Ryan wrote two thirds of this post despite being pretty busy with school this week. As you’ll find out in his Bob’s Burgers review, Ryan goes to vet school. So every time you complain that there’s not a new review of Fringe up, remember – you just killed a gerbil.
Spoilers ahead.
Shameless – “Aunt Ginger” (A)
Poor Tony.
This was an absolutely phenomenal episode. It was funny, it was sweet, it was downright inappropriate, but most of all, it was the break out episode this series truly needed.
Fiona’s aforementioned love triangle with Tony and Steve was the perfect example. Watching her try to choose between the perfectly nice guy she grew up with and the troublesome new guy who excites her was absolutely heart wrenching. For the record I was cheering for you Tony. I mean I knew it was never going to happen, but I was cheering for you. I love how according to every other character the only two reasons Fiona could have possibly slept with Tony was either mercy or to get back at Steve. Kev’s reaction to the news was by far my favourite.
KEV: You hooked up with Tony? How charitable of you.
And it all led up to an absolutely spectacular ending, with Fiona watching Tony from a distance, wondering why this perfectly nice guy, who is crazy about her, just doesn’t do it for her the way Steve does. It was an absolutely relatable storyline, and when she goes back to Steve against her own better judgement, you can completely understand why.
And honestly, if that was all we got from this episode it still would have scored high in my books, but there was much, much more here. The rest of the main plot, about Frank stealing his long dead Aunt Ginger’s social security checks was extremely well done as well.
Deb (Emma Kenney) was the standout of this storyline. Her reaction to discovering Aunt Ginger was dead was the funniest moment of the episode for me.
DEB: Noo!
LIP: You’ve never even met her.
DEB: And now I never will!
LIP: You’ve never even met her.
DEB: And now I never will!
A close second to this moment would have to be watching the family shop for a new grandma at the nursing home.
Not only was the storyline funny, but it was really sweet as well. Like I said, Emma Kenney was the standout of the episode, and the way Deb grew attached to the new grandmother just goes to show how desperate these kids are for any sort of parental guidance. When they finally took the new Aunt Ginger back to the nursing home, the way Deb broke down was absolutely heart breaking. It was just the perfect combination of heart and humour.
Ian’s storyline was more of the same. After rejecting the advances of Mandy she sends her brothers after him in order to kick his ass. I really liked the scene where Lip stood up for his brother and took a beating as a consequence. The look that went over his face right before he basically called her slut was perfect, as was the reaction of his girlfriend (or whatever they are) Karen getting out of the way after he said it.
The final few scenes where Ian informs Mandy he’s gay were also really well done. It was cute the way Mandy offered to pretend to be his boyfriend at school in order to protect him. It’ll be interesting to see that relationship in action.
Californication – “Home Sweet Home” (B+)
My first thought in the first few minutes of “Home Sweet Home” – this is a dream. I could not figure out why Karen was being nice to him, why they had sex, why she was letting him sleep at home again. But of course, the writers as usual stayed one step ahead of me and had the "Hank has fucked up again" storyline all ready to go. I knew that it was too good to be true, but it was nice to see Karen and Hank enjoying their fucked up life together for about 15 minutes.
We left Hank collapsed on the floor with way too many pills in his system last week and this week we find him waking up in the hospital to a concerned Karen who takes him home to make sure he is ok. They play off the "death made me realize how much I love you" storyline and Hank and Karen enjoy 5/6ths of an episode together. Of course in the end, it comes out that Hank did not actually try to commit suicide, he just drank too much and "miscalculated" the amount of drugs in his system. So where does this leave us? With one of Californication’s best plot driving scenes to date.
HANK: "Wait it was more romantic when you thought I wanted to kill myself? How fucked up is that?"
KAREN: "It’s completely fucked up, which is why I can't be with you anymore. You're fucking toxic Hank."
HANK: "Look I know I've done something that makes it impossible for you to live with me. But I can't keep apologizing for something I can't change. All I can do is keep moving forward and try to become someone you can love again."
KAREN: "Well good luck with that."
And with that two things happened.
