The Walking Dead: Crossed (5x07)

Eep! We finally got an ensemble-based episode where we got to check in with all of our characters! I was missing the big ensemble-based feel of the show, so it was nice to have it back.

First of all, we spend a little bit of time with the DC gang. Maybe we can't call them that anymore. But in any case, Eugene is still out cold, and Abraham appears to be in a bit of a trance. He won't talk to anybody or drink any water. Glenn, Tara and Rosita go off to find more water while Maggie stays with Eugene and Abraham. Glenn, Tara and Rosita all seem to bond, as Tara tries to make jokes to lessen the tension, and they even succeed in catching some fish! In the end, Eugene starts to wake up, and Abraham, seemingly relieved not to have killed him, finally drinks some water.

Inside the hospital, Beth is horrified to learn of Dawn's decision to cut off Carol's medication, because it is taking too many resources to save her life. However, Dawn tells Beth that she had to side with one of the cops in this matter, to maintain the balance of things. She gives Beth the key to the medicine cabinet and tells her to save Carol herself. Beth does so, using some of the other patients to help her with her plan to get Carol the medicine.

The Legend of Korra: Remembrances (4x08)

Okay, okay, so this was a clip show. I've actually never had to review a clip show before, so this is a bit new to me. I'll start off by saying: the reason for this is all about the budget. They needed to fill the number of episodes and a quick way to make a cheap episode is to do a recap. Is it annoying? Yes. But I actually thought they did a good thing here. For one, I was actually in need of a reminder about some of the stuff from Seasons One and Two. For another, they didn't just have a few little intro scenes and then bombard us with old images. They actually sustained a new narrative with new dialogue over these images, which is frankly more effort than I would have expected. And, they managed to get a lot of humor in! I'm gonna mention some of my favorite things.

The first of the three narratives was Mako talking to Wu about his past with Korra and Asami. This was probably the weakest of the three, and that's mostly because the love triangle was always a weak point in the show for me. However, I did love Wu's constant interruptions. I also found Mako's conclusion to be really satisfying. He admits that it won't work out between him and Korra, but that Korra taught him so many amazing things about himself, and he's happy to fight by her side and be her friend. That's lovely!

The second narrative shows Asami comforting Korra, who has been wondering if she's completely useless as the Avatar, because even when she defeats a bad guy, another one just takes over. Asami reminds Korra of all the good that has come out of each of her fights with evil. Because of Amon, Non-Benders have finally gotten a voice in the world, in a way that they hadn't for a long time. Because of Unalaq, the Spirit World has been reunited with the physical world. Because of Zaheer, Korra learned to be stronger than ever. In the end, Tenzin and Asami convince her that she is an important part of the world.

The Vampire Diaries: Fade Into You (6x08)

Okay so this show is confusing sometimes. And there are always these really complicated magical rituals and rules thrown in, and there's a serious problem with exposition overload, and all sorts of other things to complain about... but yet I still love it. Let's take a look at the plot of this episode.

Caroline decides to hold a "friendsgiving" dinner. Everyone is invited except for Stefan. At the dinner, Liam shows up and asks for Elena's forgiveness. Liv seems to be in a terrible mood, and Tyler wonders what's wrong. Luke shows a video of himself and Liv as babies, and Jo recognizes her voice in the video. She realizes that Liv and Luke are her siblings.

Jo then tells the story of her coven, the "Gemini Coven." Apparently, twins are meant to rule the coven. Jo and Kai were twins, but when the family realized how unstable Kai was, and how he took other people's magic, they realized that he couldn't lead them. Kai and Jo's parents kept having more kids until another set of twins was born. Kai, furious, killed four of their other siblings. But, Jo protected Liv and Luke and they managed to get away. Kai was then trapped by the rest of his coven in the purgatory where we've seen him with Damon and Bonnie.

Turns out, after the twins' 22nd birthday, they are supposed to merge together. The stronger twin absorbs the powers of the weaker, who then dies. Liv is of course upset about the prospect, but Tyler tells her that she shouldn't have to cave to family pressure. He vows to protect her.

The Big Bang Theory: The Champagne Reflection (8x10)

Ughhh why do I watch this show?! This episode pissed me off because it was mostly pretty funny, and I was chuckling at a lot of the jokes, but then there were two moments of utterly infuriating and offensive humor, and it just makes me too angry to enjoy any of the episode. Grrr. Let us start with the plot.

Sheldon and Amy record Sheldon's very last "Fun with Flags" episode. Sheldon shows past highlights and brings on guest star LeVar Burton. He continually brings up an incident in which Amy forgot to hit "record" on the camera, so that one of the episodes was never recorded at all. Amy says she's sorry, but she gets more and more frustrated with Sheldon's passive-agressiveness. In the end, nobody seems to care that "Fun with Flags" is over. That is, until one comment on YouTube laments the end of the show. Sheldon instantly decides to bring it back.

Most of this was so funny. Sheldon and Amy's bickering, the highlights of past episodes, Sheldon using the "white flag" for one of its uses, as a hankie, as he says goodbye, etc. However, there were two horrifically offensive things in this plot thread. The first was when Sheldon asks LeVar Burton if something is racist or not. Basically, although we don't see it, the implication is that Sheldon dressed in black face or in some other racially offensive way. I'm sorry, but jokes like this are not funny. The only way this could be okay is if Sheldon came to a realization about how horrible he was, and apologizes for his error. But no. He just brushes it off and says it wasn't racist. Later, he asks Burton if he would like to dress up as a swastika while they talk about German flags. What the ever living Hell, you guys. Not okay. Not funny. Seriously. It's possible to be funny without being horrifically offensive. Wow.

Elementary: Bella (3x04)

Well apparently this is a two-part episode! We're left at the end with things still up in the air... a murderer is still on the loose! Let's see, where to begin?

Sherlock is asked to consult on a very strange case. Edwin Borstein wants Sherlock to help him catch a man who has made a copy of a computer program called "Bella," a highly advanced AI program. Sherlock is instantly fascinated by Bella, as he attempts to prove that she has no real intelligence, as Edwin and his partner suggest might be possible. Sherlock is unable to definitively prove that Bella does not have actual intelligence. He enlists a group of people to help him sort out the puzzle, including Joan's boyfriend Andrew.

Sherlock, Kitty and Joan are able to solve the case and discover the thief responsible for stealing a copy of Bella. However, a new case soon appears - Edwin Borstein turns up dead, a victim of an epileptic seizure caused by a series of brightly flashing images on the computers which house Bella. Edwin's partner thinks that Bella might have murdered Edwin, but Sherlock thinks this is preposterous. He is convinced that Bella has no real intelligence. An investigation proves that Edwin had a flesh-and-blood murderer. The images that caused his seizure were put onto a CD given to him by an internet friend who enjoyed death metal. The friend, it turns out, is innocent. The disk was switched out by a supposed cleaning service.

Who ran this elaborate scam? Apparently, a professor and his devoted student. The two of them think that artificial intelligence is going to threaten humanity, and to draw attention to their position, they decided to frame Bella for the murder of her creator. The student, a young woman, readily admits to the crime. However, Sherlock cannot trap the professor into confessing as well. He tries to blackmail the professor with his druggie little brother, but the professor rightly predicts that Sherlock will not be able to turn on a fellow addict. As the episode ends, Sherlock asks Bella if he should let a murderer go free, or if he should ensure he is caught at the expense of turning in a drug addict.

Grey's Anatomy: Risk (11x08)

Winter finale! Lots of cliffhangers and dangling plot threads here. I can't believe they're making us wait. Let's take this one plot thread at a time.

