This Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You

It’s been a crazy week in the television landscape with all the networks deciding which pilots to take into production and which series to cancel to make room. We’ve already had a few shows we cover get the axe. Personally, I was a little disappointed about Off the Map getting cancelled but V and The Event got what they deserved. I’ll keep you posted if we lose any more series from our repertoire.

Spoilers...

Grey’s Anatomy – “I Will Survive” (B)

Okay, for the record Teddy and Henry are definitely ending up together. As far as I’ve heard Kim Raver isn’t leaving the show, so I kind of doubt Teddy’s headed to Germany for any length of time, and the way the two of them were playing emotional chicken at the end of the episode there... well you just don’t see a whole lot of stories like that that don’t end with a romance.

I was a fan of Meredith and Derek’s adoption story this week as well. It wasn’t without a few cheesy moments, but for the most part I think it’s a good plotline for Meredith. I liked her worried preparations for her interview with the social worker. It was fun look back through the history of her character, and the way Christina kept spinning each event to the positive was pretty hilarious. I do think the writers need to be careful they don’t overflow the series with babies though. The stories leading up to them are often good, but babies themselves tend to be awful to watch. See Cece from The Office.

I’m interested in seeing how this adoption storyline plays out now that Karev has ratted out Meredith to Owen. I feel for Karev, I really do. His character has been through more than probably any other character on this show. He’s been shot, his wife left him, and pretty much every other relationship he’s gotten himself into has ended badly. I think Karev’s actions were misguided. Telling Owen Meredith messed with the Alzheimer trial would have been the right thing to do if he’d done it for the right reasons, but this was just so he could get ahead, which is a pity. But good on the writers for giving the character a decent motivation for selling out his colleague. The next episode’s the finale, so it should be fun to watch it that storyline play itself out.

Christina had a pretty great week as well. They gave her a really cool patient story and I liked her pairing with Kepner. Actually, as much as I didn’t like Kepner (or the rest of those Mercy West jerks) when she first arrived at the hospital, she’s really grown on me over this last season, to the point where I’m actively rooting for her. I wouldn’t mind seeing her get Chief Resident, mostly because Christina was so mean to her about it in this episode. I tend to root for the underdogs.

But Christina and April made a good pairing. I liked the way the writers contrasted the two throughout the episode because it really made Owen’s explanation for why Christina wouldn’t make a good Chief Resident stick. It was a tricky situation, for Owen and the writers, but both parties handled it well. Of course anything could happen in the finale, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Christina fought her way back into the running (I didn’t see the teaser for next week so I literally have no idea what the finale is about).

And last but not least I just to want to quickly touch on Lexie and Mark. It seemed to me like the writers were hinting that maybe Lexie isn’t completely over him. I’ve got to be honest though, while I’m sure there are a few people out there who think Lexie and Mark are meant to be together (I’m guessing the writers are part of that group the way they keep breaking them up and getting them back together), I’m not hating her relationship with Avery. They make a good couple, and by no means is Avery a bad guy. Just look at what he tried to do for the Chief this week, and he was willing to do it without anyone understanding why. If Lexie ends up with Mark I’m fine with that, but I certainly wouldn’t be disappointed if she ended up choosing Avery instead.

Fringe – “The Day We Died” (and the two episodes before it) (A-)

It's been a long time since I last wrote about Fringe. There is a reason but not sure it's a great one. As you may well know I had 11 exams that ended 3 weeks ago. Since then I've started work full time and gone through some personal shit. I'm sorry if for whatever reason you like my reviews and were looking forward to what I have to say. I'm at a point where I don't really know how to review the show anymore. I don't want to spoil it for my editor. Brian should watch this show and I'm taking that away from him. But I have a duty so here it goes.

It's very humbling that literally all my predictions have been wrong. I’ve liked the writing though, and the acting has been fantastic. This last episode was no exception. Futuristic Peter, even crazier Walter and very evil Walternate are great characters. I literally have no idea how they are going to move the show forward after this. We all knew the observers would play a large role come seasons end, but is Peter really gone? How do they do that with the star of the show? It was an ending I didn’t see coming. I figured it was a flash forward type situation when they jumped into the future two weeks ago, but this is just weird. How and why is he gone? I need an explanation for that.

