TV Reviews

Supernatural – Shut Up, Dr. Phil

Before talking in any detail about Friday’s Supernatural, I must first get out of the way the fact that Charisma Carpenter and James Marsters were in it. Whilst this means absolutely nothing to me, it is apparently a big deal. Despite being a fan of a few things in the supernatural genre and tolerant of a lot of fantasy/sci-fi type shows and films, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has never worked for me. It may just be that the show was before my serious TV viewing time, then again, The West Wing started just two years later and it ranks number one on my list of every show ever made. More likely, in my opinion, the show just really isn’t very good and I don’t see what the hell anyone is going on about when they say that it is, but, that’s just my opinion. There are people out there that thinkJersey Shore is the best thing on television so we can all dare to dream. 

With the formalities through we come to “Shut Up, Dr. Phil.” The episode picked up with one of the more inventive supernatural murders that the show has had in a while, with a woman getting her head cooked in a beehive hair dryer at her local salon in a somewhat Final Destination-esque fashion. That, in addition to a man getting cooked in his hot tub, was enough to pique the interest of the Winchesters and so began the hunt. In a slightly unusual move for the show it took all of one minute of investigation on Dean’s part for the two to just about figure out what they were up against – a witch. After finding a hex coin at the hair dryer scene there was once again little time spared before the case took another turn, introducing another victim into the mix. After one being boiled alive and the other being burnt, the natural progression for the killings was obviously to have a floating nail gun impale a man to the inside of a portable toilet. 

Terra Nova – The Runaway

 “The Runaway” had very good moments and tried as much as it could to capitalize on some of the elements that have contributed to Terra Nova‘s success so far, but it was also undoubtedly the weakest episode of the series to date.

One could say Terra Nova is Falling Skies done better. Not that aliens are comparable to dinosaurs or other prehistoric species, but the Fox series has been much more successful than its TNT brethren at reaching a fundamental goal they both share: being first and foremost the story of a family in a somewhat chaotic and arguably futuristic setting. Never mind that in Terra Nova, the future is actually moved 85 million years back in time. Chief among the reasons for that success is the cast. The family in Terra Nova is much more believable and the supporting cast is in some cases even better. In this episode, the interactions between the Shannons and the runaway Leah Marcos (played by Morgana Davies), were the best part of the hour.

How I Met Your Mother – Mystery vs. History

The character carousel stepped aside this week for the sixth episode of How I Met Your Mother Season 7. “Mystery vs. History” packed in laughs, character psychoanalysis and social commentary to boot, not to mention the first “breaking of the fourth wall.” 

Person of Interest – Cura Te Ipsum

It looked like Person of Interest would be content to roll itself out as a case-of-the-week thriller with a twist, but “Cura Te Ipsum” was an absolute game-changer that rewarded those who have stuck with Jonathan Nolan’s new show through month number one.

Dexter – Smokey and the Bandit

Last week, plot progression and some fantastic acting made “Once Upon a Time…” a very strong episode in my eyes, perhaps one of, if not the best since the close to season four. I’m not sure then if it is a very short term case of nostalgia or simply the content itself that made “Smokey and the Bandit” not quite live up to its predecessor. The episode was good. Episodes of Dexter are always good, but it suffered somewhat from a lack of direction. The plot was a mixture of continued story progression along with a throwback to Dexter’s past that just didn’t quite work for me. While the season premiere had the blast from the past down cold, with Dexter getting to relive the awkwardness of high school, this time around the story was just a little too isolated to have any real impact. That being said, like with many of his victims, Dexter took something away that seemed to grow him as a person, somewhat redeeming what just did not work for me.

That which didn’t quite pull me in was a new case for Miami Metro that mirrored serial killings that Dexter had followed as a pre-murderous child. The main problem that I had with this particular round of hunt-the-killer was that it took too much of the episode’s screen time for too little investigation. More often than not, Dexter is just about certain that his target is the killer and has to break into a house or get DNA in some clever way, then run it, prove they’re the killer and devise some scheme to inject and ultimately do away with his victim. That is pretty much what happened here, but there was just too much extra. To get close to his target – an 80’s serial killer known as “The Tooth Fairy” – Dexter inserted himself into a retirement community and proceeded to play golf and go shopping with his target. Whilst the ends ordinarily justify the means, this time around I just didn’t buy it.

