Big Bang Theory: The 10 Best 
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May Sweeps Preview and Finale Spoilers
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PRE-FINALE: The Fox procedural is saving some of its wildest calls for the bitter(sweet) end, including a Willy Wonka-esque situation “based on a true story of a worker who almost died when he fell into a vat of warm chocolate,” showrunner Tim Minear reveals. On the relationship front, Maddie and Chimney will learn that while things may never go back to the way they were, “that doesn’t mean they can’t get something new.” Eddie, meanwhile, will continue to wonder whether he’s only spending time with Shannon for their son’s benefit. “He’s always loved her, but he’s never been able to forgive her for walking out on Christopher.” And another pivotal origin story will take us back to Bobby’s earliest days at the 118, which will revisit the horrible apartment fire in Minnesota. “He lost one family, and without even realizing it, he gained another.” And while Minear remains tight-lipped about Bobby and Athena’s wedding, he reveals that Bobby will be doing most of the planning.
SEASON FINALE (May 13): Buck will be tested like never before when he’s faced with a life-and-death situation and “acts heroically, as always.” (Unrelated: The finale also features a teen social media influencer in a crisis.)
THE 100
MAY SWEEPS: Fresh off their 125-year cat-nap, Clarke and her fellow survivors will attempt to “fulfill Monty’s deathbed wish for them to be the good guys, to not repeat the cycle of violence, to not do what they did to survive,” showrunner Jason Rothenberg says. Of course, that’ll be easier said than done on a new planet whose inhabitants “turn homicidal during solar eclipses.” After all, how can Clarke trust her friends to fight alongside her when they haven’t forgiven her for what she did on their last planet? “All of those wounds are really fresh and need to be faced. People are pissed at her.” Bellamy, as always, will be “hugely important” in Clarke’s journey of redemption, while Octavia will clash with Abby — as well as her own “inner demons” — and Raven will continue to feel like “the universe doesn’t want her to be happy.” And here’s something else to keep in mind: “Nobody has any f–king clue where this season is going,” Rothenberg says, promising more unpredictable twists than ever. “The big mystery of the season, the real story, hasn’t even been touched upon.”
ARROW
PRE-FINALE: Viewers can count on the larger reason for the flash-forwards to crystalize, and in turn make the world they propose seem less bleak. “A lot of times when I hear snippets about that and other concerns, I want to be like, ‘Keep watching the show,'” showrunner Beth Schwartz told TVLine at WGFestival 2019. “Everything that we’ve constructed is for a reason, and that will become clear the more you watch and as this season comes to an end…. There’s a lot more to see.”
SEASON FINALE (May 13): Cast member Juliana Harkavy told TVLine that the series’ penultimate closer — aka Emily Bett Rickards’ final episode — is “very exciting, and really emotional,” while Schwartz said, “Almost everyone who read it was in tears.” The EP also described the finale as “insane” and “huge” “in terms of action, in terms of characters that might be coming back, and in terms of the ending.” In fact, it is two finales-in-one. The flash-forward characters “have their own finale, which will be pretty large,” all adding up to an episode that is “extremely unique. It definitely propels you into Season 8.”
THE BLACKLIST
PRE-FINALE: According to series creator Jon Bokenkamp, the season-long arc regarding Red’s identity will “start to fold in on itself” in the final episodes, “giving us answers and resolution.” First, a two-part outing on April 26 will “dive right into that central question of Red’s past,” including his relationship with Katarina Rostova. The end of Season 6 will also “significantly” alter Red’s dynamic with Dembe, given that Dembe knows Liz betrayed Red earlier this year. “He’s kept quiet specifically because Liz has begged him to, because she’s worried how Reddington will react,” Bokenkamp says. “But the secret that Dembe is keeping is going to take a front seat… [and] what we have in store is shocking, to say the least.”
SEASON FINALE (May 17): The season’s final hour will delve into the alliance between Anna McMahon (played by Jennifer Ferrin) and President Diaz (Benito Martinez), who Bokenkamp “would suggest keeping your eye on” as the drama wraps up. “We still don’t know what exactly it is they’re plotting,” he offers. “It’s not what you expect.”
BLINDSPOT
UPDATE: Blindspot has been pulled from NBC’s schedule for May Sweeps. Here’s what’s ahead for the final three episodes, starting Friday, May 24:
PRE-FINALE: Excellent news for the #Jeller fans among us: According to series creator Martin Gero, the end of Season 4 will find Jane and Weller “in lockstep” and “[having] each other’s backs in a way that we really haven’t had time to do before.” That said, the pair will be stuck in an “increasingly untenable” stalemate with FBI Director Matthew Weitz, who Weller previously threatened to report for doctoring evidence. “They’re in for some rough roads ahead,” Gero adds. Elsewhere, the FBI team will work to stop Madeline Burke, whose scheme to attack the Eastern seaboard (a plan known as Helios) will “explode into the end of the season,” per Gero. “She’s not done. She’s got some moves.”
