Bob's Burgers: Don't Worry, Be Hoopy (15x18)

Another Tina-centric episode! Interesting to have two in a row.

Cons:

I could have used a punchline to Teddy's involvement in the episode. He's afraid of how steep and high up the bleachers are, and I kept waiting for him to fall, or for him to bravely descend the steps and make a big deal about not falling, or something. But instead, nothing really came of it? He stood up to wave his foam finger and then sat down because he was too scared. Not much going on there.

Pros:

I love the episodes where we go into each of the character's minds and get a different version of the story, they're always so fun. This one's theme was anxiety, about parenting and about doing hard things and being brave. It felt very realistic to me that while Bob and Linda were both stressing out that their bad pep talks had gotten into Tina's head, the reality was that she hadn't even really been listening to them at all, and her own stresses tied back to an earlier instance with ballet from when she was little.

Bob's Burgers: Wild Steal-ions (15x17)

Poor Tina! This was a really fun one.

Cons:

This so sort of random but is there... "discourse" about this show and how the Belchers used their children for unpaid labor? Like is it a little fucked up that they can't operate the restaurant without their three kids helping? I mean, I'm not actually mad at it or anything but it did occur to me that it's a little wild that these kids have to volunteer their time to the family business seemingly against their will. I think we think of that family business aspect when it comes to working on a farm or something but when it's a restaurant business it feels stranger to me, especially considering just how young they all are - Tina isn't even in high school!

Pros:

I did really love the joke where Bob and Linda debated having more kids so they could have some help running the restaurant. "Did they graduate? Are they in college? No... we can't afford that, right?" lol. I also liked Teddy roasting the restaurant by saying that things were starting to fall apart without the kids there to clean the menus and fill up the ketchups. Teddy is such a funny regular to have at the diner, he's so rude but you know he'd never ever consider going elsewhere.

Bob's Burgers: The Shell Game (15x16)

Aww poor Bob lol.

Cons:

As always I find myself noticing the things that I wish the episode had, more than having problems with what was there - I feel like we haven't had something Gene-centric in a while and I was noticing that he didn't have a ton to do here!

Pros:

Whenever Mr. Fischoeder shows up you know it's going to be a truly weird time for everybody, and this episode was the epitome of that. There's a tortoise, it needs an official guardian, for some reason Bob is in the running along with a bunch of other strange figures from Fischoeder's social circle. There's something almost... sweet? About Fischoeder wanting to choose Bob for this task and give him $10,000 a year, and we never really get a punchline where it turns out Bob was the choice for some degrading reason or anything. It's kind of nice and seems genuine, as much as Fischoeder is capable of that.

Bob's Burgers: The Lost City of Atlantic (15x15)

Fun new setting, lots of intrigue!

Cons:

I honestly don't have anything to complain about in this one! I hope Linda's newfound half-aunt recurs in the show later on, that was fun!

Pros:

The kids and Bob had the subplots this week, and both were pretty fun! I loved that once again Tina is not being a spoil-sport about Louise's shenanigans, she also seems to understand that wandering around the slot machines is probably mostly harmless fun. And I loved that they "won" twelve dollars and had to get into negotiations with the old man who pulled the lever for them. They have this real kid energy of being genuinely enthused over things that really aren't that big or exciting.

Bob's Burgers: The Place Beyond the Pinecones (15x14)

A good summer vibes episode as things start heating up!

Cons: 

I wish Tina had gotten to spend a bit more time with the people in her troop, I feel like she splintered off so quickly and was only with the two girls from the rival troop! That's a small detail, it's just that since we're in this environment with these characters, I could have used even more!

Bob's Burgers: Snackface (15x13)

I was just asking for a school-based episode, so it was fun to see this one!

Cons:

I don't have complaints about this show usually, more like... potential missed opportunities. I thought the little through-line about Tina wanting a specific pencil holder could have had a funnier punchline than her just telling us that she broke it immediately. I wish we'd seen her using it or showing it off and then it had broken. Similarly in Bob and Linda's story, could have used a comedy beat about them having to re-do the spreadsheets or getting chastised by their accountant or something, just to round it up!

