Week in Review 4/4-4/10

And I'm back to my late posting ways! Don't worry - school is almost done, so I'll be back on track soon. Just in time for the regular season to be over. Of course, nowadays the summer season is just as packed, and since I'm not taking a class I'll be focusing on a few more shows. (Why, hello, True Blood and So You Think You Can Dance! How I've missed you!)

Let's get to the goodies (aka the lovefest) that was TV last week.

THE PACIFIC: This episode was written and directed by Graham Yost (creator of Justified!) and was amazing. And impossibly sad. They just stripped away any filter on how miserable these men were. It was hard to look and hard to look away. It also introduced Nate Corddry, aka the comic relief. Love him and can't wait for more. Also - the "therapist" at the hospital was played by Matt Craven, who is a wonderful character actor - and a regular in anything Yost.

CHUCK: Sigh..... I could watch this episode a million times over. I could also write a million things on what happened. However I'll just go over the highlights in a series of exclamations: Sarah tells Chuck she loves him! Morgan is officially in Team Bartowski! Casey was reinstated!! Chuck killed Shaw! Chuck and Sarah finally (finally!!) got it on!!!! Chuck has slowly become one of my favorite shows on television and this episode put it right to top with Lost. This episode was perfection and I cannot wait to see where the rest of the season takes us!

GOSSIP GIRL: Dorota gets engaged! Awwww.... Excited to see tonights wedding! Also, the lovely and very sweet Desmond Harrington plays a real douche on this show! WOW!

CASTLE: What a fun episode after the past two weeks that were a darker turn for this fun show! For those who were familiar with Nathan Fillion pre-Castle probably know that he has been labeled "The Next Harrison Ford" by many in the industry, so it was fun to see him slip on the hat of Indiana Jones this week. No offense to Harrison and Shia, but Indy 4 would have been so much better if they just started over with Nathan! When Castle looked in the tomb and inhaled the mummy dust, I half expected him to grow blue hair and use the name Ilyria (what up, Angel fans?!). And the wonderful casting directors on this show picked another great one (seriously, who are these guys - best guest cast on TV hands down, every week!) Erick Avari aka Dr. Bay from "The Mummy." Get it?! Fab.

24: In the 8 season this show has been on the air exactly how many times do you think Jack has said, "I don't have time to explain!"? Just curious... Anyway, I have to say I was sad when Omar died. I loved Anil Kapoor and his hair. Mostly his hair. This episode also had the best moment of the season not involving violence:
Jack: You asked to talk to me. Why?
Dana/Jenny: Because you're the only one here who doesn't have his head up his ass.
Jack: (supressed laugh)
So true, Dana, so true.

DAMAGES: First of all.... for shame, Lily Tomlin!! For Shame! I won't get into the rest of it because it all gives me such a headache (I love it, but headache!). Except I will say this...... DAVID!!! Oh David. I miss you as much as Ellen does. I curse the day Ted Danson hired Doug from Flight of the Conchords to kill you! Lots of tears! Come haunt me too!

THE GOOD WIFE: Very clever storytelling this episode. Also made it a very sad episode to watch. I enjoy this show so much, and I like how they were able to make the courtroom stuff fresh this week. Plus, even though it ended up costing that girl 10 years of her life, how cute was Christine Baranski whenever Gary Cole was around? Too cute. And Erin, you are right. The Florrick children are the nosiest children ever!

PARENTHOOD: Neither of my children are autistic, but can I have Minka Kelley come over and help me out? That would be great, thanks! Loved her on Friday Night Lights, and for 2 minutes in (500) Days of Summer. She is wonderful. I think she only filmed 2 eps, but since Jason Katims loves her, I'm hoping she is back. Want to take a moment to point out the brilliance of Mama Braverman, Bonnie Bedelia. She gets the least amount of screen time, but she is wonderful when she is on. The scene where Crosby tells them about Jabbar and how amazing he is - just the reaction from her was better than almost anything I'd seen from anyone the entire ep - and I really like all the actors on the show!

