I Thought I Heard Something Awesome Out There...

Ahhh, just like old times... staying up all night finishing the Thursday night reviews. I’ve still got it!

Spoilers...

Community – “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps” (A+)

Wow... considering how good last year’s Halloween episode was I certainly never thought they were going to top it, but “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps” was a special kind of brilliant. The way it perfectly blended parody with the personalities of this incredible cast of characters, it’s just Community firing on all cylinders. I mean holy crap there were a lot of great one-liners in this one. Trust me, the quotes section of this episode is going to take a page onto itself.

The thing I think I really loved about “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps” was how each little story told us something about the way these characters think. And I know, I said the exact same thing about last week’s (well two weeks ago) “Remedial Chaos Theory” but this episode took that premise and twisted it to even more hilarious proportions. Actually, just remembering back through all the stories I think it was perfect that in the end they all turned out to be insane. Well all except for Abed, but I think that makes it even better.

It’s tough for me to go through each story individually, because honestly I think they all had something to contribute, but I will point out a few of my favourites. I loved the way they handled Britta’s story by having every character talk in the disjointed way she would likely be telling it. I know they did that in at least some fashion with all of them, but hers was particularly notable in that it perfectly captured the half-baked setup Britta needed to get everybody else to tell their stories.

Definitely my favourite was Abed’s. Anyone who reads this blog with any sort of regularity knows that I’m pretty much the logic police when it comes to these sorts of things, and Abed’s little checklist of what would be required before their deaths seemed earned hit just about every right note in my book. Plus how funny was it to watch Troy dancing along to Abed’s unbelievably long radio interlude.

Of course I couldn’t help but smile at Annie’s story either. Pretty much every line of dialogue that came after Brita appeared from that closet is worth re-quoting endlessly. And then there was Shirley’s  sermon which produced one of my favourite lines of the episode from Troy:

TROY: You ruined a Britta party. That’s like letting poop spoil.

But maybe the most impressive scene in the whole episode was when, after Britta spilled the beans that one of them could be a homicidal maniac, the lights flickered and they all instinctively grabbed weapons. That was a moment I did not see coming and again perfectly set up the ending where they all turned out to be insane.  I mean I’m downright swooning here, but that’s just genius writing. You’ve got to love watching a show really hit its stride like this.

Alright, now for my long list of favourite lines, with some bonus commentary attached! You’re welcome:

ANNIE: There’s nothing in your playlists but spooky party, the Beetlejuice soundtrack, and NPR podcasts.
BRITTA: Oh, we can listen to one of those. I have Michelle Morris interviewing Aril Morris. Don’t worry, they address it.

BRITTA: Extreme Jeff!
JEFF: Like a Dorito?
BRITTA: A sociopathic Dorito. A cool ranch lunatic. Only instead of zest Jeff, one member of our study group has homicidal tendencies.

JEFF: You probably just Britta-ed the test results somehow.

TROY: I want to go to the dance. I heard the Dean got free taco meat from the army! (Great call back!)

BRITTA: That makes sense. I’m turned on by how logical you are. (If only...)

BRITTA: I hope you’re as fertile as I am tonight.
ABED: More.

BRITTA: Should we go check it out?
ABED: No, we should call 911 on my fully charged cell phone, lock the doors, and then stand back to back in the middle of the room holding knives.

ANNIE: You should be proud of how much I’ve changed you!

TROY: That wasn’t even a ghost story. It was like an episode of some show we’re all too young to have heard of.

TROY: Troy and Abed sewn together!

And line of the night:

TROY: Yeah Jeff, what the hell. Why are you always so determined to have us relax and put down our weapons?

Parks and Recreation – “Meet N Greet” (A)

I was just saying a few weeks ago that I would love to see some more of the roommate dynamic between Ben, Andy, and April and then this little episode came along. I think it’s fairly safe to say the writers of Parks and Recreation are pretty big fans of Stuck on a Channel. And I welcome their readership, because I’m pretty a big fan of theirs too. Any show that so openly bashes salads the way this one does has instantly earned a place in my heart.

I’m a little sad we’ve seen the end of Entertainment 720 – you can probably file that twist under storylines we all saw coming – but at least it gave us that sweet ending between Leslie and Tom. I quite enjoyed the scene at the waffle house where Tom lamented over his business mistakes and that video montage – Leslie’s response was just fantastic. I could have maybe done with a touch less of the Entertainment 720 extravagance early in the episode, but hey, it’s their last hurrah, might as well let them have it. I just hope we still get to see Jean-Ralphio around.

Wow, and Ron in this episode. Here’s maybe the best testament to how good a character he is – a line as benign as “yeah, this is my Halloween costume” can get one of the biggest laughs of the night. Nick Offerman has amazing delivery. If he doesn’t get an Emmy nomination one of these days the system is broken.

I also really loved the writers’ decision to pair Ron and Ann together this week. Whenever you put Ron in a teaching position – think Ron Swanson’s Pyramid of Greatness – it always brings out the best in him. Combine that with Ann’s hilarious enthusiasm and you’ve got a pretty lethal combination, certainly the best storyline of the night. It takes me back to a few weeks ago when Ann was trying to get just a minute of small talk out of him. Turns out all she had to do was hand him a toolbox.

And of course I can’t forget to mention Ben and his lovable roommates. My only real problem with this storyline was that I didn’t buy that Ben could be that anti-confrontational. It just doesn’t seem to mesh with what we’ve seen from his character before this. But other than that I quite enjoyed what this storyline gave us. I LOVE that they brought Orin back. He was one of my favourite parts of the fantastic “Fancy Party” from last season. And I mean you’ve got to appreciate Andy’s “maturity” in handling the situation with Ben. The Dwyer method of solving conflict certainly tied everything up nicely in the end.

Okay, now for the quotes. Yeah, there’s a lot for this episode too... just in case you were wondering why it got an A:

JERRY: Look at you, you’re just beautiful!
CHRIS: You’re beautiful! On the inside, where your spirit lives.

ANDY: Weren’t you a pirate last year?
RON: Yes, this is my Halloween costume.

LESLIE: I have personally patronized each and every one of your establishments.
TANYA: Ummm, I’ve never seen you buy a salad from Sue’s Salads.
LESLIE: That’s because I don’t hate myself Tanya. I’m sorry, I know I should be chasing your vote but I stand behind my decision to avoid salad and other disgusting things. And I think I have a lot of support in the community for that.

ANDY: Where’s your costume?
APRIL: Honey, he’s wearing a costume. He’s going as lame.
ANDY: That’s a pretty good costume actually.

ANDY: See you’re angry at me and you’re not talking about it and I’m going to beat you up until you do because I’m mature.

ANDY: I grew up with 5 brothers and we fought using the Dwyer method, which was yelling, wrestling, crying, followed by lots of hugs... and then more wrestling but the fun kind... and then crying when the fun kind of wrestling got out of hand.

