This Week on My TV: April 21, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Downton Abbey, season 5) Violet: Principles are like prayers. Noble, of course, but awkward at a party. -- Violet: There's nothing simpler than avoiding people you don't like. Avoiding one's friends, that's the real test. -- Daisy: I was rubbish at numbers at school. Mrs Patmore: Well, all the best people were rubbish at numbers at school. ... I concur. -- Something I have noted: beware of the smokers. It seems like all the troublemakers smoke. -- What a miserable, conniving little man, Spratt is! -- I am not at all sad that Miss Bunting is gone. Thank the Lord Tom didn't end up with her. The aristocracy may be on shaky ground, but her rudeness is appalling. I like to think that Tom is the "man of the future," blending the best of both worlds. -- I kind of loved how everyone stood when the king spoke, even though they were only listening on the radio. -- Well, now. I did *not* expect that Mary, of all people, would have herself a rendezvous! How bold and controversial! -- Tom: You know you're much nicer than a lot of people realize. Mary: Not always. ... This is why I love Tom and I love Mary. Tom is sincere and kind. And Mary knows who she is and how she is, good qualities and those less so. She certainly doesn't pretend she isn't who she is or make excuses. Sometimes, she's just not nice. Aren't we all. -- I miss the Anna and Bates that were in love. Their story started out so sweet and hopeful, and they haven't had an easy moment since they said their vows. I really wasn't much on board with the investigation and imprisonment of Anna, after all the time we spent dealing with Bates in prison for the murder of his first wife. Why do you hate Anna and Bates, Julian Fellowes? -- Mrs Patmore: We should always be polite to people who are kind. There's not much of it about. -- I wept when Edith took Marigold from the Drewes. And I don't know if they were tears of joy for Edith or of sorrow for Mrs Drewe. -- Thing I never would have predicted: Violet expressing sadness about possibly losing Isobel as her friend and confidante, should Isobel marry. Of course she may not need to worry about that, given what awful human beings Lord Merton's sons happen to be. Get thee with the doc, Isobel. That's what I have to say. -- There was even more weeping over Isis, when Robert and Cora put her on the bed between them during her final hours. --I am amused that Robert is so set against the grandchildren calling him 'Donk', when everyone seems completely at home calling Rose's father 'Shrimpie'. -- Rose finally feels like she has a point in this show that isn't merely to fill the gaping hole left by Sybil. I like who she's becoming. -- Speaking of Rose, they sure were fond of botanical names! Violet. Rose. Marigold. Daisy. Ivy. -- Total seal of approval on Mary's haircut! -- I raise an eyebrow at Robert's extreme jealousy and silent treatment surrounding that whole Mr Bricker-Cora incident. Have you forgotten how you dallied with Jane, the maid, while Cora lay dying from Spanish Flu?? Because I haven't, mister. I was amused by the line Cora dropped to return Robert to her bed from his sulking in his dressing room. Even though he can be a real dunce at time, I think Robert has enough integrity that he'd feel too guilty looking in the mirror if he pretended he'd never been in questionable circumstances himself. -- I really, really tried to get into the Violet and Prince Kuragin love story, but it just didn't work for me. -- I often lament the over saturation of information we experience in today's hyper-connected world, but good grief. It took a year for Edith to get final confirmation that Gregson had died. That certainly wasn't optimal either. -- Say what you will about Mary, but there are far more awful women associated with the family. Lady Flintshire, for one. And she may be the worst of them all, pulling out every stop she can think of to spoil her daughter's wedding. -- If I wept over Isis and Edith taking Marigold from the Drewes, I outright sobbed when Robert unveiled the tribute he did for Mrs Patmore's nephew, in lieu of being able to memorialize him on the monument. -- It *is* nice to see Edith actually happy. She is certainly blossoming as Marigold's mother. -- Every time I expect stodgy, clinging to the old ways Robert to handle a sensitive situation callously, he comes through with surprising calm compassion. First with Mary and Mr Pamuk in the early days, and now with Edith, as he tells her he accepts her daughter into the family. -- I favored Charles Blake over Lord Gillingham, but forget those two clowns. Mary must have Henry Talbot! (Matthew Goode, you are a delight, and I need you to appear in the final season, please.) -- I'm going to refuse to acknowledge any of this "Tom and Sybbie go to America" nonsense, and spend my final thought squeee-ing that Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson just got engaged! And then my heart exploded. -- p.s. I heart Matthew Goode.

**(The Blacklist, 3x18 Mr Solomon (The Conclusion)) Who is that guy talking to Solomon, how did he know Liz escaped and how is he tracking her?? -- There's something you don't see every day. Very pregnant bride hanging out of the window of an old Buick, shooting. Also, Aram's dad isn't getting his car back. -- Mr Kaplan is...not pleased with Red. -- Red almost never looks scared. The fact that he does now? Terrifies me. I wonder if he's thinking "what have my lies by omission caused...?" -- Don't snap at Dembe, Red. It isn't his fault. Your're projecting your own feelings of guilt. -- "You're Having My Baby" while a disco ball glitters over your ex-wife/amost-wife's impromptu O.R.? Seriously, Tom?? LOL -- A teary-eyed Mr Kaplan nearly did me in. -- Agnes?? -- Solomon is way too calm. It unnerves me. -- I thought it the #BlacklistBombshell NBC promoted with a heavy hand all week was going to be a dead Dembe. -- Red was very painfully believable getting into the car. I gasped. James Spader is a genius. -- Reasons I remain skeptical:

1. We didn't see everything that took place in that ambulance. They cut to the gunfight outside. They totally could have revived her heart, and she's in a medically induced coma, so she'd look lifeless without the machines. This could totally be a plan hatched outside our hearing.

2. Red has faked Lizzie's death before in order to protect her. Earlier this season in fact.

3. Red asked Mr Kaplan not to let Liz be taken to the morgue...because he can't stand the thought of her there and he wants to take care of her himself? Or because SHE ISN'T DEAD??

4. Megan Boone is nearing her real life maternity leave and this is an excellent way to "stage" it for the show.

5. There is a spinoff supposedly coming, keying in on Mr Solomon and...Tom. This would be quite a way to get Tom out of the picture, making him believe Liz is dead, and provide both an exit from this show and context for why Tom would be after Mr Solomon in a spinoff. So...make Tom think Liz is dead so he's away from her forever, but get the baby back to Liz somehow? (If anyone can make that happen, it's Red.) Think about it: Mr Solomon was shocked by the person who employed him (Red, perhaps??  or Mr Kaplan, acting on his behalf?). The orders were always to make sure Liz was unharmed. Red knew Liz as Masha. Mr Solomon somehow always had some sort of leak on secret information. Could Red have hired Mr Solomon in order to get Liz away from Tom, and then this took a turn and he's just running with it?

Read more...

This Week on My TV: March 19, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Downton Abbey, season four) Did Robert honestly say "the price of great love is great misery when one of you dies" to *Tom*?? Ouch. -- Mrs Hughes and Carson really bring work husband/work wife to a whole new level (minus the marital bed, of course). I love that their interactions run the gamut of sweet, confiding, bickering, funny, and mundane. -- I wondered who Thomas (sorry, dude, but I cannot think of you as Barrow, promotion or otherwise) was going to target, now that O'Brien has sneaked off into the night. Apparently, he started with Nanny West (foul woman, she deserved it for how she spoke to sweet little Sybbie), moved on to tormenting Anna (whose husband *helped* him keep his employment at Downton, despite seeing Thomas for the toad he is!), sparring with that hussy, Edna (you just stay away from Tom and stop exploiting his vulnerabilities!), and then bringing in Baxter as Cora's new lady's maid. I wonder what he has on Baxter, because he certainly has her under his thumb. -- Anna and Bates were so difficult to watch this season, in the aftermath of her assault. I just wanted to hug them both. But why on earth didn't Mrs Hughes explain to Bates why Anna was afraid to tell him she was attacked? Wouldn't that have at least created the opportunity to head off trouble when that vile Green returned to Downton? I mean, Bates clearly loves Anna so much, there's a chance it might have defused the situation a bit. -- Mrs Hughes: We must all have our hearts broken once or twice before we're done. -- I have never been so happy about a discovery as I was about Matthew's pseudo will and that it was legit. The letter he wrote Mary was so sweet and I felt like we (Mary, too, perhaps?) were given a little closure on his death. I think it will be interesting to see how Mary steps up to to the challenges of running Downton, especially now that it will be in Matthew's stead. An unexpected ripple effect of Mary's involvement is a friendship blooming that I had no idea would affect me so much: Mary and Tom. I love the way they speak with one another and it's the most at ease I think we ever see post-Sybil Tom. -- Mary: Sometimes I don’t know whom I’m most in mourning for: Matthew or the person I used to be when I was with him. ... Mary is just breaking my heart. She knows he brought out the best in her, parts of her she didn't know how to reach without him. To see that ice queen Mary truly loved him was both beautiful and painful. -- How does Cora end up with the most awful lady's maids?? It's like she has the same luck with them as Edith with men. -- Speaking of Edith. Oh, Edith. After being jilted by Strallan, I understand why she is so taken with Gregson, but bidding him an intimate farewell before he departs for post-WWI Germany? That was bound to go poorly. Now she's unmarried, with child, and Gregson has straight up vanished without a trace. Because this is how things go for Edith. I realized that it is her cynicism that makes her not so much a character I'm drawn to, but I can see she comes by it honestly. -- Back to Baxter. I cannot decide how I feel about her. On the one hand, she seems more likable than Cora's other lady's maids (not that that was a stretch, given O'Brien and Edna) and she seems appalled by the way Thomas is plying her for information, but on the other, she somehow knows Thomas and is indebted to him, which makes me suspicious. Everything about Thomas makes me suspicious. -- Isobel: How you hate to be wrong. Violet: I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with the sensation. -- Robert: Don't be vulgar. What do you of such matters? Mary: I've been married. I know everything. -- I struggle to see the point of Rose. I suppose she's there to fill the void, left by Sybil, of the young and controversial "daughter," but she lacks Sybil's sweetness and good heart, and it just seems to be forced to me. -- I have never laughed so hard at this show as with Mary and the pigs. -- I have to be honest, all these suitors and gentlemen around Mary leaves me confused. I keep mixing up Napier and Blake. And then Blake and Gillingham look just enough similar that I have to pause and remind myself which is which. And Napier would love a go at Mary, Blake thinks she's an entitled snob (which, sometimes, she is, but we'll see how that changes post pigs), and Gillingham, while I thought he was initially sweet, seems to be a bit of a cad, proposing to Mary while he's pre-engaged to Miss Lane Fox, then getting engaged after Mary declines, and *then* showing up at Downton in pursuit of Mary anyway. I'm with you, Mary. I'm not ready for you to be thinking of anyone but Matthew yet either. And certainly none of these guys. -- I loved, *loved*, Tom, Mary, and Isobel, sitting in the nursery with the babies, talking about how deeply they loved, and that, even though they've all lost, they were so lucky to have had at all. And sharing their engagement and early love stories. It all broke my heart in the best sort of way. Also, Tom? You are not allowed to move to America. Or anywhere else for that matter. -- Alfred gone to cooking school! Good for him. Get away from the death stares Daisy keeps giving Ivy, and nasty Jimmy. (I can see why Thomas was drawn to Jimmy. They're both ugly inside, sniping and plotting and just generally being unkind.) -- One of my favorite things about Mary is that when she has no idea how to respond to something said to her, she simply stares back in silence or abruptly changes the subject, then walks away. I laugh every time. What can I say? It speaks to my non-confrontational side. -- Not a fan of Miss Bunting. But I suspect no one will be good enough for Tom in my eyes. -- Tom: Losing Sybil was hard. Compared to that, everything else is easy. -- I want to hate everything about Lord Merton's advances on Isobel, because I really like Dr Clarkson for her. -- What, exactly, is Edith's plan for her baby??

