Doctor Who: Joy to the World (2024 Christmas Special)

I really really love Ncuti Gatwa in this role, y'all, he brings such an amazing energy to the Doctor... I wanna keep him for a long time...

Cons:

This is an extremely cheesy episode and honestly that's exactly what the doctor (hehe) ordered, but there was one moment that didn't work for me, and that was the ending with the Doctor literally saying "oh, I get it! You're joy!" Like, yeah, we get it, Doctor. We got it from Joy saying the same thing as she ascended to become a big light in the sky. It was this weird unnecessary repetition of the cheesy conclusion and I didn't need it quite so spelled out for me? Same with Joy's mom in the hospital literally saying Joy's name out loud as she saw the light. Again, trust the audience maybe a little bit more to get what you're doing without saying it all out loud!

Outlander: Hello, Goodbye (7x13)

After the high of the last few weeks of so much Lord John, I was bracing myself to be a little less invested in this week's installment. But it was another really strong showing!

Cons:

I used to harp on this a lot back in the old days and then it seemed pointless to keep bringing it up, but I should mention here once again that Sophie Skelton is the weak link acting-wise on this show. There's this moment when she's all offended at the sexist police implying that she might have been having an affair with Rob Cameron, but Skelton's acting is so weird in the scene that it actually seems like Brianna is lying about that? I don't know. It's unfortunate that she's not as strong a performer, so when the dialogue isn't stellar she can't carry it off like most of the others. Also, why doesn't Brianna at least tell them that Roger wants to steal money from them? Why hide that? I understand she can't tell the cops about hidden gold and time travel, but not providing any reason for Rob to kidnap her kid just made her look guilty as hell.

I really liked the stuff with Roger and his dad, it was genuinely moving. But I do wish that the end of this episode's moment of realization had been framed a little different. Here, it's presented like the idea that Jem isn't here in this time is something Roger is just now realizing. Even though surely he would have had suspicions about this from the second he realized that his father was here in the 1730s. I wish it had been framed more as "I've been thinking it for a while now but I was in denial..." rather than it being a new idea just occurring to Roger. Especially since we the audience know that Jem is in the 20th century already, so there's no bite to it.

What We Do in the Shadows: The Finale (6x11)

It's so wild to finish watching this finale and then hop over to Tumblr to see people lamenting and grieving for this epic queer-bait on one hand, and then other people throwing a party because Nandermo is canon now, and I'm just like... what show did you all think you were watching? lol. This was a fun finale.

Cons:

This finale cemented once and for all that the Guide was pretty useless as a character, and I hate saying that because I love the actress and I wanted her to have more to do. But her final character beat is that Cravensworth's Monster is really horny for her? The alternate ending where she's a detective on the case of the vampires was really funny, and it was the first solid bit they've given Kristen Schaal all season, and that bums me out. They even get in a last mention of Nandor's feelings for the Guide, which again goes nowhere and isn't funny or clever or interesting. So that's a bummer.

Also, I want to be careful here because there's all this extra weight put on finales to be some big thing that both shatters and preserves the status quo and that's an impossible standard to live up to, but, the one thing I do wish for was a bit of a resolution or at least an escalation on the whole "the vampires have fallen down on the job of conquering the new world" plot. It's just that the season started with that, and I didn't need some gigantic world-altering payoff, but some sort of circling back in a way that felt like things ended with a bit of momentum into the nebulous future might have been nice? Not the end of the world, but whatever.

Bob's Burgers: Dog Christmas Day After Afternoon (15x09)

Christmas chaos with the Belchers! I love it.

Cons:

It's another story where Louise has to learn not to be selfish, and give something up so someone else can have a good experience - I love this story, but I have seen it a bunch of times on this show. I almost wish Gene had been the one to bond with the puppy, since it was his chocolate misadventure that started the whole thing, and then we could have a Gene-centric plot, which almost never happens

Pros:

The basic conceit of this one is that the kids really want a handheld video game console of some sort, and Bob and Linda can't afford it, leading to a crestfallen Christmas morning. I loved the bit about the kids remembering all their super obvious hints to their parents, and then the parents remembering all their super obvious hints that it wasn't going to happen - but of course, Christmas hope rings eternal, and the kids don't listen to their parents when they talk...

