His Dark Materials: Æsahættr (2x07)

A lot of stuff happens in this episode, but in some moments it still feels a bit clunky. Not terrible, but still...

Cons:

To start with a small nitpick, last week I was complimenting the decision to have Mary Malone stay and help the kids, but this week we only get the briefest glimpse of her, as she drops the kids off back with a community of adults, and then continues on, immediately picking up with her book plot and seeking another window. This was fine, but it felt weird to include that detour and then go nowhere with it. It's almost just like the writers felt sorry for the kids and wanted to wrap up their story arc a bit, but honestly? Kids die in this story. Kids are orphaned and hurt and lonely and powerless. It's part of what makes the story so striking and frightening.

A lot of exposition in this one, folks, and some of it was a bit overdone. Like, the performances are strong enough to bypass the worst of it, but when we finally get the "Eve" namedrop it's come after so much obvious buildup, and we still have Mrs. Coulter spelling it out for us: "she's going to doom us all, and we have to stop her from falling this time." Like, yeah, thanks, we got it.

His Dark Materials: Malice (2x06)

This was by no means a bad hour of television, but it felt like a lot of setup, a lot of spinning wheels, and maybe less of an epic feel than the same moments I remember from the book. Let's dive in.

Cons:

There are many ways in which it feels like the scope was shrunk down for the show, from what was portrayed in the books. Since this was filmed before COVID, I don't really understand why some of these limiting choices where made. In the books, when Will and Lyra are attacked by the child citizens of Cittagaze, it's a protracted chase sequence and they end up climbing a tower and the witches swoop in at the last possible second. Here, it's just the two sisters instead of a whole gang, and they scramble up to the roof, then the witches arrive. In the book, there are a dozen or so witches, and here we see three or four. In the book, Boreal's death comes at a campsite where Mrs. Coulter is staying with him in the nicest tent, and they are surrounded by a whole crew coming with them on the hunt for Lyra, thus showing the influence and power that Mrs. Coulter is giving up by abandoning her supposed protectors. Here, it's just the two of them. All of these things combined make the scope feel smaller, the world feel smaller, in a lot of ways.

And then on the flipside, the episode somewhat has the opposite problem as well. Instead of telling a focused, narrow story, we're spread far and wide, checking in with Lee and Jopari, with the witches, with Coulter and Boreal, Will and Lyra, and... the Magisterium. I want the Magisterium scenes to work for me, but they have consistently been the least interesting in the whole show. When they were drawing out the reveal of Lyra as "Eve" I was rolling my eyes, just waiting for them to get through all the slow, sonorous speechifying and back to the action.

Grey's Anatomy: No Time for Despair (17x06)

Do we think there's any universe in which Meredith dies from Covid? I mean, I want to say no, but I didn't think they'd ever kill Derek off either. It is a soap opera, after all.

Cons:

Something about the way doctors talk about the sex trafficker bad guy patient was just so over the top that I was waiting for a twist where it turns out he was innocent. I feel like we've seen the doctors treating despicable people before, and they had to grit their teeth and handle it. That's basically what happened here, but they were all so vociferous about how hard it was to do, and then we have Maggie's outburst where she talks about how black girls are more likely to be victims and less likely to be believed in situations like this. And like - no argument from me, of course, but I just felt like I've seen this show handle similar issues with smoother writing before.

I mean, Teddy still sucks, so what else is new. I don't mind at all that Owen is like "I never knew you" because that's what she deserves. However, one thing is kind of bugging me about their scene, and that's when Teddy says that Allison wasn't just her best friend, but that they were in love. Owen's reaction is to laugh hysterically and say that they named their daughter after a lie. Now... I don't quite remember. Does Owen know the whole story? Does he know that Allison had a girlfriend at the time, and therefore realize that Teddy is a serial cheater? Because to the untrained eye, it could look like Owen's "I don't know you at all" moment is in response to Teddy basically... coming out to him? Like, is Owen pissed that he didn't know Teddy was attracted to women? I don't know. I don't think that was the intent of the scene, but there were a lot of mixed signals and I was a little uncomfortable about the way the end result was presented. I still don't feel any sympathy for Teddy, really, given the situation as a whole.

His Dark Materials: The Scholar (2x05)

OOF. This was a good one. Maybe the best episode of the season thus far, even though my boy Lee was absent.

