I Cannot Emphasize How Little We Thought About This

At long last, the rundown of Thursday night’s television. The short version – NBC had a hell of night.

Spoilers... some pretty major. Be warned.

Community – “Competitive Wine Tasting” (B)

I love the way this show has embraced a bunch of different character couplings. There is no Ross and Rachel on this show. No Sam and Diane (that was for the old people – I don’t know why because they aren’t reading this). And not that I don’t like those two shows, it’s just refreshing to see a show explore all of its options without tying any of its characters into coupledom (though Parks and Rec did just that this week and the results were fantastic, just scroll down).

Let me break it down for you. In the pilot, before we really knew these characters, it looked like Jeff and Brita would be the show’s staple couple. While they did hook up, it’s never materialized into anything more than that. Since then Jeff has been linked to Annie, whose introduction as a potential love interest has been one of the more surprising yet interesting developments on this show. It started with some smalls signs of a spark as the two of them were paired up on the Greendale debate team, and escalated when they kissed at the end of the first season’s finale. This season we’ve seen a few sprinkles of attraction and the potential is still there for something to happen.

But Jeff and Brita are only one side of that equation, as Annie and Troy were also considered as an early pairing on the show, and even as recently as this season have been hinted at as a potential couple (Mixology Certification for those of you wondering what I’m referring to). Which leads me to this episode, where the writers decided to complicate things even more by introducing the possibility of a romance between Troy and Brita.

Now I don’t mind the new pairing that much. There haven’t been a whole lot of signs pointing in that direction (I believe Troy once referred to her as the AT&T of people), but I think that’s what this episode was about, and there’s definitely some potential there. If you remember back to the Valentine’s Day episode, Troy did say he was a looking for a girl who could tolerate his bromance with Abed, and Brita proved that last episode when she was paired up with the two of them. I can’t wait to see which one (if any) of these pairings actually end up in a relationship, because when it finally does happen it’s going to be awesome.

I kind of can’t believe I just spent 4 paragraphs talking about the romantic entanglements of the characters on this show, but I did, I don’t regret it. Just like Abed’s professor this week, I am not a fan, I am not a groupie, I am an academic. And I too am writing a book – Higher Yearning: An In Depth Analysis of the Relationships on Community.

I’m just too damn cute for my own good.

But while we’re on the subject of Abed, his side story this week was actually quite entertaining. I loved the aforementioned books of his professor – Who Indeed: A Critical Analysis of Television’s Who’s The Boss and What Was Happening? An Analysis of What’s Happening – and I also thought it was hilarious that Abed managed to empirically prove that Angela was indeed the boss.

I think one of my other favourite parts of this show (there are a quite a few) is the various guest professors they bring in. On top of Abed’s hilarious television prof in this one, we also got the return of Greendale’s resident acting coach, Professor Sean Garrity (Kevin Corrigan).  He was like a treasure trove of hilarious quotes. I especially loved his intense monologue about pain and acting after Troy admitted he had made up his story. I hope we see him back on campus again soon. He and that Carpe Diem accounting professor played by John Michael Higgins Jeff had back in the first season.

Jeff and Pierce’s storyline in this episode was probably the weakest. There wasn’t anything in particular that bothered me – both Jeff and Pierce stayed close to character – just not enough of the jokes were landing for me. Of all the storylines this was the one that seemed to drag. Though I did like the old Chevy Chase picture on the bottle of wine he handed to Jeff.

Some of my favourite quotes from the episode:

JEFF: Don’t preach to me about romance Annie, I had a three way in a hot air balloon.

BRITA: Hey, don’t take on his pain. Tend your own garden.

TROY: I wasn’t so much “molested”, as much as I “made it up”.

PROFESSOR GARRITY: Who would like to begin today?
TROY: I would, with a confession. My uncle never tried to stick his finger in my plop plop. I know I’m bummed about it too.

