Hello and welcome back to Last Week in TV. In anticipation of a few extra days off for the holidays, this edition is much smaller than last week's. I hope to get caught up and power pack next Monday's offering. How are you guys doing on your TV watching? Are things piling up for the midseason hiatus? I hope you saved yourself something to look forward to over the break. The Last Ship, The Americans, Dexter season 2, and Merlin season 2 are on my to-watch list. Possibly Daredevil if I have the time. If you have a suggestion of another show for me to watch, simply fill out the 2 question nomination form again. This week's show was Jane the Virgin, a fun distraction. (Just a reminder Nashville fans, I have already reviewed Nashville once this season so I will not feature it again. Sorry. I prefer to cover more shows and besides, Jessica is already doing a bang up job of reviewing the show.) Here's wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving if you are celebrating it and a great week if you are not. Until next time, happy TV viewing.
Nominated Episode
Jane the Virgin will not be for everyone. It's definitely different from anything else on TV these days. I watched about half of the first season but then dropped it for other shows when my schedule got tight. This episode was a fun reminder of how unique Jane the Virgin is though. By far the best thing about this show is the Villanueva women. They are tough, loving, and always have each others' backs. TV has a distinct lack of positive female relationships but they are the very heart of this show. My favorite is Alba because she's so no nonsense and feisty that she reminds me of Dorothy on Golden Girls. Getting a little flashback of her was great and helped round out her character for me. Plus it lead to the best moment of the episode, the heartfelt baptismal speech to their babies. Even I got a little sniffly at those beautiful words. This episode worked also because some of the things I didn't like in season 1 were more tempered here. I'm not a fan of Rogelio, but he had some good lines in this one. Plus Petra is now more fun as straight up villainess than she was playing the "woe is me" game like before. She was actually one of my favorite characters. Even the voice overs didn't bug me like they used to. Sadly there is still he obnoxious love triangle that is likely to never go away, which keeps me from putting Jane the Virgin on the midseason marathon list. Other than that and a bit too much cheese for my taste, this episode was pretty fun. Best of all, the previouslies really do get you caught up so you can jump right into an episode and check it out yourself.
Grade: B
Best Reason to Watch - the 3 woman who make up the Villanueva family
Best Scene - the multigenerational speech
Best Character - tie - Alba is fantastic as the no-nonsense abuela and Petra makes me laugh as the villainess
Best Hallucination - future Matteo moving to Russia
Best Hashtag - #AmbushSprayTan
Best Moment - Alba starts flicking Xo with water in a new baptism
Biggest What the Heck? - How in the world can anyone find being kidnapped romantic?
Biggest Oops - Matteo starts crying during Jane's class and she accidentally sends the baby carriage flying into the professor
Biggest Bwah - "Make Love Week" is the shark week of telenovelas
Biggest Huh? - There are linguistic differences between psychopaths and sociopaths? Who knew?
Most Effective - Petra's 3 option plan
Most Sweet Moment??? - Rogelio decides not to work with his ex so he c an focus on Xo
Smartest Choice - professor decides Jane should e-mail instead of call him ever again
Worst Advice - anything that comes from Rogelio
Weirdest Plan - narrating every single thing to the baby
The "I Beg to Differ" Award - Jane, you may have a wild imagination but I'm pretty sure no normal person could ever dream up the wild turns that this show takes.
The "Welcome Back" Award - Judy Reyes from Scrubs / Katherine Boecher aka Lilith from Supernatural
Best Quote -
1. Voice Over: "I'd tell you what's going on, but I'm a little confused myself."
2. Petra: "I'm not interested in being a single mother. No, I had one. That was hard." Jane: "Yeah that's because your mom is evil, not single."
3. Jane: "Lina confirmed and she said that she would wear something church appropriate, but that probably means the black dress from Madonna's Like a Prayer video."
4. Michael: "I'm a police officer. An emergency means someone is dead." Rogelio: "Well you look like a corpse. Close enough."
5. Girl: "Cool diary." Michael: "Oh it's not a diary." Girl: "Then can I read it?" Michael: "No." Girl: "Then it's a diary."
Episode of the Week
Now that's the How to Get Away with Murder that I have been missing all season long. It was intense with one cool twist after another, some I didn't see coming at all. The directing and acting were topnotch as well and the hour raced by. Sure, all these deaths are getting ridiculous and there's no way they would be able to pull this all off but it is an intense ride. Never have I loved a show where I hate all the characters more than H2GAwM's first season. This episode has all the classic hallmarks of what made it such a stellar must-see show last year. Annalise has gone straight up bat guano crazy and one thing after another falls apart. Watching her go psycho is fascinating and Viola Davis is well on her way to earning a consecutive Emmy. I also loved how many of the big secrets are out in a nonstop confession of murder and cover up. Asher now knows what they have all been hiding and he is stuck in his own cycle of hell as well, which cements him to the group. Oliver's now the only outsider and hopefully he stays one. That's not a club you want to join. Overall this is exactly how you go on midseason hiatus. It also makes it the first solid A episode of the season. See what How to Get Away with Murder can do when it leaves everybody's sex lives off the screen.