Cons:

Pacing-wise, there were a couple of wonky things in moments of tension here. I liked that the confrontation over the alethiometer was expanded, but while Lyra and Mrs. Coulter were having their confrontation, Will and Boreal kind of had to be in stasis, and it was a bit awkward.

Same with the moment when Lyra and Will see that Tullio has fallen to the spectres. The threat level there was sort of off, as the two sisters hugged him and cried. I remember from the book that the two younger siblings were pretty much fully feral and it felt like they might really attack and hurt Will and Lyra. And speaking of hurt Will, another thing I'm missing from the books is how badly Will is supposed to be doing, health-wise, because of his hand. In the book, there are constant reminders that he hasn't stopped bleeding, and he is in real pain all the time. That really upped the tension, as while they were working on their other goals, they also had this looming health threat slowing them down and causing added drama along the way. I haven't gotten that same sense from the show.

Grey's Anatomy: Fight the Power (17x05)

Oh, poor Bailey...

Cons:

I want to be very careful and precise on how I talk about this, but I do think that the messaging in this episode was very blunt and somewhat poorly scripted. We had Bailey and Maggie talking about their experiences of being underestimated, of having to work twice as hard and become exceptional just to be considered worthy of notice. And then we had Jackson and Richard, spouting off statistics and talking about systemic racism. Both of these conversations were good, in that I agreed with the message and agree that it's an important one. But I can think of so many times during the course of this show when important messages were delivered through the heart and soul of the characters that we already knew and loved... as compared to this, which felt like our black faves delivering prepared remarks to us in a Very Special Episode. It wasn't godawful. It was just... not as smooth, not as personal, as I wanted it to be.

Fuck Teddy Altman. I feel like I need to say that every week. I'm so happy that Tom seems to be doing better, and that hopefully he's not on the verge of death, but Teddy's speech, talking about repairing their relationship, just made me mad, because what the fuck has she done to earn any measure of forgiveness at all? I want Tom to be okay. And I even want Owen to be okay, despite my general dislike of him. But at this point, I don't know that I'm ever going to be actively rooting for Teddy's happiness again.

His Dark Materials: Tower of the Angels (2x04)

Okay, yeah, things are really a-happening, aren't they??

Cons:

The witches are so far the weakest link for me this season. They're not bad, but just a little bland. They look cool, and I guess they are cool in what they get up to, but whenever the scene switches over to them I find myself underwhelmed. The puzzle pieces are moving towards each other, as the witches are going to go join Asriel, but I don't have a lot more to report than that.

This is the nitpicky-est of nitpicks, but the subtle knife didn't look how I imagined it in my head! I guess I heard 'knife' and thought 'dagger', so I expected the blade to be bigger, maybe? It's fine, it's not ruining the show for me or anything, but I thought I'd point it out.

Grey's Anatomy: You'll Never Walk Alone (17x04)

Awww George! That was the best possible answer as to who was waiting for Meredith in the pseudo-afterlife. It was so amazing seeing him!

Cons:

I thought Maggie's boyfriend's thing with his dad was a little unrealistic in how blunt it was? Like, he saw his dad on a Zoom call and was immediately like "here is the major family drama that we have, let me explain it to the viewer and then sign off the call." It might have just been an issue of clunky writing.

Okay, Jo and Jackson... tread very, very lightly. I don't mind a good old fashioned friends with benefits situation, but that never seems to go the way we want it to, and I'm not about Jo/Jackson as an actual romantic pairing. This show has convinced me of weirder, but at the moment I just don't want them to pair up because they both happen to be single. Also, any storyline that touches on Jo healing from Alex just gives me visceral flashbacks to how stupid Alex's exit from the show truly was. It's hard to see past that.

His Dark Materials: Theft (2x03)

 I love Lee Scoresby, y'all.

Cons:

This one was pretty light on the "cons" column! If I had to say anything, I'd say that having an episode without Magesterium politics made me realize how much those elements were clogging up the pacing.

Also, Lee Scoresby is amazing and I love him, but I thought the daddy issues angle was a little played out. If that's in the book, it must be a passing reference. I think Marisa Coulter and Lee Scoresby have enough going on with regards to caring for Lyra as a daughter despite not having raised her, without introducing the idea that they both had crappy fathers.