RON: Nice form son, make sure you keep a firm pressure on the cranium.

ANN: We’re gonna go dark people, bear with us okay. We’ve gotta switch off the main fuse hose.
RON: It’s just a fuse.
ANN: It’s just a fuse people, just a fuse.

TOM: Well hindsight is 20/20.
LESLIE: Kind of seems like regular sight should have caught that one.

BEN: Alright, maybe you have to start thinking about how your actions affect me. Like tell me about stuff happening in the house. Stop referring to my bedroom as a common space. Stop using my comforter for your pillow forts.

APRIL: We should go, I’m blocking an ambulance.

LESLIE: (through tears) I loved it. I’m going to watch it every day for the rest of my life and when I die I’m going to project it on my tombstone.

And line of the night:

LOWE’S EMPLOYEE: Hi there, is there a project you’re working on.
RON: I know more than you.
LOWE’S EMPLOYEE: Alright.

The Office – “Spooked” (A-)

Aww, poor Erin. She’s such a nice well intentioned girl. How can you not want to root for her? I was kind of wondering when the writers were going to bring back her relationship with Andy. Especially with Andy getting all this new screen time it only seems like the next logical step. They probably won’t get together for a while, but at least in the meantime you add a little sexual tension into the mix. Although I don’t know if Erin’s knows how to pick up on sexual tension, so... maybe just the regular kind of tension.

I kind of want to meet this girl Andy’s been dating. That really came out of nowhere, didn’t it? It would be a heck of a guest spot to land. I hope they get someone good to fill that role. It’s like that role that Roy guy played on that other show. What was it called? Oh wait no, that was still The Office. Seems like a long time ago though doesn’t it.

Anyway, Ellie Kemper really had a great episode. She’s what makes Erin so lovable. She’s just so positive sounding about everything. Even when she’s talking about working with her ex she makes it sound lovable. Oh, and fun fact – this episode was written by Kemper’s sister, Carrie Kemper. See, wasn’t that fun!  ***Pats self on back***.

Erin wasn’t the only one having a standout week though; this was really Robert California’s coming out party as well. I mean he’s had a few good bits in previous episodes, but he really left his mark on this one. I think my favourite scene in the entire episode was when Andy, Erin, and him had the dreaded talk in Andy’s office. He was the highlight of the whole thing and all he did was sit ominously in background.

ANDY: I’m sorry this must be really uncomfortable for you.
ROBERT: I’m never uncomfortable.
ANDY: Mmmkay.

I also quite liked the culmination of the little running bit they had where he collected everybody’s worst fears. The collective silence of the entire office after he finished his horror story was pretty great. I especially loved how he had to explain to Kevin that he was talking about mummies before it registered with him that he should be terrified.

I think the trick to his character is to use him sparingly. The writers did an excellent job keeping him in background of the episode and just having him pop in here and there to give a scene an extra little kick. If this is the Robert California we’re going to get for the rest of the season than you can consider me a fan.

To the quotes!

ERIN: When they talk about all the nice things about dating a co-worker they don’t mention one of the best parts – after you’re done dating you still get to work together! Every single day...

JIM: (wearing a Chris Bosh Miami Heat jersey) I know, I know, I know, but Darryl and Kevin needed a third. They bought this jersey, I said no, Kevin started crying, so... I am Chris Bosh.

PHYLLIS: Bob and I are doing this Scranton haunted walking tour.
OSCAR: I always wondered what kind of people went on that thing.

ROBERT: Bert this is a... paper company.

ROBERT: Extraordinary. Did you plan this?
KELLY: Well Toby and I did, yeah.
GABE: And I overheard and thought hey, that’d be fun, don’t mind if I do.

ERIN: Remember that Halloween party you took me to once, the one where I started crying as soon as I walked in and... I didn’t stop crying.
GABE: Yes.

KEVIN: Why on Earth would a museum put a mummy in it!

PHYLLIS: Is she Asian?
ERIN: I don’t know. She’s from somewhere I bet. Maybe from the forest.
PHYLLIS: The forest? Did Andy say his girlfriend’s from the forest?
ERIN: I don’t know Phyllis, maybe she’s from the city.

And line of the night:

ERIN: Pam how would you rate me as a receptionist on a scale of 1 to 3?
PAM: Um, 2...
ERIN: That’s like the second to last thing I wanted to hear.

We’re Going Ice Skating Everybody!

Hurray! I finally got a Grey’s review out before the new episode aired. I’m catching up...

Spoilers!

How I Met Your Mother – “Noretta” (B-)

How I Met Your Mother seasons tend work in phases, at least the recent ones do anyway. Generally, the start of the season is pretty good. We get the funny but we also get some movement in the bigger story arcs – Ted’s search for the mother, major character hook-ups, that sort of thing. Then the show starts to move into more one-off episodes varied around a theme that tends to get resolved by the end of the half hour. They have the potential to be good, but a lot of them end up being pretty forgettable. Later in the season and sometimes at its midpoint the writers will move back into those more interesting storylines, but unfortunately until then we get stuck in that intermediate phase, and that’s exactly where we are right now.

Tonight’s episode was not How I Met Your Mother at its finest. There were as always, certainly a few good moments, but altogether I found this to be a rather one-note episode. I think the storyline with the most holes in it was Robin, Ted and Kevin’s. I feel like I say this every week – I love Kal Penn but his style of acting just doesn’t seem to fit in with the sitcom format of this show. I’ve also started to notice that the writers have been using his character as a way to bring up or accentuate whatever psychological topic they want to talk about that week. This may work to give the episode a common theme, but it doesn’t make his character’s storylines any better.

I will say though, Ted and Robin’s attitude towards each other in this week’s episode, their lack of self-awareness if you will, does serve to highlight what I think is slowly becoming one of the major arcs of this season – the inappropriateness of this group’s dynamic. I mentioned it last week too, but the writers are definitely building towards something and I think it’s going to have a big impact later on in the season.

Thankfully, the other storylines in this episode faired a little better than the latter. Marshall’s decision to not stop until Lily felt sexy was maybe one of the most sitcomy starts to a storyline I’ve ever seen this show do, but the writers did get some pretty good banter out of it. Generally whenever Marshall invents a game there’s going to be something redeemable about that storyline... though I could have done without seeing Marshall’s Dad in Lily’s evening wear.

Barney too had a decent week. Neil Patrick Harris still knows how to sell a line, and I think I laughed at almost every utterance of the words “I can turn this around.” My one disappointment was that I felt like Wayne Brady’s cameo was a little bit wasted. I always enjoy his appearances on the show so I would have preferred it if the writers had held off until they had an episode where he and Barney could have been featured a little more prominently together.

Anyway, now for the quotes:

LILY: Wait you’re finally going to Bootytown?
BARNEY: Look, we just don’t want to rush anything, okay, so we decided to wait until she decides to let me have sex with her.

