Grey's Anatomy: With or Without You (11x17)

Finally. Derek. It's been a very long time since he's been in an episode! Let's jump right into it.

Derek is back, and Meredith isn't sure what to do about it. She distracts herself with work, refusing to talk about it with Alex. When Callie and Maggie find out that Derek is home, they realize this must be bad news - he's come home to apologize, which must mean he has something to apologize for. Alex asks for Meredith's advice on one of his patients. She wants to do a risky surgery, but Alex thinks it's a bad idea. When the patient demands the surgery, it looks like their decision is made for them. The patient dies on the table, devastating his older sister and caretaker. Meredith is angry, and lashes out at Alex for doubting her. Alex hugs her and tells her that she's not really mad at him - she's mad at Derek. He tells her it's okay to take it out on him, but that she needs to keep it together when she's being a surgeon.

We get to see Derek's story in Washington DC. He gets close to a research fellow who is working on hopefully figuring out a cure for autism. Derek and this woman do seem to have a connection, and after a breakthrough in her research, they share a kiss. Derek realizes that he doesn't want this - he wants Meredith. He rushes off to catch the first flight, inadvertently leaving his cellphone behind. Derek tells Meredith that he can't live without her, and he wants to work on their relationship. Meredith says that she can live without Derek. But she never wants to.

Modern Family: Spring Break (6x18)

Normally the Dunphy family doesn't win first place with good story lines, but this week they did! Let's talk about each of the plots separately.

It's Spring Break. Alex is anxiously awaiting news from her colleges, but she hasn't heard anything yet. Claire suggests that Alex go with Haley to a music festival. Alex decides to go, but she acts crazy and like a total party girl, even though Haley doesn't give her that much to drink. Haley and Claire talk on the phone, and Claire hacks into Alex's computer and discovers that Alex didn't get into Harvard. Alex wonders what the point is of always being a good girl, if she can't even get into the school she wants. Haley talks to her, reminding her of all of her accomplishments. When they get home, Claire tries to comfort Alex, but Alex tells her that Haley already helped her out and reminded her that she had a lot to be proud of.

How sweet! I love the sisterly relationship between Haley and Alex, and how even though they constantly get on each other's nerves, there's a deep love between them at the end of the day. My favorite moment was when Haley said "take me to my sister!" and a whole group at the music festival lifted her up and carried her. That was hilarious. I also liked the way Claire wrote "sucks" underneath "Harvard" on a Harvard teddy bear in order to comfort Alex. It was sweet to see how supportive the whole family was being.

Supernatural: Paint it Black (10x16)

Another filler episode, but I actually thought a lot of it worked quite well.

Sam and Dean are on the case after three people commit suicide by gutting themselves. Dean meets a nun, Sister Mathias, at the church who tells him that all three of the victims had recently been to confession. Sam and Dean aren't sure what's going on, so Dean decides to go to confession to see if there's a curse or a ghost or something else like that. In his confession, Dean starts by just talking about his exploits with the ladies, but then after some prodding he admits that he doesn't want to die. He wants to experience things in a new way, and maybe feel a deeper connection with someone.

Throughout the episode, a nun working at the church talks with another nun, a woman named Isabella who has a terrible story. She was in love with a great artist in Italy, but the artist did not love her back. As she saw him with another man, she decided to kill him. It is revealed later on that this woman is actually a ghost from the 1500s. Sister Mathias comes clean to Sam and Dean that she knew about the ghost. She says she didn't know that Isabella was hurting anybody, because a lot of ghosts end up hanging out around the church for a while. Mostly they are harmless.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Love in the Time of Hydra (2x14)

Okay! Let's jump right in to the plot on this one.

May's ex-husband Garner recommends that Skye be taken off active duty. Coulson is hesitant to do this, but he does - he takes Skye out to a safe-house in the woods, where she will be safe, and others will be safe from her. Coulson reveals to May that he feels uncomfortable with the way this is all being handled. Fitz and Simmons also have their own conversations about all of this. Simmons gave Coulson something to calm Skye down and make her powers less strong. Simmons says she wants to help get Skye back to normal, but Fitz points out that Skye has changed, probably for good. He accuses Simmons of handling change poorly, with both Skye and with himself. He says that Simmons is the one who has changed the most.

Meanwhile, we finally catch up with Ward and Agent 33. The two of them have decided to take charge of their own lives for once. They hunt down the man who invented the face mask thing that allowed Agent 33 to take on May's appearance. He fixes the mask for Agent 33, which will allow her to take on any appearances she chooses, including her own appearance (although she'll still have her scarring). Using Agent 33's newly fixed mask, Ward and Agent 33 infiltrate Talbot's office. Agent 33 looks like Talbot's wife. Even after Talbot figures out that there's a spy in his midst, he's unable to find the culprit. Agent 33 and Ward break Bakshi out. Bakshi reveals Agent 33's true name to her: Kara. Then, Ward and Kara brainwash Bakshi to use him for their own purposes.

Castle: At Close Range (7x18)

Damn. That was intense! I'm going to be brief in my plot summary; sorry.

Ryan is working security with his brother-in-law as a second job. They are protecting an important politician when suddenly the politician and his friend get shot. He lives, she dies. Ryan feels personally responsible, despite everybody assuring him that he couldn't have stopped it. As the investigation goes on, they slowly realize that the politician wasn't the true target. Their initial suspect is not guilty of the crime.

