Ray Donovan: My least favorite storyline was Bunchie and his abusive priest, so I really had to check out of this whole week. Wake me up when the next episode starts.
Under the Dome: As the show petered out at the end, at least it finished somewhat strong. We got the plot twist that it is Julia, not Barbie that is the monarch that is about to be crown. We learned that the dead lesbian was not actually a hallucination but an alien(?) taking her form to communicate. Okay we do not learn what they want. And it was disappointing that Big Jim ended the season still breathing after being teased to die a couple episodes ago. And I am never a fan of cliffhangers especially confusing ones like the dome turning white. But I am sure I will still tune in next summer because much like this summer, it is not like there will be much else on.
You can stream Under The Dome exclusively on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime members.
Siberia: You would think after 95% of these sci-fi leaning post-Lost serial dramas get canceled in its first season, the creators would start writing these show with an actual conclusion for the season and if they are lucky enough to get a second season just go from there. But nope, they all have to end in a cliffhanger, never to be resolved. I actually thought that when the host walked into the apartment, he was going to say, “surprise, this was all fake, everyone who you thought were dead were just acting, c’mon in guys, see: still alive, alright Esther, you come in to and give these guys the split of the money.” And if they managed a second season, it could have been that leaving Siberia is not as easy as the producers thought and there really is something strange going on. But no, he just says, “You’re not supposed to be here.” Fade to black. No explanation of why there were not supposed to be there, where he has been the whole time, what happened to the producer’s camp. Nothing. Hurph.
You can stream recent episodes on Siberia on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: So Tara is ready to file for divorce. It is long overdue for to realize this is just not a healthy environment for her. That probably should have happened around the time her hand got broken in a car door. Or the time he drunk driving mother in law almost killed her kids. I am guessing that going to jail and Jax refusing to leave were the final two straws. Now the question is, will Jax, or Gemma, let Tara leave Charming with both boys?
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
The Bridge: An interesting moral quandary, the snipers were ready to kill Tate, but one he wanted to be killed by Marco, no one would let him pull to the trigger to the point where Sonya shot Marco to keep him from ki8lling Tate. So we will kill people who do not want to die, but will spare the ones who openly try to be killed. So now that Tate is in custody and we still have two episodes left, just how does the ranch tie into everything? Tate did require that the ransom came from the owner so they are tied in somehow. And what about Linder? I completely forgot about him until he showed up in the promos.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Bridge on iTunes.
The Challenge: Rivals II: We saw it just an hour earlier with Gervase on Survivor (see my First Impression of Blood vs. Water here), but I am still shocked that Cara Maria would show up to a competition show that has used water quite frequently and no know how to swim very well. Shockingly she not only managed to move on to the next stage of competition but came in first. But really, it is hard to believe half of the contestants could not finish that puzzle in under an hour. Granted if you are not smart enough to realize the horseshoe would be the easiest to put together right off the bat, it makes a little more sense.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals II on iTunes.
Ray Donovan: Even though the episode started with somebody digging a grave, I knew Micky would not be the one who would end up in it. I actually assumed it would end up being Sully no matter how ludicrous it would have been having Micky overpowering two dues while tied up. Instead it was his hook up (poor Rosanna Arquette, she deserved a better storyline than that). But there have been some eye rolling plot devises in this show but Sully believing Micky when he told him that Ray and Sean Walker set him up for his girlfriend’s murder is the most head shaking. Grantland may have to update their episode of Breaking Brad based on this past episode.
Under the Dome: First off, why was the show delay by a half an hour? I understand the US Open ran late, but could they just cut one of the repeated sitcoms that aired before it so it would air on time? Would that have been too hard? I doubt anyone would have missed the scheduled repeat of Two and a Half Men especially if its was already starting a half and hour late.
So when Barbie decided to get caught by not getting in the ambulance, I assumed he had some grand plan to clear his name. Nope. Apparently his big elaborate plan was to just hope Julia regains consciousness. How about telling the sheriff that he did not try to kill Julia and to ask Joe and the nurse, both who witnessed him saving her life, to attest to the fact. On the bright side they did kill off a useless character this episode. Granted if they killed off every useless character, there would be no show.
