Romantic Expressionism is the best episode of the series (my opinion). It combines everything great about the show that we've seen over the last 14 episodes into a single episode. We got the ensemble cast for a long period of time and they clicked perfectly, it finally dealt with some of the recurring elements, and the stories were pretty good.
Britta's ex Vaughn is back and he's all over Annie. She's entranced by him and completely forgets about Troy. Jeff and Britta decide to be Annie's Greendale parents, and prevent her from getting wrapped up in the hippie culture. They induce Troy go pursue Annie and they succeed in breaking up Annie and Vaughn, only Annie hates that Troy did that to her, and hates Britta and Jeff for getting him to do that.
This results in one of the best scenes of the series. Everyone is at their study table, and all sorts of things come out. Everyone is just throwing statements out there. Britta doesn't want Annie to be with her ex. The kiss between Jeff and Annie at the debate is discussed at length, and doesn't get resolved, but their feelings are mixed on the issue. Jeff told Troy specific things about Annie, but Troy told specific things about Britta. Annie talks about Shirley referencing Jeff's buns. Shirley mentions Abed and Troy's relationship. The scene goes on and on, but there is a point to every comment. There is logic behind what everyone is saying, and that's the scary part. This stuff isn't the figment of imagination, or Community's pseudo-fantasy world. Events did transpire that make their weird comments seem oddly relevant. Jeff concludes that they aren't a family, so that doesn't prevent them as seeing the other group members as potential sexual partners. They all start looking at each other, and as they do, they start forming pairs in their minds and reacting to it. It makes you consider them also, and it's fun to think of these things are compare your reaction to theirs.
With everyone's issues out in the open, Vaughn delivers another song and we get another oddly sentimental scene where Annie and Vaughn reunite with the permission of Britta. Earlier, Jeff and Britta bond over manipulating Troy and Annie, and talk about babies. It's heavy-handed but not as much as it used to be. It felt much more natural in the progression towards them getting together.
Since the focus was on the main story, the subplot was small and effective in getting a few laughs in a short period of time. Troy, Abed, Shirley, Senor Chang, and Pierce watch Kickpunchers to make fun of it. Everyone's jokes elicit laughs except for Pierce's. After watching Kickpunchers, Pierce vows to make them laugh, hiring the college sketch comedy performers to make material for him. When they watch Kickpunchers 2, Pierce rattles off jokes in about 2 seconds. Obviously his jokes are canned, but he succeeds in making people laugh by tripping over the popcorn. The end of the episode features Abed and Troy filming their version of Kickpunchers. Abed is the damsel in distress and Troy is Kickpuncher. They go off to film a sex scene before the credits roll. Could a gay relationship happen? Just a thought.
Score: 9.6/10
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Review - Bones Season 5 Episode 14 The Devil in the Details
No new episodes until April 1!! Yeah, it sucks, but we got a great episode to tide us over 2 months without any new episodes.
A body is found burned at a church. If that isn't weird enough already, the victim has horns and a tail, and they aren't artificial either. In the Bones world, that means instant speculation it's a devil. That is quickly dispelled and the investigation turns to a loony bin. Alas, it wasn't Zach's but he'll be back in two episodes. One of the patients thinks she is an angel and another thinks he's a doctor. From there, the episode gets a bit muddled and ends with the victim's brother getting caught without much explanation.
Arastoo is the intern of the week, and he gets caught up in Cam's delusion when he says he sees devils all the time. Cam think he is a Muslin fanatic from the statement, but Arastoo assures everyone he isn't. After Hodgins conks himself on the head with nunchucks, Arastoo shows off his amazing ninja skills.
As usual, Bones takes her digs at the profession of psychiatry until the doctor snaps, and tells her that he helps people stay alive while she figures out how people died. Bones also has the normal discussions of faith with Booth. He warns her about being blasphemous. We've seen this so many times, it stupid now.
Bones was driving a Prius at the beginning of the episode and talks about how the accelerator makes the car go faster. In light of the Toyota monkey business, the product placement was an epic failure. Perhaps a warning to Toyota drivers would have been more appropriate.