This show has officially entered my pantheon of shows which include Lost, The Wire and Battlestar Gallactica. It's just a great story. I hope the writers have an appropriate arc planned for the rest of series and that the show gains a larger following as it starts to move into its last couple of seasons.

Wow, I Have Not Lived a Hard Life

This is a sad, sad day for me. My TV, the one that’s served me faithfully since my days as an undergrad, died unexpectedly this morning. I could never express in words how much he’s meant to me other than to say he was irreplaceable, and he will be missed... *pours malt liquor on the floor*. Godspeed Tubey, Godspeed.

Spoilers...

Cougar Town – “Walls” (B+)

It feels like forever since the last time I was watching an episode of Cougar Town. I almost missed this episode being that it was aired on a Monday night (to capitalize on the Dancing With the Stars crowd according to the title card), but I’m glad that I’m not going to have to wait too long on that Travis proposing cliffhanger. Mostly I was just happy that I was back watching the unique energy this show has to offer.

First up on the docket we had Jules trying her best not to interfere in Trav’s life. I really like the storyline for her character because as anyone who’s ever watched this show knows, Jules is a meddler. So to not stop Trav from proposing to Kirsten (who is pretty hilarious so I wouldn’t mind seeing it happen) it’s a pretty trying moment for her character.

I’m really interested in seeing whether Trav actually does propose. At the start of the episode I thought for sure he wouldn’t, but the fact that they left this as a cliffhanger has me questioning that judgement. If I were laying bets down I’d say he’s not going to do it and that it’s probably just a ploy to get some of that Dancing With the Stars audience to follow them back to Wednesday night, but you never know. I could also maybe see him proposing and Kirsten turning him down, leaving Jules to pick up the pieces. It’s only two days away so we’ll find out soon enough.

And no matter how it turns out, the storyline had some pretty funny moments to make it all worthwhile. I loved Ellie’s truck ghost (who ended up just being Jules messing with her, but Ellie still doesn’t know that) and the fact that over the course of the episode every inch of Jules’ lawn was dug up looking for that time capsule. Oh and of course everyone continuing to rip on Tom. I love ripping on Tom.

JULES: Hey Trav, did you happen to find any of Tom’s business in those holes?
TRAV: Let me check, no.
JULES: Sorry Tom, none of your business over here.

I think my favourite storyline of the episode though was Bobby and Laurie’s penny can venture. These two just have fantastic chemistry with each other. They are endlessly quotable together. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for this show so I can’t remember if I’ve said this before, but I wouldn’t mind seeing them potentially paired up as a couple, provided they can keep this same energy.

They stole this episode. I loved Laurie’s description of the screenplay she’s working on and her radio jingle had me laughing out loud. And the way the two of them, along with Andy, decided to change the meaning of “kicks ass” was hilarious. Of course you’ll be able to find all of these examples in the quotes section below:

LAURIE: Oh! We could give her a puppy that would blow up if she took it across town lines. It’s from my new screenplay, The Blow Up Pup. It’s a prequel to Speed.

ANDY: (demonstrating the concept of forbidden fruit) Laurie, what if I was to tell you I had an apple in my pocket from lunch?
LAURIE: So what, who cares.
ANDY: What if I was to tell you this apple is so special you couldn’t even look at it?
LAURIE: What’s so special about it? I want to see the apple! Gimme.

BOBBY: I just earned $600 from borrowing it from Andy and Jules.

BOBBY: (receiving bad news) Oh that really kicks ass!
GRAYSON: No when something kicks ass it’s a good thing.
BOBBY: How? Every time I’ve had my ass kicked it’s been horrible?
ANDY: We’ve been misusing that phrase for years. So all agreed to change it?
LAURIE: Absolutely.

BOBBY: Man, my names got a lot of B’s in it.
LAURIE: My name doesn’t have any B’s in it.
BOBBY: Oh I’m sorry I brought it up.
LAURIE: It’s okay.

BOBBY: They give out awards for radio ads right?
LAURIE: Well they better! We worked on this for well over an hour.

