Did You Guys See My Dad in There?

Shameless and Californication ended their seasons yesterday. Personally I’m pretty sad about seeing Shameless go, but I take solace in the fact that it got renewed and I still get all the HBO and Showtime channels in my Movie Network package. Actually, come to think of it, my life is awesome!

Spoilers...

Shameless – “Father Frank, Full of Grace” (A-)

A fitting ending to a terrific inaugural season. Shameless is really the first series where I’ve reviewed an entire season from start to finish, and I think if you were to read back through this blog it would tell you a story, of a young aspiring writer falling in love with a scrappy little series with a lot of heart. Yes, I’ve really enjoyed my time writing about Shameless and I can’t wait to watch next season a year from now, primarily because of where this finale left us.

Now it wasn’t an ending with a ton of cliffhangers, but the ones they did give us were good enough peak my interest for next season. The main one was Eddie’s suicide. When he was running around trying to kill Frank I figured they were just going to go for the traditional I’m gonna get him type storyline, with maybe Sheila finding out in the end. The suicide through me for a bit of a loop. I thought Karen was dark and stormy last week so I can only imagine what she’ll be like when she finds out her actions led to her dad’s suicide.

Which is too bad because I quite enjoyed her and Lip’s reconciliation. Lip’s arc in this episode was actually probably its strongest component. I liked his scene with Ian where he tells him that he was falling in love with Karen. The way he retorted all of Ian’s attempts to trivialize Karen was sweet. It was a very smart way for the writers to really cement that these two are meant to be together.

But the highlight of Lip’s storyline was his final scene with Frank. For once it seemed like Frank was legitimately sorry for something he’d done. Now I know, he went about making excuse after excuse for pretty much the entirety of the episode, but when he went back to let Lip pee on him it wasn’t just one of the funnier parts of the episode, it was an admission that he deserved it. What’s funny too is there was this tiny little moment at the end of the sequence where both Frank and Lip couldn’t help let out a smile. There’s hope for that relationship yet I tell you.

Fiona had a pretty heavy episode herself this week. Her with Ian where he admits to her that he’s gay was another terrific dramatic moment for this episode. Her matter of fact approach to the subject matter was quite a touching way of letting Ian know she accepts him no matter what. And that right there is good writing. When the writer doesn’t need to spell it out to the audience in overly sentimental dialogue to get their point across you know you’re watching something special.

But the real drama in Fiona’s world this week was whether or not to run off with Steve or take the job that Amy Smart’s character was offering. I didn’t think Fiona would be able to leave the family, even for a short period of time, and to be honest I think I agree with the decision she made. That’s not to say it was easy. She said it herself, she thinks she’s falling in love with him. But while Fiona is a character who is trapped by her circumstances, she would be just as trapped by guilt if she left her family. The job offers her the chance to move up while maintaining her independence.

Obviously that’s going to throw a wrench into her relationship with Steve, but I guess that’s just another reason to watch season 2. I’m interested in seeing whether Tony will get an expanded role as well now that he lives next door to the Gallaghers, and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Amy Smart’s character (I’m still not entirely convinced she doesn’t have something weird going on with her). Either way, it should be fun watch.

Californication – “...And Justice for All” (A-)

A quality ending to a quality season.  That was 6 hours of my life well spent.

This episode gives us very few glimpses into the future and leaves the state of affairs in Moody's world open to interpretation for next season.

Hank is given 3 years probation, Becca and Karen leave on a road trip with Ben and his daughter and Hank gets to work on the movie.

The scene this week at the dinner table where Charlie gets stabbed in the hand, Marcy admits that it is Charlie's baby and Eddie Nero continues to be a crazy nut bag is a real winner for me.  It managed to capture everything that was good about this season; Hank struggling with maturity, the plot line with Marcy and her baby-having love triangle, Eddie Nero, and Charlie's crazy girlfriend/quest for 100.

It was a great ending but I would have liked a bit more about Charlie and Marcy.  It leaves the plot open for next year, but I would have liked to see what happened between them after Marcy came to Charlie's defence at dinner.  I think it was good that this season ended on a positive note.  Last season's ending was really dark and was very troubling to me for whatever reason.  This season leaves us in a happier mood, thinking things will be alright.

It kind of looked like Hank was driving to New York at the end there.  Who knows what the next season will bring, but it will be good.  That I am sure of.

Fringe – “Bloodline” (A-)

I watched Fringe this week with a friend who hasn't watched since the first few episodes. He didn't really care for learning all of the Fringe mythology second hand and it was a pretty interesting episode to have that experience with. It goes without saying that I did a lot of explaining in the first 10-15 minutes of the episode. The idea of Fauxlivia and the red universe was not understood very easily. Also, it’s kind of weird to explain these kinds of things without reference to "the blue universe" or "the red universe." I had to refer to everything in very nondescript terms.

One of the reasons that I thought this episode was particularly interesting to watch with someone that has seen a few of the early episodes but not the majority of the series is the incorporation of old plot points in this episode. It’s cool that Fringe is still driving mysteries through the observer. Much like the X-files used the cigarette smoking man in early episodes to convey the message of a broader conspiracy, the observers in Fringe remind us that despite all we know, there is so much that we don't. In addition to this common theme, "Bloodline" brought back some "technology" from an early Fringe case we saw in the blue universe. Accelerated pregnancy.

"Bloodline" takes place in the red universe and centers around Fauxlivia (now pregnant with Peter's baby) being kidnapped by a group of people who appear to be doing experiments on her using a technology seen in an early episode of the series where pregnancies are accelerated in women. In the early episode, these pregnancies result in the woman's death and a malformed fetus, so it creates some suspense in the episode, especially coupled with the fact that Fauxlivia may have a virus that causes her own death as well as that of the baby during labour.

So to find Fauxlivia and get her back safely, Walternate must disclose to agent Lee and Charlie that the Olivia's were switched and that Fauxlivia is carrying Peter's child. In the end, the child is born safely with the help of Bubbles the cab driver (I don't know what his name is in this show... Henry maybe). Apparently the technology has been perfected and the accelerated pregnancy did not let the virus replicate enough to cause any damage to mother and child.

So that brings us to the big reveals of this episode. Let’s do it in list form, since those first 3 paragraphs are complicated enough.