PROFESSOR GARRITY: The pain of not having enough pain is still pain young man. That may sound like an easy resolution, but we’re not writers, we’re actors. Story doesn’t matter here, all that matters is our time in the spotlight.

And line of the episode:

PROFESSOR GARRITY:  Uh for homework, drink a glass of cognac in a bathtub.

The Office – “Training Day” (A-)

Will Ferrell on The Office. It just seems right doesn’t it? Well on the whole it was right, and more importantly very, very funny. Ferrell’s style is just made for this type of show. Everything about his opening sequence with Michael was perfect. The two characters had an instant rapport with each other, which made for a slurry of hilarious lines. I’d planned on jotting down just a few of my favourite lines from this episode and literally ended up transcribing that entire scene.

His meetings with the rest of the cast were a little more hit and miss however, though I do think they were more hit than miss. I found the bit parts, like Darryl dressing like a cowboy or Kevin wearing a toupee, tended to be the weaker story threads in the episode. I also wasn’t a fan of Pam and Jim’s storyline. I thought Ferrell’s character came off as a little overly mean in those scenes. Not that he wasn’t right – parents are pretty annoying with their kids – but because most people in that situation would just feign interest, not call them out on it. I would have preferred something closer to what they did at the end of the episode, with Deangelo pretending to care and then the show cutting away to him expressing how off base Jim and Pam were.

But that’s not to say that all of Deangelo’s scarier moments weren’t funny. I thought his funny guy bit with Andy was pretty hilarious. I loved Andy’s desperate attempts to embrace his role and his “I guess this is my life now” line made me laugh out loud. My favourite moment of the episode though had to be Erin panicking as she answered the phone after Michael and Deangelo argued over how she should do it.

ERIN: I’m so sorry (hangs up).

She’s still one of the freshest characters on this show, and I continue to love her hilarious bond with Michael. Her shaving scene with him was extremely funny. I hope whoever ends up as Michael’s permanent replacement will be able to find at least a hint of the same chemistry with Erin.

But back to the episode at hand. I thought everything wrapped up quite nicely. Much like the bar scene before it, the backwards hug scene (as I’m calling it) was another great moment in Will Ferrell’s guest spot. The dialogue was hilarious, it cleared up some of the more extreme aspects of Deangelo’s personality, and it was another step forward in Michael handing over the reins of The Office. What more could you have asked for in an ending?

Before I hand you my favourite quotes though, I do want to point out Holly’s notable absence in this episode. I assume she left for Colorado early, but whatever the reason it was a little distracting she wasn’t there. Even just a throwaway line would have sufficed.

Anyways, my favourite quotes (I apologise that they’re all from Deangelo and Michael):

DEANGELO: To beginnings and endings.
MICHAEL: And middles, the unsung heroes.

DEANGELO: Doing some skiing?
MICHAEL: No no, I don’t want to end up like Sunny Bobo.
DEANGELO: Well that’s just good sense right there. Yeah, everyone I know who skis is dead.

MICHAEL: Know what, I would like to try the luge though.
DEANGELO: Try it once you’re hook. That’s my guess.
MICHAEL: That’s what I’ve heard.

DEANGELO: You know it’s funny, I actually tried to get an animal Olympics going.
MICHAEL: Really, what happened?
DEANGELO: You know, life happened.

MICHAEL: I happen to like the hilarious hijinks I get myself into.

DEANGELO: What is the Native American girl’s name?
MICHAEL: You’ll figure it out.

And the line of the episode (this is now a thing):

DEANGELO: Michael, the last time I was exposed to a peanut I was itchy for 3 days, okay. I had to take baths constantly. I missed the OJ verdict. I had to read about it in the paper like an idiot.

Parks and Recreation – “Fancy Party” (A)

This show is just so obviously in its prime it’s scary. Seriously, I have goose bumps. Every character is clicking, every joke is connecting, and somehow it doesn’t matter what they try, it always works out for them. Honestly, I thought the “I love you” storyline from “Harvest Festival” was too fast. If you had told me before this episode started that Andy and April were going to be married by the end of it, I would have seriously questioned the decision making of the writing staff on this show. But Andy and April’s wedding episode was not only hilarious, it was sweet enough it actually made me okay with them getting married. In fact now I can’t wait to see what happens with these two.

