What Happened, Yo!:
-Two months after being expelled, the gang gathers at Troy, Abed's, and Annie's for the weekly potluck meal they've been having. But it is interrupted when Abed is brought to the apartment by a police officer, for sneaking around the Dean's property over at Greendale. Abed insists that the Dean has been replaced with an imposter He is forced to go to therapy, and the group accompanies him. They explain to the therapist, Dr. Heidi that Abed has been acting more weird than usual lately, and are forced to share examples of how this behaviour's been building up over the last few months. When the doctor seems concerned, they insist Abed is at least as normal as the rest of them, sharing examples of their own crazy behaviour, but Dr. Heidi says that someone like Abed needs a good support system and decides to commit him. The group objects to this and insists that if they're crazy, it's because Greendale made them so, sharing more examples. They also admit that Greendale has been in their corner a lot of times in spite of this, and share more examples, all of them involving the Dean helping them out. They realize what Abed's realized: that the Dean loves them and would never expel them, making them decide they have to get to the bottom of this and go back, but Dr. Heidi informs them that they can't go back because Greendale doesn't exist.
-He informs them that three years ago they were all committed to the Greendale Asylum, where they made a shared delusion of a community college that revolves around the seven of them. Their expulsion was actually a result of them being deemed fit to live in society. They're all shocked by this, but as they leave, they realize that there's no possible way that story could be true, as they have lots of evidence to prove otherwise. They catch Dr. Heidi trying to escape out the window, and after he tries another elaborate lie about Greendale being purgatory, he admits that Abed was right, and that Chang had replaced the Dean and hired him to throw them off the trail. They realize how crazy Chang is, but as they do so, Dr. Heidi escapes and informs Chang about what happened, causing him to launch phase 2 (Though he has no idea what that is.).
I Liked This: First of all, Paradigms of Human Memory was one of my favorite episodes of Community's second season. It was just a joy to watch, and really gave a peek into how big the world of Greendale was. But I wasn't sure a fake clip show could work twice. But Curriculum Unavailable (Which I had no idea was a second fake clip show) proved me wrong and was just enjoyable as the first. It also tied into the main plot, dealing with their expulsion from Greendale and Chang's takeover of the school. I enjoyed the way the central thrust of the episode kept shifting, going from a story about the group enabling Abed to the point that he may be mentally unstable to a story about how Greendale makes everyone crazy to a story about the group realizing that all the good about Greendale was because of the Dean, which leads to them uncovering Chang's conspiracy (but not before the story becomes about how they all might be crazy and the whole show could be a delusion before that is written off as insane). John Hodgeman was funny as Dr. Heidi, the fake therapist who served as the device for the characters to tell their stories and figure out that something was fishy. And what clips they were. While Paradigms showed off lots of crazy adventures we never saw, Curriculum showed us mostly simpler (Though still crazy) stuff. From classes like Ladders, Can I Fry That? and Advanced Breath Holding to things like Troy driving an ATV into the study room or thinking a second-hand Karate trophy meant he was an expert to the noir-themed third paintball adventure, there was lots of funny stuff here. And it all added to the main plot of trying to keep Abed from getting committed/figuring out the truth. And the entire scene with the whole gang in an asylum, being overseen by the Dean and a deeper-voiced Garrett was probably the best scene in the episode. Overall, this was a terrific episode that I'm bound to watch at least two more times before next week's final three episodes.
But...: Everything worked this week.
The Bottom Line: Curriculum Unavailable is another great episode of the show that makes use of the fake clip show format in a different way than before and sets things up well for next weeks season (Officially not series) finale.
Grade: 90% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Troy: "60 dollars? Hello? Rich people, Troy's joining you! Yes, I'll hold."
-Jeff: "Abed won't go to any kind of doctor on his own. We caught him last year trying to remove his own tonsils".
-Dr. Heidi addresses an important issue: "And you've attended Greendale for three years but don't most Community Colleges end after two?" Jeff: "Everyone keeps saying that. The average Community College student attends school 5-7 years. Many offer 4-year degrees!"
-More clips I really enjoyed included Annie pretending she was part of Troy and Abed in the morning, The Dean sneaking the study group free pizza and singing them a special song over the intercom for no real reason, and Chang using Garrett as a precog for no real reason.
-Another real Troy and Abed in the morning! And a good one too.
Monday 14 May 2012
Thursday 10 May 2012
Parks and Recreation: Win, Lose, Or Draw
What Happened, Yo!:
-It's election day, and with polls indicating that Bobby Newport and Leslie are in a dead heat, there is nothing left to do but wait. Leslie tries not to panic, especially when earliest polls has Brandi Maxxxx in the lead. Anne takes her boxing to distract her, while Bobby and herself take the lead at various points. Ultimately the election is called with Bobby as the winner with 21 votes, apparently shattering Leslie's dream, but because the margain is so narrow, Ben points out that there has to be a recount. While this is happening, Leslie confesses to Ron that she doesn't want to let everyone down after they gave up their personal lives for her, but Ron tells her that she can't let them down and they're all in this together, win, lose, or draw. Ann informs Leslie that 21 votes still decided the election, but they were in her favour and Leslie has won. Bobby gives an ecstatic concession speech, while everyone celebrates.
-During all this, Jen tells Ben that she's been impressed with the way he's run the campaign and offers him a job on an upcoming congressional campaign in Washington. Ben isn't sure if he should do it, and after talking to Leslie who was hoping they'd finally have some time to themselves, he decides he won't do it. But talking to Ron makes Leslie realize she's been selfish, and she gives Ben her blessing to go to Washington.
-Also meanwhile, April accidentally deletes all the files on the Parks Department computers and is worried that she'll lose her job. Andy isn't that helpful trying to fix the problem, but he helps her by saying that he'd quit if she was fired and the two come up with a list of dream jobs. Donna shows up and easily fixes the problem because she secretly installed her own back-up ten years ago, due to Jerry often deleting things. Later, April realizes that all of Andy's dream jobs were some form of law enforcement and suggests he join the Pawnee Police Department, which intrigues him.
-Tom has a very vivid dream that he and Ann get back together and he's certain it'll come true. While celebrating, Ann gets very drunk, gets back together with Tom, agrees to move in with him, and agrees that she can't take it all back in the morning.
-Sleeping with Jen has revitalized Chris and brought him out of his depression.
-Ron turns down the assistant city manager job, realizing that he's happy where he is.
-Jerry doesn't vote on time and worries that he could cost Leslie the election. He doesn't but Leslie gets mad at him anyways when his mistake is revealed.
I Liked This: And so we arrive at the end of the road for the 4th season of Parks and Rec. It's been an entertaining ride and Win, Lose, or Draw brings the season to a fitting close. I really liked the way that the episode kept you guessing throughout, putting us in the same boat as Leslie and leading to some real uncertainty right up to the point where Ann reveals that Leslie has won the election. The episode also provided at least one funny moment for every character, and spent a lot of time looking into the future, which is something that comes up in life a lot. Andy and April were removed from the action for most of the episode, but their mini-crisis was a nice story for them, showing exactly why these two work as a couple. Andy trying to fix the computer by blowing on the monitor and then knocking it over was great, and the idea of Andy becoming a police officer in a potential 5th season fits right in line with the character, makes perfect sense and would be terrific. As for Leslie, her story with Ben was sweet and an interesting obstacle for the couple to face. Her scene with Ron was probably the best scene of the episode, next to the final scenes of her delivering her victory speech, while hanging up her picture on the wall of councilman from the beginning of the series. Having her win should provide the show with lots of interesting stories going forward.
And for all the sweet, emotional stuff, there was a lot of humour too. Jerry's subplot about him forgetting to vote was perfectly Jerry, and never overstayed it's welcome. And the words "Dammit, Jerry!" may be the best close to a season yet. Paul Rudd was still great in his couple scenes, as was Jen Barkley, who just wanted to go home and couldn't even bother to give Chris a real goodbye or properly meet Ann. And the rule that a tie between a man and a woman candidate results in the jailing of the woman candidate just adds to Pawnee's hilariously terrible history.
But...: Tom and Ann's plot was really slight, and I know their relationship isn't meant to be taken that seriously, but breaking them up a couple episodes ago now seems completely forced and unnecessary for the payoff of Ann drunkenly agreeing to moving in with Tom.
The Bottom Line: Win, Lose, Or Draw was a fantastic close to another great season of Parks and Rec. Bring on Councilwoman Knope and season 5 (please)!
Grade: 87% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Election Commissioner: "In the event of an exact tie, the seat is awarded to the male candidate and the female candidate is put in jail." Leslie: "Once again, I have to object." Commissioner: "Well, I don't think it would hold up in court, but it is city law."
-The Sweetums voting machines that pressure you into voting for Bobby and then reward you with a candy bar voucher once you do so is a great gag, and the crying baby sound when you vote for Leslie is also great.
-Leslie: "The reason Bobby and I are appearing together is to send a message that everyone should get out and vote, no matter who they're voting for." Bobby: "That's right. Another awesome point by Leslie. That's why I'm voting for you. (All laugh) What's so funny?" Leslie: "They're laughing at your joke." Bobby: "What joke? I am voting for you." Leslie: "You're not voting for yourself." Bobby: "Leslie, you can't vote for yourself, I don't think. I'm pretty sure that's illegal."
-Andy reassures April: "First of all, you did the right thing by hiding underneath this table."
-Ron: "Well, I've never been one for meeting new people, or doing new things, or eating new types of food, or travelling outside of Southern Indiana. I've had the same haircut since 1978, and I've driven the same car since 1991. I've used the same wooden comb for three decades. I have one bowl. I still get my milk delivered by horse." Ben: "You do?" Ron: "But you and Leslie like to hold hands and jump off cliffs together into the great unknown. Weird. You have a good relationship. I don't personally know what that's like, but I'm given to understand it means you'll land on your feet."
-Perd Hapley: "I have an update that contains new information."
-Ben is confused by Leslie's laughter after apparently losing: "Why are you laughing?" Leslie: "Because my dream is dead."
-Jen really doesn't what a recount: "How bout' this? Why don't I make you guys a deal?" Leslie: "OK, there's no deal in the world that we would ever possibly con-" Jen: "I'll give you Joe Biden's home phone number." Leslie: "Now, hang on, that's interesting." Ben: "OK, you're not thinking clearly."
-Leslie: "Someday, when I'm more emotionally stable, I wanna read the concession speech you wrote for me." Ben: "I never wrote it."
-Leslie's Victory Speech: "The idea behind the campaign was a simple one: that with hard work and positivity, a group of people can make a difference. During my term as your city councillor, I wanna focus on your hopes and not your fears. I wanna solve problems instead of creating friction and I will work hard every hour of every day to make Pawnee a better place to live. Because I love this city. And I know first-hand, how very special the people of this city are. I owe this victory, all of it, to my friends and supporters. No one achieves anything alone. So let's embark on a new journey together. Let's break out a map. Not the old, out-of-date map of where we've been, but a crisp, new one, that shows where we might go. Let's embark on a new journey together and see where it takes us.
-Ron: "Jerry forgot to vote." Leslie: "Dammit, Jerry!"
-It's election day, and with polls indicating that Bobby Newport and Leslie are in a dead heat, there is nothing left to do but wait. Leslie tries not to panic, especially when earliest polls has Brandi Maxxxx in the lead. Anne takes her boxing to distract her, while Bobby and herself take the lead at various points. Ultimately the election is called with Bobby as the winner with 21 votes, apparently shattering Leslie's dream, but because the margain is so narrow, Ben points out that there has to be a recount. While this is happening, Leslie confesses to Ron that she doesn't want to let everyone down after they gave up their personal lives for her, but Ron tells her that she can't let them down and they're all in this together, win, lose, or draw. Ann informs Leslie that 21 votes still decided the election, but they were in her favour and Leslie has won. Bobby gives an ecstatic concession speech, while everyone celebrates.
-During all this, Jen tells Ben that she's been impressed with the way he's run the campaign and offers him a job on an upcoming congressional campaign in Washington. Ben isn't sure if he should do it, and after talking to Leslie who was hoping they'd finally have some time to themselves, he decides he won't do it. But talking to Ron makes Leslie realize she's been selfish, and she gives Ben her blessing to go to Washington.
-Also meanwhile, April accidentally deletes all the files on the Parks Department computers and is worried that she'll lose her job. Andy isn't that helpful trying to fix the problem, but he helps her by saying that he'd quit if she was fired and the two come up with a list of dream jobs. Donna shows up and easily fixes the problem because she secretly installed her own back-up ten years ago, due to Jerry often deleting things. Later, April realizes that all of Andy's dream jobs were some form of law enforcement and suggests he join the Pawnee Police Department, which intrigues him.
-Tom has a very vivid dream that he and Ann get back together and he's certain it'll come true. While celebrating, Ann gets very drunk, gets back together with Tom, agrees to move in with him, and agrees that she can't take it all back in the morning.
-Sleeping with Jen has revitalized Chris and brought him out of his depression.
-Ron turns down the assistant city manager job, realizing that he's happy where he is.
-Jerry doesn't vote on time and worries that he could cost Leslie the election. He doesn't but Leslie gets mad at him anyways when his mistake is revealed.
I Liked This: And so we arrive at the end of the road for the 4th season of Parks and Rec. It's been an entertaining ride and Win, Lose, or Draw brings the season to a fitting close. I really liked the way that the episode kept you guessing throughout, putting us in the same boat as Leslie and leading to some real uncertainty right up to the point where Ann reveals that Leslie has won the election. The episode also provided at least one funny moment for every character, and spent a lot of time looking into the future, which is something that comes up in life a lot. Andy and April were removed from the action for most of the episode, but their mini-crisis was a nice story for them, showing exactly why these two work as a couple. Andy trying to fix the computer by blowing on the monitor and then knocking it over was great, and the idea of Andy becoming a police officer in a potential 5th season fits right in line with the character, makes perfect sense and would be terrific. As for Leslie, her story with Ben was sweet and an interesting obstacle for the couple to face. Her scene with Ron was probably the best scene of the episode, next to the final scenes of her delivering her victory speech, while hanging up her picture on the wall of councilman from the beginning of the series. Having her win should provide the show with lots of interesting stories going forward.
And for all the sweet, emotional stuff, there was a lot of humour too. Jerry's subplot about him forgetting to vote was perfectly Jerry, and never overstayed it's welcome. And the words "Dammit, Jerry!" may be the best close to a season yet. Paul Rudd was still great in his couple scenes, as was Jen Barkley, who just wanted to go home and couldn't even bother to give Chris a real goodbye or properly meet Ann. And the rule that a tie between a man and a woman candidate results in the jailing of the woman candidate just adds to Pawnee's hilariously terrible history.
But...: Tom and Ann's plot was really slight, and I know their relationship isn't meant to be taken that seriously, but breaking them up a couple episodes ago now seems completely forced and unnecessary for the payoff of Ann drunkenly agreeing to moving in with Tom.
The Bottom Line: Win, Lose, Or Draw was a fantastic close to another great season of Parks and Rec. Bring on Councilwoman Knope and season 5 (please)!
Grade: 87% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Election Commissioner: "In the event of an exact tie, the seat is awarded to the male candidate and the female candidate is put in jail." Leslie: "Once again, I have to object." Commissioner: "Well, I don't think it would hold up in court, but it is city law."
-The Sweetums voting machines that pressure you into voting for Bobby and then reward you with a candy bar voucher once you do so is a great gag, and the crying baby sound when you vote for Leslie is also great.
-Leslie: "The reason Bobby and I are appearing together is to send a message that everyone should get out and vote, no matter who they're voting for." Bobby: "That's right. Another awesome point by Leslie. That's why I'm voting for you. (All laugh) What's so funny?" Leslie: "They're laughing at your joke." Bobby: "What joke? I am voting for you." Leslie: "You're not voting for yourself." Bobby: "Leslie, you can't vote for yourself, I don't think. I'm pretty sure that's illegal."
-Andy reassures April: "First of all, you did the right thing by hiding underneath this table."
-Ron: "Well, I've never been one for meeting new people, or doing new things, or eating new types of food, or travelling outside of Southern Indiana. I've had the same haircut since 1978, and I've driven the same car since 1991. I've used the same wooden comb for three decades. I have one bowl. I still get my milk delivered by horse." Ben: "You do?" Ron: "But you and Leslie like to hold hands and jump off cliffs together into the great unknown. Weird. You have a good relationship. I don't personally know what that's like, but I'm given to understand it means you'll land on your feet."
-Perd Hapley: "I have an update that contains new information."
-Ben is confused by Leslie's laughter after apparently losing: "Why are you laughing?" Leslie: "Because my dream is dead."
-Jen really doesn't what a recount: "How bout' this? Why don't I make you guys a deal?" Leslie: "OK, there's no deal in the world that we would ever possibly con-" Jen: "I'll give you Joe Biden's home phone number." Leslie: "Now, hang on, that's interesting." Ben: "OK, you're not thinking clearly."
-Leslie: "Someday, when I'm more emotionally stable, I wanna read the concession speech you wrote for me." Ben: "I never wrote it."
-Leslie's Victory Speech: "The idea behind the campaign was a simple one: that with hard work and positivity, a group of people can make a difference. During my term as your city councillor, I wanna focus on your hopes and not your fears. I wanna solve problems instead of creating friction and I will work hard every hour of every day to make Pawnee a better place to live. Because I love this city. And I know first-hand, how very special the people of this city are. I owe this victory, all of it, to my friends and supporters. No one achieves anything alone. So let's embark on a new journey together. Let's break out a map. Not the old, out-of-date map of where we've been, but a crisp, new one, that shows where we might go. Let's embark on a new journey together and see where it takes us.
-Ron: "Jerry forgot to vote." Leslie: "Dammit, Jerry!"
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Cougar Town: Down South
Note: Skipping recap this week. If this blog continues next fall, I'm thinking of eliminating the recap entirely, so this is a test run of sorts.
I Liked This: Travis has always had an attraction to Laurie, dating back to the early days of the show, when the title was relevant. But tonight's episode marked the first time that the two of them pairing up became a very real possibility (Even in Hawaii, I never thought Travis and Laurie would actually end up together), and this led to an interesting, emotionally charged episode as Travis prepared to finally make his move, and Jules and the gang debated over whether or not this should happen. While much of the episode was centred on Jules trying to prevent this from happening, Travis comforting Laurie after she's found out that her army boyfriend has re-enlisted was very sweet, and the ending (for now) of him taking the place of her boyfriends body, and ultimately putting her needs above his own (Something Wade isn't doing, even with his reasonable reason for re-enlisting) was funny, but also heartbreaking and it should be interesting to see where this will go as the season heads into the home stretch. And Jules and Ellie clashing with Bobby and Andy over whether they should let this happen and deciding to settle it over a game of Celebrity was great, leading to many funny moments and a sweet moment at the end as Jules comes to peace with the possibility of Travis and Laurie dating. The event of the hurricane also added to the episode, adding an interesting dynamic to the scenes (And a good runner involving Tom waiting outside Jules house the entire time.). And Grayson's small plot involving trying to come up with a new catchphrase for his bar was slight, but entertaining.
But...: Jules being able to pull off a Perfect Storm homage in an episode that hinges a big part of the plot on her unfamiliarity with pop culture seems a little inconsistent. But the scene was funny, so it's not that big a deal.
The Bottom Line: Down South is a great episode of Cougar Town that, while not as laugh-heavy as other episodes this season, nevertheless provides a good time as Travis/Laurie suddenly looks to be a very real possibility.
Grade: 85% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Welcome to Cougar Town. I didn't know it was back on either- Abed.
-Laurie: "I thought we were really getting serious." Travis: "Of all the relationships of people that never met each other, I really believed in this one."
-Jules: "That's the way I raised him. Taters are for laters." Travis: "She actually did say that." Jules: "I did."
-Jules: "Travis got Laurie pregnant!" Andy and Bobby: "What?!" Jules: "Maybe I took a few steps ahead, but still, it would be so horrible if those two hooked up."
-Andy: "You can't stop love. Ellie's mom didn't want her to date me, but if I didn't go for it, this magical thing but if I didn't go for it, this magical thing never would've happened." Jules: "Awww." Ellie: "He's talking about him and Bobby!"
-Bobby on hugging Travis: "I feel like I'm cheating on Andy." Travis: "I'm your son so, it's fine."
-Ellie: "I'm only an OK storm! I'm not a perfect storm!"
