Song(s) of the week

This week’s pick:

“Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster The People

Where I found Foster The People: I don’t know how underground these guys are with over 2 million hits on YouTube, but I figured I’d try to get the jump on them before they become really big. Carson Daly just did a feature on them so that’s what put them on my radar.

What I like: It’s one of those songs you just hear and instantly wish you’d thought of first. It’s got a fantastic bass line and the main hook is endlessly catchy, so much so that I’ve had a hard time getting it out of my head these past few days. I hope these guys do well.

Enjoy!

Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People

Gagbismal

My last set of finales this season. This is a very bittersweet moment for me. The dot at the end of the 2010-2011 season. It’s been a good run.

Stay tuned throughout the summer though, I’ll figure out something to post. Maybe I’ll do a little listmaking, or some movie reviews, or maybe I’ll venture into some new category completely. Who knows, but whatever it is it should be awesome.

Spoilers...

Modern Family – “The One That Got Away” (B)

It’s a pity the producers didn’t go with last week’s episode for the season finale. For one, it was a graduation episode, which was a natural bookend in and of itself (named “See You Next Fall” if that wasn’t enough). And second, it was a much better episode than this week’s rather average affair. Even the obvious cliffhanger – Cam and Mitchell deciding to adopt another kid – didn’t really justify this episode as a finale. With the way ABC kept promoting one of the families making a major life decision, it wasn’t exactly hard to see what was coming.

I think maybe my problem with “The One That Got Away” was that the storylines were so fragmented it was hard to get invested in any of them. It was almost like an episode full of B stories. There were a few funny moments in each, but they were fleeting. Nothing really got fleshed out enough to leave any sort of lasting impression so as a whole “The One That Got Away” felt flat, perhaps even a little superficial.

I’m being hard on this episode, I know. If it were anything but the finale I wouldn’t be taking such issue with it, but finales need that extra kick and this episode just didn’t have it. With that said though, it’s not like it was all bad either. I’m starting to love the Pritchett’s new dog. That thing is freakin’ adorable. And you had to laugh at Gloria mistaking Jay’s desire to take up the saxophone for Jay’s desire to own a sexy phone.

I also really enjoyed Mitchell and Claire’s storyline. It’s a pity they didn’t get a little more screen time, but it was definitely fun watching them regress back to their childhoods. Their car ride home with Jay in the driver’s seat was by far the highlight of the episode for me. It makes you wonder why those two don’t get more storylines with each other, they have great chemistry.

Ed O’Neill deserves some serious credit for this episode as well. His story was one of the few that held up to the rather fragmented nature of the episode and a lot of that had to do with his strength as an actor. It’s was amazing just how funny watching Jay run errands could be, and the fact that most of them were for his own birthday party made it that much better. I especially liked his great little one-sided conversation with the dog groomer.

Looking back over this last season of Modern Family it’s been a pretty interesting year for the series. They’ve done their best to follow up their almost universally acclaimed first season by giving us some truly high quality episodes mixed in with a few average ones as well. Overall, I still think the series ranks as one of the better comedies on television today, but it’ll be interesting to see in what direction the third season takes us, whether the writers will be able to maintain to the quality of the show or whether it’ll start to taper off as many do in time. Modern Family still has a great cast so if the writing staff can keep giving them decent material, everything should work itself out nicely. Here’s hoping for many more funny seasons to come. 

** Note ** I did a little Wikipedia digging and it turns out last week’s episode was originally intended as the finale. It’s a pity they didn’t stick with their original instinct. ** Note **

Now for the quotes:

CAM: She’s gonna like you even if sports aren’t your thing.
MANNY: Aren’t my thing? I have a tennis racquet upstairs I only use as a bubble bath frother.

MITCHELL: Okay, that’s trespassing.
CLAIRE: No it’s not, we used to live here.
MITCHELL: I don’t think that does what you think it does.

MANNY: The catch part went fine... mostly. I took a running dive into the dirt.
CAM: Oh well, did you at least catch the ball?
MANNY: I was trying to throw the ball!

CAM: Gloria asked me to handle this. She’s going to yell at me Jay! She can be mean in Spanish.

CAM: Not so good with the bat?
MANNY: I am, as long as I’m using it to roll out dough.

JAY: You know what; I’m acting like a jerk. What am I 12?
LUKE: Hey!

And line of the episode:

JAY: (talking about a dog groomer) You know who did your job in my day? A hose.

Cougar Town – “Something Good Coming” (B+)

You’re right Ted, Hooch is crazy.

You have no idea how enormously happy it made me to see Ted Buckland back on television again. It really didn’t matter what happened in the rest of the episode, “Something Good Coming” was going to score high marks just for that cameo. I do have one question though – if Ted ran into Ellie (played by the lovely Christa Miller, who also played Jordan on Scrubs) in this episode would it have somehow ripped a hole in the space-time continuum?

It’s probably a good thing we didn’t find out. But regardless of the (imaginary) risks, I would love to see a few more of these Scrubs cameos. I was little sad that Gooch had apparently left Ted and ran off with Hooch (Laurie’s right, he didn’t stand a chance) but just watching Ted be Ted again was a delight. I loved his ability to turn any happy song into a sad song. I didn’t realize how much I missed Sam Lloyd’s music.