A patient with both heart and brain problems is running out of time. When Maggie asks Derek for a consultation, he wants to do the brain surgery first. Maggie thinks the heart surgery needs to go first. She asks Meredith for her opinion, and Meredith sides with her, over Derek. Derek then brings in Richard to take his side. Since Maggie is the head of the department, and it's her patient, she gets to make the final call. She chooses to do the heart surgery, and luckily the girl doesn't suffer brain damage, as Derek was afraid she might. Throughout the day, Meredith wonders if she's only digging her heals in because she and Derek are fighting, but ultimately with Alex's help she realizes that she would do the same thing for this patient even if it wasn't Derek arguing the other side. Richard fears that he is only making things worse with Maggie by taking Derek's side with this patient, but Bailey tells him that he has nothing left to apologize for. In the end, Maggie asks Richard to teach her about his risk analysis method, and the two make plans to get coffee. Derek gets offered the job in DC again, and when he and Meredith are fighting, again, about the whole thing, Derek decides to take the job. Meredith tells him to go.

This was an excellent plot. I'm really glad that Meredith and Maggie were right about the patient, but I liked how it really could have gone either way. Meredith and Derek might have been a bit antagonistic with each other, but they both had some good points to make, and they both had reasons to think they were right. Maggie and Richard's little moment at the end was quite sweet, as Maggie admires Richard's professional skill, and Richard finally sees a way to get closer to his new-found daughter. Bailey didn't have a lot to do, but I like that we're keeping up with her resolution to be healthier. (Incidentally, ABC has some sort of deal with the Fitbit, since both this show and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have featured it recently). Of course, Meredith and Derek had the most dramatic part of the plot. Very effective scene. I'm really worried for these two, and I can't wait to see how they find their way back to one another. In particular, I admired the use of flashbacks to their earlier relationship to cement both how far they have come, and how much they truly have to lose.

Parenthood: Lean In (6x09)

Okay... I don't know. There were a few things that I'm a little bit nervous about. But, for the most part I thought it was a really good episode. Let's just take this one step at a time.

First, you've got Julia and Joel. They still haven't signed their divorce papers, and Joel is insistent that he wants to talk to Julia some more. Julia tells Chris that she's having lunch with Joel, just to help give him some closure. At lunch, Joel makes a speech about how much he loves Julia, and how he wants a second chance. When Julia tells Chris that she and Joel still haven't signed the papers, Chris starts to question what's going on. Julia insists that Chris shouldn't pressure her, but Chris breaks things off between them, convinced that Julia is still in love with Joel. Julia talks to her mother about her relationship, and while Camille says that marriage is about forgiveness, Julia says she doesn't think she can forgive Joel. Even though they have both made mistakes, Joel is the one who gave up on their marriage, and Julia doesn't know if she can forgive that. Later, Julia goes over to Joel's place and brings the divorce papers. She signs them, and says it's time for Joel to do the same. Instead, the two of them end up making out.

I liked this. A lot. I have been waiting and waiting for Julia and Joel to find their way back to each other! I like that this isn't so cut and dry. I still don't know if they're going to get back together, or if this is some sort of way of saying goodbye. A final moment of weakness. That ambiguity makes the moment all the more touching and bittersweet. I will say this, though... Chris turned into a jerk right at the end. He totally was pressuring Julia! I mean, I get why he would be upset with her, but he's new to this whole situation. Julia and Joel have been married for years. He can't expect the end of that relationship to suit his timetable. I think ultimately this was a strong plot thread, even if Chris ended up more of a jerk than I would have liked.

Modern Family: Three Turkeys (6x08)

Yay! I've said again and again that Modern Family shines the brightest when all of the family comes together. It allows for so many creative opportunities. Let's take a look at this Thanksgiving-themed episode.

On Thanksgiving, we see Phil preparing the meal. He has agreed to make the food this year, to give Claire a break, but of course she is nervous that he is going to mess the whole thing up. She prepares a backup turkey, and she and Alex wait to swoop in and save the dinner from Phil and Luke, if need be. Claire and Alex accidentally blow the fuse while they're in the garage, which means that they all have to move the Thanksgiving dinner over to Jay and Gloria's house.

Jay and Gloria, meanwhile are lying about their own Thanksgiving. They had plans to be in Mexico, but when the trip got cancelled, they decided to pretend to still be in Mexico so they can have a quiet holiday together. When Claire, Phil, and the kids show up at the house, Jay and Gloria try to hide in the bedroom to get away from everyone.

Mitch and Cam, meanwhile, have been having some problems with Lily. Cam spoils her, so she never does as she's told. When Cam tells Lily to put on the dress they got her for Thanksgiving, Lily does so by putting the dress over the clothes she's already wearing. When they get to Jay and Gloria's house, Mitch and Cam decide to make a point by wearing some of Gloria's dresses to show Lily how silly she's being.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Things We Bury (2x08)

Loved it! Great episode. Answered a lot of questions and raised a lot of new questions. Very, very awesome. I mean, I missed Fitzsimmons again, but we'll get them back eventually. I hope. Let's just talk about what happened first.

So, Bobbi is interrogating one of HYDRA's people, Bakshi. He lets something slip that makes it sound like Whitehall knew Red Skull personally. Simmons, Lance, Bobbi, and May all dig into some old files at the base. These files were hidden there by Peggy Carter. Through these files, and through a series of flashbacks, we learn the true origins of Whitehall.

His original name was Reinhardt, and he was a Nazi scientist working with the Obelisk. He finds out that certain people can touch it, but others die when they do. Peggy Carter arrests Reinhardt, and he remains in prison for several decades. He is then released by Alexander Pierce, and brought to a woman who he had met back in the 40's. The weird thing? She hasn't aged. Reinhardt does tests on this woman, cutting her up and leaving her completely torn apart. He uses what he learns to de-age himself, and then he takes on the name Whitehall and continues on with HYDRA.

Skye's father has been working with Whitehall on the Obelisk, but as part of the flashbacks we see him discover the woman that Reinhardt killed, and vow to do the same thing to Reinhardt. This woman - you guessed it - is Skye's mother.

Supernatural: Ask Jeeves (10x06)

Okay do you guys remember that episode in Season Eight, "Trial and Error," where Sam completes the first trial? It had a family of snooty rich people in it, and while that episode had some good things in it, the snooty family kinda sucked. They were lame and cliche and I was not a fan. Well, when I saw the promo for "Ask Jeeves," I thought I might have similar complaints. However, I am happy to report that I was wrong. Let's do a quick plot summary.

Dean finds one of Bobby's old phones, which contains a message about an heiress named Bunny, who has recently died and has apparently left Bobby something in the will. Sam and Dean decide to go check it out. When they get there, they find a morally bankrupt family of entitled jerks. The butler tells Sam and Dean that the only thing they've inherited is a key. There are jewels on it, but apparently they aren't real. Sam and Dean come back to the house to find that there has been a murder, and that since they were in the house around the time of death, they have to stick around to be questioned by the police.

Things start unraveling rather quickly after that - somebody believes that the murderer was the ghost of Bunny's dead husband. Sam and Dean think this might be a vengeful spirit thing going on, but when Sam finds the body of the butler at the same time as Dean thinks he's talking to the butler, they realize: it's a shifter. They use silverware to surreptitiously check each of the house's inhabitants, but nobody sizzles. Later, the family turns on Sam and Dean - after all, nobody started dying until these two strangers turned up! They lock Sam and Dean in a room.

Castle: Once Upon a Time in the West (7x07)

Again with the adorable. Last week was sweet and romantic and just so wonderful, this week was funny and playful and again showcased the strongest thing about this show: Beckett and Castle's relationship. Let's dive right in.

In an unusual move for this show, we actually briefly see our murder victim alive at the beginning of the episode, in the hospital. She is dying, but she manages to drop a few hints before she dies, which makes the doctors believe she might have been murdered. The team is called in to investigate.

In order to do so, Beckett and Castle go under cover as a newly wed couple (funny, that) at a dude ranch in Arizona. While there, they learn that the murdered woman was apparently having an affair with a married man. When they find the man, however, Castle learns that she came on to him and he rejected her. Turns out, it was a ploy to get the man's key, which opened a shed with dynamite in it. What was the dynamite for? Apparently she was searching for some lost gold and needed to blow open its hiding place! Castle and Beckett find the place where the gold is supposed to be, but when they open the crate they find a body instead.

