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.

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.

Do You Know Free Bird?

Holy smokes!  Everything seems to be coming back this week so you can expect a flurry of reviews coming your way. Today we’ve got new episodes of Shameless, Fringe, The Event, Californication, House and The Big Bang Theory.

Enjoy!

The Big Bang Theory – “The Prestidigitation Approximation” (B+)

Not a bad episode, but not their best.  There were fewer awesome pop culture references and more plot in this one.  That’s never a good thing for this show.  Maybe they’re suffering from the drama surrounding their "brother from another mother" Charlie Sheen.  Well don't worry Big Bang Boys, he’s fine.  In fact he’s winning.  Now you gotta get back to making awesome Raj driven pop culture reference laden episodes so you can win too.  I won't accept this mushy mumbo jumbo.

Probably the best line of the episode was when Leonard asked Pria if it was racist for him to go for Indian food with an Indian woman.  That was a pretty good exchange.

Now don't get me wrong, I like Pria.  She is a talking Raj, which is nice because I like when Raj talks, but I don't see what she adds to the show anymore.  In fact now all she adds is plot drama and I don't know if this show needs that.  It doesn’t thrive on it because the characters can't drive through it with moving dialogue.  In fact the show just seems to end whenever there is a big issue and picks up after that issue has been resolved.  The same things happened here.  Pria wants Leonard to cut the cord with Penny. Of course he can't but lies about it and Pria gets mad.  But instead of seeing how that resolves I am assuming that next week we will get the standard "Oh yeah Pria is still mad at me about that thing with Penny" line.

For many shows this would be a killer.  The cut fastball that strikes it out every time at the plate.  But for the Big Bang, it’s just another sac-fly on the way to hilarity.  The episode sucks for now, but I know they will come back with more.  The question remains though about what Pria adds.  If she just adds drama and the show keeps "popping out" then they will never be in position to get a sac-fly – they’ll all just be fly outs.

Shameless – “Nana Gallagher Had an Affair” (B)

So it turns out Monica has a heart. It certainly was an emotional finale to an episode – maybe not as gripping as the week before but emotional nonetheless. The final scene between Monica and the children was especially well done, with Monica conceding to their wishes to keep Liam and be left alone. I don’t think anyone with a functioning heart could make it through that scene without feeling a little sympathy towards the Gallagher’s mother. Even Fiona gave her a nod.

I have to commend the writers for coming up with a good three dimensional character for the mother of the Gallagher children. It would have been very easy to write her an absolute deadbeat runaway mom stereotype, but they resisted that urge and instead gave us an enormously flawed woman, but a woman who definitely still cares about her kids.

The storyline wasn’t without a few blemishes though. It was a little muddled with all the paternity testing – I didn’t particularly care for Liam being Frank’s child (they threw that aside way to quickly). I guess what it was really meant to do was to get Lip and Ian to the testing center, but even the advent that Ian wasn’t Frank’s child didn’t really add up to a whole lot in the end.

Frank had a very funny week however. He had a few distractions of his own in this episode, but all of them were funny. His reaction to Carl telling him he had a broken arm was hilarious, as was his use of poor Carl’s situation to get rid of the guy following him for his disability cheques. I also liked the fact that he still doesn’t know who Steve is, despite the guy having dated his daughter the entire season.

The real comedic gem of this episode was the dinner sequence though. Frank was just killing through the entire scene. I especially loved his reaction to finding out Monica cheated on him while she was on PCP.

FRANK: You did PCP... without me? You promised we would do that together!

With the Gallaghers dealing with their family issue it left Sheila and Karen off on their own this week. I really enjoyed the ending of this storyline as well. I thought it was sweet the way Sheila stood up for her daughter and without realizing it stepped outside. It was a great way to help get her over her agoraphobia and it spoke volumes about her character.

