The Vampire Diaries: Graduation (4x23)

I don't know what to think or feel right now. I think I'm sort of in a state of shock. Somehow, The Vampire Diaries came through in a big way for this finale. This whole season, I've been annoyed with Silas as a villain. I was so much more interested in the hunter story arc, and I thought that it was dead for good, especially since Jeremy was gone. But... lo and behold, this is not the case! The hunters were back, and Jeremy is as well. This was a really smart move - it revitalized the show just in time for its final showdown.

That's not to say it was flawless - as our season ends, we still have Silas around, only now with a new element to his character - he's a doppelganger? He's Stefan's doppelganger? It'll be interesting to see how they handle this moving forward, but I sort of wish that Silas could have been removed from the equation once and for all. He wasn't the most successful villain.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. Let's talk about the setup to this episode, and why it was - in general - very good.

Modern Family: Goodnight Gracie (4x24)

This was a fun finale. Well, fun and touching, which is something I can't count on very often when watching this show. So that was actually a pleasant surprise. For a finale, it made the very smart decision of taking our characters out of their familiar setting and forcing them into a situation where they all had to be together. On the other hand, the family didn't actually have a lot of screen time all together, and instead occupied themselves with a bunch of minor subplots. It worked out alright, however, since all the plots were tied together by their setting and the general plot. I'll start with my least favorite.

Cam. Now, this plot wasn't bad, per say, but it felt very out of place in this episode. Whereas the other characters were all going through meaningful developments in their lives, Cam was relegated to pure comic relief. I was reasonably amused by his interactions with the old lady's book club, but there didn't seem to be a larger point to any of it. Was the joke that he fits in well in a retirement community? This show also tends to let Cam and Mitch exist in a bubble where they never get any negative attention for being gay. Ideal? Of course. Realistic? Not so much. I guess maybe it's a minor nitpick, but Cam's storyline just didn't do anything for me.

The Big Bang Theory: The Bon Voyage Reaction (6x24)

Hmm... actually a bit of a lackluster finale. Leonard is going away for a work-related reason, which just gave me flashbacks to the whole North Pole business from a few seasons back. It just wasn't particularly original. On top of that, they didn't do enough with it. There could have been a lot of really heartfelt relationship stuff explored here, but it really didn't go too deep.

Leonard has an amazing opportunity, but it means he'll be away on a boat for four months. Penny encourages him to take the opportunity, and it looks like they will try to stick it out over that time apart. A part of me really hopes that the next season starts out while Leonard is still away. If they skip over the four months, then what was the point?

The annoying thing was Sheldon's reactions. He doesn't want Leonard to go, which I find adorable, but then the whole thing was turned into a joke. I was laughing at all of Sheldon's hilarious antics in trying to get Leonard to stay, and I thought it was sweet when he at least pretended to be happy for him when giving his toast. Then, there's the fact that he went with Penny to drop Leonard off. That was also sweet. But... there was no emotional payoff at the end. I wanted there to be an actual acknowledgement that Sheldon was going to miss Leonard, his best friend. It was all played for laughs and this disappointed me.

Smash: The Tonys (2x17)

Sniff, sniff. Oh, Smash. I had such a fun time watching this show, even if it was a disaster half the time. I think this finale was ultimately very smart, in that it knew exactly what it was. It couldn't be an epic finale to an epic show, because the show obviously had a lot of problems. It chose instead to be a sweet and nostalgic ending to a show we all loved to roll our eyes at, even as we eagerly waited for more.

So, it's the Tonys. People are nervous. Derek is moping, Ana isn't going, Jimmy is acting strange. But before we get into the actual episode, we start things off with an all-cast rendition of "Under Pressure" by Queen. And oh my God.

First of all, I'd like to issue a formal complaint that we didn't get to hear Derek sing more, because that was hot. I also thought it was really brave of the actors who aren't singers to step up and contribute. It was a really beautiful moment when they all came together to sing. It reminded us that this show is an ensemble cast, and it brought all the characters together in a beautiful way.

It also started off one of the best gimmicks of the finale - playing with the fourth wall a bit, in acknowledging the end of the show. "Under Pressure" references the end of something communal, and the end of this show is certainly that. So, since it's the last episode, I'm going to take a look at each of our main characters and talk about how their story lines end up. Some were great, some were... eh. Let's get started!

The Mentalist: Red John's Rules (5x22)

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh my God yes. This episode killed it. It was great! You know why? Because it was dramatic, but it wasn't overbearing. I honestly didn't know if I could take another angst-filled finale, and this one was actually pretty funny.

