The Walking Dead: Knots Untie (6x11)

Okay so this episode was awesome. I'm so pumped about the rest of this season.

Cons:

There were a lot of different characters who got a chance to shine a bit in this episode, and for the most part I liked all of the intricate working being done... with one exception. I don't really care all that much about Abraham. Basically, in this episode he seems torn between his longstanding relationship with Rosita and a new interest in Sasha. He sees Glenn and Maggie preparing to start a family, and he sees Michonne and Rick begin their own relationship, and he wonders whether he should think about settling down, despite the inherent dangers of their world. Abraham has never been interesting to me, so when I saw that there was going to be a focus on him, I was not too thrilled. But I thought maybe they would do something interesting or unique with his character, so I kept an open mind. But... yeah. Not so much. The struggle between settling down and accepting happiness vs. keeping on high alert for more danger is a struggle that we've already watched Rick go through over this past season. This watered down version, where Abraham wonders if he should give love a chance, was a tad contrived. Not to mention that his interest in Sasha seems totally unreturned, so it's a moot point. And what did Rosita do wrong here? Why is Abraham even wavering in the first place?

The Vampire Diaries: Moonlight on the Bayou (7x14)

Klaus Klaus Klaus! Yessss! Let's just get straight to it. I cannot contain my excitement.

Cons:

Not to put a damper on things, but... there were some things to really annoy me about this episode.

First of all, I'm about to rant about how awesome it was to see Klaus, but I do have to admit one serious flaw here. Klaus and Caroline have a brief moment on the phone in this episode, and they had so much more chemistry in that one tiny moment than Stefan and Caroline have had all season. It doesn't bode well for my emotional investment in the Caroline/Stefan thing.

This episode also finally gave Enzo something to do, but unfortunately it brought in yet another mysterious organization with an "intriguing" and as yet unknown past. Apparently, Enzo's father founded something called the Armory, which is the name of the group that Tyler called in to take Enzo out all that time ago. Enzo has been working for the Armory in exchange for information about his real family. The people of the Armory are apparently the ones that wanted Enzo to free Rayna, and now they want Bonnie and Damon to bring Stefan to them, so that he can lure Rayna. I just could not be less interested in this whole Armory business. There are just two many mysterious happenings in this show. At some point, things always get too twisty and plotty, and it annoys me.

Elementary: Who Is That Masked Man? (4x14)

Why does this show think we care about the cases of the week? Literally please just give me an entire episode about Sherlock's past, his mother and father... I would love to watch that. Let's dive in.

Cons:

I'm of two minds about Joan's role in this episode. There were hints of her learning and developing her skills, but Sherlock still solved everything in the main case. I always wish that her insights could lead to the answers a bit more often. And then the subplot gave a lot of really interesting nuance and detail to Sherlock's character, and it just reminded me that we haven't seen much of that with Joan. I just wish we could get more development with her!

The case itself involved Triad Chinese gangs, a mortician with an amazing mask-making ability, and a old folk's home that was tied to the mob. While I appreciated many things about the case, I also thought some of the stuff was a little silly. The inner politics of the Triad groups weren't really addressed, and one of the two guilty parties was sort of confusingly given a sympathetic reception by Joan and the others, despite the fact that he murdered three people in cold blood. If they had spent some time delving in to the moral ambiguities of some of this stuff, maybe it would have been interesting. But I'm sorry... just because a guy is dying doesn't give him permission to murder people, no matter who they are.

The Big Bang Theory: The Celebration Experimentation (9x17)

This episode was trying to be one of those really memorable and powerful episodes. It brought back tons of guest stars and featured multiple celebrity cameos. But somehow, the execution was rather... blah.

Cons:

It's Sheldon's birthday, and the gang wants to throw him a party. They throw one, inviting everybody from Wil Wheaton to Leslie Winkle to Barry Kripke to Leonard's mother Beverly... and even Adam West, the original Batman! The episode started off really strong, but when it got to the actual party itself, I felt like all of the excellent possibilities with these guest characters were wasted. Having all of these interesting people in a room together should have made for cool different character combos. We could have seen Stuart interact with Barry Kripke, or Leslie talk to Adam West. It felt like there were a ton of jokes just waiting to happen... and they didn't.

Also, on the more emotionally poignant side of things, Sheldon didn't want his birthday celebrated because he has bad memories of his twin sister and her friends torturing him on his birthday. That's a great setup of some conflict and inner turmoil, and there were some good things about this idea. But there was never any real resolution. I thought that Sheldon's sister was going to show up at tell him that she loved him or something like that. But no... Sheldon's rough past was left firmly in the past, and we're not given any reason to believe he's over the trauma of past birthdays. The only reason he ends up liking his party is because everybody else says nice stuff about him. It just didn't really pack much of a punch, you know?

