I Have a Problem with Night Eating

It was another quiet week for television, but there were a few bright spots on the schedule. On top of a pretty great episode of The Big Bang Theory we also had the season finale of Off the Map. You can find our thoughts below. Enjoy!

Spoilers.

Off the Map – “There’s a Lot to Miss About the Jungle” (B+)

So that was the season finale. I’m really going to miss this show. Hopefully just for the summer and not for forever, which is a distinct possibility with all the talk of cancellation floating around. With any luck though, Brenner, Minard, Fuller, and the rest of the gang will be back next season, and maybe we’ll get a little closure on some of the looming storylines in this finale.

Cliffhanger #1 – Mateo getting shot, apparently more than once. Brenner had a pretty quiet episode up until that point, but I think that’s probably what made her cliffhanger so effective. Lily’s decision to race to Mateo’s side upon hearing of the police raids showed just how far this relationship has developed (I honestly didn’t think they would last this long) and really helped elevate the scene that followed. You could feel Lily’s desperation in that moment.

Of course Caroline Dhavernas deserves a ton of credit for that as well. I have to admit, I didn’t know much about her before this series began, but I’ve been quite impressed with both her and the rest of the cast on this show, especially the core group of residents. To their credit, this show doesn’t exactly break the medical drama mould (other than it’s in the jungle), and it’s really been up to them to elevate the material and keep things fresh.

Unfortunately for Mateo, I don’t see him surviving the gunshot wounds. There’s just far too much drama in his death than there is in his recovering. This relationship has always been framed in terms of its affect on Lily (she is one of the main characters), and the adversity of losing a boyfriend is just too interesting to pass up.

In cliffhanger #2 we had Tommy telling Mina that he loves her. First things first though – I really loved Mina’s storyline in this episode (I know, I know, I’m a broken record). Her past has been like a shadow looming over her the entire season, so it was incredibly satisfying to watch her exorcise some of her demons. Also, just a great decision to pair her up with a group of young girls. Her story was almost as funny as it was intense.

But back to Tommy’s “I’m in love with you” to Mina. I really want to see this relationship happen, but I highly doubt that these two will be together when (and more accurately if) this show comes back. Don’t get me wrong – they’ll end up together, but the writers are definitely going to drag it out a bit. Mina’s going to need time to process it, and then Tommy may resent her needing that time and so on and so forth. Trust me – I know how these types of things work. If they gave out doctorates in television relationships you’d be calling me Dr. Brian instead of overly invested in fake couples Brian.

On a side note, I’ve been meaning to point out for a while now one of the great signature scenes of this series. I love watching the doctors on this show gather together to see who has the most ridiculous problem that week. Sure, it can be a tad overused by the writers but on the whole I really enjoy the scenes. Brenner had a great one with Tommy this week which reminded me to mention it before it was too late.

And now, to keep up the nauseatingly jumpy nature of this review, we come to cliffhanger #3 – Ryan giving up on finding a new heart and Keeton selling his soul. This was probably the darkest end to a storyline in the episode. I mentioned last week that I figured Clark would have something go wrong with her transplant, and true to form the writers did just that, so I’m going to have to repeat this again. DO NOT kill off Ryan’s character. I don’t think they will but if they do it would be incredibly uncool.

Although probably not as uncool as what Keeton’s planning on doing. Going after a black market organ is pretty bad to begin with, but the human body only has one heart so essentially he’s talking about killing someone to keep Ryan alive. I’m surprised how dark this show is willing to go sometimes, and this was another one of those moments that caught me off guard. I’m sure the writers will try to make it somewhat justifiable by making the donor someone who’s brain dead already, but that won’t absolve Keeton’s character entirely.

I’ll keep an eye out for any news on whether this show will be coming back, and if I find anything you’ll all be the first to know.

The Big Bang Theory – “The Herb Garden Germination” (A-)

I think this was one of the best episodes in weeks.  Not only are wedding bells ringing in nerdworld, but the jokes were slapping me in the face early and often in this one.  Brilliant!!

The episode started with the rumour mill spinning out of control within the group.  Once again, Amy cites a scientific study to determine that gossip is a socially acceptable and necessary practice.  She tells Sheldon something, who spreads it to Leonard, who tells Pria, who tells Raj and then everyone knows.  The gossip itself – Bernadette is planning to break it off with Howard.  It’s great news for Raj who apparently has a crush on Bernadette, but not so much for Howard, who’s going to propose.  

In a surprise twist though, she says yes.  Maybe she was just going to break it off for lack of commitment, who knows?  Whatever the reason, I can't wait for a fantastic Jewish wedding episode where they somehow manage to keep Howard's mother from being in any shots.

Also in this episode, as a scientific experiment, Amy and Sheldon decide to spread to pieces of gossip to see how fast they spread.  The first is a juicy piece of gossip: Amy and Sheldon had sex.  The control piece of information is that Amy started an herb garden. Clearly the sex news spreads and the herb garden fails to germinate.

There’s not much else to say other than it was a great episode.  A much needed break from studying. 

We Can Call Her Appetizer

What? A Thursday post on Friday! Don’t get too excited. Most of the shows I usually watch weren’t on this week. I do have reviews of Off the Map and the musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy though (track listing and all), not to mention Ryan’s Big Bang Theory review, World of Warcraft tangent and all. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

Grey’s Anatomy – “Song Beneath the Song” (B)

I’m gonna be straight with you all – I am not a fan of musicals. I’ll try to put that bias aside as I write this review, but I think it played a part in why this episode didn’t get a higher grade for me. I apologize to all musical fans out there who loved this, though being that we don’t review Glee I doubt there are many of you reading this.

I’ve seen a few episodes done like this before (sometimes I feel like this show makes a living ripping off Scrubs), and I think the one thing that makes these work is if they somehow tie the musical element into the overall plot. Callie’s brain injury was a modest attempt to do just that, and while it worked in a few instances, it seemed to me that a lot of the songs just sort of came out of nowhere. That’s kind of where my musical bias kicks in. I’m just not a fan of random musical numbers. It takes me out of the story.

I give them credit though for trying to be innovative in their approach to the music. I liked that they did the musical numbers as they went about doing their medical procedures. The medical aspects really helped to dramatize the music (and vice-versa). My one complaint is that I sometimes found it hard to watch a character go from speaking normal dialogue immediately back into singing a song. For some reason it just felt a little cluttered.

As for the songs themselves (you can find a complete list of them at the end of this post), I thought the selection was fairly well done. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a huge fan of the music played on this show (I have a few of the early soundtracks sitting around somewhere, and by somewhere I mean the desk beside me) and I really enjoyed some of the classic Grey’s songs they chose to do, especially “Breathe” and “How to Save a Life”.

