Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Sweet Dee Has A Heart Attack"

More like Its Always SLUMPY In Philadelphia, amiright?????? (Raises hand for high 5).

But seriously, folks, this show has been off in a big way this season. I didn't blog about last week, but it was not very good. And this week was equally bleak. I'm not quite clear what's happening here. Maybe they are focused more on the big, gimmicky late episodes like next week's 1776 one, or the upcoming Night Man extravaganza. Or maybe they've simply found their formula and are just running with it. But whatever's going on, Sunny needs a course correction and fast.

So, after Dee has a heart attack, the whole gang takes a quick stop at the hospital, where they find out they don't have health insurance (or in Charlie and Mac's case, that health insurance is a requirement to receive care). So, after being treated to a little Danny DeVito ass, the gang splits into their separate stories. Dee and Dennis decide to go to the gym to get in shape, which just felt like a collection of jokes that they've done before. Meanwhile, Frank somehow ended up in an institution, acting out One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (which I believe Danny DeVito had a part in). And Charlie and Mac went to work for a corporate office to get health care. I thought this plotline had a lot of potential, since the notion of those two in corporate America just seems hilarious. It also seemed like they were going to go in a somewhat satirical direction, with the world of corporations driving Charlie completely insane (incidentally, did Charlie learn how to read? Because he was able to tell who the letters were addressed to).

The biggest problem was that the comic setpieces all landed flat. There was nothing particularly memorable about the interview scene, or Dee and Dennis' fight with the instructor, or any of the shenanigans in the office. Before anything else, Sunny is a comedy, and when its not funny there's not much else to say.

C-

Gossip Girl - "Pret a Poor Jenny"

That was 45 minutes of my life I'm not getting back. Seriously, between the terrible acting, awful writing, and groaning attempts at both humor and serious message-making this episode was like the Olympics of Terrible.

Taking the bronze was Chuck and Blair, for what will hopefully be the conclusion of their will they-won't they storyline. At first, the idea of pairing Chuck and Blair was delightful, but its been THE SAME STORYLINE FOR FOUR WEEKS. However, this wasn't a complete failure for two reasons. First, I thought the idea of getting Dan involved in this storyline was a stroke of genius. It was nice to see him do the wrong thing for once too (although that being said, I disagree wholeheartedly with Serena and thought it was pretty shallow of her to dismiss what Blair and Chuck did to Vanessa). I also liked the resolution, largely because I agree with Chuck. The reason I've never fully been on the Blair/Chuck train is that getting them together just wouldn't work, either for them as characters or for the show as a whole. That being said, the scene on the rooftop was so cringe-inducingly terrible that I can't grade this storyline as good.

In the silver was Serena, who had her first post-Dan flirtation with an artist who wears thick frames that presumably have no lenses (that's how I will choose to explain the fact that he just takes them on and off at random). He seemed pretty bland to me until he asked out Serena, and then he came off extremely douchey. I get that he knew her earlier, but he wasn't being charming, he was just being a tool. Meanwhile, Dan and Serena are now friends again, so Dan can go back to not having scenes with any other character on the show.

But taking the gold this week was little J. Its not that I don't buy that she's that naive and impressionable (because I do. I really do). Its just that the whole good girl falls in with the wrong crowd thing is such a boring cliche. This show does a lot wrong, but by and large they've done a good job of not going for the easy storyline. The bad model was tired. The sketchy photographer dude was tired. And, honestly, since he didn't look any older than the actors who play Nate, Chuck, or Dan I never realized that he was supposed to be much older than Jenny. Speaking of Nate, the whole thing with him and Jenny really came out of nowhere, didn't it? Did they interact at all this season? Have I missed the clues because I'm not examining this show frame by frame, like Lost?

Ultimately there were enough little things to keep this episode from being the worst thing I've ever seen. But we spent far too much time wading into maudlin sentimentality and uptight moralizing; neither of which really fit well with a show this scandalous and amoral.

D+

The Office - "Employee Transfer"

Tonight's episode of "The Office" was a weird one. In one part, it was extremely human and emotional and in the other part, it was jokes that didn't quite land.

The best part of the entire episode was the Michael and Holly story. Holly was transfered from Scranton as a result of their relationship and Michael, with the aide of Darrell, was taking her to her new home. Unfortunately, she realized that it was too far and that there'd be no plausible way for them continue their relationship. In one of the saddest and more emotional moments the show has ever had, Michael decided that splitting up with Holly was the best decision for both of them. Their tearful goodbye pulled hard on the heartstrings and was the best example of why this show is so fantastic.

As for the rest of the cast, Jim and Pam were having lunch or dinner or some sort of meal with Jim's brothers and Pam thought it would be funny to pull a prank of Jim. Unfortunately, her idea wasn't funny enough for the other Halperts, and they instead pulled a lame prank where they insulted art majors (Ed.: I'm an art major...I ignore the whole money thing) and Jim got mad and then it just sort of ended.

In the office, Andy and Dwight were going at it Jim and Dwight style, with a combination of a prank done on both "30 Rock" and this show earlier. It sort of missed the mark as neither did anything that was hysterical. Again, the rest of the cast was sort of pushed aside to make room for Holly and Michael. Now that that has closure, I hope they all come back. I would love to see more Pam (LOVED the Charlie Chaplin bit). Let's hope they bounce back next week.

B-

EDITOR'S NOTE:
I reviewed tonight's "30 Rock" the other day, as it was online before it's air date. Scroll down or find "30 Rock" in the tags section to the right to read the review.

South Park - "Pandemic II: The Startling"

This week, the startling conclusion to last week's "The Startling", and let me just say, I was...less than startled. Less than amused, even.

Let me catch you up, if you were lucky enough to miss last week. Peruvian pan pipe bands are responsible for keeping giant guinea pigs at bay. An evil dude in the government rounded up all the pan pipe bands, and now the world is being overrun by giant guinea pigs.

Now let me recap the latest episode. There are also guinea bees, guinea spiders, etc., each one just a guinea pig dressed up in a costume. Also, the evil guy was a guinea pirate. Craig is the chosen one, and he saves the world.

Thats it. Thats all there was two both of the episodes. A continuation of this season's mediocrity. The only slightly redeeming part of these episodes was Craig's reflection on the crazy situations the boys always end up in. It was amusing to see one of the characters finally step back and say "No", recognizing the absurdity of it all, and suggesting that they simply walk away, pointing out that there is never a reason they HAVE to get involved. Other than that, this was a wholly disappointing effort by Stone and Parker.

D+

30 Rock - "Do Over"

SPOILER WARNING: The season premiere of "30 Rock" is available at NBC.com and Hulu ahead of it's airing on Thursday. If you haven't watched the episode yet, I'd advise waiting to read this.

The wait for the funniest show on television is finally over thanks to Hulu. With all the Emmy and SNL buzz for Tina Fey, I've been seriously jonesing for some TGS. This wasn't their greatest episode, but it was hilarious and brightened my very long day. For the most part, the gang has just barely moved on from where we left them. The Gay Bomb worked for Jack, getting him back to NBC to reclaim his job from Banks. Liz on the other hand was back on task to try to adopt, and Tracy had his porn video game finally finished.

