Suburgatory "Apocalypse Meow"
I'm going to talk about these episodes separately for two reasons:
1) There was little or no Noah in the second episode which was to its benefit (as always, I hate saying that about Alan Tudyk, but that character is a mess).
2) This episode had the single most laugh out loud scene of the series that I can remember with the Tessa/Dalia throw-down. That was so over the top and out of character for them both. I loved every second of it.
Suburgatory "Stray Dog"
I think this episode tried to do a little too much. The purity ball was out of place, like a devolution of Sheila's character, back to when I couldn't really stand her. They came up with some stories to fit around it, such as Malik showing up after another hiatus to have a brief (albeit entertaining) conversation about "buttering Lisa's biscuit". It also allowed for Tessa and Ryan to have some very unhygienic breakup sex. I'm not sure what any of these things hope to accomplish other than to fill the half hour.
I can't say that the Dallas/George breakup was inevitable but it certainly wasn't surprising. I pretty happy to see that experiment over. Of course, this will likely cause the show to fracture even more and attempt to service every character. World building is great, but in a half hour show, it works best to choose which characters matter, then give the leftover time to everyone else. Suburgatory has a bad habit of giving supporting players way too much focus for short stints and sidelining the leads.
I have to say, I'm disappointed how everything with Dalia player out. I was really excited a couple weeks ago because I thought they were about to explore some interesting new angles especially with Dalia, but they steered it back into "she's Tessa's enemy" territory. The scene at the end with her and George was sweet. However, I don't think the build up to it was given its due.
I haven't even gotten to Alex showing up. Frankly, too much was going on, even for a two-parter.
The Americans "Covert War"
I'm fairly the rotating chairs of who has the upper hand in Elizabeth and Phillip's relationship. At times it is interesting, but it's shifted too often. It hasn't reached egregious levels or anything. Just something I'd like to point out.
When it comes to dumb decisions made on a TV show by people who should know better, Elizabeth abducting the CIA director and not killing him certainly has a place on the list. I accept that she would abduct him with intent to kill. I cannot accept that she would be sloppy and leave him alive. She is a pro and knows this can lead to her and Phillip being discovered and captured. That's a writer's room move, not a character move. I hope the mileage they get from the domino effects are worth this suspension of disbelief. I still like the show a lot overall, but there's some things it does which is keeping it from that top tier of dramas out there that's frustrating to see.
Community "Intro to Knots"
I'm so mixed about this episode. All the pieces are there. It's a bottle episode, which doesn't bother me. Abed gets to be excited about Die Hard. Everyone gets to play familiar beats that they do very well. I guess I'm stuck with the same boring criticism of "it's just not as good". I hate that that's all I have to say, but this has always been a show that relied on some secret chemical X being added to the mix for its particular alchemy to work and it wasn't there. Malcolm McDowell was a nice addition although sort of neutered as a villain type.
-Not excited at all to see how this Chang stuff plays out.
Parks & Recreation "Article Two"
It's amazing how quickly Patton Oswalt's filibuster spread and seems to be creating more buzz for an episode of P&R than I can remember. It was pretty great. Within the episode, it is pretty muted. The episode was still quite entertaining though. They've done stories about Chris and Ron battling for April's soul before, but I like that this one played out with her having the upper-hand. Really, this episode had a lot of trope-y setups and let them play out differently than expected. Ben and Ann looking for ways to manage Leslie's constant celebrations is over the top, but it was nice that they realized they were complaining about having too good of a friend. Also, Garth outdoing Leslie without cheating was a good choice (she's not the best of everything, after all). Overall, just a good episode, as per usual.
Parks & Recreation "Jerry's Retirement"
God bless Jim O'Heir for being such a good sport. The man's barely 50 and accepts being a retiree. This was pretty much the ultimate Jerry work/life discrepancy episode and that's always a fun well to go in to. I'll admit, that "Eggs, Bacon, and Toast" song has been running through my head all day.
Hannibal "Potage"
I keep having the feeling that this show is too good to be on network TV, or at least, the style doesn't fit; that people will not know what to do with it and be turned away. I'm fully on board and I hope others are as well. I need to find more reviews of this show from people not greatly familiar with the books or movies made about the subject matter though, because everything I've read about it is battling expectations from those sources that I don't have (or remember nearly as well).
Mad Men "To Have and to Hold"
This week sort of felt like a "we didn't forget about you" episode for a lot of cast members. Joan gets a great story about the perception vs. the reality of her job and the Dawn story, while an interesting new direction in it's own right, continues with the show's history of telling us about Joan by how others see her. Arg! Christina Hendricks is so good, it's amazing that they are able to keep her in the background so much of the time.
I always want to like Harry more than I do once he gets an episode. He has legitimate beef, but handles it in all the wrong ways. I especially enjoy how much Roger belittles him.
Some scattered thoughts:
-I can't wait to see what this Bob Benson's deal is.
-It looks like we get our first Ginsberg plot next week.
-Megan's back to feeling like a drag for me. She got boring as soon as Don stopped being faithful.
-I liked Don's pitch better than Peggy's although I was amused with how on the nose he ad was for what the Heinz guys wanted. Totally missed when they said they didn't get it though.
The Point of the Purge
Past Purges:
4/4-4/7 4/8-4/9 4/10-4/16
3/13-3/15 3/16-3/19 3/20-3/26 3/27-3/31 4/1-4/3
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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