Instead, the social worker is the target. They think it might be the politician's wife, because the politician and social worker were having an affair, but she has an alibi. Then, they find out that Ryan's brother-in-law is somehow involved. When the guy runs off, things aren't looking good. Ryan tracks him down and brings him in. He wasn't the shooter, but he was involved after all. He got caught up with some bad people and he had no way out. Ryan agrees to help his brother-in-law to get out of this mess.

Once Upon a Time: Poor Unfortunate Soul (4x16)

Great stuff. One of the best episodes we've had in a long time. It also had a lot of minute detail and plot elements, so I'll try to get everything down in the plot summary.

In the past, we see Hook on the Jolly Roger with his men. Their ship nearly hits rocks and goes down, due to the deadly sound of mermaid song. Poseidon, the King of the Seas, chastises his daughter Ursula for letting the ship go. Ursula says that she wants to make people happy with her singing, like her mother used to do. Turns out, Ursula's mother was killed by a pirate, and now Poseidon only lets Ursula sing to lure sailors to their deaths. Ursula does not want to live under her father's tyranny any longer, so she steals something that will allow her to walk on land. In a bar, Hook hears her singing and recognizes the voice. He buys her a drink to thank her for sparing his ship. She reveals her story to Hook, and Hook offers her passage to wherever she'd like to go, as a thank you.

Poseidon shows up and tells Hook to take Ursula's singing voice away with a magic shell. That way, he won't lose his daughter. In exchange, Poseidon offers to give Hook a vial of squid ink, which can help him to defeat Rumplestiltskin. Hook tells Ursula what Poseidon offered him. He has another plan, though. He wants Ursula to steal the squid ink from her father, and then he'll take her wherever she wants to go. The plan goes off without a hitch, until Poseidon shows up. He takes the squid ink back and casts it into the ocean. Hook, enraged at his lots opportunity for revenge, takes Ursula's singing voice from her, so that Poseidon can never use it again. Ursula now hates her father but also hates Hook and all men. She decides to cast magic on herself to make her more powerful even than her father. She thus becomes Ursula the Sea Witch.

The Walking Dead: Try (5x15)

Rick. What the Hell, dude. Why do you do the things that you do? Why. WHY. Ugh. Let's just go through what happened and then I'll rant about it.

This episode is a messy collection of smaller plots, as we see how many of our characters are getting more and more embroiled in their own issues and problems. Deanna is mourning the death of her son, and she is unsure about what really happened. Nicholas tells his version of the story to Deanna, making it seem like he wasn't at fault. Glenn tells the truth to Rick.

Sasha leaves Alexandria to go out hunting for Walkers. Michonne and Rosita follow her and save her from being killed, but she is not grateful. She just wants to be left alone. Daryl and Aaron are still out looking for recruits. They find a bunch of severed limbs, and a woman tied up and devoured by Walkers. There's a "W" on her forehead. Carl follows Enid, and the two bond over being outsiders. They share a moment of romantic tension while hiding from some Walkers. Glenn talks to Nicholas about what happened with Noah, telling him that he is never to leave the walls again. Nicholas retrieves the gun that Rick had earlier stashed, preparing to defend himself from Glenn if necessary.

The Vampire Diaries: A Bird in a Gilded Cage (6x17)

Stefan and Caroline sans-humanity. The best thing ever. Definitely lived up to my expectations. And that's only one of the fantastic things going on here. Let's start with a plot summary.

So. Stefan is without his humanity, and Damon is on a mission to bring him back from the ledge. Then, Stefan can bring Caroline back, and everybody can be back to normal. How do we trigger Stefan's humanity? By going into the 1903 Prison World and fetching Mother Salvatore, of course. They need Kai and Bonnie both to help get into the Prison World. Bonnie reluctantly agrees to hand over her Bennett blood, but Kai says he'll only help cross over if Bonnie agrees to come with. Elena wants to tag along as well, determined to meet the mother of her two great loves. In 1903 land, Bonnie and Kai go off to find the 1903 Ascendant so they can get back, while Damon and Elena go to track down Lily Salvatore.

In the Salvatore mansion, they find her. She is happy to see Damon, and she agrees to help restore Stefan's humanity. But, she wants to bring her friends with her. Turns out, there's a whole group of vampires stuck in this Prison World. They are all shriveled up, due to the lack of blood in this human-less world. Lily is the only one still able to move around, because the others sacrificed the scant amount of blood still existing in order to let Lily have a chance.

Grey's Anatomy: Don't Dream It's Over (11x16)

Yay! We finally did something with Maggie and Richard! I was waiting for their relationship to become a focal point again. Let's dive in with a plot summary.

The central focus of this episode is a terrible car accident. An elderly man drives into the home of a young couple. The wife is pregnant. The man who caused the accident has Alzheimer's, and thus had no idea what he was doing. This is hard on Richard, who remembers his relationships with Adele and Ellis. When the old man wakes up after his surgery, it seems that he is magically cured of his Alzheimer's. Amelia figures out that it wasn't Alzheimer's at all, but NPH, a rare disorder that can be quite easily fixed. However, when this man learns what he has done, and how he has killed a young woman, he decides to let his memory go again, much to his wife's distress.