Read more...

This Week on My TV: March 12, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(The Good Wife, 7x16 Hearing) That whole "we have bagels" bit was crazy hilarious. Including the entertained expression on Jason's face through the entire thing. -- This episode was a weird format with the vent eavesdropping that was often so difficult to hear. Which I realize was the point, but it was still frustrating. -- Do we even know what on earth is this hearing about? Or who?

**(Scandal, 5x11 The Candidate) I think it's time to say that Scandal is officially on notice for me. It went from must-see, during its first two seasons, to nearly unwatchable in the next two. Now, we're half way through season five, and there are more meh episodes than really good ones, which leaves me little room remaining that the show will recover its form. It feels like most of the episodes are little else than soapboxing for Shonda Rhimes. It's like Facebook come to life. Which...not anything I want to see. She's taken my two favorite "basically good guys" -- Jake and David -- and turned them into dirtbag characters who do ugly things, which means we're left with no one "wearing the white hat." Everyone is simply out to get everyone else without any sense of morals at all. I miss the balance Pope and Associates brought to the table. Now, I can't even remember the last case they worked, which begs the question: what purpose do Huck and Quinn...and Marcus (?...I don't even know his name!) even serve? Scandal, you have what's left of this season to win me back. There are too many other shows and activities with which I can occupy my time to keep watching a show that is a mockery of its former self.

**(Once Upon a Time, 5x12 Souls of the Departed) I'm not exactly sure what purpose this episode served, other than to show us that Orange Storybrooke is proving to be one giant reunion, meaning no character on this show is ever guaranteed gone forever. A show brimming with magic has its perks!

Read more...

This Week on My TV: March 5, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Downton Abbey, season 3) It's a good thing (sulky, whiny) Robert and his stubborn ego finally stopped clinging to the "old ways" in time for Matthew's Swire inheritance to truly save Downton, rather than simply keeping it afloat on the same path for just a little while longer. And the fact that he actually acknowledged it to Cora while they were all in Scotland shocked me. Perhaps Robert will become more likable again now? I do have to say that Cora handled the news that her money was lost with exceptional grace. -- Was there anything more uncomfortable than Tom Branson's first time back at Downton since he and Sybil married? Thank God for Matthew stepping in to ease the way as best he could. -- I could watch an entire episode of Cora's mother and Violet sniping at each other. -- Anna [to Mary, about Matthew]: What I see is a good man m'lady. And they're not like buses. There won't be another on along in ten minutes' time. -- Oh, Alfred, you awkward goofball. -- Sage advice from Violet: Never mistake a wish for a certainty. -- I keep trying to like Edith, but she just has the worst taste in men. First the wedding that wasn't with Strallan and now this "thing" with her married-but-not-really editor? C'mon, Edith. Have some self respect. I know how it feels to be the only one not married yet, but forcing it isn't going to help. -- Violet: Edith, dear, you're a woman with a brain and reasonable ability. Stop whining and find something to do. -- Top three favorite moment of the season: Mrs Hughes and her toaster. -- I was rocked by Sybil's death. I could feel it coming. All the bickering back and forth between Robert's "specialist" and Dr Clarkson was so foreboding. I still wasn't prepared for it. And Tom's grief about broke my heart, both in the immediate aftermath, and again later, when he fell apart with Mrs Hughes while the rest of the family was in Scotland. He may have been "below Sybil's station," but he loved her so fiercely. -- I about died laughing when they were taking the christening photos and the photographer asked the priest to get in with Robert, prompting Cora to ask: What's the matter, Robert? Are you afraid you'll be converted while you're not looking? -- Here's the thing about Thomas. I still think he's a real jerk, but they managed to make him far more sympathetic this season. I waffled back and forth, between when he was messing with Alfred and stepping into the mugging at the fair to save that little twerp, Jimmy. I suppose, like each of the characters (and really, all of us), he has moments that redeem him and moments he badly needs redemption. Nothing illustrated that better than when Mr Bates "encouraged" O'Brien to lay off her plotting and scheming to ruin Thomas' life. But that leads me to also ask: when and why did Thomas and O'Brien switch from being thick as thieves to plotting and scheming against one another? I feel like I missed something. -- My, but Mr Bates was a dapper fellow as her was walking out of the prison following his release! And thank God we're done with all that. The Bates in prison arc went on just a little too long for me. -- Speaking of Mr Bates, he and Anna are just the cutest thing ever. Their love and mutual admiration just resonates off the screen. I am also loving Anna's promotion to being a lady's maid for Mary. She's so sweet and kind. I feel like she's a good sounding board and balance for the, often times, chilly Mary. -- Matthew: Don't dislike him before you know him. ... This bit of wisdom is worth its weight in gold and something we easily forget. -- I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs Hughes on the carousel at the fair. I love that she is a balance between stern and lighthearted. -- Another top three moment of the season: Carson with Baby Sybil. He's such a curmudgeon...but there's a soft heart inside that crusty shell. -- Holy cow, what an unhappy group in the Scottish castle. I was uncomfortable every time they were on the screen. -- Matthew [on the birth of his son]: *I'm* dancing a jig. I feel like I've swallowed a box of fireworks. -- Which brings me to: Honest to God. Not Matthew too. ::sob:: Season three was not nice. NOT NICE. I fear that Mary will never get over this loss, once she learns of it. Matthew softened her sharp edges, made her feel loved even when she felt unlovable, saw the good in her that she didn't often show, gave her a place where she might feel safe expressing some vulnerability. This will douse the light she had whenever he was around (even when she was nagging him about the Swire inheritance and was cross at him). I know she's an unpopular character, but somehow, I have compassion for her. I don't think it's easy to shoulder the expectations placed on her, being the eldest daughter in a family with no sons. She can be cold and callous at times, especially with Edith (who often grates on my nerves as well), but I don't think that is *all* of who she is, and now she's going to stuff the broken parts even further below the surface, unless I miss my guess. Poor, poor Mary without Matthew. This is going to destroy her in a ways everyone else will never expect or understand.

**(Grey's Anatomy, 12x11 Unbreak My Heart) I have never been a fan of flashbacks (unless they are blatantly obvious, like in Friends, they often confuse the heck outta me). The format of this episode with the flashbacks and the rewinds and the telling the story backward and the jumping back to the present...meh. It was too much work for me to keep up with it. I *do* have to say that the bombshell of April's pregnancy was well-played, though. Excellent and appropriate twist. But it still doesn't fix the 43 minutes (not counting commercials) leading up to that announcement.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: February 27, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(The Good Wife, 7x15 Targets) I always wonder if Elsbeth's quirks (the physical ones, not the verbal) are written into the script or if Carrie Preston just ad libs them herself? -- Jason's exasperation with Lockhart, Agos and Lee is amusing to me. I believe he and I are on the same page when it comes to having the drama of others inflicted on our lives. -- That was some steamy office scene between Alicia and Jason. -- Return of the NSA guys! Looks like they're trying to get in appearances from all sorts of recurring characters before the show ends. Louis Canning on deck? -- So, who is the FBI actually investigating? Peter? Eli? Alicia? I'm so confused.

**(Downton Abbey, season 2) I have so many thoughts, now that I've had time to get to know all these characters! -- That was quite a transition to having the hospital run out of Downton. But I am a bit confused. From the outside, the place looks positively enormous. So...other than being a bit bratty...why were the Crawleys acting so put out that they wouldn't have enough space to go about their lives? -- I found the abrupt departure (and really his appearance all together) of the man purporting to be Patrick Crawley very jarring. -- This whole Daisy and William thing is just annoying, which makes me sad, because I liked William, but Daisy grates on my every nerve. She's whiny and has no backbone whatsoever, and really just...she can go now. -- I was so horrified for Matthew, when he was injured. I'm glad it turned out to be only a temporary paralysis, but I loved seeing Mary step up and care for him. I felt like that was a huge moment of growth for her character, especially after all that nonsense of her "not wanting him if he wasn't going to be the heir" in season one. -- Speaking of Matthew's injury, I feel bad for speaking ill of poor departed, unrequited Lavinia, but, sweet as she was, she kind of bothered me too. I don't know if it was my wanting Matthew to come around about Mary or  just how cowed Lavinia seemed by the Crawleys or what, but I just couldn't make myself like her. -- On the topic of the departed Lavinia, that Spanish Flu was (at least portrayed as) a very fickle illness. Carson looked like someone with the, well, flu. Cora looked like she was dying of Ebola. And Lavinia went from someone looking like she was hardly afflicted to dead as a door nail. I also wonder how the rest of the household managed to remain healthy, given all the contact they had with the ill. It sure didn't look like they were taking many precautions. --  I wasn't sure, initially, but I like Sybil and Branson together. -- Obviously, everyone feels this way about it, but Violet is easily the comic relief on this show. She's set in her ways and in tradition, but then she's too old to care what anyone thinks when she speaks her mind, which she does as often as possible, and just when you think she's going to go completely nuts over something, she is this forward thinking woman you never expect. Like when Robert told her about Sybil running off to marry the chauffeur and she's ready to accept it and find a way to spin the story in a favorable light for the family name. -- Oh. Right. Robert. Just *what* was that dalliance with Jane all about ? I rather like Robert, so this...straying (with Cora writhing in bed, possibly dying, no less!) rubbed me the wrong way. I'm relieved he stopped himself before it progressed further, and I hope that this isn't a recurring theme with him. I like to think that made him a bit more compassionate toward Mary, when he learned about her little secret. And now, perhaps, we can finally lay poor, scandalous Mr Pamuk to rest. And good riddance to Sir Richard as well. As Violet replied, when he informed her he doubted they would be seeing one another again, "Do you promise?" (I literally snorted with laughter at that one.) -- Anna and Mr Bates are a total emotional roller coaster for me. First, they're unable to act on their obvious feelings (sad). And then Vera Bates agrees to the divorce and they can be together now (happy). But then Vera recants (sad). And then she turns up dead and they can be married (happy and also what?). Then Mr Bates is accused of her murder and sentenced to death (devastated). But now he's been granted a life sentence instead (hopeful). All I know is that they are so sweet and kind and genuine, in a world where, no matter whether you're "upstairs" or "downstairs," very few people seem to possess any of those qualities. I just want them to have their happiness. -- Since we're talking about the schemers and manipulators. I am suspicious of O'Brien's sudden bout of conscience. The guilt, suddenly, over causing Cora to miscarry, and all this concern over Mr Bates. And then there is Thomas finding himself swindled in his new post-war business venture, worming his way back into service at Downton. Every time I start to feel the slightest sympathy for either of these characters, I'm reminded just how wicked and self-serving they've been, over and over, and I just can't. -- How is it that there is a new maid, it seems, every other episode, but they still can't find a replacement footman to fill William's vacancy? And without Thomas, they wouldn't have any? -- Mary and Matthew! Mary and Matthew! They've finally listened to all the prodding and encouragement and the "you know he/she is still in love with you"-s the elder members of the family have been giving them since they stormed away from each other in the season one finale. And that proposal, with the big, dreamy snowflakes falling, and for the first time, we see Mary openly showing emotions, and the way Matthew looks at her. ::happy sigh:: (I'm going to just keep ignoring the fact that they are related, because, even though this was the way of things and they're likely very distant relations at most, it's still just a little weird to me, the way they walk around calling each other "cousin" all the time.)