First, Hank got his balls back. It’s about time he said what I’ve been thinking forever. How many times can he apologize? I know he fucks up a lot, but as Becca said in another season (and I'm paraphrasing here), "you have to love him for who he is, not who he can be". I know he needs to change, but the dude really seems to care. It’s weird that as a viewer I can care for a sleazebag like Hank, and it’s all the more impressive that women viewers seem to like him. I think Duchovny said it best in my favourite BS report in the last few months – Californication is a world driven by the women. Hank is under their spell, their control. He fucks up, and much of that is on him – the drinking, the drugs, the lack of willpower – but Californication has an oddly large number of strong, yet manipulative women. By saying “but I can't keep apologizing for something I can't change”, Hank is asserting some control. Finally. Let’s hope he can turn it around. This show is probably going 6 seasons (again out of the Duchovny BS report). By the end, I wouldn't mind seeing a reformed Hank. It’s a change, but it’s a good one.
The second thing that happened was Hank was sent back out on his own. We see him check into a hotel with his typewriter and start hammering out a script. Moody is back, and he's writing.
Also in "Home Sweet Home" Runkle continued his quest for triple digits, this time sleeping with a woman who wanted it from behind so that she could check her blackberry at the same time. Ridiculously funny. If Hank ever reforms Runkle could easily carry the insanity forward.
Who am I kidding? Hank will never change.
Fringe – “The Firefly” (A)
“Firefly” was a set-up episode, but probably the best set-up episode in television history. I can't complain about anything this episode did.
Christopher Lloyd guest stars in an episode that featured time travelling (great stuff) and Walter finally giving up his desperate attempt to keep Peter safe no matter what the consequences. Walter has changed as the observer noted and I think it’s for the best.
“Firefly” dives further into the ripple effects caused by Walter's decision to save Peter and take him from the other universe. We see that he’s responsible for one of his idol's losing a son, and consequently the breakup of his favourite band. Now the repercussions are hitting closer to home. There are no reality tears, like in the alternate universe, but things are different. Peter and Olivia continue to struggle with the repercussions of the other Olivia having a love affair with Peter and seem to slowly be making progress. She obviously still really cares for him.
I truly believe that this is developing into one of the best sci-fi shows ever. I like it as much as I liked Lost in its last few seasons. It has intrigue and a plot that is unique and yet just familiar enough to stay within the sci fi comfort wheelhouse. I hope that the Friday night time-slot switch doesn’t mark the end of Fringe. The previews for next week's episode show the Doomsday device in full force and that’s certainly something to look forward to.
I can honestly say I’m not sure where this whole thing is going. I have some theories and I will lay them out for you right now, but I like that I’m sure my theories are wrong and ill formed. Unlike Lost where I felt as though I had a handle on their creative style and could predict some plot points I have nothing here. I could be totally right or totally wrong. Either way, if you’re not watching Fringe you’re an idiot.
1. The other universe: So we know that the 'Doomsday' device is meant to destroy one of the universes and that Peter is the special one who can control it. I think that somehow, Peter will prevail and use the device to save the Universes. It’s either that or in the next season, Peter will be evil and both Universes will be working towards destroying him/returning him to normal. The doomsday device is the ultimate power, and power corrupts, so who knows.
2. The Observers: We have seen that the observers can travel through time, they know Peter is special, they submit to the “millions of possible futures are all happening simultaneously” theory of time and that the decisions made will shape those futures. I think that the Observers are a “system” built in to reality. Their job is to record important events and most importantly, keep the universe on the right track. However, I believe that within the Observer group there’s conflict in regards to how large of a role the Observers should play. So some take a more hands on approach, and some just want to watch. Ultimately, I think that there’s potentially a two world experiment. The Observers monitor the experiment and direct it towards a conclusion – “the war between worlds”. They want to see if it can play out in a peaceful manner. How are there lots of Doomsday pieces scattered around and how are there these "prophecies" with Peter's face on it? Well that’s because”all this has happened before and all this will happen again” – thanks Battlestar. I knew you’d come in handy.
I don't think any other theories are ready. Those are half formed at best but I figured it was time I put something out there. Hopefully I can retool those two theories over the next few weeks and we can get a sense of where the show is going. If you have any ideas please share them in the comments.
Bob's Burgers – “Sacred Cow” (B+)
Wow Bob. You really picked up your game this week.