Turns out, the victim was the daughter of a man who, along with two partners, found the gold several years ago. One of the men is dead in the crate. One of them gets brought in for questioning by Ryan and Espo. They believe he must be the killer. But no - it's the third partner, who works at the dude ranch. He and Castle have a showdown, but Beckett turns up in time to save Castle, and the man is arrested.

The Walking Dead: Consumed (5x06)

I am super annoyed right now because I actually wrote out most of this review, and then I lost the whole thing. So. I apologize for my brevity, but I don't feel like putting the time in to redo this. Grrrrr.

This was a great episode. It focused on Daryl and Carol, connecting back to the time we saw them drive off in pursuit of the car with white crosses. They follow the car to Atlanta. They decide to lay low and try to watch, to see what's going on and what has happened to Beth. After staying in a building that used to be a temporary shelter (Carol and Sophia had once stayed there to get away from Carol's husband), Carol and Daryl decide to find a high vantage point to look over the city. They come across Noah (Beth's friend from the hospital) who takes their weapons. Daryl stops Carol from shooting Noah, saying that he is just a kid.

Daryl and Carol find a van with the white crosses on it, and upon investigation they find stuff from a hospital, which gives them further clues about Beth. However, this van is hanging precariously off a bridge, and when a hoard of Walkers show up, they are forced to get inside the van and hope for the best when it falls to the lower level. They do alright, although Carol does injure her shoulder. Back at the shelter, they find Noah. Daryl wants to leave him trapped under a bookcase and let the Walkers get him, but Carol says no. Eventually, Daryl concedes rescues Noah. At this point they realize that Noah is on the run from the people in the hospital, and Noah tells them that he knows Beth.

As Carol, Daryl and Noah go outside, Carol is hit by a police car. The people load her up onto a stretcher. Noah stops Daryl from going after her, saying that those people are the only ones who can help her. Noah and Daryl find a car and head back towards Rick and the rest of the group, determined to find people and guns to storm the hospital and get Beth and Carol back.

Once Upon a Time: Smash the Mirror Part 1/Part 2 (4x08/09)

Okay! Double episode! I'm going to try to reign myself in and keep the plot summary to a minimum, but there were so many things going on here!

Let's start with the Arendelle plot. We see Ingrid sneak off to hide the Sorcerer's Hat, and then go talk to the Sorcerer's Apprentice. She wishes to make a deal with the Sorcerer - she will return the Hat to him, if he helps her to find her third magical sister. The Sorcerer's Apprentice agrees, because the Hat is very important.

Back in the castle, Ingrid tells Elsa that Anna was planning on taking away her magic with a magic hat. Elsa pretends to believe Ingrid, going down to the dungeons to yell at Anna. Once she sends the guards away, Elsa tells Anna that of course she believes in her - the two of them now know that Ingrid is no good, and they decide they have to trap her in the urn again. Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff search the castle to find the urn. Once they do, Elsa brings Anna back down to the dungeons. The plan is to send Ingrid down to the dungeons to banish Anna, but Anna will be waiting with the urn to trap Ingrid.

However, the plan goes awry - it turns out that Ingrid was ready for this possibility. She casts a spell on Anna, the Spell of Shattered Sight. It makes it so she can only see the worst in her sister. Later, she confronts Elsa about their childhood, yelling at her for shutting her out all those years. Elsa is hurt, but when Ingrid shows up she realizes the truth - Ingrid must have cast a spell on Anna to make her say those things! Ingrid says the spell only reveals Anna's deepest, truest feelings. Ingrid tells Elsa to hurt Anna, but Elsa refuses. Anna captures Elsa with the urn. Once she does, she comes out of the curse and realizes what she's done. Ingrid decides to embrace her villainy, and she freezes the castle, along with Anna and Kristoff. She also uses magic to erase some of Elsa's memories while she is inside the urn.

The Legend of Korra: Reunion (4x07)

Bolin is a bad ass! I love him!!! Seriously, he was kicking some serious butt in this episode. I can't wait for him and Varrick to get back to Republic City and tell their friends what's going on. Let's start with the plot.

Korra is back in Republic City! She reunites with Tenzin, Bumi, Asami and Mako. They all wonder  where Bolin is. Asami, Mako and Korra have plans to go out to dinner together, but unfortunately Mako can't get away from Prince Wu, so he comes to dinner as well. While at dinner, it seems that both Asami and Mako, while happy to see Korra, are a little bit pissed at her for not keeping in touch over the past three years. However, their friendship spats will have to wait, because Wu gets abducted on his way to the bathroom! It seems Kuvira wants him.

Korra, Asami and Mako have to save Wu - they try to chase down the car that took him, but it seems that his kidnappers have eluded them. Korra connects to some Spirits using a technique she learned from Toph, and is able to find out that Wu is headed towards the train station.

The three friends manage to get there in time, and they rescue Wu from a moving train! Korra, Asami and Mako all hug it out, apologizing for being snippy with each other earlier. They decide Wu has to go into hiding, and so they bring him to Asami's family's property, where Mako and Bolin's family has been staying.

Elementary: Just a Regular Irregular (3x03)

Great episode! This show has really hit its stride this season. I'm still loving Kitty. And I actually really loved this exploration of Sherlock's character, and how he handles his relationships. Let's start with a plot summary!

Harlan Emple, who previously appeared in the Season Two episode "Solve for X," discovers a dead body while working on a mathematician scavenger hunt/puzzle thing. The team try to solve the case by looking for other mathematicians who were probably solving the puzzle. Turns out, there's a huge monetary reward for being the first to solve the puzzle. However, as the case unfolds, we learn that this isn't the motivation after all. Harlan Emple has actually become an online crusader, revealing to the world instances in which math has been used to exploit the system. Specifically, Harlan revealed a flaw in a certain type of scratch ticket that meant that people could guess which number combos would be winners. A man who has been exploiting this system decide he must kill Harlan. Of course, Harlan goes by a pseudonym on the internet, so in order to track him down, the killer sets up the math puzzle to lure math geniuses out in the open. Sherlock calls the man he suspects of being the murderer and tells him where to find Harlan. When the guy shows up to kill Harlan, he instead finds himself in an apartment with the police. He is arrested.

Meanwhile, Joan asks Kitty for help with a case. It's just a simple one, no murder involved, but Joan wants to give Kitty something to work on. Sherlock encourages Joan to continue forging this relationship with Kitty. Joan worries that Kitty needs more help than Sherlock can give her. Maybe she should be talking to a therapist or going to a support group. Sherlock suggests this to Kitty, even though he's asked her in the past, and Kitty finally agrees to go. We see Joan go with her to the meeting.

Parenthood: Aaron Brownstein Must Be Stopped (6x08)

You know, this whole last season of Parenthood has been sort of truncated for budget reasons, so that every episode we inevitably don't see several of our core characters. This week there was no Sarah, Zeek, Camille, Julia, Joel, or Adam. But actually, I think it's working in the show's favor. I was a big fan of what this episode did, and by focusing on only some of the story lines, we had enough time to delve a bit deeper. Let's go plot by plot.

Max asks Kristina how to ask out a girl. Kristina tries to make Max wait before taking this big step with Dylan, but Max insists that he is going to ask her out. However, when he tries to find her at school to ask her, he finds her kissing Aaron Brownstein. Max then asks his mother to expel Aaron. When Kristina won't, Max then turns to the students, handing out flyers with a list of all Aaron's punishable offenses. The two boys get into a fight, and Max blurts out that he saw Aaron and Dylan kissing. Kristina explains to Max that what he did was not okay, but that it's okay to feel hurt. Dylan comes over to the house later that night and says she's sorry to Kristina. She doesn't know why she likes Aaron, but she just does. She also says she's never going to feel that way about Max.

