Elementary: Henny Penny the Sky Is Falling (5x04)

The constant refrain continues: the subplot was the highlight!

Cons:

There was this one moment at the end that, surprisingly, felt a bit like cop propaganda. Gregson talks about how proud he is to work with such a great department, and says that he's tired of seeing such terrible things go on in the world. He cites as his specific example that "cops are getting killed." Which is a thing that I know happens. But I would have liked it if he had said "cops are killing people" which is by far the bigger and more common problem. Maybe I'm overly in tune with this issue, but it definitely stuck out to me, especially since Elementary is usually very political.

The Vampire Diaries: Today Will Be Different (8x02)

Okay. Still enjoying this season quite a lot, surprisingly!

Cons:

So, our siren is named Sybil and she's a hot young lady. I'm a little tiny bit sick of the villains on this show all being either hot Elena look-alikes, or hot mysterious sexy dudes. I mean I know that's this show's whole... thing, but Sybil is much less intimidating now that she's got a face and a voice and all that. I liked her being an unseen force living in a pool of blood and human remains. Much less predictable.

Alaric's subplot with the Armory continues, and I'm really enjoying it for the most part, but I do have one little question: how is he running this thing like an academic research center, complete with interns, and then also not telling people that it's full of supernatural energy? His intern Georgie doesn't seem to know that things like vampires even exist, which seems super odd. How did Ric get the money to set this place up, anyway?

The Big Bang Theory: The Fetal Kick Catalyst (10x06)

A very solid episode, with actual growth for a couple of the characters. Always a pleasant surprise with this show!

Cons:

The most predictable and least exciting plot of the night goes to Bernadette, Howard, and Raj. Howard feels the baby kick and goes into panic mode, convinced that they are not ready for a baby. He and Raj go out and buy baby supplies, including a crib, and they even bring a minivan home for a test run. Bernadette is slightly annoyed that they did all of this shopping without her. Howard hurts his back trying to lift the crib out of the van, and Bernadette drives him to the emergency room, eventually deciding that the minivan might be a good idea.

This plot thread was your classic sitcom fare with no real variation. A father gets nervous about having a kid and starts going overboard. Boring. And for this show, so many of the elements were same-old, same-old. Howard acts like a baby. People think that Howard and Raj are a couple. I've seen it all before, people!

Supernatural: The Foundry (12x03)

Ugh. Blarg. No.

Cons:

I should be more articulate. I actually didn't dislike this episode for the most part. But what I do dislike is the fact that Mary and Cas have both been given side quests that conveniently remove them from the story proper. I hate this. I wanted them to stick around. I wish we could actually keep characters in the main story line other than Sam and Dean. With Cas, it's another lame excuse about needing to find Lucifer by himself, since it's his fault that he's free. Okay... seriously? How many times has Cas helped with something that was totally the Winchesters' fault? With Mary, the reason is a lot more compelling. She's feeling lost, like she doesn't belong. She's pulling a Buffy Summers, actually. Being pulled from Heaven is messing with her head, and she needs some time alone. I don't mind this in theory, but wouldn't it be more interesting to have her stick around so that we could actually watch her go through these growing pains? I want to see her develop and come to terms with her new reality. Instead, it seems that all of that potential growth will be happening off screen somewhere. Mary will pop back in to the A-plot at some point later on, and we'll miss out on a ton of really valuable stuff.

Mary is still struggling to adjust to the present day in terms of technological advancements, which I quite enjoyed. There was this one really annoying moment, though, when she called the county records office and the guy asked why she couldn't use the website like everyone else. It was unrealistic for the dude to be so rude to her, honestly. No subtlety there.

Grey's Anatomy: Roar (13x06)

Okay. Solid Grey's Anatomy fare, with a lot more heartbreak than is typical for this show. I mean, I know what you're thinking... more heartbreak?! But think about the patients this week and you'll see what I mean. Lots of tear-jerkers.

Cons:

Leah is back. I'm reserving judgment before I decide if I hate this or not. I guess my problem is that of all the characters who have departed this show, I felt really good about Leah's exit. I liked that for once, we got a surgeon who couldn't make it in the program. She was still going to be a physician, but not a surgeon. And hey, there's nothing wrong with that! Leah was always pretty bland except for her fling with Arizona, and... oh my God. It literally just occurred to me that Leah might be the love interest we've been promised for Arizona. Please God No. Anyway. We'll see.

