All The Cool Kids Were Totally Laughing With Us

Spoilers...

House – “Everybody Dies” (B)

And so we’ve reached the end...

It took me a while to digest this one. I spent a good chunk of the week kicking it around in my head, dissecting it from every angle. I even watched it a second time to try and clarify my thoughts. And to be honest, I’m still not totally sure where I stand on the episode. Take this as a preliminary grade, subject to change until it can be properly viewed in the context of the series as a whole. I think time is the only way to truly know where this episode rates in the grand scheme of things.

From a plot standpoint, I’m not at all disappointed with what happened. The writer’s gave us pretty much the type of ending I was hoping for – bittersweet with a glimmer of hope. How we got there though is where I’m most conflicted about “Everybody Dies.”

House’s ideological musings were poignant at some points, confusing at others, and sadly, a little flighty. The string of guest stars was a nice way to look back through the history of the show, but at the same time it seemed to take us in circles, with House flip flopping back and forth between choosing life and choosing death far too often. A more focused approach to those discussions probably would have played much more insightful. As it stands I don’t think it had the emotional resonance it needed.

The burning building probably wasn’t the best choice of settings either. There was no suspense or sense of urgency in House’s decision over whether to save himself. The fire burned on for so long he never really seemed to be in danger and his lack of action was not only irritating but surprisingly out of character. And considering so much of the episode was about examining his character, you don’t like to see that.

But I imagine the decision to put House in a burning building was born more out of where the story was going than it was about his decision to live or die. The writers needed a way for House to plausibly fake his death and that meant a body that would be difficult to identify. That’s where my view of the episode gets complicated.

On one hand, I didn’t like the way his supposed death was executed, starting from how Foreman and Wilson refused to help him which led them to the burning building (and House into his crisis in the first place), to the seemingly inescapable explosion that capped things off. But I did like the idea of him faking his death. It seemed like a vintage House move and really accentuated that powerful moment earlier in the building where he decided he could finally change. He literally threw his old life away and I like that metaphor... perhaps it would have been more devious if it had looked like it was his plan all along to get out of going to jail, but it was true to the character while also giving the audience that glimmer of hope we needed to properly gain closure.

For whatever reason it felt to me like something straight out of Sherlock Holmes novel, a nice ode to one of the show’s obvious influences. Of course nothing like that ever happened in a Sherlock Holmes novel, so all the literature fans out there please don’t bite my head off (he was presumed dead after one of the books, though I don’t think he was purposefully faking it). But only that type of mischievously intelligent character could ever get away with faking their own death in a satisfying way. That’s part of the reason I think I can forgive some of the weaker moments of that story.

Plus the final act was quite heartening for any long time fan of the series. Chase takes over for House.  Cameron is married with a kid. Taub connects with his children. It’s schmaltzy, but there’s nothing wrong with a good happily ever after. I think the image that will stick with me for a while is Foreman smiling after finding House’s hospital badge and realizing what he’d done.

And it’s also hard to beat House and Wilson riding off into the sunset in the final shot. Maybe not the most original ending, but thematically it summed things up nicely. You get the sense that he’s finally unburdened now and maybe, for once, happy.

So there you have it... why I’m conflicted. “Everybody Dies” is not the best episode the series has ever done, but it ties up the characters and the story in a satisfying enough way that I feel I can leave the show with some happy memories. I guess at the end of the day all I can say is House... it’s been a pleasure.

Modern Family – “Baby on Board” (A-)

Modern Family has been a little uneven this season, but I’m glad the cast and the writers can still put together a great episode when they need to. “Baby on Board” went for a little more than the series traditionally has in its finales, at least in terms of cliffhangers, but what really made the episode great was just how sharp it was comedically. It’s feels like a long time since Modern Family has made me laugh this hard.

Personally, I’ve enjoyed watching Cam and Mitchell a lot more over these last few episodes. Their antics had been wearing a little thin on me this season, but for whatever reason they’ve been getting better material lately... or something. To be honest, I can’t explain it. But their adoption storyline in this one was solid. I thought the Spanish soap opera bit was quite funny while still allowing the writers room to explore the very frustrating and heartbreaking experience they were going through. The scene at the gas station was an especially sweet moment.

Likewise Manny and Jay had a pretty great week matched up with Lilly. Watching the two of them squabble over how to deal with her led to some very funny moments, culminating in a hilarious (and cute) scene between Jay and Lilly at the end of the episode. I laughed out loud when Jay offered her $50 so he wouldn’t have to dance on stage with her.

The Dunphy family were the real all-stars of “Baby on Board” though. It didn’t matter if it was Phil teaching Alex how to dance, Haley conferring onto her parents that a gap year meant working at the Gap, or Phil and Claire running through the horrendous scenarios Haley would encounter living with Dylan, everything the writers tried seemed to work. And they didn’t try to sidestep Haley going to college either. It always bugs me when a show intentionally hinders a character’s development for the sake of keeping up the status quo.

Of course Gloria’s pregnancy announcement was the big surprise of the episode and I thought the writers did a good job of sneaking it in without giving it away. I know I was legitimately surprised when she made the announcement. I’m a little wary of how that storyline will play out next season, but I’ll reserve my judgement until I actually see it.

Modern Family may not be as consistent as it once was, but it can still be very, very funny when it wants to be. There’s a lot of life left in these characters and despite my reservations about the big reveal in this episode, it’s nice to see that the writers aren’t afraid to challenge themselves in new and interesting ways. I’m not sure if Modern Family’s best days are ahead or behind us, but I do think the series is going to be worth watching for the foreseeable future.

I’ll be looking forward to next season.

Line of the night:

PHIL: Guess what, suddenly you’re sixty years old wandering toothless and alone in a post apocalyptic wasteland.
HALEY: Wait a second, how did Dylan get the nuclear codes again?
PHIL: During the robot wars!

There’s A Back Story Here You Don’t Want to Know About

Spoilers...

Community – “Digital Estate Planning” (A), “The First Chang Dynasty” (A-) & “Introduction to Finality” (A-)

First off, I’ve never written three episodes into the same review before, especially not three this good, so we’ll see how this goes. Second, I just heard about Dan Harmon’s firing from the series, and while I by no means know anything about the inner workings of the show, from what I’ve heard he was the heart and soul of Community. So thank you Dan Harmon (he almost surely reads this blog). I know he gets paid a lot of money to do this, but all the crappy showrunners do to, and over the past three seasons he’s made Community into one of the most original and outright hilarious shows on television. If these three episodes are the last he’ll ever work on for the series, he went out with a heck of a bang.

Anyway, let’s start with the first episode “Digital Estate Planning,” definitely my favourite of the night and another strong case for my theory that every time Community drags out the altered title music the episode is going to be awesome. I’ve played my fair share of 8-bit platformers and old school RPGs and as I always do in these high concept episodes I found the level of detail hysterical. It really did take me back to my days playing Zelda and Mario as a kid, from the jumping sounds, to the text bubbles, to the large Super Mario style terrain maps.

And combine that with the hilariously good characterization of the little 8-bit characters and this episode could easily break into my top 5 Community episodes of all time. I loved how 8-bit Jeff had to jump up onto the study room table to give his inspirational speech to the study group (only to have them die seconds later). Or watching Annie and Shirley accidently murder the blacksmith and his wife. Or even the fact that Abed fell in love with the 8-bit blacksmith’s daughter, providing one hilarious conclusion to the episode. It’s just one of those instances, and Community seems to have a lot of them, where the characters and the premise jived together perfectly.