SEASON FINALE: The “huge” finale, which was shot on location in Iceland, will find the team heading overseas because “they’re following a clue” about Helios, and “something happens on the way there that makes the episode take a hard turn,” per Gero. The season ender will also “reinvent the show in a huge way,” he teases, promising “a twist and a dimensionality that we have not been able to play with yet.”
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
PRE-FINALE: On April 25, the Andy Samberg comedy will air “Ticking Clocks,” an episode that takes place in real time. Sean Astin — aka one of the “Guardians of the Nine-Nine” — guest-stars as a sergeant in the Cyber Operations Unit, and he’s “a bit of a thorn” in Capt. Holt’s side, according to series co-creator Dan Goor. The unique installment also features the return of Rosa’s girlfriend Jocelyn. “It talks a little bit about the difficulty of dating a police officer.” Then, in Melissa Fumero’s directorial debut (airing May 2), Chelsea Peretti reprises her role as “human form of the 100 emoji” Gina Linetti. The aptly titled “Return of the King” will reveal Gina’s new career and “how it has impacted her relationships with the Nine-Nine.”
SEASON FINALE (May 16): “Jake works a pretty important case that may expose maleficence in the NYPD and has a large snowball effect,” Goor teases. The “high stakes,” hour-long finale will also welcome back Tim Meadows as Peralta’s former prison bunkmate, Caleb the Cannibal. “I would just say that events transpire that suggest [Season 7] is going to start off in a fun way.”
CHICAGO FIRE
PRE-FINALE: Severide gets involved in an arson investigation that “starts to unravel into a much, much bigger, broader scope” while bringing back memories of his dad Benny, showrunner Derek Haas previews. As for the firefighter’s feelings for Stella, “he wants to get his own house in order before he commits to that, and takes what Foster said to him at heart. But then this case comes along and threatens to derail all the progress he’s been making.” Elsewhere, Brett has “mixed feelings” about the return of her ex Kyle (Teddy Sears), who broke her heart. “Casey goes to bat for her with the chaplain,” Haas says.
SEASON FINALE (May 22): “It’s going to be a gut-punch of an episode,” Haas warns. “It’s as big as anything we’ve done this season, which is saying a lot, because we’ve done some giant things this season.” The closer features a “harrowing” call that involves the entire firehouse, plus plenty of character turns: “A lot of our finales will be some giant personal thing that ends the season. A lot of our finales will be giant spectacles. And you’re going to get both in this finale,” Haas promises.
CHICAGO MED
PRE-FINALE: Will and FBI Agent Ingrid start a relationship, while his ex Natalie and her new beau may be in trouble. “There are elements of Phillip that are a little bit disturbing,” executive producer Andrew Schneider teases. Connor finds himself “relating a little more” with his dad as a result of Cornelius’ health issues, while questioning if his ex Ava is dishonest. “Or is it that Connor’s seeing things in her that don’t exist because of his own background?” EP Diane Frolov suggests. “His mother had her mental problems. So is something wrong with Connor?”
SEASON FINALE (May 22): The “big conflict” between Ava and Connor (played by the departing Colin Donnell and Norma Kuhling) “takes place at the same time Phillip’s baby is getting his operation,” Frolov previews. Meanwhile, April and Ethan’s storyline reaches a “crescendo,” Schneider shares, adding that the pair “start to come back together, although there are continuing complications because of Emily and Bernie.” Viewers can also expect movement on the “Manstead” front, although the EPs aren’t spilling in which direction. Finally, consider yourself warned: “Just about every story has a cliffhanger,” Frolov says.
CHICAGO P.D.
PRE-FINALE: Ray Price’s decision to take the fall for his wife murdering Blair is not only terrible for the mayoral candidate, “but it’s also a big loss for Intelligence,” showrunner Rick Eid previews. “If Kelton becomes the next mayor, he’s going to most likely destroy Intelligence and ruin careers, because it’s gotten so personal. So we, essentially, have three episodes to find a way for Brian Kelton to not win the election.” On the personal front, Ruzek and Upton’s romance “takes another turn” in the May 8 installment.
