Ducky Visits ‘Origins,’ ‘Chad Powers’ Finale, ‘Dancing’s Halloween Monster-Thon, More ‘Nightmares of Nature’

NCIS: Origins

Adam Campbell returns as the younger version of the franchise’s beloved medical examiner Donald “Ducky” Mallard, immortalized by the late David McCallum, whose music is heard throughout the special episode. Ducky arrives to evaluate whether Pendleton could use an in-house medical examiner, much to the delight of probie Gibbs (Austin Stowell), who met him several years earlier and whom Ducky fondly refers to by his middle name of Jethro, “a name for a leader of men.” Team leader Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) isn’t nearly as welcoming, suspecting the good doc has come from D.C. with the goal of shutting down the Pendleton operation. But Ducky, as usual, proves his worth when he assists on the case of the murdered wife of a Navy lieutenant commander.

Chad Powers

The good-natured sports comedy ends its six-episode season with Russ Holliday’s (Glen Powell) masquerade as star player Chad in danger of being exposed. A medical crisis reveals his true identity to a crucial ally on the eve of a big game against #1 Georgia in Athens, and as the once-disgraced college QB puts it, “If Chad goes down, the whole team goes down.” In a later epiphany, Russ explains his farcical situation by declaring, “I think I wanted to be Chad because I hated being Russ.” Anyone who ever watched Tootsie could have told him that.

Dancing With the Stars

The glittery costumes take on a more ghoulish vibe on “Halloween Night,” as the remaining couples perform macabre routines in Tango, Argentine Tango, Jazz, Viennese Waltz, Paso Doble, and Contemporary styles to songs including “Die with a Smile,” “Brain Stew,” “Bad to the Bone,” and “bury a friend.” Cheryl Burke, a two-time Mirrorball-winning pro, returns as guest judge, with the episode’s centerpiece a “Dance Monster-thon” marathon where couples earn extra points depending on how long they stay on the dance floor doing the Hustle and Lindy Hop before being tapped out.

Nightmares of Nature

Having explored all of the terrifying possibilities of being trapped in a cabin in the woods last month, the cheeky nature series that takes on the look and style of a horror movie moves on to being “Lost in the Jungle.” Maya Hawke narrates a tale set in the Central American rainforest, where “the trees have eyes, and every sound could be the last you ever here.” The narrative follows a young opossum, a newly hatched iguana, and a jumping spider as they fight for survival in the wild and face even more dangers once they take shelter in an abandoned laboratory.

The Lowdown

Acclaimed novelist Walter Mosley wrote the penultimate episode of this funky comedic mystery starring Ethan Hawke as investigative “truthstorian” Lee Raybon. Lee believes he’s stumbled upon “the story of my life” as he seeks to expose a crooked land deal involving a gubernatorial candidate (Kyle MacLachlan), a ruthless developer (Tracy Letts), and a maniacal pastor (Paul Sparks) who’s planning to build a white-supremacy sanctuary that one observer describes as a “Nazi fantasyland.” But Lee soon learns he’s been betrayed, and his crusade to reveal the truth lands him in the crosshairs of a very dangerous enemy. The cliffhanger will have you counting the days until next week’s season finale.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• World Series (7 pm/ET, Fox): Game 4 of the Fall Classic could be pivotal in the contest between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.
• Country Doctor (7/6c, HBO): A documentary short, filmed over three years, follows small-town Oklahoma doctor James Graham on his rounds at a local hospital, nursing home, and three clinics, as well as on house calls to poor and uninsured clients, illustrating the crisis in rural communities that lack adequate medical facilities.
• NCIS (8/7c, CBS): While Special Agent Sawyer (Zane Holtz) joins the team to investigate the death of a blackmailed petty officer, Knight (Katrina Law) gets an opportunity to train with NCIS Elite.
• American Monster (8/7c, Investigation Discovery): The 13th season of the true-crime series opens with the story of “Control Freak” Galen Westfall, whose jealousy concerning wife Tricia leads to a terrible fate. Followed by the documentary Hunted by My Husband: The Untold Story of the D.C. Sniper (9/8c), which unfolds from the perspective of Mildred Muhammad, ex-wife of convicted and executed serial killer John Muhammad. She says his spree of terror in the D.C. area in 2002 was motivated by his desire to kill her and take custody of their kids, using the supposedly random shootings to cover his true intent.
• Kissinger (9/8c, PBS): The two-part American Experience biography concludes with Henry Kissinger’s diplomatic moves in China, Russia, and the Middle East.
• High Potential (10/9c, ABC): Shades of the Louvre robbery when Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) and Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) work with an art-recovery expert after a valuable painting is stolen from a museum.
• NCIS: Sydney (10/9c, CBS): The team’s latest investigation gets complicated when an American suspect in the murder of an Australian soldier claims he has evidence of a war crime.

 ON THE STREAM:

• Only Murders in the Building (streaming on Hulu): The Season 5 finale, not available for preview, promises to reveal the killer of the Arconia’s doorman, Lester. But if all of the residents are forced out, will the building ever be the same?
• Mo Amer: Wild World (streaming on Netflix): The comedian and star of the acclaimed series Mo returns for his third stand-up special, riffing on the birth of his son, the TSA, and his Palestinian heritage.
• Don’t Date Brandon (streaming on Paramount+): A true-crime docuseries depicts romance gone wrong when Amber discovers the truth that her beau Brandon is a dangerous, abusive stalker and teams with his ex-wife Athena to launch a podcast that brings out more of his alleged victims.