Grey's Anatomy: Unbreak My Heart (12x11)

So... the Jackson and April episode has arrived. I was not looking forward to this, because I figured I was going to hate it. I've been so fed up with these two for such a long time, that I figured a whole episode just focusing on them was going to drive me mad. I'm happy to report that this was not the case, however. This wasn't one of my most favorite episodes ever, but I quite enjoyed it all the same.

Cons:

The episode is told using a lot of jumping around in time. We see Jackson and April's relationship from the day they met all the way through to the present moment, all out of order and jumbled. I liked this technique a lot, but what I didn't like was the stupid fake-out they had at the beginning of the episode, where it looks like Jackson is getting married to somebody else, a woman named Tatiana. By the end of the episode you see that Jackson is walking Tatiana, a patient of his, down the aisle at her wedding. I rather enjoyed the relationship between Jackson and Tatiana, as we saw how close they were as patient and doctor, and as friends. It was unfortunate that they felt the need to taint that with this romance fake-out.

This episode got better in the second half. In the first, there were a lot of really strong elements, but a few hokey dialogue moments as well. We were seeing moments of the Jackson/April relationship that we had never seen before, but a few of the moments, particularly when they had Chinese takeout and discussed their marriage, felt like recycled material. It didn't show me a new perspective, it merely reiterated the same issues that we've seen them going through all this season and last. When April and Jackson complained that they were having the same fight over and over, I sort of felt like I was being forced to watch the same fight over and over.

Modern Family: The Storm (7x14)

This episode was great, although I do have a couple of significant complaints. Some of the complaints are of the sort that are probably only significant to me, but whatever. It's my review and I can complain obnoxiously if I want to.

Cons:

First of all, there was one really distasteful joke in this episode. Haley sees that Andy still has Beth's old uniform, and comments that she can't believe Andy is still hung up on her: "she's a size six!" Oh, come on. You're better than that, Modern Family. Especially given that there was another plot thread in this episode that was dealing with body image and being confident in your own skin. It was a really quick moment, but it was distasteful.

Manny and Claire's subplot was definitely the weakest point for me. Essentially, Claire accidentally glimpses Manny's naked body, and they are both very awkward about it. Gloria wants Claire to talk to Manny about how his body is nothing to be ashamed of, since apparently Manny is nervous about potentially skinny dipping with some classmates of his. They have an awkward conversation about it, and Manny seems to relax a bit. This plot thread wasn't the kind of awkward that I find charming or funny. It was literally just painful to watch.

Supernatural: Beyond the Mat (11x15)

Um. I have a question for the casual viewers of Supernatural. Obviously, I'm aware that the very few people actually reading this review are likely to be casual viewers, but still. I'm just curious. Are there actually people out there who can watch this episode, actually watch the whole damn thing, and come out of it thinking "ah, yes. Dean Winchester is a heterosexual." There's just no way, is there? No way! Let's just talk about the episode, shall we?

Cons:

Very few complaints, honestly. I mean I suppose I should complain a bit that the beginning of this episode was pretty lazy in getting us to the main plot. Sam and Dean go to a wrestler's funeral because... well, basically they have cabin fever and they have no answers about the Darkness, or Lucifer, or any of it. It's a bit of a weak excuse for the story's initiating event, and even beyond that, what are the odds that a case just ends up falling right into their laps when they're not looking for one? That seems a tad contrived.

Pros:

But honestly... that's nitpicking. For a C-plot episode with a healthy dose of B-plot thrown in, this was about as good an episode as I could have hoped for.

Suits: Tick Tock (5x15)

People are scared. And when people are scared, they do things they shouldn't necessarily be proud of. This episode was full of difficult decisions and heartbreaking revelations. I'm positively terrified for next week's finale. Also I can't wait.

Cons:

There was a subplot in this episode about Mike helping a man with his trial while he was waiting for the jury to come back and announce his fate. The purpose of this part of the plot was to show that Mike really wants to help people and be a good lawyer. In the end, the person he was trying to help turns on his friends in order to go free, which was meant to be a parallel to Mike's own situation, since Gibbs still wants him to turn on Harvey, Jessica, and Louis. While I admired the purpose behind this plot thread, it was far too much on the nose. I was very indignant for Rachel's sake, because she just wanted to spend some time with Mike before the verdict came down, and Mike is off playing altruistic-puppy-lawyer instead. Maybe it was just me, but this same message probably could have been presented with a bit more nuance and subtlety.