So a little background here – I haven't eaten beef for a couple years now. As a general rule, I eat grass fed beef, and this is because I don't want to cut out wonderful steak completely and the ecological footprint of grass fed cattle is supposedly lower (this is now under debate in the scientific community). So needless to say this week’s episode featuring a documentary film maker accusing Bob of murdering "100,000 hamburgers worth of cows" was close to my heart.
I’m also a veterinary student and one of the challenges we face daily is balancing the need to provide a safe and healthy food supply to the public with a proper concern over animal welfare. Those are topics for another blog, or perhaps one day a book, but just know that the subject matter covered in Bob’s Burgers this week was very much a relevant topic in our society. These jokes coupled with the now running gags of Louise maliciously attempting to get her father in trouble and tease her autistic sister, Gene's insanity and Bob's complete lack of regard for his children's feelings made this episode great.
The plot of the episode was simple. Documentary film maker shows up with a cow in a wig (for extra cuteness) and accuses Bob of having blood on his hands. A few jokes about bloody meat, Louise repeatedly accusing her father of being a murderer, the cow communicating to Tina through his shit and Bob eventually showing that he cares about the animal.
What I liked most is that in the end, the cow dies of a heart attack right as Bob needs to make the decision of whether to send it to slaughter or save it. This is a fact that is often lost in the vegetarian/carnivore debate. Often times, the best thing for a food animal is to go to slaughter. I'm not suggesting that we should needlessly kill animals, or that there aren’t some issues with the food production industry that need to be worked out, I’m just saying that in the end, animals die, and an old age death is not a pretty one for a food animal. They don't just peacefully go. For anyone who has lost a family member or a pet, often times old age illnesses are horrific to watch, manage and go through for all involved. Now picture that with a 650kg cow.
This show really did an excellent job of exploring a relevant issue while maintaining its running jokes. I can’t wait to see what they do next week.
House – “Carrot or Stick” (C+)
This wasn’t House’s best effort. Too much of the story revolved around Chase’s story – a quest to find who posted unflattering photos of him on the internet – which just fell flat. There were a few laughs, but nothing I couldn’t do without. To be honest I can’t really see why nobody suspected House as the culprit. This kind of stuff is right up his alley, and even though he wasn’t there for the picture, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he had somehow obtained a copy.
But alas it ended up being the sister of one of the girls Chase had slept with. The way they flirted at the end there definitely suggested that something may happen between them. I thought it may happen at the end of the episode (thankfully it didn’t) but maybe we’ll see old what’s-her-face (did she have a name?) again in subsequent episodes.
The patient of the week wasn’t that entertaining either. To be honest, I don’t really watch this show for the patients anymore. The show has done so many episodes there aren’t a whole lot of places left to go. And that’s kind of where this episode rang in – both the twist and the disease (the classic rare genetic disorder) had been done many times before. The important part of the patient’s role now is how they relate to the doctors’ stories that week, and I didn’t feel like the drill instructor and his student really helped in that regard.
I did enjoy watching House’s story though. His scenes with Cuddy’s daughter were hilarious, and I love that his idea of helping his girlfriend is cheating her daughter into preschool. It was also great, that after calling her daughter a “paste eater” for most of the episode, he began to act like a proud parent because of the child’s ability to lie to her mother. It’s interesting character development and perfectly in tune with House’s character.
Castle – “Knockdown” (B)
Knockdown was a letdown. It wasn’t horrible or unwatchable, but I feel like it could have been way better. This is supposed to be the conclusion to the whole "Beckett's Mom" storyline, or at least another step forward towards finding the person pulling the strings, but it lacked that certain something that makes monumental episodes... monumental.
Beckett gets a call from the detective on her mother's murder. Turns out him and his old cop buddies were involved in some bad stuff back in the day, and they killed her for getting too close. But he’s silenced by a bullet before he can tell her anything of value. Now the hunt is on for the man who shot him and hopefully the link to the person pulling the strings behind Beckett's mom's murder. In the end, this guy is caught, but he’s a pro and won't talk. So we end up back where we started. The person really responsible (maybe the mayor, or Barack Obama) is still hidden in the shadows and making sure that Beckett doesn't get any closer to finding the truth.
Beckett and Castle also kiss in this episode. It’s pretty dramatic but it‘s only a cover done so that a door guard doesn't shoot them. But still, there is that "wow" moment after the first kiss.
When are they going to do it already?
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