Grey's Anatomy: (Don't Fear) the Reaper (14x11)

Bailey-centric episode! With back-story! Yes yes yes!

Cons:

This is such a minor thing, but I needed a tiny bit more build-up to Bailey realizing that she's having a heart-attack at the beginning. As it stands, it's really, really hard to blame the doctors for being hesitant in the beginning. Obviously as it goes on and they continue to ignore her, I no longer have any sympathy for their position. But right at the start, it's hard not to think "horse, not zebra." Maybe if we'd seen just a slight amount of Bailey's symptoms affecting her - like, she says she's nauseated, so can we see her worry she might throw up? I don't know if I'm making any sense with this.

The random woman who Bailey saves and who is next to her in the hospital is fun or whatever, but nothing came of her and she felt rather out of place. I like the idea of Bailey having a blank-slate stranger character to riff off of until some of her friends actually show up at this other hospital. But I wanted a bit more of a payoff.

Supernatural: Various & Sundry Villains (13x12)

Good! This episode was actually good! When I saw the promos I was a little nervous. I predicted that Jensen would be hilarious, but that there would be some cringe-y moments and we'd sale through a C-plot episode with a little dash of B-plot in the form of Rowena, and then we'd get back to real business in the future. But no! That's not what this episode was at all!

Cons:

Apparently Cas has been "calling to check in every day," which is a detail I find utterly delightful. But I'm also really bummed that we didn't get to see how that plays out exactly... does Asmodeus force Cas to call? Does somebody imitate Cas to the boys? It annoys me that the Winchesters wouldn't have figured out that something was wrong by now. They do know Cas pretty well at this point.

The two witch sisters in this episode were played as kind of ditzy and stupid, and while I think that could have been fun in another universe, I don't think it was executed very well here. I wish we had seen evidence that their valley-girl attitude was a put-on, or that despite how they talked and dressed, they were really both very intelligent. Maybe that's what they were going for, but in execution they sounded just as air-headed when it was just the two of them as they did when they were conning men with magic. I also think there was a bit of a missed opportunity here, because two siblings desperately trying to save a parent, conning people out of money, doing increasingly desperate things to get what they want... that's a Winchester brother parallel if I ever saw one, and they didn't really take advantage of that opportunity.

The Big Bang Theory: The Novelization Correlation (11x15)

This week, we get an example of The Big Bang Theory actually addressing an issue with its lead character, and I'm honestly pleasantly surprised. Does that make the episode good? Well...

Cons:

Leonard's plot involves him working on his book about a bad-ass scientist who solves crimes. When Bernadette and Penny read it, they each believe that the main female character is based on the other, and they think she's a little too mean. When Penny realizes that the character must be based on her, she gets pissed off, but then Leonard talks to his mom on the phone and realizes that the character is actually based on his mother.

The scenes where all of the people from Leonard's life are inserted as characters in his book were just really unimaginative and not very funny. There was so much more that could have been done with this concept, you know? And then there's the fact that this was an opportunity to perhaps address some actual issues with Leonard and Penny's relationship, and once again that opportunity was entirely wasted. Are they ever going to feel like an actual part of this show again, instead of the weird side-characters that nobody knows what to do with?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Best Laid Plans (5x09)

This was a bit of a weak installment for me, although it had its highlights.

Cons:

I find myself not all that interested in the Kree. I just don't care about their emotions and their goals and all of that. I just want to see our heroes get back to the timeline that we're familiar with, and I want the stupid Kree to go away. I know I'm not supposed to like them, but I also don't enjoy watching them.

Deke has been a somewhat bland character for much of his time on the show. His moral dilemma about whether to trust his dad's old friend or his new friends is not all that interesting, because I simply don't care about him as a character.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Oh, Nathaniel, It's On! (3x10)

Yay! A focus on Heather!

