Manny will return to Season 1 form; and Eve embarks on an “interesting ride” to rebuild Three Rock.
BONUS SPOILER!: A “twisted, soapy journey” awaits Eve and Francine, whose break-up was interrupted by the razing of Three Rock. “They fall deeper and deeper in love,” says Napolitano, “and we’re really rooting for them, because they are so compatible.”
RETURN DATE: Friday, Oct. 17, at 8/7c (CBS; special time), then Friday, Oct. 24, at 9 pm (regular time slot premiere) — M.W.M.
Gen V
Image Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video
When we return to Godolkin University in Season 2, following the events of The Boys‘ fourth season, “Homelander has taken over,” showrunner Michele Fazekas reminds TVLine. So for Marie and the other so-called bad guys, “it’s almost not even about clearing their names as it is about figuring out how to live in this new world order.” A major question being explored this season is: “When you’re living in Nazi Germany at the beginning of Nazi Germany, what are regular people like? Do you just sort of put your head down and don’t make any waves? Do you join them, or do you fight?” There’s also a mini version of that new world order at school, which is now overseen by Dean Cipher (played by Hamish Linklater), who brings a “delicious weirdness and complete unpredictability to all of their lives.” Andre, played by the late, great Chance Perdomo, will also factor into the events of Season 2, a storyline producers handled with great care. “In order to honor the person that Chance was, we have to treat this like what it is, which is grieving someone who is gone,” Fazekas says. “But how do you fit that very real emotion into the world of this show? You do it the way people fit grief into their lives. Sometimes people are inappropriate, sometimes people are cracking jokes, and sometimes people are angry.” As for how Gen V can possibly outdo the shocking, viral NSFW goodies that came out of Season 1, Fazekas says the show “definitely” tops what came before, alluding to a new character with an “incredibly dumb power” that we meet in Episode 1.
Bonus Spoiler!: The trailer for Season 2 revealed several exciting cameos from The Boys, including Starlight and The Deep, but Fazekas promises that at least one more major familiar face will appear in Gen V.
Return Date: Wednesday, Sept. 17, with the first three episodes (Prime Video) — A.S.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
Image Credit: Troy Harvey/CBS
Reality sets in fast for new business partners Georgie and Ruben, who no longer have Jim around to serve as a tiebreaker when difficult decisions arise at the store. “Their journey over Season 2 is going to be figuring out how to work together,” series co-creator Steve Holland tells TVLine. “Ruben goes to school, he’s worked there longer, and he feels like he’s the one who should have a bigger say — but the truth is, they’re equal partners.” (When asked whether a behind-the-scenes photo showing Georgie with a black eye is the result of a fight with Ruben, Holland hedges: “I’m going to leave that for the viewer to discover.”) Meanwhile, Mandy becomes something of a local celebrity following her promotion to weekend weather girl. At first, Georgie is excited by his wife’s newfound fame — until jealousy kicks in when she begins to attract attention from other men. “They have a picture of her up in the tire store, and some people recognize her as ‘the hot weather girl,’” Holland reveals.
BONUS SPOILER!: Georgie will to come face to face with Mandy’s ex-boyfriend — and current boss — Scott (returning guest star Christopher Gorham) in Episode 5.
RETURN DATE: Thursday, Oct. 16, at 8/7c (CBS) — Ryan Schwartz
Ghosts
Image Credit: Bertrand Calmeau/CBS
Remember that fleeting mention of the mummy that resides in Woodstone Mansion? The one that Hetty used to own when she was alive? He’s about to take center stage when the supernatural comedy returns for Season 5. In this year’s Halloween edition (which airs Thursday, Oct. 30), Jay and Sam will learn all the gory details about this previously unknown resident’s past, as seen in our exclusive photo above. “We meet the ghost that inhabits that mummy,” co-showrunner and executive producer Joe Port teases. “He’s an ancient Egyptian fellow and he has an axe to grind against the people who brought his mummy here, namely the Woodstones.” And that’s not the only presence from the mansion’s past that’ll make a return visit. As it turns out, we haven’t seen the last of Chris, the ghost of the skydiving stripper who was previously hired to work Isaac’s bachelor party. “Isaac told Nigel that he got sucked off even though Chris chose to leave after having a moment with Nigel,” adds co-showrunner/EP Joe Wiseman, “and Nigel mentioned in that episode, ‘Oh, we can bring him back at Halloween,’ so that’s going to come back to roost.”