Grade: A
Best Reason to Watch - the frenetic pace
Best Scene - Annalise frantically tries to get someone to shoot her
Best Back Story - Wes
Best Acting / Best Directing - The spin shot with an overwhelmed Annalise that stops spinning the second she comes up with the plan. Brilliant in the acting and the directing. Kudos to all involved.
Best Twist - Asher kills Sinclair
Best Reaction - the students to seeing Sinclair's body
Best Annalise - Bonnie, who becomes Asher's lawyer and cover-up specialist
Best Leverage - Annalise tells Asher about Sam's murder to keep Connor and Michaela from leaving
Biggest Game Changer - Annalise tells Wes that Rebecca's dead
Biggest Twist - Asher's dad commits suicide
Biggest Say What? - What the heck do Annalise and Eve have to do with Wes' mom? Is that actually the first murder or did they drive her to commit suicide?
Biggest Surprise from the Previous Episode - Asher left the car to pay for a car wash and not to go to the police as the cut made it look like
Biggest Facepalm - Caleb, why would you get your fingerprints all over that gun? Why?
Biggest Hmm - Asher's car has very little damage for a hit and run
Biggest Douche - Sinclair, even if she died
Best Plan - Wes calls Nate and lets him in on the plan
Worst Plan - everyone wants to destroy evidence as a first resort
Most Despicable - Annalise, who manipulates with the best of them
Most Honorable??? - Caleb, who at least does not want to abandon his sister without letting her explain her side of things
The "Like Sam Before You" Award - I shed no tears over Sinclair's death.
The "Turnabout's Fair Play" Award - if Sinclair is going to psychotically fixate on Annalise and Nate, then it's his turn to put the heat on her with a lawsuit
The "When You're Right, You're Right" Award - Connor is dead right in saying that he wants nothing to do with this new murder
The "Poor Baby" Award - Asher breaks down in her car over his father's death
Best Music - Summoning of the Muse by Dead Can Dance
Best Quotes -
1. Bonnie: "We can't keep doing this, Frank. We say we're just protecting ourselves but there's a point when we're the ones people need to be protected from and that's who we've become. Don't you see that?"
2. Michaela: "Okay but just think for a second." Connor: "No more excuses. We know better this time."
3. Asher: "I can't look." Bonnie: "That's okay. You don't have to."
4. Bonnie: "There is no decision here. It was already made and you agreed so either get on board or you're the next dead body out there."
5. Annalise: "Laurel, you could do this. You've been through worse with your father. And you help us always and I need for you to do it again." Laurel: "Maybe we should go to jail for everything. Maybe that's okay."
Guest Reviews
BY Emma
Picking up where we left off last week, Reid has gone to Vegas to visit his mom and the threat to Garcia has landed Garcia in witness protection. Hopefully, it goes better for our favorite tech goddess than it did for Haley. Seriously though, the team has been targeted so many times before you’d think the FBI would have converted a couple floors to an employee hideout by now. But, crazed psychos targeting our heroes have never stopped them before so on to the case of the week we go. This week’s case centers on every parent’s worst nightmare – the abduction and murder of their child. While the unsub does horrible things to his victims, the amount of pain he is experiencing from the loss of his child is an understandable catalyst to his killing. It’s not very often that Criminal Minds allows us to empathize with the unsub and in the end, his death was both tragic and merciful.
Grade: B
Best Reason to Watch – being able to empathize with the unsub for a change
Best Scene – Rossi and Morgan imitating Reid
Best Character Interaction – JJ, Morgan and Lewis on the elevator
Most Missed – Reid
Best Mime – Derek inferring nursing after JJ declines caffeine
Most Heartbreaking – the unsub’s story
The “That’s Going to Give Me Nightmares” Award – stapling the eyelids open
The “Welcome Back” Award – Todd Lowe of True Blood / Gloria Votsis of White Collar
Best Quotes:
1. JJ voiceover: “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body but you will never imprison my mind. Gandhi.”
2. JJ voiceover: “Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death. Coco Chanel.”
BY Jessica VanWinkle
Maddie Conrad has to be the brattiest teenager alive. She makes me want to reach through my TV screen and strangle her. But since I can’t do that, I’ll just settle for complaining about her in my review. She thinks Rayna is ruining her life, she’s rude to Daphne, and now she seems to be mad at Deacon too. Even when Rayna gives her a record deal, she’s still mad because she thinks her mom is trying to control her. I think I would be fine never seeing her again. Okay, I feel better now. Moving on to better things. I love watching and listening to Scarlett and Gunnar sing together. Their voices just seem to complement each other. I could have used less of Erin this week, and I didn’t need the Caleb and Scarlett scenes either. I also liked listening to Avery sing the song that Will wrote. The song was beautiful, and I liked that they added the scenes with him and Juliette. I love Gunnar and Will’s bromance, but I’m glad that Will and Avery’s friendship is being developed more. What relationship doesn’t need to be developed? Rayna and Markus. I’m fine with them as friends, but writers, please don’t make a Deacon/Rayna/Markus love triangle. That’s the last thing this show needs. Viewers have been waiting years for Rayna and Deacon to be happy together. Don’t mess that up, especially for Markus Keen. Unfortunately, I had to give this episode a ‘C’ rating because I just didn’t think it was very good. Way too much time was spent on Maddie, and I really feel like we didn’t get anywhere. I was disappointed especially since I liked last week’s episode so much. I hope the next few episodes are better especially since the show is going on a long midseason break soon.