Pros:

Other than that, I don't think I have a single thing to complain about. As is often the case with this show, boundaries are being pushed, exciting events are mixing things up, and I'm never quite sure what we're going to get.

Castle: The Blame Game (8x12)

This was a great episode once you look past the silliness of the concept. And it's not hard to do - this hour was entertaining enough that I didn't roll my eyes at all!

Cons:

Not enough Ryan and Esposito. This episode focused on Castle and Beckett being in considerable danger, and I could have done with more scenes of concern from our two favorite secondary characters. Instead, most of the worrying and trying to find them was done by Alexis (yay) and Hayley (nay). I don't have a huge problem with Hayley, but her presence in the story still hasn't managed to solidify itself into anything that makes much sense. She pops in often enough that they clearly want to make something of her, but not often enough to cultivate a strong character.

And, yeah, the premise for this one is a bit tired and overdone. The protagonists are caught in a puzzle arranged by an insane villain. A few of the twists were painfully obvious, and in fact the villain's motivation, that he wanted to get revenge for the hell he went through as a child, didn't really come together for me either.

The Walking Dead: The Next World (6x10)

Well this episode was a delight. No, seriously. A delight. I loved it. Often this show has a problem with transitional episodes. The big events are great, and then there are the episodes between the big events, where the group is traveling somewhere new, or learning new things about their environment. I've found that with The Walking Dead, you start to run in to a lot of pacing problems with episodes like that. But here, we've got a really good one. Expertly handled. It gives me great hope for the rest of the season.

Cons:

Enid is still sort of floating in the "what do we do with your character" category. This week, we see that she and Carl have been going out beyond Alexandria for some rebellious comic book reading away from the safety of the walls. She's not sure she wants to keep coming out there. Maggie talks to her, telling her it's okay for her to get involved and be a real part of the community. She seems to still exist on the fringe of things. I'm waiting to understand a bit more what her place is in the story.

Pros:

This episode was actually lighthearted and hopeful, which is kind of wild when you think about it. After all the drama and angst last week, this episode jumps us forward a few months. Carl is doing okay, Alexandria is rebuilding, and people are healing from their tragic losses. It was an unexpected direction to go, but one that I feel worked very well. Everybody got to catch their breaths for a moment, and it made me appreciate these characters and their relationships all the more.

The Vampire Diaries: This Woman's Work (7x13)

Woah!! Okay this episode wasn't perfect or anything but one thing happened that totally freaked me out and got me really excited for the future. And yeah, it's not hard to guess what it is.

Cons:

As much as I truly love the flash-forwards, they cause a big problem in the main story - really dramatic stuff is going on here, such as Caroline's perilous birthing of the twins, and Damon, Enzo, and Bonnie's first encounter with the newly freed and vengeful Rayna. Only problem is... we know all of these characters are going to be fine at least for the time being, because we know where they end up three years from now. Sort of pulls the tension from the moment, doesn't it?

As intrigued as I was earlier in the season at the possibility of Bonnie/Enzo, right now Enzo's character is again dragging the story around to exactly nowhere. Why did he decide to bring Rayna back into the mix again? And how stupid is he that he let her escape from his clutches that easily to go chasing after old foes?

Elementary: A Study in Charlotte (4x13)

Well... honestly I think the subplot in this episode far outshone the main plot. That seems to be happening a lot in this season of Elementary. Let's jump in.

Cons:

The main plot, like I said, had some weaknesses when compared to the subplot. It wasn't terrible, but it got a bit too twisty for my taste. The murder victim was killed by a poisonous mushroom. Several other people died too, because before the victim died she inadvertently passed the poisoned mushrooms off to a friend, who used them in a drug party. There were some twists and turns involving the victim and her boyfriend creating counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills, altered tattoos, a corrupt company looking to cover up its bad practices, and finally a simple romance gone wrong between old lovers. I guess one of the big problem was that the murder victim herself didn't seem particularly interesting or nuanced. If anything, she came across as a bit of a jerk.

The other thing is that this main plot didn't really reveal anything to us about Sherlock or Joan. The subplot had some character work, but Sherlock and Joan were about the least interesting thing in the main plot. Now that I say that, I think that's my problem with a lot of Elementary's case-of-the-week plots. They generally don't tell us anything new about Sherlock and Joan as people.

The Big Bang Theory: The Positive Negative Reaction (9x16)

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but this was a very good episode. I know, hard to believe, right? Let's take a look.