And yet the amazing part about this episode is that Ted Buckland wasn’t the only awesome cameo in it. If you looked closely in the background of the scene where Laurie tried to convince Trav to go back to college, besides a pretty blatant Subway plug (it sucks, but if it keeps the show on the air so be it) you would have found Danny Pudi, aka Abed from Community. Now there’s a couple reason why this cameo was so great. First off, Busy Philipps and Dan Byrd both made cameos in the Community season finale, so it was nice to see Cougar Town get their own cameo. And second, in Community’s My Dinner with Andre parody “Critical Film Studies” Abed actually told Jeff that he had done a background spot on Cougar Town. I mean, you’ve just got to love it when shows follow up on obscure crap like that.

Phew, that was a lot of time spent on cameos. As for the rest of the episode, I thought the trip to Hawaii went over pretty well. I liked the pairing of Bobby with Andy and Ellie. Andy and Bobby had some truly great bromance moments, my favourites being their secret door knocking language and the fact that Andy had to take Bobby bed shopping because the two of them “like the same firmness.” I also thought the whole toothbrush incident with Ellie was hilarious. The way Bobby and Andy kept compounding the lies just made it funnier and funnier.

I had a more mixed reaction to Grayson and Jules however. I really liked their ending. I’m happy the two of them didn’t break up over whether or not to have children, and I thought Jules’ “I would go on any adventure with you” line was an especially sweet way to finish off the episode, but much of the build-up to that moment was very missable. As much as I loved Jules’ morning routine song, their condom search wasn’t very funny, and a lot of the time this storyline felt like it was spinning its wheels just waiting for that ending to come.

The one thing I found a little peculiar about this episode was the Laurie/Trav storyline. I found it odd that Laurie went about convincing Trav to go back to college by basically seducing him and then pulling back the curtain to show him how stupid it is to make decisions based on chasing girls. I certainly can’t say I’ve seen a story like that one before. Don’t get me wrong, there was something oddly thoughtful about what she trying to do, it was just a strange way to go about it.

But I guess there’s always been something strange about Cougar Town, it’s actually what makes the show so enjoyable. And I do have to give them credit – they’ve won me over this past season. Before this year I barely gave Cougar Town a second thought and now I consider it one of my favourite shows. I can’t wait to see what the writers have in store for next season. I was reading somewhere that it’s going to be Bill Lawrence’s last, so hopefully he’s got a few great ideas saved up for his final season.

Now for the quotes:

JULES: So I called your college and told them you left school because your grandma has syphilis. It’s okay... there’s a little truth to that.
TRAV: Nana Cobb?
JULES: We’re moving her to a less swingy retirement home.

JULES: I don’t believe in ghosts because if they were real I’d like to think that I would be felt up all the time.

LAURIE: Just give me my parameters. Is middle school style okay – under the shirt over the bra – or are we going full on 9^th grade in which case I’m going to need to rent a hotel room or maybe a boat.

JULES: I just got the chills... or I was just felt up by my first ghost.

JULES: He lives in a shack. He sits on the beach all day and parties all night. What kind of life is that?
LAURIE: An awesome one.

JULES: Oh my god, I want to snort this!

JULES: (singing her morning routine song) Brush your teeth/wash your face/take your pills so you won’t get pregnant.

LAURIE: You know in ancient times Hawaiian warriors to prove their manhood would wait right here and battle sea turtles as they came in to breed.

And the quote of the episode:

JULES: It’s for the lady who likes to lounge by the pool but also get paid for sex.
LAURIE: You can do that? Is that a job?

You’re Right, Much Better

Two more season finales, this time for House and The Event. Be careful of the House review if you don’t want anything spoiled for next season, the sixth paragraph has some sensitive information. It’s all in the article though. Enjoy!

House – “Moving On” (B+)

Moving on may be a bit of an understatement. When House acknowledged something needed to change last week, I honestly didn’t think it would mean car through Cuddy’s dining room. That ending certainly is a game changer for the series, and I really don’t know what’s going to happen next season. I’m pretty sure House isn’t going to be allowed back in the hospital for a while. I’m also pretty certain that trying to do so will get him arrested.

Of course that wasn’t really the ending. “Moving On” actually started with the fallout from House’s actions, and that fallout framed the episode from there on out. It’s a pretty classic narrative technique, it’s just unfortunate that the writers thought it would be enough to carry what was otherwise a fairly bland episode through to its much more exciting conclusion.

I mean ending aside, this was a pretty standard episode of House. The patient may have had a few quirks, but for the most the part she was just the typical case of the week, and to me that just doesn’t cut it for a season finale. Last week’s episode may not have had the same shocking ending, but at least it tried to do something different. I would have liked to see a little more of the inspiration in this one (though to be fair House’s injury from the last episode is probably what kept us confined to hospital).

I do like that House left the country though. Actually, if he hadn’t done it because he was running from the authorities it would have been a nice way to conclude his character (and obviously the show). He looked so calm as he walked along the shoreline.