With that, let's break it down. Liz was entertaining a crazy adoption lady played by an underused Megan Mullally of "Will and Grace" fame. Despite the fact that Liz cleaned up her apartment, it seemed like her co-workers were going to sabotage her chances. Fortunately for her, Bev suffered a head injury that allowed her to completely do her interview over again. One of the best moments of the episode of Frank's refusal at first to take off his "Horny" hat, but eventually changing it...for another hat that said "Horny." Sadly, Bev recovered and in the end, Liz needed to keep searching for a new adoption agency.

Jack was a little busy in "Do Over" as well trying to get back his job from the evil Devin Banks. Will Arnett was absolutely hilarious as a Devin gone crazy from stress and his marriage to Kathy Geiss. Jack, using his go-getting abilities, was quickly climbing his way up through the mail room when he discovered Kathy could give him his job back by sleeping with her. Turns out, luckily for him, that Kathy just wanted to live out her favorite soap operas. Jack played along, leading to a hilarious almost kiss with Liz.

The rest of the cast, Jenna, Kenneth, and Tracy were largely written off all episode. Jenna was angry that Tracy didn't pay her for her voice work on his porn game, leading to a little drama. Kenneth was hardly even there. These guys need to be pumped up as the season goes on, but for now, it's great to see Liz and Jack again.

B+

Alright, I'll post one more Mad Men parody

Because you guys asked so nicely:



You like cigarettes huh? Well here's all the cigarettes in the world!!!

LOST SEASON 5 TRAILER

Apologies for the all caps, but this is some exciting stuff: a new trailer for season 5 of Lost has just surfaced!!!



Obviously, there's nothing too concrete to take away from the trailer, but among the interesting things I noticed were a subliminal flash of the Dharma Initiative (while someone mysterious threatened the Losties with a gun; does Dharma survive or did Locke move the island backwards in time, and not forwards like I had been thinking?), a hand holding the compass that Richard Alpert showed to a young John Locke, and proof that Farraday lives. Also, everyone in the Oceanic Six gets more badass.

Speaking of Farraday, Noel Murray at the AV Club has an intriguing theory that Farraday may have gone to a different time when Ben moved the island, since he wasn't technically on the island when it happened. That could tie into the Farraday soundalike who showed up in this year's Comic-Con video. Is Daniel about to experience the Dharma purge firsthand? Is Radzinsky the guy in the Haz-Mat suit, as Doc Arzt suggests? Is Farraday Radzinsky????? (Probably not)

I've been trying to avoid reading anything too revealing about this season, but with Mad Men off the air, its nice to know my other obsession is lurking around the corner.

Mad Men - "Mediations in an Emergency"

It was a little over a year ago that Don Draper sold himself on the domestic fantasy promised by the wheel. This season has been largely about how that choice failed to satisfy either him or Betty. But after some soul-searching on the West Coast, he's come home.

Meanwhile, Betty's got what we've seen Pete and Trudy agonize over for a year: a baby on the way. And she can't handle it. So she goes horseback riding, and drinks, and smokes, and even considers taking a trip to Albany.

Its rare that these characters find themselves in a true life-or-death situation, but that's exactly where they are in "Meditations in an Emergency." The big emergency, of course, is the Cuban Missile Crisis. Mad Men can be criticized a lot for its somewhat winking inclusion of historical events and period trivia. But this was not one of those cases. It served as the perfect backdrop for the internal turmoil and arms races the characters were engaged in and really felt like something this season had been building towards.

Seeing Don return from L.A. was exciting and energizing, even if he was coming back to a world in chaos. The scene where Roger tells him they're selling the company was just so good. Roger coming close but not quite apologizing, Don coming close but not quite lashing out.

Meanwhile, his domestic world is also upside down, as Betty scorns him at the equestrian park. She does allow him to spend an evening with the children, setting up the reversal we've all seen coming. As Don spends a quiet night watching the children and arranging food for them, coming as close to being the domestic figure that we've ever really seen, Betty hits the town: drinking, smoking, and fucking. Was this a rebellion? An attempt to stop herself from making the choice she didn't want to make? Or did Betty want to get into the head of Don and see what its like to live his life? The news that she was pregnant was a sudden and surprising (to me, anyway) as Peggy's discovery last season (if not as dramatic) and it seemed to represent as much of a watershed moment for her. By accepting this baby, Betty has to climb back into the picture of suburban life she's found so unfulfilling. But the alternative doesn't seem any better.

At the office, Pete is forced to choose between the calculating career advancement that has so defined him, and his need for approval from his surrogate father figure. Its Don's (seemingly insincere) words of encourage that get the better of Duck's slimy ambition and, ultimately, Pete's neediness seems to have caused him to trip into making the right decision. The confidence it gave him led to his true moment of maturation, something to bookend the loss of his father earlier.

All season, we've seen Peggy struggle with her decision, and in an emergency, when they're told they are close to going to hell, people make crazy, impetuous decisions. Which is why I admire Peggy even more after this episode and its knockout penultimate scene between her and Pete. Finally, the truth comes out. Pete realizes he's made the wrong decision and wants Peggy to take him back. And Peggy offers everything that he's been missing: a compatible person who understands him and, of course, can have children with him. But Peggy made her choice and its gotten her more fulfillment and opened so many more doors for her. Peggy doesn't need to compromise on an awkward man-child and she doesn't regret not doing it earlier. Her message to Pete - it was never your choice, it was mine - was crushingly honest. It was emotional a moment that we've had on this show and I imagine Pete will be very different in season three.

Meanwhile, the climactic Don-Duck showdown was just amazing. Duck's obnoxious cockiness as he accepted the presidency of Sterling-Cooper and then proceeded to lay out a vision of bland corporate homogenization made his comeuppance that much sweeter. Duck sees creative as a bunch of sensitive, needy obstacles. His vision is of a world of numbers and dollars and cold efficiency, which makes it all the better that the one variable he missed was the trust and friendship between Don and Roger. Don's angry rebuke of Duck was amazing, and then the moment where he dropped the no contract bombshell was just perfect. By the end of that meeting, it was clear to Duck and the new buyers what's been clear to everyone since episode one: Don is Sterling Cooper.

So Don returns from a triumph at work to resume his dream life with Betty. And Betty accepts that life too, telling Don that she's pregnant with another child. But what's noticeable as they sit on the couch and watch TV is the space between them and the resigned expressions on their face.

This ending is not about trying to create your own memories, its about growing up and accepting what you have, however draining and empty it might be, because its your responsibility to do so. It seems cruel to end the season with so many open questions - what's next for Don and Betty, will everyone keep their jobs, where does Pete go from here - but then if we learned anything from this episode, its that we can't really understand what happens in an emergency until long after its over.

A

Don Draper on SNL

Hey everyone,

Mike and I have returned in one piece from the Big Apple. I'm still catching up on stuff, so its going to be a bit before my review of Mad Men is up. In the meantime, in case you missed it, here's two choice MM-related sketches from Jon Hamm's turn as SNL host.

First is a helpful guide on how to be like Don Draper:



They also did a straight MM parody, which I thought was almost perfect. I saw almost because I HATE the A-Holes. They're not funny at all and I think here they ruin an otherwise spot-on Mad Men parody. However, I especially enjoyed Will Forte's Pete and Casey Wilson's Joan. I'm not sure about that new girl they got to play Peggy, though...



Bonus Political Impressions:

From the Thursday show, the two best SNL political impressions of the last decade, side-by-side:

South Park - "Pandemic"

It's a weird thing to see a South Park episode that isn't quite sure what its doing. It usually doesn't happen that often. The specificity with which the show explores issues and the parodied manner in which they do so make it easy to identify that "Oh, this is an episode about homelessness in the style of a zombie movie", for example. Tonights episode, however, had no fucking clue what it was doing.

