Westworld: Passed Pawn (3x07)

Hey so guess who doesn't care about Westworld? Me, apparently. I swear I watched this whole episode with my eyes glazed over.

Cons:

So I guess Caleb was part of Serac's plans? This doesn't work as a big reveal like the episode wanted it to be, because... kind of... duh? We knew he was an important cog in the machine, we knew he was having memory lapses, we knew every human was being monitored and controlled. So we see that Caleb killed his friend, the one he has been mourning all this time, because his friend was going to kill him. We see how he was used as an assassin after the war. I don't know, it all rang kind of hollow for me. I think because I don't know Caleb as anything other than a pawn. He was a pawn when we met him, and I was vaguely interested in finding out more, but now here we are and I just can't access the visceral horror I think I'm meant to feel.

Outlander: Mercy Shall Follow Me (5x10)

I am of two minds about a lot of things in this episode, and we should probably just dive straight in.

Cons:

I am profoundly grateful for the way the Stephen Bonnet story has been streamlined in the show, as it stretches on into the sixth book in the novel versions. Bonnet is not a fun character to spend time around. He's... well, Black Jack Randall was so chillingly evil that he was interesting to watch. Bonnet never achieves that level of evil, or at least he does not do so consistently.

My biggest problem with Bonnet here is that he is shown to be unhinged, to have some sort of damage in his heart, to want more out of life. There were moments, when Brianna was teaching him how to eat properly, or when he was reacting to the ending of Moby Dick, where he took on a sort of child-like aspect. I was seriously not a fan of any of this. It was like they were trying to give him some pathos, to make us think maybe he really did care about making a family with Brianna and Jemmy. When in fact, it would have worked just as well for his motivation to be purely monetary, as he tries to get his hands on River Run.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Lights Out (7x13)

I can't believe we've reached the end of the season so soon! The weirdness of the world has really distorted my sense of time and reality, let me tell ya...

Cons:

There isn't a lot that I'd truly complain about in this episode, but there was quite a bit that just had me... shrugging. For example, Rosa helping Amy during her labor was funny, but not super funny. And Hitchcock and Scully's food obsession fell pretty flat; we've seen it all before at this point! These are not things I hated about the episode, they're just things I felt sort of neutral on.

Also, as this is the finale, I feel like now's a good time to discuss the pacing of the season overall. I gotta be honest - it felt rushed. Early on, I assumed that Holt's demotion was going to give us an opportunity to introduce some new faces to the crew, to play with different dynamics as various folks came in as temporary captains. But no. We got that once, and then it was just Terry, and then Holt was back, with very little fanfare. The same can be said of Amy and Jake becoming parents. We saw that they were having a hard time getting pregnant, then suddenly Amy was pregnant, and before I knew it, here we were, and she'd given birth to her baby. It didn't allow for a lot in the way of interesting stories to be told with regards to their impending big life change.

Westworld: Decoherence (3x06)

Parts of this episode had me saying oh damn, and other parts had me yawning.

Cons:

The yawning parts were William's therapy sessions with other versions of... himself? This felt like a less interesting, more sloppy way of examining the same ground we already covered with his character. I loved the ambiguity of where we last left him. Institutionalized, taunted by Dolores, alone but constantly haunted. And here I felt like we just got more of the same. William doesn't really... fit with the bigger story being told, and I felt his presence here like an intrusion, in a way I don't think I was meant to.

Also, I just want to point out... we're six episodes in. There are only two more episodes of the season, and I for one feel like I'm just starting to get a sense of some of the key players and their motivations. It's a lasting problem with Westworld, but one I did want to highlight here. There's just too much going on!

Outlander: Monsters and Heroes (5x09)

This episode was chalk-full of so many adorable character moments!

Cons:

The main thing that got short shrift here was the killing of the buffalo. I don't care if the details are changed - I don't really remember the exact way it went down in the book anyway. What mostly annoyed me was that I didn't get a sense of what a big deal it really was, for them to snag a buffalo kill. Other things are going on - Jamie is on the verge of death, Marsali is having her baby... but I remember in the book, it was a huge deal that they managed to kill a buffalo. It could feed so many people. I wish that moment hadn't felt so out of the blue. It was disconnected from the rest of the story in a way that felt very... episodic? And sometimes that's how the story is, but it might have been better to either keep this part out, or shift it to another moment so we could give it the full narrative weight it deserves.