I really hope that the writers use this ending to shake up the show next season. Don’t just somehow explain his way back into the hospital. Break the mould a little. Keep him in the tropics, or throw him in a prison if you have to. Or back into the mental hospital, one of the all time great episodes of this series.  Even getting him a job at a different hospital would at least be a change of pace. But whatever it is, use it to change the formula. There’s always going to have to be a medical aspect to House, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the same formula. House is an interesting character with or without the mind bending patients. Use that.

** Major spoilers for next season **

The one sad note of this ending is that it means House and Cuddy likely won’t see each other again. If you haven’t heard already Lisa Edelstein won’t be returning next season, so unless she decides to do a guest appearance to write her character off, Cuddy’s story will likely end with her finally giving up on House. It’s not as if she was super important to the show anymore – these days she barely even puts up a fight when it comes to House’s hijinks – but I still would have liked to see the two of them end on at least somewhat good terms.

But again, with change comes opportunity. This was a very up and down season of House, and it’s pretty clear to me that if they stick to the traditional format come September this show won’t last much longer. Hopefully this finale gives House the creative shot in the arm it so desperately needs.

The Event – “Arrival” (B)

So it all ends in a giant cliffhanger... how unfortunate. I’ll admit, I was pretty intrigued by the sight of a whole planet coming through the wormhole, especially the part where the First Lady called it home. (I knew she was an NTB!) I might have liked to see how next season played out.

Still, it’s easy to set up cliffhangers, it’s much harder to pay them off, and as interesting as the ending was, the episode was still plagued with many of the same problems evident throughout the series. The plot to stop Sophia’s rollout of the virus was a perfect example. The set up was way too convenient, explained mostly in expository dialogue, and for some reason Sophia herself was involved with the implementation of the virus. That last one makes absolutely no sense to me. There were plenty of other NTBs who could have done that job, why would they risk losing their leader for nothing?

The other thing that had me a little annoyed was Simon’s teaser to Sean about the true background of the NTBs. It’s always annoying when a character starts to reveal a secret and then gets interrupted, but this whole figure-out-how-to-read-the-scroll thing Simon threw into that mix was especially irritating. One because we’ll probably never get the answers, and two, because if he already knew what it said than why couldn’t he just tell him?

As for the rest of the episode it was fairly hit or miss. It was nice to see the President finally stick it to Jarvis. That was certainly a long time coming. I was a bit more wary about Leila being pregnant though. It didn’t come as a huge shock when the doctor told her they’d found something in her blood work, but is that even possible? I can’t really speak for the timeline of this series, but it feels like it’s been too long since those two saw each other for that to happen.

Either way, it’s been a tumultuous run for the series, and frankly I’m not entirely sad to see The Event go. There have been talks of Netflix potentially picking up the series ala the Friday Night Lights formula, but regardless I probably won’t be watching it, so this is it for me. Farewell, The Event... I wish I could say it’s been fun.

I Am Very Glad You're Here

The season finale of Grey’s...

Grey’s Anatomy – “Unaccompanied Minor” (B+)

Grey’s has been the master of the season finale over the last couple of seasons, and honestly, I didn’t envy the writers before this one. There was no way they could ever match the intensity of a main character dying or a shooter in the hospital, they’d have to do it another way, and their options were limited. What we ended up getting was a much more scaled back, character based affair lacking some of the bigger moments present in previous finales, but overall “Unaccompanied Minor” hit more than it missed.

I think maybe the biggest moment in the finale was Owen kicking Christina out. (Meredith and Derek were big too, I’m getting there). This marriage has been in trouble since its inception, and I think of all the big developments in this episode this one is the most likely to stick. The storyline was comprised mainly of one on one scenes between Sandra Oh and Kevin McKidd and I thought both actors did an exceptional job of carrying the drama. Sandra Oh was especially convincing in showing just how little Christina wanted a child. It’s heavy subject matter, and it’s not a storyline with an easy resolution, so it should be interesting to see where these two land next season. I mean if Christina’s living with Meredith she might just end up with a baby anyway.

As for Meredith and Derek this week, I found their storyline left me wanting more. Nothing really got resolved in this episode. The FDA didn’t get involved with the trial, Meredith got suspended in a very wait and see type fashion, and Derek cast doubts on their relationship, but didn’t go so far as to break it off like Owen did. Everything seemed more like a stall tactic than legitimate plot development, and it took a lot of the bite out of the story.

I did like watching Meredith and Zola though. I’m not sure how long this fight with Derek will last (they won’t ever completely break up) or how they’d ever justify him ignoring the baby, but it may be fun to watch Meredith play single mom for a little while. Just from the few hours she spent alone with baby Zola in this episode it would clearly be fun to watch, particularly because of Meredith’s background with her mom. Her character really lends itself to the baffled new parent storyline.

Of course a lot of the best parts of this episode came from the supporting characters. I’ve expressed my love of Henry and Teddy many times in the past, so naturally I was thrilled to see them finally get together. I loved the scene right before they kissed where Henry angrily sent her away while for the first time bluntly expressing his feelings. I sincerely hope that Scott Foley becomes a regular part of the show next season.