What I was a little more confused about was Karen’s motivations. I had originally assumed that she was just going to this purity ball thing so that she could get his car. I never expected her to take what her dad said so personally. Even when each of the girls were describing their sexual indiscretions (the pipe girl was especially funny), I thought it was all going to be a big set up for Karen to stick it to her dad with her own confession. Am I wrong here, or was it obvious she was feeling closer to her dad?

Steve was remarkably quiet in this episode, but I feel like a storm is brewing. This show has a lot of rogue elements which makes it very hard to predict, but I’m going to take a shot at a theory and we’ll see how it goes. It’s clear Tony isn’t all that happy about Steve dating Fiona (for obvious reasons), and in this episode they showed him pulling Steve over. I feel like they’re setting the groundwork for Steve to get caught, perhaps with Lip, by Tony in the season finale. With Shameless getting picked up for another season, it would be a great way for the show to go out on a bang. Just a thought – let me know what you think in the comments.

Fringe – “Os” (A)

Great episode this week.  I don't really want to write a spoiling review because I feel that not many readers watch this show and so there is no point in talking about each plot point in detail.  I do want to say three main things though.

1. Fringe does an excellent job of moulding its cases of the week into the plot of the show.  The "bad guy" in this episode being a man who is blurring moral lines to help his son is an elegant parallel to our protagonist's lives.  When his son turns away from him with disgust once he’s been caught it’s another parallel to the differing moral compasses of father and son that are so entrenched into this show.

2. This part is a bit of a spoiler so skip it if you haven't seen it.  The piece with William Bell and the Soul Magnets (great band name) is kind of odd to me.  I like it in that I think it is a cool idea to bring that character back without needing to bring back the actor and it is unique in terms of a plot device.  What I don't get is why they chose Olivia.  Wouldn't an interaction between Olivia and Bell be a good one?  Their interactions are what started Fringe on a path to greatness.  Before Olivia gets transferred over to the other side in Bell's office, the show was just your average sci-fi piece.  That scene, where we start to understand the complexity of the universes began Fringe on its fantastic journey.  I would think that having them interact again would be sweet.  However, it shows Anna Torv's range, something I didn't think she had at the beginning of the show but has really come to show us with the addition of Fauxlivia and now William to her repertoire.  So I am very divided on the decision to bring him back in her.  I wonder where it will take us.  Am I to believe that the cortexiphan is the magnet?  Will Olivia ever come back or is Bell's consciousness permanent now?  That is a neat way to eliminate one of the Olivias.

3. This show is going places I’ve never seen before.  The thing with Olivia and William Bell is just one example.  THIS IS FANTASTIC!

The Event – “Turnabout” (B-)

Honestly, The Event had been gone for so long I didn’t remember anything save for the basic premise of the show. But I figured with Ryan and I sort of sharing writing duties on The Event I’d jot down a few thoughts on how I’ve felt about the show since its return from hiatus.

I actually think I enjoyed last week’s episode a lot more than Ryan did. That’s probably because I forgot most of the details of what happened in the first half of the season (well played NBC). I’m sure if I remembered more I would be a little more frustrated with the continuity, but what the heck. I’ll give the show another shot.

You can really tell they’re trying hard to address all of the show’s early criticisms. They promptly wrapped up Sean and Leila’s pursuit of finding her younger sister last week, and this week they tried to address President Martinez perceived weakness when it came to his dealing with the NTBs. They’ve also added a much more distinct action element to the show. Thomas leads a lot of assaults these days.

But the problems aren’t entirely fixed. They still have no idea what to do with Sean and Leila. They had almost an entire sequence to themselves this week (from commercial break to commercial break) and it was, at times, eye rollingly bad. I thought when Leila went with her dad it would put her in the middle of the action a little more (figuratively – I don’t expect her to start shooting people anytime soon), but she spent most of this episode on the sidelines.

And I don’t know what they were thinking with Sean but he’s even farther removed from the main story than he was before. Perhaps they needed to take him out of the mix to team him up with Vicky but his storyline in this episode suffered because of it.