1. Fauxlivia is now the mother to Peter's baby.
2. Lincoln and Charlie are very suspicious about Red Universe Broyle's disappearance. They realize that Walternate is hiding something.
3. Walter was behind Fauxlivia's kidnapping. We don't really know why yet but I will bet you an apple with a fetus inside it that it has to do with the machine. I would bet that he believes that the child will either be able to help get the machine to work, or that he will be able to cross over in some way like his mother.

Honestly this episode should have been an A. It was absolutely fantastic. The only thing that held it back was the fact that all of a sudden the pregnancy acceleration technology doesn't kill people. It killed people in the blue universe. How did they suddenly perfect it? Oh well, it’s still the best show on TV.

The Event – “Face Off” (B) by Brian

I was contemplating last week a bit about whether this new information regarding the NTB’s home planet would make one of their feuding leaders redundant. Now just a single episode later Thomas is dead and, judging by the previews for next week’s episode, Sophia is taking up his cause. And therein lie my problems with “Face Off” – the ending just didn’t live up to the episode that preceded it.

The ideological differences between Sophia and Thomas, not to mention the personal bad blood between the two, was just too much to remedy in a single episode. That made what was supposed to be an emotional self sacrifice feel canned and stupid.

And what was up with those choppers at the end of the episode. It was exciting watching the President figure out he had the upper hand again, but to just straight up attack them without trying to capture them first was far too aggressive in my books. Now don’t get me wrong – I like that the President is starting to take the initiative, but I warned in an earlier review that they have to be careful how they play this. I’d rather see smart than aggressive. That doesn’t mean the President doesn’t need to act, but I don’t like seeing him make a bunch of anger fuelled reactionary decisions like he did at the end of this episode.

Plus, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take that long for a helicopter to take out three buses. Yes, I know – it’s supposed to be suspenseful, but all I could think of in that moment was why that chopper wasn’t shooting at them.

So that was a shame, but like I said, I thought the previous two thirds of the episode were actually pretty well done. Sterling and the President had a great moment where Sterling revealed that Simon was a sleeper agent (we need to see more Sterling), and watching the secret service’s reaction to the attack on the Washington monument was kind of cool as well.

And more than anything, I’m really happy with the way the writers have managed to completely turn around Sean’s storyline. He went from chasing down Leila’s sister in a storyline that had very little relevance to the overarching plot of the series, to chasing down one of the more interesting mysteries on this show, which is exactly what I’ve been saying they should do all along.

This is due in no small part to Dempsey (the old guy looking for the ultimate wrinkle remover), who finally made himself a character worth chasing. I don’t know what it is about ancient archaeological digs that gets me so excited, but they do. The execution of the scene may have been a little off – the whole I-need-to-shoot-you-to-guard-the-secret thing was a little cliché, and I didn’t really care for their veiled talk about guardian angels – but the idea that this somehow plays into the NTBs creates an interesting mythology, which makes Sean and Vicky’s quest to find this guy something I want to watch.

Here’s my theory – Ryan mentioned in his review of last week’s episode that they’ve never managed to explain why the NTBs are so biologically similar to humanity. It’s definitely something the show needs to address to maintain any sort of credibility. Well what if somehow the NTBs had a part in bringing humanity to Earth, and we’re all some sort of evolutionary off-shoot of them. The cave would be some sort of artefact to show they were there, or a beacon of how to get to back, and perhaps maybe there are several factions of humanity (Battlestar Galactica!) and the NTBs are just retracing their steps looking for a suitable new planet. There are definitely some kinks in that theory – it’s rough at the moment – but something along those lines would be pretty cool.

The Event – “Face Off” (B) by Ryan

Holy shit did you read that right? Yes, yes you did. I just gave the Event a B. Makes me look pretty dumb for everything I ripped them for last week but really this episode was sweet.

First, I would like to say that I still think the Event has some kinks to work out, but this episode on its own was a) the best yet from the show and b) incredibly entertaining.

Second, Jason Ritter is still a terrible actor. The guy who played Thomas was bad, and they killed him. Please kill Sean Walker. It annoys me that he is now integral to one of the most interesting plot lines and is such a bad actor. When he was telling Vicky that "She is done when he says she is done" I thought, wow, my dog would play a more convincing leading man than you. Oh well. It’s just one of those painful things I’ll have to live with. Is this what it was like for Lost fans who hated Charlie? I always liked Charlie. Is there anyone out there who likes Sean Walker who wants to come to his defence in the comments? Please do. I would love to be convinced otherwise.

So as I suspected the NTBs made it out of the church, but I did not see them getting their numbers cut to a third of their original strength. Then again, do they all live in the San Francisco area to be able to come to this meeting? How many are still out there? Seems like it was a big space ship that crashed to have this many people. Although I would guess that some were here before Sophia's ship crashed.

I really liked the way the church piece was resolved and that Simon was found out. I think that adds a good twist.

Also, the mythology they are starting to get into with Dempsy seems like it has some potential.

There is one problem with mythology built like this though. It is very Lost like right? I think most people see that. As I have always said, I think the show is a bastard child of Lost and 24. So the mythology with the cave and whatnot are the Lost half of that and I am worried that they are trying too hard to create the mythology. In Lost, the mysteries seemed to naturally unfold over time, from a giant monster that sounds like a T-rex, to Smoke monster, to taking the form of people, it was a mythology that grew over the course of the show.

There is potential in the Event's mythology but I worry that they are going to try to force it like the entire first half of the season. I think that this episode shows that the ideas for this show were interesting from the beginning, but the writers tried really hard to push all their ideas too quickly in the first half of the season and that got them into a lot of trouble. The show unravelled too fast, and became insane and driven by ridiculous premises backed by even more ridiculous acting. Now they are in damage control.

I have to give credit to Brian who was able to see past the initial failings of the show and identified the new look much quicker than I did. Also, I ripped him in the initial edit of my post from last week which never made the site and I was wrong. He is correct, this show is showing potential. The issue as I see it now is what Brian pointed out a few weeks ago – the show is fixing the criticisms it had early on but I am worried that they are building the mystery to no avail. What are the chances they will get renewed for next season? And even if they do, will they force the mythology instead of letting it build. It’s a tricky balance

I also owe my aunt and uncle an apology (Not that they will ever read this, I should probably send them an email). I told them at dinner on Friday that they were crazy for watching this show. Based on this episode, I will be back next week. So either I'm crazy too or the show has done something to redeem itself. Maybe I'm still on a Californication high from the happy ending to that show, but hey for once I enjoyed The Event.