Grade: C
Best Scene - Avery sings Will’s song at the Bluebird and remembers moments with Juliette
Best Reason to Watch - Beautiful singing.
Characters Who Should Leave - Erin, Gabriella, and Caleb. They add nothing to the show.
Most Missed Character - Juliette. Get better soon, Hayden.
Biggest Brat - Maddie Conrad. I feel like a broken record with this one.
Worst Relationship Idea - Rayna and Markus. I’m begging the writers not to do this.
Funniest Scene - Avery playing his guitar for “Call Big Al!”
BY Swanpride
Wow...just wow. I really have no idea where to start. The show is already great but it just keeps getting better and better. Granted, this was mostly a heist episode and I am a sucker for a good heist. Or two, even though Ward's heist is lacking stealth. It doesn't matter because he makes up for it by being a cheeky b*** from start to finish. While Ward reminds everyone that he always has something up his sleeve, the other characters get busy in a set-up, in which every single one of them plays an important role. There is nothing I enjoy as much as old-fashioned team work, especially if it results in yet another reveal I didn't quite see coming. Though I admit I am not quite sure how I feel about it yet. It certainly shifts the whole MCU into a new light. And then there is the kiss. The kiss Fitzsimmons fans have waited way too long for. And wasn't it satisfying to hear Fitz complaining about the Cosmos (read: Scriptwriters) keeping them apart? But I mostly like how the writers manage to portray Simmons turmoil in a realistic manner. It is the kind of relationship drama I can get behind, because it is not born out of misunderstanding but real life obstacles - well, what passes for real life in the MCU. And I have the feeling that it just became even more crazy.
Grade: A+
Best Reason to Watch - Two heists for the price of one! It can't get better than that.
Best Scene - Does the whole episode count?
Best Character - Hunter. I admit he had me with his wardrobe choice, but watching Nick Blood pretending to be Hunter who pretends to be an even bigger annoyance than usual while trying to pass as an hacker was impressive to see.
Best Team-up - May and Lincoln. I love the way the show keeps throwing different characters together and this particular one yielded into an unexpected talk
Best Prop - Bobbi's new batons. Awesome!
Best Action - Ward taking out all his attackers
Best Effect - May taking off
Most Ridiculous - Why waste time controlling two weapons with your special powers when there are two armed agents beside you who can start shooting immediately?
Biggest Head Scratcher - What was the name of the German town the vault was located? I suspect the writers did pick an existing town, but the English accent mangled the name so much, I was unable to figure it out.
My Prediction of the Week - I am worried about Fitzsimmons! There is no way that Malick isn't interested in the gal who travelled through the monolith and the guy who brought her back.
Best Quote:
1. Rosalind: "Hello It-department which only calls me when there is a problem. What is the problem?"
2. Bobbi: "Andrew is a PHD in psychology, now he is a specimen."
3. Luther: "If you're worried you can't trust me, worry on the move."
New Shows
Medical dramas are really not my thing and I am already attached to the characters of Code Black so it's not likely that I will stay much longer with Chicago Med. It's got a decent bone structure and the pacing from one trauma to another is right on track. If you don't like one story, it will quickly move to another one. That works well for the plot but it can hamper the first impressions of the characters. The only one that feels even a little fleshed out is Dr. Charles, although I see Manning getting there pretty quickly too. Other than that, you've got the 2 hotshot doctors fighting for alpha male status and another one just doing his job. The two nurses we meet were pretty awesome and it's obvious that they make a tight trio with Manning. I'd love to see that develop more. Other than that, it's a typical medical drama. It's not groundbreaking but it's comfortable and if you're searching for a new medical drama, this might be the show for you. In all honesty, there's only one reason why I am giving this show space for 2 more weeks on my already crowded schedule - Colin Donnell. I still think Arrow's season 1 finale was one of the best episodes I have ever seen and because of that I still miss Tommy Merlyn. He may be under a different name here, but it's worth the 2 extra hours just to honor a good actor whose character got shafted.
Grade: B-
Ranking - 2
Audience - I think anyone who enjoys medical dramas that are more in the vein of ER will like this one
Best Reason to Watch - there's a frenetic pace but they still stop for the heart moments
Best Scene - Goodwin talks the biological mother into doing the right thing
Best Awww Scene -Jaime agrees to a ventilator for Dr. Charles and Dr. Charles watches his movie for Jaime
Best Visual - Choi grabbing a new patient's hand as he's wheeled in
Most Tragic Back Story - Manning's significant other was a soldier who died
Most Creepy - keeping people alive so they can deliver a baby
Most Depressing - they find an engagement ring in a guy's belongings, give it to the fiancé, and then he dies
Biggest Hmm - There are really 7 Fast and Furious movies? Why?
