Suits: Blowback (5x11)

WHAT EVEN IS THIS NONSENSE. I'm so happy you guys. I'm so happy. Harvey and Mike. Just. Wow. Okay. Let's dive in and forestall the ecstatic flailing for a bit.

Cons:

Mostly this episode is just about the fact that Mike has been arrested, and dealing with the fallout from that. There were a few moments that felt a little bit too rushed, or too overdramatic, though. The main one was that Rachel admits to Mike that she had a brief moment of consideration about the idea of turning on Harvey and Jessica, if it would keep Mike safe. Mike blows up at her, believing that she's going to leave him if he ends up in jail. I can see the idea of Mike thinking Rachel will leave him being something that the show could explore moving forward, but it all happened so quickly and dramatically. Does Mike really have so little faith in their relationship?

Similarly, Louis and Jessica had a moment that didn't sit right with me. Jack Soloff is back on the attack, and Louis says that if they make him, Louis, managing partner, it will deflect the threat from Jessica. Jessica immediately accuses Louis of making a power grab. So, like, okay. I can get why it would be hard to trust Louis after all the crap he's pulled, but he wouldn't make a blatant bid for power like that. It lacked the nuance I usually expect from the conflicts in this show.

Supernatural: Into the Mystic (11x11)

My poor boys are in so much pain and I want to hug them all a lot but at the same time this episode filled me with such joy. I have one giant complaint and one smaller complaint, and then several things to praise. I'd say this episode doesn't quite hold up to last week's killer installment, but it was as solid as a C-plot episode ever has been. Go Robbie Thompson!

Cons:

Giant complaint is as follows - Dean/Amara is disgusting and not at all compelling. In this episode, we see that Dean is vulnerable to the attack of the Banshee because he is hung up on Amara. He also confides in Cas, or Lucifer, rather, that he's had two shots to take Amara out and he's been unable both times, due to his connection and attraction to her. It's just creepy, is what it is. I'm sorry, but Amara is as old as the universe itself, but she's also only been alive for like under a year in a human vessel. And other than the compulsion drawing them together because of the Mark, I don't understand at all why Dean would be drawn to her. I mean, in getting rid of the Mark, Dean was supposed to have banished those dark thoughts completely. Right? This isn't a Sam/Ruby situation, since Dean isn't still being corrupted by dark power like Sam was when he was drinking Demon blood. It seem like this is a pale imitation of that earlier Sam/Ruby storyline, but with a much less compelling reason, nonexistent chemistry, and even more uncomfortable questions about consent. I keep trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but Amara just doesn't do it for me, either as a love interest for Dean or as a proper villain.

Elementary: Murder Ex Machina (4x09)

I don't know. I mean I liked a lot of things about this episode, but it also felt a little black and white. Usually I like dealing with moral ambiguities in this show, but this episode felt like it was trying too hard to be deep at certain points. Let's take a closer look.

Cons:

The case of the week was a little bit too twisty. It involved international spies and hit men and hackers and self-driving cars and technology companies and weapons dealers and honestly it just kind of made my head spin. Throughout all of these really big, dramatic things, we had Sherlock insisting that even though the murder victim was a bad guy, justice must be served. No murderer should ever walk free. A fair point, but the complexities of the statement were never explored to their full potential. And the murderer ended up being a guy only briefly encountered at the beginning of the episode. I always hate it when they do that. It doesn't ring true.

There were a few things that had the potential to be awesome in this episode, but instead fell a bit flat because they didn't have enough time to dive into them properly. Most significantly, there was the introduction of an autistic woman who worked for a tech company. She was a total genius but had a hard time with social interactions. She talked about how Joan and her boss were NT (neuro-typical) but that she didn't know what Sherlock was. The implication that Sherlock is on the spectrum is one I can totally get behind, but as this was the very first time the show has ever brought it up in concrete terms, I wish it could have been explored more fully. Perhaps it will come up again?

Supernatural: The Devil in the Details (11x10)

I was so excited for this episode to air. I was expecting a lot of angst between the brothers. What I got was... well, I got some brother angst, but more than that I got a surprising amount of Rowena and Cas. Not what I would have asked for exactly, but it turns out it was exactly what I wanted. This episode was amazing. Let's dive in.