“The First Chang Dynasty” took on the classic heist story, and proved you can never get too many parody episodes in one night. While not as outwardly hilarious as “Digital Estate Planning” it was still a strong showing for the series. I loved watching the study group each take on their different roles in the heist (Abed and Troy’s plumber impression was my favourite) and the way the writers so perfectly captured that pivotal moment in most heist movies where the plan looks to be failing but in truth is actually still part of the plan. I laughed pretty hard at Pierce’s confusion when they actually did get caught and he still thought it was part of it.

I found Troy’s goodbyes at the end of episode to actually be quite sad. If NBC hadn’t decided to stack three episodes together like this that moment would have been a heck of a cliffhanger. I think the brilliance of the scene is how none of the goodbyes actually had any substance to them (in fact they were all hilariously irrelevant), yet still conveyed the raw emotion of the moment. You had to feel for Abed after his stoic “sorry for getting emotional.”

And that leads quite nicely into “Introduction to Finality” which took Abed to a darker place than I’d ever seen him before. I had to laugh at Jeff’s expression at the end of this episode when he heard Abed was planning on sawing off his arm with a bone saw. Abed’s persona is generally pretty lovable, but that’s a pretty serious level of mental illness. Even his claymation visions in last year’s Christmas episode weren’t that bad. He wasn’t going hurt anyone, anyway. Needless to say that look summed up pretty much exactly what I was thinking throughout most of the episode. I’m just glad Evil Abed was defeated.

By far the funniest storyline of the night was Troy’s introduction to the inner workings of the air conditioning repair school. The school’s secret society-like persona was hilarious (the hyped up introduction to the sun room was amazing), especially when contrasted with Troy’s complete indifference to pretty much everything they threw at him. It’s weird for him to be the only normal character in a storyline, but that’s his role at this school and he was damn funny in it.

The episode also marked another major turning point for Jeff. When he started at Greendale he didn’t want anything to do with the school or any of its students, and gradually over the course of the last few seasons he’s come to accept that he needs the place and that he cares about the study group. But he’s always had the end goal of getting his old life back, and this was the first time we’ve seen him outwardly choose his friends over that goal. His final speech at the end of the episode was one of those rare moments where the show sort of transcended its comedy label and was actually quite poignant. To me, that’s a great image to leave the season with.

I guess to sum things up, I’m cheering for this show for next season. I love Community and I want it to succeed no matter what. But it’s hard not to see the stupidity in NBC and Sony’s decision to take the show away from Harmon. I hope the new showrunners can come in and take over where he left off, but I think the sad truth is whatever they do is going to end up being overshadowed by the fact that it’s not Harmon doing it – at least to the diehard fans, who are pretty much Community’s entire audience. Still, I’ll be watching... this and whatever Harmon’s next project ends up being.

My lines of the night (in order):

JEFF: This place is 20 cat turds and a Pixies poster from being your apartment.

SHIRLEY: You had time to build a tiny working water fountain and I’m a pine cone?

TROY: I made a new rule that the air conditioning repair school has to act like a regular school. I can do that because I’m their messiah.

Modern Family – “Tableau Vivant” (B+)

Art projects have gotten considerably more complex since I was in school. I think just to attempt something as grand in scale as a living portrait would have garnered an A+. Alex on the other hand only got a B-, which makes me wonder whether I would fail art if I were a student today. Or I guess if maybe this is one of those fake television schools with an art department capable of producing elaborate set pieces like a living version of the Tableau Vivant.

But that moment did remind how much I like this show when all of its disparate story threads come crashing into each other at the end of an episode. The living portrait scene strained credibility a bit, but it was a nice backdrop for the explosion of tensions that had built up throughout the day. A sort of illusion of required restraint for these characters to trample over as they went about sniping at each other.

 I’m a sucker too for unconventional pairings and “Tableau Vivant” had them in spades. Obviously, most storylines are going to be split down familial lines but there’s a novelty to the ones that aren’t – they feel fresher. Which means it shouldn’t surprise you that my favourite story of this episode was Phil’s struggle to fire Mitchell while avoiding any sort of conflict. The two of them played amusingly well off of each other, and it culminated in a ton of very funny moments in the episode. I loved the revelation that Phil had tried to break up with Claire 20 years earlier without her ever realizing it. It fueled a ton of great bits in the episode. And it was also quite funny to watch poor Mitchell stuck in the elevator while seemingly everyone at Phil’s firm took shots at him.

Claire and Cam were great with each other as well. It wasn’t too hard to see that Cam’s new age parenting techniques were going to be an issue for Claire and I thought the garbage disposal scene in particular was quite funny. Unsurprisingly, the only storyline I wasn’t that keen on was Jay and Gloria. Their argument in this episode felt strikingly similar to last week’s, and I just wasn’t feeling their lovable bickering this time around. I do wonder though whether Jay’s audit might play somewhat into the season finale. Keep an eye out for that...

30 Rock – “What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?” (B)

Another very appropriate episode title. Considering the show’s going into its final season I am very much wondering what will happen to the gang next year. One thing’s for sure, I’m going to miss Avery. Jack needs another person from his “world” to riff off of and considering how great Elizabeth Banks is in that role it’s going to be tough to lose her. That is of course if we are losing her... I’ve been wrong about these things before.

Ironically enough (for a season finale anyway), this felt very much like a setup episode, and sort of floated along as such for most of its duration. Aside from Jack’s split from Avery – which leaves his character wandering somewhat aimlessly, as he has all season – every other character storyline in this episode seemed to give them some sort of direction for the season to come.

Liz realizing she wasn’t going to bail on Criss was probably my favourite thread. I’m not sure if placing her in a relatively stable relationship this season was a good idea or not, but I am interested in seeing the writers finally commit to this baby storyline. They’ve flirted with it a lot over the years and it feels like one of those things the series has been building towards since its beginning. It might end up being a disaster, but we’ll only know that when we see it.

In the same vein, Kenneth finally dating a girl (if of course that’s the direction his hook up with Hazel will take) is one of those long coveted storylines I think everyone kind of wondered what would look like. The problem is – and it’s applicable to Tracey’s decision to start his own studio too – that other than the big reveal, there wasn’t much else to these storylines. I guess the subtext to my mild enthusiasm about the episode is that while there were plenty of promising developments, at the end of the day they were just promises, and there weren’t a ton of laughs to fill the holes. Despite the fact it was a finale, “What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?” felt pretty average.

I am looking forward though to seeing how the writers deal with the knowledge that this next season will be the show’s last. Hopefully 30 Rock will get the creative boost most shows experience in their final year. It’s a series that deserves a good send off.

Taters Are For Laters

I’m working on NBC’s Thursday night line up. In the meantime please enjoy this Cougar Town/New Girl/Modern Family recap.

Spoilers...

Cougar Town – “Down South” (B)

Is it just me or did this episode strain its credibility by having the Cul-De-Sac crew run out of wine in the middle of a hurricane. From what I know about Jules and the gang, there’s absolutely no way they would ever let that happen. It’s ironic, because my beef with “Down South” is a direct result of the fantastic character work that came before it, but oddly enough I actually found that it played a factor in my enjoyment of the episode. Totally fine with Tom spending an entire hurricane outside of Jules’ window, but this group of friends running out of wine – grab a pitchfork, we’re storming the Cougar Town offices.

That was a pretty specific example (though I stand by it) but there did seem to be something off about this week’s episode. I think I would have actually preferred it if the writers went for a full out bottle episode rather than having the gang jump from location to location. The cast tend to be at their best when they function as one large group and the constant movement made the episode feel a little disjointed.

