Castle: Still (5x22)

I don't think I've ever had so much fun watching a clip show. And it wasn't really a clip show, was it? At first I thought it was going to be, but in reality they didn't spend all that much time playing us clips of old stuff. There was a full story and a lot of new material. It was sort of a combo between a clip show and a new episode, and I for one thought it was great.

The premise is simple: Beckett steps on a sensor plate and if she takes her foot off, a bomb is going to go off. Castle stays with her to keep her distracted while they try and disarm the bomb. Turns out, there's a timer, and the bomb squad cannot find a way to disarm it. Castle refuses to leave, however, and the two of them come up with the correct password to disarm it at the very last second. It's unrealistic and cheesy, and it's the second time that this show has done a disarm-the-bomb-just-before-it-goes-off episode, but it works pretty great.

Alexis and Martha weren't in the episode at all this week, and Javi, Ryan and Bates all have fairly secondary roles as they scramble to figure out how to save Beckett. They did a good job displaying their panic and their drive. There was one moment from Bates that was absolutely fantastic, but I'll get to that when I get to the end of the episode.

Supernatural: The Great Escapist (8x21)

I have so many feelings right now. This episode... it just... my darling Castiel... in so much pain... I feel like I'm going to be rambling a lot as I write this, and for that I apologize.

So, plot-wise this episode kicked some ass. It brought everything forward with big leaps and bounds, and it's setting up the end of the season wonderfully. I've seen promos so I know that Crowley has a lot to do with the third trial, but I'm just excited to know what it is: curing a demon. This is going to be intense! I hope Sammy can pull it off!

Basically, the episode started for Sam and Dean with them believing that Kevin was dead. Their reactions were amazingly sad, but thank goodness Kevin's not really gone. Without Kevin, the Winchesters hunt down Metatron to ask about the third trial. Metatron manages to save Kevin from Crowley and crew, and thus the boys are reunited with their prophet. Meanwhile, Cas has been on the run from Naomi. She catches up with him, though, but before she can do much, Crowley steps in and with the help of a traitor angel, takes Cas away. He then pulls the angel tablet out of Cas' stomach which was seriously gross, and then Cas gets away and ends up in the middle of the road, severely injured. The episode ended with the Winchesters finding him.

How I Met Your Mother: Something Old (8x23)

This episode was strange, because I feel like I blinked and it was over. It felt shorter than a normal episode, and maybe that's because virtually nothing happened. Lily and Marshall pack some boxes. Barney plays laser tag with Robin's dad. Robin sits in the grass and digs. This episode is the penultimate one of the season, and I guess I just wanted more.

Basically, Lily and Marshall are preparing to go to Italy and they call in Ted to help them decide what should stay and what should go. There were some decently funny moments here, such as Ted's insistence that a fanny pack was not a fanny pack at all, but rather a "hands-free belt satchel." Also, Lily remarks that certain hand bags had sentimental value to her, and Marshall reminds her that she shoplifted them. Her response: "You get older, you have kids, you stop stealing, it's sad!" They also brought back in the idea of the Bermuda Triangle in front of their apartment, which I liked.

But besides a few amusing moments, this thread felt like a rehash of several other "nostalgia" story-lines we've seen in the past. Ted doesn't want to let go of the past, but then he learns that he should. Okay, I get it. We have done this so many times before, I'm getting really sick of it. With the news that there's going to be a ninth season, I'm really hoping that we meet the mother at the end of season eight properly, and actually get to know and love her in season nine. Otherwise, I'm not sure why this show is still going on.

Grey's Anatomy: Sleeping Monster (9x21)

This show. This show, man. You gotta love it. Constantly uppin' the angst and keeping me interested in several plot threads all at once. As always, I'll separate them out and talk about each in turn.

I'll start with the biggest: this week, Bailey got to do the voice-over that's usually reserved for Meredith, so we knew that her character was going to get the biggest piece of the pie. Basically, Jackson calls in the CDC to investigate the infection. Bailey's under a lot of stress since she's not allowed to see her patients. The doctors all want to support her, and many of them are angry with Jackson for calling in the CDC. I'm not, though. He totally made the right move, there. Everyone gave him a lot of crap for it, though, and I'm getting a bit tired of people bullying Jackson Avery. Just look into those eyes! How can you stay angry with him?