You can stream Under The Dome exclusively on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime members.
Siberia: The show has come up with some silly reason as to why the cameramen continue to shoot, but they did not even bother to try explaining why the Eskimos let the cameraman keep filming. Thankfully that is the case because I laughed though that whole segment.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Siberia on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: Before the episode, I had read an article saying that the administrators at Newton sent home letter to the parents that there would be a school shooting in the episode. I really hate spoilers but I think being prepared was better than the alternative. Granted this way, as soon as I realized the young boy from the opening shots was not a young Jax that he would end up being the school shooter. I did originally thought one of Jax’s kids would end up being a victim but the promo monkeys would have us believe that the only tie in to the main characters is that he used a gun brought into this country by the Sons.
I did remember that Tara was in trouble for the nurse’s death, but I completely forgot that Jax set up Clay for Pope’s murder. I also remembered that Pope set Tig’s daughter on fire in front of him and apparently his erratic behavior is the cause of that, but to me he was acting the same as he always was, downing a dude in urine and dump in the bay and then sit down and sing Otis Redding is something I have always assumed he wold do eventually.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
The Bridge: Being that this show, much like The Killing, is based on a Scandinavian show, I cannot help but wonder how long Sonya will be in the sling because I remember back on The Killing when the dude got beat to an inch of his life, spent a day in intensive care, and was up and about the next episode. That was of course right around the time that show went off the rails. The Bridge was been teetering on the rails for a while now, if Sonya is back to 100% by next episode, it may officially be off. But I do find it funny that the dude from Cougar Town is actually much funnier on this show than on his actual sitcom.
You can download The Bridge on iTunes.
The Challenge: Rivals II: After a pretty sedate start to the season, the real Camilla has come out exploding twice in the last three episodes. But I really liked how everyone just stayed out of the kitchen while she and Jemmye ganged up on Diem. It is a shame the last Jungle is not a physical challenge because that would have been much more entertaining than the silly hang upside-down challenge. Speaking of challenges, that last one was a dozy. Having run a mile memorize a long series of colors and run back another mile cannot be as easy as it it sounds and I was shocked that everyone got it in one try. I remember a couple seasons ago on Survivor they did a similar thing and only had to run about a hundred feet and almost everyone got it wrong on the first try.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals II on iTunes.
Big News of the Week: James Franco gets Roasted: It became pretty clear that the reason why James Franco and his buddies agreed to this is because they thought with a name like “Roast” they thought there would be plenty of weed readily available. And clearly there was because half the dais seemed very high. Or maybe Jonah Hill really is a great actor because there is no way he actually thought all those jokes were that funny. There were a lot of high concept sets at this roast, of course Bill Hader did a character because I do not think he has ever delivered a joke as himself ever, Hill did a whole set of backhanded compliments, and Andy Sandberg was unfunny as usual but this time around it seemed to be intentional (but not nearly as entertaining as when Norm McDonald did it at the Bob Saget roast). Aziz Ansari probably had the bet set because he came late on the bill and seemed legitimately offended at all the jokes lobbed his way and hit back hard. But since the roasters were actual friends of the mark, this was much more enjoyable than the last couple Roasts. Hopefully Comedy Central continues this trend and does not go back to
Preview Picture of the Week:
"Straw" Sons of Anarchy
Under the Dome: As soon as Barbie said he was going to get the car, I thought to myself, “You moron, Big Jim is just going to kill the two.” And of course he did. Even worse, instead of shooting Barbie in the back when he had the chance, Big Jim waits until he is in arm length to tell him he is going to kill him, giving Barbie the chance to disarm Big Jim before pulling the trigger. I do not know if the writers are idiots for this or if they just think the people watching are morons. I guess that says something about me that I continue to watch.
You can stream Under The Dome exclusively on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime members.
Siberia: Like every bad horror movie, they just had to go into the locked room where the weird sounds were coming from. It turns out there they are in some The Island of Doctor Moreau type place. While back at the original camp, the natives (I assume) are giving off a very The Others from Lost vibe. Of course that turned out to be completely anticlimactic. I take it whatever took down the beacon tower is their version of the Smoke Monster. Ug. This season has to be ending soon, The Blackllist starts up in two weeks. So I guess only two more episodes. Hopefully there is not a multi-hour finale because I am ready for this show to end.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Siberia on iTunes.