I had my issues with the Laurie/Travis storyline this week too. Laurie knows that Trav likes her, so it was odd that she was so oblivious to that fact in this episode. You could argue she was distracted by the break up, but when you have Trav playing Wade’s surrogate I have a hard time believing she would be that clueless. If this is the start of a much larger arc I welcome those two as a couple, but it still feels like they were mishandled a bit here.

I did still like some of their chats though, and while “Down South” may not have been as sharp an episode as Cougar Town in known for, it wasn’t without a few good laughs. I thought Grayson’s search for a new catch phrase was probably the best running bit of the night. I love that the writers have started exploring Grayson’s reasons for owning the bar and his 90s cool guy catch phrase was a great play on that theme. The ending tag between he and Ellie was hilarious – “I used to be so warm”... classic.

My favourite lines:

JULES: I love hurricanes. They’re like adult snow days. You know, you don’t have to go to work, you drink and play games.
GRAYSON: So it’s like every day for us.
JULES: But with wind...

BOBBY: I feel like I’m cheating on Andy.
TRAV: I’m your son, so it’s fine.

ELLIE: I’m only an okay storm, I’m not a perfect storm.

ELLIE: You just ate your hoodie string.

GRAYSON: You know how people say, “hey, you want to come with us?” I was the guy who dropped the “us” part. “Hey, you want to come with?”

And line of the night:

TRAV: You can’t take explosions so personally. You know, sometimes they’re just explosions.

New Girl  – “See Ya” (B)

I expected more from this one, I really did. There was a lot to like in this episode, but for a finale I was disappointed. The last episode of the season, at least in my opinion, should feel like an amalgamation of everything that came before it and for a comedy it should be able to generate a lot of its humour just from that. But too often in this episode the writing staff looked unprepared, inventing storylines or half hearted setups to give it that finale feel rather than going with something that felt organic.

Schmidt and Cece’s sudden break up was a perfect example. Everything before this episode suggested the two of them were happy with each other. I understand the concept of a reversal, but after two weeks of showing these two head over heels for each other apparently all it took to break them up was a short visit to a photo shoot and one side of a text message. Schmidt had visited Cece on set before. He’s always known she was a model, this isn’t foreign territory for him. And because of that his sudden surge of jealousy just struck really false to me. The White Fang reference was funny, but it could have been a lot funnier if it didn’t feel like a poorly executed excuse to drum up some finale drama.

From a story perspective that was probably the worst offender but there were more than a few setups I had to role my eyes at too. Winston’s sudden fear of the dark was ridiculous. And I thought Nick deciding to go search for the keys right before his run in with the coyote was more about that bit than an actual change in the mindset of his character. Also isn’t New Girl set in Chicago? Forgive my geography here, but what desert were they in?

It was hard to deny the charm of their little camp out though, and I did enjoy watching them reminisce to the sound of Nick’s 90s mixtapes (sadly I think all of those songs are currently on my iPod). If this episode had one saving grace I’d say it was probably in some of the more collaborative group scenes. It’s hard to deny the chemistry of this cast when they’re thrown into these big scenes with each other.

I also quite liked the way they capped off the episode, which counter to my earlier criticisms is exactly the sort of thing I like to see in a finale. Nick’s AC/DC return was a fantastic sequence – it didn’t go for too much, in fact it was entirely free of dialogue, and yet it felt entirely earned. A perfect no frills celebration of the season that was. It’s a pity the entire episode couldn’t live up to those last few minutes, but I’ll take what I can get.

To the quotes!

JESS: You think just cause he’s a snappy dresser the mice don’t see the hammer?

SCHMIDT: What the hell war is this?

NICK: I took my fair share of rubber bands so I don’t want to hear about it.

And line of the night:

JESS: Wow, look how pronounced Nick’s couch hole got. All this time I thought he was just sitting here drinking beer and complaining... he was making something.

Modern Family – “Disneyland” (B+)

I quite liked the Disneyland setting in this one. Not because I have any great affinity towards that particular amusement park or even amusement parks in general, I just thought structurally it gave us the best of both worlds – it allowed for some great group scenes while still leaving the writing staff room for a variety of different characters pairings. Not every storyline was a hit, but there were enough of them that if you didn’t like one, another would be around soon enough.

My personal favourite was Lilly’s leash. The number of great one liners that came out of that premise was incredible and I especially loved how immediately ashamed of himself Mitchell was as soon as the leash went on. But I was also partial to Manny’s stock project. Having been given a similar project in high school I completely understand the corrupting influence fake money has on a man.

Of course Phil and Luke had a pretty good week as well, and while I wasn’t as enthused about Claire setting up Haley with the kind of guy she’d like her to date, I am happy that Dylan is back (I loved watching Phil’s reaction to the news – it was subtle but his reaction was priceless). On the other hand, I could have done without Gloria and the shoes. It did end up leading to a nice ending for Lilly’s leash storyline, but something seemed off to me the way Jay attributed a lot of Gloria’s anger simply to the fact that she wears uncomfortable shoes all the time.

The big danger in an episode with this many storylines though is that it can tend to lose its cohesiveness which is where I thought Jay’s Abraham Lincoln story came in handy. Admittedly, I spent most of “Disneyland” wondering why he was telling the story at all (though on repeat viewing I figured I probably should have seen where it was going) but all in all it provided a nice throughline for the episode and produced a much better ending than the sum of those smaller storylines ever could on their own. Say what you want about the content of Jay’s final aside to the camera, but I thought for the most part the writers did a good job.

Alright, now for my favourite lines:

MITCHELL: Okay we just got a glare from Mr. Socks With Sandals.

LILLY: Chip and Dale!
CAM: Oh great now she’s chasing squirrels. (Technically chipmunks. I’m sorry if that seems arbitrary to you but I take my Rescue Rangers pretty seriously.)

MANNY: Ruben, if you heard about that stock at a birthday party it’s already too late.

GLORIA: Fake money has changed you.

CLAIRE: Oh my goodness, you are burning up. You might have the flu.
PHIL: A bunch of guys at work have the flu and we all drink orange juice out of the same carton. We should get cups...

And line of the night:

MITCHELL: Okay, it’s Toontown not Toonton. You’ve been watching too much PBS. (Man, I love Downton Abbey.)

Anybody Up For A Hobo Adventure?

I’m working my way through the week. Here’s Tuesday and Wednesday for your reading pleasure.

Spoilers:

Cougar Town – “Southern Accents” (A-)

I feel like I’ve said this before (I can’t remember and I honestly don’t read this blog) but Grayson’s daughter has been an excellent addition to the show. Her introduction has provided many good storylines this season, allowed the writers to sidestep through Grayson’s desire to have kids, which had sort of been played out, and it gave us Holly, who was the basis of some truly hilarious moments in this episode.

I quite enjoyed watching Jules and Holly get acquainted with each other this week – the story really hit you from every angle. Having Trav make out with Holly led to more than a few hilarious confrontations with Jules, and some even funnier banter with Grayson, who was in the peripheral this week but still found a way to make his presence known. Holly too has found a nice niche for herself confirming just about anything negative anyone ever says about her within a matter of seconds. She infringes on Laurie’s character a bit but because she’s an outsider to the group she doesn’t distract from her.

And the story actually ended up having quite a bit of heart. I liked the way the writing staff humanized her in the end and pointed out her very similar situation to Jules’ struggles to raise Travis as a young mother. The Cul-De-Sac crew have always been a sort of de facto family and Holly and Tampa/Jill are funny enough that I wouldn’t mind seeing them around for more family functions. Though this show has a knack for creating great bit players and could say that about more than a few characters (I used to say it about Tom and thankfully they listened).

