Entertainment News - TV

THIS ISSUE: American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, The Flash, Fresh Off the Boat, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Late Late Show TOP MOMENT OF THE NIGHT The Courtroom Reaches Peak Drama FX BECAUSE: Thirteen hours of tape -- down to two sentences. On Tuesday night's episode of American Crime Story, recordings of LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman using racial slurs are finally tracked down, and his remarks are more disgusting -- and most importantly, perjuring -- than anyone could have imagines. The defense pleads for the tapes to be heard; the prosecution pleads for them not to be; Ito's decision is ultimately to release the tapes to the public and provide the jury with two sentences that represent 13 hours of hate. READ OUR RECAP The Flash The CW WHAT HAPPENED: Barry wants to go fast. Well, he wants to go even faster than ever, and, convinced that the old Dr. Wells can help him with a speed equation, he decides to travel back in time. This should go well! Everything that could go wrong does: Wells realizes there are two Barrys and locks one up; a Time Wraith shows up; and Wells nearly kills Barry when he realizes his presence in the future probably means his evil plan didn't work. But Barry convinces him otherwise, and though he's running, like, a million butterfly effect risks, he manages to get the speed equation from Wells and get back to the present. And he comes back with one unexpected item: a video he asked the still-alive Eddie to record for Iris for "her birthday." He tells her that she's fearless, independent, loving and kind, and adds, "you deserve to be happy for the rest of your life." We weep. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: This isn't the first time Barry has time traveled, but this does seem like the first time he's done it just for kicks. IGN points out that Tuesday's episode "[marked] the show's most ambitious time travel-focused conflict to date," not because of Barry's skill in time travel, but more in its honesty about just how Barry might muck it up: "Almost immediately it became clear that Barry simply doesn't have the training or the discipline to use his time travel powers responsibly. He couldn't eliminate his younger self without causing a major scene. He couldn't avoid telegraphing his actions to Dr. Wells. It was interesting to see how much Barry was truly the villain of his own story and the architect of his own misery this week." This was not a seamless transition to the past, and though the ramifications seem mostly minimal by episode's end (hey, Hartley!), keep your eyes peeled for future lasting consequences. READ OUR RECAP Fresh Off the Boat ABC WHAT HAPPENED: Take it from EW recapper Will Robinson (and try not to squirm): "[Tuesday's episode] was one of the funniest Fresh Off the Boatinstallments of the season -- and much of that is due to these little things called lice." Jessica assumes Eddie picked up the lice at Dave's house -- "You're telling me lice see an innocent child in a dirty home, drinking a sweet soda, and they don't want in on that? ... Lice live for that. They're the pedophiles of the insect world." -- but that doesn't stop her from also getting them. While the lice nearly derail Jessica's marriage and career, Eddie has a more important thing to worry about: the faculty/student basketball game, his absence in which could lead to double math homework for the rest of the year. But fear not: he's led in by grandma-and-a-boombox, to the tune of "I Got 5 on It" by Luniz. Other best '90s moments: a shoutout to the coveted Eddie Bauer edition Ford Explorer, the Macarena, and Outkast's "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik." WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Louis' brief condescension toward his wife's job was pretty gross, but it was nothing in comparison to the phantom itching that came with a lice storyline. The A.V. Club warns, "At around the halfway mark, [Tuesday's episode] will likely become skin-crawling for anyone who's actually been plagued by lice or lived with someone who has. All of it -- the changing of linen, the arduous extermination process, and especially the head-scratching -- has a way of crawling off the screen and into one's middle-school consciousness, yanking the memories of thrown-out pillowcases and special shampoo to the forefront of the brain." Watch with care, and maybe throw some plastic over your Beanie Baby collection. READ OUR RECAP Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC WHAT HAPPENED: Following Bobbi and Hunter's unexpected leave, Mack heads to Illinois to take a break and hang out with his brother Reuben (Gaius Charles, just narrowly missing a Friday Night Lights reunion with Adrianne Palicki!). But Mack is soon called away to deal with an ATCU building that's been attacked by a group of anti-Inhuman terrorists called the Watchdogs, led by former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Felix Blake. Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually overcomes Blake and the Watchdogs (with some unexpectedly makeshift weapons at that -- helloooo "shotgun axe"), but not without almost losing a few good ones in the process. Reuben is hurt that his brother would ditch him for work, and not knowing the truth about what Mack does, nearly joins up with the Watchdogs. And Daisy, for all her protection of Inhumans, gives the Watchdogs a pretty good reason to fear them, violating multiple civil liberties in her search for Felix Blake. In the end, Reuben and Daisy help each other gain some perspective, but it's also revealed that that Malick had been pulling the strings all along as a distraction to steal a missile. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Despite coming back around this episode, Daisy's use of her Inhuman power in the name of taking down the Watchdogs was... frightening. And pretty out of character, as actor Chloe Bennet told EW: "Me, as Chloe, can see she's going off the tracks a little bit in terms of she's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she's an Inhuman, and she's always an even-keeled split down the middle, and I think she's coming off her hinges a little bit. She's leaning toward the Inhuman side a little bit more." So, can we take a little solace that nearly causing Fitz to implode might make her realize the potential destruction her behavior could cause? No -- no, we should not: "I would like for her to have maybe seen that as something where she would regret it, but I think she's still going full-force ahead in the Inhuman pride direction." READ OUR RECAP One More Thing... Jenny From the Carpool Lane CBS DEFENSIVE DRIVING: On Tuesday night, James Corden's most popular Late Late Show gag went to primetime in The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Special. Jennifer Lopez buckled in to help Corden celebrate his first year in late night television, and in return, he scrolled though her phone and texted Leonardo DiCaprio, "Hey, baby, I'm kind of feeling like I need to cut loose. Any suggestions? Let me know. J. Lo (you know, from the block)." As always with Carpool Karaoke, ride at your own risk. (Oh, and yes -- there was lots of singing.)