Barry: forgiving jeff (3x01)

Oh man, okay! I watched the first two seasons of this show a while back but this is my first experience watching an episode all caught up, so I can't rush on to see what's next. Let's talk about it!

Cons:

Barry is one of those shows where it's pretty much definitionally flawless television, so any complaints I have are in the realm of personal preference.

So there's one thing about this show, and it's that I can't stand Sally. There's the way the show wants me to think Sally sucks, and there's the way that I think Sally sucks, and the two are related but I'm not always convinced they're 100% aligned? Like when she's walking around being all busy on set and squabbling about fight choreography and dress colors, my overwhelming feeling is that of ennui, just oppressive, irritable ennui. Get over yourself, girl. I don't care. You are the worst. So while I know I'm supposed to think all these characters are the worst in some way or another, Sally is the person where when I see her on screen I wish I was watching anyone else.

Outlander: Sticks and Stones (6x07)

You know, I have one major problem with this episode and it's tied in with a problem I've had with the whole season...

Cons:

I find it insulting that this episode wants us to believe for even one second that Claire may have killed Malva. To me, that's banking on a wholly unnecessary source of drama. The situation is fraught enough as it is, with so many different angles to explore, that I seriously don't think we need to add in this element of "maybe Claire's a murderer!" This is all in connection with the ether thing we've been doing all season. That too feels like an unnecessary element that was added to spice up a story that didn't actually require any more spice. Claire can have her doubts and troubles and traumas without adding in an ether addiction-type thing that makes her hallucinate and causes her to doubt her own mind. There's enough meat on the emotional bones of the story without going there at all!

While I'm glad we get to have the Lizzie subplot with the Beardsley twins, I did think it a bit of a shame that it all happened so quickly in one episode... I wish we'd had the reveal in an earlier episode and then maybe the hand-fast trickery here, to spread it out a bit? This show has a challenge in adaptation that springs from the fact that the books weave together subplots and mete out new information in slow little drips over time. So here, they condense the Malva accusation and her death into one episode, and condense the Beardsley subplot into one episode... I don't know, it doesn't quite work for me on the level of information flow.

Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils (2022 Easter Special)

I wanted to feel more connected to this episode than I ended up feeling! I apologize for the brevity of my thoughts.

Cons:

In terms of the main plot, the Sea Devils themselves, the pirates and their various backstories, I found myself wanting more than what I got. We spent a lot of time with people without ever really learning about them or connecting with their characters.

I also got annoyed that Dan was separated from the Doctor and Yaz yet again. I swear they have a vendetta against letting Dan and Thirteen do any bonding, but whatever.

I was waiting for the theme, but other than "you shouldn't drown the whole world because you'll kill people", I wasn't really understanding what this story was meant to make me understand.

The Walking Dead: Acts of God (11x16)

I feel like I paid even less attention than I normally do to this episode. Ha. Maybe I don't like this show very much.

Cons:

There are shows that can get me to stop and really, really pay attention during long stretches of suspense or action with no dialogue. This show is often not one of them. So this episode features a lot of Daryl running around, a lot of Maggie running around, you've got characters getting injured, but nobody that we care about is injured bad enough for it to matter, and long stretches of just running around, dealing with violence, dealing with Walkers, and I can't tell you how bad my brain zoned out during most of it. This is partially the fault of me, the reviewer, but I think it also speaks to how repetitive and predictable this show has become over the years.

This episode also just speaks to how utterly pointless Leah was as a character. This should have felt like a serious blow, something heartbreaking and real and tragic, the fact that Daryl killed her to save Maggie's life. Daryl loved her, didn't he? That's supposed to be something with emotional resonance, and I felt nothing. That whole tense standoff between Maggie and Leah, where Maggie acknowledged that Leah would want revenge on her... these two women have taken so much from each other, but there's not a proper buildup or understanding of character or anything, that would make this moment land.

Outlander: The World Turned Upside Down (6x06)

Well dang! I wasn't expecting things to happen quite so quickly!

Cons:

This episode comprises quite a passage of time, and honestly I feel a little conflicted about it. To take us through Claire's sickness, Malva's entire pregnancy leading up to her ultimate fate, all in one episode, made me feel a little uncertain about where we were in the timeline at any given moment. I admire how much of the story they were able to tell here, but it does sort of feel like all the slow, sinister buildup of Malva's character came to a head and then was immediately pivoted into the next branch of the story. I think I would have wanted this story to take place over two episodes instead of just one, if I had been calling the shots there.

