Monsters of Television

“I hate bottle episodes.”

I love bottle episodes. I think they’re great, occasionally risky episodes that tell us about what a show is about. They force a show to boil itself down to its bare essentials, showcasing very specific dynamics and how those dynamics keep the show moving.

Yes, the reasons bottle episodes tend to happen make little to no sense (as they do here), but I very often don’t care because I love excuses to spend time with characters in these very intense ways.

Needless to say, I think this is one of Community‘s best episodes so far. Read more »

“I accidentally turned McNab and my dad into confidantes. It’s a weird day.”

“This is way easier than sawing my leg off and being scared of a puppet with a voice modifier.”

Previously. On Psych.

Declan is trying to escape using the most convenient aircraft to him. He tries to get Juliet to go with him but the Man in Puka Shells constantly thwarts him at every pass. You see, the Man in Puka Shells wants Declan to be on his side but then violates his trust and recruits Declan’s followers behind his back. Although, to be fair, Juliet’s heart has always belonged to the Man in Puka Shells. Declan never really stood a chance. So, confused about where his destiny lies, Declan tries to kill himself with dynamite found on a beached pirate ship. Wait, that last part might actually be from Lost.

Really, Psych? A previously on? Just who do you think you are?

Welcome to the post-hiatus or, as the kids like to call it, season 5.5. A lot of promise from the first half of the season is meant to carry over to this half, especially with stunt episodes (It’s a Wonderful LIfe coming up shortly) and the on-again, off-again storyline that has popped up more frequently in season 5, especially with the Declan arc.

Shabbat’s come early because it’s time for Shules.

Read more »

“Oh, none for him. He’s stuffed.”

The gang all gussied up. And grown up.

This is weird: I don’t have a single complaint.

I’ve been abused by the show since last season, and this season hasn’t shaped up to be much better (I liked portions of “Baby Talk” but found the episode on the whole to be blah). As a result, I’m super-wary of the fact that I really enjoyed this episode. I’m worried it’s just going to punch me in the gonads and the wiener when the next new episode airs.

That’s how far the show has fallen for me: I’m worried that a good thing like this episode means I’m just setting myself up to be disappointed again. Read more »

The real stars of the CW's Hellcats

We did a series of reviews of new series at the beginning of the season, so I thought I’d check in on one of those series that has managed to hold my attention up to this point.  My attention, though held, could easily get distracted.  Here’s my intervention for the CW’s Hellcats.

If you had asked me at the beginning of the year whether I thought I’d be more likely to be watching Hellcats or Life Unexpected, I’d have said the latter. Turns out, I would have been completely wrong. While back eps of the latter continue to languish on my DVR (amidst news that it is likely to be canceled soon), each week I find myself enjoying Hellcats more and more (primary difference between the two shows?  Hellcats actually features some likeable, 3-dimensional characters, unlike Life Unexpected). Here are a few reasons why I like this show—along with a few frustrations.

Read more »

“Is he grunting? I think I hear grunting.”

You may notice this is my first post on House all season. There are several factors. (1) It comes on the same night as Chuck and, with all the time I need to lament that show (both in writing and post-episode independent face-palming), I usually don’t have time to watch House on the night it airs. (2) House episodes tend to lean more toward the episodic and, after six years, discussing the banal Psych 101 the characters wield against each other in order to extract plot points is not only tiresome to read but boring to write. (3) I’ve been hoping against all hope that this season is a fake and that House is going to wake up and realize Huddy was just a figment of his drug-addled imagination.

That is, until tonight.

Though the addition of Amber Tamblyn (known to most as Joan of Arcadia or the daintier female cop in The Unusuals; sadly known to me as Emily Quartermaine on General Hospital) was intriguing, unlike Noel, I’ve suffered this season week by week. I know: other people have found it to be good, even the better of the past three seasons. I don’t. I’ve felt like Huddy, though set up for years, was a contrived ending to last season. I felt like House’s change in demeanor since being with Cuddy has been unnatural at best, antithetical at worst, to his character. I’ve felt like the rest of the diagnostic team has been weak sauce this season (not to fault the actors). But, finally, tonight, I saw something (however poorly executed) that might actually turn everything around for me.

Read more »

“Welcome to my new show, Conan. People ask me why I named the show Conan. I did it so I’d be harder to replace.”