And of course the line of the night, Laurie’s radio ad:

LAURIE: (sirens) Calm down, it’s not the real police, it’s the fun police! And we’re bringing you the greatest coin-based game since heads or tails. Do you love having a good time? Then call 1-855-PENNYCAN. Hold for an operator, then ask for Carol. Say you’re ordering penny can, and not any weight loss products or sexual aides and she’ll contact us with your order. It’s that simple! Ask for Carol, no sex stuff, Penny Can!

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

The return of John Lithgow. I enjoyed his last appearance on this show so I had some high expectations coming into this one. There were a few funny moments in the episode – the whole gang pretending to be a band in place of the opening credits, Barney and Jerry’s drunken night on the streets of New York – but for the most part “Hopeless” seemed a little light on the jokes, or at least the laugh out loud variety. Once again, what I found most interesting was the more dramatic and story based elements of the episode.

The car ride home between Jerry and Barney was another great moment in Barney’s development. Barney’s admission that he felt like he was just “too far gone” when it came to settling down was a poignant moment, but even more interesting was his response to Jerry’s comment about meeting the right girl. The writers were playing pretty fast and loose with the Barney and Robin hints in this one, but Barney’s “maybe I’ve already met her” response to Jerry’s advice seemed less like a hint and more like a giant pointing arrow in the Barney and Robin direction.

With the wedding shown at the beginning of the season fast approaching (assuming it’s the subject of the season finale) the renewed talk of Barney and Robin as a couple again has me super pumped. Though that’s not to say the wedding will be for the two of them. The writers have been throwing out a lot of red herrings (though I guess they’re only red herrings if they don’t pan out) and in this episode that included Robin’s guy crush, which narrator Ted commented isn’t quite over with.

I think maybe the more likely scenario is Robin will attempt to get married and Barney will rush to the altar to stop it. Barney putting himself out there like that would be a major step forward for his character and fits perfectly with his current arc. Along those lines, another possibility would be that it’s actually Barney’s wedding and he’s marrying that Nora girl from earlier in the season, but since I’m rooting for Barney and Robin ending up together I kind of hope that’s not the case (I don’t see Robin rushing to altar to get Barney back). Of course, it could just be Punchy’s wedding, but that would be pretty boring.

A few other closing thoughts on the episode. Marshall’s impression of a playwright was hilarious – “we’re all writers, just some of us don’t know our story yet” – and I loved the call back to Ted’s red cowboy boots.

Unfortunately this show is going on another two week hiatus before finishing out the season, so we won’t get any more answers on any of those lingering questions for a little while at least. What that does give us though is time to speculate, so if you have a theory please post it in the comments.

Oh, before I forget, the line of the night:

ROBIN: (responding to Ted being a hypocrite) So get off the field at the Super Dome, because you ain’t no saint.

House – “Last Temptation” (B)

And Masters takes her final bow. I’m a little disappointed to see her go after spending so much time getting to know her. Now that I know she probably won’t be back I feel a bit letdown by the character in general (for those of you who don’t know Amber Tamblyn has signed on to another Fox pilot). I thought the writers were going to build to something a little more, and now that the character’s gone I’m just left with an empty feeling.

That’s not to say her exit was bad. I think this show does a lot better when the focus is on the characters more than the case. This was another one of those episodes told from the point of view of a character other than House, and like the show’s previous few attempts at this type of episode, the results were a refreshing take on life at Princeton-Plainsboro.

I think once the suddenness of Masters’ departure wears off (I didn’t know she was leaving until after I watched the episode) I may warm a bit to the way her character was written off. We’ve seen plenty of examples over the years of the way House’s influence can corrupt even some of the most idealistic doctors, so it is nice to finally see one of them leave him rather than let that happen. Even I’ve complained in the past about Masters’ lack of response to House’s bullying (I just thought she would be sticking around a little longer) so perhaps this was the right way for the character to go.