I was a little less enthused about their execution however. This is nitpicky I know, but I found the dubbing to be off a bit on the songs. And while some of the cast members obviously knew how to sing (Sara Ramirez is apparently a Tony winner), the poor auto-tuning on the others took me out of a few of the songs. I know – I’m taking this way too seriously. It’s just something I noticed.

The story though was appropriately intense for the subject matter. By the way, I totally called the Mark and Arizona storyline as I was listing off possible plotlines in my review of last week’s episode. Although, I was a little surprised that it was Arizona arguing to save the baby while Mark was the one most concerned with Callie. Considering Arizona was all anti-baby earlier in this season I thought for sure she’d care more about Callie’s health above all else. It was a nice moment for her character though.

And in the end they managed to save both the baby and Callie. About half way through I sort of figured out that would be the way things ended up. The way they accelerated Callie’s pregnancy in the last episode sort of threw me off, but when I saw the dire straits she was in this episode I realized it was so her baby would be able to survive an early delivery.

It’s kind of remarkable how quickly they’ve gone through this pregnancy storyline when you think about it. What it’s been – like 5 or 6 episodes? That’s got to be one of the fastest television pregnancies in history. By the way, this is the kind of crap I think about.

Anyways, I enjoyed the storyline this week. This show always does a good job whenever one of the doctors becomes a patient, and apart from the musical aspect this episode was no exception. The way they showed Callie’s injuries at the start of the episode was a great way to set the tone for the episode. I also thought the final scene in the gallery between Mark and Arizona was really well done. Oh and of course I loved when Callie woke up and said yes to Arizona’s marriage proposal, but that one’s a gimme.

The one thing I wasn’t into was the superfluous guest appearance from Addison. I don’t know if Kate Walsh is going to stick around a bit for the next episode but she was completely unnecessary in this one. She had maybe a handful of scenes, and other than chewing out Lucy none of them were really all that eventful.

Now as promised here is the list of songs in order of their appearance:

1) “Cosy in the Rocket” – Psapp
2) “Chasing Cars” – Snow Patrol
3) “Breathe (2 AM) – Anna Nalick
4) “How We Operate” – Gomez
5) “Wait” – Get Set Go
6) “Running on Sunshine” – Jesus Jackson
7) “Universe & U” – KT Tunstall
8) “Grace” – Kate Havnevik
9) “How To Save A Life” – The Fray
10) “The Story” – Brandi Carlile

The Big Bang Theory – “The Zarnecki Incursion” (B+)

Hello there science fans.  It feels good to be writing about this show again.  It seems like a long time since I’ve watched an episode.  I know it’s been a long time since my girlfriend’s watched an episode since she had no idea who Pria, Bernadette or Amy were.

So this episode focused around Sheldon's World of Warcraft account being hacked.  Everything is stolen, including his ostrich Glen, the only bird he has ever loved.  Well I have never played WOW. Okay that’s a lie, I have played it but I’ve never owned it or had a character that I played for more than a couple hours.  My roommate had it in first year and used to quest like a fiend until 4 in the morning yelling at other people online.  Needless to say we did not stay roommates. 

I get the appeal of it.  I’ve played the shit out of other games along a similar, yet much less intensive vein such as Diablo (I and II).  I don't get how people are able to put so much time into it.  I mean how do people have that much time to devote to it? (Keep in mind that this is coming from a man who watches close to 10 hours of television a week).

I guess if all you do is work and play WOW, it works out, but there is so much more out there.  Like online fan forums attempting to get Firefly back on the air (yes I support @HNBFF and you should too), following a Canadian election more closely than you ever have before or studying for 11 exams.  Oh wait, I guess that’s just what I have to do, but if someone takes a couple exams for me I will happily do a WOW trial.

Sorry my tangent got the better of me there.  So essentially the boys track down the hacker and visit him at his home, attempting to coax him into giving back Sheldon's things.  Instead the guy steals Sheldon's Bat'leth that he brought with for protection and the boys turn to Penny for help.  She kicks Zarnecki in the balls and gets the stuff back.  

I love Penny.  She’s a great piece of the puzzle on this show.  She just gets those guys. On her end, the plot stemmed mostly from jealousy of Pria.  While sitting having ice cream covered in coffee liquor with Bernadette and Amy, Penny expressed her distaste for Pria and her relationship with Leonard.  Bernadette offers to shun Pria but Penny shoots the idea down saying there is no reason to be mean to her.  Now this is what makes Big Bang awesome:

BERNADETTE: Well if it makes you feel any better I'm never speaking to Pria again.
PENNY: No don't do that, no reason to be mean to her.
AMY: Now this may be the alcohol talking, but I believe there is.  Are you familiar with the recent study of Tanzanian chimpanzees from Nashida and Hosaka out of Kyoto University?
PENNY: No, but I can name all the Kardashians.

What is great about this is that the study of chimps by Nashida and Hosaka is a real study.  Published in 1995 the study looked at a gang attack on an ill mannered young male chimp as part of the social construct.  It’s awesome that they used a real study. Even though 1995 isn’t that recent, and the findings were a bit skewed for the show's purposes, it’s stuff like this that keeps the show smart.  Despite the laugh track it does a good job of staying a step ahead of some of the competition. 

Off the Map – “Hold on Tight” (B+)

I’ve heard rumblings that this show is right on the brink of cancellation and this concerns me a little. Next week is the season finale, and with the way this episode ended, I don’t think I’m going to be able to handle not knowing what happens. If Off the Map ends with Mina still fired and Ryan in the middle of heart transplant limbo than I will very likely go insane.

I will give them credit for that ending though. That was a heck of a cliffhanger. First off, when did Mina become such a force to be reckoned with? She really held her own in this episode, first by helping to save Clark’s life, and then by standing up to Keeton in respecting Ryan’s medical wishes. I’m really enjoying the way Mina and Ryan’s relationship has developed over the course of the series. Early on these two did not like each other, but their flourishing... I want to say friendship, has been great to watch, primarily because the writers have developed it organically, and because both of these characters bring something unique to the other. They really do complement each other.

Keeton was especially vicious at the end of the episode too, not only firing the poor Mina but also bringing up the fact that she’s basically unhireable because of the mistake she made in her residency that led to the death of a little boy.  The execution of this scene was fantastic, from Keeton’s slow boiling rage to Mina’s defiant response. There were a lot of ways he could have fired her, but few would have been as effective as what they gave us here.