Anyways, Bailey is freaking out the whole episode, and the CDC people are asking her all these questions, and in the end it turns out that she does have the infection, but it was not her fault, but rather the gloves were faulty. You would think that she would be relieved, but three patients died of the infection and she feels totally abandoned by all her friends. Bailey has this dramatic speech at the end where she tells Webber that he's not the man she thought he was, since he didn't stand by her. This was excellent acting and excellent writing. It really amped up the drama and I'm excited to see what they do with Bailey's character from here.

The Mentalist: Red Velvet Cupcakes (5x20)

This episode is definitely one of my favorites from the season. The crime was simple and small, and the writers actually found a way to tie the case in with the personal lives of our beloved characters. Really, I think this is the rarely-discovered trick of procedural cop shows. Larger mythology episodes are important, but even episodes that are not about Red John need to somehow connect to the characters that the show follows, thus giving us emotional stakes in the results.

This week, we had a murdered woman who had been getting relationship advice from a radio personality called Buddy Hennings. At first, her husband was the prime suspect, but Jane figured out that Buddy Hennings has a foot fetish which then leads him to assume he's the killer (the victim's shoes were missing). In order to try and trap the guy, Rigsby and Van Pelt go under cover as a couple on the radio show.

The crime itself was basic but interesting - there was a twist at the end wherein Jane had correctly deduced that Buddy was having an affair with the victim, but he didn't realize that it had been Buddy's wife who had done the actual murder. This meant that Van Pelt was actually placed in a really dangerous situation and Jane didn't have the answers.

The Vampire Diaries: The Originals (4x20)

It's hard for me to review this episode because it's actually a backdoor pilot for a new show about the Original vampires. If I were reviewing it as a normal episode of The Vampire Diaries, I probably wouldn't give it very good marks, because it barely touched on the plot threads that I care about this season. If I look at it as a pilot for another show, then I think it holds up pretty good.

I'll start by very briefly touching on the stuff that happened in Mystic Falls. Stefan, Damon, and Elena were hardly in the episode at all. They just made a brief appearance at the beginning and end. It almost felt unnecessary to have them in there at all, although I understand why they wouldn't want to do an episode of this show without our three leads. However, for what they were I did like those brief scenes. Damon and Stefan are really upping the ante on the torture in order to bring the real Elena back. It's sort of sick, but then again everyone on this show is pretty sick.

But most of the episode focused on Klaus and his adventures in New Orleans. Here's the first awesome thing about this episode: New Orleans. What a great setting! Certainly more interesting than Mystic Falls could ever hope to be.

Smash: The Producers (2x13)

Smash has a problem. It is an over-dramatized mess. Most of the characters are uterally despicable people. So... the question is, WHY DO I KEEP WATCHING IT?! It's like crack! Or chocolate! Really, really, bad for you, but you keep coming back for more. I know that's not the most eloquent way to begin a review, but it's an accurate description of how I feel right now. Let's talk about this week's episode.

Bombshell is apparently doing awesome, and Ivy is busy promoting the hell out of it. Eileen and Agnes are going crazy trying to get Bombshell to sell enough to keep it open so it can be a contender for the Tony's. I'm normally not too interested in Eileen's storyline, but it wasn't too overbearing so it was fine this week. Also, apparently their promotions work, because they are selling more tickets by the end of the episode. Eileen also apparently has this nascent interest in Hit List, which I think is sort of weird, but I'll get to that whole part of the episode in a moment.

Ivy won't take Derek's phone calls, because she's pissed that he asked Karen out shortly before getting together with her. Nothing really happened this episode to further that plot, but I'm sure it will soon.

Parks and Recreation: Are You Better Off? (5x22)

This was a great finale. It set up a compelling conflict for next season and introduced some new twists into some established relationships. There were three story lines going on this week, each of which left some serious questions for next season, which I really enjoy.

First of all, we have Leslie. It's getting to be Founder's Day, and as they prepare their celebrations, a lot of the townsfolk begin complaining about the changes Leslie has made over this past year as councilwoman. In fact, it escalates so much that the town actually wants to recall Leslie, and she is so discouraged that she wonders if she should even fight it. The episode ended and we don't know how things are going to turn out for Leslie... but we know that she's going to fight for what she cares about! Favorite quotes: 

Leslie: "This feels strangely personal. Maybe it's because they're all standing up and saying how much they hate me! As a person!"