Photo: T-Bone Sandwich/Flickr

After a concert tour that helped him work through his disappointment (and grow an awesome sorrow beard) here is Conan O’Brien on, as he keeps reminding us, on basic cable, on TBS. Very funny, but much less.  With Conan, I think we have both things, at least for the time being. Read more »

“Boring, Bimbo, and Bite-Sized.”

Disclaimer #1: I haven’t watched House since “Wilson.” That was the tenth episode of season 6. It aired November 30, 2009. I have no idea what’s going on in the show, beyond the fact that Huddy has happened, Cameron left, and Thirteen is gone  (for a bit) as well. Which leads to…

Disclaimer #2: My interest in this episode is more or less entirely motivated by Amber Tamblyn (and Jack Coleman! Holy hell! Awesome!).

So, perhaps, you may see this as a bad reason for me to review the episode. Matt and Nick, after all, are still watching it (though Nick is probably pretty biased at this point). But I figure this is a good time to see if I made the right decision in slowly drifting away from the show last season. After all, if Amber Tamblyn can’t convince me to come back, who can? Read more »

What does this image say to you? Can an image speak?

I have a cute little post about Hellcats ready to publish. It is kinda silly and kinda fun, but I think I’m gonna hold off on that for a moment. Instead, I’d like to offer a few words about Private Practice.

Rape storylines always get me going.  As a former rape victim advocate and all around self-proclaimed feminist, the issue of rape troubles me more than other crimes.  It isn’t that it is a “woman’s issue,” per se, because men are raped, too.  Rather, I am troubled because we, as a society, seem incapable of comprehending the full horror of this crime and its impact.  This week’s episode of Private Practice has invited questions about the limits of television, about its ability to exploit, and about its potential to expose something true.  I think it is an important one to talk about further. So, more about this after the jump.

Read more »

“You’re surrounded by walkers. That’s the bad news.”
“There’s good news?”
“No.”

Even the walkers get stereotyped.

Well, it was about time for Atlanta’s representative racist hick to come out and play small-time antagonist. I suppose we could do worse that Michael “The Rook” Rooker to portray him but I would’ve preferred him to not be there at all what with all the over-pronounced drawls everywhere else. But there he was, dropping the “N” word just so we could all be educated about how old divisions blurred when they had a new enemy to hate. Instead of pouring your generations-descended loathing onto classes and race, funnel your hatred into killing ghouls instead.

Last week, I described how a horror series could do things a horror movie could not, specifically build deeper emotional connections and construct stronger characters. Unfortunately, this is not an episode that does very much of that at all. In fact, it sounded and functioned more like the end of the first act of a B zombie flick. Where the pilot felt more like an AMC show (subtle as a show of this bent could be while never talking down to the viewer), the follow-up is very specific and very obvious. I’d say it’s forgivable, however, as long as this was just a way to get the new group out of the city and into some deeper plot. Otherwise, we’re looking at some serious disappointment.

Read more »

Come on--he's too pretty to be scary.

The Vampire Diaries took a bit of a break this week from its record-setting pacing. Instead, it allowed the characters to reflect on the many changes that have occurred in the past few weeks. At school, Tyler and Awesome Vampire Caroline are forced to stare at reminders that two girls died last week. Jeremy learns that there are limits to what Bonnie can do—and his subtle flirtation with her continues to develop intensity. Elena gets world’s chattiest vampire kidnappers to tell their their entire life history—a rather unrealistic series of conversations that provided the exposition needed to introduce new bad guys now that Katherine is out of the picture (for a brief moment).  Basically, a bunch of taking stock, reflecting, and conversing.  Little action.  Not necessarily a critique–more of an observation.

Meanwhile, in the episodes best subplot, Damon and Stefan take a little road trip to rescue Elena. I would have been perfectly content if this entire episode had focused on Damon and Stefan in that car. Amidst jokes about the requisite bonding that accompanies all road trips, our boys delve into the dangerous territory of Damon’s feelings for Elena and their own history of betrayal.

I’ve got some concerns about the direction the series seems to be taking, and I’ll discuss them below, but I loved the heck out of Stefan and Damon this week. Neither man has aged in 150 years, but they mature nevertheless. Their mutual recognition of their bond allowed them to move past so much nonsense—good acting and strong writing that deserve to be commended.

Read more »