I think all of the worries about whether Andy and April would be able to maintain the momentum of their courtship as a couple were silenced in “Fancy Party”. They were both hilarious to watch with each other throughout the entire episode, from their party announcement at its beginning (with suggestions on what to bring), to their wedding vows, to their honeymoon video at the end.

And the party guests were fantastic. I’ve said this before, but the writers have filled this town with a delectable assortment of eccentric characters, and many of their wedding guests were an absolute treat for anyone who has watched this show from the beginning. I loved Jean-Ralphio’s appearance. His speech ideas were hilarious. Or how about the cameo from the guys from animal control – their dead bird bit was amazing. Even April’s sister had a few great moments in the episode. Her detached speech after the wedding had me laughing hysterically, especially since it somehow brought April to tears.

NATALIE: My sister’s lame, but Andy’s sort of cool. I guess I kind of see why he’d marry her. Also, if anyone finds my gray hoody I lost it, thanks.

And they aren’t even done giving us great new characters. All the jokes surrounding April’s morose friend Orin were fantastic. I loved Leslie and Ben’s gag at the end where they noticed Orin behind them and treated him like an animal hunting prey (“don’t panic because he can smell fear”). I think my favourite joke surrounding the character though was when he finally met up with Chris.

CHRIS: Exactly! Mortality. See I like to take each day at a time. There’s nothing in the world we can’t accomplish if we try.
ORIN: I have to go.

I feel like I write this every week so I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself, but I absolutely love Chris. He normally doesn’t play a huge role in any given storyline, but the writing for him whenever he’s on screen is terrific. He really didn’t have a bad line at all in this episode.

The writers are even doing a great job finding new sources of humour from the show’s more established characters. One of my other favourite recurring bits that’s just recently come about is Leslie’s stories about her long history of terrible relationships. She first brought up a list of them to make Ann feel better back in “Indianapolis”, and she added a few new ones in this episode.

LESLIE: One time I fell madly in love with a Civil War reenactor that I had only known for 6 hours, and then I found out he wore those clothes all the time... and he was married. But the clothes thing really bothered me.

LESLIE: Relationships are like scuba diving. If you come up to fast you get the bends. And the reason why I know this is because I was dating a guy once, and we were scuba diving, and I told him that I loved him underwater, and he shot up really fast and got the bends.

I’m also happy that they’ve finally nailed Ben down. I mentioned in my last review that I was hoping they would find a way to keep him in Pawnee soon, and they did just that in this episode. I very much liked the subtext between he and Leslie in their conversation early in the episode, and how April and Andy’s throw-caution-to-the-wind approach inspired Leslie to ask him to stay. I think their relationship will be the new will-they won’t-they now that Andy and April are married, but who knows. Considering how fast Andy and April got married they could be together by next week.

And like I said before, I literally can’t wait to see how their marriage will play out. A lot of the time the downfall of certain TV couples is the petty relationship drama that occurs after the original will-they won’t-they scenario. The wedding gets rid of all that. Now they’re a young couple – that the audience wants to see together – struggling through the early phases of marriage. Much more compelling than the typical “he won’t say he loves me” or “he kissed another girl/guy” storylines you usually get (plus they’ve already covered both of those with this couple anyway). The stakes are just higher. They stole a page out of the ole One Tree Hill playbook (who I assume previously stole it from someone else).

Now for my favourite lines. There were a lot of them so I apologise if I miss a few/do way to many:

RON: It’s always a good idea to demonstrate to your coworkers that you are capable of withstanding a tremendous amount of pain.

RON: (about Chris’s vegetable loaf) So not only does this thing exist, but now you have deprived everyone of cake.

