DVR Purge: 10/30-11/5

 Past Purges
 
The Middle "Halloween IV: The Ghost Story"
It was a pretty unremarkable episode until Sue speech at the end. The Middle has a way of pulling gems seemingly out of nowhere like that. I enjoyed the revelation that Brick likes girls now more than the execution of any of it afterwards.

Back in the Game "Night Games"
I'm pretty bummed to hear that more episodes are not being ordered for Back in the Game. I think that effectively kills it which is such a shame because I'm enjoying it as much as any new show this year. My favorite line from this week:
"Oh good lord. You look like a 7 year old doing the walk of shame. It's Halloween, darling. Where' are your breasts?"

The Crazy Ones "Hugging the Now"
So, is that the end of Sydney and her crush? That was abrupt. Amanda Setton is proving to be an MVP on this show in a way they could never figure out on The Mindy Project (similar to Jennifer Esposito on Spin City if you'll allow me the obvious comparison).

The Michael J Fox Show "Golf"
I feel like they either went too far or not far enough with the blind golf player. Either make it absurd beyond reason or abandon the idea. It was like the episode wanted me to just casually accept that a blind guy would be good at golf. I can't be the only one who that bothered.

Parenthood "The M Word"
That debate was a stinker. I don't remember Little being such a d-bag originally and it seems like lazy reworking of the character. Perhaps my natural distaste for politics is getting in the way, but I will be so happy when this election thing is over and Kristina gets her offer from Little to head up an education council or whatever after he wins. I enjoyed Crosby and Jasmine's minivan infomercial though.

SNL "Kerry Washington/Eminem"
So, SNL is aware of there lack of diverse cast. Cool. While I'm not for hiring a black female cast member to more or less fill a quote it is getting hard to defend them adding a half dozen white guys as featured players who are all rather generic. This week was kind of shamelessly "black week" and there were some good, not great, sketches. I particularly liked the sketch about Obama's approval in the black community. Certainly a welcome dosage of Jay Pharaoh.

The Walking Dead "Indifference"
I am dumbfounded. If you told me Saturday that there would be an episode just following Rick and Carol and Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese, and Bob and someone wasn't coming back, I would've prepared my touching video tribute to Tyreese or Bob (given the show's T-Dawg roots). Instead, we get a very fitting farewell to Carol who I never thought I'd care about circa season 2. It was a smart move. One of the few things that has been consistently unique about TWD is how many characters are unprotected. Sure, Rick won't die. Beyond that, I can't say who is safe and that makes it fun.

HIMYM "The Lighthouse"
This was one of the better episodes but it was mostly by way of the good cancelling out the bad. Bringing back Anna Camp's character: negated by Ted's proposal at the end (despite the scene looking unbelievably cheap). The bickering between Robin and Barney's mom: negated by two different hugs. Clint and the fact that Sherri Shepherd is nearing "Series regular" status: negated by the Proclaimers callback. Lily's anger at hearing Judge words: the Linus gag, which still gets me. I can't call it good. But, in it's current state, "not-bad" is the new "good" for HIMYM. I'm more curious about next week's episode. None of the previews look to take place at the Farhampton Inn which means one of two things: 1) the writers are finally tiring of that place and plan to give us a story with the structure they promised before the season or 2) the promotional department senses the Farhampton fatigue and wants to call as little attention to that setting as possible.

SHIELD "FZZT"
They are certainly trying. This is probably my favorite episode since the pilot. Coulson got to be dramatic, which I liked. I'm less interested and more tired of the constant referencing to how he died and came back. I'd sort of like to move past that. The scene at the beginning of everyone joking about Ward was fairly painful. Why is it that when shows have scenes with the characters cracking jokes and laughing it is never funny to the audience? It must be harder than it looks. I like the attempt to up the stakes. Sadly, I don't genuinely care about Simmons enough (beyond an inherent love of any attractive woman with a British accent) for the episode to resonate much. Solid character building and definite signs that the writing staff is figuring out how to do this show more effectively.

Brooklyn Nine Nine "48hrs."
I can't wait to see what this show will look like when Peralta is calibrated to fit the rest of the cast. Basically everyone else is where they need to be. I love this cast and it's so nice to watch this without the constant fear of cancellation. I love that this is continuing the tradition of comedy shows that need sparse evidence to close any case (See: Monk).

New Girl "Coach"
The return of Coach basically had to fall under the pressure of my lofty expectations. Like most of this season, there's been some good laughs even if
the heart of the episode wasn't there. This is basically what episode 2 Coach would look like, which is understandable. I believe Damon Wayans Jr. is doing a few episodes so I'd like to see what it will be like in coming weeks. I liked how Jess is finally acknowledging how all of them are in their 30s and still living like this.

The Mindy Project "Sk8ter Man"
Ugh, DVR! It didn't record. Based on the title alone, I am hoping for at least one Avril Lavigne reference.

Trophy Wife "Lice & Beary White"
Still not seeing how Meg is fitting into this show long term but I like the effort put in to give her a story with Diane. I'm also very encouraged by the fact that the writers realize that Jackie can be a bit much. Now, it's about seeing how long it takes for that to get reflected in the writing because this episode was irritatingly heavy with her.