WEIRD AL: Vinny, start recording!

And line of the night:

MARSHALL: I was trying to think of how to best express how sexy you are to me... a song, a poem, and then it hit me: a board game!
LILY: You just get woman.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Poker Face” (B+)

Granted, this episode didn’t exactly have a ton of substance – dramatically it was a little tame – but there was something quite endearing about “Poker Face.” Tonally it sort of brought out Grey’s fun side, and for a show that very often flirts with over the top theatrics, an episode like this is good. It keeps everything in perspective.

I thought the standout this week was Meredith – she was a catalyst for a lot of funny storylines. I very much enjoyed watching her don the pink scrubs and start delivering babies. The way Christina defended her to Alex for going into gynaecology and then immediately told her stop embarrassing her was hilarious. I also liked her little encounters with Lexie, if only because Lexie had this sort of deer-in-headlights reaction to the whole thing. By the way, it was nice to see Lexie back in the mix again. Is it just me or has she had somewhat of a diminished role this season?

April had a pretty good week this week as well. For my money she’s the most entertaining character on this show right now. I thought Karev was a little harsh in that early scene where he just unloaded on her, but her reaction to it ended up being quite funny so I guess something positive came out of it. Credit Sarah Drew for really that selling that storyline. I love the way she sort of caught herself going into that high pitched voice each time someone defied and then promptly lowered it to great effect. I like watching her get these little wins.

I was a little irked though that they didn’t follow up on that guy she left with in the last episode. Maybe the writers are planning something a little bit bigger (or maybe I’ve just exaggerated the importance of this storyline in my head) but I still think that’s an important moment for her character and they just sort of brushed over it. Seeing as she ended this episode saying she’s going to drink beer and hit on boys I’m assuming nothing happened, but damn it I want to know what’s going on with her. I write a TV blog – these virginity storylines are the only ones I can relate to.

Alright, last thing. I kind of like that Arizona and Mark are friends now. I know that the writers pretty much just inserted that for the sake of Callie’s arc this week, but I wouldn’t mind a few more storylines in that direction. There’s a lot of potential there.

This Is In No Way Emotional Extortion

Sorry gang, I’m way behind this week.

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “Mystery vs. History” (B)

I read an article a while back about what children born today will never know. One of the items was the bar room argument. Like the episode points out, with the emergence of smart phones almost any argument can be settled in a matter of seconds. A show like Cheers couldn’t exist set in the present day. Cliff Clavin would be shot down almost the instant he started talking.

That’s why, despite the general goofiness of the episode, I liked “Mystery vs. History.” It’s hardly a classic, but it did what it did well. I liked watching Barney and Robin slowly turn into a crack research team, or Ted obsess over whether or not a girl likes Annie Hall. It’s silly and it could just as easily have bombed, but it worked for me.

“Mystery vs. History” was also notable because for the first time it put a microscope over some of the more unhealthy elements of this group’s dynamic, something I think we’ll see a lot more of this season. They did it in a rather loose and light-hearted manner, but if you remember back to “Ducky Tie” I think the theme the writers have set up for the season is that certain aspects of this group were going to change, and maybe this episode was the first step in that direction.

And if that’s the case I like the way the writers handled it. The idea that the old gang needs to grow up is a little depressing at first, but at least the reasons why are funny. Kevin’s outsider perspective was used well here to point out all the weird habits this group has formed over the years. I’ll just ignore the fact that he’s a psychiatrist dating his patient.

I especially liked the montage of all the ways the group has physically abused each other over the years, appropriately set to the series’ long-running favourite “Murder Train”. By the way, when are we going to get another slap bet episode? Are we saving that last slap for the series finale?

Also great was the short scene where Robin’s dad sent her off into the woods for her birthday. It was pretty stupid, but again I laughed. Is it just me or is Cobie Smulders getting a lot more screen time this season? She’s stolen at least a few episodes this year.

Line of the night:

BARNEY: Oh my god, they’re six minutes into the date! Ted’s probably already told her he loves her.

House – “Charity Case” (B-)

Completely adequate. Delightfully average. There’s just not much the House writer’s can do these days that’ll surprise me. Not with the same old, same old anyway. There was actually a moment during this episode, where House was having one of his revelations, where I actually checked the time on the DVR recording just to see if he’d actually figured it out yet or if it was just another red herring. So yeah, I’m a little jaded.

Again, it’s not that I hated the episode, it was just par for the course. Wentworth Miller was a pretty decent get as a guest star. Poor guy, I wonder what he’s been up to since Prison Break ended. But as for his story it was another classic (that’s the nice way of putting it) House diagnosis – treating altruism as symptoms of a disease. It may have been intriguing five years ago, but you’re going to have to do more than that to get me to sit up these days.

It was nice to see Thirteen again, if only for an episode. Her goodbye with House at the end was a sweet moment, especially since this is likely the end for her character. The two of them have always seemed to share an unspoken bond, so I liked what House did for her by firing her. Part of me hope she comes back, at least for the series finale, but if this was the last we’ll ever see of Thirteen at least she got a somewhat happy ending.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Love, Loss, and Legacy” (C+)

Yup, that was a penis transplant. I’m surprised it took them this long.

I’m getting sick of these famous visiting surgeon storylines Grey’s keeps throwing out. I swear we get at least one or two a year, and they’re always the same. The staff spends the first act gushing over whoever this new surgeon is, thus giving them their back story. Then they fight over who’s going to scrub into that surgeon’s fancy surgery. Then there’s the inevitable tension in the OR. The only way it could get worse is if say, one of the famous surgeons were related to somebody on the staff. Oh right...

Needless to say I was not a fan of Avery’s mom Catherine. She was pretty much the stereotype of an overbearing mother and to be honest I didn’t find her bluntness as charming as I think was intended. The fact that for some reason Sloane felt he had to impress her just made things worse.

The only storyline I cared less about than Avery’s mom visiting was Bailey hemming and hawing over her relationship with that nurse. I don’t think it’s a secret that I haven’t been a fan of those two from the start, and suffice to say I cared as much about their ending as I did the rest of their relationship. I’m guessing the whole point of this is so that Bailey can get back together with Jason George’s character now that he’s back from his brief stint on Off the Map.

The one snippet of this episode that did peak my interest was Kepner running off with that guy in the closing moments. That’s a pretty big deal for her character and I’m wondering whether that was meant to be just an ending tag or the start of a major turning point for her character. Maybe the mystery of what happened will be one of the focuses of the next episode. I don’t know, but if she did sleep with him I don’t want the writers to just breeze over it like it was nothing. They should give it its due.

Modern Family – “Go Bullfrogs!” (B+)

I don’t know what to tell you. Whoever came up with the idea to have Phil go back to college is a genius. The second he jumped into that cheerleading routine while on the phone, they had me hooked. How do you get any better than that, seriously? They should have saved that for the end because nothing was going to top it.