Score: 9.1/10
A body is found burned at a church. If that isn't weird enough already, the victim has horns and a tail, and they aren't artificial either. In the Bones world, that means instant speculation it's a devil. That is quickly dispelled and the investigation turns to a loony bin. Alas, it wasn't Zach's but he'll be back in two episodes. One of the patients thinks she is an angel and another thinks he's a doctor. From there, the episode gets a bit muddled and ends with the victim's brother getting caught without much explanation.
Arastoo is the intern of the week, and he gets caught up in Cam's delusion when he says he sees devils all the time. Cam think he is a Muslin fanatic from the statement, but Arastoo assures everyone he isn't. After Hodgins conks himself on the head with nunchucks, Arastoo shows off his amazing ninja skills.
As usual, Bones takes her digs at the profession of psychiatry until the doctor snaps, and tells her that he helps people stay alive while she figures out how people died. Bones also has the normal discussions of faith with Booth. He warns her about being blasphemous. We've seen this so many times, it stupid now.
Bones was driving a Prius at the beginning of the episode and talks about how the accelerator makes the car go faster. In light of the Toyota monkey business, the product placement was an epic failure. Perhaps a warning to Toyota drivers would have been more appropriate.
Score: 9.1/10
Review - Psych Season 4 Episode 11 Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers
Gus finally has a girlfriend, and as expected Shawn is happy. He's already feeling off since Abigail left a month ago, and Gus hiding something from him is unheard of, so naturally is wary of her. Shawn keeps bring up Mira, who Gus married a long time ago. Sarah Shahi plays Ruby who isn't what she seems. Little does Gus know she is into wild activities such as white water rafting and hang gliding.
There really is no caveat needed, but to reiterate the point I made last week, the story wasn't important. The suspects weren't intriguing and the crime went straightforward as usual. Stacy Keibler showed up as one of Ruby's friends and continued the line of WWE guest stars.
The bulk of the episode consisted of Shawn and Gus arguing about Ruby. Shawn thinks she's involved, Gus denies it, Ruby tells Gus something who hides it from Shawn, but Shawn finds out anyways. They bicker and fight, and in the end, they're still friends no matter what.
Score: 8.8/10
There really is no caveat needed, but to reiterate the point I made last week, the story wasn't important. The suspects weren't intriguing and the crime went straightforward as usual. Stacy Keibler showed up as one of Ruby's friends and continued the line of WWE guest stars.
The bulk of the episode consisted of Shawn and Gus arguing about Ruby. Shawn thinks she's involved, Gus denies it, Ruby tells Gus something who hides it from Shawn, but Shawn finds out anyways. They bicker and fight, and in the end, they're still friends no matter what.
Score: 8.8/10
Review - Modern Family Season 1 Episode 14 Moon Landing
Normally, Modern Family has at least one strong story. This week, there wasn't, but the comedy was still top notch with hilarious lines and situations that kept the episode rolling along when the stories weren't great.
Claire's friend Valerie, played by Minnie Driver, comes into town and they talk. Claire stopped working while Valerie continued, and she's risen to the top to Claire's dismay. She's in charge of European operations now. But Claire's life is great in another way; she's married and has three kids. Claire takes Valerie home, and finds the aftermath of three separate incidents. Alex starts recycling and brings bottles of alcohol home, and that creates a mess. Phil has a fake mustache and is stuck in a porta-potty. Haley had broken up with Dylan, but they get back together once he talks to her so they start making out. All this happens right as Valerie gets there, and Claire is thoroughly embarrassed. She blows up and starts yelling at everyone, but realizes she is wrong as she eats fast food. She comes back and expects everyone to give her the cold shoulder, but they act like everything is fine.
Jay and Cam play racquetball and their butts accidentally touch. According to Cam, it's a moon landing or a low two. The story doesn't develop, but culminates with Jay touching butts against someone who he assumes is Cam. It's a random stranger and Jay runs off as fast as he can. I don't want to sound homophobic, but there was a gross feeling to the scene that was awkward and hilarious at the same time.
Mitchell finally gets Jay's respect for his lawyer abilities, and helps Gloria with a car accident. As he learns, Gloria is one of those people who drive crazily and blame everything on others, and she won't admit it. Jay just wanted to pass the problem onto Mitchell. She insists she wasn't at fault, but later reveals the truth. Gloria was so annoying the whole episode, I wanted to scream at her. Her justification for lying is that she doesn't want people to assume she's a bad driver. People assume she's a bad driver, because everyone say she's a bad driver.