I was also quite happy that Kepner got Chief Resident. I know a lot of people don’t necessarily like Kepner and wanted the job to go to one of the original cast members but honestly I think the writers made the right decision. Neither Karev nor Meredith, the two original residents still in the running, would have been a good fit for the job. Story wise there are a lot better uses for those two than watching them adapt to the Chief Resident position. Meredith has a kid now and Alex is an outcast who needs to somehow win back his peers. Let’s watch them deal with that. Kepner really gets the most out of the storyline. She’s a sensitive, socially awkward girl who’s being thrown into a position where building relationships and making hard choices is the key to success. Personally, I can’t wait to watch that.

And as for the charge that she’s not likable, I couldn’t disagree more. Early on, when she was in her brownnosing phase, sure she was a little annoying. Most of the Mercy West hires were. But over the course of this past season the writers have really fleshed out her character, giving her backstory, desires, emotions, and because of that she’s turned from an annoying suck up to an underdog character worth rooting for, at least in my opinion anyway.

As for the whole Mark, Avery, and Lexie love triangle I’m going to veer away from popular opinion once again here and say that I’m happy they’re keeping Avery and Lexie together, if only for the time being. I liked Lexie’s little speech to Mark about still loving him but wanting to be happy. By no means do I think this issue is closed – she did say she loved him after all – but just like I said last week, Avery’s a stand up guy and if their relationship is given some time to develop maybe it won’t be Mark and Lexie who are meant to be together, it’ll be Avery and Lexie.

My big criticism of this episode is that with all the major plot developments going on the crashed jetliner subplot just seemed really jammed in. Early on I sort of enjoyed the non-action of the storyline as it ran contrast to the past year’s season finale, but as things started to develop with some of the more prominent characters it didn’t seem right to devote the kind of screen time they did to the families of the victims. While it was a nice story, it was virtually standalone, and I care a lot more about what’s going on with the regular cast than I do a group of characters I haven’t seen before and likely won’t again.

Overall though “Unaccompanied Minor” was a good episode. It didn’t pack the same kind of dramatic punch as last year’s finale, but trying to top a gunman in the hospital would have been a mistake anyway. Instead the writers did what they needed to do, providing a toned down offering full of plenty of great character moments and exciting possibilities for next season.

Song(s) of the week

The picks:

“In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”, “Holland, 1945”, and “Oh Comely” by Neutral Milk Hotel

Where I found Neutral Milk Hotel: With Parks and Recreation coming to such a satisfying conclusion on Thursday I thought I’d pay tribute to the show by featuring April’s favourite band. I apologise to all the diehard fans out there who are cringing at the Parks and Recreation reference (I assume they found out about this band immaculately), but while the story of Jeff Magnum and Neutral Milk Hotel all seems vaguely familiar (Wikipedia that, it’s very interesting) Parks and Rec was really the first time I’d ever heard of them. Really, if you like the band so much perhaps you shouldn’t have kept them such a closely guarded secret.

What I like: The level of songwriting is incredible. The arrangements are fantastic – never boring, never the same, always moving. The lyrics are random and scattered, something I’d usually dismiss as poetic pandering if they didn’t have such an odd sense of purpose. And Magnum’s voice – probably the reason for all that purpose – is rugged and emotive, perfectly guiding the listener through songs broken into multiple sections and time signatures (see “Oh Comely”). Neutral Milk Hotel has to be one of my better finds in a very long time.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel


Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel


Oh Comely - Neutral Milk Hotel

Low Blow Puppet

The long awaited season finales of The Office and Parks and Recreation. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

The Office – “Search Committee” (B+)

Three weeks after Michael left Dunder Mifflin for Colorado the search for his replacement was on, and it’s fair to say the candidate pool was large. With guest stars as varied as Warren Buffett and Jim Carrey, and a potential role in the series on the line, “Search Committee” was an audition as much as it was an episode. So who do I think is going to get the job?

Well let’s start with who I don’t think will get the job.  I think it’s fair to say Warren Buffett won’t be around next season, but I certainly admired the cameo. He held his own in that conference room. It also won’t be Will Arnett, as his pilot just got picked up for next season. Too bad, because I thought he would have been a good fit with the cast (I do want to see his new show though). Still, he was funny in this episode.

Ray Romano – who I also don’t think will get the job – stood out to me as one of the better guest appearances. I just loved how neurotic his character was. I mean Merv was exactly what you’d expect a character played by Ray Romano would be, but that didn’t make him any less entertaining. I think his little closing monologue was the best of the bunch (although I also loved Jim Carrey’s brief appearance as the Finger Lake’s guy).

MERV (RAY ROMANO): Honestly I think I sabotage myself. It’ s like I’m afraid of being happy. Case in point: I was supposed to start another job today.

And then there was Ricky Gervais who popped in via web cam with a very one sided interview. He was never really a serious contender before this episode but it was still nice to get another cameo from David Brent.