The fun didn’t end there though, as Bobby and Laurie had a great episode discussing the nature of racism. Those two are always funny paired with each other and having them discuss a real issue like that was an oddly hilarious use of their characters. Plus it allowed Laurie to start telling stories and I dare say she is never funnier than when she’s off on some bizarre tangent about her life outside of this group. I particularly loved that the moral she drew from the whole race panel was that “all you need to fix minority problems is a really pretty white woman.” Classic.

Andy’s decision whether to run for mayor was probably the weakest thread of the episode, but that’s only because I enjoyed the other two so much. Frankly it’s a pretty promising storyline for future episodes and it wasn’t without a few great bits. I think it’s hilarious that Andy’s view of being mayor is riding around in parades wearing a top hat. I want this for him more than you know...

Alright, to the quotes!

LAURIE: Oh my god, look at your black and white cookie! You’ve only eaten the white part.
BOBBY: I’m a monster.

BOBBY: I don’t really like it when my food talks to me. It’s why I don’t eat monkeys.

TRAV: There’s just something so innocent about Holly. I just want to protect her. Plus Jill could really use a father.
GRAYSON: She has a father.
TRAV: I meant a good one.

JULES: It’s like my life is flashing before my eyes... I should have drank more wine.

GRAYSON: You know when you’re kissing Holly and she pushes her gum into your mouth and then sucks it back out onto hers? Why is that so hot?
TRAV: Probably her big boobs.
GRAYSON: Probably.

LAURIE: Oh my god, my race panel worked. If there is one thing that we’ve learned from Michelle Pfieffer in Dangerous Minds, or Sandy Bullock in The Blind Side, or Hillary Swank in that movie no one ever saw, it’s that all you need to fix minority problems is a really pretty white woman.

And the longest line of the night ever:

LAURIE: So you accidentally said the wrong thing. One time I accidently asked this blind lady when her baby was due. Turns out she wasn’t pregnant. AND she wasn’t even a lady. But he really was blind which was good because when he went to go throw his coffee at me he totally missed and he hit a real pregnant lady and I was like “dude, you’re such a jerk you just hit a real pregnant lady”... and then it turns out she wasn’t pregnant either so...
BOBBY: There’s a lot of fatties in this town.

New Girl – “Backslide” (B-)

Well first and foremost I want to acknowledge New Girl’s generosity of spirit in taking the time to discuss the dangers of backsliding. It’s an issue most people are unaware of and its consequences can be painful, if not for the people backsliding than for the people around them. Don’t backslide people, it’s not worth it.

Jess unfortunately didn’t head that warning in this episode and in her grief over breaking up with Russell called up Paul, who unbeknownst to her had a pretty serious girlfriend. The storyline had its moments but it wasn’t as uproariously funny as one would have liked. The revelation that Paul is a terrible crier felt like a plot device invented specifically as a cue for Jess’ change of heart near the end of the episode. Give Justin Long credit, he sold it, but I rolled my eyes when that was literally the first thing that came out of Schmidt and Winton’s mouths when they saw him leaving the apartment. It’s been a while though, so by all means correct me if we’ve seen Paul cry before.

Regardless, Jess and Paul’s final scene with each other was still enjoyable. Jess’ speech to Jen – you know, the one that ended with her proposing to Jen for Paul – was a good one, staying both funny and meaningful. And it also led to a pretty good ending, with Jess saying some more very sweet things to Nick just before he told her that he is moving out, all the while confirming that those two are destined to end up with each other.

Schmidt and Cece spent another week making me feel those warm fuzzy feelings I tucked away and swore I would never bring out again, even if I found their storyline lacking a bit in terms of laughs. The writers milked Schmidt’s broken penis for all it was worth (that sounded terrible and yet still I’m not going to change it) but it wasn’t enough to carry the entire comedic load on its own. Still, I’ve been having a good time watching these two slowly fall for each other and this episode was no exception. There’s a bit of a danger that as a confirmed couple the two of them will lose some of their appeal but so far I haven’t seen anything yet to make me worried about that happening.

The rest of the episode revolved mostly around the guys trying to convince Nick not to get back together with Caroline with Winston’s new earring tucked in there somewhere too. I enjoyed past Nick’s video to himself, but it felt like the writers could have done better with it, even if just the image of him with that beard was priceless. I didn’t like the earring side story at all though. It would have been fine if Winston had kept it simple – there were one or two good one liners that came out of it – but as his choice of earring got more and more ridiculous it became harder to buy into the fact that he had that little self-awareness. It just didn’t feel like the writers were challenging themselves enough.

To the quotes!

JESS: Why is she dressed like a woman’s studies major?

SCHMIDT: You backslid all the way down the hill and back into the parking lot. Take off your skis and wait for your family in the lodge Jessica Day.

JESS: I hate to have to break it to you but that is the way the Electoral College works man.
PAUL: It just seems so unfair. So votes don’t mean as much.
JESS: It upsets me to.

NICK: Hello Nick, you magnificent dumbass.

NICK: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? No, a summer’s day is not a bitch.

NICK: Do you want to be a grown man who dresses like an unsponsored professional skateboarder?

JESS: I thought you were Asian me, but now I realize I was just Caucasian you.
JEN: What?
PAUL: What?

And line of the night:

JESS: For someone with a soul mate you sure did have sex with me.

Modern Family – “Planes, Trains and Cars” (B)

It only seems appropriate Modern Family would hit on a couple of sitcom tropes in this episode considering its title is a riff off the classic John Hughes film. This time around it was Phil buying a car without asking the approval of his wife, naturally having been egged on by one of his friends. But hey, at least they spared us from the overzealous salesman on top of it all.

To the credit of the writers past the initial premise they did a pretty good job of avoiding clichés. Claire didn’t immediately fly off the handle at the purchase and while she eventually came around to the car she didn’t fall in love with it or claim it as her own as so many other sitcom wives before her have done. Still, it didn’t feel like this story arced as much as it needed to. I liked that Phil enjoyed driving the kids around and Claire felt liberated at the beach but they were nice sentiments more than they were a story. It was like the writers were so busy trying not to do what had already been done before that they forgot to actually write their own narrative.

Jay, Gloria, and Manny were the ones that took on the storyline that most resembled that of the episode’s 80s movie namesake, scrambling through several different methods of transportation on their way to Pebble Beach. Manny provided some funny background comedy for the trip and Gloria was certainly on her game as well, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the premise that Jay was still seeking validation from the guys he went to high school with, what, 40 years prior? While most of the episode was just about them finding a way to get there, I’d be lying if I said that the ending didn’t bug me a bit.

I thought the best thread of the episode was Cam and Mitchell looking for Lilly’s stuffed animal. There were a lot of great little moments I liked, like Mitchell’s failure to recognize Nemo and the way the two of them quickly decided that Jay’s relationship with Mitchell was good enough when they saw the homeless guy coughing on Lilly’s bunny. Plus the revelation that Mitchell is a Star Wars fan made happy, especially since it aired so close to May the Fourth.

Alright, now that you can fully comprehend how big of a nerd I actually am, I give you my favourite quotes...

CAM: Let’s catch the next train and ride it until it catches up.
MITCHELL: They don’t catch up. It’s called a collision.

JAY: How do I say this without sounding like an ass... I’m kind of a legend to these guys.
GLORIA: Not like that.

CLAIRE: I have nothing to say.
PHIL: That just says it all.

MANNY: A lot of amenities disappear when an H becomes an M.

CAM: Really, you don’t know Nemo? It’s on an endless loop in the den.
MITCHELL: I have a job.