Owen and Amelia spend the episode trying to have some alone time in an on-call room, but they are continually interrupted by their phones, as they are needed for various emergencies.

Supernatural: The Things They Carried (10x15)

Yeah... I don't really care about Cole. This episode wasn't terrible, but Cole is boring. And the parallels with the Winchesters are starting to get mind-numbing. This was basically just your standard filler episode. Let's look at the plot.

Dean finds a case - a grizzly murder-suicide in North Carolina. He wants to check it out. Sam is worried about taking a case, but Dean insists that he can handle it. He says that they need to give in to the inevitable - there's no way to fix this Mark of Cain thing. Dean would like to get on with his life for as long as he's still able.

Sam and Dean find out that the guy who killed himself has a friend named Kit who's showing the same symptoms. Then, Cole shows up. Kit is a friend of his from the army. The pieces slowly come together - on a rescue mission in Iraq, Kit and Rick got infected with something that makes them ravenously thirsty. Turns out to be a Khan Worm, the same kind of creature from Season Six's "And Then There Were None."

Sam goes to protect Kit's wife and try to restrain Kit, while Dean stays with Cole, who has been infected. Dean tries electricity to defeat the worm inside of Cole. When that doesn't work they decide to try dehydration. Eventually, at the last moment, the worm escapes from Cole, who is now an inhospitable environment, and Dean kills it. Sam is unable to save Kit, though. As Kit tries to kill his wife, Sam is forced to take him out.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: One of Us (2x13)

Pretty good stuff. Maybe a few weaker elements in here, but this episode managed to have a good mix of a lot of things I'm excited to see. Let's do the plot summary.

Skye is in isolation, trying to deal with her new destructive powers. May recruits her ex-husband, a psychoanalyst named Andrew Garner, to work with Skye. Skye is resistant at first, but she decides to go with it when she realizes she'll be learning about May's past. Skye is on the Index now, part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s list of people with abilities.

Cal, Skye's father, is going around collecting dangerous people on the Index. He takes his group to Manitowoc, Coulson's hometown, drawing Coulson and Bobbi there. Cal and the other villains take possession of the local school stadium. May, upon hearing that Coulson needs backup, takes the Bus to Manitowoc, with Garner still on board. Skye insists that they use her to help defeat her father. After all, she knows that she's his weakness.

May threatens to kill Skye, trying to entice Cal to stand down. As chaos erupts among the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and the Index members, Gordon (the guy with no eyes) shows up and takes Cal away. Gordon then mocks Cal for his feeble abilities. Back at the stadium, Skye starts to lose control of her powers, causing terrible tremors. She redirects the power inward, causing hairline fractures throughout her body. It looks like Skye's coping mechanism isn't going to work long-term.

Castle: Hong Kong Hustle (7x17)

Eh... I didn't dislike this episode, but I also didn't love it. Let's start with a plot summary.

When a man ends up murdered in a park, Beckett and her team are on the case. They end up crossing paths with another police officer, Chief Inspecter Zhang. This woman is amazing, at the top of her career and with an annoyingly perfect family. Kate starts to feel insecure about her own accomplishments, and wonders if she should be doing more to advance her career.

The case ends up being tied up in the victim's girlfriend's life. Apparently this girl, Suyin, was in debt to the people who had smuggled her into the country. The victim, Henry, was going to rescue Suyin from her servitude, but Suyin's friend Mei Wu killed Henry to prevent him from taking away her only friend. It was a lot more complicated than that, but that was the basic situation.

Mostly, we focus on Beckett's growing insecurity as she works with the incredibly attractive and accomplished Zhang. The case is personal for Zhang, as she and Henry were friends when they were kids. Zhang steps over some lines in the investigation, and Beckett starts to understand that this woman isn't as perfect as she appears. She also reveals that her home life is terrible, because she focuses too much of her energies on her work. This prompts Beckett to think about what she would like to prioritize for her own future.

Once Upon a Time: Enter the Dragon (4x15)

AUGUST?! Oh my God! I can't believe I wasn't spoiled for this. I genuinely had no idea that we were going to get August back. I'm freaking out. So happy. So, so happy. Gah. Okay... I should calm down and start with a plot summary.

In the Enchanted Forest, we see Regina in her younger days, still being trained by Rumplestiltskin. She is impatient, wanting her revenge on Snow to come faster. She's fed up with Rumple's method of teaching, and wants a new instructor. She's heard all about Maleficent, and she goes to meet her, thinking she can learn more from her. Maleficent has lost her powers, though. She was defeated by Brier Rose, Aurora's mother. She can no longer turn into a dragon, and she is totally demoralized.

Regina helps Maleficent to get her magic back by going to a tree that has been burning since Maleficent set it on fire years ago. With her powers returned to her, Maleficent pays a visit to Aurora, putting a sleeping curse on her in order to punish the family in revenge. Regina returns to Rumple, saying that she understands now the need to be patient. She can get her revenge on Snow without killing her - she can do so much more damage by cursing her instead.

In Storybrooke, Emma is horrified to learn that Regina is going undercover as the Evil Queen to figure out what Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella are up to. The villainesses test Regina's evil-ness, bringing her out for a night of debauchery and mayhem. The first night, Regina doesn't get much information out of them, but she is starting to gain their trust. Emma says she'll follow Regina and have her back as she continues to hang around with the bad guys.