BONUS SPOILER!: Speaking of holidays, the showrunners plan on throwing another St. Hetty’s Day extravaganza, since we now know the former baroness can be seen by the living on St. Patrick’s Day. Ghosts also will celebrate Thanksgiving this year with a Sam and Pete roadtrip episode that’s “an homage to Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” teases Wiseman. Adds Port: “That’s our favorite Thanksgiving movie from when we were little.”
RETURN DATE: Thursday, Oct. 16, at 8:30/7:30c (CBS) — Nick Caruso
Grey’s Anatomy
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC
Season 22 of the medical drama is “picking up right where we left off” in the Season 21 finale (read a recap here), showrunner Meg Marinis tells TVLine. “So it’s chaos at Grey Sloan.” It’s not just Link that we need to worry might have been killed in that explosion, either. “Given the size of the blast,” Marinis suggests, “anyone in that hospital is at risk.” For former Station 19 firefighter Ben, the disaster may tee up an opportunity to show chief Teddy that she shouldn’t cut him from the residency program. “She’s been so focused on other things,” the EP says, “she may not have been seeing what he has to offer.” On the personal front, Teddy and Owen will “lead their lives separately” while figuring out how to work together and co-parent. (Nora, meanwhile, faces a “big, big recovery” and, Marinis adds, she’d love to see Sophia Bush return as Cass.) Sidestepping the question of whether Amelia and Monica will ever “go there,” the boss notes that the neuro superstar will have a strong reaction to Link’s brush with death. Jo will, too, but at least we can rest assured that her pregnancy will come to fruition, reinforcing what Marinis says is the season’s overarching theme: hope.
BONUS SPOILER!: Marinis refused to disclose which past characters would reappear in Season 22, but she did admit that we’d be getting some comebacks — yes, plural. (Mika FTW?)
RETURN DATE: Thursday, Oct. 9, at 10/9c (ABC) — Charlie Mason
Happy’s Place
Image Credit: Casey Durkin/NBC
Whereas Season 1 was very much a story about two sisters just getting to know each other, executive producer Kevin Abbott says Season 2 plays more like there are “three sisters,” with Melissa Peterman’s Gabby now just as essential to the NBC comedy as Reba McEntire’s Bobbie and Belissa Escobedo’s Isabella: “You’ve got Bobbie, the oldest… you’ve got Isabella, the baby… and then you’ve got Gabby, the middle daughter, who is just constantly seeking attention from one of them.” Meanwhile, as TVLine previously reported, Season 2 will kick off with the discovery that Emmett has been keeping a huge secret from Bobbie. Fans have theorized that he knew about Isabella and chose not to tell her out of respect for Happy — but Abbott isn’t about to say whether that prediction is right or wrong. “I will just say that our audience is pretty well in tune with our show,” he says. “I’m not confirming or denying it, but that’s a really interesting idea.” What he will divulge is that viewers will know sooner rather than later whether Bobbie and Emmett decide to give romance a shot, adding: “Things move a little bit faster than one might expect.”
BONUS SPOILER!: “We just shot [a bottle episode] called ‘Mouse in the House,’” Abbott reveals — and yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like. “It’s a real romp, and I’m looking forward to the audience seeing that one. It’s not really part of the Season 2 arc. We just went out there and had a great time.”
RETURN DATE: Friday, Nov. 7, at 8/7c (NBC) — R.S.
High Potential
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC
Season 2 picks up with Morgan facing off against the mysterious Game Master (David Giuntoli), who “challenges her HPI and makes her head spin in a way that creates a renewed friction with the cops she’s working with,” showrunner Todd Harthan tells TVLine. “It tests their trust and loyalty. He’s a master disruptor, and he’s very fun to watch.” Harthan won’t say who Giuntoli’s character is, but he enjoyed the “bonkers” theories being shared online. Season 2 also introduces Shameless‘ Steve Howey as new precinct captain Jesse Wagner, a Morgan-esque character who’s “a little bit hard to read, a bit of an enigma. It’s tricky because he comes in and is assumed to be a threat. He’s their new boss. What’s his agenda?” To the fans already predicting an office love triangle between Jesse, Morgan and Karadec, Harthan says, “You know Morgan’s point of view on bosses, so if that happens, it’s going to be tricky and laced with landmines. But unexpected chemistry is interesting to me.” Meanwhile, this season’s increased episode count will afford viewers more time with Morgan’s coworkers as the show “peels back the layers” of Daphne, Oz and Soto. And despite Taran Killam joining a new NBC comedy, Ludo will appear “in a similar capacity” as he did in Season 1. As for new cast addition Mekhi Phifer, Harthan won’t confirm that he’s playing Morgan’s estranged ex Roman, but acknowledges that “it is 100% a possibility.”