Honestly, if I have to pick the cliffhanger for next week’s finale I don’t think it’ll be Mina leaving (though I’ve set myself up for just that). I think it’s more likely to be something with Ryan’s transplant. I commented a little before on how I didn’t see a quick way out of this storyline, but with Clark rising towards the top of the transplant list the writers have now set it up so that they can resolve the plotline sometime soon, and my bet is that’ll somehow play into the cliffhanger of next week’s finale.

I also really enjoyed Tommy and Charlie’s storyline this week. Young Jonathan Castellanos can really hold his own in a scene. He did a great job in this episode, both with Tommy and with his Schizophrenic mother, who by the way, I diagnosed yet again before all the fake TV doctors, proving once and for all how awesome I am. I think maybe the most exciting development from this storyline is that Tommy is going to crash with Charlie for the foreseeable future now that Mina is seeing Pher. It’s awesome that this show has embraced this pairing, and you can mark my words – these two characters as roommates will be fun to watch.

And speaking of embracing things, how about Lily going from I can’t be with you because your family grows cocaine to actually picking the cocaine herself. I like that they’re showing these farmers from a different angle but I think eventually Lily will have to draw the line. She is a doctor, and eventually she’s going to remember what that drug does to people.

Anyways, I can’t wait for next week’s finale – it should be a fun watch. And I do hope this show gets renewed. Not just because I’m obsessed with doctor shows, but because I want to see a resolution to some of these story arcs. I think I actually may care about some of these characters. There I said it. Now damn it ABC, make it happen.

Let’s Not Make This a Thing

Sorry this was a day late. I chose sleep over posting. Never again... never again.

Californication – “The Last Supper” (A-)

Once again, Californication did a great job this week.  It's almost pointless to write a review.  It’s a great show.  I've never met someone who has watched it and said to me "well it has some real plot holes" or "it’s just not that funny."  It’s great.  It knows what it is.  It uses Duchovny's strengths exceptionally well and the writers continue to move the show in a good direction.

This week the episode begins with Karen flipping open her laptop to a celebrity gossip site to find the news that Hank has been found guilty.  It is an interesting social commentary that someone like her would find the news first on a website.  It says a lot about the current state of news media in North America.

So Hank thinks about running away and even gets in his car to do so.  On his way out of town he is called by Karen or Becca or someone with an emergency that he must attend to at their house.  When he arrives, Karen, Marcy, Runkle and Becca are waiting with a surprise dinner.  What was supposed to be a congratulations you are innocent party has turned into a goodbye party.  

They progress through the evening with the usual sexually driven banter that is characteristic of the show and end with Karen and Hank having sex for what Karen calls "the last time."

Next week is the Finale, so we’ll see how it all ends up for Hank.  

As I’ve said all season, I hope they put into play some plot changes where Hank gets his act together.

Modern Family – “Boys' Night” (A-)

Modern Family is always at its best when it’s blending humour with heart. The show has sometimes been guilty of being a little too overly sentimental this season, but when they find the right balance you can see exactly why they won that Emmy for best comedy last year. “Boy’s Night” was a perfect example of just that, firing on all cylinders throughout the entire half hour.

Hayley had a hilarious week in my books. I loved her indignant speeches to Cameron about how betrayed she felt that he didn’t trust her when in reality she was straight up responsible for exactly what he was accusing her of. The best one was in the after credits sequence when Cameron pulled out Dylan’s shoes right at the end of her little spiel, and she went from aggressively offended to apologetic at the turn of a dime.

And Hayley wasn’t the only Dunphy kid having a good week because Luke was on fire in this episode as well. His discussions with Walt, the crotchety old neighbour were all really well done. I especially liked when he held his breath entering the old guys house because he thought he needed an oxygen tank.

This plotline also brought out the best in Phil and Claire as their fear of Walt led to a great back and forth between the two. My favourite moment in the entire episode was when Phil pushed Claire into Walt’s house. The cowardliness of Phil was epic and Julie Bowen sold the stumble perfectly. And the ending of this storyline is exactly what I was talking about when I said this show is at its best when it blends heart and comedy. Their final conversation with Walt, where he revealed he was an ex-fireman who would never hurt a kid was quite touching, and an excellent way to cap off the storyline.

Watching Mitchell bond with Jay was also a really great moment for both of those characters as well, even if Jay was less than thrilled about it the next morning. I was worried when they were setting up the premise of this story that it would just be a bunch of Jay-is-uncomfortable-around-gay-people jokes, but the writers took a much smarter route. It was infinitely more entertaining watching him enjoy himself with Mitchell’s friends. Kudos to the writers for putting a cool spin on a storyline that otherwise would have been fairly stale.

Oh and just a quick shout out to Gloria who wasn’t in this one that much, but pretty much stole every scene she did get. I loved watching her sell out Jay the next morning, especially the joy on her face as she did it. Her best line though came as Manny questioned why he had to try new things if Jay didn’t.

GLORIA: You see what you’re doing. You’re tearing this family apart!

I just love the overdramatic delivery from Sophia Vergara.

Some of my other favourite parts of this episode:

-          Manny’s line after Jay’s crab cakes story – “Wow, are the movie rights available for that one?”

-          Hayley confusing an oncologist with an optometrist while talking to Mitchell on the phone.

-          Luke going through the knives as Hayley went about convincing Mitchell she was responsible enough to babysit Lily.

-          Phil’s favourite kind of movies – “Oh I love Westerns! The bloodier the better. That’s my favourite type of movie. That and anything set against the backdrop of competitive cheerleading.”

-          “They’re gay. They know what shoes they own!”

-          “I’m still growing into my tongue.”

Off the Map – “Everything’s As It Should Be” (B-)

I knew Mina and Tommy couldn’t do the friend thing. Although I guess the romantic feelings are pretty one-sided at this point. Really Minard... that guy. What were you thinking? I actually thought it was a little mean of her to stick her head out of the shower at the end of the episode. I guess it was her response to Tommy telling Pher that she had a boyfriend, but I’m still in Tommy’s camp here. I can just tell a Mina/Tommy pairing would be hilarious to watch. I mean look at them fighting in this episode – it was pretty entertaining.

Brenner certainly enjoyed it. She was actually pretty busy herself this episode. First she unknowingly partook in a black market organ transplant, and then she went about rekindling her romance with Mateo (more on that later). I actually thought this was the best plotline of the episode. Her conversation with the patient who sold the kidney was a really solid scene. The patient’s little monologue about taking opportunities when they come to you was good, and it clearly impacted Brenner, but what I really loved was Brenner’s line after she gave the girl the money from her wallet.

LILY: I’ve done a lot of things down here I thought I’d never do.