The Walking Dead: Spend (5x14)

Yikes. Well then. That was... gross. I wasn't expecting that. I also didn't realize there were only two more episodes of this season left! Crazy! Let's get started.

It seems that there's a problem with the power grid in Alexandria, so a group goes out to get supplies to fix it. Glenn, Eugene, Tara, Noah, Aiden, and Nicholas comprise the party. Noah, out of everybody in the gang, seems really excited about Alexandria as a place where he can start over. He asks Reg to teach him about architecture and how to build, so that he can help maintain the wall that protects the community.

The group goes to get supplies to repair the solar panels. Everything goes fine, until they come across a Walker in riot gear. Aiden shoots at it and accidentally hits a grenade on its suit. The explosion injures Tara, knocking her unconscious, and pins Aiden to a wall. Eugene finally decides to be brave, and he carries Tara back to the van. The others try to save Aiden, but he is pinned to the wall and they can't free him. Nicholas reminds Aiden that the two of them left their friends behind and got them killed, and now he's going to do the same to Aiden. Unfortunately, they have to leave Aiden behind.

The Vampire Diaries: The Downward Spiral (6x16)

Caroline-sans-humanity is the best thing ever. I am so, so excited you have no idea. Let's dive right on in.

Caroline has turned off her humanity, and is thus totally without a conscience. She runs into Liam, Elena's old flame, and takes him into a back ally of a bar. She makes out with him and then feeds from him. She doesn't kill him, though, because it would be inconvenient and risky. Elena and Bonnie joyfully reunite, but they're worried about what Caroline might do. Caroline shows up to the dorm and makes a deal - if they leave her alone and don't try to flip her humanity switch again, she promises not to kill anybody. She'll have one year sans-grief, and that will be that.

Caroline invites Enzo and Liam both to come to a rave. Stefan, Elena, and Bonnie all go to try and keep an eye on her. They're not sure if they should believe that she really has a handle on it or not. Stefan confronts Caroline, telling her that he has feelings for her. For a moment, a hint of the old Caroline peeks back through, revealing that Stefan is Caroline's emotional trigger. Caroline, who had warned them not to try and get her to flip the switch again, vows revenge.

Enzo has discovered, meanwhile, that Sarah is completely unfazed by the news of vampires. Caroline helps Enzo to realize that this is Stefan's doing - Stefan must have compelled her not to care about anything to do with vampires. Caroline decides to enact her revenge by compelling Liam to perform surgery on Sarah Salvatore. Of course, Liam is a med student and has no idea what he's doing.

Elementary: T-Bone And The Iceman (3x17)

Okay. This was beautiful. Not the case itself, which was sort of... meh... but the stuff with Joan and Sherlock. Let's dive in.

The case involves corpsicles... aka people who have been cryogenically frozen upon their deaths, hoping to awaken upon the invention of technology that can save their lives. When a girl is involved in an accident with a van carrying some of these frozen people around, she is killed to keep her from talking. After many twists and turns, Joan finally cracks the case by discovering that a supposed suspect was made up, and based to look like a character in Manos: The Hands of Fate. It turns out, it was a group effort. One terminally ill man wanted the bone marrow of an estranged cousin, and thought he might have a second chance to acquire it when he discovered his cousin had been preserved after death. However, things went wrong when people caught him and his accomplices in the act.

While that's going on, Joan has to deal with some family drama. Her mother, Mary, invites her out to lunch and tells her that she needs to talk to her brother - apparently, Mary caught Oren kissing some woman and cheating on his wife. Joan calls Oren, who vehemently denies it. Joan starts to wonder if maybe her mother's memory is slipping. Sherlock tells her that Mary called him while he was in London, having forgotten more than once that Joan wasn't with him. Joan doesn't want to believe that her mother might be in need of help, but she decides to talk to her about it. Mary is in denial and won't have anything to do with it. Sherlock decides to help out - he calls Mary and convinces her that she forgot Joan's birthday the month before. Mary agrees to meet with someone to check her memory.

Grey's Anatomy: I Feel the Earth Move (11x15)

Great episode! Yes! This show has been on a roll lately. As much as I enjoyed the story arc with Amelia and Dr. Herman, this week we got to get back to some of our other players, and I really appreciated that. Let's get started.

There's an earthquake in Seattle. It's not a big quake, but it does cause some injuries and complications that our doctors have got to deal with.

An eleven-year-old girl calls the hospital, and Owen answers. She can't get through to 911, and her mom is lying on the floor not breathing. Throughout the episode, Owen talks the girl through keeping her mother alive, with the help of Richard and Amelia. It's a long and arduous process, but eventually April gets the professionals to triangulate the signal and track where the call is coming from. The paramedics are able to rescue the mother. Owen and the girl hug, bonded over the experience. The mother lives. Owen and Amelia hook up in an on-call room.

Meanwhile, Callie and Maggie are working together on an elderly woman who hurt her hip during the earthquake. She fell out of bed while she was having sex. She continually regales Callie and Maggie with stories about her active sex life, and she insists on her hip being repaired enough to continue on with her strenuous activity. Callie encourages Maggie to go out with a man she met in the elevator. Maggie turns the man down, and later confides to Callie that she doesn't date people because there's a distance between her and everybody else. Callie tells her she needs to be brave and go for it, and Maggie tells the radiologist that she will have a drink with him after all.

