Revenge -2×1- Destiny

I have to say, I thought the show was going to do the standard thing and have Victoria appear in the last 30 seconds. So her appearance mid-episode was a nice shock. As was learning that her daughter knew she was alive all the time.

Nolan seemed really evasive about his house being "in escrow" - I'm thinking that he's - somehow - out of money.

Definitely got the vibe that Ashley is sleeping with Conrad, especially when Daniel commented "she wouldn't cheat on me" and Conrad retorted "Really?" The two of them (Ashley/Conrad) deserve each other.

The show made a point of having Emily directly address the new mentor as Takeda, so I think that's all the clarification we're getting for now. I'm not sure if they've altered his backstory to fit his new appearance, or if this is just a new side of him. I'm not all that interested in the new guy either.

I'm really excited about Charlotte's storyline though. I don't think they'd have Emily deliberately hurt her, so I'm guessing the "taking away," is just turning Charlotte against Victoria, and possibly looping her into the Revenge plot or some portion of it, though with Charlotte's mental and drug issues that could easily backfire.

Daniel without Emily is pretty, but boring. I hope they give him something to do (besides Ashley) soon.

Once Upon a Time (2011) -2×1- Broken

I thought it was a very, very solid premiere and sets up the rest of the season very nicely. Loved the humor, loved Snow and Charming back together. Loved Charming's "don't push it, Snow"--those two know each other so well (and Charming's FACE when Snow said she slept with Whale! bwah!). Loved Emma's quiet freakout, loved Red and Snow reuniting, loved the Whale/Charming staredown. Pretty much I loved it all.

The Snow and Emma in Enchanted Forest storyline is more promising than I thought it would be, because it takes place in real time. It's FASCINATING that the Enchanted Forest splinter, while remaining extant, has also been stuck for 28 years. That was a curveball I didn't expect, but it's fascinating and a great idea. Bravo, writers.

Oh, look. Regina was about to cold-bloodedly murder Henry's grandfather. Glad she loves Henry just so much...not.

I really like Rumbelle, but their stuff in this episode felt weird, it didn't flow. It felt like the writers had nothing for Rumpel to do and also wanted to manufacture some drama. If they were going to have Belle come back at the end, there needed to be a more substantial conversation there.

Young Justice -2×8- Satisfaction

Even though this episode mostly just set up plot lines for future episodes there was still a lot of good stuff here:

It REALLY sucks to be Paula Crock. I actually wasn't expecting Sportsmaster wanting revenge for Artemis's death, even for entirely selfish reasons.

The conversation between Clone!Roy and Ollie was really heartwarming, as was the scene with Bart and Jaime. I hope they get all the "freshmen" interacting at the same time eventually. IMO, if there's one thing this show needs, it's more FRIENDSHIP! :D

I loved S̶p̶e̶e̶d̶y̶'̶s̶ Arsenal's story. One armed and dangerous! And at least they made it somewhat realistic when Roy was struggling to do a few things with just one arm. I have to give Arsenal props for lasting as long as he did against Mercy, and Lex Luthor for never losing his cool even under the threat of being amputated in a rather gruesome way.

JASON TODD!

It was Conner's 6th birthday and no one remembered. :( I honestly never thought they would use Wendy (and/or Marvin) again after season one, let alone as a possible love interest. It might be interesting seeing Conner trying to have a relationship with a "normal" person.

"Red Arrow? Yeah, that's an original name."

Finally, I got a kick out of the girls standing in Justice League formation to beat the crap out of Captain Cold.

Glee -4×3- Makeover

The best episode so far, but solely because the NYC material is really starting to come into its own. Sarah Jessica Parker was really excellent--I loved her number with Kurt and Rachel, and really all of her scenes with Kurt. She's almost singlehandedly selling a pretty unrealistic/unbelievable story. I also demand an Anna Wintour cameo before this is all over.

So glad Rachel decided to kiss Brody. So angry that stupid Finn showed up to ruin it. Commence the slut-shaming of Rachel, I guess.

I'm rapidly losing interest in about 90% of the McKinley side of things. It was better this week given the absence of the TIny Toons, but the election story was cartoonish, and the only things it contributed to the overall show were Blaine's misgivings about everything, and Sam and Brittany's growing friendship (which is looking dangerously like a budding romance to me, and I will rage forever if that shit happens). Both of those stories could have been played out in a way more grounded to the NYC proceedings, especially if Santana were in New York, like they said last season, instead of in Louisville. And, as much as I love Sam, if it were Brittany and Blaine becoming friends, then that's two birds with one stone. But that's silly of me to expect storytelling economy from this show.