The "Welcome Back" Award - Colin Donnell, whom I very much miss as Tommy on Arrow / Oliver Platt from my favorite version of The Three Musketeers / S. Epatha Merkerson from Law & Order
Best Quotes -
1. Lawyer: "It's so much easier to run a hospital without doctors."
2. Halstead: "Hey, I am not arrogant." Manning: "No, no, not at all. You just happen to know more than anybody else."
3. Rhodes: "We're past what Jamie wants." Charles: "You know what, doctor? We're actually not past what Jaime wants."
4. Rhodes: "Is every day like this?" Goodwin: "Some days we're busy."
5. Sexton: "You know we do have a couple of doctors around here. I could hook you up."
3 minutes in and we've already got someone fighting with a sword, plus a total kick butt warrior who can take out an entire gang with his bare hands. Color me interested if not a little grossed out by the fly-ridden corpses and blood. The middle slows down big time but that beginning is dead on and at the 30 minute mark, it is all sword fights again. I'm a sucker for a great sword fight and quite frankly, this show needs more of them. There's less exposition in this pilot than many but it still drags in the middle, trying to set up the mythos. Essentially the world went to hell again and out of it emerged 6 barons, who now run everything and enslave the people. The barons are gearing up for a major war and Sonny, the head soldier for one baron, is having second thoughts about his life. His girlfriend gets pregnant and for some reason this means that either she or the child must die. I don’t get it but I'm sure it will be explained later. It might have something to do with the fact that women are treated like property. On his rounds, Sonny finds a kid who is wanted by another baron because he turns into some weird, demon fighter ninja at the sight of his own blood. He's special and he may know a way out of the Badlands. Anyone thinking that this kid and Sunny are likely to team up in the next couple of episodes earns a shiny medal. $20 bucks says they do. It boils down to a trained killer with a heart of gold looking for a way out set against a backdrop of a potential coup and straight up war. And did I mention it has sword fights? Sign me up for at least 2 more episodes.
Grade: B+
Ranking - 5
Audience - anyone who loves action or dystopian futures
Best Reason to Watch - swordfights
Best Scene - beginning action scene
Best Surprise - Sunny is learning to read
Biggest Idiot - MK, who has no patience at all
Biggest Hmm - If he's destined to die in the morning anyway, why doesn't MK just cut himself on purpose and hulk out? Surely those chains won't be able to keep him in.
Least Likely to be Loyal - Sunny, who doesn't much appreciate his Baron
Most Tiresome - the Baron's endless monologuing about how he made Sonny
The "Say What?" Award - that kid just morphed into Supernatural demon eyes? Wasn't expecting that.
The "A Little Warning Please" Award - no shots of glass in the eyes please without a big scrolling warning
The "Welcome Back" Award - Orla Brady aka Peter's mom on Fringe
Best Quotes -
1. Lydia: "He needs me, Ryder, and he always will. I still have his head and his heart. I gladly bequeath to her everything to the south."
2. Sunny: "I like Cat in the Hat better."
3. MK: "Why are you helping me?" Sunny: "Because I never had a choice. Now you do."
4. Baron: "So that's what this is about. Are you planning a wedding or a wake?" Lydia: "He's gonna succeed you one day." Baron: "Power's not inherited, Lydia. It's taken." Lydia: "Perhaps you prefer he cut off your head?"
5. MK: "You got a name or do you just show up, kill people, and live?" Sunny: "If I tell you, will you shut up?" MK: "Can't make any promises."
On one hand, I said, "Wow, this is slow" at 18 minutes in. On the other hand, she's a kick butt super hero who doesn't flaunt her super powers. Perhaps it's the fact that I don't read comic books, but I never know anything about what's going on in the pilot of Netflix Marvel shows. The general gist is that she's a superhero working as a private investigator who is hiding out from a supervillain telepath that controlled her and forced her to do things she didn't want to do. She's definitely psychologically scarred and possibly more vulnerable than most superheroes on TV. In tone, being purposely vague, and even some of the pacing problems, this was like Daredevil, except with far less action. Therefore I liked it less. Still she's a kick butt woman and there's too few of those on TV. I will give it another episode before deciding whether this is midseason or summer fare. Chances are that I watch Daredevil first. This pilot was more a case of decent premise with bad execution.
Grade: C-
Ranking - 2/3 depending on the second episode
Audience - those who love Marvel shows and aren't afraid of some snooze-worthy pacing
Best Reason to Watch - it's another female who will probably kick butt in future episodes
Best Scene / Best Twist - Hope kills her parents under the influence of Kilgrave
Best Plan - pulling the fire alarm to get all the people out
Best Bluff - laser eyes, ha!