Score: 9.0/10
Claire's friend Valerie, played by Minnie Driver, comes into town and they talk. Claire stopped working while Valerie continued, and she's risen to the top to Claire's dismay. She's in charge of European operations now. But Claire's life is great in another way; she's married and has three kids. Claire takes Valerie home, and finds the aftermath of three separate incidents. Alex starts recycling and brings bottles of alcohol home, and that creates a mess. Phil has a fake mustache and is stuck in a porta-potty. Haley had broken up with Dylan, but they get back together once he talks to her so they start making out. All this happens right as Valerie gets there, and Claire is thoroughly embarrassed. She blows up and starts yelling at everyone, but realizes she is wrong as she eats fast food. She comes back and expects everyone to give her the cold shoulder, but they act like everything is fine.
Jay and Cam play racquetball and their butts accidentally touch. According to Cam, it's a moon landing or a low two. The story doesn't develop, but culminates with Jay touching butts against someone who he assumes is Cam. It's a random stranger and Jay runs off as fast as he can. I don't want to sound homophobic, but there was a gross feeling to the scene that was awkward and hilarious at the same time.
Mitchell finally gets Jay's respect for his lawyer abilities, and helps Gloria with a car accident. As he learns, Gloria is one of those people who drive crazily and blame everything on others, and she won't admit it. Jay just wanted to pass the problem onto Mitchell. She insists she wasn't at fault, but later reveals the truth. Gloria was so annoying the whole episode, I wanted to scream at her. Her justification for lying is that she doesn't want people to assume she's a bad driver. People assume she's a bad driver, because everyone say she's a bad driver.
Score: 9.0/10
Review - Leverage Season 2 Episode 13 The Future Job
"We go and steal the future." Nate usually goes after a tangible object of various sizes, but this time, to combat a psychic, he needs to go beyond the veil of normal existence. Tara pretends to be a psychic, and starts helping Darlton Rand in conning people. This is part of the bigger plan to expose him for who he is.
Parker's backstory isn't clear, but we knew she was messed up as a kid. When Nate and Parker go to Rand's studio, Rand zeros in on her, and does a cold read on her. He insinuates something about her brother getting hit by a bicycle and Parker runs off teary. We still don't know exactly what happened, but we know she turned to crime to avoid something.
There was a dumb twist halfway into the episode. Rand is kidnapped by a bank robber whose dead partner had hidden money somewhere. The bank robber has to turn to a psychic to get his money back. The team uses this to catch Rand and the bank robber.
A big problem I had with the episode was the reason for taking on Rand. Their mantra is "The rich and powerful, they take what they want…we steal it back for you." Rand is a bad person, but what makes him rich or powerful? He's certainly not rich or he would have been long gone. He's not that powerful, because most people don't fall for his scam. He's only powerful to the few thousand idiots that believe him. Rand is intelligent enough take advantage of stupid people, and the stupid people get what they want in return--closure. There is benefit to both parties in the end, so if people want to believe in this junk in the first place, then too bad for them.
Score: 8.7/10
Parker's backstory isn't clear, but we knew she was messed up as a kid. When Nate and Parker go to Rand's studio, Rand zeros in on her, and does a cold read on her. He insinuates something about her brother getting hit by a bicycle and Parker runs off teary. We still don't know exactly what happened, but we know she turned to crime to avoid something.
There was a dumb twist halfway into the episode. Rand is kidnapped by a bank robber whose dead partner had hidden money somewhere. The bank robber has to turn to a psychic to get his money back. The team uses this to catch Rand and the bank robber.
A big problem I had with the episode was the reason for taking on Rand. Their mantra is "The rich and powerful, they take what they want…we steal it back for you." Rand is a bad person, but what makes him rich or powerful? He's certainly not rich or he would have been long gone. He's not that powerful, because most people don't fall for his scam. He's only powerful to the few thousand idiots that believe him. Rand is intelligent enough take advantage of stupid people, and the stupid people get what they want in return--closure. There is benefit to both parties in the end, so if people want to believe in this junk in the first place, then too bad for them.