Castle – “Law and Murder” (B+)

I don't have much to say about Castle this week. It was a good episode as usual. It does everything it does well on a weekly basis and it made up for what I was pissed off about last week. Castle and Beckett finally didn't get interrupted and spent some time together at the end of the episode. Sneaky move Castle. Sneaky, yet awesome.

Nathan Fillion was funny as usual. That’s really all there is to say.

GOOD WORK CASTLE.

Also, the John Grisham references were great. It was interesting to hear a "writer" reference another writer. Kind of a cool idea.

These Aren’t Babies, They’re Organ Farms

How many bags of Easter eggs are acceptable to eat in a 3 day span? I really hope the numbers above 6.

Spoilers.

Community – “Critical Film Studies” (B)

I really wish I’d seen My Dinner with Andre before I watched this episode. I think I would have gotten a lot more of the subtle references if I had. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the episode, because I did. It’s just that the jokes I enjoyed most from this episode were more broad based than parody based. I watch so many movies I’m not used to not getting references. I do not like this feeling.

Danny Pudi deserves a ton of credit. The guy is a chameleon – not just in this episode either. Abed may generally be pretty stoic, but when he goes into parody mode he gets into it, and Danny Pudi ends up playing characters from a variety of different movies and TV shows. And what’s even more impressive is most of Abed’s little departures have some sort of source performance for people to compare him too.

I think that may have been the most enjoyable part of “Critical Film Studies”. Abed’s transformation into a completely different person was, from the get go, incredibly entertaining to watch. Jeff put it best – “Abed was being weird, and by that I mean he wasn’t being weird.” The storyline may not have been chalked full of jokes, but give the writers credit for staying true to the subject matter (I think anyway – like I said I haven’t seen My Dinner with Andre).

And in the end the show went back to some of the more dramatic elements that have been working so well for it this season. I liked Abed’s somber scene with Jeff at the end of the episode. They made reference to Abed and Troy spending less time with Jeff in the previous episode, so it didn’t feel at all forced that he was worried about the two of them drifting apart. I really like that, while Abed may seem like he’s not very normal, when it comes time to reveal his insecurities they’re all quite human. It’s a great way of keeping an atypical character grounded.

Humour wise the side show that was the Pulp Fiction party really carried the load for the A story.  Chang had a lot better episode than last week, and Troy’s insecurity about Jeff stealing Abed away from him was good for few a laughs. Pierce’s costume may have been the comedic highlight of the episode for me though. He was the perfect choice to play The Gimp from Pulp Fiction.

My other favourite moments:

-          Jeff’s description of Abed in his opening narration – “His obsession with pop culture had always alienated him. He’d quote movies. Pretend his life was a TV show. He watched Cougar Town. It was as if he didn’t want people to like him.” The sad part is that’s also a perfect description of me.

-          Pretty much any other mention of Cougar Town in the episode, especially all the shots at its name. It’s a good show people. You should all start watching it.

-          Pierce unzipping his mouth zipper to say “I’m hot and my balls are touching a zipper.”

-           “So I said to the director, can we have one more take, but they were already moving on... Courtney had nailed it.”

-          Pierce in The Gimp outfit telling Jeff “Pretty gay man. Pretty gay.”

-          “They said market price. What market are you shopping at!”

And because I feel like it, a few of my favourite little exchanges:

JEFF: Salad.
WAITER: Excellent choice.
JEFF: Yeah, I nailed it.

TROY: Chang made me open it. He seduced me with his dark Chinese powers.
CHANG: Why do you leave him alone with me!

BRITA: What, I have 3D vision now.
ANNIE: Yes, you do.
BRITA: You don’t know me!

The Office – “Garage Sale” (A-)

That was just a heart warming experience for anyone who’s watched The Office for any length of time. Michael’s exit from The Office, while a little sad, has been handled brilliantly so far by the writers, and finally the details of his departure are starting to fall into place.

It’s pretty impressive that in just one short episode the writers managed to set-up not only the idea of Michael proposing, but the proposal itself AND his reason for leaving. And none of it felt particularly rushed either. His early scene with Holly where the two of them talked about not having an in case they don’t end up with each other plan was a smart set-up for the episode that followed.

I particularly liked Pam’s role in the proceedings. Ever since she and Jim finally got together she’s been a little obsessed with becoming a matchmaker, and her involvement in the planning of the proposal injected some much needed humour into the storyline. This is exactly how the writers should be using Pam. Not goofy, but playing off some of the more out there characters on this show.

I loved the gas writing scene. It’s such a Michael way of doing things, and his conversation with Pam after she sees what he was doing was great.

PAM: Michael you’ve had two ideas today, and one of them was great, and the other one was terrible.
MICHAEL: I am not in the mood for riddles Pam.

The conference room scene that followed was pretty spectacular too. They had most of the original cast members contributing to the discussion which added a particularly nice touch of nostalgia. I liked Jim’s retelling of how he proposed to Pam, and Oscar’s list of what Michael really shouldn’t be doing. Even Ryan took some time away from ripping off his mom to help.

PAM: Michael, we are a family. And I’ve always believed that we should all be very involved in each others personal lives in a very major way.

And when the time came for the proposal the writers truly outdid themselves. The tour through the office was incredibly sweet, and again did a terrific job of playing off the show’s rich history to make it that much more special for long time fans like myself. My favourite moment of the sequence was the hallway of proposals. Michael’s comments after each proposal were hilarious, and brought back even more memories of his time at the office (his comment after Ryan’s proposal was my favourite).

All the little details really added up to make the whole proposal feel extra special. The sprinklers going off, the Yoda voices, and the entire office watching through the window were all nice touches to an already special scene. If I’m already feeling this nostalgic now, I don’t know how I’m going to handle when Michael actually leaves.

The rest of the episode was pretty good as well. The garage sale was an excellent backdrop to the proposal. Kevin, Andy and Darryl provided a few particularly fun scenes as they played the board game to Dallas. I loved Kevin’s final power play of stealing the money and walking off as though he were the innocent party.

KEVIN: And that is Dallas.

And Jim and Dwight had a great side story as well. I’m not sure if I completely buy Jim tricking Dwight into trading him a telescope for some “magic beans” but these are the kinds of set-ups I like to see these two engaged in, so I commend the writers for the attempt. Plus I’m not going to lie – I laughed pretty hard when Jim walked out with the potted plants.

