Last week on TV - Apr. 13th-19th

Yes, I realize I went a whole month without writing up anything. And yes, I did watch more than two shows this week. I was actually about ready to call this whole experiment a complete failure, and give up, but then both of these episodes frustrated me so much that I had to write something.

Once Upon a Time - The Jolly Roger: I like Hook. I like the complexity of his character, and the way it's been developed up to this point. And it doesn't hurt that he really is a dashing rapscallion. But this episode wound up falling flat for me. Everything that I think was supposed to be a surprising plot twist was not. And then we ended with the overused cliche of the lovers who can't touch/kiss for some reason or another. Not saying that can't be done really, really well (see Pushing Daisies), but it can also be a total failure (think Dark Angel). And sadly, this is already feeling like the latter. I wanted to like this episode; it was centered on one of the best characters, and there were moments when I really felt like it had potential (watching Hook react to losing Emma could have made for a really good story), but it never got off the ground. Overall grade: B-

Supernatural - Meta Fiction: Interesting ideas, poor execution. I've found that with Robbie Thompson's scripts, I either really like them, or they feel very disjointed and poorly paced - no middle ground. And this episode was the latter. Sam needed more time to react to seeing Gadreel, and to seeing what Dean did to Gadreel. Gabriel felt off, but since he was basically just the result of Metatron writing fanfiction, I'd be willing to let that one slide. If all he's brought back for is a poorly written cameo (whether that be Robbie's or Metatron's fault), I'm going to be ticked, though. I'd really like to see that last eyebrow quirk pay off and him play a role in either the end of this season or the beginning of the next, but I feel like that's probably hoping for too much. And apparently the fandom was hoping for too much as we waited for Cas to find out about Dean and the Mark. That was probably the worst paced part of the episode. Seriously, guys? Ten seconds to show Cas' reaction?!? That should have been a scene right there! I swear, the only reason I didn't throw something through the TV screen was because at least Jensen and Misha put enough emotion into those ten seconds that I can pretend it happened differently and rewrite the scene in my head, given what they portrayed. This episode made me sad, because there were so many things that could have been brilliant and were just wasted. And now those opportunities are gone. Overall grade: C

Last week on TV - Mar. 2nd-8th

This is me attempting to get back to actually writing these mini reviews... I feel like this experiment is failing me.

Teen Wolf - The Fox and the Wolf: The way the Japanese internment camp/nogitsune origin story played out was incredible (and a perfect example of how to do exposition without boring your audience). And I'm a huge fan of Derek, Mr. Argent, the sheriff, and Allison all working together. Plus, having the sheriff comfort Allison was really nice - her breakdown made her seem more human and more likable. Gotta say, I'm loving Sheriff Stilinski a lot - he's smart, caring, and passionate about doing the right thing. Overall grade: B+

Supernatural - #THINMAN: Subtle, this episode was not... That didn't mean it wasn't good, though. I will admit to finding the Ghostfacers annoying the first time they appeared, back in season one, but after a few series rewatches, I've come to really like them. Yes, they're ridiculous - but it works for me. The story this week was interesting, the parallels to the Winchesters were nice, although more than a bit heavy-handed, and I actually really liked not getting to see Sam and Dean's reactions to those parallels quite yet. I also like it when episodes explore the darker side of human nature, rather than having a supernatural baddie - that's about the creepiest thing, in my opinion. Overall grade: B+

Growing Up Fisher - Blind Man's Bluff: This show is, in my opinion, a breath of fresh air in the arena of half-hour comedies. Sure, it's cheesy, and sappy, and fairly predictable, but somehow that's really working for me. It's refreshing to watch something that, while not being laugh-out-loud funny, still makes me smile because of the way it approaches living life. It's not yet another jaded sitcom, and I like that. The family interactions are well played, the blind-guy gag isn't overused, and I feel like all the characters have potential. Overall grade: B

