Monday, January 24, 2011

Week in Review:1/16-1/22

Alright, so let's do this blog thing again, shall we? Before I get started there are a few things I want to put for those that are new to the blog, or have forgotten my rules. First: there will be spoilers in my blog. My rule: if it aired last night, then this morning it isn't a spoiler any more. If I know what happens on tonights Castle and I tell you that is a spoiler. But if I tell you what happened on Hawaii Five-0 last night that is not a spoiler. Got it? If you haven't seen the episode and don't want to know what happens, simply skip the part were I talk about that episode! I label each entry in bold. Mmmm kay? Moving on. Also - I will not be talking about every show I watch every week because, well, I just don't have that kind of time on my hand. I'm going to try to keep it to 5-10 shows, but honestly closer to 5. If I've been skipping something you like for several weeks and you know I watch it, let me know and I'll try to include it. Also, for certain shows, if I know something big is coming this week, I probably won't talk about last week's episode (this means, Bones, Erin. This week is the Gravedigger/Sniper ep, so no talking about the faux purses from last week! LOL). Alright... now that we've got all that out of the way, let's get to the good stuff!

CHUCK: Josh Schwartz is an evil evil man. Finally, Sarah is ready for Chuck to propose. So ready that she helps Morgan and Casey with their "Help Chuck Propose" sub-mission while at the vineyard. And what happens? She gets arrested for treason as a way to get her undercover to take down Volcov and rescue Mama Bartowski. Super sweet of her, but come on!! However, I appreciate this over the "Sarah isn't ready" storyline. Except I hear a new hot agent is coming to fill in for Sarah. Please oh please don't let her be a problem. Chuck always loves Sarah first. You hear me, Schwartz? But no matter what happens with Chuck and Sarah at least we have one of my favorite odd couples going strong: Morgan and Casey. I'm excited for tonight - Casey dies (yeah right) and Linda Hamilton is back!

HOUSE: Good news: Candice Bergen is fantastic as Cuddy's mom. You wanted to hit her, but in a good way. Coming from a Jewish family, I felt a sense of deja vu during the dinner scene. No one does not-so-passive agressive like a Jewish mother. I hope we see more of her. Bad news: Every week I love Amber Tamblyn's character more. Why is this bad news? Because she is done at the end of the season. So upset, not just because I love her but because I don't love Olivia Wilde or Thirteen. I think Amber fits in better and I hope that the reason she is leaving is because she has something great coming up.

LIFE UNEXPECTED: In a few more entries I am going to go on a rant about the series finale of Medium. However this show was given about 5 minutes to come up with a series finale and did an amazingly beautiful job. Not only did everyone get a happy ending, but none of it seemed contrived. Thank you thank you Liz Tigelaar for allowing these characters to shine in the last hours of your underappreciated show. It was a wonderful two seasons, I will honestly miss them and Lux's hats.

LIGHTS OUT: I am struggling with this show. First of all, let me say it is brilliant. Truly, a perfectly written, acted and directed show. But it is heartbreaking. And I don't mean, "oh, that's kind of sad" sort of heartbreaking. I mean, "rip your heart out and stomp all over it" kind of sad. I literally watch it with my hand over my mouth, shaking my head in horror at the sadness of it all. I have enough to bring me down in my real life, I find myself wondering why I bother watching this at all. But like I said it is truly brilliant. If you can get through the depression, I recommend it very highly. And I don't like boxing at all, if that is what is turning you off from the show.

USA NETWORK ORIGINALS: Another season of shows has begun on USA. Two returning favorites, White Collar and Royal Pains, and a new series, Fairly Legal. First the returning shows: White Collar is on fire. The bromance between Neal and Peter is strong as ever. And Hilarie Burton as bad ass insurance chic, Sarah, is a great match for Neal. Glad they are giving the guy a possible love interest - it is time to start moving on from Kate. Royal Pains was a lot of fun, and if they hints that Hank and Jill may get back together are for real, then even better. My only complaint: end the Divya madness. We know she isn't going to really move to London, so let's get over that nonsense. Now the new one... Fairly Legal is a prime example of why USA's logo is Characters Welcome. Like many other shows on this network, it really isn't about the storylines, it is about the characters. And the lead on this show, Sarah Shahi is as charming as any of the other pretty boys on this network. Plus Michael Trucco as her ex(-ish) and and Ethan Embry as her brother are two of my favorites and so happy I will see them on a weekly basis. Add in the Wizard of Oz ringtones and a Buffy the Vampire Slayer watch, and I'm sold!