The Big Bang Theory: The Leftover Thermalization (8x18)

A really funny episode! It did have one moment that pissed me off, and since that's the first time that's happened in a while with this show, I'll have to mention it. Let's get started.

Scientific American publishes an article about Sheldon and Leonard's paper, but in the article, only Sheldon is mentioned. Sheldon realizes (with Amy's help) that Leonard is going to be very upset by this, and Sheldon tries to make Leonard feel better. Leonard is upset, of course. Penny tries to cheer him up by promising to buy him fun gadgets.

Raj comes with Howard and Bernadette to help clean out some of Mrs. Wolowitz's stuff. When they get to the house, Stuart, who is still living there, informs them that the power has gone out. Howard doesn't want all of his mother's frozen food to go to waste, so he decides that they'll invite everybody over for dinner. It will be like Mrs. Wolowitz is feeding them all one last time.

At the dinner, Sheldon suggests salon topics for everybody to discuss. Sheldon and Leonard, still angry at each other over the magazine article, argue about whether an idea or its execution is more important. Bernadette takes the two out into the hall and yells at them for making a scene at this important dinner. Howard notices that Bernadette sounds a lot like his mom, but everybody else pretends not to notice.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Who You Really Are (2x12)

Oh, shit. Well then. I gotta say, I'm not sure what to make of this episode. There are certain things that should be really interesting to me, but are not grabbing my attention, and then other things that haven't been interesting to me so far, but suddenly became super intriguing. Let's get started.

Lady Sif shows up on Earth, but she has amnesia and can't remember what she's doing there. Coulson and the team come in to help her. Video footage shows Sif fighting with a mysterious man. Sif remembers the word "Kava," which turns out to be the place where Whitehall first found the Diviner. They find the man Sif was fighting with. Turns out, he's a Kree named Vin-Tak. He restores Sif's memory with his weapon, which is how she had forgotten in the first place. Vin-Tak was trying to find all of the Diviners on earth and destroy them, because they can create dangerous weapons in the form of infected people (like Raina and Skye).

Skye, who can't seem to control her weird new powers when under stress, starts freaking out as she hears Vin-Tak talk about the dangers of these people. Her powers revealed, Vin-Tak and Sif both try to capture her, needing to eliminate the threat. However, Bobbi is able to erase Vin-Tak's memories using his weapon, and Coulson is able to convince Sif that Skye belongs on Earth with her family. Sif agrees to take Vin-Tak back to his home world. She leaves with a warning for Coulson, that Skye might be beyond help.

The Walking Dead: Forget (5x13)

Carol! What the hell! That was rather intense. Let's take a look!

Everybody continues to settle in to Alexandria, but there are a few who aren't adjusting so well. Sasha goes outside of the walls to practice with her weapon, but she seems really messed up, muttering for the Walkers to come and get her. Daryl goes out hunting and runs into Aaron. The two try to bring a horse back with them, but unfortunately, the Walkers surround the beautiful animal and kill it.

Back in Alexandria, Rick and Michonne are starting to take on their roles as constables. Sasha volunteers to be in the lookout tower, but Deanna doesn't think there's any need for a lookout there. Deanna tells them all that there's going to be a party to welcome the newcomers, and that they are all expected to be there.

Rick, Daryl, and Carol all meet up to discuss what they should do. They decide to steal some guns to protect themselves, but they won't let anybody else in on the plan for the time being. Carol makes a plan to sneak off during the party while everybody is occupied and abscond with some weapons. At the party, Rick meets Jessie's husband and children, and one of Jessie's sons, Sam, stamps Rick's hand with an "A" to symbolize his inclusion in Alexandria. Sasha doesn't want to be at the party, and she lashes out at one point, frustrated by everybody's superficial lives and their lack of understanding about how bad it really is out there. Later, Deanna does say that Sasha can be a lookout.

Once Upon a Time: Unforgiven (4x14)

Maleficent! She's back in Storybrooke, and it's not gonna be good. Let's jump right in to the plot, shall we?

In the past, back in the Enchanted Forest, Snow and Charming are just getting back from their honeymoon. They are confronted by Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella, who need their help with something. Regina has just stolen the Dark Curse from Maleficent, and they need two heroes to help them find a way to get it back. There's apparently a magical tree that will give them answers, but only heroes can approach it. The three villainesses travel with Snow and Charming to the tree. Along the way, Maleficent turns into a dragon and kills some guards who were blocking their way.

As they get closer to the tree, Snow and Charming sneak off to ask it about the Curse by themselves, without telling the three villainesses. They start to ask the tree, but they are repelled. Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella show up. They realize that Snow and Charming weren't able to approach the tree because Snow is pregnant. While they are heroes, their child isn't guaranteed to be. Later, Maleficent comes to visit Snow. Maleficent reveals that she too is pregnant, so she especially needs to stop Regina from using the Curse. Snow rebuffs her, telling her that she won't be allied with Maleficent. If she turns to Darkness in the process of stopping the Curse, she'll pass that Darkness on to her child.

Elementary: For All You Know (3x16)

Okay then! This is a bit different than the usual fare. I really enjoyed this episode. It was daring and interesting, and I'm glad this show tries to push boundaries.