NCIS: Los Angeles - Fish Out of Water: The Afghanistan storyline has dragged on too long. This week's episode should have been an exciting reveal regarding the White Ghost - Kensi obviously reacted when she saw him, and the audience is supposed to be left wondering who it could be (her ex-fiancee being the obvious choice). But I don't care anymore about who the White Ghost is. I just want the team back together, and Deeks to have his partner back. The LA case was decent, and Sam and Callen's banter was back on form. Also, I totally believe that Hetty invented the internet. Makes sense to me. Overall grade: B

Chicago Fire - Keep Your Mouth Shut: I'm just gonna come out and say it: Jones is an ass. I know she's probably going to undergo major character development, but right now I hate her enough that I really don't care. On a brighter note, I'm liking Severide's storyline, and also really liked Mouch finding himself without a couch - it was entertaining. Overall grade: B-

Arrow - The Promise: I liked this episode a lot. Was it my favorite of the season? Probably not, but it was up there. The best parts, for me, were little moments that stood out among the rest: Ivo's call to Jessica, Slade picking up the mask, Sara making Oliver promise to tell her family she died on the Gambit. And of course, Oliver donning the hood for the first time. Slade is a perfectly menacing villain - I'm looking forward to seeing more of him as the bad guy. Overall grade: A

Modern Family - Spring-a-Ding-Fling: The best part of this episode was Lily lying through her teeth and blaming everything on Joe. I totally used to do that with my younger siblings. I also liked seeing Haley step up and be there for her dad. She isn't mature yet, but she's getting closer. Cam and Mitch have been irking me in recent episodes and sadly, that was true again (which sucks because I did really like their dynamic). Overall grade: B-

The Tomorrow People - Enemy of My Enemy: I wish we saw more of Astrid and John and Russell, and less of Cara and Stephen. The show would be much better if they cut out the whole love tangle (it's not even a triangle - that's how messed up it is). Julian was a good enemy, and I felt like they wasted his potential. The only thing I really liked about the episode was Jedikiah - looks like Mark Pellegrino is stealing the spotlight on yet another show. Overall grade: C+

Last week on TV - Feb. 23rd-Mar.1st

Sadly, my motivation for writing up episodes has failed me this week. I watched a lot more shows, but these were the only two I bothered to write up...

How I Met Your Mother - Rally: I always like getting glimpses of Ted and the Mother in their life together - can you say, "Awww"? This episode wound up revolving around what's always been my favorite part of this show - how much this group of friends cares about one another. It wasn't as funny as some episodes have been, but seeing their love for each other made it a worthwhile watch. Overall grade: B

Arrow - Time of Death: Laurel reamed out Sara and Oliver, which needed to happen, but then was mature enough to move on and still love her sister. Diggle was, as always, the glue that holds the team together. Oliver had his moments, but also ticked me off with a lot of what he said to Laurel. And Felicity, even in her insecurity, was the hero of tonight's story, saving Sara and stopping the bad guy herself. Plus, she's mature enough to not be jealous of Sara. It was a much, much better episode than I was expecting. Overall grade: A-

Last week on TV - Feb. 16th-22nd

A lot of my shows weren't on again this week because of the Olympics, and given the amount of time I've spent watching various Olympic sports, I actually only managed to catch one new episode.

Teen Wolf - Letharia Vulpina: No big developments this week, but it was still a solid episode. The violence and darkness were definitely ramped up yet another notch, though, and the resulting tension played really well. I'm always happy to see Uncle Peter appear, because he is just the right mix of manipulative and creepy, and am also enjoying seeing more of Mr. Argent. The way the episode kept you guessing about the ultimate threat and end goal was handled nicely, and the ending pulled everything together well. Overall grade: B+

Last week on TV - Feb. 9th-15th

I've only managed to watch one new episode this week, thanks to the Olympics. Most of my shows are on break, and snowboarding and skiing took priority over Almost Human.