NBC COMEDY NIGHT: PARKS AND REC IS BACK!!!! If you aren't watching this, well, you are missing out. I don't always like when new people come in to a show that I already love because I'm afraid that they will mess with the dynamic, but I can't believe I ever liked this show without Adam Scott and Rob Lowe as Ben and Chris! They bring a wonderful new level of quirkiness to the show. Can't wait to see what is coming this season in Pawnee. The Office was ok (I miss you, Jim) but my favorite part was Erin. She is an odd girl I can't quite get a handle on. But her comments about being happy no matter what happens with Michael and Holly were awesome, if not the least bit frightening. Community.... oh Community. I could just list everything that was awesome about this epsiode but the hightlights were the Cosby sweater reference and the bait and switch ending. Possibly best bait and switch ever. And 30 Rock.... Liz and Jack married has brought me so much joy I can't even put it into words. Truly a brilliant plot twist (if only for one episode). Perfect Couples isn't that fantastic, but my overwhelming girl crush on Olivia Munn has me watching. I'll follow her anywhere.

FRINGE: How heartbreaking are Peter and Olivia? Seriously. So very very heartbreaking. But as much as it hurt me to watch them struggle after the whole Altivia thing, I applaud the writers for making it so beautiful and true to the tone of the show. I've recently had to defend this show to some people in my Science Fiction class who gave up after the first few episodes. This episode makes me glad that I defended it so strongly. The characters have grown and changed over the past several years. I constantly find myself surprised where it goes, and frightened about what each development means. The observers messing with "destiny," if you will, was very unnerving and I'm so anxious to see what it means. Oh, and I hope that Olivia and Peter work it out, because I am a sucker for a happy ending. Although if the rumors I'm hearing about Altivia are true....well.... it seems more and more unlikely we'll be seeing an Olivia and Peter happy moment in the near future.

MEDIUM: I was a casual fan of this show. I loved the marriage of Allison and Joe DuBois. Before Coach and Tami Taylor came along on Friday Night Lights, Allison and Joe were my favorite married couple on TV. Joe was a saint. But I always had issues with the series - why after 7 years did no one take Allison's dreams seriously? And why after 7 years did Allison not realize that her dreams were always changing and to never take them (the first one especially) at face value? Despite this, I enjoyed the show, especially the family dyanmic and the relationship of Allison, Davalos, Lee and Lynn. That is why I was SOOOOO PISSED at the series finale. Joe dies? Seriously? Never mind the whole bait and switch of the middle 40 minutes of the episode. Whatever, I'm ignoring that. What pisses me off is a show that was fundamentaly about the DuBois family, destroys the family at the end of the series? And we get no closure on anyone? Just vague pictures from 41 years later? What happened to Lee and Lynn and their baby? Davalos? Allison spent the next 41 years waking up alone from her dreams??? Awful. I have never been so upset about a finale and I refuse to accept it. I've made up my own ending for the show and it is a lot better than that. Boooooo. (I love you even more, Life Unexpected)

And on that happy note..... time for this blog to end. Things I'm excited for this week: Castle kiss (I bet it's for show, not for real), The full CW lineup returns, Bones Gravedigger ep directed by David Boreanaz and the conclusion to Being Human's amazing cliffhanger (in a pilot episode no less! Watch this show, people!).

What did you enjoy (or hate) last week in TV? What are you looking forward to? What are you hoping I cover next week? In other words, leave me a comment because I live for your approval.

1 comment:

Annette said...

I am sad Amber is leaving HOUSE at the end of the season. I really like her too. I loved how House slipped something to both Cuddy's mom and Wilson. Lots of chuckles in that episode.

The only shows I am watching right now are House, V, and Parenthood so sorry I don't have more input. I still love reading about other shows though. :)

The only show I was hoping you would cover might be some belated coverage from the Golden Globes and your thoughts on the American Idol auditions (if you watched). Keep up the good work!