I think it’s also worth noting the new boss will likely come from outside of the Scranton branch. Picking one of the existing characters could really upset the balance of the office, and I just don’t see the writers taking that risk. I won’t dismiss the possibility entirely, but it’s a long shot at best. Of the four current office members up for the job (Dwight, Andy, Kelly and Darryl) I’d say Andy has the best shot. Dwight was good for an episode but there’s no way they could keep that funny indefinitely. Kelly just joined the search committee, so she’s effectively out of the running. And Darryl gave one of the more awkward interviews in the episode, so I’d be surprised if it was him. I know he was an early favourite but I’m not really feeling him as the boss.

Which leaves me with the two contenders  – James Spader and Catherine Tate. Both seem to be unattached to any other projects for next season and both showed promise in the role. Tate’s Nellie Bertram came across to me as probably the closest to Michael. She sort of looked to tell the search committee exactly what they wanted to hear while being mildly inappropriate all at the same time. That makes her probably the least harmful to the status quo. Plus, it might be cool to add a Brit to the cast.

Spader’s character Robert California was a different entity entirely. He had a really cool energy to him and seemed to be able to control whatever room he was in. It’s also worth noting that of all the outside candidates he got by far the most screen time. His scene with Dwight in particular was fantastic. He managed to be charismatic and ridiculous all at the same time.

And honestly, choosing between those two is where I’m having trouble. Tate is probably the safer bet. Like I said, she’s the closest to Michael and therefore the least harmful to the existing structure of the series. And sure, her interview didn’t go well, but the fact that she knows Jo personally makes that easy to get around. Spader on the other hand could bring a really cool new vibe to the show. I don’t entirely have the pulse on his character yet –I’d need to see more of him to really judge – but what I did see I liked. Obviously, whoever they pick is going to have some big shoes to fill.

As for the rest of the episode, I’ve got to say everybody was really on their game. Kathy Bate’s had a great guest appearance as Jo, absolutely killing every time she was on screen. I love how frank and unpredictable that character is. The way she immediately cuts through any type of bull shit and yet still goes with her gut whenever she feels like it. She’s fun to watch.

She also sent Gabe back to Florida, which was a bit of a surprise. Although, now that Erin’s broken up with him there’s not much left for his character to do, so perhaps it was a good thing the writers wrote him off sooner rather than later. Of course I’m only assuming he’s gone for good, and to be fair he was funny in this episode. But if the relocation does end up being permanent does that mean Jordan is here to stay? I couldn’t help but notice they’ve kept her around these last few episodes.

And then there was Erin and Andy. As excruciatingly awkward as that puppet scene was, I still like these two together. Mostly I just want to see Erin happy though. She’s such a sweet character and she’s had such a hard life. Even Phyllis couldn’t bring herself to tell her they weren’t related. I guess she was just one of those Porkey’s babies.

Last thing (because this review is out of control) – Creed as acting manager was absolutely hilarious. I almost want them to delay the search just so we can get a little more of Creed the boss, making acronyms and conducting meetings with no one. When you think about it, it’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to Jim’s dream of a manager-free office.

My favourite lines:

ANDY: In my family you don’t really go out and get things. If you want something you write it on a list, and then the house keeper goes out and gets it on Wednesdays and Fridays.

DWIGHT: Bread is the paper of the food industry. You write your sandwich on it.

ROBERT (JAMES SPADER): Do you feel heard right now Jim. Do you have a voice right now? You can answer me.
JIM: (hesitantly) Yes.
ROBERT: That was your choice, not mine.

ANGELA: And then he put this flower behind my ear, which normally I would hate because it’s so civil rightsy.

ANGELA: (imitating Jim) Oh hey Pam, dude. Whatever, want to marry me?
PAM: That’s not accurate.

GABE: I have two relationships with Andy. I have a personal relationship and I have a professional relationship. Personally, yeah, I think he’s a rat and I think he’s responsible for the demise of my relationship with Erin. Professionally, he broke up the happiest couple in this office.

RYAN: Little advice. Take a day off from the whole Jim shtick. Try caring about something. You might like how it feels... James.

JO: These are costing me 10 cents apiece you jack ass. I’m roaming!

ERIN: Jo you have one more candidate. He’s a burn victim.
JO: Huh?
ERIN: He’s all messed up. I can tell him to get lost if you want.

ANDY: Sometimes you hear people talking about failing upwards. I think I’m about to do that.

And line of the episode:

GABE: Shut up about the sun. SHUT UP ABOUT THE SUN!

Parks and Recreation – “The Bubble” (A-)

I know NBC promoted “The Bubble” and “Li’l Sebastien” like they were one big season finale, but they were actually two very different episodes so I’m going to review them separately. Of course, if you still want to think of them as one big episode than feel free to treat this like one big review. I will not be offended.

I’m so happy that Chris sent Tom up to the 4^th floor. I say this every week and I’m sorry for repeating myself, but the best part of this show is the richly detailed city that the writers have created. The 4^th floor is just another hilarious part of City Hall’s mythology, and I loved every minute we spent up there. I loved that Ethel decided she was going to punk Tom, I loved Andy’s complete embrace of his new surroundings, and I loved that Chris decided to council some random woman he found crying in the hallway.