**(Grey's Anatomy, 12x09 The Sound of Silence) I cannot believe how stressful this episode was, from Meredith's perspective as a recovering patient, after that accident victim went nuts and assaulted her. The way they went silent, when she couldn't hear. How frustrated she felt trying to communicate. How devastated she was when Alex brought her kids to see her in the hospital and they were too afraid to come to her. It was like feeling all those things for her, as the viewer. What a well acted episode with a really unique perspective. -- It was very moving when she finally met with her attacker so he could apologize. When she reached out her hand in acceptance of his apology, offering forgiveness, I was stunned by how much they were able to communicate without Mer uttering a word. -- Two characters really stood out to me in this episode (outside of Mer). Alex, for really stepping up as Mer's Person. And Penny, confidently *caring* for her patient, which was a huge deal, considering it was Meredith. I think that may go a long way in how Mer feels about Penny, despite what happened with Derek. -- I'm getting to the point where I really just don't like Amelia one bit.

**(The Middle, 7x16 The Man Hunt) Sue Heck flirting. My life is complete now. (Also, I'm pretty sure that's what I look like trying to flirt as well. Maybe why it took me until I was 35 to get married?) And I love that she ended up having a good night with the campus safe driver, just being herself, after Frankie's "flirting advice" went (unsurprisingly) *badly* at the frat party. I just hope that a) maybe this kid will be someone for Sue, in the wake of calling off her engagement to Darrin, and now the disappointment that Logan is going to become a priest, and b) that all their differences don't drive a wedge in her friendship with Lexie, because I really like what Lexie brings to the as a balance for Sue. -- Axl, Hutch, Kenny, and the Winnebago. That was so. flipping. funny. Especially when Axl and Hutch realized that they had lost Kenny, and that they actually cared he was lost. But when he turned up at the Hecks' house, talking politely and having made himself useful to Frankie? I was cracking up. He's such an unexpectedly hilarious character.

**(The Big Bang Theory, 9x17 The Celebration Experimentation) Amy: Where'd he go? Penny: Wait a minute. You mention his birthday and he vanishes? Leonard: Where's that information been this whole time? -- Bernadette: What kind of cake do you like? Sheldon: My favorite is chocolate with strawberry frosting, three layers. And if there's writing on it, make sure it's not all caps. I don't need my dessert yelling at me. -- Penny [to Stuart]: Ok, sweetie, we're on the clock here. Can you hate yourself and frost at the same time? -- Howard: Really, you're ahead of Bale? The man who personified the words 'I'm Batman'? Adam West: I never had to say 'I'm Batman'. I showed up. People knew I was Batman. -- Sheldon asking Amy if she was having a stroke after the birthday suit conversation. LOL -- Amy looked very pretty with her party hair. -- I thoroughly enjoy the friendship between Penny and Sheldon. Sometimes, it seems like no one else really knows what to say to him, but she does. Kwipke...errr, Kripke ;-) is getting really grey! Sheldon [to Penny]: You know, I used to hate these hugs. Now they're just extremely irritating.

**(The Blacklist, 3x16 The Caretaker) I don't know how I feel about Liz marrying Tom. I really don't. Tom is an idiot. No wonder Red doesn't think he's good enough for Liz. -- Lizzie's rapidly growing belly makes me feel like we're watching an episode of Fringe. -- Liz: They employ me as a consultant. He employs me as an inside source. -- Dembe: She deserves to know the truth. Red: Watch the road, Dembe. ... Red knows Dembe is right. He's probably the only person who can get away with calling Red out. Not that Red will do anything he doesn't want to do. -- I think I like this Panabaker character. She pulls no shots. And I think she can actually be trusted. -- Red: Luckily for you, Harold, I poke my thumb in many pies. -- I knew Rose was in on it! I totally called that to T, by the way, when they found her in the hotel room, sitting there unharmed. -- Aram: There is one last battery connected to the green control box on the top left. Cut the wrong wire in the wrong sequence and the bomb detonates. All right, there are two wires there. Blue and red. So here's what you do: apologize to Agent Navabi. Ressler: What? Samar: Aram, we don't have time for this. We have thirty seconds. Aram: 'I'm sorry' takes less than one. -- I kinda felt bad for the Caretaker. He wasn't as sinister as a lot of the big bads on Red's list. -- Harold: I've learned the hard way, some secrets are best kept in the dark. Red: Mine certainly is. ... WHAT SECRET, RED?? -- She loves Red. She hates Red. She loves Red. She hates Red. -- I wonder who Gina was on the phone with about taking care of Tom? -- Red: If anything were to happen to me, this was to go to Elizabeth. So she'd know. Now I'm not sure I ever want her to know. ... WHAT SECRET, RED??? -- And now it's on hiatus until April 7??? Why, NBC, whyyyyyy?!

Read more...

This Week on My TV: February 20, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(The Good Wife, 7x14 Monday) Eli: It's just now I get why people have children. They can admire themselves in someone else. -- I love everything about the way Alicia and Jason flirt with each other. -- Alicia: How do you keep your beard that length? I mean, at a certain point, you're either clean shaven or you're Abraham Lincoln, right? Jason: Nope, it stays like this. Since birth. -- I was cracking up at the judge on Alicia's case and how he felt about the ant infestation on his bench. -- Oh, there is going to be so much awkwardness with Alicia's "coming back home." -- So, this tip for Alicia that "Peter has a target on his back" and she should just "cash out"... That's going to be all the shove she needs to end up with Jason, isn't it? And with the end of the show fast approaching, it seems like a way they could take the story.

**(Blue Bloods, 6x14 The Road to Hell) I fully agree with Erin. She was right to insist on no special treatment for Nicky while she was being held with her friends on the drugs found in the car. -- Frank: Lots of people have difficult lives, Father. That doesn't give them the right to break the law. -- That was a smooth way to tie the episode together: three cases of people covering up for the guilty party. Nicky with her friend. The priest with the parishioner who stole from the church. And the other girls in the house when the pimp got killed. Three different situations that force you to consider "shades of grey" to various degrees. -- Boy, Danny sure gets a lot of jumpers. I have to say, the camera work really freaked me out on this one though.

**(The Blacklist, 3x15 Drexel) Um, why didn't that guy a) tell his friend on the phone there was someone in his house and to call the police and/or b) get himself out the nearest door? -- Red: And then there are different pops entirely. Like the pops you hear when your shoulder's being dislocated. -- Oh, Liz, stop making a scene about every. little. thing. and listen to Red. He's right. --
Why does no one ever jump out of their skin when they come upon Red just sitting there in their homes? They always look annoyed, never startled. -- ::pauses to put a piece of tape over the webcam built into her laptop:: -- Red: People say youth is wasted on the young. I disagree. I believe wisdom is wasted on the old. All you can do is part with it, but very few will take it. Least of all, the people closest to you. They want no part of it. -- Very poetic use of the stormy backdrop while Red was talking to Liz. -- She hates Red. She loves Red. She hates Red. She loves Red. O. M. G. -- Whoa, that piece of art. So dark and angry. Who ordered it? Who told the dealer Red would be there to collect? What, beyond the obvious, are they trying to tell Red? What does that have to do with Rostova?

**(The Big Bang Theory, 9x16 The Positive Negative Reaction) Howard [freaking out over a nanny for the baby]: We can't get an ugly one. It'll scare the kid. -- The reactions from the group were so awesome. I love that they're not being all romantically cliche about the pregnancy. -- Leonard: You know what we should do? Sheldon: All get vasectomies so it doesn't happen to us? -- Drunk Sheldon peeing in the restaurant kitchen. I just can't even. -- Baby Wolowitz was conceived on Sheldon's BED?? And the look on his face when he found *that* out. LOL -- Amy [about Sheldon]: He used a period instead of a question mark. He's so wasted.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: February 13, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(The Blacklist, 3x14 Lady Ambrosia) You know this "weird families in the woods with wild children" seems to be a recurrent theme for this show. -- Red at the DMV, looking around in distaste at "that petri dish of humanity." LOL (That's how I feel about work.) -- Good Lord. I thought Liz was going to burn the waffles, not burn the building down trying to make them. -- Oh, Tom. You *idiot*. -- Red looks positively heartbroken by Liz wanting to give up her baby. -- Dogs. For Glen. BAHAHAHAHA. -- I bet Lizzie is grateful for Red's protection now that it saved her butt once again. -- I had a working theory that the teacher to whom Red paid a visit was Lizzie's mom. Her accent. This file Red was after. The mention of him bringing her daughter back. What she said about loving her husband despite what he did. And then that story Red told Liz about her parents, about how, though it pained him, he thought Lizzie's mother's true love was Lizzie's father, no matter what he had done. And then I realized it was just more red herring parallels, because Anya was the teacher's missing daughter and her husband has obviously put their daughter up for "adoption," sending her to creepy Lady Ambrosia. Rats. -- CARNIVOROUS BUTTERFLIES?? -- That little kid who found bloody Tom in the shower is likely scarred for life now. Way to go, Tom. -- Lady Ambrosia: Who the hell are you? Red: Her fairy godmother. I hear it's her birthday. We've come to celebrate. -- Hmmmm. That file Red got from Anya's mother said ROSTOVA. I wonder what we're going to learn about in there...and when. -- It's looking more and more like Liz isn't going to be able to go through with giving up her baby. -- I have a continuity question. This episode supposedly took place right after the previous one, based on Tom just finishing that big job, right? So how did Liz go from not looking pregnant to looking noticeably pregnant in that amount of time?