It started off with Stan noticing the increasing number of Peruvian Pan Flute bands popping up everywhere. He then notices how much money they make, and the boys naturally decide to start a Peruvian Pan Flute band of their own. Their promise to Craig that his investment in the band would yield profit, combined with the government's growing concern with the proliferation of pan pipe bands led me to believe it was going to be an episode about the US/global economic crash as a result of the faulty subprime mortgage system. I was wrong.

No, rather than go the economic crisis route, Stone and Parker went somewhere...different. The pan pipe bands are gathered to be deported, where they tell the guards that they are trying to protect them from "the Furry Death". Here, Stan's father's obsession with his new camcorder, established early in the episode, suddenly becomes our point of view and the episode turns into Cloverfield. Except instead of some half-seen unidentifiable monster, they chose to superimpose guinea pigs onto the streets of South Park. Carnage ensues, to be continued.

I wasn't disappointed with the new creativity of Stone and Parker, but rather, confused. It would be false to say that every episode has had some sort of social or political commentary, but every episode has at least held itself together in some sort of logical manner. Tonight's episode failed to do so. I had no idea where they were going with it, why they decided to mimick Cloverfield halfway through the episode, or what, if anything, they were trying to say. It just felt like a haphazard attempt at something. What that something was, though...who can say. Maybe next week's continuation will help clear things up.


C+

We'll Be Right Back

Hi Everyone,
Jon and I will be attending the CMJ Music Marathon in New York until Sunday, so there will be a brief break in posts. Don't worry though, come Sunday night, you'll get them all, albeit a little late. See you then!
Michael

Fringe - "The Cure"

This week's episode of Fringe was a study in contrast. On the one hand, the cold open was one of my favorite things I've seen on this show in a while. It was hardcore and shocking and disturbing in a way that most of the super-science hasn't been in a while.

But then we got into the episode proper and things kind of turned into Criminal Minds again. We got a lot more Olivia backstory this week and I don't want this to come off as callous, but it felt very been-there-done-that. Shooting her stepfather when she was young was, I imagine, quite a terrible moment. And the fact that the guy still sends her cards is messed up. But its the kind of messed up that every character on every crime show ever is.

I would have been willing to get over that, if we didn't then get a half hour of "Olivia Dunham is a cop who doesn't play by the rules." It means she gets results, Broyles! I am so sick of that storytelling archetype and especially here it just seemed so bland and uninspired. So what if Olivia doesn't care about bureaucracy because she's so devoted to justice? And so what if the system is too corrupt for her to work within it? And let's not forget how ridiculous some of the procedure in this episode was (how could they have ever gotten a warrant to search that place)

What's especially frustrating is that there was a lot to like in this episode. The scene between Peter and Nina was interesting, especially since they seem to have made the same arrangement that Walter had with the Observer. I also wonder if Massive Dynamics wasn't even more involved in the research than they let on, since it seems like if there's any major conglomerate getting involved in super-science, it would be MD.

But ultimately, I want to watch a TV show to see something that at least feels new. There is nothing inherently wrong with three-camera sitcoms or crime procedurals. But there is something very wrong with blandness and right now I can't think of a better word to describe Fringe.

C-

Gossip Girl - "Chuck in Real Life"

Hey, remember how Serena used to have a brother? No? Well he's back this week, with a new boyfriend who got a cursory mention. The true focus in Van Der Woodsen-land was on Lily, however, who attempted to make up for 17 years of absentee parenting by becoming Supermom. This seemed like the kind of storyline that I would get excited about, but for whatever reason I just wasn't feeling it. Part of the problem may be that this show doesn't really do earnest sincerity very well, but I think my bigger issue is that this storyline kind of came out of nowhere. Serena and Lily haven't been clashing very much recently, and they got over a lot of these issues in season one. More interesting to me is how out of control Serena seems to be getting. Going full Britney Spears seems a little beyond normal teenage rebellion (in all likelihood that was a joke, but it doesn't make Serena any more responsible). I'm not entirely clear on where they're taking her. Is Serena collapsing back to pre-season one Serena? It seems like it, but they're stopping short of turning her fully into a mean girl socialite. My question is why? It would change things up to make Serena the show's evil one for a while, but every time they try it, they always back off before she goes too far.

Meanwhile, in bromance world, Nate and Dan had their first fight when Dan saw the dire conditions Nate is living in. But one off-screen Humphreys guilt trip later, everything's okay and Nate has moved to Brooklyn. I liked the Dan/Nate friendship in theory (both of them are in dire need of something to do on this show), but in practice this episode just didn't work for me on that level.

Ah, but let's not forget about the episode's real A-story, as the Constance Billard Players decided to stage a revival of Cruel Intentions. Blair challenged Chuck to seduce Vanessa and in exchange, Chuck could have Blair. This was vintage, season one level evil calculation. So why wasn't it more fun? I think because it was all just too easy. Vanessa has seemed like a smart and capable girl, so I'd have thought it would take a little more effort for someone as irredeemably awful as Chuck to win her over. But apparently, buying her speakeasy was all it took. While there were three or four points where it seemed painfully obvious that everything from Chuck's bonding with the old speakeasy guy to the argument he had with Bart was part of his elaborate Chuck-plan for victory, but I was wrong. It turns out Vanessa's earnest Brooklynness melted the icy heart of Mr. Bass (if only a little), so Blair stepped in and put an end to the game herself before things went further between Chuck and Vanessa. Then Chuck turned the tables on Blair and tried to get her to admit she loves him.

Unlike most Gossip Girl fans, I can't say I'm rooting for Chair (you like that? I prefer it to Buck, although either way its pretty stupid) in the same way I'm rooting for, say, Robin and Barney. I think they're both too immature and destructive to really have something that would work (I picture any sort of future looking closer to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf). But its hard to deny they're an interesting pairing.

So all in all, I still liked this. However, I liked it less than last week's which, thinking back on, I feel like I graded a little low. I just wish there was more than one interesting thing per week.

B-

How I Met Your Mother - "Shelter Island"

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we've all been waiting for...Ted's marriage to Stella!

....oh wait. Jason Jones got the girl. Thats right, Stella's not the mother. Gasp!

To recap: Stella's sister was about to get married. Her husband ditched her, so Ted and Stella decide to take the wedding instead, rather than let thousands of dollars in reservations go to waste. But then the age old question arises, invite the ex's or not? Both Robin and Tony (Stella's almost-husband, Lucy's father) end up at the wedding, but when Ted and Stella go to confront them, Stella ends up running off with Tony.

For a plot that sounds somewhat contrived, this episode was surprisingly satisfying on an emotional level. The episode had laughs, of course (see: Barney's planning session on how to sleep with Robin again) but the overall feel of the episode was a much more personal, emotional one. Cobie Smulders (Robin) delivered what I felt to be her best performance yet in her speech to Ted. The writing felt very real, not overly melodramatic, and the delivery was heartfelt.

I'm happy to see that the writers have found a good balance of humor and heart for the show. Shows are always much more satisfying when you can have an actual emotional investment in the characters. I couldn't have been more proud of Barney for finally going for the belt.

A

Heroes - "Dying of the Light"

After last week's stupid stupid episode, this week's was much better. Sure there were weak points and it wasn't held together too tightly, but for the most part, it was well rounded and set up a great cliff hanger for next week.