SEASON FINALE (May 22): It’s Election Day in what Eid describes as an “emotional, shocking and ‘rewarding’ conclusion” to the politically tinged season. In addition to the next mayor of Chicago being named and what that means for the Intelligence unit, the cover-up storyline between Voight, Dawson (exiting series regular Jon Seda) and Ruzek “plays a prominent part” in the finale. Elsewhere, there are “new developments” in the Ruzek/Upton/Halstead sorta-triangle during the last two episodes, which are “pretty subtle,” Eid teases. Still, “things will change.”
EMPIRE
PRE-FINALE: Despite the abruptness of Jussie Smollett’s suspension, Jamal’s departure in the April 24 episode following his wedding to Kai will feel “very organic,” per showrunner Brett Mahoney, who adds that the character’s absence from this season’s final two outings presented him and his fellow writers with an opportunity. “Jamal is such a pivotal piece of the family, so [writing him out] was definitely not easy,” the EP notes. “But, at the same time, we have such a strong and huge ensemble that it pushed me to fully explore and tell those stories and hold back what I wanted to do with Jamal.” Regarding Smollett’s possible return for Season 6, Mahoney tells us, “No final decision has been made.” In possibly related news…
SEASON FINALE (May 8): The identity of the individual in the coffin will be revealed, Mahoney confirms. And the fallout will be significant. “The finale really shakes up the landscape of the show — in a big way,” he teases. “It will still, of course, be Empire. But there are some big bombs that detonate that you just can’t come back from and be the same [series].”
THE FLASH
PRE-FINALE: Showrunner Todd Helbing says there is “a lot” to get done in Season 5’s final three episodes, starting on April 30 when “this new thing pops up with Cicada II that I don’t think people will see coming.” Nora, meanwhile — literally and morally singed from her dash into the Negative Speed Force — will run with rogues Weather Witch, Rag Doll and Bug-Eyed Bandit. “I don’t know if I’d say she fully ‘broke bad,’ but teaming with these criminals falls in line with where she’s at emotionally,” says the EP. On May 7, viewers will get “a lot of explanations” about Cicada II, Young Grace, and Thawne (“You will see if he’s being truthful or not”), while Cisco makes a “bold decision” that will “come to a head in the finale,” Helbing shares.
SEASON FINALE (May 14): Following a showdown with Cicada II (at the very least), Helbing says “there is something we do at the end of the finale” that speaks to the timetable for Iris actually getting pregnant. And while viewers will bid adieu to at least two characters, might one of them not be Nora? “There are a couple of scenarios where you could see Jessica Parker Kennedy come back…,” says the EP. “There are many, actually.”
GREY’S ANATOMY
PRE-FINALE: In “What I Did for Love” (May 2), the first half of a crossover with Station 19, Meredith could lose more than a patient: She could lose her career when she places a fateful phone call while working with a family seeking asylum. In that same episode, Jo learns what ABC calls “a hard lesson,” and Maggie treats the spinoff’s Fire Chief Ripley.
SEASON FINALE (May 16): Grey’s season enders are usually nail-biters in which everything kind of crumbles and/or blows up, and “Jump Into the Fog” is no exception. “It is definitely a fall-down-and-explode kind of episode,” reveals Caterina Scorsone, who plays Amelia. “But like the rest of the season, it has more humor and lightness than some previous finales. Tonally, it’s still really fun.” Perhaps especially for her character. “What’s going on with Amelia is almost out of a romantic comedy or just some sort of farce. It’s ridiculous,” she says, clearly delighted. “And there are a couple of teases for next season that, even at the read-through, we were like, ‘What?!?’ I don’t know if they’ll make it into the final cut, but definitely, there were some hilarious teases.”
HAWAII FIVE-0
PRE-FINALE: On April 26, the case of a disappeared groom brings a new woman into Adam’s life — though not in the way you think, says showrunner Peter M. Lenkov. Then on May 3, Steve’s sister Mary (Taryn Manning) is crashing at an Airbnb when her spying of some suspicious neighbors leads to a mystery that she and her brother solve a la “Nancy Drew and one of the Hardy Boys.” Over the season’s final two episodes, Aaron Wright (Joey Lawrence) — who last was seen in early Season 8, walking away after almost executing Tani — resurfaces as a Big Bad of sorts, while character-driven stories from throughout the season (including Grover and his brother, Junior and his father, and “some great Junior/Tani stuff”) gets wrapped up. As for Danny and Rachel? They’re merely “testing the waters,” Lenkov makes clear. “[A full-on romance] isn’t something that they would jump back into so quickly.”
SEASON FINALE (May 17): This season’s storyline surrounding Joe White’s death pays off with “a cliffhanger that is going to affect one of the main members of our show, in a way that the audience will question whether they’re going to come back or not. So that’s a big deal.” Uh, yeah!