I don't hate Will's story, except for the part where they already did this with the Broadway thing back in season two. For it to have any impact at all this time around, they'll have to go through with it, and if Glee has demonstrated anything so far this season, it's that they don't like going through with things.

Last Resort -1×1- Captain

I was really looking forward to this show and it mainly lived up to my expectations. I am a bit concerned over how many stories they seem to be juggling and I hope they trim some of the fat (especially the drug leader and, hate to say it, even Jessy Schram's character); and I do wonder about the longevity. I mean, I can't see five seasons of them hanging out at the island or anything to that nature. But, overall, the pilot kept my interest, I already enjoy a good amount of these characters, I'm intrigued over the conspiracy, and I just found it fun and interesting to watch.

It was great seeing some of my favorite actors like Dichen Lachman, Robert Patrick, and especially Autumn Reeser. But it was Andre Braugher who owned it. I thought he was absolutely riveting in all of his scenes. He even made me think for a second that Marcus would actually nuke D.C. And his final speech was epic as expected. Right now, he and Giancarlo Esposito (from the less then stellar Revolution) are currently my MVPs for new shows this fall.

Only ones that I'm not wild about are Scott Speedman's character and Shepard. They weren't horrible; just kind of bland, and Marcus just overpowered them. Hopefully, they'll get some better development soon.

So, I'm in it for the long haul. I loved The Shield, so the fact that Shawn Ryan is at the helm makes me optimistic. I'm just curious about it from a ratings stand-point. The Thursday 8 p.m. slot on ABC has had many casualties. Curious to see if this can find an audience, or will it just be another victim.

Modern Family Season 4, Episode 1 Bringing Up Baby

And we're off to a new season.

I laughed like crazy at the animals on the roof. It was so unexpected and I liked how they tied it in to Mitchell making the car dance for Lily. I really loved her insistence on naming the kid or a cat "Larry", too. I like that she's not sweet and adorable, as most tv kids are.

I also liked Luke causing Manny to have doubts, and then leaving the room, to check on dinner, and his aside that he loves to throw out a bomb/grenade and then leaving.

I haven't read anything but I imagine the time jump is real because the episode started right after the finale so the time jump gets them into this television "year." I didn't find it at all jarring and was pleasantly surprised that they didn't feel it necessary to drop the 5/6 months later screen drop because throughout the episode they dropped hints about what many of the characters would be doing a few months into the future.

Glee -4×2- Britney 2.0

Glee has always been a revolving door of deja vu storylines, so. Here we have Finn/Rachel/Quinn 2.0 - except Finn2 has a touch of Puck, and Rachel2 doesn't think the world owes her a Finn. Quinn2's still Quinn at this stage. And the twist is the Puckleberry flavoring in the Finn/Rachel/Quinn triangle replacing the Quinn/Puck tension.

Still want Rachel to STFU and act like a student, not a privileged brat for once in her life. If there's one lesson I want her to ever learn, that Will sure as hell never taught her, it's that just demanding shit should get you slapped down, because you ARE NOT THAT SPECIAL. How many times now has she backsassed, rolled her eyes, complained about how Cassie's not faaaaiiiir!, and stated that she's so special that the rules don't apply to her? And it's just the first two episodes! She only remains humble for five minutes and then someone rushes to reward her with whatever she originally whined about. It's like neither she nor the world has learned a thing since Tonight in season one. That girl has never had an actual consequence that stuck unless it was then immediately erased.

And sorry, Rachel, but you can't do sexy. Or dance much. But good try? Either way, you aren't so great at this that you get to dictate to Cassandra how fabulous and deserving you are that she should change her mind. No matter how often Cassandra's said it, Rachel just can't conceive of anyone not squeeing at her talent, so why should she need to develop a thick skin when she can badger someone/CARMEN/Cassie until she gets what she wants. She always gets what she wants. Rejection is for other losers in her class.