Doctor Who: The Reality War (15x08)

I'm trying to remember the last time I was this bummed out after watching an episode of TV. I mean, I watch bad TV sometimes, but this wasn't just a case of "that was not a good episode," this was... watching this just made me so, so sad. Let's... dive in.

Cons:

I'm going to start small and work my way up, here. The Avengers Assemble of it all was fun, but it really sidelined Belinda and it even sidelined the Doctor in a weird way, where I wish there had been a bit less spaghetti thrown at the wall here? I remember feeling this way about last season's finale too, that there was just too much going on, and too much of it was connected to old lore that I don't understand or care about. I stand by that the bi-generation thing with the two Ranis was pointless and it should have just been a straightforward "Mrs. Flood is a Time Lady" twist without that added element tossed in.

The thing about Poppy is that I wanted to like this concept, I honestly don't mind the idea of the Time Lords being an infertile species and the Doctor "wishing" himself this miracle chance to be a parent, but it was too confusing and the stakes were therefore difficult to grasp. I think the plot cul de sac of "yay, Poppy was okay inside the box!" and then she vanishes from the TARDIS and now the Doctor has to do a big sacrifice, all should have been squished and curtailed. Like, what if it was just shortened so that the box is opened, Belinda is in there, but Poppy isn't, and everyone else has forgotten Poppy, but Belinda remembers, and then because of weird shenanigans, so does Ruby, and then it's Ruby and Belinda together making a case for this world missing one person and how that's wrong? That would have given Belinda more to do (more on that later), and cut through some of the weird pacing in the end of this episode.

Bob's Burgers: Like a Candle in the Gym (15x12)

A cute episode! Not sure I'll have a ton to say...

Cons:

I feel like I say this every once in a while with this show, and we're just getting back after such a long hiatus, but I miss the school characters. We get this one sorta-friend of Louise's here, but I kept thinking of how fun it would be of the rest of the gang got pulled into the shenanigans and conspiracies. I hope we have an episode soon that's set during school.

Pros:

Linda and Bob are a good couple. The joke of Bob's character is that he's a bit of a sad sack but what I love about this show is that he's genuinely a goofy dad, too. I loved the bit at the beginning when the kids are like "wtf" about Bob consenting to the walk, and he's apologizing to his children for betraying them by going along with Linda's plan. And then when they're on the walk, when Linda is in pain because of her new shoes, he problem-solves at the expense of his own back, and then finds a cart and does a Mrs. Doubtfire impression to make Linda laugh. Their little banter about Bob leaving Linda for a new wife with better feet was so sweet too.

The Handmaid's Tale: The Handmaid's Tale (6x10)

lol. lmao, even.

Cons:

Well, at least it's all over! Man. What a bummer that this is what we're left with at the end of all of this. This show has always been so uneven, but it used to have writing that felt internally consistent with the characters it had created? I don't even really know where to start here.

For one thing, "you should write a book, June." Oh, give me a break! Like this June Osborne would write the book that Margaret Atwood wrote in 1985. Like it would bear any resemblance. I feel like it's an insult to the original text. Let this be its own thing, you don't have to do a whole "what's more powerful than stories" ending to this story. It's self-aggrandizing in the worst way. Gave me Tyrion Lannister putting Bran Stark on the Iron Throne flashbacks. Yuck. Holly says it, then Luke says it... it's just so trite and goofy, honestly. And then to go so far as to have June start to "write" the novel at the end... this isn't a full circle moment, buddy. This show broke containment from the original (completely brilliant and almost flawless) novel in a big, big way. You don't get to have this one, it doesn't goddamn work.

Doctor Who: Wish World (15x07)

I can't believe we're already so close to the end of this season...

Cons:

So, I did like this episode, but same complaint as last week about the Rani, and now the reveal of Omega or whatever. These are staged and presented as giant reveals, but I don't know them, ya know? I also think the bi-generation of the Rani is still pointless, it honestly would have been kind of fun and wild to have the little old lady be the one speechifying and dancing with the Doctor and reminiscing about how they may or may not once have been lovers. Why add another person into the mix? As far as I'm able to tell, it doesn't enhance the twist in any way.