**(The Big Bang Theory, 9x15 The Valentino Submergence) Raj: You say that like it's easy. Have any of you *ever* broken up with anyone? -- Howard: Sorry, but too hot is the only temperature I come in. ... O.M.G the shimmy. Am I laughing? Am I horrified? -- Amy [to the Fun with Flags caller]: No, I just blink a lot. It's not Morse Code for 'rescue me'. -- Bernadette [after Howard got bit by the rabbit they saved from their new hot tub]: Well, why'd you put your finger near its mouth? Howard: Poor judgment obviously! -- Howard: When I sat on the mute button and thought I'd gone deaf *that* was my hypochondria. -- I thought Sheldon was going to propose to Amy when he was being so sweet at the end. Guess not. -- OMG OMG BERNADETTE!!! A little nerd baby!

**(Downton Abbey, season 1) After finishing the first season, I have some thoughts. -- Characters I really like: Anna, Mr Bates, Matthew, and Lady Mary. -- Characters I definitely do *not* like: Thomas, O'Brien, Daisy, and Lady Edith. -- Violet makes me laugh. -- I feel like Carson and Mrs Hughes would be very fair to work under, but I'm a little scared of Mrs Patmore. -- I cannot believe the Crawley's dress like that for dinner every night! -- Like Carson, I have a soft spot for Lady Mary. I can't imagine the pressures of balancing who she is expected to marry and why with how she feels. And despite his cool demeanor, I think Matthew has genuine feelings for Mary as well. -- My heart nearly broke for Mr Bates and Anna. -- I cannot decipher why some of the help is referred to by simply their last name, others get a Mr or Mrs before it, and still others go by their first names.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: February 6, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(The Good Wife, 7x13 Judged) Lucca [to Jason]: Your smile thing, your bedroom eyes, BS. Oh, I'm just a guy's guy, I don't know what I do to women. ... OMG, yes! Oh, that is so him! That is snort-laugh funny. -- Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the best thing to happen to this show. I'm still not over Finn Polmar, probably never will be, but I do love me some Jason Crouse and his cat-that-ate-the-canary facial expressions. -- Alicia needs to find a way to let this Will thing go. See a therapist, get some bedroom activities, whatever. But this mooning over what cannot be changed is unhealthy. -- The opposing student in Diane's case saying he felt "under attack, disrespected, unsafe"...This is the problem with society, this self-victimization and inability to function as soon as someone disagrees with us. -- Lucca [about Jason]: He's a friend. Alicia: How close a friend? Lucca: Seriously, are you going to hate the whole world right now? -- Lucca [to Alicia]: I don't like people. But I like you. ... This is how I feel about my band of friends. -- Dean Randolph: Part of learning how to make decisions is learning how to live with poor decisions. -- It's like legal in*est, the way Alicia and Cary always end up representing each other. -- Whaaa...??? Those Jason and Alicia kisses. Steeeeeamyyyy. -- Jason's affirmative "uh-yuh" gets me. Every. Time. -- And about the kssing, as well as getting back to my earlier remark about Alicia. Amazing how she started to pull herself together after getting some lip action. -- Eli at Alicia's door, pouring out his heart to her. Oh, my heart. I wanted to hug him, with his teary eyes. What an excellent scene. Right down to the look he gave Alicia's door as he walked away. -- I really wanted to kick Bernie in the...shins. What a jerk. -- When Lucca said "we got shafted by the Brotherhood of the Robe," I wanted to cheer. Because I had just said the same thing to T about the judges being such a "boys' club," that Lucca's phrasing was spectacular. -- Alicia: Well...you should do what's best for you. Jason: Yeah, well, sometimes, I can't tell what that is. -- Boy, Cary's offer for Alicia to "come home" as a junior partner and they would bail her out of all her malpractice suit woes sure fixes it so everyone benefits, right down to Jason being able to accept Diane's offer to work for them exclusively.

**(The Big Bang Theory, 9x14 The Meemaw Materialization) Meemaw! I really hope she's going to be a character we see again from time to time. She was hilarious. -- Howard: I'm just saying instead of let it go, she should have sang look at me hiding in a freezer like a Dove bar. -- Meemaw gets to sit in Sheldon's spot! --
Ummm, Raj is talking to a girl...while sober. -- Raj: I wouldn't say she's beautiful. Howard: Really...you don't think she's attractive? Raj: I do. I just wouldn't tell my girlfriend! -- Penny: Are you sure I can't pour you some wine? Meemaw: Oh, no wine for me. Sheldon's bringing me my whiskey. Sheldon: Here you go, Meemaw. I made it just how you like it: a lot...in a glass. -- OMG I forgot Amy doesn't know about the ring! -- Claire: We're adults. We can still get together without it meaning anything. Raj: Not me. Ever since you admitted we had a vibe, I've been planning our wedding. ... Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is Raj seriously thinking about pursuing this for real??

**(The Blacklist, 3x13 Alistair Pitt) Why do people in shows always crouch behind tables , like that is supposed to protect them from gunfire? -- Liz [to Samar]: Swag for mommy dot com? Who *are* you? -- This Paris scene with Red and this woman (lover?) with the Christmas tree and the snow falling outside really got to me for some reason. Red: I can protect you. All you need to do is ask. -- Red: Honestly, if I paid taxes, I'd be outraged. -- "I think it's romantic to forgive someone you love." I really like Aram. Have I mentioned that? His lines fly under the radar but are nearly as good as Red's lately. -- "Do you have any cookies?" Never change, Red. -- "Comrade Rostova" -- this agent is a jerk. -- Seriously, Tom? You're back to Gina? You, unlike Red, *should* change. -- I found it completely disconcerting to see Tony Shalhoub in this criminal role! I guess he'll always be Monk to me.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: January 30, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Madam Secretary, 2x11 Unity Node) Ok so it was Maria Ostrov that was in the vehicle that went ka-BOOM! It obviously couldn't have been Elizabeth, since, hello, show is actually about her. But I won't try to pretend I wasn't a little bit worried that it wasn't someone on her staff or possibly Henry. -- You know (if you read these) that I think the writers do an excellent job constructing Henry and Elizabeth's marriage. The banter, the intimacy, the way they interact; it's all very believable. But even the fighting is done well. Part of it is, obviously, on the actors to execute the scene, but it starts with good writing, and that's what it is. -- So, it's official. Dmitri is dead. And now I'm sad...for him, for his sister, for Henry. -- I wonder if Henry is *really* out of spying or if they are going to make it impossible for him to extract himself. -- Elizabeth: Maybe that should be my epitaph, "she tried her best, but people still got hurt." Henry: Not "she liked eating popcorn at really weird times?"

**(The Blacklist, 3x12 The Vehm) That may be the weirdest opening scene ever, with the clown getting murdered. -- So...I have a question. Who had Liz and Tom's dog that whole time?? -- Red: You confiscated her firearm. Ressler: Oh, so you think a convicted felon should be allowed to carry guns? Red: All the ones I know do. -- LOL! Aram sent Lizzie "trashy novels" while she recuperated. He's the best. -- Red's known about the pregnancy for some time?? Does the man miss *nothing*? -- Observation: It's bizarre to see some guy in riot gear show up with a vase of white roses. -- "Doting husband with rock hard abs." You're so modest, Tom. -- I keep trying to figure this out. How did the ME know the castration was self-inflicted? -- Gerald: What the hell is this? Red: A terrible time of year to go camping, but I suppose we do what we must when we're on the run. -- OMG LOL Red at the campfire singalong. He's such a trip. -- Samar: Are you drinking Communion wine? Red: Yes, it's God awful. If they'd only switch to a good Burgundy, people would be much more devout. ... OMG, he's so irreverent. And I know I should be appalled (I am) but his remarks slay me! -- Red: Hell hath no fury like a fundamentalist scorned. -- That was a beautiful speech Red gave Liz about her mother. Even though she's back to being a brat. Sometimes, I really want to shake Liz. One minute she wants Red to go away and leave her alone forever, and then someone comes after her with malicious intent, and suddenly she's clinging to him like her life depends on it. -- Samar: I don't deserve a friend like you. Aram: Maybe not...but you have one. -- Aram is such a good guy. He's just there for anyone on the team, without question. -- Wow. Red has protection set up for Liz, despite her bratty behavior. (Of course he does.) He'll take care of her, ungrateful snot or otherwise. She should make note of that.

**(Last Man Standing, 5x14 The Ring) Nothing long and rambling, but how adorable are Mandy and Kyle?? I love that they're engaged. And how they got engaged. And that Mandy has grown up, at least a little bit.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: January 23, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Last Man Standing, 5x13 Mike and the Mechanics) Mike [to Vanessa]: The weirdest thing just happened. A bird flew in and took your donut. All these crumbs you see are a result of the struggle. -- Eve [about going to Outdoor Man with Mike instead of moping at home all Winter Break]: I'll go, but I'm not going to do anything or talk to anybody. Mike: That's my job. You have to work up to that. -- Jay Leno = Joe Leonard. I am so easily amused. Also, is Leno bored or does he just like acting with Tim Allen?