Cons:

At the beginning of the episode, Bernadette tells Howard that she's pregnant, and while Howard is excited, he quickly starts worrying about the responsibility and the money, etc. etc. He freaks out to his friends, while Bernadette talks with Penny and Amy about her own fears. In short, this episode started off with the same cliche that every sitcom has used when a character gets pregnant. The husband is comically worried and feels unprepared? The wife feels anxious as well? Shocker!

Grey's Anatomy: All I Want Is You (12x10)

I don't know... this episode wasn't quite as strong as last week's, and in fact there were some rather hokey moments in it. But there were other moments that I thought were great, and I think it all balanced out pretty well.

Cons:

This episode centered around Meredith going to hospital-mandated therapy because of the attack. She starts off all chipper, but eventually her and the therapist get to the root of some serious problems. Meredith realizes by the end of the episode that she's not alone, even though she's a widow. And maybe the word "widow" isn't right, anyway. She can be whatever she wants to be now. Maybe it was just me, but the method of getting across this story just seemed too cheesy. We kept cutting back and forth from Meredith talking about her friends, to what was actually going on in said friends' lives, and it reminded me of every other therapy scene from every other show I've seen. At first, Meredith doesn't want to talk about herself and so instead talks about her friends. Eventually, she learns something new. I don't know... maybe it was just a tad too cliché for me.

Modern Family: Thunk in the Trunk (7x13)

Eh. This episode just didn't provide anything new. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable.

Cons:

Let's just go through each of the three plots, because none of them deserves to go under the "pros" section.

Claire has started her new job, and Phil is starting to feel like a neglected housewife. In the end, Phil demands respect from Claire, and Claire reveals that her new job is enormously stressful. She's scared of being unable to fill her father's footsteps. Phil encourages her and gives her the confidence she needs, and she thanks him for being there for her during this transition.

Okay, didn't we already deal with Claire's nerves about her new job? I thought we might actually get to see Claire doing her job, but instead this week we get a lot of tired jokes about how Phil is the housewife and Claire is the boss of their relationship. This is absolutely nothing new for either of the characters.

Suits: Self Defense (5x14)

This episode was amazing. Oh my God. So intense. I don't even have anything else to say in the intro to this review. Just... wow.

Cons:

I don't honestly think I have any cons. There was just one thing that I didn't quite understand... most of this episode is a battle between Mike and Harvey over the question of who should represent Mike in his case. Mike wants to represent himself, Harvey thinks it's a bad idea. Harvey ends up representing Mike, but then at the very end he tells Mike that they need to switch things up. Mike should be representing himself so that the jury will see him being a lawyer. Dramatically and narratively this works wonderfully. Mike will be representing himself in the final blows of the case, with Harvey's full blessing and support. But logically? I don't really understand where this move is coming from. Why does Harvey think that this play will work, and why was he so reluctant to consider it before, if suddenly he's willing to change his mind? The logic doesn't add up. I'm willing to let it go mostly because it does make for a more interesting climax for the story in the next two weeks. But I thought I should mention it here.

Supernatural: The Vessel (11x14)

I'm of two minds on this episode, because on the one hand I loved it, but on the other hand, I'm not sure that it served much of a purpose in the season as a whole.

Cons:

Like I said, for an A-plot episode this didn't really move us any further towards killing Amara. I mean, it exposed the whole Casifer thing to the boys, which was undeniably important, but this whole episode was centered around finding the Hand of God, a weapon that's supposed to help defeat Amara. And yet that particular tool is neutralized before the episode is out, so the whole thing amounted to zero net gain or loss for the boys. That's a bit frustrating, especially since I liked the good ol' days of finding magical tools that were going to help them defeat the baddies, like the Horsemen's rings, or the Colt, even. But sadly it was not to be. A lot of cool things were set up, and yet it amounted to nothing.

Dean goes back in time to a war submarine during World War II, and he encounters Delphine, a 1940's European Woman of Letters. She was great, but the other characters aboard the submarine didn't have a lot of meat to them. When it became clear that the submarine was destined to sink, and that all the people aboard it were destined to die, it would have packed a bigger punch if I had understood these characters a little better. It's odd, because a disproportionate amount of this episode was spent sitting around talking, which should have made for some good development. But besides Delphine, I didn't get a good grip on any of these sailors as individuals. It made it hard to get emotionally invested in their tragic sacrifice.

Castle: Dead Red (8x11)

I didn't find this episode as solid as Sunday night's, but it was still a definite improvement over the rest of the season. Let's take a look.