Fringe – Subject 9

“Subject 9” was an episode of Fringe
so filled with memorable scenes that it’s hard to pick a favorite or
select some that matter more than the rest. Even more than previous
episodes of this new beginning, it helped in our understanding of lead
characters and seemed to do that beyond the new timeline, somehow, also
filling in the blanks we had after three seasons of the show. Maybe
because of this, although it was a surprise, the fact that the episode
brought back a major character (Peter) feels like a natural
development, the story having reached a point from which it can really
spring forward.

It
was fitting that the episode featuring the return of Peter was centered
on the two people to whom he matters (or should matter) the most,
Olivia and Walter. Things seem at first to start from where we left off
last week with an energy “field” forming in Olivia’s bedroom and with
Walter trying to design a way to capture images of the ethereal man
haunting him and appearing in Olivia’s dreams. That is until the story
(or more precisely Walter) didn’t make the obvious connection we the
viewers could make because we knew the nature of the “ghost.”

Supernatural – Defending Your Life

When shows run for as long as Supernatural has, getting stale can become a problem. When shows deal with subject matter as complex and twisted as Supernatural does, coming up with new approaches to episodes can get difficult. It is for those reasons that “Defending Your Life” really stands out as an achievement for the show, as it manages to get back to basics in a completely new way. With the world ending consequences of everything that happened in the back half of season six and the beginning of season seven, “Defending Your Life” slowed things down a notch and put the Winchesters on a good old fashioned monster of the week hunt.

The episode picked up with a scene that immediately reminded me of the show’s pilot episode that aired all the way back in 2005, as a man ran for his life from a car that had no driver. While he managed to outdo the vehicle on the streets, it turns out that trying to dodge a car in a small apartment on the tenth floor of a building is much more difficult, and spoiler alert: it ends with blood everywhere. As the brothers show up to investigate, we are once again reminded that Sam and his mind are at odds with each other, as yet another creepily voiced line of Lucifer’s dialogue ran through his head. After a pinch back into reality, the duo confirmed their suspicions that something spectral was involved in the death and so the hunt began.

The Office – Garden Party

The entire staff was taking a trip out
to Schrute Farms in the latest episode of The Office, but the
change in locale didn’t mean a major turnaround for what has been a
mediocre season at best. Though “Garden Party” was a slight
improvement over it’s predecessor, there were still some glaring
problems and tragically unfunny moments. The opportunity to get to
know Andy’s family all but fell flat on its face, and it was the
return to Scranton’s foremost purveyor of beets that was responsible
for the lion’s share of laughs.

There is an expected level of
bizarreness when the show heads out to Dwight’s farmland, so unlike
last week’s warehouse fiasco, the over-the-top aspects didn’t feel
completely out of place. Unfortunately, new problems sprung up with
this episode to replace the one that was solved. Ironically enough
the episode began and ended with examples of jokes that simply ran on
too long.

Community – Remedial Chaos Theory

Community’s first theme episode of the season explored a brilliant plot premise, but failed to provide quite as many laughs as usual. While the jokes won’t all be remembered for very long, the concept of the episode will stand out in the memories of those fans who favor theme-of-the-week over Community’s more random approach to humor.

Browsing through various forums and the official Facebook fan-page of the show, the general opinion of the season up until this episode has been quite poor. The opinion is divided between those that enjoy the utterly silly moments, and those that would prefer to see more theme episodes and concentration on the main group of characters. However, the former is far outnumbered by the latter, and so the majority of people have been dissatisfied.

Parks and Recreation – Pawnee Rangers

Parks and Recreation returned
this week with an installment focused on Pawnee’s youth, and why Ron
Swanson hates most of them. “Pawnee Rangers” saw some of the
staff heading out to get in touch with nature, while others were
getting in touch with self-indulgence, and one was just touching his
coworker’s daughter. Definitely one of the best episodes fans have
received this season, the few dry spots were outweighed by some
outrageously funny moments.

With
the opening minutes of “Pawnee Rangers” P&R
showed off it’s skill for using the cold open to both draw laughs and
set up the episode’s storyline. The introduction to the Pawnee
Rangers and Goddesses, who just couldn’t have been run by anyone
except Ron and Leslie respectively, let us know what we were in for
during their annual “Wilderness Weekend.” While Andy – sorry,
Brother Nature – provided some early humor, as did Leslie by
mocking Ron with her southern belle character, Annabelle Vandergraff.
Of course, Amy Poehler’s incredible ability to pull off any role she
takes on is what really sold the moment.