**(The Good Wife, 7x11 The Rush) Does Matthew Lillard *ever* play a normal character? -- Rowby Canton: The law just gives people so many ways to be mean. -- I don't even know *what* to think about Lucca getting all bedroom-y with the client. What?? -- I really appreciate Marissa's character. She comes across as so real. I'm a bit disappointed that Alicia treated her so poorly when Marissa approached her about a job. -- David Lee [about another client leaving Alicia's firm]: She wasn't thrilled with having a law firm that works out of an apartment building. Client: Ugh, my God, there's this horrible woman there. David Lee: Yes, Alicia can be quite trying. ... Honest to God. David Lee is such a nasty person. And in this snake-y but childish way. -- I can't believe Alicia fired Grace! I actually thought Grace has been handling herself fantastically. -- So, Eli is back as Peter's right hand man. That has to be humbling. Although I'm not sure for whom.-- I about dropped when Cary made the firm's offer to Alicia and Lucca to come back. I wonder how *that* plays out, with Alicia having no interest and Lucca showing lots.

**(The Blacklist, 3x11 Mr. Gregory Devry) Mr Kaplan's seriousness and efficiency just crack me up. I don't think I've ever seen her so unprepared as she was during that clean-up ambush. Not even when that makeshift hospital Red was in got stormed and none of them knew if they'd get out alive. -- After that horrible ambush, I couldn't help thinking "Now they're going to need a cleaning crew for the cleaning crew." -- I'm pretty sure Ressler's face almost cracked that one time he smiled. -- I have no idea how I feel about Tom's proposal to Liz. -- Two things: How the heck did Ressler catch that truck on foot??? And it's not a complete episode until Ressler takes a beating of some sort. -- I have the overwhelming urge to smack both Ressler and Samar. They're acting like overly dramatic children. -- Red: Comforting to see that everyone's appetites for food, lies, and larceny have not diminished over the years. -- ::snort:: ... Red: Meet the fake Red. Faux Red. Fred. -- Red's "to make sure you're safe" clearly translates to: make sure you're keeping quiet. -- I bet Red is behind that apartment situation "working itself out" for Liz. -- The baby??? Lizzie is pregnant??? Judging by the displeased conversation Red had with Tom about the proposal, I'm going to guess he's going to be far from thrilled about *this* little development. -- I'm not even going to touch the "daddy's permission" remark Tom made to Red. I still think that's smoke and mirrors for the writers to mess with us. Not buying it.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: January 16, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Madam Secretary, 2x10 The Greater Good) It was interesting seeing what happened with the death of the former Russian president. Maria Ostrov is a vicious woman. -- I appreciate the nods to Christmas. It felt real, stringing popcorn garland, putting up the tree. -- Woo! I love seeing Jay get a little high intensity scene. I feel like he gets the short end of the stick when it comes to screem time. -- Daisy: How do you want to respond? Elizabeth: By resigning and crawling under a rock. -- Henry: Wanna make out in the Rose Garden? ... Gosh, I love their marriage. Also, the Christmas lights in the background. -- My heart was racing when they failed to extract Dmitri at the rendezvous, even though I had the sinking feeling it wasn't going to end well for him when he was begging Henry to get him out. -- Ummm...that ending?? That rocket(?) was aimed at the car Elizabeth and the President got into?? Is that what we're supposed to think or...??

**(The Good Wife, 7x11 Iowa) Cary: You committed fraud?? David Lee: No...I committed...selective depositing. -- I was so intrigued by the Iowa caucus, that I had to look it up to see if that's how they really do them. (It is!!) -- Some things about Jason Crouse: He looked very bewildered by Alicia's state of being when he arrived at her apartment to give her his findings on Jackie's prenup. I wonder if he's going to just let that go? I'm really hoping that, despite his work in San Francisco, the character will be staying regular. His phone conversation with Luca gives me some hope. Speaking of that conversation, what was up with the "you know me" exchange?? Is this just from having worked together recently? Because it sure had a tone of Luca knowing Jason a lot better than that. -- That "Florrick fanatic" patriot dude was...something. -- Let's be serious. Peter never really was going to be President. How would that have made sense for the show, going forward? Unless they were certain the show was wrapping it up at the end of this season. -- I was trying to figure out what Eli meant when he told Ruth she had it all wrong with that campaign because Alicia was "number one." I was baffled, because we *know* she isn't number one with Peter. And I don't think he was implying Ruth should have had Alicia as the candidate. T said he took it as Ruth's biggest mistake was not using Alicia to "sell" Peter, which is clearly how Eli has always campaigned him in the past.

**(The Middle, 7x12 Birds of a Feather) Axl: Do you know how long I worked today? EIGHT HOURS! Frankie: I know what a job is. I've been going to one for the last thirty years. -- OMG Cindy. Could not stop laughing at Cindy's conversation with Mike about the other boy she kissed and wanting Mike to tell Brick for her. And then kicking his car when he admitted he hadn't told Brick yet.

**(The Blacklist, 3x10 The Director: Conclusion (2)) I was cracking up when everyone was assembling for Red's meeting and had to pass through security, leaving their gun and cell phone. Samar starts emptying her pockets. Gun. Another gun. Knife. -- I love how Red commands the room, *any* room, that he is in. -- Megan Boone did a spectacular job of capturing Lizzie's fear that the cabal will find her and kill her. -- Tom [to Karakurt]: The woman I love is in there because of you. So let's be clear. If you talk, there is a chance they will kill you. But if you don't talk, I will definitely kill you, very slowly. -- Aram, bless his heart, scurrying with his satchel, as Red's team puts the plan into motion. -- Red: Everybody likes apples. -- The scene where Hitchin's hitman tries to take out Liz. That was a cool bullet shot!! Both the camera angle and the sound effects. -- That famil when the Director was "dropped off for dinner"! I couldn't stop laughing. -- What is Red's endgame with his meeting with Hitchin?? And I do wonder what the Director meant with the questions that were "none of his business under any circumstances." What *is* Red's relationship with Liz, that he is reluctant to divulge? (Because I still believe he isn't her father.)

Read more...

This Week on My TV: January 9, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(The Middle, 7x11 The Rush) Sue attempting to rush a sorority looks pretty much like I would (except, I would have stopped short of the poop story...I hope). I just wanted to hug and be her friend. I'm so happy she seems to have finally found her college BFF! -- Mike learning social media was pure comedy gold. -- Axl [to Mike]: My dad taught me when you're right, act like you've been there before.

**(Once Upon a Time, 5x10 Broken Heart) So, I guess since Hook already had the bad boy look, in order to make him the Dark One, they had to make him look...deranged? I'll be honest, I'm not at all liking him as the Dark One. Beyond being sinister, he's downright nasty. Totally dug that sword fight though! -- Mr Gold: Here's the thing about confidence, Miss Swan. It's great at starting a fight, not so great at finishing one. -- Apparently you can tell dark magic from *extremely* dark magic, because the ominous cloud isn't just purple, but has lightning.

**(The Big Bang Theory, 9x12 The Sales Call Sublimation) Sheldon [to Raj]: Look at that. An Indian guy outsourcing computer stuff to a white guy. -- Leonard: She never let me celebrate my birthday, because being born was her achievement, not mine. -- OMG Stuart watching Howard and Bernadette sleep was so beyond creepy! Also, I have to admit, I saw that conversation Howard and Bernadette were having as they cleaned Stuart's vacated bedroom going a completely different direction than the horrifying realization that they missed him.

**(The Blacklist, 3x09 The Director) The Director: Three hours to make one woman go away? We've collapsed entire governments in less time. -- Samar: I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions. Red: Watch out, that's the kind of spirit that could save America. -- Samar: You keep a storage locker in West Virginia? Red: I keep a storage locker filled with useful items in most states. -- Red: As for consumption, I must admit to a fondness for any well appointed opium den. And a bit of hashish goes well just about anything. But stimulants? I have no taste for. I prefer that slight curve of the small of the back, the swell of a breast, the soft nape of the neck to quicken my heartbeat. ... Honest to God, they give him the best lines. -- Red and his crew really set up that fake crime scene to perfection, right down to the donut-eating "cop." -- That tear running down Aram's face as he was watching Liz suffocate in the containment box about killed me. That actor gets overshadowed so often, since his character is secondary most of the time, but he really shines when given the opportunity. -- The look Dembe gave Solomon as they released the former and put the latter in the cell. Wow. -- I was a bit worried about Aram, riding his bike in the darkened cemetery to meet Red at the empty grave site. I mean, he did turn Red in while he was on the run with Liz. That conversation could have gone very differently than a heartfelt expression of gratitude for Aram saving Lizzie's life.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: November 28, 2015

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Sleepy Hollow, 3x08 Novus Ordo Seclorum) Wait a second. Why can Crane suddenly read those scribblings Jenny left behind? Didn't they imply, when they first found them, that Crane didn't even know what they meant? -- I'm disappointed the mention of Ben Franklin didn't lead to a good rant from Crane. -- Joe [to Crane]: Ok, I'm still not used to the way you name drop. -- "I'm not sure what any weapon's going to do against a god." THANK YOU, JOE. But you all will still draw your guns on him anyway, won't you. -- "Asset we were cultivating"? Abbie? What was that about? And who was Reynolds on the phone with? -- Wait, did Nevins get away? Sophie sure seems to think so. I thought Pandora POOFed him. -- Abbie: I found this in lockup, belonged to Nevins. It looked old, magical, and now, Crane-ish. -- Abbie: How do you like our odds, Crane? Be honest. Crane: Three mortals facing a woman of legend and an ancient deity. -- LOL: Crane's face when he used the taser on Pandora. Wait...guns don't work, but a taser does?? -- LOL: That is some Once Upon a Time level bad CGI. -- Seriously, Jenny, Joe, and Abbie can't all be dead now, right?

**(Madam Secretary, 2x08 Lights Out) Interesting to see Russell's home life. -- Finally, some Mike B! -- Mike B: You're the one who brought Judas to the White House. Russell: A lecture on loyalty from the Dark Prince of K Street? -- Russell: Traitors are like serial killers. they don't stop at one. -- Elizabeth: You know, I get we're duty and honor bound, committed to lives of service and all that, but this part where we can't talk about the most important things that we do all day...that cannot be healthy for us. Henry: The most important part of my day is this, coming home. Elizabeth: Oh, you're good. -- I totally appreciate that they let Elizabeth's hair be messy at home. It's part of what allows the show to "feel real." Just like I love that they make the characters awkward and unpolished with each other in the office. -- Russell: The way I see it, you can go out the back door wtih your dignity intact or out the front door in handcuffs.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: November 21, 2015

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Greys Anatomy, 12x06 The Me Nobody Knows) Mer: You sent a sex tape? Pastor patient: To the entire congregation. Penny: Oh God. Pastor: Can we not talk about Him right now? -- Penny being assigned to Mer's service has to feel like being kicked while you're already down for Mer. Probably for Penny, too, but I have no real sympathy for her at this point. -- Does this doctor April knows from her military medical field trips to the Middle East have some kind of history with Owen? Because that was a weird reaction by Owen. -- Alex seeking out Mer made me feel all fuzzy and warm. He's being her Person! -- April and Jackson are made up characters on a tv show and I'm *still* uncomfortable "being present" for their interactions. Like I'm stuck in a car with a couple that's having an argument. -- Mer: Our shame can choke, kill us, rot us from the inside. Don't let it.

