Updated

Updated · Deadline · Aug 5

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Ends With 4-Part Season 3 Finale as Selena Gomez Directs Debut

Updated

Updated · Deadline · Aug 5

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Ends With 4-Part Season 3 Finale as Selena Gomez Directs Debut

Q: Can a psychology professor use her unique skills to conquer Constance Wu's clues and walk away with $25,000?

It’s possible, but not knowable in advance from TVLine’s watchlist alone. The Tuesday NBC episode of “Password” features Constance Wu alongside Jimmy Fallon, with Keke Palmer hosting. The format gives contestants a chance to win up to $25,000 by guessing secret words from one-word clues. The contestant tied to Wu’s episode is Lynn DellaPietra, a Guilford, Connecticut, native and psychology professor at Holy Family University in Philadelphia. DellaPietra’s background suggests she is well suited to the game. She has described herself as a “big word nerd,” said she specifically wanted to get on “Password,” and has long been a fan of word-based game shows. Her work in psychology and higher education could help with language, inference and quick pattern recognition, which are useful skills in this format. She also said Wu was “really fun,” and that they connected over theater, a sign they may have had some rapport during taping. At the same time, “Password” is a fast, high-pressure game, and DellaPietra herself said the taping felt like “a blur” and “flew by.” Success depends not just on vocabulary but on chemistry, clue strategy and timing. So the best answer is that she has a credible shot, especially given her word-game interest and academic background, but whether she actually solves Wu’s clues and takes the top prize is something viewers would need to watch Tuesday’s 10 p.m. ET/PT episode on NBC to find out.

Q: What massive magical threat forces Selena Gomez and the original Russo family to reunite in the thrilling series finale?

The Russo family reunites to face **Lord Morsus and the broader evil threatening the wizarding world**. The finale material says Billie discovers that saving Alex requires reuniting with her long-lost father, Damien Penwulf, while the family also confronts the continuing danger posed by **Lord Morsus**, Billie’s grandfather and one of the revival’s most powerful villains. Disney’s synopsis further describes the threat as **“the evil plaguing them,”** which the Russos can defeat only by combining their powers. So the “massive magical threat” is essentially **Lord Morsus’ evil campaign against the Russos and the wizarding world**, the danger that forces Selena Gomez’s Alex Russo and the original Russo family back together for the series finale.

3 articles · Updated · Deadline · Aug 5

Four finale episodes for "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" premiered on Disney Channel on August 4, with the same batch arriving on Disney+ on August 5.
Selena Gomez directs the first episode—her directorial debut—while reprising Alex Russo alongside returning cast members including David Henrie, Jennifer Stone, Gregg Sulkin and Maria Canals-Barrera.
The final run centers on Justin Russo training three young wizards for the Family Wizard Competition as Billie faces new magical rivalry and a threat that could unravel the Russo family.
The spinoff closes after a 21-episode first season and a 10-episode second season, with earlier finale details revealing Alex's disappearance and Mason's death in an alternate dimension.