Bonus Spoiler!: There’s one upcoming guest star that Harthan “can’t talk about because it’s a lovely surprise in our midseason finale,” he says. There’s going to be a little bit of an ‘Oh, what’s happening here?’ situation with him and Morgan that’s going to disrupt things. We’ve got some surprises.”
Return Date: Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 10/9c (ABC) — A.S.
Landman
Image Credit: Paramount+
As the recently released trailer revealed, 1883 alum Sam Elliott will play father to Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy in Season 2. “If you think about the dynamic of that family, imagine what the dynamic with his father is,” executive producer David Glasser says. “We’re going to serve up exactly what you think.” At MTex, “Tommy’s got a new boss” — in Monty’s widow, Cami — “and she’s taken over something she never thought she’d have to take over… She’s going to get tested this season.” (Wait until she finds out about Andy Garcia’s south-of-the-border kingpin Gallino.) Meanwhile, Cooper continues to grow both his fledgling oil company (“we’ll see his rise,” Glasser teases) and his passionate-though-ill-timed relationship with grieving new mom Ariana (“Taylor [Sheridan, series co-creator] really leans into it and gives them some incredible real estate to play with”). On the homefront, dare we hope for more of Angela’s elaborate, often contentious family dinners? Sheridan “doesn’t leave anything on the table,” Glasser says, smiling. “No pun intended.”
BONUS SPOILER!: “If you loved Ainsley in Season 1, you’re going to love her even more in Season 2,” Glasser promises. “Wait until you see some of the situations that Taylor puts her in in Season 2. They are unbelievable.”
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Nov. 16 (Paramount+) — K.R.
Matlock
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sonja Flemming/CBS
Six months will have passed for viewers by the time Season 2 arrives, but it’ll have been a mere instant for Matty, Olympia and Julian. “You find out very quickly what Olympia and Julian decided in the bank, and what that means for Matty,” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman tells TVLine. “I will just tease that Matty is not the only person in control this year; the fact that Olympia, at times, has more information than Matty becomes significant.” Worry not, even with that shift in dynamic, Matlock remains “the same show” that earned it freshman hit status, Urman promises, “in that Matty will continue to surprise us, and Olympia also will surprise us.” Turning to family matters, Urman is mum on what Billy and baby momma Claudia decide, but does share that we’ll meet Sarah’s family to learn “where she came from”; the arrival of Alfie’s possible father, Joey (Sons of Anarchy‘s Niko Nicotera), will “reframe” the trauma Matty and Edwin went through with daughter Ellie’s death; and Senior’s “least-favorite ex-wife,” Eva (Jane the Virgin‘s Justina Machado), could prove to be “an asset or a liability” to someone.
BONUS SPOILER!: Matty’s “Deep Throat” source at Jacobson Moore, Mrs. Belvin, resurfaces in Episode 2 and “is pretty integral” to Season 2, Urman hints.
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Oct. 12, at 8:30 pm (CBS, special night); Thursday, Oct. 16 at 9 pm (regular time slot premiere) — M.W.M.
Mayor of Kingstown
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+
“As you come into a Season 4, how do you take a show to the next level?” asks executive producer David Glasser as he discusses Paramount+’s gritty prison drama. “Well, you need a nemesis. You need someone who’s going to come in and go toe-to-toe” with Mike McLusky (played by Jeremy Renner). Enter Nurse Jackie alum Edie Falco, who joins the series as Anchor Bay’s tough new warden, Nina Hobbs. Though Mike has essentially run the prison for the past three seasons, now “she’s the boss,” Glasser explains. “She’s making the decisions. She’s calling the shots. It ain’t Mike’s world. It’s her world, and we’re going to watch this battle between the two of them.” The power vacuum left in the Russians’ wake will be palpable, he adds, and the gang war that comes out of it will test Mike’s ability to hold the town together. New faces will include Younger’s Laura Benanti, who plays neophyte correctional officer Cindy Stephens, and Fear the Walking Dead’s Lennie James, who plays gangster Frank Moses — an outsider “who’s going to be putting things together in a very specific way,” Glasser says. “This is a season not like all the other seasons. It’s energized. It’s power-packed.”
BONUS SPOILER!: “Many people in this season think they have control,” the EP tease. “By the end of the season, we’re going to know who’s in control.”