I still don't know how to feel about the McKinley half - still getting a feel for how all these new people are fitting into the old. It's a huge swing in the dynamic and tone of the group, not just like slowly adding a Blaine or a Sam one at a time. You have to love how tragic their school assemblies always turn out. It's interesting to see Britt crashing, and I'm sure Blaine won't be far behind in his own crisis of lonely.

Glee 4-1: "The New Rachel" 2012.09.13

I thought this episode was mediocre but a step in the right direction for this show. They seemed to be veering back into the early season 1 territory, I just hope they don't recycle the same old storylines at McKinley with the newly added "Rachel & Kurt" show. Marley as a character worked for me. She has a great voice, seemed pretty likable without being overly angsty, and has an interesting back story with a morbidly obese mother. Also, the actress seems decent so far. I think she'll gel well with the glee club. As for Jake, I hope they don't make him Puck 2.0, and give him more depth and a different story. As long as he and Marley aren't a recycled version of Rachel/Puck 2.0 (who am I kidding, this is Glee) then the show won't be terrible. Unique didn't bother me as much as last season, which is a good sign I guess. However, I NEVER want to hear Call Me Maybe again after this summer. I didn't mind Kate Hudson. She wasn't awesome, but wasn't terrible. Just kind of the typical pain in the ass dance teacher. I actually liked that mashup and it's a perfect gym song. All of the Kurt/Rachel and Kurt/Burt stuff was great as usual. I look forward to seeing what those two do in New York. All in all though, I really missed Santana, Puck, and Mercedes.

True Blood -5×3- Whatever I Am, You Made Me

Reasonably good episode. Loved the flashbacks. It was cool to see a more toned down/innocent Pam. And while I don't love that Pam slit her wrists and kind of "forced Eric's hands". I take comfort in the fact that 1.) he could have let her die or 2.)given her his blood to heal her (I mean, as far as I know, there isn't a reason why she wouldn't have been able to heal if Eric forced her to drink his blood. She wasn't dead yet). So I'll take that on some level he was willing to have Pam as his progeny.

I like Tara and am still on the fence of where she can go as a vampire down the line. But I appreciate her disdain about it, as it stays true to her vampire-hate. I am also glad that she went to Sam. I liked them together, I hope Luna is gone for good.

Lafayette turning brujo and pouring the bleach into the gumbo had me LMAO. I didn't like Arlene throwing her two cents in though. She should worry about Terry falling off the deep end during his road trip.

Speaking off, I'm thinking some spooky shit went down in Iraq. And that brings me to another point.

I want to see Lillith. Furthermore, I was doing some research when I heard the name, and Lillith is first mentioned in some Mesopotamian texts. So she may be up to 10,000 years old. Mesopotamia is modern-day Iraq, so I'm wondering if there won't be some crazy tie-in there. I doubt they'll work that all together, but that's something for those who don't think there'll be any relevance to consider.


I like the authority and regime so far -- I'm always fascinated by world-building. I'm interested in Salome and find it interesting that she is still very much the self of two millennia back (if we're judging Biblically) in that she gauges men by how they react to sexual situations. She's wielding power in a very Old World way, and while I'm repelled by it in a modern sense, I like her as a character.

True Blood -5×2- Authority Always Wins

Well, with the notable exception of a very dapper Eric meeting Pam for the first time, that was underwhelming. More of Eric and Pam would have been nice. Those would have been valuable, watchable minutes. Unlike, say, the Terry Bellefleur or Sam Merlotte storylines, which are fast-forward material at best.

I like Terry Bellefleur, but with only a short season and a limited number of on-screen minutes, it'd be nice if the writers could focus on the main plot. I get the temptation to shine the spotlight on interesting characters, but really that time would be better spent on sharpening the core plot. Especially since the Bellefleur plot is currently inching along at a glacial pace. They need to cut to the chase soon or quit cluttering up the show.

Unlike Terry Bellefleur, I don't like Sam Merlotte, and he gets more tiresome with every episode. I can't believe he had the gall to lecture Luna about the importance of family. You would think that after his debacle with the Mickens clan, he would have learned that no family at all is better than an epically dysfunctional one.

Tonight's show lacked focus, and I can't see that problem getting any better as some of these stories develop. On the bright side, at least we're getting some interesting new dynamics in the vampire world. I do wonder what the combined body count of the recovering Russell Edgington and the rampaging baby vamp Tara will do for human/vampire relations. I suspect the dude who runs The Stake House is going to be doing a booming business by the time this season ends.