Who's the Eye Broccoli?

I’ve finally caught up on my viewing schedule. Today I discuss this week’s episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Running Wilde, and, in excruciating detail, explain why I continue to shame watch Grey’s Anatomy. It’s too bad they don’t give out Pulitzers for blogging.

Spoilers... now!

How I Met Your Mother – “The Mermaid Theory”

Yes, I know -- this show isn’t as good as it used to be, when are they going to show us the mother, etc. This episode was alright. The Mermaid Theory wasn’t the best or the worst of the many theories and rules this show has come up with. I was a fan of the Manatee costumes sparkled throughout the episode, especially as Robin was slowly turning into a mermaid and the two costumes began to overlap.

I had more mixed feelings about the Barney and Lilly side story. It was a really unique way of eventually revealing that Lilly would soon be pregnant, and a good new take on the shows whole unreliable narrator thing. My gripe with it is that at times it was a little confusing and tended to drag on while future Ted was trying to figure out the story.

Running Wilde - “It’s a Trade-off”

I doubt this show will ever completely climb out from under Arrested Development’s shadow. It was really hit or miss for the first few episodes and I don’t know how well it’s doing in the ratings, but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it lately. I really think Keri Russell is doing a great job and obviously Will Arnett is still as funny as ever, so hopefully this show can last for a little while longer.

This episode was really funny. I love watching these characters take everything to ridiculous extremes and this week was no exception. Steve hiring a private investigator to figure out how to find Puddle’s school was awesome. There were so many great one-liners in this episode it was hard for me to keep track of them all, but I loved Emmy’s “I’ve been coned” line when she woke up on the catwalk. Also great was Steve’s explanation for why he had to party so hard.

STEVE: “I’m on page six so people forget what my family did on page one”

Here’s hoping for a few more episodes like this one.

**UPDATE**: Yeahhhh... I just read that this show is pretty much cancelled. Too bad.

Grey’s Anatomy - “Adrift and At Peace”

Yes, I will admit as a 23 year old male I am not this show’s core audience. I will also readily admit that its quality has significantly dropped since the end of the second season. So why, you ask, do I continue to watch this show? Well it’s certainly not all the street cred it gives me. Frankly, I am a sucker for doctor shows. Always have been, probably always will be. I’ve watched so many medical shows I pretty much am a doctor now, and yes, you should put some ointment on that rash -- that’s disgusting.

Despite this affliction (and maybe even because of it), I am well aware of the problems on this show. Many of the patients are ridiculous, and like a lot of medical dramas, feel the need to conveniently broadcast their entire life stories just around the time the doctors start conducting rounds. They also tend to start storylines with no clear idea how they are going to finish them, then get bored and just dump them altogether half-way through (**cough** Haan, George and Izzie, that surgeon with Asberger’s **cough**). 

But I’ve come to accept Grey’s for what it is. It has its flaws, but it does have its moments too. For one, this show clearly knows how to do a season finale -- the last two of them have been phenomenal. And this season’s documentary style episode, it was really well done, and did a great job of giving us a fresh perspective on characters we’ve known for a while now. Every time I feel like quitting this show it gives me one of these moments, and convinces me to keep watching. Or who knows, maybe I just have trouble letting go.

Anyways, I digress. This week’s episode was pretty average for me. I’ve liked the Derek and Christina storyline all this season and this episode was no exception. I’ve always viewed Derek as a bit of an arrogant character at times, so it’s nice to see him acknowledge the sacrifice Christina made for him. I’m not sure if I totally buy her big nervous breakdown -- it seems a bit forced -- but I’ve certainly enjoyed watching her and Derek interact over the last few episodes.

I wasn’t so impressed with Bailey’s storyline this week. It wasn’t terrible but it’s the kind of story this show has done to death. I particularly didn’t like the scene where she bursts into the conference room, apparently so excited she was unable to just tell the Chief what she’d figured out.

I’m looking forward to seeing Teddy’s new storyline play out after the break, if only because it involves Scott Foley. You may remember his awesome role as Sean on Scrubs. It’ll also be interesting to watch Arizona and Callie try and work things out. That door slamming at the end of the episode was cold. They clearly have some work to do.