The rest of the episode, while not nearly up to the standard of that Phil storyline, still managed to amuse. I was a big fan of Jay and Gloria this week. Jay’s obsession with her Spanish soap opera was one of those classic gags that seem to work no matter what era they’re done in.

I was also a fan Claire’s story this week. It was a little up and down – I kind of wish they’d kept Cam and Mitchell with her for more of it – but it’s always fun to see Claire unleash her wild side. Her closing speech to the moms at Luke’s sleepover was a great way to cap off the storyline. Julie Bowen really nailed it there.

The reason I’d wished Cam and Mitchell had stuck with Claire, is a) the three of them were really funny together and b) their storyline kind of got a little scattered once they’d left the party with Claire. The stolen car thing didn’t really go anywhere and I found it a little odd that they didn’t try to warn Claire once they found out that her companion wasn’t gay. In the end I don’t think I was ever really satisfied with where the writers decided to take the storyline.

To the quotes:

GLORIA: What do you mean she blossomed? Like the puberty?

CLAIRE: Are you really comfortable with what you just said?

PHIL: Was I wrong? Are these not the best wings you’ve ever had in your life?
HALEY: Oh my god.
PHIL: And you didn’t want to get 40!

And line of the night:

CLAIRE: It’s not my fault this one decided to be straight.
TRAINER: I’ve always been straight!

This Will Be No Fun At All

Wow, I really should have used this time to study for mid-terms...

Spoilers:

Community – “Remedial Chaos Theory” (A-)

“Remedial Chaos Theory” gets high marks just for the attempt. I can’t think of another show on television (other than maybe a cartoon) that would be able to take on such a high concept episode as this one and get away with it. But to do just that, and still manage to give us a complete narrative arc is something special. Too many episodes built around these high concepts get lost in their premise and end up forgetting the storytelling. “Remedial Chaos Theory” not only avoids that trap but uses its multiple timelines to enlighten the audience in a way that wouldn’t have been possible just business as usual.

Now I’ll be honest with you here, when I first turned off the episode I was a little underwhelmed. From a plot standpoint the stakes just weren’t there. Whatever vignette you were in, you knew the episode was just a quick dice roll away from moving on to something else with really no lasting consequences, and that made it hard for me to get invested. But then I took the night and I thought it over for a little while, and I realized just how genius that actually was.

There were almost no lasting consequences! But the characters were still the same. They were motivated by the same things they were motivated by in any other episode. In fact, by watching them react to the same basic scenario over and over again with only slightly varying circumstances we got to see a lot more clearly what exactly makes them tick. Troy’s desire to be seen as an adult, Pierce’s need to be liked, Shirley’s alienation over being the only one not getting the “googly eyes”, all of it was quite cleverly worked into multiple timelines forming an arc that spanned the entire episode.

And what’s more, the writers managed to find a way to hook up some of our favourite potential couples without actually having any sort of lasting repercussions. I swear, one of these days they’re going to have to try one of these relationships out for real. I don’t know if I can handle watching Annie and Jeff kiss one more time without one of them doing something about it.

The ending was just an amalgamation of everything the show does well. Absurd over the top humour, high concept premises, and some serious heart to back it all up. We went from a classic Winger move (setting up a system in which he’s assured to not have to go get the pizza) to the whole study group sharing a sweet bonding moment with each other to the alternate timeline where everything has gone terribly wrong (Brita has a blue streak in her hair!). I mean, show me a better way to end an episode of Community than that.

JEFF: Oh look, Indiana Jones and the apartment of perpetual virginity.
TROY: Chop busted fellow adult, chop busted.

PIERCE: Doesn’t bother me, I’ve hardly missed you at all since I’ve had you removed from my portraits.

ABED: Tonight we offer something far more than boobs and billiards.
JEFF: What?
TROY: One word, two syllables.
JEFF: Don’t say charades.
TROY: Yahtzee.
JEFF: Is charades off the table?

ANNIE: I love your place Troy. You’re all grown up now.
JEFF: I can’t believe those are real mahogany bunk beds in there. I bet that cost you a few allowances.

TROY: Give it Pierce, it feels fun! You’re bad at gift giving. I demand to be house warmed.

PIERCE: Encarta it!

And line of the night:

BRITA: Troy lost his larynx because for some dumb reason he tried to destroy a flaming troll doll by eating it.
TROY: Clearly you don’t understand anything about defeating trolls.

Parks and Recreation – “Pawnee Rangers” (B+)

If you can remember all the way back to Season 2 of Parks, you may recall an episode named “Sweetums.” In it, Libertarian Ron got a little carried away in his glee over Sweetums taking over of the Pawnee’s park refreshment stands and ended up alienating Leslie in the process. His apology to her at the end of the episode was really the first time we got a look at the remarkable (and funny) mutual respect these two very different people share for each other.

I bring it up because “Pawnee Rangers” is really that “Sweetums” episode in reverse. This time Leslie was the one who got too carried away and Ron was the one who suffered, and yet the result is just as effective. Leslie’s retribution at the end of the episode was just another sweet moment in the ongoing saga between the two. I dare say you’d be hard pressed to find another relationship on television as unique as Leslie and Ron.

It’s actually a wonder that it took Parks and Rec until its fourth season to do an episode centered on a boy scout-esque organization. It really does feel like the type of thing this show is made for, and that’s a complement to this episode because the writers used the premise quite well. The contrast between Leslie’s Goddesses and Ron’s Pawnee Rangers was pretty funny, and all the supporting players did a great job – Andy and the Rangers reciting the Goddesses pledge, Ann’s rivalry with one of the girls in the troupe – they provided a great background atmosphere for the episode.

I also really liked Ben’s story again this week. I could have probably done without seeing him break into tears but for the most part watching him try to relax was one of the funnier parts of the episode and I’m glad the writers decided to show some of his reaction to his breakup with Leslie. It feels like the writers are making a concerted effort to make Ben more independently funny, which is fine with me – I’ve been enjoying his nerdish rants over the last couple of weeks. Oh and for the record, that acupuncture scene was the best part of the episode.

The other great development in “Pawnee Rangers” is the introduction of Jerry’s daughter as Chris’s new love interest. It wasn’t exactly laugh out loud funny in this episode, but there’s a lot of potential in that storyline if the writers choose to pursue it further. Poor Jerry... let’s hope they do.

To the quotes:

DONNA: What is wrong with you today? Did they cancel Game of Thrones?
BEN: Nothing is wrong, just do your job... and they would never cancel Game of Thrones. It’s a crossover hit. It’s not just for fantasy enthusiasts, they’re telling human stories in a fantasy world... fill out the forms please.

RON: We have one activity planned, not getting killed.

RON: Get back to your canvas box. We’ll discuss this no further.

CHRIS: I retroactively accept your original offer.

ANN: Who wants homemade peanut brittle?
GIRL: Miss Perkins please we’re in the middle of a debate.

