Barry: you're charming (4x03)

You know you've got something special when the sight of a man dangling dead from a bunch of cords out of the ceiling can make you... laugh? This show is fucking weird.

Cons:

I feel like the part of this show I've always had the hardest part connecting with is the part that's actually about acting and the world of Hollywood. There were a lot of things I liked about Sally's scenes as a teacher. I liked that she repeated Cousineau's tactics and seemingly got a genuine reaction out of an aspiring actor, only to be told by everyone else that her behavior was abusive and unnecessary. It was a good way to subvert expectations. But at the same time, the woman she screamed at ends up sticking around, claiming Sally's method actually worked. That felt a little cheap to me. Almost a validation of the thing the scene seemed to be trying to repudiate. The whole concept of getting to some deeper, truer place in the name of acting is sort of... farcical, right? What is the show trying to do with Sally's character, with the fact that she's here, back where she started, in some sort of position of authority but ultimately with nothing to show for all her hard work? Maybe I just need to keep watching to understand more.

Pros:

The stuff with the reporter, O'Neil, was so bizarre and hilarious. I loved Gene realizing what a fucking idiot he'd been, and trying to walk it back. The scene with Gene inside O'Neil's house, talking to his wife, was one of my favorites, just the utter absurdity of him having gotten away with something so brazen as breaking this woman's window and coming inside to smash up her husband's stuff. And later, we see that after some time with Moss, O'Neil is reduced to near catatonia, mysteriously speaking only in German, a language he apparently didn't speak before. That's just the kind of absurdity that makes this show so funny and great.

Bob's Burgers: Crab-solutely Fabulous (13x19)

A ridiculous and fun episode!

Cons:

Bob sometimes takes on the role of the "straight man" and is the least chaotic character on the screen. It's fine, it's just not as fun as when he gets all enthusiastic and caught up in something ridiculous. I just can't think of any funny Bob moments in this episode.

Pros:

At the core of all the goofy comedy of this show, is the gentle and affirming truth that this is a show about a family that really loves each other. Louise gets super enthusiastic about an idea, and Gene and Tina go along with it long after their own interest wanes. Teddy allows himself to get grievously injured, and both Bob and Linda end up entering the ring for the final fight, all because this is something Louise is passionate about. It's sweet, in an over-exaggerated, ridiculous way, how much this family all supports each other. (And Teddy too!)

Grey's Anatomy: Gunpowder and Lead (19x16)

Let's dive right in!

Cons:

This is a small thing but I thought I'd mention it because I noticed it: there's a scene where Addison and Bailey are walking down the hallway having a conversation, catching up on the harassment Bailey has been suffering, and you can see the actors walking super slowly to accommodate the dialogue in the scene. It was just so funny to watch them shuffle in slow-motion and pretend they were walking at a normal pace.

I've... seen Amelia go through this shit before. I've seen her hit her lowest of lows. I don't really want to watch her suffer anymore? I know that drama is inevitable on this show, but there's just something so draining and oppressive about seeing Amelia in this depressive state, and she's surly and snapping and people, and I'm just... already exhausted about it, I guess? Winston getting the brunt of Amelia's wrath because he "let" Maggie move? Like, girl, this was mostly Maggie's fault, let's be real.

The Mandalorian: The Return (3x08)

In all, this season of The Mandalorian was pretty baffling. I've chose to just sort of... go with it, accept what we've been given instead of trying to question the shape of things too much.

Cons:

I don't really care about powerful, special, one-of-a-kind weapons, but I did think it was very odd that the Dark Saber met such a strange, unceremonious end. Mostly because symbolically, it was this whole big deal that Bo-Katan had earned it, and her place as the head of Mandalore or whatever. I actually think a more powerful symbol would be her giving the weapon away at some point just like Din did with her, thus confirming that the Mandalorians don't need a specific gadget or tool in order to be honorable and fierce leaders. Instead, the bad guy just destroys it, and all that buildup around who gets the sword just felt like wasted time in retrospect? I don't know. Sort of odd.