Oh, also, this is a minor detail, but in the book Lyra loses the alethiometer because "Latrom" is sitting in the back seat with her (he has a driver) and he picks it out of her bag. I liked that much better than Lyra getting out of the car in a panic and leaving the whole bag behind. That girl carried that thing around with her in the frozen wastelands and was obsessive about keeping it with her at all times. Seems like the kind of mistake Lyra wouldn't make. Trusting a stranger at the wrong moment in desperation? Sure. Leaving her bag in the car? Maybe not.

His Dark Materials: The Cave (2x02)

 Another solid outing!

Cons:

As with last week, I found the stuff with the Magesterium the least interesting. Mrs. Coulter is great, but it seems to me like we're padding some of the church politics stuff from the book, in order to check in with Coulter more frequently. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I don't think there was quite as much of this in the book. It's not bad, it's just not my favorite aspect.

Will going to the bank, and then to his... grandparents' house? Was kind of weird. I didn't hate it, honestly, but it was another situation where it felt like padding so that we got enough time with Will while Lyra was doing her business as well.

Pros:

Although I did notice some padding in this episode, even that padding wasn't a total loss, as I'm really enjoying the performances across the board! The actor playing Will is doing such a good job of toeing that line, of being a kid who had to grow up too fast, taking on responsibilities, while maintaining that fear and also that credulity that kids continue to have even as they age.

Grey's Anatomy: My Happy Ending (17x03)

Well this was quite lovely, I'm not at all upset about how they're handling the Derek situation!

Cons:

I won't go on too long of a ramble about it, because god knows you all know how I feel, but Owen sucks, Teddy sucks, and Tom, while a jerk, is absolutely the most wronged party in this particular situation. I mean, no, Owen is the most wronged party, I get that, but the way he behaves towards Tom is childish. I was appalled, at the end, when Owen gave Tom the news that he had tested positive for Covid, and he did it in such a callous, unprofessional way. Like, you just told a human being he has a dangerous illness. Show an ounce of compassion. Also just like... fuck Teddy for trying to make amends. Tom is right to want nothing to do with her right now.

I guess it's cool that Meredith chose Richard to be her POA instead of Alex, but honestly I think Maggie would have been just fine... are you really telling me that Richard Webber is going to be better at letting Meredith die when it's her time, than Maggie would be? They're both incredibly stubborn. Plus, I like the idea of it being Alex, even if he's absent... this is the first mention we've gotten of him in quite some time. I wonder if there's supposed to be an implied closeness between them, even though he moved away? I really can't tell, and I wish there was a way it all could have been handled differently, to be quite honest.

Supernatural: Carry On (15x20)

Oh my god. Lol. So... did Andrew Dabb forget to read back through his finale script one final time before deciding it was finished? Because like... Dean says "if we don't keep living, all that sacrifice (Cas and Jack) will be for nothing." Cut to a comically short time later, where Dean dies and is just like "time to go, let's not keep fighting, I'm tired lol."

Like WHAT did I just witness. I'm so grateful, in this moment, to a little show called The Magicians, because in April of 2019 they ended their fourth season with such an egregiously terrible decision that I literally couldn't sleep for a week, I was shaking and intermittently sobbing, I had never felt so betrayed and devastated over any piece of media before. After that, I've sort of become numb to bad endings, and this is no exception. This episode was absolutely terrible and I'm just sort of like... meh. I'll ignore it. Whatever.

I do want to forego the usual "pro" and "con" sections in this review, and do a more traditional full-on ramble about my thoughts, because they're kind of convoluted, if I'm gonna be honest.

His Dark Materials: The City of Magpies (2x01)

And we're back! I had to wait a full week after it aired to watch this episode, because I don't have HBOMax and I'm a dumb American. :)

Cons:

I will say that the stuff with the witches and Mrs. Coulter ended up being my least favorite part of this episode. I think Mrs. Coulter was the stand-out hit in season one, but I can already see how the expanding world is doing a big favor to the way this story is going to be told, and I'm thinking her strangely vulnerable cruelty isn't going to be enough to carry the whole show anymore. The thing is, the acting is great, but if you were a person who hadn't read the books, you might be a little lost in the weeds with the Church politics, and who's lying, and about what.

Similarly, the witch's council scene dragged a bit, and didn't give much of a sense of the witches and their personalities. It felt like an exposition dump scene, albeit with some amazing costume design!

Grey's Anatomy: All Tomorrow's Parties/The Center Won't Hold (17x01/02)

Scout is indeed a cute name but it was weird that they just looped around to the original name that we'd all already heard! But whatever. Adorable. As for the rest of the episode(s)? Let's take a look!