The Bridge: After the first scene, I was hoping for a full David Tate flashback episode to show us how he went from an FBI agent who just lost his wife and kid to this criminal mastermind. Unfortunately instead we got a couple more creepy scenes with Linder. For a second there, I though Marco’s wife was going to be killed with grenade in her hand, instead Marco was smart enough to take it from her and throw it away. And I wonder if Charlotte really thinks her tunnel ordeal is over. Clearly either that lady was not the top boss or there will be someone else who will quickly replace her, probably the dude with the crazy eyes.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Bridge on iTunes.
Free Download of the Week: Frog Trouble Fun Pack (Noise Trade): Cartoonist Sandra Boynton and songwriter Michael Ford have written and produced five book and CD sets and their latest is country themed Frog Trouble twelve songs from well know artists. You can grab this three song sampler from Kacey Musgraves, Ryan Adams, and Ben Folds. If you are feeling generous for the free, 80% of tips will go to St. Jude Hospital. This is a must download if you have young kids so you can indoctrinate them with some good music otherwise they may grow up and in around twenty-years may be seen grinding on Alan Thicke’s grandson and / or a foam finger on national television.
Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: Amazon has another set of $5 albums this month including greatest hits albums from Stevie Wonder, N.W.A., Van Morrison and Jay-Z.
Video of the Week: In most frat movies, the dean ends up being the antagonist, but it looks like in Neighbors, the frat will be the bad guys with Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne as the protagonists. As with most comedy trailers, this could be another case where all the funny jokes are in the trailer, but I did laugh pretty hard at the airbag gag.
Next Week Pick of the Week: Sons of Anarchy, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: It is finally here, the return of fall television. Okay, it returns more like a drip for another two weeks until the bulk of new seasons starts on the 23rd. As for the penultimate season of Sons of Anarchy, I am hoping for a lengthy “Previously On” package because I am having a little trouble remembering what happening. I vaguely remember Tata getting arrested for helping Otto kill Donal Logue’s sister. Or maybe it was just heading that way. I am pretty sure Clay is still alive even though he should have died two to three seasons ago. Other that that it is a little fuzzy. Oh and as pictured above, Matt Sarasen's mom will be making an appearance this season.
I have been making top ten lists of the best television shows of the year since 2006 and this is the first time ever that all ten spots went to dramas. Comedies really need to step their game up. Of the shows that used to be on this list, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, and How I Met Your Mother are just getting long in the tooth, Suburagtory suffered a sophomore slump, and the Dan Harmon-less Community was a disaster while newbies The Neighbors and Go On were solid, they just were not good enough. Here were the shows that were.
After playing the bridesmaid for three straight seasons, Justified finally topped this list for the first time ever while FX took up two spots for the first time since I declared it the best network on television back in 2010 (which was also the last time Sons of Anarchy made the list). It also lifted FX over CBS for the third most shows on my best television shows list over the past eight years (12), just short of NBC (18) and ABC (15). CBS (11) is the only other network over five shows over that time. Now here are the shows that amassed the most Quote, Song, and Scene of the Week.