Score: 8.7/10
Numbers of Interest - Television Ratings for Wednesday 02/03/10
Fox won with Human Target (2.4) and American Idol (7.8). Those are bad numbers for Human Target and it won't survive at this rate. The good thing is that the timeslot has been messed with so many times, people have no clue where it is.
CBS was second with Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials (2.9), Criminal Minds (3.8), and CSI: NY (3.4).
ABC was third with a repeat of Modern Family (2.4), The Middle (2.7), Modern Family (3.9), Cougar Town (2.9), and Ugly Betty (1.4). Cougar Town's ratings have dropped off considerably and now even The Middle is getting close to it.
NBC was last with Mercy (1.6), a repeat of Law & Order: SVU (0.9), and The Jay Leno Show (1.2).
CBS was second with Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials (2.9), Criminal Minds (3.8), and CSI: NY (3.4).
ABC was third with a repeat of Modern Family (2.4), The Middle (2.7), Modern Family (3.9), Cougar Town (2.9), and Ugly Betty (1.4). Cougar Town's ratings have dropped off considerably and now even The Middle is getting close to it.
NBC was last with Mercy (1.6), a repeat of Law & Order: SVU (0.9), and The Jay Leno Show (1.2).
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Review - Criminal Minds Season 5 Episode 14 Parasite
I was waiting and waiting for the episode to pick up, but to my surprise, the episode ended. "Parasite" was one of the few episodes that has flat from beginning to end. The episode played out in a straightforward fashion without any twists or the usual disturbing scenes that at least make you grossed out. The unsub is a con man who, under the weight of 10 identities, begins killing people. He slips up a few times and we see him get out of control. Then we learn he has a family and a son. He has several long and boring conversations with his wife and son about moving, but who cares?
The case is brought to the BAU by an agent in the white collar agent, and he ain't Peter Burke. He's unaccustomed to field work, having complied mountains of paperwork, and he ends up shooting the con man. That story wasn't fleshed out either and seemed misplaced.
When Criminal Minds is good, it can be the most horrifying show on television and keep your head spinning for an entire hour. When Criminal Minds isn't good, it can be the most mind-numbing experience. The huge difference in episode quality week to week is annoying, especially when the writers can write exceptional episodes.
Random thoughts:
Seeing Victor Webster reminded me of Mutant X which was pretty cool sometimes (though mostly cheesy).
Score: 8.4/10
The case is brought to the BAU by an agent in the white collar agent, and he ain't Peter Burke. He's unaccustomed to field work, having complied mountains of paperwork, and he ends up shooting the con man. That story wasn't fleshed out either and seemed misplaced.
When Criminal Minds is good, it can be the most horrifying show on television and keep your head spinning for an entire hour. When Criminal Minds isn't good, it can be the most mind-numbing experience. The huge difference in episode quality week to week is annoying, especially when the writers can write exceptional episodes.
Random thoughts:
Seeing Victor Webster reminded me of Mutant X which was pretty cool sometimes (though mostly cheesy).
Score: 8.4/10
Numbers of Interest - Television Ratings for Tuesday 02/02/10
Fox won with American Idol (9.0) and Kitchen Nightmares (3.8).
ABC was second with the Lost recap (4.1) and Lost (5.5). Lost was up 9-10% from last year, but does anyone care about the ratings?
CBS was third with NCIS (4.3), NCIS: Los Angeles (3.6), The Good Wife (2.6). With Fox and ABC putting strong shows on Tuesdays, CBS no longer is the strongest of the night. It was good while it lasted.
NBC was last with a repeat of The Biggest Loser (1.5) and The Biggest Loser (3.7).
It's crazy how high everyone's average was.
ABC was second with the Lost recap (4.1) and Lost (5.5). Lost was up 9-10% from last year, but does anyone care about the ratings?
CBS was third with NCIS (4.3), NCIS: Los Angeles (3.6), The Good Wife (2.6). With Fox and ABC putting strong shows on Tuesdays, CBS no longer is the strongest of the night. It was good while it lasted.