Let's start with the Bennetts plus Meredith. Meredith was trapped in the clutches of the uber-creepy Eric Doyle in his magic land of muscle control. Momma Bennett felt the completely irrational need to come with her daughter on a rescue mission and it ended up being a stupid idea, as was easily guessed. A drawn out game of roulette was what happened next, with the again predictable ending of Claire getting shot and surviving so that she could take down the bad guy. A cold conversation with Noah and we were done with one of the weaker parts of the episode.

While we're on plotlines stuck on the a train to nowhere, let's talk about Nathan, Tracy and Mohinder. There was almost nothing to this at all. Nathan and Tracy showed up hoping to get a cure, Mohinder poisoned them, and then Tracy got out and then Mohinder threw a table and said something lame. I'm finding it hard to care about this thread. Please Heroes writers, do this better.

Alight, bad stuff out of the way, let's talk about what was good. The Patrelli Family Reunion went a little haywire tonight. Mamma is still in a coma and Peter was lashing out at his new brother for even thinking that he was really part of the family, despite Sylar's best intentions. Peter's reunion with his dad wasn't good either, as Papa stole all of Peter's powers. I liked where the plot is going, but I must say that having Peter and Sylar trade roles has been weird. I like Gabriel (AKA Good Sylar) but Hungry Peter is annoying. He was the only optimistic character of Season 1, and his turnaround is frustrating.

Hiro and Ando were pretty good tonight. Hiro's manipulation of time at the beginning was predictable (I think I see a trend), but turned out was just a set-up for a great gag. When he was looking for African Isaac (or AI as he will hence be known thanks to Hiro), Hiro though he could use his powers to grab him, but just got whacked with a shovel. This was only mildly funny until he hatched a plan to again use his powers and was once again knocked out. It looks like he's going to help AI get the bad guys, so he'll be a double agent for the villains, after being recruited by an increasingly disillusioned Daphne.

As for our favorite speedster, she met a turtle toting Parkman who was trying, very creepily, that to convince her they were soul mates. She left him briefly to recruit more people for Papa Patrelli which led her to try and convince Sylar, let out the guy from the Wire, and scold Mohinder for putting Maya in a cocoon. I like that while they have some Heroes turning into Villains, she seems like a Villain going Hero, which is great because she's an awesome character. I think this show has underplayed all of it's love lines from the very beginning, so I'd like to see this played up. Who knows, maybe Parkman and Daphne are the next Jim and Pam....probably not.

While I poked a lot of holes in this episode, I still feel like overall, it was very entertaining and did a good job of continuing to put the dominoes in place. Next week, we'll be picking sides in the Patrelli family squabble, so we'll see how that goes.

B

Mad Men - "The Mountain King"

So Don Draper had a wife too. And we now know that she's the same person who our Don sent the copy of Meditations in an Emergency to. I thought this week was a little more on the nose than we've seen out of the show normally (and certainly a great deal more than last week's endlessly awesome and bizarre episode), but I still liked it a lot more than others.

I think my biggest problem was that, while the stuff with Anna was interesting and necessary, it was kind of a chore to get through, especially given that Don was missing out on the action at Sterling Cooper. I recognize that for story reasons, they wanted to take Don out of there while the merger went through, but it was still very frustrating. I liked the flashbacks a great deal more than the real time action (especially that first one), but I can understand feeling a little force-fed.

For me, the most interesting action happened back in New York, with the contrasting paths of Peggy and Joan coming into direct focus. Starting with Joan, who was in pretty much the hardest scene to watch this show has done. Her assault really put into focus what a true asshole that doctor is. Joan's getting older and, sadly, there don't seem to be any options left for her. The shot of Joan's dead eyes staring at the furniture has to be one of the saddest things I've seen on this show. Looking at the blank trappings of the office orthodoxy, you can see the realization hit her that because of the values of society, there's no way out for her. The Mad Men society has reduced Joan to just another piece of furniture. And then, to add insult to injury, she finds Peggy moving into the office next to Don. That conversation was probably the high point of the episode, highlighting Peggy's status as a sort of bizarro Joan. Peggy rejected the notion that women are simply objects and somehow managed to get her own office. Joan may be able to pretend she's excited and happy about marriage, but secretly its her who's envious of Peggy's life.

And then there was Pete, whose marital problems seem to be coming to a head. I'm not sure how this is all going to shake out, and I thought for sure Peggy was going to come clean with him at the end there. Alas, it was not to be, although their scene was all kinds of awesome. There was also Betty who had her moment of growing up in yet another not-very-subtle moment in this episode. I felt sorry for the daughter though.

So that's where we stand as we head to the finale. Given how great this season has been, I'm sure the finale will rock hard. Its kind of sad to see such an outstanding run coming to an end.

B+

P.S. The good news is that the show has been renewed for another season. The bad news is that Matthew Weiner hasn't signed on for that season yet. I'm sure AMC won't let him go though.

Truthful Tv Title Cards

This is pretty awesome.

The Office - Baby Shower

Tonight's episode of The Office wasn't as funny as it could be, but it was a good episode for our characters. I feel like while tonight didn't have the laughs, it definitely advanced the story and gave hardcore Office fans the stories they've wanted.

First off was the Michael-Jan-Holly triangle, which I think was fantastic. The writers last season made Jan crazy, and this season, she's still crazy, but a tad bit more down to earth. I was so glad that Michael's craziness finally subsided and he decided that Jan "short changed" him, which was good to see. Jan's control over Michael was funny at first, then it got weird, then it got really sad. Also, Amy Ryan's ability to show Holly's true sadness at Michael's forced insults and then her happiness when he hugs her is phenomenal. I'd love to see her stay on the show because she and Michael are the new Pam and Jim and it's one of the most compelling parts of the show now.

As for the rest of the show, Jim and Pam's engagement hasn't changed the fact that there distance has been hurting them, which seems to have Office fans on the edge of their seat. Andy and Angela still are on the path to destruction. Dwight tested out Jan's baby carriage in a fashion remincent of his inspection of David's house in Season 3. Like I said, tonight was not a killer episode, but it addressed some things that needed to be addressed, which was great.

B

Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Paddy's Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia"

If I'm ever missing for an extended period of time, we now know that its likely because Josh Schwartz and the Gossip Girl writing crew has me taped to a chair somewhere.

All in all, it was a funny premise, but I didn't there were any truly hilarious moments. After receiving a bad review, the gang goes to visit the critic, which naturally ends in kidnapping. While Mac and Charlie try to take him to bathroom, Dennis and Dee go to his apartment in an attempt to cover their tracks, but of course they only end up kidnapping another person and locking him in the truck with the keys.

It all sounds very funny, but actually watching the episode, it was depressingly short on laughs. The only moments that stand out in my mind are Mac's roundhouse kick and Charlie eating the urinal cake. The latter was especially awesome for Charlie's commitment to continuing eating it, after Mac tells him not to, so he doesn't look stupid.

One of the big problems tonight was Frank's mysterious absence, making this the second episode this season without Danny DeVito. I think the idea of kidnapping would play in well to Frank's sketchy, criminal sensibilities (he is the muscle, after all). Without him, the balance of the episode seemed a little off.

My other problem was how easy everything resolved itself. Giving the other guy the Blueray (nice product placement) and the TV was convenient enough, but having the critic write another article in the paper about them, rather than pressing charges, felt forced. It may have even been funnier to just have Charlie's plan work (if only because Charlie's plans NEVER work). I'd have prefered some other, third option, but regardless, I understand that it was going to be hard to find a way out of this situation, but it sort of felt like they just gave up.