My suggestion – have him discover some actually important information with Vicky and get him working with the President’s team or something. It’d be nice for his character to gain some sort of importance in the battle between the government and the NTBs. They need to throw him into the loop of a storyline that the audience actually cares about, where he’s obtaining information at the same rate as everyone else on this show.

I’ll commend the writers for finding a quick way to make a change in the Presidents attitude, but making the President angrier doesn’t necessarily make him a better character. They have to be careful how they play this. If his character becomes super reactionary he’ll become even worse than he was before. It’s a balancing act, but what I saw this week has me a little nervous.

Oh and by the way. Two cars escorting the nuclear rods – are you kidding me? I get that they were trying to look inconspicuous but come on. Martinez is the President of the United States. He wanted to set a trap not minutes before this sequence. He could have had a chopper escort ready and waiting. There’s no way Thomas should have been able to get away with a ground assault on the convoy. That’s just sloppy writing.

I do like Michael Buchanan’s expanded role however, and I think Sophia attempting to collaborate with the President is full of potential. And I’m also in agreement with Ryan that Sterling is one of the better characters on this series. Having just finished watching the first season of Damages I’ve become a huge fan of Zeljko Ivanek.

I certainly don’t have the same strong dislike I used to have for this series. Like I said before, chalk that up to time apart, but if they can manage to string together a few good episodes to close out the season maybe they’ll do the impossible and salvage what’s left of this series. I really don’t know if it has a realistic shot at renewal but I’d be happy with just an entertaining finish to the season.

Californication – “The Trial” (A)

A good episode with some good back stories.  Getting to see Hank in his spiral was a great way to go about the testimonies in the trial.  Charlie did a great job in this episode and was very funny despite not sleeping with any odd women.

Overall I don't have much to say, just that I enjoyed the way they did this and once again everyone hates Hank.  It’s a great yo yo trick that he pulls.

The X-Files reference at the beginning was great for any fan of Duchovny's work.

As I have said all season.  I am rooting for this guy.  I'm thinking he's going to jail for at least some time though.

Good luck Hank.  Don't drop the soap.

House – “Out of the Chute” (B)

It was a mixed bag of an episode this week. I was initially unimpressed with how they went about handling the House/Cuddy split, but his hotel stay did grow on me. He certainly had a few funny scenes with the hookers and his main man at the hotel Carnel (not sure how to spell that). I always enjoy when he holds his diagnostic sessions in horribly inappropriate places, and you can add naked in a hotel bed with a hooker to the list of my favourites.

I also really enjoyed two main scenes that book ended the episode. The introduction to the patient is standard in pretty much every episode of House, and I thought that this one was the best ones I’ve seen in a while. Actually, I really liked the patient this week. He had a really neat bravado to him. I thought his scene in the MRI was pretty intense, and his scene with House where he told him he’d just find something else to love was a particularly strong addition to the episode.

The other sequence I am referring to is of course House’s balcony jump. First off, I love the Arcade Fire, and I love “My Body is a Cage” in particular. I hadn’t heard Peter Gabriel’s version before now but it did an excellent job of setting the mood of the scene. I think a lot of people may have felt cheated by House landing in the pool but I don’t really see it that way. In a sense it was a sort of metaphorical suicide. House is giving up on his life as it was, and turning down a much darker path. That’s why watching Wilson walk away at the end was so powerful.

What I didn’t think worked here though was all the manoeuvring and gauging of how everybody was feeling. Normally I like House’s discussions with Wilson as they’re both excellent counterpoints to each other, but this episode ended up feeling like a high school breakup with the way Wilson kept bouncing back and forth between Cuddy and House.

I also didn’t really like Masters crush on the patient in this episode. I mean, it’s hard not to have a crush on the guy – he’s pretty dreamy – but the way they set it up in the script made it feel really put on. Masters is normally a bit bumbling, but she’s not a giddy schoolgirl. Her conversations with the patient were just way to transparent for my liking.