Biggest Douche - Spheeris
Biggest Evil - Kilgrave
Best Music - I've Got a Woman by Ray Charles
Most in Need of Improvement - the pacing, which left me yawning throughout
The "Welcome Back" Award - Carrie Moss from The Matrix / Krysten Ritter from Veronica Mars / Mike Colter from Ringer, who apparently gets his own Luke Cage series / Rachael Taylor from Crisis
Best Quotes -
1. Jessica: "Do I look like I'm hiding? No. You want to know why? Because no one wants to know. They want to feel safe. They'd rather call you crazy than admit that I can lift this car. Or that I can melt your insides with my laser eyes, which won't leave a trace."
2. Jessica: "I'm not gonna beg you for a case. I will ask you though, very strongly."
3. Man: "Oh, you killed my art." Jones: "Mercy killing."
4. Jessica: "It's people like you that give people like you a bad name."
5. Jessica: "Hope's going overboard to make her boyfriend happy. She's either an idiot in love or she's being conned, which amount to pretty much the same thing."
Weekly Shows
It's the typical "background on the ex" episode, which is only surprising in how quickly it came up. Also in that it appears the ex is here to stay. That's neither a good or bad thing yet, since after being on screen an hour, we still don't know much about Pamela except that she's a lawyer and she has terrible taste in men. One huge plus though is that the CIA director is now dead so no worries about him anymore. I am also beginning to think that Natalie's husband isn't really dead or why else would it matter that he was committing adultery? I guess his death could be suspicious and tie into the coup that way instead but it is connected in some way if my TV plot twist radar is accurate. Of course the plot and the characters are still secondary to the action in this show and that's again where it shined. No, none of it is in any way believable (bad guys still can't shoot) but it makes for a great ride. Keep it coming, Agent X.
Grade: B
Best Reason to Watch - all the action
Best Scene - John getting Pamela out of the safe house
Best Choreography - fight to Tchaikovsky
Best Play - Vice President bluffs the bigwigs in poker
Most Fun Interaction - John vs. the security guard
Biggest Moron - Pamela for using her cell phone in a crisis and leading the bad guys to the safe house
Biggest Say What? - How is it that the CIA director cannot lie well?
Coolest Car - John's Mustang
Smartest Plan - call the cell phone of the last person the dead guy called
Best Surprise - Pamela's fiancé is the bad guy
Least Surprising - the guy who was going to tell and the guy who failed both died
Worst Surprise - the dead guy cheated on Natalie
Worst Job Requirement - having to dump your loved ones to be Agent X
Worst TV Trope - bad guys can't shoot….ever
Worst Timing - don't stop to kiss when there may be people trying to shoot you still, you dummies
Best Quotes -
1. Pamela: "I may not be a trained killer but I'm pretty sure a first aid Brownie badge is for life."
2. Millar: "Are you stealing a car?" John: "She also got the Mustang." Millar: "Is she available for your job?"
3. John: "What are you going to do with Williams?" Millar: "Awful car wreck…like this whole operation."
4. Cromwell: "You interrupt me one more time and the next person who finds you will be operating a backhoe."
5. Cromwell: "Pamela Richardson? What Bob Woodward wasn't available?"
6. John: "Call me Richard." Pamela: "Great. I get to call you Dick."
This was an unusual episode for me because for once I didn't even know the technology they wanted me to fear existed. However I did like the twists even if they were largely transparent; the guest actors were topnotch too. I still say that Star-Crossed was one of the most underrated shows I've seen, at least when they were not pushing the teen romance angle. It was good to see Matt Lanter back and given such a meaty role. He really sold Tristan's anguish and psychosis to me. Here's hoping that Arjay Smith returns as Nelson's brother as well. I'd like to learn more about Nelson's past so having his brother possibly indicted by the FBI will allow us to see more of that.
Grade: B
Best Reason to Watch - guest stars
Best Scene - Avery interrogates Tristan
Best Plan - identifying the bracelet through facial recognition
The "Poor Baby" Award - father finds that a family friend killed his daughter and then is arrested when he kills the murderer
Best Back Story - Nelson's brother
Best Way to Avoid Copyright Infringement - using Friend Agenda instead of Facebook
Biggest Head Shake - Krumitz calls the other analysts "minions"
Biggest Hmm - So the guy who has been shut up in his apartment for years suddenly gets a gun in what? An hour? How does that happen?
Most Unnecessary - watching the parents watching their daughter get murdered
Least Surprising - Tristan has been cyber stalking the victim / Isabelle's boss is the murderer
Worst Plan - snooping in the FBI files when you are on probation
Worst Nightmare - watching your daughter being stabbed to death while you can't do anything about it
Technology to Fear / The "So This is Really a Thing" Award - Cross-country sex toys. Say what? Huh?
The "Welcome Back" Award - Arjay Smith from Perception / Matt Lanter from Star-Crossed / Bruce Nozick from The Last Ship
Best Quotes -
1. Raven: "You're looking at device that loaded malware on Isabelle's laptop." Elijah: "Gives new meaning to the word sexually transmitted."