LAST MAN STANDING
PRE-FINALE: On May 3, Mike and Chuck wind up in a bit of a competition after Ed has a pinball machine installed at the office. Meanwhile, Kristen and Mandy are envious when Vanessa writes a poem for Jen. “Mandy assumes, since she and Kyle are moving out, that [the poem is written] for her, and that starts to provoke some jealousy,” showrunner Kevin Abbott tells TVLine. “It’s a lovely episode that reveals more about the Jen character.”
SEASON FINALE (May 10): Mandy and Kyle aren’t so quick to leave the nest. “When it’s finally time to move into their apartment, they [begin] making lame excuses not to move out,” Abbott says. “Since her father owns the building, Mandy’s not feeling any sort of pressure,” so “Mike is forced to take action and light a little fire under them.”
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
PRE-FINALE: April 29 delivers “the culmination of the Nate and Zari romance that we’ve been teasing,” by way of an adventure that mixes Indiana Jones with Date Night and features knowingly cartoonish Nazis, EP Phil Klemmer tells us. That hour also serves as a palette-cleansing “fake season premiere,” seeing as the Legends think they’ve dispatched with their Big Bad. (As if!) Next up, Constantine gets a lesson in “hubris upon hubris” when he comes face-to-face with his distant Celtic ancestor, King Konstentyn, at Stonehenge. From there, things go to Hell, literally, where the team’s damnation of magical baddies bites them in their collective butt. “The denizens of Hell are looking to get out and f—k up our team!” says Klemmer.
SEASON FINALE (May 20): In this season’s showdown (which features a returning villain and “one of our own sort of turning on us”), Beebo will not save the day. Rather, says Klemmer, “Our guys will have to do it on their own — and in a very public way,” setting the stage for a larger question of identity. “Sara has a line about the world wanting brand-name superheroes, and the Legends aren’t that. So it’s about them grappling with imposter syndrome. They need to decide, ‘Do we need to be like our brethren on these other shows? Because otherwise the world won’t take us seriously.'” Also look for (overdue!) closure on Zari’s quest to “fix” her world’s future.
NCIS
PRE-FINALE: April 30 launches a two-parter in which a 30-year-old cold case gets solved, only to have the guilty party go free on a technicality… and then get murdered. That, says EP Frank Cardea, brings to light a “sort of Star Chamber group that is seeking vengeance on people” — and which is being financed by the secret SecDef (Mitch Pileggi) account that Gibbs and Vance recently learned about. Then on May 14, Gibbs’ infamous burning of Rule 10 back in February culminates in his “inability to function properly,” says EP Steve Binder, necessitating a visit from Dr. Grace (Laura San Giacomo). Leading up to this Don’t-Call-It-a-Breakdown, there will be a “large reveal” from Gibbs that forces the team to reconcile this version of him “they didn’t know existed.”
SEASON FINALE (May 21): Colliding with Gibbs’ issues and his grappling with not getting personally involved in cases, “A younger member of the NCIS family, so to speak, lands in serious jeopardy,” says Binder, precipitating appearances by Fornell (Joe Spano) and… Diane Sterling (Melinda McGraw)?!
NCIS: LOS ANGELES
PRE-FINALE: Callen must juggle the women in his life when on April 28 “he makes a dramatic decision to find Anna a way to freedom” upon hearing that his ex isn’t faring well in prison, and then on May 5, when he has his hands full with both Anna and Joelle (not to mention his father and “a potential new addition in his life,” says showrunner R. Scott Gemmill). Eric, meanwhile, is presented with an opportunity of a lifetime that will trigger a big decision for him and Nell. Leading into the finale, the team is investigating a seemingly insignificant case that “blows up” and lands them in the path of JAG’s Harmon Rabb Jr. (played by David James Elliott), who’s now “in the next stage of his Naval career.”
SEASON FINALE (May 19): Conflicts in the Middle East threaten to become “worse than they’ve ever been” when a situation involving one of the United States’ enemies backfires “and we’re forced to get a bunch of people that don’t work together to work together,” says Gemmill. Enlisted for the crisis is JAG’s Sarah “Mac” McKenzie, played by Catherine Bell. In reintroducing the JAG characters to today’s audience, “We were able to extrapolate [their] lives, and that’s really interesting,” says the EP.