And with that she was off to visit Mateo. Well Mateo’s mother to precise, but it turns out that lady is sneaky, and it was all just a ruse (yes ruse) to get Brenner and Mateo back together. I like this move by the writers. I doubt the relationship will last, but at the moment Brenner feels like a broken character, and it was quite empowering to see her “take her shot” despite all her previous apprehensions.

Of course Keeton took the organ transplant harder than anyone. I guess it was probably because one of his oldest friends tricked him into doing it, and then proceeded to lambast him for keeping his wife on life support just to keep the clinic running, but I could be misreading it. In the end he decided he needed to let go of his wife but wasn’t sure if he could.

I wasn’t really sure how to read that last line. Whether it meant he was going to break up with Ryan because his heart wasn’t entirely in the relationship, or whether he’s finally going to pull the plug on his wife. There are two ways the pull the plug storyline could go so stick with me here. First off, he could pull the plug and she could die, and then the story is about him getting over his wife and trying to keep the clinic alive at the same time. OR, he pulls the plug and his wife wakes up, and there’s an epic love triangle/rhombus (if you throw Brenner in there too) for the show to tackle. That last one would be quite the twist, although maybe a little out there.

And finally, Zee and Cole shared a patient story once again this week. I can’t get a good read on these two. From scene to scene they go from endearing to downright irritating. I didn’t like their conversation in the garden at the beginning of the episode, but watching them demonstrate sexual positions to an older couple was definitely pretty funny. They just need to work on the consistency of these two.

The Event – “A Message Back” (C+) by Ryan

I am all for giving a show its props when it deserves it.  Look at my Cape reviews. I call that show exactly what it is, and give it the kudos it is due for being its corny self.  It has its merit.  I was even willing to review The Event somewhat favourably in the past, based on the potential it had.  But I am done with that.  Maybe I am bitter that SyFy has decided to cancel an actual alien show with promise and intrigue in Stargate Universe, and the fact that NBC still airs The Event is just getting under my skin.

So often have good shows been cancelled that I can't understand why this show is getting the time of day.  Here is what makes the Event a bad show:

1.  You know how great shows show you things rather than tell you.  They let you figure it out on your own instead of spelling it out.  The Event does none of that.  It uses corny dialogue to drive its plot home.  It treats its viewers like tiny insignificant morons.  The Event tries to follow in the vein of 24 and Lost. This is no secret.  I think it is a poor copy of both, but it tries and in the past I have given it props for that.  But Lost let its viewers figure things out on their own.  It dropped clues, hints, ideas in their minds.  It had people theorizing on the internet every week between episodes.  The Event spells things out and then they’re done with it.  The writers use dialogue rather than an entire scene to drive home their points.  For example, Martinez has to come out and tell Sterling that he is changing to be more assertive and hardcore.  WE KNOW THAT.  WE SAW THAT.  Don't tell us in a pointless conversation again.  As if we might have missed it the first time around.  Again, Sophia explains to Michael that "Simon played me for a fool" and that the President won't trust her.  WE KNOW THAT.  YOU SHOWED US LAST WEEK.  Stop making me feel like a moron by having the characters discuss the things we have already seen.

2. Back in the Fall The Event was starting to use back stories to give us insight into the characters.  This was a good idea.  What happened? All of a sudden the characters are as deep as you want them to be?  I know relatively little about every character.  I know that Sterling had a wife who was a traitor/spy, that Vicky has a family, that Sean is a hacker and that there are some aliens somewhere.  Couldn't this have gone in a good direction?  This is spoiled potential. You are already a copy of Science Fiction television everywhere, why not just jump on board and play the Lost-style flashbacks.  Imagine this – every week we can drive the story forward by getting some back story, eventually showing us life on the planet that the NTBs come from.  Why did they leave?  By abandoning the flashback the writers have left themselves no choice but to at some point explain that entire situation to us in a conversation.  That is going to be insanely boring.  Good decision writing staff.

Those two points basically sum up my opinion that the plot is slowly disintegrating, the writers are making desperate grasps at intrigue and that the characters have zero depth.  Therefore the show is bad.  I am still pissed at the cancellation of SGU and the fact that this garbage stays on the air is a disgrace to television.

Also, I disagree with Brian's assessment that "the President has the upper hand."  Sure it might seem like that, but this show would go nowhere if the NTBs were all captured again.

And how has no one pointed out that these "aliens" are able to breed with humans, speak perfect English from the moment they landed and don't just look like us but appear to have the exact same physical set up on their planet.  What I mean by this is that Thomas helps the humans develop nuclear weapons as if on their planet the exact same elements in the same conformation lead his people to develop the same technology.  What a ridiculous idea.  Also here is a lesson in biology – two  populations that are able to produce viable offspring are essentially the same species (to make it a short answer).  So therefore, the aliens evolved from primates and have had exactly the same conditions on their planet that lead to no differences in their genetic makeup that allow for them to breed with us.  I am someone who was willing to suspend my disbelief when a Cylon and a human had a baby, but that was because of the mythology behind the Cylons.  This ridiculous idea that these aliens come from another planet but are a genetically viable match with us to produce offspring and they speak English and etc etc. is just too much.  

Despite all this, I did not give a failing grade to the show this week.  Why?  Well, I agree with two of the things that Brian said.  First, Jason Ritter finally has a decent storyline.  It’s better with Vicky than it was with Leila.  Second, there was a cliffhanger that made me want to come back for more.  It’s so sad that I will watch this again next week.  However, I don't think I will be writing a review again.  This is not a good state of mind to be in.  I feel that the Event had so much potential and has just cheapened itself every week.  It makes me sad. There is so much they could have done with that show if they’d just sat down with a story board.

Farewell V... Please Don’t Write

Just a short post today, but I figured I’d get it out of the way before tonight’s barrage of shows.

Spoilers.

Off the Map – “I’m Home” (B)

Mateo’s back. I can’t say I’m surprised, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy watching Brenner and him interact as she went about treating his mother – who by the way is an extremely interesting character in her own right. I think my favourite scene in this storyline was the scene where she rationalized why she started growing cocaine to Lily. It was a kind of complexity I honestly didn’t expect from this show. Brenner put it best – “I’ll probably never agree with it, but I get it.”

They also followed up on the Tommy and Mina hook up again this week. It was really funny watching all their awkward sexual tension with each other. Both Zach Gilford and Mamie Gummer had some great facial expression, and a few killer lines. I loved Tommy’s discussion with Brenner about how he can’t stop picturing her naked. It led to a great exchange between Mina and Brenner later on.