This isn't a "con" so much as it is... a note, something to look out for: it was fun seeing Ruby in this episode for sure, but I wish that Belinda had had more to do. I'm hoping that somehow next week she'll have some big moments to shine, because I kind of wanted her and the Doctor to be united in their "doubts" stuff instead of her turning him in and then just apologizing for it immediately? It's a small thing, but I do want Belinda to have more agency here. 

The Handmaid's Tale: Execution (6x09)

Well, I was right. I wish I hadn't been right, but I was right. Honestly, it was even worse than I'd expected, somehow. Jesus Christ. Let's dive right the fuck in, shall we?

Cons:

Like. I don't actually have the energy to do a big long rant about Nick but I'm sure that I'll end up doing a big long rant about Nick anyway. If this is the story you wanted to tell about this guy, then you needed to explain to me WHY he's actually bad, why he's actually corrupt, at what point he actually stopped being an undercover resistance fighter... like, it's so unmotivated and stupid! Right there at the end, he says to Lawrence that "she tried to tell me to give it all up" and I was like... and why didn't you, Nick? What were your reasons for not running off and leaving Gilead? Is it just that you're a coward? Is it just that you secretly covet the power? Both potential stories that could have been told with this character, but they never were told with this character. Up until this last season it's been pretty clear that he hates Gilead and loves June. My prediction was that Nick would die by the end of the season, but I thought he'd get the big hero's death that Lawrence is getting, I thought his death would be a redemptive moment for him.

Bob's Burgers: Mr. Fischoeder's Opus (15x11)

Eyyy we're back!

Cons: 

I sort of wish the part of the episode actually at the symphony had been longer? Like, why not have the party be a reception directly before the orchestra is going to play, they've rehearsed it the "slow" way and Fischoeder is going to surprise them during the performance with the faster conducting, but then shenanigans occur... it just felt sort of weird pacing-wise to have the big scene be at the Fischoeder residence, and then cut to a different setting for the payoff of those plot points.

Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest (15x06)

This episode kind of felt like it had too many moving parts, but overall I liked a lot of it!

Cons:

The big letdown for me is that like... I don't know who "the Rani" is. This is my own fault, I suppose. I could get into Classic Who so these multi-decade-spanning surprise returns actually impact me, but... I think a lot of the audience probably doesn't know who this character is. And the Mrs. Flood twist has been built up for so long, that getting an answer that means absolutely nothing to me did hit as a real letdown. I also thought having her bi-generate was a little odd, what's the narrative function of it not just continuing to be the same person playing the role for the rest of the season? Maybe I'll eat my words after seeing next week, but that just feels a little unmotivated at this point.

While overall I like the idea of the Doctor being triggered by the loss of Gallifrey into acting uncharacteristically, I do kind of wish that it hadn't felt so abrupt. It was a little too perfectly convenient, Belinda tuning in just in time to see him threatening Kid and then being like "that's not him." Maybe the Doctor tries at first to find compassion and understanding but just can't manage it, or maybe he comes out of the trance of that violence a little less easily when Belinda returns... something needed to be slightly finessed here, the pacing or arc of it just felt off to me in a way I can't quite define.

Grey's Anatomy: How Do I Live (21x18)

So, I don't watch 911 or Doctor Odyssey but I do like to check up on the tags, and from what I gather we were three for three on pretty disappointing season finales for these Thursday night ABC dramas! Yeesh.

Cons:

I'm literally having trouble deciding what to complain about first. Let's start with Richard. Why are you being such a dick to Meredith? Like, what a whiny, petulant little baby you've been all season, my dude. What gives? This episode has him throwing a fit that Meredith wants to sell her shares of the hospital to help with funding, and Richard acts like if she does that, suddenly she'll vanish and turn her back on everything she knows, never mind the fact that she still has family (Amelia!) in Seattle. And then he kind of apologizes in that half-assed way where what he's really doing is telling her he's not mad anymore and she has his permission to make her own choices. I don't get how Meredith is being so magnanimous about his behavior. He's been this way with her all season and it's so stupid! I also thought the stakes were poorly defined, like, it's not like the shares of the hospital are a frequent plot point that has a lot of emotional weight to it these days. I can't even remember who owns how much, doesn't Alex have shares? And Callie and Arizona? Why do we care so much anyway?