Despite the obvious focus of Masters’ departure, “Last Temptation” was actually one of the funnier episodes I’ve seen this season. House and Wilson’s chicken war was pretty hilarious. I’m happy that most of the damage Wilson’s chicken received was emotional, despite the fact the way they filmed it made it seem like exactly the opposite. I also really liked House’s rehab explanation for Thirteen’s absence and the fact that now she can’t drink around any of them, which according to her is her “main bond with Chase.”

I’m looking forward to next week and the opportunity to explore Thirteen’s return a little more, but I will admit, I am going to miss Masters. Farewell Amber Tamblyn.

Fringe – “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” (A+)

Look, I don't have much time. As much as I wish I could spend it thinking about television all day I need to learn the histological structure of like 1,000 organs by Thursday. That being said, I have found time to watch many of my shows over the past few weeks. When I looked up whether there was a new Fringe last Friday and saw that the episode was named after LSD, I knew it was an hour that had to be spent watching TV. So I watched, and I never wrote about it.

But that lack of commitment has been bugging at me. Not because I feel a deep seeded obligation to Brian or you, my readers. No offence to any of you. I do feel like we have this special bond where I write things and the world completely ignores me, and I appreciate you all for it. However, I feel like I need to review it because it was hands down the best episode of TV I have watched since Richard's back story on Lost.

The reasoning is simple. When a SciFi/Drama is able to write half of the episode as a cartoon and not make it seem absolutely ridiculous, but instead a logical progression of the show, it deserves an 'A'. Second, when a show drops a cliffhanger on you with the words "I'm not sure, but I think he's the man who is going to kill me" it deserves the 'plus'. That’s it. Sweet and simple. Now the thyroid follicles and zona fasciculata require my attention. Good day blue universe.

The Event – “Cut Off the Head” (B-)

So Sean is the chosen one. I guess I should hand it to the writers for taking my advice yet again and giving Sean something important to do, I just sort of wish they didn’t kill off the one person with any sort of information about the sentinels. Pretty sneaky writers. But hey, I guess now that he has that tapestry he can slowly uncover their secrets in small manageable pieces.

And I guess no one’s doubting Dempsey’s allegiances anymore either. There was something a little unsettlingly about the way his character was killed off. I’ll admit, I didn’t see it coming at all. And while they managed to kill him off in a way that gave his normally veiled character a very clear ideology, I couldn’t help but feel as though we’ll never truly understand why he was doing what he was doing. For example, what did any of this have to do with those age experiments? They very well may explain this (that is if they don’t get cancelled), but my gut is telling me they won’t.

The rest of the episode was spectacularly mediocre. I’m still not loving Sophia’s new attitude. This week she was trying to manipulate the Vice President into assassinating the President and you could notice a stark contrast from the Sophia of old. She just seems evil now. She talks about killing off the human population without even a hint of remorse and at the same time gleefully manipulates the people around her. It bothers me because this is just not the character I’ve been watching over this past season. They can easily justify what she’s doing – her whole species is at risk of extinction – but what they can’t justify is her lack of conflict over it.

I wasn’t that into the President’s story this week either. If his wife had ended up actually being a sleeper agent I would probably be singing a different tune, but they really didn’t have my interest with this storyline until right when he confronted her, and then it didn’t take long for her name to be cleared. Of course if she somehow still is a sleeper agent, then bravo writers.

Even though some of Sean’s story was interesting and I liked the reveal of the frozen dead guy at the end of the episode, my interest is really starting to wane on this series. I really don’t see them getting renewed and while they’ve improved the show from its lackluster beginnings, it’s still not where it needs to be.

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.

There’s a Lot of People Who Don’t Consider Salad a Food

Hurray! This week marked the return of my two favourite comedies – Community and Parks and Recreation. Oh how I’ve missed them both.

Spoilers below.

Community – “Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy” (B+)

First off I’d just like to start by saying how happy I am that both this show, and Parks and Recreation got renewed by NBC. I say this a lot but for my money those are the two best comedies on television right now, and it would have been a damn shame if they didn’t get renewed, and say... Outsourced did in their place.