THE RESIDENT
PRE-FINALE: The Fox drama will dedicate quite a bit of time to its characters’ love lives in the final three episodes, including the still-unresolved triangle of Conrad, Nic and Alec. “[Nic’s rejection of Alec] is going to cause a different kind of ripple effect,” hints executive producer Todd Harthan. “He’s persistent and doesn’t want to give up on the woman he wants to win.” Meanwhile, in the penultimate episode on April 29, Mina will finally work through her emotions after splitting up with Micah. “She’s going to dissect a bit about what she’s feeling and what she’s going to do about those feelings,” Harthan teases, adding that Mina’s introspection will “lead back to Micah [and] lead back to The Raptor” in different ways.
SEASON FINALE (May 6): The Season 2 closer will focus heavily on Nic, whose relationships with her family will be “challenged and threatened in every conceivable way,” notes Harthan. “You cannot let your guard down, because in many ways, nobody is safe. It’s a harrowing ride.” The finale will also wrap up a “thriller” of a storyline that the show will introduce on April 22, which Harthan describes as a “fast and furious, really, really tense” subplot related to the medical community.
SEAL TEAM
PRE-FINALE: Bravo Team’s hunt for those behind the Asia bombings is interrupted by a long-simmering, “pretty intense” showdown between Jason and Ray, says showrunner John Glenn. “It comes to blows.” (On the brighter side, in that same hour Davis graduates from OCS, in a story Glenn said “was really important to tell.”) Tensions between Jason and Ray are unresolved when the latter gets separated from the team during a jump and Bravo is ordered not to attempt a rescue. Trapped in a hut in Kashmir with the enemy closing in, and having just clashed with his best friend, “He’s a man who’s completely bottomed-out in terms of his faith,” says Glenn. “David [Boreanaz] did a phenomenal job directing it, and Neil [Brown Jr.] is fantastic.”
SEASON FINALE (May 22): Chasing a new lead on the bombings, “for the first time this season you see Bravo kind of ‘whole,'” Glenn says — save for Clay, who is on his own mission to get Brett Swan awarded a Purple Heart for a TBI the military won’t recognize as a combat injury. The hour ends with a seven-minute, wordless montage showing how the characters evolved this season, capped by a question about Bravo 1’s state of mind. Says Glenn, “Jason goes into a bar, and the bartender asks him how he’s doing. The cliffhanger is he looks up at us”… and delivers a startling answer.
SUPERGIRL
PRE-FINALE: “Lex remains in control of everything” as we hurtle toward Supergirl’s fourth season ender, but how long can he count on Red Daughter to do his bidding? “She’s surprisingly intrigued by [Kara], which puts her in a difficult position,” co-showrunner Robert Rovner says. “She doesn’t realize how she’s been indoctrinated.” The same could be asked of Agent Liberty, who’s also “unaware of the extent to which his strings are being pulled.” Elsewhere, Alex and Kelly’s “friendship will continue to grow,” Brainy will seize an unexpected “moment of heroism,” James will struggle to locate “the root of his trauma,” Nia and Brainy’s slow-burning courtship will become a “journey that continues through the end of the season” and J’onn’s mission to Mars will allow him to “come back fully in control as the kind of hero he left the DEO to be.”
SEASON FINALE (May 19): The episode — titled “The Quest for Peace,” as a nod to Jon Cryer’s appearance in Superman IV — promises to “answer all the questions of the season and brings everything that has happened to a satisfying end.” Co-showrunner Jessica Queller says fans should also be “very excited to see the whole Luthor family together.”
SUPERSTORE
PRE-FINALE: On April 25, Amy’s dad (Ugly Betty’s Tony Plana) returns for Emma’s quinceañera. In the episode, viewers will get to see how Jonah gets along with Amy’s daughter in the wake of her parents’ split. “There’s naturally going to be some awkwardness with the new boyfriend,” series creator Justin Spitzer tells TVLine. “Jonah is hyperconscious of this and is trying [too hard] to make her like him.” Then, on May 9, This Is Us’ Chrissy Metz makes her debut as no-nonsense Cloud 9 HR representative Luanne. “She comes in to investigate a big issue that Jonah and Amy have created, and she’s not someone that they can pull a fast one on,” Spitzer reveals.
SEASON FINALE (May 16): It’s a two-part season ender, beginning with another Ugly Betty reunion. The episode, directed by America Ferrera, features Ana Ortiz as corporate stooge Claudia Lankow. “She’s very much in the power position, and Amy needs to figure out how to deal with that,” Spitzer teases. Then, at 8:30 pm, expect the culmination of multiple storylines, including the workers’ desire to unionize and Sandra’s ongoing affair with Jerry. “It’s yet another cliffhanger,” Spitzer says. “Maybe the biggest one we’ve ever had.”
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