I, for one, am very excited for television in the New Year. Spoilers for everything in the tags follow. Read at your own discretion.

1. Wayward Sisters – Supernatural’s backdoor pilot introducing its new female led fantasy show of monster fighters. This was a fan inspired idea, which gives me untold pride and excitement to be even a small part of it. I can only imagine how well it will do when it gets its own season, probably in the fall depending on its ratings. Tune in at 8pm on January 18th.

2. Appearing for the first time on Supernatural, actress, Danneel Harris-Ackles, wife of Supernatural star, Jensen Ackles. She is currently filming. I’m not sure how many episodes she’ll be in (she’s a recurring guest star), but I believe she’s a faith healer. Fans have not always been cordial towards her, but I’m excited that she’ll join the Supernatural family on-screen. Check her and Jensen out in the movie, Ten Inch Hero.

3. Black Lightning premieres at 9pm on January 16th, following The Flash when it returns after the mid-season break. Black Lightning tells the story of retired superhero/current high school principal, Jefferson Pierce. I’m always up for DC on The CW. Berlanti et al do a great job bringing these characters to the small screen. Black Lightning will not be part of the Arrowverse, which actually kind of saddens me, but who knows? Things could change.

4. Moving off from TheCW, a slightly less excited mini-op-ed for The Walking Dead. I still love the show, but I was Team Old Man Carl, so I was shocked that he will die when the show returns in February. I’m not sure how cohesive the future is when the character I expected to bridge the zombie apocalypse and the new world won’t see the new world. I’ve always watched the show through Carl’s eyes. While I’m happy for actor, Chandler Riggs and his professional future, I wonder how the other characters will move on from the profound impact of his death.

5. Major Crimes. The series ends on January 9th, but I want to mention how they surprised me with the death of Commander Raydor. As a writer, I can often suss out where a story is going, and I was totally blindsided by this, especially with four episodes left to the series. I will admit that I’ve been having a difficult time moving past her death. It has struck me profoundly. The last time a fictional death affected me so deeply was Fred Weasley in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I am looking forward to the last four episodes to see how the Phillip Stroh situation finishes, where Rusty and Gus go from here, Wes and Cami, who I thought I hated, but she’s grown on me, and how the rest of the Major Crimes unit fares without their commander. It shows how good a show is when a main characcter can leave, and the audience is still very much interested. Kudos to the writing and the acting.