Castle: The Squab and the Quail (5x21)

Okay, so I sort of liked this episode, but I was also getting really frustrated by it. I'll be brief, because in all honesty there was nothing all that stellar to comment on here. Basically, there's this super rich inventor philanthropist guy named Eric Vaughn, and a murder attempt was made on his life. So, Beckett is assigned to watch over him while they try to find the murderer. Vaughn flirts a ton with Beckett, who is rather flattered by this extremely important man's attentions.

The murder itself, like most murders on procedural shows, was nothing special. That being said, I wasn't bored by it or anything, which is usually a pretty good sign.There was a very reasonable twist at the end wherein for a moment, everyone thought Eric Vaughn was the bad guy, but it turned out to be someone else working for him.

Here was my primary problem: this Eric Vaughn guy? Too perfect. At first I thought it was an obvious setup and that he was going to be the villain. And then for a moment I was right. But then... I was wrong. It was just a fake-out. I'm fine with fake-outs, it's just that Vaughn was too perfect to be legitimately innocent.

Parks and Recreation: Swing Vote (5x21)

 As always with this show, I'll break it into its subplots and talk about them each individually.

Leslie and Ron: Ron wants to cut government funding for a put put golf course, and Leslie is furious because she thinks that the funding is necessary. Turns out, they need to fight for a swing vote to see whether the funding should be cut or not. That swing vote is... Councilman Jamm. They play some golf, and Ron wins Jamm's vote. Jamm tries to cut a deal with Leslie but she says no, so the funding gets cut due to Leslie's integrity, and she angrily declares that she will find a way to bring it back.

What did I like about this part of the episode? Well, all the Ron and Leslie stuff. These two have great comedic chemistry with one another, and it's always fun to see. Ron tells Leslie that she is "rage sweating" to which she replies that she's actually "rage glowing." Leslie was a sass master this week - I loved how frazzled she was getting when she backed herself into a corner - "I'll figure it out! Who cares?!" I liked their put put showdown, and how Leslie tries to distract Ron from a good put by listing things she knows will drive him crazy, including "Ayn Rand is a terrible writer!"

Doctor Who: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (7x10)

I feel like I waited forever for this episode to happen. Ever since Season 6, when we got that awesome episode "The Doctor's Wife," I have been waiting for another episode that really explored the TARDIS. And... well... I don't know. I think this episode had a lot of good stuff going for it, but I just wanted... more!

Okay, so here was my idea. Tell me this wouldn't be awesome. What if this concept had been used for the 50th anniversary? It would be a small, contained episode focusing on old characters coming back, and there would be a good reason for it: something goes wrong with the TARDIS and time starts leaking. What if echoes of other characters and moments came back? And the walls between time started breaking down? And that's why David Tennant and Billie Piper are there? Okay, someone must write this fic.

I just felt like the time leaking idea was such a cool one, and then they only used it to replay clips from earlier within the same episode. What a waste! But that's not to say there weren't great things about this episode. I'll start with my two favorite elements:

Modern Family: Flip Flop (4x20)

This episode was nice because it tied together a lot of the characters in the same place. I always like when that happens. Rather than the usual three story lines, there were only two, since Cam and Mitch's story was the same as Phil, Claire, and family. I'll actually start with the other story line, though, which was...

Jay, Gloria, Manny. I absolutely adored this plot thread. Was it super original? No. But it was fantastic. Apparently Javier, Manny's dad, is getting married to a new love interest. But this girl, unlike all of the bimbos of the past, is actually well-read and nice, and she and Manny hit it off right away. The episode is basically Gloria feeling insecure about this new maternal presence in her son's life, until the end, when Trish announces that she can't join this family because she can't compete with someone as amazing as Gloria. Gloria, flattered by all the praise, hugs Trish and welcomes her officially to the family. 

Elementary: Dead Man's Switch (1x20)

I'm having a lot of feelings about Elementary right now. It's good. Much better than I expected. The acting is great, the character stuff is fantastic, and while the crime-of-the-week plots are rarely anything special, they aren't painfully bad either.