Cons:

So, this whole baby-making plot thread is going full steam ahead, and while I don't mind that in principle, I'm starting to think we may have just run right past the whole "Darryl grieves for the loss of his relationship" part of the equation. After seeing White Josh cry over his breakup, I really wanted to see Darryl go through that process as well. Maybe we'll still get it, but it kind of seems like we just skipped it, which is a bummer.

The Heather subplot was great, but it made me realize even more how little Valencia has had to do this season. Even the plot thread where she was working on her event planning business didn't really have much to do with her - it was taken over by Rebecca!

Grey's Anatomy: Personal Jesus (14x10)

This was a dark episode of Grey's Anatomy. Surprisingly intense, even for this show. And not in the way that it often is, when it comes to a soap opera-type show like this.

Cons:

Honestly, this was a superb hour of television. I don't have a ton to complain about, save maybe a few things I would have wanted to see a bit more of... for example, Jo, Paul, and Jennie's plot thread seems to have been wrapped up in a pretty bow. I was actually getting kind of excited to watch Jo and Jennie sue him and take him down with the power of law, so this abrupt ending cut off some stuff that could have been quite interesting. Similarly, we don't get to see various people in the hospital react to the truth of Jo's past. I would have liked to see more of that, instead of relegating the rest of this story to a subplot. A really amazing subplot, but still.

And then there's the police shooting and killing an unarmed black child. Great plot thread, handled with surprising aplomb. But our point of view character for this episode was April Kepner. The stuff with her and her faith was actually excellent, and this was the most I've liked an April story in a long while. But for this particular subject matter, I maybe would have wanted to spend even more time in Jackson's head. Or Ben. Or Bailey. Or Webber. Or even Maggie. I'm not saying that April's perspective wasn't valid and a good thing to take a look at, but maybe what I'm reacting to is having so many serious subplots in one episode. As a consequence, there were so many little avenues and perspectives that we didn't get to explore with as much time as we might have if a single plot thread had been given more time.

Supernatural: Breakdown (13x11)

A very subtle, well-done, character-driven episode of Supernatural. Really quite strong.

Cons:

Only the general complaints that I have about C-plot episodes - there are certain things that don't really make sense in terms of the season's pacing. Sam and Dean just spent several days in another reality, and that barely gets mentioned. Nobody's heard from Cas in a while, and that's not really brought up. Mary and Jack are still missing, and now Sam and Dean know where they are. Would they not be focused on finding another dramwalker to help them out? We see some of the emotional strands continue in this episode, but is it realistic that Sam and Dean would just be lounging around in the bunker after everything else that's happened recently?

Pros:

On the flip side of that, I do actually want to praise the beginning of this episode. Supernatural frequently has trouble with its setup scenes. They are very repetitive - we see one brother comment on the other brother's emotional state to establish everybody's mood, a case shows up and one of them narrates a bit of the A-plot and explains that since there's no new information, they might as well go off on a C-plot episode. It's pretty clunky. But here, we get a lovely example of showing instead of telling. Dean is out making pancakes, while Sam stays in his room. He's unable to sleep. He doesn't emerge from his inner sanctum until Donna calls and he forces himself out of his stupor. Dean tries to be there for Sam but it's not really working, and we watch this play out in a dozen small instances throughout the episode. Very effective.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Last Day (5x08)

I'm confused but in a (mostly) good way. Let's dive in.

Cons:

So, the biggest problem here is that things are just a tad too confusing. I feel as if I need someone to create a timeline for me and really break it down. What happened to the versions of the characters that didn't travel through the monolith, and continued on through time as normal? We see glimpses of their lives from the years 2018 and 2022, but not much else. And what happens when/if our leads manage to make their way back through to the past? Can they actually change anything? What was Fitz saying about a time loop? Have they done all of this before, but they can't remember? How many versions of them are there? Ordinarily I'd say that we should give the show some time to explain itself, but this episode had a couple of moments where it was framed as if I was supposed to be having an 'aha' moment, but instead I felt even more confused. So. I'm a bit concerned about that.

