Outlander: The Way Out (1x03)

Jamie you are adorable and I love you.

The End.

Okay, no. Here's the plot of this one.

Unless I'm much mistaken, the main plot of this episode is actually not in the book at all. Claire is starting her job as a physician at Castle Leoch, while Dougal's men continue to follow her and watch her. When Claire finds out that a young boy has died, and the villagers suspect demonic possession, she is concerned. When Mrs. Fitz's nephew later falls victim to the same symptoms, she wants to help. However, everyone is convinced that the boy's ailments are spiritual in nature. He went up to the black kirk, which is known among the people as a place haunted with demons.

Claire tries to help Laoghaire flirt with Jamie, but at first it seems Jamie is much more interested in Claire. Later, however, Claire sees the two of them kissing. When she teases Jamie about it at dinner, Murtagh tells Claire to back off of Jamie, because things would go badly wrong if anyone were to find out.

Doctor Who: Deep Breath (8x01)

I think I have a problem, and that problem is this: it's impossible for me to attain objectivity. I see everything that Moffat writes through this veil of dislike now, and it's like even when he does something good, I can't stop nitpicking at it. But I'm going to try and be fair in this review. As fair as I possibly can be.

Let's start with the plot.

In Victorian London, a giant dinosaur is walking around. Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax all see this, and then they see the dinosaur spit up the TARDIS. When the Doctor emerges, they immediately notice that he is volatile and not doing so well.

While he rests, Clara tearfully asks how they can put him back to how he was, and laments the lines on his face, since it's brand new. Vastra does not take kindly to Clara, thinking she's being shallow. However, Clara is simply struggling with all of this change. The Doctor wakes up and goes looking for the dinosaur. He finds that it has been killed. Clara and the others catch up with him, and he notices a suspicious man walking away from the spectacle of the dead dinosaur. He also learns that there have been other cases of mysterious deaths recently. He leaves, and Clara goes back with the Paternoster Gang.

The Legend of Korra: Enter the Void/Venom of the Red Lotus (3x12/13)

This was excellent, I'll just say it up front. After a slow, rather gentle season of Korra, we end on a finale so epic that it can hold its own with the ATLA finale. First, the plot.

Korra and the gang realize that the only way to save the Air Benders from Zaheer is for Korra to give herself up. They devise a plan: Mako, Bolin, and Asami will go to the Air Temple to get the Air Benders, while Korra will go to a separate location to hand herself over, with Tonaq, Lin, Suyin, and other Zaofu cops standing by to get Korra back, once the Air Benders are safe.

Korra hands herself over to Zaheer after getting confirmation from Mako that the Air Benders are safe - but then, it turns out to be a trap! The Air Benders were really just empty cloaks filled with water by Ming-Hua. So Mako, Bolin, and Asami have to fight against Ming-Hua and Ghazan, while also getting an injured Tenzin out. Ghazan sets the whole place to melt in lava, trapping them inside. Bolin uses his Earth Bending to get them out through the walls, but the lava is encroaching. At the last minute, he is able to Lava Bend to save them all! Kai then shows upon his baby bison and flies the three kids and Tenzin to safety, as the Air Temple crumbles behind them.

Suits: This is Rome (4x10)

Wow. Wow. Wow. No. Not okay. This is... not good. This was quite a stellar summer finale, but I am so, so, angry that I have to wait to see what happens next. First of all, the promo for this episode was enormously misleading. I thought Mike was going to betray everyone in some surprising twist, and I had no idea how they were going to pull that off. Instead, we got something quite different. Let's start with the plot.

Louis has left the firm, and is struggling to find somewhere else to work, since he's not allowed to bring clients with him from Pearson Specter. He asks Harvey for help, but Jessica won't give Louis clients. Harvey gets Louis a job offer, but Louis won't take it, since it's in Cincinnati. Harvey then tries to get Louis a job in Boston, so he can be with Sheila (at Donna's suggestion). When Louis goes to try and get back together with Sheila, it doesn't work, and Louis doesn't take the job in Boston, either. Mike now tries his own hand at helping Louis, by going to Robert Zane and asking him to hire Louis. Robert agrees to meet with Louis, but then says that Louis needs to show he has balls by stealing a client from Pearson Specter and breaking his contract.

Meanwhile, Mike has been working to try and help Harvey retain a client, Versalife. Katrina tells Louis about the client, and Louis goes to poach them. Jessica thinks that Mike told Louis about Versalife, but Harvey doesn't believe it, and goes immediately to talk to Mike, who confirms that he said nothing. Even so, Louis now has Versalife. Harvey is pissed, and tells Louis that he's done having compassion for him and trying to help him. Mike has a way to get Versalife back, but it involves a bit of awkwardness, since he and Harvey have to go and talk to Walter Gillis. Gillis doesn't exactly forgive Mike, but he does agree to buy a division of Versalife, to give him a new purpose in life. Thus, Pearson Specter retains the client, and Louis has nobody to bring to Robert Zane.