-Jules: "What?" Grayson: "You just sent the two people you don't want to be together to hang out in a bedroom." Jules: "Who would have sex in their mom's bed? (All indicate they would do such a thing) Shoot."
-Grayson: "What is happening to me? I used to be on top of all the cool lingo. You know how people say 'hey, you wanna come with us?' I was the guy who dropped the 'us' part. Hey, you wanna come with?" Ellie: "I wonder what those d-bags did with all the time you saved them.
-Jules: "They're killing us with moustache clues!"
-Andy: "Why did you keep stopping to do those Michael Jackson poses in the wind?" Grayson: "How could you not?"
-Ellie: "Look, next time I give a clue, just give an answer. No matter what you say, I'm gonna say it's right. That handsome actor that you love." Jules: "George DiCaprio!" Ellie: "I'll make it work."
-Bobby: "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought E.T was a dude." Jules: "He's both." Ellie: "Watch the deleted scenes. It's very disturbing. He tries to have sex with himself."
-Jules: "You win. We cheated." Andy: "I knew David Barstool wasn't an actor. You were just looking at things around the room." Jules: "Yeah, although I think there is a Jim Lamply." Andy: "Nope."
-Travis: "I'm breathing a lot of my own breath around here. Starting to regret that tuna sandwich from earlier".
-Grayson: "Please get out of my bar. I just wanna go home and wrap up in my cozy blanket and drink that tea with the sleepy bear on the box. And I know you hate me now, but you'll thank me later, because if you don't stop drinking, tomorrow, you're going to wake up next to that person that you're talking to right now, and you'll wish you knew how to get them out of your house, but they'll make you take them to brunch. Good night. Don't drink and drive. You might kill your dad.
I Liked This: Travis has always had an attraction to Laurie, dating back to the early days of the show, when the title was relevant. But tonight's episode marked the first time that the two of them pairing up became a very real possibility (Even in Hawaii, I never thought Travis and Laurie would actually end up together), and this led to an interesting, emotionally charged episode as Travis prepared to finally make his move, and Jules and the gang debated over whether or not this should happen. While much of the episode was centred on Jules trying to prevent this from happening, Travis comforting Laurie after she's found out that her army boyfriend has re-enlisted was very sweet, and the ending (for now) of him taking the place of her boyfriends body, and ultimately putting her needs above his own (Something Wade isn't doing, even with his reasonable reason for re-enlisting) was funny, but also heartbreaking and it should be interesting to see where this will go as the season heads into the home stretch. And Jules and Ellie clashing with Bobby and Andy over whether they should let this happen and deciding to settle it over a game of Celebrity was great, leading to many funny moments and a sweet moment at the end as Jules comes to peace with the possibility of Travis and Laurie dating. The event of the hurricane also added to the episode, adding an interesting dynamic to the scenes (And a good runner involving Tom waiting outside Jules house the entire time.). And Grayson's small plot involving trying to come up with a new catchphrase for his bar was slight, but entertaining.
But...: Jules being able to pull off a Perfect Storm homage in an episode that hinges a big part of the plot on her unfamiliarity with pop culture seems a little inconsistent. But the scene was funny, so it's not that big a deal.
The Bottom Line: Down South is a great episode of Cougar Town that, while not as laugh-heavy as other episodes this season, nevertheless provides a good time as Travis/Laurie suddenly looks to be a very real possibility.
Grade: 85% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Welcome to Cougar Town. I didn't know it was back on either- Abed.
-Laurie: "I thought we were really getting serious." Travis: "Of all the relationships of people that never met each other, I really believed in this one."
-Jules: "That's the way I raised him. Taters are for laters." Travis: "She actually did say that." Jules: "I did."
-Jules: "Travis got Laurie pregnant!" Andy and Bobby: "What?!" Jules: "Maybe I took a few steps ahead, but still, it would be so horrible if those two hooked up."
-Andy: "You can't stop love. Ellie's mom didn't want her to date me, but if I didn't go for it, this magical thing but if I didn't go for it, this magical thing never would've happened." Jules: "Awww." Ellie: "He's talking about him and Bobby!"
-Bobby on hugging Travis: "I feel like I'm cheating on Andy." Travis: "I'm your son so, it's fine."
-Ellie: "I'm only an OK storm! I'm not a perfect storm!"
-Jules: "What?" Grayson: "You just sent the two people you don't want to be together to hang out in a bedroom." Jules: "Who would have sex in their mom's bed? (All indicate they would do such a thing) Shoot."
-Grayson: "What is happening to me? I used to be on top of all the cool lingo. You know how people say 'hey, you wanna come with us?' I was the guy who dropped the 'us' part. Hey, you wanna come with?" Ellie: "I wonder what those d-bags did with all the time you saved them.
-Jules: "They're killing us with moustache clues!"
-Andy: "Why did you keep stopping to do those Michael Jackson poses in the wind?" Grayson: "How could you not?"
-Ellie: "Look, next time I give a clue, just give an answer. No matter what you say, I'm gonna say it's right. That handsome actor that you love." Jules: "George DiCaprio!" Ellie: "I'll make it work."
-Bobby: "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought E.T was a dude." Jules: "He's both." Ellie: "Watch the deleted scenes. It's very disturbing. He tries to have sex with himself."
-Jules: "You win. We cheated." Andy: "I knew David Barstool wasn't an actor. You were just looking at things around the room." Jules: "Yeah, although I think there is a Jim Lamply." Andy: "Nope."
-Travis: "I'm breathing a lot of my own breath around here. Starting to regret that tuna sandwich from earlier".
-Grayson: "Please get out of my bar. I just wanna go home and wrap up in my cozy blanket and drink that tea with the sleepy bear on the box. And I know you hate me now, but you'll thank me later, because if you don't stop drinking, tomorrow, you're going to wake up next to that person that you're talking to right now, and you'll wish you knew how to get them out of your house, but they'll make you take them to brunch. Good night. Don't drink and drive. You might kill your dad.
Monday 7 May 2012
Community: Course Listing Unavailable
What Happened, Yo!:
-Starburns has died and Annie is concerned that the group isn't handling it well. Britta decides to put the group through grief counseling, but it's ineffectual (Of course), but it does give them the idea to throw a wake. The group gets very upset however, when the Dean shows up to inform them that in the wake of Starburns death, Professor Kane has resigned and Biology has been cancelled, meaning they'll have to make up the credit during the summer. This makes the group angry and at Starburns wake, they make a series of speeches expressing anger at Greendale, which rile the student body up. Nervous, the Dean signs a contract Chang had earlier tried to get him to sign, increasing security's power and giving him the ability to use pepper spray and enforce martial law, amongst other things. The speeches get more and more angry until a riot breaks out. Chang brings in his army to subdue the riot, but it just causes more damage.
-In the aftermath, the Dean informs the group that Subway (Who Shirley had targeted in her speech and who had been damaged in the riot) is threatening to pull out of the school, and the school board is investigating the incident, and the study group (Who are being called the Greendale Seven and the instigators of the riot) will have to meet with them. The group has remorse for the riot, and they decide with the Dean to pin it all on Chang. One of Chang's preteen soldiers overhears however, and informs Chang, causing him to tranq Dean Pelton and replace him with a look-alike. At the hearing, the group begins to testify against Chang, when Chang comes in with a gift basket for the board (Having previously befriended them before the hearing), and with the help of his fake Dean Pelton, gets the board to expell the study group. At Abed's apartment, everyone mopes around, and Abed wonders if this was the darkest timeline after all. But Troy rallies everyones spirits and tells them that they can all get through this, making Abed realize that as long as they're all together, it's the perfect timeline.
I Liked This: Course Listing Unavailable begins in one place and ends in a drastically different one. Chang is in control, the study group has been expelled and things have never seemed darker for our heroes (Even as they find solace in each other.). A lot of the best moments of the episode though happen in the beginning and the end of the episode. Britta forcing the group to go through grief counselling was just wonderful, especially with the meta-commentary on how she seemed smarter when the show started. And the final scene, which called back Remedial Chaos Theory and brought back the creepy pizza boy that Britta became engaged to in an alternate timeline was brilliant, providing a sweet and funny ending instead of ending on the cliffhanger of their expulsion. The wake had some good moments too, like Garrett singing Ava Maria or Pierce assuring that he would calm things down before starting a riot. Chang was used well here too, finally becoming the villain he's been shaping up to be since the start of season 2. And of course, the tag with Abed's video memorial of Starburns (making use of the multi-purpose footage Starburns had provided in his video will) was excellent, providing a lovely send-off to the character (who will be missed.).
But...: The episode felt a bit rushed in order for things to get for where they need to be for the next couple episodes and I wish more time had been spent on certain events (Grief Counselling and the wake among other things.)
The Bottom Line: Course Listing Unavailable was another great episode of Community that changes things significantly (Though maybe a little too quickly) and leaves things in an interesting place for the next couple episodes.
Grade: 80% (Great)
Memorable Moments:
-Jeff to Britta: "You seemed smarter when I met you."
-Pierce: "Let's burn this mother down!"
-Carl Bladt: "...You are hereby expelled from Greendale Community College. May God have mercy on your souls."
-Starburns has died and Annie is concerned that the group isn't handling it well. Britta decides to put the group through grief counseling, but it's ineffectual (Of course), but it does give them the idea to throw a wake. The group gets very upset however, when the Dean shows up to inform them that in the wake of Starburns death, Professor Kane has resigned and Biology has been cancelled, meaning they'll have to make up the credit during the summer. This makes the group angry and at Starburns wake, they make a series of speeches expressing anger at Greendale, which rile the student body up. Nervous, the Dean signs a contract Chang had earlier tried to get him to sign, increasing security's power and giving him the ability to use pepper spray and enforce martial law, amongst other things. The speeches get more and more angry until a riot breaks out. Chang brings in his army to subdue the riot, but it just causes more damage.
-In the aftermath, the Dean informs the group that Subway (Who Shirley had targeted in her speech and who had been damaged in the riot) is threatening to pull out of the school, and the school board is investigating the incident, and the study group (Who are being called the Greendale Seven and the instigators of the riot) will have to meet with them. The group has remorse for the riot, and they decide with the Dean to pin it all on Chang. One of Chang's preteen soldiers overhears however, and informs Chang, causing him to tranq Dean Pelton and replace him with a look-alike. At the hearing, the group begins to testify against Chang, when Chang comes in with a gift basket for the board (Having previously befriended them before the hearing), and with the help of his fake Dean Pelton, gets the board to expell the study group. At Abed's apartment, everyone mopes around, and Abed wonders if this was the darkest timeline after all. But Troy rallies everyones spirits and tells them that they can all get through this, making Abed realize that as long as they're all together, it's the perfect timeline.
I Liked This: Course Listing Unavailable begins in one place and ends in a drastically different one. Chang is in control, the study group has been expelled and things have never seemed darker for our heroes (Even as they find solace in each other.). A lot of the best moments of the episode though happen in the beginning and the end of the episode. Britta forcing the group to go through grief counselling was just wonderful, especially with the meta-commentary on how she seemed smarter when the show started. And the final scene, which called back Remedial Chaos Theory and brought back the creepy pizza boy that Britta became engaged to in an alternate timeline was brilliant, providing a sweet and funny ending instead of ending on the cliffhanger of their expulsion. The wake had some good moments too, like Garrett singing Ava Maria or Pierce assuring that he would calm things down before starting a riot. Chang was used well here too, finally becoming the villain he's been shaping up to be since the start of season 2. And of course, the tag with Abed's video memorial of Starburns (making use of the multi-purpose footage Starburns had provided in his video will) was excellent, providing a lovely send-off to the character (who will be missed.).
But...: The episode felt a bit rushed in order for things to get for where they need to be for the next couple episodes and I wish more time had been spent on certain events (Grief Counselling and the wake among other things.)
The Bottom Line: Course Listing Unavailable was another great episode of Community that changes things significantly (Though maybe a little too quickly) and leaves things in an interesting place for the next couple episodes.
Grade: 80% (Great)
Memorable Moments:
-Jeff to Britta: "You seemed smarter when I met you."
-Pierce: "Let's burn this mother down!"
-Carl Bladt: "...You are hereby expelled from Greendale Community College. May God have mercy on your souls."
Wednesday 2 May 2012
More Opinion Quickies: Glee and Survivor
So I watched last night's Glee and while I had some feelings about the episode, which I want to express, I just can't bring myself to do a full blog about it. Same with tonight's Survivor. So rather than just skip them outright, I'm gonna do some quickies. This probably won't be a habit, but you never know.
Glee: Choke: Glee did something bold last night: all three of the main storylines ended in a failure of sorts. Rachel choked during her NYADA audition and has probably ruined her chances of getting into that school, Puck failed the one exam he needed, despite actually studying for it and now won't graduate, and Beiste lied about leaving Cooter, after he had an abusive episode. It's all dark, sad, stuff (Well Puck's story was mostly played for laughs until the end) and the show handled it well. I especially appreciated how delicately they handled the domestic abuse storyline, much like how they handled the Gay Teen suicide story way back when. Having Beiste get hit, and then give Cooter another chance at the end is dark and the story probably won't end there, but it's also realistic. And having Rachel blow the biggest audition of her life is a devastating move for the character. Will she get another chance? It wouldn't surprise me, but for now her future has suddenly become incredibly uncertain, just as Kurt finally gets a break. Oh, and the musical numbers were all pretty solid. Anyways, good stuff Glee. Keep it up. Quicky Grade: 80% (Great) Quicky Best Musical Number: Shake It Up!
Survivor: One World: It's Gonna Be Chaos: Now we're getting somewhere. Watching the elimination of all the boys over the past few weeks has been fascinating (Especially since Kim, who I've liked from the start is more and more likely to win this game), but predictable. But instead of getting rid of Tarzan like I was expecting, or even getting rid of Sabrina, which was what the episode seemed to be aiming towards, Kat goes, after making the same kind of mistake at the reward challenge that Kim made last week, but on a worse scale, because Kim was more sympathetic in the eyes of her island mates than selfish Kat. There was other interesting stuff in this episode too, from Alicia deluding herself into thinking that she's running the show, to having the loved ones compete in the reward challenge. And with little time left to go before the finale, it should be interesting to see if Kim can pull this off and win it all. Quicky Grade: 78% (Good)
Glee: Choke: Glee did something bold last night: all three of the main storylines ended in a failure of sorts. Rachel choked during her NYADA audition and has probably ruined her chances of getting into that school, Puck failed the one exam he needed, despite actually studying for it and now won't graduate, and Beiste lied about leaving Cooter, after he had an abusive episode. It's all dark, sad, stuff (Well Puck's story was mostly played for laughs until the end) and the show handled it well. I especially appreciated how delicately they handled the domestic abuse storyline, much like how they handled the Gay Teen suicide story way back when. Having Beiste get hit, and then give Cooter another chance at the end is dark and the story probably won't end there, but it's also realistic. And having Rachel blow the biggest audition of her life is a devastating move for the character. Will she get another chance? It wouldn't surprise me, but for now her future has suddenly become incredibly uncertain, just as Kurt finally gets a break. Oh, and the musical numbers were all pretty solid. Anyways, good stuff Glee. Keep it up. Quicky Grade: 80% (Great) Quicky Best Musical Number: Shake It Up!
Survivor: One World: It's Gonna Be Chaos: Now we're getting somewhere. Watching the elimination of all the boys over the past few weeks has been fascinating (Especially since Kim, who I've liked from the start is more and more likely to win this game), but predictable. But instead of getting rid of Tarzan like I was expecting, or even getting rid of Sabrina, which was what the episode seemed to be aiming towards, Kat goes, after making the same kind of mistake at the reward challenge that Kim made last week, but on a worse scale, because Kim was more sympathetic in the eyes of her island mates than selfish Kat. There was other interesting stuff in this episode too, from Alicia deluding herself into thinking that she's running the show, to having the loved ones compete in the reward challenge. And with little time left to go before the finale, it should be interesting to see if Kim can pull this off and win it all. Quicky Grade: 78% (Good)
Memorable Moments: Cougar Town: Southern Accents
Quicky Opinion: Southern Accents was another great episode of this show, combining lots of laughs with some good character development. Grayson having a daughter was a nice twist for this season, and this episode is a natural continuation of that, as Jules resists trying to get to know Holly, even though she really isn't that bad. Having Holly make out with Travis was a good twist for this storyline and I liked how Jules winds up accepting Holly. Meanwhile, Andy deciding he wants to be mayor is a good move for this character, and should give him plenty of interesting things to do for the rest of the season, plus give the chance for more appearances from Barry Bostwick, who I always enjoy as Roger Frank. And the Bobby/Laurie plot was just a delight. Another strong week, Cougar Town. Another strong week. Quicky Grade: 85% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Grayson: "Why do you always freak out whenever Holly comes over? She's not that bad.. Am I allowed to say that about a woman I accidentally had a baby with?" Ellie: "I wouldn't."
-Jules: "I can't say no to tequila. That's why Travis exists." Grayson: "No way! Jill too!" Travis: "What an adorable coincidence."
-Hey, would you and your friends watch a show called "Pig Trials". Watch the episode, get back to us #pigtrials.
-Bobby: "Racist? Am I that bad?" Laurie: "No, sweetie. (Looks at his cookie.) Oh my God, look at your black and white cookie. You've only eaten the white part!" Bobby: "I'm a monster."
-Holly: "Stupid internet date. I thought having a baby was gonna be like, a non-stop party. Wrong. Turns out having a baby is a total crotch-block." Travis: "What a tool. Sounds like he should've put "hates babies" on his profile." Holly: "Oh, he did. I just ignored it."
-Jules: "There's got to be something you can do. I've been dreaming of having a beach wedding since like, yesterday."
-Jules: "Wow Barb, you're married. I'm so um... um... something for you."
-Jules: "This town needs a new mayor and not one that's in bed with big business: that's Barb's name for her private parts."
-Laurie: "Plus, you (Andy) would look so great kissing a baby, because you kind of look like a baby, and everyone know there's nothing cuter than a baby kissing a baby."
-Ellie: "I love the tension in this room. I just want to bake it into a big puffy thing and eat it all up." Jules: "Seriously?"
-Laurie on her new talking threat cakes: "Say a chick steals your boyfriend. You send her a cake. But then, when she opens up the lid, it's like: "I'm coming for you, bitch!" Cute, right?"
-Laurie: "So you accidentally said the wrong thing. One time, I asked this blind lady when her baby was due. Turns out, she wasn't pregnant. And she wasn't even a lady. But, he really was blind, which was good, because when he went to go throw his coffee at me, he totally missed, and he hit a real pregnant lady. And I was like, 'dude, you're such a jerk! You just hit a real pregnant lady!' And then it turns out she wasn't pregnant either." Bobby: "There are a lot of fatties in this town." Laurie: "I know, right."
-Jules: "Do you know that if Travis and Holly had a kid, my granddaughter and my stepdaughter would be sisters! That puts me in the hillbilly hall of fame, right next to my cousin Chestnut, who was murdered by his own pigs." Ellie: "The pigs might've killed him, but it wasn't murder. Murder implies forethought." Jules: "They murdered him. There might be a trial." Ellie: "Where?" Grayson: "Okay, this sounds like a good stopping point."
-Travis: "There's just something so innocent about Holly. I just want to protect her. Plus, Jill could really use a father." Grayson: "She has a father!" Travis: "I meant a good one."
-Jules: "It's like my life is flashing right before my eyes. I should've drank more wine."
-Jules: "You're both being totally... (Looks at her Word-A-Day calender) magnaminous!" Travis: "Not a bad thing. Means we're awesome." Jules: "Stupid calender!"
-Laurie: "Today, we're gonna fix racism. Hopefully before our burgers come."
-Jules: "Do you know what I've learned from my friendship with Ellie?" Grayson: "There's no such thing as too mean." Travis: "Never let your friends know for sure if you like them?" Jules: "Always hold a grudge?" Ellie: "Really?" Jules: "Sorry, I wanted to do one too."
-Jules: "Sometimes, it's OK to be selfish, right Ellie?" Ellie: "It's not". Jules: "Seriously? Now's the time you decide to be human?"
-Bobby: "Sometimes I think it would just be easier if we just separated into our own groups, you know, like blacks with blacks and white with whites." Sig: "They tried that in South Africa." Laurie: "Yeah, and thank God Bono fixed it."
-Laurie: "Oh my God, my race panel worked. If there is one thing we've learned from Michelle Pfieffer in Dangerous Minds or Sandy Bullock in The Blind Side or Hilary Swank in that movie no one ever saw, it's that all you need to fix minority problems is a really pretty white woman."