Grey's Anatomy: 1-800-799-7233 (14x09)

Poor Jo! Man, this was a good episode. Or, at least, the main story was.

Cons:

The hacker plot thread was pretty stupid in the last episode, and it continues to be pretty stupid here. Luckily we don't spend a ton of time on it. I still maintain that such a level of control is unrealistic... and hey, are we ever going to find out who did the hacking? Seems like a weird thing to leave unanswered. One of the new interns is the one who saves the day, single-handed, with Bailey's laptop. I'll admit I know nothing about computers, but is that really... how this all works? I'm all for more representation in Grey's Anatomy, and in TV in general - this guy, it turns out, is transgender. Cool. But what are the odds that a genius hacker guy would become a surgeon and be on hand to save a hospital attacked by hackers? Seems like a clumsy way to introduce this character, even if I'm glad he's here.

Jackson and Maggie are still just not doing it for me. Maggie didn't annoy me the way she has in the past, but all of the scenes with the two of them are just kinda... eh. Their whole dynamic seems to be based on the fact that they both grew up in the same area but with wildly different childhoods. There's only so much I can hear about Jackson's incredible upbringing. I don't hate the idea of the two of them together, but I'm still rooting for April and Jackson, honestly.

Supernatural: Wayward Sisters (13x10)

Yeah. Okay. I can definitely get on board with this.

Cons:

I wanted to be able to say that this episode totally blew me away and was the perfect start to Wayward Sisters, but I do need to be honest. I felt like there were some elements that could have been stronger.

To start with, we have Claire returning as the prodigal daughter here, but there were a lot of emotional beats that we had to squeeze in to this one episode. Her relationship with Jody, her relationship with Alex, a new friendship forming with Kaia and then losing that friendship, her fear of death, her decision to come home... it's a lot of stuff going on. The stuff with Kaia was good, but there wasn't quite enough of it. Claire has this big, heartbroken reaction to Kaia's death, but I maybe could have used one more scene of the two of them bonding so that the impact would hit. Don't get me wrong - the acting was good, but I needed just a smidge more.

The Big Bang Theory: The Separation Triangulation (11x14)

Yeah, okay. Raj didn't annoy me this week and he so easily could have. So that's a good thing!

Cons:

I will mention one thing, though - Raj's story involves him being stuck between a newly separated married couple. He ends up empathizing with the husband, but we never see him ask the wife for her side of the story at all. He just sleeps with her, and then later asks her to give her husband another chance. I really wish we could have seen Raj as more of a go-between, bonding with both people equally and feeling torn about what to do.

Modern Family: In Your Head (9x13)

I'm a bit torn on this one. Nothing that happened felt important, but sometimes that can be okay. On the other hand, are we just treading water at this point? Maybe if I talk about some of the specifics I'll come to a better understanding of how I feel.

Cons:

Luke goes missing, and Phil, Gloria, and Manny team up to find him. There were some good aspects of this, which I'll discuss later, but my problem is that it seems like the plot thread couldn't decide whether we should be taking this whole thing seriously or not. Are we actually worried about Luke, or not? Because if we are, it makes no sense that Phil wouldn't tell Claire what's going on. Also... does Luke not live at home with his parents anymore? Would they not notice if he just never came home? There's a cheesy montage at the end that ties together all of the plot threads, and we see Phil and Luke sitting on the couch together, Phil overwhelmed with relief that his son is okay. This moment might have hit a bit harder if the worry for him had been played out more.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Nathaniel Gets the Message! (3x09)

There were so many laugh-out-loud funny moments in this episode, so many lines of dialogue that just slayed me. And yet there were also quite a few emotional gut-punch moments. Let's dive in!

Cons:

The poker scene wasn't as funny as I wanted it to be. It wasn't bad, but I was expecting something better. Darryl comes in with a red cowboy hat, but then nothing comes of it. He wins at first, but then loses the next game, and... I don't know. Maybe I'm just spoiled with how funny and smart the rest of the episode was. These scenes was just shrug-worthy.