LESLIE: Come on Goddesses, we just struck a huge blow for equality by proving that we were better than them.

And line of the night:

TOM: Ben listen I’m going to talk to you about things you like to take your mind off the needles okay? Accounting, trigonometry, stamps probably.

The Office – “Garden Party” (B)

If it wasn’t clear last week, than it should be now: Ed Helms is the new lead on The Office. Robert California did make it into this one, but James Spader is still pretty much a bit player, an enigma who just sort of shows up to throw a cog into whatever Andy’s up to that week. It’s not that this bothers me per se, Andy’s had a wonderful season so far, it’s just feels really weird considering the hoopla surrounding Spader’s hire.

With that said, “Garden Party” was probably the weakest episode for Andy this year. I’ve always felt that Andy’s country club background is the most unlikable part about his character, or at least the way he keeps bringing it up all the time. I get the joke, but it misses pretty regularly for me. So naturally an episode based solely around that didn’t really jive with me as well as it could have.

 I think “Garden Party” was supposed to be a way to move Andy’s character out of that niche though, and to me that’s a good thing. I doubt the Cornell references will ever fade out completely and I don’t mean to say I hate them all, but I think this is a good first step to a more modest version of Andy. In fact, considering how sweet his character has become over the past few seasons the Connecticut jokes don’t really fit him anymore anyway.

Of course I do have to make one distinction here. Endless toasts and awkward harmonies aren’t exactly my cup of tea, but Dwight in a top hat announcing every guest’s arrival, you can poor me a cup of that (metaphors!). It really was another great week for the Jim/Dwight duo. They may not be the same characters of old, but they can still pull off a prank and for whatever reason that’s very comforting to me.

Pollstered!

Hey sports fans! It’s been a busy week so I’m going to have to give you the abridged version of some of these reviews. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “Field Trip” (B)

Not everything in this episode worked, but on the whole I actually liked most of “Field Trip”. First off, Barney’s Ewok bit was a stroke of genius. It didn’t really matter what else happened in the episode, it was getting a semi-decent rating just for coming up with about 20 hilarious PowerPoint slides about Ewoks, ranging from Ewok topography to their hairstyles and anatomy. Ironically enough I went on to watch Jedi later that night.

Robin’s courtship with her therapist was a little less memorable. It throws a bit of cog into her pursuit of Barney but I think it’s pretty obvious the relationship won’t last. I do like Kal Penn but for some reason he feels a little bit underutilized here. Actually, most of Robin’s boyfriends (you know, other than Ted and Barney) haven’t really been the kind of characters that stick with you. I’ve grown attached to a couple of Ted’s girlfriends, but never to any of Robin’s boyfriends. I guess it’s because she’s always been destined as a potential love interest for the other leads on the show and we know Ted is going to marry someone outside of the group, but I do find that interesting...

I wasn’t a huge fan of Marshall’s storyline this week either, but I want to put an asterisk beside that statement. I thought Martin Short was quite funny and Marshall definitely had a few good lines as well, it’s just as a whole I didn’t really buy the idea that an environmental lawyer would just give up on the planet like that, as if it were a foregone conclusion. It makes very little sense. And inserting Lily into that story, rather awkwardly I might add, just exasperated the problem.

Maybe the silliest storyline of the week though I did like. Ted’s field trip was definitely a little out there – one of those stories that would just never happen in real life – but when they combined it with Barney’s storyline it was just the right amount of stupid to be funny. I loved how Barney somehow knew all of the students’ names as well as some of their mom’s names, and watching the group crash Robin’s date and hang out at the bar actually ended up being pretty endearing, so like I said – stupid but funny.

House – “Transplant” (B-)

So pretty much everything I talked about in my last review was either a poorly made assumption or just wrong, from Robert Sean Leonard appearing in a play to House staying in that prison for any length of time. Unfortunately, I don’t have a great beat on the inner happenings of House and those are just the breaks sometimes.

Of course with that said I wish I was right, because now the show has transported itself back into the same old familiar territory that has grown stale over the last few seasons. At least from House’s perspective, we’ve already seen this sort of storyline when he returned from the mental hospital.  I’m kind of getting a little frustrated with the cyclical nature of this show.

The one saving grace of this move by the writers though is it allows us to view some of the supporting characters in a new light. Foreman as Dean of Medicine could be interesting and since House’s incarceration effectively acts like a time jump when we do get the return of some of the other familiar faces on this show they should have a few new stories to tell.

I don’t mind Charlyne Yi’s new character either. She’s brings a different energy to the show (Charlyne Yi brings somewhat of a different energy to life too, so naturally it’s going to rub off on the show) and her character’s dynamic with House could end up adding a nice touch of humour.

I guess in the end what I’m saying is I’m a little disappointed that the writers have seemingly transported House backwards a few seasons, but I’m cautiously optimistic that maybe, with all the changes this season, they’ll be able to give us something new this year. It’ll likely be the final season for House and you always want to see a show go out on a high.

Grey’s Anatomy – “What Is It About Men” (B-)

This happens every few seasons on Grey’s, where they devote an episode to the men of the show. Normally it’s good for a few laughs – rarely do they hold any sort of substance – but for the most part it serves to highlight one of the main weaknesses of the writing staff on Grey’s, and that’s writing for its male characters.

Now yes, I realize the irony of that argument. Most TV shows have the exact opposite problem – they’re male centric and either don’t develop their female characters or worse turn them into unrealistic fantasy woman. It’s hard to criticise Grey’s for going in the other direction, but I think the ideal should be for every character to be well developed regardless of gender, and I don’t think that’s a really groundbreaking assertion.

So blah blah blah Grey’s is targeted for women... how did this episode do? About the same as the others I’d say. There were a few funny moments between the guys but there were also a few times I rolled my eyes. The deck was a nice addition, and I quite liked the joke at the end where they discovered it wasn’t level, but the whole concept seemed a little on the nose. There’s just something about the dialogue, the way they talk during these so called bonding sessions, that just seems decidingly unnatural.

Whatever, I guess I should just be glad they did a show about the guys at all.

Modern Family – “Hit and Run” (A-)

This was a real comeback episode for Modern Family. If you’ve been reading the blog over the last couple of weeks I haven’t exactly been gushing over the show of late. There’s been a few good storylines here and there but in general Modern Family has been pretty average this season, save for maybe the premiere. Let’s just hope “Hit and Run” has broken it out of its funk.

Once again I enjoyed David Cross’s part in the episode. I don’t know how much of role he’s going to play or whether or not the writers are going to stick with this Claire running for office thing, but his guest stints have both been solid. And while Claire was off challenging him for his seat on city council, we got to see Phil give his best shot at child rearing, hilariously punching Luke and drugging Alex within a few short minutes of wife’s absence.