**(Once Upon a Time, 5x07 Nimue) I appreciate the history lesson of how Excalibur came to be, how Merlin became immortal, and how the Dark One's dagger became separated from the sword. It was a well constructed tale. I'm less certain how I feel about the way they cast certain roles away from what might be expected. "Not all wizards have white beards," indeed, Merlin. -- The timeline in this episode (for the history lesson) amused me. We went from the descriptive "thousands of years ago, before the time of Arthur" to regular old "200 years ago" to the oh so vague "years earlier." -- Arthur is just straight up evil. And I don't know how I feel about that bending of legend. -- I totally knew the original Dark One was going to be Nimue. -- Regina: Tell your timbers to stop shivering, pirate. -- I wonder why the other Dark Ones all have that scaly (?) skin but Emma does not? And it seemed to happen almost immediately with Nimue, and I think also with Rumple, if I can remember that far back? Why is Emma "immune" to that then? -- What made Emma turn and embrace the darkness? She clearly hadn't at the point that crazy Arthur summoned Merlin using Excalibur. I'd imagine they have to flashback more and finish the story of what happened.

**(The Good Wife, 7x07 Driven) Louis Canning is such a manipulative little troll. Who is clearly throwing a lot of work Alicia's way. To what end? -- You can tell that Alicia feels dirty voting the way Frank Landau tells her to. -- Crouse unsettles Alicia, which just means every one of their exchanges amuses me. Also amusing: Eli's door banging into his desk every time anyone opens it. -- That was quite the unexpected...bedroom transaction between Alicia and Peter. -- Eli makes the best faces. I just can't decide whether his reacting to finding Peter and Alicia in the bedroom or Jackie's arrival to announce her engagement to Howard was my favorite.

**(The Big Bang Theory, 9x08 The Mystery Date Observation) Penny: Damn, you're sneaky. Bernadette: Yeah, but I'm little so it's cute. -- Leonard: But it's the movie Ben Stiller doesn't want you to see. Penny: It's the movie your wife doesn't want you to see. -- I can't decide which made me laugh more: Bernadette spying on Amy's date. Amy's date being obsessed with Sheldon. Or Sheldon's Craigslist puzzle game to find a new girlfriend actually leading to a pretty cute girl showing up at his door and him shutting the door in her face.

**(Scandal, 5x07 Even the Devil Deserves a Second Chance) Fitz: To Congress. May their heads one day depart from their asses. -- Jake: The woman I love killed the woman I used to love. Or the woman I used to love killed the woman I love. I can't figure it out. -- Grieving or otherwise, Olivia, Jake has called you out on exactly what you are. Screaming at him to get out doesn't change any of it. -- Quinn: She's the President's girlfriend. The White House is always our client. I hate the new normal. -- David: I didn't ask you to sit. I said take a seat, Elizabeth, so take. a damn. *seat*. -- Lizzie: You don't like me, do you? David: I wasn't trying to be subtle. I *don't* like you. -- After all that ranting, Lizzie and David end up getting busy in his office?? While VP Susan is out in his reception area with a four-pack of wine coolers, because she has a crush on him? I said we needed more David on this show, again, but WHAT IS HAPPENING?? -- *Very* striking final scene, Liv telling Fitz what to do while she stands on the Presidential Seal in the middle of the Oval Office.

**(Blue Bloods, 6x08 Unsung Heroes) Frank: Preaching to the choir is for showboats and sissies. -- Quite possibly my favorite moment ever on this show was Frank cracking himself up making punny jokes no one else thinks are funny. -- Two things I am over: the very Law and Order: SVU-ish feel to this serial killer Danny is tracking, and Linda coming off as whiny rather than worried and shaken up.

**(Blindspot, 1x09 Authentic Flirt) Oh good grief. Weller couldn't even shave when he was getting all spiffy for a formal event? Stubbly scruff with a tux is thumbs down. -- Awkward: Weller putting wedding rings on Jane's hand as part of their married-couple cover. Couldn't he have just handed them to her to put on herself? -- Wow. There are apparently a lot of folks using that secret library book code. And they must be up to no good, because now Patterson now has a dead (ex)boyfriend, after he decided to follow the woman using the books to leave a message. The weird thing is that I can't figure out if the guy following him was with the girl or also following the girl. -- That bird drawing toward the end is going to show up as a tattoo at some point, isn't it...

**(Reign, 3x05 In A Clearing) I wonder if this is really the last we're going to see of Nostradamus. If so, then I'm glad they provided some resolution after seeing him ride off, half dead, leaving the viewers wondering. -- Blah. I'm not a fan of this whole Delphine thing, either her romance with Bash or this whole medieval serial killer bit. -- Even despite Mary signing it, I really wonder if Elizabeth would have honored that peace treaty. -- That scene in the clearing was heart wrenching. It was played out so well. -- With Francis dead now (and hopefully no more supernatural shenanigans), I wonder what lies ahead for Mary. With her mother also dead, will she return to Scotland to rule? Is she going to go after Elizabeth? Will this strange affection Catherine has for her keep her in France?

**(The Middle, 7x08 Thanksgiving VII) Brad: I'm going to write you a reality check, payable right now. -- This episode had me all out of sorts, what with Axl crying all over the place and sean still being all hippie instead of clean cut All American Boy Next Door. Also, why wasn't Darrin invited to hang out? -- Brick playing poker was hilarious, especially when he tried to bluff.

**(Modern Family, 7x07 Phil's Sexy, Sexy House) The scenes in the "sexy house" Phil is trying to sell, with everyone sneaking in, not realizing everyone else has the same intention, made this one of the funniest episodes I have seen of this show in ages. -- Haley and Andy! Haley and Andy! I was actually yelling at Andy through the tv (as one does) because I couldn't believe he was letting her walk away with *that* being his "last adventure" before getting married and then Haley runs back to him for that kiss. They *have* to get together now...right??

**(Madam Secretary, 2x07 You Say You Want a Revolution) Elizabeth (to Matt): Someone woke up on the cynical side of the bed this morning. -- I kind of love that Elizabeth and Henry call Alison 'Noodle'. -- I'm over every tv show making the police out to be bad guys. Like really over it. There are bad apples in every subgroup of society. Making all cops out to be over aggressive guys with a power trip is an unfair characterization for all the many, many more to protect and serve. -- Back to things I really love love: Elizabeth and Henry's relationship. They act like people who still love each other, which is a refreshing change of pace in the cheating-spouse heavy storytelling of tv land. -- That scheming between Sterling and Senator Parisi will, hopefully, spell the end of Sterling's presence. I don't care for him. Leave it to that jerk to be the thing that being Elizabeth and Russell together as a team.

**(Grey's Anatomy, 12x07 Something Against You) Mer: Well I thought that I could treat her like any other resident but that was really hard because I wanted to punch her in the face. Like a lot. -- Between Penny and Riggs, there sure are a whole lotta hirings going on that are ticking off other surgeons. I get not running the decision to hire Riggs by Maggie or anyone else, but you'd think Bailey would have to run stuff by Mer since she's on the board. -- Amelia: I fix brains. I give you your soft gooey center, the hard candy shell is your department. -- I was all set to feel badly about the "trivia night" bust with Arizona and Webber, given how enthusiastic he was, until I saw him switch gears and get right down to business as Arizona's wing man.-- Ok, seriously, what is the deal between Owen and Riggs?? They've dragged on the suspense long enough now. -- I do love that Mer is stepping up as Owen's Person, asking "Do we hate him?" about Riggs. It's good to see that dynamic between the surgeons didn't fade away with Cristina's departure. -- Oh, please don't make Riggs turn out to be a new love interest for Mer. Bleh.

**(The Blacklist, 3x08 Kings of the Highway) Apparently Samar's desire to capture Liz and make her face the consequences of her actions now takes a backseat to the loyalty she feels to Red for his involvement in providing her closure with her brother. -- Cash: That girl is nuttier than a bag of cashews. -- Why do the bad guys always ride crotch rockets? -- That doll head Red used to break himself free was straight. up. creepy. -- Oh, Aram. You ratted Samar, Liz, and Red to Ressler out of jealousy? Really? -- The Chairman lady just shot the Attorney General lady!! Holy. Crap. Is Chairman lady part of the Cabal? -- What did Attorney General lady whisper as she was dying? "Tommy Market?" What the heck is that?? -- Crap. Ressler has Liz and Dembe in custody now? And we're supposed to wait til JANUARY 7 to find out what happens next?!

**(Blue Bloods, 6x09 Hold Outs) I can't believe how much Eddie looked like Linda when she was dressed up undercover as an old lady. (Sorry, Linda!) -- At one point that pregnant wife of the new police officer Frank was swearing in said "These days when I sit down I can't get back up." Not to nitpick, but since she was standing up when she said that, it can't be true. -- Oh goodie. The Mayor got re-elected. -- Baby Francis Francisco? LOL

**(Sleepy Hollow, 2x04 Waiting for Taleju) Things that made me snort during this episode: Shardectomy. Mistletoe as a weapon to defeat this week's evil. -- Again with the regular guns. ::facepalm:: --  Crane: Did you call me strange? Oh, good grief. How will I ever endure? -- Ah! This week's historical figure: Daniel Boone! -- I'm not sure how, exactly, that plan *worked* to get the evil creature thugs to kill each other, but...ok. -- Crane: Sometimes, it seems as though the unbeatable enemy is the twenty-first century. -- I did NOT see that coming with Sophie being an undercover agent. -- So, where did Jenny go? And who the crap is that hooky guy??? Pandora's boss?

Read more...

This Week on My TV: November 14, 2015

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(The Good Wife, 7x06 Lies) Alicia: Why'd you punch that judge? Jason: I was angry. A: Why were you angry? Jason: Don't you ever get angry? Alicia: Yes, but I don't punch people. Jason: Maybe you should. -- Eli: How is it you can lurk in an office the size of a phone booth? -- Diane: A lot of things that aren't fair are true!

