Louie "So Did the Fat Lady/Elevator Part 1"
Whoa! Who knew the cat-lady from Go On had that in her? I shouldn't be surprised, Louie has a history of getting the most out of female guest stars in particular (Melissa Leo, Parker Posey, Pamela Adlon). Add Sarah Baker to that list. Her speech was phenomenal in one of those "you can't just read it to get the full effect" way. Just great. It's a shame the season plays the way it does because "Model" last week and "So Did the Fat Lady" this week would've made a great hour. The second episode had some good stuff too. Mostly setup, but the subway experience was pretty great in its own right.
Agents of SHIELD "The Beginning of the End"
Bravo! Stuck the landing. This episode avoided all the traps that I was worried they'd fall into, most notably not trying to redeem Ward. There's signs that he's going to find his way back on the team down the line, but now would be too soon and the writers recognized this. Also, we still have Triplett, who I assumed would be fodder for cheap emotion to be killed off in the finale. Setting the next season up as the rebuilding of SHIELD essentially bring us back to where we were in the pilot, but with the team rapport already established which was one of the bumpiest aspects of the show at the beginning of the season. While it's far from making a "Top Shows" list for me, I couldn't be more pleased with how the show has developed over the year.
Fargo "The Six Ungraspables"
To answer my question from last week: infection is why Lester's hand got worse. That makes sense. I have to remind myself that this is a limited series so the whole story will be told by the end of the season. We are at the halfway point of the season, but I'm so used to feet-dragging in shows, that it surprised me when, say, Molly was able to convince Bill that Lester should be a suspect. Still, the greatest thing about this show continues to be Lorne. I got chills at how effectively he intimidated Gus's neighbor.
The Middle "Heck on a Hard Body"
If the only point of this episode was to setup Sue (and presumably the rest of the Hecks) going to Disney World next week, that would be enough. The episode does right by Sue in almost every way. Her greatest strength, her tenacity, gets her the win. Darrin stands by her in a surprisingly sweet argument. We even get Brad's offer to help her win the car which is a great reminder that while the world tends to shit on Sue, her inner circle is as committed to her as anyone's friends and family. It was about time that we had another episode where Frankie and Axl bond. The same goes with Mike and Brick. Norm McDonald's return is very welcome. His comedic persona works really well in the world of The Middle.
Suburgatory "Stiiiiiiill Horny"
Was that the series finale or do we have another episode left? Boy, this show sure is going out with a whimper. It was never a focused show but I'd still like something that felt a bit more like an end. I think I've been spoiled by too many other shows preemptively writing a series finale into the end of every season. Regardless, I will sort of miss Suburgatory. It was such a likable show and did better by most of the members of the cast than I think they'll ever get again. Jane Levy, Jeremy Sisto, and Cheryl Hines will be fine but it'll be tough to find something that uses Carly Chaikin or Allie Grant as well.
Modern Family "The Wedding (Part 1)"
Let's break this up by story:
Cam, Mitchell, & Lily: You know my stance on this. If those two a working together I almost always enjoy them. Just about everything at the Dry Cleaner (not remembering the man's name, Cam explaining their dynamic, Lily getting stuck) was great. I could do without the required story about the wedding plans falling apart, but what are you going to do? It's a sitcom wedding. That's how they go.
Phil & Alex: They made an excellent comedic duo. I couldn't stop laughing when Alex chewed out the store employee when it started looking like Phil's plan was going to fall apart.
Luke & Claire: Am I crazy or hasn't the show already covered that Luke is some kind of genius in his own right? They keep trying to backtrack him into being an idiot while at the same time not doing that. It makes for a funny joke this week with him thinking of "Alex's plan" but it's making me feel crazy.
Haley & the manny: Are we supposed to be rooting for them to get together? If it gets Haley more screen time, I'm for it.
Jay & Merle: Seriously. What the fuck!? This story is coming out of nowhere a little too much for me. It requires so much backtracking of Jay's development that it comes off as forced.
The Others: I don't know. This was a very busy episode and I forget a lot of what happened.
The Americans "You Can't Take It With You"
After last year's quiet finale, I'm not expecting to much to go down next week. There's a lot that could potentially happen though. A lot of moving parts right now. Larrick is still tracking Philip and Elizabeth down. I doubt we are finished with Jared. There's still the matter of figuring out who killed Leanne and Emmett. Oleg has morphed into a very dangerous wild card. I have no idea what is going on in Nina's head or where her allegiance lands right now. Stan is backed in a corner and I don't know how he'll respond to it. Paige is getting suspicious and, based on how last season ends, looks primed to make a discovery about her parents. Then there's Martha who, in a single episode went from hapless pawn to adept obstacle, what with stealing CIA documents to make a point, revealing she knows Philip is wearing a wig, and all that baby talk (she's not already pregnant, is she?). Too much is going on to resolve it all so I'm interested to see what they choose to keep open-ended.
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