The most surprising moment of the “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox) results show was not the departure of Matt Giraud but the presence of Adam Lambert in the bottom two. Lambert’s front-runner status has been a given for the last half of the season, so the notion that he might be shown the door offered a couple of moments of suspense.

This could be all for show, an attempt to keep us all guessing. On the other hand, the judges praise for Lambert includes words like “scary,” “surprising” and even (from Kara) “sleazy.” Adam’s ability to top himself is clearly his strength and why so many can’t wait for his performance week after week. But has he become too audacious for an “Idol” audience?

• Salutes to the World War II generation have become a feel-good staple of entertainment and publishing. But what about the other side? “Wings of Defeat” on “Independent Lens” (9 p.m., PBS, check local listings) presents interviews with elderly Japanese men who were recruited to become kamikaze pilots.

Long reviled as cruel fanatics and the precursor to terrorist suicide bombers, most of these fighters were barely out of high school when drafted into the “Divine Wind,” a desperate final effort to stave off defeat at the hands of an American military that had destroyed Japan’s Navy and was methodically incinerating its cities.

Filmmaker Risa Morimoto became fascinated with the subject when she discovered that her uncle had been a kamikaze, a secret he took to his grave. If this gentle and “good-natured” man could have been trained to take a one-way flight into an enemy ship, then there must be a more to the story than she had thought.

“Defeat” combines interview footage and visits to Japanese war museums with rarely screened propaganda movies and posters as well as original animation.

• Turner Classic Movies will spend every Tuesday and Thursday in May examining the Latino image in American cinema, airing 32 films, beginning with the 1910 Mary Pickford silent movie “Ramona” (7 p.m.) and “The Mark of Zorro” (7:30 p.m.) from 1920.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Jane pits suspects against each other to find a software mogul’s murderer on “The Mentalist” (8 p.m., CBS).

• Olivia dreams with her eyes wide open on “Fringe” (8 p.m., Fox).

• Veterans haze rookies on “Deadliest Catch” (8 p.m., Discovery).

• Host Brian Corsetti shows how to turn a cluttered, oil-stained mess into a “Garage Mahal” (8:30 p.m., DIY).

• The star of an amateur video vanishes on “Without a Trace” (9 p.m., CBS).

• A teen’s racy e-mails lead to trouble on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

• Trevor throws a Mardi Gras party on “Cupid” (9 p.m., ABC).

• Tommy worries about Kate on “Rescue Me” (9 p.m., FX).

Cult choice

Orson Welles acts in and directs his 1963 adaptation of Kafka’s “The Trial” (4:45 p.m., TCM). As visually mesmerizing as it is incomprehensible.

Series notes

J.D. mulls a move on “Scrubs” (7 p.m., ABC) … The results are read on “Dancing with the Stars” (9 p.m., ABC).