-Not even going to try and replicate Ellie's crazy list of wants as first lady.
-Holly: "You hug just like your son." Jules: "Alright, don't ruin it."
-I will replicate this though. Grayson: "Now, let's pop a little wine, and talk about this supposed pig trial, hmm? I got 9000 questions. Do they use handcuffs?" Jules: "They use rope." Ellie: "Jury of their peers?" Jules: "Maybe." Grayson: "Lawyers?" Jules: "Humans." Ellie: "Baliffs?" Jules: "Horses." Grayson: "How do they get the pig on the witness stand?" Jules: "Pig ramp." Ellie: "Do they understand what people are saying?" Jules: "They have interpretors." Grayson: "Jury ever fed ham?" Jules: "Not if they're kosher!" Ellie: "What's the maximum sentence?" Jules: "Bacon." Grayson: "Is there a pig traffic court?" Jules "Heard of it, I've never seen it." Ellie: "How do they get the pig to stop squealing?" Jules: "Gavel." Grayson: "What if a pig calls a cop a pig." Jules: "Heh, that's funny. That's funny. People laugh." Ellie: "Do the pigs wear prison jumpsuits?" Jules "No, bowties. It's really adorable".
Memorable Moments
-Grayson: "Why do you always freak out whenever Holly comes over? She's not that bad.. Am I allowed to say that about a woman I accidentally had a baby with?" Ellie: "I wouldn't."
-Jules: "I can't say no to tequila. That's why Travis exists." Grayson: "No way! Jill too!" Travis: "What an adorable coincidence."
-Hey, would you and your friends watch a show called "Pig Trials". Watch the episode, get back to us #pigtrials.
-Bobby: "Racist? Am I that bad?" Laurie: "No, sweetie. (Looks at his cookie.) Oh my God, look at your black and white cookie. You've only eaten the white part!" Bobby: "I'm a monster."
-Holly: "Stupid internet date. I thought having a baby was gonna be like, a non-stop party. Wrong. Turns out having a baby is a total crotch-block." Travis: "What a tool. Sounds like he should've put "hates babies" on his profile." Holly: "Oh, he did. I just ignored it."
-Jules: "There's got to be something you can do. I've been dreaming of having a beach wedding since like, yesterday."
-Jules: "Wow Barb, you're married. I'm so um... um... something for you."
-Jules: "This town needs a new mayor and not one that's in bed with big business: that's Barb's name for her private parts."
-Laurie: "Plus, you (Andy) would look so great kissing a baby, because you kind of look like a baby, and everyone know there's nothing cuter than a baby kissing a baby."
-Ellie: "I love the tension in this room. I just want to bake it into a big puffy thing and eat it all up." Jules: "Seriously?"
-Laurie on her new talking threat cakes: "Say a chick steals your boyfriend. You send her a cake. But then, when she opens up the lid, it's like: "I'm coming for you, bitch!" Cute, right?"
-Laurie: "So you accidentally said the wrong thing. One time, I asked this blind lady when her baby was due. Turns out, she wasn't pregnant. And she wasn't even a lady. But, he really was blind, which was good, because when he went to go throw his coffee at me, he totally missed, and he hit a real pregnant lady. And I was like, 'dude, you're such a jerk! You just hit a real pregnant lady!' And then it turns out she wasn't pregnant either." Bobby: "There are a lot of fatties in this town." Laurie: "I know, right."
-Jules: "Do you know that if Travis and Holly had a kid, my granddaughter and my stepdaughter would be sisters! That puts me in the hillbilly hall of fame, right next to my cousin Chestnut, who was murdered by his own pigs." Ellie: "The pigs might've killed him, but it wasn't murder. Murder implies forethought." Jules: "They murdered him. There might be a trial." Ellie: "Where?" Grayson: "Okay, this sounds like a good stopping point."
-Travis: "There's just something so innocent about Holly. I just want to protect her. Plus, Jill could really use a father." Grayson: "She has a father!" Travis: "I meant a good one."
-Jules: "It's like my life is flashing right before my eyes. I should've drank more wine."
-Jules: "You're both being totally... (Looks at her Word-A-Day calender) magnaminous!" Travis: "Not a bad thing. Means we're awesome." Jules: "Stupid calender!"
-Laurie: "Today, we're gonna fix racism. Hopefully before our burgers come."
-Jules: "Do you know what I've learned from my friendship with Ellie?" Grayson: "There's no such thing as too mean." Travis: "Never let your friends know for sure if you like them?" Jules: "Always hold a grudge?" Ellie: "Really?" Jules: "Sorry, I wanted to do one too."
-Jules: "Sometimes, it's OK to be selfish, right Ellie?" Ellie: "It's not". Jules: "Seriously? Now's the time you decide to be human?"
-Bobby: "Sometimes I think it would just be easier if we just separated into our own groups, you know, like blacks with blacks and white with whites." Sig: "They tried that in South Africa." Laurie: "Yeah, and thank God Bono fixed it."
-Laurie: "Oh my God, my race panel worked. If there is one thing we've learned from Michelle Pfieffer in Dangerous Minds or Sandy Bullock in The Blind Side or Hilary Swank in that movie no one ever saw, it's that all you need to fix minority problems is a really pretty white woman."
-Not even going to try and replicate Ellie's crazy list of wants as first lady.
-Holly: "You hug just like your son." Jules: "Alright, don't ruin it."
-I will replicate this though. Grayson: "Now, let's pop a little wine, and talk about this supposed pig trial, hmm? I got 9000 questions. Do they use handcuffs?" Jules: "They use rope." Ellie: "Jury of their peers?" Jules: "Maybe." Grayson: "Lawyers?" Jules: "Humans." Ellie: "Baliffs?" Jules: "Horses." Grayson: "How do they get the pig on the witness stand?" Jules: "Pig ramp." Ellie: "Do they understand what people are saying?" Jules: "They have interpretors." Grayson: "Jury ever fed ham?" Jules: "Not if they're kosher!" Ellie: "What's the maximum sentence?" Jules: "Bacon." Grayson: "Is there a pig traffic court?" Jules "Heard of it, I've never seen it." Ellie: "How do they get the pig to stop squealing?" Jules: "Gavel." Grayson: "What if a pig calls a cop a pig." Jules: "Heh, that's funny. That's funny. People laugh." Ellie: "Do the pigs wear prison jumpsuits?" Jules "No, bowties. It's really adorable".
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Quickies: The Office and HIMYM
Good news! As of half an hour from when I started writing this, the really annoying technical difficulties that were causing me to be even later than usual have resolved themselves. So hopefully, I'll be on track all the way through sweeps season. So let's get to the Opinion Quickies!
The Office: Fundraiser: Fundraiser was a definite step up from Angry Andy, and while still over-the-top in some aspects, the episode had plenty of funny moments, from Dwight not realizing what a silent auction was to the visual gag of Nellie attempting to eat a taco. And it continued the story of Andy being fired in an interesting way, plus had a great Ryan-centric cold open and some good Kevin jokes along the way. Still not perfect, but very solid. Quicky Grade: 75% (Good)
How I Met Your Mother: Good Crazy: Good Crazy was another good episode of How I Met Your Mother that moves all the pieces into place for the season finale. Ted going on dates that kept reminding him of Robin in increasingly ridiculous ways was funny, and we finally learned the story behind Marshall getting drunk again, which was teased back in The Naked Truth. Lily going into labour while he's away was expected, but it should still be interesting to watch unfold. Overall, a good week for How I Met Your Mother. Quicky GradeL 75% (Good)
The Office: Fundraiser: Fundraiser was a definite step up from Angry Andy, and while still over-the-top in some aspects, the episode had plenty of funny moments, from Dwight not realizing what a silent auction was to the visual gag of Nellie attempting to eat a taco. And it continued the story of Andy being fired in an interesting way, plus had a great Ryan-centric cold open and some good Kevin jokes along the way. Still not perfect, but very solid. Quicky Grade: 75% (Good)
How I Met Your Mother: Good Crazy: Good Crazy was another good episode of How I Met Your Mother that moves all the pieces into place for the season finale. Ted going on dates that kept reminding him of Robin in increasingly ridiculous ways was funny, and we finally learned the story behind Marshall getting drunk again, which was teased back in The Naked Truth. Lily going into labour while he's away was expected, but it should still be interesting to watch unfold. Overall, a good week for How I Met Your Mother. Quicky GradeL 75% (Good)
Parks and Recreation: The Debate
What Happened, Yo!:
-It is the night of the debate and Leslie and Ben are confident that she'll be able to crush Bobby Newport and overcome the gap between the two candidates. But when the debate begins, Bobby Newport is hurt by her opening declaration that Bobby Newport feels he can buy the vote. This causes people to be more sympathetic to Bobby, even though his responses show that he's a moron who shouldn't win this election, and Leslie backs off from attacking a bit, throwing her off her game. She starts to gain some momentum during the second part of the debate, but becomes shocked when Jen gets Bobby to declare her anti-big business and claim that his dad will move Sweetums if Leslie wins the election. Ben and Leslie aren't sure what to do, until Benn decides that she should go on the attack and kick his ass. Leslie delivers a powerful closing speech about how she comes off strong because she's passionate about Pawnee and how if you love something, you shouldn't threaten it or hold it hostage like Bobby has done. This gets massive applause from everyone, including Bobby Newport, who invites her to a party later to celebrate making it through the debate.
-Meanwhile, Tom, Ann, and Chris are on spin duty, trying to put a positive light on everything that may happen during the debate. Tom is upset because after his most recent stunt (An inappropiate radio shout-out) Ann has dumped him for good. April tells him to be open about his feelings, but as he prepares to do so, he sees what seems to be Chris and Ann getting back together. And although Chris does try to get back together with Ann, she rejects him, saying that he's making their relationship into something more than it was and can't date her anyways, because of his rule. Tom comes honest about his feelings, but she decides she wants to be single for now. Tom still believes he can win her back though.
-Also meanwhile, Andy and April host a party for campaign Donors, while Ron provides the food. The guests are also supposed to watch the debate, but Andy has forgot to pay the cable bill. While Andy re-enacts some of his favorite movies, Ron goes to temporarily steal cable and gets the cable back in time for Leslie's big finish, which thrills Andy so much, he accidentally breaks the TV in his jubiliation.
I Liked This: Wow. Season 4 of Parks and Recreation has had tons of great episodes and this one is no exception. Written and directed by Leslie Knope herself, Ms. Amy Poehler continues a trend of writing classic episodes, delivering a crucial episode in this whole campaign storyline. Once again, Paul Rudd is great as Bobby Newport and the idea behind the character: that he's an idiot who has no business on City Council, but is so powerful and likeable, he might win anyways is used in a good fashion here. The episode could've bombed if there was no chance that Leslie could lose the debate, but setting it up so she's scared off the attack for much of the episode was clever. As was introducing the idea that Sweetums might leave Pawnee if Leslie wins, which sets it up for Leslie to knock the debate out of the park, but also introduces something that'd be interesting to revisit if Leslie won the election: what if Sweetums left? The other candidates were the typical Pawnee crazies, and provided some good moments during the debate (One of my favorite aspects of the episode was Brandi Maxxxx (From last year's Leslie's Painting) dressing like Leslie, and arguing that she's essentially the same person during the debate). As for the other stories, Tom, Chris, and Ann should be an interesting triangle to see play out, but Andy was the other star of the episode. I couldn't stop laughing, watching him re-enact scenes from Roadhouse, and his heartfelt plea in favour of the movie Babe, complete with a tearful Donna was amazing. Ron as Cable Lineman was pretty awesome too.
But...: No problems this week. Great episode.
The Bottom Line: The Debate was a stellar episode of Parks and Rec, with yet another great Amy Poehler-written episode, good use of Paul Rudd, and what was possibly Chris Pratt's finest (half) hour so far.
Grade: 95% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Chris: "If I had to have anybody tell me that I had cancer, I would want it to be me."
-Campaign Donor: "So, do you do a lot of investing?" Andy: "We dabble. I recently invested in some shirts at a garage sale. Left those at a Wendy's on the way home, so... hehehe, the economy."
-Bobby Newport: "By the year 2013, we will have a fully functioning mall on Jupiter."
-It is the night of the debate and Leslie and Ben are confident that she'll be able to crush Bobby Newport and overcome the gap between the two candidates. But when the debate begins, Bobby Newport is hurt by her opening declaration that Bobby Newport feels he can buy the vote. This causes people to be more sympathetic to Bobby, even though his responses show that he's a moron who shouldn't win this election, and Leslie backs off from attacking a bit, throwing her off her game. She starts to gain some momentum during the second part of the debate, but becomes shocked when Jen gets Bobby to declare her anti-big business and claim that his dad will move Sweetums if Leslie wins the election. Ben and Leslie aren't sure what to do, until Benn decides that she should go on the attack and kick his ass. Leslie delivers a powerful closing speech about how she comes off strong because she's passionate about Pawnee and how if you love something, you shouldn't threaten it or hold it hostage like Bobby has done. This gets massive applause from everyone, including Bobby Newport, who invites her to a party later to celebrate making it through the debate.
-Meanwhile, Tom, Ann, and Chris are on spin duty, trying to put a positive light on everything that may happen during the debate. Tom is upset because after his most recent stunt (An inappropiate radio shout-out) Ann has dumped him for good. April tells him to be open about his feelings, but as he prepares to do so, he sees what seems to be Chris and Ann getting back together. And although Chris does try to get back together with Ann, she rejects him, saying that he's making their relationship into something more than it was and can't date her anyways, because of his rule. Tom comes honest about his feelings, but she decides she wants to be single for now. Tom still believes he can win her back though.
-Also meanwhile, Andy and April host a party for campaign Donors, while Ron provides the food. The guests are also supposed to watch the debate, but Andy has forgot to pay the cable bill. While Andy re-enacts some of his favorite movies, Ron goes to temporarily steal cable and gets the cable back in time for Leslie's big finish, which thrills Andy so much, he accidentally breaks the TV in his jubiliation.
I Liked This: Wow. Season 4 of Parks and Recreation has had tons of great episodes and this one is no exception. Written and directed by Leslie Knope herself, Ms. Amy Poehler continues a trend of writing classic episodes, delivering a crucial episode in this whole campaign storyline. Once again, Paul Rudd is great as Bobby Newport and the idea behind the character: that he's an idiot who has no business on City Council, but is so powerful and likeable, he might win anyways is used in a good fashion here. The episode could've bombed if there was no chance that Leslie could lose the debate, but setting it up so she's scared off the attack for much of the episode was clever. As was introducing the idea that Sweetums might leave Pawnee if Leslie wins, which sets it up for Leslie to knock the debate out of the park, but also introduces something that'd be interesting to revisit if Leslie won the election: what if Sweetums left? The other candidates were the typical Pawnee crazies, and provided some good moments during the debate (One of my favorite aspects of the episode was Brandi Maxxxx (From last year's Leslie's Painting) dressing like Leslie, and arguing that she's essentially the same person during the debate). As for the other stories, Tom, Chris, and Ann should be an interesting triangle to see play out, but Andy was the other star of the episode. I couldn't stop laughing, watching him re-enact scenes from Roadhouse, and his heartfelt plea in favour of the movie Babe, complete with a tearful Donna was amazing. Ron as Cable Lineman was pretty awesome too.
But...: No problems this week. Great episode.
The Bottom Line: The Debate was a stellar episode of Parks and Rec, with yet another great Amy Poehler-written episode, good use of Paul Rudd, and what was possibly Chris Pratt's finest (half) hour so far.
Grade: 95% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Chris: "If I had to have anybody tell me that I had cancer, I would want it to be me."
-Campaign Donor: "So, do you do a lot of investing?" Andy: "We dabble. I recently invested in some shirts at a garage sale. Left those at a Wendy's on the way home, so... hehehe, the economy."
-Bobby Newport: "By the year 2013, we will have a fully functioning mall on Jupiter."
Monday 30 April 2012
Community: Basic Lupine Urology
What Happened, Yo!:
-A couple janitors discover that someone has smashed the Yam the study group had been growing for Biology. Annie becomes outraged when Professor Kane ensures that the group will get a passing grade, and decides to track down the culprit in hopes of getting the A she feels they deserve. Shirley sends Troy and Abed to gather suspects. Pierce tells them that Todd (From Competitive Ecology) probably did it, but Todd insists the door was locked when he came by the Bio room. Fat Neil informs them that Magnitude had checked out a key to the Bio room that night, and Magnitude informs them that the key was stolen from him. The trail leads them to Starburns, who Troy and Abed suspect but can't touch because they aren't cops. They break into his locker and find that he's been stealing supplies from the Bio Lab. Starburns tells them he was stealing stuff for the meth lab he's building in his trunk and that he had left the door open, and seen someone running out after having smashed the yam. After getting a pinky swear that they won't turn him in for his meth lab, Starburns names Todd as the culprit.
-Troy and Abed apprehend Todd and Annie and Jeff take their case to Professor Kane. However, Todd's uncle and Colonel from his time in the army shows up and insists that Todd not say anything. He says that Starburns is a shady witness, especially since they won't say why he was there that night and tries to force them to reveal why, but professor Kane chooses to honour the Pinky Swear and let Jeff and Annie present their case to the class. But the Colonel scares off Starburns, causing them to have no witness. Annie uses tricks and fake crying to get Todd to admit that he had accidentally dropped the yam, while he was looking at it, because of how hot the jar was. Annie gloats, but Jeff pulls her and Prof. Kane aside and requests that both the group and Todd get a C, saying that Annie lost her way in the pursuit of the truth and that they've gone too far. Prof. Kane agrees to the terms, but Jeff in closing, realizes that everyone has been struggling with this project because someone had been killing the roots at night by pouring hot water into the jars. He starts smashing Yams until he comes to one that doesn't smash, belonging to Vicki. Neil reveals that he was trying to throw off the grading curve so Vicki wouldn't fail and so they could have sex in his parents cabin during the summer. Prof. Kane is shocked by all this.
-Later in the Deans office, Jeff, Annie, the Dean, and Kane reflect on the case when a phone call comes in. Starburns has been rear-ended, causing the meth lab in his trunk to explode, and killing him.
I Liked This: Full disclosure: I have only seen a handful of episodes of Law & Order. I'm not even sure I've ever seen the original series. So I only had a surface-level knowledge of the show going into this episode. In spite of this however, I still found Basic Lupine Urology to be one of the funniest episodes of Community this season. Yeah, there wasn't really a big character story for any of our heroes (Something the best theme episodes usually have under the surface), but I was laughing so hard and so often, I didn't really care. From the intro narration (one of the aspects of L&O I am familliar with) to the tag of Dean Pelton singing Troy and Abed to sleep in the study room, there were big laughs all abound with Basic Lupine Urology. Every character was used well (Though Britta and Pierce were a bit underused, but the scenes they were in were great.) and the ultimate solution that Fat Neil was sabotaging everyone's experiments for the sake of Vicki was kind of sweet, and also very funny, especially with Professor. Kane's shocked reaction. And the ending with the shocking death of Starburns (That I figured out way back when the trailer for the rest of the season came out) ensures that in the grand scheme of things, this episode will wind up being very significant for the rest of the season.
But...: Sometimes I wondered if I would appreciate the episode even more if I was more of a fan of Law & Order. Just sometimes though.
The Bottom Line: Basic Lupine Urology was a brilliantly funny episode of Community, with lots of jokes, even if you weren't the biggest Law & Order fan. R.I.P Starburns. You will be missed.
Grade: 95% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Opening Narration: "Greendale Community College is represented by two separate, yet equally important groups of people: the goofballs that run around stirring up trouble, and the eggheads that make a big deal out of it. These are their stories."
-Chang: "Move along. Nothing to see here." Jeff: "First time those words have actually been true."
-Annie: "A passing grade? Like a C? Why don't I just get pregnant at a bus station!"
-Troy: "Looks like it's going to be a long night. How'd we manage to pull the short straw?" Abed: "It's not a short straw... it's a hot potato." Troy: "Yeah well, looks pretty cold. To me." Abed: "Cold? Or dead?" Troy: "Survey says-" Abed: "We can't both do the zinger." Troy: "Sorry."
-Abed: "Why were you late?" Pierce: "I.. fell asleep in a sunbeam." Abed: "A likely story." Troy: "Actually it is. I used to live with him. It's kind of adorable."
