Past Purges
HIMYM "Bedtime Stories"
Cynicism be damned. I like this episode. It was clever and, from a writing standpoint, pretty impressive. It was hardly the funniest episode but it was one of the most likable this season. Best of all, no Farhampton in. The framing structure of the season actually allows for a lot of freedom to do some weird episodes since there's really not a lot going on in the linear story at the Inn. This is the kind of weirdness I openly invite.
SHIELD "Repairs"
I can't place why but I liked this episode a lot. It seems to be finding it's comfort zone. It can't be a coincidence that this is the first episode that Coulson doesn't go on about dying (correct me if I'm wrong). The writers must finally realize how to make the show its own thing, not something that has to wink and nod at the movies all the time.
Brooklyn Nine Nine "Thanksgiving"
So, someone in the department has to hate each holiday? I wonder who hates Christmas. Holt? I think that could work. It figures that Santiago's dinner was awful. The dinner they ended up having at the station looked really good though. I could get behind a multi-ethnic take-out Thanksgiving.
New Girl "Thanksgiving III"
A lot of this episode confused the hell out of me. Mostly a collection of small things though, like how did Jess go crazy so soon after eating the fish? Did I miss something? What was the timeline of that night: Jess eats the fish and goes crazy (middle of the night), she gets to the hospital and treated, they have their vending machine Thanksgiving and, I forget the time they said, but it wasn't that late. This all seems to be on Thanksgiving still, so did I miss something in the timeline? How are the pants durable enough to pull up two people? Did Nick dig that hole? If not, why is there randomly such a big hole in the forest? I will say that I really enjoyed Cece and Winston bonding. I don't think that's happened before.
The Mindy Project "Wedding Crushers"
I still hate that opening song. I feel I need to say that every so often. Otherwise, this was another good, not great episode, with a lot of things that made me laugh as hard as anything this week (Mindy and Josh doing the drug rituals, for instance) and some groundwork for the future being laid (Danny and his dad is surely going somewhere). This was a bit of a dip from last week that's hardly an indictment.
The Walking Dead "Too Far Gone"
They've relied on this trick too often. It's worked before but the law of diminishing returns is in effect. An exciting action sequence is not going to make up for an otherwise messy episode. Let's break this down into good, bad, and questionable.
(Good) The tenseness of the scene with Lily watching the walker in the river.
(Bad) Lily somehow being able to get from the river to the standoff at just the right time and the little girl managing to stay only mostly dead for that time.
(Good) Rick delivering the hell out of that speech.
(Bad) There's literally one person who I think was still on board with the Governor's plan by the time he killed Hershel, but that guy is driving the tank, so we still get a gunfight. Seriously, how can anyone still side with the Governor? It's a shame there were no puppies for him to kick too.
(Questionable) Why would the Governor go after poor, one-legged Hershel instead of Michonne with whom he has a personal vendetta. She is also more threatening. Oh, and isn't it more poetic to kill her with her own weapon?
(Questionable) Somehow, Michonne is able to escape alive despite being tied up, in a gun fight, on the wrong side of enemy lines.
(Bad) Great, now no one gets the prison. Did the Governor have a plan B? Plan A seemed doomed to fail.
(Good) Carl gets to be a badass.
(Questionable) Why would the kids all forget Lil Asskicker. Bring her on the damn bus. In fact, I don't care what the episode implies. Until we see a Li' Asskicker baby zombie running around, I assume she is still alive and I don't buy a single moment of Carl and Rick's pain.
Let's be honest, this is what was supposed to be the Season 3 finale, which would've felt more earned. This is just a rushed attempt to finally deliver on that promise from last season. If we ignore everything with the Governor, I like the direction of this half season. Then again, the Governor was nearly half the season, so, TWD is comfortably still in a state of "maybe it'll come together at some point" and "it's just good enough to keep watching".
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