Television

Shameless – A Great Cause

When predictability becomes a strength instead of a weakness, you know the story is indestructible. Shameless met higher grounds in Sunday’s outing as seemingly narrow plotlines accumulated into one of the best acts of the current TV season. Rossum should really get that Emmy now.

Most of the episode, however, wasn’t as captivating as the final few minutes. Much like last week, Monica was up to a lot of things while the children were her amusement. However, opposed to last week, the stories weren’t as intertwined and perfectly dosed. It was very much like watching someone get addicted, you don’t know how bad the situation is until they’re knee deep. Monica pushed the boundaries when she stole the money from the cabinet—the money her children had worked all Fall to collect. This was a low blow from Monica, especially now that everybody’s future is so prominently featured. It’s easy to watch this show and think, “Wow, everyone is so shameless,” but Monica is definitely the worst.

NBC Renews ‘Grimm’ for a Second Season

TV Line reports that NBC has renewed its freshman supernatural drama Grimm for a second season with a 22-episode order. Ever since its late premiere in October 2011, Grimm has been a continuous surprise with an average of 6.4 million viewers and a respectable rating—for a show on Friday night—in the demographic of adults aged 18-49.

CBS Announces a Slew of Renewals

CBS has announced the renewal of 15 of its primetime shows. The move brings the total list of returning evening programs to 18, including everything from comedy, to drama, to reality and even a news magazine.

30 Rock – St. Patrick’s Day

It’s St. Patrick’s Day everyone! (Seriously, did you know?) And of course 30 Rock had to dedicate an episode to this joyful day. A familiar face returned and some major character developments took place. Is this the final season? Because it feels like everyone we’ve ever met is coming back and that some stories are heading towards an ending. Not that NBC would ever consider killing this beloved show, but this season does feel like a goodbye tour. But let’s not wallow in self pity because there was a lot to laugh about in this episode. 30 Rock is establishing itself as a show that has run its course while still producing some serious laughs. 

The Vampire Diaries – 1912

Hello and welcome back to another review of The Vampire…wooaaah. What on Earth is going on? This episode was full-on crazy. Not the typical TVD game-changing kind of crazy but more like twist-you-up-real-good crazy. You actually had to pay attention to this episode if you wanted to know what was going on. The episode had no Klaus or Caroline to root for, no Elijah to honor and no Bonnie to dislike, yet it was bloody good. Props should be given to The Vampire Diaries’ writing staff who pulled off yet another stellar episode and managed to do so with very little action and a lot of plot-heavy developments. 

Two things need to be cleared up before we jump into the episode: this is not an Original-episode and nobody, including the writers, cared enough about last month’s cliffhanger to see any kind of resolution. In fact, we met Alaric unharmed in a prison cell where he was interrogated by Sheriff Forbes. Apparently Meredith twisted his words around in such fashion that he was considered to be the killer.

Community – Urban Matrimony and Sandwich Arts

Community is back folks! Can you believe it has been a whopping three months since we last saw our favorite college students? We here at PlayerAffinity had to quickly get re-adjusted to the quick wit and  hilarious references, but once we did, we were laughing it up like Troy and Abed in the morning. In ‘Urban Matrimony and Sandwich Arts,’ we were all reminded what every character was all about. Everyone got a chance to be their goofy self because it was Shirley’s wedding, and that’s what weddings do to people. 

Shirley was floating on cloud nine as she was preparing for the big day, again. Her big smile and good mood, however, weren’t enough for Britta and Jeff to jump onboard the bandwagon. In a heated debate, the two basically destroyed the concept of marriage, claiming no one really sticks to their vows anymore and that the whole idea of marriage is degrading towards women. It’s pretty clear whom of the two took which point of view. Community always does a great job tackling contemporary topics and this was no exception. 

Alcatraz – Clarence Montgomery

Compared to last week’s double feature, “Clarence Montgomery” was clearly a bit of a let-down. In both the flashbacks and the modern-day storyline, the episode never reached its potential and although it included one (or maybe two) interesting revelations, it also unveiled things that were right in-line with the low expectations I have come to have for the series.

Until now, the 1960s storylines have always been my favorite parts of episodes of Alcatraz. They have been like a breath of fresh air in stories that have very often had nothing else going for them. In this episode, we meet Clarence Montgomery, an African-American inmate who has convinced his friends of his innocence. A gifted cook, Montgomery was the first black chef to work in an all-white country club and was sent to the rock for allegedly cutting open the throat of his girlfriend, the very white daughter of the club owner in 1958.