Outlander: Castle Leoch (1x02)

Okay, here's episode two. I have to say right off the top... they are certainly taking their time with this! We're about 100 pages through the first book as of the end of this episode. I'm really happy that we're taking our time. Here's the plot of this one.

Claire, Jamie, Murtagh, Dougal, et. al. arrive at Castle Leoch, where Claire meets Mistress Fitzgibbons, a kindly old house maid. Mrs. Fitz, as most people call her, is scandalized by her outfit, but when she realized that Claire is a medicine woman, of sorts, she immediately tells Jamie to listen to Claire and let her help him.

Claire cleans Jamie's wound and re-bandages it. As she's doing so, she sees scars on Jamie's back, and he tells her the story. The show gets a little muddled, so I'll tell it to you in chronological order. At least, I think this is what happens: Jamie is tending his farm at Lallybroch when he hears his sister screaming. He goes to rescue Jenny, and he sees Captain Jack Randall and some other British soldiers restraining her. He is tied up and whipped in front of Jenny, who is given the choice to go inside with Jack (ostensibly to be raped) or to watch her brother continue to suffer. Jenny, believing that Jack will kill Jamie, goes inside with him.

The Legend of Korra: The Ultimatum (3x11)

Ahhhhh! What?! Oh my. Ohhh kay. Let's just... uh. Plot.

Mako and Bolin are released from Zaheer's custody, and rush to go find Korra and the others. They have a message from Zaheer: Unless Korra turns herself over, Zaheer will kill the new Air Benders at the Northern Air Temple! Korra decides to try and find Zaheer in the Spirit World to hold him off, while the others keep trying to contact Tenzin at the Air Temple.

While in the Spirit World, Korra does not find Zaheer, but she does find Iroh. Korra feels alone because she can't talk to Aang or any of her other past lives. Iroh reminds her that Zuko and Aang were best friends, and that she could try going to him for advice. Korra does so, telling Zuko that she spoke to his uncle. Zuko tells her that Aang would have done anything he could to protect the Air Benders, but that he understood that he had a responsibility to the world, as the Avatar, not to give up.

Korra finally gets through to Tenzin to warn him about Zaheer, but she's too late! The Red Lotus have arrived! Tenzin sends Jinora and Kai with the rest of the Air Benders, telling them to escape to the flying bison and get away. Meanwhile, Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi will hold off Zaheer, Ming-Hua, and Ghazan. However, P'Li uses her Combustion Bending to keep the Air Benders from escaping. Kai tries to distract her, and nearly falls to his death, but is saved by a baby bison in the end. Kya and Bumi are both thrown off a cliff by the Red Lotus, and Zaheer and his team back Tenzin into a corner, beating him thoroughly.

Suits: Gone (4x09)

Okay, okay, okay, but did you guys see the promo for next week's episode? My heart hurts just thinking about it. What the eff is going on? What does Mike do? Why does Harvey have a kicked puppy look on his face?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

Sorry. Ahem. That promo has damaged my soul. And you know what else damaged my soul? This freakin' episode! I mean, my goodness, how much angst and bromance and soul-crushing am I supposed to be able to handle?! Let's talk about the plot. I apologize, but I'm going to be brief about the actual events of the episode.

Louis tells Jessica and Harvey what he did. Jessica calms him down and tells him not to confess, but she tells Harvey that she plans on firing him when it's all over. Donna tries to convince both Harvey and Jessica to keep Louis, but Jessica is not to be convinced, and Harvey doesn't think there's anything he can do.

From here, we get a back-and-forth between Cahill and Pearson Specter, as each group gets permission to look into the sins of the other. It's a race - if Cahill gets his hands on the paper proving Louis' guilt, it's over.

Outlander: Sassenach (1x01)

I wasn't going to watch this show. I wasn't. I've read all of the books in the main series (or almost, haven't gotten around to the eighth one yet), and let me tell you, they're massive. The first one is only 700 something pages, but the fifth one, which I started reading at the start of this summer, is fully twice that length. I'm not even kidding. I didn't have much faith in the idea of a TV adaption for this story, but then I reminded myself that if Game of Thrones could pull it off, then maybe it wasn't so far fetched that Outlander could do the same.

See, the problem in adapting these books, I think, is that they're so indescribable. They're not romance novels. They're not. And they're not simply fantasy. Or simply historical drama. Or... well... simple. On top of that, so much rides on the main characters, that if you don't find someone brilliant to play Jamie and Claire, you're screwed right from the start.

With all of these thoughts in mind, I decided not to make a decision about whether I was going to review this show until after I'd seen the first episode.