The Handmaid's Tale: Exodus (6x08)

Not going to lie, I'm pretty massively underwhelmed by this one.

Cons: 

I just... for one thing, I thought the wedding was going to be where Shit Went Down, and instead it was where People Handed Each Other Weapons and Then Went Home. Just kind of a momentum killer, to be honest. Drugging the wedding cake is certainly audacious, but it's also silly. And I kept thinking that if going to the wedding was just about distributing stuff, why on earth did June and Moira even risk going? Everyone else is supposed to be there. No risk of Serena or Nick or anybody else recognizing them. It felt silly that they'd be there at all.

Serena has this big moment where she learns that her new husband is "just like all the others" and is not a good man, since he brings a Handmaid into their home together. Honestly, the idea that Serena would be surprised by this, that she would have bought into her own delusions enough to believe that this would be a different kind of marriage, didn't really bother me. But the way she reacted? Like, Serena, are you stupid? Just play dumb, lay low, get Noah out of there safely! Now you're on the run with no supplies and no recourse. I just wish she'd played it more clever. Like, nodded and smiled and asked that for their wedding night, it just be the two of them... then in the light of day find a way to get Noah away and figure out a plan. It just seemed silly for her to freak out and burn that bridge with no thought to strategy at all.

Doctor Who: The Story & the Engine (15x05)

I really, really liked a lot about this one!

Cons:

My one bigger structural complaint is just that I feel like they went too complicated when they could have stripped it down simpler, because the stakes and the concept behind the "bad guy" and the conflict were kind of muddy for me? Why have it be this thing where there's the barber who writes down the story for all these story-telling-slash-trickster gods, and then also Anansi's daughter is there, and they're sort of working together but really both of them need to be saved? Why not just have it be Anansi's daughter working alone, or why not have it just be Anansi, changed and warped somehow and in need of a perspective shift? You've got the stories feeding the battery and then the big spider mech in space and the hurt feelings and the goal of erasing the gods... it just felt like a lot of murkiness on the way through to the ending. I liked the Doctor and Belinda both helping to encourage these two wrong-doers to live for a better future and let go of bitterness, but it felt like the setup to get there could have been cleaner.

 Less convoluted setup might also have given us more time with the side characters, all the trapped people in the barber shop. I would have loved to have more energy of just them and their playing off of each other and the Doctor. There's a scene where the Doctor is furious at the barber for betraying him, basically, getting him to come here to rescue them all, but I think that scene would have worked better if there had been a bit more focus on the friendship and connection between the men before that moment of realization. Plus, I was a little unclear as to the reason for the Doctor's level of vitriol - his friend was in mortal danger and then Doctor showed up, and then he's pissed at being dragged into danger himself? I wish there had been something more concrete where we knew the Doctor had been lied to directly and deceived into showing up, but the writing didn't make that super clear to me.

Grey's Anatomy: Love You Like a Love Song (21x17)

Wowwww I'm so annoyed at Lucas!

Cons:

The thing is, sometimes Lucas is just kinda boring and vaguely whiny and I think to myself "my dislike for this character is probably too extreme. I should get over that." But this whole story-line with Simone has been like... wow, my dude, where is this vitriol coming from? Straight up, Simone expressed in a fairly mature and straightforward way that she wanted to be a little more cautious and move slower with their relationship, and Lucas has been nothing but terrible to her about it. He's getting all pissed off at her for the extremely reasonable things she's saying about a patient? And just being huffy and avoidant and cold when she tries to have conversations with him? The fact that he could have the audacity to break up with her, and over what? For what reason? I really think I might hate this guy. I'm glad they've broken up, but we all know that's not going to last and I'm already annoyed.