In this episode, Sherlock is called in to the precinct and asked if he knows a recently discovered victim. The body of this woman, Maria, has been buried for three years, and it looks like Sherlock is a suspect. They find a note that Sherlock wrote to Maria, and Sherlock can't remember that period of his life, because he was in the worst of his drug addiction and he had blackouts sometimes.

From there, the rest of the episode is Sherlock and Joan trying to figure out what happened to Maria. Who killed her, and how was Sherlock involved? Joan is completely convinced that Sherlock isn't guilty, but Sherlock keeps telling her that nothing is impossible. He is ashamed of the person he once was - even if he didn't kill Maria, maybe he could have saved her if he had been sober back then.

Sherlock meets up with Oscar, his drug dealer back in the day, and a fellow addict. Oscar believes that Sherlock did kill Maria, and he thinks he has proof of it. He found bloody clothes in Sherlock's house. However, Joan realizes that the shirt wasn't Sherlock's, and the blood spatters are all wrong. From there, Sherlock and Joan figure out what's really going on - Maria worked as a cleaning lady in a politician's office. This politician was having an affair, and he killed the woman he was sleeping with to cover it up. When Maria, in the office cleaning late at night, saw the bloody clothes, she was killed for knowing too much.

The Big Bang Theory: The Colonization Application (8x17)

The past couple of weeks have had surprisingly funny and clever episodes. This week wasn't quite up to snuff, but it also wasn't terrible. Let's go through the three plot threads separately, as there really wasn't any overlap.

Sheldon and Amy announce that they are ready to take the next step in their relationship, and get a pet turtle. However, as they are getting ready to pick out the turtle, Sheldon happens to mention that he applied to be a colonizer on Mars. Amy is upset that Sheldon applied to leave the planet, and didn't even tell her about it. Sheldon eventually realizes how angry Amy really is, and asks her if she would like to move to Mars with him. They decide to submit another application, this time as a couple, and Amy even gets Sheldon to consider "procreation," on the grounds that their kids would be Martians.

This plot thread was lackluster in certain ways. On this show, I'm always noticing wasted potential. In this case, we've got the idea of Amy and Sheldon adopting a turtle together. That seems like it would offer a lot of potential, and at first it does, with the jokes about Amy and Sheldon being the first to "start a family," and their search for the right name. But quickly, the plot is abandoned for this Mars colony thing. Again, another plot with potential, but it didn't really go anywhere. Even Sheldon's application video only offered a few laughs. The pie in Leonard's face was funny, and the dramatic zoom whenever Sheldon said "Mars" made me chuckle. But I just felt like we could have had so much more! So, this plot thread, while not bad or anything, left me feeling a bit let down.
 

Grey's Anatomy: The Distance (11x14)

Wow. Another great episode. In a way, you can look at last week's episode and this one as a two-part story, because we're focusing on the same key story and characters. Let's jump in.

Amelia and Stephanie get ready for Dr. Herman's surgery. They stand in "superhero" pose to gear up for the task ahead. The gallery is full as Amelia and Stephanie get started. The surgery is long and difficult. At one point, Amelia gets stuck. Richard goes down into the OR to see what's holding Amelia up. She asks Richard to call Derek and get him on a plane. She doesn't think she can do this. Richard convinces her that this is her surgery, and she needs to be the one to make it happen. Amelia steps up and gets past the obstacle. Stephanie, exhausted after hours on her feet, passes out. Meredith steps in to help assist with the rest of the surgery.

Amelia risks her own life when she takes her gloves off to do a delicate part of the surgery, exposing herself to direct radiation. Owen and Meredith both freak out, but Amelia manages to do it without exposing herself for too long. Days later, Dr. Herman still hasn't woken up. Amelia obsessively looks over the scans, needing to understand what went wrong. Stephanie notices a spot on one of the scans, and they realize that Dr. Herman had a stroke. She does wake up, though. The tumor is completely gone, but it has come with a price - Dr. Herman is now completely blind. Amelia tells Stephanie that she should be celebrating their victory, despite Dr. Herman's blindness.

Modern Family: Closet? You'll Love It! (6x17)

There were actually four plot threads in this episode, instead of the usual three. Let's go through them one at a time.

Jay's company is making a new ad to put on TV, and Jay wants to reprise his role from decades before, when the company put out a successful commercial. The only problem is, his tag line "Closets? You'll love it!" doesn't make much sense, and his demeanor comes across as too grumpy. Claire has to be the one to break the news to Jay that he's not going to work as the spokesperson. Jay is upset at first to learn that everybody considers him grumpy, but later he realizes that it's not the worst thing in the world, and he ends up helping Phil, Gloria and the others with their dilemma (I'll get there in a sec) and striking a good balance.

A drone camera thing keeps hovering over Gloria when she's sunbathing out by the pool. Luke, Manny and Phil all come together to help her get rid of this invasion to her privacy. They battle the drone camera, but at every turn they are thwarted. Finally, Jay helps Phil, Luke and Manny to triangulate and throw rocks at the camera. They think they've defeated it, but we then see that Gloria has taken it out with a BB gun.