-Abed: "What happened Todd? Cut yourself on an extra sharp Oscar Wilde play?" Todd: "Oh, this? It's a burn. Home Ec class. Muffin." Troy: "What kind of muffin?" Todd: "Blueberry." Troy: "Why not raisin?" Todd: "That wasn't the assignment." Troy: "You can dance all day Todd, but sooner or later the music's going to change."
-Starburns: "Dead yam. Big deal. Order some ketchup." Troy: "That doesn't make sense! You don't order ketchup, it's a condiment!"
-Jeff: "Keep the change Garrett. You know what, keep the hot dog."
-Abed: "You're telling me that after all this, our suspect's going to slip away on the technicality that we're not police."
-Troy: "Clean-up on aisle busted."
-Troy and Abed: "Why do they always- (They look at each other) Why do they always-". Troy: "Your line." Abed: "Why do they always run?"
-Troy: "Well, well, look at this Abed: he weaves baskets AND lies."
-Troy: "Todd Jacobson, you have the right to do whatever you want. Nothing you say or do can be used against you by anyone, but we would really like it if you would come with us, please and thank you."
-Col. Archwood: "Objection. She's clearly ramping up to something." Jeff: "Objection. That's not a real objection." Prof. Kane: "Objection! I hate the both of you. You may proceed Ms. Edison, but do so with caution. Need I remind you that this is not a courtroom."
-Annie: "Is that why you hit your wife- withdrawn! Is that why you drink and pop pills- withdrawn! Are you a virgin- Withdrawn."
-Neil: "I did it! Vicky's yam never sprouted and I didn't want her to fail, so I threw off the grading curve so she wouldn't have to go to summer school and we could finally have sex in my parents cabin! God forgive me, I did it for love!"
-Prof. Kane: "Holy crap! We are definitely dissecting pine cones next year!"
-Annie: "After all the politics and procedure, in the end, the case really was about biology." Prof. Kane: "Told you it was an important subject."
-Prof. Kane: "Starburns got rear-ended and the meth lab in his trunk exploded: he's dead."
-Dean: "Troy and Abed off to dreamland, and catching the train to sleepytown. When they wake up, the dean will be here: staring at you. Sweet deans."
-A couple janitors discover that someone has smashed the Yam the study group had been growing for Biology. Annie becomes outraged when Professor Kane ensures that the group will get a passing grade, and decides to track down the culprit in hopes of getting the A she feels they deserve. Shirley sends Troy and Abed to gather suspects. Pierce tells them that Todd (From Competitive Ecology) probably did it, but Todd insists the door was locked when he came by the Bio room. Fat Neil informs them that Magnitude had checked out a key to the Bio room that night, and Magnitude informs them that the key was stolen from him. The trail leads them to Starburns, who Troy and Abed suspect but can't touch because they aren't cops. They break into his locker and find that he's been stealing supplies from the Bio Lab. Starburns tells them he was stealing stuff for the meth lab he's building in his trunk and that he had left the door open, and seen someone running out after having smashed the yam. After getting a pinky swear that they won't turn him in for his meth lab, Starburns names Todd as the culprit.
-Troy and Abed apprehend Todd and Annie and Jeff take their case to Professor Kane. However, Todd's uncle and Colonel from his time in the army shows up and insists that Todd not say anything. He says that Starburns is a shady witness, especially since they won't say why he was there that night and tries to force them to reveal why, but professor Kane chooses to honour the Pinky Swear and let Jeff and Annie present their case to the class. But the Colonel scares off Starburns, causing them to have no witness. Annie uses tricks and fake crying to get Todd to admit that he had accidentally dropped the yam, while he was looking at it, because of how hot the jar was. Annie gloats, but Jeff pulls her and Prof. Kane aside and requests that both the group and Todd get a C, saying that Annie lost her way in the pursuit of the truth and that they've gone too far. Prof. Kane agrees to the terms, but Jeff in closing, realizes that everyone has been struggling with this project because someone had been killing the roots at night by pouring hot water into the jars. He starts smashing Yams until he comes to one that doesn't smash, belonging to Vicki. Neil reveals that he was trying to throw off the grading curve so Vicki wouldn't fail and so they could have sex in his parents cabin during the summer. Prof. Kane is shocked by all this.
-Later in the Deans office, Jeff, Annie, the Dean, and Kane reflect on the case when a phone call comes in. Starburns has been rear-ended, causing the meth lab in his trunk to explode, and killing him.
I Liked This: Full disclosure: I have only seen a handful of episodes of Law & Order. I'm not even sure I've ever seen the original series. So I only had a surface-level knowledge of the show going into this episode. In spite of this however, I still found Basic Lupine Urology to be one of the funniest episodes of Community this season. Yeah, there wasn't really a big character story for any of our heroes (Something the best theme episodes usually have under the surface), but I was laughing so hard and so often, I didn't really care. From the intro narration (one of the aspects of L&O I am familliar with) to the tag of Dean Pelton singing Troy and Abed to sleep in the study room, there were big laughs all abound with Basic Lupine Urology. Every character was used well (Though Britta and Pierce were a bit underused, but the scenes they were in were great.) and the ultimate solution that Fat Neil was sabotaging everyone's experiments for the sake of Vicki was kind of sweet, and also very funny, especially with Professor. Kane's shocked reaction. And the ending with the shocking death of Starburns (That I figured out way back when the trailer for the rest of the season came out) ensures that in the grand scheme of things, this episode will wind up being very significant for the rest of the season.
But...: Sometimes I wondered if I would appreciate the episode even more if I was more of a fan of Law & Order. Just sometimes though.
The Bottom Line: Basic Lupine Urology was a brilliantly funny episode of Community, with lots of jokes, even if you weren't the biggest Law & Order fan. R.I.P Starburns. You will be missed.
Grade: 95% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Opening Narration: "Greendale Community College is represented by two separate, yet equally important groups of people: the goofballs that run around stirring up trouble, and the eggheads that make a big deal out of it. These are their stories."
-Chang: "Move along. Nothing to see here." Jeff: "First time those words have actually been true."
-Annie: "A passing grade? Like a C? Why don't I just get pregnant at a bus station!"
-Troy: "Looks like it's going to be a long night. How'd we manage to pull the short straw?" Abed: "It's not a short straw... it's a hot potato." Troy: "Yeah well, looks pretty cold. To me." Abed: "Cold? Or dead?" Troy: "Survey says-" Abed: "We can't both do the zinger." Troy: "Sorry."
-Abed: "Why were you late?" Pierce: "I.. fell asleep in a sunbeam." Abed: "A likely story." Troy: "Actually it is. I used to live with him. It's kind of adorable."
-Abed: "What happened Todd? Cut yourself on an extra sharp Oscar Wilde play?" Todd: "Oh, this? It's a burn. Home Ec class. Muffin." Troy: "What kind of muffin?" Todd: "Blueberry." Troy: "Why not raisin?" Todd: "That wasn't the assignment." Troy: "You can dance all day Todd, but sooner or later the music's going to change."
-Starburns: "Dead yam. Big deal. Order some ketchup." Troy: "That doesn't make sense! You don't order ketchup, it's a condiment!"
-Jeff: "Keep the change Garrett. You know what, keep the hot dog."
-Abed: "You're telling me that after all this, our suspect's going to slip away on the technicality that we're not police."
-Troy: "Clean-up on aisle busted."
-Troy and Abed: "Why do they always- (They look at each other) Why do they always-". Troy: "Your line." Abed: "Why do they always run?"
-Troy: "Well, well, look at this Abed: he weaves baskets AND lies."
-Troy: "Todd Jacobson, you have the right to do whatever you want. Nothing you say or do can be used against you by anyone, but we would really like it if you would come with us, please and thank you."
-Col. Archwood: "Objection. She's clearly ramping up to something." Jeff: "Objection. That's not a real objection." Prof. Kane: "Objection! I hate the both of you. You may proceed Ms. Edison, but do so with caution. Need I remind you that this is not a courtroom."
-Annie: "Is that why you hit your wife- withdrawn! Is that why you drink and pop pills- withdrawn! Are you a virgin- Withdrawn."
-Neil: "I did it! Vicky's yam never sprouted and I didn't want her to fail, so I threw off the grading curve so she wouldn't have to go to summer school and we could finally have sex in my parents cabin! God forgive me, I did it for love!"
-Prof. Kane: "Holy crap! We are definitely dissecting pine cones next year!"
-Annie: "After all the politics and procedure, in the end, the case really was about biology." Prof. Kane: "Told you it was an important subject."
-Prof. Kane: "Starburns got rear-ended and the meth lab in his trunk exploded: he's dead."
-Dean: "Troy and Abed off to dreamland, and catching the train to sleepytown. When they wake up, the dean will be here: staring at you. Sweet deans."
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Quicky Opinion with An Apology!
So, most of the time when I'm late with an update or miss something, it's due to a lack of motivation on my part. Sometimes however, I lose the resources (Read: Internet Access and Time) needed to post a timely post. This is one of those weeks. So here are my quicky opinions for last Thursdays The Office and Parks and Recreation with apologies. Hopefully, I can get everything I need to in order heading into May.
Parks and Recreation: Live Ammo: After a month of absense, Parks and Rec returned last week with a very funny episode, that also moved along the seasons ongoing storylines (The campaign, April taking on more responsibility, Ron being considered for promotion and Chris' downward spiral into depression) in an interesting way. It was good to see Leslie start to learn just what being on city council can be like, and her figuring out a way to avoid cutting the parks budget without Ann getting fired or the animal shelter closing was good to see. Ron meditating was great and the twist that Chris will lose his job if Bobby wins should be interesting to see play out. And April stepping up and getting mentored in a way by Tom was a good story for the character, with the pet adoption providing a lot of amusing moments. Overall, Parks and Rec came back with a strong one. Bring on the rest of the season. Quicky Grade: 85% (Great)
The Office: Angry Andy: Now, I was a little mixed on Angry Andy. First off, I really enjoyed the Ryan/Kelly storyline, which seemed to sum up how messed up that relationship is. Introducing a new man for Kelly is a good idea, and I'm hoping that this will continue on throughout the season. Pam and Ryan's ongoing feud is always fun and Ryan on a white horse was a good gag. I was a bit more mixed on the Andy stuff though, mainly because the idea that Nelly could just come in and take his job because Robert is attracted to her is a pretty ridiculous one. Wasn't Robert supposed to be brilliant and a competent CEO? And while I appreciated the build-up to the return of Angry Andy, the actual unleashing of Angry Andy was painfully brief and punching the wall again did not have the same comedic punch (pun intended) that it had the first time that happened (In one of my favorite episodes of the series, The Return). Don't get me wrong. The plot still had it's moments, and I'm looking forward to see where they're going with Andy quitting/getting fired, but the way we got there was a little too ridiculous for this show. Creed still had funny moments though. Grade: 68% (Pretty Good)
Parks and Recreation: Live Ammo: After a month of absense, Parks and Rec returned last week with a very funny episode, that also moved along the seasons ongoing storylines (The campaign, April taking on more responsibility, Ron being considered for promotion and Chris' downward spiral into depression) in an interesting way. It was good to see Leslie start to learn just what being on city council can be like, and her figuring out a way to avoid cutting the parks budget without Ann getting fired or the animal shelter closing was good to see. Ron meditating was great and the twist that Chris will lose his job if Bobby wins should be interesting to see play out. And April stepping up and getting mentored in a way by Tom was a good story for the character, with the pet adoption providing a lot of amusing moments. Overall, Parks and Rec came back with a strong one. Bring on the rest of the season. Quicky Grade: 85% (Great)
The Office: Angry Andy: Now, I was a little mixed on Angry Andy. First off, I really enjoyed the Ryan/Kelly storyline, which seemed to sum up how messed up that relationship is. Introducing a new man for Kelly is a good idea, and I'm hoping that this will continue on throughout the season. Pam and Ryan's ongoing feud is always fun and Ryan on a white horse was a good gag. I was a bit more mixed on the Andy stuff though, mainly because the idea that Nelly could just come in and take his job because Robert is attracted to her is a pretty ridiculous one. Wasn't Robert supposed to be brilliant and a competent CEO? And while I appreciated the build-up to the return of Angry Andy, the actual unleashing of Angry Andy was painfully brief and punching the wall again did not have the same comedic punch (pun intended) that it had the first time that happened (In one of my favorite episodes of the series, The Return). Don't get me wrong. The plot still had it's moments, and I'm looking forward to see where they're going with Andy quitting/getting fired, but the way we got there was a little too ridiculous for this show. Creed still had funny moments though. Grade: 68% (Pretty Good)
Friday 20 April 2012
Community: Virtual Systems Analysis
What Happened, Yo!:
-The gang is cramming for a biology final when Dean Pelton announces that Professor Kane is sick and the exam is delayed to tomorrow. Jeff suggests a three-hour lunch, where Troy and Abed plan to play Inspector Spacetime, but Annie manipulates things and gets Britta and Troy to go to lunch together, offering to play with Abed in Troy's absence. Abed goes along with it, but isn't happy about it. During the game of Inspector Spacetime, Abed gets frustrated with Annie and stops it. She asks if he's upset because she tried to get Britta and Troy together, and Abed tells her that she's messing with the fabric of the group. He reveals that he uses the Dreamatorium to run simulations on the group in various scenarios and believes he can predict everything. He also shows her the control room of the Dreamatorium, which has the box of all his memories and things on the top and a box about the others on the side. Despite a warning from Troy not to break Abed, Annie switches the boxes in an effort to teach Abed empathy, which breaks Abed.
-Abed gets up acting like Jeff, and begins running a romantic hospital simulation (Annie had previously asked Abed if they could play something she knows like hospital administration). Annie wants to find Abed, but Jeffbed (That'll be my term for Abed being Jeff) pulls her through the simulation, having her run into his versions of the other study group members while she searches for the Abed file. Eventually Jeffbed takes her to the night they kissed in Pascal's Triangle Revisited, and insists that she wanted to get Troy and Britta together so that Jeff and her could be together, which is also why she needed Abed out of the way. Annie won't give into Jeffbed, saying that the real Jeff liked Abed and wouldn't be so cruel. Jeffbed pulls the file on Abed, which repeats some harsh statements that Annie had said about him earlier. Annie gets upset by this and ends the simulation when she walks into a wall trying to leave the room.
-Wanting time alone, Abed becomes Annie and asks why she ruined their moment with Jeff. Annie talks about a need to fix Jeff and also about running scenarios, which makes Abennie (Abed being Annie) to warn her that she's starting to sound like Abed. This makes Annie start copying things Abed does until she becomes Abed, and is arrested for the crime of being Abed and thrown into a metaphorical locker with the real Abed. Abed confesses that he's afraid that eventually the group will tire of him and in all the scenarios he's run, he doesn't wind up happy. Annie tells Abed that his scenarios are just really good science fiction and life can't be run by a script, which is something they both try to do sometimes. This convinces Abed and things go back to normal (At least they do after Annie finishes the Inspector Spacetime simulation). Abed reveals that he's learned empathy and they go back to the group, where everyone's had a good lunch break, causing Jeff to remark that Greendale's long, dark night may finally be over.
I Liked This: Virtual Systems Analysis wasn't the funniest episode of Community. It's not that a lot of the jokes didn't land (pretty much all the jokes were funny, actually), it's that the amount of jokes were limited tonight in favor of a in-depth examination of Abed and Annie. And that's not a bad thing. In fact, Virtual Systems Analysis will probably wind up a season 3 fave of mine by the time the season ends. Because of his nature alone, Abed is easily the most complex character on the show, which is why looks into what makes him tick are so special. And to show this through the confines of the Dreamatorium, which finally gets the spotlight it's needed since it's introduction just adds another level of awesomeness to this. Annie also gets a much-needed spotlight as she tries to get Abed back to normal, and comes to realize just how similar the two of them really are. I enjoyed how much she winds up buying into the Dreamatorium to the point that she walks into a wall because she forgets it's there. I also liked the flashback of sorts to the Jeff/Annie kiss scene at the end of season 1, now with the added comedy of Leonard apparently watching from the bushes. And the scene where Annie confronts Abed in the metaphorical locker of his mind was powerful and funny. And while this episode was joke-light, like I said before, all the jokes were great, from the manager at Senor Kevin's who hates Die Hard to Troybed (Abed being Troy) spilling out all his secrets to the Dean finally thinking he's gone to far with his latest outfit (his breakdown was probably the funniest moment of the night for me.). And Annie's awful Cockney accent was great too.
But...: No major issues with Virtual Systems Analysis.
The Bottom Line: Virtual Systems Analysis was a fantastic conceptual episode that showed us great insight into Abed and Annie, and gave us a lot more of the Dreamatorium. Keep it up, Community.
Grade: 90% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Pierce's pneumonic device: Kevin, Please Come Over For Gay Sex.
-Dean: "Can I be perfectly honest with you guys? I think I went too far with this one (His DualiDean of Man costume). I have to go.. to the bank today. What am I supposed to tell people in line? I had good news and bad news? C'mon Craig. Get your life together."
-Abed: "It's Blorgons with an 'R'. Blogon means 'thank you' in Blorgon".
-Dream Troy or Troybed gets injected with truth serum: "I saw Abed's name in the hospital files. I love butt stuff. I hate spiders. I stole a pen from the back. I cried during About A Boy... The Soundtrack. I don't wash my hands before a surgery. I can see why women find Clive Owen attractive to the point where I might just as well be attracted to him. I use comparisons to Hitler to win arguments on the internet at the drop of a hat. I know nothing about wine. I'm more turned on by women in pyjamas than lingerie. I just wanna know they feel comfortable. I didn't get Inception! I didn't get Inception! Ooh! It's so many layers!"
-Dream Pierce: "Can I just interject and say I don't know what the hell's going on?"
-Dean: "The people at the bank LOVED my outfit and they had all kinds of questions about it and my answers seemed to amuse and, and even liberate them a little. A few of us went to lunch and I had the deepest conversation of my life. I gotta go. I've been telling everybody."
-The Troy and Abed in the morning theme has been a bit overused this season, but it didn't make me any less excited when an actual Troy and Abed in the Morning popped up tonight, complete with Annie breaking Abed again, causing Troy to need to hold up a technical difficulties sign, while humming Daybreak.
-The gang is cramming for a biology final when Dean Pelton announces that Professor Kane is sick and the exam is delayed to tomorrow. Jeff suggests a three-hour lunch, where Troy and Abed plan to play Inspector Spacetime, but Annie manipulates things and gets Britta and Troy to go to lunch together, offering to play with Abed in Troy's absence. Abed goes along with it, but isn't happy about it. During the game of Inspector Spacetime, Abed gets frustrated with Annie and stops it. She asks if he's upset because she tried to get Britta and Troy together, and Abed tells her that she's messing with the fabric of the group. He reveals that he uses the Dreamatorium to run simulations on the group in various scenarios and believes he can predict everything. He also shows her the control room of the Dreamatorium, which has the box of all his memories and things on the top and a box about the others on the side. Despite a warning from Troy not to break Abed, Annie switches the boxes in an effort to teach Abed empathy, which breaks Abed.
-Abed gets up acting like Jeff, and begins running a romantic hospital simulation (Annie had previously asked Abed if they could play something she knows like hospital administration). Annie wants to find Abed, but Jeffbed (That'll be my term for Abed being Jeff) pulls her through the simulation, having her run into his versions of the other study group members while she searches for the Abed file. Eventually Jeffbed takes her to the night they kissed in Pascal's Triangle Revisited, and insists that she wanted to get Troy and Britta together so that Jeff and her could be together, which is also why she needed Abed out of the way. Annie won't give into Jeffbed, saying that the real Jeff liked Abed and wouldn't be so cruel. Jeffbed pulls the file on Abed, which repeats some harsh statements that Annie had said about him earlier. Annie gets upset by this and ends the simulation when she walks into a wall trying to leave the room.
-Wanting time alone, Abed becomes Annie and asks why she ruined their moment with Jeff. Annie talks about a need to fix Jeff and also about running scenarios, which makes Abennie (Abed being Annie) to warn her that she's starting to sound like Abed. This makes Annie start copying things Abed does until she becomes Abed, and is arrested for the crime of being Abed and thrown into a metaphorical locker with the real Abed. Abed confesses that he's afraid that eventually the group will tire of him and in all the scenarios he's run, he doesn't wind up happy. Annie tells Abed that his scenarios are just really good science fiction and life can't be run by a script, which is something they both try to do sometimes. This convinces Abed and things go back to normal (At least they do after Annie finishes the Inspector Spacetime simulation). Abed reveals that he's learned empathy and they go back to the group, where everyone's had a good lunch break, causing Jeff to remark that Greendale's long, dark night may finally be over.