NBC was last with a repeat of The Biggest Loser (1.5) and The Biggest Loser (3.7).
It's crazy how high everyone's average was.
Review - Human Target Season 1 Episode 4 Sanctuary
After each episode, I keep wanting more. I've been enthralled by the action which isn't too heavy and the story rolls along without any hiccups. It's an action packed hour that doesn't get mired in the details, and isn't too stupid.
Chance goes to a monastery to protect John Gray, a criminal who sent his buddies to prison. John was at the monastery to find the Nicene Annals, but changes his mind. The bad guys show up and turn over the monastery to find the book. There are cool fight scenes and Winston helps out tremendously which made the episode even better. As always, the plot wasn't that important, but it tied into Chance's life.
Each week, we learn something new about Chance. It seems like Guerrero is a totally evil guy who turns on Chance once both Winston and Chance are out of town. He deals with a guy who wants a file on Chance, and Guerrero is happy to help. Guerrero finds the file of the first case Winston and Chance worked on. A woman named Katherine Walters was killed and as Chance implies, he once was involved with a woman he worked with like John was. At the end of the episode Guerrero gives the man the files, but asks who the man is working for. Guerrero doesn't get an answer, so he shoots the man instead. Guerrero is actually looking out for Chance and fighting back against whoever may be looking into Chance.
The writers are piling on Chance's backstory piece by piece. We slowly learn something about him every week. I don't know how long they can keep it up, and find a form for Chance's character so it isn't just facts and facts that we know about him.
Score: 9.2/10
Chance goes to a monastery to protect John Gray, a criminal who sent his buddies to prison. John was at the monastery to find the Nicene Annals, but changes his mind. The bad guys show up and turn over the monastery to find the book. There are cool fight scenes and Winston helps out tremendously which made the episode even better. As always, the plot wasn't that important, but it tied into Chance's life.
Each week, we learn something new about Chance. It seems like Guerrero is a totally evil guy who turns on Chance once both Winston and Chance are out of town. He deals with a guy who wants a file on Chance, and Guerrero is happy to help. Guerrero finds the file of the first case Winston and Chance worked on. A woman named Katherine Walters was killed and as Chance implies, he once was involved with a woman he worked with like John was. At the end of the episode Guerrero gives the man the files, but asks who the man is working for. Guerrero doesn't get an answer, so he shoots the man instead. Guerrero is actually looking out for Chance and fighting back against whoever may be looking into Chance.
The writers are piling on Chance's backstory piece by piece. We slowly learn something about him every week. I don't know how long they can keep it up, and find a form for Chance's character so it isn't just facts and facts that we know about him.
Score: 9.2/10
Review - White Collar Season 1 Episode 10 Vital Signs
White Collar is one of the hardest shows to write reviews for simply because there's not much to say about it. Every episode is pretty much the same with few variations, so I say the same things every week. Dialogue was good, the episode was lots of fun, and the case was kind of boring.
I think that goes to the fundamental problem with the show. The shows uses tricks and undercover operations to draw the viewers in. There's rarely any action and the crimes are all about conning stupid thieves. The chemistry between Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay keep the show interesting.
Last night the episode was about donating for organs and a big cabal of doctors and charities. June's daughter gets back on the transplant list with the help of Neal, and everyone is happy. I still don't understand how Neal can bring up a case and get Peter to jump on it immediately. Doesn't Peter have bigger issues than Neal?
The best part of the episode was Peter having to flirt with a woman. Elizabeth, being the cool person she is, actually laughs when she learns of this. But she's not completely happy with anything her husband does. At the mention of "magic hands," she becomes upset. Peter makes it up to her in a sweet scene and they're happy. The moral of the story is that everyone is happy. It's a happy show. (Yes I used happy four.)
Score: 8.9/10
I think that goes to the fundamental problem with the show. The shows uses tricks and undercover operations to draw the viewers in. There's rarely any action and the crimes are all about conning stupid thieves. The chemistry between Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay keep the show interesting.
Last night the episode was about donating for organs and a big cabal of doctors and charities. June's daughter gets back on the transplant list with the help of Neal, and everyone is happy. I still don't understand how Neal can bring up a case and get Peter to jump on it immediately. Doesn't Peter have bigger issues than Neal?