Andy and Haley go to a carnival. Haley brings a date, and Andy was supposed to meet up with his girlfriend, but she bales. When Andy ends up in the hospital with appendicitis, Haley goes to the hospital to stay with him. She tells him that his relationship with his girlfriend isn't real, because if it was, she would have dropped everything and come to the hospital. However, Andy's girlfriend does end up showing up, and Haley leaves.
 

Suits: Not Just a Pretty Face (4x16)

Eeeeeeee! I'm so excited. And upset. And angry that we have to wait. And happy about what we did get to see. I'll just cut to the chase, shall I?

It looks like Sean Cahill hasn't been able to find the money trail which would implicate Eric Woodall and Charles Forstman and put them away for good. Cahill tells Harvey he needs his help. Harvey obviously has no desire to help Cahill, but Cahill points out that if Woodall is set free, he'll be coming after Louis and the rest of the firm. Harvey asks for Mike's help in finding a way to prove that Woodall is a crook.

Mike and Rachel both work on the case, as Rachel is convinced that she is invisible to Harvey, ever since Mike came back to the firm. They both realize that there is one way to get to Woodall - Harvey got duped by Forstman years ago, and if they can pin him for whatever he did, they might be able to put Forstman away for good. Harvey says no - he refuses to dredge up the past.

In flashbacks, we see exactly what that past is - Harvey's brother Marcus is trying to clean up his life and open a restaurant. He needs $150,000 to do it. He says that if Harvey can't get it for him, he'll get it from their mother (or, more accurately, from their mother's rich lover). Harvey does have a way of getting the money - Forstman has just made him a job offer. He is hesitant to take it, but it will give him the money he needs for Marcus. Forstman tricks him, though. He takes a piece of information that Harvey let slip during a casual conversation and uses it to make a lucrative deal. He then sends Marcus some of the money, saying it's from Harvey, so that Harvey's brother is implicated and Harvey won't say anything.
 

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Aftershocks (2x11)

Okay! We're back! Lots of developments this week. Things are getting crazy! I'll try to get everything written down, but there was so much going on in this episode!

Everybody is struggling with Tripp's death, and Coulson decides to take this rare moment of HYDRA weakness to take a strike at them. S.H.I.E.L.D. still has Bakshi in custody, so they decide to use him as bait, with the assistance of Talbot and the US government. The plan goes off flawlessly- Bakshi believes he's being taken to Talbot, but then "HYDRA" shows up, apparently killing May and Coulson, and takes Bakshi. Lance, impersonating a HYDRA agent, uses him to get in with the other HYDRA agents. S.H.I.E.L.D., with an assist from Talbot, is able to clean up a lot of the remaining HYDRA mess in the area.

Simmons is in charge of examining the underground city, with orders to flood it and close it off once she is done. They succeed in doing so, but but before Raina escapes. Cal and Raina talk, and Raina reveals that she is now a monstrous creature, covered in spikes. Cal is delighted to learn that Skye also went through a transformation, and that she is now special. Raina is almost taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, but she is then whisked away by a man with no eyes, Gordon, who we earlier saw getting trained by Skye's mother in the past.

Back at HQ, Skye is being kept in quarantine until they figure out if she's okay after the weird events in the underground city. Mack, who apparently did survive the winter finale, is back among the team, now no longer having his mind controlled by outside forces. Mack is angry and upset about everything that happened, though. Out of everybody, he seems to be having the hardest time with Tripp's death.

The Walking Dead: Remember (5x12)

I love Alexandria! Oh my goodness! This is going to be amazing. I hope this location and these characters stick around for a very long time. The plot summary is probably going to be pretty basic, because this episode had a lot of intricate details and new characters, and I don't think I can write down every little thing that happened. Let's get started.

The group is now in Alexandria, trying to decide if they can make this place a home. They meet Deanna, the leader of the group, who takes each of the gang away separately to interview them about who they were before the apocalypse, and what they are looking for in Alexandria. This place, Alexandria, was a planned community before the apocalypse, meant to be self-sustaining. Deanna and her family have been behind the walls from the very start, and have thus never lived out there in the chaos.

Deanna gives Rick's group two large houses to live in, but for the first few nights, the whole group sticks together in one of the houses. The existence of running water and electricity is obviously something of a shock to everybody, but most of them eagerly partake. Rick shaves his beard and gets a haircut from Jessie, a woman who used to be a hairstylist.

Once Upon a Time: Darkness on the Edge of Town (4x13)

Yay! I missed this show terribly. Lots of great stuff happening in this one, but I do have a few little worries as we move forward. Let's dive in.

The flashbacks in the Enchanted Forest all center around Rumple and our three villainesses - Ursula, Cruella, and Maleficent. Ursula and Cruella have both been summoned to Maleficent's palace, but Maleficent insists that she didn't send for them. Rumplestiltskin then shows up and says he has a plan to use a Curse to get them their happy endings. The villains all go to a mountain with lots of protection spells around it. Using each of their special skills, Ursula, Cruella, and Maleficent get inside and give the orb containing the Curse to Rumple. He then reveals that he was just using them. He traps them in a cavern with the demon Chernabog. The Chernabog is supposed to go after the one with the greatest potential for darkness in their heart. The Chernabog goes after Maleficent, but Ursula and Cruella save her, and they escape from the cavern.