Pros:

I loved the 100th song - "Without Love You Can Save the World." It wasn't my favorite song the show has ever done, but it makes it pretty high on the list. Basically Rebecca has been focusing so much of her energy on men that her therapist encourages her to take that time and focus it on something else. Rebecca, as is typical, immediately blows things out of proportion and decides that she can "save the world" if she cuts love out of her life. This number was just so fun. The whole ensemble was there, and apparently it made for an "asexual utopia." Sign me up!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Together or Not at All (5x07)

This show... is great. This episode was great. Fitz being around really helps!

Cons:

I will admit to being less than interested in all of the Kree family drama. Sure, it was a cool moment when Kasius killed his brother, but their speechifying and Kasius' daddy issues are just not doing it for me. I think the main problem is that we all sort of know that these characters won't be around for very much longer. If our gang of heroes is successful, this entire timeline won't even exist. So... why should I spend time developing a more nuanced opinion of the villain?

Enoch still seems too silly. He's completely invincible and it feels a bit like he could solve any of their problems whenever he wanted. The guy playing him is doing a great job, but he's just not connecting with me for some reason.

The Big Bang Theory: The Solo Oscillation (11x13)

I can't force myself to be enthusiastic about this show, guys. I just can't do it. However, this episode was not bad!

Cons:

We get the brief return of Howard and Raj's band, but Howard decides he needs to step down because his music is interfering with his home life. Raj replaces him with Bert, but then Howard comes back after Bernadette gets annoyed with Howard's new efforts to go solo. This plot thread was... nothing. It was nothing. I feel no connection to the band, I didn't learn anything new about family dynamics, we haven't touched on Raj and Howard's recent major fight... it was just nothing.

There was one moment where I felt some missed potential - Amy asks Leonard if getting married makes things different, and he says no. Amy is relieved, because she likes where she and Sheldon are right now. Okay, all of that is fine. I actually liked seeing these two have a serious conversation. But wouldn't this have been a good time to bring up the stagnation in Leonard and Penny's life? They've been treading water for so long now, and this felt like an actual opportunity to bring that up.

Modern Family: Dear Beloved Family (9x12)

Okay... this was... fine, I guess, but I kept identifying moments where it could have been much more than fine, and I started to get annoyed at the missed opportunities.

Cons:

The premise is that Phil is rushed to the hospital and has to have his gall bladder removed. The whole family rushes to his side in his moment of need. This is supposed to spawn a general anxiety in the family about death, as we see how everybody handles their worry. But... it just didn't go far enough. Don't get me wrong: I'm not talking about killing Phil off or even suggesting that such a thing was a real possibility. Please. I know what this show is, and I'm not trying to turn it in to something it's not. But there's a way to tackle a more serious subject in a sitcom without breaking the tone. Do you guys remember when Marshall's dad died in How I Met Your Mother? I'm just saying, there could have been a bit more tension to the story than there was.

I have no idea what's going on with any of the kids in this story. Manny, Alex, Haley, Luke... they're all just treading water. The show clearly doesn't know what to do with them at all. We don't get to see Luke and Phil share any sweet father-son moments, we don't get even a hint that the kids are worried about their dad... and Manny is off having a crisis because he dyed his hair blond. He doesn't even blink an eye about his uncle being in the hospital. It all feels so... detached.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Nathaniel Needs My Help! (3x08)

I am SUCH a broken record but my goodness is this show excellent. Where do I even start?

Cons:

I've realized that I only have one consistent complaint throughout the history of this entire show: not enough focus on the secondary characters. This season, we've seen so very little of Valencia, and it's bumming me out. It looks like next week will give us some WhiJo, but he was absent this week as well. So was Heather. I wish there was a way to balance out some more time with these characters, because every single one of them deserves tons of time and attention.