I understand tightening the pacing in order to create drama, but I was a little annoyed at Brianna running in at the very last possible second with her syringe, preventing Claire from amputating Jamie's leg. I never got the sense from reading the same part in the book that it was such a stark either/or situation here. Basically, if I recall correctly, Claire essentially opens up Jamie to the bone and pours penicillin mixture deep into the tissue, and then also injects it, all with the understanding that if it fails, they might still have to amputate. Here, it was presented like Brianna had come up with a miracle fix on the spot, and I didn't like the unnecessary heightened drama of that.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Ransom (7x12)

This episode was great! So much fun on every level.

Cons:

My bleeding heart wanted just a hint of Holt and Kevin being worried about Jake, though. The comedy of them both caring so deeply for their dog works really well, but there was a moment, after Cheddar has been returned to them, that I thought maybe they'd start panicking about Jake, too. When Holt beats up the bad guy, it appears to be entirely for Cheddar's sake, without even a hint that he'd been concerned for his friend and colleague being kidnapped. I could have used just a hint of feelings here, even though I understand that's not really what the episode was about.

The fumigation cold open with Hitchcock and Scully was perfectly fine, but it sort of felt like it was just there to give those two characters something to do in the episode, as it connected with nothing else going on. It felt odd and disjointed, like it could have been plopped down anywhere without consequence.

Westworld: Genre (3x05)

Hey, so Animal Crossing has consumed my life the past couple of days now that I finally have a Switch... which is my way of saying that I was definitely playing it while I watched this episode and I may or may not have any freakin' idea what actually happened.

Cons:

Just looking at the broad strokes, though, I wasn't a big fan of Serac's backstory, with his genius brother and the crazy all-seeing computer thing. The thing is... I want to care about Serac and his brother. I want to feel the tragedy inherent in Serac's monstrous decisions to run experiments on his own family member, but the whole thing is so high-concept and artsy that the humanity of it gets lost.

Caleb spends the episode high, but in my opinion it doesn't really add much to the episode? I'm not sure why the choice was made to name the episode after this aspect of it. And my god, that ending moment when Caleb thinks he's still hallucinating but it turns out people have returned to their "base natures" because Dolores has revealed how they will all die... yikes. This show purports to be deep, but that felt like some pretty hokey stuff to me. You're saying that the minute human beings get a text message announcing how they will eventually die, they'll just revert to beating each other up like it's the Purge or something? Puh-lease.

Outlander: Famous Last Words (5x08)

Ian! Oh boy oh boy. Let's dive in to this episode.

Cons:

Once again, I don't give a shit about Jocasta and Murtagh's romance, so seeing her grieving for Murtagh didn't really move me. This was an episode filled with grief and trauma from all angles, so it seemed kind of rushed, to include these little snippets of Jocasta, and not have the chance to linger on Jamie and Claire's grief instead. Since this episode covers months of time, it seems like our grief for Murtagh sort of happened off-screen. That's a bummer.

I liked Ian's return here, but I do wonder if his plot thread is going to replace (SPOILERS) the Fergus and Jamie story from the books? I hope not. That would make me a little sad.

While I'm not necessarily in to the medical grossness and disturbing visuals, I did think it was a bit of a bad choice to skip out on the immediate aftermath of Roger's near-death. That was such a viscerally intense moment in the books, and we flashed past it using the  "silent movie" method, which was... cool, I guess, but what it replaced was something I really did want to see.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Valloweaster (7x11)

Another twist on a heist! I love that they keep finding ways to make this fun.

Cons:

At the very start of the episode, when Amy was wearing a pumpkin costume, it was another meta reference to hiding her real-life pregnancy when Amy the character is not supposed to be pregnant yet. But because it was the very start of the episode, I got confused because I didn't realize we were in a flashback? This was probably me looking away from the screen at the wrong time or something, but I do aim to be thorough in my reporting so I thought I'd mention it. ;)

It was nice to see Cheddar in this episode, but I missed seeing Kevin, and I was kind of hoping Gina would make a surprise reappearance at some point. This is just wishing for what I can't have, so it's probably not fair to mark it down in the "cons" section, but honestly, I miss those guys.

Grey's Anatomy: Put on a Happy Face (16x21)

Teddy is the worst!

Cons:

Okay, obviously this was not initially intended to be the finale, so I shouldn't be too harsh on some of the dropped plot threads. Things were more or less wrapped up, but this doesn't feel like the kind of episode you bow out on, you know? You would think we'd have a bit more information on what's going on with DeLuca. You'd think we'd see Amelia and Link name the baby. You'd think Richard and Catherine would have it out. You'd think Owen and Teddy would confront each other. As it stands, so many things are one step away from the climactic moment of the plot thread.