The next day, Max makes Dylan a collage to express his love for her. Dylan's friends mock him for it, but Dylan is just confused and upset. She finally blurts out that she will never love Max. Max runs out of the school. Kristina follows and tells Max he was very brave for making the collage and telling Dylan how he feels. She gives him a hug and tells him that someday he'll meet the right girl.

You know my favorite thing about this plot thread? Nobody was mad at Dylan for not liking Max. Nobody accused her of leading him on or of being a bad person for not just giving in and saying yes. It's okay that she doesn't like him in that way. Kristina, even while hurting for Max, also understands how hard this must be for Dylan. I loved the complexities here, as Kristina has been afraid of this very thing since the beginning, and yet she sympathizes with Dylan's situation. Great performance from Max Burkholder this week, as I really felt all of his sadness and anger shine through. It was nice that Kristina and Max shared a hug, too.

The Vampire Diaries: Do You Remember the First Time? (6x07)

I liked this episode, because it remained pretty simple. It didn't try to do too many things, so it didn't confuse me like this show sometimes does. Let's get started.

To Damon's horror, Elena does not remember their relationship when she sees him. She is apologetic, however, since she feels strange not being able to access such a large part of her life. At a benefit for the hospital, Elena goes with Liam. Damon shows up to "stalk" her, as Alaric puts it. Damon and Alaric are in a rocky phase of their bromance, since Damon is pissed at Rick for compelling Elena in the first place. However, he is happy that Rick is alive. At the event, Tyler is helping Liv as a waiter. Their romance is a slow-burn. Luke reminds Liv not to get attached, because their coven could call them back at any time.

Damon meets Liam, and seems determined to steal Elena away. Elena tells Damon that she wants to remember, so the two of them go to the last place Elena told Damon she loved him, hoping to trigger a memory. It doesn't work. No matter what happens, it seems Elena's memories are gone. She decides to cross the town border, which of course means she starts to choke on water and drown again, but memories of Damon start flashing back into her mind. However, Damon pulls her back across before the compulsion can wear off. As Damon drops Elena off at her apartment, he tells her that he wants her to be happy, so he's going to let her go. Elena, who was starting to remember something, watches Damon go in confusion.

Grey's Anatomy: Can We Start Again, Please? (11x07)

Wow! This was an amazing episode! Last week, I wasn't too happy with a lot of the plot elements, but this week there was really nothing that I didn't love. Several of the things that I didn't care about in the past suddenly became interesting to me. Let's look at the plot.

A married couple comes into the hospital, having jumped out a window to avoid a fire. The husband is holding the wife in his arms. The paramedics think the wife is dead, and the husband refuses to let go of her. Eventually they convince him to, and when they move the wife they find out that she has a pulse after all. The surgeons set to work on fixing them up. When this couples' grown daughter shows up at the hospital, she recognizes Amelia from their Narcotics Anonymous meetings and says she wants another surgeon, yelling loudly that Amelia is an addict in front of a bunch of people.

Amelia asks Richard what to do, and Richard says that she did nothing wrong. Owen tries to ask Amelia about it, but she won't talk to him. When Owen asks Derek if Amelia is sober, and if she's the best person for the job, Derek hesitates, and Owen draws his own conclusions. Derek feels terrible about it, and he addresses the board, telling them that he led Owen to believe something that wasn't true, because he wanted his old job as Chief of Neuro back. Later, Derek confesses to Amelia that he's been feeling angry and helpless all the time, and Amelia says that addicts call that "rock bottom."

The Big Bang Theory: The Septum Deviation (8x09)

You won't believe this, but there was actually a joke in The Big Bang Theory that made me laugh out loud. Miracle of miracles. First let's do the plot.

Leonard discovers that he has a deviated septum, and he has decided to get a minor surgery to fix it. Sheldon doesn't want Leonard to get the surgery, due to the risks. He tries to figure out the odds of Leonard dying, and as he describes everything that could go wrong, Leonard promises he'll think more about the surgery. Then, without telling Sheldon, he and Penny go to the hospital for him to get the surgery.

Sheldon figures it out, because Amy tells him due to his prodding. In the hospital waiting room, a minor earthquake tremor causes a brief power outage. Sheldon, panicking about Leonard, tries to rush to find him, and ends up hitting a glass door and falling over. We next see Leonard and Sheldon back at home with matching bandaged noses. Leonard teases Sheldon about his dependency issues. Later, Sheldon opens a package with monogrammed urns inside. One is for Leonard, with a message that basically says "I told you so," and the other is for Sheldon, that says "I'm with stupid."

This was actually very sweet. They took a simple premise and did what they could with it, infusing some touching friendship stuff in with an otherwise light plot. The urn thing was particularly hilarious. I also liked how Penny said she was going to spend the rest of her life with Leonard, and Sheldon said that he was too. Leonard and Sheldon have such a funny friendship.

Modern Family: Queer Eyes, Full Hearts (6x07)

Three plots. I'm gonna go fast.

Firstly, we've got Gloria, Jay, and Manny's plot. Gloria hires Diego, a Spanish tutor, to help Manny learn the language. Manny is uninterested, and wants to learn French instead. Diego is a very attractive young man, and Jay gets jealous, watching Gloria and Diego chatter away in Spanish, so he signs a slip of paper that gives Manny permission to switch over to French. Gloria is upset - she says that she's tired of not being able to speak her own language in her own home. Jay then hires Diego back, but not for Manny - for himself. Gloria is touched that Jay wants to learn Spanish.

This was very cute. In sitcoms, I always love it when we can put a serious theme or idea into a comedic premise in a way that feels respectful. Here, we see Jay being jealous of this young hot Spanish guy, but throughout the comedy of that, we still get the more serious angle: Gloria feels lonely when she can't speak Spanish with her loved ones! Her son's rejection of his heritage hurts her. I liked what Gloria said about how smart she is in Spanish. That was a good point, and one that I had never considered before. (Also, of course, this episode contained a few hilarious lines of dialogue including: "What could be more natural than a mother's tongue in your year?" That was great.)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Writing on the Wall (2x07)

Let's just jump straight in, shall we?

This was a Coulson-centric episode, which was actually nice, since we haven't had a lot of breathing room to focus on him and his decent into madness.

Coulson's compulsion to carve the strange symbols is getting worse and worse. Another T.A.H.I.T.I. patient shows up dead, with those symbols carved into her skin. Coulson decides that he needs to go into the memory machine to remember the things that have been taken from him. He does so, recalling disturbing memories of all the T.A.H.I.T.I. patients slowly losing their minds, until they finally had their minds erased and new identities given to them. Coulson is in danger of dying in the machine, but he does manage to tell Skye and the others the names of the other patients.

Once he's taken out of the machine, Coulson seems a bit unstable. Skye calls May (I'll talk about her plot in a second), and May tells the team to lock Coulson up until she can get back. Coulson seems to concede to this, but when Skye escorts him downstairs, he traps Skye in the holding cell. Coulson then goes to track down the last living T.A.H.I.T.I. patient, but when he arrives, he is captured by the man who killed the other woman. In the struggle, Coulson finally discovers the truth - the carvings have to be viewed in three dimensions. It's a blueprint to a city!

Coulson comes clean to the whole team about what's been happening to him. Turns out, now that he's seen the city-scape, his compulsion is gone and he is no longer in danger of losing his mind. Since HYDRA will also be searching for the city, Coulson decides to make it a priority for S.H.I.E.L.D. to find it first.

Supernatural: Fan Fiction (10x05)

I... I loved it. I can't believe I loved it. Honestly, I didn't want to judge this episode prematurely, but I was secretly kind of dreading it. I was thinking about the past representations of fandom on this show, what with Becky the manic rapist, and the lack of a strong female presence, and I was just... ugh. I mean, I figured they'd probably do better, but I was still thinking that I'd feel sort of... gross, after watching it, if you know what I mean. I didn't believe the creators when they said this would be a "love letter to the fans." I went in with a skeptic's mind, and emerged completely flabbergasted. This was amazing.

