Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Samantha Song | TV | October 25, 2026
Halloween week has arrived, and everyone is making terrible choices.
A detective moves to a small town because he wants a quieter life. Liam Neeson is 74 and being pursued by federal law enforcement. A single mother takes justice into her own hands. Minions and monsters arrive on Peacock. The ghosts of Woodstone Mansion have acquired enough unfinished business for a mirror-themed Halloween special. And somewhere, a retired couple is about to experience Arctic survival.
Here is what is arriving this week, sorted by how quickly someone should have asked a second person whether this seemed like a good idea.
Sunday, October 25th belongs to Murder in a Small Georgia Town (Lifetime), a film about a single mother charged with murder after defending herself from an attacker. She decides to run for sheriff and take on her town’s corrupt power structure. This is either the most inspiring thing television could do or the most dangerous. Possibly both.
Vibe: A mother defending herself against institutional corruption, Lifetime edition.
Tuesday, October 27th brings In Pursuit: Lessons of American Leadership (PBS, documentary special), examining American leadership through historical figures and the decisions that shaped their presidencies. After weeks of serial killers, spies, and people voluntarily entering haunted buildings, PBS arrives with the radical proposition that perhaps we could spend an evening discussing history. No murders. No supernatural entities. Just leadership.
Vibe: PBS has entered Halloween week carrying a textbook and asking everyone else to please settle down.
Wednesday, October 28th brings Minions and Monsters (Peacock), which is exactly what the title suggests: minions and monsters on Peacock. The streaming service has decided Halloween week needs more yellow creatures of indeterminate origin.
Vibe: Somewhere a minion is destroying something while you wonder why this franchise still exists.
Thursday, October 29th brings Ghosts (CBS, Halloween Special), "Halloween 6: The Mirror - Parts One & Two," airing 9-10 PM ET/PT. Kyle babysits the ghosts while Sam is away. Hetty reunites with her estranged sister Margaret. Bela hosts an unconventional Halloween party. Mirror-related drama unfolds.
This is the rare series where Halloween should theoretically be the least remarkable day. Ghost costume? Pete is standing beside you. Séance? Please don’t. There are already too many people in this house. Strange noise upstairs? Someone probably died there in 1847 complaining about the plumbing.
The residents of Woodstone Mansion spend every ordinary Tuesday with Vikings, Revolutionary War soldiers, and one extremely pants-averse financier. What exactly is Halloween supposed to add? Apparently, a cursed mirror and family drama.
Vibe: Everyone else gets one night of ghosts. Sam and Jay would like to exchange theirs for store credit.
Friday, October 30th contains two distinct genre problems.
Nocturne (Apple TV, series premiere) stars Liev Schreiber as Jonah Lynn, an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who moves to rural Pennsylvania for a quieter life. Jonah. Have you watched television? Nobody moves to a small town in crime dramas because things go well. Then Stephen Graham appears as Jurek Walter, a serial killer, with Zazie Beetz as FBI agent Saga Bauer. Apple releases two episodes before moving weekly, meaning Stephen Graham will psychologically terrorize Pennsylvania through Christmas.
The Mongoose brings Liam Neeson as a war hero leading law enforcement on a cross-country car chase. Liam Neeson is 74. Hollywood is still putting this man in federal fugitive situations.
Vibe: Stephen Graham is a serial killer, Liam Neeson is fleeing police, both are determined to ruin someone’s Friday.
Saturday, October 31st is actually Halloween. Television offers comfort viewing: Adopting St. Nick (Hallmark, 8 p.m.) stars Amy Groening and Michael Rady as a hardware-store owner and her love interest joining a retirement community’s Christmas Companions program. A Very Arctic Christmas (Great American Family, 8 p.m.) stars Jill Wagner and Cameron Mathison in a story that strands a father-daughter cruise in the Arctic, requiring wildlife conservationist help.
Or catch up on everything October inflicted. Nocturne if you want Stephen Graham. Ghosts if you prefer dead people friendly. Murder in a Small Georgia Town if you want maternal justice. The Mongoose if you want 74-year-old fugitives. Christmas movies if you’ve had enough.
Vibe: Halloween is here and it’s already time for Christmas movies.
Also This Week
In Pursuit: Lessons of American Leadership (PBS, Tuesday, October 27)
Minions and Monsters (Peacock, Wednesday, October 28)
Ghosts (CBS, Thursday, October 29, 9-10 PM ET/PT)
Nocturne (Apple TV, Friday, October 30, series premiere)
The Mongoose (theaters, Friday, October 30)
Gentle Monster, Queen at Sea, Everest: The Other Side, Stiletto, Christmas at the Kringles (limited theaters, Friday, October 30)
Adopting St. Nick (Hallmark Channel, Saturday, October 31, 8 p.m.)
A Very Arctic Christmas (Great American Family, Saturday, October 31, 8 p.m.)
This Week’s Hostage: Nocturne
There are stranger choices this week. Liam Neeson is leading a cross-country police chase at 74. Ghosts has an entire mansion celebrating Halloween with a cursed mirror. A single mother is taking on corruption. But Apple has given Stephen Graham a serial killer in rural Pennsylvania with Liev Schreiber, who simply wanted a quieter life.
That is simply not something I am capable of ignoring.
Jonah Lynn begins by leaving Philadelphia. He wants peace. He wants quiet. He moves to a small town in western Pennsylvania. Jonah. Nobody moves to small towns in crime dramas because things go well. Small towns are where peaceful lives die, slowly, with complications.
Then Stephen Graham appears as Jurek Walter, a serial killer uninterested in letting Jonah have peace.
At this point Jonah should not unpack. Do not assemble the bed frame. Do not forward your mail. Get back to Philadelphia immediately.
Instead, Jonah stays. His family comes under threat. His surrogate daughter—conveniently an FBI agent—goes directly against the killer. Nothing about that will become emotionally complicated.
There are ghosts this week. There is Halloween. There is Liam Neeson. There are mothers taking justice into their own hands. But Stephen Graham is in rural Pennsylvania making Jonah’s quiet life considerably less quiet.
You are watching.
Jonah should have stayed in Philadelphia.