Jo and DeLuca are boring. The trial date has been set for Deluca v. Karev, and DeLuca tells Jo about it. Later, he sees Jo and Alex talking, since they're working on a case together, and he gets all weird, saying that he can't talk to her about the case anymore. He says that Jo deserves better than choosing guys who hurt her, like Alex. It seems that perhaps we are going the romance route with these two, and just... no. I cannot think of anything more painfully boring.

Modern Family: Halloween 4: The Revenge of Rod Skyhook (8x05)

In comparing this episode with previous Modern Family Halloween specials, unfortunately it falls a little short. I mean, who can forget the haunted house episode with Gloria trying to force her voice into an American accent? However, this episode wasn't horrible, either. It was just kind of... standard.

Cons:

This show still does not know what it's doing with Alex. She stays home on Halloween while Luke is having a party, and ends up making out with her ex-boyfriend Ruben for some reason. I really wish they would send Alex back to school and let her have her own plot threads.

Cam and Mitchell's plot thread was all about Cam getting revenge on a little kid who took a whole handful of candy instead of just one piece. The kid, dressed as Darth Vader, runs away from Cam, who's dressed as Batman. I liked elements of this thread, which I'll get to in a second, but in some ways it felt overcrowded. There was this shoe-horned thing where apparently Cam was mad at Mitchell for never standing up for him, and then in the end Mitchell did stand up for him, and that sort of went nowhere. Also, Cam blames the kid for throwing an egg at him but it was really Claire, even though I have no idea when Claire had time to run over and throw eggs, since she was involved in her own plot thread. And Cam ate too much candy and had a sugar crash. All perfectly fine ideas, but unfortunately they all struggled for lack of screen time.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Lockup (4x05)

Woah. Intense! The action is really heating up (no pun intended) and the plot twists keep on coming.

Cons:

I guess I spoke too soon when I said that Fitz and Simmons were on solid footing. This week, we start the episode with the two of them bickering over Aida and all the lies. I'm a little miffed that we're actually going this route, but hopefully it won't go too far.

Daisy started to annoy me just a teeny tiny bit this week. I liked the concept of her going rogue and hanging out with Robbie Reyes, and I liked that S.H.I.E.L.D. then brought the two of them in. What I'm not crazy about is Daisy's continual self-hatred and martyr complex. I don't really get it. At one point she literally locks Coulson and May out of a fight so that she can take on a room of bad guys by herself. Why? Because she doesn't want anybody else to get hurt. It's "her fight." Except... no? In this case, the fight was about the Darkhold, and so Daisy really had no reason to take it all upon herself. I get that she lost her bland white boyfriend Lincoln, but I don't know that that justifies all of this behavior.

Elementary: Render, and Then Seize Her (5x03)

Surprise, surprise, I found the subplot more compelling than the main story.

Cons:

I think my problem with the case of the week is that it tried to incorporate too many elements, and thus ended up having a weird amount of red herrings. Like, the nudist colony? What did that have to do with anything? I won't go over the whole plot, but suffice it to say it involved a kidnapping that ended up being staged by the abductee herself, highly valuable CGI technology, altered surveillance footage, old mob families and their long-past dramas, and more. A lot of interesting stuff, but maybe a bit too cluttered.

Pros:

There were a couple of good things about this case, though. First of all, when the "kidnapped" woman tells her story, she says she was kidnapped by a couple of Pakistani men. Sherlock calls this made up story a "racist tale of woe" and a "bigoted fantasia." Ah, Sherlock. Your wordplay is a wondrous thing to behold.

The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (7x01)

Oy vey. This was just an hour of torture porn. I'm going to go ahead and put the entire review under a cut, just in case you don't know yet.

Once Upon a Time: Street Rats (6x05)

I'm pretty okay with the way things are going right now, and sometimes that's all you can hope for. Although I'm generally not a fan of certain secret-based conflicts, I actually find the current atmosphere very compelling.

Cons:

The subplot this week involved the Evil Queen taking her sister Zelena on a spa day, and encouraging Zelena to embrace her wickedness. The Evil Queen has this idea that baby Robin will support her mother as long as she's not lied to - if Zelena is always wicked, then there's no way to disappoint her. This is a silly idea, and this whole plot thread was pretty moronic. I'm so done with Zelena flip-flopping. Pick a lane, girl.

Emma finally tells her family the truth about her visions and her shaking, which is great, but she only does it because the Evil Queen disguises herself as Archie and tells everybody that Emma has a secret. This would have been a much stronger moment if Emma had decided on her own to come clean.

The Vampire Diaries: Hello Brother (8x01)

Huh. Okay. I enjoyed that.