The plot is very basic. Sam and Dean go to investigate a case. It's just a missing person's case, and Sam isn't so sure that it's anything up their alley. Dean, however, is convinced that hunting is the only way for him to get back to normal, so.. they go.

When they arrive, they discover that the missing woman was the drama teacher at a local high school. When they go into the theatre, they discover that a musical version of their lives is being rehearsed. Dean is horrified; Sam is actually a bit excited about it.

They meet the writer/director, Marie, and her stage manager Maeve. Also, there's Siobhan, playing Dean, and Maggie playing Sam. From here, we get a lot of excellent references to the earlier seasons of the show, including the Samulet, the scarecrow, and, best of all, the various ships on the show. Dean rolls his eyes at another suggestion of "Wincest," but seems a bit shaken at the suggestion of "Destiel." Turns out, the actresses playing Dean and Cas are a couple in real life.

Castle: The Time of Our Lives (7x06)

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. My goodness. This was just so... sweet. And simple. And lovely. And exactly what Castle and Beckett deserve after all these years. This show has never been #1 on my list, by any means. It's one of those shows that I probably wouldn't miss too much if it got cancelled, but I still love watching it. Honestly, though, this episode was so adorable. I loved it so much.

So, essentially, here's what happens: Castle is working on a case with Beckett, and he touches a strange ancient artifact, just before being knocked out. He awakens in a parallel universe where he and Beckett have never met.

In this universe, much is different. Beckett is a captain, Martha is actually a successful actress, Alexis and her father drifted apart and Alexis moved away to work for a nonprofit organization. Castle never wrote any of his Nikki Heat books, and as a result has become washed up as a writer. Ryan never married Jenny, because Beckett's promotion to captain increased everyone's workload and he stopped having time for her. Javi and Lanie are not together, and Lanie is pregnant with someone else's kid.

Of course, Beckett and the guys have no idea who Castle is, and they are very suspicious of him because he seems to know a lot about the case they are working on. Castle lies, saying that he's just a writer who is very inspired by Kate Beckett. He asks if he can stay on and watch the case unfold, because he is eager to find the artifact so he can be sent back into his own world.

The Walking Dead: Self Help (5x05)

Oh dear. Abraham, you should take some anger management classes or something. If such a thing were to somehow exist during the zombie apocalypse. Crap. Let's just do the plot thing.

Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Tara, Glenn and Maggie are all traveling on the bus, when suddenly it crashes due to engine damage. They all manage to escape before Walkers can overrun them entirely, and they end up hiding in a nearby library. That night, Tara catches Eugene watching as Abraham and Rosita have sex. Eugene confesses that he sabotaged the engine to the bus, due to his fear that the group will reject him unless he really can save the world. Tara assures him that they'll stick by him no matter what.

The next day, the group finds a firetruck that they can use to continue on their way, but as they move it, a hoard of Walkers emerge from a nearby building. Eugene uses the pressurized hose to knock down the Walkers. The group continues towards DC, but they see that the road is blocked by a huge hoard of Walkers. Most of the group suggests that they find another route, but Abraham insists that they can make it through, and that he's tired of making detours. Abraham tries to grab Eugene and force him into the truck to keep going, and a fight breaks out. In desperation, Eugene blurts out the truth: he's not a scientist. He made the whole thing up because he thought it was his best chance to get people to help him to DC, where he believe the best shelters will be available for survival.

Abraham, enraged, hits Eugene, knocking him to the ground and injuring him severely. As the others try to see what they can do for Eugene, Abraham falls to his knees in despair.

Once Upon a Time: The Snow Queen (4x07)

Okay... not a fan of quite a few things in this episode. But, I love other parts of it. So... very torn.

First, we get Ingrid's back-story here. Apparently, when she and her sisters were kids, a bad man tried to kidnap them, and Ingrid's magic came out of her all of a sudden, freezing a nearby tree branch, which then broke off and crushed the bad man to death. Ingrid's two sisters, Helga and Gerda, both vow to look after her, and promise her that they don't see her as a monster. They all tie ribbons around their wrists as symbols of their sisterly bond.

Over the years, Ingrid closes herself up and keeps away from the goings on in the castle, despite her sisters' pleas to get involved. Ingrid decides that she must try to get help, so she and her sisters travel to meet Rumplestiltskin. He agrees to give Ingrid gloves, which will help to control her powers, but in return they must hand over their ribbons. Rumple explains that the ribbons are now infused with great power, due to the true love between sisters.

Back in Arendelle, the Duke of Wesselton has been courting Helga. However, when the Duke sees Ingrid, he starts to make inappropriate advances. Ingrid becomes flustered, and her magic bursts out of her, sending the Duke flying. At this point, Helga turns up. The Duke lies and says that Ingrid was the one who started coming on to him, and that she attacked him without provocation. Helga instantly realizes that this is a lie, and she stands firm by her sister's side. However, as the Duke threatens to tell the world that Ingrid is a monster, Ingrid gets more and more worked up, until she attacks the Duke, planning to freeze him. Unfortunately, Helga stands in the way. She is frozen instead, and crumbles.

Doctor Who: Death in Heaven (8x12)

Okay, this episode was really magnificent in terms of character, and clever dialogue, and my God, Michelle Gomez killed it as the Master. But... I'm actually getting a little hung up on some plot details that felt really silly to me. Like... it just reeked of the typical Moffat plot, wherein the audience doesn't deserve an explanation as to how any of this is actually happening. It's just... mysterious and wibbly wobbly, I guess. It feels lazy and a bit insulting to me. Maybe I should start with a summary, and then I'll nitpick.

So. Missy's plan is revealed to be something like this: the Cybermen spread themselves out across London and release a sort of pollen thing that activates all the corpses in London, updating them as Cybermen and awakening them to a hive mind, controlled by Missy. UNIT shows up and takes the Doctor and Missy into custody. Danny is turned into a Cyberman, but he still retains his emotions. He rescues Clara from 3W and delivers her to a graveyard.

On board a UNIT airplane, the Doctor has been given the title "President of the World," and thus has control of all of Earth's armies. Missy manages to escape from her confinement, unfortunately killing Osgood in the process. With the help of her Cybermen, Missy takes over the plane and blows it up. The Doctor survives by falling out of the plane just as the TARDIS is also careening to Earth. The Doctor manages to get inside the TARDIS mid-air.

He meets up with Clara in a graveyard, where he finds her with Danny the Cyberman. Turns out, Danny wants Clara to turn off his emotions because it hurts too much. Clara is in the process of doing this when the Doctor shows up and tries to stop her - if she succeeds, then Danny will kill her! However, it turns out that Danny is part of the Cyberman hive mind, and if the Doctor wants information on Missy's plan, then Danny is going to have to turn off his emotions to access that. Clara takes the sonic screwdriver from the Doctor and she uses it to turn off Danny's emotions. She runs to embrace him, and... surprisingly, Danny-the-Cyberman doesn't harm her. Danny reveals that there's a rainfall coming that will "upgrade" all living people into Cybermen.

The Legend of Korra: Battle of Zaofu (4x06)

Damn, this whole season is freakin' awesome. I don't have any complaints, seriously. Let's start with the plot!

Suyin and two of her sons go to Kuvira's camp to try to finish this once and for all. They figure that if they take out Kuvira, the rest of her army will disperse. However, the plan goes awry. As they try to sneak up on Kuvira while she's asleep, they find Zhu Li waiting instead. Kuvira then appears and captures Suyin and her children. Kuvira now has the moral high ground in the minds of the people - she didn't break the peace; Suyin did.