DONNA: Dating is a zero sum game. If you get a man, I don’t get that man.

LESLIE: Are you sick? Are you terminal? Is it like that movie A Walk to Remember?

LESLIE: But relationships need planning. You just can’t jump into something without thinking. It took me 4 years to find the right hair dresser and we still fight all the time.

CHRIS: (reacting to being asked to be Andy’s best man) Nothing else in my entire life would make me happier as long as I live.

ANDY: (his wedding vow) April, you are the most awesome person I have ever known in my entire life. I vow to protect you from danger. I don’t care if I have to fight an ultimate fighter, or a bear, or him. Your mom! I would take ‘em down.
APRIL: Andy.
ANDY: I’m getting mad right now even thinking about it, I’m telling you.

ANDY: I cannot emphasize how little we thought about this.

And line(s) of the night:

LESLIE: April and Andy are about to get married.
BEN: Wow, my Brita filter is older than their relationship... wait a second, should I change my Brita filter?
LESLIE: I don’t know, it depends on how frequently you use it. Stay focused okay, please.

30 Rock – “I Heart Connecticut” (A-)

Be warned, this review will probably be more quote than opinion.

It’s so good to have Tracey back. Having Liz and Kenneth search for him was a just great idea for an episode. The two of them made a good team, and watching them try to get into Tracey’s head brought back that particular brand of Tracey Jordan craziness that the show has been missing of late. I can’t think of a gag they tried in this storyline that didn’t work. I loved the pizza academy scene, and hearing about Tracey’s signature pizza order – “Large cheese pizza with one slice taken out, so I can pretend I’m eating Pacman like my hero Blinky the ghost” – and all the different lengths Liz and Kenneth went to in order to think like Tracey:

LIZ: We had him Jack and we lost him, so Kenneth and I had to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to think like Tracey.  I ended up eating a swordfish dinner at a strip club and Kenneth grabbed a cop’s gun and shot a blimp.

And when they finally found Tracey it was like a gleeful tribute to the character. Tracey acted like the Tracey of old, and Liz Lemon, exhausted by the shear act of finding him, just let him go with it. In fact it was her comments about Tracey that really reminded me why I love the character so much.

LIZ: You’re Tracey Jordan! Hulk Hogan called you a dirt bag. The NAACP once hired someone to kill you. You wore a penis hat to Princess Diana’s funeral!
TRACEY: Because I had worn it to their wedding. It was special to the three of us.

Jenna and Jack’s movie project was equally enjoyable. I loved watching the metamorphosis of the movie over the course of the episode, and they had some other great side bits that worked out quite nicely as well. The little girls hopped up on cocaine cutaway was hilarious, and some of the writing discussions between Jack and Jenna were so shameless and so bizarre that I couldn’t help but laugh at thought of what must being going down on that page.

Pete’s story was the lone dull spot in the episode. I thought it was mildly funny that he seemingly gained his arm wrestling strength from fending off his children or that apparently the mark of a successful man is being able to afford appetizers at Outback Steakhouse, but the fact that it all ended up being some sort of fantasy (I wasn’t quite clear on what that was) kind of undercut the entire story. I guess the joke is how sad Pete’s fantasies are but I would have preferred them take it in a different direction there. What they gave us threw me off a bit.

But not so much that I didn’t enjoy the episode. So without further adieu, some of my other favourite quotes from “I Heart Connecticut”:

PETE: I lost my hair at a very early age when I hit that gypsy’s kid with my car.

FRANK: Oh so you’re doing a torture porn thing like saw.
JENNA: Exactly, in fact, the producers of this movie rented Saw and watched it.

JENNA: I met that soccer ball once at a no hands allowed sex party.

JACK: Did you make sure that Tracey wasn’t pretending to be his own wax figure at Madam Tussauds?
LIZ: Yes. There was some confusion and I ended up punching the real LeVar Burton.

And the line of the night, perhaps the funniest description of writers I’ve ever heard:

JENNA: Okay, we just need to hire some of those ugly people who have the paper and change the shapes on it.