But let’s get to the topic at hand – “Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy”. Annie’s baby shower was a strong way to kick off the episode. I wish Annie was in this one a little more actually. She and Pierce were both notably absent this week, but they both made good use of the limited screen time they were given. I liked Pierce’s quip that Joseph was “history’s greatest chump” (Joseph Kennedy that is) and I loved the groups new attempt to wean him off the racially insensitive remarks by allowing him to continue using “you people”. And then of course there were Annie’s two hilarious gifts to Shirley’s baby:

ANNIE: Well I wanted to get the baby a doll, and since the father might be Andre or Chang, I wanted all ethnic bases covered. So there’s a little African American girl, and there’s a very nice letter from the manufacturer promising to expand their selection.

The remainder of the episode was split into two main storylines. The first was between Abed, Troy, and Brita. It was kind of a cool pairing (I say pairing because Troy and Abed have had so many storylines together they’re practically a package deal )because outside all the full group scenes, I don’t think these three have ever shared a storyline before (hit me up in the comments if I’m wrong).

Anyways, Troy and Abed make a new friend named Luca, who they try to keep away from Brita because apparently she has a long history of dating guys they like and subsequently ruining those guys for them. Actually one of my favourite jokes in this episode was the long list of guys she had ruined for them.

BRITA: You guys have to believe me. He’s so much worse than tall Kyle.

And she’s right too. Luca is “a monster for realsies” (I use the word realsies all the time too – I thought I was the only one!) because evidently Luca committed genocide in the Balkan Islands. One of my favourite scenes was Brita finding out that very fact. It was so perfectly Brita the way she made him open up, and when she found out the truth about him her facial expression was priceless.

I also loved her big speech to the boys where she slowly went about concluding that it MUST have been Luca who took the Kick Puncher 3 DVD, only for Abed to interrupt her story with “we know you took the DVD Brita”. Luckily, it all worked out in the end though. Troy and Abed eventually came around when they heard the whole Luca/genocide story and they all made up just in time for Brita to ruin the ending to Catfish for everyone. Thanks Brita – I hadn’t seen that yet.

The other storyline this week involved Shirley and her attempts to get Chang to give up his parental rights. It was the weaker of the two stories, but it still had its moments. I think I liked Chang better when he was a professor. He was better when he was insane in a position of authority than now, when he’s just insane. It’s not that he’s not funny, he’s just not AS funny. He’s more hit or miss now. That’s not to say that I didn’t find it hilarious last year when it turned out he didn’t know how to speak Spanish at all, so I guess I can’t complain all that much. It’s not they like they could justify any of them taking another class with him.

A few more of my favourite parts of the episode:

-          Brita’s attempt at a Britney Spears song. Sooo funny.

-          Jeff “nipple play” Winger’s nipple guards – “Buddy I worked at a maximum security prison for 7 years, and those are still the gayest thing I’ve ever seen.”

-          “Yeah we wanted to get him a sawed off shotgun, but those are pretty expensive already.”

-          “Ugh girls are so undesensitized.”

-          The Greendale effect – “Our school motto is lower your standards.”

-          Andre’s solemn “Yeah” to Jeff assumedly rhetorical question “Did you know you can make an ash tray from nothing but a cigarette and a snitches forehead?”

Parks and Recreation – “Harvest Festival” (A-)

“Son, this horse has an honorary degree from Notre Dame.”

Parks and Rec had been building up to the Harvest Festival pretty much all season long, so it’s nice to see that when the time came the event didn’t disappoint. The festival grounds they created were fantastic and really went a long way in making you feel like you were in the middle of a real county fair. The walk through the festival with Joan Callamezzo was actually one of my favourite parts of the episode.

And whoever came up with the idea for that mini horse deserves some kind of recognition, because pretty much everything about Li’l Sebastian had me laughing my ass off. Ron was the best. His absolute giddiness around Li’l Sebastian is so contrary to his character that it made the entire gag for me.

They used Ben very well here as well. His character doesn’t get a ton of credit because he’s used as a straight man/outsider so often, but the way he frames how quirky this town is contributes a lot to what makes this show so funny.  Case in point:

BEN: Yeah, I’ve just gotta be honest, I don’t get what the big deal is.
LESLIE: Get out.