Kuvira agrees to battle one-on-one with Korra for all of Zaofu. Korra agrees, taking a stand against Kuvira while the others look on. It's a close fight, but Korra is still weak and unpracticed. Eventually, she is forced to go into the Avatar State to win. However, at the point of victory, Korra sees her own face reflected in Kuvira's, and she loses her connection with the Avatar State. Kuvira encases her in rock, and seems about ready to end it once and for all. Opal and Jinora use their Air Bending to fend Kuvira off, and Jinora then accesses her Spirit, to get a message to Ikki and Meelo. The two kids take a Flying Bison and come to the rescue, managing to get Korra out of there. Unfortunately, Suyin and the others are still at Kuvira's mercy.

The Vampire Diaries: The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get (6x06)

Oh! I did not see that coming! But I'm also sort of irritated! Okay, okay, let me write the plot down first.

Damon is back. Stefan is thrilled, Elena is... not. She's confused about what she should do. She doesn't want to see Damon, and she doesn't want her memories of him back. She says she's happy now, and there's no reason to mess that up. Besides, she's starting something with Liam. Damon insists that he must see Elena. He thinks that seeing her will break through the compulsion, but Elena won't see him. Damon talks to Alaric, who says he'll only lift Elena's compulsion when she asks him to.

Meanwhile, Alaric asks Elena to do some investigating as to why compulsion didn't work on Jo. She takes a sip of Jo's coffee, but there's no vervaine inside. Jo later confronts Elena, telling her that she knows that Elena is a vampire, and she knows about Rick, too. Turns out, Jo is a witch. She tells Elena that she won't ask questions about Elena's life, if Elena doesn't ask questions about her life. However, Jo does tell Elena to stop stealing blood bags.

As Damon hangs out in Elena's room, Jeremy shows up and asks why Bonnie didn't come back. Damon lies and says that Bonnie found peace. Damon then calls Bonnie's cellphone just to be able to talk to her again. He thanks her for what she did, since now he gets to see Elena again. Jeremy, however, is not doing so hot. Matt and Sarah watch as he breaks his phone, frustrated that he can't remember Bonnie's pin to cancel her cellphone plan.

Parenthood: These Are the Times We Live In (6x07)

I loved almost everything that was going on in this episode, but there was one plot line that I thought was just plain stupid.

So, first of all, there's Julia and Joel. The two of them are just about ready to finalize the divorce. The splitting of the assets has gone fairly smoothly. The issue of the house is the most difficult one before them. Julia thinks it makes sense to sell the house and split the profit, but Joel says that Julia can have the house. Later, Julia asks Joel if he wants to change his mind, but Joel says that their house is a home with a lot of memories, and he doesn't want to sell it. However, he doesn't want it if he can't have Julia. Joel goes over to Zeek's place to spend some time with his father-in-law. He tells Zeek that this is goodbye, since they are getting ready to finalize the divorce. Zeek tells Joel that he took him in, and that if Joel still loves Julia, he should fight for her. Julia, meanwhile, invites Chris inside for the first time, and they talk about her impending divorce. It looks like Julia might ask Chris to stay, but ultimately she decides it's too soon. At the end of the episode, Joel takes Zeek's advice to fight for Julia, showing up at her door and saying that he wants her back. What will Julia say? We'll have to wait and see!

I felt a bit duped, because I really wanted to see how this plays out, and I hate waiting. But still, I did enjoy this thread quite a lot. Zeek and Joel's conversation was obviously the highlight. I got a little misty-eyed, to tell the truth. Also, even though Chris is a bit of a bland character, he's still pretty likable, which is what makes this all the more interesting. I'm rooting for Julia and Joel in the end, but I'm not sure what I think will happen at this point. How will this all play out?

Grey's Anatomy: Don't Let's Start (11x06)

Hmmm.... Actually, I was not a fan of this episode. There were parts of it that I liked, but for the most part, I thought it fell flat, unfortunately. I'm just going to glance at each of these plot lines in turn, because they didn't overlap very much.

April's mother shows up in Seattle, eager to help with preparations for the baby. When April blows her off and says she has to keep working, Jackson agrees to go with April's mom to shop for baby stuff. April is annoyed when she gets home and sees that her mother has already bought a bunch of stuff. She tells her mother that she doesn't want any of her help. Later, April realizes that Jackson was the one who called her mother for help - Jackson is freaking out, because he doesn't know how to do this whole parenting thing. April apologizes to her mother, and asks if she can call her with questions.

This plot thread irritated me because it felt very lacking in context. What was April's relationship with her mother before this? Were we supposed to know that they didn't get along very well? I mean, yeah, April's mother was a bit annoying and over the top with the baby stuff, but April was just mean! I didn't understand where her anger was coming from. In all, this thread felt like a forced excuse to pull April and Jackson into a story for once. I could have done without it.

Arizona continues to work on the fellowship with Dr. Herman, but she is unhappy with how Dr. Herman treats her. She doesn't stand up for herself, until Alex talks to her about it. Arizona tells Alex that she and Callie have split up, and that the fellowship was part of why it happened. Arizona knows she can't lose this fellowship, because it's all she has. Alex tells her she has to stand up for herself, because she doesn't deserve to be treated this way. Arizona goes to tell Dr. Herman that she wants to be treated with respect, but Dr. Herman delivers shocking news: she has a brain tumor, and only has six months to live. She has decided to try to teach Arizona all she knows before she dies, so that Arizona can continue on after she is gone.

Elementary: The Five Orange Pipz (3x02)

We learned some new things about Kitty this week, and continued to explore the dynamic between Joan, Sherlock, and Kitty. Toss in a decent case of the week, based on a ACD original story, and you've got a solid episode of Elementary!

I'm going to be rather brief about the plot. I don't think this is news to anybody, but I'm not typically all that interested in the actual case of the week aspect to this kind of show.

The gist is this - there's a double homicide of a man and his lawyer, all due to the fact that these beads, called "pipz" ended up being poisonous, causing the death of several children. As the case progresses, initially it looks like the father of one of the dead children is the killer. He even confesses. But, Sherlock and Joan believe he is lying. Turns out, he is. Things get more complicated when they meet the investigators who were searching for the dead man (he was on the run before being murdered). Turns out, the whole thing was a case of someone taking advantage of the situation by using the poison in the pipz as a drug to sell on the streets. The case is solved, rather anticlimactically, but satisfactorily all the same.

The real meat of the episode comes in the continuing development of Kitty. She makes a mistake early on, costing Sherlock and Joan the opportunity to examine valuable information. Sherlock yells at her, but it seems that Kitty is jealous of Joan. Whereas before, Sherlock made real use of Kitty on cases, now he seems to be giving her busy work and working with Joan instead. Sherlock says he wanted Kitty to observe him with Joan so that she could learn.

The Big Bang Theory: The Prom Equivalency (8x08)

This was really cute! I was extremely worried that they were going to have Sheldon and Amy have sex, and I'm super relieved that they didn't go that route. However, I wouldn't be me if I didn't have some things to complain about... Let's dive in.

Penny is cleaning out her closet, and Amy and Bernadette see her old prom dress. This causes the three of them to reminisce about their proms, and the girls have the crazy idea to throw a do-over prom, since Amy of course didn't have a date to hers. Penny is a bit resistant to the idea, but Leonard thinks it would be really fun, so they decide to go for it.

At the prom, Penny and Leonard arrive before anyone else, and they slow dance without music, happy to be with each other. They talk about how they probably wouldn't have asked each other to dance in high school, but they're happy to be together now.

Howard is angry that Stuart is invited to the prom, since he assumes he'll be showing up with Howard's mother. Instead, Stuart brings Howard's cousin Jeanie, the one he had sex with. Howard is pissed at Stuart for having these weird relationships with all his family members. At the prom, Stuart gets a call from Mrs. Wolowitz, causing him to rush off. Emily is also there with Raj, and she continues to show her creepy dark side, which disturbs the others.

The Walking Dead: Slabtown (5x04)

This week, we get the story of Beth! Finally! I have been worried about her for ages. And turns out, I had a good reason to be. Let's take a look!