Song(s) of the week

I should have Thursday night’s line up for you tomorrow, but in the meantime here’s the song of the week.

This week’s pick:

“Get Some” by Lykke Li

Where I found Lykke Li: She’s been all over the late night circuit over the last few months. She was also on a Twilight soundtrack apparently, as a Stephenie Meyer loving friend of mine once sent me a song of hers from one of those movies. If you’re wondering, that friend was in fact a girl, though surprisingly not a 13 year old girl.

What I like:  She’s just a phenomenal songwriter. Her great use of rhythm, intriguing lyrics, and chant-like hooks all combine to give her an impressively unique sound. And she knows how to evoke a tone, so whether you understand her lyrics or not you still get an emotional response. I don’t really have anything else for you, but I also don’t want you to think that I like this song any less because I didn’t write as much as I normally do, so I’m going to keep talking until everything looks right... actually that’s probably enough there.

Bon appétit.

Get Some - Lykke Li

One Foot in Both Worlds, Wanted By Neither

Hey, Hey, Hey. You couldn’t hear it but I said that all sitcomy. Each “hey” was like a different note.

It’s always better when you explain it.

Anyways, here’s a review of this week’s episode of Modern Family. Enjoy.

Spoilers...

Modern Family – “The Musical Man” (B)

I love watching Phil’s skin crawl. Many of his best moments come from him trying to keep something from Claire. Now I can’t say I was super fond of the minivan ordeal – I don’t really like misunderstandings driving a storyline – but in this case it sent Phil into a hilarious tailspin so I’ll let it slide. I think my favourite moment of the storyline was the comment Phil made to Alex right after he realized what a horrible mistake the van had been.

PHIL: I guess I’ll be seeing you Wednesdays and every other weekend...

Hilarious. I’ve also got to say, Claire even had me feeling nostalgic about college, and I’m only a couple years out. Despite really just being the background scene for the minivan storyline, her description of college was bang on.

CLAIRE: Oh and you all get a dog together. I really don’t know who takes care of the dog during the summer, but he’s there when you get back.

I’m pretty sure my sister can relate to that.

The rest of the episode was pretty hit or miss though. Cam’s musical wasn’t exactly the most inspired storyline. I thought the performance itself was great, especially the “we love the F word” finale, but the rehearsals, which took up the bulk of the storyline, were just a little too predictable. You can chew me out in the comments if you disagree (please be gentle) but I just feel like we’ve been seeing Cam act like a diva a little too much of late. I’m being a little contradictory considering I just praised Phil for the exact same thing, but I feel like we’re missing an important aspect of Cam’s personality. What happened to the Cam who was playing in Dylan’s band, or who happened to be a great college football player? He’s not always a diva, and I don’t think we’ve been getting enough of that from his character lately.

Jay’s storyline was also a mixed bag. A little more sentimental than it was funny. I will however, give some major credit to Gloria who, for the second episode in a row, stole the show with limited screen time. It was all her quips about Jay’s relationship with his brother that really drove the comedy in this one. Sofia Vergara’s line deliveries were just fantastic. I really hope she gets another comedic actress nomination at this year’s Emmys. Some examples:

GLORIA: Why are you both so mean? Where I come from brothers respect each other.
JAY: That’s why Columbia is such a peaceful utopia.

JAY: Hey nice shirt. Do they sell men’s clothes where you got that?
GLORIA: That’s funny because woman are so inferior.

And just for kicks, some of my other favourite lines:

PHIL: Now all that driving around your mom does will serve a purpose.

MITCHELL: See he focused it by making it about the world.

PHIL: About that, I’ve been thinking... college is still a ways away. I say we leave Hayley alone. The more we push the more she’ll push back.
CLAIRE: I’m gonna push.
PHIL: And I support that.

PHIL: I think the carpet matches the drapes... I haven’t checked in a while.