I Liked This: Virtual Systems Analysis wasn't the funniest episode of Community. It's not that a lot of the jokes didn't land (pretty much all the jokes were funny, actually), it's that the amount of jokes were limited tonight in favor of a in-depth examination of Abed and Annie. And that's not a bad thing. In fact, Virtual Systems Analysis will probably wind up a season 3 fave of mine by the time the season ends. Because of his nature alone, Abed is easily the most complex character on the show, which is why looks into what makes him tick are so special. And to show this through the confines of the Dreamatorium, which finally gets the spotlight it's needed since it's introduction just adds another level of awesomeness to this. Annie also gets a much-needed spotlight as she tries to get Abed back to normal, and comes to realize just how similar the two of them really are. I enjoyed how much she winds up buying into the Dreamatorium to the point that she walks into a wall because she forgets it's there. I also liked the flashback of sorts to the Jeff/Annie kiss scene at the end of season 1, now with the added comedy of Leonard apparently watching from the bushes. And the scene where Annie confronts Abed in the metaphorical locker of his mind was powerful and funny. And while this episode was joke-light, like I said before, all the jokes were great, from the manager at Senor Kevin's who hates Die Hard to Troybed (Abed being Troy) spilling out all his secrets to the Dean finally thinking he's gone to far with his latest outfit (his breakdown was probably the funniest moment of the night for me.). And Annie's awful Cockney accent was great too.
But...: No major issues with Virtual Systems Analysis.
The Bottom Line: Virtual Systems Analysis was a fantastic conceptual episode that showed us great insight into Abed and Annie, and gave us a lot more of the Dreamatorium. Keep it up, Community.
Grade: 90% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Pierce's pneumonic device: Kevin, Please Come Over For Gay Sex.
-Dean: "Can I be perfectly honest with you guys? I think I went too far with this one (His DualiDean of Man costume). I have to go.. to the bank today. What am I supposed to tell people in line? I had good news and bad news? C'mon Craig. Get your life together."
-Abed: "It's Blorgons with an 'R'. Blogon means 'thank you' in Blorgon".
-Dream Troy or Troybed gets injected with truth serum: "I saw Abed's name in the hospital files. I love butt stuff. I hate spiders. I stole a pen from the back. I cried during About A Boy... The Soundtrack. I don't wash my hands before a surgery. I can see why women find Clive Owen attractive to the point where I might just as well be attracted to him. I use comparisons to Hitler to win arguments on the internet at the drop of a hat. I know nothing about wine. I'm more turned on by women in pyjamas than lingerie. I just wanna know they feel comfortable. I didn't get Inception! I didn't get Inception! Ooh! It's so many layers!"
-Dream Pierce: "Can I just interject and say I don't know what the hell's going on?"
-Dean: "The people at the bank LOVED my outfit and they had all kinds of questions about it and my answers seemed to amuse and, and even liberate them a little. A few of us went to lunch and I had the deepest conversation of my life. I gotta go. I've been telling everybody."
-The Troy and Abed in the morning theme has been a bit overused this season, but it didn't make me any less excited when an actual Troy and Abed in the Morning popped up tonight, complete with Annie breaking Abed again, causing Troy to need to hold up a technical difficulties sign, while humming Daybreak.
Thursday 19 April 2012
Memorable Moments: Cougar Town: Ways To Be Wicked
Quicky Opinion: Sorry for the lateness of this opinion. Technical errors and stuff. Anyways, I really enjoyed Ways To Be Wicked. The introduction of Betsy serves to provide new layers to Ellie and why she is the way she is, which is good. Meanwhile Grayson helping Laurie fulfill her dream of starting a cake business was nice to watch (It also added more depth to Laurie), and it should be interesting watching Laurie pursue this over the next couple of episodes. And Travis, Zig, and Kevin teaming up with Bobby and Chick to steal the cougar statue was just there for humor (And to bring Chick in as part of the Jules/Ellie plot), but it was all great humor with things like dentist ghosts and a meta-rant by Zig wondering why the school statue is a cougar. All in all, another great episode for, what has so far been a really great season of Cougar Town. Quicky Grade: 82% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Bobby: "Sorry you had to meet Mr. Belly-Face, ma'am".
-Ellie: "Did you hear her? She has to go check on Stan, cause' what? I pay so little attention to him that he might just walk out the door and knock down some neighbor's mailbox?" Jules: "Well, that did happen, yesterday, to my mailbox." Ellie: "You know what I mean!"
-Ellie to Grayson: "You've always been dead to me, but now you're even deader.
-Pay attention. The title: Cougar Town almost makes sense this week.
-Jules: "How bout' we all agree not to talk about our moms. I mean, it's easy for me, my mom is dead." Grayson: "Mine too." Jules: "Dead mom high-five!"
-Ellie: "I know my mom seems nice, but she's like that cartoon frog that sings and dances when nobody's looking, only instead of singing and dancing, she tells me I have lesbian legs."
-Laurie shows pictures of her cakes: "Here's my bunny cake. That's a gayke. Gays love cake. There's a mermaid cake, pregnant mermaid cake for baby showers, pie cake, um, there's my puppy cake, my Bruce Willis cake, Alan Rickman cake- I had just watched Die Hard-, unicorn cake, burrito cake, oh and these tiny ones are boob-shaped cupcakes. I thought they would sell twice as fast because it'd be weird for someone to come in and just buy one, right?
-Elle: "You're my best friend. All I ask is that you have blind faith in me and that you hit me with a shovel if I ever got a toe ring".
-Zig: "Why does this school even have a cougar? Nothing here has anything to do with cougars."
-Laurie: "I was going to bake a red velvet baby, but then I thought it might be weird to eat your own baby."
-Jules: "Grayson is a self-centered pretty boy with a bastard child and eyes so tiny, you could blindfold him with a bead necklace.
-Travis: "Nice horse trailer." Chick: "I conceived your mom in there." Travis: "There's the first scar of the night."
-Betsy: "My first husband was a real triple threat. He combined alcoholism and no personality with severe ugliness. Once the cash was gone, so was I." Jules: "Those may be the darkest thoughts I ever heard strung together."
-Jules on meanness: "It's like a drug but you don't see fireworks or cartoon ponies." Laurie: "Jules has never tried drugs." Ellie: "Clearly."
-Andy: "And I have learned two lessons. One: Grayson is a lot faster than he looks, and two: (turns around to show his wedgie): he still thinks wedgies are funny." Laurie: "Ha ha, yes they are. Andy, why don't you just pull that thing down." Andy: "They don't go down. They're in me."
-Laurie: "Laurie Keller isn't scared of anything. Except for old people smiling at me. I swear, it's like they want to steal your soul."
-Travis learns something very important about college: "Campus cops will forget anything for twenty bucks." Campus Cop: "They will."
-Jules: "Dad, you never let me do anything." Chick: "I just let you commit a felony tonight."
-Jules: "Since Ellie's mom couldn't do it, no one gets any wine until you say something nice about Ellie." Laurie: "I'm going to a bar."
-Ellie: "NO WINE FOR YOU!"
Memorable Moments
-Bobby: "Sorry you had to meet Mr. Belly-Face, ma'am".
-Ellie: "Did you hear her? She has to go check on Stan, cause' what? I pay so little attention to him that he might just walk out the door and knock down some neighbor's mailbox?" Jules: "Well, that did happen, yesterday, to my mailbox." Ellie: "You know what I mean!"
-Ellie to Grayson: "You've always been dead to me, but now you're even deader.
-Pay attention. The title: Cougar Town almost makes sense this week.
-Jules: "How bout' we all agree not to talk about our moms. I mean, it's easy for me, my mom is dead." Grayson: "Mine too." Jules: "Dead mom high-five!"
-Ellie: "I know my mom seems nice, but she's like that cartoon frog that sings and dances when nobody's looking, only instead of singing and dancing, she tells me I have lesbian legs."
-Laurie shows pictures of her cakes: "Here's my bunny cake. That's a gayke. Gays love cake. There's a mermaid cake, pregnant mermaid cake for baby showers, pie cake, um, there's my puppy cake, my Bruce Willis cake, Alan Rickman cake- I had just watched Die Hard-, unicorn cake, burrito cake, oh and these tiny ones are boob-shaped cupcakes. I thought they would sell twice as fast because it'd be weird for someone to come in and just buy one, right?
-Elle: "You're my best friend. All I ask is that you have blind faith in me and that you hit me with a shovel if I ever got a toe ring".
-Zig: "Why does this school even have a cougar? Nothing here has anything to do with cougars."
-Laurie: "I was going to bake a red velvet baby, but then I thought it might be weird to eat your own baby."
-Jules: "Grayson is a self-centered pretty boy with a bastard child and eyes so tiny, you could blindfold him with a bead necklace.
-Travis: "Nice horse trailer." Chick: "I conceived your mom in there." Travis: "There's the first scar of the night."
-Betsy: "My first husband was a real triple threat. He combined alcoholism and no personality with severe ugliness. Once the cash was gone, so was I." Jules: "Those may be the darkest thoughts I ever heard strung together."
-Jules on meanness: "It's like a drug but you don't see fireworks or cartoon ponies." Laurie: "Jules has never tried drugs." Ellie: "Clearly."
-Andy: "And I have learned two lessons. One: Grayson is a lot faster than he looks, and two: (turns around to show his wedgie): he still thinks wedgies are funny." Laurie: "Ha ha, yes they are. Andy, why don't you just pull that thing down." Andy: "They don't go down. They're in me."
-Laurie: "Laurie Keller isn't scared of anything. Except for old people smiling at me. I swear, it's like they want to steal your soul."
-Travis learns something very important about college: "Campus cops will forget anything for twenty bucks." Campus Cop: "They will."
-Jules: "Dad, you never let me do anything." Chick: "I just let you commit a felony tonight."
-Jules: "Since Ellie's mom couldn't do it, no one gets any wine until you say something nice about Ellie." Laurie: "I'm going to a bar."
-Ellie: "NO WINE FOR YOU!"
Modern Family: The Last Walt
What Happened, Yo!:
-Walt has died and Phil and Claire worry about telling Luke. Luke doesn't seem very affected by the news though, which worries Claire. Later, she and Phil see Luke enter Walt's house, and Claire thinks it's so he can say goodbye, but in actuality, Luke is taking Walt's TV (Walt told Luke he could have one thing when he died.). Claire becomes frustrated by Luke's continued non-reaction to Walt's death and demands he take back the TV. As they take it back, Luke shares some memories about Walt's house. A couple people show up looking for Walt, and are surprised when Claire can't share the news of his death without smiling. Luke tells her that that's weird and she calls it a coping method. Luke puts the TV back and admits that when he would see it on from his window at night, it would make him feel better and he guessed he'd miss that. Claire is touched and lets him take the TV.
-Meanwhile, Phil realizes that he hasn't made many lasting memories with Alex, and not wanting to end up like Walt, who was estranged from his daughter, he takes her out to throw Walt's dog tags in the ocean and create a memory. But when a seagull takes the dog tags, he takes her out to a 50-miles away diner for the world's best milkshakes, but the machine is broken, so he begins trying to get the only waitress there, who is over 9 months pregnant, to induce labour in an effort to create a memory. This doesn't work, and he later confides to Alex that he just wants to do something special for her, like the astronaut who carved his daughter's initials into the moon. Alex is touched by the gesture, but throws up due to too much food (They'd been there a while.). As they go home, she thanks him and he puts her initials into the moon on the logo of the diner.
-Also meanwhile, Cam's dad is in town and he, Mitchell and Cam are supposed to have dinner with Jay and Gloria. Jay tries to get out of it, because he doesn't like the guy, but Mitch makes him go. Cam finds out that his dad doesn't like Jay that much either. At dinner, Jay reveals he doesn't like Cam's dad because he always implies that Mitchell is the wife in the relationship. Later, they talk their issues out and both admit that while they know Cam and Mitch are equals, it's a little easier to imagine that they are with someone who is like a woman. This reconciles the two men.
-Finally, Haley tricks Gloria into letting her host a pool party at the house by saying that there will be a chaperone her parents approve of. She informs Claire that her uncle will be there to get permission, but she is referring to Manny. Manny takes this in stride and begins enforcing rules and acting like a chaperone. Gloria gets back early and is mad that Haley tricked her, but also mad that Manny won't enjoy the party. She forces Hayley to have the party as punishment (She gets a bit confused), but also makes Manny enjoy himself, while still letting him enforce as many rules as he wants to ruin the party for Hayley.
I Liked This: The Last Walt was an entertaining episode of Modern Family with plenty to like about it. The best parts of the episode were related to the death of Walt (which was disappointing, as he was a very funny recurring character, but probably neccesary for the series). Claire worrying about Luke not processing it well was a good story, making good use of the infinitely funny Luke, who was more concerned about the fact that he couldn't take two things than the fact that his friend had died. Claire not being able to say horrible news without smiling was also funny and the callback at the end was great. Meanwhile, Phil's quest to have adventures with Alex was sweet, and also had it's share of funny moments, many of which simply came from Phil reacting to things. Putting his daughter's initials into the diner's sign was a nice note to end the episode on. As for the other stories, I liked the introduction of Cam's tough guy father, and how it led to a good story about Jay's continued efforts to fully accept Mitch's homosexuality (always a good source for stories). And now that both of Cam's parents have been introduced, perhaps they could both appear in an episode together at some point? That'd be good. And Hayley and Manny had the slightest story of the evening (more of a runner), but it was full of good moments and made great use of Manny's maturity.
But...: Nothing comes to mind for complaints this week.
The Bottom Line: The Last Walt was a great episode of Modern Family, with lots of good moments for all characters involved.
Grade: 83% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Phil reassures Luke about Walt's death (He died writing an angry letter to the postmaster general.): "It was very peaceful. Not the letter, that was full of threats."
-Gloria describes building blocks with Manny. "I would make the buildings and he would inspect them and if they weren't up to code, ay yi yi, the paper work!"
-Manny chaperones a party: "I believe I made it clear the bedrooms were off limits. Young lady, I don't think you're ready up here for what you're planning to do up there".
-Luke gets mad at Claire: "You are so mean. When [Walt] used to look through those binoculars and say your dad is one lucky man, he was wrong!"
-Alex: "You know what I'll never forget? The time my dad spent an entire day trying to create a special memory for me. Or the time when a pregnant lady slipped in my vomit."
-Gloria: "Two birds. One bullet."
-Walt has died and Phil and Claire worry about telling Luke. Luke doesn't seem very affected by the news though, which worries Claire. Later, she and Phil see Luke enter Walt's house, and Claire thinks it's so he can say goodbye, but in actuality, Luke is taking Walt's TV (Walt told Luke he could have one thing when he died.). Claire becomes frustrated by Luke's continued non-reaction to Walt's death and demands he take back the TV. As they take it back, Luke shares some memories about Walt's house. A couple people show up looking for Walt, and are surprised when Claire can't share the news of his death without smiling. Luke tells her that that's weird and she calls it a coping method. Luke puts the TV back and admits that when he would see it on from his window at night, it would make him feel better and he guessed he'd miss that. Claire is touched and lets him take the TV.
-Meanwhile, Phil realizes that he hasn't made many lasting memories with Alex, and not wanting to end up like Walt, who was estranged from his daughter, he takes her out to throw Walt's dog tags in the ocean and create a memory. But when a seagull takes the dog tags, he takes her out to a 50-miles away diner for the world's best milkshakes, but the machine is broken, so he begins trying to get the only waitress there, who is over 9 months pregnant, to induce labour in an effort to create a memory. This doesn't work, and he later confides to Alex that he just wants to do something special for her, like the astronaut who carved his daughter's initials into the moon. Alex is touched by the gesture, but throws up due to too much food (They'd been there a while.). As they go home, she thanks him and he puts her initials into the moon on the logo of the diner.
-Also meanwhile, Cam's dad is in town and he, Mitchell and Cam are supposed to have dinner with Jay and Gloria. Jay tries to get out of it, because he doesn't like the guy, but Mitch makes him go. Cam finds out that his dad doesn't like Jay that much either. At dinner, Jay reveals he doesn't like Cam's dad because he always implies that Mitchell is the wife in the relationship. Later, they talk their issues out and both admit that while they know Cam and Mitch are equals, it's a little easier to imagine that they are with someone who is like a woman. This reconciles the two men.
-Finally, Haley tricks Gloria into letting her host a pool party at the house by saying that there will be a chaperone her parents approve of. She informs Claire that her uncle will be there to get permission, but she is referring to Manny. Manny takes this in stride and begins enforcing rules and acting like a chaperone. Gloria gets back early and is mad that Haley tricked her, but also mad that Manny won't enjoy the party. She forces Hayley to have the party as punishment (She gets a bit confused), but also makes Manny enjoy himself, while still letting him enforce as many rules as he wants to ruin the party for Hayley.
I Liked This: The Last Walt was an entertaining episode of Modern Family with plenty to like about it. The best parts of the episode were related to the death of Walt (which was disappointing, as he was a very funny recurring character, but probably neccesary for the series). Claire worrying about Luke not processing it well was a good story, making good use of the infinitely funny Luke, who was more concerned about the fact that he couldn't take two things than the fact that his friend had died. Claire not being able to say horrible news without smiling was also funny and the callback at the end was great. Meanwhile, Phil's quest to have adventures with Alex was sweet, and also had it's share of funny moments, many of which simply came from Phil reacting to things. Putting his daughter's initials into the diner's sign was a nice note to end the episode on. As for the other stories, I liked the introduction of Cam's tough guy father, and how it led to a good story about Jay's continued efforts to fully accept Mitch's homosexuality (always a good source for stories). And now that both of Cam's parents have been introduced, perhaps they could both appear in an episode together at some point? That'd be good. And Hayley and Manny had the slightest story of the evening (more of a runner), but it was full of good moments and made great use of Manny's maturity.
But...: Nothing comes to mind for complaints this week.
The Bottom Line: The Last Walt was a great episode of Modern Family, with lots of good moments for all characters involved.
Grade: 83% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Phil reassures Luke about Walt's death (He died writing an angry letter to the postmaster general.): "It was very peaceful. Not the letter, that was full of threats."
-Gloria describes building blocks with Manny. "I would make the buildings and he would inspect them and if they weren't up to code, ay yi yi, the paper work!"
-Manny chaperones a party: "I believe I made it clear the bedrooms were off limits. Young lady, I don't think you're ready up here for what you're planning to do up there".
-Luke gets mad at Claire: "You are so mean. When [Walt] used to look through those binoculars and say your dad is one lucky man, he was wrong!"
-Alex: "You know what I'll never forget? The time my dad spent an entire day trying to create a special memory for me. Or the time when a pregnant lady slipped in my vomit."
-Gloria: "Two birds. One bullet."
Wednesday 18 April 2012
Glee: Saturday Night Glee-ver
What Happened, Yo!:
-Will is concerned about three of the seniors, Finn, Santana, and Mercedes, who he feels are all lost about plans for the future for lack of various things like ambition or a dream. In order to inspire the club (and them specifically), Sue and Will assign the album Saturday Night Fever as an assignment. Since most of the club hates disco, they sweeten the deal by offering a replica of the suit John Travolta wore in the movie. After an initial dance-off, Mercedes, Santana and Finn are picked as finalists for the prize.
-Mercedes is offended that Will doesn't think she has a dream. She performs Disco Inferno and tells everyone that she wants to be a star like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, but has no idea where to even get that process started, in addition to not having an supportive parents. Sam decides to help by uploading a video of her performance to YouTube. Later he shows her that almost all of the comments except 1 have been positive (And the one who wasn't happy just thought the video was going to be something else) in order to encourage her. Then they kiss.
-Santana tells everyone that she just wants to be famous, and ignores Will saying that that's a bad dream to have by saying that she'll probably be more likely to get it than others in the club. In an effort to help, Brittany uploads a sex tape the two of them made online, which becomes popular, but Santana isn't really happy about it. Brittany also has more ideas for Santana to be famous that Santana isn't that keen on. Later, she realizes that there's some things she won't do to be famous. Sue reveals that she's gotten Santana into a top Cheerleading school in Louisville as a potential start for Santana's future (Something that was actually one of Brittany's ideas).
