How I Met Your Mother: "Legendaddy"- I don't really understand CBS's strategy of airing week after week of repeats, airing one new episode, then going back to several weeks of repeats, but nonetheless, CBS aired this rather pivotal episode admist the sea of repeats. And it was pretty good. I'd go as far to say that the Barney's dad storyline is the strongest storyline this season and this episode continued the trend. John Lithgow is always entertaining and he was good and both Barney's pretend image and the real thing. The basketball hoop scene was a great showcase for both Lithgow and Harris, as was the following scene, although the last shot felt more than a little bit contrived.
Chuck: "Chuck vs the Muuurder"- The Chuck producers have been building up a "Ten Little Indians" style episode for quite some time and it was hard not to get excited. And some expectations were met, some were not. For example, the creepy atmosphere of a locked-down Castle was just right for the mood the show was attempting to go for, but the mystery itself was much too predictable. The other Chucks were fun (even if my favorite got killed off first) and the show seemed to finally be getting itself back to the main storyline it picked up for a couple episodes than suddenly neglected for a few episodes, although it was just kind of thrown out there. The episode also provided a good amount of character development for Chuck through the new Director character, who really was not fleshed out enough. She was just the token strict CIA agent the show turned out all the time back in season 1.
Community: "Critical Film Studies"- This one warrents a lengthier review in a separate post.
The Office: "Garage Sale"- In a lot of cases, a show that has gotten stale can regain quite a bit of momentum with an end in sight. The Office, while not necessarily heading towards a definitive end, is heading for the end of an era with the departure of Steve Carell looming in the very near future. Towards the beginning of the season, this resulted in a lot of misses for the Steve Carell Departure Tour, some of which were just unwatchable. But since the Christmas episode and the return of Holly, things have really picked up. The Office is churning out better episodes than it had since its glory days and this episode was another in what is becoming a long line. Obviously, the big point of this episode was the proposal, and it was admittedly the best part, but the rest of the episode provided some great entertainment as well. The Jim vs Dwight storyline was one of the best in recent memory and the brief Dallas board game storyline that was sweet and just the perfect length (and Kevin got a win). Then I guess this episode officially launched the farewell Michael storyline, and while I do feel that some elements, like Holly's parents, should have been introduced a while ago, the proposal and subsequent announcement were very sweet and bittersweet, respectively. My one complaint about the proposal is that, while the candles were a very sweet way to do the proposal, they were really just meaningless beyond the fact they were just candles. It seemed like with all the buildup, Michael's idea wouldn't be so trivial.
Parks and Recreation: "Camping"- This episode was tasked with the duty of starting a new arc. At least that's what it seemed like. After the Harvest Festival last week, and all the talk about a "new idea" this week, it felt like it should. But I don't know if it did. It planted seeds, sure. It provided a reason for the return of Rob Lowe's character. But beyond that, I'm not sure where they're going from here. Maybe the idea is that Leslie is now seen as a great ideamaker , but can't think of another great idea to save her life, but that seemed to conclude in this episode Otherwise, the highlights were a brief DJ Roomba cameo and the fantastic "out of left field" tag.
30 Rock: "Plan B"- This is another show where a certain arc seems to be giving the show a lot of momentum. I've kind of always wanted to see 30 Rock do an arc where TGS faces the danger of cancellation and I'm really enjoying how it's playing out. This episode was interesting in the way it sidelined almost all characters except for Jack, Liz, and maybe Kenneth. Devon Banks made an entertaining return, although he is still far from what I would call a strong character. I don't know whether this arc is going to conclude in the upcoming hour-long 100th episode or the season finale, but either way I hope it goes out strong.
Fringe: "Bloodline"- Fringe has had a dynamite season. I can't even think of any episodes that I wouldn't say were good. The show finally realized its potential in terms of epic arcs and creative standalone episodes. With four episodes left in the season, things are really getting interesting (and the last couple episode titles of the season have me intrigued ("6:02 AM EST", referring to the time that had been popping up subliminally all season long, "The Last Sam Weiss", and "The Day We Died) and this episode saw a return to "over there". This episode was chock full of interesting plot developments for Walternate, Fauxlivia, and friends. For a second there, I thought they might have actually killed Fauxlivia and it really made me sad, which is incredible considering she's technically a villain.
No comments:
Post a Comment