Past Purges
Agents of SHIELD "Nothing Personal"
I would seriously love Maria Hill to be a regular on the series even though it would be nice to see Cobie Smulders work on a new project instead. This week was mostly about reacting to the truth about Ward. I think most of the responses were earned, especially Fitz's that resulted in an excellent scene between him and Simmons (again, I really hope they don't settle on them as a couple in the romantic sense). Triplett is getting pretty cozy with the team, enough so that I'm honestly wondering if they would consider dropping Ward after this season. Don't get me wrong, I still fully expect Triplett to die saving someone or simply go away as Ward goes through a villain-reform process where the throughline of season 2 is "he's with the team, but can we trust him?". I'm starting to invite the possibility that they'll surprise me though.
New Girl "Dance"
Normally, kids are not the show's strong suit but this was the exception. Each character gets his or her own quirky story to work through. Schmidt being bested by the insults of a middle-schooler fits him. He's a super confident guy, although much of that is because he's around people who like him regardless. He kind of crumbles when in foreign territory. Nick gets along with the slackers. That fits too. Coach is the authoritarian. That's one of my favorite shades of that character. There's no accounting for Winston being a middle-school heart throb but this is the kind of weird story that Lamorne Morris does best. Jess and Cece got the great disagreement about "good cop/bad cop" and that's all that matters to me there.
The Mindy Project "The Girl Next Door"
Like most Mindy episodes, I was meh on the plot. Give more a little more motivation though, and I could collect several one-liners that would be among the week's funniest across all shows.
Fargo "A Muddy Road"
I was very impressed by Allison Tolman and Colin Hanks' scenes together this week, especially in the way Molly understands why Gus let Lorne go when he pulled him over. Those two characters are the clear protagonists at this point and even if they don't get romantically involved, I greatly look forward to them potentially teaming up from here.
Lorne, on the other hand, is nothing but fun. It's definitely the juiciest role in a show already filled with big characters. He carries himself with the absolute certainty that he won't be caught. And, it's not in a cocky way. He has an understanding of what people will do and won't. He can drag a man by his tie because who in an office is going to actually try and stop him. He threatens Gus because he knows Gus has more to lose than he does. It's such a good role so far.
The Middle "The Optimist"
4 thoughts:
-I don't like Frankie at work because it reminds me how frustratingly self-absorbed and lazy she can be. I like her normally, but an episode like this convinces me that she deservedly shouldn't have a job.
-Sue winning the optimist scholarship is spot on. I remember back when I was applying for college, seeing an optimist society scholarship essay and not even attempting it because I knew they'd see right through me.
-I'm glad they included the montage of ways Axl spent his meal points because I was about to ask how he spent them all and has no weight to show for it.
-Generally, I'm perturbed by stories about miscommunication but it played to both Mike and Brick's strengths, so I liked it, especially because it begins with Mike trying to look out for Brick as opposed to the Heck family default of forgetting Brick.
Suburgatory "Dalie Nicole Smith"
Oh my god! A story with Tessa and Geroge. I wasn't sure those were allowed as an A-story anymore. Too bad it was...weird. George is hung up on Dallas still, I guess, but then he kind of forgets that because he's just horny, which, I mean, I can appreciate as a motivator but it was a strange mix of tones. We got a lot of Dalia this week, to the point of actually getting diminished returns from her. The episode gave me a little Tig Notaro though, so I can't complain.
Modern Family "Sleeper"
In short, I appreciate the wordplay but wish there was a little more. One of my biggest issues with Modern Family is when they try to hard to build around a single scene at the end because it normally requires a series of conversations and decisions that no human would have or make. "Sleeper" trades that for a series of small builds and at some point I just have to accept that they'd rather be clever than believable. Everything with Alex was about looking for ways to have double-meanings about diseases. Phil's guilt existed solely for him to do some physical comedy and give us the chess scene, which is my favorite scene of the episode. Jay's embarrassment about being in the dog show primarily seems designed for his misleading conversation with Mitchell at the end. As with nearly every week, the only characters that come away looking good are Haley, Luke, and Lily who all have some great moments (Lily guilting Cam about being left in the car, for instance).
The Americans "Yousaf"
I'm getting that feeling the Phillip and Elizabeth being a good couple is going to get them killed. That or Larrick. Take your pick. Or Stan working with their dead friends' son. Really, a lot of things can get them killed. Maybe even Paige...not sure how that would work but it's looking more likely. It's been fun to see how Phillip and Elizabeth deal with the different ways their kids are being deceptive. Their entire lives are a lie, so they are having real trouble knowing what to do with the children doing it at a much smaller scale. Regardless, it's looking like shit's about to get real, soon with all these moving parts gravitating closer and closer to one another.
The Big Bang Theory "The Proton Transmogrification"
I'm torn. They were certainly using Bob Newhart too much for the novelty to still be there, but I am sad to see that character go. In other news, Sheldon has a human response. They are having one of these every couple episodes at this point which is certainly preferable over "villain Sheldon".
This May the 4th stuff strikes me as one of those things the writers found out about and said, "hey, this seems like a nerd thing our characters can do" more so than having any significance. You have to fill 21 minutes somehow, right?
Hannibal "Naka-Choko"
That was the strangest sex scene I've seen, especially on network TV, in a while, yet I couldn't look away. This was another one of those episode where I feel like knowledge of the books would give me a few clues about what's going on. Still, the introduction of Michael Pitt's character is interesting enough as it is. And, I'm very curious to see what Will is up to, because I don't believe he's actually being brainwashed by Hannibal. Freddie's not dead. I don't know the rest, but that part I feel pretty sure of.
SNL "Andrew Garfield/Coldplay"
Andrew Garfield proves to be game for anything but the writers don't seem to have a lot of ideas for him. There's definitely the sense that they'd rather have Emma Stone hosting (and who could blame them). Garfield has a killer Justin Timberlake that I was glad to see. And, I can never be sad to see the return of Jebidiah Atkinson, critic extraordinaire, partly because it's so much fun to watch Killam work his way out of a botched line while staying in character.
Mad Men "The Monolith"
Anyone else thing that speech by Bert was directed as much at the audience as it is to Don? It wouldn't be the Mad Men style anyway, but I spent much of the beginning of the episode wanting Don to go "maverick" and do something great, redeem himself, and get Lou's office. Instead, we get Don working for Peggy on an account. While Peggy is deserving of a position of power like this, it's still massively humbling for Don. It's very interesting seeing how the other partners are treating Don, who still has Roger actively and Pete passively on her side. Cooper is in an oddly elevated position again for someone who a couple seasons ago mainly functioned as the office nuisance. Teddy is more or less indifferent to Don and Joan is staying pretty laissez-faire about it. It's mainly Cutler and [not a partner] Lou who appear to be out to get him. Regardless, it's looking like Don really is back on track now and I wonder how long before he's back or gets fired.
-How good is Joel Murray? He's one of those guys who pops up all over the place but always makes me happy to see him.
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