Parks and Recreation – “Camping” (A-)

If this is what passes for a transition episode for Parks and Recreation than I have seriously underestimated the writers of this show. What a great way to follow up on the high of the Harvest Festival. “Camping” set the ground work for the rest of the season while still delivering a remarkably funny episode.

Now I have to confess – when it comes to camping I’m a lot like April. I straight up hate nature. I guess that’s not a huge surprise considering I write a blog dedicated to television, but it does help in explaining why I found April’s grief so funny. Every time she complained to Andy about her situation it just seemed to get funnier and funnier to me.

APRIL: Camping sucks. It’s super boring. And you can see the stars which I hate. They’re creepy.

APRIL: I don’t even want to be here. The air is too fresh, it’s disgusting. I can’t breath. There’s a brook somewhere that won’t stop babbling. Shut up!

Amen sister, amen.

I also greatly enjoyed watching Andy’s trek to get to April. It was such a small side story that you could have blinked and you’d of missed it, but Chris Pratt did a terrific job of making the whole situation hilarious. My two favourite parts were when he walked into the thorn bush and when he emerged from the woods with a tree stuck to his shoe. It was some genius physical comedy.

The core of the episode though was about Leslie overcoming her fear of never being able to live up to the Harvest Festival. I really enjoyed the storyline. Not only did it do a great job of recognizing how hard Leslie works for the parks department, but it also did a great job of highlighting what makes Ron and Leslie such a great team. In the past Leslie has been shown to be an excellent counterpoint to Ron’s apathy, but I’m glad that they showed the opposite is true as well. Ron knows how to settle Leslie down enough to work productively.

I’m so glad that they brought Chris back in this episode too. He really is a great addition to this show. It’s not even that he has a ton of great one-liners or anything either. His character in general just has this really funny presence. Like the way he runs out the room as he’s leaving or makes Ann regress into a bumbling mess. Case in point:

ANN: (pointing to her hilarious streak of red hair) I didn’t do this because of you.

Poor Ann by the way.  Chris is so positive it’s impossible to figure out what he’s actually saying. Her reaction in the diner was perfect – "oh my god, this is happening again.” I’m actually interested in seeing whether or not these two end up together again. I’m assuming they will, but because Chris is so hard to read even I know don’t know where the writers plan on taking them.

The one thing I will say though – with Chris finally back they need to find some way to solidify Ben’s presence sometime in the very near future. They’ve done a good job of making his prolonged stay in Pawnee feel natural by playing it off like he really likes it there and is legitimately entertaining the idea of staying, but there’s only so long they can get away with that before it starts to feel a little tired, and I think that time may be coming soon.

I guess I’ll finish with some of my other favourite moments from the episode.

-          Tom camping with the entire sky mall catalogue, including a soft a serve ice cream dispenser – “Chocolate or Butterscotch?” “Uh swirl me. Dude camping is awesome.”

-          “Nooo! I was Tivoing cupcake wars.”

-          Leslie’s dream journal – “I married Alf and we’re pretty happy.”

-          “That was the second most awkward way a man has ever grabbed my breast.”

-           “Fishing relaxes me. It’s like yoga except I still get to kill something.”

-          Ron’s response to Jerry talking about putting on a teen abstinence workshop – “That might be incredibly effective.”

-          Leslie’s great call back to the Len song “Steal My Sunshine”.

-          “What the fuck is a German muffin?”

-          “I hate this place. This place is the exact opposite of sky mall.”

-          The fact that apparently Leslie only sleeps 3 and a half hours a night.

30 Rock – “Plan B” (B)

"I sense something. A presence I’ve not felt since...”

I love Will Arnett. There’s some talk about him potentially replacing Michael on The Office, and personally, I would love to see that. It’s really too bad Running Wilde got cancelled on him. It was just starting to get funny when Fox pulled it off the air. He needs to get on a show that can’t get cancelled so that people can start recognizing how funny he really is.

His cameos on 30 Rock have always been good. I remember laughing my ass off the last time he was on as he and Jack argued face to face over the merits of cold versus warm pizza. I say that because it reminded me of a scene in this episode where Jack and Banks went into a long extended itsy bitsy spider metaphor that ended with Bank’s spider climbing back up the spout again. It’s these moments that truly makes Arnett’s guest appearances so funny.

Liz’s storyline this week was a little slower than Jack’s, but wasn’t without at least a few charms. As she goes around telling everyone that TGS has been place on a forced hiatus, she realizes that forced hiatus actually means cancelled and that everyone else has a backup plan. From there on it was Liz panicking to find a plan B of her own.

I really liked each character’s backup plan, especially Sue, who went back to her previous job as a police psychic. The clip of the television show from Holland based on her story was especially funny. I think my favourite part of this storyline though was Liz’s conversation with Aaron Sorkin. I love that they had the conversation walking through a hallway – a classic Sorkin move – only to end up in the same room they started in.

A lot of people may not remember this but back when 30 Rock was first premiering so was Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which was very similar in terms of its premise (both based around the inner workings of a late night comedy show), the only difference being Sorkin’s was more of a drama. At the time there was a lot of talk about whether the television landscape could handle two shows about such similar subject, and I got the impression that Sorkin’s project was the one favoured to win out (it did have Mathew Perry’s return to television). That’s why it was so funny to not only see Sorkin on the show, but to hear his little introduction interrupted by Lemon.

SORKIN: I’m Aaron Sorkin. The West Wing, Few Good Men, The Social Network.
LIZ: Studio 60.
SORKIN: Shut up.

I’m assuming Tracey will back in the next episode with the way things left off. I enjoyed watching Liz and Kenneth figure out that he’s been in New York all along. Lemon’s little cutaway about being the world’s worst hooker was pretty funny, as was the after credits sequence where Kenneth admitted that he probably should have figured it out sooner. The writers have done fairly bang up job of compensating for Tracey’s absence, but I do miss his particular brand of craziness on the show. It’ll be nice to have him back soon.

Grey’s Anatomy – “This is How We Do It” (B-)

I saw that car accident coming from a mile away. I figured it out when Callie unfortunately took off her seat belt. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with it in the next episode. There are a ton of possibilities running through my mind. Maybe one of those lose-the-baby-to-save-the-mother type moments. Or maybe Arizona will be fine and will spend the episode arguing with Mark over something to do with treating Callie, only to become closer than ever in the end. Who knows? My guess is whatever they do it’ll be intense.

