this week in tv
Feb. 27th, 2011 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jlhThis is the last week of OMG ALL MY SHOWS ARE ON. After this we'll be diving into the long March/April intermittent hiatus, and if you want to know, "why, why must we face this long stretch of no original episodes on my favorite scripted network shows?" then check out Time to Play …Television Math!
HIMYM, "Garbage Island." Is this really Manhattan, then? I like how the episode played with the idea that Ted and Marshall might be "the bad guy" while Barney might be a good guy. I love Robin's obvious delight in Barney actually falling for someone. (Well, other than her.) I love that in the end Marshall was actively avoiding sleeping with Lily, rather than just being preoccupied with his freakout. Some have said the freakout is going on a little long, but it's only on television that someone's dad dies, they freakout the one time, change their life, and move on.
Also are we losing Wendy the Waitress since she didn't know that Ted wasn't still with Zoey? I'll miss her, but I hope she picked up a pilot or something and that's why she's leaving. (By the way, Wendy is the linchpin that makes the Britta-is-the-mother story work.)
Hawaii 5-0, "Loa Aloha." Ugh, that A-plot was super tiresome, wasn't it? It was like something out of a particularly lazy episode of CSI. Blah blah mysterious bomber calling to gloat blah blah blah.
That said, other than the ending the entire B-plot with Danny's brother was a lot slashier than I was expecting, with the "please stay for dinner with the family, Steve" and Steve lying for him to the FBI and yet another phone call in which Danny is the crazy one and Steve comes out to help him and all that. I also love that Danny goes by Danny, is only called Daniel by Rachel, yet regularly calls people by their full names (like Steve and Matt). And yeah, it did sound like Danny called Steve "honey" though I can't imagine he actually did.
Not for slashy reasons—well, you guys know me so maybe I don't need the disclaimer—I didn't really love that Danny went to Rachel at the end of the episode. I get that she's the only other person on the island who knows Matt, and that he needed family, but I'm hoping that this plus the wistful look Danny gave them last week and Stan saying that things aren't great with Rachel doesn't mean that the show will get them back together. Frankly I'd rather they do Danny/Kono than that, or Danny/anybody, because Danny going back to Rachel feels like a step backwards for his character. He's the one who's seen the most growth and change, as both Steve and his work at 5-0 open him up, make him more adventurous and a little less like the spoil sport his brother accused him of being. (That said, if he was the older brother of someone relatively heedless like Matt, it makes sense that he'd be more about rules and order in reaction.)
Still, poor Danny. :(
Castle, "Setup." Can we stop with the trying to take Beckett off cases, since she just works them on her own anyway? Actually, I'll give the Cap a break because that's his job and she was too close to that other case, but show: don't use the same plot device twice in four episodes. Guy-who-married-a-Dixie-Chick was good as the DHS agent, though kind of predictable in his assholery.
But what was with the Inception-rip off score?
I kind of wish that Javier, being the veteran, weren't the one pushing for them to be a terror cell. I wish that he was like, you know, we helped a lot of people, or something. It would be more interesting for him to be more nuanced based on his experience than for him to be more gung-ho because of it. Because we all sort of know that it's the white cab driver that's behind it, right? That when they said, "just like Oklahoma City" it will end up being true in more ways than one?
In shippy news, Lanie calling Javier 'baby" at the crime scene and then being amused when her slip was pointed out and Javier just shaking his head was awesome (I knew I'd love them). I also loved everyone trying to get their families to leave town when they found out about the dirty bomb, and how Castle succeeded in actually doing so. Castle's reaction to Beckett posing with her bolt cutter was classic (as was Beckett posing in the first place) but best was all the super-sincere friendship stuff. I know I said this last week but I'm really really digging how Kate can be more herself around Rick because she's off the market. And I also love that her problem is that he's not around enough; guess that tough exterior is cracking.
Glee, "Blame It on the Alcohol." Ugh, biphobia. And kind of predictable, actually; of course Ryan Murphy is that guy who thinks all bi females are really performative but straight and all bi males are really confused but gay. Look, this season hasn't been the greatest but I've never liked the plots much anyway and at least now I can zip through them without cringing because I literally don't care. (I mean, the original songs? One will be sung by Rachel and one sung by Rachel and Finn. Whatever. The waste of talent on this show is astounding.)
What I did get was lots of Coach Bieste (or should I say Shannon the Cannon?) and I can't say no to that. I love actually getting to see her sing after watching her lip sync along with the kids for a few episodes. Also I loved watching her easily resist Will even though she was kinda drunk. Oh, and the Sue and Becky are really in Grease thing was awesome, as was the principal saying that Will has a sex and love addiction.
So: "Don't You Want Me" was whatever, and only that it was Blaine could I even work up a small amount of caring. "Blame it on the Alcohol" was vaguely funny because, Artie and Puck and Mercedes, but the song loses something when we can't see Ron Howard partying with a man in a panda suit. "Tik and also Tok" was pretty great but I like Brittany.