Outlander: Carnal Knowledge (7x12)

You ever watch an episode of TV and actively cackle at the events playing out on your screen? I have been in full-on cackle mode for this entire plot thread of this show. It's everything I could have asked for.

Cons:

So, I think sometimes this show's acting is stronger than its writing, by which I mean a stellar performance from Sam Heughan can often elevate a clunky line of exposition, or the genuine passion in Caitriona Balfe's face can elevate an otherwise cheesy moment in dialogue. That remains the case in this situation as well, but there have been a few moments in Jamie's dialogue specifically that felt kind of awkward. It happened last week when he was explaining about not being on the Euturpe, and it happened again this week when he's explaining to John about why he has soldiers chasing him. Just super clunky moments where he's having to lay out basic tenants of the plot for the audience that don't feel naturalistic.

What We Do in the Shadows: The Promotion (6x10)

Aww! This was so great!

Cons:

This show doesn't have a lot of consistency/follow-through from earlier elements, and I do find myself wishing that there would be an acknowledgment of Laszlo raising Colin Robinson from a baby. There's this whole thread with Cravensworth's Monster this season, where the two of them are basically co-parenting, and it would be funny to tie back that earlier father/son dynamic to what's happening now. But there's never any mention of it, which I just think is a missed opportunity!

This isn't really a complaint about this episode, but rather a fervent hope for the finale next week... I hope that the documentary gets a proper payoff, even in some small way. The moment where Jordan is trying to call "cut" at the end felt like it needed a punch-up, a bit more of a grand reveal about the documentary that's been in progress for such a long time. I guess we'll see if they have a good final bit about this next week!

Bob's Burgers: They Slug Horses, Don't They? (15x08)

Aww, sister episode!

Cons:

I thought the flashback about Linda and Gayle was kind of gilding the lily, this episode would probably have worked just lovely without that added context spelled out for us? I almost rather would have just had Gayle explain the story to the kids maybe with a bit of flashback happening then, rather than structuring it so that we saw it earlier, if that makes sense. A small nitpick!

Pros:

The basic premise here is just that Louise and Tina are fighting about their toys. But the real fight is about their roles in the family - Tina as the good responsible one, Louise as the mean brat. Louise resents that: she was being thoughtless with Tina's possessions, but she didn't mean to break her horse. Both of their feelings are really hurt because Tina thinks Louise thinks she's boring, and Louise thinks Tina thinks she's a screw-up. I liked that the outer surface of siblings fighting over their belongings was actually about a deeper insecurity in their relationship, that worked really well!

Outlander: A Hundredweight of Stones (7x11)

It really is the best shit in the whole series, no joke...

Cons:

The one bigger thing I was noticing in this episode was that it was lacking a sense of time passing - it was unclear to me how long it had been since news of Jamie's death reached them - how many days between then and the wedding, how many days later are they going to that dinner party, how many days later does Jamie show up? Because it kind of feels like it happens within a week, but I remember it was a bit longer in the book. This also contributed to some strangeness of pacing in that big final scene, where Jamie shows up and clumsily explains that his luggage was on the Euturpe but he himself was not. So much of that final scene was lifted from the book entirely, and it's a great scene, don't get me wrong, but it all happened kind of choppy and strange. I think we get some time in Jamie's POV in the books or something, so we have a bit more context for why he's being chased by soldiers? But maybe I'm misremembering.

What We Do in the Shadows: Come Out and Play (6x09)

I liked this one!

Cons:

So, back to the Guide/Nandor thing - I think I realized my core issue here. It feels like a potentially funny subplot that would happen in a single episode, but stretched out over the full season until it feels threadbare and irritating. Like, the bit where Nandor dramatically offers to die for the Guide, or the Guide letting him down easy and Nandor spacing out staring at her eyes, those were perfectly funny bits. But they come after multiple false starts that suggest a story and then never capitalize on it. The Guide has said her piece now, but it seems like Nandor hasn't gotten the memo, so are we just going to keep limping through jokes about them for the last few episodes of the show? It feels like they don't actually have good funny ideas with this plot thread and I am increasingly sure that the payoff won't be worth the setup, whatever it is. I wish "Nandor has a crush on the Guide" had been the plot of a single episode, basically. That could have worked.