Cons:

I a not a fan of Owen, I never really have been, so I especially resent being in a position where I feel like I need to be on his side. But Teddy? God, Teddy sucks, y'all. It's such a bummer. I loved her character once upon a time, but I don't really see a way forward from this where I can ever root for her again. Not only did she cheat on Owen, often, but when Owen gave her every opportunity to open up, when he tried to salvage something of their trust by giving her chance after chance to come clean, she still maintained her silence. Like, honestly, screw her for that. She gives Jo a whole speech about how she sabotaged her happiness because it was so unfamiliar to her, but no, I'm sorry, give me a break... remember that backstory where she was having an affair with her roommate's girlfriend who then died? And then all of this with Tom? She's a serial adulterer and not a good person.

Speaking of relationship woes... I maintain that Catherine Fox sucks. Without broader context, within this episode, it seems like it's a story about two people who hurt each other but love each other deeply, and I did like that Catherine actually used her words and apologized. But with the broader context? I just honestly don't get the affection between them. I don't believe in their love for one another. Stubborn pride is one thing, but the level of malice behind Catherine's actions? Not acceptable. Also, yes, Richard was wrong to hang out with a woman who was clearly interested in him, but this was during a time when he and Catherine were hardly speaking and basically separated, and I honestly think Catherine's behavior was way worse, over all! But even setting aside my dislike for Catherine... I just don't care about their romance!

Supernatural: Inherit the Earth (15x19)

That was somehow simultaneously a crowded mess, and a complete anticlimax. I'm literally just like... super confused and afraid about what the finale is going to be now.

Cons:

Sam's the dog person. That's part of canon. I liked the moment when Dean found the dog, or whatever, but I wish Sam had gotten a moment with the puppy too, before Chuck took it away. A small thing, but one of those typical wrong details in Buckleming episodes, where it just honestly doesn't seem like they know the characters very well.

Lucifer and Michael have a fight in the Bunker and Michael takes Lucifer out really, really easily. So like. Remember when the first five seasons of the show were the buildup to the Apocalypse, and Sam sacrificed himself for an eternity in Lucifer's Cage to stop it from happening? Apparently a fight between the two archangels is just a bit of fisticuffs, nothing to get worked up about. That annoyed me. But I guess consistency has never been something this show has cared much about...

Supernatural: Despair (15x18)

I'm having an out of body experience, I cannot believe this. Last night was legitimately one of the weirdest nights of my life, and not just because of *gestures broadly* but also because of *gestures broadly* and myriad other small but still totally bizarre personal things coming at me from all angles... strap in, y'all, I've got some shit to say.

Cons:

We're gonna talk about it. Ohhhh, we're gonna talk about it. But let's start with some other shit before we get there.

So... are we ignoring "Dean was willing to let Jack sacrifice himself" or something? Like there was that moment with Sam and Dean where they talked about it, and Dean apologizes for pulling a gun on Sam, and Sam is like "oh it's okay Dean, no worries." But at the beginning of this episode, Dean seems to be just as worried for Jack, and as protective of him, as the others, with absolutely no acknowledgment of what happened in the last episode. This... should have mattered. There should have been some regrouping and some serious talks about this. Seriously.

Supernatural: Unity (15x17)

It's weird, I would have bet good money on this being a Buckleming episode, given how crowded it felt. But no, we're saving those chuckle-fucks for the penultimate episode, which just bodes... really super great and awesome.

Cons:

Like I said, this shit was crowded. In the span of one episode, we learn what Jack's final task is, learn what his weapon is and how he's going to use it to kill Chuck and Amara, see him implement said plan, and then fail at it, the episode ending with him on the verge of death with no outlet. It all happened lightning-fast.

And on the flip-side of that? I'm really feeling the pressure, considering there are only three episodes left, and I'm starting to get mighty nervous that our friend Castiel might not survive next week's outing. The trouble is... why has this whole last run of episodes been about Dean resenting Jack? Like, is there not enough else going on? The plot twist in this episode is really actually quite good, and it appeased one of my biggest worries about a way they might end the show in a really dumb fashion. But it's replaced by other concerns, one of which being that the Jack conflict feels manufactured, and has been given center stage for the end of the whole show. Jack is great, but why is Jack the main character after fifteen years?

Supernatural: Drag Me Away (From You) (15x16)

 So like. Hmm. I... hmm. I don't really know.