White Collar, "Payback."
Oh my god Peter and El. "We work."
Oh my god El and Neal, and El demanding that Neal do whatever he needs to do. That was one of my favorite scenes with El in a really long time.
Oh my god El and Mozzie. Mozzie kissing her on the head and bugging the Feds for her!
Oh my god Neal and Diana, with Diana being with Neal every step of the way and Neal telling her his story about his past and Diana totally knowing the kicker.
Oh my god Diana and Jones. They're like a well-oiled machine and I wonder if they're both more loyal to Peter than to the FBI.
Oh my god Neal and Mozzie and how much Neal completely trusts Mozzie.
Oh my god Neal and Peter and how Neal's starting to sound like a cop and the hug and "I want to talk to Neal" and omg this show.
God, this show. The relationships are so fantastic. Oh yeah and the case was really well done too.
Top Chef, "For the Gulf." Dale, I'm pouring one out for you my brother. Carla, get back in the game! Mike, stop being a dick. Richie, never stop being awesome. Tiffany, I wish I actually cared about you but I sort of don't (and I totally rooted for you in your season!) Antonia, you'd better be in the finale, baby!
Justified, "The I of the Storm." Nice to see Dewey Crowe again, and I love how everyone refers to him by his full name. God, he's such a moron but he makes such delightful trouble for everyone. I welcome the oncoming gangland warfare that Boyd so accurately and insightfully predicted.
Meanwhile Winona needs to work her shit out, and Raylan has every right to demand that of her. I don't know if I ship Ava and Boyd exactly, but whatever keeps Ava out of Raylan's bed I'm in favor of. I do love that Art's first thought was that Raylan had been out with Rachel.
Community, "Intro to Political Science." I think that this episode was supposed to air after the break, not before it, since Pierce had been in rehab, and it makes more sense for us to have a break after last week's episode, since it was so emotional and dramatic, than this week's. I'm still on the fence about Pierce, because he's still being more of a jerk than I find to be funny, but at least Vicki shoved a pencil in his cheek.
As for the election plot, I love how Annie admits that she mostly wanted to win, rather than wanting to get anything done, and I liked the dean's outfit of course. I wish they'd fish or cut bait on the Jeff/Annie thing, but that's so background that I can continue to not care.
I loved the little snapshots and Troy and Abed's entire commentary thing, and Troy discovering that Abed has little secret adventures all the time—his little love story with the secret service agent was really awesome. I loved Britta's bid for anarchy. I missed Shirley as usual (they need to get better about giving her tiny plots, the way they did for Pierce and Britta). And of course Jeff's a libertarian, jeez.
HIMYM, "Garbage Island." Is this really Manhattan, then? I like how the episode played with the idea that Ted and Marshall might be "the bad guy" while Barney might be a good guy. I love Robin's obvious delight in Barney actually falling for someone. (Well, other than her.) I love that in the end Marshall was actively avoiding sleeping with Lily, rather than just being preoccupied with his freakout. Some have said the freakout is going on a little long, but it's only on television that someone's dad dies, they freakout the one time, change their life, and move on.
Also are we losing Wendy the Waitress since she didn't know that Ted wasn't still with Zoey? I'll miss her, but I hope she picked up a pilot or something and that's why she's leaving. (By the way, Wendy is the linchpin that makes the Britta-is-the-mother story work.)
Hawaii 5-0, "Loa Aloha." Ugh, that A-plot was super tiresome, wasn't it? It was like something out of a particularly lazy episode of CSI. Blah blah mysterious bomber calling to gloat blah blah blah.
That said, other than the ending the entire B-plot with Danny's brother was a lot slashier than I was expecting, with the "please stay for dinner with the family, Steve" and Steve lying for him to the FBI and yet another phone call in which Danny is the crazy one and Steve comes out to help him and all that. I also love that Danny goes by Danny, is only called Daniel by Rachel, yet regularly calls people by their full names (like Steve and Matt). And yeah, it did sound like Danny called Steve "honey" though I can't imagine he actually did.
Not for slashy reasons—well, you guys know me so maybe I don't need the disclaimer—I didn't really love that Danny went to Rachel at the end of the episode. I get that she's the only other person on the island who knows Matt, and that he needed family, but I'm hoping that this plus the wistful look Danny gave them last week and Stan saying that things aren't great with Rachel doesn't mean that the show will get them back together. Frankly I'd rather they do Danny/Kono than that, or Danny/anybody, because Danny going back to Rachel feels like a step backwards for his character. He's the one who's seen the most growth and change, as both Steve and his work at 5-0 open him up, make him more adventurous and a little less like the spoil sport his brother accused him of being. (That said, if he was the older brother of someone relatively heedless like Matt, it makes sense that he'd be more about rules and order in reaction.)