So like I said, a mixed bag this week. The one thing I will say is that this show needs to make sure that wherever this storyline ends up, it ends up with some real character development. They can’t keep spinning their wheels. They need a new direction to keep this show fresh, even if that means changing the status quo a little.

Is Your Voice Dressed Up For Halloween?

It’s kind of an off week for TV. I think everyone’s gearing up for May sweeps. Luckily there were a few new shows on this week, including the return of The Event. Enjoy!

Spoilers.

Shameless – “But at Last Came a Knock” (A-)

There’s always been a fundamental question Shameless has left unanswered. We know Frank is a horrible father and we know this requires Fiona to basically raise her brothers and sisters on her own, but we’ve never really seen what happened to the mother of these kids save for a brief mention of her leaving. Well tonight we finally found out, and it was good. Really good.

But first things first – I have to give a ton of praise this week to young Emma Kenney. Debbie had a great episode and large part of it was thanks to her. On top of her discovery that her mother was in town (we’ll get to the mom stuff in a sec) she and Steve (or should I say Jimmy?) had a few very funny and eye opening scenes together. Watching her blackmail the guy was pretty hilarious – she’s a sharp one that Debbie – and she’s totally right about Steve kissing his mom on the lips. That’s super weird.

Speaking of Steve, his character got a little more back story this week and I’ve got to say it didn’t do much to help his likability. I have to wonder whether the med school marks his mother was bragging about were real or just a lie that he’s fed her. Either way, before Steve was just stealing cars to make a living – a means of survival – but now we find out that he has all kinds of opportunity (and not just med school either, he clearly comes from a family of means) but he steals cars instead. Add that to all the lying he’s doing to Fiona (although she’s thrown in a few herself... computer class anyone) and at the moment you’ve got a character walking on some shaky moral ground.

We’re little more used to shaky moral ground with Frank, who had a somewhat so-so outing this week. A lot of his jokes fell flat in this episode, but I did find his scene with his lawyer pretty entertaining. Frank spouts out a lot of bull shit, but there are a few people who know how to put him in his place. Fiona’s one of them (she had an excellent “shut up Frank” in this episode – his reaction was priceless) and clearly so is his lawyer. There no nonsense meeting in her office was a funny scene, particularly the part where the lawyer reminded him that he can’t have a job because his ankle injury has prevented him from working.

And it was that settlement money that required him to bring Monica back into the picture. I wasn’t a huge fan of Frank’s planning as it didn’t make a whole lot of sense (I liked Kev’s line “did you even have a plan back there”), but as soon as Monica saw the kids again the whole episode really picked up.

Fiona’s monologue at the end of the episode was tragic. It’s no secret that these are her kids, and the idea that one can be taken away from her on a whim is absolutely heartbreaking. I can’t say enough good things about Emmy Rossum’s performance here. You could really see Fiona’s anguish in that moment.

It should be exciting to see what she does without the kids, if only for an episode. I fully expect Fiona to be back with the rest of the family fairly soon, but I hope her character takes away something from her independence – she deserves a life of her own. I guess it all depends on how long it takes her to find out about Steve. I could see Deb using what she knows as a way to get Fiona back.

Californication – “Another Perfect Day” (A-)

For the first time this season, Hank spent an episode doing nothing to ruin his life.

This week, Hank was kicked out of the hotel he was living in when his credit card was declined so he stayed with Karen and Becca and taught Becca to drive.  At night Karen has a date so Hank watches Pearl and Becca.  When he falls asleep on the couch, the girls steal his car and crash it.

In the Runkle and Marcy storyline, Stu invites Runkle and his CRAZY date over for dinner, just so Marcy can tell Charlie she’s pregnant.  Needless to say, Charlie is fucking pissed.  But don't worry little bald man, eventually you will realize it’s your baby when he comes out looking EXACTLY like you.

