I Watch TV 2013-2014 Season:The Broken Road Awards - Part Three

Onward, to Part Three of the Broken Road Awards (winners in red italics)!

A reminder of the shows in contention:

Returning Shows:
Dexter (SHO, final season). Once Upon a Time (ABC). The Good Wife (CBS). The Mentalist (CBS). Mad Men (AMC). How I Met Your Mother (CBS, final season). 2 Broke Girls (CBS). Mike and Molly (CBS). Dallas (TNT). Chicago Fire (NBC). Person of Interest (CBS). Revolution (NBC, cancelled). The Middle (ABC). Law and Order: SVU (NBC). Modern Family (ABC). CSI (CBS). The Big Bang Theory (CBS). Grey's Anatomy (ABC). Scandal (ABC). Elementary (CBS). Parenthood (NBC). Last Man Standing (CBS). The Carrie Diaries (CW, cancelled). Blue Bloods (CBS).

New Shows:
Sleepy Hollow (FOX). Mom (CBS). The Blacklist (NBC). About a Boy (NBC). Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC, single season spinoff). Reign (CW). The Michael J Fox Show (NBC, cancelled midseason).

Summer Shows:
Low Winter Sun (AMC, new, cancelled). The Bridge (FX, new). Unforgettable (CBS). Motive (ABC, new).

Best Wardrobe, Female Character
1. Julia Braverman, Parenthood - She makes comfy-casual look so...put together.
2. Pamela Barnes Ewing, Dallas - Seriously, she can go from cocktail dress to jeans and cowboy boots, and never looks out of place.
3. Olivia Pope, Scandal - I have a crush on her closet. The end.

Best Wardrobe, Male Character
1. Raymond Reddington, The Blacklist - Red just always looks good. Suit. Hoodie and jeans. Trench coat and fedora. It all works.
2. Mr Reese, Person of Interest - Business casual with a side of badass. Bam.
3. Frank Reagan - The Commissioner is impeccable in his three-piece suits. Always.

Best Costume(s)
1. Once Upon a Time, in Fairy Tale Land - Storybrooke is nothing special, but the costumes they put together for our group, back in their home land, are out of this world, especially the outfits they dream up for Regina!
2. Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow - Abbie is constantly making fun of Ichabod's Revolutionary War get-up, but for heaven's sake, stop trying to stuff him into skinny jeans and just let him be. That period costume is played off to perfection!
3. Reign - I am certain these gowns the ladies wear are the furthest thing from historically accurate. I do not care. They are to. die. for.

Strangest Story Arc
1. "Peter Pan," Once Upon a Time - The way they weave fairy tales together is masterful. Finding a way to tie it to Rumplestiltskin was pure genius. But that whole traipsing around Neverland with poison coursing through Charming's veins, fighting over Henry, and Emma acting like a school girl as she goes back and forth between Neal and Hook -- it all just felt kind of goofy to me.
2. "Kristina Braverman running for Mayor," Parenthood - Ok, I am the first one to rave about how they portrayed Kristina's battle with cancer, but this whole "running for Mayor bit? Come on. I don't care how many Bravermans there are in town, it still isn't enough to win her an election.
3. "Jane falls for Lisbon," The Mentalist - I found it completely awkward that, after all this time, Patrick Jane is suddenly staring at Lisbon longingly.

Best Story Arc
1. "Is Red Lizzie's father?" The Blacklist - All season, they danced around this topic. First making it look like maybe he was, the having him deny it, the whole time, dropping clues and subtle comments for the watcher to notice and add to the puzzle. There's still a lot to learn about Lizzie and Red, but this question was visited and revisited the entire season.
2. "Julia and Joel's separation," Parenthood - They nailed this. It felt raw and honest. It covered all the emotions, without glossing them over or speeding up the timeline.
3. "Cristina's farewell," Grey's Anatomy - This show is notorious for farewell to departing characters via the Grim Reaper, so I appreciated that with one of the original cast members making her exit, they took the whole season to tell her story, to say goodbye, to send her out on a high note but with a sense of resolution.

Worst Story Arc
1. The entire last season of Dexter. - What *was* that?? I mean, the Brain Surgeon part with Dr Vogel was certainly intense, but Dexter planning an escape with Hannah and that whole series finale bit, with Deb dying and Dexter burying her at sea during a hurricane and then turning up in a lumber yard in Alaska or the Pacific Northwest or where ever that was supposed to be? What a weird ending.
2. "Molly has a midlife crisis," Mike and Molly - How on earth did they get from that super storm season finale from the previous season and wanting a baby to Molly having a nervous breakdown, fleeing her classroom, and deciding to become a writer? Most abrupt transition ever.
3. "William Lewis," Law and Order: SVU - I thought this thing would never end. Every time they would finish with him (so it seemed), two weeks later he'd pop up again, like some kind of deranged jack-in-the-box. I realize, with the premise of the show, that there will often be uncomfortable subject matter, but this was twisted, the explicit means of torture and the weird obsession with Olivia.

Most Memorable Moment
1. "Ted's proposal," How I Met Your Mother - It was everything I wanted it to be.
2. "Sheldon and Amy's Valentine's Day kiss on the train," The Big Bang Theory - Now *that* was a move I never saw coming.
3. "Red's speech to Janice in the closet," The Blacklist - It's been nearly a year and it still comes up in conversation with friends who also watch. Everything about that scene was perfectly Red and classically Spader.

Biggest Shock
1. "Will Gardner's courtroom murder," The Good Wife - My jaw hung open and I just gaped at the tv. Out of the clear blue, in the middle of all the turmoil with Alicia and Carey leaving to start their own firm.
2. "Carter's death," Person of Interest - I couldn't believe they killed her off like that!
3. "Jake killing James," Scandal - I never expected James to end up dead. Shot maybe and then a recovery but...dead??

Most Disappointing Cancellation
1. The Carrie Diaries - This show was adorable. And they did an amazing job of casting young Carrie and young Samantha. I was looking forward to meeting Charlotte and Miranda, and seeing how these stories were told.
2. How I Met Your Mother - Less "cancellation" than an expected end to this show's run, but oh, how I wish we'd had more time with Tracy.
3.Revolution - This show had the potential to be excellent. Its basis held so much possibility. And then they just muffed the kick. It failed not once, but twice, after they pulled the plug on season one and blew up the whole show for a different direction season two.

Best Opening Song/Credits
1. Once Upon a Time - They are so clever, the way they work that episode's theme into the woods scene of the opening.
2. Dallas - Classic. Same format as the original. Same theme music. I stop and watch, with this goofy nostalgic grin plastered all over my face.
3. Reign - I loved the "long may she reign" voiceover they did for the first half of the season.