CLAIRE: Phil I did cartwheels.
PHIL: Without me?

And line of the night:

PHIL: Honey, I’m not leaving your mom.
LUKE: It might not be your call.

Life Is Happening!

I apologise once again for the short post... it’s exam season. Another week though and I’ll whip this blog back into shape.

How I Met Your Mother – “Now We’re Even” (B-)

House – “We Need the Eggs” (B+)

Cougar Town – “Ways to Be Wicked” (B)

New Girl – “Kids” (B+)

Modern Family – “The Last Walt” (B-)

Community – “Virtual Systems Analysis” (A-)

30 Rock – “Murphy Brown Lied To Us” (B-)

The Office – “Angry Andy” (C+)

Parks and Recreation – “Live Ammo” (B+)

I Don’t Want To Be Around When Something That Tight Unravels

Another quick one for you...

How I Met Your Mother – “Trilogy Time” (A-)

House – “Gut Check” (B)

Cougar Town – “You Can Still Change Your Mind” (A-)

New Girl – “Normal” (B+)

Modern Family – “Election Day” (B+)

Community – “Origins of Vampire Mythology” (A-)

30 Rock – “Meet the Woggles” (B)

The Office – “Welcome Party” (B)

Up All Night – “The Proposals” (B+)

Grey’s Anatomy – “Support System” (B-)

And How Fiscal Will The Quarterly Earnings Be?

Sorry to all the Alcatraz fans out there. My DVR crapped out on recording this week’s episode. I give it a B though just from its description on the guide.

Spoilers:

Shameless – “Hurricane Monica” (B+)

It’s hard to believe there are only 3 more episodes left in this season. Monica’s return is definitely going to add a lot of drama to the rest of these episodes though. First because I thought her appearance last season marked a real turning point for the series and it only took the writers two scenes in this episode to mention she’s bipolar and off her meds. And second, because I accidently read a brief synopsis of the next couple of episodes.

I’m also a big fan of what they did with Lip and Fiona this week. Parking Lip at Steve’s house was a pretty great move. Not only do I like the dynamic between Lip and Steve, but it gave Steve and Fiona a reason to talk and introduced us to Steve’s big new scheme (which I’m hoping the writers don’t just forget about).

I’m also pretty interested in seeing how this thing with Sheila and Jody pans out. I rarely have any idea how Karen is going to react to anything so it could be big or it could end up turning into nothing, but I don’t think the writers are going to be able to simply brush it off. I will say though, Joan Cusack had a heck of an episode this week. Sheila and Jody have weirdly interesting chemistry with each other, don’t they?

Cougar Town – “A One Story Town” (A-)

And I thought last week was a great week for Scrubs fans. First off, how awesome is Sarah Chalke? She is willing to do just about anything for the sake of the joke. I mean how many actresses would agree to do that burnt thighs bit for almost half an episode! I hope Bobby and her character grow old together. I’m also quite happy that Ted seems to have become a recurring guest on this series. I loved the way they used him in this episode, even more so than his first appearance. He and Jules have a really funny vibe with each other.

New Girl – “Control” (B)

Well, they can’t all be winners. A week after probably my favourite episode of New Girl yet the show just sort of transitioned back into the same old, same old. Another one of those Jess ignores the guys’ advice and finds out that they were right all along type deals. Not that I feel as though show is getting stale or anything. It’s early enough that everything still feels fairly fresh. It’s just the jokes weren’t really landing as frequently as they normally do and the familiar premise didn’t help anything. With that said, even an average episode of New Girl is better than most and “Control” still had its moments.

Modern Family – “Send Out the Clowns” (B+)

I’ll admit, I probably shouldn’t have liked this episode as much as I did. The structure of the episode felt a little sporadic and I didn’t think Manny, Jay, and Gloria’s storyline got as fleshed out as it needed to be in order to reach its full potential. I also thought the big twist in Phil’s plotline wasn’t really much of a twist at all. In fact I sort of assumed that Luke was in the middle of some sort of scheme to get that other realtor to give Phil his listing back, which made it all the more surprising when she fell for it. Still, the clown stuff, while a little obvious, was quite funny, and there were a number of recurring bits that ended up working really well in this episode, my favourite being Phil’s frequent calls to “gather round” and all of his ensuing speeches.

Happy Endings – “Party of Six” (B+)

Solid episode. I loved the concept of Brad’s break up restaurant as well as the fact that he and Jane apparently have sex in the bathroom of pretty much every restaurant they go to. I also have to give it up to Max’s creepy “curse” voice and unbelievably stupid plan to get a table (quickly rectified by eating just a tiny morsel of food).

Community – “Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts” (A-)

You have no idea how happy I am to be reviewing this show again. What a great comeback episode too! The entire cast was at the top of their game. I thought Gillian Jacobs in particular had a standout episode. Her “this is who I am” line had me in hysterics. I was also quite impressed with the direction given to Pierce and Shirley in this episode. I was a little disappointed their sandwich shop didn’t work out – far less disappointed if Subway starts paying the bills to keep this show on the air – but I hope at least in Pierce’s case they keep trying to find him a new business venture.

Oh also, Abed and Troy being weird simply by trying to act normal – priceless!

30 Rock – “St. Patrick’s Day” (B)

Nothing too glaringly wrong with this episode, it just wasn’t as outwardly funny as I would have liked. I think my favourite storyline was Kristen Schaal’s character dealing with the intricacies of Tracey and Jenna. It was interesting to see the writers use the fact that Jenna’s celebrity has now risen above that of Tracey’s. I could see that leading to a few more good stories down the line. Also, Jack plays what can only be described as a giant Settlers of Cataan rip off exactly how I play Settlers of Cataan, which is awesome. It makes me happy that I’m finally using my business degree the right way.

The Office – “Get the Girl” (B-)

Okay, so I’m happy that Erin and Andy finally got together, but it did feel a little anticlimactic. The fact that it occurred in some random episode in the middle of the season didn’t help things, but I don’t the writers really tapped into the characters the way they needed to to convey the proper magnitude of the event. Add to that the stupidity of the other storyline where Robert California just watches Nellie steal Andy’s job and you have an episode that, given its subject matter, should have been better.

Up All Night – “Baby Fever” (B)

It’s not exactly a great idea to condense an entire episode down to its last few minutes, but the ending tag was so funny I have to give it the biggest shout out of the night. Perhaps the reason the rest of this episode felt so average was because the writers couldn’t find a way to get that kind of face time between Chris and Reagan. I’m still not sure how I feel about the big shake up at Ava’s show. I kind of liked it when Reagan and Ava were the ones calling all of the shots and I’m not a big fan of watching Reagan fawn over her new boss. It seems like a lot of the show’s energy over the last few episodes has went into integrating these new characters into the mix and so far there hasn’t been a lot of pay off for it.

Grey’s Anatomy – “One Step Too Far” (B-)

I think there are going to be some rough times ahead for Grey’s and me, at least in the foreseeable future. I’m getting really sick of watching all of this drama between Christina and Owen and instead of backing away from it the writing staff seems to be doubling down. Even with the Summer Glau guest appearance I can’t stop my brain from shutting down whenever the two of them start fighting again. I do however see some promise in Karev and this new intern and Lexie’s screw up was pretty interesting to watch so... B- it is, for now.