This week the show proved its versatility again.  Hank had a couple funny lines as the family man and Charlie and Becca were able to drive the plot forward with their antics.  I really think this is a feasible direction for the show to head in.  The actors are fantastic and their range allows them to take on these different roles, or more precisely, expand the ones that they’re already in.  

Their best stroke of luck has been with the actress that Madelein Martin has developed into.  She started off the show portraying an excellent 13 year old, but now she plays a 17 year old rebel and has aged quite well into the role.  She gives her character a very real edge which is great to see from a young actress.  Again, I have no idea where the show is headed but it would be nice to see it go this way.

House – “Bombshells” (B)

“Bombshells” may have been a different episode of House, but different doesn’t always mean better. With Cuddy in the hospital as a patient this week, it gave the writers a chance to really tear at the seams of this show, but what we got instead was a rather mixed affair that save for a few gimmicky dream sequences didn’t stray all that far from the status quo.

The dream sequences were interesting, I‘ll give them that, but in the end they added very little to the episode as a whole. It was like they were just there to be there.  I thought the sitcom sequence with House, Wilson, and an older Rachel was the best, but mostly just because it was the funniest. The others varied in my level of enjoyment, and really didn’t pack the emotional punch I assume the writers were going for.

The ending was where the real drama happened. I don’t think it was that surprising that Cuddy ended up being okay – I don’t recall hearing anything about Lisa Edelstein leaving the show – but House going back to Vicodin was a different story. It should be interesting to watch this little self-destructive spiral now that Cuddy isn’t there to brace the fall.

Ultimately I think the writers have to bring them back together. I’m a fan of the two of them as a couple. I know that’s not true for everyone, but I think House achieving some sort of happiness is dependent on that relationship. First they need him to realize he can’t use drugs as a crutch though, and I think that’s what this bump in the relationship is all about. That’s just my theory though.

With House busy with Cuddy this week, the regular patient story focused on Taub and his relationship with a 16 year old patient. I’m a fan of Taub’s recent storylines but his dilemma this week over whether or not to turn in his patient just wasn’t all that compelling. It felt like they were spinning their wheels a bit with this one. Perhaps with all the drama surrounding House and Cuddy Taub’s story got caught in the shuffle.

The Event – “And Then There Were More & Inostranka” (B-) by Ryan

Seriously?  Are you kidding me?  

I get it.  Shows need to take a break in the middle.  Lost used to do it all the time.  It killed me during that time.  It killed Brian even more.  But when it came back we were nothing short of smitten with what was happening on the screen.  The Event however, seems even more lost than before the hiatus.

Here’s what I took away from that episode:

-Jason Ritter is still a bad actor.  That or the writing for him is JUST TERRIBLE!  When he tells Leila "let’s just go to bed and you can decide later"  I turned to my dog and said, "he’s going to be gone in the morning."   It was written all over his face, he didn't sell it.  He didn't sell anything in that episode.  He just looked really uncomfortable the whole time.  Like he had to defecate really, really badly.

-Director Sterling is way sweeter of a character than I realized.  I started to come around at the end of the first half of the season to like him a bit more, but now I'm fully on board.  He is just cool.  His back story is sweet, his actions now are hardcore.  He was really good this episode.

-The president is a really weak version of David Palmer.

-The old man is way more intense than I remembered.

-The plot appears to be going nowhere.

So two good things, but quite a few bad.  They need to fix the plot.  Hire Brian K Vaughn to write an arc for you.  Figure it out!!!

They need to phase Jason Ritter out of the show but since he’s billed first in the cast, that isn’t happening.  People aren't watching this show for him.  He's not even good looking... is he?  Come to think of it he kind of looks like Brian.

The thing with the old man and the weird stones on the table was cool.  That’s a nice moment that I hope they build on.  Go back to giving back stories and fix your plot.  THE EVENT HAS POTENTIAL, but if it keeps going like this it’ll turn into the first episode of V and when the aliens arrive they’ll just show V reruns instead of new episodes.  