LUKE: (in character) China sure was fun, and look there’s merry old England!
ALEX: Has anyone here even seen a globe.

And my favourite line of the episode... blink and you miss it:

CAM: (carrying a fire extinguisher) Ok, alright, that one was my fault. But Joan of Arc is gonna be just fine!

It’s Always the One in the Turtleneck

Here’s the rundown from last night.

Spoilers...

House – “The Dig” (A-)

It’s so great to see Olivia Wilde back on House. She’s been gone so long I almost didn’t think she was coming back. But she did come back, and luckily for us it produced probably the best episode of House this season.

After 7 seasons (and exactly 150 episodes after this episode) any time we can get any sort of organic storyline outside of the normal patient of the week it’s exciting. This episode had me hooked right from the opening scene, as House picked up Thirteen from prison. A quick martini later and they were on their way to a Chilli cook-off and potato gun competition.

I loved everything about this storyline. The conversations between House and Thirteen were just awesome to watch. At times funny, at times emotional, but always compelling. The eventual unravelling of the true reason behind Thirteen’s incarceration was far more interesting than any patient of the week could ever be.

Thirteen’s tearful confession to House about euthanizing her brother had to be the scene of the episode. No wait, scratch that – scene of the season. Olivia Wilde played it to perfection. I didn’t realize how much I missed her presence on this show until I saw her in that scene.

Normally I would hate this kind of information dump where a character reveals background information about themselves that has somehow eluded the audience all this time, but with Thirteen I didn’t mind. House was right when he said she has one of the best game faces around. That’s not just the writers covering themselves either, it’s true. It’s not at all out of character for Thirteen to hide information about herself. The fact that she had a brother she wasn’t telling us about didn’t faze me in the slightest.

And along those lines I can’t say I was all that surprised by House offering to kill Thirteen when her own time came, but it was certainly the perfect way to cap off the episode. As morbid as it sounds it was actually a very touching gesture by House. These are two broken people, so it was nice to see them find some comfort in each other.

The rest of the episode was fairly uninspired. The patient of the week story rightly took a back seat to House and Thirteen’s escapades, and really didn’t add anything new to the formula. It just goes to show how much more interesting House can be when the writers break from convention.

Taub’s subplot with his wife wasn’t all that interesting either, and I’m a little pissed off they didn’t follow up on Masters’ serial killer plotline from last episode. I understand it would have been too much for one episode, but for the second time (the first being when House blackmailed her to save Cuddy’s mom) she looked completely unaffected by a major event in the previous episode. The lack of continuity bugs me a bit.

Yet with Thirteen’s return I have high hopes for the rest of this season. She’s the breath of fresh air this show has needed of late (a little ironic considering she’s one of the main characters) and if the writers play their cards right her return should be able to kick start a few more interesting stories before the season is out.

How I Met Your Mother – “The Exploding Meatball Sub” (B)

Ah the old graduation goggles. Thank god someone finally went ahead and coined a term for the phenomena. Sarah McLachlan was a great pick for the music. The only other appropriate choice would have been Vitamin C’s “Graduation”.

I also enjoyed Ted’s couples rivalry with Marshall and Lily (more Lily than Marshall). It was fun watching Ted try to rationalize how his constant bickering with Zoey was actually just healthy discourse. I was actually a little surprised they ended up back together at the end of the episode. It seemed like a natural place to end the relationship. My guess is something big is going to happen between these two before we see the end of Zoey, probably something to do with Ted’s building.

Barney’s arc was probably the funniest of the episode. If they weren’t going to go straight back into his father storyline than this was the way to play it. His bizarre grudge against Marshall was good for a few laughs. I also loved the reveal of Robin after he trashed his office, and the fact that he seemingly has no idea what Spain is.

