this week in tv (and also last week)
Apr. 14th, 2011 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jlhWith only Castle and Justified on last week I kinda procrastinated on writing up anything, so last week's eps are in with this week's.
HIMYM, "The Exploding Meatball Sub." So I thought the tag was sort of ridic, though was that the first time we saw slightly older Robin? But other than that, it really was up there with the best HIMYM in terms of jokes and structure. I love that Robin has become the person who tries to get Barney to access his feelings. I love Ted when he's completely deluding himself. I love how Lily and Marshall are so dysfunctional they've wrapped back around to functional (though, no arguments? Lily gave Marshall back the ring.)
Hawaii 5-0, "Ma Ke Kahakai." OMG this show what the heck, with the "I ♥ you" (look the gif is everywhere, you've seen it by now) and the jealousy over signing casts. I've never really been in the Slash Fandom of the Nanosecond and it's definitely a very strange experience, but I also genuinely like the show and I thought the mystery itself was pretty well done. Scott Cahn is doing great work—so many idiosyncratic line readings, like "You think he's running?" just said very casually. And I'm glad we finally found out what the hell was going on with the money in the evidence locker and blah blah blah.
One thing I appreciate a lot is that Steve isn't keeping any secrets. He's consulting Danny about the weird stuff showing up on his doorstep, and Danny knows all about Jenna Kaye. It's such a trope on these shows for a character like Steve to keep this sort of thing a secret, but it's really annoying. That said, this show IS all about ohana so maybe they'd just never do that. Anyway I'm glad they're avoiding pointless secret keeping as plot device.
Castle, "Slice of Death." Man I TOTALLY CALLED IT that the lady was secret drug lord, as soon as she was screaming inside her apartment and then found only slightly hurt by an assailant who seemed to have vanished. I didn't catch the noir parallel, with the femme fatale and all, but it was a nice touch. And I adored that Castle used Beckett's advice word-for-word with Alexis, though her friend sounds seriously nutty.
"The Dead Pool." OMG shippy. Jealous and petulant Castle is highly entertaining. I wasn't that into the mystery this time but the relationship stuff? Also the little tribute to Cannell, sob! But mostly this episode was about Beckett declaring that she's a one-writer detective. So many ♥ &hearts, people. So many.
Justified, "Brother's Keeper." Whoop-dee-doo! I could stand to eat some of that chicken Ava was putting on Boyd's plate, I tell you what. And Mags sang! And Boyd is back on the bad side of the street because he's a very clever man, and then he started clog dancing! (That really was him, btw, no dance doubles here.) Poor Loretta though, and omg nail biting at the end! What a great action sequence at the end, too! Poor Coover, he just never had a chance.
"Debts and Accounts." So I was kinda mad when after all that Mags starts talking about how good Coover was at growing. Why didn't we hear that before? But other than that wibble, gosh, this episode was hard core even if it was mostly set up. So fun to see all the machinations, to see Boyd setting himself up as the new power, to see Dickie try to stand up to him and Boyd not even bother to push back because bitch, please. To see Mags choose Doyle even more decisively than she already had. To see that it was Mags and Helen that stopped the Raylan/Bennett fued (probably right after that fight on the baseball field where Raylan crippled Dickie). I love watching people exercising their power in that way.
Speaking of which, man, that chat between Art and Raylan was a punch in the gut, wasn't it? Ouch. Meanwhile most of the folks over on the comments at the AV Club think that the gunmen were really after Winona, not Raylan, but then why attack her when she was with him since he's always armed and definitely unpredictable?
THIS SHOW!
Community, "Competitive Wine Tasting." So glad to see them back. The usual dense web of jokes: "We got him?" "I know!" I loved the laugh track added to the scenes in the Who's the Boss class. (First, Mona is the boss. Second, I have read every script of both Who's the Boss and Golden Girls.)
I love the further exploration into how much of Jeff's self-confidence is wrapped up in his appearance and attractiveness. I also love that the last time we saw Professor Sean Garritty (love that he's back!) was a Jeff/Annie-centric episode, and now it's a Troy/Britta-centric one. Also Garrett! And "Nothing good can come of this" and how Britta is attracted to damaged men because it makes her feel better about herself, god, so Britta. (As was Britta disclosing on Troy's behalf at the party—I mean, that's actually not cool? I love that Britta keeps fucking up like this.)
Also while Jeff was to a certain extent acting selfishly, I think he really was trying to help Pierce avoid a bad situation. I loved that he brought them back together at the end. I feel like maybe that whole running through the rain learning how to be nice thing is paying off for him. (And that she called him Veronica Mars.)
HIMYM, "The Exploding Meatball Sub." So I thought the tag was sort of ridic, though was that the first time we saw slightly older Robin? But other than that, it really was up there with the best HIMYM in terms of jokes and structure. I love that Robin has become the person who tries to get Barney to access his feelings. I love Ted when he's completely deluding himself. I love how Lily and Marshall are so dysfunctional they've wrapped back around to functional (though, no arguments? Lily gave Marshall back the ring.)