Judgements Are The Gluten Of Thoughts

Kind of a light week, but that didn’t stop this post from ballooning out of control. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “Karma” (B+)

I’ve quite liked the last few weeks of this show. “Karma” had a few distractions along the way, but for the most part I thought it had enough charm to get us through to the ending, which is where the episode really shone. I have to admit, Ted moving out surprised me. I didn’t see it coming until Marshall and Lilly showed up to an empty apartment. But the writers set it up perfectly, and though it’s a bit of a cop out to have Marshall and Lilly move back into the city so soon, the writers handled it well enough that I didn’t feel cheated. This is exactly the sort of change up this show needed and I’m looking forward to seeing how Ted makes out.

On a side note – and by all means let me know if you agree in the comments – I think a really strong indicator of a good How I Met Your Mother episode is that it ends with Ted walking the streets of New York alone. It’s probably something I should have picked up long before now, but whenever there’s a big turning point in his quest to find the mother, they leave him in that she-could-be-anywhere metaphor. Now all I need is a supercomputer and a crack team of researchers to prove the relationship exists.

House – “Love is Blind” (B)

I’m such a huge fan of what Michael B. Jordan has done on The Wire and Friday Night Lights that I think I got more out of this episode than I probably should of. For the most part it was just a run of the mill case, granted one with some terrific acting, but pretty average nonetheless. I liked that they finally let Charlyne Yi loose with Park’s acid trip. That was pretty funny. And so far House’s wife has been a great source of comic relief as well. Now I just wonder how much they’re going to follow up on House’s search for his biological father. I thought the Irish guy was a good match, but perhaps the writers have got something better planned.

Cougar Town – “Lover’s Touch” (A-)

You know I love a good Tom episode. The fact that he’s a neurosurgeon just makes his entire character that much funnier – the scene in the hospital hallway had to be the highlight of the episode for me. But the writers just did a really great job overall of ramping up the goofiness in this one and that’s what made it so enjoyable. The callback to Grayson’s rollerblading skills was fantastic, especially the nice added touch of a 1980s boom box on his shoulders. And I would really love to see Bobby’s blue prints for the dog on skateboard thing he had going on. What an invention!

 Modern Family – “Leap Day” (B)

Wow, the number of TV shows taking advantage of the fact that this is a leap year is staggering. Personally I think 30 Rock had the best take on it, but there have been a few good ones. What’s probably most disconcerting though is how many characters just happened to have a leap day birthday. Who knew so many people were born on February 29^th?

Not that that was a huge deal here. I just didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the storylines. I was actually a little surprised that Cam didn’t just love the idea of his original Wizard of Oz party when he found out about it. I guess I should never underestimate his ability to become faux offended.

Phil and the girls never quite got off the ground for me either. On one hand, I loved some of the scenes Phil and Luke had with each other. Give them the right material and they play off each other incredibly well. But the whole period storyline just felt a little too played out. I wouldn’t mind hearing a girl’s take on the episode, because there were times where it felt like the writing was just playing into the stereotype. I don’t know though, I’m not a girl (I like to work that once into every post – I have some grade school demons I’m still getting over).

Happy Endings – “Cocktails & Dreams” (A-)

When Jane woke up from her sex dream at the start of the episode, I thought to myself “oh, okay, they’re doing that.” You can probably figure out the inflection on your own. Sex dreams are funny, but they’re done a lot. Awkward glimpses, embarrassing admissions... you get the gist. But then Brad woke up, with that familiar sex dream howl, and showed exactly why Happy Endings has developed into such a fresh new comedy.

I love the idea of contagious sex dreams. The writers took a well worn comedic trope and subverted it, making it that much funnier in the process. If that doesn’t sound like familiar praise then you haven’t read any of my Community reviews. Seriously, I cannot stress this enough. Watch Happy Endings!

Oh, and some other stuff happened, Colin Hanks and so forth. It just didn’t seem as relevant. Contagious sex dreams!

30 Rock – “Alexis Goodlooking and the Case of the Missing Whisky” (B)

I quite liked Jenna and Tracey’s storyline in this one. The writers had a great take on many of the “good looking female cop” show clichés. The rest of the episode was pretty average though, especially when you compare it to what the show did the following week.

I’m excited to see where this storyline between Jack and Kenneth ends up. I’ve been watching some of the older episodes in syndication, and I couldn’t help thinking of Kenneth and Jack’s poker game back in the first season. I think Jack’s quote was somewhere along the lines of, in five years from now everyone will either be working for Kenneth or dead by his hand. Well not quite, but the story really does seem to me moving in that direction doesn’t it. Their back and forth in this episode may not have always brought the laughs as much as I would have liked, but I see a lot of potential with where the writers are taking this.

Sadly, I felt Liz ended up with the weakest of the three main threads in the episode. As much as I liked watching her get locked out of various rooms that belonged to her, it didn’t make up for the fact that I’m just not that invested in Frank’s relationship with his former teacher (played by Susan Sarandon). The last time she was even on the show was so long ago I think I kind of assumed they’d already broken up. Either way, it didn’t generate the kind of humour I would have liked.

Parks and Recreation – “Campaign Shake-Up” (A-)

With all the campaign events and preparations over the past few episodes remaining largely standalone, it was nice to finally get an update on how well Leslie is actually doing in the race. I liked that all of the hard work put into the campaign had Leslie polling at higher than her original 1% (a fact that I don’t think the writers had yet divulged since her scandal with Ben went public) probably almost as much as I liked that Kathryn Hahn’s Jennifer Barkley came in and threw a wrench into the whole thing.

And I know it’s only been an episode, but I quite like Hahn’s character. Her vibe is fun to watch. She’s not malicious, but she’s shameless when it comes to getting what she wants. While I may not have been a fan of her quickly cancelled show Free Agents this season, I respect Hahn as a comedic actress. She and Amy Poehler already seem to have good chemistry. It certainly makes it easier to ignore the fact that the whole reason her character was probably introduced was because Rudd was unavailable for the number of guest spots the writers needed (oh well, there’s still the debate to forward to).

Campaign Shake-Up wasn’t just about Leslie though, it was a great Ron episode as well. Whether it was his spectacular scenes with Chris or the continuation of his hilarious bond with April (though Ron seems to have a great connection with just about everybody... other than Ann), it was hard not to love the guy in this one.

I have a feeling that by season’s end we’re going to see some changes on this show. I’m already excited to see April in an expanded role in the Parks Department. You could kind of see that ending coming more and more as the episode developed. But considering all the recent interactions between Ron and Chris, I could see Ron getting promoted into Ben’s old job too. It’s kind of a cool idea and frankly, the prospect of it doesn’t bother me. Whatever keeps things fresh, right?

The other big hint dropped in this one too was the casual mention by Chris that City Council is only a part time job. The writers played it off as simply a way to set up Ron’s hiring storyline – and that could very well be all it is – but to me it sounded like the writers were creating the conditions so that Leslie could win her election without completely uprooting the show. Obviously, that’s a promising sign. First because I love Leslie and I want her to do well no matter what. And second, because I think Leslie in City Council would be hilarious. The Parks and Rec writers already do great work incorporating the town of Pawnee, could you imagine what they could do with a couple of crazy city councillors? That’s something I want to watch.

The Office – “Test the Store” (C+)

So word is out that Spader won’t be back next season. Not too shocking, but it’ll kind of leave a black mark on his remaining appearances this season. It’s hard not to feel a little slighted considering the writers have a spent a decent chunk of the season getting us invested in his character, but from the sounds of it he was never that well liked to begin with. Add to that all the other rumoured cast departures (Dwight getting a spin-off, Mindy Kaling leaving the show), you have to wonder how much life The Office has left.

It also rubs me the wrong way a bit that Jim has been pushed into the background when it comes to career aspirations. I still remember when he shared Michael’s job, and while that may not have been the best move comedically, it rubs me the wrong way to watch him get ordered around by Dwight as if he were just some giant screw up along for the ride.