Well I don’t know about Ryan but I’ve always thought Jason Ritter exerts a very raw sexual charisma.

Bang, Bang, Bangity Bang

There’s a spider on the ceiling above my computer. I nicknamed him Walter... I don’t think he likes it.

Anyways, before we get started Ryan asked me to post this apology letter:

Dear reader(s),

My most humble apologies for not writing to you over the past two weeks.  I’ve been lacking in my ability to post here.  I wrote an exam two weeks ago and was therefore very busy leading up to that. Immediately after the exam I got on a plane to Florida where I let my so called "batteries" recharge.  I tried to keep up on some of the TV, but it’s hard when you’re staying in place that is built for the parents of Jerry Seinfeld.  Time just slows down.  So I write to you today an apology and hopefully a well considered review of the shows from Friday February 25th to Sunday February 27th in this most gracious year of our Darwin, 2011.  I promise to get you Castle and the Cape reviews VERY SOON.  Tomorrow even.  I'm sorry.

Sincerely,

Ryan

I especially liked the part where he was careful not to assume we have more than one reader.

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “A Change of Heart” (B+)

Things got a little serious with Barney’s story this week. It seems as though Barney may be developing real feelings for a girl for the first time since Robin. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this storyline to be honest. On one hand I love the character drama, and the ending was quite powerful. I feel bad for Barney. He wants to change, but he just can’t bring himself to do so.

On the other hand though, I’m not entirely sure where this storyline will end up taking Barney’s character. I absolutely believe that eventually his character will need to change, but with at least two more seasons on the horizon I’m not sure how you mature his character and still maintain what makes Barney funny. I’m not adverse to a change, just so long as the writers have an angle on how to keep his character funny. Perhaps though, this episode was just a subtle step forward in what will be a much longer arc for the character. It remains to be seen whether Nora will be back on the series.

I didn’t mind the set up for this week’s episode. Shaken by what happened to Marshall’s dad, the whole gang decides to get their hearts checked out. Initially reluctant, Barney decides to follow suit, and to finish his testing the doctor recommends he wear a heart monitor for 24 hours, the same 24 hours that just happens to coincide with his date with Nora. The rest of the episode was told in flashbacks based on interesting activity on the heart monitor.

While at times it may have been a little heavy handed – his heart skipping a beat at the site of Nora being one example – I enjoyed the way it framed the episodes events. Plus, how else would we have discovered he was really serious about wanting Nora, marriage and all. With Barney you need a full out lie detector to know when he’s telling the truth in matters of the heart, and the heart monitor gave us just that.

The B story this week was quite entertaining as well. Robin professes her desire at the start of the episode to get another dog, but Ted is adamant that he doesn’t want her to. So to compensate, Robin goes out and inadvertently snags a boyfriend with some dog-like tendencies. All of the dog references were pretty funny. I particularly liked when Robin got fed up with the situation and had Scooby go fetch her keys for her.

All in all it was a good episode. Don’t mistake my reservations about Barney’s storyline this week as a condemnation of the more dramatic elements this show has undertaken as of late. I think the strong character storylines are exactly what How I Met Your Mother needs right now. Early in its run I wouldn’t have cared nearly as much about Marshall’s dad dying, because I wouldn’t have gotten to see their great relationship in action. The same goes for Barney longing for a relationship. I would have called the writers crazy, because at that time Barney was there for comic relief and comic relief only, and I wouldn’t have gotten to see how he’s grown as a character. But now that we care about these characters these dramatic storylines can take over for where the humour has grown stale (not by fault of the writers but simply by repeated exposure). Heart was exactly what last season was missing, and its return has led to a significant improvement in the quality of the show this year.