Yeah, I know. Funny?  You wouldn't think that would be good for this show, especially for the finale, but it struck just the right chord. The episode was larger mythology based (it was about Red John, in other words) which is important for finales. But more than that it was about Jane and Lisbon, and their friendship. Ultimately, that's where the heart of the show rests, even if the plot is going off in other directions all the time.

Despite the fact that we now have a list of seven names, the episode didn't actually make me want to jump off a cliff with emotions. It was a... relaxing and revealing forty two-ish minutes of television, and I enjoyed that a lot. It subverted my expectations, which can sometimes be nice, especially for a show that doesn't often surprise me.

Modern Family: Games People Play (4x23)

So... something very strange happened and I lost all my notes from this episode. It has also been several days since I watched it, so I can't even do this very well from memory. I'll touch on what I do remember, and I'll comment on the episode's overall effect on me. But unfortunately that's about all I can do!

Okay, so, my least favorite part of the episode was the Jay/Gloria/Manny plot. Manny is missing his backpack so Jay and Gloria go along with him to try to find it at Phil and Claire's place, and then at Cam and Mitchell's, when that doesn't pan out. At the second house, they find evidence of a game night, and Gloria and Jay are insulted that they weren't invited. We later find out that they were, but Manny forgot to give them the invitation.

The episode started to address the hilarious idea of Gloria and Jay being horrible party guests, but then it fell flat when it turned out just to be a mistake on Manny's part. I recall some funny jokes about Gloria snooping in everyone's stuff, as well as the fact that she can apparently break into people's homes with ridiculous ease. This thread wasn't horrible but it was just a bit lackluster.

Smash: The Nominations (2x16)

Smash! Why? Why do you do this to my emotions? Why must you give me an episode like this? Are you trying to kill me? God, everything is just so adorable! And angst-filled and full of song and dance. Oy.

Okay, so I should probably be a bit more coherent now. This episode centered around waiting for Tony nominations. Exciting, tense, and full of drama. As a musical theatre enthusiast and participant, it's always fun to see the world explored on a bit of a larger scale. And the Tony's... they're a big freakin' deal to us theatre geeks.

So, there were a bunch of threads going on all at once, but they were tied together pretty well. I am usually pretty happy with this show's ability to connect everything together. So, let's get started.

Tom is anxious about getting a director's nomination, and he ends up pissing off one of the committee members, a certain Patrick Dylan, by checking his phone in the theatre. He is excited because he has won the Outer Circle award (actually, tied with Derek). Tom has a lot of my favorite parts of this episode, including his extremely touching speech to Derek, during which he thanks him for all his help and claims that Derek should win the whole award for himself. The two of them actually hug. I swear I died a little from happiness.

Castle: Watershed (5x24)

Usually, I really like my finales to be big and epic. They need to be a culmination of sorts, not just more of the same. And that, in a sense, was one of the things that this episode failed to deliver. The case was like any other case on a procedural cop show. As far as generic cases go, this one did okay. It was about a hacker who abandoned her life at a prestigious school and posed as a prostitute as she hunted for the truth behind her best friend's death.

The only real problem with the case was that it got a bit convoluted. It tried to be so epic in the beginning, and then the climax of all of it sort of fell flat. But I found the back story of the dead girl - Erica - pretty interesting, and I thought the premise itself was decently creative.

There was a bit of a distracting subplot with Alexis and Castle that I actually thought was harmful to the episode overall. Apparently she is going on a trip to Costa Rica, but Castle doesn't write the check right away. He is worried about her, and feeling overprotective because of what happened with her kidnapping and all that.

The Vampire Diaries: The Walking Dead (4x22)

Oy vey. I'm not going to write much of a review of this thing, so that I can get straight to the finale. I have thoughts. And feelings. This episode was great in some respects, and it fell very short in others. I do apologize for being brief, especially since this episode was actually vitally importnat in the overall scope of the season and the show. Let's just separate this out into the good and the bad.

Pros: Elena's journey. Her focus on revenge was really gripping. I liked seeing this single-minded focus, and it gave Nina Dobrev yet another change to show off her acting chops. It was also great to see Stefan and Damon trying to stop her, as their continued teamwork/animosity is really fun to watch. 

The return of the dead! Yes, yes, yes. I squealed like a really pathetic person when Alaric showed up. Ah, that bromance. And seeing Lexie was also precious. I will admit that Kol felt slightly underused, as he cropped up to be a jerk and then was immediately disposed of again. A bit of a wasted cameo. But then Jeremy was there! Oh goodness gracious, Jeremy I have missed you so much. So, yeah, it was fun to see that.