Things like, Ian being one of the potential fathers of Malva's child, and Jamie's despair during Claire's sickness, and Roger continuing to preach at the protestant church, and the assembly Jamie and Roger attend... on the one hand, I'm impressed by how much from the books is being included. On the other, it felt like we got a lot of summarization where I could have done with some slowing down.

Grey's Anatomy: Put It to the Test (18x15)

Wow, the stuff with Schmitt was stressful as hell! This was an intense episode.

Cons:

I liked the intensity of the performances during Meredith and Bailey's big fight, but I felt like it wasn't totally justified on the merits of the situation. Bailey went from zero to one hundred in being angry with Meredith for... checks notes... getting a job offer. She doesn't even ask her if she's taking it before she starts screaming at her and throwing Derek in her face, it's just awful and doesn't feel like it was built up enough.

Nick, as I've said a thousand times, is pretty boring. It's not that there's anything wrong with his transplant plot thread here, or how he's trying to grapple with the despair he feels in career. It's all perfectly unobjectionable. It's just not interesting. I'm glad his cool new medical procedure works, I guess, but I'm not interested in seeing how he responds to any of it.

The Walking Dead: Trust (11x15)

This is definitely an episode building to a midseason finale, rather than paying anything off, so there's quite a bit of treading water. Is that a bad thing?

Cons:

Well... in a lot of ways it's hard to judge this episode on its own, when there's more to come that will hopefully wrap up or escalate many of these plot points. I guess my least favorite stuff here was with Ezekiel. Kind of felt like a waste of time to show him getting into and out of trouble so quickly, what with Carol there to bail him out. I don't like the implication that Ezekiel might still be holding a torch, because I really like the vibe of the two of them as amicable exes who managed to stay good friends in the aftermath of their marriage and the loss of their son. I don't need to go back to romantic intrigue with these two.

This episode ends with a dramatic reveal of Leah, but like... last episode also ended with a dramatic reveal of Leah? So that felt like a weird pacing thing. Shouldn't they have held off on showing who stole the weapons for this moment, instead of telling us last week and then having this one be just a retread, with Hornsby offering her a job?

Outlander: Give Me Liberty (6x05)

Lord John Grey!!! My beloved!

Cons:

I remain convinced that they never fully stuck the landing with Murtagh and Jocasta... I was a fan of Murtagh sticking around on the show as long as he did, but the fact that his lasting legacy is now as Jocasta's sadly dead lover instead of Jamie's beloved uncle/father figure is kind of annoying to me. The fact that we spent time on Jocasta mourning for Murtagh here felt very strange.

The elephant in the room whenever we're at River Run: Jocasta is a freakin' slave owner. So when we're sitting around and giggling with her, Claire's getting high with her, all that stuff, it's just super uncomfortable and never properly dealt with. The character of Mary didn't help matters. I don't remember if this is someone we'll learn more about later, I can't quite recall this plot thread from the books, but in this episode she was basically there as set dressing. We learn her mother died and that Jocasta gave her time off to grieve. Okay, so is this supposed to be like a "Jocasta is a good master" thing? Because eww. And then later she's like, telling Jamie that Jocasta has seemed down lately because of losing Murtagh, basically there to provide emotional support to her white master and her white master's family, and I'm just cringing the whole time it's happening. I'll admit I don't have a solution to offer, I'm not sure how I would have made this better, but I'm certainly always uncomfortable by the way it's just kind of... not dealt with in the story.

Grey's Anatomy: Road Trippin' (18x14)

I love Jo very much!

Cons:

For the first time in a long time, I can't really think of much to complain about. None of the main stories were irritating to me on their face. Maybe the stuff with Meredith and Zola wasn't quite what I wanted it to be, just because I feel like they're stringing us along with this stuff about Meredith moving and taking the new job. Yes or no? Is Meredith leaving? What's happening with that? I don't like her boring boyfriend, so I don't like the time-wasting we do with him.

Pros:

Hey, miracle of miracles, there were moments with both Owen and Teddy this week that I didn't hate! Probably because it wasn't a plot thread about their relationship! First, I love that Amelia is chastising Owen for trying to push his recovery. Owen makes for actually decent comic relief when he's being the "doctors make the worst patients" cliché. And when he's acting as chief for Bailey, he manages to do a decent job but also gets a little worked up with the difficulties. I liked how he responded to everyone else's incredulity about his fitness for the job.