The fake curse was good for a few laughs and I really enjoyed watching Leslie try to put out all the fires. Her conversation with Ann was a highlight. I love that Leslie’s taken to calling her sweet beautiful Ann these days. For whatever reason it makes me laugh every time she says it. I also loved her press conference where she dispelled all the rumours about the festival, including making sure people knew there weren’t escaped convicts roaming around the grounds.

Sadly the side stories in this one didn’t always live up to quality of the festival itself. I was a little surprised with the “I love you” storyline so early in the Andy/April relationship. I thought maybe it was a little too soon for that kind of seriousness between those two. I was also a little torn on Andy’s reaction to April’s I love you. Andy obviously isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but even for him that was a little boneheaded. It would have been better if he was just too nervous to say it, but to not even realize why she was mad was a little over the top.

I had similar problems with Ann’s storyline. Like Ben, I read a lot of criticism about how she’s just not funny enough on her own, but I think her straight man role is incredibly important. Many times I’m laughing more at her reaction than I am at the character making the joke.

In this episode, prompted by her break up with Chris, we got to see Ann break free from her straight man role, and I wasn’t completely sold on the results. Now I’m not saying that Ann can’t be funny on her own, because she’s had plenty of funny moments before this episode, but I didn’t particularly like where they took her in this one. I get that she’s spiralling, but the Jersey shore wannabe they had her hooking up with was just maybe a tad too out of character.

I don’t want to make it sound like I didn’t like the episode though. Despite all my minor gripes, it was still quite funny. Even the storylines I had complaints about still had some really funny moments. Like always I’ll leave you with a few of my favourites.

-          Leslie explaining what happened the first time the town was exposed to Li’l Sebastian – “For the next few years, Sebastian was the number 1 boys name in Pawnee... and the number 3 girls name.”

-          Deep fried boulevard and the show’s continued shots at salads.

-          The map of atrocities committed by the Pawnee settlers.

-          “Over in this booth, Indiana basketball legend Larry Bird’s 84 year old aunt Tilda will be signing autographs for two hours on Thursday.” “You got Tilda?!?”

-          Ann dyeing a piece of her hair red after breaking up with Chris.

-          Leslie’s response to Ben’s question about whether the town really believes in curses – “Oh no no, we all just behave rationally and believe we are all in charge of our own destinies. Come on!”

30 Rock – “Queen of Jordan” (B+)

30 Rock attempted the reality show parody a few weeks back in “Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning”, but they took it a step further in “Queen of Jordan”, actually formatting the episode in the style of a reality show. As repetitive as it was, this offering perfected the earlier comedic style forged in “Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning”, providing a welcome departure from the show’s traditional format.

30 Rock is a hard show to review. I mentioned in an earlier review that this show pretty much sinks or swims on its one-liners, which often makes reviews of good episodes turn into a list of quotes. Well I’m going to do my best to review the show properly, but know this in advanced – this was one of the most quotable episodes of 30 Rock I’ve seen in a long time. If a list of quotes is what you’re looking for than just skip to the end now. I won’t be offended.

The episode centered on Liz’s attempts to get Tracey back from Africa. Seeing an opportunity with Angie (after Jack explained to her that opportunity), Liz attempts to coerce her into getting Tracey back from Africa. Liz’s natural discomfort with Angie provided for some hilarious moments between the two. Tina Fey’s Tracey Morgan impression was one amazing example. To the writers – please bring that back. It reminded me of when Alec Baldwin went about impersonating Tracey’s entire family a few seasons back. It was that good.

I also loved when Angie pulled out Liz’s hair and threatened to do it again because she’s contractually obligated to pull out 8 more weaves this season. Liz’s “it’s not a weave” response was priceless. Tiny Fey really sold it. Actually all round Tina Fey had a pretty great week.

Also notable in this episode was Susan Sarandon’s guest appearance as Frank’s old teacher with whom he had an affair. For those of you weirded out by that type of storyline – don’t be. Pete explained it best:

PETE: Guys, a teacher preying on a student is wrong... if the teacher is male and the student is female. What happened to Frank is awesome. Standing ovation.

Their story was well done, providing a number of delightfully quirky scenes and more than a few great quotes. They also seemed to set it up so that Susan Sarandon’s character could make a return, so here’s hoping we see that in the future.