This week's crime is barely worth mentioning. There was a rapist, and a blackmailer, and a twist ending, an multiple suspects, an icky dead guy in a bathtub... all actually pretty standard fare for a crime procedural. There was nothing wrong with it, and there were enough things going on in the episode that I was never bored. I did like to see how this crime affected Sherlock, because he seemed to be particularly disgusted with the criminals due to the horrendous nature of their crime. This was very different than, say, BBC's version of the character, who looks at crimes as puzzles and nothing more. While of course I love Sherlock and I think it overall to be the superior show, I still enjoy this interpretation of a more compassionate Sherlock.

But now let's get in to the real meat of the episode.

Sherlock's one year sober anniversary is coming up, and he says he doesn't want his one year chip. Watson just thinks he's been an ass about it at first, as she offers to talk to him and he refuses. Alfredo, Sherlock's sponsor, is also pressing him for details about why he won't accept the chip. I really like Alfredo and I hope he remains an important character in the future. This is a show with a very small main cast, which I like, but sometimes I'm hungry for some variety, and Alfredo is interesting enough to give me that.

Parks and Recreation: Jerry's Retirement (5x20)

I had a lot of fun watching this episode. Due to time constraints I'm not going to delve too deep into it, but just overall I thought it was good. It's one of those episodes that probably won't be remembered particularly, but it had some great jokes and comedic situations.

So. Jerry is retiring, and Leslie realizes that she didn't plan anything to commemorate his career. She decides she has to make his dreams come true, and blows off a day off with Ben to give Jerry a proper send off. It doesn't go exactly as planned, however. Meanwhile, Tom is upset because he seems to be replacing Jerry as the person everyone makes fun of in the office. He tries to hire an intern to shift the attention off of him, but the intern ends up being super cool. In the end, Ron helps him by hiring Jerry for a few days here and there until they can find a replacement, thus sparing Tom the humiliation of being the new Jerry. In a parallel thread, Ann and Chris continue to plan their lives together and get ready to have a baby.

Let's break it down by plot thread.

Supernatural: Pac-Man Fever (8x20)

This episode offered everything I could have hoped for. I think it was the first episode this season that didn't focus exclusively on the larger mythology that I truly adored. In fact, this definitely gets my vote for favorite episode thus far, and I'm including "Goodbye Stranger" in that consideration. So... that should tell you something. The plot was compelling, but it wasn't the focus, nor should it have been. Instead, we got to dive deeper into Charlie Bradbury's character, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

The plot is basic - people are turning up dead, and Charlie shows up with the details. Sam is too sick to hunt, but he wants to come along anyway, poor sick moose that he is. Charlie is unconscious due to dijin interference, and Dean uses African Dream Root to get into her head, where he discovers a video game. Apparently, this game is similar to the one that Charlie hacked and stole when she was younger, which has forced her to remain on the run. Dean discovers the truth about Charlie's mom - she's in a coma - and in order to get out of the video game's loop, Charlie has to let go of her fear of losing her mother. Eventually, she does, and the two wake up. Charlie leaves, but not before telling Dean she loves him and Sam that he'll pull through this, just like he's done everything else.

Let me break it down a bit further and discuss all of the things I really loved about this episode.

How I Met Your Mother: The Bro Mitzvah (8x22)

Okay... I didn't hate this episode. It had a lot of funny moments in it. What I mainly disliked was the overall premise, and that seems like a pretty big problem to me. I guess my issue was that I was never once fooled. I knew the whole thing was going to be a fake-out from the minute I saw the crappy hotel room that Marshall and Ted had gotten for Barney's bachelor party. It was a setup that I've seen before in this show and in others, and I guess I just wanted more from this show as we close in on the finale of the season.

I'll list all of the jokes/moments that I did like, because to be fair there were quite a few. Barney is describing what a night out with his mother will entail for the young couple. "I love Barney the most, no I love Barney the most!" To which Robin replies "I know, I might not even get a chance to talk!"

During the flashback scene with Quinn, she says "There's a good chance our engagement doesn't work out, isn't there?" Barney replies "Not now, honey."

