‘Girls’ (Sunday, 10 p.m., HBO)
Things start out well when Marnie (Alison Williams) convinces her friends Hannah (Lena Dunham), Shoshonna (Zosia Mamet) and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) to board the jitney to Greenport. One of Marnie’s relatives has loaned her charming, North Shore house for the weekend. They go swimming in the rocky waters of Long Island Sound (Hannah’s bathing suit is several sizes too small). Marnie plans many activities, including a dinner for the four of them where the main course is duck. After swimming, the girls bike into town where they run into Elijah (Andrew Rannells), Hannah’s old boyfriend and Marnie’s one-night stand. He’s totally gay now and has a boyfriend (Danny Strong) to prove it. Marnie’s none too pleased when Hannah invites Elijah and his buddies all back to the house. First of all, there isn’t enough food to go around. But there’s lots of flamboyant dancing, skinny dipping and boozing. Then there are some fights, some shrieking and tears. Best line goes to Shoshonna, who screams to the group, “You talk to me like I’m a cab driver.”
‘Pretty Little Liars’ (Tuesday, 8 p.m., ABC Family)
Spencer (Troian Bellisario) is determined to tell Aria (Lucy Hale) about what she has found out about Ezra (Ian Harding), but Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Hanna (Ashley Benson) are worried about what it could do to their friend. A wrench is thrown into the plan when Ezra tells Aria about his concern about Spencer’s recent addiction problem. Now with Spencer’s credibility being questioned, can the girls trust what she has been saying about Ezra — or is it just a ploy by Ezra to cover his tracks?
‘The Rise and Fall of Penn Station’ (Tuesday, 9 p.m., PBS)
October 28, 1963 was one of the darkest days in New York history: The original Penn Station was torn down. The financially strapped Pennsylvania Railroad announced that it had sold the air rights above the terminal to the company that would later build Madison Square Garden. The “American Experience” chronicles the life and death of this great building — at the time, the fourth largest in the world — which opened to the public on November 27, 1910. For those who traversed its waiting room, as long as the nave in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the effect must have been dazzling. Designed by Charles McKim to recall the Baths of Caracalla, Penn Station soon had 18 million travelers passing through the transportation hub to take trains that went through new tunnels linking New York City to America’s heartland. Its destruction was a disgrace but one good thing came out of it: the establishment of the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, which, in 1967, saved Grand Central Terminal from the wrecking ball.
‘Downton Abbey’ (Sunday, 9 p.m., PBS)
It’s August 1922 at Downton Abbey. Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) plans to give her infant to a tenant farmer, but Lady Rosamund (Samantha Bond) suggests they go to Switzerland, and find a home for the unwanted child there. Edith remains troubled by the thought of giving up her baby. Meanwhile, Tom (Allen Leech) sees Rose (Lily James) and Jack (Gary Carr) in a teashop, and tells Mary (Michelle Dockery), who first warns Rose off, then goes to London to see Jack. Alfred (Matt Milne) offers to marry Ivy, but she refuses him. Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen), who has broken off his engagement, visits briefly, still pursuing and flirting with Mary; she, learning from Anna (Joanne Froggatt) of Green’s crime, tells him to dismiss the valet, and he agrees. Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) arrives back unexpectedly, as does Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen), to tell Mary that Green was killed in a road accident in Piccadilly at the same time Bates asked for a day off.
‘Ripper Street’ (Saturday, 9 p.m., BBC America)
Down on the East End of Victorian London, Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) discovers evidence of a newly synthesized and devastatingly powerful opiate that leads Inspector Reid (Matthew MacFadyen) to fear a new kind of hell being released on to the streets. As Jackson attempts to move forward with his life, his brother, Daniel Judge (David Costabile), enters the picture. Joining Reid and Drake in H Division is new Detective Constable Albert Flight (Damien Molony), while over in K Division, corrupt rival, Inspector Jedidiah Shine (Joseph Mawle) presents numerous obstacles. This season viewers will also meet Jane Cobden (Leanne Best), the first woman elected to the London County Council.
‘The Following’ (Monday, 10 p.m., Fox)
In an attempt to learn information about the new rash of murders, Ryan (Kevin Bacon) and Max (Jessica Stroup) capture a suspect. But complications lead to a game of dangerous cat and mouse. Also, Joe grows accustomed to his surroundings and establishes a plan of his own, while Emma (Valorie Curry) realizes she is in dangerous company. Co-starring Connie Nielsen and Sam Underwood.