Entertainment News - TV

THIS ISSUE: American Idol, Arrow, Survivor, The Real Housewives of New York, The Americans TOP MOMENT OF THE NIGHT American Idol Rounds Home Fox BECAUSE: If Ryan Seacrest says so, it is truth: American Idol just aired its final performance finale ever. Yes, this will be a difficult time for America, but let us take solace in the fact that we somehow got two better final contestants than we perhaps deserved. With Dalton voted out in the finale, Trent and La'Porsha stepped onto the finalists' stage to roll out two very good original songs, and two AMAZING final "contestant's choice" performances with Trent's reprise of "Chandelier" and La'Porsha's "Diamonds." Get your texting thumbs ready -- it's gonna be a bumpy vote. READ OUR RECAP Arrow The CW WHAT HAPPENED: Listen -- Laurel has always had a touch-and-go relationship with fans, but that didn't make the reveal that she was the occupant of this season's Mystery Flash-Forward Grave any easier on Wednesday night. She'd been with us so long! And she was on an upswing! She was going to be DA! But Diggle makes the ultimately fatal mistake of trusting his brother, as shown when Andy hands over the last missing piece of Damien Darhk's idol and turns a gun on Team Arrow. As Darhk prepares to reassume his power, he's in need of a few sacrifices, and that's how Laurel ends up with an arrow in her stomach, twisted in personally by Darhk just to make sure we know he's evil. She's rushed to the hospital, and though it first seems like she might make it, telling Oliver that she knows she wasn't the love of his life, but he was the love of hers, and that she hopes he'll find his way back to Felicity was a pretty sure sign that this was the end. With one more Whispered Mystery Request, Laurel flatlines, survived by a grieving father (oof, poor Quentin) and a heartbroken team. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Laurel may have been ready to give up her caped crusade just before her death, but rest assured, actor Katie Cassidy got to hang onto the Black Canary's trusty leather jacket and eye mask when she left, as she told TVLine. TVLine also spoke with showrunner Marc Guggenheim to find out why it was Laurel whom they chose to put in the Mystery Grave. He started with the reasoning against killing Laurel: "The fact that we all love Katie [Cassidy]. We love working with Katie, we love having her on the show. We love the fact that she plays Black Canary." But we know the decision they went with in the end: "The reason to [kill Laurel off] is it is big. It is bold. It does move the show forward. It does impact all of our characters." We'll just have to wait and see if it's for better or for worse. READ OUR RECAP Survivor CBS WHAT HAPPENED: Cydney said it herself: "You haven't seen irritated Cydney. Irritated Cydney will blow the whole game up." Sometimes it doesn't take strategic maneuvering or careful manipulation -- no, sometimes it just takes someone being pissed off to blow up the game. As Julia and Michele realized they needed to step out from under the tattooed shadows of the very vocal men of this season, Cydney was starting to get the feeling that Jason and Scot weren't honoring their longtime core alliance. And then there's Nick going around saying how excited he is for his for his first Tribal Council -- "I just hope it won't be bittersweet." Talk about a rookie foreshadowing mistake! It didn't take long for the remaining women of season 32 to see the flashing neon"WOMEN'S ALLIANCE" written in the sand; as Cydney explains to Julia and Michelle, Nick is "extremely up Jason and Scot's butt." It doesn't take much to convince outsiders Aubry and Debbie, and there you have it: Wednesday was Nick's first -- and last -- Tribal Council. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: And that's not even mentioning all the inexplicable stuff Tai did at Tribal, like talking about the Super Idol (something only an idol-holder could know), and randomly writing Jason's name down, someone who was very much in his alliance, and very much not on the chopping block. When asked by EW if Tai's oversharing may have been an example of exhaustion and malnutrition making it difficult to think straight, host Jeff Probst offered some gameplay insight: "Tai made a mistake. That's really all that happened... I do think you're hitting on something, which is the more tired and hungrier you get, the more difficult it becomes. But the underlying truth in all of this is it's very tough to play a perfect game. The key is how you recover from a mistake." Recover, Tai -- we beg of you to recover! READ OUR RECAP The Real Housewives of New York City Bravo WHAT HAPPENED: They're baaaaack! Well...most of them are, anyway; as EW recapper Tim Stack points out, "We're down one shapewear creator(Heather) but we're up one Asian Jewish lady (Jules)." In addition to new Housewives, some of the old Real Housewives of New York City came with a few extra parts this season too. As Ramona is showing off her new boobs and embarrassing her shockingly well-adjusted daughter uptown, Carole is doing hip downtown things like wearing ripped jeans and buying cameras with her hot boyfriend Adam. Apparently, Dorinda and John have been having quite the wild summer in the Hamptons even though Dorinda claims she's given up alcohol for a while, and Bethenny says she recently saw Sonja and Luann the drunkest she's ever seen them, which is really saying something. So, basically, it looks like there will be just as many fur vests and dirrrrty martinis in season 8 ofRHONY -- and thank the Andy Cohen heavens above, not a single mention of Munchausen. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Missing Kristen? Maybe not -- but let Vulture explain her absence, and the perks that come along with it to you anyway: "Because Kristen Taekman's husband Josh... was embroiled in the Ashley Madison leak, they will not be on this season. That also means that Bethenny beat Kristen over the head and stole all of her fleek, because Bethenny is fleeking the fleek out this season. Every single thing she was wearing is absolutely divine, from the editor's cape she wore over her perfectly fitted white T-shirt to brunch to that asymmetrically patterned blouse she wore out to lunch with Ramona. And the hair! Oh my God, the hair. It looks so good. Why didn't she do this years ago?" Because, of course, every Housewife must have her season, and this one? This one belongs to Bethenny. READ OUR RECAP One More Thing... The Americans Is Not Afraid to Kill FX FROM RUSSIA WITH... LOVE?: We must pour one out for poor Nina, who met her shocking (or maybe rather long-time-coming) demise on yet another stellar episode of The Americans Wednesday night. In case you're thinking of getting into the Russian spy industry once you finish up grad school, you should know, it's a pretty dangerous gig -- nothing can protect you, not even being a main character.