Modern Family: The Feud (5x15)

Every once in a while I'll come across an episode that I really just don't feel like writing about. It's not that anything was particularly wrong with it, but it didn't really grab my attention either, you know? But I'll carry on, anyway. Let's go plot by plot.

Mitch and Cam have a big meeting with a director of photography for their wedding, so Claire is going to pick Lily up from school. However, they receive an email from Lily's school, warning of lice, and they are indecisive about what to do. Eventually, they convince themselves not to tell Claire, so that she'll still go pick up Lily and they can make it to their meeting with the photographer. At home, Cam discovers that Lily does indeed have lice, and tries to keep away from her. Claire has an important meeting, set up by Mitch, but she did indeed get lice from Lily, and this causes her to act weird during the meeting. Luckily, she still impresses the client.

Castle: Room 147 (6x16)

This episode made me smile. It was a lovely little inversion of what you expect from a procedural cop show, and it had a lot of really humorous and surprising elements in it. Also, there was a fantastic subplot that showcased Alexis and Beckett's relationship. Let's dive in.

So, we start off with a fairly ordinary murder in a hotel room. They discover that the victim was a struggling actor, and they notice that his behavior upon checking into the hotel was quite strange - he insisted on Room 147, even though all of the rooms are identical, and he was seen on a security camera texting someone on a flip phone, even though the phone registered in his name was different. Castle is excited about the intriguing case, but things seem to wrap up quite quickly as a woman comes to the precinct and admits to the crime. She is able to describe the crime scene in great detail, and so it seems that the case is solved.

However, this confessor has no real memory of why she killed the man, and she says that the past few weeks have been really fuzzy for her. Then, a man comes in to the precinct and also admits to murdering the victim. He is able to supply the same amount of detail as the first confessor. And then, a third person confesses to the crime as well! Totally baffled, Castle and Beckett try to find a link between these three people. They end up tracking down a cult group based on a symbol that all three of them had been doodling. None of the confessors remember belonging to this cult, but eventually the answer becomes clear: the cult was drugging them to forget their involvement in a project to which the victim played a crucial role.

Supernatural: Captives (9x14)

This episode was sooo painful! And not in a bad way. Seriously, I was emotionally compromised by viewing this particular installment of Supernatural. Like almost any episode that I review, there were some noticeable flaws, but I'll get to those in a moment. Let's start first with a plot summary.

After noticing some flickering lights and such, Sam and Dean discover that the bunker is haunted. However, they know that a spirit couldn't have gotten in past all of the protections, so they realize that whoever it is, it must be someone who died in the bunker. Sure enough, Kevin turns up. He has disturbing news - ever since the angels fell, people haven't been getting in to Heaven. Every dead soul is just stuck in the veil, in between worlds. Through communications with other spirits, Kevin has determined that his mother was still alive as of one week previously. He asks the Winchesters to find her for him.

Sam and Dean are still not getting along, but of course they agree to go help Kevin. They go to the woods where a woman named Candy was killed, and they manage to communicate with her. She describes how she was captured in a storage facility and tortured. They manage to find this storage facility, and they discover that Crowley was the one holding these people hostage - they were all the loved ones of important figures. Sam finds Mrs. Tran, while Dean is attacked by a demon that Crowley had left in charge. They all manage to escape, only after letting Mrs. Tran kill the demon herself. They go back to the bunker, where Mrs. Tran is reunited with the ghost of her son. Since Kevin can't pass on to Heaven, he is going to go home with his mother while Sam and Dean try to fix this mess and get him and the other lost souls to Heaven.

How I Met Your Mother: Rally (9x18)

I'd put this episode on par with some of the average ones from better seasons. It wasn't spectacular, but it was decently fun and had a few particularly clever moments. Let's dive in, shall we?

On the morning of the wedding, Barney is really hung over. Robin, Ted, Lily and Marshall all struggle to cure him, because wedding pictures are supposed to take place that morning, and Barney needs to be there. They recall a special hangover drink that Barney gave to each of them over the years, which seems to work great. The only problem? They know all of the ingredients except for one, which Barney has kept a secret.

Ted and Marshall hunt down the ingredients that they do know about. One of these ingredients is grease, which the kitchen refuses to hand over. Ted is forced to eat an entire tray full of bacon in order to force the cooks to make some more, and thus supply them with grease. Ted's mother had always told him he was allergic to bacon, so he had never tried it before. He devours the entire tray, and they get their grease.