MINA: He keeps staring at me. What is he staring at?
LILY: Not your boobs.

In the end the two of the decided to try and go back to being friends. It was a good bonding experience and I like that our original 3 jungle newbies are starting to become good friends.

Keeton and Clark returned from New York this week as well. I was a little surprised that they decided to skip over New York altogether. I mean they shoot in Hawaii so it’s probably the cheaper alternative, but I figured they would use Keeton’s absence from the clinic as a story premise for this episode. Well either way, they didn’t do that, but we were left with wasn’t bad either.

It was really a story about Clark learning her limitations. She kept pushing her limitations throughout the episode (I liked it when she tripped up the huge prisoner), eventually collapsing in the middle of an operation. The ending was fine, but I didn’t particularly like it when Keeton freaked out on her. I’ve been quite happy with the way they’ve written his character so far. He doesn’t have a huge ego like many of the attendings on other medical dramas, but his explosion in this episode wasn’t a good moment for his character. He quickly apologised after, but I could have done without that one particular scene.

And last but not least we had this week’s patients. The story of the two prisoners talking between cells was sweet, but there were moments where it felt a bit slow. I did enjoy their final sunset together however, and Cole and Zee, who were the doctors involved in this particular storyline, had a good week with each other – there wasn’t any nauseating dialogue to be heard of. I also really liked Cole’s line to the American girl as she thought about escaping:

COLE: Don’t mix up running with being free.

I’m sure that works on a few levels with this show.

V – “Mother’s Day” (B-)

Wow, they really let the bodies fly in this one. It was probably too little too late, but they did not hold back. It’s odd that this will probably be the last episode of the series because the way the writers have set it up they’re clearly looking to retool the show and try again next season.

And you can tell because they’ve attempted to eliminate as much dead weight in this episode as they could. Both Ryan and Tyler seemed to drag the show down this season, and both of them got eliminated in this finale. The funny thing is though, usually when a show has a major character death you... hmmm, what’s the word I’m looking for here... care. But none of these deaths felt all that meaningful. There were no heroic sacrifices – everyone’s death came as they fell victim to Anna’s wrath. Even for characters that weren’t all that liked it felt very anti-climatic.

The other thing I find interesting, is that despite repeated criticism that this show never lets its main characters win, they allowed them to fail again in this episode with yet another attempt on Anna’s life. I thought for sure in the finale they would give the Fifth Column some sort of win, but it was all Anna in this one.

I think that’s one of the fundamental reasons this show has never been able to truly get its footing. The writers really can’t ever allow the Fifth Column to succeed because they’re goals are always quite high. They’ve had at least two attempts on Anna’s life this season alone, which of course failed. They were given such close access to Anna so early on in the series that they’ve never given the organization any room to grow. There are no incremental accomplishments. Since the start of the second season it’s been all or nothing, and because all means the show is over, it’s always ended up nothing.

I will hand the writers this though – Anna’s revenge on Lisa was quite well done. It was chilling the way she made her watch new Lisa have sex with Tyler and then kill him. It’s only too bad that came after she foolishly allowed Anna to live in a very poorly executed standoff in an abandoned warehouse.

They certainly did their best to end the show on an exciting note but I wasn’t buying the whole project Ares thing. It seems kind of foolish that we’re only finding out about this huge governmental task force now, and from the brief glimpse we got of the organization its already looking supremely stupid. Case in point, and I’m paraphrasing:

“Hey everyone, gather round. This computer’s telling me something’s happening to people.”

No, I think I’ll be alright with this one getting cancelled. They gave it shot. They had a few promising plot developments that never really paid off. But now I guess it’s time for this show to make its exit. So long V.

You’re Like This Legend of Weirdness

This week’s reviews of Off the Map and V. Enjoy!

Spoilers.

Off the Map – “There’s Nothing to Fix” (B+)

Oh Mina, how I adore you so. I’m sorry I keep rehashing this point week after week, I really am. I’d love to talk about something else in these reviews but quite frankly each week she just ups her game. I’m probably biased but there just aren’t enough characters on TV portraying emotional shut-ins like myself. We finally have a voice. An awkward, monotone voice.

And being that I’m also a fan of Ryan – who just happens to be the exact opposite of Mina – I had a good time watching them pair up this week to deal with a jerk patient. There was so much I loved about this pairing I made a list, and, since you’re already reading, I guess I’ll share it with you.

-          The part where Ryan tells Mina that the pizza joint the patient owns is just a place where Americans go because they’re too afraid to try the local cuisine, and Mina responds “the pizza’s actually not that bad.”

-          When the angry patient tells Mina her chicken is the only thing that depends on her and she responds “that’s not true, I have a god daughter.” Great call back to last episode.

-          The sweet ending scene between Mina and Ryan abruptly ended with an “okay bye” from Mina.

-          The entirety of the funeral scene – “Come on! I basically yelled the guy to death.”

Tommy’s story on the other hand was all over the map this week, or should I say off the map (huh, see what I did there). I couldn’t really peg it. At times it was great, like when he gave his own blood to save the patient, and at times it wasn’t so great, like his freak out upon first discovering the patient. Overall I’m glad they showed his remorse over cheating on Alma, I was just a little iffier on the execution.

I still don’t like Cole and Zee as a couple. I enjoyed the way they got back together last week, but together there’s just something grating about the two of them. I think Valerie Cruz does a great job with her character, and Cole seems to be alright when he’s on his own, it’s just the writing for them when they’re together doesn’t do either of them justice. Take this week’s story for example – it is way too early in that relationship for them to be talking about babies. I know they probably had a history before the show began, but they just got back together. Give it a week.

The subject of having kids was clearly brought up more so they could relate to the patient story, but what it ended up doing was making Cole seem irritating. It may have set up a nice future storyline for Zee’s character, but there were a number of ways they could have introduced the fact that Zee can’t have children, and the way they ended up doing it weakened the episode.

And of course last but not least there was Brenner, who this week was pretty much all on her lonesome. Caroline Dhavernas is such a wonderful actor (actually there’s a lot of strong acting on this show), and she did a pretty decent job of playing how devastated Brenner was over the loss of her patient (and I suspect a little over the loss of her relationship). Her breakdown at the end of the episode was a little out of nowhere, but Dhavernas sold it. It could have been a lot worse.

It should be interesting to see the clinic without Keeton next week. I can’t wait.

V – “Devil in a Blue Dress” (C+)

Is it just me or has this show devolved into a formula?

It seems like every week our team comes up with some sort of plan to attack the visitors, almost always explained through some horribly clunky dialogue, attempt to execute that plan, fail, and then start getting ready for the next week when they’re really going to bring it to the Visitors. It’s actually becoming so bad that it’s come right back around to being funny again.