Also, I'm glad Richard is okay, but I'll admit I was surprised by how quickly this whole thing with him losing his mind got resolved. I figured that once they'd figured out what was wrong, maybe after the surgery there would be some time where they had to wait for the poison to get out of his system or something. But no, he wakes up and he's his old self again. I also feel like this kind of erases some of the compelling story beats where he was trying to get ready to say goodbye to his time as a surgeon due to his tremor. Is he just going to be back to surgery in no time?

Modern Family: Finale (11x17/18)

My eyes are totally dry, and I'm betting the show-runners wanted me to be crying. I didn't hate this finale. Hating it would require me to feel deep emotions, and I... don't.

Cons:

Gosh, I don't know, watching this hour-long finale just got me thinking about how I would have restructured this season. Turns out, Cam and Mitchell are moving to Missouri after all. Okay, cool. Why cram that in to the finale and not let it build over several episodes? Same with all three Dunphy kids suddenly moving out of the house. This finale introduced the idea that Alex had moved back in because she took a lower-paying job, then set up how chaotic the house is with so many people, and then had everyone start leaving. Why has this not been going on for multiple episodes? Why was Alex once again so underutilized all season, only to be crammed in to these final minutes like this?

Some of the characters' endings felt technically thematically appropriate, but also out of the blue at the same time. Luke got into college and is moving to Oregon. Cool? If only I could have been on the journey with him, as he submitted applications, as he made decisions about where he wanted to end up. Instead, this feels completely out of nowhere. Manny is taking a big trip to see the world. That feels appropriate for him because of how sheltered he has become, but it's also sort of a lesson we already learned with his character.

Schitt's Creek: Happy Ending (6x14)

Y'all when I tell you I cried... gosh. This was just so perfect and lovely, and it's exactly what I want to be feeling after watching a finale of a show like this. Gorgeous.

Cons:

I honestly... don't really have any? I guess maybe it felt like Roland and Jocelyn and Twyla got slightly short-changed by this finale, but that's a nitpick. The focus was where it was supposed to be.

Pros:

Where to even begin?? I love a show that can be cheesy without feeling over-wrought or unrealistic, and this finale hit that spot for me. You have all of the "I love you" moments between all of the family members. It might seem like a simple thing, but hearing Alexis tell her mother that she loves her, hearing Johnny and Moira say that to their kids, hearing Stevie say it as Johnny and Moira drive off... it's just so perfect and meaningful and sweet.

And Patrick and David's wedding... god, it means so much to have something like this, to have the finale of the whole show be centered around this wedding between these two men, to see the whole town rallying around them and supporting them. Sometimes I get annoyed that every sitcom wedding has to have some catastrophe, and when I heard that the venue was ruined because of the weather, I was prepared to roll my eyes. But this show is so absolutely amazing at taking a concept you'd think would be played out, and then adding to it, or contextualizing it, or just imbuing the characters within it with so much pathos and humanity, that I don't mind a cliche or two.

Westworld: The Mother of Exiles (3x04)

I'm at the point with this show that talking about the plot is kind of fruitless. There's tons of good shit going on here, but I'm not really going to break it down for you vis a vis plot summary, because to be frank, I'm not sure I can untangle all the messiness.

Cons:

I find Serac's Big Brother thing, where he's trying to find the best way to map a human's brain, kind of mustache-twirly and too basic for a big bad villain. It's not bad, but he gets a little bit more explain-y than I would normally like.

Pros:

Dolores!! Holy moly mother of god, I did not see it coming that all of the pods that Dolores brought with her were just copies of herself!! So we've got Tessa Thompson playing Dolores, and at least two other hosts going about Dolores-ing with the best of 'em. That's intense and crazy and I can't wait to see how that all shakes out. Clearly there's Dolores Prime, the most evolved version, but she's manipulating and using herself in the way that humans used to use her back in the park. This is some twisty shit! I assume they're not a hive mind, but how much independence do they each have?

The Walking Dead: The Tower (10x15)

It looks like the finale of The Walking Dead has been postponed because of COVID-19, so this is where we will be leaving these characters for a while. How does this episode hold up as a finale? Let's dive in!

