Past Purges
Hannibal "Hassun"
More than any other show, this one has been lost in the NCAA shuffle. I watched this episode as an afterthought after a bunch of basketball games and was admittedly too exhausted to take it all in. All in all, courtroom drama is not Hannibal's best foot forward.
The Walking Dead "The Grove"
That was a hell of a thing. I get on The Walking Dead for a lot of things. It drags its feet one minute and over corrects by blasting through plots the next minute while ignoring the human nature elements of it all. I spent the whole episode with a chorus of "No, they wouldn't do that" in the back of my head. I cannot say enough how much I respect them for this episode. A show so firmly at the peak of its popularity and dominating the ratings doesn't go where this one did. It's too divisive a thing to do, too hard to watch. There's too much of a risk of turning off a casual viewer. If anything, this strengthened my desire to keep watching. I was wondering what they were going to do with the little girls for a while. We've seen how Carl is aging faster than the story can keep up with and they were going to be the same way. A zombie attack would've been too easy and simply getting separated and lost would've been too lazy. Having Lizzie kill Mika over a warped understanding of this world of zombies is every bit as haunting as anything the show has done. To follow that with Carol pulling an "Of Mice and Men" on Lizzie is nearly too much to bear. In this latest batch of episodes, they've really explored the things about a zombie apocalypse that are truly scary: images like the dead family Michonne finds, the mass suicide at the country club with Darryl and Beth, and now Lizzie and Mika are probably the most haunting images the show has done. And, it would be irresponsible to ignore how stellar Tyreese and Carol were in this episode. TWD is not an Emmy darling but episodes like this make a strong case.
How I Met Your Mother "Gary Blauman"
Has the Mother? This was one of Cristin Milioti's best appearances and yet another reminder of all the great moments we've missed by not having her around longer. I'm still every bit as interested in her and Ted's first year together as anything I've seen in the last 5 seasons. They don't make any mention of the dead/dying Mother making me worry even more about the next two episodes.
Filled with call backs? I'm undecided about that run through at the end where future Ted catches us up on all those recurring characters. Had it been less thorough, I'd've called it a lazy effort. Given the sheer number of people they got together for it (I won't even begin to list), it was impressive and gave me closure to stories I never even knew I needed (so Blah Blah's name was Carol? Ok). Elsewhere, "It's for the bride", one of my favorite gags on the show reappears, this time, as a resolution, not a "super power".
Featured genuine emotional stakes? Ok, not really. I suppose Ted's little speech about the people who disappear from your life counts. Actually, you know what, that first date was enough emotion.
Oh, and I'm with the guys about the curly fry.
Archer "Archer Vice: The Rules of Extraction"
I remember when Ray first became paralyzed thinking they were writing themselves into a hole. Little did I know they would turn it into one of the best running gags. I've lost track of how many times he's gotten his legs back only to lose the use of them again. And, even still, he's less unfortunate than Cyril.
Brooklyn Nine Nine "Unsolvable"
I haven't memorized every one but that has to be the best cold open yet. It reminded me a lot of the dozen variations of the internet story where Bill Murray does something crazy and tells a person "No one will ever believe you". Still, very funny.
Cougar Town "Refugee"
I'm surprised it took this long in the season for some shameless Target plugging. The part, of course, that depressed me is that I could recognize so many of the items as from Target. Somewhat call-back heavy episode with the chase both hitting the burrito man and the boxes of the Guzzle Buddies.
The Americans "A Little Night Music"
I never thought about the effect that religion would have on the family. I guess when your cover involves a significant deal of indoctrination, you don't need competing motivations. Nice use of the Marx quote. I know from a casting and production perspective why but I find it a little surprising that Elizabeth and Phillip never speak Russian to each other when alone. It's probably smart for their cover though.
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