Teen Wolf - Riddled: Again, a dark episode that raised a lot of questions. Why did Lydia think Stiles was in the mental institution? Why was the kanji for "self" on the wall there? If Stiles was there, how could he also be out in the woods where he was found? I'm really liking Stiles having a big part to play, and Dylan O'Brien is doing a brilliant job. Stiles and Scott and Stiles' dad and Scott's mom's reactions to the fact that Stiles has the same disease that killed his mother were perfect (and heartbreaking, especially his father's). And the reveal that the monster that took Stiles was Stiles was handled well; again, kudos to O'Brien's acting. Overall grade: B+

Last week on TV - Feb. 2nd-8th

I've been having trouble settling down and focusing enough to write full-fledged reviews of episodes, so I'm going to try something new - a brief overview of the TV shows I've watched each week, along with episode ratings. We'll see how that goes...

How I Met Your Mother - Sunrise: An average episode - I liked the overall idea of Ted finally learning to really let go of Robin, because that needed to happen before he met the Mother. The resolution to Marshall and Lily's fight was also handled well - marriage isn't about winning or losing, it's about doing what's best for both of you, which might sometimes mean letting go of a dream or two and replacing them with something that's better in the long run. Barney passing along the playbook was kind of annoying. Yes, he's serious about settling down with Robin so his legacy passes to someone else, but I felt like we'd already covered that ground already (and better). Overall grade: B-

Teen Wolf - Silverfinger: This show surprised me earlier this season by turning away from the teenage angst and toward something much darker, and the episodes this year have continued that trend. The revelation that Stiles is possessed by the nogitsune wasn't entirely unexpected, but I felt it was handled brilliantly. This episode raised a lot of unanswered questions about Stiles' mother and Scott's father, as well as cementing Melissa McCall firmly as an awesome character. The Yakuza side of the episode was a little heavy on exposition, but that didn't ruin what was overall an episode on par with the ones leading up to it. Overall grade: B

Almost Human - Unbound: Cop procedurals always fare better with an overarching storyline to tie together otherwise unrelated episodes, and although we've had hints at this storyline before with bits of information about Insyndicate, I felt like this episode took a huge step forward with that. It's good to have a personal "big bad" rather than just a shadowy organization, and Vaughn's connection to Dorian should provide some interesting plot avenues. I'm also really curious about "the Wall" and what's on the other side - the show is expanding its universe beyond the confines of the city, and I can't wait to see what's out there. Looking back, the episode itself wasn't anything really special, but the potential that it revealed made me very excited for where the show is going to go from here. Overall grade: B

Supernatural - The Purge: I tried to like this episode, I really did. But the humor fell flat, the MotW wasn't interesting, the resolution to the case was extremely predictable... I wasn't impressed. The episode's only redeeming quality (aside from the boys wearing less layers than normal) was how the scenes at the bunker were handled, especially the ending one. I love Dean Winchester more than any other character on TV, but that conversation has needed to happen for years now. It hurt to hear Sam say those things, but the only way the brothers will ever find a happy ending is if they're able to work through this. I just hope Dean can see it that way. Overall grade: C-

NCIS: Los Angeles - War Cries: The bad guy was Colby from Numb3rs. Also, for so being tiny, Nell can kick some serious ass. And am I okay with Kensi and Deeks being apart for this long? Not really... It was a decent episode, but ever since Kensi left I feel like the dynamic of the whole team and of the show has been thrown off. Overall grade: B-

Arrow - Heir to the Demon: Most of the twists in this episode were things I expected to happen. I really liked Nyssa and Sara being lovers, and was also impressed by how Lance handled the news that his daughter is bi. I was much less of a fan of the ending scene with Oliver and Sara - even though I can see why it happened, I'd hoped they'd both matured past that. The best scene of the episode was probably Felicity confronting Moira - two strong women facing off. And I was glad Felicity didn't let Moira intimidate her, even though I hate to see her hurting. Overall grade: B+