Dwight’s character in particular can tend to grate on me after a while too and this was one of those episodes where I found myself wishing they’d tone down his shtick a little bit. It might have been nice to see Ryan shine again instead of having him flake out as his character always seems to do these days. He was probably never anyone’s favourite character, but I do remember a time when he was one of the leads on this show. For old times’ sake, give him a decent storyline every now and then.

Up All Night – “New Boss” (B)

Did I miss something or did they just break up Ava and Kevin off screen? I’m guessing Jason Lee suddenly became unavailable, but wow – that was way too abrupt for my tastes. It’s along the same lines as the Spader situation on The Office. They spent so much time developing that relationship, to see it (or not see it in this case) end off screen makes me feel a little cheated.

Which probably isn’t the best way to introduce the titular new boss character. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure where I stand on either of the new characters, Yvonne or her ex-military underling Luke. It may have just been my chagrin over Jason Lee’s sudden departure, but both of them rubbed me the wrong way at various points in the episode.

There were definitely some decent bits in “New Boss” though, and I fear I’ve been a little overly negative in my description so far. Chris’s motorcycle ride was certainly fun to watch. I always love watching Will Forte be Will Forte. And despite my reservations about Luke, he did have a very funny purse strings bit with Reagan that made me laugh.

Still, I’m interested in seeing how permanent these new characters end up being.

Awake – “Pilot” (A)

Normally I’m not a huge fan of pilots. I mean I understand their limitations, and there have been a few in the past that have impressed me, but most of the time I find myself making excuses for the episode while throwing around the term potential a lot.

I have no idea how Awake is going to shape up – it could easily turn into a by the numbers procedural – but based off what I saw in the pilot episode, there are a lot of reasons to get excited about this series. The interplay between the two therapists was fantastic. The detective work didn’t have that stale, cheesy dialogue many of its television counterparts have. And overall, the episode was quite moving. If the series can capture just a fraction of the magic of its pilot, then it’s not too far of a stretch to say that it is going to do very, very well for itself (or get cancelled out of nowhere by NBC).

I’m definitely looking forward to next week’s episode already.

Real Life is for March

Sorry gang, busy week. I didn’t have the time to write out full reviews, but I’ll leave you with my ratings anyway. Special shout outs to How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock. I was quite impressed with both their episodes.

Oh and for once, absolutely no spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “No Pressure” (A)

Shameless – “A Bottle of Jean Nate” (B+)

House – “Man of the House” (B)

Alcatraz – “Johnny McKee” (B)

Cougar Town – “A Mind With A Heart of Its Own” (B+)

New Girl – “Bully” (B)

Modern Family – “Virgin Territory” (B)

Happy Endings – “The Butterfly Effect Effect” (B)

30 Rock – “Leap Day” (A)

Parks and Recreation – “Sweet Sixteen” (B+)

The Office – “After Hours” (B)

Grey’s Anatomy – “If Only You Were Lonely” (B)

Wow, a lot of B’s considering I didn’t have to explain myself at all. You probably shouldn’t read into that...

What Did The Rules Ever Get Me? A Bunch Of Music I Paid For!

Cougar Town is back! Also 20,000 other shows. Enjoy!

Spoilers:

Shameless – “Can I Have a Mother” (B+)

Whoa, is it just me or did that episode just get really sad, really quick. Ethel running away was very bittersweet. Her closing scene with Kev was fantastic, probably the most emotional moment of the episode. Unfortunately, I think this was the writer’s way of writing her off the show and I really wish they’d kept her around – she’s a great character. Oh well, at least she got away from that cult.

Wow, and then Sheila finally kicks Frank out. That was sort of a long time coming and it was probably good for her, I just don’t know how much we’re going to see her now without Frank in the house. Joan Cusack has always been billed as a guest star so I’m not sure if the writers are working her out of the show or if this is just a natural story arc. Hopefully they keep her around. She’s never been a true guest star anyway. She’s as big a part of that show as any other character outside of the Gallagher family.

And last but not least, it’s going to be a long road back for Fiona and Steve, that is if she ever talks to him again (she’s definitely going to). Do you ever get the feeling like you’re cheering for the wrong people on this show? When Fiona’s boyfriend (or whatever) walked out on her when he saw her and Steve come out of the bathroom I kind of felt like “good for you buddy.” I’d forgotten too that Fiona still didn’t know Steve’s real name was Jimmy. Luckily her reaction to the news was pretty decisive. Considering all the other bad news we got this episode though, its importance maybe didn’t register as much as it should have.

How I Met Your Mother – “The Drunk Train” (B)

Lilly and Marshall had a pretty so so episode, and the drunk train stuff was okay but not great. It’s more the potential this story brings that’s got me hooked on this episode. First, because I like Barney’s new girl, despite the fact that apparently she’s a stripper that Barney has frequented in the past. I don’t know if they’re gearing us up for a revenge storyline or not, but at this point pretty much any girl attached to Barney is a potential candidate for his bride at the end of the season (that is of course, if they even reveal that to us at the end of the season) and hence  peak my interest.

The second reason I liked the episode is because I read an interview with Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and I think I see where they’re going with this Robin and Ted thing. Now yes, they aren’t going to end up together and it’s easy to see why people would be frustrated by the fact that they’re seemingly taking another step backwards, but there’s a lot of potential for growth for those two coming out of a storyline like this.

I spent most of the episode a little chagrined that Robin would even be considering marrying Kevin considering the writers didn’t give us that much before this episode indicating she was more open to the concept. But when you look at Ted in this episode and you look at Robin, they really are at two opposite ends of the spectrum from where they started out. Now this is the spoilers part so if you don’t want to learn the premise of an upcoming episode (tonight’s potentially) turn away. So anyways, this is what Bays and Thomas were saying – apparently early in the run of the series the two of them discussed their five year plans. The plan is to give each character the opportunity to evaluate where they were 5 years ago and how far they’ve come. Done right I think that’s a really cool idea for an episode.

And to be honest, it does make a lot of sense for Ted to do what he did. He and Robin originally broke up because she never wanted to get married, but both of them were head over heels for each other at that point. Now all of sudden the only real reason why they didn’t stay together disappears – I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch that he would want to revisit that relationship again. The guy’s desperate.

Are they spinning their wheels? Sure they are. But they’re going to be doing that until the series finale (unless they reveal the mother before then). It’s how they’re filling the time in between that’s going to keep the show watchable. Take a good storyline when you can get it.

*** Note *** This was written before tonight’s episode. ***Note***

House – “Chase” (B+)

I don’t know if it’s because I’m all of a sudden looking at this show through rose coloured glasses, but I’ve enjoyed the last couple of episodes since the announcement the show would be ending. This was a solid look at Chase, a character who for the most part hasn’t really had much given to him over the past few seasons, and it did a great job of reminding exactly what made him interesting in the first place. Well, with any luck this episode was his route back to prominence.

It was the final scene between House and him that really stuck with me. When House essentially admitted to Chase the decisions he’s made that have led him to be as unhappy as he is, it felt like real character development for both of them. It helped that Chase was sporting his own House-style limp, but you could see the parallel between the two characters, and for once you saw House trying to break the cycle. Actually giving a crap about someone other than himself and admitting it to that person... that doesn’t happen often.

Again, it could just be rose coloured glasses, but this is exactly the type of storyline that the end of a series can bring.  I don’t know if you can give House’s character a truly happy, set sail into the sunset type ending, but little victories like the one in this episode (and hopefully the writers haven’t completely finished with this storyline) should be able to bring the series to a satisfying close.