-Finn is still unsure about his future but decides he shouldn't go to L.A with Puck. He and Rachel reconcile and Rachel decides that maybe they should look into some of Finn's dream. Will and Emma help pick up some pamphets for Finn to look at, but Finn secretly throws all the pamphlets out. Will sees him do it and confronts him, and Finn tells him that he just wants time to stop and doesn't have a dream. Will's sure he does and gets him to watch Saturday Night Fever. It inspires Finn, and gives him the courage to apply to The Actor's Studio, having decided he wants to be an actor and move to New York with Rachel.
-Everyone wins the disco contest thing and everyone gets a suit.
-Meanwhile, Wade, a member of Vocal Adrenaline (Now coached by Jesse St. James) who also happens to be Mercedes and Kurt's biggest fan comes to them for advice, because he wants to attend regionals as his alter-ego Unique, who is a drag queen. Mercedes and Kurt aren't so sure about it, but Sue tells them to encourage him to do it, as part of a plan to sabotage Vocal Adrenaline. They do it, but get second thoughts and try tp stop him. It's too late though and Unique is actually very popular at regionals, winning theirs.
I Liked This: There actually was a lot to like about Saturday Night Glee-ver. A lot of the strongest material in season 3 has been based around the fact that a lot of the Glee Club will be graduating this year and many of them are unsure what to do next, most of all Finn. So an episode which brought all this to the frontlines was bound to be a winner. Add in the fact that I'm a sucker for disco music and it would've taken a royal screw-up for me to hate this episode. Of course, of the three seniors who were spotlighted in this episode, we had spent the most time watching Finn be unsure what to do with his life. His story is moved along greatly here, and the scene where he tells Will that he just wants time to stop was probably the most effective scene of the episode. The conclusion with him applying to The Actor's Studio in New York, so he could become an actor and still be with Rachel was good, though I'm still not sure that this season will end with Rachel and Finn together.
As for the other stories, Santana's was quite funny, as Brittany tried to make her famous by releasing their sex tape spliced together with footage of Lord Tubbington doing household choirs. Brittany and Santana were in full-force this week, showing off just why they work as a couple, and the ending with Sue outlining a possible start for Santana that Brittany had helped come up with was sweet, and could provide a nice exit for the character, should Santana not return for season 4. Mercedes and Kurt helping out Wade (The final winner of the Glee Project who had to appear) get the courage to be Unique and dress in drag for Vocal Adrenaline's regionals was a good story, and I appreciated that even Kurt wasn't sure that Wade should dress in drag. As for Mercedes and Sam getting back together, the jury is still out on how promising this'll be, but you never know.
But...: It's a good sign when my biggest problem with the episode is that the title is terrible. The justification for why they were singing disco songs was pretty silly though. Also, what happened to Quinn? Sugar and Rory were missing too, but they're just recurring players. Where was Quinn?!
The Bottom Line: Saturday Night Glee-ver is a great episode of Glee, with lots of focus on the graduating seniors plans for next year (Which Glee always handles well), and lots of enjoyable tunes.
Grade: 85% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Best Musical Number: Disco Inferno was probably my favorite, though Boogie Shoes and Stayin' Alive were pretty great.
-Worst Musical Number: More Than A Woman probably stuck out to me the least.
-Random Plot Point Reference Alert: New Directions hates disco, but Will won his Nationals with it when he was a kid. All of this originates wayyyyy back from episode 2 Showmance.
-Sue: “You’ve been out of ideas since Madonna Week.” It's funny because it's true in a way.
-Will is concerned about three of the seniors, Finn, Santana, and Mercedes, who he feels are all lost about plans for the future for lack of various things like ambition or a dream. In order to inspire the club (and them specifically), Sue and Will assign the album Saturday Night Fever as an assignment. Since most of the club hates disco, they sweeten the deal by offering a replica of the suit John Travolta wore in the movie. After an initial dance-off, Mercedes, Santana and Finn are picked as finalists for the prize.
-Mercedes is offended that Will doesn't think she has a dream. She performs Disco Inferno and tells everyone that she wants to be a star like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, but has no idea where to even get that process started, in addition to not having an supportive parents. Sam decides to help by uploading a video of her performance to YouTube. Later he shows her that almost all of the comments except 1 have been positive (And the one who wasn't happy just thought the video was going to be something else) in order to encourage her. Then they kiss.
-Santana tells everyone that she just wants to be famous, and ignores Will saying that that's a bad dream to have by saying that she'll probably be more likely to get it than others in the club. In an effort to help, Brittany uploads a sex tape the two of them made online, which becomes popular, but Santana isn't really happy about it. Brittany also has more ideas for Santana to be famous that Santana isn't that keen on. Later, she realizes that there's some things she won't do to be famous. Sue reveals that she's gotten Santana into a top Cheerleading school in Louisville as a potential start for Santana's future (Something that was actually one of Brittany's ideas).
-Finn is still unsure about his future but decides he shouldn't go to L.A with Puck. He and Rachel reconcile and Rachel decides that maybe they should look into some of Finn's dream. Will and Emma help pick up some pamphets for Finn to look at, but Finn secretly throws all the pamphlets out. Will sees him do it and confronts him, and Finn tells him that he just wants time to stop and doesn't have a dream. Will's sure he does and gets him to watch Saturday Night Fever. It inspires Finn, and gives him the courage to apply to The Actor's Studio, having decided he wants to be an actor and move to New York with Rachel.
-Everyone wins the disco contest thing and everyone gets a suit.
-Meanwhile, Wade, a member of Vocal Adrenaline (Now coached by Jesse St. James) who also happens to be Mercedes and Kurt's biggest fan comes to them for advice, because he wants to attend regionals as his alter-ego Unique, who is a drag queen. Mercedes and Kurt aren't so sure about it, but Sue tells them to encourage him to do it, as part of a plan to sabotage Vocal Adrenaline. They do it, but get second thoughts and try tp stop him. It's too late though and Unique is actually very popular at regionals, winning theirs.
I Liked This: There actually was a lot to like about Saturday Night Glee-ver. A lot of the strongest material in season 3 has been based around the fact that a lot of the Glee Club will be graduating this year and many of them are unsure what to do next, most of all Finn. So an episode which brought all this to the frontlines was bound to be a winner. Add in the fact that I'm a sucker for disco music and it would've taken a royal screw-up for me to hate this episode. Of course, of the three seniors who were spotlighted in this episode, we had spent the most time watching Finn be unsure what to do with his life. His story is moved along greatly here, and the scene where he tells Will that he just wants time to stop was probably the most effective scene of the episode. The conclusion with him applying to The Actor's Studio in New York, so he could become an actor and still be with Rachel was good, though I'm still not sure that this season will end with Rachel and Finn together.
As for the other stories, Santana's was quite funny, as Brittany tried to make her famous by releasing their sex tape spliced together with footage of Lord Tubbington doing household choirs. Brittany and Santana were in full-force this week, showing off just why they work as a couple, and the ending with Sue outlining a possible start for Santana that Brittany had helped come up with was sweet, and could provide a nice exit for the character, should Santana not return for season 4. Mercedes and Kurt helping out Wade (The final winner of the Glee Project who had to appear) get the courage to be Unique and dress in drag for Vocal Adrenaline's regionals was a good story, and I appreciated that even Kurt wasn't sure that Wade should dress in drag. As for Mercedes and Sam getting back together, the jury is still out on how promising this'll be, but you never know.
But...: It's a good sign when my biggest problem with the episode is that the title is terrible. The justification for why they were singing disco songs was pretty silly though. Also, what happened to Quinn? Sugar and Rory were missing too, but they're just recurring players. Where was Quinn?!
The Bottom Line: Saturday Night Glee-ver is a great episode of Glee, with lots of focus on the graduating seniors plans for next year (Which Glee always handles well), and lots of enjoyable tunes.
Grade: 85% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Best Musical Number: Disco Inferno was probably my favorite, though Boogie Shoes and Stayin' Alive were pretty great.
-Worst Musical Number: More Than A Woman probably stuck out to me the least.
-Random Plot Point Reference Alert: New Directions hates disco, but Will won his Nationals with it when he was a kid. All of this originates wayyyyy back from episode 2 Showmance.
-Sue: “You’ve been out of ideas since Madonna Week.” It's funny because it's true in a way.
Monday 16 April 2012
The Office: Welcome Party
What Happened, Yo!:
-Robert arrives one morning to find the whole office unproductive and Nellie absent. When Nellie shows up, saying that she's still getting used to moving and has gotten a bunch of boxes sent to her new apartment, Robert gets the office to throw her a party and makes Jim and Dwight help her move in. Because they dislike Nellie, Pam comes up with the idea of throwing an intentionally awful party as a prank of sorts. Jim advises her to hire a magician (having found out that Nellie hates them). But while helping Nellie move, Jim and Dwight find a box of photos of Nellie and her ex-boyfriend. Nellie tells them that she pretty much lost everything after she broke up with her ex, who was a stage magician, and she's hoping to make a fresh start here. Jim feels sympathy for Nellie and tries to get Pam to call the horrible party off, but when she tries, the rest of the office won't listen. In order to remain at least a bit subtle, she convinces them to use a different name when talking about how much they dislike Nellie. But the office decides to use Pam as the code name. At the party, Creed plays his originals, and the office talks about how much they hate Pam. When the magician shows up though, Jim sabotages him until he has a breakdown and Dwight pushes him off the premises. Robert sees the party as a success, even though he doesn't understand why Jim and Pam abused the magician. Nellie appreciates it though.
-Meanwhile, Andy and Erin head off to Jessica's family cabin so Andy can break up with her (Erin won't kiss him anymore until that happens). However, when they get there, they find a bachelorette party in process, and they find themselves staying through periods of hating on the brides ex-boyfriends and having one of the bridesmaid talk about how great Andy is. Andy finally gets the chance to break up with Jessica, but lies about his reason, saying it's because he's gay and denying that it's because of Erin (Who Andy had previously claimed wasn't relationship material.). Andy and Erin leave, but both don't feel that great. So Andy goes back and tells everyone that he loves Erin, which gets them both chased off by the entire bachelorette party, but also has Erin and Andy feeling a lot better.
I Liked This: Welcome Party was another enjoyable Office episode. It's good to know that even after she gave them all raises, the office isn't exactly that happy to have Nellie there. And speaking of Nellie, I'm liking the character more and more every week. She's still a wacky character, but she gets fleshed out a lot this week, making her character more sympathetic. It was also good seeing Jim, Pam, and Dwight work together to try and protect Nellie and the party had some funny moments, particularly Creed's big joke of the episode and Robert not realizing that the party was purposely horrible. And I was excited to see Andy finally break up with Jessica, even if he had to be humiliated to do it. She was always more of a plot device than a character and I'm glad to see her go. And now that everything is right with Andy and Erin (For now at least), I'm excited to see Andy return and take on Nellie. The rest of this season could potentially be very awesome.
But...: I think the writers got carried away with the scene of everyone saying how much they hate "Pam", taking it too far for my tastes. And Jessica still wasn't that interesting, even in her last appearance. Good thing we never have to see her again. (Hopefully).
The Bottom Line: Welcome Party was an enjoyable episode, adding some more much-needed depth to Nellie and removing the last obstacle between Andy and Erin.
Grade: 75% (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Loved the cold open with everyone being unsure on whether or not Stanley as a mustache (Even I was unsure by the end of it.) Pam: "Okay, which one of these (holds up two drawings of Stanley. One with a mustache, one without.) looks more right?" Dwight: "Neither of those looks like any person that has ever existed or been dreamt of in the history of human insanity. That said, the one on the left."
-Nellie: "No offense, but are there a lot of Irish people living around here?" Everyone: "Yes."
-Nellie: "I see you've found Benjamin. That's what I call my box full of photos of Henry."
-Creed: "Best gig ever. They asked me to only play originals. I said, 'have you heard my originals? They're terrible'. They said, 'even better'. I said, 'I get it. It's an ironic party for Nellie."
-Kevin: "You think this is a great party? This cake has vegetables in it. Like a salad bar, Robert!"
-Robert arrives one morning to find the whole office unproductive and Nellie absent. When Nellie shows up, saying that she's still getting used to moving and has gotten a bunch of boxes sent to her new apartment, Robert gets the office to throw her a party and makes Jim and Dwight help her move in. Because they dislike Nellie, Pam comes up with the idea of throwing an intentionally awful party as a prank of sorts. Jim advises her to hire a magician (having found out that Nellie hates them). But while helping Nellie move, Jim and Dwight find a box of photos of Nellie and her ex-boyfriend. Nellie tells them that she pretty much lost everything after she broke up with her ex, who was a stage magician, and she's hoping to make a fresh start here. Jim feels sympathy for Nellie and tries to get Pam to call the horrible party off, but when she tries, the rest of the office won't listen. In order to remain at least a bit subtle, she convinces them to use a different name when talking about how much they dislike Nellie. But the office decides to use Pam as the code name. At the party, Creed plays his originals, and the office talks about how much they hate Pam. When the magician shows up though, Jim sabotages him until he has a breakdown and Dwight pushes him off the premises. Robert sees the party as a success, even though he doesn't understand why Jim and Pam abused the magician. Nellie appreciates it though.
-Meanwhile, Andy and Erin head off to Jessica's family cabin so Andy can break up with her (Erin won't kiss him anymore until that happens). However, when they get there, they find a bachelorette party in process, and they find themselves staying through periods of hating on the brides ex-boyfriends and having one of the bridesmaid talk about how great Andy is. Andy finally gets the chance to break up with Jessica, but lies about his reason, saying it's because he's gay and denying that it's because of Erin (Who Andy had previously claimed wasn't relationship material.). Andy and Erin leave, but both don't feel that great. So Andy goes back and tells everyone that he loves Erin, which gets them both chased off by the entire bachelorette party, but also has Erin and Andy feeling a lot better.
I Liked This: Welcome Party was another enjoyable Office episode. It's good to know that even after she gave them all raises, the office isn't exactly that happy to have Nellie there. And speaking of Nellie, I'm liking the character more and more every week. She's still a wacky character, but she gets fleshed out a lot this week, making her character more sympathetic. It was also good seeing Jim, Pam, and Dwight work together to try and protect Nellie and the party had some funny moments, particularly Creed's big joke of the episode and Robert not realizing that the party was purposely horrible. And I was excited to see Andy finally break up with Jessica, even if he had to be humiliated to do it. She was always more of a plot device than a character and I'm glad to see her go. And now that everything is right with Andy and Erin (For now at least), I'm excited to see Andy return and take on Nellie. The rest of this season could potentially be very awesome.
But...: I think the writers got carried away with the scene of everyone saying how much they hate "Pam", taking it too far for my tastes. And Jessica still wasn't that interesting, even in her last appearance. Good thing we never have to see her again. (Hopefully).
The Bottom Line: Welcome Party was an enjoyable episode, adding some more much-needed depth to Nellie and removing the last obstacle between Andy and Erin.
Grade: 75% (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Loved the cold open with everyone being unsure on whether or not Stanley as a mustache (Even I was unsure by the end of it.) Pam: "Okay, which one of these (holds up two drawings of Stanley. One with a mustache, one without.) looks more right?" Dwight: "Neither of those looks like any person that has ever existed or been dreamt of in the history of human insanity. That said, the one on the left."
-Nellie: "No offense, but are there a lot of Irish people living around here?" Everyone: "Yes."
-Nellie: "I see you've found Benjamin. That's what I call my box full of photos of Henry."
-Creed: "Best gig ever. They asked me to only play originals. I said, 'have you heard my originals? They're terrible'. They said, 'even better'. I said, 'I get it. It's an ironic party for Nellie."
-Kevin: "You think this is a great party? This cake has vegetables in it. Like a salad bar, Robert!"
Friday 13 April 2012
Community: Origins of Vampire Mythology
What Happened, Yo!:
-Britta becomes panicked when the carnival her ex-boyfriend Blade works in returns to town. Knowing that it'd be bad if she went to see him, Britta asks Annie (A former junkie) to put her on lockdown at the apartment and take her phone in order to keep her from talking to/seeing Blade. Annie agrees. At the apartment, Britta is longing for Blade and Troy and Abed aren't helping matters by watching the vampire movie Blade. When Troy accidentally reveals where Britta's phone is, they have to lock Britta in Annie's room. Britta later tells Annie she's starting to recover and sees Annie as a sister in order to get her phone back, but Annie has switched her number for Blade's and starts getting lots of texts from Britta. Annie tries to be mean to Britta to get her to stop texting, but this only makes Britta text more. Eventually Troy points out that Britta's attracted to guys who are mean to her and texts a message (Though we never see it) that brings Britta out of the room, because she's convinced Blade is a loser now. Troy sadly goes to his room and when Annie sees what Troy has texted, she reveals the whole thing to Britta and asks why she was driven away the second "Blade" texted something nice.
-Meanwhile, Jeff and Shirley go to the Carnival to get a glimpse of Blade, and when he seems ordinary, Jeff drops lots of money on Blade's game in an effort to figure out why he's so irresistable to women. After spending over 300 dollars and causing Shirley to leave because of his obsession, Blade finally reveals his secret to Jeff. Jeff shows up at the apartment and reveals that Blade's secret is that he is brain damaged and has lost his ability to feel shame. This draws women to him because he doesn't care. This shocks Jeff, who gives a speech on how they need to stop hating themselves and look for something better. This reaches Britta, who later realizes that Troy was the one who sent her the mysterious nice message. After Annie wordlessly confirms this, Britta smiles to herself.
-Also meanwhile, Pierce is upset that he's not best friends with anyone in the group, so he looks outside the group for a new best friend and chooses Chang (Who was the first one to say yes to him.). The pair bond at the carnival, but Chang gets angry at an innocent comment made by Pierce and breaks off the friendship. Pierce later locks himself in Annie's bedroom and gives her his phone so he won't try to talk to Chang.
-Finally, Vice Dean Laybourne approaches the Dean to get him to get Troy to join the air conditioning repair school. The Dean shows up at Troy and Abed's apartment and mainly hangs out, and his plan consists of asking Troy straight up towards the end of the night. Troy declines.
I Like This: Origins of Vampire Mythology was another great episode of Community that made me glad that the show's no longer on indefinite hiatus. Britta continues to get better and better every week and watching Annie try to help her get over Blade was a lot of fun to see. Annie having to pretend to be Blade texting Britta was great and the scene where Britta actually called "Blade", and Annie tried to fake it (Including getting Dean, Troy, and Abed to pretend they were a carnival) was the best scene in the episode. Also, as someone who would like to see Britta and Troy get together, I enjoyed the advancement of that plot with Troy's mysterious text message. If the writers of Community ever do decide to commit to a lasting pairing between study group members, I hope it happens to Britta and Troy before Jeff and Annie. Speaking of Jeff, I'm glad that him and Shirley getting closer during last fall's Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism is a lasting plot point, as Shirley added much to Jeff getting obsessed with trying to figure out Blade's secret. And Jeff's speech at the end was good too. Add in some great Dean moments, some parts of the Pierce/Chang plot and the great end tag, and you have another good episode.
But...: John Goodman was pretty much wasted this week. And Chang and Pierce's plot was too brief to really mine all the possibilities of these two being best friends (Though there was some good moments).
The Bottom Line: Origins of Vampire Mythology was a great, funny, episode with lots of Britta (These days, always a good thing) and some interesting developments on the potential Troy/Britta romance. Plus Troy, Abed, and the Dean pretended to be a carnival, which pretty much made the episode.
Grade: 85% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Abed: "I need help reacting to something."
-Troy remembers something about Britta: "She was born in the eighties! She still uses her phone as a phone!"
-Dean Pelton: "Well, that's what I get for improvising."
-Troy loves Abed's really specific comedy routine that seemed to only be about his and Troy's life at their apartment. "It's from his album."
-Britta becomes panicked when the carnival her ex-boyfriend Blade works in returns to town. Knowing that it'd be bad if she went to see him, Britta asks Annie (A former junkie) to put her on lockdown at the apartment and take her phone in order to keep her from talking to/seeing Blade. Annie agrees. At the apartment, Britta is longing for Blade and Troy and Abed aren't helping matters by watching the vampire movie Blade. When Troy accidentally reveals where Britta's phone is, they have to lock Britta in Annie's room. Britta later tells Annie she's starting to recover and sees Annie as a sister in order to get her phone back, but Annie has switched her number for Blade's and starts getting lots of texts from Britta. Annie tries to be mean to Britta to get her to stop texting, but this only makes Britta text more. Eventually Troy points out that Britta's attracted to guys who are mean to her and texts a message (Though we never see it) that brings Britta out of the room, because she's convinced Blade is a loser now. Troy sadly goes to his room and when Annie sees what Troy has texted, she reveals the whole thing to Britta and asks why she was driven away the second "Blade" texted something nice.
