‘America’s Got Talent’ Turns 20, ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘Alert’ Finales, Travel to ‘Destination X’

Acts of all shapes, sizes and sounds gather to show what they’ve got as auditions get underway for the milestone 20th season of the summer season’s most popular TV talent competition. Returning to the judges’ panel: Mel B, who sat at the table from 2013 to 2018, joining Howie Mandel, Simon Cowell and Sofia Vergara. Among the initial performers are a superhuman danger act and magician who asks home viewers to participate. To mark the special anniversary, the judges and host Terry Crews take viewers behind the scenes for a up-close-and-personal view of the Talent process.

The open-ended series finale of the dystopian allegory (based on Margaret Atwood‘s novel) reminds us that the battle never ends against oppression. “Not fighting is what got us Gilead in the first place,” says June (Elisabeth Moss, who directed the episode), who reflects on how far the handmaids and their fellow rebels have come, and how far they still have to go, in the wake of last week’s shockingly bold move against Gilead’s high commanders. The finale is an emotional exercise in reconciliation and even forgiveness, but until June is reunited with her beloved daughter Hannah, this handmaid’s tale is far from over.

Prom night turns into a dance with danger in the Season 2 finale of the missing-persons procedural when kidnappers hijack a limo full of teenagers on their way to the festivities. A senator’s son is among the victims, but as Jason (Scott Caan), Chief Inspector Houston (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) and the MPU team investigate, they realize another passenger might be the target.

Carmen Sandiego would no doubt empathize with the contestants in a new travelogue competition who are always asking, “Where in the world are we?” Reformed Walking Dead baddie Jeffrey Dean Morgan swaggers playfully as the host, shepherding players in blindfolds and VR goggles as they travel the “giant game board” of Europe in plane and mega-bus (with blacked out windows) to destinations unknown. With challenges involving riddles and puzzles, offering clues to their exotic locales, each round sends a few of these hapless tourists to a “map room” where they have to guess where they are. The person who chooses farthest from the mark goes home, and whoever has the best sense of direction at season’s end wins $250,000. And no, they’re not there to make friends.

Following the third episode of Kevin Costner’s The West (8/7c), about missionaries who settled along the Oregon Trail, a four-part docuseries over two nights (concluding Wednesday) profiles the legendary leader of the Lakota tribe, Sitting Bull (portrayed as an adult by Michael Spears of Dances With Wolves and 1923). The series depicts his efforts, with warrior Crazy Horse, to resist the encroaching U.S. Army, leading to the infamous Battle of Little Bighorn against George Armstrong Custer.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• The Cleaning Lady (8/7c, Fox): With the Season 3 finale a week away, Thony (Élodie Yung) takes steps to protect her and her family from the chaos, while Jorge (Santiago Cabrera) plots against Ramona (Kate del Castillo) when he learns what she’s up to.
• Down Home Fab (8/7c, HGTV): Following an appearance on the channel’s Rock the Block, Cole and Chelsea DeBoer are back for a third season of home renovations, helping redesign a single mom’s home while preparing for the opening of their new store.
• Jeopardy! Masters (9/8c, ABC): The fifth and sixth quarterfinal games will decide which players advance to Wednesday’s semifinals.
• The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (streaming on Prime Video): The wacky adult animated comedy set in a raucous intergalactic medical facility returns for a second season, with a stellar voice cast led by Stephanie Hsu, Keke Palmer, Kieran Culkin and executive producers Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne.
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig (streaming on Hulu): The Oscar-nominated drama about the perils of an investigating judge in Tehran, Iran, makes its streaming debut.