Cons:

Unfortunately, the amazingness isn't across the board. There were a few things to really hate about this episode. There was some good representation from the ladies to start with: four women with actual names. Amara, Rowena, Billie, Ambriel. But the bad news is, two of those ladies end up dead by the end of the hour. Ambriel was a one-off character, and I quite liked her. Turns out, she was really just there to give Cas a crisis of self-confidence and then die. Lame! And then there's Rowena. While her death served the function of shocking the audience, it ultimately feels sort of pointless. Am I the only one who felt like her build-up on this show has been totally wasted? There was so much more she could have done. So much more they could have explored. But she ultimately met her end as nothing more than an example of what Lucifer is capable of. Ugh.

And as long as we're talking about the women, let's just touch on Amara. Last time we saw her, she had been mega-smited by a whole host of Angels. It didn't do her in, to nobody's surprise. She's  back to being her old creepy self in no time. She kills Ambriel but spares Cas to send a message to Crowley: "I am coming." I know I'm suppose to be scared of her, or maybe I'm supposed to think she's hot, but it's just not working. It's not the actress's fault. As of yet, I'm just more annoyed with the Darkness as a villain than anything else. I keep waiting for her to start showing up as a proper Big Bad, but she doesn't even come close to making the kinds of waves Lucifer made in this episode.

Elementary: A Burden of Blood (4x08)

I liked this one. It was fairly basic, pretty straight-forward, and had a subplot featuring Bell. I'm always complaining about the lack of Gregson and Bell, so I was pretty happy. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Despite what I just said, I wish that the Bell subplot could have had potential for further expansion. Basically, he's studying with Joan and later with Sherlock for the sergeant's exam, but he doesn't really want the promotion. He just wants the extra money to help his mother, who lost her job. Sherlock and Joan manage to find a way to get his mother the money before the episode is up, so there's some missed potential there for further development. I hope I'm wrong, and that we see Bell continue to grapple with the possibility of promotion, and what it would mean for his career.

The Big Bang Theory: The Empathy Optimization (9x13)

This was mostly a good episode, but it had a really icky opening moment that just made me cringe. Let's jump in.

Cons:

The episode opened with a brief joke that was just so stupid and sexist. The girls are sitting around talking about superhero movies, commenting on Batman, Iron Man, Superman and more. It cuts to Howard and Leonard staring on in amazement as they watch their wives discuss "nerdy" stuff. Then they switch to talking about romantic movies and how they should have a girl's night and watch all the romances, and the guys are like "ah, yes, that's back to the status quo." The implication is that women are never interested in pop culture nerdy stuff. And I, for one, am freakin' sick of it. This show has been making the same tired sexist jokes from the very beginning. WOMEN SOMETIMES LIKE COMIC BOOKS. This joke is stupid and boring.

Modern Family: Spread Your Wings (7x11)

This episode contained one stand-out plot thread and two that were so-so. Let's take a look!

Cons:

The weakest thread of the night was Mitchell throwing a slumber party for Lily and her friends from her Vietnamese dance troupe. Jay comes over and teaches Mitchell that the goal of a sleepover is to exhaust everybody so they go to bed early. This plot thread intersects with Cam and Gloria's, as they enlist the girls' help to create their sauce that they're trying to finish in a rush. All the girls end up asleep before eight.

Now, the main reason I didn't like this plot thread is because it lacked focus. At first it seemed to be about Mitchell's inability to win over the parents of the other kids. But that was quickly abandoned in favor of Jay teaching Mitchell how to throw a proper slumber party. Mitchell didn't seem to have a problem with the kids being too rambunctious until Jay told him that it would be a problem, so that felt unbalanced. We got a scene of all of them dancing to a Jane Fonda work-out video, which tied in with the fact that Jay apparently feels like he needs to lose a few pounds. All of these different ideas might have made for a funny plot thread, but when put together it felt unfocused and crowded.

Elementary: Miss Taken (4x07)

This was an excellent episode. Full of mystery, character development, humor, and angst. Let's just jump right in.

Cons:

Honestly I don't have any serious flaws to name. The only thing I might say is that the subplot focused on Joan discovering that her step father had written a book about her and Sherlock, and I wish we could have spent a bit more time developing this. Oftentimes Elementary does such a good job with both the main story and the subplot that I wish we could have separate episodes for each story. There have been some missed opportunities.