Fringe – “Subject 13” (A)

Subject 13 is a really awesome look back into the beginnings of the Fringeverse.  We go back in time to 1985 starting with the really awesome 1985 style intro – distinct from our blue universe and red universe intros – and we are dropped into the story essentially where we left it.  Walter brought Peter back to cure him, but as we know Walter does not return Peter immediately.  Now we get to find out why.  BUT WAIT... I missed a whole review of an episode, where it should be noted that Olivia forgives Peter and they have sex.  Or at least I think they do. They go to his room.  Maybe the blue universe will survive.  But now here’s a question... does Olivia know that she has to get Peter to love her so that the universe will survive?  Is it all a lie?  Can he really love her when he has a child on the way in the red universe?  THIS IS MESSED UP.  Pacey has some hard choices ahead of him.  But we don't get any of those answers this week.  Instead we just get a wonderful story about little children.  

The story starts in Walter's cabin, and Peter is trying to "get home" to his "real home at the bottom of the lake."  For a sick, unconscious child he remembers a lot about the night he was taken.  He can tell that it’s not his real mom and dad.  There are differences and some wonderful pop culture references like Peter proclaiming that "the Red Lantern shouldn't be Green."  So Peter goes into the middle of the ice and tries to get to the bottom of the lake. HOLY COW PETER WHAT A BAD IDEA.  Doesn't he know that he needs to get between UNIVERSES and drowning will do nothing?  Jeez, it’s like he's a little boy or something.

So the scene changes to Jacksonville where Walter is hard at work trying to make Olivia a superhero that can take Peter to the other world.  He wants to return him, but there’s a problem.  She only flashes when she’s scared.  So the only way to flash to the other Universe is to make her afraid.  To do this Walter tries to scare her by pretending one of the other children in the program was killed.  This makes Olivia explode in some fire, and then she runs away.  Of course little boy Peter, struggling with his own issues brings her back.  They were destined to be together from the time he came to this universe apparently.

Now I make this all sound kind of cartoonish but it’s not.  It’s quite well done.  The makeup on Walter to make him look young, the casting of the young characters and the way in which they tie the plot together is fantastic.  They switch between universes a couple times to show us Walternate and how he has collapsed since the loss of his son.  These flashes also show us how Walternate discovered where he was taken.  In a moment of intense fear that she will have to return to an angry stepfather, Olivia runs to Walter to tell him not to let him beat her anymore.  But she’s scared, and she crosses to the other universe in the same spot, where Walternate is waiting at his desk and receives a picture she drew of her and Peter together.  So now he knows.  The crazy little girl that appeared and disappeared essentially tells him that Peter is in the other Universe.  It’s a great tie in from a great "flashback" style episode.  I loved it.  

There is one last loose end from the blue universe though – Walter  is faced with the decision of whether or not to step in and stop Olivia's stepfather from beating her.  If he does, it means no more travel between universes. If he doesn't then maybe they can make it happen.  But Walter has a heart.  He stops him from doing it by threatening to call the cops.  So Walter needs to go back to the drawing board.  But the damage is done. Walternate knows, and he can now plan his attack.

Shameless – “It’s Time to Kill the Turtle” (A)

Few shows can do what Shameless does in just under an hour. It’s remarkable how well this show can blend comedy with poignant character driven drama.

I thought Lip’s story this week was especially powerful. The real tragedy of his character is how he keeps getting glimpses into worlds he can’t allow himself to want. His visit to the University of Chicago was just that. I felt so bad for him as he looked into the robotics lab after his discussion with the professor. He wants to be their but his circumstances won’t allow it.

And with Frank’s story we saw where Lip got those defence mechanisms. Most would think he would be happy to see Frank getting sober, but knowing it won’t last he wants nothing to do with it. His protectiveness of the younger Gallagher children was sweet, but in the end it was just another glimpse for his character. He can’t allow himself to want Frank to be a good father, because he knows he won’t be able to handle it when Frank inevitably goes back to the bottle.

Fiona walked a similar line in this episode. She too feels trapped by her circumstances. It’s kind of been an ongoing theme for her character throughout this first season, but her final breakdown after being forced back to the sports bar was another heart wrenching moment for her character. I really hope a future storyline involves her getting a more satisfying career for herself. She definitely deserves it.

