Grey's Anatomy: Nothing Left to Cling To (16x01)

Oh boy, we're back! This show is one of the hardest that I review, because there are just so many characters and so much going on.

Cons:

I'm never going to be on board with Owen and Teddy! I can't do it! You can't make me! Amelia and Link are fine, Teddy and Tom are adorable. Owen can go be a single dad for a while. Yeesh. There's that scene at the end where Owen finally figures out how to help Teddy - he lists the house and finally seems to be hearing what Teddy needs. And the whole time I'm just like - ugh I don't know if this dude deserves this. Teddy is more annoying with Owen, and much more fun with Tom. I like that Tom is planning on fighting for her, but I feel like it's going to be fruitless.

This is half a complaint, and half a hope. We see Jackson starting up a potential relationship with an EMT, as he and Maggie are firmly broken up. I hope that sticks. I do not want to get back on the Jackson and Maggie merry-go-round. These two characters are at their worst when they're together. I like them both so much better when they're alone, or with other people. Also, it was weird that the hiatus hook was all about Jackson being in peril, but he wasn't, at all. He was helping some climbers who had gotten injured, and he is safe. I thought at first the episode was going to flash back and show all of the drama that had happened in rescuing the hikers, but no. It was practically a footnote on the way to other things. Kind of an odd narrative choice.

The Good Place: A Girl From Arizona" (Part 1) (4x01)

This show does not miss a beat!

Cons:

I guess the only issue I have with this episode is that it didn't do anything wildly unexpected? But even that isn't actually a complaint, because sometimes it's good to start off with a base-level. I don't know.

Oh, I thought of one thing I'm not in love with: I don't think that Jason and Janet's romance is all that compelling. It's not bad, but it's not great either. There! I did it!

Pros:

This show is kind of hard to talk about because there's so much humor, and so many clever ideas, crammed in to such a short amount of time. Whenever I watch an episode, it feels like it's over in ten minutes instead of twenty-two, because of how much I'm enjoying every second.

Modern Family: New Kids on the Block (11x01)

Wow. Thirty seconds in, and there's a joke about infants being chubby. A few minutes later, and Manny is negging a woman to try and get back with her. I guess Modern Family is back.

Cons:

Sorry to start on such a negative note, but sheesh. Sometimes I forget how hit and miss this show can be with its comedy and commentary. Haley wonders why the babies are crying: "do you think they know they're chubby?" and Gloria helps her son to manipulate his ex-girlfriend, and I'm supposed to laugh? Sigh. Come on, guys.

I don't know that I laughed once watching this whole episode. Let's just go through some of the plot threads, shall we?

Jay is making a commercial for his dog bed company, and Manny's ex-girlfriend is the voice of Stella. She likes his authority as director, but then gets fed up when he makes her do too many takes of the line. This is really insulting stuff, and there was not a single laugh anywhere to be found. The only suggestion of something amusing was the idea of Jay being against Manny directing, but then Jay was barely there for the rest of it, so it was wasted.

Suits: One Last Con (9x10)

Okay, so then what happens next is that Harvey and Donna move to Seattle, and they become closer than ever to Rachel and Mike. At least once a week, Harvey and Mike have a "guy's night" while Donna and Rachel have a "girl's night." And then, gradually, they realize they've ended up with the wrong people. So they all get divorced and then Donna and Rachel become a couple, and Mike and Harvey become a couple. Someone please tell me they're writing that fic.

Oh, sorry. Was I supposed to talk about the episode? Let's get to it.

Cons:

I predicted last week that this episode would be overcrowded, and I wasn't wrong, exactly. I'm grateful that the conflict with Faye was over before the midpoint, so we could have a nice long goodbye with all of the characters. But while I do enjoy that, I also must admit it doesn't make a lot of sense. Faye was a season-long threat, and she's dispatched a third of the way through the finale. It just goes to show that as interesting of a villain as she might have been in the beginning, she didn't really matter. She was a figurehead. She didn't really change anything about these people and their perspectives on their lives. It all felt pretty pointless in the end.

Suits: Thunder Away (9x09)

Katrina! Oh no!

