We Can Call Her Appetizer

What? A Thursday post on Friday! Don’t get too excited. Most of the shows I usually watch weren’t on this week. I do have reviews of Off the Map and the musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy though (track listing and all), not to mention Ryan’s Big Bang Theory review, World of Warcraft tangent and all. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

Grey’s Anatomy – “Song Beneath the Song” (B)

I’m gonna be straight with you all – I am not a fan of musicals. I’ll try to put that bias aside as I write this review, but I think it played a part in why this episode didn’t get a higher grade for me. I apologize to all musical fans out there who loved this, though being that we don’t review Glee I doubt there are many of you reading this.

I’ve seen a few episodes done like this before (sometimes I feel like this show makes a living ripping off Scrubs), and I think the one thing that makes these work is if they somehow tie the musical element into the overall plot. Callie’s brain injury was a modest attempt to do just that, and while it worked in a few instances, it seemed to me that a lot of the songs just sort of came out of nowhere. That’s kind of where my musical bias kicks in. I’m just not a fan of random musical numbers. It takes me out of the story.

I give them credit though for trying to be innovative in their approach to the music. I liked that they did the musical numbers as they went about doing their medical procedures. The medical aspects really helped to dramatize the music (and vice-versa). My one complaint is that I sometimes found it hard to watch a character go from speaking normal dialogue immediately back into singing a song. For some reason it just felt a little cluttered.

As for the songs themselves (you can find a complete list of them at the end of this post), I thought the selection was fairly well done. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a huge fan of the music played on this show (I have a few of the early soundtracks sitting around somewhere, and by somewhere I mean the desk beside me) and I really enjoyed some of the classic Grey’s songs they chose to do, especially “Breathe” and “How to Save a Life”.

I was a little less enthused about their execution however. This is nitpicky I know, but I found the dubbing to be off a bit on the songs. And while some of the cast members obviously knew how to sing (Sara Ramirez is apparently a Tony winner), the poor auto-tuning on the others took me out of a few of the songs. I know – I’m taking this way too seriously. It’s just something I noticed.

The story though was appropriately intense for the subject matter. By the way, I totally called the Mark and Arizona storyline as I was listing off possible plotlines in my review of last week’s episode. Although, I was a little surprised that it was Arizona arguing to save the baby while Mark was the one most concerned with Callie. Considering Arizona was all anti-baby earlier in this season I thought for sure she’d care more about Callie’s health above all else. It was a nice moment for her character though.

And in the end they managed to save both the baby and Callie. About half way through I sort of figured out that would be the way things ended up. The way they accelerated Callie’s pregnancy in the last episode sort of threw me off, but when I saw the dire straits she was in this episode I realized it was so her baby would be able to survive an early delivery.

It’s kind of remarkable how quickly they’ve gone through this pregnancy storyline when you think about it. What it’s been – like 5 or 6 episodes? That’s got to be one of the fastest television pregnancies in history. By the way, this is the kind of crap I think about.

Anyways, I enjoyed the storyline this week. This show always does a good job whenever one of the doctors becomes a patient, and apart from the musical aspect this episode was no exception. The way they showed Callie’s injuries at the start of the episode was a great way to set the tone for the episode. I also thought the final scene in the gallery between Mark and Arizona was really well done. Oh and of course I loved when Callie woke up and said yes to Arizona’s marriage proposal, but that one’s a gimme.

The one thing I wasn’t into was the superfluous guest appearance from Addison. I don’t know if Kate Walsh is going to stick around a bit for the next episode but she was completely unnecessary in this one. She had maybe a handful of scenes, and other than chewing out Lucy none of them were really all that eventful.

Now as promised here is the list of songs in order of their appearance:

1) “Cosy in the Rocket” – Psapp
2) “Chasing Cars” – Snow Patrol
3) “Breathe (2 AM) – Anna Nalick
4) “How We Operate” – Gomez
5) “Wait” – Get Set Go
6) “Running on Sunshine” – Jesus Jackson
7) “Universe & U” – KT Tunstall
8) “Grace” – Kate Havnevik
9) “How To Save A Life” – The Fray
10) “The Story” – Brandi Carlile

The Big Bang Theory – “The Zarnecki Incursion” (B+)

Hello there science fans.  It feels good to be writing about this show again.  It seems like a long time since I’ve watched an episode.  I know it’s been a long time since my girlfriend’s watched an episode since she had no idea who Pria, Bernadette or Amy were.

So this episode focused around Sheldon's World of Warcraft account being hacked.  Everything is stolen, including his ostrich Glen, the only bird he has ever loved.  Well I have never played WOW. Okay that’s a lie, I have played it but I’ve never owned it or had a character that I played for more than a couple hours.  My roommate had it in first year and used to quest like a fiend until 4 in the morning yelling at other people online.  Needless to say we did not stay roommates. 