Quote of the Week
Pretty Little Liars – 5
Dallas – 4
Justified – 4
Mad Men – 4
Hannibal – 3
The Big Bang Theory - 2
Homeland – 2
Leverage – 2
The Neighbors – 2
Revenge – 2
2 Broke Girls – 1
Bunheads – 1
The Challenge – 1
Franklin and Bash – 1
Go On – 1
Grimm – 1
Happy Endings – 1
House of Lies – 1
Modern Family – 1
Nashville – 1
Parenthood – 1
Shameless – 1
Suburgatory – 1
Survivor – 1
The Walking Dead – 1
Weeds – 1
Song of the Week
Bunheads – 5
Suburgatory - 4
Go On – 3
The Neighbors – 3
The Americans – 2
Castle – 2
Community – 2
Covert Affairs – 2
Dallas – 2
House of Lies – 2
How I Met Your Mother – 2
Justified – 2
Mad Men – 2
Parenthood – 2
Pretty little Liars – 2
2 Broke Girls – 1
The Big Bang Theory - 1
Franklin and Bash – 1
Last Resort – 1
Nashville – 1
Once Upon a Time – 1
Shameless – 1
Sons of Anarchy – 1
Totally Biased – 1
The Walking Dead – 1
Weeds – 1
Scene of the Week
Bunheads – 8
Suburgatory – 7
The Neighbors – 6
Go On – 3
Hannibal – 3
Community – 2
Modern Family - 2
Parenthood – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Don’t Trust the B---- in Apt. 23 – 1
Castle - 1
The Big Bang Theory – 1
Last Resort – 1
Nashville – 1
The Voice – 1
Once Upon a Time: When Snow White and Emma jumped into the portal, I thought, “Wait, are they really going to leave Sleeping Beauty and Mulan in a deserted world with Cora?” Seems kind of rude. Granted Cora and Hook ended up finding their way to Storybrooke so the duo is basically alone with a bunch of ogres, giants, maybe Frankenstein’s monster and the lifeless body of the Prince.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.
Revenge: I realize this week that I liked the show much better when Emily was taking down people one week at a time than all this cooperate espionage that just goes way over my head this season. I do not really care about the British dude and they literally doubled down on the bar takeover storyline by bringing in another brother who does nothing but just repeats what his brother said. And the Initiative is such an evil monolith they hang out in a room that looks like the Injustice League lair.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.
The Walking Dead: I hate it when shows think they are going to be all clever by not starting an episode which what is expected (in this case Rick storming Woodbury) but instead introducing unknown characters. But I guess whenever introduce a new black dude; the old black dude has to be killed off.
As Rick was leaving Woodbury, I was disappointed because the whole season seemed to be building of a confrontation between the sheriff and The Governor. Then a couple minutes later Michonne sticks a shard of glass in The Governor’s eye and all the disappointment disappeared. I guess we may have to wait until the season finale to see the Rick / Governor showdown.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.
Homeland:Since Abu Nazir is the only thing keeping Brody from a Quinn delivered bullet, how much more in trouble can he get for essentially killing the Vice (and possibly future) President? I doubted how Brody could make it out alive during the first season, and though he did, it is hard to think of possibilities of him making it to season three. But does Carrie overlook his part in the Walden assassination because it meant saving her life and just not tell anyone? But as awesome as the opening and closing scenes were, why is the CIA no longer tapping his phone? I know sometimes the show has potholes so big you can drive a semi truck through them, but this is pretty big. Of course Nazir was going to continue with his plan even if a bunch of his lieutenants got captured.
The Voice: I knew it was not going to be a good week when on the results show, the two people I thought (hoped) would go home were the first two saved. And somehow Amanda Brown, who have the two best performances of the week (well solo performance, the Nicholas David / Melanie Martinez duet may have been the most bizarrely beautiful thing ever), was sent packing. Not only that she got voted off right after out-singing Cassadee on Breakaway and even was better than Ne-Yo on his own song.
A lot has been made of the teen girl voting bloc ruining singing shows, but after MacKenzie Bourg went home after the first week of voting, I think it is the bored housewife that is keeping these bland singers around. The finals should be Cassadee and Nicholas, but I have a feeling it will end up being Terry and Trevin. But I guess this final four is still better than last season, but anything without Chris Mann (who inexplicably made over Lindsey Pavao thanks probably to the previously mentioned bored housewife voting bloc) is an upgrade.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice by clicking on the artist’s name.
Go On: I am a bit disappointed we did not get more time at the Holiday / End of the World Party. I would have been content with a bottle episode at just the party.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Go On on iTunes.
Parenthood: I cannot remember much of what happened in this week’s episode because all I can remember is the Promo Monkeys daring to suggest Kristina may die next episode. They better be seriously misleading because I do not want to spend all of Tuesday night crying.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: Of course Jax was not going to let Pope kill Tig especially when Pope was responsible for Opie’s death. The only question was how he was going to get out of it. Apparently it meant setting up Clay. So the question to ponder until next season is how is Clay going to avoid the bounty on his head because you know the show is not going to let Clay die unless it is at the hands of Jax.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Survivor: Philippines: Stupid Malcolm had to just go and win Immunity. Very few things are more entertaining than watching someone get voted out with Immunity in their pocket. I have a feeling he would because all the talk before the challenge was about the blindside which always means something would happen to screw it up. Instead they end up voting out… um… who was that guy who got voted up? Did he sneak into the game with the rest of the Loved Ones and hoped no one would notice?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.