Cons:

I think Daryl and Judith are adorable and I always like seeing them together, but their scenes in this particular episode didn't really work for me the way I think they were supposed to. Far too sentimental, if I'm being honest. It just felt like Daryl was making a declaration that "I'll never leave you... but I can't promise because we don't know what's going to happen," specifically so people can be scared he's going to die. Now, I don't think they'll kill Daryl off. I think he's one of the last things holding this show together, honestly. But that whole moment with Judith seemed designed specifically to tease the potential of him getting hurt or dying or disappearing soon. I hate that kind of plodding, heavy-handed foreshadowing. And Judith was a little bit too "kid on TV" for me this week, with her pathetic little voice saying she doesn't want Daryl to leave her like Michonne did.

Also... Negan telling Lydia that he tied her up to keep her safe is such malarkey. It makes no sense that Lydia was ever tied up in the first place; it was so clearly just done to fool the audience about Negan's loyalties.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Admiral Peralta (7x10)

Jake is going to be such a good dad!!

Cons:

I'm going to be That Person and talk about the whole gender reveal thing. It's such a weird idea, and the pink and blue color scheme is so prescriptive, and it feels very dismissive of the fact that not everyone is comfortable with the gender they were assigned at birth, and the fact that some people are intersex or genderqueer or what have you. And I felt like the show kind of tried to acknowledge that, by having Jake call it a "sex reveal" party instead of "gender reveal" and having him say it's about the "biological sex of the child." But it felt odd to include that story at all, without actually grappling with it in any meaningful way.

Pros:

Amy and Rosa have a short little plot with Hitchcock and Scully, where they yell at the men for messing up on a case by forgetting to write down the name and contact information for a key witness. However, it turns out they were protecting the witness, who is undocumented. The case is therefore unable to go forward, and Amy "punishes" Hitchcock and Scully by giving them leave with pay. I liked how this plot thread played with the idea of Hitchcock and Scully's incompetence but then landed somewhere more interesting instead. And I also like how this little story touches on an actual issue without turning it in to a Very Special Episode kind of thing.

Grey's Anatomy: Sing It Again (16x20)

Okay Amelia and Link are actually the cutest, y'all.

Cons:

Teddy and Owen being all ooey-gooey and let's get married right now!!! Is just... nothing to me. It means nothing. I feel nothing. Especially after an episode that so heartbreakingly focused on Tom Koracick and his own personal tragedy, where Teddy was able to drop everything and support him. They are one thousand times the more compelling couple, and even if I still cared about Owen, the fact that Teddy hasn't been honest about her affair with Tom makes any potential of rooting for them just go down the drain for me.

I also somewhat hate it when the patients' lives are really clumsily tied in to the doctor's experiences... the woman who starts hearing songs and singing everything makes Owen realize "I would sing for you, Teddy." Like... what does that have to do with anything? Also, while I thought the devotion between the couple was really sweet, the singing actually did start to get on my nerves in a real way. Lots of second-hand embarrassment.

Modern Family: I'm Going to Miss This (11x16)

This was fine. Very nostalgic. Appropriate for a penultimate episode of a long-running sitcom. It didn't really make me feel any feelings, though?

Cons:

Manny, Jay, and Joe have the weakest of the plot threads, as Manny and Jay get over-competitive about wine tasting. They find a commonality in Jay's appreciation for the wine, and Manny's competitive spirit. There were gay jokes that felt totally out of place, and the whole thing ended on a weak joke of them both walking away without seeing who won the contest, and then Manny running back to check. I didn't despise watching this, but I didn't feel like it had anything new or moving to say, and it didn't make me laugh.

While there were some funny moments in the Dunphy plot, I thought Claire afraid of being labeled as a grandma was a little overplayed. The instant she started to be worried about it, I was already bored. I did like that Phil seemed far less concerned, though!

Schitt's Creek: Start Spreading The News (6x13)

I am made of emotions! Holy shit, I can't believe next week is the end. Let's dive in to what I consider to be pretty much a perfect penultimate episode.

Cons:

While I ultimately come down very favorably on Patrick and David's story this week, I will admit that I'm not a fan of the trope of people making huge extravagant purchases as a romantic gesture. It happens in The Office, it happens (sort of) in Gilmore Girls, and it's always bothered me. David could have found another nice gesture, and then just explained that he wanted to stay and buy the house.

Pros:

I'm nitpicking, though. I love that David was so focused on being full-steam ahead about New York that he briefly lost sight of his partners' needs, but that once he realized he had been negligent on that account, he immediately took steps to remedy it. David and Patrick are at the point in their relationship where conflict between them isn't going to blow up their whole lives. They are settled, they are secure. But that doesn't mean things are always going to be simple and perfect. Patrick was willing to move to New York to be with David, but for him it was a sacrifice. And then David realizes that he can make that compromise for Patrick, and stick around in town.