Unfortunately the ending couldn’t really save the rest of the episode that came before it. Derek and the Chief’s storyline felt like it was spinning its wheels a bit (Derek and the Chief would be a great band name for a guy named Derek and another guy who likes being called Chief). The patient stories didn’t really go anywhere, and I wasn’t at all a fan of the Chief doing a surgery to prove Derek should take Adele into his trial.

I’m also a little sad that Teddy and Henry don’t look like they’re going to hook up. I was definitely rooting for these two... for some reason. I guess probably because it would be a good story like Teddy said. But wait – if Teddy is saying no to the relationship now does that mean she’s going to change her mind the next time she sees Henry? It’s really the only place left to go. Or is this just the last time we’re seeing Scott Foley? I hope my incessant question talking is helping.

I did enjoy Kepner’s story in this one though. Her character has grown on me quite a bit over the last season and although perhaps a little high strung, she does a good job of grounding the show with her more innocent storylines. I particularly enjoyed her scenes with Avery and Lexie in this one. As much as I like that Lexie and Avery have gotten together I’m with April on this one – get a room you two.

And I don’t think it was much of a surprise but it was nice to see Karev and Lucy finally get together. I think the actors definitely have some chemistry together so I look forward to seeing how they actually do as a couple. Karev deserves something good to happen to him, especially after listening to Meredith list off all the bad things that have happened to him just over the past couple of seasons.

But I don’t cheer for just any old relationship. I am not a fan of Bailey and the nurse she’s dating. The two of them are quite irritating with each other, and more than anything I just don’t like him. He seems kind of pompous doesn’t he? I was secretly hoping they would break up at the end of the episode but the opposite kind of happened. Hmmm, I hope next episode they stay together.

Alright, I’d better cut it off there. It’s very late and I’m not sure if anything I just wrote made any kind of sense. I apologize if that’s the case. I’ve gotta wake up early anyway to find someone named Derek to start a band with.

Song(s) of the week

This week’s pick:

“The Funeral” by Band of Horses

Where I found Band of Horses: 127 Hours is a gripping true story of survival against all odds. Part of what makes the movie so compelling is its awe inspiring soundtrack. When Aron Ralston finally escapes his canyon prison it’s the music that expresses to the audience the euphoria he’s feeling.

So when it came time to pick this week’s song of the week, where did I go? The trailer. Yes, I picked the song they used to advertise the DVD between Wheel and Jeopardy instead of any of the songs that soundtracked Ralston’s daring escape. Don’t judge me, it’s a good song.

What I like: "The Funeral" is like a clinic in atmosphere. I love the haunting guitar riff that anchors the song. The way you can hear Ben Bridwell’s fingers sliding up and down the guitar as he delivers a slew of high reverb laden vocals. Just like last week's band, Bridwell’s vocal style is incredibly unique, which is a huge part of what makes this song so interesting to listen to.

Give it a listen yourself and let me know what you think in the comments.

The Funeral - Band of Horses

Let’s Not Make This a Thing

Sorry this was a day late. I chose sleep over posting. Never again... never again.

Californication – “The Last Supper” (A-)

Once again, Californication did a great job this week.  It's almost pointless to write a review.  It’s a great show.  I've never met someone who has watched it and said to me "well it has some real plot holes" or "it’s just not that funny."  It’s great.  It knows what it is.  It uses Duchovny's strengths exceptionally well and the writers continue to move the show in a good direction.

This week the episode begins with Karen flipping open her laptop to a celebrity gossip site to find the news that Hank has been found guilty.  It is an interesting social commentary that someone like her would find the news first on a website.  It says a lot about the current state of news media in North America.

So Hank thinks about running away and even gets in his car to do so.  On his way out of town he is called by Karen or Becca or someone with an emergency that he must attend to at their house.  When he arrives, Karen, Marcy, Runkle and Becca are waiting with a surprise dinner.  What was supposed to be a congratulations you are innocent party has turned into a goodbye party.  

They progress through the evening with the usual sexually driven banter that is characteristic of the show and end with Karen and Hank having sex for what Karen calls "the last time."

Next week is the Finale, so we’ll see how it all ends up for Hank.  

As I’ve said all season, I hope they put into play some plot changes where Hank gets his act together.

Modern Family – “Boys' Night” (A-)

Modern Family is always at its best when it’s blending humour with heart. The show has sometimes been guilty of being a little too overly sentimental this season, but when they find the right balance you can see exactly why they won that Emmy for best comedy last year. “Boy’s Night” was a perfect example of just that, firing on all cylinders throughout the entire half hour.

Hayley had a hilarious week in my books. I loved her indignant speeches to Cameron about how betrayed she felt that he didn’t trust her when in reality she was straight up responsible for exactly what he was accusing her of. The best one was in the after credits sequence when Cameron pulled out Dylan’s shoes right at the end of her little spiel, and she went from aggressively offended to apologetic at the turn of a dime.

And Hayley wasn’t the only Dunphy kid having a good week because Luke was on fire in this episode as well. His discussions with Walt, the crotchety old neighbour were all really well done. I especially liked when he held his breath entering the old guys house because he thought he needed an oxygen tank.

This plotline also brought out the best in Phil and Claire as their fear of Walt led to a great back and forth between the two. My favourite moment in the entire episode was when Phil pushed Claire into Walt’s house. The cowardliness of Phil was epic and Julie Bowen sold the stumble perfectly. And the ending of this storyline is exactly what I was talking about when I said this show is at its best when it blends heart and comedy. Their final conversation with Walt, where he revealed he was an ex-fireman who would never hurt a kid was quite touching, and an excellent way to cap off the storyline.

Watching Mitchell bond with Jay was also a really great moment for both of those characters as well, even if Jay was less than thrilled about it the next morning. I was worried when they were setting up the premise of this story that it would just be a bunch of Jay-is-uncomfortable-around-gay-people jokes, but the writers took a much smarter route. It was infinitely more entertaining watching him enjoy himself with Mitchell’s friends. Kudos to the writers for putting a cool spin on a storyline that otherwise would have been fairly stale.

Oh and just a quick shout out to Gloria who wasn’t in this one that much, but pretty much stole every scene she did get. I loved watching her sell out Jay the next morning, especially the joy on her face as she did it. Her best line though came as Manny questioned why he had to try new things if Jay didn’t.

GLORIA: You see what you’re doing. You’re tearing this family apart!

I just love the overdramatic delivery from Sophia Vergara.