In the present day, Rumple has been living in Ursula's tiny apartment. The two of them go and find Cruella, who is losing all of her wealth as her husband is arrested. Rumple convinces Ursula and Cruella to both come with him to a place in this world that has magic - Storybrooke. When they get to the edge of town, Rumple concocts a plan that will get them all inside.

Inside Storybrooke, everybody has had a rather relaxing six weeks. Things have been peaceful. Belle and Hook have been working on how to get the Fairies and everybody else out of the magic hat. Hook is upset that he let himself be tricked by Rumple, and Belle feels similarly. They finally discover a way to free the trapped people from the Hat, and they go to Regina for help enacting the spell. Regina is in her office with Emma at the time.

The Big Bang Theory: The Intimacy Acceleration (8x16)

Huh. Another good episode. I'm not sure what's going on here, but this show has kind of been on a roll lately. Let's take a look.

The gang talk about a new study that they've heard about, where two people answer a series of questions and then stare into each other's eyes for four minutes. At the end, they're supposed to have fallen in love. Sheldon and Penny decide to try it, so that they can see if it has any validity. They answer the questions and stare into each other's eyes. While they don't fall in love, they do feel closer to one another, and admit that they feel sibling-like affection and love for one another. Penny even finds out Sheldon's birthday, which has been a secret for years. Penny arranges a surprise party for Sheldon, despite his wishes.

Meanwhile, Amy, Leonard, Raj and Emily decide to go out and do something together. They enter into this weird game where they're trapped inside of a lab with a "zombie" and they have to solve puzzles to get out. Unfortunately, due to all of them having advanced degrees, they solve the puzzles in six minutes and are released far too quickly.

Grey's Anatomy: Staring at the End (11x13)

Oh boy. I'm actually really nervous for whatever's coming next. This is the first time all season that I've gotten really sucked in to a cliffhanger-type situation. Thursday can't get here fast enough! Let's look at what happened.

Dr. Herman and Arizona are busy doing all sorts of surgeries, fitting in as many as they can so that Dr. Herman can teach Arizona all she knows before she has to go in for her own surgery. Bailey has a patient whose baby is in need of help, but Dr. Herman says there's no time. If they help Bailey's patient, they'll have to give up on another child, and Arizona won't have learned as much. Amelia is making Dr. Herman go through localized radiation therapy in order to shrink the borders of the tumor, but Dr. Herman is very resistant to this. She doesn't want to spend her last few months alive dealing with all the pain and sickness that comes from radiation.

One of Dr. Herman and Arizona's patients has an emergency that ends in a C-section. They save the mother but the baby dies. This frees up room on the board for Bailey's patient. However, just as Bailey's patient is in need of emergency care, it looks like time is running out for Dr. Herman. The tumor has invaded the optic chiasm, which means it's time for the surgery. Arizona is going to have to do the operation on Bailey's patient all by herself.

Modern Family: Connection Lost (6x16)

I liked it. I know this episode has had a polarizing reaction, as some people were angry at what they perceived as gimmick-y and full of product placement. But actually, I thought this was very clever, funny, and oddly insightful about the way technology works in our world today. Let's look at the plot.

Claire is in the airport, waiting to board a plane back home after a business trip. The whole episode is just Claire's laptop screen, as she Facetimes and chats with her family members, looks things up on the internet, manages her to-do list, etc.

Apparently, Claire and Haley got into some stupid fight, and Claire is worried when Haley won't answer any of her messages. Claire has to deal with Phil, who won't stop playing video games, Alex, who just wants her mother to read her college essay, Luke, who gets a Mohawk at Jay and Gloria's house without asking, Cam, who keeps asking for special popcorn from Chicago, and Mitchell, whose birthday she almost forgot. Throughout all of this chaos, she can't find Haley.

Claire uses a fake Facebook profile to check Haley's page and sees that Haley "got married." She also tracks Haley's cell phone and discovers that she's in Vegas! The whole family freaks out, thinking that Haley has gotten married. To whom? Andy! Apparently they were together last anybody heard from Haley. Then, a package comes in the mail for Haley - it's a book on pregnancy! Oh no!

Suits: Intent (4x15)

Harvey said "I love you" to Donna. I don't even know how to process this right now. My brain has exploded. This episode was... well, it was pretty much unlike anything I've ever seen before on this show. It pushed Harvey's character into a whole new light, and it caused me to rethink a lot of what I thought I knew about him. Let's dive in.

Harvey asks Donna what happened with Liberty Rail. Donna lies and says that she didn't break any laws. Harvey demands that Mike drop the case so that Liberty Rail will back off of Donna. Mike agrees to do so, which makes his client furious, since the money he was supposed to get was going to turn his life around. Unfortunately for Harvey and Donna, Evan Smith won't back off of Donna.

Harvey tells Mike to go after Liberty Rail anyway, since they have to come up with a new tack to save Donna. Harvey is upset that Donna lied to him, since the truth is much harder for Harvey to fight against. Mike helps Harvey realize that the other side has a very thin case for felony fraud, because there's no way to prove damages unless Liberty Rail admits that the documents that Donna took are damaging to them in some way.

Mike's client takes a payoff from Liberty Rail and won't work with Mike anymore, so he and Rachel have to find someone new to sue Liberty Rail and get this thing taken care of. They find the man who was conducting the train. This man can't remember the accident, but he's convinced that it was all his fault. Mike and Rachel convince him to do the right thing and come forward.