I get the appeal of it.  I’ve played the shit out of other games along a similar, yet much less intensive vein such as Diablo (I and II).  I don't get how people are able to put so much time into it.  I mean how do people have that much time to devote to it? (Keep in mind that this is coming from a man who watches close to 10 hours of television a week).

I guess if all you do is work and play WOW, it works out, but there is so much more out there.  Like online fan forums attempting to get Firefly back on the air (yes I support @HNBFF and you should too), following a Canadian election more closely than you ever have before or studying for 11 exams.  Oh wait, I guess that’s just what I have to do, but if someone takes a couple exams for me I will happily do a WOW trial.

Sorry my tangent got the better of me there.  So essentially the boys track down the hacker and visit him at his home, attempting to coax him into giving back Sheldon's things.  Instead the guy steals Sheldon's Bat'leth that he brought with for protection and the boys turn to Penny for help.  She kicks Zarnecki in the balls and gets the stuff back.  

I love Penny.  She’s a great piece of the puzzle on this show.  She just gets those guys. On her end, the plot stemmed mostly from jealousy of Pria.  While sitting having ice cream covered in coffee liquor with Bernadette and Amy, Penny expressed her distaste for Pria and her relationship with Leonard.  Bernadette offers to shun Pria but Penny shoots the idea down saying there is no reason to be mean to her.  Now this is what makes Big Bang awesome:

BERNADETTE: Well if it makes you feel any better I'm never speaking to Pria again.
PENNY: No don't do that, no reason to be mean to her.
AMY: Now this may be the alcohol talking, but I believe there is.  Are you familiar with the recent study of Tanzanian chimpanzees from Nashida and Hosaka out of Kyoto University?
PENNY: No, but I can name all the Kardashians.

What is great about this is that the study of chimps by Nashida and Hosaka is a real study.  Published in 1995 the study looked at a gang attack on an ill mannered young male chimp as part of the social construct.  It’s awesome that they used a real study. Even though 1995 isn’t that recent, and the findings were a bit skewed for the show's purposes, it’s stuff like this that keeps the show smart.  Despite the laugh track it does a good job of staying a step ahead of some of the competition. 

Off the Map – “Hold on Tight” (B+)

I’ve heard rumblings that this show is right on the brink of cancellation and this concerns me a little. Next week is the season finale, and with the way this episode ended, I don’t think I’m going to be able to handle not knowing what happens. If Off the Map ends with Mina still fired and Ryan in the middle of heart transplant limbo than I will very likely go insane.

I will give them credit for that ending though. That was a heck of a cliffhanger. First off, when did Mina become such a force to be reckoned with? She really held her own in this episode, first by helping to save Clark’s life, and then by standing up to Keeton in respecting Ryan’s medical wishes. I’m really enjoying the way Mina and Ryan’s relationship has developed over the course of the series. Early on these two did not like each other, but their flourishing... I want to say friendship, has been great to watch, primarily because the writers have developed it organically, and because both of these characters bring something unique to the other. They really do complement each other.

Keeton was especially vicious at the end of the episode too, not only firing the poor Mina but also bringing up the fact that she’s basically unhireable because of the mistake she made in her residency that led to the death of a little boy.  The execution of this scene was fantastic, from Keeton’s slow boiling rage to Mina’s defiant response. There were a lot of ways he could have fired her, but few would have been as effective as what they gave us here.

Honestly, if I have to pick the cliffhanger for next week’s finale I don’t think it’ll be Mina leaving (though I’ve set myself up for just that). I think it’s more likely to be something with Ryan’s transplant. I commented a little before on how I didn’t see a quick way out of this storyline, but with Clark rising towards the top of the transplant list the writers have now set it up so that they can resolve the plotline sometime soon, and my bet is that’ll somehow play into the cliffhanger of next week’s finale.

I also really enjoyed Tommy and Charlie’s storyline this week. Young Jonathan Castellanos can really hold his own in a scene. He did a great job in this episode, both with Tommy and with his Schizophrenic mother, who by the way, I diagnosed yet again before all the fake TV doctors, proving once and for all how awesome I am. I think maybe the most exciting development from this storyline is that Tommy is going to crash with Charlie for the foreseeable future now that Mina is seeing Pher. It’s awesome that this show has embraced this pairing, and you can mark my words – these two characters as roommates will be fun to watch.

And speaking of embracing things, how about Lily going from I can’t be with you because your family grows cocaine to actually picking the cocaine herself. I like that they’re showing these farmers from a different angle but I think eventually Lily will have to draw the line. She is a doctor, and eventually she’s going to remember what that drug does to people.

Anyways, I can’t wait for next week’s finale – it should be a fun watch. And I do hope this show gets renewed. Not just because I’m obsessed with doctor shows, but because I want to see a resolution to some of these story arcs. I think I actually may care about some of these characters. There I said it. Now damn it ABC, make it happen.