Cons:

Honestly, I have no problem whatsoever with the fact that this is a "filler episode". I think people are forgetting that even in the best days of Supernatural, many of the episodes, even pushing right up against climactic finales, were your basic MOTW stories, woven in with themes and character development that had a bigger impact on the A-plot. So that's fine. No complaints in theory.

But... okay, so, young Sam and Dean have the story of Sam talking about going to college and Dean being like "no that's stupid" and then Dean not letting Sam go on hunts, and then at the end Dean softening a bit and saying "I don't know about college... but we make a good team." Sound... familiar? It's... the entire seasons-long subplot about Sam and Dean being at odds about the hunting lifestyle. Sam wanting to be "normal" while Dean wants to hunt and make his dad proud. Okay, I understand this was a huge theme of their childhood, but GUYS. We've got four episodes left after this. Is this a theme that's important to the end of the show? Are we still debating where Sam wants to be, what he wants to do with his life? I thought this had been settled. Ad nauseum. A lot of the flashback stuff with the Winchesters felt like a serious retreading of ground. Not only was this what the first season of the show was largely about, it's also been a significant element in almost every episode where we've seen younger Sam and Dean, in any capacity.

Supernatural: Gimme Shelter (15x15)

I saw a lot of people on the interweb complaining that this was a time-wasting episode, and since there's so little of the show left, it felt pretty pointless. I don't know if I'd totally agree, but I do admit to having some trepidation about how much plot we still have left to cover!

Cons:

We all thought, based on the promo, that Cas was going to finally tell Sam and Dean about his deal with the Empty. But no, it's actually about how Jack will die in the process of killing Chuck and Amara. Here's the thing: if this is actually the direction the show goes, it will be absolutely banana bonkers, and a terrible decision in every way. The show has set up a couple of interlocking themes in its latter seasons: 1) not all supernatural creatures are actually monsters, and 2) self-sacrifice for the sake of "destiny" is a terrible plan. Free will rules the day. So... if in the end it's like "screw you, Chuck, we have Free Will, but we are going to listen to his other cosmic entity (Billie) and sacrifice Jack for the greater good because she told us it was the only way", then they've just completely destroyed their whole freakin' message. I'm putting this in the "cons" section because I want to lodge an immediate complaint about that potential ending. If that's where they take this thing, they're freakin' idiots.

On a lesser note, I do want to say that splitting up Team Free Will 2.0 was a bit of a bummer. Yes, Jack and Cas' adventure was fun, I liked that Sam and Dean were essentially a subplot for once... but I want more interaction between the four of them. As this episode ends, Cas is immediately leaving again. I don't like that at all!

Supernatural: Last Holiday (15x14)

 We're back, baby!!

Cons:

The same problem I always have with Supernatural was definitely on display here, that of clunky exposition in C-plot episodes. I wish they could find a more organic way of catching us up with the main story points, instead of just having Sam awkwardly tick them off on his fingers: "oh, remember how Jack has his soul back, and we have to kill God?" It's like... yeah, Sam. Yeah, I do remember that, thank you.

I feel robbed that we didn't get to see Sam and Eileen's date, but honestly I'm delighted that she was mentioned.

Pros:

This was a standard, familiar, comfy C-plot Supernatural episode with a nice little focus on Jack and his relationships with the Winchesters. Nothing fancy, nothing groundbreaking, but just the kind of comfort food that you love to see as we get ready to say goodbye for good.

The Walking Dead: A Certain Doom (10x16)

 Guess who doesn't care? Me! I don't care!

Cons:

Trying not to be super jaded and negative here, but this episode just completely bored me. It seems like we're entering the final stage of this show, as it's been announced that after an extended season ten and season eleven, The Walking Dead will come to an end. But not really, because there are all these damn spin-offs now and I just don't care! I ain't a quitter, so I'll see this shit through to the end, but I will not be following these characters on to their future homes. I just don't have the patience for it.

While watching this episode I found myself zoning out and missing things, and just kind of generally lost in the miasma of the goal and how it was being accomplished. So Daryl, Carol, Lydia, et. al are trying to do away with the Whisperers once and for all, and it seems like they accomplished that? With several dramatic moments where we're supposed to fear for Lydia or for Gabriel or for Carol or whatever, and then in the end Beta dies kind of unceremoniously and we're just done with that whole threat? This show has a serious tension-management issue. They stretch out their villains until they've squeezed every ounce of threat from them, and then the actual ending of it all is quite anticlimactic.