Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Ellen Gray's weekend TV picks: 'Game of Thrones,' 'Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell' and more

    by Ellen Gray
    Published 

* GAME OF THRONES. 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO.

Last week's episode may have set a record for one of my least favorite TV trends - people being burned alive - but there's no way I'll be missing the Season 5 finale, "Mother's Mercy." If you've fallen behind,HBO2 reruns the entire season beginning at noon Sunday.

* JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL. 10 p.m. Saturday, BBC AMERICA.

Eddie Marsan ("Ray Donovan") and Bertie Carvel star in a miniseries based on Susanna Clarke's fantasy history. They play two men - neither named Harry Potter - whose destiny is to bring magic back to early 19th-century Britain after an absence of 300 years. It's all a bit odd, but Marsan's performance enchants even when his Mr. Norrell (below) isn't casting spells.

* NURSE JACKIE. 9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime.

A seasonlong plot line comes to a head as Jackie (Edie Falco) gets a hearing on her nursing license, triggering a showdown with her boss and former friend, Gloria Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith).

Binge-watch of the week

* ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, Netflix. Season 3 was released only Friday.

You can't be done yet. Netflix's best show long ago expanded beyond whiny middle-class inmate Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) to delve into the far-from-generic stories of the women around her. This season brings changes to Litchfield Correctional. Starting with bedbugs.