The Walking Dead: Claimed (4x11)

This week, we see Rick, Carl, and Michonne's adventures continue, and we learn more about Abraham, as we see him and his friends travel with Glenn and Tara. Mostly, I have the same complaints about this episode as I did about the last... it feels a bit filler-ish. However, I'm starting to see a slow but powerful build up to something great, as all of our different characters start moving in the direction of this alleged sanctuary. I can tell things are going to get good very soon.

Rapid-fire plot time: Michonne tries to cheer up Carl, but of course Carl is difficult to cheer up these days. The two of them go on a supply run, where Michonne reveals to Carl that she had a son. Carl is very interested in this, and continues to ask Michonne questions while they hunt for supplies. Rick, back at the house, runs in to some serious trouble when a group of human men break in and start ransacking the place. Rick is forced to hide under the bed and watch as two of the men have a fight, which results in one of them dying. Rick manages to sneak out through the bathroom, but not before he is forced to strangle another one of the men. Just as Michonne and Carl get back from their supply run, the dead man inside the house reanimates as a Walker, and in the ensuing chaos, Rick runs away from the house with Michonne and Carl. The three of them see a sign pointing to a sanctuary, and decide to head that way.

Castle: Smells Like Teen Spirit (6x15)

Ehh... I know a lot of people thought this episode was really cute because of all the Beckett/Castle relationship stuff. But I found the actual plot to be really dull, and even some cute Caskett banter wasn't enough to make up for it. Let's take a brief look.

Two girls in a cab are talking to their friend in a video chat when suddenly the friend is thrown across the room by an invisible force, and murdered. Castle and Beckett find out that a recent incident at this girl's school involved the supposed telekinetic powers of one of the students. Predictably, Castle believes in the power of telekinesis and is convinced that the girl with the powers must be the murderer. However, very quickly they learn that their victim wasn't entirely an innocent. She had been running a black market for stolen goods along with her two friends (the ones who saw her death). In the end, it turns out that the telekinetic death was just a joke video, and that one of the two friends had used this ready-made murder scene as a way of murdering her friend in real life. The murderer was tired of all of their stealing, but her friend wouldn't let her out of the deal. Along the way, the girl with supposed "powers" struggles to cope with bullying, and finds a  friend in a magician at the school.

Castle and Beckett discover that they don't have a song to dance to at their wedding, both of them thinking of different songs when they discuss it. However, after struggling to come up with something, they dance to a song at the high school's dance, and both declare their love for it simultaneously. Happily, they decide to dance to that song at their wedding.

The Walking Dead: Inmates (4x10)

So, this week we got to check in on all of our other characters from the prison. I was very happy to see who all made it out alive - there were no real shockers there, nor did I expect there to be. A lot of people would have been mighty pissed off if they had killed Glenn or Maggie or someone like that off-screen. And we got a few surprises of the good variety - little Judith lives! And so does Tara, our friend from the Governor's days. As I always found her the only potentially interesting part of that story, I'm glad to see her sticking around. I have some issues with the episode as well, but we'll get to those in a moment. Here's the plot!

Beth and Daryl escaped from the prison together. Beth wants to try and track down fellow escapees, but Daryl seems too depressed to go on. Eventually, with Beth's coaxing, the two of them decide to keep looking. Very quickly, they discover that some of the people from the prison (including Luke) have been killed by Walkers. Beth is in great distress about this.

Lizzie and Mika escaped with Tyreese, and we also learn that they rescued baby Judith from the prison. Judith is constantly crying and putting the group at danger. When Tyreese hears yelling nearby, he leaves the girls with Judith and goes to help out. Mika is terrified, but when a group of Walkers approaches, she doesn't leave her sister, instead choosing to defend her as best as she can. Tyreese finds two men fighting off the Walkers, but they are both bitten before he can do anything to help. Lizzie and Mika, meanwhile, have been rescued by Carol! Before he dies, one of the bitten men tells the group to follow the tracks to a safer place, and they find a sign pointing to a sanctuary.