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Oct. 26 (Paramount+) — K.R.
The Morning Show
Image Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV+
Two years after the UBA-NBN merger that closed out Season 3, Alex Levy is running the show along with Stella and others at the newly formed UBN. At first, UBN’s C-suite is a feminist paradise heavily influenced by board president Celine Dumont (played by Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose). But can it hold? Alex “believes — and there’s a good reason to believe — that she, Stella and Celine are all aligned in their goals,” showrunner Charlotte Stoudt tells us. “And on some level, they are. They all want UBN to succeed.” However, “There are a lot of private, personal things going on that are very complicated that are going to erode that allyship in a way that Alex didn’t expect,” she adds. Meanwhile, Bradley — last seen turning herself in to the FBI — “had a lot of time to think about what she did in Season 3,” the EP previews, “and she doesn’t feel great about it.” She’s brought back into the journalistic fold by a tip about a controversial story, on which she winds up working with Alex’s former producer, Chip. (How will Alex take that news, once she finds out? “Badly,” Stoudt says, laughing.) Elsewhere, ousted exec Cory is trying to make a movie and getting thwarted at every step. “But what’s fun is to see Cory trying to climb the ladder again,” the EP says. Prepare for some epic monologues.
BONUS SPOILER!: The trailer hints at several hook-ups (or potential ones) — including Alex and podcaster Brody (played by The Sandman’s Boyd Holbrook), Cory and Bradley — but Stoudt says the new UBN CEO is the character who’s got the steamiest season ahead. “We see a different side of Stella,” the show boss teases.
RETURN DATE: Wednesday, Sept. 17 (Apple TV+) — K.R.
Murder in a Small Town
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox
Wondering how the idyllic town of Gibsons could possibly bring more murder and mayhem in Murder in a Small Town Season 2? Creator Ian Weir shares that it won’t have to; Karl will take on an expanded investigative district this time around, creating the opportunity for “serious crimes along a 150-mile stretch of the Sunshine Coast Highway.” Though with that expansion comes additional stress for our police chief. “It’s not that he can’t handle the workload, but his staff is starting to wobble under the workload,” Weir teases. And how will Karl’s chaotic career affect his relationship with Cassandra? As a newly elected member of city council, Cassandra is busier than ever but hopes to collaborate with Karl to help the police department run more efficiently. Mayor Christie Holman — whom Weird describes as “Machiavellian” — however, blocks their progress by pitting Cassandra against Karl in order to advance her own personal interests/
BONUS SPOILER!: Weir says we’re also going to “go into the personal lives of the core characters to a greater extent” in Season 2. That means expect more of Sid, who has a particularly heartwarming and challenging story arc with his 15-year-old daughter.
RETURN DATE: Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 8/7c (Fox) — C.F.
NCIS
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sonja Flemming/CBS
“NCIS on Fire” — as Season 23 is dubbed — starts with Jimmy wheeling away Alden’s murdered father and the rest of the team on scene surmising that Carla Marino did the misdeed. “We open with a lot of heat, a lot of action — and we’re hoping to not let up,” showrunner Steven D. Binder tells TVLine. Is the Kansas City mob queen, as hinted by the finale, also connected to the Lily mystery that haunts Alden? The answer is now… no. “We’ve done a lot of thinking about this,” Binder explains, “and it felt like these should be separate stories.” Speaking of Lily, the oddity within Eleanor Parker’s death certificate will unfold “quickly,” Binder promises, with the larger mystery moving into the present and weaving in Alden’s Navy admiral sister. Elsewhere in the big orange room, Binder says the writers finally “cracked” how to shake up the on-again, off-again Jimmy/Jessica in an interesting way; Kasie will create something “that causes her a lot of trouble”; and “at some point we hope to expand the family of our characters in a way that will be shocking… and hopefully won’t be Jump the Shark-ing.”
BONUS SPOILER!..?: Will NCIS mark the 30th anniversary of its sire JAG‘s premiere? “I’d like to,” says Binder. “It’s funny you ask, because I was just at Don Bellisario’s 90th birthday party and I did say something about that to him….”
RETURN DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 8/7c (CBS) — M.W.M.
