Gillian Anderson vs. Lena Headey in ‘Abandons,’ the Lights of Christmas, ‘Next Level Baker,’ Streaming ‘Mission: Impossible’

The Abandons

Gillian Anderson is the Cruella De Vil of the Washington territory in the 1850s, with Game of Thrones‘ Lena Headey as her proud and gritty rival in a grim seven-part Western from Sons of Anarchy‘s Kurt Sutter. “You make extortion sound like progress,” Fiona Nolan (Headey) tells the wealthy mining matriarch Constance Van Ness (Anderson) while rejecting her latest offer for her land, which sits atop a vein of silver. While the Van Ness clan schemes against Fiona’s ragtag found family of orphans and minority outcasts, dark secrets, betrayals, and at least one forbidden Romeo-and-Juliet-style romance beset both warring tribes. Once you get used to the stilted wish-it-were-Deadwood dialogue, chances are you’ll get caught up in the sordid storytelling.

The Great Christmas Light Fight

My eyes, my eyes! Those blinding displays of yuletide excess have returned for a new season of competition among those who light up the block with their elaborately decorated homes and yards. The 13th season kicks off with back-to-back episodes, each pitting three families in a “Light Fight” with a $50,000 grand prize at stake. (Helps pay for those electric bills.) Carter Oosterhouse judges the first episode, with Taniya Nayak making the call in the second.

Next Level Baker

Gordon Ramsay strikes again with a holiday-themed spinoff of his Next Level Chef competition series. He’s assembled a dozen home, professional, and social-media-savvy bakers on a three-story kitchen set festooned with seasonal trappings, including ice skaters, carolers, and a children’s choir. Food Network’s Carla Hall and Sprinkles Cupcakes founder Candace Nelson judge alongside Ramsay as the bakers navigate the levels while competing for a $25,000 prize that includes a HexClad cookware package. In the opening round, the bakers concoct chocolate treats that reflect nostalgia for the past. Then it’s on to an elimination round featuring boozy holiday party treats. Makes you hungry and maybe thirsty just thinking about it.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

The stunts are bigger than ever, and Tom Cruise is more exposed than usual, in the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, making its streaming debut and joining all of the other films in the successful franchise. (Binge alert!) Notable in the large supporting cast: Severance breakout star Tramell Tillman as the commanding officer of the rescue submarine USS Ohio, where Cruise as Ethan Hunt has a memorable encounter with a doomsday assassin.

Elsbeth

Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) is this week’s special guest as the most obvious suspect in a murder, but in a change of pace, snoopy Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) doesn’t think she did it. Not that Peyton is the least bit sympathetic as the young and demanding girlfriend of an aging college basketball coach (Sam McMurray), whose athletic director meets his untimely end after barring Peyton from the court. Peyton is a cool customer, refusing to apologize for her confrontational attitude and nailing Elsbeth on her tendency to “act quirky and naïve so people find (you) less threatening.” I hope we’ll see her again.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (8/7c, Bravo): Stylist and O.G. Bravolebrity Rachel Zoe joins the gang for Season 15, which also adds Kyle Richards‘ pal Amanda Frances to the mix.
• Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (8/7c, CBS): It’s a clash of the mothers-in-law when Georgie (Montana Jordan) turns to his mom, Mary (Zoe Perry), and his in-law Audrey (Rachel Bay Jones) for help with the tire store.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (8/7c, NBC): One of the greatest animated holiday specials of all time gets its first 2025 network showing, with Boris Karloff narrating and voicing the green goblin targeting Whoville. (NBC airs it again on Christmas night.) Followed by 1969’s Frosty the Snowman (8:30/7:30c).
• Do You Fear What I Fear (8/7c, Lifetime): The Christmas movie formula takes a dark turn when Claire (Ciara Hanna) moves to the big city and begins finding creepy holiday decorations in her apartment from a sinister “secret Santa.”
• Celebrity Family Feud (8/7c, ABC): In a holiday-themed special episode, Steve Harvey welcomes cast members of the upcoming film The Housemaid and fan favorites from the Real Housewives franchise.
• Ghosts (8:30/7:30c, CBS): Punam Patel returns as Jay’s (Utkarsh Ambudkar) sister Bela, whose boyfriend Eric (Andrew Leeds) is planning a surprise proposal—unaware that Sasappis (Román Zaragoza) has given Bela reason to think twice before saying yes.
• Music Box: It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (9/8c, HBO): Bill Simmons‘ music documentary anthology returns with a profile of the singer-songwriter who died young at 30 in 1997 but left behind an influential legacy with his sole studio album, Grace, and an acclaimed version of Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah.”
• Matlock (9/8c, CBS): Vernee Watson (Bob Hearts Abishola) guests as Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) mother, whose strained relationship becomes an issue when the firm takes on a case involving her new husband.
• All Her Fault (10/9c, NBC): The gripping first episode of the Peacock limited series gets a network showing, starring Succession‘s Sarah Snook as a mother who discovers to her horror that her son’s supposed playdate was a ruse for a kidnapper. (If you want to see the rest, you’ll have to go to Peacock for now. No other episodes are scheduled to air on NBC.) 

ON THE STREAM:

• The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (streaming on Hulu): The season isn’t over until the cast reunion, as the cast assembles to rehash recent events with host Stassi Schroeder (Vanderpump Villa).
• Love After Holidays (streaming on BET+): Jacinth Headlam stars in the dramatic redemption story of a talk-show host whose alcohol addiction costs her everything, including her daughter, until she decides to turn her life around in a journey of self-discovery.
• Zero Star: The Cam Ward Story (streaming on Tubi): A three-part sports docuseries charts the rise of Cam Ward from an overlooked high-school quarterback to the No. 1 NFL draft pick in 2025.