Cons:

I am officially Extremely Worried about this finale. Here are some things that need to happen: Louis and Sheila get married. And have their baby, probably. Harvey proposes to Donna. They defeat Faye, get Samantha and Katrina their jobs back, and settle the question of Managing Partner once and for all. Mike and Harvey patch up their latest feud. Also, something big and Finale-ish needs to happen - something that's unexpected. Mike and Rachel moving back to New York? Harvey leaving the firm? Donna pregnant? Who knows, but you know it'll be something. And also Alex needs to have something to do in this finale because right now he is majorly on the sidelines. How is all of that supposed to fit into one hour? I wish this episode could have dialed back on the Samantha and Mike vs. Harvey and Louis stuff, because I really don't want to spend my last few hours with these characters watching them at odds with each other. It sucks.

I know it's ultimately silly to complain about the inaccuracies of this show when it comes to the legal stuff, but it just cracks me up. This idea that Faye could basically coerce Harvey and Louis into representing her... that's not how it works. And basically it doesn't matter if they win or lose, their goal is met either way. Either they win, and Faye leaves as she agreed. Or they lose, and Faye is gone because she is guilty of wrongful termination. So the stakes are poor, and the scenario doesn't make logical sense, and it's all so we can have Harvey vs. Mike because the writers can't come up with another compelling reason for Mike to be here. It's annoying.

Suits: Prisoner's Dilemma (9x08)

I guess I'm just feeling antsy for this show to end, so I can spend some more time with Mike in the final two episodes. This episode should have been great, what with returning villains and allies from the past, and a connection to Mike's prison story-line, but something about it didn't totally click into place for me. It was good, not great.

Cons:

This episode is called "Prisoner's Dilemma," and that references the way that Malik pits Cahill and Harvey against each other. Harvey stays loyal, but Cahill flips. But then Harvey finds a piece of information, with Donna's help, and the two men are able to leverage Malik and both get away free. There are a few things that annoy me here - the first is that Cahill has every right to save his own ass in this situation. Harvey is all about loyalty or whatever, but Cahill isn't one of his people. He has manipulated and pressured Cahill over and over again. Sure, he was doing it for Mike, and so as a viewer of this show, I'm on Harvey's side. But Cahill feeling guilty, Cahill trying to help Harvey however he can... none of that really makes a lot of sense to me in the context of their characters. I guess the idea is that they've been through a lot together, but even that doesn't really justify the pseudo-friendship they're trying to show here.

I did not at all hate the subplot with Esther. There were many good things about it. I'm always a fan of TV shows shedding light on the real issues that women face when it comes to sexual assault and coming forward about their experiences. I will say, though, it felt a little shoe-horned in, especially at this late stage - this entire subplot could have been lifted and put anywhere in the season, and it could have remained the same. With just two episodes left after this one, why was this how Louis, Katrina, and Samantha all spent the episode? On a more specific note, I found it odd that Louis was motivated by this experience to want to marry Sheila before the baby comes. How are these two stories connected, other than by "family is important"? I feel like this is just an excuse to have a wedding in the finale.

Suits: Scenic Route (9x07)

I laughed out loud at Louis in this episode. There was actually quite a bit that I enjoyed here.

Cons:

Samantha Wheeler has been a surprising character over these last two seasons, in that I didn't totally hate her, and I actually found some of the character development stuff with her to be quite interesting. But they maybe waited a little too long to get in to what makes her tick? Here we are, with just three episodes of the show left, and we're getting these flashbacks of her as a kid with an abusive foster father, and we're seeing her as a younger lawyer, having an affair with Kaldor. These insights into her character aren't bad or useless, it's just that there are a lot of other things I wish we could be focusing on in the final weeks of the show, and it doesn't really seem like we have the time to unpack everything we're still learning about Samantha.

I really admire Harvey's character growth, and the way he can call his mom and apologize for his role in their strained relationship, even now that things are better between them. But that said, the phone call at the end was maybe a little too cheesy? There was the "I love you" thing, which is nice, but then they just sit in silence together? On the phone? That seems weird to me.

Pros:

Okay, Louis accidentally pretends to be Harvey, and it's hilarious. This is pretty stupid, all things considered, but I was cracking up the whole time it was happening. The meal, where there's a crowd of adoring people just watching him eat, as he charms and delights everyone in the room... it's so funny. I love that we can't tell how much of this is totally in Louis' head, and how much is reality. It's also fun to see Louis with that level of confidence, even if it's coming from a questionable place. And then he learns the lesson that characters have to learn in body-swap-made-for-TV movies, that at the end of the day he'd rather just be himself. I don't know what about this plot thread did it for me, but I was cracking up from start to finish. That wig, the lunch, Harold, Donna's reaction, Samantha and Harvey pulling a prank on him... it was just so funny and light-hearted and Louis.