JUSTIFIED: Another classic. This show is amazing. Seriously, how do they do it? When Roland (Alan Ruck) took out that horrible man's gold crowns "Without anesthesia.... or permission" I simulataneously cheered and hid behind my hands. Intense! What I love about this show is that even with the crazy level of intensity, it is still hilarious. The guys sent to kill Roland in the car talking about Pulp Fiction, "Then it wouldn't be a movie," was classic. And Raylan and Roland's back and forth at the border... hysterical and heartbreaking at the same time. If this show stays anywhere near this level of perfection, it will be a classic for a long time.


IN PLAIN SIGHT: So Brandi is going to "New Jersey." By "New Jersey" they mean the maternity ward since she was clearly about 8 months pregnant when filming this episode. There was a part where she rocked about an inch forward while trying to hide behind the counter and the huge pile of groceries they had to put on the counter to hide her massiveness, but that inch forward was too much and her belly peeked out from behind the front of the counter, and she was standing in the middle of the counter. I'm not saying anything about how big she is - I was a flipping WHALE - but trying to hide that.... annoying! Oh yeah, Alison Janney friggin rocks!!

BONES: OH MY GOD. I love Bones. I love everyone on the show and even though I wrote a ridiculous blog all about it I had to share it again here! BONES AND BOOTH FOREVER!

UGLY BETTY: Why did they cancel this show again? Because creatively it is on friggin fire! So glad that Bobby and Hilda's wedding was the penultimate and not the finale - it's Betty's show, not Hilda's. This was a fantastic episode - each moment was a classic. From the little - Amanda asking Betty for a good luck kiss, and then going in and taking one without permission. To the big- Justin walking onto the dance floor with Austin, coming out to his family in the most tender and quiet (how un-Suarez!) way possible. And then there is Daniel and Betty. First let me say this. For all the people saying, "Boo, they are bringing this out of nowhere," you all have not been watching the same show I have apparently. In Season 1, Episode 13, Betty and Daniel end up on a date (orignally intended for Daniel and a model) and this is where their relationship first takes a turn and they bond. In that moment I said, "These two will wind up together." There have often been moments over the seasons where it is clear they understand each other better than anyone else does. And if that isn't enough this season has been pushing hard in that direction. I could write an entire blog of Betty Daniel moments that scream "This is how it will end!" So, get over fools. It's how the original ended, anyway!

HUMAN TARGET: Hey! It's Erick Avari again! Someone give that guy's agent a bonus for the week!

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: I think Alaric summed up the episode when he went back to the car, found it empty and said, "Dammit Elena!" Amen to that, Alaric. And Television Without Pity summed up the end of the episode (and probably the next episode) when they said, "Pleasantly surprised to see Angelus make a dramatic guest appearance on Vampire Diaries. That was him, right?" My thoughts exactly! Except this is the PG version - all he needed was some blood instead of some sweet sweet loving.

FRINGE: How exactly do you think Joshua Jackson asked his girlfriend, Diane Kruger, to do the opening for this episode? "Hey, honey, JJ would love for you to be on the show. Thing is, we are totally going to cover you with a bunch of really gross boils. Whatcha think?" But forget her, it's all about Peter and Olivia. And Walter is about to ruin it! Dammit, Walter!

FLASHFORWARD: I enjoy this show, really I do. My biggest problem right now is that ABC screwed it. When the show's timeline was matched up with ours, it was fantastic. We knew when March 15 was coming (when Demitri is supposed to die) and when April 29th was coming (the day of the flashfoward), but now it is all screwed up. They put it on a ridiculously long hiatus for no real reason, and the connection with the audience has broken a bit. Also, Janice is the mole?! NOOOOO!!!!

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: I love Tina Fey. Everything she did on there was brilliance. Love her! And this was the first time I've ever really seen Justin Bieber besides on the cover of teeny-bopper magazines.  Yea..... I just don't get it. Sorry, Justin. I may enjoy Twilight, but my teeny-bopper connection ends there, apparently.