And yet none of that really describes the horrible conditions on that floor. I thought it was particularly hilarious that Ethel told Andy and Tom not to move too much around because technically their office was still a crime scene. Oh and who could forget the random guy who barged in on Andy, Tom, and April and violently broke a coffee pot... “tell Mort I said your move.” All part of working on the 4^th floor. Tom probably had the best description:

TOM: The 4^th floor. Small claims court, divorce filings, state ordered drug tests. It’s somehow both freezing and humid. There’s a whole room on the 4^th floor where they store the knives they’ve confiscated from people who went to the 4^th floor to stab someone.

I also enjoyed Chris’ reshuffling of the Parks department. All of his changes were fantastic, but by far the best was that swivel chair. Watching Chris demonstrate how it worked was definitely one of the highlights of the episode. Of course watching Ron sit miserably at that desk was pretty damn funny as well. And really the best part of the whole ordeal was Ron’s meeting with Chris where he tried to get him to change everything back.

RON: Okay, you won’t ever hear me say this again so savour this moment... I may have a compromise.

If there was one story in this episode that was maybe a little slow it was Ben and Leslie’s run in with her mother. The storyline was still really funny – there were certainly a few great lines out of the the two of them – it just moved a little slower than some of the other plotlines. I like Leslie and Ben as a couple, but they sometimes hinder themselves by over discussing their relationship, and that’s what ended up happening here.

And now for the quotes:

APRIL: I put poisonous gas in one of these balloons so if any of them pops you may die.
ANDY: No, April we would all die. Gases fill the volume of whatever container they are in... school.

ANN: How many of you are in here?
LESLIE: There’s 7, and you have an office mate. His name is Stuart and he’s kind of a grouch.
ANN: I have an office mate?
STUART: (sticking his head through the balloons) Get these fucking balloons out of here.

LESLIE: You know what I should do. I should get my mother a one-way ticket to London leaving today, and that way Ben never has to meet and I can visit her in London. Everybody wins.

LESLIE: Stuart please! Could you give us like 45 minutes?
STUART: It’s my office too...
LESLIE: Stuart! (he leaves) That guy was rude.

TOM: I did recently sell my Chronicles of Riddick DVD on EBay for $10. Used the profits to buy the Blu-ray.

CHRIS: Andy, starting now you are nobody’s shoe shine boy. Starting now, you are an administrative assistant... for three weeks. Then back to shoes.

ANDY: Chris! I wasn’t super paying attention to what you just said that we’d be doing but I will give 110%... as soon as you repeat yourself in a more interesting way.

BEN: I mean at one point for no reason I just took off my shoes and held them in my hand.

RON: You made April assistant to everyone. You know who April hates? Everyone.

ANDY: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I read that once on a can of lemonade, but I like to think that it applies to life.

And line of the episode:

TOM: No, I hate the 4^th floor. Last time I was up there I saw someone buy Crystal Meth out of a vending machine.

Parks and Recreation – “Li’l Sebastien” (A+)

As many of you may well know, I’ve watched a lot of season finales over these last few weeks. Now granted I still have a few more to go, but so far none of them have held a candle to “Li’l Sebastien”, and I kind of doubt any will. This episode was remarkable achievement in and of itself. It managed to pay tribute to the season that was by bringing back many of our favourite characters – Tammy, Jean-Ralphio, and of course Li’l Sebastien (may he rest in peace) – and yet, like any good season finale, pushed the series forward in new and exciting directions.

Right off the bat, Li’l Sebastien’s memorial service served as an excellent anchor for the episode. You’ve got to love this town’s unhealthy obsession with that mini-horse. From Tom’s hilariously dubbed video (he took on a British accent for the role) to Andy’s incredibly funny “5000 Candles in the Wind”, there were times I was laughing so hard I had trouble hearing what was happening next.

I think my favourite part of the whole thing though was Ron. Ron being who Ron is makes his obsession with Li’l Sebastien all the more hilarious, and his role in the memorial service was definitely the best. I loved his self directed military manoeuvres as he went about lighting the eternal flame (yes, eternal flame) in Li’l Sebastien’s memory and his speech before the torch lighting... well let’s just say I’ll take any excuse to hear a Ron Swanson speech. That man should teach public speaking.

RON: I have cried twice in my life. Once when I was 7 and I was hit by a school bus, and then again when I heard that Li’l Sebastien had passed. His memory will live on, as today we light a fire that will burn on for eternity.

Chris was also fantastic in this episode. I loved what the writers did with him here. Having a character realize their own mortality is a pretty common sitcom trope, but the fact that Chris realized his over a bout of tendinitis was just genius writing. And he took it so hard too, pretty much re-examining his entire outlook on life. I think my favourite part was when Ann told him that Li’l Sebastien had died and he asked her if tendinitis had anything to do with it.

CHRIS: Oh my god, death is inescapable.

And it looks like from that brush with death Chris decided to attempt to get back together with Ann. I’m not sure how Ann’s going to react to that proposition considering her embarrassment of over the way he broke up with her the first time, but I think it’s probably a good move by the writers. Ann and Chris are really funny with each other – just look at this episode – and getting them back together would be really fun to watch. I’m always a fan of some will-they won’t-they sexual tension.

