Your weekly guide to TV’s best and worst one-hour shows
Sometimes, you just want an old-fashioned caper that’s high on action and low on thinking:
“White Collar” (Tuesday, 9 p.m., USA)
In the midseason finale of this unlikely buddy crime-solver, Neal (Matt Bomer) is still whining about Peter (Tim DeKay) burning the sources who could help him track down his MIA dad. Naturally, they’re stuck together discussing their relationship — and Neal gets his revenge — at an FBI conference where an infiltrator plots to steal all the FBI’s new spy gadgets.
“Bones” (Monday, 8 p.m., Fox)
At the close of season seven, Brennan (Emily Deschanel) was on the run with baby Christine after she was framed for murder by serial killer Pelant (Andrew Leeds, who’ll pop up throughout the season). She inexplicably chose to trust less-than-lawful dad Max (Ryan O’Neal) over Booth (David Boreanaz) with her escape plan, although she did confess her feelings to Booth before she bolted. But as we pick up the action three months later, Mama’s guessing Booth might still be a tad peeved.
“General Hospital” (weekdays, 2 p.m., ABC)
After being shuffled to the earlier time slot to make way for “Katie,” one of the last remaining daytime dramas has stepped it up in the action department. With a psycho unleashing a toxin into the water stream and the denizens of Port Charles uniting to save one another, “GH” looks more like it did during its ’80s heyday — outdoor action sequences, explosions unrelated to the mob — which should really make ABC consider holding onto its last soapy vestige.
“Leverage” (Sunday, 9 p.m., TNT)
Apparently, the latest trend in season finales is framing the leading lady for a crime she didn’t commit (see “Bones” and last year’s “Burn Notice”), because now Sophie (Gina Bellman) is being implicated in the theft of a valuable painting in the two-part finale. Con man Nate (Timothy Hutton) is on his own trying to clear her name as the rest of the team is in the nation’s capital trying to stop a biological attack, which really makes that whole “false arrest” thing feel a little less dire.
“Touch” (Friday, 8 p.m., Fox)
The new season doesn’t launch until October, but someone at Fox looked under a couch cushion and discovered an unaired episode from last year that they’re unloading Friday. It’s out of sequence, presumably, as we last left Martin (Kiefer Sutherland) and son Jake (David Mazouz) on a California beach running from the law (see “trends,” above). In this bonus episode, Martin’s car breaks down in the town where he got his start as a reporter. If it’s anything like Mama’s reunion with her first newspaper, he’ll find out the paper turned into a free weekly advertiser.