I also loved Gloria’s response to Claire running for city council. Her absolute glee at finally getting to help someone with their problems made the fact that she kept assuming Claire wasn’t going to win that much funnier. That and Gloria’s description of the “Bieberization of America” were two of the highlights of the episode for me. When Sofia Vergara brings it, she really brings it.

But all the storylines were pretty good in this one. It was fun watching Jay deal with his client’s ridiculous demands, especially the quick cutaways to Jay describing how he was actually feeling. And Cameron and Mitchell had a markedly better week this week (I loved Lily’s reaction to finding out the two of them went to Muppet movie without her). Oh, and did anyone else notice David Neher (aka Todd from Community) at the end there. Man, that guy is everywhere these days.

Line of the night:

GLORIA: Well to be fair Haley started her crime ring when your eye was still on the ball.

-

Alright, maybe that wasn’t as abridged as it could have been.

Oh God, Not The Gotcha Dancers!

Sorry I didn’t get this to you all sooner. It took me a long time to figure out a good excuse as to why it would be late. Damn, that is gold!

Spoilers...

The Office – “Lotto” (B+)

Of all the many characters on The Office, not surprisingly it’s been Andy who’s benefitted the most from the recent changes on the show. Over the last few episodes Ed Helms has seemingly turned into the unquestioned lead on the show. The idea that it would be James Spader replacing Michael Scott seems to have just been misdirection. While Robert California had a large part in the premiere, he was used sparsely in the last episode, and he wasn’t even present here. Perhaps it’s because the writers didn’t think the audience could handle hearing one of the existing cast members would be taking over the lead role, or perhaps they really believed it would be James Spader, but either way it’s been Andy who’s stolen the spotlight.

And so far Helms has more than held his own. I am one of those people who would have doubted Andy’s appropriateness for the role a year ago, but after watching these first few episodes you can consider me converted. Will it last forever? Probably not. There are a lot of solid stories to be explored just because Andy’s new in the role, but those won’t last forever. Still, the writers have done a tremendous job of taking what was already present in Andy’s character before he got the job and adapting it to his new role as manager.

His story with Darryl this week was one such example. Last season the main storyline between these two was their unlikely friendship. It makes sense then that Darryl would be somewhat jealous over Andy receiving the job he so coveted. And the writers hit all the right marks with that premise. Andy was charming and funny as he tried to cover for Darryl, Darryl was equally funny as he wallowed in his own self pity (taco basement anyone?), and when Andy finally set him straight in the episode’s finale it didn’t feel contrived or mean-spirited, just one friend setting another straight.

What I worry about though is that even though Andy seems to have gotten a reawakening, the rest of the cast has not. Last week I wondered why the writers continued to give us gimmicky plotlines like Kevin inventing a language when the show’s new setup had given them so much more material to work with. Well I think this episode shed some light on that answer. While Andy may have gotten a creative shot in the arm, the rest of the cast has not, and any storyline he isn’t in is bound to suffer.

The warehouse replacements in this episode are somewhat of a flawed example, but I think they still drive home the point. I actually found the storyline to be quite funny. Erin and Kevin we’re a surprisingly good comedic pair, especially when contrasted with Jim and Dwight. But with that said, all of them seemed to have turned into cartoon characters by the end of episode. Dwight crashing the forklift, definitely Erin and Kevin spreading grease on the floor, and the whole contraption at the end looked like something the Coyote would have set up to catch the Roadrunner. It worked this time, but it’s that kind of slow degradation of characters that has plagued The Office over the past few seasons, and that doesn’t exactly give me confidence for the future.

To the quotes:

ANDY: We’re losing cloud cover.
KELLY: Oh don’t try to get in on it now Michael Vick.
DARRYL: Hey, hey, hey! Vick did his time.

JIM: Stop, I’m a barista in your fantasy?

KELLY: I think I would keep working. And for my salary I guess I would take like a dollar a year. I mean obviously I wouldn’t come in ‘til noon and I wouldn’t do anything that I didn’t want to do... I mean I’m getting paid a dollar a year, okay. You can chill!

JIM: There’s gotta be a better way to do this. This is literally how they built the pyramids.
DWIGHT: Well they whipped people which was helpful.

ANDY: That’s what I love about interviewing. I get to meet all these people I wouldn’t ordinarily meet, or know, or even talk to.

And line of the night:

DARRYL: The guys did invite me out to celebrate, but I decided to just stay home... eat a bunch of tacos in my basement.
ANDY: You do have a fantastic basement.
DARRYL: I did... I did have a fantastic basement. Now it smells like tacos. You can’t air out a basement, and taco air is heavy. It settles at the lowest point.

Community – “Competitive Ecology” (A-)

“Offense taken... offense taken.”

It’s an odd phenomenon that I can really only tolerate in sitcoms, but for some reason I find irrational hatred incredibly funny. Jerry on Parks and Recreation is a good example. The Office used to have Michael and Toby. There’s just something inherently amusing about one-sided hostility, especially when generally normal characters start to get in on the action. I think it’s needless to say then that I quite enjoyed Todd’s addition to this episode.

I actually had to look up the poor guy’s name, but major credit is owed to David Neher for his portrayal of the oft under fire Todd. His laid back rendition of the character made all the hatred coming in his direction that much funnier. I hope he remains on as one of the colourful background characters this series is known for.

“Competitive Ecology” actually reminded me a lot of the bottle episode from last season. The majority of the episode was spent locked in the study room arguing over a topic that would keep the group there unless solved. With Pierce taking a much less villainous role on the series this year, I think one of the major themes of the season is going to be the study group’s need to find a scapegoat. I mean I may be looking into it a little too deeply, but the way they came together at the end by blaming Todd for their problems seems to indicate something in that direction.

The other storyline in this episode, Chang’s film noir, was almost equally entertaining. I mean we’ve known Chang has been crazy pretty much since the day we met him, but if you ever wondered what actually goes on in his head this was the episode to watch. And man is that guy is insane. The storyline was brilliantly stylized though, capturing the film noir genre perfectly. I think Chang’s monologues were just the right amount of stupid to be funny.

Alright, now for my favourite lines:

JEFF: Hey Dean, what are you doing?
DEAN PELTON: Nothing after lunch, and I can skip lunch if you want to... oh, that.

CHANG: She was all dame. Legs that went all the way to the bottom of her torso, the kind of arms that had elbows...

CHANG: I had to get some answers, and I needed answers like a fish needs a bicycle... a lot.

SHIRLEY: How could you guys hate me more than Pierce, or anything more than Pierce.
PIERCE: Thin ice Shirley. My friends and I are NOT gonna let you drive a wedge between us.

ANNIE: Who the hell are you always texting, everyone you know is here.

BRITA: If loving worms is stupid I don’t want to be smart.
ANNIE: It is and you can’t be.

JEFF: Guys I just figured it all out.
TROY: Pierce, wake up! Jeff is gonna heal us.