This week was more of the same. First we got an incredibly forced scene where Sid, our local scientist, describes Concordia, the visitor’s brand new power plant. The writers of course set up the mission, what would be the obstacles, what would be the reward, all in expository dialogue so unnatural you couldn’t possibly misunderstand them.

My favourite part of the episode was when Sid, simply by touching two small blue energy balls together concluded that blue energy was a “particle anti-particle construct.” Are you kidding me? You got all that from a light show?

And then there was Erica’s freak out after the mission failed. First off, you’re the one who ordered to abort the mission, so you really shouldn’t be taking it out on your entire team. And second, can you explain to me why the rest of the Fifth Column leadership, who doubted your ability to lead not two episodes ago, continue to follow you despite failure after failure?

I assume the ending scene with Diana was supposed to be exciting – all the Fifth Column in the same room – but it didn’t really feel that way. Next week is the season and most likely series finale. Just judging by what I’ve seen up to this point, my guess is this show will go out on with whimper rather than a bang. Oh well, I still love you Elizabeth Mitchell. We’ll always have Lost.

What A Random And Not Helpful Fact

No new episodes on Thursday night, so this is it for the reviews this week. I’ve got a very special song of the week coming up tomorrow though so stay tuned. In the meantime here are some long awaited reviews of Modern Family, Castle, Off the Map, The Cape, and V. Enjoy!

Spoilers ahead.

Modern Family – “Two Monkeys and a Panda” (B+)

Oh Ty Burrell, you just get me.

Phil at the spa – hilarious. I really enjoyed that entire sequence. Ty Burrell just played it so perfectly. His conversation with the women at the spa was really funny, and then when he came home and used what he’d learned on Claire, it just flawlessly capped off the entire story arc for me. Phil’s passive aggressive storm off was priceless.

Jay and Gloria also had a pretty good week. When two of them start making decisions about where they’re going to be buried when they die, it gets Jay thinking about the prospect of Gloria remarrying. It was an interesting idea for a story and the writers executed it quite well. My favourite part of this storyline was Manny’s attempts to cheer Jay up. It was both funny and charming, exactly the ingredients that makes this show better than your average sitcom. Of course the reassuring nature of their conversation didn’t mean Manny couldn’t get in one little dig before he left.

JAY: I thought you liked me when I first showed up.
MANNY: Please, for the first month I didn’t even bother to learn your name.

My favourite storyline of the episode however was Cam and Mitchell’s. It produced a few great one liners (my favourite being Mitchell’s subtle barb at the size of Cam’s head) and I really liked Cam’s freak outs (both prior to getting Lily and in response to Mitchell not hyphening Lily’s last name), but what really set this story apart was its ending. Mitchell’s children’s story (and the episodes namesake) was a wonderfully touching way to finish off the episode. Props to the writers for two great weeks in a row.

Castle – “Setup” (A-) and “Countdown” (B+)

This week I’ll be reviewing the past 2 episodes of Castle which combine to make one complete story.  Last week's episode called "Setup" ended with a "To be continued" and this week's "Countdown" finished off the story in a fairly decent way.  I found Setup to be an excellent episode, full of intrigue, wit and centered around a great plot idea.  Countdown however left something to be desired in the way it concluded.

These episodes tell the story of a terrorist plot against New York. A plot which Castle and Beckett get caught in the middle of when they investigate the murder that sets it off.  I don't really like giving recaps of the story point by point – there are enough of those out there – so I'll give you the basics and tell you what I enjoyed and what left me wanting more.

Basically Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of a Syrian cab driver. Their investigation leads them to a storage facility where nuclear material was being stored. It turns out someone built a dirty bomb in New York and was going to set it off.  The feds send in agent Fallon (Adrian Pasdar of Heroes fame) to liaison with the NYPD due to the nature of the case.  Castle believes that the Muslim cab driver and his brother are being set up by someone to make it look like they’re planning a terrorist attack.  He goes rogue, talks to a Syrian ambassador and gets himself and Beckett kicked off the case.  But in typical Castle style, they continue to work the case on their own and get trapped in a large freezer/refrigerated shipping container after they find a bomb in a warehouse and the bad guys open up on them.  That’s where "Setup" ends.  

In countdown, they get rescued and save the day.  It turns out that ex US marines are trying to frame a dirty bomb on the cab driver and his brother so people don't forget about the Afghanistan war.  These are your typical disillusioned patriots.  There are a lot of Timothy McVeigh references etc. etc. Their plan is to blow everyone up, but to have a Muslim drive the van that holds the bomb so that it is all blamed on her.  They kidnap her daughter to make her do it.  Castle and Beckett catch the van on its way to the location and Castle disarms the bomb by ripping out all the wires at the same time when the timer is almost at zero.

So I liked the plot, but I didn't like the ending.  If you could stop a bomb by pulling out all the wires diffusing a bomb would be really easy.  That being said, Nathan Fillion's acting when he succeeds is priceless.  He does a fantastic job of selling the fact that he just magically saved the city.  

Overall it was a good two episodes. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is a more realistic ending.  We also get the typical Castle is about to ask Beckett out at the end of the episode but he is interrupted by the arrival of her boyfriend.  They obviously love each other.  Can one of them go into a coma soon so they can wake up to find the other waiting by their bedside? It’s getting silly.

Off the Map – “It’s a Leaf” (B)

Not a whole lot of sweeping new developments in this one but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I’ll start with Clark’s story this week as she didn’t get a whole lot of screen time. I can’t really peg what they’re going to do with her heart failure storyline, whether it’ll be a recurring problem for her character throughout the series or whether they’re going to go for a quick fix. Keeton wanted her to return to New York in this episode, and Clark did eventually agree to do so, but I don’t see how they can send her away and still keep her a regular part of the series. Something’s gotta give. I feel like they can get away with her taking the pills for a while. Maybe that’s how they’ll write it.

I thought Mina’s storyline was absolutely hilarious this week. After absent mindedly cutting the umbilical cord of a local woman’s baby, she’s forced into becoming the god mother of the child. This produced numerous hilarious one liners, none funnier than this little exchange:

MINA: There’s gotta be some way out of this.
ZEE: Not without insulting their culture.
MINA: I can live with that.

I also loved her get up when she went to what she thought was a very formal baby naming ceremony, which turned out to be quite casual. I think this may have been the funniest episode from this show so far, and Mina’s story had a lot to do with that.