-Meanwhile, Jeff and Shirley go to the Carnival to get a glimpse of Blade, and when he seems ordinary, Jeff drops lots of money on Blade's game in an effort to figure out why he's so irresistable to women. After spending over 300 dollars and causing Shirley to leave because of his obsession, Blade finally reveals his secret to Jeff. Jeff shows up at the apartment and reveals that Blade's secret is that he is brain damaged and has lost his ability to feel shame. This draws women to him because he doesn't care. This shocks Jeff, who gives a speech on how they need to stop hating themselves and look for something better. This reaches Britta, who later realizes that Troy was the one who sent her the mysterious nice message. After Annie wordlessly confirms this, Britta smiles to herself.
-Also meanwhile, Pierce is upset that he's not best friends with anyone in the group, so he looks outside the group for a new best friend and chooses Chang (Who was the first one to say yes to him.). The pair bond at the carnival, but Chang gets angry at an innocent comment made by Pierce and breaks off the friendship. Pierce later locks himself in Annie's bedroom and gives her his phone so he won't try to talk to Chang.
-Finally, Vice Dean Laybourne approaches the Dean to get him to get Troy to join the air conditioning repair school. The Dean shows up at Troy and Abed's apartment and mainly hangs out, and his plan consists of asking Troy straight up towards the end of the night. Troy declines.
I Like This: Origins of Vampire Mythology was another great episode of Community that made me glad that the show's no longer on indefinite hiatus. Britta continues to get better and better every week and watching Annie try to help her get over Blade was a lot of fun to see. Annie having to pretend to be Blade texting Britta was great and the scene where Britta actually called "Blade", and Annie tried to fake it (Including getting Dean, Troy, and Abed to pretend they were a carnival) was the best scene in the episode. Also, as someone who would like to see Britta and Troy get together, I enjoyed the advancement of that plot with Troy's mysterious text message. If the writers of Community ever do decide to commit to a lasting pairing between study group members, I hope it happens to Britta and Troy before Jeff and Annie. Speaking of Jeff, I'm glad that him and Shirley getting closer during last fall's Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism is a lasting plot point, as Shirley added much to Jeff getting obsessed with trying to figure out Blade's secret. And Jeff's speech at the end was good too. Add in some great Dean moments, some parts of the Pierce/Chang plot and the great end tag, and you have another good episode.
But...: John Goodman was pretty much wasted this week. And Chang and Pierce's plot was too brief to really mine all the possibilities of these two being best friends (Though there was some good moments).
The Bottom Line: Origins of Vampire Mythology was a great, funny, episode with lots of Britta (These days, always a good thing) and some interesting developments on the potential Troy/Britta romance. Plus Troy, Abed, and the Dean pretended to be a carnival, which pretty much made the episode.
Grade: 85% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Abed: "I need help reacting to something."
-Troy remembers something about Britta: "She was born in the eighties! She still uses her phone as a phone!"
-Dean Pelton: "Well, that's what I get for improvising."
-Troy loves Abed's really specific comedy routine that seemed to only be about his and Troy's life at their apartment. "It's from his album."
Thursday 12 April 2012
Quicky Opinions!
Hey gang. Sorry for the lack of posts on things in recent weeks, but I've been busy/lazy. So here's some quicky opinions on things I should be posting about, but just haven't found/made the time to do. I'll try harder as we head into sweeps season, though.
Glee: After a seven-week hiatus, Glee returned with a strong, funny episode. Matthew Bomer was great as Cooper Anderson, Blaine's actor brother. His acting advice to the kids was comically horrible and I really bought into Blaine's conflict with him. Meanwhile, Sue seems to be getting a good arc for the last part of the season, trying to get the Glee club to win Nationals in order to prove she can still lead the Cheerio's without Roz Washington has co-captain (and struggling with the fact that her baby may have down syndrome). As for Quinn, I liked how the resolution to her car crash was handled. Watching her get used to being in a wheelchair will be interesting to see (As will this flirty thing she has going on with Artie) and provides a nice arc for the character going to graduation, as she attempts to walk again. And it's good to see that Finn and Rachel never got married, and this new conflict with Finn possibly going to California will be exciting to watch. Welcome back Glee. Quicky Grade: 82% (Great)
Modern Family: I've dropped the ball lately when it comes to talking about Modern Family, but Election Day was a great episode, filled with lots of humour and pathos. Mitchell and Cam abusing the power of their car megaphone was a highlight, as was Phil trying to get Walt to the polling stations.And although it would've been interesting if Claire had won, it's probably better for the show that she didn't. And Haley's worrying that she'll get rejected from her last college was a good plot for the character and the moment at the end with everyone celebrating her being waitlisted was funny and sweet. Aside from a massive lack of David Cross, good job, Modern Family. And I'll try to write more about you in the future. Quicky Grade: 85%
Survivor: One World: I've also been dropping the ball with Survivor these past few weeks, to the point that the landscape of the game has drastically changed since I last wrote about the show. Anyways, this season, I've been enjoying Kim slowly but surely becoming the mastermind of the season without anyone really figuring it out. Well Troyzan figured it out when she was too assuring to him, but all that knowledge wound up doing is costing him his hidden immunity idol. It's too bad Jay's gone, because he was shaping up to be an interesting player. Bet he's regretting giving up the challenge for chicken wings now. Speaking of which, Chelsea talking Leif into giving up the challenge was great. And Tarzan remains as comical as ever. Another great episode from a great season. Quicky Grade: 80% (Great)
Glee: After a seven-week hiatus, Glee returned with a strong, funny episode. Matthew Bomer was great as Cooper Anderson, Blaine's actor brother. His acting advice to the kids was comically horrible and I really bought into Blaine's conflict with him. Meanwhile, Sue seems to be getting a good arc for the last part of the season, trying to get the Glee club to win Nationals in order to prove she can still lead the Cheerio's without Roz Washington has co-captain (and struggling with the fact that her baby may have down syndrome). As for Quinn, I liked how the resolution to her car crash was handled. Watching her get used to being in a wheelchair will be interesting to see (As will this flirty thing she has going on with Artie) and provides a nice arc for the character going to graduation, as she attempts to walk again. And it's good to see that Finn and Rachel never got married, and this new conflict with Finn possibly going to California will be exciting to watch. Welcome back Glee. Quicky Grade: 82% (Great)
Modern Family: I've dropped the ball lately when it comes to talking about Modern Family, but Election Day was a great episode, filled with lots of humour and pathos. Mitchell and Cam abusing the power of their car megaphone was a highlight, as was Phil trying to get Walt to the polling stations.And although it would've been interesting if Claire had won, it's probably better for the show that she didn't. And Haley's worrying that she'll get rejected from her last college was a good plot for the character and the moment at the end with everyone celebrating her being waitlisted was funny and sweet. Aside from a massive lack of David Cross, good job, Modern Family. And I'll try to write more about you in the future. Quicky Grade: 85%
Survivor: One World: I've also been dropping the ball with Survivor these past few weeks, to the point that the landscape of the game has drastically changed since I last wrote about the show. Anyways, this season, I've been enjoying Kim slowly but surely becoming the mastermind of the season without anyone really figuring it out. Well Troyzan figured it out when she was too assuring to him, but all that knowledge wound up doing is costing him his hidden immunity idol. It's too bad Jay's gone, because he was shaping up to be an interesting player. Bet he's regretting giving up the challenge for chicken wings now. Speaking of which, Chelsea talking Leif into giving up the challenge was great. And Tarzan remains as comical as ever. Another great episode from a great season. Quicky Grade: 80% (Great)
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Cougar Town: You Can Still Change Your Mind
What Happened, Yo!:
-Jules is looking for a photographer for her wedding, as this is probably her last chance to get good wedding photos. Travis wants to do it, but when he shows Jules some of his work, the pictures are gross, morbid, and terrifying, makes Jules wonder if Travis will be able to do this. Angie assures Jules that Travis is really good, but also that it'll porbably be tough for Travis to make a living doing photography. This worries Jules, who doesn't want Travis to suffer, so she decides to say no to him, hoping it will defer him for photography. Travis gets upset at her and Grayson points out that this probably won't keep Travis from following his passion if he really wants to do it. Angie also later tells Jules that struggle or not, Travis is talented and that's what really matters. Jules realizes she was wrong to reject Travis and offers him the job, which he accepts. She also admits (Though she denies it at first) that she'll lend Travis money whenever he needs it.
-Meanwhile, Bobby is feeling really good about his relationship with Angie until he sees her kissing another guy. He finds out that she didn't think they were exclusive, but he tells her that his kisses meant they were exclusive. He breaks up with her, but she later sneaks on his boat naked and they wind up getting back together. Andy helps Bobby realize that he doesn't want a relationship like that anymore though, and after Angie admits that she's not really wanting anything serious, they break up for good.
-Also meanwhile, Grayson unjams one of Jules old drawers (so he can babyproof it for his new daughter), to find a buch of stuff from the 80's and 90's, including a Simon game. Ellie takes it when Laurie's looking at it, saying it's not for Jellybeans. Later, she lets Laurie to try it in order to watch her fail, which pleases Ellie. Laurie gets upset because she had never thought that Ellie actually thought that she was dumb. Ellie later on assures her that she doesn't think she's dumb, and everyone had their blindspots (For example, Ellie can't do complex math and Grayson can't remember bar orders.).
I Like This: You Can Still Change Your Mind was a funny episode of Cougar Town with lots of good moments. While I'm sad to see Sarah Chalke go, her exit was well-handled here and her and Bobby's relationship ended for a very good reason: he wants something exclusive and real, and she just wants to have fun (And kiss other guys). This story is also a testament to how far Bobby has come since the beginning of the series. Before he wouldn't have minded a casual relationship, but now it looks like he's finally growing up a bit. The plot also allowed for funny moments like the revelation that two bums apparently come and go as they please on the boat. Travis wanting to be the photographer at Jules wedding was also a good story, as it went from Jules worrying that Travis' photos would be as terrifying as some of his other work (He strives to remove beauty from beauty) to Jules worrying that Travis taking photos at her wedding would be the first step to a hard life, where he would struggle to make a living. It's another good, natural complication and the resolution was also sweet. The story also had plenty of comedy though, including Grayson trying to give parenting advice, despite only being a dad for two days. And the Ellie/Laurie plot was less essential then the other stories, but it did offer the origin of the nickname Jellybean, which was funny and in character with season 1 Ellie's opinion of Laurie.
But...: While there was plenty of humour and emotion in this episode, both elements weren't executed quite as strongly as they had been in the last couple episodes (Particularly in the Ellie/Laurie plot). Also, I kind of wish we had gotten another episode with Angie, so her exit could've been better set-up.
The Bottom Line: You Can Still Change Your Mind wasn't the strongest effort of Cougar Town, but it was still a funny episode with lots of good moments for the Cul-De-Sac crew.
Grade: 78% (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Jules: "Sometimes I do feel a little, oh, (motions to Ellie) what is it?" Ellie: "You're not crazy about the ditzy, trashy, fake blonde, fake tan, fake boob, club skank you one-night-standed to make that baby." Jules: "She says it better." Grayson (to his daughter): "That is not true Jill. Your mommy and I had a one afternoon stand."
-Seriously, we spend more time coming up with these title cards than we do writing the show. Cougar Town.
-Laurie (To Jules): "When I get married, I hope I'm just as pregnant as you."
-Grayson on Jules old wedding album: "Did your photographer suck or do you just know a lot of people without heads?" Jules: "That's Bobby's uncle. He was really sweet, but when we opened our photographs, there was, like, nine pictures of his penis. He's actually in jail now."
-Travis: "The helmet's gone!" Grayson: "You had a helmet?" Travis: "God, I really thought that would be a bigger deal." Actually, in the two weeks the show was off the air, I had completely forgot about the helmet.
-Travis: "There's just so much beauty in photography, I just wanted to take that notion, and turn it on its head. So the theme of my work is: taking the beauty out of beauty." Jules (looking at the picture): "You really cannot see the beauty."
-Jules: "Okay, I love this. I am going to put this on my wall." Travis: "You're actually holding it wrong. (Turns the picture around) It's a severed toe." Jules: "Well, it's the best picture of a severed toe that I have ever seen. Yeah, I can't stop looking at it."
-Laurie: "Luckily, I can control my gag reflex. (Looks at Ellie.) Nothing?" Ellie: "I don't swing at soft balls."
-Ellie (To Jules): "It's weird. I have dishes in my sink, and you have chicken bones, tissues, a pair of broken sunglasses, and diapers." Jules: "Grayson baby-proofed my trash can. I have a house full of things that I can't open, including my toilet. Ellie, I had to teetee in the yard." Ellie: "Why didn't you just go in the shower?" Jules: "Gross."
-Jules: "Look, this is probably the last time that I'll have a chance to get great wedding photos." Grayson: "Probably?"
-Angie: "You never said that you wanted to be exclusive." Bobby: "Yes I did. Every time I kiss you, my lips are saying: (uses his fingers to make his lips move) Angie, I want to be exclusive." Angie: "Why do your lips need your fingers to make them talk?" Bobby: "I don't know!"
-Bobby: "I thought we had something special, but I was wrong. We're through. I'd be storming out right now if I hadn't just ordered a cheeseburger."
-Laurie: "Jules told me never to ask, but why do you call me Jellybean?" Ellie: "Well J.B., when Jules first hired you, I thought you were so simple-minded she could convince you that jellybeans were more valuble in gold, and subsequently pay you in jellybeans. This concept was eventually shortened into your nickname: Jellybean."
-Bobby: "Now I know exactly how you felt when I cheated on you all those times." Jules: "Feels a little different. I mean, she's been your girlfriend for two weeks and she kissed a dude, and well we were married, and you banged a thousand waitresses." Bobby: "Is it the waitress part that makes it different?" Jules: "Sure, why not."
-Laurie: "Why do I suck at this?" Ellie: "It's not your fault. When you were a fetus, your mom existed on funnel cakes and motorcycle fumes. Consider it a victory you don't have a tail."
-Bobby: "Angie, how'd you get in here?" Angie: "Your door is held shut with suspenders. When I came in I found a bum making a sandwich." Bobby: "Well, that's just Gary... or Dennis. Did he have a beard or a huge beard?" Angie: "I don't know, I was screaming." Bobby: "That sounds like Gary."
-Jules: "I just, I cannot stand the thought of [Travis] having a crappy life. Why couldn't he be a drug dealer. At least they have cool cars."
-Jules: "Wow, he's really angry with us." Grayson: "Us?" Jules: "Yeah." Grayson: "You told him it was my decision, didn't you?" Jules: "Yeah, and he's still mad at me. That's crazy."
-Andy: "So she found your weak spot?" Bobby: "If that means my ding dong, then yeah."
-Ellie: "I can't do math. I can do basic math, like if the nanny breaks a glass, then that's minus seven dollars from her paycheck."
-Ellie: "I don't think you're dumb. I just think you have a blindspot for Simon." Laurie: "Simon and airport baggage carousels. Everyone else just takes their luggage so easy, I just end up running laps." Ellie: "You have to wait for it."
-Jules: "Hey, what are you up to?" Travis: "I have three midterms next week. What do you think I'm up to?" Jules: "Some nerdy computer thing?" Travis: "Correct."
-Jules: "I'm not going to give you money whenever you need it." Travis: "Yes, you will." Jules: "Yes I will. We should probably open a joint bank account."
-Jules is looking for a photographer for her wedding, as this is probably her last chance to get good wedding photos. Travis wants to do it, but when he shows Jules some of his work, the pictures are gross, morbid, and terrifying, makes Jules wonder if Travis will be able to do this. Angie assures Jules that Travis is really good, but also that it'll porbably be tough for Travis to make a living doing photography. This worries Jules, who doesn't want Travis to suffer, so she decides to say no to him, hoping it will defer him for photography. Travis gets upset at her and Grayson points out that this probably won't keep Travis from following his passion if he really wants to do it. Angie also later tells Jules that struggle or not, Travis is talented and that's what really matters. Jules realizes she was wrong to reject Travis and offers him the job, which he accepts. She also admits (Though she denies it at first) that she'll lend Travis money whenever he needs it.
-Meanwhile, Bobby is feeling really good about his relationship with Angie until he sees her kissing another guy. He finds out that she didn't think they were exclusive, but he tells her that his kisses meant they were exclusive. He breaks up with her, but she later sneaks on his boat naked and they wind up getting back together. Andy helps Bobby realize that he doesn't want a relationship like that anymore though, and after Angie admits that she's not really wanting anything serious, they break up for good.
-Also meanwhile, Grayson unjams one of Jules old drawers (so he can babyproof it for his new daughter), to find a buch of stuff from the 80's and 90's, including a Simon game. Ellie takes it when Laurie's looking at it, saying it's not for Jellybeans. Later, she lets Laurie to try it in order to watch her fail, which pleases Ellie. Laurie gets upset because she had never thought that Ellie actually thought that she was dumb. Ellie later on assures her that she doesn't think she's dumb, and everyone had their blindspots (For example, Ellie can't do complex math and Grayson can't remember bar orders.).
I Like This: You Can Still Change Your Mind was a funny episode of Cougar Town with lots of good moments. While I'm sad to see Sarah Chalke go, her exit was well-handled here and her and Bobby's relationship ended for a very good reason: he wants something exclusive and real, and she just wants to have fun (And kiss other guys). This story is also a testament to how far Bobby has come since the beginning of the series. Before he wouldn't have minded a casual relationship, but now it looks like he's finally growing up a bit. The plot also allowed for funny moments like the revelation that two bums apparently come and go as they please on the boat. Travis wanting to be the photographer at Jules wedding was also a good story, as it went from Jules worrying that Travis' photos would be as terrifying as some of his other work (He strives to remove beauty from beauty) to Jules worrying that Travis taking photos at her wedding would be the first step to a hard life, where he would struggle to make a living. It's another good, natural complication and the resolution was also sweet. The story also had plenty of comedy though, including Grayson trying to give parenting advice, despite only being a dad for two days. And the Ellie/Laurie plot was less essential then the other stories, but it did offer the origin of the nickname Jellybean, which was funny and in character with season 1 Ellie's opinion of Laurie.
But...: While there was plenty of humour and emotion in this episode, both elements weren't executed quite as strongly as they had been in the last couple episodes (Particularly in the Ellie/Laurie plot). Also, I kind of wish we had gotten another episode with Angie, so her exit could've been better set-up.
The Bottom Line: You Can Still Change Your Mind wasn't the strongest effort of Cougar Town, but it was still a funny episode with lots of good moments for the Cul-De-Sac crew.
Grade: 78% (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Jules: "Sometimes I do feel a little, oh, (motions to Ellie) what is it?" Ellie: "You're not crazy about the ditzy, trashy, fake blonde, fake tan, fake boob, club skank you one-night-standed to make that baby." Jules: "She says it better." Grayson (to his daughter): "That is not true Jill. Your mommy and I had a one afternoon stand."
-Seriously, we spend more time coming up with these title cards than we do writing the show. Cougar Town.
-Laurie (To Jules): "When I get married, I hope I'm just as pregnant as you."
-Grayson on Jules old wedding album: "Did your photographer suck or do you just know a lot of people without heads?" Jules: "That's Bobby's uncle. He was really sweet, but when we opened our photographs, there was, like, nine pictures of his penis. He's actually in jail now."
-Travis: "The helmet's gone!" Grayson: "You had a helmet?" Travis: "God, I really thought that would be a bigger deal." Actually, in the two weeks the show was off the air, I had completely forgot about the helmet.
-Travis: "There's just so much beauty in photography, I just wanted to take that notion, and turn it on its head. So the theme of my work is: taking the beauty out of beauty." Jules (looking at the picture): "You really cannot see the beauty."
-Jules: "Okay, I love this. I am going to put this on my wall." Travis: "You're actually holding it wrong. (Turns the picture around) It's a severed toe." Jules: "Well, it's the best picture of a severed toe that I have ever seen. Yeah, I can't stop looking at it."
-Laurie: "Luckily, I can control my gag reflex. (Looks at Ellie.) Nothing?" Ellie: "I don't swing at soft balls."
