What to Watch: 02/14/2018

It’s Valentine’s Day in the middle of the 2018 Winter Olympics, but that’s got nothing to do with our main picks for tonight’s viewing enjoyment as gang violence, corporate culture, and empowerment are on our agenda. But we also have some info on all the love (and sports) that is on the air.

 

KATHERINE’S PICK:
Frontline [PBS, 9p]
Tonight’s Frontline looks at the “rise” in activity from MS-13–presumably with more nuance than Gangland–which includes the discovery of 25 deaths (“bodies”) since 2016, which I think is an indelicate way of saying, the US was so swept up in ignoring the opioid crisis, and lauding Donald Trump, that we lost track of the gang activity in America, and now we’re worried that MS-13 is responsible for murders we haven’t discovered yet.

I, meanwhile, have been kept awake at night thinking about MS-13, and how a young migrant might get swept into gang life as a result of the ways democratic bureaucracy fails to fulfill the American dream, for the last decade. Won’t you join me?

JASON’S PICK:
Grown-ish [Freeform, 8p]
Ok, a confession: I’m rec’ing a show I have yet to see, but should. Yari Shahidi is an impressive woman, even beyond her acting chops, plus it’s a spinoff of one of the best half-hour comedies out there. And tonight they are diving into the hot button topic of how carelessness on social media can impact your professional life.

BRAD’S PICK:
Corporate [Comedy, 10p]
Jake and Matt’s corporate issue is convincing a co-worker to wear a shirt. Adulting!

ALSO ON TAP TONIGHT:

180214rock

  • Chris Rock has a last minute Valentine’s Day present for us all, dropping the first of two stand-up specials on Netflix today, Chris Rock: Tambourine.
  • Sundance Now joins the original streaming content fray with This Close, and the early buzz is good. It explores the blossoming romance of hearing-impaired Kate and Michael, played by the show’s creators Shoshanna Stern and Josh Feldman.
  • It’s a revelatory night on American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace (but when is it not on this elite show) as Versace comes out and Andrew Cunanan meets his first victim.
  • Investigation Discovery celebrates V-Day in the way only it can with He Lied About Everything which chronicles the romance-gone-awry between news producer Benita Alexander, and secretly shady surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.
  • And tonight on the Olympics: Alpine skiing, speed skating, skeleton, and figure skating. It’s been thrilling watching the Americans take gold in figure skating and snowboarding, though the North Korean cheering section and figure skating pair were riveting in their own terrifying way, too.

 

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