NCIS: Origins
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sonja Flemming/CBS
Yes, Mariel Molino has been on set. No, showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal won’t reveal to what end. “You will see the Lala character in some capacity,” Monreal tells TVLine, “but whether she’s in a flashback, alive, dead, a ghost… all of your questions will be answered in the premiere.” Picking up two months after Lala violently flipped her Jeep, the Season 2 opener finds Gibbs and the NIS team dealing with “a lot of different kinds of emotions,” says Monreal. “They’re still processing the accident and all that entails.” Another finale thread to be picked up on involves Franks “struggling to reconnect” with his brother Mason, whom viewers were led to believe died in Vietnam. While the above sounds all-so-very serious, know that “this season we’re really trying to embrace the lighter side of things,” says Monreal. For example, Randy will try to be his usual “ray of sunshine” self while relegated to desk duty; Mary Jo and Wheeler “intersect in a really interesting way that deepens their working relationship”; and Vera will “cross with a known character from the [NCIS] mothership.”
BONUS SPOILER!: All told, Season 2 will introduce three younger versions of franchise characters “that the fans are going to be very, very excited about,” North teases — Adam Campbell’s Young Ducky, included.
RETURN DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 9/8c (CBS) — M.W.M.
NCIS: Sydney
Image Credit: Courtesy of Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+
“It doesn’t matter how fast you run; your past will always catch up to you.” Such is the theme for Season 3 of the NCIS franchise’s first international offshoot. “For Mackey, that happens in a really big, robust way,” says showrunner Morgan O’Neill, as the onetime Marine’s infamous court-martial is revisited. You also have Blue and the mystery woman she discovered in her flat in the finale. “Aspira (Five Bedrooms‘ Doris Younane) is an intruder into Blue’s world,” affirms O’Neill, “and early on, we work out just how much of an intruder she is. It will shock some people where we go.” On the lighter front, JD “overcompensates for his newly single status” in a way that Mackey seemingly supports; the case of a disappeared fighter pilot leads the team to Australia’s version of Area 51, where “everything you can imagine about the Outback comes smashing into NCIS: Sydney in one fell swoop”; and a new character challenges the Evie/DeShawn dynamic “on a number of levels.”
BONUS SPOILER!: The situation with Doc’s long-ailing wife “resolves itself,” says O’Neill, leading to a “pretty profound” Episode 6.
RETURN DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 10/9c (CBS) — M.W.M.
The Neighborhood
Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
When the final season begins, Malcolm is living in Venice but making frequent trips to Pasadena. “One of the most brilliant things we did in that aborted spinoff was give him a house full of problems — including a non-working washing machine — so you’ll see him with a laundry basket at his mom’s house a lot this year,” co-showrunner Bill Martin tells TVLine. And with Malcolm no longer living with his younger brother, “that leaves an opening for Courtney to move in with Marty,” adds fellow co-showrunner Mike Schiff. Once Daphne’s mother is living next door, “Tina doesn’t feel as comfortable as she used to just popping in, so it’s definitely a change for [her and Calvin].” With their sons fully grown and branching out on their own, the question for the Butlers becomes: “What do we fill our time with now?” Gemma will face a similar “crisis point” now that Grover has graduated from Walcott Academy. Suddenly, the principal is asking herself, “Why am I really doing this?”
BONUS SPOILER!: It’s probably a bad time for Gemma to be second-guessing her career — what with Dave inadvertently training A.I. to replace him at the V.A. “John [Ross Bowie, who recurs as Dave’s boss Gregory] is back for one last episode,” Schiff reveals, “and boy, is he funny.”
RETURN DATE: Monday, Oct. 13, at 8/7c (CBS) — R.S.
Nobody Wants This
Image Credit: Erin Simkin/Netflix
In the Season 1 finale, Noah chose to be with Joanne, even if that meant forfeiting his dream job as head rabbi. The new season picks up three weeks later, and the fallout from that decision is “immediate,” series creator Erin Foster tells TVLine — leading to the introduction of a rival: “Big Noah,” a fellow rabbi played by Girls’ Alex Karpovsky. “They’ve known each other for quite some time — from summer camp, which is where ‘Big Noah’ claims to have gotten his nickname,” adds co-showrunner (and fellow Girls vet) Jenni Konner. “And I would say they are both… polite. There’s a polite competition.” Season 2 also introduces Succession’s Arian Moayed as Morgan’s new love interest, Dr. Andy. “It’s a complicated relationship, and there are a lot of red flags that Morgan really doesn’t want people to pay attention to,” Foster says, before Konner jumps in: “And her timeline versus Joanne’s timeline. It’s important for people to notice that [her relationship is] potentially [moving] faster than Joanne’s.”