Subugatory: Ryan acting like a wild animal was way too funnier than it had any right to be.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.
Nashville: Way to ruin the proposal Promo Monkeys. Okay, of course fake-Tim Tebow was obviously going to say yes. But it is a little weird that the show stole the Fresh Prince of Bel Air plotline from the time Will got fake married (officiated hilariously by Jazz) just so he could have sex with a chick waiting for marriage. Also Gunner is an idiot, I would totally choose the much hotter Hailey over the whiney Scarlett.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: I cannot believe Sheldon did not sing Soft Kitty to Amy.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
The Walking Dead: I was going to yell at Rick for not dialing *69 when the people on the other line hung up, but I guess that is not possible when the other line is calling from Heaven. I had a feeling it was all in his mind when Hershel picked up the phone and we could not hear a dial tone. But the rest of the episode was a bit of a yawn as it looks like it was just an episode to set up what hopes to be an epic showdown between Rick and the Governor with Merle taking Glen and Maggie and Michonne finding her way to the prison (with only two episodes until a break I have a feeling next week will just be the travel to Woodbury with the confrontation in the last episode of the year). Sure it is absurd that Michonne and Andrea never ran into Rick and the group in the six or so months after being separated, but Michonne was able to find them in about an hour after Glen gets kidnapped, but whatever.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.
Homeland: This is the first episode I watched since the Saturday Night Live sketch and watching Saul listen to Carrie having sex with Brody while he has to explain to the other dude her motives, all I could think about was, when is Saul going to say, “when has she ever let me down aside from every time?” But anyway. Brody not surprisingly finally snapped this episode after being pulled in every direction, but I have a feeling he will have a bigger snap from reality later this season when he just snaps and kills someone. Maybe Roya, Maybe Peter. Maybe even himself. But that will be down the line. This week ended with one heck of a cliffhanger. Sure Abu Nazir, the number one terrorist in the world, in America is up there as one of the least plausible plot point on the show (assuming the helicopter did not go all of the way to Syria, even going to Canada is a stretch). But if he is here, the attack has to close, hopefully they do not spread it out over the final four episodes. Speaking of which, I just saw the penultimate episode of the season is entitled The Mother(expletive deleted) with a Turban, so that should be epic. But not as epic is if they continue the Dana hit and run storyline. Really there is no where left to go unless Dana just blows everything up and still go to the police, or worse, the press. Really that may be the only good way to end the storyline.
The Voice: Last Week I scoffed at the new rule where your iTunes votes get multiplied by ten if they make it into the Top 10 of the iTunes charts because that has rarely happened. But when I woke up not only was Cassadee in the top 10, she was number one, only the third time a song from The Voice occupied the top spot (two of which were on Blake’s Team). I am not sure just how impressive that is considering she overtook Gangnam Style (강남스타일) (seriously, who is still buying that song?). There were also three artists that came close as Melanie (who did get to number 8), Amanda, and Nicholas got into the top twenty, all charting higher than the Christina Aguilera / Blake Shelton duet that was performed the same night.
Another thing I was thinking about last week was how simplistic the staging was this season, no background dancer (or as Blake likes to refer to them: mimes or male strippers), dudes on stilts, or even the severely overused smoke machine. They have not even been the overly literal video screen images like all the eyeballs that flashed on the screen when Tony Lucca sang In Your Eyes. Well they finally recruited some dancers this week this week but the theatrics have still been to a minimum this season.
1. Cassadee Pope – Cassadee nabbed the top spot on the Power Ranking last week for the first time if only by default. Not this week, she earned it with the second best performance of the season. With that one performance she has been elevated to I can’t wait to see what they do next status.