Some of my other favourite parts of this episode:

-          Manny’s line after Jay’s crab cakes story – “Wow, are the movie rights available for that one?”

-          Hayley confusing an oncologist with an optometrist while talking to Mitchell on the phone.

-          Luke going through the knives as Hayley went about convincing Mitchell she was responsible enough to babysit Lily.

-          Phil’s favourite kind of movies – “Oh I love Westerns! The bloodier the better. That’s my favourite type of movie. That and anything set against the backdrop of competitive cheerleading.”

-          “They’re gay. They know what shoes they own!”

-          “I’m still growing into my tongue.”

Off the Map – “Everything’s As It Should Be” (B-)

I knew Mina and Tommy couldn’t do the friend thing. Although I guess the romantic feelings are pretty one-sided at this point. Really Minard... that guy. What were you thinking? I actually thought it was a little mean of her to stick her head out of the shower at the end of the episode. I guess it was her response to Tommy telling Pher that she had a boyfriend, but I’m still in Tommy’s camp here. I can just tell a Mina/Tommy pairing would be hilarious to watch. I mean look at them fighting in this episode – it was pretty entertaining.

Brenner certainly enjoyed it. She was actually pretty busy herself this episode. First she unknowingly partook in a black market organ transplant, and then she went about rekindling her romance with Mateo (more on that later). I actually thought this was the best plotline of the episode. Her conversation with the patient who sold the kidney was a really solid scene. The patient’s little monologue about taking opportunities when they come to you was good, and it clearly impacted Brenner, but what I really loved was Brenner’s line after she gave the girl the money from her wallet.

LILY: I’ve done a lot of things down here I thought I’d never do.

And with that she was off to visit Mateo. Well Mateo’s mother to precise, but it turns out that lady is sneaky, and it was all just a ruse (yes ruse) to get Brenner and Mateo back together. I like this move by the writers. I doubt the relationship will last, but at the moment Brenner feels like a broken character, and it was quite empowering to see her “take her shot” despite all her previous apprehensions.

Of course Keeton took the organ transplant harder than anyone. I guess it was probably because one of his oldest friends tricked him into doing it, and then proceeded to lambast him for keeping his wife on life support just to keep the clinic running, but I could be misreading it. In the end he decided he needed to let go of his wife but wasn’t sure if he could.

I wasn’t really sure how to read that last line. Whether it meant he was going to break up with Ryan because his heart wasn’t entirely in the relationship, or whether he’s finally going to pull the plug on his wife. There are two ways the pull the plug storyline could go so stick with me here. First off, he could pull the plug and she could die, and then the story is about him getting over his wife and trying to keep the clinic alive at the same time. OR, he pulls the plug and his wife wakes up, and there’s an epic love triangle/rhombus (if you throw Brenner in there too) for the show to tackle. That last one would be quite the twist, although maybe a little out there.

And finally, Zee and Cole shared a patient story once again this week. I can’t get a good read on these two. From scene to scene they go from endearing to downright irritating. I didn’t like their conversation in the garden at the beginning of the episode, but watching them demonstrate sexual positions to an older couple was definitely pretty funny. They just need to work on the consistency of these two.

The Event – “A Message Back” (C+) by Ryan

I am all for giving a show its props when it deserves it.  Look at my Cape reviews. I call that show exactly what it is, and give it the kudos it is due for being its corny self.  It has its merit.  I was even willing to review The Event somewhat favourably in the past, based on the potential it had.  But I am done with that.  Maybe I am bitter that SyFy has decided to cancel an actual alien show with promise and intrigue in Stargate Universe, and the fact that NBC still airs The Event is just getting under my skin.

So often have good shows been cancelled that I can't understand why this show is getting the time of day.  Here is what makes the Event a bad show:

1.  You know how great shows show you things rather than tell you.  They let you figure it out on your own instead of spelling it out.  The Event does none of that.  It uses corny dialogue to drive its plot home.  It treats its viewers like tiny insignificant morons.  The Event tries to follow in the vein of 24 and Lost. This is no secret.  I think it is a poor copy of both, but it tries and in the past I have given it props for that.  But Lost let its viewers figure things out on their own.  It dropped clues, hints, ideas in their minds.  It had people theorizing on the internet every week between episodes.  The Event spells things out and then they’re done with it.  The writers use dialogue rather than an entire scene to drive home their points.  For example, Martinez has to come out and tell Sterling that he is changing to be more assertive and hardcore.  WE KNOW THAT.  WE SAW THAT.  Don't tell us in a pointless conversation again.  As if we might have missed it the first time around.  Again, Sophia explains to Michael that "Simon played me for a fool" and that the President won't trust her.  WE KNOW THAT.  YOU SHOWED US LAST WEEK.  Stop making me feel like a moron by having the characters discuss the things we have already seen.

2. Back in the Fall The Event was starting to use back stories to give us insight into the characters.  This was a good idea.  What happened? All of a sudden the characters are as deep as you want them to be?  I know relatively little about every character.  I know that Sterling had a wife who was a traitor/spy, that Vicky has a family, that Sean is a hacker and that there are some aliens somewhere.  Couldn't this have gone in a good direction?  This is spoiled potential. You are already a copy of Science Fiction television everywhere, why not just jump on board and play the Lost-style flashbacks.  Imagine this – every week we can drive the story forward by getting some back story, eventually showing us life on the planet that the NTBs come from.  Why did they leave?  By abandoning the flashback the writers have left themselves no choice but to at some point explain that entire situation to us in a conversation.  That is going to be insanely boring.  Good decision writing staff.

Those two points basically sum up my opinion that the plot is slowly disintegrating, the writers are making desperate grasps at intrigue and that the characters have zero depth.  Therefore the show is bad.  I am still pissed at the cancellation of SGU and the fact that this garbage stays on the air is a disgrace to television.

Also, I disagree with Brian's assessment that "the President has the upper hand."  Sure it might seem like that, but this show would go nowhere if the NTBs were all captured again.

And how has no one pointed out that these "aliens" are able to breed with humans, speak perfect English from the moment they landed and don't just look like us but appear to have the exact same physical set up on their planet.  What I mean by this is that Thomas helps the humans develop nuclear weapons as if on their planet the exact same elements in the same conformation lead his people to develop the same technology.  What a ridiculous idea.  Also here is a lesson in biology – two  populations that are able to produce viable offspring are essentially the same species (to make it a short answer).  So therefore, the aliens evolved from primates and have had exactly the same conditions on their planet that lead to no differences in their genetic makeup that allow for them to breed with us.  I am someone who was willing to suspend my disbelief when a Cylon and a human had a baby, but that was because of the mythology behind the Cylons.  This ridiculous idea that these aliens come from another planet but are a genetically viable match with us to produce offspring and they speak English and etc etc. is just too much.  