The Walking Dead: After (4x09)

Yay! Hiatus is over! One of the strongest things about The Walking Dead is the show's ability to focus on a few key characters at a time, instead of overwhelming us with the entire ensemble. This particular installment only told two stories: Michonne's, and Rick and Carl's. While I missed Maggie, Glenn, Daryl, Beth, etc., I was still happy that they chose to really take a closer look at only a few plot threads. Next week, we'll learn about the others.

So. Carl and Rick are struggling to find a place to stay the night. Rick is badly injured. He can barely walk, and Carl isn't inclined to wait up for him. He's bitter and desperate and grieving for Judith, Hershel, and basically for the whole rotten situation they've found themselves in. Eventually, the two of them find a house to stay in. Their bitterness towards one another continues. Rick falls asleep on the couch, and the next morning Carl has trouble waking him up. A group of Walkers right outside the house are getting worrisome, so Carl goes outside to take care of them. He very nearly gets himself eaten, but he manages to kill them all and escape.

He makes his way to another house, where he has another close scrape with a Walker, but manages to get food and make his way out alive. He yells at Rick, who is still asleep, and tells him that he'd be fine if Rick died. He's angry at his father, because he feels like everyone who died was Rick's fault. It was his responsibility to take care of them, but instead he just went about gardening and didn't take defense seriously enough.

The Vampire Diaries: Total Eclipse of the Heart (5x13)

I've realized that this show has a lot of plot. No matter how simple an episode seems, there's always so much that happens. I think part of the problem is that it's all so exposition-heavy. Lots of talking, lots of explaining, lots of stuff. I'm going to try to get everything down that was important. Here goes...

Katherine is happy being in Elena's body, since she now has everything she wants in life. Caroline is a bit suspicious of how cheerful Elena is behaving, since she thinks she should be more brokenhearted about Damon. Caroline suggests to Elena and Bonnie that they attend the Bitter Ball, to cleanse themselves and move on to a new chapter of their lives. Bonnie, despite being in a happy relationship, agrees to attend with her two single friends.

Stefan discovers Aaron's body, confronts Damon about it, and realizes that Damon has gone off the deep end. Stefan finds Enzo and tells him to stay way from his brother. He threatens to kill him if he doesn't get out of town. Predictably, this isn't very effective. Damon and Enzo want to find Wes and kill him, as he is next on their Augustine Hit List. Meanwhile, we see good ol' Wes continuing his sadistic experiments, even without Aaron's funding. A new woman (apparently named Sloane) enters and offers Wes additional funding. She also hands over some blood to analyze.

Elementary: Corpse de Ballet (2x15)

This episode has a main plot and a subplot, and I must say my reaction to the two plots was fairly opposite. The main plot was... well, not terrible, but not particularly interesting. It had a very predictable twist, and didn't really have anything new to say about our characters. The subplot was actually Joan-centric, and I really wished we could have spent a lot more time on it. Let us take a closer look!

I'm going to do this fairly quickly, so my apologies about the lack of detail. At the ballet, a young ballerina is found murdered - sawed in half. Sherlock is on the case, but he ends up sleeping with one of the prime suspects, the leading ballerina. Sherlock assures Joan that he only did so to learn more details about the case. Later, it conspires that the suspect was having an affair with the victim. It also turns out that the ballerina's lawyer was the murderer. He was planning on exonerating his client by providing footage of a masked man committing the crime, thus proving her innocence. In the end, justice is achieved.

The much-more-interesting subplot involved Joan's volunteer work with a homeless shelter. A schizophrenic homeless man attacks a couple of police officers, and Joan is notified. The man can't stop yelling about how somebody took his friend. Despite the police officers' saying that he's just raving mad, Joan decides to help this man find his friends. She investigates the situation, and in the end it turns out that a man and woman were kidnapping homeless people and trapping them in their home. Then, they were collecting money, pretending to be the relatives of these missing homeless people.

The Big Bang Theory: The Locomotive Manipulation (7x15)

Jumping straight into the plot. I have some things to say about this episode, but I want to get a reasonably coherent plot summary out first. Here goes.

