TV Reviews

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.

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.

Shameless – Hurricane Monica

Shameless made last week’s terrific installment look like an episode of Jersey Shore with this week’s wonderfully dosed recipe of broken people with all the best intentions. Every character got a signature moment in which everything was explored and yet only so much progress was made. It’s incredible how the writers keep juggling this many characters—they even added the mother to the mix. Bringing back a pivotal player, like the mother of a character, is an old trick in the storytelling book. And so, Monica’s return felt predictable, but needed.

Last week, Frank randomly went to Monica to deal with the loss of his mother. Initially, it seemed like an easy ploy to get laid but as the episode continued, Frank showed genuine pain and sorrow over his departed mother. A beautiful moment occurred when Lupe Fiasco’s “The Show Goes On” blasted out of the stereo and, for a brief moment, the entire family danced it out as Frank sat down and cried. Maybe it’s because, for the entire episode, he had seemingly done all the wrong things but that moment defined his true nature. He has no control over his emotions and, though he acts out all of the time, his true feelings won’t go away. That’s why his relationship with Monica was so extremely well done. They danced their feelings away and she gave him his mom’s ashes to smoke. In every way imaginable, Monica was all that Frank needed. Within the span of the hour, their bond felt grounded and even a bit recognizable. There was the outside world and there was Monica and Frank.

Alcatraz – The Ames Brothers/Sonny Burnett

This week’s Alcatraz double feature was already an improvement in the first half (“The Ames Brothers”) on what we’ve been used to, but it wasn’t until the second half (“Sonny Burnett”) that we saw the first episode without any of the problems that have plagued the show since the beginning. While “The Ames Brothers” was the story of two brothers and inmates who returned to modern-day Alcatraz to try and accomplish a heist that failed 50 years earlier, “Sonny Burnett” turned out to be the best implementation of the series’ story template to date.

30 Rock – Standards And Practices

30 Rock delivered a rather entertaining episode last night with top-notch self-deprecating goofball humor that makes the show so well-received. From the return of Kaylie, to the demise of “America’s Kids Got Singing,” and the rules preventing swearing on TV, 30 Rock had a little bit of everything to widen the board of comedy.

The censorship storyline hit all the right notes, with Kenneth forcing TGS to stop using any vulgar words, except for ding-bat. It was refreshing to see that comedy could easily be witty and poignant without having to resort to cursing. Of course, the funniest part of the episode was the introduction of censor Gaylord Felcher, who expressed his power by flipping everyone the bird.

Shameless – Parenthood

After a couple of exploration episodes in which we got the most out of the current storylines, it was time for Shameless to get things going again. The writers kicked things into high gear this week by tying up a lot of loose ends to make room for some fresh input. ‘Parenthood’ was filled with story combined in a subtle, yet intriguing package. 

This was Lip’s episode in a lot of ways. Karen was trying to figure out what to do with the baby and decided that she may as well get paid for sticking it out for nine months. Hopping from a Christian adoption center to an attorney, she discovered plenty of options for giving up her cargo, some of which don’t even require quitting weed. And since Veronica and Kevin are trying to have a baby, there may even be an option close to home.

Undercover Boss – Popeye’s – Was the Outcome Fair?

This week, CTO Lynne Zappone trades in her business suit for a company uniform as she works with employees of Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen. She meets some unique people, but was the outcome really fair?