Despite all this, I did not give a failing grade to the show this week.  Why?  Well, I agree with two of the things that Brian said.  First, Jason Ritter finally has a decent storyline.  It’s better with Vicky than it was with Leila.  Second, there was a cliffhanger that made me want to come back for more.  It’s so sad that I will watch this again next week.  However, I don't think I will be writing a review again.  This is not a good state of mind to be in.  I feel that the Event had so much potential and has just cheapened itself every week.  It makes me sad. There is so much they could have done with that show if they’d just sat down with a story board.

The Basket of Ecoli You Ordered

John Lithgow back on TV? House surprising me with an ending? The Event actually producing an entertaining episode?!? What’s happening?

Well you can find out below, as we discuss Sunday and Monday night’s television. Wow, what a great segue. I’m awesome.

Spoilers.

How I Met Your Mother – “Legendaddy” (A-)

So we finally meet Barney’s father. It was an interesting episode. Far from perfect, but it certainly stood out to me as a significant moment in this series. 

Barney took over most of the comedic duties for this episode. His various reactions during to meeting his father varied in their effectiveness, but as a whole they hit more than they missed. I enjoyed Barney’s digression into a child when he first met his half-brother JJ. The one way sibling rivalry was fun to watch. I also enjoyed Barney’s fake retelling of how awesome his dad was (John Lithgow deserves some credit here as well).

Obviously this episode was about more than its comedic elements though, and that’s where it really shone. The basketball hoop scene was the highlight of the episode for me. It had to be delicately handled, showing Barney’s anguish over never having a father while simultaneously showing hope for their relationship in the future, and I think the writers did an excellent job in that regard. I loved Barney’s line, that if his father was going to be a lame suburban house dad, why couldn’t it be with him. It was some brilliant pathos, executed to perfection by Neil Patrick Harris.

It was nice to see Neil Patrick Harris really get a chance to let his acting chops loose. He’s obviously a phenomenal comedic actor, but being Barney doesn’t give him a whole lot of chances to show off his dramatic side, and clearly he’s got one. On the other side of the scene, John Lithgow was absolute casting genius. He immediately stepped in and filled a role that required a really strong presence. I was so impressed with his performance it made me want to go back and watch some 3rd Rock From the Sun reruns.

With such a heavy main story, the B story had to be light. I really liked the premise of this one, that every person has some sort of gap in knowledge they should have learned but somehow never did. That’s totally true. I’ve seen it happen a million times. My favourite gap in knowledge was Robin not knowing the North Pole was a real place. Her little monologue of fake places she was going to visit – from Narnia to Hogwarts – had me laughing out loud.

I was impressed with the B story’s ability to tie into the main plot as well. The screw driver story, which is what sprang the discussion, is also what provided that little glimmer of hope mentioned above. I’m not entirely convinced that a screw driver was the best idea for what Barney didn’t know how to use, but structurally I have to give them credit. 

Now I don’t want to end without talking about Marshall a little here. His influence over this episode was subtle but noteworthy. I liked his line to Barney that got him to visit his father, that while he’ll never speak to his father again, Barney’s was just down the road. I like how they’re handling his father’s death now. They aren’t over using it, just subtle mentions here and there. It’s a great way of acknowledging the storyline without hitting us over the head with the story over and over again.

Anyways, I hope we get to see more from Barney’s dad. It’s a really cool storyline, and it adds a new dimension to Barney’s character that’s really exciting to watch.

Shameless – “Daddyz Girl” (A-)

Wow, a LOT happened in this one. But first things first – I totally called Tony catching Steve and Lip... sort of. Maybe not how it happened but the gist. I’m still counting it as a win.

They actually ended up making Tony a little meaner than I remember which I wasn’t a big fan of. Tony has always clearly wanted to be with Fiona, but he never struck me as the scheming type. At times the verbal jarring between Steve and him was a little over the top, almost feeling like a Disney movie at some points. Still, I like where the story’s headed, especially with Lip and Ian getting arrested. Obviously something big is going to happen in next week’s season finale, and I can’t wait.

Speaking of Lip and Ian, they had a stellar episode as they went about searching for Ian’s real father. The visit with Grams was definitely a highlight. At first I thought to myself, “well if they have a Grandma why was Deb so hurt when she lost Aunt Ginger, and why is she never around?” Well the writers hilariously answered that question when they went to visit Grams... in prison. She was a great character too. I loved the part where she lamented about how one little meth lab explosion can land you behind bars scrubbing toilets.

LIP: It’s probably the two college students that died in the fire Grams.

And their visits to each of Frank’s brothers were also pretty good. I love hearing the little back stories about Frank as they paint such a hilarious portrait of the guy. We found out in this one that not only did he used to be devoutly religious, but that he has an identical twin brother too, and he does not like Frank.

Of course it was Ian’s final confrontation with Lip that finally added the emotional edge this story had been lacking. Cameron Monaghan deserves a lot of praise for the scene. I felt legitimately bad for Ian, who clearly felt like he was potentially losing part of his identity now that he knows Frank isn’t his real father. His confession that he likes living with the family and being Frank’s son was a nice reminder of how close the Gallagher family is.

IAN: I’m happy with who we are, even if you’re not.

Frank and the younger Gallaghers had a good week this week as well. First off, watching Debbie and Carl play Xbox was hilarious. I love how into it they were – especially Debbie. But when Frank started teaching the kids the “family business” it was like a plethora of hilarious scenes. I loved Debbie’s resume, I loved watching Frank explain to the kids how he’s doing a public service by keeping the workers comp people employed, and more than anything I loved watching Frank move from job to job, figuring out which one would be the easiest to hurt himself at.

Frank’s storyline ended on a rather serious note however. Karen went all dark and stormy on us this week, still reeling from what her dad said about her the week before. In her final act of revenge she tries to have sex with Frank – on webcam – and, apparently drugged out on painkillers Frank lets it happen. They hinted at a storyline close to this one earlier in the season, and at the time I was glad that Frank didn’t do anything stupid. Now I don’t know what’s going to happen. At the very least it probably spells the end of Frank and Sheila’s relationship.