Alcatraz – “Paxton Petty” (B+)

I’ve really liked the progress this show has made over the last couple of episodes. These flashbacks are getting more and more intense and because of that I’m starting to get more and more hooked into the basic mythology of the series. “Paxton Petty” in particular was the perfect way to use one of the 63 inmates. I loved how the writers connected Petty to the early relationship between Lucy and Hauser. It took the focus away from a once-off character and put it back onto the main story that comprises the backbone of the series. If the writers can figure out a way to strike a balance like that in every episode – and it’s starting to seem like that’s the direction they’re going in – watch out, because this show could get good.

Cougar Town – “Ain’t Love Strange” (B+)

It may not have been the definitive episode of the series, but I like the direction the writers took for the rest of the season. Grayson and Jules were obviously destined to get married eventually, why not just go ahead and get them engaged in the season premiere. There’s no need to string us along. It’s not like they’re going to lose what makes them funny by getting them married. If anything it’ll make them funnier. Though I do wonder how Tom’s going to creep on Jules once she’s a married woman...

Obviously the proposal was the centerpiece of the episode, so I guess it was sort of natural for a few of the other storylines to get a little neglected, but there were some decent bits sprinkled into the B stories. They finally decided to Stan an age bump and thankfully it wasn’t as abrupt as I’ve seen on a few other shows of late. Hopefully the writers stick with this bond Laurie seems to have found with the kid. That’s got a lot of promise.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the green screen. That has to be one of the weirdest/surprisingly effective ideas for a joke I’ve seen in a while. It makes you wonder if maybe that was born out of a real life experience. Either way, I’ll be hard pressed to get the image of Bobby and Andy flying hand in hand through the clouds out of my head, and that’s a good thing.

New Girl – “Valentine’s Day” (A-)

This was a very funny episode. Anytime someone quotes Malcolm Gladwell in reference to obtaining one night stands, it doesn’t really matter what else happens in the episode the end result is going to leave an impression. But I liked just about everything in this one – from Jess’s all round hilarious experience finding a suitable partner to Schmidt and Cece finally hooking up to Nick and his very funny side story with Julia and her assistant (Hot Tub Time Machine’s Clark Duke). Even Winston got a few good laughs, and that was despite being pushed to the background once again.

Modern Family – “Aunt Mommy” (B)

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this episode. The surrogate storyline was kind of funny, kind of weird. I wasn’t a huge fan of the little conference Claire and Mitchell held under the table at the end of the episode. It just seemed a little too cute for my tastes. But there were a few good one liners here and there. Phil still makes me laugh on an almost weekly basis. As for the other big storyline this week, I quite enjoyed Gloria and Manny’s penny collection, even if it wasn’t the funniest thing I’ve ever seen from the duo. It had a sweet ending and I still respond to those brief moments when Jay lets his guard down.

Happy Endings – “Everybody Loves Grant” (B+)

A pretty solid episode in my books. This show is still in that wonderful sweet spot where everything it does still seems fresh to me. I loved Dave’s cool guy act. And the scene where they went through the group assigning roles was pretty special, precisely because Dave ended up as the “Dave of the group.” I also loved the fact that the “Dave” of the Dave Mathew’s Band isn’t Dave Mathews himself. Oh and full chickens down the garbage disposal – hilarious.

30 Rock – “The Tuxedo Begins” (A)

“The Tuxedo Begins” was probably the best episode 30 Rock has had all season. I actually can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard at the show (this was perhaps one of those “pleasantly surprised” A’s). The Dark Knight parallels were just placed in there so subtly that by the time I realized where they were going with it, it was 10 times funnier than it would have been otherwise. It’s actually the kind of episode that wouldn’t be all that out of place on an episode of Community, ironic since 30 Rock took over their timeslot.

Here’s hoping they don’t totally drop the Jack running for mayor plotline. I actually thought that was a pretty funny idea.

Parks and Recreation – “Dave Returns” (A-)

Ahh, Duke Silver, how I missed you.

Yeah, Andy in a recording studio was a great idea. But I actually thought April was the break out star of the episode. All of her piped in comments about Andy’s unconventional genius really made my night. Well that, and her enthusiastic destruction of all the Duke Silver memorabilia she could find. I also liked watching Ron take over the studio. The way he’s always looking out for Andy is such a nice touch to his character.

I’ll reserve my judgement on Ann and Tom for another episode. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting the rest of the parks department to find out about them so quickly (though I don’t know why as it does seem to fit Tom’s character perfectly), nor was I that keen on Tom’s attempts to win her back. I thought perhaps they’d dial back some of his more... we’ll say quirky, personality traits as he tried to win Ann over, but not so much I guess. I still see a lot of potential in that relationship if the writers can find a good angle for it.

It was also nice to see Louis C.K. return to the series. Dave was always a good character. It was a little weird to see him turn into the crazy ex-boyfriend – he always used to play straight man to Leslie – but at least they kept his familiar cop-talk way of speaking. I have no idea if they’d ever be able to swing this, but Dave as police chief would be an incredible get for the show.

The Office – “Tallahassee” (B+)

Not a bad episode. I think above all it was a great coming out party for Stanley. Especially the way Jim started to look up to him after previously believing he never wanted to turn out like him. And speaking of Jim, that was the best cold opening I’ve seen all year. They’d been struggling with those lately and this one seemed to come out of almost nowhere. I guess it just goes to show what a change of scenery can do for a series.

The rest of the Tallahassee storyline kind varied after that though. There were times I was laughing at Dwight and other times where I thought the whole appendix storyline was just a little too much. I still don’t have a good beat on Catherine Tate’s character either, which made my enthusiasm for her part in the episode a little temped. Still, the rest of the crew back home had a good week, and I especially love that Andy is missing Erin, so overall I’d still give the episode my seal of approval.

Now all NBC has to do is figure out how to get people to watch. “Tallahassee” was lowest rated episode The Office has ever had, and that’s going all the way back to the ratings challenged first season. Of course, I guess to be fair it was the highest rated episode on NBC that night. That’s a little sad, isn’t it?

Up All Night – “Travel Day” (B+)

I’m really starting to wonder if Jason Lee is just on this show now. I mean the writers have had plenty of opportunities to break Kevin and Ava up – it seems like pretty much all they do is fight – and he’s always back the following episode. Now don’t get me wrong, that’s not a bad thing. I think the guy is a great addition to the show. I’m just surprised he surviving all these tussles.

“Travel Day” was a charmer though. I quite liked Chris and Reagan’s trip through the airport. It was funny and it ended with Chris’s heart melting speech on the plane – it’s hard to do better than funny and sweet. And the wedding wasn’t too bad either, if only because we got introduced to Ava’s old girl group, the Lennon and McCartney of Hip Hop. Or wait, was that the Simon and Garfunkel of Hip Hop. Either way I hope this wasn’t the last time we see Alanis Morissette on the series.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Have You Seen Me Lately?” (C+)

This episode just had some serious tonal issues. Callie’s storyline was trying way too hard to be funny, to the point where it could have passed as a parody on how narcissistic the characters on this show really are. And then you’ve got the collapsing pregnant intern describing her symptoms as she’s falling to the floor. I mean, really? Is it just me or is that not trying a little too hard to be quirky.

I wasn’t huge on Christina and Owen’s therapy session either. I don’t think either of those two came off all that likable. It actually just served to highlight all of the reasons why I never liked their relationship in the first place. And what I really don’t understand is why the psychiatrist needed to be hidden for most of the episode, like there was going to be some big reveal at the end. There wasn’t dammit!