The one thing I will say though is this show needs to be careful when they jump forward. The little after credits tag was funny, but with the way the fans of this show theorize about the future of these characters, any little glimpse forward ends up having major story implications. I’ll admit when I watching my Lost background started kicking in. Is Barney still single 10 years from now? Does this mean he and Robin never get back together again (not that they have to, I just thought it was still a possibility)? I don’t think the segment’s intent was to bring up any of these questions, yet in the back of my mind they were pretty much all I could think about.

Some of my other favourite moments:

-          “You can’t quit tomorrow. The lady with the big nipples is coming back to give another sexual harassment seminar and I bribed one of the maintenance guys to keep the room at a brisk 55 degrees.”

-          Zoey and Ted’s argument over who should hang up first, and their philosophical argument over Tommy Boy.

-          Scooby’s return – “He was a good boy.”

-          Barney’s description of Herschel – “He is so awesome, and funny, and tall – taller than Marshall – and he knows way more laws.”

-          “Oh my god, is that how support feels? It’s so warm and wonderful!”

-          Lily’s explosive metaphors in front of airport security.

-          Barney’s imitation of his shrink – “Barney we have to talk about your father. Barney, I’m not gonna teach you how to hypnotize people, you’ll only use it for evil. Barney, I am not going to conduct a couples session between you and this woman, she’s obviously a prostitute. I don’t need this!”

Song(s) of the week

This week’s picks:

“Colours”, “Don’t Say Oh Well”, and “Gold Coast” by Grouplove

Where I found Grouplove: I was only half listening when these guys (and girl) came on Carson Daly a week ago. I was just about to completely forget about them when I decided to check them out on YouTube before I went to bed. I’m very glad I did because I have literally been listening to this band on repeat for the last week.

What I like: I love their energy. I don’t understand how lead singer Christian Zucconi doesn’t completely blow his voice out because he absolutely goes for it on everything, and each of his band mates do a great job of supporting him vocally (Hannah Hooper’s harmony on the chorus of Colours makes the song for me). More than anything though, I love this band’s sense of adventure. You get the feeling that anything can and probably will happen on these songs, and that alone makes Grouplove incredibly fun to listen to.

Enjoy!

Colours - Grouplove


Don't Say Oh Well - Grouplove


Gold Coast - Grouplove

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. 

Does Anybody Know Any Jokes?

It’s very late, so forgive me if this post is a little incoherent. It was another slow Monday night, but we do have The Event and Castle for you. Enjoy.

Spoilers...

The Event – “You Bury Other Things Too” (C+)

Perhaps they should have taken their two week break after the last episode, because this week’s was not the best one to go out on. Not only was it was a transition episode to the core, but it managed to accentuate one of this show’s glaring weaknesses – their ability to develop storylines at an organic pace.

Simon’s story in this episode was the most glaring example. I really didn’t like how quickly they brought him from witnessing the deaths of his fellow NTBs to being back on the side of humanity. His escape scene was not handled well. Is it just me or does it seem like whenever the NTBs need to accomplish something for the story to move forward, the military or the Secret Service just become incredibly incompetent? The Secret Service (or whoever the suits were) just watched him drive away. So he got into a car. Isn’t there some way you could chase him? Like say, in another car?

One awkward time cut away and he’s somehow made it back to all the other NTBs. Now he’s free to disagree with Sophia’s new directive and get betrayed by his own people. As an audience member it feels like I’m getting jerked around. Like I’m not watching the storyline the writers want to tell, I’m watching them force the one they do want to tell. It cheapens the episode in my opinion. I understand the need to transition to new storylines, but you can’t cram it all into a single episode without making things feel rushed. And I really thought there was a promising storyline in the President discovering Simon’s true identity. I was looking forward to a confrontation between the two of them, but didn’t get that here. Though I have a feeling that Leila is going to help Simon escape, so who knows – he may be back on the government’s team in an episode or two.

I also have a problem with Sophia’s sudden change of heart regarding the NTBs prime directive. She has plenty of reasons to change her mind about the way she deals with humans. The President killed a lot of her people and her species is doomed to extinction if they can’t find a new planet. My problem lies in the fact that she’s seemingly doing it out of anger over Thomas’s death. Thomas killed a ton of her people too. The President’s attack on the NTBs was a direct response to his attacks. Now all of a sudden Thomas is a saint and you have to carry on his work. Come on.