On a lighter note, how awesome is Kev? He is absolutely one of my favourite characters on this show. He’s hilarious, and in this episode, incredibly caring as well. When he gets his foster child and she’s not what he expected he could have been angry. He could have taken it out on the kid, or Veronica. But he accepts the child for who she is and tries to help her in the process. And that kid needs some serious help, so I can’t wait to see how the rest of this storyline plays out.

We also got to learn a bit more about Steve in this episode. It turns out that he comes from a very wealthy family who think he’s going to school in Chicago. Even more shocking though, he has a girlfriend he’s left behind. He’s always been a somewhat mysterious character so I found this little look into his back story quite interesting. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen when Fiona inevitably finds out about all this. If I recall she doesn’t like rich kids... oh and getting lied to.

Californication –“Lights. Camera. Asshole.” (A-)

I want to try to write this one really quickly.  Here it goes:

1. Hank is awesome.  He banged Sasha's mom, and Sasha.  And somehow they still think he's a decent person.

2. Becca is a drugged out teenager who likes to drink and smoke pot.  Basically she lives in L.A.

3. Charlie bangs #21.  She is a fat girl.

4. Marci, with help from Stu and Charlie, pitches a network a show about waxing the vaginas and balls of the famous.  Stu gets diarrhea, Charlie saves the day, and in the end the show looks like it’s going to get made.  Oh and Stu thinks she's preggers with his baby.

5. The Ben Harper looking dude wants Karen. Karen isn't ready.

And there it is. Californication in 5 points.

I really liked the episode.  It’s the same as it always is – funny, obscene, and just a really good half hour of television.  I laugh pretty hard every time I watch.  Can't complain.

An interesting point is that Sasha's mom pretty much tells him that he needs to man up and get over his destructive ways, and if he doesn't, it will be too late for him.  I hope Hank listens.  I hope the writers make him listen.  The other characters are funny enough to help carry the drama of the show into the next 2 seasons (which I'm sure it will get).  Hank needs a nice ending.

House – “Recession Proof” (B+)

I was a little surprised with “Recession Proof”. On top of being one of the rare episodes where the team actually loses the patient, House took the loss a lot harder than we’re used to seeing. I enjoyed his candid discussion with Wilson in the bar. “Love and happiness are nothing but distractions” laments House, yet for the first time in the history of this series, that’s okay with him.

It’s an interesting metamorphosis for his character, and one that I hope they don’t completely settle him on. Don’t get me wrong, I like that he’s embracing happiness. I just don’t want it to be entirely at the expense of his patients. It’s very much “with great power, comes great responsibility.” No one can match House’s diagnosis skills, and while I think the character deserves happiness, I don’t want him to stop struggling for both.  That’s what makes the character so interesting.

This week also followed up on the Taub and Foreman roommate situation. I was really excited to see how this would play out when they first decided to live together and the results this week were a little mixed. I loved all the gay jokes at their expense but their interactions in this episode really displayed the most unlikable aspects of these two characters. There was some hope here though as they put aside their differences at the end of the episode and decided to keep on living with each other. I’m hoping as this storyline plays out over the rest of the season these two can have a positive impact on each other.

The other interesting pairing in this episode was Chase and Masters. For the first time in a long time Chase’s history with Cameron was acknowledged, which is definitely a good thing for the character. As much as I love the comic relief he’s brought to the show this season the writers needed something to give his story a little more substance.

Which was where Masters came in. Although he initially didn’t want to work with her, he did eventually end up teaching her a few things, just as she ended up calling him out on a few of his own demons. More interesting though, was the hint of sexual tension buried in this storyline. So long as they develop it a little more over the next few episodes this may end up being an interesting pair. I’m enjoying Masters more and more each week, and the brilliant but socially inept angle they’re working with her may be a good counterpoint to Chase’s womanizing ways.