And line of the night:

JEFF: So it’s agreed. Let’s go to the study room and deal with this Todd problem once and for all.

Parks and Recreation – “Born & Raised” (A-)

“Leslie Knope: Author, Liar”

This isn’t fact or anything – I haven’t really done the leg work – but it seems like every time Joan Callamezzo makes an appearance on this show we end up getting a good episode. Maybe it’s her, or maybe it’s just because every storyline that requires a stop by Pawnee Today tends to have something going for it, but either way I feel like there’s a lot of truth to that hypothesis. The gay penguin episode, the media blitz for the harvest festival – there’s some sort of positive correlation between her appearances on the show and episodes that stick with me. This week gave us the gotcha dancers, a Pawnee book club, and most notable of all, our first look inside Joan’s house. Let’s just say it was hard to look away.

I’ve started to notice the writers are pairing Ben and Tom together a lot lately. It’s a not a bad idea – the two of them together have great chemistry – I’m just wondering if maybe part of the reasoning is that the writers don’t want Leslie and Ben paired with each other too soon after the break up. I think eventually there’s going to be a storyline this season where the two of them start finding it difficult to stay apart, but I like the decision to give them a little space. It lets Leslie work on her campaign and it’s sort of allowed Ben to break out of his own shell a little bit. He was quite funny in this episode. He has his own particular brand of humour and if you pair him with the right character he can generate a lot of good lines.

It was also nice to see Bert Macklin back in this episode. Chris Pratt is the master of physical comedy, so having Andy act as Leslie’s bodyguard was pretty much the perfect situation for him to show off that skill. I loved the sequence where he decided he was going to steal Leslie’s birth certificate for her. Listening to him explain how he took a briefcase as a panic move made me laugh out loud.

Chris actually had a pretty good week as well. He was just sort of a tag along to Leslie’s storyline but he added some great comic relief. My two favourite Chris moments were when he started singing along to the gotcha dancer’s song and when he happily waved goodbye to the raucous crowd at Leslie’s book signing. What a great character he’s turned out to be.

As for Ann, Ron, and April, I actually really liked their storyline even if I didn’t totally buy the premise. Ann’s desperate need for small talk seemed a little forced and I think it said a little bit more about her character than the writers intended it to. Most emotionally healthy adults wouldn’t be that desperate for the approval of two people who clearly don’t want to get to know her.

But what really saved the storyline is the great rapport between Ron and April. They’re two very different characters and yet they always seem to know just what the other is thinking, and their respect for each other is fun to watch. I liked Ron’s casual little smile after April called him by the wrong name.

Now for my favourite lines (there are a lot):

LESLIE: I wrote it as a reference for myself but then my campaign advisor said we should make it a big wide release. So we had people contribute and we added pictures and we removed a lot of my poems and emotional ramblings and pictures of unicorns and here it is!

RADIO MODERATOR: Leslie, could one say that a book is nothing more than a painting of words which are the notes on the tapestry of the greatest film ever sculpted?

RON: Usually I only read nautical novels and my own personal manifestos, but I’m proud to make this exception.

LESLIE: The rest of you call me as soon as you find the mistake that does not exist.

BEN: Wow you guys are really cute together.
TOM: Ben, I’m cute together with everybody.

JOAN CALLAMEZZO: After the break, where is Leslie Knope actually born? We will pull out the world map and speculate wildly.

TOM: You’re the one that told me businesses need clients to get money.
BEN: I was the first one who told you that?

BEN: Is she gonna powder her vagina?

LESLIE: Thirteen percent think I’m crazy eyed?

RON: Ann was getting a little chummy. When people get too chummy with me I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don’t really care about them.

And line of the night:

TOM: At the risk of bragging, one of the things I’m best at is riding coattails. Behind every successful man is me, smiling and taking partial credit.

Song(s) of the week

This week’s pick:

“Contrails” and “Trouble Hunters” by Astronautalis (Contrails feat. Tegan Quin)

Where I found Astronautalis: A few years back this guy went on tour with Tegan and Sara and I quietly filed him away in my bands to listen to file. Then, and this is where the story really turns, I found out he had another album coming out and I listened to it. Yeah...

With all the indie music I throw out on this blog I know it must seem like it’s the only thing I listen to, but I can assure you that couldn’t be further from the truth. I mean, this guy’s a rapper, so... pretty much got you there. Although, I guess he did get Tegan from Tegan and Sara to sing the hook. Dammit!

What I like: This guy has great, capital G great... so Great, lyrics. And on top of that he’s a master of the hook. I’ve had “Trouble Hunters” stuck in my head for over two years.

Contrails - Astronautalis feat. Tegan Quin


Trouble Hunters - Astronautalis

I Know That’s Me But I’m Not Remembering Any Of This

Just a short post tonight. I’ll hopefully have Thursday’s line up for you soon.

Spoilers...

Modern Family – “Door to Door” (B)

“Door to Door” would have scored lower if it wasn’t for David Cross’s cameo. His incense over not getting an ice cream cake bumped this episode up almost a full letter grade. Well that and the video of Phil getting hit in the face over and over again. That probably shouldn’t have been as funny as it was.

The rest of “Door to Door” was pretty mediocre. I found Gloria’s story to be the worst. While it was mildly amusing to watch Cam walk around playing Stan from A Street Car Named Desire, in the end it was a pretty one-note joke and the rest of the storyline didn’t arc. She lost the dog and then she found the dog. There wasn’t much more to it than that.

I think it was the door to door theme that really did the episode in. By forcing most of the cast into situations where they had to be in front of a strangers door by the middle of the episode, it hindered the episode’s ability to develop each storyline individually, and subsequently made them all worse for wear.

I mentioned the lack of an arc with Gloria above, but the same could be said for Cam and Mitchell. With all the confusion over when the adoption agency was making their house visit, how many of you didn’t see that ending coming? All of the elements were in place in the first five minutes, and because Cam had to help Gloria out – putting him in front of an old man’s front door in the middle of the episode – there wasn’t anywhere to go with it.

Jay and Manny faired a little better but not enough to save the premise. I liked seeing Manny trick Jay into buying all of his wrapping paper (“You’ll never go broke playing to a rich guy’s ego”), but I could have done without the Jay-is-old undertones of the story. The writers seem to go to that well a lot and it’s starting to lose its appeal.

Alright, now to my favourite lines:

CAM: I’m going to take Lilly to school and when I get back home I’m going to scrub this place like a crime scene, which it is because you’ve murdered joy.

PHIL: I’ve always said that if my son thinks of me as one of his idiot friends than I’ve succeeded as a dad.

CLAIRE: Uh wow Phil, what are you doing here?
PHIL: I’m your husband. I’m Blind Siding you.

And line of the night:

PHIL: I’ll get straight to the point because this is important and that appears to be an ice cream cake.
TRAFFIC COMMITTEE GUY: Well it’s not!

Who Eats Salt And Pepper Without Cumin?

