Once Upon a Time: As Lost Boy #6 in my high school production of Peter Pan I am not very happy that they have turned Peter Pan evil. He is more Jack Merridew (the episode even featured a conch shell) than the Peter Pan we know and love. Speaking of that conch shell, was the mermaid that blew it supposed to be Aerial? They can make her evil, I do not really care.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.
Homeland: A quick addendum to my preview of the new season which was too spoilery. Homeland likes to throw I a game changer every couple episodes and Saul throwing Carrie under the bus may be the most shocking yet. Not only did he disclose to the whole nation that she is a crazy person, he actually lied under oath. We actually saw Saul listen to Carrie and Brody having sex last season. The fun of Homeland is watching the show to move on after completely blowing things up (sometimes quite literally) and this is an interesting set up to season three. I hope it does not end with Carrie and Brody on the lamb together. But if Saul’s testimony was the most shocking, Quinn killing the kid was the least shocking. As soon as Quinn was given the okay, I knew he would accidentally kill him, I just thought it would have been the kid under the desk, we just had to wait another thirty seconds for the murder to happen.
Revenge: The second season was rough, hard enough to sit through I was kind of hoping it would get canceled. But it came back complete with a new showrunner. Gone is Declan, Nolan’s money, The Initiative and Carrion (names of which even the characters never want to hear again). Of course we start off two months in the future (some things never change) where we see Emily shot twice in the abdomen by some unseen assailant who she trusts enough to be alone on a yacht with (my way too early prediction is the new French chick). Also gone this season (but not completely off this mortal coil) is Ashley who was sent back to her native land by the blackmailing team of Victoria and Emily. Emily even worked in some revenge essentially ending Conrad’s short run as governor of New York and making him think he has some degenerative disease that will turn him crazy (just thinking he has it will probably turn him crazy).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.
Betrayal: Betrayal sounds like a title that was considered but ended up not used for Revenge. As Revenge sank like a rock last season, it is weird they would team it with a new soap heavy show. Except Betrayal is boring. It came off like the first of a twenty act movie instead of the first episode of a television show. There was probably the reason they heavily featured the last minute of the episode (essentially spoiling the whole thing) in the promos because nothing of note happened except a simpleton may have killed his uncle we barely saw for reasons that were not well explained.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Betrayal on iTunes.
The Voice: I applauded the song selection last week unfortunately some of the songs this week were less inspiring but some guy did pull out an MGMT song and another person dusted off an underappreciated song by Bill Withers. Unfortunately we did not get to see much of the first Creedence Clearwater Revival song on the show as it got montage (I do not count the times Proud Mary was performed because everyone always does the Proud Mary version). I wonder if song selection did Malford Milligan in, he did trot out the well worn Let's Stay Together. Even with the tired song, I still though he was the third best singer this week. Hopefully he gets an invite back next season. Granted they seem to only invite back cute young boys. Which begs the question, where is Jane Smith from last season? She would be a perfect fit for Cee-Lo who was not around last season.
One guy that did get the return invitation was James Irwin (who did not even make my Contestants Who Should Be Brought Back last season) who made history by being the first returnee who got all four chairs to turn around. But I wonder if the coaches were having some button remorse because his performance started out well, they all pushed their button, then sat there stone-faced went he went into the awkward rock portion of the song. After that it seemed like the least competitive fight for a four chair turner ever with Adam even giving him a harsh critique. For some reason James picked Adam and may be the first four chair turner who exists this season.
The big new this week (which is not saying much because there were a lot of weak performances) was the audition of Briana Cuoco. Okay this is mostly because of her famous sister Kaley from The Big Bang Theory. Brianna’s rendition of You and I was pedestrian at best but Kaley lost her mind (like some family members do, but Kaley over did it a bit) when Christina turned around for her sister. Hopefully Briana gets better because I would not mind having Kaley Cuoco on my television, two to three times a week for the rest of the year.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.
The Blacklist: Usually with procedurals there is a big twist at the end to the point you expect it and can even guess what it is before it happened, but I never saw Isabella Rossellini turning out to be a human trafficker who rails against human trafficking to eliminate her competition (which is ingenious in an evil kind of way). But it is disappointing that it looks like Elizabeth is just going to ignore the money and passports she found under the floorboards.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A slight improvement over the premiere and that does not even take into account the cameo of Samuel L. Jackson. But yeah, Sam Jackson was awesome.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.
The Goldbergs: How do you have a show set in the eighties and have a storyline about your mother buying your embarrassing clothes for the first day of school and not play, or at the very least reference Parents Just Don't Understand. Instead they end the episode with a Styx song? Epic fail.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Goldbergs on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: I did not think Tig would end up dead this week, but I was surprised with a test being why he survived but it does make sense (it did not make since that Pope’s men would still care about his vendetta against Tig if he was dead). But in true Sons of Anarchy fashion, you were left wondering the fate of Tig all week, he shows up alive, and then four characters die violently in the episode (and that does not even count the Nazi’s). Thankfully Otto finally met his finale fate, how he made it this long is befuddling. The big shock was the death of the Marshall, he was set up at the major antagonist and now he is completely off the board (unless there is yet another vengeful relative in their family). But the Sons have their hands full with the Irish right now.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Finally a challenge the Loved Ones can win, they have most of the muscle on the guys side including a former NFL lineman who pushed around dudes for a living, while the women are going against mostly forty and fifty year olds. Making it easier, one of the stronger returnees Tyson goes out with a shoulder injury. Should be a cake walk right? Right off the bat Brad Culpepper barely beat the aging Gervase, then Katie and Ciera lose to their mothers who are twice their age. At least Ciera put up a fight against her mother, when she went against Kat, it looked like she jumped off the platform just to get away from her competitor. So in two straight seasons, the new tribe has won one team challenge total and four out of sixteen challenges in three seasons before they started to mix up the tribes. It is really time to stop it with the fans vs. favorites concept even if they include loved ones in the equation.