C+

Fringe - "Power Hungry"

So after a much needed hiatus, Fringe is back, news that I can only greet with my most ambivalent meh. Two weeks ago, if you can remember that far back, we got our first insights into the big picture, thanks to a bald guy known only as The Watcher (did you catch his appearance this week?).

If I may digress, there's an interesting debate going on on the AV Club's Fringe recaps right now over the inherent value of procedural shows compared to a more novelistic story telling approach. I agree with Noel, that a procedural show is not inherently bad, nor is a serialized show necessarily better (a fact that Heroes manages to prove weekly). Indeed, while its tough to argue with The Wire or Lost, the best approach may be something like The X-Files or Veronica Mars, that juggles elements of both.

However, I think that Fringe does have major problems, its just that everyone is misdiagnosing it. The problem is not its episodic nature, but the fact that for that style to work you need truly compelling characters, something this show just doesn't have yet. Don't get me wrong, I love Walter, but he's not yet big enough to carry the whole show, and they aren't really giving him any emotionally hefty stories. The same with Peter, he has a lot of unexplored potential, but contributes very little. And as for Olivia, I must go back to my earlier point: meh. Her whole thing with John continues to be quite boring, and she isn't an interesting enough character to carry the emotional weight of the show.

In fact, I almost wonder if Fringe would have been a stronger show if they had done without Olivia entirely, and simply made the Peter character recruited to the FBI by Broyles. I think making the show about a parent/child conflict would give us something tangible to hang our hats on, resolve a lot of the complaints about the show being just like The X-Files, and take the pressure off the mysteries.

I've been stalling the part where I get into this week's episode, mainly because I don't really know what to say. As always, we get a freak of the week who's a little misunderstood. As always, Walter finds some weird way to solve the mystery. The b-plot with the mysterious return on John seemed to add a couple of interesting ideas, namely the possibility that he may not have been the traitor that everyone thinks.

I think that the reason why everyone complains about the lack of a unifying storyline to the show is that there's currently nothing else to hold it together. The characters aren't interesting and the mysteries are redundant. Meanwhile, everyone keeps talking about the Pattern and indicating that there's some sort of larger plan. Its almost like Fringe wants us to be watching for the serialized elements, and then it gets snotty when we ask where those elements are. There's absolutely nothing that says that the reason we have to keep watching to show is to watch it tell one complete story. However, we do need to have some reason to keep watching. Right now, I'm not sure if I do.

C

Gossip Girl - "New Haven Can Wait"

Previously on Gossip Girl: Stuff happened. Seriously, it may just be the extra week off, but I can't remember one detail from the last episode. Its okay though, because none of it was really salient to this week.

Instead, the story featured the whole gang going to New Haven for Yale's perspective weekend - an interesting idea that could have led to some good developments. After becoming used to generally be in charge of everything, it would be interesting to see them getting a taste of being little fish in a massive pond. But this wasn't really that episode (and besides, given how obsessed this show is with these characters, I doubt they'll ever not be the center of the world) nor was it an especially interesting one.

The main action focused on Serena and Blair, who dueled for invitations to the Dean's party, a story that started well. The Blair/Serena conflict is an interesting one to me (as I write every week), but it seems like the show spends so much time telling us that they're at war without actually having them do anything. This week rectified that a little bit, but I think it was just doing too much. I was with it for the first half or so, which played like the college admissions version of The Prestige, with Serena the showwoman versus Blair the uncharismatic intellectual. I'll admit I was pulling for Blair (as always) and it was kinda heartbreaking when she didn't get into the Dean's party. But of course, she had a back up plan and was it a doozy. I think Blair bringing up Serena's having killed a guy last year to the whole party was quite possibly the nastiest thing I've seen the show done (and because I'm a sociopath, it was also one of my favorite moments of the season). What I liked about it was that Blair clearly crossed the line, but in a devious, evil way that was also completely believable and well within what we've seen her do before.

But then things got stupid again. The proceeding catfight out on the porch (the second such fight on Monday night, as fans of How I Met Your Mother remember) was predictable and tired (they've already done that a couple times before). I'm not going to complain about a catfight between Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, but what I will complain about is the rushed, now-we're-friends-again scenes that followed. Really? Blair brought up Serena's darkest secret to a room full of strangers and now everything's okay? Serena sabotaged Blair's lifelong dream and now everything's okay? This should have been a die-is-cast episode for a storyline that was just getting started. Instead, B and S have resolved their issues and are friends again? LAME

What else? Well, the Chuck-Nate bromance was threatened through a bonding experience between Nate and Dan that involved each assuming the others' identity. Nate did it first, to get with a girl without her knowing that he's the spawn of Yale's Most Wanted (the Captain). Despite being a TA for the English department, she seemed amused by Nate's vacant responses to her questions about Marquez and didn't really get wise until the real Dan Humphreys showed up at her door, thanks to his need to get a professor to read his work and write a recommendation. The whole Dan thing seemed pretty outlandish to me (why couldn't he just ask a professor? is that even really how it works at Yale? how much clout does English girl have in the department?) but whatever. And I'd like to say that I don't find it believable that she'd go with the boring nothing guy over the nice guy with common interests, but alas I find that all too believable.

In other news, Chuck acted like a douche for an hour, but his hilarious victory over Skull and Bones made it worth it (and I like that Dan is getting more story-time with Nate and Chuck). Meanwhile, Rufus continued his campaign for father of the year by letting Jenny drop out of school and pursue her fashion career. I think I may have misinterpreted this storyline as being about how hard a time Jenny was having at school, but instead it looks like it was just a vehicle to get her into fashion full-time. So now we have lots more made-for-TV-Devil-Wears-Prada action to look forward to. Yippy. And Lily earned herself a new nickname: Serena's Unidentified Friend (heretofore known as SUF).

I wouldn't call this episode an epic fail as much as a missed opportunity. It seems like there's so much more that could be done with a college visit (or for that matter, any of the storylines happening tonight), but we're consistently getting the least interesting outcomes out of each storyline (a problem this show is not unfamiliar with). If we're going to make this show about people who have Yale as a safety school, then let's go all the way with this. Unfortunately, each week makes me less and less convinced that this show can keep up the crazed, accidental levels of genius it was hitting in season one.

C

P.S. Does anyone think that picture is going to net us a few extra hits this week?

Edited to Add:

Apparently Dan and Serena are Obama supporters. Forget about Bill Ayers, this is the connection the McCain campaign should be running with:

Heroes - "Angels and Monsters"

Ah "Heroes," I knew sooner or later you'd let me down. Two good episodes in a row and we couldn't make it to three. Tonight's episode was just kind of bland and really didn't have anything more than the return of Papa Parkman and the appearance of Papa Patrelli. As always, let's break it down:

First off there's the brief appearance of a murderous Peter who showed up to kill Sylar and try to cut off the head of Mama Patrelli. He was unsuccessful at both, and when we left him, he was in a medical coma. Mama Patrelli was then visited in a dream by her previously assumed dead husband, who literally froze her in her chair. Meanwhile, the other Patrelli boy (at least with the name Patrelli), Nathan, found out that his mother was responsible for giving him his abilities. Tracy was along for the ride, but really didn't provide anything we didn't already know. Papa Patrelli showed up briefly at the end as well, as we found out he's been pulling the strings behind the Linderman sightings by having Papa Parkman create the illusion of him to control Nathan and Daphne.