BONUS SPOILER!: Finding out about Sasha’s friendship with Morgan “really changes who Esther is this entire season,” Foster reveals. “She’s like, ‘I was in this marriage where I thought I could be abusive and shi–y and belittling to my husband. He wasn’t going anywhere, but he caught a little bit of feelings for someone.’” That moment, Foster says, forces Esther to reevaluate her behavior: “She realizes she doesn’t really like how she’s been acting. She wakes up and goes, ‘OK, how did we get here?’”
RETURN DATE: Thursday, Oct. 23 (Netflix) — R.S.
Power Book IV: Force
Image Credit: Courtesy of Starz
“I’m a big believer in ending seasons and ending episodes with a question that we answer in the following episodes,” Power Book IV: Force executive producer Gary Lennon says at the top of our conversation about the Starz series’ upcoming third and final season. So, did Tommy’s lady, Mireya, survive the events of the finale?! “We get right to it right away… and you get to see a very interesting resolution to that dilemma,” Lennon promises. (Is the exclusive photo above a major hint? Or just Tommy’s dream? Debate it in the comments!) You’ll recall that CBI took over the Serbs’ role in the Chicago drug game; that power move comes with a fairly steep learning curve, Lennon previews. Tommy and Diamond are “moving in that direction to ascension, but they’ll be stumbling out of the blocks… There’ll be something that brings [Tommy] to his knees.” Also not in a good place is Vic, the only remaining Flynn, a snitch who’s now owned by both Egan and the Feds. “There are many ways to evade what he thinks is his destiny, right?” Lennon asks cryptically. “He could take his own life. He can be killed. He could get away with it… There are many options, and I think you all as audience members will be very surprised with the option that we choose in order to tell his story.”
BONUS SPOILER!: “Episode 5 is really delicious, brutal and fantastic, and delivers on every cylinder,” Lennon teases, and “the penultimate episode is a heartbreaker.”
RETURN DATE: Friday, Nov. 7, at 8/7c; episodes are available at midnight ET on the Starz app, streaming and on-demand platforms — K.R.
Shifting Gears
Image Credit: Raymond Liu/Disney
When Season 2 begins, Riley is officially divorced from Jimmy — and setting her sights on a new relationship. “She is going to make an attempt to give it a shot with Gabe,” showrunner Michelle Nader tells TVLine. Of course, nothing’s ever that easy: “There’s a lot of will they/won’t they this season.” Eventually, Riley’s brother Sam — whom Nader calls a “linchpin” in the Riley/Gabe relationship — will be introduced. “He’s best friends with Gabe, and he’s going to see that there’s something going on there.” Riley will also venture out and explore a new career — and it’s a choice that draws “really strong” opinions from Matt in Episode 3. While Nader is hesitant to reveal Riley’s career path, she will say this much: “It’s something that will involve what she loves the most and keep her near the garage. When you see what it is, you’ll be, like, ‘Oh yeah, that makes sense.’”
BONUS SPOILER!: In the premiere, we’ll quickly discover that Eve (recurring guest star Jenna Elfman) has been on tour all summer — and she and Matt have had no communication since their kiss. “It’s a fun reentry into their volatile, sexy, antagonistic relationship,” Nader says. “It’s going to lead to something this season that I think is going to be very fun to watch.”
RETURN DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8/7c (ABC) — R.S.
Slow Horses
Image Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV+
“The great thing about these episodic television things, particularly when you run endless numbers of seasons, is you can slowly peel things back,” says Saul Metzstein, who directed Slow Horses’ upcoming fifth go-around. To that end, Season 5 will reveal a bit about why Jackson Lamb (played by Gary Oldman) is the way he is — “not to the point that he loses his superpowers, by any means, but just to the point that it gets a bit richer,” Metzstein reassures us. The rest of Slough House are, of course, still traumatized by the events of the Season 4 finale, which included Marcus’ death. But that won’t stop them from some serious disbelief when tech whiz Roddy Ho announces he’s got a hot new girlfriend. “The lovely thing is, the reaction they all have is that they know this cannot be right,” Metzstein says, laughing. “They’re not happy for him or anything.” About the woman in question: “If you’ve ever watched a spy program at some point, something is going to happen so that Ho’s girlfriend is not what she seems, and Ho’s relationship is not what it seems.” And if you were worried that River’s decision to put his grandfather in an assisted-living facility would take Jonathan Pryce’s character out of play, fear not. “David Cartwright plays quite a significant part” in the episodes to come, Metzstein promises.