Modern Family - iSpy: I've really been appreciating the way the show has been dealing with the kids growing up. And having Haley finally find something that she's good at made me happy (as did seeing the pictures she took - those were sweet). The other storylines didn't hold my attention very well - they weren't really funny or interesting. That's really been the story of this season for me, sadly. Overall grade: B-

The Tomorrow People - Things Fall Apart: So Stephen's mom is a Tomorrow Person too... I saw that coming about five episodes back, but it sets up some interesting possibilities. I wish they'd explored Cassie's heightened powers more, but maybe that will come later. And I'm not sure how Stephen hasn't been caught and stripped of his powers yet, since it's pretty obvious he's not on Ultra's side, given his recent interactions with Jedikiah and the Founder. Overall grade: B-

Enlisted - Rear D Day: I'm still on the fence about this show. On the one hand, it can be really funny or even occasionally play the "Aww" factor, but on the other hand, it can sometimes be borderline offensive. I think this episode bothered me because I hated the way the military spouse was presented for most of the time, even though he was sort of redeemed in the end. And the way the soldiers treated him wasn't okay, which the episode pointed out, but it tried to make it seem funny first. Up until this point, the show was growing on me after an iffy first episode, but now I'm back to not being sure what I think. Overall grade: C-

And that's it for this week - sadly, it was a rather disappointing week for my episodic shows. The Olympics started yesterday, though, so that will be on my TV a lot for a few weeks here.

SPN "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" review

After months of waiting, Hellatus is finally over, and there's a new episode of Supernatural to talk about! Yes, I realize the premiere was a week ago now. Yes, I know that means this review is going up really, really late (beating the new episode by about an hour). But my desire to write died a horrible, bloody death early last week (literally - I was working on a creepy story and I think I killed my muse along with my characters), and I only just got around to heading out to the crossroads to resurrect it...

So, here we go, on what will hopefully be the first of many positive reviews this season.

Supernatural Season 9, Episode 1 - I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here (season premiere)

Before I get into the minutia, I'd like to start by saying that for any season premiere of a show I really love, my expectations are generally extremely high. The anticipation has been building for months, I've seen every promo and preview clip, every interview, I've read all the spoilers I could get my hands on, and I've basically built my expectations to a point where it's practically impossible for the episode to actually meet them (I think that only happened once out of all the shows I've ever watched, with the premiere of Fringe's fifth season...) So I wasn't actually surprised when the episode wasn't everything I'd dreamed it would be, and was able to still really, really enjoy it for what it was.

Okay, time for the details.

First, "The Road So Far." What a great job encapsulating the entirety of season eight in one minute and forty seconds. Sometimes I feel like these lean too heavily towards just showing the best fights and such (which is still cool), but this one was really nicely done. It fit really well with the song that was used as well, and after having seen the episode a few times, I feel like the song worked nicely with the episode as a whole.

And then we're inside Sam's head (although we don't know that for sure at the start). This time through I had an interesting thought - Sam knows that the news is reporting meteor showers to explain the angels falling, which means at some level he is aware of the things he's hearing out in the real world. Which means that later on, at some level, he could very well have heard Dean and Ezekiel talking. I know Ezekiel wiped all the memories from the hospital at the end there, but what if Sam remembers? I don't actually think he will, but it hadn't occurred to me until now that if he does, he's not just going to be wondering why he was in the hospital, he's going to know what Dean and Ezekiel did. I hope I'm right and he doesn't remember, but it's still an interesting thought.

I'd also like to mention the way the camera keeps shifting slightly during the scenes in Sam's head, so that the angles feel off the whole time - it helps to sell the idea that this is a fluid environment, created solely by Sam himself. The way the later scenes are tinted also helps with this, as the world is lit by something that's not quite sunlight. It's a nice use of cinematography to allow us to visit yet another dimension, and it's also interesting to me that Sam's head now looks very different from Sam's head at the end of season six (more on that later).