Now You’re Playing Logic Police?

First post of 2012. I’m probably as underwhelmed as you are.

Spoilers:

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

I have to admit, I almost missed this one. It’s rare for a show to start back up in the first week of January, much less the day after New Years (although apparently not that rare for How I Met Your Mother, as I reviewed an episode around this time last year as well). Thankfully though my DVR caught it for me and now I can tell just how delightfully average I thought it was.

First the good. Framing the story this week was a very charming side plot involving Marshall and his father. It’s a little odd that the writers decided to use a character other than Ted to narrate the episode two weeks in a row, but I guess they did have the break. Either way, it’s nice that they could get some more mileage out of what’s been a fairly well handled storyline by the writers. The ending alone really caused me to re-evaluate the whole episode. That’s been a bit of a theme this season.

Outside of its framing though “Tailgate” really didn’t stand out. Robin’s storyline was probably the best of the main three, but it was just a little too by the numbers for my taste. It was obvious that by the end of the episode she would be back on the air and the writers didn’t really throw many cogs into the old host with a screw loose gag I’m sure most people have seen a thousand times by now. Still, I liked her final speech on camera and I’m excited to see if the show can leverage some humour out of her and Sandy on a national newcast together.

I don’t know what the writers were thinking with Ted and Barney’s storyline though. Talk about recycled plotlines. Didn’t they already learn that running a bar is actually hard work the last time they started one in Ted’s apartment. I liked the Cheers like theme song and the fact that we got to see Will Sasso return (the wet hats joke was pretty well done) but I just couldn’t get past how blatantly they rehashed that previous episode. It seemed like I was waiting for some sort of twist in the formula that never really came.

Lilly’s small portion of the episode was probably my least favourite of the bunch. I don’t know if it was just underdeveloped or if it just took too long to get to the point, but every time they cut to her and Marshall it seemed to drag the episode downward. I’ve never really been a big fan of her father’s character either. They portray her mother as a pretty typical down to Earth individual and they portray him as the exact opposite. I’ve never been able to rectify those two together, and her dad has never been funny enough to make me want to ignore it.

Modern Family – “Lifetime Supply” (B+)

I think a better name for this episode would have been “Black Mouse” because pretty much every mention of the darkened creatures drew a laugh from me in what was a fairly solid return for the series after a short hiatus. “Lifetime Supply” may not have been Modern Family at its best, but every character contributed and on the whole that made for an enjoyable half hour.

Phil was hysterical in this one. It’s hard for me to think of a storyline more tailored to his strengths than the one the writers gave him here. I loved everything they tried after he missed his doctors call, from creepily watching his everything his kids did to the way the probability of his death kept rising as the day went on.

And Gloria was an excellent counterpart for him. Her story succeeded this week simply because she was the one who introduced us to the black mouse concept. I loved the way she made a cross every time she used the term and how she said the words black mouse with such fear and distain. Heck, even how she got angry at Haley when she called her father weird. Honestly, it’s hard not to love Sophia Vergara. No matter what the writers give her she makes it funny.

The other two major storylines both had their moments as well though perhaps not as many. Cam and Mitchell had a pretty solid week arguing over which trophies belong atop the fireplace. I can’t say I loved every second it, but there were enough great one liners (especially Mitchell realizing he was acting like a 14 year old girl) to make the plotline enjoyable.

The same went for Jay and Javier. I wasn’t always a fan of the storyline, but Benjamin Bratt’s Javier is a heck of a guest character, and there was definitely a lot to like. His coffee cake entrance in particular made me laugh pretty hard.

And he wasn’t the only guest actor getting laughs either. I really loved the contributions of Walt to the episode. He works quite a bit better as a bit player and I’ve got to say – he and Luke gave me some of my favourite moments from the episode. His comment to Gloria about winning a war sometime was one of those delightful little surprises I just didn’t see coming.

To the lines:

DOCTOR: You still exercising?
PHIL: Clearly.

CAMERON: So how was Lilly? I hope you weren’t too bored.
ALEX: Oh are you kidding me I love talking to her. She knows more words than Haley.

JAVIER: Golfing? Pfff, that is for old men and for women who like women.

CLAIRE: You’re perfectly fine.
PHIL: That’s very comforting coming from a marketing major at a party school.

MITCHELL: No no Cam. I was going to make a big display.
CAMERON: I believe you have.

And line of the night:

LILLY: Are you gonna die?
PHIL: I don’t know there’s still a 5% chance I’ll make it.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Suddenly” (A-)

First off, I need to apologise. I skipped out on reviewing the last episode of this series before it went on break and I feel terrible. Mostly because I didn’t get the chance to tell you all I told you so when Henry died, but terrible nonetheless. But for the record I liked it. I liked it a lot actually. It may be a little late to say it, but it was good.

 “Suddenly” was an excellent follow up. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Stella Maeve, who kind of snuck up and stole the episode as the eldest daughter of the family of crash victims. Her performance in particular – remarkably restrained considering how easy it would have been to overplay the grief – gave an emotional edge to what would have otherwise been a fairly standard patient story. The same goes for Ellen Pompeo who was at her side for pretty much the whole episode. I think this may have been my favourite performance from her since last season’s excellent “Golden Hour.”

And it’s a testament to just how good that patient story was that I went to it before the fallout from Henry’s death, another great storyline handled exceptionally well the writing staff. Grey’s has a tendency to be a little overdramatic (not a closely guarded secret) but the tension between Christina and Teddy in that operating room was real and executed very well. Kudos to the always steady Sandra Oh. I’m looking forward to seeing how Teddy deals with the loss. I found that scene in the morgue quite sweet somehow.

Let’s see what else... oh! Meredith and Derek got their baby back. I had fun watching that whole ending sequence actually. I’d forgotten that what kicked off the last two episodes was the two of them thinking they had lost their kid. But they got her back... I’ll just ignore the fact that the writers somehow managed to take her away from two surgeons.