I wasn’t as keen on the Tommy/Mina kiss at the end of the episode however. I like both characters a lot, and I like the pairing too. It just seemed like too much of a step back for Tommy’s character. I’ve become invested in his relationship with Alma and his attempts to grow as a person, and the writers through a wedge in that relationship a little too quickly for my tastes. I mean after chasing Alma for that long, NOW he decides that the language barrier is too much?

Still, I can’t be too unhappy. They are two of my favourite characters. And it should be fun watching them awkwardly figure out what their little hook up means. If I recall back at the start of the show Mina was telling Tommy there was no way she would ever sleep with him, so I can only imagine how she’s going to feel after this. Could be fun to watch.

We also saw the end of Brenner and Mateo’s relationship this week. I was a little surprised at how quickly they breezed over this storyline. They really only had 2 or 3 scenes involving these two, and considering it was the cliff hanger to last week’s episode I really thought there was going to be a bit more fallout to this one. But alas I was wrong, and Brenner ended the relationship on a whimper... for now anyways.

And of course last but not least, Zee and Cole finally got back together. No real surprises here. I think we all knew they would eventually work things out. I wasn’t a huge fan of this couple before they broke up, but I did like their scenes together in this episode. I thought the final sequence where Zee was giving him the eye test was a sweet moment. I only hope that the second time around for this couple will be a little less nauseating than the first.

The Cape – “Razor” (B+)

Summer Glau is losing her MIND!!!!

A couple things before I start this review, I had the pleasure of having a beer, in person, with Brian last weekend (well I had a beer, he had a coke).  It was quite nice to actually see the boss himself instead of just talking over email.  He informed me that the Cape's episodes were cut.  That is never a good sign folks.  Looks like this one could be leaving us after this season.  If that happens I am going to try to write an ending to The Cape in a comic book form.  Since it takes me a week to write a review, expect a comic version in 2015.  Seriously, this show has a good premise, some really interesting characters that I would like to see explored in more depth and therefore great potential.  But alas, not everyone in the world is a comic geek like me, so the Cape remains an untapped pool of potential.

The other thing I learnt from my conversation with Brian is that whenever I drop Summer Glau's name in a post our page hits increase dramatically.  That tells me that people love Summer Glau.  I love Summer Glau.  Does anyone else find it weird that Summer's best role was playing a character named River?  But I digress... Razor...

Razor is a good episode.  It centers around Scales being given the keys to the outskirts of the city by Ark corporation.  Essentially, he is the godfather of crime now. He wants all the other criminals to pay him dues on all their scores, and in turn he pays Ark to keep off their backs.  But Max Malini won't sit in line, so Scales makes a move against him and tries to get a man named Razor to blow him up.  But Vince moves in and takes Razor's place to spy on Scales and avoid Max getting killed.  Eventually he’s found out though when Razor escapes from the cage the Circus people have him in and Vince is almost killed.  Max dresses up as the Cape and saves the day.  

As usual the most interesting parts of the episode come in the little pieces we are given that help to build the universe they live in. (As a side note, the ideas of comic book universe construction are explored here in a really neat way.)  First, Chess, the alter-ego supervillain of Peter Flemming and head of Ark corporation is starting to pop up again in Peter's mind.  He really draws more and more parallels to Norman Osborn. Both are inherently bad people (Norman was really awful when he ran the world in Dark Reign and Peter is a criminal at heart who wants to use paramilitary forces to run Palm City), but have even worse alter egos.  The Green Goblin and Chess are both evil in the strongest sense of the word.  So when Chess starts to make unannounced appearances in Peter's conscious his doctor steps in and decides he wants to speak to Chess.  Peter lets Chess take over his mind and have a conversation with the Doc.  A conversation we don't get to hear, but which I think went a little something like this:

DOC: Listen I know you are awesome Chess, and you want to run the world, but guess what I need Peter.
CHESS: What are you talking about, you are a weak doctor.
DOC: No actually I'm a supervillain too (or I work for one). In fact I'm the head of Tarot and we need Peter to go a little further in this world before we let you loose to destroy it.
CHESS: Oh in that case I'll be quiet and wait for your orders.
DOC: Thanks.

I'm convinced that’s exactly how it went.  So... we find out that the doc is evil.

Also, Max has a hidden agenda for Vince.  He needs him.  Probably for a big score.  Sneaky Max.

Also... SUMER GLAU IS GOING CRAZY... after marrying the Litch last episode, Summer has gone a little nuts.  Which is genetically accurate since her father (Chess) has mental health issues of his own.

So the Palm City universe is a little richer after this week's episode.  I hope it doesn't get cancelled because there are some cool places this show could go.  It’s nice to have a new superhero universe to tune into every week. 

V – “Uneasy Lies the Head”(B-)

I’m really tired complaining about this series, and I’m sure for the few of you still left watching, you’re tired of reading those complaints, so I’m going to keep this short. This episode had all the normal problems plaguing V – an overreliance on clunky dialogue, snail like pacing, and a lack of any true direction. I’m not going to go into a long rant about it this time. Just remember that it’s all still there and we can get on with our lives (more specifically I can get on with my life).

With that said they have finally started doing some of the things they should have been doing a long time ago. I like the new Erica. Not because I agree with her all the time, but because she’s finally acknowledged that she’s in a war and that it may require her to make some difficult decision. It’s pretty much a full 180 from where she was only 2 episodes ago, but I guess losing Tyler to Anna has made her a little more cut throat.

And I like that her newfound leadership position has begun to wear on her. Hobbes made a good point when he said that being the decision maker is a lonely position, and to be honest it’s far more interesting to watch Erica struggle with the trials of leadership than it is to watch her worry about her son. I’m not a huge fan of her and Hobbes getting together though, considering she just lost her ex-husband and not two episodes ago Hobbes was blowing up a building for the wife he apparently believed was alive. I guess I’ll just take what I can get.

Happy Valenbirthiversary!

Posts 4 days in row! Way to go me. I don’t know what’s more impressive – that, or the fact that I’m still doing recaps of V. Probably the V thing. Well luckily I also have reviews of last night’s episodes of Modern Family and Off the Map.

And stay tuned again tomorrow when I reveal my Oscar picks for this weekend. I’m hoping to get a little competition going so get your own picks ready.

You know how this works... spoilers.

Modern Family – “Regrets Only” (A-)

The theme of last night’s Modern Family was communication. Claire and Phil have a fight, only Phil has no idea what over. Cameron thinks Mitchell doesn’t listen to him, which is exacerbated by the fact that Cameron forgot to mail the invitations to Cam’s big charity benefit. And Jay doesn’t have to heart to tell Gloria he wants her to stop using the Karaoke machine he got her for her birthday (she has a particularly great rendition of Angel of the Morning).