BONUS SPOILER!: How about two tantalizing tidbits? Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed plays a character who is “not maybe the greatest, loveliest, most honest, decent, upstanding politician to ever have been in England — although not the worst, either,” Metzstein says. And some upcoming interactions between Ho and Taverner are “among the best scenes we’ve ever shot.”
RETURN DATE: Wednesday, Sept. 24; two-episode premiere (Apple TV+) — K.R.
St. Denis Medical
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC
Let’s kick off this Season 2 sneak peek with amazing news for Alex, who often sacrifices her home life in service of the hospital. “She’s certainly not struggling at the same level in the same ways that she was in Season 1,” series co-creator/showrunner Eric Ledgin says, noting that the RN has acclimated to her middle-management role. “So we won’t see as much of Allison [Tolman] feeling like her character has the world on her shoulders.” Elsewhere in the hospital, Joyce “gets her hands on a donation, and this is definitely Joyce’s be-careful-what-you-wish-for season,” he previews. “What happens when you start to get the ability to make your dream come true?… It immediately starts to crush you.” The hospital staffers will head to a medical conference in the middle of the season (keep your eyes on Ron and Bruce, in particular, during that episode). And we can’t forget about Matt and Serena, the latter of which became aware of the former’s feelings for her in the Season 1 finale. “Without going into too many details, I can promise that we do follow up on that,” Ledgin says, “and I am personally really enjoying what that has done to the dynamic and the stories we’re telling with them in Season 2.”
BONUS SPOILERS!: Reality star Ariana Madix, whose casting was announced in August, will play a surgeon; Ledgin teases that Madix and her character “fits right into the show in a way that feels very natural. Her scenes that we’ve shot so far in her episode are… maybe my favorite of the season, so far.” So there’s a chance she might come back? “Yeah, I certainly think there is,” he adds.
RETURN DATE: Monday, Nov. 3, at 8/7c; two-episode premiere (NBC) — K.R.
Stranger Things
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
As R.E.M. would have put it in 1987, the year in which the Netflix smash’s fifth and final season is set, it’s the end of the world as we know it. The seemingly omnipotent Vecna, aka One, aka Henry Creel, has opened the fourth gate and begun the process of turning loose the Upside Down on Hawkins, Ind., and beyond. But, to paraphrase the oldie’s lyrics, we still feel fine. Why on hell on Earth is that, you ask? Even before the Season 4 finale, co-creators the Duffer Brothers promised TVLine that the ending of the beloved sci-fi/horror/comedy/drama “is pretty well mapped out” — and aside from writing off adorkable Argyle, they haven’t let us down yet. On top of that, producer Shawn Levy has acknowledged the need to go big, period; going home is not an option. “There’s no way to be contiguous with Season 4 and not, frankly, expand scale and depth,” he said in an interview with Total Film. At the same time, the series will be “coming full circle,” Matt Duffer hinted to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, adding that the plan was to “go back to a lot of the things we did in Season 1… original groupings and pairings.” Careening into the future while paying homage to the past? Count us in.
BONUS SPOILER!: Sadie Sink’s Max may be down, but she also isn’t altogether out. She’s “not really alive in the sense that you and I think of alive,” Ross Duffer told Deadline. In other words, she’s not really dead in the sense that we think of dead, either.
RETURN DATE: Volume 1 of Season 5 drops Wednesday, Nov. 26, with Volume 2 following on Thursday, Dec. 25, and Volume 3 available on Wednesday, Dec. 31 (Netflix) — C.M.
Tracker
Image Credit: Darko Sikman/CBS
The two-part Season 3 opener won’t focus on Mary or Otto — the mysterious lineman who pushed Ashton Shaw to his death — but the first episode will shed new light on what Otto told Colter once the Season 2 finale cut to black. “He’s still sifting through the results of that meeting, and some of the questions he has about his father, when Russell (recurring guest star Jensen Ackles) arrives to pull him out of his funk,” showrunner Elwood Reid tells TVLine. “They talk through what happened, and it’s an interesting scene, because you get to hear the two brothers talk about the different ways they feel about [the night their father died] and what they still carry with them. And then, of course, a case jumps off, and that conversation about their family continues through the rest of the episode in an exciting way.” Ultimately, there will be two big questions the show needs to answer this year: “What was the father involved in — we’re going to answer that — and how much do you blame your mother for her actions?”
BONUS SPOILER!: “We’re going to see the Night Movers [again], which was an element from last season — this group that helps disappear people,” Reid reveals. Brent Sexton will also be back as ex-cop Keaton, who helped Colter solve the Gina Picket case in Season 2.