But the possibility of Ann and Chris dating again wasn’t the only promising development in this episode. First off, we had Leslie being approached to run for office. I can’t even wait to see how that story will play out. The thought of a local Pawnee election sends chills down my spine. Plus it throws an interesting wrench into her relationship with Ben. It’s the old ambition versus love conundrum and as much as Leslie clearly likes Ben, she’s been voicing her dreams of political office since the beginning of the show.

I also can’t wait for the reveal of Tammy 1, Ron’s first ex-wife. One, because Ron has hilariously named her Tammy 1. And two, because when crazy Tammy, Ron’s second ex-wife named Tammy, runs away just at the sheer mention of her name, you know that the character is going to be something special.

And finally, the last big development in this episode was Tom leaving the Parks Department to join Jean-Ralphio’s high end all media entertainment conglomerate 720 Entertainment. I’m not too worried about Tom not coming back – just judging from the little after credits sequence that business is going to fail – but if they do keep him away from the Parks Department for a little while it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. For one, we may get to see a little more of Jean-Ralphio, by far my favourite recurring character on this show.

I’m a little sad it’s all over. It’s going to be a long summer without this show. I am not exaggerating when I say you will not find a funnier show on television than Parks and Recreation. If you don’t watch this show, start. You won’t be disappointed.

My favourite quotes:

5000 Candles in the Wind Lyrics (or at least what I could get)

Up in horsey heaven here’s the thing
You trade your legs for angel’s wings
And once we’ve all said goodbye
You take a running leap and you learn to fly
Bye bye Li’l Sebastien
Miss you in the saddest fashion
Bye bye Li’l Sebastien
Your 5000 candles in the wind

TOM: No I got it. You create Pawnee’s first and only high end all media entertainment conglomerate.
JEAN-RALPHIO: That’s absolutely what I have to do. What does it mean?

JEAN-RALPHIO: Listen to me, I’m gonna need you on my team to pull this off, alright. I can’t do this without you.
TOM: I don’t know man, I can’t. I’d have to quit my job.
JEAN-RALPHIO: Mmm Okay, I’ll do it without you.

LESLIE: Welcome everyone. Sebastian may have been Li’l but his impact on this town and the Parks Department was anything but Li’l.

TOM: Who are we? Where are we going in life? What is the meaning of all of this? These are questions that Li’l Sebastien never had to answer, because he was a horse.

JEAN-RALPHIO: Hope you brought a change of clothes, cause your eyes are about to piss tears.

JEAN-RALPHIO: You can’t die full of regret. Why don’t you live your life like that cow from the video.
TOM: He was a horse.
JEAN-RALPHIO: Yeah, because he followed his dreams.

RON: I think if you would know one thing about me, it would be that I prefer laying wreaths to lighting torches.

CHRIS: What’s the point of doing 10,000 push-ups if you’re going to do them alone? I’d much rather do 5000 push-ups with a wonderful woman... sitting on my back to increase my resistance.

WOMAN: We really enjoyed the service. That fireball was truly amazing.
LESLIE: I’m glad ‘cause it was planned.

And line of the episode:

RON: When I walked in this morning and saw the flag at half-mast, I thought alright, another bureaucrat ate it. But then I found out it was Li’l Sebastien... half-mast is too high. Show some damned respect!

What’s The Plan MaGayver?

I can’t wait for The Office and Parks and Rec finales tonight. You can look forward to those reviews tomorrow. In the mean time, here’s last night’s Modern and Family and Cougar Town to tide you over.

Spoilers.

Modern Family – “See You Next Fall” (A-)

“See You Next Fall” was exactly the kind of episode that won Modern Family that Emmy for best comedy last year. Well, you know... that or voting politics. The point is this week’s episode was a good one. It was sentimental without being overly sentimental, it featured the whole cast as an ensemble, and most importantly, it was really, really funny.

Claire and Phil led the way with several of my favourite moments from the episode. I loved all of Phil’s attempts to set off an emotional reaction from Claire before Alex’s graduation so he could go to Vegas the next day. His little aside to the camera about what it would be like to tell his male cheerleader friends he can’t come to Vegas had to be the funniest line in the episode.

I also loved the scene where Claire professed to Phil her fear of losing Alex just like she did Hayley. It managed to be touching and hilarious all at the same time, and it set up a pretty great ending. Watching Claire and Phil lock Haley in the middle of a group hug was a heck of a way to cap off the episode.

I think the real heart of this episode though was the excellent side story between Alex and Haley. Not only was it quite funny, but it really did a great job of framing the episode thematically. Obviously my favourite scene, probably of the entire episode, was Haley’s passionate speech about everybody having their “stuff”, or in other words insecurities. It was a very thoughtful, sincere speech and I love how it showed us some of the different layers of Haley’s character. Both Sarah Hyland and Ariel Winter deserve a ton of praise for this episode.

I was also quite happy with Mitchell and Cameron’s story this week. I went off on them a little in my last review, but I really liked what the writers did with them here. They gave them a great side plot while still allowing them to interact with the entire ensemble. Plus they let Eric Stonestreet go nuts with the physical comedy. I’m definitely a Pritchett because watching Cam twice walk into the screen door was absolutely hilarious.