Or just bringing back contestants period aside a rare All-Stars season (at least five seasons apart). Case in point: Colton. The dude caused the ost eye rolling when he cast was announced. He was a character you did not even love to hate, u just hated him so much you wanted to turn the channel. But he came back and he changed, cry a bunch in the second episode but by the second episode he was spreading lies amongst his tribe and making rude comments about them in his confessional. As by the third episode, after realizing he would be first of his tribe voted out, he just up and quit even though his tribe was on a winning streak and may have never gone to Tribal Council. And if that streak continues, there may be a tribe swap sooner than later when he could have been reunited with his fiancé and rebooted his game. Instead he quits and Probst and his tribe just lit into him. Probst even went as far to say he faked his injury One World so he could leave the game. I was a little surprised Probst did not ask Caleb if he wanted to quit with Colton. I kind of wanted Caleb to say, nope, I am good here. Oh well. So good riddance Colton, not only are you a horrible person you are a quitter.
This week we finally saw some loved ones go head to head in an Immunity Challenge and next week we will see it in the Redemption Island Arena when Candice take on her husband John (with Marissa still in the mix). It is one thing to not take your loved one’s spot on Redemption Island, but are you really willing to send them home? It will be interesting if Marissa finishes first, will Candice or John just concede the game to their spouse? Though I hate the Blood vs. Water theme, I have to admit the concept sets up some interesting storylines.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.
Modern Family: Our first Dylan sighting of the season, complete with a new haircut. Rumour has it that there is going to be a Modern Family. When I saw the headline I was hoping for a Dylan / Hayley starting a new life themed show, but unfortunately they are looking at one starring Manny's real father. Bummer.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Modern Family on iTunes.
Super Fun Night This was just an abomination. I do not know what I am going to do between Modern Family and Nashville, but it will not be watching this ever again. I implore ABC just to bring Suburgatory back now or if they do not want to out right cancel Super Fun Night, please switch it with Back in the Game, The Neighbors, or even The Goldbergs even though I have problems with that show, it is still at the very least watchable. Super Fun Night is not. ABC, you know Super Fun Night is not getting a second season already, just cut ties now before you do irreconcilable damage to Nashville's ratings when people like me flee your network as soon as Super Fun Night starts and never comes back.
If you must, you can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download Super Fun Night on iTunes
The Bridge: Do we finally get to hear what cassette Sonya was so desperate to recover after her sister’s car was totaled and it was… I have no clue what song that was. As for the actual episode, it did not feel like a season finale it all; it more felt like a middle of a season episode. I guess that happens when you capture your big bad two episodes ago. The only plot point was that Linder’s “bride” was rescued. Sure some things were set up for a second season, the FBI let Charlotte know they are on to her just after she set up her new business with the Fausto (how her boy toy made it through the season alive was shocking). Of course Daniel stumbled onto a dead ninety-nine year old woman with a ton of cash, including Euros, stacked in her bathroom. And it looks like next season will be Marco trying to break into prison to kill David Tate. Hopefully that is more entertaining than the last couple episodes of this season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Bridge on iTunes.
Nashville: I really liked the addition of the new singer from the reality show (and the show really needs a kick after last week’s bore of a premiere). Or more specially, I really like her as a bright eyed foil to Juliette’s jaded pop star, it looks like it will be more interesting than the Juliette / Rayna rivalry. I really liked the look on Juliette’s face when Layla said she was singing on of Juliette’s classic which was only matched by her look when the new bean counter said Layla’s song was number one on iTunes. I hope they keep Layla naïve and do not give her some deep dark secret like they give everyone on a soap opera.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: I always love it when they find a way to get Penny and Sheldon together, but I could have done without so much time with the other teams. Howard and Amy even joked how they have never spent any time together, and after this episode it may be wise never to give them screen time again even if Neil Diamond is involved.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Parenthood: This season token Friday Night Lights
cameo is Jess Meriwether as Kristina’s campaign manager. You have to think Julie Taylor sits around wondering, “Why am I stuck on some crappy alien love story show on The CW with Hastings Ruckle; where is my Parenthood role?” It is odd that Lyla Garrity is the only original cast member that has been invited show but Jess is the third of the newbies to make an appearance. Jess was not the only new face this week as the dude from The Office
also popped up. But I have to wonder if the show is really going to go the route where Julia ends up in the arms of the dude from The Office while Joel spends some quality time with Penny from Lost
.You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.
Season 2 (Showtime)
: Amazon is having an unadvertised sale with a lot of classic albums for only $2.99 including Thiller, Born in the U.S.A., At Folsom Prison, and Under the Table and Dreaming. So stock up while you can because thesale may end as soon as it started.
. He was not far removed from being a kid himself at a time. Now forty, he has written (and this time directed) another film about kids, but instead of casting relative unknowns, this time around he raided the Disney line up with Selena Gomez (
), Vanessa Hudgens (
), and Ashley Benson (
, which airs on ABC Family which is also owned by Disney). Spring Breakers looks glossier than Kids, but looks like it will be just as warped. Oh yeah, it also stars a cornrowed James Franco. 
- Dropkick Murphys