As for Daphne, she was on some sort of mission to lure Hiro towards the dark side with Fear Man. Hiro got duped by Adam Monroe in the most unsurprising, but still funny, part of the episode (really Hiro? The Cantina?). He then had to kill Ando to prove to Fear Man that he was truly a bad ass and could join up with the villains. I personally don't think Ando is dead and that it's really Hiro just doing some fancy time stop trickery. We'll find out next week though I guess.

Mohinder showed up to continue his quest to being the least likable character of them all by killing a drug dealer and bringing him back to his secret lair. There, it appears, he plasters his victims to the wall a la Spiderman and studies them to find a cure for his deteriorating back. It appears he finally did what I'd been hoping for since the start of last year and killed off Maya, but for some reason, I don't think it's the last we'll see of her.

That brings us to the bulk of tonight's episode, where Noah, Sylar, and Claire were fighting over teh right was to deal with Stephen Canfield, an apparently misunderstood Hero that could create black hole like vortexes. Claire went to kill him, but instead became sympathetic of him, which didn't sit well with Noah. After Sylar saved Claire from Stephen's vortex, Noah tried to repay the favor by having Stephen suck up Sylar, a plot he just couldn't take, forcing him to plunge himself into his own vortex, once again killing off a promising character before we get the slightest chance to develop them. Sylar and Claire took each other's side against Noah, who gets more and more irrational with each episode. While all of this was going on, Meredith was taken captive by a new villain, Eric Doyle, who appears to be able to control people's movement.

This episode was lackluster as it was largely stagnant. It, like much of "Heroes," was a promising episode that was just executed poorly. The show obviously needs to leave some things unanswered to keep viewers coming back, but there are too many unanswered questions and bad plot holes to keep it making sense. Why did this whole mess start in the first place when Future Peter could have just come back and tell Nathan not to say anything as opposed to shooting him? Are we going to figure out what Parkman is really doing in Africa? And where the hell is Monica? I thought "Heroes" was coming back, but this week was very weak. Hopefully it can bounce back and keep me hooked.

C-

Sidenote: Did anyone else find the different, explained intro strange? Same with the Nathan voiceover?

How I Met Your Mother - "Intervention"

How I Met Your Mother continues its season with another satisfying episode. Not their best episode, but certainly a good one.

The show started with a bang when Barney walked into the bar in 80-year-old-man makeup. In my opinion, this was easily one of his best pickup lines yet.

From there, the show broke into its usual easy stride, with a rapid succession of HIMYM brand flashback jokes. Although hilarious, I do have to say that I got kind of tired of them after the 5th or 6th flashback. It's a convention that HIMYM seems to have perfected, but I'd hate for them to kill it through overuse.

The plot itself was fairly typical HIMYM fare; Ted is about to make a major decision, the gang expresses hesitancy, Ted has second thoughts, and the episode is spent weighing pros and cons. But as always, the jokes did a great job of keeping the tried-and-true plotline fresh. I always love it when they exploit Robin's Canadian-ness (Canadianity?), and seeing her drunk, talking hockey, and in full accent was priceless.

B+

EDITORS ADDITION:
I love this show because of the stuff like this:

Mad Men - "The Jet Set"

So, this was rather strange. That was my first thought upon concluding "The Jet Set." Even by the standards of a show that has gotten so good at focusing on the bizarre minutia of everyday life, this episode was quite beguiling. Appropriate, for an episode that seems to be focused on throwing Don so far out of his comfort zone.

Picking up where we left off last week, Don and Pete end up in LA for a conference, although things don't heat up until about 20 minutes in, when Don attended a seminar about new developments in rocket engineering. And damn, was that a good scene. Watching Don watch as military men explained how much closer they were coming to ending the world made it a lot easier to understand why Don went along with Joy. Joy, for her part, managed to beat Don at his own game, asking him "why would you deny yourself something you want," a line that could come straight out of a creative pitch meeting. I'll admit to not being entirely clear on the whole situation in that house in Palm Springs, but its clear that Don's having a difficult time coping without Betty and, no matter how hard he tries, there's a big hole waiting to be filled.

Meanwhile, Sterling Cooper also had to deal with some changes, courtesy of that new guy who Don hired. He turned out to be openly gay (he's from Europe. Its different there) and we got to see just enough of Salvatore to know that really shook him up. However, the focus of that story was really on Peggy, who got a makeover that seemed at least to catch Pete's attention. The Pete/Peggy dynamic has been really interesting this year and I have to think its all building up to something (especially given that the preview made it look like Pete and Trudy are having troubles next week).

And there's Duck. After spending most of the season being annoying, it was nice to see him get a storyline, albeit one where he's evil. I was less surprised by Duck's maneuvering than by Roger and Bert's willingness to go along with it. Do they need money? Is this what they had in mind? Of course, no matter what, this move likely spells trouble for Don, who has been clashing with Duck all year.

But just when it seemed like Duck's scheming would be the biggest development of the episode, we got that absolute stunner of an ending. "Its Dick Whitman," said Don, causing me to literally yell "What!" at the TV. Unfulfilled by home life, Don found himself falling back into his old patterns. But that life is no longer feasible for him and now Don finds himself clinging onto whatever he can find and recognize. Partying with collegues isn't doing it. Hooking up with random women isn't doing it. Whoever Don's turned to, its clearly a port of last resort for him. And I can't wait to see who or what it is.

Its rare that even a good episode of a TV show can be rewatched a number of times without losing some of its impact. However, The Jet Set demands revisiting. It is a complicated hour of television, jammed full of thematic and character complications that can't possibly be unpacked in an hour. I've spent the last day unable to shake the implications and nuances of this episode, and it will likely be a long time before I can fully decode it. With just two episodes left, its hard to see how Mad Men can get any better, but I have faith that they'll continue to wow us.

A

South Park - "The China Probrem"

After 5 months with no new episodes, one would expect South Park to come back with a bang. Unfortunately though, their newest episode can only be described as "lackluster".

Parker and Stone are known for their biting commentaries on current issues and events as viewed/enacted by the perpetual 4th graders. But in their latest episode, the duo seems to have set their sights...rather low. The topic they chose to tackle: the latest Indiana Jones movie.

The boys decide to prosecute George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg for raping Indiana Jones. I'll be the first to admit that I agree, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a horrible bastardization of the once-great series. However, the only thing they actually do to tackle this topic is to show various scenarios in which Lucas and Spielberg rape Indiana Jones. Mildly amusing the first time, but by the 3rd time they show Jones being violated by the two, the joke is beyond dead.

The second plot line running through the episode doesn't help much either. Cartman and Butters set out to foil the secret Chinese invasion plot that Cartman has dreamed up. However, there is again one approach to this idea. Cartman and Butters "disguise" themselves as Chinese and go to a P.F. Chang's. There, Butters shoots several people in the dick. End of story. Hilarious, right?

All in all, this was an wholly disappointing first show back for South Park. There were a total of two mediocre jokes which were repeated for 30 minutes. Hopefully, next week's episode on the bank crisis will be a better offering.

D+

Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Who Pooped the Bed"

Yup, we just watched an episode called "Who Pooped the Bed." I've really got nothing more to add to that.