Cons:

I found my attention wandering a couple of times during the case itself, which involved international Russian spies and conspiracies, another visit from Castle's mother-in-law Rita, long-held secrets between husband and wife, etc. It wasn't a bad case, but nor was it one that I really felt connected to. I didn't care much for the characters, and didn't feel a focused and vested interest in their story.

And then I'll lodge my usual complaint about Beckett and Castle's ridiculous separation plot thread. Whenever it comes up, I just roll my eyes. I'm so ready for this LokSat thing to be over with.

Castle: Witness for the Prosecution (8x10)

This episode had a rather clever setup! I enjoyed it quite a bit. Let's jump in.

Cons:

The Castle and Beckett sneaking around thing is still a part of the story, unfortunately, and it still drags things down. Luckily, it wasn't as big a part of the plot this week as it has been in the past. But even so, I'm steaming mad for Ryan and Esposito's sake. On top of that, we actually see Vikram this week, and his presence does so very little to advance the LokSat plot that he might as well not have been there at all. It's painful how they're dragging out this whole conspiracy plot so it can all come together for the finale. Really not subtle, guys.

Pros:

But all of that stupid stuff that's been dragging down Season Eight so much was kept to a merciful minimum, and there were a lot of cool things to enjoy.

The Walking Dead: No Way Out (6x09)

Okay! A very strong opening for the second half of the season. I wouldn't be me if I didn't have some complaints, but I feel pretty happy with what I just saw, and I'm really excited to stick with these characters for the rest of the season.

Cons:

There were a few odd pacing/timing issues that I must mention. Particularly, there were scenes during the day and then suddenly it was night time, and I was forced to conclude unlikely things from that, such as the fact that Maggie was apparently stuck up on that tiny platform all day? Or that it took most of the day for Denise and the Wolf to try and make their escape? I don't know... maybe I'm thinking too hard, but these moments did take me out of the story a little bit.

Of all the many subplots and characters that this episode focused on, the only story that I didn't really enjoy was the one involving Carol, Morgan, Denise, and the Wolf. Basically, Carol angrily tells Morgan that she should have killed him rather than let him spare the Wolf's life. Now, Denise has been kidnapped. But meanwhile, the Wolf is actually seeming to soften, showing a more human side with Denise. He even goes back and saves her life when she is nearly overrun by Walkers. As a consequence, he gets bitten in the arm. As they try and rush back to the infirmary to help him, Carol shoots the Wolf from the window, freeing Denise from her captivity but also killing somebody who maybe wasn't all bad.

The Vampire Diaries: Postcards from the Edge (7x12)

Well... yikes. I'm just going to jump straight in.

Cons:

This episode had two main plot threads that, for the most part, detracted from the main plot in an annoying way. While neither was totally terrible, they also weren't all that great. First of all, it turns out that Caroline's babies are syphoning magic out of her blood and slowly killing her. The thing is... this is getting to be too much like Breaking Dawn. Magical vampire pregnancy that's killing the mother? I don't know... it's just too much for me. Also, if we're to buy Stefan and Caroline's love for one another, you would want all of Stefan's focus to be on Caroline in such a situation. But he was (understandably) focused on Damon, and thus the focus of the whole episode was really split. On top of that, we know from the flash-forwards that Caroline, Alaric, and the babies are going to be okay eventually, so it really doesn't scare me to think about Caroline in trouble right now.

Bonnie, Nora, and Mary Louise go looking for the Huntress, whose name it turns out is Rayna Cruz. They track her to an insane asylum and find that the mythic vampire hunter is an old senile lady. That is, until she gets Bonnie by herself and reveals that she remembers everything about her old life as a Huntress. She tries to strangle Bonnie, but Enzo turns up out of nowhere and kills Rayna. Or so we think. Bonnie leaves to find Nora and Mary Louise so they can help hide Rayna's body with Enzo, but when they get back, Enzo and Rayna are gone. Enzo takes Rayna away and does some sort of a spell to release her into her true form - a young woman who looks eerily similar to Nina Dobrev.

Elementary: A View With a Room (4x12)

I'm so happy right now. So, so happy I can't even process it. This episode was absolutely brilliant. I had no idea I wanted this, but I'm so happy I got it. Let's jump in.

Cons:

The reasons this episode made me happy had very little to do with the actual case of the week, which I found to be pretty awesome in most respects, but lacking in others. The case was set up brilliantly, as Gregson introduced Sherlock to a captain from another department, who wanted Sherlock's help breaking in to a biker gang's headquarters to steal evidence. This setup made me really excited because it subverted the typical murder plot. But unfortunately, while a lot of great stuff did happen in this episode, the heist itself never took place. Somebody did get murdered, and a separated investigation grew out of that. I didn't mind what we ended up getting, but I think I might have liked what the setup originally promised even more.