Still, poor Danny. :(
Castle, "Setup." Can we stop with the trying to take Beckett off cases, since she just works them on her own anyway? Actually, I'll give the Cap a break because that's his job and she was too close to that other case, but show: don't use the same plot device twice in four episodes. Guy-who-married-a-Dixie-Chick was good as the DHS agent, though kind of predictable in his assholery.
But what was with the Inception-rip off score?
I kind of wish that Javier, being the veteran, weren't the one pushing for them to be a terror cell. I wish that he was like, you know, we helped a lot of people, or something. It would be more interesting for him to be more nuanced based on his experience than for him to be more gung-ho because of it. Because we all sort of know that it's the white cab driver that's behind it, right? That when they said, "just like Oklahoma City" it will end up being true in more ways than one?
In shippy news, Lanie calling Javier 'baby" at the crime scene and then being amused when her slip was pointed out and Javier just shaking his head was awesome (I knew I'd love them). I also loved everyone trying to get their families to leave town when they found out about the dirty bomb, and how Castle succeeded in actually doing so. Castle's reaction to Beckett posing with her bolt cutter was classic (as was Beckett posing in the first place) but best was all the super-sincere friendship stuff. I know I said this last week but I'm really really digging how Kate can be more herself around Rick because she's off the market. And I also love that her problem is that he's not around enough; guess that tough exterior is cracking.
Glee, "Blame It on the Alcohol." Ugh, biphobia. And kind of predictable, actually; of course Ryan Murphy is that guy who thinks all bi females are really performative but straight and all bi males are really confused but gay. Look, this season hasn't been the greatest but I've never liked the plots much anyway and at least now I can zip through them without cringing because I literally don't care. (I mean, the original songs? One will be sung by Rachel and one sung by Rachel and Finn. Whatever. The waste of talent on this show is astounding.)
What I did get was lots of Coach Bieste (or should I say Shannon the Cannon?) and I can't say no to that. I love actually getting to see her sing after watching her lip sync along with the kids for a few episodes. Also I loved watching her easily resist Will even though she was kinda drunk. Oh, and the Sue and Becky are really in Grease thing was awesome, as was the principal saying that Will has a sex and love addiction.
So: "Don't You Want Me" was whatever, and only that it was Blaine could I even work up a small amount of caring. "Blame it on the Alcohol" was vaguely funny because, Artie and Puck and Mercedes, but the song loses something when we can't see Ron Howard partying with a man in a panda suit. "Tik and also Tok" was pretty great but I like Brittany.
White Collar, "Payback."
Oh my god Peter and El. "We work."
Oh my god El and Neal, and El demanding that Neal do whatever he needs to do. That was one of my favorite scenes with El in a really long time.
Oh my god El and Mozzie. Mozzie kissing her on the head and bugging the Feds for her!
Oh my god Neal and Diana, with Diana being with Neal every step of the way and Neal telling her his story about his past and Diana totally knowing the kicker.
Oh my god Diana and Jones. They're like a well-oiled machine and I wonder if they're both more loyal to Peter than to the FBI.
Oh my god Neal and Mozzie and how much Neal completely trusts Mozzie.
Oh my god Neal and Peter and how Neal's starting to sound like a cop and the hug and "I want to talk to Neal" and omg this show.
God, this show. The relationships are so fantastic. Oh yeah and the case was really well done too.
Top Chef, "For the Gulf." Dale, I'm pouring one out for you my brother. Carla, get back in the game! Mike, stop being a dick. Richie, never stop being awesome. Tiffany, I wish I actually cared about you but I sort of don't (and I totally rooted for you in your season!) Antonia, you'd better be in the finale, baby!
Justified, "The I of the Storm." Nice to see Dewey Crowe again, and I love how everyone refers to him by his full name. God, he's such a moron but he makes such delightful trouble for everyone. I welcome the oncoming gangland warfare that Boyd so accurately and insightfully predicted.
Meanwhile Winona needs to work her shit out, and Raylan has every right to demand that of her. I don't know if I ship Ava and Boyd exactly, but whatever keeps Ava out of Raylan's bed I'm in favor of. I do love that Art's first thought was that Raylan had been out with Rachel.
Community, "Intro to Political Science." I think that this episode was supposed to air after the break, not before it, since Pierce had been in rehab, and it makes more sense for us to have a break after last week's episode, since it was so emotional and dramatic, than this week's. I'm still on the fence about Pierce, because he's still being more of a jerk than I find to be funny, but at least Vicki shoved a pencil in his cheek.
As for the election plot, I love how Annie admits that she mostly wanted to win, rather than wanting to get anything done, and I liked the dean's outfit of course. I wish they'd fish or cut bait on the Jeff/Annie thing, but that's so background that I can continue to not care.
I loved the little snapshots and Troy and Abed's entire commentary thing, and Troy discovering that Abed has little secret adventures all the time—his little love story with the secret service agent was really awesome. I loved Britta's bid for anarchy. I missed Shirley as usual (they need to get better about giving her tiny plots, the way they did for Pierce and Britta). And of course Jeff's a libertarian, jeez.