It's Valentine's Day, and Amy wants to have a romantic time with Sheldon. She decides to set something up that they can both enjoy - they will go to a bed and breakfast, but they'll have their Valentine's dinner on a vintage train. Sheldon, who couldn't care less about Valentine's Day, is very excited about the train. Bernadette and Howard also come along. While on the train, Sheldon meets another train enthusiast, and he ignores Amy and just talks to him instead. Howard and Bernadette are being all cute and romantic, and finally Amy can't stand it anymore. She yells at Sheldon for not treating her right. Sheldon asks Amy if she actually meant it when she said she wanted this trip to be fun for both of them. Amy admits that she was maybe manipulating him, because she wanted romance. Sheldon decides to give her romance - he kisses her.

Meanwhile, Leonard and Penny stay home and look after Raj's dog, while Raj does some work in the astro-lab. However, Cinnamon accidentally gets into the chocolates that Penny got for Leonard. They rush her to the vet. Raj shows up, furious with Penny and Leonard. The vet assures Raj that Cinnamon will be fine, and she even gives Raj her phone number. Raj is thrilled.

Modern Family: iSpy (5x14)

This episode was hilarious. It had lots of twisting and turning plot lines all centered around the themes of spying and privacy. It had a very satisfying, emotional ending, as well. While not flawless television, this was one of those episodes that captured the spirit of what Modern Family is truly capable of. Here we go!

Mitch has lunch with a friend, and his friend reveals a secret: he got calf implants. Mitch promises not to tell anyone, especially Cam, who's a notorious gossip. But, Cam figures out that Mitch is hiding something, so Mitch tells. Cam promises to keep it a secret, but he tells people anyway. Cam pretends to be insulted that Mitch won't trust him, but of course he wasn't trustworthy in the first place.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: T.R.A.C.K.S. (1x13)

Did this remind anyone else of the episode of Firefly, "The Train Job," where our cast of characters has to steal something while on a moving train? Because, yeah, this episode was just like that one. But, to be fair, I'm not sure that makes it automatically bad... there were some very interesting dynamics explored in this episode, and a few genuine shocks. However, as is increasingly common with this show, there were a lot of elements that really shouldn't have been there at all. Let us take a closer look.

The team finds a package being sent to Ian Quinn from Cybertek. They decide to track it by boarding the train on which it is traveling. They figure that if they can get to Ian Quinn, they will be one step closer to the Clairvoyant. They take the case over from the Italian police, headed by Luca Russo. While on the train, the group splits up and goes under cover. Simmons and Coulson pretend to be a father and daughter, Fitz and Skye hide in the back to monitor the situation via computer, and Ward and May look for the package. May gets on top of the train and is making her way to the package, when disaster strikes.

The team is discovered. Coulson and Ward jump from the train, May is taken, and Fitzsimmons and Skye are stuck on the train. Simmons is knocked out, so Fitz and Skye are forced to leave her on the train as they follow the package, unwilling to let this lead to the Clairvoyant go. May has been kidnapped by Luca Russo, who, it turns out, has double crossed them. May manages to escape and reunite with Ward and Coulson. Together, they and Simmons chase after Fitz and Skye.

Supernatural: The Purge (9x13)

Your typical C-plot with some interesting themes, good jokes, a creative new monster, a new female character who doesn't get killed off? (Two of them actually!) And on top of that, a long overdue conversation between Sam and Dean, which is pushing their relationship farther and farther towards healthy - even if at the moment it seems like it's doing the opposite. Put all of this together, and you've got a very solid episode of Supernatural!

Before I get to the plot I want to mention Cas really briefly... I know some people are upset about how he isn't in this episode, and he wasn't in the last one... and there's really been very little mention of him. But here's what I see: they only have Misha for a certain amount of episodes this season. And if that's the case, it's a good thing we're not seeing him in any of the C-plot episodes. They're saving him up to be in all of the A-plot stuff for the rest of the season! And I'm so excited! I just felt like throwing my two cents in because I've been seeing people getting upset about no Cas. And yeah, I miss him too!

But now onto the plot. Dean and Sam take on a case in Stillwater, Minnesota, in which a 300 pound man is reduced to 90 pounds and found dead in his car. Later, it happens to another girl at the gym. The Winchesters find strange suction marks on the victims, and what's more, they see the same mark on a skinny trainer at the gym. After doing some research, Dean discovers that this trainer had recently taken a trip to a nearby health spa. Sam and Dean go undercover (as a trainer and a cafeteria worker, respectively) hoping to discover what these weird suction marks are about. While there, Sam discovers that all of the guests have the suction marks.