2. Amanda Brown – If everything went right in this world, Amanda and Cassadee would be going head to head with Cassadee for the season three crown (with Nicholas playing spoiler). Unfortunately I do not trust America to ever vote correctly.
3. Nicholas David – Holy buckets, that looked like a Grammy legend performing this week. It is a shame this is not the seventies because St. Nick would have been a massive star by now.
4. Melanie Martinez – Her first performance of hers that I did not find annoying. Maybe a little too late because I still would like to see her go home next week.
5. Terry McDermott – If this was the first season where there were only three weeks of Live Shows, Terry would be sitting pretty, but with week four next week, it is time to adventure outside of the box a little.
6. Trevin Hunte – I take back what I said last week, go back to the Michael Bolton catalogue.
7. Cody Belew – The biggest surprise for me so far in the Live Shows was Cody advancing this week. He was not saved by America earlier this season, spent this week daninching more when he should have been singing, and he was selling poorly on iTunes. I guess America does enjoy a little bam-bam more than I thought they would.
8. Dez Duron – The pretty boy skated by thanks to less attractive fodder the first three weeks, but if he advances next week over the people above him on the list, it will be a crime against humanity. It is his time to go.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice by clicking the artists name.
How I Met Your Mother: Really Ted, your big recommendation was Dishwalla, a crappy one hit wonder that did not even deserve that one hit? Could you not get the licensing for Deep Blue Something?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Castle: It is pretty absurd in this day and age to have an entire story built around the inability to make a phone call and the writers went to some pretty big lengths to keep Beckett and Castle from being able to contact the police. But it was so absurd that it ended up being entertaining. They even managed to do it without using the biggest trope when it comes to the the inability to make a call: no signal, which I guess would be too absurd for a show set in New York City.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.
Happy Endings: I hate to break it to you Max, MTV did not air your season of The Real World not because someone burned down the house, but because it looked extremely boring. There is a reason ten years later and you still have not been invited to participate in a season of The Challenge.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Happy Endings on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: So who exactly is Donal Logue? (A second question is what is with all the weird stunt casting this season: Ashley Tisdale, Joel McHale). Is it too easy to assume that he is the husband of the nurse wow died?
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Survivor: Philippines: I was really hoping Malcolm would get voted out. I really hate when people hold on to theory Idols longer than they should. All it would have taken would be one person to switch, or even mess up and accidentally voted for the wrong person.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.
Once Upon a Time: Is this the first time seeing the King in Storybrooke? I remember not seeing and thinking he must had died in the fairytale world.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.
Revenge: So this was Emily’s grand plan for Mason Treadwell: set him up to make it look like he set up Conrad Grayson so he would be convicted for a crime he did not commit (much like her father) and he will admit to it if she promised to come clean after her master plan has been executed where she will then admit to the killing of the white haired man and give him the exclusive story. What? Unless she plans for Mason to also die in prison much like her father. But would it not have been much easier, even if it were less poetic) to just let Amanda bash his skull in?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.
The Walking Dead: With the new season, they have really up its, Did That Really Just Happened moments be it impromptu leg amputations with an ax, or c-section deliveries with no medication. But they may have out done themselves this episode with the Governor brushing his zombiefied daughter’s hair, the zombie Thunderdome, and the zombie who apparently ate Lori whole. It will take a while for me to decide which scene grossed me out the most.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.
Homeland: Oh snap! The warden totally called out Saul for his beard! But I was extremely disappointed that Saul (and the guards) let Eileen alone. As soon as Saul left the room, I screamed at the screen, “Do not leave her alone with the wine bottle!” Sure I was wrong with the suicide method as it looked like she somehow killed herself with Saul’s glasses (because who does not walk around with an extra pair of reading glasses that make anyone see well?), but the sediment remained. And that was not the only false ending for the episode, just when you think Dana and Brody were going to report the hit and run, Carrie stops them at the last minute. Ugg. I do have a feeling Dana will be calling a press conference sometime in the next episode just to screw everything up. One last thing, Estes is the worst baby sitter ever. He lets Brody talk along in the sables with the party host and then sneak off to meet Carrie.