This is a small thing, but it did rub me the wrong way... Sherlock uses a glitzy pony-themed playhouse toy to study the layout of the gang's headquarters and figure out how to get inside. Joan makes a quip about Sherlock having the childhood he always wanted, as a little girl. I'm all about abolishing gendered children's toys so it just bothered me that Joan assumed something that was pink and had ponies had to be for little girls.

The Big Bang Theory: The Valentino Submergence (9x15)

I really didn't like this episode. There was only one plot thread that had actual promise, and even it wasn't great. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Penny and Leonard's plot involved them going out to dinner for Valentine's Day. When the wait at the restaurant is too long, Penny tires to flirt with the Maitre D' to get a table, but he calls her "ma'am," causing her to have a crisis about her age. Leonard and Penny decide they have to do something fun and young, so they end up dressing up in weird Valentine's Day cupid outfits and throwing confetti around in Sheldon's apartment. This plot thread wasn't fun or original in any way. So Penny is upset because somebody called her "ma'am." That's not necessarily a sign that you're getting old... and their weird way of being "young" was to cause a mess in Sheldon's apartment? I just didn't get what was funny about that.

Meanwhile, Raj finally decides to break up with Emily. He has been wondering if he should do it for a while now, and he finally pulls the plug. He then calls Claire and asks her out, only to discover that she's just gotten back together with her boyfriend. Raj goes to Emily and begs her to take him back, but she says no. Raj then calls Sheldon and Amy on their live edition of "Fun with Flags" and talks about how lonely he is. This plot thread is really not endearing me to Raj. He dumps Emily because she's not right for him - okay, fair enough. But then when he finds out that Claire isn't available, he rushes back to Emily because he's afraid of being alone. I can understand that. But what I don't like is the implication that Raj only sees women as either datable objects, or the spouses/girlfriends of his friends. He seems to be unable to imagine that women might be valuable for friendship. His weird insistence on forming romantic connections with everybody is rather unsettling.

Grey's Anatomy: The Sound of Silence (12x09)

We're back! I always miss this show when it's away. I'm not going to waste time with an intro - let's just jump right in to discussing the opening of act two.

Cons:

This is a teeny little nitpick, but I really hate it when this show tries to make references to its location in "Seattle." Mostly because they so very rarely do a good job with referencing the city that I've lived in (or rather right outside of) my whole life. The patient who ends up attacking Meredith refers to Pike Place Market as "Pike's market." Nobody calls it that. Everybody just calls it "Pike Place."

But setting that aside, the main plot of the episode was all about Meredith being violently attacked by a patient, and dealing with her recovery from that point forward. I loved almost everything at work here. I felt that we got a good balance of seeing different people's relationships with her... with one exception. Maggie was barely in this episode, and her sisterly bond with Meredith was completely set aside. If you were to watch this episode and not know that Maggie and Meredith were sisters, you would think that Maggie had a relationship no different than her relationship to Owen or Arizona or one of the other characters who only had a small amount of screen time. I understand the need to prioritize the relationships being put on display here, but while Amelia, Alex, and Penny get time to sort of parse through their relationships with Meredith, Maggie was notably absent from such consideration.

Modern Family: Clean for a Day (7x12)

This was a pretty good episode. Not great, but pretty good. It focused on the changes happening in the lives of Jay and Claire, as Jay retires and Claire takes up running the closet company. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Cam's role in tonight's episode was to freak out that Jay was going to die in a plane crash, and then not-so-humorously interfere until he almost puts himself and Jay in actual danger. It was sort of slap-stick-y, as at one point while Jay is taking his flying lesson, Cam manages to knock the instructor unconscious with a pipe he accidentally broke off from the inside of the plane. These kind of over-the-top antics just didn't do it for me.

Suits: God's Green Earth (5x13)

We knew that Gibbs would have to go after Rachel eventually, and here you have it. I have some problems with this episode, but they're sort of difficult to pin down.... I'm just going to start typing and see if it leads me to a clearer understanding of my own feelings about this.

Cons:

The big thing about this episode that has me scratching my head is the ending, where Mike decides that the best thing to do is represent himself in the case, which is scheduled in just two weeks. Mike tells Harvey that if he goes to prison because he himself failed, he can live with that. But he won't be able to live with it if he goes to prison because Harvey failed. What? Why? I think generally it's a bad idea to represent yourself in court, and in this case it seems to be a particularly egregious thing to do. The worst thing is that Harvey wasn't going to cut Mike out of the case and make stupid decisions... I think all along the assumption was that they would work on this as a team. And now Mike has unilaterally decided that he's going to be the one to take on this challenge single-handed? Why? I just didn't feel like we got enough of a reason behind this.