This episode had the kind of intermingling I love to see from Modern Family. I don’t know what it is about these odd couple pairings, but this show is almost always better when they break out of the familiar family dynamics. Phil and Gloria were perfect examples. I loved their hair cutting scene, where Phil goes through all the reasons why Claire might be mad, only to end with Gloria telling him “I kill you” if he were ever to do that to her.

And who would have thought pairing Cam and Luke together would be so hilarious (I guess probably the writers). The contrast between them was played for some great laughs, and Luke’s misunderstanding of pretty much every instruction given to him really highlighted how funny Cam is when he’s in party throwing mode. The head sets were a particularly nice touch here. But my favourite exchange between these two came as Cam was freaking out over how he was going to salvage his benefit.

CAM: What are we going to do?
LUKE: I could start a fire.
CAM: No... well keep that in your back pocket.

Everything of course ended on a positive note, starting with Phil and Claire. It turns out Claire was mad at Phil because she felt like he’d never taken any of her suggestions. So to show her that he does in fact value her opinion, he brought out a photo album and went over all the ways Claire has put her stamp on his life, including getting rid of a pony tail and changing his major away from forestry (one of the most hilarious of majors).

And just like Phil with Claire, Mitchell came through for Cam with some last minute party guests.  Their joyful reunion after the fact was hilarious, especially when Cam yelled at the harp players for not scoring the moment. I also thought it was great that despite more than half the seats in the room being empty it was still double what the music society got last year for “cello submarine”.

And I have to quickly mention Manny, who was relatively quiet throughout the whole episode only to come in and steal the show in the final minutes. His ending breakdown over the karaoke machine was great, but it was his final line during the ending credits sequence that absolutely stole the entire episode.

MANNY: (after unplugging the karaoke machine Jay was singing with) You keep this up and this won’t be the last plug I pull.

Off the Map – “Es Un Milagro” (B+)

When the chopper went down at the end of the last episode, you knew this one was going to be a good one. “Es Un Milagro” may not have been as intense as I’d envisioned – that exploding chopper didn’t do it for me – but what they gave us instead was equally enjoyable. I think it may be because they managed to focus on my three favourite characters in this episode that made it so enticing.

First off, how awesome is the Charlie/Tommy bromance? These two are hilarious together. Charlie in particular had a great episode. As unrealistic as it was for Tommy and Keeton to use him in that surgery, I couldn’t help but love the scene. I also love that he’s training himself to be a surgeon. It kind of reminds me of The Cider House Rules a little, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the writers delve a little more into this storyline. Also funny was the reveal at the end that Charlie basically lives in a mansion. It was way nicer than Tommy’s place, which makes his “I need to know you’re not living in a cardboard box” comment all the more funny.

Clark’s story this week was a good one as well, revealing a few more details about her looming health problems. Her scenes with the little girl were all really sweet, and in all honesty I’m absolutely falling in love with her character. Kudos again to Rachelle Lefevre for bringing such a wonderfully upbeat character to life.

The revelation at the end of the episode that she was going into heart failure really put the heat on this storyline, and I can’t see a quick resolution to it. Perhaps they put her on restrictive duty or something. Oh! But then for some reason she has to go out into the field, and it’s all dangerous and what not. Huh? I really should be writing these things. Well whatever they do they better not kill her off. Mark my words, I will not be happy.

Mina was also involved in a pretty heavy storyline this week, as she was forced to confront a similar situation to the one that got her kicked out of her previous residency. Her quiet desperation as she worked to save her patient only made the patient’s death all the more painful. Her final breakdown was well played by Mamie Gummer and I can’t wait to see the repercussions of this storyline in next week’s episode.

And of the course the episode concluded with Brenner finding out her new boyfriend Mateo happens to be a cocaine farmer. It wasn’t exactly a shocking turn of events considering he came into the clinic with a gunshot wound a couple weeks ago, but the reveal was still done well. It should be interesting to see the fallout from that discovery. I can’t imagine Mateo’s employers being too happy about Brenner finding out about the farm.

V – “Birth Pangs” (C+)

I know I ripped into this show pretty hard last week. I haven’t changed my mind about what I said either. I’m tired of the apparent lack of planning when it comes to the writing on this show. This week’s episode did a little better on the writing front, but not anywhere close to where it needed to be. I think it may be time for V to die a quiet peaceful death.

There was some hope for this show in last week’s episode, with Erica taking over the reins as the leader of the Fifth Column. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to capitalize on that momentum this week. With Eli’s contacts not confident in her ability to lead, Erica sets out to prove herself to them – by breaking into her former doctor’s apartment... for some reason.

These are the kind of sequences V does very poorly. They set up a bunch of seemingly random obstacles for our characters to overcome in an attempt to evoke some tension, but they do their set-ups so haphazardly that it completely defeats the purpose. The audience knows if you’ve hastily thrown it together within the episode, the characters are in no real danger of getting caught or having any permanent repercussions. And that’s exactly what happened here. Why would the police have video surveillance on an apartment building? Why do they only have 15 minutes before the camera resets? It’s all completely arbitrary, which makes the sequence feel arbitrary.

And speaking of Erica and Hobbes, was it just me or were the writers trying to set the groundwork for a future romance between them? I really hope not considering Erica’s ex-husband died LAST EPISODE, and that was already an incredibly forced romance in its own right. If they really wanted us to believe that her feelings for her ex-husband were real, instead of just an artificial way to make his death meaningful (which is what it was) then you’ve got to give her character time to mourn. Don’t just throw her into another forced relationship.

You know she's serious -- she's wearing sunglasses!

The other annoying thing about this episode, like every week, was the storyline surrounding Tyler. After spending the entirety of the first two season’s trying to take him from his mother like the survival of her species depended on it, Anna gets Tyler on board her ship permanently only to decide that he’s no longer useful to her (or some crap about phosphorus). You know, pretty much a complete betrayal of everything that came before this episode. If Tyler was completely replaceable all along, there is absolutely no reason for Anna to go to the lengths she did to get him to trust her. Really stupid.

The one saving grace of this episode was Lisa, who not only stood up to her mother for the first time this week, but delivered some actually interesting information to this series for the first time. According to the information she acquired for Chad, the Vs go from planet to planet taking the best genes from every species they encounter in an effort to speed up their own evolution. Finally you can see why the Vs care so much about human emotion. For a species that absorbs all the best genes of other species, which genes work and which don’t would be incredibly important. Although all of this is based on the assumption that out of all the species they have encountered in the universe, humans are the only ones with emotions.