2. Nelson: "Buying a sex toy was awkward but the lingerie was totally natural?"
3. Krumitz: "Well this is great but there's no 'random stuff we own' database to search."
4. Nelson: "That is not true, Jordan. We're blood but it wasn't me that decided we weren't family."
5. Nelson: "No. Keep your lips to yourself, Casanova."
Woo hoo! Henry's back! I still don't buy that hokey reason they gave for him leaving so I am doubly enthused for Barry to have 2 Yodas again. This time it is Henry who talks him off the ledge, mostly because he can relate much better to what Barry's going through than Joe can. Still I love that everyone acknowledge that Joe is an important father in Barry's life too. I hope that Henry comes back again and this time to stay. I still very much doubt Wells' intentions and this whole Grodd thing is even more suspicious. Yet I applaud him because it may finally get Grodd forever off my screen. I'm sorry but I'm good with never having ape CGI again. The whole thing is so ridiculous to me that it knocks the grade down on the sheer presence of Grodd alone. I do like the King Kong allusion though. Even Caitlin's outfit rocked the whole "beauty that killed the beast" thing.
Grade: B-
Best Reason to Watch - Henry's back (well for this episode), which is great since he never should have left
Best Reason to Skip - Grodd
Best Scene - Barry gets back to his Flash self
Best Pep Talk - Henry tells Barry to get back on his feet and be the hero he is
Best Date - The Princess Bride? Nice, Cisco.
Best Impression of Say Anything - Cisco and his "sorry" basket
Best Hug - Barry and Henry
Best Turn About - the gang teases Cisco about his date
Biggest Creep - Wells, channeling his inner Wells
Biggest Hmmm - So Wells sent Grodd back to a place with no "real" gorillas? Is that what they're implying?
Worst Affect - Wells' new voice
Most Helpful - Joe and Henry, who cut through Barry's self-pity
The "I Don't Get It" Award - How is going to the tops of the building making Grodd faster at catching Barry? That seems a whole lot slower.
The "When Honesty is NOT the Best Policy" Award - Joe, you really need to get with Barry and coordinate your lies so you don't contradict each other
The "Not Him Again" Award - it's the freaking monkey clown back to ruin my hour
The "Makes Sense to Me" Award - closing all but one of the portals sounds actually brilliant
The "I Think I Saw This Last Year" Award - Barry is all up in his head and he's making it worse on himself
The "I Have No Objections" Award - I say kill Grodd so he's never back on my screen
Best Quotes-
1. Caitlin: "There's no such thing as a bird man, Cisco." Cisco: "Okay, like that's a stretch in this city."
2. Joe: "That was a hell of an idea you had, bringing Henry here." Iris: "Well he may not have his mother, but he's got 2 amazing fathers. Seemed like he needed both."
3. Cisco: "What are you saying? He wants kids? Because I'm pretty sure one telepathic great ape is more than enough for this city."
4. Cisco: "The only reason we couldn't find him on any cameras underneath the city before is 'cause he upgraded from a bachelor pad to a penthouse like a baller."
5. Henry: "Earth 2?" Barry: "I'll explain later."
6. Joe: "You may not have your legs just yet, but you've still got that brain. Use it. Help us figure it out."
Nick and Adalind grew more creepy, the case was largely boring, and Trubel was only in for about 5 seconds again. Still hoping for Trubel to save the whole show. It needs it. Without her, Monroe, and Rosalee, this episode would be a straight up "F".
Grade: D-
Best Reason to Watch - tie - Emily reveal and Trubel's return
Best Reason to Fast Forward - Nick and Adalind
Best Scene - Trubel returns
Best Awww Scene - Monroe vows he'd slay a flock of dragons for Rosalee
Best but Least Surprising Twist - Emily is the one killing off her suitors
Biggest Surprise - the maiden quest was actually for Emily and not about her suitors
Biggest Blech (besides rape romance) - Nick covered in cobwebs
Biggest Douche - Frankie, who tells his girlfriend she's getting fat
Biggest Hmmm - How do Hank and Nick keep having Wesen conversations in interrogation? Aren't those always taped for evidence?
Most Pun-ilicious - usually this is Wu but tonight it was all Hank
Most Potential - Trubel is back
Worst Parenting - Amos' mom makes him be part of the maiden quest even though he doesn't want to
Worst Tradition - handing your daughter off in marriage to the most competent killer
The "You Never Learn" Award - you'd think that Frankie would be less of a douche to the people he hired as bodyguards but he's not
Best Quotes -
1. Monroe: "You know what? Maybe I shouldn't hear this." Rosalee: "There's nothing you shouldn't hear."
2. Rosalee: "Honey, would slay a dragon for me?" Monroe: "Oh my God. A flock of them or whatever you call a great gathering of dragons." Rosalee: "My knight in shining…" Monroe: "But I don't do armor. I've got a nickel allergy."