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “The Stinson Missile Crisis” (A-)

Three weeks in and still going strong. I think probably the best sign for the season ahead is that despite this episode not dealing with any the series’ major story arcs (generally those are directly related to Ted’s search for the mother or some sort of variation on that theme), it still worked out to be quite funny.

Ted, Lily, and Marshall’s storyline this week is exactly the kind of one-joke over the top affair I normally hate, but the one joke was so funny in this episode I couldn’t help but love it. Josh Radnor’s absolute commitment to that salt & pepper and cumin bit somehow managed to make me laugh every single time he brought it up. And some of the best iterations were saved right for the very end of the episode: Lewis and Clark and their canoe, Dr. Frankenstein & his monster and a scared villager, and my personal favourite, C3P0 & R2D2 and the robot Luke’s Uncle almost bought from the Jawas – absolutely hilarious.

I also liked how the writers framed the episode (yes, I realize I say this every week), this time through Robin’s court-ordered therapy.  The way they managed to tie Lily, Marshall, and Ted’s story into Robin’s retelling was awesome. The writers knew there was no way they could naturally fit it into the premise so they just made a joke about how out of place the storyline was. It’s not exactly cutting edge storytelling, but it certainly was funny.

ROBIN: Wow, the lesson you learned with Lily and Marshall is directly applicable to my situation and is therefore a valid part of how I’ll eventually tell this story.

Of course the reason why she was telling that story in the first place was partly due to Barney, who also had an excellent week. I like how the writers are handling Barney’s decision to go monogamous this time around. I think part of the problem people had with Barney dating Robin originally was that his character sort of lost what made him funny in the process. It’s only really been one episode, but the way the writers seemed to use Barney’s past conquests to keep up his usual brand of shenanigans was a smart way of allowing the character to grow while maintaining that mystique. Who knows whether that’ll be sustainable in the long term, but it worked well in this episode.

And last but not least, I just have to commend Cobie Smulders for her role in tying the whole episode together. She did a great job of playing off a surprisingly stiff Kal Penn (I still love you though Kal). I’m glad she’s set her sights on Barney again. It’s given her character a good arc so far this season. There’s nothing like unrequited love for bringing the laughs.

The quotes:

ROBIN: Nobody asked you Patrice!

MARSHALL: It’s fascinating how profoundly little I know about vaginas.

TED: Come on! We’re a trio. We’ve always been a trio. We’re right up there with Batman and Robin and Alfred. Romeo and Juliet and the Apothecary. Salt and Pepper and Cumin.

ROBIN: You think you’re so smart just because you went to Harvard, and Princeton, and... wow Harvard again.

ROBIN: Why not rerecord it?
BARNEY: I did like a hundred takes, it kept happening.

BARNEY: Thanks Robin, you’re the only person I know who would help me do all that. You’re a real bro.
ROBIN: Am I though? Cause I’m really more of a woman. To my femininity!
BARNEY: No you’re more of a bro. You’re a dude. You’re a man.

And line of the night (obviously):

TED: Who eats salt and pepper without cumin?

Grey’s Anatomy – “Take the Lead” (B)

How many times now have we had to watch Richard lose is his chiefdom? Three? Four? Let me see... there was the infamous race to become Chief back in season 3 or 4. That ended with Derek refusing the job. Then there was the time he lost it because he was drinking again. Derek was actually Chief for a little while that time around, but I think he gave it up in a season premiere. Actually that was in last year’s season premiere. So... I guess this is the third time. Man, the writers really love to go to that well.

They really need to either make it permanent this time, or, you know, stop doing it over and over again. I mean, I get appeal. It gives the Chief something new to do and lets one of the attendings explore how well they do in the job. It just gets stupider and stupider every time it happens though. Let’s just hope Owen does a little better than Derek did. He’s already off to a bad start. That plotline with Bailey was terrible.

Luckily Richard’s resignation wasn’t the only thing that happened in this episode. I think on the whole I enjoyed watching the residents get there first shot at solo procedures. I thought it was pretty funny that both Christina and Teddy forgot how to do an appendectomy. The moment when Christina realized Teddy didn’t know how to do it either certainly brought a smile to my face.

I think my favourite storyline of the episode though had to do with the one resident who didn’t get her own procedure. Kepner is slowly emerging as one of the better characters on this show right now, and so far I’ve enjoyed watching her struggles as Chief Resident. She had a few great scenes with Karev in this one and I especially loved the way she saved him from some of the other Residents’ ridicule at the end of the episode. It’s always nice to see an underdog character get a win.

I was a little more apprehensive going into this episode about Derek and Grey. Save for the first few seasons when the relationship was fresh Grey’s tends to go downhill fast whenever there’s drama between the two of them. But I have to give the writers (and actors) credit for this episode. I thought the scene where the two of them finally had it out was really well done. The way Derek progressed through his frustrations made the scene feel like a natural argument. When he pointed to the post-it note and said “I meant that”, that was a powerful moment. And I’m glad Meredith was able to reason with him. At least now they’re talking.

Now please Grey’s writers, make it last.

House – “Twenty Vicodin” (A-)

House was really struggling last year to maintain the status quo. After 7 seasons the patient of the week formula, combined with little personal growth for the character (he tends to sway back and forth) just wasn’t doing it anymore. The few episodes that were worth watching usually had some sort of novelty to them, Thirteen’s return being an excellent example.

That’s why I’m quite pleased that at the end of “Twenty Vicodin” House didn’t leave the prison. It’s not that I don’t want him to get out, it’s just his character is substantially more interesting when he’s locked up. It’s like if that great season premiere from a few years back, with House in the mental institution, had continued on in that format. It gives us new characters, new episode ideas, new situations for House to stick his neck into.

I think House is at his best when he’s forced to improvise, and prison is the perfect setting for that. The way he sized up the doctor, or nursed his mute roommate’s pet cricket back to health, even the way he diagnosed the patient was all that much more interesting because of the setting (that tracheotomy was pretty cool). That patient would have been boring in a state of the art hospital. Here, he was a mystery worth solving.

I’m interested in seeing how the team will eventually come into play in all of this. The same goes for that doctor who basically gave up her job to test House’s theory. I hope she wasn’t a one-off character. Right now the writers are using this as a great cover up for why Cuddy and Wilson aren’t around (Lisa Edelstein left the show and I believe Robert Sean Leonard is doing a play right now though I could be wrong), but I assume eventually House is going to need some contact from the outside world and how that comes into play is going to be important.

For now though I think I’m just going to enjoy the renewed life this show seems to have and just keep hoping that it doesn’t go away too soon. There’s a lot of talk about this being House’s last season. I hope if that’s the case that we’ll finally get a little bit of closure for the character. Like I said before, we’ve had a lot of false starts for House on his way to some form of happiness; it would be a pity if after all this time he never got there. Even if it’s just some small victory, at this point I’d take it.