At the center of this mystery is Frank and Charlie, still bedmates when the titular turd appeared mysteriously. Mac and Dennis get involved and try to unwrap the answer, one that an econ major with an interest in poop cannot solve. That whole part in the doctor's office was amusing, especially the fact that newspaper, credit cards, and wolf hair are common features of both Charlie and Frank's diets. After that point, I did think that the storyline kind of dragged and I didn't enjoy Artemis' solutions to the mystery (save for Dennis swearing revenge in front of one of those crystal balls with electricity inside), however Frank's ultimate confession was hilarious and his statement that he did it "because poop is funny" seems like a nice summary of the episode.

Working a lot better for me was the B-plot, and not just because it featured the return of my favorite recurring character, The Waitress (I can't be expected to remember everyone's names!). Dee's lame attempts at acting like the women on Sex and the City were both hilarious and true. One of the things I hate the most about Sex and the City (and I hate many, many things about it) is how everyone tries to copy the characters from that show, so I particularly enjoyed that parody. It also had one of the funnies moments of physical comedy we've seen on the show: Dee hobbling out of the shoe store wearing her ridiculous high heeled shoes and slamming right into a car door. It may not have been poop, but it was still damn funny.

B+

SNL - Election Special #1

SNL has been on a roll this season, mostly due to the fact that the election has provided them with plenty of great material. Tina Fey has helped out with a lot of that, but their sketches have been better than usual. With this upswing, we were treated to relentless commercials featuring Tiny Fey as Sarah Palin, suggesting perhaps she'd be back tonight.

Turns out she wasn't at all, nor was there even a slight mention of Palin. Instead we were treated to a mildly humorous take on Tuesday night's debate with Chris Parnell back as Tom Brokaw. Both Darrell Hammond and Fred Armeson have the mannerisms of both candidates down, but Armeson isn't very good as Obama. The sketch was pretty funny, but they've definitely done better. Weekend Update was pretty humorous too, but there wasn't a "Lockbox." There are two more of these election specials, so hopefully the next couple will make me less mad that "30 Rock" hasn't started yet.

B-

The Office - "Business Ethics"

Tonight's episode of "The Office" was an intriguing one. It was a solid episode and was a fairly amusing, but it didn't knock it out of the park. Tonight, Holly was faced with the unenviable task of going over business ethics with the office workers. Unfortunately for her, this is the staff at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, and so it couldn't be just as easy as reading from a binder.

Michael, in a misguided and fairly selfish attempt to make her presentation more interesting, ended up putting her between a rock and a hard place as it was revealed that Meredith had been sleeping with a client for several years to get office discounts. We then got treated to an awkward lunch with Michael and Holly passive aggressively arguing over whether or not Meredith should get fired and Michael described, it horrifying detail, a chastity belt. Michael then childishly pouted until he saw that Holly was actually hurting and finally let in. This was actually the best part of the episode. Holly showed her human side and Michael responded with his, which made for a very nice moment at the end. For me, this was what made the episode, as it usually does when "The Office" gets real for a second.

In other plots, Jim and Pam are engaged, but evidently we'll get to that later. Jim hilariously was timing Dwight to see how much personal time he spent during the day. The funniest part, by far, was Jim's description of "Battlestar" to Andy and Dwight's restrained reaction. Also, Ryan is still a jerk, even though he got knocked down a couple pegs. Other than that, there really wasn't much else going on outside of Michael and Holly.

Solid episode tonight. Not a stellar one, but a good one.

B+

Kath & Kim - "Pilot"

I think I need to preface this by saying that I haven't ever seen the Australian version of "Kath & Kim," so I can't compare it to the original. I also want to add that it's great to see Molly Shannon back and John Michael Higgins in a role that's not there for novelty.

All that aside, let's talk "Kath and Kim." NBC has been hyping this show very hard since the Olympics and I was optimistic despite the fact that it didn't look great. Turns out it wasn't. Directed by Paul Feig ("Freaks and Geeks," "Arrested Development"), the show looked like it was trying to take the same approach as "Arrested Development": a dysfunctional family interacting with both odd and normal people. Unfortunately, there were only the four main characters of the show featured in tonight's episode, and their stupidity fell flat without a straight man to point it out. Instead, they were just kind of annoying.

Kath and her beau Phil were not as annoying as Kim and her husband Craig, which I think falsely made them the interesting part of the show. I like both Molly Shannon and John Michael Higgins a lot, and they did what they could to save the sinking ship that was this episode. They were silly, but still sweet and believable. On the other hand, there was Selma Blair as Kim who did nothing but annoy me. She's like a blown up, worse version of Lindsay from "Arrested Development," but because she's so blown out of proportion, she isn't funny.

I'll give "Kath & Kim" three episodes to prove itself, but after one episode, I can't say I expect this show to stay on too long.

D

Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Mac and Charlie Die"

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Pushing Daisies - "Bzzzzzzzzz!"/"Circus Circus"

Given how loaded down my recapping slate is with shows that are dark and serious, I may have been a little overprepared to embrace the return of Pushing Daisies. But I'd like to think that I haven't let that prejudice my opinion and that these first two episodes truly have been my favorite episodes I've seen of anything since this blog began (with the possible exception of "Six Month Leave).

After last season ended with a series of bombshells, this season picked up (almost nine months after the last episode aired!) with an episode designed to gently glide viewers back into the show. Indeed, those first few minutes were a tad on the tedious side, but once we got through all the recap, the show picked up right where it left off. The bee mystery was compelling, if needlessly complex (a common complaint about the show's mysteries). However, the procedural element is really just an excuse to get to further mine the whimsical world of Pushing Daisies. I loved the idea of Chuck as the inside man and the show found a lot of humor in the little moments of Emerson listening in.

However, I think I enjoyed the second episode even more, if only because of the car crash that, of course, contained 15 clowns. I think we all knew that was coming but it was such a good joke, that I didn't care. The idea of a circus in general fits in quite well with the show's aesthetic, and I thought that the mystery was a little bit more interesting, if only because it broke the show's standard formula. We also got a lot of insight into Emerson, who's bitterness stems from the fact that he too has a missing daughter. I hope that is a thread that continues this season because, as much as I love Emerson's sarcasm, this new development gives him a lot of room to grow. I also have to give a shout-out to Rachael Harris, who was hilarious and touching as the cold mother.

Meanwhile, running through both episodes was some excellent development with Olive, Lily, and Vivian. For Olive, keeping the many secrets buzzing around in her head (sorry) meant having to move into a nunnery. Lily followed her there, in order to make sure her secret was safe. There are two moments I want to particularly extoll: first was when she contemplated charging the poor kids with robbery and second was her interaction with Pigby (as well as Jim Dale's spot on narration). However, the most welcome change may have come with Lily and Vivian; two characters who spent all of last season doing pretty much nothing. Getting them out into the world, and even separating them for a little bit, was a great move that helped develop their characters and give each of them a little attention. Lily was, as always, hilariously salty (I particularly enjoyed that she smuggled her flask into the nunnery) and the scene with Vivian and Chuck was just heartbreaking.

The overriding notion of both these episodes was that of a new beginning, fitting for a show that aired very briefly before disappearing. However, this may turn out to be a new end, as well, since the ratings for the first two episodes have been quite dire. In a way, I think the decision to hold production after the strike resolved may have been a tough one. The show was a surprise hit last year, but leaving it off for so long probably caused it to evaporate in the minds of many (it didn't help that ABC didn't rerun it).