Cons:

The plot thread I care about the least so far is the one with Alaric, Caroline, and the kids. In short, one of the Armory people from last season tries to kill the nanny and the kids, but Caroline shows up in time to stop it. Apparently this all has to do with the "thing" that Damon and Enzo let out of the Armory's lockup. While potentially interesting in how it relates to the main story, I still don't much care for Caroline the Family Gal. She's just not as compelling a character to me when she's focused on the kids. Also, her romance with Stefan is still pretty bland in comparison to what this show has had in the past.

Grey's Anatomy: Both Sides Now (13x05)

Lots of good stuff, but one or two bad things as well. Also, the centralizing theme of this episode got a little muddied.

Cons:

What do I mean by that? Well, I think this episode was supposed to be how it was too hot out or something. First of all, they said it was Fall. And it's Seattle. We don't generally have blistering heat, here. But whatever. The other cohesive theme was about babies, I think. There was a pregnancy, a possible pregnancy, and a new baby all in this episode. But nothing really tied them together.

The patients of the week all ended up connecting: one old woman is finally getting her new liver, to Bailey's delight. Meredith's patient needs an emergency liver transplant, but her twin sister can't give it to her because she's pregnant. Maggie and Stephanie's patient dies on the table during a very risky heart surgery, and it turns out that his liver is a match for the dying twin, so... that's good, I guess. My problem with this was that the minute I knew the 25-year-old needed a liver, I knew there was going to be drama about her getting it from the old woman. And then I guessed that somehow another liver would magically show up so that both of them could be saved. I wish this hadn't be so transparent.

Supernatural: Mamma Mia (12x02)

Okay. So. I'm really, really thrilled with some things, but very frustrated with others.

Cons:

This British Men of Letters thing is still baffling to me. Last week, I asked why Toni needed to torture Sam for information, when she could have just asked for it. Beyond that, if she's able to learn so much about Sam and Dean, shouldn't she be able to crack the code on the other hunters as well? This week, we learned that Toni and some other members of the British MOL believe that American hunters have been corrupted in some way, and are working alongside monsters. This idea has the potential to be intriguing, but it still doesn't change the fact that Toni is a moron. In what universe does she think that torturing these guys is going to get her what she wants? Why on earth would she use this tactic, instead of trying to infiltrate? Like, why doesn't she pose as a hunter looking for connections in America, and become an ally to Sam and Dean in order to ferret out the secret conspiracy she thinks is lying beneath?

Also, one of Toni's torture techniques was to put a spell on Sam to make him think the two of them were in bed together. That was just... weird? I don't know. Toni is on my list of the most incompetent, least threatening villains we've ever had on this show, and that could be a big problem.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire (4x04)

Daisy's back with the team, and it feels so right. Let's dive straight in.

Cons:

This was a pretty flawless episode, other than one "plot twist" that I found a bit ridiculous. Daisy and Simmons pair up to try and figure out how the Watchdogs have been tracking down and killing Inhumans. Their search leads them to James, aka Hellfire. Then, the twist is that James has been working with the Watchdogs, allowing them access to the tracking bracelet that S.H.I.E.L.D. makes him wear. The twist was obvious from a mile away, and that always bothers me. James is a cool enough character that I was a bit disappointed to have him used in this way.

The Big Bang Theory: The Hot Tub Contamination (10x05)

Of the many things I habitually complain about on this show, one of the most aggravating is the constant telling, rather than showing. In my opinion, this episode is a perfect example of that problem.

Cons:

The main plot is about Sheldon and Amy and how they have a hard time living together. Sheldon and Penny end up going out to get away from the fighting, while Amy and Leonard stay in. Sheldon complains about Amy, and Penny finds herself sympathizing, while Amy complains about Sheldon, and Leonard finds himself sympathizing. In the end, Sheldon apologizes for being so contrary, and agrees to try and compromise more.

Here's the problem: we spend the whole episode hearing Sheldon and Amy talk about living together and how hard it is. We don't even see them in the actual apartment they're living in until the very end! It would have been much more fun to watch them actually living together. To see these complaints play out on the screen. Instead, we just get to hear about how hard it is, and then in the end Sheldon and Amy are back on good footing, and nothing has really changed or moved forward in any way for the plot or the characters.

Once Upon a Time: Strange Case (6x04)

Well... huh. That was unexpected. But in a good way!

