Assembling for the big finale of their first season, The Avengers head to Asgard to take down the mysterious ultra-villain who has plagued them for the last 26 episodes. This action-packed trilogy of episodes closes off just about all of the plot threads in a satisfying way, yet leaves us with a doozie of a cliffhanger at the same time.
Last night’s rock solid episode of Game of Thrones was paced a bit
slower than the first two, but it was still an engaging and well
produced hour of television. There was less in the way of major
revelations, but we learned more about some of the characters, met a few
new ones, and got to see a little bit of how things normally work in
King’s Landing before they inevitably go to hell as the plot wears on.
As
a rule, I avoid exposure to any material about an upcoming episode
before it airs, even promos. That is why when the week’s episode starts,
memories from the previous one rush through my mind, sometimes
triggering a flurry of excitement, especially if there was some type of
cliffhanger. It happened this week and as it did, the reason behind one
of the major differences between stories set on This Side and those set
on The Other Side dawned on me.
When I first heard the premise of this week’s Nikita I was less than thrilled at the idea. Only 20 episodes into its first season, the show had seemingly already recycled the same plot twice. The basis of the entire show is that Nikita had her love stolen from her by Division and is on the warpath for revenge. Getting too close to an outsider is about as taboo as it gets when it comes to the life of secret assassins, and the use of that plot device to drive an episode that wasn’t actually about Nikita seemed kind of lazy. At its core, “Glass Houses” focuses on Nikita’s quest for another one of Percy’s black boxes. After Michael is ordered to surveil a female guardian, Nikita goes in ahead of time only to discover that the target isn’t where she’s supposed to be. After a humorously clever fake bank robbery, (yet again a device that has been used in the show before) Nikita finds the super killer and learns that not only is she not where she is meant to be, but she isn’t alone. Having discarded her duties as a guardian, she has become domesticated, with a boyfriend and his son.
How you feel about this episode obviously depends on how you feel
about Michael Scott as a character. I’ve always thought that while he
got himself into a lot of the same excruciating situations as his
British counterpart played by Ricky Gervais, Steve Carell’s take on the
general idea of a boss who tries too hard to be funny and doesn’t know
the limits of what’s acceptable for a man in his position has always
been a little more benign, and ultimately more likable. So while it’s a
bit odd to see all of these other characters sing a song to a boss who’s
mostly embarrassed and offended them for the last seven years, and
especially for a couple of them to tear up when they find out he’s
secretly leaving a day early, I ultimately bought it.
Although this week’s episode of 30 Rock featured a cameo appearance by a former US Secretary of State, the true star of the episode was Kim Jong Il, Glorious Supreme Leader of the Illustrious People’s Republic of Korea. I speak for all Americans when I say I was truly honored that the Supreme Leader lowered himself to appearing on our lowly western televisions.
Community wrapped up one of its longest running side plots this week when Shirley’s baby is finally born in Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts.
The episode centers entirely around the group helping to deliver the
baby when they are unable to leave Anthropology class due to a race riot
started by Dean Pelton.
The episode begins with another fantastic guest appearance by John
Oliver of The Daily Show as drunkard Professor Ian Duncan, as he and the
class take their own special version of finals. With everyone aside
from Shirley and Annie getting drunk, the class has to quickly sober up
when the Dean drops by with a reporter writing an article about him. The
entire cold open of this week’s episode really did highlight quite how
good the cast of Community is. With nothing particularly funny happening
or being said, the show remains entirely watchable and even
entertaining from the quality of acting alone. Now towards the end of
the second season, the characters and their mannerisms are so well
established that it is easy to be engaged for the full two minutes
before a singular punch-line is even delivered.