**(Madam Secretary, 2x06 Catch and Release) Dmitri: Half the time, I don't know whether you're helping me or trying to kill me. -- Nadine: Ma'am, you have a three hour dinner next week with Candace Templeton. Elizabeth: Ha. However did you manage to find the time in my schedule, Blake? Blake: It's my super power. -- I knew Ivan was going to take his own life as soon as he "agreed" to see the open minded general

**(The Blacklist, 3x07 Zal Bin Hasaan) Some guy: What are you doing here? Red: Drinking your Bellinis. -- Samar's brother: What do you want? Red: Oh, another spin of the bottle in Melanie Wrightman's basement, but I'll settle for you. -- Red is so sexy. I don't even know what, exactly, it is about him but rawr. -- I completely busted out laughing when Ressler kicked the garden gnome. -- Ohhhkaaaay, Ressler and Samar? Where did *that* come from?

Read more...

This Week on My TV: November 7, 2015

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Madam Secretary, 2x04 Waiting for Taleju) This Stevie and Harrison thing is never going to go away, is it... -- Nadine: There's nothing unsavory. Just thought I'd get rid of the hanging chads, so to speak. Daisy: Oh, I get it. You don't want to be looking at these things at 2am, after a glass of wine and too much Adele. Not that I speak from experience. Nadine: Scotch and Joni Mitchell, for me. -- Henry: Never underestimate the power of gin and denial. -- That was a lot of pressure on the twelve year old who was the kumari from Nepal. -- I totally smirked when Elizabeth asked Henry "Is it wrong that I found it kinda hot?" after he threatened to go Godfather on the guy who leaked photos of Stevie and Harrison to the media. Their interactions are just the best. -- Stevie [to the guy who leaked the photos of her]: I just wanted to get to know you as a person. So I wouldn't reduce you to one stupid thing that you did. See how that works? ... That was particularly mature of Stevie. I was rather impressed.

**(The Good Wife, 7x05 Payback) I took some deep pleasure in watching Crouse mess with that nasty debt collector guy, even though all characters involved were fictitious. I think this has something to do with dealing with pushy, rude, threatening telephone callers regularly at my job. -- Marissa: Mr Neftali is offering you twice as much as you're making now. Eli: How do you know what I make? Marissa: I'm a witch. -- Crouse is much more fun than Kalinda. She was always so dark and twisted. Crouse is unrepentant, incorrigible, a flirt, and witty. -- Alicia: Her $8000? Crouse: Yeah. Alicia: From the scammer? Crouse: Yeah. Alicia: How did you do that? Crouse: I persuaded him. Alicia: How? Crouse: By being presuasive. -- Eli stirring up trouble with Ruth. A scheming Eli is an amusing Eli. -- I may never get over Finn leaving the show but the addition of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Jason Crouse is absolute brilliance.

**(Last Man Standing, 5x06 Halloween) Mike: Look at that: drugs and guns. I'm definitely a Libertarian. -- Kyle as Ed for Halloween. That was classic. -- Mandy: I don't want you to kiss me when you look like that. I would feel like I was cheating on your with future you. And I don't want future you to be into young chicks. Kyle-as-Ed: Yeah but you know it's just me. Mandy: Yeah, my ears do, but my eyes don't, and I hate it when they get confused. It's like when I see that movie with all the talking toys and I keep thinking I hear my dad's voice. -- It's funny how a Larabee addition to an episode almost guarantees I will love it but one Ryan sighting and I immediately sing a different tune.

**(Madam Secretary, 2x05 The Long Shot) Maybe Daisy isn't hiding a real life pregnancy after all, because she was wearing some rather tight, high-wasted pants. Which leaves me very confused why she's been getting all those upper body camera angles, standing behind large objects, and constantly holding props in front of her midsection. -- I cannot believe that Gorev was assassinated! I did NOT see that coming, at all. -- I am trying to decide who is behind Gorev's murder and the plane hackings:  Maria Ostrov seems too obvious. And even though the Ukraine president had his plane taken over, that could be a coverup to him pulling strings. -- This really is such a smart show. The relationships that are convincingly real. The creativity of the plot lines. The character depth. -- Why was Elizabeth wearing shoes in the house at midnight??

**(Grey's Anatomy, 12x01 Sledgehammer) Jackson: Why do you think everybody thinks they have a right to a front row seat to my marriage? Show's closed. Not selling tickets. -- Maggie's speech about being bullied as a child was wow. I just wanted to hug her. -- I can't remember if we've ever seen Bailey as intimidated by anyone the way she was around Dr McConnell. -- Stephanie [after Arizona forces her to say why no one wants to be Arizona's new roommate]: They say you have two legs and you only pretend that one is amputated...for the parking space. -- Mer: I'm sorry I said you had fleas. Maggie: Meredith! Amelia: What?? Mer: I don't...I don't know how to talk to you! You are a lot...sometimes. I don't totally like you. Amelia: Wow...ok. Mer: But I don't have to. Because you're family, I love you. -- ::head tilt:: Mer, teaching...I'm very intrigued! -- I have one question: Where were Mer's three kids while she and Amelia were tearing down that wall??

**(Blue Bloods, 6x06 Rush to Judgment) Let me sum up this episode succinctly: Ugh Potter. And Guerrero. And what's with Jamie being a whiny brat? I thought that was Nicky's role in the family?

**(Blindspot, 1x06 Cede Your Soul) Ok, so...there are layers upon layers of tattoos on Jane, and potentially this show could just go on...forever? -- Hmmm. I wonder who the Man with the Tree Tattoo is, and how does he fit into Jane's missing past, and why is she dreaming about him? -- I do feel bad for Jane. She is clearly feeling so lonely and isolated.

**(Scandal, 5x05 You Got Served) We're not getting nearly enough David this season -- I can't decide if Liv hiring Leo is a great idea or selling her soul to the Devil. -- Edison had every right to lay into Liv like he did, She was *awful* to him. -- Cy was a little demented, watching all the impeachment investigation fallout surrounded by snacks. -- Patty Snell [to Elizabeth North]: What, did someone give you a list of buzzwords when you took this job? Things to say so that you sound like you know how to help run a country? -- I'm not entirely convinced that Marcus is working *for* Liv and not against her. -- Olivia: I guess that means you have a type. Jake: So do you. Married men. -- I suddenly really like Fitz. It was the absolute disgust for bananas. -- That was quite a negotiation between Fitz and Cyrus. But I do have this question: if someone planted a camera in the Oval Office that caught Liv and Fitz. how is anywhere safe to have a confidential conversation?

**(Grey's Anatomy, 12x02 Walking Tall) I really love who Mer is right now. Her reactions are real but mature. And she is strong and witty and smart. -- LOL: That whole "lady place" conversation. -- I felt really bad for April-in-a-bubble, but Jackson is right. She has been focused entirely on what *she* wants and the ultimatums are being given by her, and really, she went to the opposite end of the unlikable spectrum from where she was when we first met her. -- Amelia: Have you ever had a friend who's, like, a really good friend, but you just wanna make out with him all the time? Callie: Oh yeah. Yeah, I used to do that for years. Amelia: And what happened? Callie: Sophia. -- When Jade was about to collapse on top of Jo, all I could think (and I feel mean just thinking it) was "timber!" -- BEARDED INTERN is setting up to be a character that I like. But DORKY INTERN? Is he crushing on Jo? Does he not know about Alex? -- I pretty much heart-ed Bailey telling Mer "I need a me" and making Mer the new Chief of General Surgery.

**(Blindspot, 1x07 Sent on Tour) Patterson: Everyone that's moved in has moved out in six months. ... How many have moved in with her?? -- This whole thing is *definitely* like some bizarre scavenger hunt. -- Mayfair: What's going on here? Patterson: How did you find me? Mayfair: I'm FBI, that's how. -- If Patterson's boyfriend is that smart that he can decipher these tattoo puzzles they all struggle with, why doesn't the FBI hire *him*??

**(Grey's Anatomy, 12x03 I Choose You) Amelia changing in the car OMG weird and awkward! -- It hurts my heart a little every time I see Mer's ferry boat scrub cap. What a great touch. -- Alex has become a great doctor and a good man. Telling those babies' parents that he chooses which survives, if it comes to that "and the rest you put on me." -- Alex: If one of your kids had to die, which one would you choose and why? Mer: Well, Bailey because he kept me up all night, but ask me again tomorrow and it might be Zola. -- I love the way Bailey encouraged Mer to value herself by lowballing her contract and waiting for Mer to speak up about her worth.

**(Grey's Anatomy, 12x04 Old Time Rock and Roll) LOL: Maggie's "No more talking!" when Amelia and Mer start talking about Maggie's one night stand. That would pretty much have been my reaction too. -- Maggie: He's an intern. Who does that?? Who screws the interns? What kind of person does that? Mer [laughing]: The father of my children. -- I'm having a real love-hate relationship with April right now. She's still sweet and kind...but then not, when it comes to Jackson. --  Who let me watch this episode at work with poor 90 year old Abe dying before he could propose to the second chance love of his life and then poor Gabby waking up from surgery to find out he had died?? ::sob:: -- My heart broke for Mer when she taught the interns how to break the death news to the family. ... Mer: When you walk into a room to tell someone that their loved one has died, it's more than just a list of bullet points you've memorized. Yours is the face they will remember for the rest of their life. They were fine before they met you. They picked up their children from school, they made dinner, and they got a call. The police showed up at their door and brought them here, with those children, to this room, so that *you* can give them the worst news of their entire life. You're changing this person's life forever. You are responsible for this moment. For the instant that person goes from wife to widow is you, all you, nobody but you. So this person isn't an inconvenience, they are not a box on a list to be checked off, you are a part of their life now. Your words, your face, so take that seriously and recognize the importance of your role, and respect the fact that that person's pain is the biggest thing in the room. -- ::insert wide-eyed emoji here:: Maggie and DeLuca. This is going to be...something, isn't it... -- OMG. Callie's new woman is Penny. *Penny* who killed Derek with bad decisions, Penny. OMG.

Read more...

This Week on My TV: October 31, 2015

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Sleepy Hollow, 3x02 Whispers in the Dark) I don't know which amused me more: Crane cleaning and coming across Abbie's lingerie while  doing laundry, or when he introduced himself to Abbie's new boss. -- I'm not sure how Crane made that mental leap that there was a secret-stealing wraith involved with the man they think died of a heart attack. -- So we're back to shooting at demons, are we? ::shakes head:: -- I am rarely a fan of long hair on men, but I was surprised at how strongly I reacted to Crane's (somewhat) shorter haircut in the first episode. I've decided I'm ok with it, because it's still not short and it looks...really, really good on him. Ahem. -- What, exactly, is Pandora's endgame? -- I'm glad Abbie's new position with the FBI and both of her new bosses haven't forced replaying the disdain and skepticism involving Crane. We've already done that twice with the Sleepy Hollow Sheriff's Department and it would have been stale.

