The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

Independent Lens: The Undocumented

Since 1998, more than 2,500 people have died while trying to cross illegally into America in the unforgiving stretch of desert between Sonora, Mexico, and Tucson. In this charged documentary, director Marco Williams illuminates a tragic corner of our current immigration war, using interviews with grieving families, medical investigators, and Border Patrol agents to tell the stories of the deceased. Monday, April 29, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

The Big C: Hereafter

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Cathy Jamison’s cancer is back, in the fourth and final season of this often surprising dramedy about a suburban mom living with terminal melanoma. Laura Linney won a 2011 Golden Globe for her performance in the lead role, and the character enters the late stages of her battle having run away from the family and home where she might have found ready comforts. Monday, April 29, at 10 p.m., Showtime

The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius

If this show counts as evidence, American ingenuity remains alive and well. Mechanical engineers, robotics experts, and rocket scientists compete in a series of technical challenges to determine the winner of both a cash prize and a gig with a leading aquatic engineering firm. In the first episode, teams work to devise ways to prevent sensitive explosives from detonating while riding in a moving truck. Wednesday, May 1, at 10 p.m., Discovery

Great Performances: Paul Taylor Dance Company in Paris

At 82, choreographer Paul Taylor has no peer who can claim to have done so much to define modern dance. This program captures two of Taylor’s works performed last year in Paris: Brandenburgs, a balletic, playful 1988 piece set to Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and Beloved Renegade, a 2008 celebration of Walt Whitman that’s set to Francis Poulenc’s Gloria.Friday, May 3, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Merlin

This popular BBC show about the youthful exploits of King Arthur’s sorcerer servant never found its footing in the States. After airing briefly on NBC, it landed on cable’s Syfy, where it has quietly played out its five seasons. Yet as the final five episodes begin airing this week, there’s a bit of magic left in this late-maturing series. Friday, May 3, at 10 p.m., Syfy

Other highlights

Scam City

Host Conor Woodman travels the world playing the part of a naïve tourist to expose the unique, artful ways each city’s thieves work to separate you and your belongings.Monday, April 29, at 10 p.m., Science

Family Tools

Kyle Bornheimer stars in this new comedy series as a misfit son who inherits the family handyman business from his still watchful dad. Wednesday, May 1, at 8:30 p.m., ABC

Secrets of the Dead:

Bugging Hitler’s Soldiers

During World War II, British intelligence planted listening devices among German POWs, netting both military secrets and a glimpse of the Nazis’ dark soul.Wednesday, May 1, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings