Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time (2017 Christmas Special)

Okay! Yeah, I enjoyed that. I wouldn't be me if I didn't have my complaints, and as always, let's start with those.

Cons:

The original Doctor being a sexist old man really did not work for me, and there are a few reasons why. First off, I have no idea if this is true of the original character or not, but even if it was, it doesn't make sense. Time Lords are ancient beings from a society wholly different from earth. Would they really have the same stupid hangups about gender? Specifically considering that Time Lords have malleable genders? But I actually have a bigger problem with this. See, it's not necessarily the worst thing in the world to have a sexist character in the story. But this guy isn't just some random old codger. He's meant to be the Doctor. We're meant to connect to him and sympathize with him. So if he's going around saying sexist stuff, there needs to be a real reason behind it. Oh, hey, I've just thought of a reason - the Doctor, as in, our current Doctor, doesn't want to regenerate, because he's afraid of continuing on, of growing and changing. Maybe seeing this old version of himself, with very backwards ideas about gender, could remind him that change is often a very good thing. That over time, he can learn and grow as a person and be better for it. There! I've just attached a simple, sensible moral to the whole "sexist original Doctor" bit. The problem is, they didn't do that! The sexist comments were just played for a laugh! Pulease.

It was cool to see Nardole and Clara there for a tiny moment at the end of the episode, but these moments were so fleeting that they felt a bit like prizes granted to the Doctor for good behavior. I remember Tennant's farewell tour as the Tenth Doctor had his final moments, where he went around and saw all of his companions one last time before regenerating. You want to know why that worked? Because these companions did not appear magically in front of him and tell him how amazing he was. He went and saw them in their own lives, doing their own thing, living on without him, and he got to see the way that life moves on.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Rewind (5x05)

What an amazing episode! Best of the season! I've really missed Leopold Fitz.

Cons:

In fact, I've missed him so much that it's kind of highlighting for me the structural weaknesses with this season so far. The stakes in the future world just don't feel as serious. Whenever we're dealing with time travel, or alternate realities, the whole concept has this sense of unreality to it. I think that might be the issue I'm responding to here. This one hour with Fitz and Hunter felt more like this show I know and love than the other four episodes have.

I will admit that when we meet Enoch, the ancient alien who has been studying humanity throughout the centuries, I rolled my eyes just a tiny bit. I felt like Fitz took this guy seriously a bit too quickly. Obviously I don't know what the plan is for this character moving forward, but I feel as if within this episode, there could have been a way for all of this to shake out without introducing Enoch.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Life Earned (5x04)

Fitz!!! For like half a second there at the end. But still. I was so happy to see him!

Cons:

Okay, I like the stuff going on here, but it does feel a little sluggish. Each episode teaches us a bit more about the world, sure, but it almost feels like all four of these episodes are telling the same slow story. I want more character interaction. I want more forward motion. For example, Daisy is now with Jemma, but we don't learn anything more other than that everybody wants to buy Daisy because she's Quake, the "Destroyer of Worlds." Other than that, we just get a few more pieces of the puzzle slowly edging into place, but not a lot of forward motion.

Fitz showing up at the end made me realize how badly I've missed him, so I guess I'm just putting it under "cons" that he's been absent for so long.

Once Upon a Time: The Eighth Witch (7x10)

This may be my favorite episode of the season, and it a weird way that's pissing me off - we got so many things in this installment that I wanted more of! Let's get started.

Cons:

So, the flashback scenes take us up to the moment that the curse was cast, bringing us full circle. We start with Lucy's birth, and then we see that on her eighth birthday is when all this crap went down. I loved all of these scenes, but there's a problem - why did we not get to see more of this? The last time we spent time with Ella and Henry in the magical land, they were just getting started on their romance. Now they're settled into their lives and they have a kid? There are some touching moments between Hook and various other characters, we see Rumple helping people out in unexpected ways, Zelena shows up with an adult daughter Robin, Jack is there for some reason, and all of these things are so fascinating and fun... but it feels like I missed a chapter. I wanted to see more of all of these characters! I want to know what their lives are like in this land. Do they have a house? Are they still part of a rebellion to take down Lady Tremaine? I don't know! It's like someone hit fast-forward!

The fact that Mother Gothel was double-timing Drizella is excellent, of course. I did have one complaint, though - Anastasia is awake, and there's a moment where she reacts in horror that Drizella is working with Gothel, only to end up being part of Gothel's plan herself. I'm confused - does Anastasia even know who Gothel is? Why? When would they have met?

The Big Bang Theory: The Celebration Reverberation (11x11)

This was the first time in... a very long time that I felt a bit interested in an episode of The Big Bang Theory before it even started. I was so pleased with the Raj and Howard conflict from last week that I was actually looking forward to seeing where it went. How did they do?

Cons:

Well, I'm of two minds. Raj and Howard's fight is resolved in quite a juvenile way, which is sort of perfect for their characters, but I did find myself wanting more. Maybe it's not fair to ask this show to be something that it's not. We were never going to have a drawn-out conflict with lots of serious character growth and meditation on their relationship. So given the constraints of the format, I don't mind so much. Still, I wish maybe we could have had one more conversation at the end of the episode to button up this difficult chapter in Raj and Howard's friendship.

Pros:

The fact that they continued on with the conflict at all was impressive to me. Things get increasingly hurtful, as Raj doesn't invite Howard to go to Star Wars: The Last Jedi with him, and then Howard doesn't invite Raj to Halley's first birthday party. That changes when Howard needs help setting up the party. He goes to Raj, who is hurt that Howard is only apologizing because he needs something from Raj. However, Raj decides to help with the party for his goddaughter's sake. An altercation in the bouncy house leads to both of them admitting - "you're my best friend and you hurt my feelings!" They then discover that shoving each other in the bouncy house is quite fun, and begin playing together. Like I said, the resolution is a bit juvenile, but I liked the way this whole plot thread wasn't just played for laughs. They were both genuinely hurt by what was going on, and that was very evident in the acting and the script.

Modern Family: No Small Feet (9x10)

Are we never going to be free of Pam?

Cons:

I liked several things about the plot with Cam, Mitchell, Pam, and Bo, but the fact that Pam has not exited the scene is not one of them. I'm still annoyed by her whole character and her presence on this show.

Alex and Luke had a weird little subplot where they sell Alex's used shoes to foot fetishists online. This had potential to be funny, but it sort of dropped off with no real resolution. Same thing with Manny - his contribution this week is that he keeps showing up at his parents' house to steal luxury items, and makes excuses as to why he's there. Not a terrible idea, but it just didn't really lead to anything.

The Walking Dead: How It's Gotta Be (8x08)

How long are we actually dragging out the Negan stuff? I'm getting good and sick of it.

Cons:

So many. I'm in the mood to complain a bunch, so look out. First of all, this whole season has been building up all of these different stories, and then this episode tried to bring all of them to a head, but kind of failed with most of them. We've got all these groups of people confronting all of these other groups of people, and the garbage folk run off pretty much immediately, making them a waste of time, and Eugene's moral dilemma is solved by letting Gabriel and the doctor go, even though it's like... too little too late, and then meanwhile Enid and Aaron are off trying to find the all woman community to ask for their help, and I'm thinking: are you kidding me with this? How many SEASONS of this show are going to be about Negan? I'm bored!!!

Outlander: Eye of the Storm (3x13)

I'm really bummed that this was the finale. I feel like I was just getting back into the swing of Outlander again, and now I have to wait several months for more?? Let's take a look at everything this finale had to offer us.

Cons:

I know I've been repeating myself with this a lot, but there is this problem in the pacing of the TV show vs. the books. In this episode, I quite enjoyed individual scenes, but found myself getting whiplash as we jumped from one important plot point to another. For example, last week's episode ended on a cliffhanger where Jamie was being arrested. But... it's really easy to handle. Fergus runs and tells Lord John, Lord John tears down the captain and states his authority over Jamie's fate, and Jamie is free. Claire's not even in any of these scenes that decide her husband's fate. She's so sure he'll be fine that she turns to the more pressing matter of Ian's rescue. That kind of undercuts the tension, doesn't it?

Another example: you have this big, climactic moment with Geillis, and when it's over there's still twenty minutes of the episode left. These twenty minutes hastily provide us with a second climax, where their ship is hit by a storm as they start their journey back to Scotland. Claire is thrown overboard and nearly drowns, but Jamie rescues her and they wash up in Georgia. There was nothing wrong with these scenes at all - very intense, beautifully shot, edited, and acted. But they felt like they belonged in a different episode than the rest of this stuff.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Life Spent (5x03)

Okay, where's Fitz? I'm getting mad.

Cons:

I think the novelty wore off for me a tiny bit with the setup, so the absence of Fitz actually bothered me more. If that makes sense. This felt like basically more of the same from episodes one and two. And, like, the first two episodes were very good. So I’m not going to complain too much about that. Maybe I just want the pacing to speed up?

Pros:

But yeah, this season is shaping up to be very good if I’m being honest. To start with, we get to see a lot of creative uses of powers. The scenes with Yo-Yo in particular were really neat. And Daisy got to pull a few neat Quake moves. Of course, now every time Daisy uses her powers it's loaded with a greater significance, because we wonder how much truth there is to what Deke has told us about the fate of humanity. Could Daisy really be capable of such a thing?? Who knows!

Once Upon a Time: One Little Tear (7x09)

Okay... I don't know. I didn’t hate this episode, but I’m losing my patience a wee bit.

Cons:

Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention, but does anybody find these stories a little convoluted? Let’s talk through some of the stuff going on here. We get the real Rapunzel story this time, and it turns out that Victoria Belfrey/Lady Tremaine is Rapunzel, and her husband remarried while she was trapped in the tower, and then she later poisoned Ella’s mother to make her run away so she could have her family back. There were a few times where I had trouble reconciling what we already knew about Ella’s back story with what we were learning here. And then on top of that you’ve got the subplot with Rogers and Weaver which still seems to be going nowhere, although we finally have official confirmation that Rumple is awake.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Getting Over Jeff (3x07)

Oh man, this show honestly can do no wrong in my eyes at this point. This was such a lovely, somewhat mellow midseason finale, and I loved it as I've loved every episode this season.

Cons:

I'm so sad about Darryl and White Josh, you guys. This isn't a con in the writing of the show, but it's another tentative question about the future. If WhiJo isn't in the show as much anymore, I'll be really upset. I already feel like the side characters in this show don't get quite as much screen time as one would hope.

Pros:

Before we get to the main stuff, though, let's focus on their sad breakup. It's heartbreaking because Josh doesn't know what's going on at first, and when he realizes his face just falls and it's... so hard to watch. I love the detail of cutting back to them later and learning that they've been trying to say goodbye for the past two hours but haven't quite been able to walk away. They end up sticking around to watch Josh (Chan) do his cool bar tricks, and when the episode ends we don't get to see the fatal moment when they actually part ways. It was such a melancholy way to do the breakup, but undeniably effective. I also like that Darryl's daughter is the one to make it happen, because she knows her dad isn't happy anymore.

Supernatural: The Bad Place (13x09)

You know, I'm tempted to say that this is jumping the shark, but... nah. Not really. This show can basically do whatever the heck it wants at this point.

Cons:

I miss Cas a lot. I'm annoyed that he returned from the dead just to get predictably sidelined. It's such a tired pattern. Why can't Misha appear in more episodes? I do not get it.

We have a subplot that's leading us in to Wayward Sisters quite nicely, with Patience finally going to join Jody. I had one problem with it, though. Patience tells her father that she needs to go and help, and her father says that if she chooses this life, she's not welcome to return home. This felt like a cheap cliche to get Patience away from her father and give her an excuse to live with Jody. After what happened with Missouri, you'd think that Patience's father would know better than to cut family members off for his own stupid reasons. It felt out of character.

The Big Bang Theory: The Confidence Erosion (11x10)

.... A good episode of The Big Bang Theory? What the heck!

Cons:

Penny and Leonard continue to feel very sidelined this season, and Penny's realization that sometimes she's mean to Leonard doesn't really go anywhere, because Leonard is content to take the abuse. Not a lot of traction there.

I really liked the main story of the week with Raj and Howard, but I will admit it came out of left field. I suppose I shouldn't complain, but it would be nice if this show were capable of some subtlety and buildup. That's probably wishful thinking.

Modern Family: Tough Love (9x09)

This episode felt a little lackluster to me, but I'm not convinced that's entirely a bad thing...

Cons:

What I mean by 'lackluster' is that several of these plot threads felt like they lacked climaxes. Lily accidentally gets left home alone with an infant, and nothing bad happens. Phil gets lost in the woods, but we next see him in a hotel preparing to take a bubble bath. Manny is dating an older woman, but then she leaves before they can have a conversation. Claire drives a large delivery truck, no shenanigans ensue. In some ways this is okay, because it avoids the pitfall of going down the expected slapstick path with each of these plot threads. But still, I found myself wanting something to happen.

The least successful plot thread, ironically, is the one where something does sort of happen. Mitchell notices that Cam is too gullible, and this all plays out when one of Cam's disobedient students convinces him that he's actually an undercover cop trying to bust drug dealing in the school. Mitchell thinks this is an obvious ploy to get out of trouble, and Cam realizes he must be right, showing up to bust the drug deal. Turns out, however, that the kid really is a cop, and Cam ruins the drugs bust. So... okay? This didn't really go anywhere, and I wanted something truly unexpected out of the situation. You know that the plot twist is going to be that he really is a cop, the minute Mitchell convinces Cam that he isn't.

The Walking Dead: Time for After (8x07)

Does anybody care about Eugene enough to justify this episode? Does anybody think the creepy garbage people are interesting?

Cons:

Most of this episode is focused on Eugene's moral dilemma. Does he turn on the Saviors? Does he try and save himself and the rest of them by getting rid of the Walkers using creative distraction methods? Does he turn on Dwight, who he discovers is the traitor in this episode? Does he help get the doctor away for Maggie's sake? Does he help poor Gabriel? Here's the problem: I don't really care. And another problem? Nothing really happens. Eugene spends the bulk of this episode agonizing, and then decides to help Negan, but not give up Dwight. So, in other words, maintain the status quo. Boring!

Rick's subplot in this episode was one of the most boring and annoying things I've yet seen in this show. He's been taken captive by the garbage people. They take away his weapons, undress him down to his underwear, and tie his hands. Then they bring him out to have him fight a Walker on a stick being controlled by one of the men... and Rick easily overpowers everybody and negotiates his freedom. I get the idea that this was supposed to make Rick look like a bad-ass, since he was able to escape from these people even when the odds were stacked against him. Instead, it makes Rick look stupid for getting himself into this situation, and it makes the garbage people look completely weak and idiotic. And I still can't stand the way they talk. It's ridiculous and adds nothing.

Outlander: The Bakra (3x12)

I've rarely been more split on my opinion about an episode of this show before. The stuff I loved, I loved, and I think it will be easy enough to guess what that stuff is. But then there are several things I found really aggravating and really did not enjoy. As always, let's start with those -

Cons:

Man, I was so excited for Geillis' return, but now that she's back, I really didn't like her in this episode. I know it's part of the book as well, but for some reason watching this woman in her forties sexually assaulting a teenage boy was even more disturbing to me this time around. And they made her unnecessarily sinister, what with the pool of blood and all of that. The thing that works about Geillis in the first book/season is that she's creepy but you're never entirely sure of her motivations, or how far exactly she'll go. She's kept in the shadows and hard to read. Here, all subtlety has gone out the window.

Then you've got Margaret Campbell and her brother, who are working with Geillis in order to figure out a prophecy that will tell Geillis when a Scottish King will sit on the throne. Again, I know we're pulling from the source material here, but come on. This is some campy shit. And Geillis does that exposition thing where she explains the plan to Margaret's brother even though he obviously already would have known it... the whole thing culminates in Margaret telling Lord John his fortune at the party, while holding the three sapphires that were handed down for generations, yadda yadda, and it felt like something out of a farce.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Orientation (5x01/02)

Oh boy. We're back. I freakin' love this show, okay?

Cons:

Where the frickle frackle is Leopold Fitz? Sorry, but seriously where is he? Is it a conflict with the actor or something? When I realized that Fitz didn't get pushed through the monolith with the rest of the gang, I was anxious, but I figured he'd still be showing up at some point. But no! He doesn't appear AT ALL in this two-parter! That is unacceptable!

Pros:

Where to start with this? Okay, the whole premise is just amazing, and I'll tell you why: one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s big problems is that is needs to fit into the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, meaning that often times when it tries to raise the stakes, we all know that nothing too big can happen, or else it would need to merit mention in the movies themselves. Here, we have a future where the Earth has been torn apart, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. It's a clean slate, a new level upon which to operate. The stakes can get as high as they need to get!

The Big Bang Theory: The Bitcoin Entanglement (11x09)

Every single episode of a sitcom I've ever seen where the characters think they've come in to a lot of money ends up this way. Yawn.

Cons:

The problem here is that the second the episode introduces the idea of the guys getting rich on bitcoin, you know where it's going. There will be shenanigans trying to get a hold of the bitcoin, and then in the end through weird happenstance, we'll learn that the bitcoin is lost forever, and everything remains status quo.

The flashbacks to seven years ago only reminded me how annoying and unfunny all of the jokes about Leonard and Penny's relationship were... yeah, we get it. Leonard doesn't deserve Penny because she's so hot.

Supernatural: The Scorpion and the Frog (13x08)

Yeah, okay. That was fun.

Cons:

If I were to complain, it would be to say that the pacing felt maybe a little sluggish up top. It took a smidge too long to get to the actual heist part of this episode, and then those scenes took a hot second to really get going. But this is a minor complaint in the scheme of things.

I also wish that we could have gotten a bit of a status update on our favorite angel, but I understand why we didn't. This was a C-plot episode that was still driving the force of the A-plot in an interesting way, so I can't complain too much.

Modern Family: Brushes with Celebrity (9x08)

This episode was... okay. It didn't offend me or anything, and there were a few really great moments. Let's dive in.

Cons:

I didn't get very much out of Manny and Gloria's plot thread. They're at a cafe and they see a playwright that Manny really admires, so he goes over to say hi, but the guy is a jerk. Gloria then goes over and makes the playwright cry. Billy Crystal shows up, but neither Manny or Gloria recognize him and they are both dismissive and annoyed at his intrusion. I've seen this idea before, that a celebrity makes a cameo and the joke is that nobody knows who they are. It sort of works, but this in a world where we're meant to believe that everybody is head over heals for Chris Martin, but somebody wouldn't know Billy Crystal? A little hard to swallow.

There were some funny moments with Jay and Terry Bradshaw, but I felt like the cameo was underutilized. All the comedy was coming from Jay's reactions, which meant that the cameo itself could have been replaced with a cardboard cutout.

The Walking Dead: The King, the Widow, and Rick (8x06)

A nice solid episode that let us check in with all of our characters. This was what really needed to happen at this point in the season. I'm so happy we got this ensemble episode!

Cons:

The garbage people still talk really stupid. And Rick walking in there with no backup was colossally dumb. Now he's their prisoner, which doesn't do anybody any favors, honestly. I don't get these people... they're not interesting or cool in any way.

I'm not sure what Daryl is trying to do at the end of this episode, but if it screws up Rick's larger plan, I'm going to be pissed. I get that individual people have their own motivations and whatnot, but the plan is working - so don't screw with it! Honestly!

Outlander: Uncharted (3x11)

I don't generally think of Outlander as a particularly comedic show, but you know what? It kind of works!

Cons:

We spend the first several minutes with Claire as she washes up on the beach of an unfamiliar island, and wanders through the forest trying to survive. There are fire ants, and snakes, and a lack of water, etc. etc. and it all just kind of drags on a bit. The acting was fine, but there was nothing here to elevate the scenes from exactly what we would expect.

I can put up with some conveniences for the sake of driving the plot forward, but come on. Are you telling me that Jamie's ship just happens to need repairs on the very island where Claire washed up? Pulease. I think this happens in the book too, but when there are several pages to explain the extreme coincidence, it comes across as less jarring. I call this the Les Miserables effect - novel vs. musical.

Supernatural: War of the Worlds (13x07)

Soooo... this episode was sort of a mess, but it was a mess made out of pieces that I mostly enjoyed. I'm kind of reeling from all the different stuff they threw at the wall in this one. Most of it stuck, but we're left with a collage that has little to no cohesion. Okay, enough of that belabored metaphor. Let's jump in.

Cons:

In the alternate world, we see Michael has kidnapped Lucifer, and is hoping to use his grace for a spell that will open a portal to the original realm. Kevin Tran shows up to help make this happen, and the spell actually works. Problem? Lucifer manages to break through the portal and it closes up before Michael or anyone else can use it. My issues with this plot thread are many - too much happened too quickly. Lucifer is back too soon to our realm. Where the heck is Mary? Kevin wasn't acting like our Kevin at all, which makes sense because he's a different person with different life experiences, but it really rubbed me the wrong way that he said Michael was going to take him to paradise to meet hot girls. Like... are you for serious, Kevin?

The Walking Dead: The Big Scary U (8x05)

I like that this episode breaks up some of the monotony of the continuous battle we've been seeing the past four weeks. There were some really high highs in this installment, but there was also a fair bit of mediocrity.

Cons:

We spent too much time with the Savior characters. I don't care about Dwight. I've written off Eugene. I don't even know the rest of these punks. All of these scenes were supposed to show us why Negan is necessary - the delicate balance of his organization falls completely apart without him. But I guess I just don't care enough about learning details of the other side. They're the bad guys. I'm getting bored of them and I just want them to die now, please and thank you.

Gabriel has always bored the hell out of me. Finally, we get an episode where he has some real material to work with in the script, and he's starting to emerge as a dynamic character. And then? The episode's cliffhanger is that he's all shaky and sick, ostensibly having been bitten by a Walker when escaping with Negan. How many times is this show going to pull the same trick? Take a character who isn't one of the main leads, and give them a spotlight just to make us like them enough so that their death has impact. We've seen it dozens of times. I was just complaining about this with Eric a few weeks ago!

Outlander: Heaven and Earth (3x10)

This was a great episode, with one kind of big exception. Let's start with that before getting in to the good stuff.

Cons:

What the hecking heck, Jamie? Stop being so mean to Fergus! Jamie spends this episode locked up for trying to take over the Artemis and chase down Claire. He asks Fergus for his help in escaping, but Fergus has some natural qualms about this. If he does this, they will be committing a mutiny with little chance of success, and Claire is more than capable of taking care of herself. Jamie says some truly awful things to Fergus, accusing him of not understanding real love. He basically tries to manipulate Fergus by saying he'll give his blessing for his marriage to Marsali only if Fergus helps to spring Jamie free. Fergus considers it, but then refuses, because if he gets caught, Marsali will be all alone with nobody to protect her from the men on board. Eventually, Marsali saves Jamie by convincing the captain to let him go, under an oath that he will not rebel.

I can understand Jamie's frustration and pain over being separated from Claire. But his words to Fergus in this episode are just downright cruel. As Fergus and Marsali both point out to Jamie, Fergus' refusal to help free Jamie is not just for Fergus and Marsali. It's for Jamie as well. Fergus is trying to stop his foster father from making a terrible mistake. I wish we could have seen a heartfelt apology, at the very least, for such heinous words.

Once Upon a Time: Eloise Gardener/Pretty in Blue (7x07/08)

I'm going to try and rapid-fire this review, and I'll be treating the two episodes as one.

Cons:

Things got just a tad bit convoluted with Hook's plot. See, he had sex with Rapunzel but Rapunzel was actually Mother Gothal in disguise, and that's who the witch is that Victoria has had imprisoned all this time, but wait Hook's daughter's name is Eloise, but later it's Alice, and they can't be together because of a curse on Hook's heart, but then Alice is in Wonderland for a while, and Drizella is causing more mischief... I feel like there were so many moments that were meant to be shocking that the impact of them started to fade. I like the reveal that Alice is Hook's daughter. I wish we could have just sat with that for a while without throwing in so many twists and turns.

We still don't have official confirmation of whether or not Rumple is awake, and now I'm getting annoyed. Regina tries to confront him, he denies it, and it's like... for once could you just be straight with us, Rumple? It'd be cool to see you and Regina partnering up!

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Josh Is Irrelevant (3x06)

Stunning. Perfect.

Cons:

... I have no complaints. I wish WhiJo could have been in the episode? Does that count? I almost wish that when Darryl showed up at the end, WhiJo could have been with him. But on the other hand I understand the impulse not to overcrowd the episode with that sort of thing, and leave it a simple examination of just a few key characters. So, I'm a bit torn on that one.

Pros:

Basically, this episode is just the aftermath. We have Rebecca's friends worrying about her, we have her getting a new diagnosis that she then panics about, and finally she comes to terms with things and decides to get help. I think I'll take this review character by character, and talk about how each are dealing with Rebecca's recent experiences.

The Big Bang Theory: The Tesla Recoil (11x08)

Mostly I'm just shrugging at this episode, although it was one of the most entertaining outings this show has offered in a while...

Cons:

Raj and Ruchi break up after Raj confronts her about the state of their relationship. This is tagged on to a subplot about professional rivalry between Ruchi and Bernadette, and seems to come completely out of left field. Every time this show tries to set up some serious potential for Raj, they never let it go anywhere. It's frustrating, not because I care about Raj getting a happy ending with a beautiful woman he definitely doesn't deserve, but because I'm sick and tired of watching Raj-tries-to-find-love plots. They need to find something new to do with his character.

I remember when I once had high hopes that the military technology plot would be a real through-line, something to develop and grow over time. Instead, it gets dropped completely for long stretches, brought back up for a quick second and then taken away again. It's annoying and boring. I actually like the stuff with the guidance system and the guys working with the military, which is why it's always frustrating to see it come and go so quickly.

Grey's Anatomy: Out of Nowhere (14x08)

Well, okay, that's a cliffhanger for you. And we have to wait until January to see what's next? No fair!

Cons:

The overarching premise of this episode is that hackers shut down the computers in the hospital, leaving everything in chaos. Charts are lost, medical records inaccessible, the code-locked door to the blood bank impossible to open, heart monitors are flat-lining. This is a fun concept, but I found it slightly unbelievable that they'd be so totally unequipped for this happenstance. I'm sure that something as important as medical records would be backed up to an off-site server. Just saying. The premise itself was stretching my suspension of disbelief juuust a smidge.

We have some further development on the Jackson/Maggie relationship, and while I actually don't mind them as much as I thought I would, I thought the moment in the helicopter with the turbulence was a little much. There's already one improbable disaster going on down at the hospital. You're going to introduce another improbable thing randomly happening in the helicopter?

Supernatural: Tombstone (13x06)

This was probably the weakest episode so far of a very strong season, but it was still serviceable and had some great moments.

Cons:

I swear this isn't a Destiel thing, but I was hoping for a bit... more out of the reunion between Cas and the boys. I don't mean more melodrama, necessarily, but maybe a more extreme reaction. I kind of wanted one of them, maybe Sam, to doubt that Cas was really there. They didn't even do anything to confirm that it was really him, and not Lucifer in his meatsuit, or some cosmic entity, or anything. They just accepted it instantly. And that could have been okay as well, if maybe somebody could have pointed out that they were being too trusting. The rest of the episode is a standard C-plot with a dash of Jack's on-going arc in it, and as a consequence it felt a bit like Cas' return was tacked on at the last second. Nobody even mentioned Mary's name this whole episode. You'd think Cas would ask about her, but not that we got to see.

As far as monster-of-the-week goes, this was serviceable, much more interesting for Dean's excitement than for anything in the actual plot. We have a pretty cliche setup where the monster kidnaps a girl (the woman he was seeing, before she learned that he was a murderer) and Dean rushes in, along with help from a Sargent to kill the baddie and save the girl. Dean even says as much when he returns from the bunker, playing out the generic conventions. But just because you hang a lampshade on something, doesn't suddenly break the cliche. Just saying.

Modern Family: Winner Winner Turkey Dinner (9x07)

This episode gave me whiplash, and definitely not in the good way. There was so much going on here that none of the various plot threads had time to land!

Cons:

Usually, I like it when the whole gang is brought together for holiday episodes, and the concept behind this episode seemed sound: Jay usually singles out one family member to toast at Thanksgiving, but this year he gives the honor to Claire, Mitchell, Cam, and Phil, all of whom have made personal triumphs recently. Of course, we then learn that all of these triumphs are based on lies, and shenanigans ensue.

Actually, if the story had stuck to those four characters and their false triumphs, it might have been okay. But here are some of the other things going on in this episode: Manny is trying to get to an exclusive pre-Black Friday suit sale, Luke is failing as a babysitter and asks Manny to use Photoshop skills to cover it up, Gloria is trying to get 100,000 steps in a week on her fitness tracker, Alex is doing a study on positive vs. negative reinforcement for school, and Joe has been expelled from his school after Jay argued with his teacher over the true history of Thanksgiving.

The Walking Dead: Some Guy (8x04)

I feel like this was good, but I'm not sure I really liked it all that much.

Cons:

This episode was Ezekiel-centric, and while I don't have a problem with his character, I've also never really gravitated towards him much. The only characters to survive the Saviors' slaughter are Ezekiel, Carol, and Jerry, which means this is yet another example of a bunch of nameless fodder getting the axe, while the characters we actually know are protected. It takes away a bit of the urgency, don't you think?

Shiva dies protecting Ezekiel one last time, and is devoured by a swarm of Walkers. I'm really sorry, guys... I saw a lot of people freaking out about this online, but that tiger looks fake as shit and I never formed any sort of emotional connection to it. It didn't feel like there was really a tiger there, and I couldn't see past that.

Outlander: The Doldrums (3x09)

Okay! We're getting in to the part of the book series that I love the most - the stuff in the colonies. I mean, first Jamaica. But you know what I mean. Across the Atlantic. Let's see how the show does with this latest shift in the story!

Cons:

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm still pretty concerned about the pacing. This episode is so jam-packed with stuff that I feel like a lot of the important character beats are being rushed through. Like Willoughby is a character we've barely met, and Claire having a couple of short conversations with him isn't enough to make the moment where he tells his story truly land. Or how about Jamie telling Claire that if she wants, he'll take her back to the stones. That should have been a huge deal, but there were so many other things to worry about that we sort of just brushed right by it. And the episode ends with Jamie and Claire being separated which... well, I know it happens in the book, but in terms of the show it's been a very short amount of time since they were reunited and it feels a bit disruptive to throw in another separation at this point.

Pros:

I know I said the Willoughby stuff was a bit rushed, but this actor just killed it with his moment. He grabs everybody's attention with such heartbreaking intensity and theatricality. It was one of the highlights of the episode.

Once Upon a Time: Wake Up Call (7x06)

Well... that's kind of depressing, isn't it? Yikes. I'm not even sure how to process this! Poor Regina!

Cons:

There's a part of me that's rolling my eyes, right, because Once Upon a Time likes to do this thing where it gets itself bogged down into too many rules and ceremonies with magic, but doesn't actually define the magic properly enough to justify this. We learn that Drizella enacted a dark curse that sent everybody to Hyperion Heights, but that she put a failsafe in that means that if the curse is broken, something bad will happen to the people that Regina loves. We're not sure what that is yet. Well, the way to break the curse is with True Love's Kiss, meaning that Regina is now in the position of trying to prevent Henry and Jacinda from getting together. It's a little too hokey and convenient.

I'm also not sure if I like how quickly Drizella developed from intriguing maybe-villain to outright mega-bad-guy. She's shown as a deeply conflicted and sad young woman, but in the space of one episode, she transforms and becomes truly vindictive and terrible. Maybe a little sudden.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: I Never Want to See Josh Again (3x05)

Gosh, I almost feel like they should have put a trigger warning at the start of this episode. I'm not somebody who's ever had issues in this particular area, and I still found this very, very upsetting to watch. Wow.

Cons:

Like, no, I'm serious, this was some dark stuff. Think back to the pilot of this show. Would you ever have thought this was where we would be, early in its third season? I commend the show for tackling this subject matter, but I also don't know how to reconcile the tonal shift. Maybe I'm just in shock? I don't know.

One of the plots, with Cornelia the new lawyer, featured a lot of Jim, one of the random people who works at the firm in West Covina. I don't have anything against this dude, but I just thought it was weird that he was elevated to such a significant character for this one random episode. I couldn't even remember this guy's name until now. Felt a little unbalanced to me. I've also got to say, that given what was going on with Rebecca in this episode, the other plot lines could only feel second best in comparison. I don't know what the answer is to this one.

The Big Bang Theory: The Geology Methodology (11x07)

Another sort of shrug-worthy episode. Let's take a super quick look.

Cons:

I like the girl that Raj is seeing, but what I don't like is that this whole subplot is an excuse to make light of Raj's harmful attitude towards women. He idealizes them and then blames them when things don't work out to his ridiculously high standards. It's fine if this is a character flaw, but it's not fine that the show treats it as a harmless little quirk instead of a symptom of deeply rooted misogyny.

Sheldon is having difficulty at work, because he's been working on an interesting project with Bert, but he's embarrassed to be caught working with a geologist. Okay, fine. Cute concept. The annoying part is that he leans first on Penny and then on Amy to help him through this, in yet another example of these women - especially Amy - being used as an emotional support for Sheldon with absolutely no reciprocation. It's not that I have a problem with Amy being there for Sheldon. I just wish we could see the opposite once in a while.

Grey's Anatomy: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story (14x07)

Okay, that was undeniably kind of fun. I'll admit I was a little skeptical of the concept, but it all worked out and it made me smile.

Cons:

I will say, the "baby-Izzie" part of this story was a little weird to me. I can understand being sentimental about George, who died, and even Cristina, who left on good terms and is still in contact with Meredith and Alex. But Izzie? It's not like she's trapped in another dimension or something. It's not like she's dead or Alex can never see her again. We get this moment where Alex tells Jo that whenever he thinks of Izzie, he imagines her smiling, and being as happy as he is now with Jo. And I'm thinking: it's great that you've forgiven her for everything, but it's not exactly like she treated you well, and then she just abandoned you. I'm not sure that I like the romanticizing of Izzie Stevens going on here.

So far, I'm profoundly uninterested in DeLuca and his ex-girlfriend, with whom he seems to be starting things up again. It's just that DeLuca is kind of really boring, and I know nothing about this girl, and I don't feel invested. So. There's that.

Supernatural: Advanced Thanatology (13x05)

What is up with this season being so good? I'm blown away by how much work they seem to be putting in to developing the themes and making even the C-plot episodes focused and dynamic. Let's take a look.

Cons:

I did miss Jack, and I thought Sam leaving him alone with just "extra warding" was kind of silly. Dean seems to be a little more okay with the idea of the kid now, but the fact that he's willing to let Jack wander the bunker unprotected and unguarded seems kind of far-fetched. I understand the necessity in order to get the plot off the ground, but still.

The ending with Cas was absolutely amazing, but I've got to lodge a familiar complaint about this show and its excessively queer baiting ways. They're never going to do it, so they need to stop giving us moments like this. It's just pissing everybody off at this point. Don't call me a hypocrite for gushing about it later.

The Walking Dead: Monsters (8x03)

I'm going to kill somebody. Spoilers under the cut.

Outlander: First Wife (3x08)

Well, I knew this was coming. Let's take a look.

Cons:

I'm not sure what the answer is here, but Jamie still comes across as a total bastard for not telling Claire about Laoghaire. I'm not mad that he got remarried... I mean, Claire would have to be quite the hypocrite to be mad at Jamie for having a life in the last twenty years. But the lies? I'm not sure I can explain them away.

I adore the fact that Jenny is angry with Claire, and I wouldn't change that for the world. One thing is bothering me, though. Claire realizes that she can't tell Jenny the full truth about why she's been away so long, but why not tell her about Brianna? If she says she was pregnant and found out about it just before Culloden, wouldn't that help to explain why she ran off instead of looking for Jamie? I would think Claire would want to stick as close to the truth as possible, given the circumstances.

Once Upon a Time: Greenbacks (7x05)

There were a few fantastic revelations and powerful moments in this episode of Once Upon a Time, but there was also a considerable amount of uninteresting or unbelievable crap to wade through. A mixed bag.

Cons:

Our flashbacks of the week deal with Princess Tiana's backstory. I really like the woman playing Sabine/Tiana, but this story just seemed confusing and silly to me. I am absolutely in favor of the idea of Tiana discovering that she doesn't need a prince, and can be her own hero... but we've definitely already done that on this show before, and I felt like nothing new was added to the conversation here. Also, the moment in which the man Tiana was helping turned into a frog to join his love... I mean, I get it. We're referencing the movie. But are we supposed to think that that guy was just a super-intelligent frog the whole time? Or that frogs are all as smart as humans but just trapped in frog form? I wasn't really sure what to make of that.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Josh's Ex-Girlfriend Is Crazy (3x04)

This. Was. Incredible. I don't know that I can think of any other show on television that has managed to be as daring and controversial. I mean, think about it - this show is billed as a comedy musical, and this most recent episode had me laughing out loud several times... but then think about what actually happened here. It's dark! It's intense! I cannot wait to see where they take this.

Cons:

I only have one tiny thing to say, and this isn't so much a true complaint about the episode as it is a fear for the future. Darryl and WhiJo finally realize that the question of children is an irreconcilable difference between them. It looks like their relationship might not survive this. I really, really do not want them to break up, because I think a breakup will signify a decrease in White Josh's screen time, which is already too little, if you ask me. If they can find a way to continue his presence on the show in a meaningful way even if they break up, then I'll be sad... but I'll be okay with it.

Pros:

Literally everything else was gold. Where to start? Rebecca hits rock bottom in this episode, and it's Rachel Bloom at her finest. The opening scene features Rebecca tearing in to her friends, saying horrible, vicious things to everybody. She tells Paula that she's the crazy one, and that she needs to stop acting like Rebecca is her daughter. She tells Heather that she's aimless, accuses Valencia of foisting her own dream wedding onto Rebecca because nobody wants to marry her, tells Darryl to get his head out of his ass and admit that his boyfriend doesn't want to have a kid, and even accuses Nathaniel of conspiring against her. It's a scene that's literally uncomfortable to watch. There's nothing to lighten the mood - there's no sitcom double-take or comical expressions of righteous indignation. Rebecca, in this moment, is absolutely horrible to all of the people that care about her, and nothing is done to soften that.

Grey's Anatomy: Come On Down to My Boat, Baby (14x06)

This episode was your standard Grey's Anatomy fare, meaning it had a big ensemble cast and a million different plot threads going on. I'm going to try really hard not to do too much summarizing, and instead just talk briefly about what I liked and disliked.

Cons:

Amelia and Owen are divorced now but they'd still like to be friends. I don't have any reason for hating this, but I suppose it's time to face the fact that I'm never going to find Amelia a particularly interesting character. Her sleeping with her mentor was also unnecessary and weird, although I do find that guy to be kind of hilarious.

Richard is obsessing over a happy-hour mixer with the new class of residents, and it's weird to see him focused on that. Much like story-lines with children, this is one of those things that gets dropped for such a long period of time that I forget it's supposed to be a thing, so when it gets brought up it's kind of weird. Even worse, this plot thread invokes the dreaded name of Eliza Minnick, as Richard remarks that this is the first batch of interns he's had since he's gotten his job back. Snore.

The Big Bang Theory: The Proton Regeneration (11x06)

Pretty much forgettable the second I watched it, so...

Cons:

Sheldon spends the episode auditioning for, and then being rejected for, the revival of Professor Proton. He spends time with the deceased Arthur Jeffries (Bob Newhart) in his dreams, questioning why he has been rejected, and is angered when Wil Wheaton lands the role, since he isn't a real scientist. This whole plot thread was just an excuse for Sheldon to whine and complain and demand more attention for himself, and I never, ever need or want any more of that than the show naturally provides.

There was also this icky moment right at the top where Amy suggested, meekly, that it would be cool if they got a woman to be Professor Proton, and Sheldon angrily says that women already "got" Doctor Who and The Ghostbusters and "can't you leave us anything?" In a better show, I would know this was satire, but this show doesn't do anything to deepen or strengthen the interpretation of this moment of sexism, so we're left with the idea once again that Sheldon is a sexist and that Amy is repressed in her relationship with him.

Supernatural: The Big Empty (13x04)

This season is kicking serious ass. I love it so much I cannot even tell you. Let's just dive right in!

Cons:

My complaints are really minor. There's a moment at the end when Jack steps in and saves the day, but the special effects looked pretty goofy. They did this sort of subwoofer sound effect and slow-mo and his eyes glowed gold and it was just kind of hokey.

Pros:

That's literally my only complaint. I sat there for a second trying to come up with something else I disliked, and I couldn't.

Modern Family: Ten Years Later (9x06)

Modern Family usually shines the brightest when it focuses on a holiday or event than can bring the family together. This week, however, everybody kind of sucked and was horrible to each other, and it left me feeling bummed out.

Cons:

Gloria and Jay's tenth wedding anniversary is going to be an event to remember, hopefully making up for some mishaps that took place at the actual wedding ten years before. Okay, decent enough setup.... you would think that a story like this would find room to be about Gloria and Jay and their love for one another, but instead Gloria spends the whole episode lamenting the fact that she can't quite fit into her wedding dress from ten years ago. Manny acts like a selfish little brat by choosing not to come to the anniversary party, all because Jay told him he needed to be more independent, and then when Manny does turn up in the end, Gloria is still too distressed about putting on a few pounds to care that Manny is even there. The whole thing just felt... depressing. A tacked on moment at the end where Jay reassures Gloria that he doesn't care if she gains weight didn't feel like enough to counteract the rest of this negativity.

Similarly, we have Cam and Mitchell's crappy relationship continue to rear its ugly head. Cam wants to perform with Mitchell at the wedding. Mitchell fails to recognize that this is important to Cam, although he does eventually agree to perform. Then, during the performance, Mitchell monopolizes the stage and doesn't give Cam a drum solo. There's another tacked-on moment where they reconcile, but it felt cheap after all of the tension we've sensed from these two lately.

The Walking Dead: The Damned (8x02)

Unfortunately, I didn't think much of this episode. Last week's premiere was more successful, in my opinion.

Cons:

Here's why this week didn't work: it was just more of the same. I know I spent last season bemoaning the lack of action, but now this week all we got was action. We're still seeing the plan play out, but there is no discernible progress or sense of the whole. You've got a small contingent searching for weapons, you've got Ezekiel, Carol, and others planning an assault, and then you've got Jesus, Morgan, and Tara undergoing their own operations, with mixed results. There wasn't much of a sense of cohesion, and we had very little in the way of good, solid character building moments to break up the monotony of shootouts and blood and death and screams for vengeance.

Jesus' sudden appeals for mercy made no sense and seemed to fly in the face of a carefully constructed plan. We've already done this whole "killing people is bad" thing with Morgan, and now we see him fully committed to the plan to slaughter the Saviors, but Jesus steps in and starts talking about sparing lives. Obviously in the grand scheme of things I agree with Jesus... it's not like I want innocent lives to be lost, here. But his sudden mercy is going against the established plan, and he almost gets himself and Tara killed protecting a guy who ends up being evil anyway. I don't understand where this is coming from, and it pretty much comes across as sabotage.

Outlander: Creme de Menthe (3x07)

I suppose any episode following the big reunion is bound to feel a bit anticlimactic by comparison. This is one of those episodes were I liked a lot of the individual moments, but the whole created by them was... well, less than perfect, I guess. Let's dive in.

Cons:

The main complaint I have is that the pacing was a bit too frenetic. I worried about this when I thought about adapting Voyager into a single short season of television, and I was curious as to how it would go, especially given how much time they took in the pre-reunion stages of the story. Unfortunately, this episode seemed to play out my fears. Last week focused on Jamie and Claire finding their way to each other again. This week, we have Claire accidentally killing her attacker, Jamie being forced to move his illegal wares quickly, the seditious materials at the print shop being discovered, the print shop burning to the ground, and none of that is to mention Ian's appearance, Young Ian's sexual awakening, Claire meeting the Campbells, and the reveal of Jamie's secret, that he's married to someone else. All of this crammed into one episode left very little room to breathe and learn more about these characters and how they've changed.

Pros:

As I mentioned, there were many individual moments that I thought were successful, even through the chaos of events. For example, I rather liked the moments we got with Fergus and Young Ian. To absolutely nobody's surprise, I continue to love Fergus with all of my heart and soul. His mentor-ship of Young Ian was adorably unorthodox, forcing me to remember Fergus' less than dignified beginnings as the child of a French brothel. Young Ian's dalliance with the barmaid was actually kind of sweet, if I'm telling the truth. This episode built up enough good will for the character that I really felt it when he was trapped in the burning print shop. After Jamie rescues him, as Young Ian is still gasping for breath, he's apologizing to his uncle for letting him down. Now that is a sweet boy.

Once Upon a Time: Beauty (7x04)

Wow, what the heck did I just watch? That was a bit brutal!

Cons:

The Hyperion plot is moving along a little too slowly for my taste. In this episode, we see more of Henry and Jacinda's tentative relationship, we see a lot about Ivy, Jacinda's step-sister, and we get some progress with Alice and Rumple. But we still don't know what Victoria is up to exactly, we get no more information about her dead daughter, or the witch, and meanwhile the flashback story is about Rumple and Belle instead of advancing Henry and Jacinda's relationship. That's not to say that there was nothing to like, but after four episodes I'm wishing I had a bit more of the story figured out. I'm not eager to drag out the big reveals for an entire season, like we did with the first season of this show. It's not going to be sustainable this time around.

Okay, the Belle and Rumple story. It's no surprise to anybody who has read my thoughts about this show in the past that I'm not a fan of their relationship. Every time I'd see a plot point designed to bring these two characters back together, I'd be screaming at my computer - "run, Belle! Run away from this monstrous, horrible man!" I was never convinced by the idea that he was worth saving, and Belle wasted a lot of time sticking around waiting for him to become the man she deserves. In the end, as this episode tells us, apparently Rumple did become a good person, whose only wish was to grow old at Belle's side. Consequently, he spends a lot of time looking for a way to get rid of the dagger so he can live a single, mortal life beside his wife.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Josh Is A Liar (3x03)

I know I'm a broken record, but this show is great.

Cons:

I suppose if I had to complain, I'd say that George just doesn't do much for me as a character. Maybe he'll grow on me with time. As it is, he's such a minor role that it doesn't really matter too much.

Oh, and I miss Valencia! I need more of her!

Pros:

Where to start? What I loved so much about this episode is that it has several disparate stories going on, but there's one thing at the center of it all - Rebecca's terrible actions have consequences that hurt people. Pretty much every character ends up worse off than they started by the end of this episode, and it's all at least partially a consequence of Rebecca's actions.

Grey's Anatomy: Danger Zone (14x05)

An episode about the Hunt siblings. This was delightful and actually made me tear up a few times.

Cons:

We learn the full story of what happened to Megan leading up to her kidnapping. And while for the most part I really enjoyed the story, there were aspects of it that made me dislike certain characters. I knew that Riggs had cheated on Megan, but the idea that he proposed with another woman's necklace? Ew! And the fact that Megan apparently cheated on Nathan first sort of undercuts the story of redemption we're going for, right? And Owen is overprotective, we all know that, but getting in the way of his sister's career is a really despicable thing to do. All of these bad things are overshadowed by the lovely moments we have in this episode, but I'll admit I felt like some of this behavior was crossing some serious lines!

Pros:

Most of the episode is taken up with Owen and Megan road-tripping from Seattle to LA, where Megan is going to live with Nathan and Farouk. Scenes of them driving together are cut with flashbacks to the events overseas. We see Megan and Nathan get engaged and then learn that each was cheating on the other, we see Megan miss out on an important career opportunity and suspect that Owen is the cause, we see Megan helping a woman who turns out to be one of the bad guys, while the actual hero is accused, while unconscious, of terrorism.

Supernatural: Patience (13x03)

Um... perfect? I loved everything about this episode honestly. I'm actually going to have a hard time thinking of things to complain about.

Cons:

Supernatural has a not so great habit of killing off female characters, so in some ways it was sad to see Missouri go. Obviously I wish that could have played out differently. But if I'm being brutally honest, it wasn't nearly as troubling as some of the other deaths we've had, because Missouri died like a bad ass, and she died in the service of protecting her family. Plus, this show didn't ever have to bring Missouri back into the picture, and the choice to include her just gave her one final time to shine, as well as introduced us to Patience, an interesting, complex, cool female character of color. So... yeah. I do wish they could have found a way to do this without killing Missouri, but in the scheme of things, I do understand.

One small complaint - during the climax fight of the episode, Patience, who is psychic, uses her powers to help Jody, Dean, and her father to fight and kill the wraith that has been targeting psychics. Great idea, but the execution was a little weak. At one point Patience just yells out "Dean!" as a warning, and that manages to help him get out of the way. I wanted more specifics, She tells her dad to move, she warns Jody "behind you!" but Dean's warning just didn't land. I know that sounds like the most nit-picky complaint ever, and... it is. But I noticed it, so I thought I'd say something.

Modern Family: It's the Great Pumpkin, Phil Dunphy (9x05)

A cute episode, definitely. I had a few quibbles, though...

Cons:

The Dunphy story is about how Claire and Phil are really into Halloween, while their three adult children are totally over all of the traditions. Each of the three kids has more important things to do. Haley has an audition to be a performer on a cruise ship, which she tanks because her dancing is terrible. Luke has to decide between two girls that he's been fooling around with, and he acts like a total creep before losing both of them. And Alex... well, Alex has to break up with Ben, apparently. Now, my problem is not with Ben being out of the picture, because it's not like I really got a lot out of him as Alex' boyfriend. But this just came right out of left field, did it not? I feel like we were asked to get invested in the beginning parts of a relationship, and then the plot thread was just dropped like a hot potato. I was also just fundamentally disinterested in Haley and Luke's little moments. Nothing too funny or creative going on here.

Also, just a note, but this episode doesn't hold a candle to some of the Halloween stories we've seen this show produce in the past. Maybe it's not fair to make comparisons, but I'm just saying. The glory days are perhaps over.

The Big Bang Theory: The Collaboration Contamination (11x05)

Ehhhhhh.

Cons:

The main plot of this one is that Amy and Howard start working on a project together at work, and this makes their respective partners jealous. Oh, Bernadette is fine - it's Raj that's jealous over Howard's time, and Sheldon is missing Amy. What do I dislike about this? Well, Sheldon is a complete jerk. He's controlling and demanding and based on this episode alone, I would think he'd make a terrible husband for Amy. Amy, meanwhile, is long-suffering and doesn't stand up for herself even a little bit. Is it just me, or has Sheldon been reverting into an even more immature version of himself so far this season? It's driving me nuts!

Penny and Leonard play the role of parents to Sheldon this week, as they have so many other times. There were some elements I enjoyed, but whenever they do plot threads like this it just emphasizes to me how little momentum these two characters have nowadays. What are they working towards? What is their purpose?

The Walking Dead: Mercy (8x01)

This was good. Great? Maybe not. But good? Yes.

Cons:

A little too much cheesiness, maybe. Lots of speechifying about hope and unity and if we stick together we can take back what's ours. I got a little bit bogged down in all of that. Also, I'm sick of Negan's evil monologues. They have long since lost any speck of threat or even humor. Like when he tells Gabriel that he's going to shit his pants... there's just nothing in there that's funny or scary to me.

This episode features flash-forwards, or... maybe... delusional daydreams of the future... that show us Rick's life. On the one hand, I like not knowing whether this is really what's coming, or if Rick is just thinking happy thoughts. But on the other hand, it's a little cheesy. We see Judith as a little kid, who has seemingly aged seven or eight years, but Rick looks like an old, old man with a white beard. How much time is supposed to have passed? This was confusing.

Outlander: A. Malcolm (3x06)

!!!!! Amazing! Pretty much everything I could have hoped for from this episode.

Cons:

I mean, there were things that were changed from the reunion in the books. I don't mind the changes for the most part, but of course there are always those treasured details that you want to see and when they happen a bit differently, you notice. For example, in the books, Fergus comes across Claire when Jamie isn't around, and immediately drops to his knees and hugs her around the waist. Claire doesn't recognize him right away and thinks he's an eager customer in the brothel. I'm not saying I didn't love what they did instead, but... you know. These are the things you remember.

Young Ian doesn't look the way I expected him to. I thought the guy playing him did an excellent job, but still. I pictured him to look more like Jenny, with the dark hair. I can't remember how he's described in the books, but for whatever reason, this wasn't what I was picturing. I also pictured him to seem younger, more like a child. I think he's meant to be fifteen or sixteen, but honestly he seems more like he's eighteen or nineteen. It might not seem like much, but it does make a difference.

Once Upon a Time: The Garden of Forking Paths (7x03)

I felt a little less happy with this episode, mostly because I feel like the plot is moving forward so slowly. We did get a good amount of information here, but I kind of wish we could speed things along!

Cons:

So, the Hyperion Heights story-line had a few of those moments of cheesiness that were just a little over the line for me. Jacinda makes a speech about hope and belief to a bunch of people from Hyperion Heights, and they all eat it up. It reminded me of Henry's awful speech in New York a few seasons back. It felt unrealistic that people in the actual real world we live in today would be swayed by such sappiness.

There's a pacing issue going on where certain things set up in episode one are still being dragged out. I don't want to be told all of the answers to the season's big mysteries, of course. I like not knowing exactly what Rumple is up to, or what he knows. I like not knowing how and when Tremaine enacts the curse. But other things feel pointlessly secretive. Like we meet a witch that Victoria has been keeping prisoner, but we don't learn the witch's identity. Why are we saving that for later? And we learn that Cinderella is in some way responsible for the death of one of Tremaine's daughters, but we don't learn what happened. Whatever it is, can we not just know now so we can move on to more interesting things?

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: To Josh, With Love (3x02)

God, this show is good. I love it so much.

Cons:

I wasn't totally crazy about the subplot this week, which involved Tim learning that he'd never given his wife an orgasm. He despairs at this realization, and sings a song that parodies "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables. The song is about the "buzzing from the bathroom," since his wife would go into the bathroom and masturbate after Tim failed to get her off. I don't really  have any reason to care about Tim as a character. He's such a non entity. This felt like a completely strange subplot to devote time to, and I can't imagine it will lead to much else.

Pros:

That being said, "The Buzzing From the Bathroom" was a hilarious song, as are pretty much all of the songs this show produces. I also liked that Paula's off-the-cuff insult totally changed Tim's life, but he's so insignificant to her that she doesn't even remember saying it.

We check in with Josh this week, and discover that his plan to be a priest isn't going as well as he would have hoped. Turns out, you have to go to school and go through lots of training, and Josh is having a hard time feeling motivated. His friends are convinced that he won't go through with it, and are then appalled to learn that Josh hasn't contacted Rebecca at all since leaving her at the altar.

Supernatural: The Rising Son (13x02)

Okay! We're really starting to dig in and establish the set pieces and character arcs for this season, and I've gotta say, I'm quite interested in where things are going!

Cons:

I'm not all that interested in the newest Prince of Hell, but that could be because we've just met him. I think I'm a little uncomfortable spending time talking about the leadership of Hell since Crowley isn't around. The scenes with all of the demon cronies arguing over protocol have never been the most interesting thing about Supernatural, and the one thing that made these scenes worthwhile was having Crowley there. I hope we can do something interesting and new with Hell, instead of doing the same old stuff, minus our favorite King of Hell to spice things up. That said, I'm not writing off Asmodeus quite yet. He could be interesting.

Pros:

Let's start with the subplot, actually: Mary and Lucifer are the strangest reluctant duo I can imagine. Lucifer figures that they need each other if they're ever going to get out of this parallel universe and get back to their sons. Lucifer's plan is to trade Mary to the Winchesters in exchange for Jack. Mary is going along with this plan somewhat, since she's obviously at a complete loss. Eventually, the two are accosted by a bunch of angels, but Lucifer is able to kill them all easily. He then comes face to face with the alternate world version of his brother Michael, who apparently killed his own Lucifer some time ago, and is ready to kill another one. The two begin to fight.

Modern Family: Sex, Lies and Kickball (9x04)

Yeah... Not a winner.

Cons:

The most uncomfortable of the plot threads belongs to Alex and her parents. Basically, Claire makes jokes about Ben, and Alex decides to retaliate by using an erotic paint kit, and leaves the resulting painting for Claire and Phil to find. Claire decides to call Alex's bluff by framing and hanging the picture in the dining room. This leads to a conversation where Claire realizes that she is mocking Alex's boyfriend in the same way that Jay always mocked Phil, and that it's wrong. Alex admits that she and Ben faked the painting, since Ben was too nervous to perform.

Modern Family has always been a bit of a sexless show. There have been moments that delved into the fun role-playing side of Phil and Claire, but other than that, there isn't much exploration of the rest of the family and their sex lives. I never really gave it much thought, but now I'm wishing the show had decided to steer clear of this topic. What a creepy, creepy exchange between Alex and Claire. I'm honestly okay with the idea of exploring boundaries between an adult woman and her parents, when it comes to boyfriends and the like. There could be a good story in there somewhere. But this? Ew...

The Big Bang Theory: The Explosion Implosion (11x04)

There was a lot of gendered crap in this episode and while I am not even the slightest bit surprised, I still did not like it. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Howard and Bernadette find out their new child will be a boy, and Howard spends the rest of the episode despairing about being a good father to a son, since he doesn't know how to be a man. Raj at one point does mention that maybe their son will be "sweet and sensitive" instead of rowdy, but other than that, nobody mentions the fact that Howard's parenting skills should not alter greatly based on the gender of his children. The whole thing was just eye-roll inducing. I'm fine with Howard having insecurities about being a father, but it sucks that those insecurities are based specifically on raising a boy.

Pros:

I did kind of like the opportunity for Sheldon and Howard to bond over their crappy relationships with their dads. It brought these two characters closer together, and I always think that's fun to see. The stuff with the exploding rocket, helping to teach Sheldon how to drive, etc. etc. was all pretty sweet. Sheldon didn't even make fun of Howard's intellect!

Once Upon a Time: A Pirate's Life (7x02)

Cute! Very cute! And satisfactory! Also I still don't know why there's a Season Seven of this show, but whatever. Let's take a look.

Cons:

The evil stepmother is silly in how evil she is. Clearly she and Mr. Gold have some sort of deal worked out, and I'm sure we'll learn more about that later... but come on. She wants Henry framed for theft to remove him from her life, she wants to prevent Jacinda from seeing Lucy for no good reason... it's just so campy. I know that we'll get more on her motivations at a later date, but at this point I'm kind of rolling my eyes.

The flashback story explains a lot about why we have some characters trapped in Hyperion Heights, but not others. But one problem it does have is its pacing... I feel like a ton of things happened very quickly, because we had to establish the origin story of Wish!Hook, the reason why Regina, Wish!Hook, and Henry are all together in the same place, why Emma isn't around, etc. etc. all in a very short period of time. We have the older, potbellied Hook being magicked into a young hot version conveniently, we have Wish!Hook doing a 180 on his apparent motivations, we have Emma showing up basically just to hug Henry, and then turning around and leaving again... all of this felt a bit unbalanced and almost like I wanted to see a two-parter. Is this because I want more Hook and Emma? Maybe. But I also think the story genuinely could have been balanced out a bit more.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Josh's Ex-Girlfriend Wants Revenge (3x01)

My first Crazy Ex-Girlfriend review! It's been a while since I've started a new show and reviewed it, but here we are! This was a great premiere and it made me really excited to see what else they can do with this wacky show. I know the ratings have been low all along, but I'm glad that the CW has decided to give it another shot anyway.

Cons:

Does it count as a con that I miss Greg a lot? Still? I want him to come back now.

Also, just in general the fake sex tape plot thread was stretching my disbelief just a bit. Which I know is saying a lot for this show. I think it was the Josh Chan look-alike thing that pushed it sliiiightly over the edge for me. A small thing, but I thought I'd mention it.

Pros:

So the main plot is about Rebecca getting revenge on Josh, but all of her ideas suck. She brainstorms with her friends -Valencia, Paula, and Heather. Eventually, they come up with a good plan - Rebecca can sue Josh for abandoning her! My favorite part of this plot thread was Valencia coming up with the plan to sue Josh, then Paula co-opting it and everybody congratulating her and ignoring Valencia. "Am I dead?" *gasp* "How did I die?" Hilarious line delivery. Of course, the song about generalizing men was pretty fantastic, too. I hope we get to see a lot more of these four ladies hanging out together.

Grey's Anatomy: Ain't That a Kick in the Head? (14x04)

I'm a little befuddled by how quickly we've gotten through the Amelia-has-a-tumor plot, but I'm rather pleased about it too. Let's dive right in, and I'm going to try and go quickly (famous last words).

Cons:

There's this brief moment where Arizona and April are commiserating over missing their daughters. Reuniting with kids is a theme of the episode, as a matter of fact, and I'll get there in a second. This plot thread just served to remind me of how weird it was that even though Arizona won the custody battle, Sofia just went off with Callie and Penny anyway. What a weirdly bungled plot thread that was. And of course any time this show becomes about babies it gets a little ridiculous, because we never see any of the adults spend real time with their kids.

I wish Megan would stop insisting that Riggs is oh so in love with Meredith, because it's just slowing things down and bogging the whole proceeding up with a love triangle. Riggs and Meredith weren't together for long enough for their relationship to ruin the potential of such a great reunion. I want closure on this quicker than we're getting it.

Supernatural: Lost and Found (13x01)

Well, then. Just start off with a real tear-jerker, why don't you? I'm pleasantly surprised by how much this episode dealt with the fallout of last year's finale. No fast-forwarding, no forgetting the pain and grief and anger. It's all front and center.

Cons:

I'll repeat myself a little bit from last year's finale in saying that Cas' death, while undeniably tragic for Sam and Dean, lacks a little punch since I know Misha is coming back. Not a huge thing, but if somehow I could have been kept in the dark about this, I'm sure it would hurt more. Call me a masochist.

Pros:

Honestly, though, this episode kept me gripped the entire way through. The plot is pretty basic. Sam and Dean track down Jack, who fled from the house where he was born. They find him eventually in a local police station, some angels show up to take him, but Sam and Dean end up protecting him from the angels and decide to bring him back to the bunker. Meanwhile, the two brothers are arguing about the best way to handle the Jack situation. Sam seems to see the potential for goodness in him, or at the very least he thinks Jack could be useful. Dean just wants to kill him straight off, but that might be harder than it looks. The two are also dealing with a boat load of grief. Cas is dead, Crowley is dead, Kelly is dead, and Mary... well, Dean seems convinced that she's gone too.

Modern Family: Catch of the Day (9x03)

I'm feeling pretty apathetic about this show, but there were quite a few individual moments this week that I enjoyed. Let's take a look.

Cons:

One thing that doesn't work for me is Cam and Mitchell's bickering. Pam is an annoying presence that never really makes me laugh, and the bickering between the couple is getting kind of depressing. If maybe they were planning on exploring some real problems in their marriage, I'd be on board. But it seems like we're just getting more of the same crap that we've always gotten with these two.

Manny makes the briefest of appearances and is creepily sketching a girl without her consent, so... yikes?