Beth wakes up in a hospital, in Atlanta. She learns that the place is called Grady Memorial Hospital, and it is under the authority of Officer Dawn Lerner. Beth quickly learns how things work around here - Dr. Steven Edwards saves people's lives, an in payment for the service, the patients have to work off what they've received. Beth is anxious to leave, especially because a man named Gorman begins making passes at Beth, which makes her very uncomfortable.

Beth seems to like Dr. Edwards alright, although she is uncomfortable with the way Dawn runs things. Dawn seems to barely have a handle on things, while creepy guys like Gorman have their run of the place. When a patient, Gavin Trevitt, is brought in, Dawn seems particularly eager to save him, while Dr. Edwards is hesitant. Another patient, Joan, tried to run away from the hospital but was brought back in after being bit. She seems insistent that they let her die, but Dawn orders Dr. Edwards to amputate her arm and save her from the Walker bite. Beth is forced to help.

Beth also meets a kid named Noah who starts to tell her about more about this place - apparently, they only save the weak people, because they can be put to work and they won't fight back. When Beth talks to Dr. Edwards, she learns a bit more... apparently, Dawn didn't want to waste resources on saving people, but Dr. Edwards couldn't stand by and let people suffer. Dr. Edwards then tells Beth to give Trevitt a dose of medication. When Beth does, he starts seizing, and ends up dead. At first, Dr. Edwards makes Beth believe that she made a mistake and gave him the wrong medicine. Later, Beth realizes the truth - Dr. Edwards told her the wrong medicine on purpose. Trevitt was a doctor, too... Dr. Edwards didn't want another doctor around, because then Dawn wouldn't need him.

Once Upon a Time: Family Business (4x06)

Wow, Rumple is the worst. Seriously. He's terrible. But... I'll get to that in a minute.

Let's start in the character's pasts. We start with Belle, back before she met Rumple. The Ogre Wars are raging, and Belle and her mother are in the library. An Ogre shows up, overturns a table where they are hiding, and - the next thing Belle knows, she is waking up, and her mother is dead. She cannot remember what happened. Her father refuses to fill her in on the details, so Belle decides she is going to travel to Arendelle, where she has heard there are rock trolls that can help restore memories.

Meanwhile, Anna returns from her journey and reunites with Elsa. She doesn't tell Elsa what she's learned about their parents' journey, not wanting to upset her older sister. Anna is surprised to see that Elsa has been learning to control her magic with the help of Ingrid, their aunt. Elsa seems happy, but Anna is suspicious - why didn't their mother ever tell them she had a sister? Anna decides to travel to the rock trolls and see if she can get some answers. Along the way, she meets Belle, on her way to the same location. The two decide to travel together.

On the way, Anna tells Belle a bit about her recent adventures, telling her about a powerful sorcerer (Rumple) and about the Sorcerer's Hat, which can take away magic. Anna and Belle arrive at the home of the rock trolls, where they speak with Grand Pabbie. He gives Belle a magic stone, that she must take back to the place where she lost her memories. Then, if she puts the stone in some tea and drinks it, her memories will come back. Grand Pabbie also has some answers for Anna: apparently, her mother Gerda actually had two sisters: Ingrid and Helga. One day, Ingrid and Helga both vanished, and nobody could find them. Grand Pabbie erased the memories of everyone in Arendelle, and the two sisters were expunged from the records. Anna wonders why Ingrid wouldn't tell the truth.

Doctor Who: Dark Water (8x11)

Hahahahaha okay wow I didn't see that coming actually but I feel like I probably should have... I'm feeling a bit stupid at the moment. Let's discuss.

So, we start off with Clara and Danny talking on the phone. She's getting ready to tell him the truth about her continued travels with the Doctor, and all the things she did on those journeys. Before she starts, she tells him that she loves him - and not just that, but that she loves him forever, that those words, from her, belong to Danny now. As she says all of this, she starts to notice that Danny is not talking on the other end. Then, the horrible truth - Danny has been hit by a car and killed.

Clara is in a bit of a daze for a while, unable to process what has happened. She gets a call from the Doctor, and suddenly an idea occurs to her. She gets into the TARDIS and takes all of the keys from their hiding places. Then, she uses a sleeping patch on the Doctor just as he is taking them to a live volcano. As the Doctor wakes up, Clara holds out the seven copies of the TARDIS key. She threatens to throw them into the fire unless the Doctor goes back in time and changes what happened to Danny. The Doctor says he won't. Clara throws the keys into the lava. When she throws the last key in, she is horrified by what she has done. Then, the Doctor reveals the truth - it was all a highly suggestive dream. The Doctor didn't let Clara put the sleeping patch on him - instead, he put her into this dream state to play out what Clara had planned to do. He wanted to see how far Clara was willing to go for Danny. Clara is upset by what she has done, but the Doctor says that he will help her find the afterlife, and bring Danny back if it's possible.

The Legend of Korra: Enemy at the Gates (4x05)

Eek! Things are getting intense! There were a number of really shocking and interesting things that happened in this episode. Korra didn't actually have a big part to play, but I can see that we're gearing up for something big in the coming weeks.

First of all, Kuvira and her army are marching towards Zaofu (the Metal City), which is the last stronghold holding out against Kuvira's Earth Empire. Kuvira and Baatar (Suyin's son) are all ready to take over, but first Kuvira says Bolin must have a chance to convince Suyin to submit peacefully. However, Suyin and the rest of her family are not willing to back down. Kuvira tries to convince them, but when it's clear that it won't work, she passes her judgment: they have until the end of the day to get out, or Kuvira will take Zaofu by force.

Korra shows up in Zaofu, and Suyin fills her in on what's been going on. She tells Korra about how Kuvira was like a daughter to her, and how she trained her. Then, three years ago, when everything went to chaos, the world's leaders asked Suyin to step in as a temporary uniting force for the Earth Kingdom. Kuvira wanted her to do it, but Suyin said no. She did not want to force anyone to live under her rule. Kuvira began plottinga against Suyin, turning Suyin's own son Baatar against her. Kuvira managed to sway a lot of Suyin's Metal Benders, and with them Kuvira went off to unite the Earth Kingdom. When President Raiko and the others saw her successes, they appointed her temporary ruler of the Earth Kingdom. Of course, as we saw, Kuvira wasn't ready to step down when the time came.

The Vampire Diaries: The World Has Turned and Left Me Here (6x05)

Wow. Wow wow wow. This was the best episode of The Vampire Diaries that we've had in a long time. Probably for the past two seasons. Things that haven't been interesting to me thus far suddenly became interesting. Let's start with what happened.

Whitmore College is having a big corn maze party. Elena invites Liam (the boy who kissed her last episode) to come along. While there, Elena also reveals a plan to set up Alaric and Jo. As everyone runs around in the corn maze, Caroline is forced to stay at home and look after new vampire Ivy. Stefan had brought her over to Caroline, asking Caroline to help train Ivy in how to be a vampire. Stefan asks Alaric to compel Ivy to get control on her vampirism, and then to get far away from Stefan. Alaric refuses to help Stefan with his breakup. Stefan gets angry, asking why he'd erase Damon from Elena's mind. Alaric accuses Stefan of forgetting about Damon, too, by not continuing to look for ways to bring him back.

Ivy escapes from Caroline and ends up feeding on someone. She comes close to killing her first meal, but manages to tell the person to run away. As Tyler is driving towards the corn maze, he nearly hits someone running out into the road. He swerves, and runs his truck right through the corn maze, injuring tons of people. Elena, Liam, Alaric and Jo all immediately start to help the injured. Tyler is in big trouble: if anyone dies, it will trigger his werewolf curse, since he was the cause of the accident. Elena is able to use her vampire blood to heal a couple of badly injured people, while Liam proves to be quite the hero as he performs a field tracheotomy and saves someone's life.

Parenthood: Too Big to Fail (6x06)

There were several really, really heartwarming moments in this episode. I'm trying to figure out which one wins. Oddly, we dropped Julia and Joel's plot for this episode, as well as Zeek and Camille's, but I think that worked to the episode's advantage. We only had a few threads to focus on. Let's take them one at a time.