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Oct. 19, at 8/7c (CBS) — R.S.
Tulsa King
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+
What’s a little federal detention when you’re Dwight “The General” Manfredi? Despite Sylvester Stallone’s character’s getting ripped from his bed at the end of Season 2, “He’s at the top of his game right now. He has money. He has a life. He has everything.” And that bit in the trailer where Kevin Pollak’s Agent Musso informs Dwight “I own you”? “A phenomenal twist in the never-ending saga,” executive producer David Glasser says with a laugh. “Trouble always finds Dwight!” Make that troubles, plural, including the “Tyrant of Tulsa” Jeremiah Dunmire, played by 1923’s Robert Patrick. “Dunmire is somebody who, much like Dwight, is an earner, is scary and believes that, with power and muscle, you win,” the EP says. “That, for Dwight, could be kryptonite.” (He also teased a run-in with someone in Dunmire’s family and one of Dwight’s crew.) Season 4 also will see the much-heralded introduction of Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) as Russell Lee Washington Jr., a denizen of the criminal underworld who’ll eventually lead his own series, NOLA King. “He and Dwight just chewing it up… is awesome,” Glasser adds.
BONUS SPOILER!: Though Glasser speaks freely about members of Dwight’s crew like Grace (“you’ll see Grace mature in the show and become a real, stable part of the crew”) and Bigfoot (look for more of his “caring, gentle side” this season), he stays mum when we inquire about the beleaguered Armand: “You’ll have to wait and see.” Make of that what you will!
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Sept. 21 (Paramount+) — K.R.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
Image Credit: Courtesy of AMC
Fans who tune in for Season 3 of the franchise’s fifth spinoff may feel, at least initially, as out of their element as Daryl and Carol will. “It’s like we get to do a whole other version of the series,” creator David Zabel tells TVLine. With our heroes having said au revoir to France in Season 2, “Spain is a completely alien environment — new geography, architecture, culture, history — and the characters we meet are very vibrant and different from what we had in France. We really lean into that to make the show feel new.” Even Melissa McBride’s iconic counterpart is ready to wipe the slate clean. “She was a real trauma hoarder,” the EP says. “But there is a burden that’s been lifted off of her shoulders and an openness to life” that points her in newcomer Antonio’s direction. “That relationship develops and grows.” We also have to look forward to a star turn by the estimable Stephen Merchant (The Office’s Emmy-winning co-creator). “We were sitting there, pie-in-the-sky thinking our dream casting for the role of Julian would be him,” Zabel admits. “But because I’m not always the most positive person, I said, ‘There’s no way we’ll get him.’” And yet, they did. (Spoiler alert: He’s terrific.)
BONUS SPOILER!: If you were a bit miffed that Daryl and Carol didn’t bother to chase after Codron once he ran off in the bat-guano-filled Chunnel, you might be marginally mollified to know that Zabel promises, “That story is not entirely over.”
RETURN DATE: Sunday, Sept. 7, at 9/8c (AMC) — C.M.
Watson
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS
Let’s acknowledge the sharply deductive elephant in the room, shall we? Despite its original plan to keep Sherlock Holmes physically out of John Watson’s story, in Season 2 the CBS drama will introduce the legendary detective (played by Once Upon a Time’s Robert Carlyle). “It’s gonna be a really cool, unique dynamic that honors the canon, but it’s not quite something that anybody’s seen before,” series creator Craig Sweeny tells us. Holmes “has come back with a new dynamic to their relationship, and it’s a challenge to Watson,” he explains. “And Robert plays that really, really well.” Holmes’ presence will force Watson to confront a secret about his past that the official synopsis notes is “hidden within his own body,” which made us think that Moriarty’s medical messing-around last season might still be afoot. Sweeny says that’s not the case, cagily adding: “Season 2 is the story of Watson… learning to be a patient.” As for Watson’s team: Adam finds out he’s going to be a father, Ingrid will eventually make her way back to the clinic, and Sasha and Stephens are still going strong. “They have a surprisingly vigorous and healthy sex life, which we explore,” Sweeny notes, chuckling.
BONUS SPOILERS!: Shinwell is a nursing student when the season premiere picks up roughly six months after the event of the finale. “The fact that he’s doing that, and he’s doing his rounds around the hospital, it lets us work him into the stories in a slightly different way,” Sweeny says. On a related note: “If you were wondering what Shinwell in love looks like, you might see that in Season 2.”
RETURN DATE: Monday, Oct. 13, at 10/9c — K.R.