Supernatural: Love Hurts (11x13)

This was a middling sort of episode, but it had a number of praise-worthy things about it, and I came out of it ultimately satisfied with the results. Let's start with a few of the things I didn't enjoy, however.

Cons:

The actual ups and downs of the case, the twists and the monsters and the fights, were all super standard and predictable. There was not one surprising thing about the monster, or the motivations of the villain, or anything. I liked some of the character work, and I'll talk about that in a minute, but for the most part I was yawning through the scenes where Sam and Dean were working out what they were hunting and how to defeat it. It's nothing different than what we've seen a thousand times before.

There was one really jarring individual moment that I feel I must mention... when Sam has been incapacitated by the "white witch," who summons the monster to kill unfaithful husbands and the pathetic wives who want them back, he spits at her that she's "practically a feminist." I really don't know what to think about that. Was the purpose of that joke that Sam thinks this woman isn't a feminist, and should be ashamed of her actions? Maybe... but it didn't come across that way. To me it made it sound like being a feminist is being a man-eater, in the sense that Sam was accusing this woman's behavior of being that of a feminist, and therefore vicious. I don't really know what to think. It would be unlike Supernatural to have Sam, of all people, make such a strangely sexist remark, but the whole joke just felt off to me. Maybe I'm missing something?

Castle: Tone Death (8x09)

They're deciding to play the whole "Castle and Beckett broke up for some reason" thing for laughs now, and I guess it does work a bit better than the angst of the first half of this season... but I'm still not liking it much. Let's take a look at an unfortunately sloppy opener for the second half of this season.

Cons:

The murder this week involved Martha, as she was there when the body was discovered at the theatre where she was working on her show. I love Martha, but her presence was totally underutilized here. There was this whole thing about how she felt personally connected to the victim, all because the young woman had talked to her once. It was weak. Now, if the victim had been someone who Martha had known for a while, and had actually bonded with, that would be different. As it stands, it was a bit confusing how personally upset Martha seemed to be.

The Vampire Diaries: Things We Lost in the Fire (7x11)

Okay so wait a second - is Elena actually... did they really... or was it part of Damon's hallucinations? What about Tyler? And, like, did they actually just do that? When I first watched this episode, I was ridiculously confused. Let's back up a bit and we'll talk through this mind-trip of an episode.

Cons:

Too many plot threads! I liked each individual thing that was going on here, but it all piled up to such a degree that I was having trouble focusing. There were moments with Bonnie and Nora, Caroline and Alaric, Matt and his struggles as sheriff, Julian and his mission to destroy Mystic Falls, all mixed in with the larger story of Stefan and Damon each trying to recover from their experiences in the Phoenix Stone. When the episode ended, I was left overwhelmed by some of the smaller stories at play here, to such an extent that the biggest, most important thing to happen in this episode almost seemed like just one more detail in a whole pile of happenings.

Elementary: Down Where the Dead Delight (4x11)

I really liked this one! Both the main plot and the subplot got the proper amount of attention and nuance, and I greatly enjoyed Joan getting a bit more to do this week.

Cons:

The main plot, as I just said, was very good, but it did start with an annoying red herring that I could have done without. Essentially, this episode begins with a morgue exploding. As they are trying to figure out who would want to hide evidence on dead bodies, they discover that there are several gang hits in the morgue, and they suspect the gangs who did the killing to have something to do with it. They even bring in a lawyer and talk to him about it. Turns out, it had nothing to do with any of those bodies. I understand the need for a procedural to go down a couple of wrong turns before they get on the right track, but for some reason this seemed like a bigger time waster than usual.

Also, speaking of the beginning, I really liked the lady who died in the morgue blast, and how she and one of the morgue workers had a flirtation going on. He was devastated by her death, and I would have loved to bring the story back around to him at the end, maybe show him feeling a sense of relief that her killer was apprehended. As it was, his little plot thread was left dangling.

The Big Bang Theory: The Meemaw Materialization (9x14)

Totally shrug-worthy in most respects, as are the majority of episodes with this show. But it got a few chuckles out of me, all the same. Let's dive in.