**(Madam Secretary, 2x03 The Rusalka) Elizabeth: Ok, which one of these dresses says 'I'm terribly sorry your heartless autocrat husband is finally dead?' -- Mike B!! I was worried we were done with him. I'd love if they made him a regular. -- This Craig guy is exactly as much of a butt as Elizabeth says he is. -- Is the actress playing Daisy pregnant in real life? Because if she is, they're being really obvious about "hiding" it. And if not, why is she acting like they're trying to hide a pregnancy that isn't part of the show? -- That custom that had everyone kissing the forehead of the deceased Russian president lying in state. I don't know if I would be more disturbed by kissing the forehead of a dead body or kissing the same spot as all the people ahead of me in line. Gack. -- Daisy: Face it: you're a people pleaser. Blake: Actually, I hate most people. It takes all of my skill to hide that. -- I can't believe how violent they were with Dmitri in that "spy test." When he asked Henry how he sleeps at night, I kind of have to admit I was thinking the same thing. -- Wow. What an ambush by the Russian "first widow" on Elizabeth and the United States. -- I can't believe it's, essentially, Elizabeth against Dalton, Russell, and Craig. Although instead of looking to my like "the boys club vs the token woman," it seems like ones person with values against those who have an agenda but no conscience. I'm glad she's taking Mike B's binder. -- What an intense ending. The hackers' warning that they can take over Air Force One any time they wish. Henry in confession. Dmitri losing his mind, thinking his room was bugged. Gorev clearly about to flee for his life. And "grieving widow" Maria Ostrov looks like she's about to step into her husband's vacated shoes.

**(Blindspot, 1x04 Bone May Rot) It's very convenient that they solved that leaf puzzle just in time to prevent the crazy CDC scientists from setting off a worldwide major epidemic. -- They are very careless. And foolish. Weller staying with the tented virus instead of evacuating. Jane/Taylor coming back in to help Weller in a potentially contaminated location without a HazMat suit on.  -- Mayfair (she's the woman in charge and I had to look up her name because has anyone actually called her by her name?) is very clearly hiding something from Patterson (the girl in the lab coat, whose name I also had to look up) about whatever "Daylight" is. But is she involved in it with CIA Carter (had to look his up too)? Or is he blackmailing her in some way? -- So about these mysterious isotopes they found in Jane's tooth that say she was born and spent her first few years of life somewhere in Africa, even though her DNA say she's Taylor Shaw and Weller swears he remembers her as a baby next door. If she's really Taylor, maybe she was kidnapped and that woman wasn't really her mother?

**(The Good Wife, 7x04 Taxed) Canning is such manipulative weasel. -- That Carver guy was orange. -- Why does Judge Schakowsky insist on saying 'bully' all the time?? -- Louis Canning: Diane, why are you doing this? You're fighting for a cause you don't fundamentally believe in. Diane: Because you make me angry. -- Crouse has such a devil-may-care demeanor and he is incorrigible, with that twinkle-eyed, charming smile. He'll never be Finn, but every time he appears in an episode, I like his addition to the show. -- That whole case was a sting on Schakowsky?? -- Is it my imagination or is Jackie is back to being...sharper? Wasn't she more disoriented and fumbling in recent seasons? Was it just an act or did she recover from something that was ailing her? -- Jackie [about Ruth]: Suddenly, there's a palace guard wearing a pantsuit and cheap shoes? -- So...why doesn't Eli redo his office? Or at least clear some of that furniture out of the way? -- Are we to assume Alicia is going to form (yet another) new firm, this time with Lucca Quinn?

**(Blindspot, 1x05 Split the Law) Some of these tattoo resolutions are a stretch. -- Because we can't help but to be snarky sometimes: How did Weller know the bad guy's cell phone number? Was it also tattooed on Jane? And look! Weller has a tattoo on his arm too! Maybe it's the key to unlocking one of Jane's! -- Credit due for the shootout in the cemetery. I can't remember the last time I saw that done. -- You ever think about working for the good guys, we should talk. -- Now Zapata is being dirtied by CIA Carter, thanks her gambling habits leaving her needing cash. (No points for that one, Blindside. That angle is *way* overdone.) -- The episode titles are strange. I can;t ever figure out how they're actually related to what we're watching.

**(The Big Bang Theory, 9x06 The Helium Insufficiency) Stuart [re: one of the women he met on his new dating app]: One of which would have ended in sex if she hadn't said no. ... Oh, Stuart. -- Sheldon: Is this one of those times I've won the battle but lost the war? -- Sheldon [re: the stolen tank of helium that bears a torn sticker reading "Property of U..."]: U.S. Air Force. U.S. Department of Defense. U.S. Navy. U and I are going to jail. -- Stuart's dating app pic. LOL. -- Hey, Amy? Who is Dave?? -- Kripke: Take your time. I'll walk out backward for a dramatic effect. --

**(Madam Secretary, 7x06 Halloween VI: Tick Tock Death) Brick as Rod Serling ws sheer brilliance. -- A split second before the reveal, I realized it was Cindy as the Grim Reaper. I laughed really loud. -- O. M. G. Kenny talks. And has a face. To quote T, this was a *really* spooky episode. -- The first Twilight Zone-ish skit with Frankie and Rita Glossner was only so-so. The second one with the Grim Reaper terrorizing Axl, Kenny, and Hutch was amusing. But the last one was the best, foreseeing Brick's future. When they showed "Heck" on the mailbox as Mike and Brick were walking away from the older woman's house, it made the whole episode. -- Brick: Hold on, I have to ask you one more thing. Have you ever...done it? Older woman named Cynthia [smiling]: Well, we do have four beautiful children. Brick: Yes!! Yes!! Did you hear that Dad? Four times! That's one more than you and Mom!

**(The Blacklist, 3x05 Arioch Cain) The timeline of this episode felt very jumpy and was also all out of order. That was as confusing for me as flashback episodes. -- Ressler: If we haven't found her yet, he won't. Red: He's better than you. -- Crazy intense scene when Wendigo was trying to kill Lizzie. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. But however dramatic her getaway scene was, I couldn't suspend disbelief enough for her driving through a hail of bullets while laying down across the front seat and using the ripped off rearview mirror to see where she was going. -- As soon as that guy Lizzie and Red were after headed to the roof, I knew we were getting the obligatory jump-from-one-roof-to-another stunt. -- I'm very confused by that dark web site that put a bounty on Lizzie's head, because I thought Red stated earlier that Wendigo wasn't for hire. -- Bye bye, Mr Vargas. The second you lied to Red, you signed your own death warrant. -- I pretty much love that they gave Aram an opportunity to shine in that interrogation with the assassination site guy. -- Dembe coming to Red's rescue made me cheer. Him collapsing in Red's arms from his beatings via Mr Solomon and Vargas shooting him made me teary; Red was so tender with him. -- LOL: Ressler's reaction to Aram's hug. -- Ugh. The Director has his thumb on Ressler now.

**(Sleepy Hollow, 3x03 Blood and Fear) I feel like they put an interesting spin on Jack the Ripper, especially giving a nod to why he stopped and what stopped the murders without warning and or known arrest. -- That was a pretty vicious blade that Pandora procured to create the next Ripper. -- I felt bad for that guy she made her next Ripper, but it was so obvious it was going to be him from the minute we met him. -- I love how Abbie uses the latest and greatest technology to do her research, while Crane reaches for all these thick, dusty old tomes. -- I don't think I care much for Reynolds. Still undecided by Miss Corinth. -- When that blade sliced through the door near Crane and Abbie's selves, I jumped so hard, I may have levitated. I definitely gave myself a know in my shoulder. -- There we go, trying to shoot evil, again, with a regular gun. -- Abbie [looking down on the Ripper lying dead after falling out a window onto a car below]: Oh, damn. [::boink, his eyes pop open] Oh, DAMN. -- I love the aerial views of Sleepy Hollow.

**(Sleepy Hollow, 3x04 The Sisters Mills) My reaction to seeing the Tooth Fairy summed up: What. The hell. Was *that*. -- Crane: I don't need to study history. I lived it. -- That little girl's name was seriously Saffron? -- They are doing a really good job of tying in legends and making historical connections to tell stories this year. I love that they made the Tooth Fairy something far more sinister, that leaving money in exchange for a lost tooth was a means of protection, and how kids see monsters their parents can't. -- Seriously. That Tooth Fairy creature was the things of which my nightmares are made. I had to stifle half a dozen screams. -- While the parents were staring at their younger daughter in her coma, did they seriously not notice Saffron had left the hospital to catch that creepy Tooth Fairy with Crane and company??? -- LOL: Crane at the dentist. Oh, that was funny. -- What on earth is this Pandora creature and what is she trying to accomplish??

**(Scandal, 5x04 Dog-Whistle Politics) Gladiator in a suit speech! I miss when they were gladiators. Let's please go back to doing more of that. -- LOL: Charlie and Jake working together. -- Stop. The. Presses. Jake was married?? Is he *still* married?? -- That scene with Fitz playing with Teddy, and the exchange with Mellie about not hurting each other was sweet and tender. Too bad she tosses that right out the window at the end when she approaches the "women's club" about impeaching Fitz after all. -- "The true cost of mercy." Yep, everyone has a price, Fitz, Are you willing to pay? -- Marcus: So...who's going to tell Olivia I work here now? Huck: I will. I'm damaged. She doesn't like to yell at me. -- I'm not sure how I feel about Fitz showing up to take Olivia out, but I totally laughed at his Secret Service detail in the elevator when he announced he was going to make out with his girlfriend.

**(Once Upon a Time, 5x02 The Price) Oh, flashbacks. Yay. /sarcasm -- Emma's new outfit as the Dark One is really something. -- Regina [controlling Dark Emma via the dagger]: I could get used to this. -- Emma: I still know that the fastest way to a pirate's heart is through his liver. -- Doc: If I go to the ball, I'll just have to be Grumpy's  wing man. -- Mary Margaret [to Regina]: First thing my mother taught me about dancing is you have to learn to move in a dress...not a sensible pantsuit. -- I didn't care for Regina's hair at the ball. Too much like bedhead. Or that its original style fell out and she tried to pin it back up without a mirror. -- So. Emma is back in possession of the dagger. And behind that heavy locked door in her new house is a secret cave housing the missing Excalibur. And somehow, the dagger is really the tip of Excalibur. This is...interesting.

Read more...