The Big Bang Theory: The Closure Alternative (6x21)

I'm really glad that we got this episode of The Big Bang Theory. I've been pretty down on this show in recent weeks, and I think I needed an episode like this one to remind me why I watch in the first place. There were three subplots going on at the same time, as is often the case. For me, two of them really hit home runs in terms of creativity and humor. One of them was a little bit less impressive, but still not a total dud. Let's look at them each in turn:

Sheldon, upset that Alphas has been cancelled, freaks out and tries to reinstate it by calling the network and impersonating  different people. Amy takes this as an opportunity to discuss Sheldon's need for closure, and how she can help that using behavioral tests.This sparked a whole series of funny jokes, such as playing a game of tic-tac-toe but erasing it before it could end, or setting up dominoes and then packing them up before knocking them over. I liked this plot thread because it dealt with an actual mental condition and managed to make it funny without trivializing it. The ending was also humorous, as we see Sheldon go back and finish all the tasks after Amy is gone.

Castle: The Fast and the Furriest (5x20)

I found myself remarkably underwhelmed by this episode, so I won't say much about it. When I heard that Castle was going to do an episode about Bigfoot, I guess I expected a lot more.

The main plot concerned professional Bigfoot hunters and experts, and their plots to fake evidence about him. Of course, Castle believes in Bigfoot, and apparently so does Ryan. Some of the only humorous parts of the episode came from the divide between the two sides of the team. Castle and Ryan started espousing their knowledge about Bigfoot, while Beckett and Esposito rolled their eyes. Besides these humorous exchanges, there was really very little going on. The list of suspects were all pretty forgettable, and even the climax of the episode was not all that interesting. Beckett and Castle get trapped in a huge hole, which it turns out is a setup by one of the Bigfoot scientists. Said scientist actually shows up in a costume, but very quickly it is revealed that he is just a human in a suit. The scene managed to avoid both suspense and comedy.

The subplot was also weak. Castle finds that his food is disappearing, so he sets a trap. Turns out, it was Alexis, who gave her food allowance away to a friend who's trying a new charitable and green project. There were a few laughs here, such as the trap going off and covering Alexis with blue dye, and their banter about the Borrowers stealing Castle's food. However, there still wasn't much for me to enjoy.

Parks and Recreation: Article Two (5x19)

This is my favorite episode of Parks and Recreation that we've had in a long time. There were a lot of laughs in all three subplots, and there was a real opportunity for the characters to have time with people they don't normally get to play off of very much. For example, Ann and Ben got to bond this week, as did Ron and Chris. Let's look at the individual threads.

Leslie's plot: Apparently there is a Pawnee tradition wherein a person with the name of Ted is thrown into the lake, due to a line in the Pawnee charter where "tea" looks like "Ted." This was a hilarious example of Pawnee's quirky and insulting history, and it devolved into a realization that there are a lot of outdated laws on the books in Pawnee. Ted, the unfortunate victim of the ceremony, points out to Leslie that he can take Tom's car for 25 cents because of a law about "Indians" in the charter. He's also able to break an egg on Leslie's face because she's a woman raising her voice to a white landowning male. But, when Leslie tries to get rid of these archaic laws, she runs up against resistance from one of Pawnee's town weirdos: Garth.

The citizen filibuster was hilarious, as Garth ran down his proposed plot for the next installment of Star Wars. My favorite line from this part: "Luke Skywalker says 'Darth Vader was my father but Ben Kenobi was my master,' and he cuts Hannibal Lecter in half." I found myself really wanting to see this movie!

Doctor Who: Hide (7x09)

This episode was precious. It had a lot of adorable stuff going on. I only had one real complaint, but I'll get to that in a moment.The plot was good, I was properly spooked by a few of the "ghost" sightings, the side characters were interesting, and Clara and the Doctor got some great character moments as well.

So - the plot. The Doctor and Clara show up to a supposedly haunted house, where they meet up with Professor Alec Palmer and Psychic Emma Grayling. The Doctor seems to know all about them, and they believe at first that he's an official, due to the help of the psychic paper. I liked seeing that, since it hasn't been used much in the Matt Smith years to my knowledge.

Apparently, the area has been haunted as long as anyone can remember. As the Doctor and Clara go to investigate, the creepiness really increases. Clara asks who's making the loud thumping noise, and the Doctor says "I don't know, are you making it?" When the thumping commences, he runs over beside Clara, and the following exchange takes place: "Doctor. I may be a teeny tiny bit terrified. But I'm still a grown up." "Yes, and?" "There's no need to actually hold my hand." "Clara." "Yes?" "I'm not holding your hand!" It may have been cliche, but this moment genuinely frightened me! Of course this was only one out of several moments of excellent dialogue between the two of them. Their chemistry is amazing.