And finally, lost in the shuffle of a busy episode, we had Fiona making a new friend in Amy Smart. Something, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, is off about that Amy Smart character. Maybe it was the kiss on the lips as she said goodbye, maybe it’s the fact that she’s aggressively trying to win Fiona over, but I feel like something weird is coming from this story. Just another reason to watch next week’s finale I guess.

Castle – “One Life to Lose” (B+)

So this episode should probably be an A- or even an A.  Its content was great.  But there are only so many times in a season where you can use the Castle-and-Beckett-have-a-moment-and-then-Josh-interrupts-them move to end an episode.  So maybe I'm in a cranky mood, and if I felt that my reviews were somehow impacting the fate of the show I wouldn't knock it down for something so trivial.  But I am cranky, my review is very minor in the World Wide Web and I've had a long week (already) so Castle loses marks for this one.

That being said, the content of Monday's episode was great and the way it was shot really worked for me.  The episode centers around a murder on the set of a soap opera. Naturally the characters being interviewed are all over the top dramatic.  To make it more interesting, Martha (Castle's mom for all you casual viewers/readers) had a three week span on the show at some time, during which she was kidnapped twice, caught in a cave and had something to do with Paris. Hit up the comments if you remember the exact quote.  It was a really good one.

So the lead writer for the show is killed and they go through the usual laundry list of suspects – the ex husband, the boyfriend, the angry actress/actor, the crazy con artist pretending to be her mother etc.  The list goes on.  What interests me about shows such as this one that put out 20 some odd cases year after year is how they’re able to use the same basic premise and still keep you interested in the show.  They’ll never win points in my book for being a Lost or Fringe type show, but they make use of characters in ways that keep me coming back week after week.  I watch 3 shows like this – The Mentalist, Criminal Minds and obviously Castle.  Castle is probably my favourite because it’s the newest so the ideas are the freshest, and because it has Nathan Fillion. That guy is awesome.  Somewhere (Twitter or some other web source) it was remarked that Castle is really on the air just to show off Fillion's awesomeness.  I miss Firefly.  Writing about Mal makes me sad.  

So where was I going with that?  Basically, I knew that it was the secretary early on in the episode.  It’s just set up that way. I'm sure most people could see it coming.  But what brings me back is not a mystery that throws me for a loop at the end, but rather a good group of characters.  I loved Esposito in this episode.  His infatuation with the soap opera lead was great.  Castle and Beckett are always good together too, but we need this thing to come to a head.  It’s time.  Or move on.  Start something new.  Like Community did with Jeff and Brita.  There’s more out there.  I’m a shipper.  I want the Castle-Becket thing to happen.  But I won't stand by for the same gimmicks week to week.  Do it again Castle, and I'll bump you down a whole letter.

The Event – “A Message Back” (B+)

Alright, The Event – that’s a little better. When I talk about The Event, usually I’m talking about its potential more than what it’s actually shown me so far. Well this was a legitimately entertaining episode in its own right. We had plot movement, some interesting mythology, and an ending that actually made me want to watch the next episode.

I loved the start of this episode where the two technicians working at the VLA in New Mexico start receiving a strange signal from space. Watching them trying to find the origin of the signal and the structure of the data was really cool, and it did a great job of setting the tone for the episode. From then on all I really cared about was what the message said.

And that’s because the mythology behind where these people are from is quite interesting. We finally got to find out this week why the NTBs are in search of a new planet. Apparently the star their planet orbits is about to supernova. It’s a real game changer for the NTBs, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. Sophia’s certainly going to feel a little conflicted about working with the President now that her race is pretty much doomed to extinction if they don’t move to Earth. Or maybe she’ll try to work out some sort of immigration deal. I just don’t see the President receiving that kindly at this point.

It’s nice to see the President finally gain the upper hand on these guys. That’s what V never understood – every once in a while you’ve got to let your main characters win one. We finally got to see that the President is in fact quite capable, which is important, because as an audience we need to know we can put faith in the character.

The other promising development in this episode was that they finally found an interesting storyline for Sean. Crashing the fundraiser was actually interesting to watch, even though in the end they didn’t really find out all that much information. More than anything, I think I just liked the pairing of Vicky and Sean. The two of them have chemistry with each other.

I also liked that they showed there can be consequences to doing the right thing. Sean refusing to kill those two party guests was the right thing for his character, but there’s a reason why Vicky wanted to kill them – they’re loose ends. And it came back to bite them. Not majorly, but at least it wasn’t one of those childish the good guy always wins stories.

House – “Fall From Grace” (B)

Wow. I was all ready to write this one off as just a filler episode, a very uninspired rehashing of what we already watched last week. Then, what couldn’t have been more than a 30 second scene changed my entire perspective of the episode.

That ending was creepy. It makes perfect sense if you go back through the entire episode and watch the team’s treatment and the behaviour of the patient. But really – a serial killer who eats his victims. I don’t think anybody could have called that Hannibal Lector would end up being the patient of the week.

Which makes Masters conversations with the patient all the more haunting. He gave her all but a bedside confession and she did her best to comfort him using her newly discovered bedside manner. Then right before he escapes he tells her that it was her who made him keep on going. If that doesn’t mess with you than nothing will.

They had better come back to this storyline. I have no idea how they should do it, but they’d better come back to it. You can’t drop the our-patient-is-a-serial-killer line on me and then never reveal what happens to the guy. Obviously I think they’ll follow up on how it affects Masters, but I’d like to somehow see the return of the patient. I need closure dammit.

The ending kind of overshadowed everything else in this episode, which as I stated earlier was pretty average. The other main storyline involved House going through with a green card marriage. I enjoyed all of scenes with his new foreign bride Dominica (I may have spelled that wrong). Watching her stumble through pronunciations was actually quite fun.

But I think this story was mostly about the lingering feelings between House and Cuddy. As much as House denied it this was clearly a plot to make Cuddy jealous. And really both of them showed they still cared about the other, with Cuddy walking out on the wedding and House refusing a proposition by his newly wed bride. Unfortunately, at the moment I don’t think these two could be further apart.

As much as I was shocked by the ending of “Fall From Grace”, the previous 40 minutes of the episode were fairly mediocre, and a twist ending doesn’t change that. I hope they carry the momentum of the serial killer plot into the next episode. It takes a lot to surprise me with House these days, but for a brief moment in this episode they had me hook, line and sinker.