That’s not to say that I’m entirely thrilled with the President at the moment. This episode was exactly what I was worried about when they started to makeover his character. I said this last week too but the problem with his character before wasn’t necessarily that he wasn’t aggressive enough, it was that he wasn’t smart. Now he’s a jerk who’s still not very smart. That’s even less likable.  Maybe this is all just a planned character arc by the writers, but the shortcomings of their execution are starting to hurt the character.

His decision in this episode to test every American’s DNA was ridiculous. Logistically, that’s just plain impossible and I really don’t understand why Senator Madsen’s involved. Last time we saw her she was publically challenging him on national television and now all of a sudden she’s more than willing to run an incredibly illegal operation for him. Certainly finding out about the NTBs couldn’t be that game changing for her.

And last but not least we had Vicky and Sean, who failed to live up to their momentum from the week before. The shoot out and Vicky’s subsequent capture was fine, but I didn’t like their scenes with each other before that happened. Vicky’s this is what happens when you kill people speech was a little over the top for me and I’m not sure if I completely buy her coming back after Sean released her. I guess they haven’t entirely worked the bugs out of Sean’s storyline yet.

Castle – “Slice of Death” (B+)

Castle was Castle again this week.  I feel like I say the same things every week. "This show is good, I really liked the episode."  This week I'll give you a little taste of the plot and drop some themes from the episode that I really liked.

The case this week was based on a body being found in a pizza oven.  A charring sight to say the least.  (You see what I did there? That’s called a pun.)  Anyway, the pizza joint in question is one of 4 pizza places with essentially the same name.  Throughout the episode I never got them straight.  There is Terrific Nick's, Authentic Nick's, Terrific Authentic Nick's, Authentic Terrific Nick's.  At least I think that’s what they were called.  There were some combinations like that.  And none of the guys who own the places are actually named Nick.  Anyway, these pizza places are "at war" with one another and this war took its first casualty.

Initially, the team looks into the other 3 pizza places, as well as the proprietor of the one where the body was found, but it doesn't add up that these guys would go from putting soap in each other's sauces to killing someone and sticking the body in an oven.

When the body is identified as a popular writer for a local paper doing a puff piece on Pizza wars, the team starts to look at other avenues.  It looks like the writer, who used to do investigative journalism before a personal tragedy, found something bigger than just feuding pizza parlours.  He found heroin dealers.

So the guy got whacked for finding out too much, and eventually Castle and Beckett put it together and figure out who "Cavallo" the mythical heroin dealer is.  It’s a good twist.  A little predictable, but solid none the less.

As far as the themes from this week go, I really liked the parallels between the dead reporter who lost his daughter and Castle’s struggle to defend his daughter against a bully at school.

In other news, for those of you who read some of my stuff at the beginning of the year on my own blog I wrote a review of why I like Castle so much and talked about the characters and actors, etc. etc. One of the things I said was that Molly Quinn (Alexis) should be cast as Clary if they ever make a movie of the Mortal Instruments series.  Well the other day she tweeted something about the new Mortal Instruments that I didn't really understand.  It turns out that she was cast for the series, but as the narrator of the audiobook.  So they are making a movie of the series, but didn't cast her, even though she’s a fan of the books and clearly looks the part.  Anyway, I care little about teen fiction for young women and their cinematographic counterparts but I was hoping to cash in on a percentage of that casting cheque.  Seems like Hollywood dropped the ball on that one.  How mundane of them (that is also wordplay, but none of you get it, and it’s better that way).

Well that’s all for today folks. I've got a big day tomorrow.  Going to Home Depot, maybe Bed Bath and Beyond.  I don't know if we’ll have enough time.  Actually, I'm studying for exam 4 of 11.  Peace.