Pros:

Let's start with the subplot, though, because it really was quite good. Joan is furious upon learning from Gregson that a book has been published about a Chinese-American woman and a British man teaming up together as detectives in New York. She quickly discovers that her stepfather, using a pseudonym, has published the book. She angrily demands that he talk to his publisher and recant the book. When she talks to Sherlock about it, she's shocked to discover that he already knew about the book, and that it doesn't bother him - he's inspired other fictional accounts in the past, after all. Joan admits that one of the reasons she was so angry is because her stepfather had an affair, and she's never quite forgiven him. Later, her stepfather admits that part of the reason he wrote the book was because he missed Joan. Joan shows up and agrees to let him publish the sequel, and even decides to help him out with it.

The Big Bang Theory: The Sales Call Sublimation (9x12)

This episode was full of very cliche and predictable plot threads. I mean, that often happens with this show, but for whatever reason I really noticed it this time. Let's jump in.

Cons:

Bernadette and Howard's plot line was all about Stuart finally moving out of the house. He leaves without much ceremony, and while Bernadette and Howard are discussing what to do with his now-vacant room, they reminisce about him, talking about him as if he were their child who has moved out of the house. They realize they miss him. This is just... well, it's clearly part of the half-assed story line about Bernadette and Howard having kids some day, but it didn't pack a punch, didn't get a lot of laughs, and felt totally obvious from the second Stuart said he was moving out.

Similarly, Leonard and Penny's plot line offered no real surprises. Penny has had a hard time getting in to see a psychiatrist about a new drug her company is selling, so she gets Leonard to sign up for a session with the woman so he can pretend to be a patient, and lay the groundwork for Penny making her sale. Inevitably, Leonard ends up getting a lot of meaning out of his session, as he talks about his relationship with his mother, his problems with Sheldon, his marriage to Penny, etc. When Penny comes in to do her sales presentation, the psychiatrist ends up giving her an impromptu session as well, where they begin to unpack Penny's issues. People who don't think they need psychiatrists actually needing to talk to somebody is a tired cliche and most sitcoms have used it at some point or another. Off the top of my head, I can think of an episode in Scrubs and an entire plot thread from How I Met Your Mother that employ this same setup.

Modern Family: Playdates (7x10)

This was one of those cute middle-of-the-road episodes with nothing to complain about, and a few solid laughs. All in all, I enjoyed it.

Cons:

The weakest link in terms of plot threads was Lily and Cam's. The family boarding with Mitchell and Cam's family has a little boy about Lily's age, and Cam thinks that Lily has a crush on him. He gives her advice on flirting, but when the family comes down for dinner, it turns out that Lily has a crush on the dad, not the son. There were actually a lot of good individual laughs in this plot thread, but the setup itself was very weak. I knew from the second Cam and Lily started talking that Lily was going to like the dad instead of the son. It's one of those "misunderstanding leads to comedy" routines that feels just... lazy, or something.

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (Winter Special)

This was Sherlock on drugs. But no literally it was Sherlock on drugs, and Sherlock on drugs, and it was weird... and... I guess I liked it a lot? Let's get right to it, because of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't have some complaints.

Cons:

This is not an episode for a casual viewer. Now, being a not-so-casual viewer, I greatly enjoyed it. But as a critic, I place this episode in the same bucket as "The Sign of Three." Squeal-inducing awesomeness if you're a hardcore fan, but sort of confusing and silly if you're more of a casual viewer, or even a fan that doesn't engage in fandom. There has to be a balance between catering to the dedicated fans and creating a balanced story in its own right. I just didn't get a lot of balance out of this episode, even if I did have a good time watching it.

I'll ramble on in shock and glee about this episode's feminist message in a moment, but unfortunately I have to say that the message, while expertly handled in the Victorian period, didn't hit home enough in the episode's conclusion. Once Sherlock is out of his mind palace and we're back in the present-day, the most feminist thing we get is Mary chastising John for pretending he has any authority over her. It was a small moment, and not nearly enough to make the message hit home. I'm probably a tad oversensitive to this issue, but to me it felt like this whole "women are ignored and need to be given a bigger voice" idea was isolated to the special, and the second we were back in the story proper, it was like "alright, enough of this feminist agenda, back to Sherlock saving the day with his giant Man Brain."