Castle: Dressed to Kill (6x14)

Interesting. This week, Castle travels into the world of fashion, which is extremely cut-throat. To me, this sort of felt like a condensed version of The Devil Wears Prada with a little dash of murder thrown in. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing, but it did make the episode feel extremely derivative.

The plot: at a high end fashion magazine, the Editor in Chief Matilda King rules the roost. However, things get complicated when her assistant is found murdered. The case twists and turns a lot, because nobody is sure if Matilda or the assistant was the person being messed with. The magazine is going through a sensitive time, because it has just been bought by a new owner who wants to change things considerably. The case gets more and more twisted as the team finds a bug in the assistant's apartment, learns about competing magazines, and more. In the end, it turns out a member of Matilda's own magazine is responsible for the murder. He was looking to take over Matilda's job.

Meanwhile, we find out that Beckett and Matilda King actually know each other. Beckett had once almost modeled for her. At one point during the case, Matilda has Beckett try on a wedding dress, which Kate loves. Earlier on, Castle and Beckett had finally agreed on the perfect venue for their wedding. Only one problem - it's extremely popular, and there aren't any spots open until 2015. However, when a couple drops out, they have a chance for the wedding to take place in Spring of 2014. Castle calls to tell Beckett this while she's wearing the wedding dress. She hesitates and tells him no, that she doesn't want to rush anything. Later, she admits to Castle that she hesitated because trying on the dress made her think of her mother, and how much she wishes she could be a part of all of this.

How I Met Your Mother: Sunrise (9x17)

There were three very distinct plot threads in this episode. I had some serious qualms with all of them, to be honest. I just keep thinking about how stagnant this show is. We're given the same stories again and again. Or, if they start to push it in a new direction, everything still comes back around to where we left it. Maybe that's not quite fair... there were a few moments of actual significance hidden in here, and there were some bits that were quite funny. Let's look at each plot thread in turn.

Barney: Still drunk, Barney wanders the streets, staggering around until he meets two men and declares that he's going to teach them how to live. He takes them to a strip club, and then later to a party where he uses his "haaaave you met ____" trick to hook them up with girls. At the end of the night, he gives them a stack of napkins on which he has penned "The Playbook," and disappears before either of the boys even find out his name.

Okay, this was the thread that made me seriously roll my eyes. This show cannot seem to make up its mind about Barney's character. Is he really changed? Well, he's marrying Robin, and he got rid of The Playbook. But, in this episode we see him joke about how he'll only go to strip clubs once a week (even though we know Robin doesn't approve) and he bequeaths The Playbook to someone else. I've been willing to overlook a lot of sexist crap in this show, but the point is, Barney's sexcapades are sexist. And I thought the show was growing Barney's character away from that sort of behavior. Instead, he's just passing it all on to someone else. How annoying. Also, this thread did absolutely nothing to further any overarching plot. You could make an argument that Barney was saying goodbye to his old way of life, but... hadn't he already done that? This plot was the shallowest of the shallow, and when contrasted to the other two, felt very out of place.

The Vampire Diaries: The Devil Inside (5x12)

Does anyone else feel like this show is running in circles? Damon's bad... again? Really? Truly? Do you think I want to watch this crap anymore? Sighhhh. Let's take a look.

So, Katherine is in Elena's body, but Nadia is worried about Elena popping back to consciousness at any given time, so she contacts her Traveler friend to do a spell that will permanently tie Katherine to Elena's body. In order to do this spell, the Traveler needs Katherine's corpse. Damon, however, has disposed of the corpse and he's not telling anyone where it is - he just says that Katherine is back where she was always supposed to be.

Aaron shows up to the girls' dorm room trying to find Elena, but instead just finds Caroline, who is cleaning the apartment to work through her stress and guilt about Klaus. Aaron tells Caroline that he has inherited his family's money and cut Wes off from funding Augustine, so it looks like that problem is done with. However, Aaron's problems have just begun, as he runs into Enzo. Damon finds Enzo in his house (doesn't Jeremy have to invite him in?) with a body bag. Inside that bag is Aaron, still alive. Enzo tells Damon to kill Aaron, or Enzo will do it himself. Instead, Damon compels Aaron to get out of town and never look back.