Okay, so... Josh comes to Rebecca's house and thanks her for changing him. Before they met, he says, he had set the bar so low for himself. Rebecca helped him realize that he could have more. Here's the thing about this conversation: I could see it happening, maybe, like ten years down the road. Rebecca and Josh bump in to each other, both of them have decided to forgive each other for their pain and suffering... but let's back up and think about this for a moment. Sure, Josh is not a saint, and there are many things that he did that were less than ideal. But Rebecca? By any sane measure she was the bad guy in their relationship. She stalked him, lied to him, manipulated him, cheated on him, threatened him... I'm not saying that Rebecca should be thrown in prison or anything. Watching her journey towards improving her mental health is the most fascinating thing on this show. But for Josh to thank her? For Rebecca to think that Josh was coming to apologize? Even after all of her therapy, does Rebecca not think she owes Josh an apology as well? Yikes!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Fun & Games (5x06)

My heart!!!! Let's get started.

Cons:

Tess is dead, and Ben is dead. I almost put this under the "pros" section because I was genuinely shocked by these plot twists, but at the end of the day it feels like a wasted opportunity. All of the new characters in this future world haven't had time to fully develop. Daisy was devastated when Ben was killed, but I found myself more curious than upset. I wanted to know more about this guy! And Tess... I understand the logic of killing her off, as she represented a safety net for our leads that they needed to lose. But why spend time developing her only to get rid of her so quickly? Maybe this is just a pacing problem.

I'm still not convinced that Enoch is a necessary character. He acts in this episode as a guide for Fitz, leading him through the social etiquette in his new role as a high-end yet still disreputable bidder for Kasius' prized Inhumans. But Fitz does such an amazing job of playing the part, and Enoch barely helps him out, so... I guess we'll still have to wait and see how this character is utilized moving forward.

The Big Bang Theory: The Matrimonial Metric (11x12)

Completely unoffensive, a few good laughs... and yet I feel like there were some missed opportunities here.

Cons:

What I mean by missed opportunities is this: Sheldon and Amy spend the episode secretly testing their friends for the honor of being in the wedding party. This is all well and good, but what we don't get to see is the scene where Sheldon asks Leonard to be his best man. That would have been really sweet, as their friendship has been one of the cornerstones of this show from the very beginning. The fact that such an important moment happens off-screen seems like a shame to me.

Bernadette was present for just one short scene this week, although she still played a role in the plot... I guess this also falls under "missed opportunities," as I would have liked to see Bernie's reaction to Penny getting to be Amy's maid of honor. Maybe we'll see it next week?

Modern Family: He Said, She Shed (9x11)

Sometimes these people are kind of the worst to each other, aren't they?

Cons:

Claire just wants a place where she can unwind, so she petitions the HOA for permission to build a shed in the backyard. Luke and Phil wanted a batting cage, so Luke sabotages his mother by writing a fake letter. Later, Luke lies and says that Phil was the one to sabotage her because he was afraid that she'd start spending too much time in her "she shed" and their marriage would fall apart. Okay... this plot thread sucked? There were some good laughs in it, but... come on... Luke was horrible. And not just the normal amount of horrible. I can see him sabotaging things, but the fact that he then made up a lie about Phil was just one step too far. I really thought he was going to fess up, but no. Also, Claire is way too forgiving, and seems to totally buy in to the fact that Phil would lie in such a stupid way to get what he wants. That seems like a sign of a deeply broken relationship to me. Maybe I'm taking this too seriously, but... yeesh.

The same sort of thing happens with Jay and Joe. Joe is apparently really good at golfing, so Jay excitedly decides to cultivate his skills. He takes it too far and puts too much pressure on his young son, to the point where Joe has a total breakdown. This was another plot thread where I was waiting for the heartwarming conclusion - okay, so Jay takes things too far, Joe falls apart, and then Jay should have a talk with his son and maybe Joe finds a different thing that he likes to do and Jay encourages him? Nope! We end on Joe falling to pieces. We see that the two of them go back to playing hide-and-seek, their pre-golf form of entertainment... but that's it. What the heck?