The best part of the episode was Peter having to flirt with a woman. Elizabeth, being the cool person she is, actually laughs when she learns of this. But she's not completely happy with anything her husband does. At the mention of "magic hands," she becomes upset. Peter makes it up to her in a sweet scene and they're happy. The moral of the story is that everyone is happy. It's a happy show. (Yes I used happy four.)
Score: 8.9/10
Review - The Good Wife Season 1 Episode 13 Bad
The name of the show is deceptively simple. The average person looks at the name "The Good Wife" and doesn't make much about. It's a generic name that doesn't spark any real interest. Once you start watching the show, you realize how deep the show really is. Every episode is more deception piled on top of more deception. We don't know who's lying or telling the truth. We don't know the motives of anyone. The only person who has good intentions is Alicia, and even she doesn't tell the whole truth. She's fine avoiding questions or descending into lawyer speak.
Alicia has to defend, Colin Swaney, a suspected killer who got off in the criminal trial due to a lack of evidence. His daughter is trying to prove he is guilty so he won't get his wife's money. Clearly Colin is a creep and Alicia thinks he is guilty, but there is no evidence to convict him. His motive is sketchy and there are other suspects. The police find his wife's body at his house, but it turns out it was transferred from the daughter's farm to his house. At the end, we still don't know who really did it. There was no admission of guilt, so the questions is up in the air. Colin is rich enough and evil enough to have planted the body.
Diane was handling guns with Kalinda this episode and I was surprised there wasn't a knee jerk liberal reaction of the writers to have Diane and others roundly condemn guns and demand a ban on them. Instead, guns were seen as necessary in some circumstances, but there was the other side to it at the same time. Though the story was kind of stupid, it showed Diane going against her beliefs because she felt threatened by the parolee. Later, we see her in the house with her gun out, but it's just her cat. The writers show her in a state of paranoia, quick to take a gun, but is that because she has a gun or because she knows she's in danger?
With Stern about, Will and Diane have equal power and are grappling against each other. In a way, you can see Diane learning guns as a way to empower herself after Will totally disregarded her. If there is an underhanded fight between Will and Diane, I could easily see Kalinda helping Diane. She was oddly sympathetic to Diane, but of course she asked for payment.
At Peter's trial, Daniel does a great job and Childs appears to have given up. He's giving the option to let Peter out for time served, but Peter has to take the deal first. Earlier, Peter asked Alicia what would happen when he comes home. She tells him he'll sleep in the maid's room and won't bring the kids home from school.
Score: 8.9/10
Alicia has to defend, Colin Swaney, a suspected killer who got off in the criminal trial due to a lack of evidence. His daughter is trying to prove he is guilty so he won't get his wife's money. Clearly Colin is a creep and Alicia thinks he is guilty, but there is no evidence to convict him. His motive is sketchy and there are other suspects. The police find his wife's body at his house, but it turns out it was transferred from the daughter's farm to his house. At the end, we still don't know who really did it. There was no admission of guilt, so the questions is up in the air. Colin is rich enough and evil enough to have planted the body.
Diane was handling guns with Kalinda this episode and I was surprised there wasn't a knee jerk liberal reaction of the writers to have Diane and others roundly condemn guns and demand a ban on them. Instead, guns were seen as necessary in some circumstances, but there was the other side to it at the same time. Though the story was kind of stupid, it showed Diane going against her beliefs because she felt threatened by the parolee. Later, we see her in the house with her gun out, but it's just her cat. The writers show her in a state of paranoia, quick to take a gun, but is that because she has a gun or because she knows she's in danger?
With Stern about, Will and Diane have equal power and are grappling against each other. In a way, you can see Diane learning guns as a way to empower herself after Will totally disregarded her. If there is an underhanded fight between Will and Diane, I could easily see Kalinda helping Diane. She was oddly sympathetic to Diane, but of course she asked for payment.
At Peter's trial, Daniel does a great job and Childs appears to have given up. He's giving the option to let Peter out for time served, but Peter has to take the deal first. Earlier, Peter asked Alicia what would happen when he comes home. She tells him he'll sleep in the maid's room and won't bring the kids home from school.
Score: 8.9/10