So, I obviously love any scene where Grogu and Din Djarin are fighting side by side, desperately protecting one another at all costs... but in watching this finale, this long, drawn-out action sequence with Moff Gideon's Beskar-wearing storm troopers going toe-to-toe with the Mandalorians, I kept thinking about last season's finale. How the action was all tied up in Grogu specifically. How he had been taken, and Din was doing anything he possibly could to get him back. And how in the end, he had to let him go. This time, it's just... there are bad guys in the room, and they're trying to kill everybody in front of them because they want control of this planet. Grogu doesn't seem to have any special significance to them at all. It would have been easy enough to adjust this: play up the fact that Grogu is a Jedi, or at least a Jedi in training. Play up the fact that he represents the enemy of Moff Gideon on two different accounts, both as a Mandalorian and as a Jedi. There could have been something there, and instead the peril felt by our main characters felt rather incidental to the actual goal of the villains.

Bob's Burgers: Gift Card or Buy Trying (13x18)

This was fun, getting to hang out in a different setting than usual!

Cons:

As everyone's dreaming of the different stuff they want to buy, we see Bob wants cattle bell weights, and later he wants a headlight, and his little fantasies about these objects were fine, but probably just the least interesting/enjoyable character beats of the episode. Easily forgettable.

Pros:

I like how the whole family goes into the store, which is basically like a Walmart equivalent, a huge store with lots of different departments and things to buy, and immediately we've got different backdrops for our characters to interact with than usual. We see them exploring the toys and the home goods, we see them slipping in and out of fantasies of what they'll do with their new purchases. All very fun.

Barry: yikes/bestest place on the earth (4x01/02)

We're back for the final season!

Cons:

When there's a show this good, I feel myself unequal to really talking about it or explaining the ways in which it's brilliant. If I had to delve into what isn't working for me so far in these first two episodes, the first thing I'd say is that Sally running home and then immediately coming back to LA was sort of odd. I guess I expected her to stay put with her awful mother for a bit longer. Would have been interesting to see how that played out.

I also think that Barry can go a little too hard on the meta stuff for my taste, and I know that's what the show is going for, I'm not saying it's bad, it's just... personal preference means that watching Cousineau play out his history with Barry in the form of a one man show felt a little more time-wasting than it did comedic to me personally.

Grey's Anatomy: Shadow of Your Love/Mama Who Bore Me (19x14/15)

Lots to talk about, in these two episodes!

Cons:

So, I'm going to keep a close eye on how this story goes with Jo and Link and Luna. The thing is, so far technically speaking nothing about it makes me angry. It is totally fair and reasonable that a mother would have a hard time processing a big and scary change for her young daughter. And Grey's is usually good about this kind of thing, so... I just hope they have an actual Deaf consultant come on to coach about this story-line? I hope they go into the controversies and dangers around a CI if that becomes something Jo considers for her kid? I hope we get an awesome story of Jo and Luna and Link and Scout learning ASL so they can all communicate better. I just... don't want this to turn into an abject tragedy where Luna losing her hearing is the same as if she'd gotten cancer or something. There's a lot to celebrate from becoming Deaf, and it would be cool if the show could explore that aspect of things! We'll see how it goes. (Also, repeating my constant critique that Jo and Link bore and annoy me as a potential couple, I just really wish we'd never gone that route at all.)

Amelia and Kai... I don't know. Does this just feel a little lazy, a little proscribed, to anybody else? Amelia correctly identifies that she tends to lash out and behave poorly when she feels she's being abandoned, then she learns Kai is leaving to go to London, and she immediately starts behaving poorly. I was on Kai's side in the sense that they pointed out that Amelia hadn't even stopped to congratulate them on this big job opportunity. That's some bullshit. But also, this episode reminded us why this relationship was always going to be doomed... Amelia has a kid. Amelia is a mother. Kai wants nothing to do with that. What sort of future were they supposed to have if Amelia is literally supposed to be splitting her time between her partner and her child? It's ridiculous.

