I'd like to find that perfect use of Molly Shannon. It exists somewhere in this world and I think It's been briefly touched before but never achieved. She is almost too good at "loud and overbearing" so I never know how much of her character in The Middle I'm meant to hate and how much I should enjoy.
-By the way, I don't feel at all bad for Axl. He only has himself to blame.
Modern Family "The Wow Factor"
Four stories this week, and as usual, four differing levels of success.
(Effective)Phil, Alex, and Haley: I get bothered by things like Alex not knowing how to use a broom. Come on! That's a bit much for what's not even that big of a laugh. The inversion of the "modern woman" idea is clever enough though and the heart behind the story was there.
(Very Ineffective) Claire and Cam: I've determined I may not have an issue with how they depict the Tucker-Pritchett relationship per-se, as much as I have an issue with how they use Cam in general. The mix of petty-scheming-Cam and petty-scheming-Claire has got to be the least enjoyable combination on the show. The resolution completely negated the entire point of their argument by Cam going rouge like that.
(Ineffective) Jay, Gloria, and Manny: Manny is basically just used to be a bother who Gloria and Jay treat pretty poorly, when not partaking in the "battling-couples" understanding of relationships the show has. On a personal note, I would be so incredibly irate if a guy brought a baby into a movie like that. Especially an action movie.
(Very Effective) Mitchell, Lily, and a little Luke: I thought it was funny seeing Mitchell dominate the kid at handball as the parents swarmed. Luke in teacher mode is still one of the best things the show does. I also really liked that the story was about Mitchell just not being good at sports, not "too girly" or something lazy like that, which is a pool they like to pull from far too often.
Suburgatory "Brown Trembler"
Obviously, as soon as I comment of the lack of Shays they come storming back. A lot of stories this week and little overlap between them. Dalia continues to be the stealth MVP of the show. Noah remains that character I want to like who's comedic beat always feel forced (I want to be clear, I blame what he is given to say, not his delivery of said lines). Tessa is still looking for a good storyline. George, well, I think he has sort of become the functioning lead of the show by default. He was really the only link between the stories this week.
Nashville "When You're Tired of Breaking Other Hearts"
I admit that I'm pretty rusty on how to watch a soap opera, even a Primetime one. Watching Nashville has proven that. Something weird happened this week. I finally calibrated my viewing correctly by remembering one simple fact: No one is going to react to anything logically [for more than a scene]. Remembering that makes it all work a lot better. Of course Gunnar is going to think it's a good idea to rebuke Scarlett and drink all day to mourn his brother. Of course Juliette is going to not listen to anyone and nearly tank her career. Of course Rayna and Teddy are going to handle custody over the kids in a childish manner (despite having a fairly genial breakup). Of course Avery will be left with apparently of only copies of his remixed tracks despite it being known how disgruntled he is. It all makes sense now. I just hope they don't think the work has been done to redeem Avery. He's still awful and deserves everything bad that happens to him.
Archer "The Papal Chase"
What is the turnaround time on making an episode of this show? Is it like South Park fast, or a lot slower? If it is slow, they lucked into some topical material. Regardless, a funny episode. I'm always a fan of some good Catholic-based humor.
Legit - Baseball episode. Didn't catch the title.
A lot of odd moving parts in this one. I don't understand the point of the C-story with the old couple. It was amusing enough though. I appreciate that they didn't go to the gag about Steve being handicapped too much due to the diminishing returns of it. It's also good that the crowd eventually turned on Billy as well as Jim since he was being a **** as well. I loved Jim going from confident to completely psyched out about the first pitch by everyone's reassurance.
Happy Endings "In the Head of the Noche"
Happy to have HE back, even if it looks like it's just to burn off the remaining episodes. My two favorite gags this week: 1) Penny and Max in a Requiem for a Dream homage and 2) Jane looking for something to do with children. Oh, and there's Alex running a child labor ring.
Happy Endings "The Straight Dopes"
Abby Elliott alert! It's been fun seeing her make the rounds on sitcoms. I'm guessing Mindy Project or New Girl is up next. Hopefully she gets a show by next year. I'm not a big fan of the overused pretending to be straight/gay storylines that sitcoms love so much, but as always with HE, even if the plot annoys me, there's always enough one-off gags to keep in enjoyable. Smart Alex, for instance, was awesome and hilarious. If this show doesn't get picked up or saved, which I assume, I sure hope to see everyone in the cast land on another great show or project.
Shameless "Order Room Service"
It's amazing how the bar is set so low for Frank, that taking the rap for Carl is almost enough to absolve him. It's manipulative, but it works. I can't believe this season is almost over. It feels like it just began. I hope this isn't the last we see of Jimmy for a while (anyone else irritated that they couldn't at least let him get a goodbye to Fi. That's one of those things I think only plays out like that because it works as a plot point for next week, not that he really couldn't've found a way). I'll admit, I thought Karen was dead and gone when she got hit by the car. I never expected this to become one of the oddest character transformations in recent memory. It's brilliant though, the way they managed to transform her from reviled and sympathetic in one fell swoop.
The Walking Dead "Welcome to the Tombs"
That was...disappointing. I mean, I don't see how they could've gotten away with an actual battle. There'd be too many casualties and people are way more comfortable with our "good guys" killing zombies than people who, by and large, are being duped by the one actually "bad guy". So, it's not surprising that there was no battle. What is surprising is that they took everyone in from Woodbury. I have no idea how that will work for next season. I feel like there will have to be a surprise zombie break in too kill everyone or something because that's too many characters to work with. I wish I like Andrea more. Then her death would've mattered to me. I don't know. This finale disappointed me.
House of Lies "Hostile Takeover"
I can't imagine any series of events in the finale that would get me even considering watching this show after this season wraps up. Such a good cast, but I still can't get myself to enjoy it.
Californication "The Abby"
This entire season is ending with a whimper. This has been my favorite "guilty pleasure" for a while, but it has lack the menace and chaos that overpowered previous years. I'm glad to see Marcy and Runkel finally getting back together, even if there was a pretty weak contrivance to get them back together.
The Point of the Purge
Past Purges:
3/13-3/15 3/16-3/19 3/20-3/26
2/22-2/26 2/27 2/28-3/3 3/4-3/7 3/8-3/12
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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