...

It took five minutes, and they had me.

The Legend of Korra: Long Live the Queen (3x10)

Yikes, things just got a bit... dark, there. I mean... I've heard theories about the nastier things that Air Benders can do, but this was... yikes. Let's talk about it, shall we?

Korra and Asami are being brought back to Ba Sing Se. They manage to stop the vessel carrying them, but it crashes in the desert. They work together with their captors to get it back in working order, but are impeded by a giant monster. Eventually, they get something in working order and make their way to the Misty Palms Oasis. Their erstwhile captors have become their allies, and they let them go.

Meanwhile, however, Bolin and Mako have been taken to the Earth Queen by the Red Lotus. They are imprisoned. Mako tries to encourage Bolin to Metal Bend, but he can't manage to do it. The Red Lotus have bequeathed these prisoners to the Earth Queen, but on the understanding that she will hand over the Avatar, once Korra arrives in the city. They explain that public opinion will turn against the Earth Queen if they learn she has Korra captive, so letting them take her is in the Queen's best interest. Also, if the Queen lets the Red Lotus take the Avatar, Zaheer will give her information about the missing Air Benders.

Suits: Exposure (4x08)

Mike is back! Woo! But things aren't going to be easy... and are you really surprised?

So, Mike shows up to work, and Donna shows him to his brand new office, which Harvey later tells him used to belong to Harvey himself. Aw, how sweet. But there isn't much time for sentimentality, as it turns out Sean Cahill is trying to get his hands on all of Pearson Specter's paperwork concerning the Gillis takeover. He's still trying to bust Mike and Harvey for colluding. Since they're innocent of this crime, both of them at first suggest turning over all of the paperwork. But Jessica says no, saying that Cahill will find some excuse to pin them, even if they're innocent.

Louis is horrified at the thought of Cahill getting his hands on these papers, as his shady deal with Forstman will be revealed, no matter how deep he tries to bury the evidence. Louis even goes to Forstman to try to undo the deal, but Forstman refuses. He does offer, however, to let Louis replace his own name with Harvey's, thus pinning Harvey for the deal.

Cahill manages to win the rights to the papers (by using Logan), but it turns out that the firm will only be turning over the communications between Harvey and Mike. Louis' paperwork with Forstman will not be included. So, Louis is immensely relieved.

The Legend of Korra: The Stakeout (3x09)

Let's not dilly-dally. Plot time!

Korra, Bolin, Mako, and Asami follow Aiwei, trying to track him down and get some answers. Mako thinks they should follow him to a meeting place with Zaheer, so they can get even more information. After a long and fruitless stakeout, Korra bursts into Aiwei's room to learn that the meeting with Zaheer is in the Spirit World. Korra quickly enters it. While there, Zaheer throws Aiwei into the Fog of Lost Souls.

Zaheer then stalls for time, keeping Korra in the Spirit World and answering her questions, all while getting a message to his friends in the mortal world to capture Korra. Zaheer tells Korra that he is part of the Red Lotus, an organization that wants to restore balance to the world. Turns out, Unalaq used to be a part of them, before he went rogue and tried to take too much power for himself.

Ming-Hua and Ghazan (two other Red Lotus members) show up to take Korra, but Bolin and Mako hold them off, while Asami and Naga escape with Korra's body. Bolin and Mako are no match for these incredible Benders, however, and they are subdued. However, the Red Lotus doesn't get their hands on Korra - the Earth Kingdom does that first. They capture Korra and Asami, as it turns out that the Earth Queen put a price on their heads for letting the Air Benders escape.

Suits: We're Done (4x07)

So... yeah. Bromance. Let's dive right into the plot. I think this is going to be a brief review, but then you know how I get. I end up rambling on and on. In any case, here goes:

Mike has been fired, and is not handling it well. Forstman offers him a job that will come with a one million dollar signing bonus. Donna tells Harvey to go and see him, and Harvey does, telling Mike to go visit Stan, the man who had lied on his resume and gotten fired in his late life. After talking with Stan, Mike learns that his job isn't what matters in his life. The most important thing is who he spends it with. He decides not to take the job with Forstman, and instead joyfully tells Rachel that everything will be okay if he has her.

At this point, Rachel's guilt overcomes her, and she tells Mike about the kiss with Logan. Mike storms off and goes to Logan's house. The two get into a fight. Mike then goes to Harvey's, while Rachel goes to Donna's. The next day, Mike asks Rachel for the full truth about the kiss, but gets even angrier when he learns that there was more feeling in it than Rachel admitted at first. Mike declares: "we're done." Rachel then says the same thing to Logan, also saying she won't be Logan's lawyer anymore.

Mike goes to take Forstman's job offer, feeling he has nothing left going for him, but Louis wants to stop him.