The only story thread I was a little torn on was Jay’s Botox. It set Gloria up for a few good punchlines, and they used his facial disfigurement for some pretty solid gags (I love how repulsed Alex was when she first saw his face) but Jay’s never really struck me as the Botox type and in the end it felt a little contrived. Still, it did tie in nicely with the theme of everybody having their own insecurities, so perhaps I’m just splitting hairs.

My favourite quotes:

PHIL: It’s happening people; our hubris will be our undoing.

ALEX: So what? Mohandas Ghandi went on a hunger strike for what he believed in.
HALEY: That’s ‘cause no one would eat with him in the cafeteria.

MANNY: Do you realize in two years you and I will be graduating.
LUKE: Not now, I think I’m moving the ball with my mind.
MANNY: Well, I’ll be graduating.

LUKE: I think I’ve got a good idea.
PHIL: We don’t have time to build a rocket buddy.
LUKE: Never mind.

PHIL: Stop leading. Do you want to drive?
CLAIRE: I do.
PHIL: Tough, I called it.

CLAIRE: And Alex, my god. If we miss this speech... honey, she’s middle child. She’ll never forgive us.

And line of the night:

PHIL: Trust me, that is not a phone call you want to make to a bunch of ex-college male cheerleaders. They will mock you with a hurtful rhythmic taunt.

Cougar Town – “Free Fallin’” (B+)

Can I just say what a huge Busy Philipps fan I’ve become. Laurie is definitely my favourite character on this show now. She just took that mantel. And I know, I’ll probably say the same thing about somebody else next week, but at least for now I really mean it. Busy Philipps knocks pretty much every line they give her right out of the park. She’s got chemistry with every actor on the show. Seriously, she’s hilarious.

Just look at her in this episode. She was paired up with Andy and Bobby, who already have great chemistry with each other, and she fit in with the two of them perfectly. Each character took a turn being the straight man for the other two, and the whole thing turned into a virtual Ferris wheel of comedy. And the storyline between them was great. I love what an existential crisis it was for Bobby to sell out Penny Can. He’s fine with being known as the “wrong ball” guy, but this he takes a stand on.

I was also happy to have Tom back on the show this week. I always love the Tom episodes, and while the crew wasn’t as mean to him as they normally are the storyline was still great. Man those chalk children were creepy. I think my favourite part of the entire episode was their second chalk drawing. You know, the one with Grayson and Ellie’s houses on fire and their bodies burning beside them. The whole thing was just so ridiculous you couldn’t help but laugh.

And then we had Jules and Trav. We’ve always known Jules has an unhealthily clingy relationship to her son – it’s one of the better recurring jokes on this show – but with Travis still reeling from his break up with Kirsten it was up to Jules to figure out how to get him out of the house and back into college. I really liked how the writers handled this storyline. They gave us a few great jokes about Jules’ smothering nature with Trav (and one incredibly weird one where she made out with a Trav impersonating Grayson) and then ultimately had her confront him. The best of both worlds really.

In the end though Travis didn’t go back to college, instead moving into Bobby’s newly vacated boat. I’m sure this whole Trav mess will be resolved eventually in next week’s season finale. What I’m really worried about is this boat business. If Bobby has an apartment now does that mean we’ve seen the end of Bobby’s hilarious parking lot living? I guess it’s probably good that they’re developing Bobby’s character, but if he does end up ditching the boat permanently I just want to pay my respects to one of the best sitcom living arrangements I have ever seen. To Bobby’s boat!

Now for the quotes:

ANDY: I’ve been trying to help them make smart financial choices.
BOBBY: Yeah, I want to stop working out of my boat and build a giant can shaped office.
ANDY: It’s not an easy job.

JULES: What are you doing?!?
TRAVIS: I’m going to eat some chips.
JULES: Put those down... they’re stale. I’ll get a fresh bag.

TOM: Chalk children aren’t like other kids. They’re dark... well not physically but... emotionless... they’re homeschooled.

ELLIE: Are those all our houses?
GRAYSON: Mmm, and that’s us there, burning alive. You don’t even have a head. Wait no, there it is.
ELLIE: Why is my severed head still screaming?
TOM: Because they draw what they dream.

ELLIE: What do you want him to do? Live here until he’s 60 so you two can spend every second of your lives together.
JULES: Oh my god, that would be amazing.
GRAYSON: Pushed the wrong button there.

BOBBY: Hey guys, I’ve been looking all over for you.
LAURIE: Really, because if you had signed the contract you could of spotted us from your helicopter and thrown handfuls of gold on us to get our attention.
ANDY: I’m not sure you know how far $20,000 goes.
LAURIE: Didn’t say it was a new helicopter.

GRAYSON: I don’t like drawing myself burning alive.
ELLIE: Well you’re supposed to be drawing me.
GRAYSON: Oh I’m cool with that.

And line of the episode:

LAURIE: It’s like when you hook up with a dude and you wake up the next morning and he’s gone and there’s just a note on your pillow that says “last night was fun, call me next time you’re in Tampa”, and you’re like wha... I’m in Tampa?