11-22-13
I’m starting to believe I’ve been a fool, Internet friends, for ever believing in some of the television shows I hold near and dear to my heart (against my better judgment) Usually, only one out of four is disappointing to me, but this week, I must complain about half of the installments I’ve seen. And as much as I dig railing on stuff, the future now holds the expectation of some garbage moments of television (but still a couple gems).
New Girl was on point as usual. Whatever their formula has become (Schmidt doing more Schmidt-like things), it’s working, and consistently throwing believable wrenches into the characters’ lives. Jess and Nick had to forego date night to make sure Schmidt didn’t ruin Cece and Coach’s first… date, and a quest for a lost Ferguson (remember when Winston stole a cat?) led the poor dude to the home of a hamster-loving, bus-driving woman (perfect match, those weirdos). The best moments were of course everything Schmidt said (“I will live in the shadows”) and that one thing where he started treated a leather sofa like Cece (breast pillows). In New Girl tradition, Schmidt was not successful and we can look forward to a very Schmidt-like emotional recovery.
How I Met Your Mother was just kinda a throwaway episode, and not even a silly, fun one. I watched it with a girl I’m seeing and after the 21 minutes had expired I turned to her and a sad gaze confirmed what I already knew; this was one of the worst episodes so far. The plot revolved around Barney and James trying to get their mother back together with their respective fathers. This led to some sillies, but nothing too actually laugh-worthy. Also, we saw the end of Daphne, as Marshall did a good deed and brought her to see her kid (and oil tycoon of a child), sadly ridding the show of a great guest appearance. Seriously, nothing really stood out and I missed Cristin Milioti (again).
As much as I enjoy Clark Gregg’s acting, Ming-Na Wen being a badass, and Chloe Bennet appearing (she’s hot, you guys), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is not a very wonderful show. For instance, this episode was sloppy and I ended up being very disappointed with how it turned into a rampage of angry people hitting other angry people by the end. In this episode, the gang is picking up the mess of Thor 2 (literally in the UK) and talking about how Thor is dreamy (why do we care?) when at the same time some cultists find a berserking staff of angry power and start playing rage gods. All this, so the beefy dude on the plane can reveal he’s sad and mad about some childhood trauma (best shot part of the episode but Joss Whedon, man, you love tremendously sad backstories). And after a whole episode of smashing stuff up, we’re left with the beefy dude and Ming-Na supposedly banging? And more clues to Coulson’s revival? I don’t like sitting through stinky TV to get a hint of the stuff they’re hiding for the finale!
At least Elementary was super-sleek and fun this week. Only Sherlock could find a serial killer from the investigation of a suicide (designed to look like a murder). This episode makes up for S.H.I.E.L.D. and HIMYM with solid conflicts between American FBI douchebags and Sherlock/Watson (Gregson gets go share some spotlight again), a well-written mystery, and the continued excellence of the actors involved (I don’t remember if I said that I was skeptical of Gregson and Bell a while back but now I’m not?). I’d say more, but hopefully you’ll get a chance to enjoy it for yourself while I continue to be super rageful about Joss Whedon. Also, watch the season finale of Legend of Korra. It’s rad.
