“Lost”
Wednesday 8pm, ABC
“Lost” gives “Heroes” fans hope. After wading through two seasons of terrible subplots, unlikable new characters and a general feeling of no direction, loyal viewers were rewarded with the terrific Season 4, in which the show totally got its groove back. (Is it a coincidence that comic book genius Brian K. Vaughan came on as a producer right about then? I like to think not.) When we last left everyone’s favorite group of non-cannibal plan crash survivors, the Oceanic Six—Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, and baby Aaron—had left the island and found themselves in a heap of drama in the present day, while the island itself…moved. In one of the craziest, nuttiest plot devices in a show full of crazy, nutty plot devices, a switch was thrown and the whole freaking island just disappeared from space and time. And it was awesome. This season, find out where the island went (and when it went), discover more secrets (allegedly we’ll finally get the skinny on that four-toed statue), and look for some surprising returns, including cameos by a few characters long thought dead.
“Lie to Me”
Wednesday 9pm, Fox
“Lie to Me” has the misfortune—or possibly the great fortune—of essentially sharing a premise with the season’s breakout hit, CBS’s “The Mentalist,” starring the dashing Simon Baker. Decidedly less dashing Tim Roth plays psychologist Dr. Cal Lightman, who uses his keen powers of observation and the ability to expertly read body language to help cops solve crimes. Helping him in the hunt is his crack research team, played by Kelli Williams (so good on “The Practice”) and a couple other people you’ve never heard of.
“The Last Templar”
Sunday & Monday 9pm, NBC
The “archaeologist digging up magic religious gewgaws from antiquity” thing has obviously been done before, most notably with Indiana Jones and The Da Vinci Code. TV has also taken a crack at the subgenre (see Noah Wyle’s “Librarian” series), and does so again with this two-night miniseries, in which a scientist once again searches for the remains of the Knights Templar, fabled keepers of the Holy Grail. This time the archaeologist is a lady, played by Mira Sorvino. (Remember her?) She’s aided by an FBI agent (the adorable Scott Foley; both Felicity and Jennifer Garner are stupid, stupid women). Rounding out the cast are the always-classy Victor Garber (“Alias,” “Eli Stone”) and Omar Sharif (Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia).