Hawaii 5-0, "Ma Ke Kahakai." OMG this show what the heck, with the "I ♥ you" (look the gif is everywhere, you've seen it by now) and the jealousy over signing casts. I've never really been in the Slash Fandom of the Nanosecond and it's definitely a very strange experience, but I also genuinely like the show and I thought the mystery itself was pretty well done. Scott Cahn is doing great work—so many idiosyncratic line readings, like "You think he's running?" just said very casually. And I'm glad we finally found out what the hell was going on with the money in the evidence locker and blah blah blah.
One thing I appreciate a lot is that Steve isn't keeping any secrets. He's consulting Danny about the weird stuff showing up on his doorstep, and Danny knows all about Jenna Kaye. It's such a trope on these shows for a character like Steve to keep this sort of thing a secret, but it's really annoying. That said, this show IS all about ohana so maybe they'd just never do that. Anyway I'm glad they're avoiding pointless secret keeping as plot device.
Castle, "Slice of Death." Man I TOTALLY CALLED IT that the lady was secret drug lord, as soon as she was screaming inside her apartment and then found only slightly hurt by an assailant who seemed to have vanished. I didn't catch the noir parallel, with the femme fatale and all, but it was a nice touch. And I adored that Castle used Beckett's advice word-for-word with Alexis, though her friend sounds seriously nutty.
"The Dead Pool." OMG shippy. Jealous and petulant Castle is highly entertaining. I wasn't that into the mystery this time but the relationship stuff? Also the little tribute to Cannell, sob! But mostly this episode was about Beckett declaring that she's a one-writer detective. So many ♥ &hearts, people. So many.
Justified, "Brother's Keeper." Whoop-dee-doo! I could stand to eat some of that chicken Ava was putting on Boyd's plate, I tell you what. And Mags sang! And Boyd is back on the bad side of the street because he's a very clever man, and then he started clog dancing! (That really was him, btw, no dance doubles here.) Poor Loretta though, and omg nail biting at the end! What a great action sequence at the end, too! Poor Coover, he just never had a chance.
"Debts and Accounts." So I was kinda mad when after all that Mags starts talking about how good Coover was at growing. Why didn't we hear that before? But other than that wibble, gosh, this episode was hard core even if it was mostly set up. So fun to see all the machinations, to see Boyd setting himself up as the new power, to see Dickie try to stand up to him and Boyd not even bother to push back because bitch, please. To see Mags choose Doyle even more decisively than she already had. To see that it was Mags and Helen that stopped the Raylan/Bennett fued (probably right after that fight on the baseball field where Raylan crippled Dickie). I love watching people exercising their power in that way.
Speaking of which, man, that chat between Art and Raylan was a punch in the gut, wasn't it? Ouch. Meanwhile most of the folks over on the comments at the AV Club think that the gunmen were really after Winona, not Raylan, but then why attack her when she was with him since he's always armed and definitely unpredictable?
THIS SHOW!
Community, "Competitive Wine Tasting." So glad to see them back. The usual dense web of jokes: "We got him?" "I know!" I loved the laugh track added to the scenes in the Who's the Boss class. (First, Mona is the boss. Second, I have read every script of both Who's the Boss and Golden Girls.)
I love the further exploration into how much of Jeff's self-confidence is wrapped up in his appearance and attractiveness. I also love that the last time we saw Professor Sean Garritty (love that he's back!) was a Jeff/Annie-centric episode, and now it's a Troy/Britta-centric one. Also Garrett! And "Nothing good can come of this" and how Britta is attracted to damaged men because it makes her feel better about herself, god, so Britta. (As was Britta disclosing on Troy's behalf at the party—I mean, that's actually not cool? I love that Britta keeps fucking up like this.)
Also while Jeff was to a certain extent acting selfishly, I think he really was trying to help Pierce avoid a bad situation. I loved that he brought them back together at the end. I feel like maybe that whole running through the rain learning how to be nice thing is paying off for him. (And that she called him Veronica Mars.)
no subject
Date: 2011-04-15 10:09 pm (UTC)I follow The A.V. Club too so I saw the idea the hitmen were after Winona. Hmm...I could believe it because Gary is getting involved with that guy again and maybe Winona has sensed something so that's why she hasn't really contacted Raylan recently and then had him drive her to the attorney's place. But then, I'm sure a lot of people want Raylan dead, so now I could see it playing out either way. But I wouldn't be surprised if Raylan gets hurt at season's end and the third season has him coming out of recovery.
Really enjoyed last night's Community as well. It made me crave Fringe/Community crossover and just feel good all around. Jeff's motives did initially come from a selfish place but I think he was also worried for Pierce. I liked Pierce's girlfriend as well, especially that they could keep up with each other.
Troy and Britta were so sweet but do you think they mirror Jeff/Annie in a sense?
no subject
Date: 2011-04-18 03:56 pm (UTC)How do you see Troy/Annie mirroring Jeff/Annie? I really liked Troy's little thing at the end about Britta maybe liking someone who was just normal. There was a post on fandom secrets a few weeks ago that was all, "Troy/Britta shippers are just Jeff/Annie shippers shipping the leftovers" and I wanted to push this episode in their face. I'm really not a Jeff/Annie shipper at all, but while I'm not a Troy/Britta shipper I thought they were super adorable.