Cons:

Raj and Howard's subplot had some good parts, but also some annoying parts. Essentially, they meet a girl in the comic book shop, and she and Raj seem to hit it off. She asks for Raj's help with a children's screenplay she's working on, because his expertise as a scientist will help. Later, Howard and Bernadette chastise him for flirting with this girl. Raj calls her and tells her that he has a girlfriend, but the girl says it's okay - they can still get together and talk about her screenplay without it meaning anything. Later, when they're working together, Raj fantasizes about marrying her and having a kid. Raj's incompetence with women is supposed to be endearing or entertaining or something, but to me it's just creepy. It seems to prove that he only sees women in terms of a relationship he can have with them, and not as individual people.

Suits: Live to Fight (5x12)

This wasn't the episode I was expecting to get at this point. It was Donna-centric, which seemed to come out of left field. But in many ways that's what made it work so well. There's a lot to talk about with this one, so let's get started.

Cons:

This episode featured flashbacks, and for pretty much the first time in this show, I didn't much care for them. The problem is that the flashbacks told us no new information - in fact, the same relevant points were covered in exposition in the present day story. Essentially, Donna's father asks her to ask Harvey for a loan so he can complete a deal. It's a sketchy endeavor, and Harvey refuses to get involved. He even goes so far as to threaten Donna's father, telling him not to let Donna put up her 401K assets for her father's sake. This causes, years later, Donna's father to be brought up on charges of making a corrupt deal. This is merely a bargaining chip that Gibbs is using to try and get Donna to turn on Harvey and Mike. I love the idea of this plot thread, and I loved meeting Donna's father, but it's like I said: they just didn't need flashbacks to help tell this part of the story.

Then there's Gibbs, who is supposed to be holding her own with the other baddies of the Suits universe. The problem is, she doesn't really hold a candle to Hardman or Forstman or even Soloff, who all come across as much more interesting corrupt individuals. Gibbs just isn't doing much for me at the moment. I'm still waiting for her to become more interesting.

Supernatural: Don't You Forget About Me (11x12)

I just want to say, first of all, that I'm so happy this episode exists. I feel as though we only got it because of the upsurge of fan attention and support for the idea of the "Wayward Daughters," that is, Jody, Claire, and Alex. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Cons:

To start with the one rather large complaint, however... I have to say that the actual Monster-of-the-Week plot here was pretty lame. It was a copy of so many other stories, where in the end the bad guys (vampires, in this case) pontificated for far too long with their captives (Jody, Claire, and Alex) until the Winchesters could show up and try to save the day. Both are incompetent enough to get themselves nearly killed, but all is well in the end, as the ladies take out the baddies. There was kidnapping, an all-too-obvious connection with Alex's past, and the annoying fact that none of the adults believed Claire when she said something fishy was going on. I felt like we were falling into a lot of Supernatural's least interesting clichés.

Another smaller thing - what with Claire's heavy importance to the episode, you would think it would have been all too easy to mention Cas. They did briefly talk about how they hadn't heard from him, but I was a little miffed that Claire didn't ask about him, or the guys didn't talk about him in connection with his vessel's daughter.

The Vampire Diaries: Hell Is Other People (7x10)

This episode was super filled with Damon & Stefan brotherly moments, which as you all know is my main reason for watching this show. So... I'm happy. Like, really happy. And surprisingly, that's not the only thing that made this episode awesome. All in all, it was a real winner, with only a few small things to complain about.

Cons:

Julian had a brief appearance this week, in one of the many Hell-loops that Damon was repeating again and again. This small scene just re-emphasized to me how little he works as a character. His love for Lily kept things interesting, but now with Lily's death I'm left without much of a stake in his character. We'll have to see where it goes.

This is a small thing, but I must mention it... this show has never been big on historical accuracy, and its attempts to put the characters back in their original historical context has always been charmingly off-the-mark, to say the least. The one thing that always bothers me, though, is when they talk without using contractions in order to make themselves sound old-timey. It just doesn't make any sense and it's very distracting.

Elementary: Alma Matters (4x10)

Unfortunately this one didn't really do much for me. It suffered because the subplot was better than the main plot, and I was left frustrated by the lack of time devoted to the much more interesting story. Let's take a look.

Cons:

The case of the week featured a for-profit college running a scam wherein they recruited reformed criminals to their schools, saddled them with a bunch of debt, and then used the debt as blackmail to get them to go back to their ways of crime and complete unsavory tasks for the owner of the school. The thing about this case is that the solution to the mystery was both obvious and confusing at the same time. The bad guy was so obviously bad that you thought there had to be an extra twist, and when the truth came out, it turns out that it was the guy we all suspected from the beginning. His method of evil was a bit convoluted and a bit... too sinister, if you know what I mean. I'm not saying there aren't truly bad guys out there, but this one just seemed to lack all pretense of a sensible motive. He was just power hungry and evil.