3. Daniel: "The quest was never for them." Emily: "What?" Daniel: "I had to make sure you had the strength to take over." Emily: "I don't understand." Daniel: "It was always your quest, not theirs. You proved yourself to be far more worthy than any man."
4. Rosalee: "Electric bill, telephone bill, advertising. Oh we won a million dollars. Yippee!"
5. Hank: "Axes, swords, and golden feathers. Anyone else think this is getting a little mythological?"
Grade: B
~This was one weird brain and I suspected the maid from the beginning, but the character elements were spot on. I actually liked Liv and Blaine working together for once, partly because Blaine's verbal homage snark was laser sharp. I can't wait until Liv finds out that Blaine is Peyton's star witness.
Best Quotes -
1. Peyton: "How long were you…uh, standing there?" Ravi: "One second less than would have been creepy."
2. Clive: "He's a magician. You don't dress like that unless you're doing magic or you hate your parents."
3. Blaine: "Did you eat Edgar Allan Poe?"
4. Blaine: "I'm a required taste like gazpacho or that free U2 album."
5. Angel: "Check out Twitter. Soak in the hate." / Liv: "Twitter a vast collection of humanity's impetuous thought vomitings."
Note - Review will come this week via the roundtable review on SpoilerTV.
Grade: B-
Best Reason to Watch - all the weird at "demented Hogwarts"
Best Call Back - Jake says, "Because after all, architecture is art that we live in."
Best Reaction - Jenkins
Best Reference - Lovecraft
Worst Plan - I'm pretty sure that particle accelerator plus TV equals huge disaster
Worst Pet - gargoyles
Biggest Moral - when in doubt, don't doubt
Biggest Blech - Kane covered with spider webs
Biggest Woo Hoo!!! - It's Beth Riesgraf from Leverage.
Most Fun - Jenkins' Poltergeist voice
Most Conspicuous - Ezekiel is just walking down the street with his magic hunting gun
Most Efficient - Ezekiel pilfers the invitation, even if it doesn't work
Most Overenthusiastic - Cassandra at everything / Jake over the architecture professor
Most in Need of a Gibbs' Slap - Lucy
Most Super Special Snowflake - Cassandra, always
Best Quotes -
1. Baird: "My experiences with frat houses are limited, but I don't think evil rituals are supposed to sound like a kegger."
2. Ezekiel: "Only you would be excited about going to school, even demented Hogwarts."
3. Baird: "Wow, that's a whole lot of bad crammed into one small sentence."
4. Cassandra: "Okay, I didn't come through space and time to get eaten today. Let's go."
5. Jenkins: "Would you call him arrogant, boastful, egotistical?" Jake: "I'd call him a prick."
If the hints are to be believed, it is Simon who is the terrorist. I'll wait for confirmation. To be honest, there's been a lot of finger pointing so this could be yet another red herring. Besides, for me the biggest shock is the improvement in Caleb. He's still a whiny manchild with daddy issues but at least he now has a clue. I like him confronting his dad although I hope he keeps that copy of the e-mail instead of deleting it. I have a feeling Alex is going to need Caleb more than anyone else. The sub-sub-plot of the cover-up in Omaha is tedious already and I have real doubts about Alex turning herself in this quickly, but the pacing has been good. They also cut a little back on the sex lives of everyone. It's not enough but it is a good start. Since Caleb's dad seems too obvious to be the mastermind, it should be interesting to see how he handles Alex now that they can't just shoot her.
Grade: B
Best Reason to Watch - the pacing
Best Scene - Caleb vs. his dad
Best Character - for once it's Caleb who finally gets beyond his self-pity and gets his head in the game
Best Friends to Have - Mia and Duncan, who can get anyone out of any jam
Best Development - Caleb calls his father out on something that actually has to do with the terrorism case
Biggest What the Heck? - Charlie stabbed Miranda???
Biggest Green Eyes - Raina, who better not be getting into a freaking love triangle with her sister
Biggest Douche - Caleb's dad
Biggest Jumping the Gun - Alex turns herself in instead of finding any other way to communicate the second bomb news to the FBI. Come on, Alex. You're smarter than that.
Least Surprising Big Announcement - there's a second bomb
Worst Plan - it's a tossup between making the file room so easy to get into that any agent can just check out whatever he or she wants and stealing a file from the FBI before you are an agent
Most Self-Righteous - Alex
Most Emoangsty - Caleb
Most Admirable - Nimah, for shutting Simon down before the love triangle can even start
The "Never Again" Award - I do NOT ever need to see Alex doing field surgery again
The "Oh Shut Up" Award - Alex, you are starting to really annoy me. Stop with the self-righteousness and the speeches.
Biggest Shock / The "Say What?" Award - Caleb was part of a cult? Never saw that coming. Ever. At all.