-Ellie (To Jules): "It's weird. I have dishes in my sink, and you have chicken bones, tissues, a pair of broken sunglasses, and diapers." Jules: "Grayson baby-proofed my trash can. I have a house full of things that I can't open, including my toilet. Ellie, I had to teetee in the yard." Ellie: "Why didn't you just go in the shower?" Jules: "Gross."
-Jules: "Look, this is probably the last time that I'll have a chance to get great wedding photos." Grayson: "Probably?"
-Angie: "You never said that you wanted to be exclusive." Bobby: "Yes I did. Every time I kiss you, my lips are saying: (uses his fingers to make his lips move) Angie, I want to be exclusive." Angie: "Why do your lips need your fingers to make them talk?" Bobby: "I don't know!"
-Bobby: "I thought we had something special, but I was wrong. We're through. I'd be storming out right now if I hadn't just ordered a cheeseburger."
-Laurie: "Jules told me never to ask, but why do you call me Jellybean?" Ellie: "Well J.B., when Jules first hired you, I thought you were so simple-minded she could convince you that jellybeans were more valuble in gold, and subsequently pay you in jellybeans. This concept was eventually shortened into your nickname: Jellybean."
-Bobby: "Now I know exactly how you felt when I cheated on you all those times." Jules: "Feels a little different. I mean, she's been your girlfriend for two weeks and she kissed a dude, and well we were married, and you banged a thousand waitresses." Bobby: "Is it the waitress part that makes it different?" Jules: "Sure, why not."
-Laurie: "Why do I suck at this?" Ellie: "It's not your fault. When you were a fetus, your mom existed on funnel cakes and motorcycle fumes. Consider it a victory you don't have a tail."
-Bobby: "Angie, how'd you get in here?" Angie: "Your door is held shut with suspenders. When I came in I found a bum making a sandwich." Bobby: "Well, that's just Gary... or Dennis. Did he have a beard or a huge beard?" Angie: "I don't know, I was screaming." Bobby: "That sounds like Gary."
-Jules: "I just, I cannot stand the thought of [Travis] having a crappy life. Why couldn't he be a drug dealer. At least they have cool cars."
-Jules: "Wow, he's really angry with us." Grayson: "Us?" Jules: "Yeah." Grayson: "You told him it was my decision, didn't you?" Jules: "Yeah, and he's still mad at me. That's crazy."
-Andy: "So she found your weak spot?" Bobby: "If that means my ding dong, then yeah."
-Ellie: "I can't do math. I can do basic math, like if the nanny breaks a glass, then that's minus seven dollars from her paycheck."
-Ellie: "I don't think you're dumb. I just think you have a blindspot for Simon." Laurie: "Simon and airport baggage carousels. Everyone else just takes their luggage so easy, I just end up running laps." Ellie: "You have to wait for it."
-Jules: "Hey, what are you up to?" Travis: "I have three midterms next week. What do you think I'm up to?" Jules: "Some nerdy computer thing?" Travis: "Correct."
-Jules: "I'm not going to give you money whenever you need it." Travis: "Yes, you will." Jules: "Yes I will. We should probably open a joint bank account."
Tuesday 10 April 2012
How I Met Your Mother: Trilogy Time
What Happened, Yo!:
-Barney has an argument with Quinn, after he won't let her put her mugs in his cupboards because he needs to assert his male dominance. Everyone thinks this is stupid. We learn that every year since 2000, Ted and Marshall (And starting in 2003, Barney) have sat down to watch the Star Wars Trilogy and fantasize about where their lives will be. Ted's fantasies always involve being married to Robin/A Robin-type Figure, Marshall's always involve him having a moustache and being married to a pregnant Lily (Except for one year, when Lily had left him at the time) and Barney's always involve showing a random girl the door (Even the year he's secretly dating Robin.). When Ted realizes that he's still not married after all this time, he becomes depressed and decides that in three years, he will be balding and alone. Barney realizes that he no longer wants to be showing a random girl the door and wants to settle down with Quinn, so he goes back to his apartment and apologizes. Marshall tells Ted that 2015 will be his year and we learn that in 2015, Ted is married with a baby daughter.
I Like This: Trilogy Time was a funny and clever episode of How I Met Your Mother with a good central theme about trying to figure out where one's life may be in the future. It's something that I'm sure most people can relate too (I know I play that game all the time.). The structure of watching Ted, Marshall, and Barney's (Though mostly Ted and Marshall until the end) fantasies of the future change as they changed and grew older was a good one. It allowed us to see how Marshall's fantasies eventually came through (Although he still doesn't have a moustache or a legendary seven-week run on Wheel of Fortune to support his family with) and how Ted's life has more or less stayed the same to the point where Ted stops believing that he'll have a happy future. This fits into the story the show's been telling recently, about Ted realizing he's no closer to finding his soulmate than he was seven years ago and trying to figure out why. The show's structure also allowed us to visit two interesting periods in the show's history that we hadn't really spent a lot of time in (The initial period where Lily was in San Francisco and Marshall was heartbroken, and the period where Barney and Robin were secretly dating), which was fun. It also gave us a trip back to Ted and Marshall's college years and gave us a rare glimpse of their lives between college and the start of the show. I also enjoyed how the episode allowed us to see Barney as a man who, more than ever is finally ready to change his life a bit, after years of fantasies of sending random girl after random girl out the door (With the only change being back boobs.). And of course, the final reveal at the end with Ted having a baby girl by 2015 was very sweet.
But...: Barney's argument with Quinn seemed a little unnecessary.
The Bottom Line: Trilogy Time was a very funny episode of How I Met Your Mother, with a good concept, and a touching reminder that we'll be meeting the mother sooner rather than later.
Grade: 87% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-The opening with the man across the street getting obsessed over the mysterious behavior of the "Well Dressed Blonde Man", followed by the reveal that Barney has been leaving the apartment to pass gas ever since Quinn moved in was great. As was the callback with the man trying to figure out why Barney hasn't come out the next night.
-Great running gag: Ted and Marshall always imagine a democrat in office until Ted's dark fantasy, where America has given Bush a surprise third term, much to their regret.
-Marshall's dark fantasy about Lily being married to a douchey guy named Trey (Who has a moustache and a trucker cap) and pregnant with Trey's baby (Who's already wearing a trucker hat in the womb, apparently) was great.
-The joke with Robin having to hide in Barney's stormtrooper outfit during the 2009 Trilogy Time was great, as was Barney's desire to sleep with a stormtrooper (Which he finally gets to do with Quinn).
-Barney: While it’s just us guys, let me ask you something. We’ve all had that same fantasy about having sex with a girl in a storm trooper costumer, right?" Ted and Marshall: "No. Never." Barney: "Guys, come on. No girls around, just us bros. Safe space. Let’s stop being polite and start getting real." Ted and Marshall: "No. Never."
-Everyone but Ted is happy in Ted's dark fantasy. Fantasy Lily: "We’re pregnant with baby no. 5!" Fantasy Ted: But baby no. 4 isn't even out yet!" Fantasy Marshall: "I'm just that good."
-Barney has an argument with Quinn, after he won't let her put her mugs in his cupboards because he needs to assert his male dominance. Everyone thinks this is stupid. We learn that every year since 2000, Ted and Marshall (And starting in 2003, Barney) have sat down to watch the Star Wars Trilogy and fantasize about where their lives will be. Ted's fantasies always involve being married to Robin/A Robin-type Figure, Marshall's always involve him having a moustache and being married to a pregnant Lily (Except for one year, when Lily had left him at the time) and Barney's always involve showing a random girl the door (Even the year he's secretly dating Robin.). When Ted realizes that he's still not married after all this time, he becomes depressed and decides that in three years, he will be balding and alone. Barney realizes that he no longer wants to be showing a random girl the door and wants to settle down with Quinn, so he goes back to his apartment and apologizes. Marshall tells Ted that 2015 will be his year and we learn that in 2015, Ted is married with a baby daughter.
I Like This: Trilogy Time was a funny and clever episode of How I Met Your Mother with a good central theme about trying to figure out where one's life may be in the future. It's something that I'm sure most people can relate too (I know I play that game all the time.). The structure of watching Ted, Marshall, and Barney's (Though mostly Ted and Marshall until the end) fantasies of the future change as they changed and grew older was a good one. It allowed us to see how Marshall's fantasies eventually came through (Although he still doesn't have a moustache or a legendary seven-week run on Wheel of Fortune to support his family with) and how Ted's life has more or less stayed the same to the point where Ted stops believing that he'll have a happy future. This fits into the story the show's been telling recently, about Ted realizing he's no closer to finding his soulmate than he was seven years ago and trying to figure out why. The show's structure also allowed us to visit two interesting periods in the show's history that we hadn't really spent a lot of time in (The initial period where Lily was in San Francisco and Marshall was heartbroken, and the period where Barney and Robin were secretly dating), which was fun. It also gave us a trip back to Ted and Marshall's college years and gave us a rare glimpse of their lives between college and the start of the show. I also enjoyed how the episode allowed us to see Barney as a man who, more than ever is finally ready to change his life a bit, after years of fantasies of sending random girl after random girl out the door (With the only change being back boobs.). And of course, the final reveal at the end with Ted having a baby girl by 2015 was very sweet.
But...: Barney's argument with Quinn seemed a little unnecessary.
The Bottom Line: Trilogy Time was a very funny episode of How I Met Your Mother, with a good concept, and a touching reminder that we'll be meeting the mother sooner rather than later.
Grade: 87% (Great)
Memorable Moments
-The opening with the man across the street getting obsessed over the mysterious behavior of the "Well Dressed Blonde Man", followed by the reveal that Barney has been leaving the apartment to pass gas ever since Quinn moved in was great. As was the callback with the man trying to figure out why Barney hasn't come out the next night.
-Great running gag: Ted and Marshall always imagine a democrat in office until Ted's dark fantasy, where America has given Bush a surprise third term, much to their regret.
-Marshall's dark fantasy about Lily being married to a douchey guy named Trey (Who has a moustache and a trucker cap) and pregnant with Trey's baby (Who's already wearing a trucker hat in the womb, apparently) was great.
-The joke with Robin having to hide in Barney's stormtrooper outfit during the 2009 Trilogy Time was great, as was Barney's desire to sleep with a stormtrooper (Which he finally gets to do with Quinn).
-Barney: While it’s just us guys, let me ask you something. We’ve all had that same fantasy about having sex with a girl in a storm trooper costumer, right?" Ted and Marshall: "No. Never." Barney: "Guys, come on. No girls around, just us bros. Safe space. Let’s stop being polite and start getting real." Ted and Marshall: "No. Never."
-Everyone but Ted is happy in Ted's dark fantasy. Fantasy Lily: "We’re pregnant with baby no. 5!" Fantasy Ted: But baby no. 4 isn't even out yet!" Fantasy Marshall: "I'm just that good."
Monday 9 April 2012
Community: Pillow and Blankets
What Happened, Yo!
-The episode is presented as a documentary airing on Greendale Campus Television. We get recapped on how Troy and Abed's competing pillow and blanket forts and the possibility of a world record led to a major pillow fight in the study room. Jeff is brought in by the Dean to solve the conflict, but Troy and Abed reject the invisible "magic friendship hats" he gives them and Troy gives Abed an "All Tomato", saying he has until midnight to tear down his fort. When Abed refuses, Troy declares war. Lines are drawn and sides are picked. Pierce is Troy's second in command until he gives the position to Shirley, making Pierce jump sides to Abed. Annie provides medical aid to both sides, while Britta tries (poorly) to capture the war in a series of photos. And Jeff gives inspiring speeches to both sides, in an effort to prolong the war and further put off going to class, much to Annie's chagrin. When Pierce begins building a powerful weapon for Abed, Troy brings in Chnag and his preteen security interns as a defensive measure. The interns, nicknamed the Changlorious Basterds, cause lots of havoc, causing Abed to unleash his superweapon: a Pillowman (Pierce covered head-to-toe in pillow armor.).
-As things spread, Troy sees an e-mail Abed sent out outlining all of Troy's weaknesses and insecurities. In anger, Troy sends Abed a text telling him that he will never have another friend, because no one else will have patience with him. News of Troy and Abed hurting each others feelings moves Jeff to try and negotiate peace, but Troy and Abed declare their friendship dead and state that the loser of the war will move out of the apartment. They have an epic battle in the cafeteria, which ends when the Dean announces that the Guiness Record rep who had been coming has been fired and this whole thing has been pointless. Everyone stops except Troy and Abed who keep going because the fight will be the last thing they ever do together. Jeff points out that this proves that they still like each other and want to be friends, but neither of them think they can go back. Jeff suggests that they put on the magical friendship hats from earlier and they agree, but they make him go back to the office to get them. Although Annie thought Jeff had just waited in the hall for a while, we find that Jeff actually went back to the office and mimed getting the caps, even though he didn't have to. With the feud over, Troy and Abed become friends again and the gang leaves the cafeteria. Jeff later writes in a journal (something Annie had suggested) about how he's now realized that he would do anything for his friends.
I Liked This: Man, that was a good episode. Pillows and Blankets had an interesting problem to solve: how do you pull off an episode about a school-wide pillow fight, and make it dramatic, while at the same time, avoid doing a Modern Warfare rehash of sorts? The answer: do it as one of those PBS documentaries, complete with narration (From Keith David of The Cape, which is a great reference to last years running gag about the show in the faux-clip show episode, Paradigm of Human Memory) lots of photos, interviews, and people reading text messages, e-mails and Facebook status updates regarding the war. It's all great and really funny and at the centre of it is a great story about Troy and Abed's biggest fight and off to the sidelines is an equally great story about Jeff realizing just how much he cares about his friends. That all this is filtered through the lens of a documentary makes this all even better, allowing for lots of funny moments (Such as the narrator explaining the very confusing name of North Cafeteria). Troy and Abed's conflict felt very real and believeable, and the scene of the two of them just weakly hitting each other with pillows, because stopping would mean the end of Troy and Abed, and neither of them truly wanted that was great. Jeff revealing that he went back to get the friendship caps was also a very touching moment, and it'll be interesting to see if the revelation he had will pop up again during the rest of the season. And I was happy with how the pillow fight war of the episode actually ends on an anticlimatic note with no real victor. And the way the fight between Troy and Abed ended leaves the door open for future conflict in their relationship, which is probably necessary.. All in all, a season highlight.
But... No problems this week.
The Bottom Line: Pillows and Blankets was a fantastic episode of Community with lots of great moments and a great story at the heart of it.
Grade: 90% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Dean: "Does anyone ever actually go to class?"
-I love how the song Daybreak keeps showing up in this third season. Hopefully this keeps going, because it never gets old. Enjoyed the return of Fat Neil also. Or should I say "Real Neil."
-Narrator: “Unfortunately for Britta and millions of photographers like her, just because something’s in black and white doesn’t mean it’s good.”
-Narrator: "They were later nicknamed the Changlorious Basterds. Like Inglorious Basterds. But with Chang instead of In. I don't get it either".
-Narrator: "Amanda Johnson. Poet by choice. Lesbian by birth."
-Abed: "The Rambo titles never made sense and neither does war." Leonard: "Leonard likes this post." Best use of people reading their text messages/Facebook statuses.
-Narrator: "The North Cafeteria, named after Admiral William North is located in the western portion of East Hall, gateway to the western half of North Hall which is named, not after William North, but for it's position above the South Wall. It is the mosted contested and confusing battlefield on Greendale's campus, next to the English Memorial Spanish Centre, named after English Memorial, a Portaguese sailor, who discovered Greendale, while looking for a fountain that cured syphilis."
-The Troy/Abed pledge drive at the end was a great joke, which seemed like a pretty meta nod to a certain beloved show that had been put on hiatus while this episode was filming.
-The episode is presented as a documentary airing on Greendale Campus Television. We get recapped on how Troy and Abed's competing pillow and blanket forts and the possibility of a world record led to a major pillow fight in the study room. Jeff is brought in by the Dean to solve the conflict, but Troy and Abed reject the invisible "magic friendship hats" he gives them and Troy gives Abed an "All Tomato", saying he has until midnight to tear down his fort. When Abed refuses, Troy declares war. Lines are drawn and sides are picked. Pierce is Troy's second in command until he gives the position to Shirley, making Pierce jump sides to Abed. Annie provides medical aid to both sides, while Britta tries (poorly) to capture the war in a series of photos. And Jeff gives inspiring speeches to both sides, in an effort to prolong the war and further put off going to class, much to Annie's chagrin. When Pierce begins building a powerful weapon for Abed, Troy brings in Chnag and his preteen security interns as a defensive measure. The interns, nicknamed the Changlorious Basterds, cause lots of havoc, causing Abed to unleash his superweapon: a Pillowman (Pierce covered head-to-toe in pillow armor.).
-As things spread, Troy sees an e-mail Abed sent out outlining all of Troy's weaknesses and insecurities. In anger, Troy sends Abed a text telling him that he will never have another friend, because no one else will have patience with him. News of Troy and Abed hurting each others feelings moves Jeff to try and negotiate peace, but Troy and Abed declare their friendship dead and state that the loser of the war will move out of the apartment. They have an epic battle in the cafeteria, which ends when the Dean announces that the Guiness Record rep who had been coming has been fired and this whole thing has been pointless. Everyone stops except Troy and Abed who keep going because the fight will be the last thing they ever do together. Jeff points out that this proves that they still like each other and want to be friends, but neither of them think they can go back. Jeff suggests that they put on the magical friendship hats from earlier and they agree, but they make him go back to the office to get them. Although Annie thought Jeff had just waited in the hall for a while, we find that Jeff actually went back to the office and mimed getting the caps, even though he didn't have to. With the feud over, Troy and Abed become friends again and the gang leaves the cafeteria. Jeff later writes in a journal (something Annie had suggested) about how he's now realized that he would do anything for his friends.
I Liked This: Man, that was a good episode. Pillows and Blankets had an interesting problem to solve: how do you pull off an episode about a school-wide pillow fight, and make it dramatic, while at the same time, avoid doing a Modern Warfare rehash of sorts? The answer: do it as one of those PBS documentaries, complete with narration (From Keith David of The Cape, which is a great reference to last years running gag about the show in the faux-clip show episode, Paradigm of Human Memory) lots of photos, interviews, and people reading text messages, e-mails and Facebook status updates regarding the war. It's all great and really funny and at the centre of it is a great story about Troy and Abed's biggest fight and off to the sidelines is an equally great story about Jeff realizing just how much he cares about his friends. That all this is filtered through the lens of a documentary makes this all even better, allowing for lots of funny moments (Such as the narrator explaining the very confusing name of North Cafeteria). Troy and Abed's conflict felt very real and believeable, and the scene of the two of them just weakly hitting each other with pillows, because stopping would mean the end of Troy and Abed, and neither of them truly wanted that was great. Jeff revealing that he went back to get the friendship caps was also a very touching moment, and it'll be interesting to see if the revelation he had will pop up again during the rest of the season. And I was happy with how the pillow fight war of the episode actually ends on an anticlimatic note with no real victor. And the way the fight between Troy and Abed ended leaves the door open for future conflict in their relationship, which is probably necessary.. All in all, a season highlight.
But... No problems this week.
The Bottom Line: Pillows and Blankets was a fantastic episode of Community with lots of great moments and a great story at the heart of it.
Grade: 90% (Almost Perfect)
Memorable Moments
-Dean: "Does anyone ever actually go to class?"
-I love how the song Daybreak keeps showing up in this third season. Hopefully this keeps going, because it never gets old. Enjoyed the return of Fat Neil also. Or should I say "Real Neil."
-Narrator: “Unfortunately for Britta and millions of photographers like her, just because something’s in black and white doesn’t mean it’s good.”
-Narrator: "They were later nicknamed the Changlorious Basterds. Like Inglorious Basterds. But with Chang instead of In. I don't get it either".
-Narrator: "Amanda Johnson. Poet by choice. Lesbian by birth."
-Abed: "The Rambo titles never made sense and neither does war." Leonard: "Leonard likes this post." Best use of people reading their text messages/Facebook statuses.
-Narrator: "The North Cafeteria, named after Admiral William North is located in the western portion of East Hall, gateway to the western half of North Hall which is named, not after William North, but for it's position above the South Wall. It is the mosted contested and confusing battlefield on Greendale's campus, next to the English Memorial Spanish Centre, named after English Memorial, a Portaguese sailor, who discovered Greendale, while looking for a fountain that cured syphilis."
-The Troy/Abed pledge drive at the end was a great joke, which seemed like a pretty meta nod to a certain beloved show that had been put on hiatus while this episode was filming.
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