Cons:

Before we get to the main plot of the episode, which I liked, I want to talk about the setup in this episode for our Aladdin story, which I didn't like. Snow is back to work as a teacher, and she has a new teacher's aid, a woman from the land of untold stories. This is Jasmine, which is painfully obvious from the second she appears on screen. She helps Snow to incorporate her new self into her old role as a teacher, and connect with the kids from the land of untold stories in brand new ways. Then, as the episode ends, Jasmine meets up with the oracle who showed Emma her death. The oracle is apparently looking for Aladdin in Storybrooke, but has been unable to find him yet.

My problems are many. First of all, Snow's whole "I need to learn to be a good teacher again" thing is weird and kind of out of nowhere. I liked the idea of her opening up a school for the kids, but I thought we were going to see her planning and developing that idea, and then opening things back up eventually. Instead, the school is just... up and running all of a sudden. And Snow suddenly sucks as a teacher? I don't know. It just felt like a shoe-horned reason to have a "find yourself" plot. Jasmine, who went by a different name for the majority of the episode, inspires Snow with a sad story about a princess who couldn't accept who she was, and who let her kingdom down because of it. It was all just so generic, and it didn't make me feel excited about learning Jasmine's story. (Although I did love Galavant, so the actress is already a hit with me).

Elementary: Worth Several Cities (5x02)

This was a fairly competent, standard episode of Elementary. It was solid in every way that matters. Let's jump in!

Cons:

On the complaint side, I guess I'd say that the stakes felt a little low at certain points. Sherlock begins this episode as a hostage, and the bad guy threatens Sherlock and Joan's lives if Sherlock doesn't help them with an investigation of a rival who had one of his smugglers killed. Despite this, Sherlock and Joan never seemed particularly wary. They didn't take extra precautions, or worry about being separated, or anything like that. It's a small thing, but I wish I could have seen evidence that either or both of them were at least a little bit worried that they were going to end up casualties in this international squabble.

My other complaint is the standard one: please give Bell and Gregson more to do. Also I miss Fiona. Hell, I miss Kitty. I love the leads in this show, but I'm missing a developed supporting cast, even after all of these years.

Supernatural: Keep Calm and Carry On (12x01)

Okie dokie. We're back. And I'm thrilled. Although... yeah. I have a question.

Cons:

That question is as follows: why are the British MOL torturing Sam, again? Because they want to find American hunters and teach them their ways? W-what? So... the British have this system wherein they are awesome at killing monsters, and they want America to be awesome too. But why would torturing Sam be a way to make that happen? Has anybody just tried to reach out to them and tell them the deal? Couldn't Toni have just approached Sam in a neutral area and explained who she was and asked to have a conversation? I'm not saying that Sam would have instantly trusted her, but it would have been a way better way to start a relationship. And if the British MOL can track Sam and Dean so effectively for years on end, how is it that they have no other information about hunters in America? That seems... stupid. Basically what I'm saying is that if you want us to buy in to the torturing of one of the leads, the bad guys better have a compelling reason for their actions.

Grey's Anatomy: Falling Slowly (13x04)

A mixed bag in terms of plot threads, but the ones I liked I really liked, so... where does that leave us?

Cons:

DeLuca is not allowed to talk about the case with anybody, which annoys him. He and Jo end up talking about it anyway. I was sensing some potential romance vibes from these two, and just... no. I can't think of anything more bland and uninteresting than a DeLuca/Jo pairing. Pulease.

I'm a broken record, but the Mer/Riggs/Maggie love triangle is annoying as hell. Maggie needs to get over her little crush. She sounds petty when she keeps going on and on about how awkward things are between them. It's like she's unaware of the dozens of more interesting stories going on around her. Imagine that.

Modern Family: Weathering Heights (8x04)

Nathan Fillion... why. Why did you play this character. I'm a little grossed out right now, to be honest.

Cons:

Phil gets to do a quick segment on the news about real estate, and he meets Rainer Shine, his favorite weatherman. They strike up a friendship, but then Haley and Rainer start going out, and Phil is horrified. However, in the end he accepts Haley's decision and he and Rainer patch up their friendship.

Honestly, there were a few laughs here, and Nathan Fillion is a joyous wonder to behold, no matter the part he's playing. But... um... did anybody else notice that this plot thread was all about how Phil was feeling, rather than about Haley? The age difference thing already freaks me out, but I could have set that aside if we could have had some real insights into what Haley was thinking about. Phil and Rainer talking about Haley as if her input didn't matter really, really threw me for a loop. Not to mention that politically, at this exact moment, an older man being a pickup artist with younger women is... suggestive of a certain somebody that I'd rather not have to think about.