The Middle "Wheel of Pain"
The plot itself was pretty well-tread territory, offering little that was new. What made it enjoyable for me was when Frankie speaking for Mike about giving back Sue's party. I found that incredibly funny, which is a testament to how well we know these characters because it only works because of how well we know Mike specifically and Neil Flynn
Modern Family "Best Men"
Let's start with the little bit of the episode I didn't like. Manny's crushes are getting a little overplayed. The gag with all the nudes was a really watered down version of the Superbad dick lunchbox joke and didn't have nearly the punch it needed.
Otherwise, I was pretty pleased with the episode.
Cam and Mitchell were actually bound together in this one instead of bickering and sniping (ok, less of that than normal) which is all I ask for. Then, they cap that story of with that hilarious tag with Lilly and Sal at the end.
I am also so pleased by the handling of Phil trying to clear up the misunderstanding with the girl's mom. It still had a wacky series of sitcom-written verbal hiccups, but it at least had him aware enough from the beginning to try and put the kibosh on it. And, I enjoyed how quickly ignored Luke claiming he was hiding porn was ignored. It was a nice touch.
Lastly, I've noticed that Haley becoming Claire is becoming a highly potent story angle. The first three seasons were all about hinting at how Claire was so much like Haley when she was that age. Now, it's coming full circle with Haley becoming more like Claire. Love it!
Suburgatory "Leaving Chatswin"
I think I was supposed to feel more strongly with the strory about George and Noah tracking down the dead guy's (I've already forgotten the name already) backstory. I think with it being a comedy, they didn't play the scene with the waitress more dramatic and pouring his ashes directly outside of Chatswin was just lazy.
On the Tessa side, I'm not sure what all that was supposed to amount to. So, her and Ryan are going in different directions. College is coming up soon (is she a junior or a senior?). Beyond "false alarms. They are still a happy couple", I don't know what the point of it all was.
Nashville "Dear Brother"
I generally play coy, so I'll say it. I liked this episode.
Except for Avery, all the stories intersected but had their own arc. Rayna is dealing with the public fervor over her divorce (although I don't buy that she was rarely followed by the media before this). The return of Teddy, Lamar, Coleman, and the political angle wasn't shoved down our throats (although I'm tired of the "hire the guy you ran against" trope). Juliette finally showed a little humanity toward her movie (I get that she feels betrayed and all, but Juliette's character needed to be softened a little pretty badly). Gunnar got a pretty good running gag about watching Old Yellar that ended with a puppy (always a win in my book). I didn't see Gunnar's brother dying coming at all and that hit me as hard as anything in the show (a low bar, but still). Him and Scarlett hooking up has been predestined but I'm glad it happened now because they were escalating everything about it too much (roommates, bandmates, coworkers. At some point, it's pointless to write around them getting together in some fashion). Even Avery was well used in that he barely was and this purgatory the show has him in is slowly (and I mean ever so slowly) getting me to feel for him.
The Americans "Comint"
This show has me hooked. The spy stuff is fun and tense and sexy which is great for the promos. I was legitimately worried for Elizabeth both sneaking into the other car and getting out of the FBI location (and I really loved how casually they played her getting out and Phillip not being concerned about if she'd be able to get out). But, the show also has the great human moments like Stan and his wife's talk when he is trying to learn Russian and Phillip's anger at what the asset did to his wife. Best of all, they don't feel the need to give the kids more than a few lines if the story doesn't call for it. My only reservation is that I'm surprised how much the Jennings' and Stan's investigations are crossing paths because it's easy for a show to stumble somewhere (also because it makes both organizations seem really small), but everything else in the show is being handled so well that I'm willing to assume the writers know what they're doing.
The Point of the Purge
Past Purges:
2/22-2/26
2/5-2/8 2/9-2/11 2/12-2/18 2/19-2/20 2/21
1/17-1/18 1/19-1/21 1/22-1/23 1/24-1/29 1/30-2/4
12/16 12/17-12/21 ...12/22-1/7 1/8-1/9 1/10-1/16
11/25-11/28 11/29-11/30 12/1-12/5 12/6-12/8 12/9-12/15
10/28-11/3 11/4-11/10 11/11-11/16 11/17-11/20 11/21-11/24
9/22-9/28 9/29-10/4 10/6-10/12 10/13-10/19 10/20-10/27
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