Some of the smaller storylines in this episode provided a few good laughs as well. I loved Jack’s gay baseball rambling, and Jenna’s reaction to a reality show filming in the office was perfectly in character. Her fake intervention was particularly well done. And who can forget Kenneth’s mind boggling glove conundrum. All in all it was a very enjoyable episode.

Now, as promised, a list of my favourite quotes from the episode.

ANGIE: Don’t tell me I can’t sing. What the fuck have you ever done? Who the fuck are the Beatles?

ANGIE: D’fwan, glue in the business weave.

D’FWAN: D’fwan forgot his catch phrase.

JACK: With Tracey gone, TGS will be airing another “best of” special.
LIZ: Actually legal says we can’t use the word best.

RANDI: I didn’t say it.
D’FWAN: You did.
(You had to see it)

JENNA: I drank all the throwing wine.

LYN (Susan Sarandon’s character): You live with your mother?
FRANK: Yeah, otherwise who would wake me up for work?

JACK: I thought this was a meeting to discuss your spin-off, where you do matchmaking for wealthy dogs.

LYN: Oh Frank, how did you know where I worked?
FRANK: It’s one of the benefits of being in love with a registered sex offender.

Fringe – “Stowaway” (A)

It’s been a long time since I liked a show so much. In a world of television mediocrity, Fringe shines like science fiction diamond.  While shows like The Event let me down every week, and The Cape fails to capture a wide enough audience to stay on the air, Fringe brings a consistently solid episode every single week.  Stowaway was no exception.  In fact, it’s one of the best from the show this season.

Stowaway picks up where our cliffhanger left us last week.  We are looking at the blue universe and William Bell's consciousness has returned to Olivia's body.  As I said last week, Anna Torv playing this character is truly a testament to her range as an actress.  Well I really enjoyed what she did again this week. I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of putting Bell in Olivia's body because it eliminated Olivia from the show, but I believe that I need to put faith in the Fringe creators much like I put faith in Lost's creative team week to week.  Not only is the William Bell character well acted, but the dialogue truly makes me believe that Bell's consciousness is back. Not to mention the interactions with Walter and Bellivia (as I will call him/her) add some well placed comic relief.

Bell declares that he needs to find a suitable host for his consciousness and will remain in Olivia's body for 24-48hrs at most, but of course the team is sidetracked by a case.  Paula Malcomson (Deadwood) guest stars this week as a woman who is unable to die.  After coming back from the dead after multiple gunshot wounds in a home invasion that took the rest of her family, she is left without hope.  She tries to kill herself multiple times, and even tries to tag along with other people's suicide attempts.  All are failures.  She finds suicidal people by working for a suicide help line and meets up with these people to try to "ride their energy to the afterlife," or something along those lines.  In the end, she encounters a suicidal man who tells her that he has planted a bomb on a train before taking his own life.  Malcomson's character then uses the bomb to finally meet her family in the afterlife.  

The case was fantastic, due primarily to Malcomson's stellar acting.  Seth Gable (Agent Lincoln Lee - red universe) also makes an appearance this week as a blue universe Agent working for another department.  I’m hoping he joins the blue universe cast more permanently. I enjoy the small character differences between universes and his slightly nerdier version of Agent Lee fits well into the Fringe world.

But the most important part of the episode again came in the cliffhanger.  As Bellivia and Peter are talking over a cup of tea once the case has wrapped up, a church bell chimes and Olivia's consciousness momentarily returns.  She is quickly replaced by Bell again and he remarks that things may be more complicated than he first suspected.

It’s an interesting twist and it means that Anna Torv might be playing a little more of Bellivia in the coming weeks.  That’s ok with me.  I didn't think it would be, but this episode was fantastic.  Also, having the Bell character around seems to bring out the best in Walter which is great to see.

For those keeping track at home, the cortexiphan is not the magnet – the soul magnets were in the tea Olivia received when she first visited Bell.  A neat little piece that maybe shows forethought by the creators.  Or just a lucky coincidence.  Either way, good stuff.

I really look forward to next week's instalment.

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.