However, let's not dwell on the bad news. Watching these two episodes felt like reconnecting with an old friend who knew you liked, but whose good qualities you couldn't remember until you were actually there. This show is witty, funny, whimsical, fast-paced, delightful, and touching. It can at times get too twee, too sentimental, or too complex, but there are few shows that are as willing and proud to be different as this one. It is funny that the show is essentially a crime drama, and yet I think nothing better rebels against the CSI-genre of shows that has come to take over television than this one. Not everything has to be dark and serious, and there's still room for a little whimsy and fun. And delicious, delicious pie.

Bzzzzzz! - A-
Circus Circus - A

Fringe - The Arrival

So, we've finally arrived at the first really big mythology episode. The show took a break from its procedural, mystery-of-the-week elements to give us one big sci-fi mindfrak. And I enjoyed it immensely.

At the center of this episode was a bizarre cylinder. Unless previous mysterious elements, this one gets absolutely no explanation and, just as mysteriously as it arrived, it leaves. This allows us to focus on the strange man known only as The Observer. The Observer is apparently Fringe's Cigarette Smoking Man, someone who has shown up at just about every Pattern related event and clearly knows a lot more than he's letting on. I'm intrigued by him, but as far as mysterious characters go, he seems pretty bland. There was also a lot of mindreading going on, between him and the weird device that the bad guy was using. Given how important that idea has been in past episodes too, I wonder how much this will factor into the show in the future.

This week also gave us some nice character moments, courtesy of Peter and Walter. The scene between Peter and Walter in the interrogation room was one of the best the show's done from a character perspective, and it was nice to see Walter finally get some character traits besides "crazy." Their last scene together where Walter talked about getting saved from the ice was quite good as well.

The biggest problem right now is that Olivia continues to be pretty much useless. I don't care about her dead boyfriend any more now that he's not dead. And as long as that's all that she's really got going on, she's going to continue to be boring.

So, was this a step in the right direction? I honestly don't know. I liked this episode more than the past couple, but I still don't find myself getting invested in the show. Perhaps I still haven't quite gotten enough information about The Pattern to wrap my head around it or perhaps I still don't really care about the people. Where the show goes from here will be crucial, I think. It seems like they're still feeling around and trying to find their way, but pretty soon they need to find something to make this show more compelling.

B

Gossip Girl - "The Serena Also Rises"

No new Gossip Girl this week, a fact that I will take advantage of to catch up on last week's installment. After "The Ex Files" I was expecting a little more fireworks out of this one, but all in all it was pretty solid.

The main focus was on frenemies this week, as the story lines brought together some of my favorite pairings on the show. The one that seemed the best in theory was Dan and Chuck hitting the town, however I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed by that one. The idea of the two of them spending time together seemed like it would be amusing, but I think we ultimately got too little of that. They rushed through the storyline to get to the big revelation about Chuck, a scene that I thought was played well, but that it may ultimately not be good for the show for Chuck to become too human. I also thought it was pretty weird that Dan brought a copy of his marked up short story with him. But I liked that he ultimately rebelled against the crazy writer and apparently wrote a good story about him instead (although that was a pretty predictable outcome).

Meanwhile, Blair felt threatened by Serena this week, the first time we've had such a storyline since the beginning of season one. I was hoping for all out war, but we weren't quite at that point yet. Or Serena wasn't, anyway, but Blair was doing some crazy things. My main problem with this was how much Blair directed her bile at Jenny, for no good reason. I get that she wasn't happy about the seating chart, and that Blair is evil, but I figured her Sun-Tzu side would know to fight the real enemy. Instead she spent most of the hour focusing her evil schemes on ruining Jenny and her mom's fashion show. Most of the plans didn't even seem directly aimed at any goal other than ruining the fashion show, which I just didn't get.

Fortunately, things picked up towards the end, as we got a very nice scene between Blair and Jenny that seems to indicate that the latter is directly aligned with the former. Does this mean Blair is becoming as out as Jenny? Is that one of those scenes we aren't really going to talk about next week? The other really great moment was the Serena-Blair showdown at the end. Both of them acted pretty childlishly (I can't imagine what would compel a person to tell their best friend that she has held them back like Serena did), but I was pleased to see that they didn't just hug and make up at the end. It seems like the show is fully committing to Serena vs. Blair for the time being, and that's probably the wisest choice for now.

Also, really quickly, Jenny clashed with her father over not going to school. While she obviously needs to go to school, I thought Rufus was pretty stupid in this episode. Jenny has some serious problems at school and he refused to even listen to her. Considering how much tuition must cost, he should at least make sure she isn't too terrified to go to school. And, let's not forget that while he's busy not understanding Jenny, he completely missed that Dan was out doing hard pills and getting thrown in jail. Oh, and apparently posing for a Mapplethorpe makes you a cool mom. Back when I was in high school, finding out your parents had naked pictures taken of them was just creepy. Oh how the times change!

B

Heroes - "I Am Become Death"

I've gotta say, this season of Heroes is really intriguing me. The plot hasn't moved along too much, but has more than last season. This episode was so full of twists and turns that I'm very excited for next week. This episode of very reminiscent of the season one episode "Five Years Gone," but in my opinion a lot better. I have always like the way that Heroes has played with space and time in accordance to the abilities of the characters. All this being said, let's break it down, as best I can:

First off, we have this whole business with with the future. It's a crazy different dimension where everyone has powers, Claire and Peter hate each other, and Sylar is a lovable dad. Future Claire's anger towards Future Peter still is a little unclear, but seeing her teamed up with Daphne and Knox was a startling sight. Daphne apparently ends up with Parkman and the two have a baby together, which was sweet, but irrelevant. Really the most enjoyable part of the entire future scenario was seeing Gabriel (future Sylar). It was essentially confirmed in this episode that Sylar actually has his own power, it's the hunger to kill others for theirs, which is strangely interesting. Gabriel as a nice guy dad was an odd sight, but I liked it. The humanity of that character is always overlooked, and I've been enjoying that coming out more this season. At the episode's end, Peter killed Future Nathan and returned to the present, where he went after Sylar in Level 5. Not a cliffhanger per se, but it will be interesting to see how that pans out.

Next up is the Tracy/Nathan thread. Finally, we found out, at least in part, why Tracy and Nikki were the same person, and thankfully, it's not because there's another Nikki personality. Instead, we found out that Nikki, Tracy, and a third triplet were experimented on at birth and thus, there are three different heroes. We'll undoubtedly meet the third triplet and find out what her power is, so we have that to look forward to. As for Nathan, we still have no real reason as to why Nathan is having frequent conversations with a dead Linderman, but presumably we'll find out soon. It appears to me that this plot thread is a do-over for the writers for all three characters. It seems like they wanted to go back to the Nathan as president idea, killed off Linderman too early, and led Nikki's plot so astray that it was too boring. Now they have their chance with Nathan in office, Linderman as a ghost or something, and Nikki, but not Nikki.

As for the others, Mohinder continued his decent into being a giant tool and Maya remained useless. Apparently now all she does is where revealing clothing and take care of Mohinder, which is only slightly less significant than anything she did last season. Hiro and Ando were largely forgotten in this episode, only appearing to make up during a failed escape attempt from Level 5. When we left them, they had just opened up the coffin that held Adam, as ordered by Mama Patrelli.

Heroes finally gave us the basis for this season. Just as Season 1 was about saving the cheerleader and stopping the exploding man, this season seems to be about preventing the formula from getting into the wrong hands. That's two solid weeks for this show. It appears, at least for now, it's found its way again.

B+