Also, Jesus Christ, Owen, get your SHIT together my dude. What a dark and ugly episode for Owen Hunt. I understand that what's-her-face (Nora) is dying, but the dishonesty to Teddy, missing the wedding of his friends, cuddling with her in the hospital where anybody could see... what a massive dickhead. I'm sorry, but even if you're trying to do a kindness to someone who is vulnerable and scared, you don't just disregard the way it's going to make your wife feel. I'm on record wishing this whole open marriage story had gone in a really different direction. I wish they could have actually tried it and liked it. Then maybe it's this interesting thing where Teddy is still weirded out that her patient is sleeping with her husband, but it's all above board and she's adjusting to the strangeness of it. That still provides this really angsty and interesting scenario, where, how do you comfort your husband who is sad that his new... girlfriend? Casual sex partner? is dying and you couldn't do anything to save her on the table? I just hate how shitty Owen is, I hate how annoying everyone is behaving.

The Handmaid's Tale: Shattered (6x07)

This was... a singularly frustrating experience, I'm not going to lie. I didn't hate everything indiscriminately, but I was having such a hard time with a lot of what happened here. I'm going to try and untangle some of that.

Cons:

So, the Nick thing. The Nick thing. Ahem. Last week I worried that we were going to be asked by the show's framing itself to be anti-Nick after this, and what we got was such a weird version of that playing out. Here's the thing: Nick doing what he did, it had really bad consequences, and it would totally track for June to be mad at him for it, maybe even think that she hated him. But rationally, Nick is right that this isn't some sort of singular breaking point that's worse than all the other shit the two of them have pulled over the years. And I think the show wants me to believe that Nick is Bad Now because of this, and I just... I don't? I kept thinking about all the ways I could have bought into this more. One avenue would be to do an actual corruption arc for Nick, gradually over time. Show him actually liking the perks of being a Commander, show him enjoying having power, even if he doesn't agree with everything. But we never saw that. He's always been uncomfortable and terrified in Gilead. Another option, have his father-in-law have more explicit proof about the death of those two guards, that could point a finger at Nick, and have Nick explain to June that if he hadn't given up the plan, once the bombs went off Nick would be put on the wall for it if there were any survivors at all.

Doctor Who: Lucky Day (15x04)

Hmm. I was honestly less of a fan of this episode than I was hoping I would be. There were a few elements of it that just really bothered me.

Cons:

The big one is... Kate? Like? Girl, what the fuck? I'm really okay with U.N.I.T. being controversial and with Kate making bad choices, that's totally valid and interesting. But her letting the Shreek out to attack Conrad was so wildly out of line that I was waiting for it then to be a much bigger than it was. This should have been a thing where people were horrified and demanding she step down, right? And instead she and Ruby have a sweet little moment and share a hug and there's a quip about Ruby "collecting mothers" and I was just staring at the screen like... what now? What? She just did something absolutely insanely awful, siccing that monster on a human being. I know he's a shitty human being, but still. What kind of responsible leader of a para-military monster-hunting organization would do that?

I also didn't really like the scene with Conrad and the Doctor. That little speech about how the Doctor is fighting a constant battle to protect people who just want to be safe... I don't know. It felt very Moffat-era Who to me, in the sense that in those seasons the Doctor was very much cast as a brave soldier hero type, which is... not who this character is. The Doctor protecting people when he encounters people who need protecting is of course part of who he is, but I don't know how I feel about the characterization that he's fighting a constant battle. Feels strange to me.

Grey's Anatomy: Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (21x16)

Oh my god, that nine-year-old girl... this was a sad one.

Cons:

Once again I must complain about literally all the romances in the show. At least Teddy and Owen weren't around this week. I'll be fast, because I don't actually like spending this much time complaining!

Jo and Link - I'm just bored of them and I don't really believe in them as friends or as a couple. The bit where Jo said she thought the NICU couple were like them, I was just like... I mean, I guess you guys have known each other for a long time, but that's about the only similarity? I'm just not picking up what they're putting down. And now I have to go to their wedding next week. Ugh.