Dylan, the girl that Max likes, is hanging out a lot at the Braverman house. Adam is convinced that Dylan likes Max, but Kristina is worried that Dylan is just hanging out there because she misses her family and wants to be around people. Dylan is constantly playing with Nora, and even stays up to watch To Kill a Mockingbird with Kristina one night. Turns out, Dylan's parents are away from home a lot. Kristina has a talk with Dylan, wanting to make sure that she wants to hang out with Max, not with Max's family. Dylan says she understands, and that she likes hanging out with all of them. Kristina invites Dylan to stay the night again.

Okay, this was so sweet. I wasn't sure what to make of Dylan before, since she seemed kind of annoying, and I wasn't looking forward to some sort of petty dislike between Kristina and Dylan. But now we have something quite different. The scene with the movie watching was really adorable, as you could tell that Dylan was just looking for an adult to look after her, and Kristina was touched by this. When Dylan said that her parents were obsessed with spending time with her, you could tell something wasn't quite right, and then later when you realize that the opposite is true, and they're never really around, it's just so sad. I'm starting to really like this Dylan character. Also, I love the way Max is meticulously trying to win Dylan's affections, but he's not trying to force it, or expect anything from her that she's not ready to give. Will Dylan's 2.5 turn into a 5? We'll see!

Elementary: Enough Nemesis To Go Around (3x01)

Oh my GOD! Thank you! Thank you creators of this beautiful show for this stunning opening episode. I cannot even believe how good this was. WOW. Let's look at the plot before I run away yelling praises to the creators and never get into the specifics.

It's been six months since Joan moved out of the Brownstone, and Sherlock left to join M16. Joan has been working on bringing down a woman who runs a drug empire. The case hits a dead end when the star witness and one of the cops guarding her are killed inside an elevator. These murders seem to defy explanation, and no matter how hard they look, they cannot find a way for the murderer to have gotten into the elevator.

Two months later, Joan is still working on the case, although it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Her personal life is better - she has a new boyfriend and is doing well at work with Gregson and Bell. Then, a tip comes in about an assassin who was likely the murderer of the two people in the elevator. Joan recognizes the name of the tipster as the names of two authors Sherlock used to have her read when he was training her. She goes to the Brownstone, where she finds Sherlock. Sherlock tries to talk to her about the case, and to extend an olive branch. Joan is pretty cold - she says that Sherlock decided they weren't partners anymore when he left with nothing more than a note, and Joan doesn't want him butting in on her case.

However, it seems that Sherlock is here to ask Gregson for his old job back. Gregson says yes, on one condition: Joan has to approve it. Sherlock isn't alone - he has a new protégé by the name of Kitty. Sherlock speaks to Joan about his experience in MI6, and why he left the way he did. He tells Joan about his near-relapse, and how he eventually realized that he didn't need Joan - he simply needed the relationship they had. And he could replicate it with someone else: Kitty. Joan is a bit miffed by this speech, but she continues to stick to her guns: she doesn't need Sherlock anymore.

The Big Bang Theory: The Misinterpretation Agitation (8x07)

Every once in a while an episode of this show comes along that makes me think maybe there's potential for it to get better. Maybe this show will talk about real issues like sexism and the difficulties of being a woman in the scientific community. Or about how men don't take no for an answer and how that can be really uncomfortable and even dangerous for women. This episode seemed to set up a lot of interesting issues about sexism and gender roles. How did they ultimately handle it? Well... let's take a look.

Bernadette tells Penny and Amy that she's been asked to participate in a magazine about the top sexy female scientists. Amy thinks it's a bad idea, because she doesn't think women should be noticed for their looks, but rather for their accomplishments. Bernadette says why not both? But Amy is deeply skeptical. Bernadette starts to feel bad. Later, Bernadette tells Amy that the article has been pulled, and Amy reveals that she wrote a letter to the magazine to explain how sexist the whole thing was. Bernadette gets angry - she thinks Amy was just jealous that nobody wanted her to express her sexuality. Amy leaves, hurt by Bernadette's words. Later, Bernadette apologizes for what she said.

Meanwhile, one of the doctors that Penny sells products to, Dr. Lorvis, shows up outside her apartment with flowers. He misinterpreted Penny's flirting in order to get a sale for real desire to start a relationship. Sheldon finds Dr. Lorvis and learns what's happening. When Sheldon tells Leonard, Leonard goes out into the hall to tell Lorvis that Penny is engaged. Dr. Lorvis seems upset - this is not the first time he has misinterpreted a girl's behavior. Sheldon invites Lorvis in for a hot beverage. Turns out, Lorvis is a doctor to a lot of really famous people, and he has a lot of memorabilia and collector's items from a lot of the guys' favorite shows. They all go over to Lorvis' house to look at it all.

Modern Family: Halloween 3: AwesomeLand (6x06)

One of my all-time favorite Modern Family episodes was a Halloween episode. It's sort of hard to top the incident of Gloria and the "baby Jesus/baby cheeses," isn't it? But this episode was really excellent, anyway. I was sort of disappointed that we didn't get an all-family episode, where everyone comes together, but I think it still worked alright. Let's just look at each plot separately.

First, there's the Dunphys. Since Claire has to work, Phil is in charge of Halloween this year. Instead of doing anything scary, he decides to do "AwesomeLand," which is just a fun, silly land of anything Phil happens to find awesome. Claire tries to keep out of it, but when the new neighbors tell her about a contest for the scariest house in the neighborhood, Claire's competitive streak comes out and she creates a spooky insane asylum. Then, the neighbors are horrified, because apparently the wife used to be in a metal hospital. The Dunphys undo the scary design and go back to AwesomeLand. Turns out, of course, the neighbors were just kidding so that they could win!

The "twist," if you can call it that, was that the neighbors were lying about the wife being in a mental hospital. Not only is that an offensive thing to lie about, but it was also super obvious! I was annoyed at Phil and Claire for not seeing through the trick. But besides that, I think this was a fun twist to the "scary" Halloweens always put on by the Dunphys. Why shouldn't Phil get what he wants for once? My favorite jokes were when the kids predicted exactly what Phil would say when he saw the changed decorations, and when Haley acted like a total snob when refuting the claim that she's a snob.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Fractured House (2x06)

Okay! An episode focusing on Ward, and yet oddly I enjoyed it. Who would have thunk it? Let's take a look at what happened.

Some HYDRA people break in to a meeting of important military and political figures and do some serious damage. The catch? These members of HYDRA declare themselves members of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, Coulson knows that the world will be on a manhunt for all of S.H.I.E.L.D. His fledgling agents are now in serious danger! Turns out, the politician who has been working with Talbot is named Christian Ward, older brother to Ward Grant.

Skye talks to Ward about this, and Ward insists that his brother is even worse than he himself is - he's a master liar and manipulator. Coulson talks to Christian, who tells him that Ward is the liar - all of the stuff about their childhood was made up in Ward's mind. Coulson seems skeptical, but like maybe he believes him after all. In any case, they strike up a deal - if Coulson will turn Ward over to his brother, then Christian Ward will make an announcement that S.H.I.E.L.D. are not the bad guys - HYDRA is. Christian does indeed make his speech, but Ward, upon being shipped to his brother, manages to get free of his bonds. Looks like Grant Ward is on the loose!

While all of this is happening, May, Bobbi, and Lance Hunter are working together to help protect S.H.I.E.L.D. from this newest political threat. Bobbi goes undercover to talk to someone about the weapons that HYDRA used to kill the politicians. There's a lot of Hunter/Bobbi banter, a lot of eye rolls from May, and some kick-ass action. Lance Hunter says he should leave S.H.I.E.L.D. to give Bobbi her space, but Bobbi reminds him that there really is no more S.H.I.E.L.D., and that they're both trying to find their new place in this world right now.