What I love most about this episode is how much it felt like Leverage, complete with the end of episode reveal of how they did everything. It was a bittersweet touch that made me grateful to have Scorpion but only made me miss Leverage more. While the case had the most twists and turns, it was Sylvester who really surprised me. I can't believe he got married but I'm glad he found away to supersede Walter's court order. I think it is best that Megan's life decisions are made by someone who has her wishes foremost in mind. To that end, no one is better than Sylvester. I'm not looking forward to the impact of Megan's inevitable death but the writers have done a great job of telling this story. It's helped Sylvester grow as a character and theirs is one of the few romantic relationships on TV that I can stand. Megan has been a good foil ever since we first met her and I will miss her when she's gone.
Grade: B
Best Reason to Watch - it's Scorpion's version of Leverage
Best Scene - Sylvester tells Walter that he's in charge of Megan's medical decisions from now on
Best Action - Gleason vs. the bodyguard
Best Save - Cooper takes the bullets out of Cromwell's gun
Best Use of a Matchbox Car - Walter uses it to set off a methane bomb
Best Kiss Up - Paige, who plays on the terrorist's vanity to trick him. She'd do well as a spy.
Best Meta - Katharine McPhee talking about missing a Broadway show
Best Worst Boss - Paige does demanding boss very well
Worst Reference - Toby gives a speech using Whitney Houston lyrics
Biggest Douche - Cromwell
Biggest Laugh - salami bomb
Biggest What the Heck? - Scorpion sets off a bomb in the UN. This is as farfetched as when they set off that nuclear bomb in a foreign country.
Most Well Played - Sylvester marries Megan to keep Walter from pushing his wishes on her
Most Juvenile - Toby using Pig Latin to insult the linguist
Most Delusional / Most Full of Himself - Walter, who cannot accept that Megan can make her own decisions
The "Of Course He Is" Award - Ray is an internet minister
The "Hate to Break It To You" Award - but Happy, you look even less like a Happy than an Ursula
The "Oh Poor Baby" Award - Sylvester and Megan
Best Quotes -
1. Happy: "This is crazy that we're doing this, right?" Toby: "Well psychologically speaking, crazy is a catchall for a myriad of pathologies and circumstances, but yeah, this is nuttier than a fruitcake."
2. Walter: "Happy, how's it look?" Happy: "Like a TV dinner that goes boom."
3. Walter: "Thank you for the car. It came in handy today, but you've always been there for me. Haven't you? Ever since we were little. I can't fail you when it's my turn." Sylvester: "Walter, doing what she wants isn't failing her."
4. Toby: "Your last name's Spiewack, right? Is that Polish?" Ray: "As Polish as a bratwurst." Toby: "That's German, dummy. Look. Do you know any Polish at all?" Ray: "I was raised by my Grandma Etoile." Toby: "And that's French."
5. Toby: "Cabe, I can only delay this for so long." Cabe: "Just do what you always do and refuse to shut up."
Supernatural is going back to its case of the week roots. There's nothing really special about this episode and it's largely forgettable but it did bring back Sheriff Donna. She's second only to Sheriff Jody in the characters I actually want to see again so having her was a plus. I could have done without her Doug issues though. To be honest, she's barely a recurring character so we didn't need to get into her psychological damage. More interesting is the fact that the Cage is back into play. Perhaps some fans will get their wish and they'll pop Adam out of the Cage this season. Personally I would rather forget about him but if they do pull him out and then have zero to do with him afterwards, it would offer closure. The question then becomes how do they even get to the Cage, much less figure out what the plan is. Also, is it really a good idea to lock up the Darkness and Lucifer and Michael in one place? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
Grade: B-
Best Reason to Watch - it's a pretty uncomplicated ghost story that brings back a great recurring character
Best Reaction - Dean to Sam talking about the Cage
Best Continuity - Sam's clown fear
Best Return -Sheriff Donna
Worst Kids' Party Guy Ever - If he is entertainment at a kids' party, why are all his costumes so creepy?
Worst Move - the kid lets Dean wait inside until his mom comes home
Biggest Hmm - If a man was attacked and left unconscious, shouldn't there be some kind of security around him?
Biggest Say What? - Why doesn't Dean throw the salt at the ghost before he gets his butt kicked by him?
Least surprising - Bugs Bunny and Roger Rabbit puns. It's also not surprising that they were really bad.
Most Awkward - Doug butting into the conversation and not leaving
Most Excited - Sheriff Donna at being called a true hunter
Most Missed - the bone salt and burn
Most Creepy - any adult who dresses in a costume on any day besides Halloween or at a convention
Most in Need of a Therapist - Sheriff Donna with Doug
Theme of the Year - innocent but used by evil (kill or save)
The "Welcome Back" Award - Brigid Brannagh from Angel and Army Wives
Best Quotes -
1. Donna: "When you get a call about a killer Easter Bunny, you don't know what to think." Dean: "Well you can think crazy."
2. Donna: "He escape too?" Sam: "Yeah." Donna: "I'm so losing my job."
3. Doug: "Two masked psychos in two days. I mean what are the chances?" Donna: "My guess, copycat killer." Dean: "Damn social media."
4. Dean: "What do you mean, killer bunny?"
5. Donna: "I won't be once bitten, twice Doug-ed."
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