The Mandalorian: The Spies (3x07)

Okay, all of the twiddling of thumbs and weird pacing issues this season, and now suddenly the bad guy shows up and he's not messin' around. Let's talk about it.

Cons:

I still think it's odd how much this story has become Bo-Katan's, instead of Din's. There's this moment that I liked well enough, where Din is talking about why he's loyal to Bo-Katan, and it felt like a growth moment for her, but not really for him. He doesn't have an ego problem, he didn't want to rule. Even the fact that Bo-Katan and her people take their helmets off and don't follow "the Way" doesn't seem to bug him that much. He doesn't have to go on a journey of self-discovery and realize that his method of practicing his faith isn't the only valuable one. There's just no growth opportunity here. Nothing that's happening feels rooted in his character at the center of this show.

Grey's Anatomy: Cowgirls Don't Cry (19x13)

I'm just... I don't know. I'm frustrated.

Cons:

I've been so uncertain on how to come down on the Winston and Maggie debate this whole time, because honestly I thought it was an interesting premise for marital conflict, and I was really willing to see where they took it. But here, we get some things coming to a head, and it turns out we're pinning the majority of the blame on Winston for always running away when things get tough. Yeah, honestly, Maggie is sort of right, but one thing this episode fails to fully address is that while being too conflict-averse can be a bad thing, being too ambitious/ready for a challenge isn't always a good thing either. There's this sort of clumsy metaphor about following one's passion. Maggie sees herself in a patient, a girl who won't stop bull riding even though it might end up killing her. Maggie says it must be so painful for her to be told she's selfish and wrong for wanting to pursue her dream.

But like... Maggie, come on. Pursuing dreams is good, it's a wonderful value to have, but pursuing harmonious married life is also a good goal, and acting like everyone else is unreasonable for having some qualms about your ambition isn't doing anyone any favors! Maggie steamrolls people. She sees what she wants and she goes for it without examining the consequences. She holds to her opinion so tightly that it erodes all the relationships around her. It happened with her ill-fated romance with Jackson, it happened with her ailing mother. I'm completely on board with Maggie's critique of Winston. I think it's right on and should be further explored. But to act like at the end of the day Maggie is the victim here, that she's the one being abandoned? That's a stretch. I wish this was going to get to play out more thoroughly, that we got to explore it in a nuanced way with a reasonably balanced ending. Instead, it seems that Maggie will be leaving us next week, and the only question is whether Winston is going with her. Frankly, I hope not, I liked Winston a lot and would be down to see more of him. But at the same time, what an annoying and lackluster conclusion for Maggie on the show. Really frustrating.

The Mandalorian: Guns for Hire (3x06)

I just realized there are only two episodes left of this season. That feels... kind of strange.

Cons:

Pacing-wise, this season hasn't really felt like it was building to anything in particular, and if it is, it's not anything to do with Din or Grogu. I'm of two minds about this whole thing. It's kind of fun and almost charming to have Mando and Baby Yoda take on the role of side characters this season. They're just vibin', father and son, doing their thing. But this is still supposed to be Din's show, isn't it? I wonder if they really are just out of plans for this character already, and what that bodes for the future of the show. I don't have a bad time watching them just hanging out on the periphery of other people's stories, but I don't really understand the decision to structure things this way.

After all that, Din just... gives Bo-Katan the Dark Saber? Talk about an anti-climax. Maybe that's my overall critique of this season. The driving force of seasons one and two are over, and now we just have Din sorta... hopping around, cleaning up messes, with Grogu happily along for the ride. This whole thing about the fate of Mandalore was one of the last big dangling threads we had that connected specifically to Din's character, and now that's resolved with him basically saying "no I don't wanna", and handing the sword off? To be clear, I'm very on board with Bo-Katan getting the sword and leading their people. Seems like very much the appropriate move to make. I just wish there could have been something more momentous surrounding this great moment of destiny.