Elementary: Dead Clade Walking (2x14)

Hmmm... I have a bit of a mixed reaction to this episode. There were parts of it I really enjoyed. The case was quite interesting. Joan and Sherlock both got to do some cool investigative stuff. And there was a lovely subplot with Sherlock's fellow drug addict Randy. However, on the flip side of that, I felt a bit miffed about some of the larger things the episode was saying - especially about Joan and Sherlock's relationship, and their power dynamic. Let's dive right in to the plot.

Joan finds some new information in a cold case that Sherlock had worked back before he got clean. She consults a geologist named Gay about a strange rock found in the victim's yard. Later, when they have the rock subjected to further study, it is revealed that it contains a full dinosaur skeleton, and a rare one at that. Joan is on the case, following up several leads. Sherlock is also working on the case, but he is constantly interrupted by Randy, who is going through a hard time.

Sherlock struggles in his duties as a sober sponsor, because Randy's problems involve ex-girlfriend trouble. Randy's ex is a drug addict, and she wants to move in with Randy while she tries to get clean. Sherlock of course thinks this is a terrible idea, but he's not very good at communicating this kindly to Randy.

The Big Bang Theory: The Convention Conundrum (7x14)

You know what, I'm so sick and tired of seeing this supposedly "nerdy" show dismiss nerdy things as childish and insignificant. It makes me so mad when something like Comic Con is treated like the punchline to a joke instead of as a meaningful community experience. Ugh. Let's look at the plot.

The guys try to get Comic Con tickets, but they don't succeed. Leonard, Raj, and Howard decide to buy scalped tickets, but they chicken out at the last second, worried that they'll get in trouble. Sheldon decides to start his own comic book convention, and after he fails to get any good guests, he uses twitter to track down James Earl Jones. He shows up where Jones is eating dinner, and the two of them bond over their shared love for Star Wars. They make a fun night of it, singing karaoke, going to a carnival, and even ding-dong-ditching Carrie Fisher. By the end of the night, Sheldon is a bit exhausted, but it's all worth it when James Earl Jones invites Sheldon and his friends to attend Comic Con as his guests.

Parks and Recreation: Ann and Chris (6x13)

Awwww. I know I've been complaining the past couple of weeks about all the Ann and Chris plots, but now that they've left, I'm really going to miss them. I'd say let's take a look at the plot, but in reality not much really happened in this episode. It was more of a character-oriented story.

Basically, Ann and Chris are getting ready to move away from Pawnee. So, Leslie, in true Leslie Knope fashion, throws an elaborate goodbye party for them. The party includes aspects of every holiday for the next year, just in case Leslie doesn't get to celebrate them with Ann. She also tries to fulfill her promise to Ann from when they first met, and break ground on the Pawnee Park. Things get complicated when she is blocked by another government official, but eventually she - sort of - manages to get the groundbreaking to go forward. Gifts are exchanged, and the guys feel bad for not getting anything good for Chris, while he gives them very thoughtful presents. Eventually, they find a good gift - a memory box for Chris to put memories of his new life with Ann into. Ann and Chris say their tearful goodbyes, and leave Pawnee.

Supernatural: Sharp Teeth (9x12)

Gaaaaarth! Woo. Okay, plot-y-plot time. (I'm in a silly sort of mood, so my apologies...)

This was a C-plot episode, with some strong (and rather depressing) character elements in it as well. We start off with Garth, who gets shot at by an angry farmer and then hit by a car. Sam and Dean both show up to investigate the Garth situation, although they do so separately, unaware that the other will be there. Garth wakes up, doesn't give them any firm answers (he merely says he was on a hunt), and disappears. Dean tries to get Sam to give up on the case and leave, but Sam insists on staying. Sam also learns about the Mark of Cain, and working a case with Crowley and all that, although Dean doesn't really go into details.

Sam and Dean find Garth with a woman - Bess, his wife. It turns out that Garth is now a werewolf. He has been for the past six months. While at first he thought he was doomed, he was actually found my a family of werewolves that have been living peacefully for many generations. Dean is extremely skeptical of this new "peaceful" family, but he goes with Garth to a family dinner, where he meets several werewolves who were born into the lifestyle, never having been bitten. Everything seems okay, and Sam is ready to believe that this is the real thing.