The Voice: I have joked a couple times this season that the producers read my post 10 ways to Fix The Voice, but after this week I am now convinced that they did. Previously they have implemented my suggestions to breeze through some Battle Round performances by montage, expand the Live Rounds (there will be eight performance episodes up from six last season and four the inaugural season), more Blind Auditions, they initiated The Steal, banned Adele (only one song this season, now they need to ban Katy Perry for next season), and got rid of the Product Placement I Refuse to Acknowledge (unless they pay me) Lounge (granted it got replaced by the Product Placement I Refuse to Acknowledge Skybox). They have even cut down on the annoying crowd screaming a little bit (though not completely). That is seven, and this week they added an eighth suggestion I made.
Cason Daly announced yet another new rule, that any artist who reaches the top 10 on the iTunes charts will have those votes multiplied by ten. Of course anyone who reaches the top 10 (which no one has done this season) probably is not in trouble of being voted out anyway, but I like the new wrinkle. iTunes success is a better indicator of future success but it accounts for the least amount of votes because people may make ten phone calls and vote ten times over the internet (or more with phony e-mail accounts) But no one, expect maybe family members, are buying ten sons on iTunes. The Top 10 may have been to altruistic and may should had gone with Top 25 instead. Apparently they quickly realize that the new rule did not do much (only two songs cracked the top 50 and not even close to the top 10) because the very next day they announced all music bought on iTunes this year will count for the finalist. Here is the Power Rankings for the top 10 and some thoughts on their performances:
The Voice Top 10 Power Rankings
1. Cassadee Pope – Cassadee has been number two a couple times on my Power Rankings and finally found herself this week with her best performance since her Blind Audition. Though after five straight pop-rock songs I would like to see her get out of her comfort zone next week even if it is taking a song from another genre and making it pop-rock.
2. Nicholas David – It is about time someone on one of these karaoke shows gave Huey Lewis & The News his proper due. I really liked when Nicholas went back into his Barry White voice halfway through the performance.
3. Trevin Hunte – Someone pointed out to me that this was the second week doing a Michael Bolton song (sure When a Man Loves a Woman is really a Percy Sledge that Bolton covered) and he loses some points for that. Plus this make have been his weakest performance. Much like Cassadee, Trevin needs to branch out and soon.
4. Amanda Brown – Amanda went bold last week and knocked it out of the park, she went big again this week, but did not quite reach the same heights.
5. Terry McDermott – I could not help but think back to Amanda last week who also closed the show with a seventies stadium anthem, but where Amanda nailed the notes at the end, Terry noticeably could not hit the signature high notes in More than a Feeling where Brad Delp original seemed to go higher and higher.
6. Cody Belew – Last week I thought he did a very Elvis Presley performance of One More Try and did a very Elvis performance of The Best this week. Maybe he should just do an Elvis song next week.
7. Sylvia Yacoub – Every time Sylvia showed up during the earlier rounds I thought, she is still on the show? Then she gave the most surprising performance last week, sitting down at the piano. She was back to she is still on the show status after a wobblely performance. Maybe she should had stayed behind the piano instead of having a creepy dude in a white suit on a creepy white piano instead.
8. Bryan Keith – He took a great song full of pathos and self loathing and turned it into a lounge act. Color me unimpressed.
9. Dez Duron – Again, Dez has impeccable taste in music, but his voice is just so boring and bland. He may have made the finals with the old rules, but I am not sure he even makes the top eight under the new system. He definitely should not.
10. Melanie Martinez – Oh Melanie, cool song choice, but I think this will be your last week on the show unless Christina’s final two contestants are eliminated in on swell swoop.
The results show was fairly uninteresting (Cee-Lo’s disco party notwithstanding). Adriana Louise (I wonder if she gets to come back for a Team Christina performance or if she is out of luck because they did not perform this week) and Michaela Paige were clearly on the bottom of the pile. Next week will be about as suspenseful as two by two every twenty minutes someone is saved before Cody and Sylvia get the ax. Maybe they should go back to having the teams battling themselves to be a finalist; those eliminations were much more suspenseful.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice by clicking on the artist’s name.
How I Met Your Mother: Did we really spend a whole month having all the main characters break up with their significant others? Yeah, the show has officially run out of ideas.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Castle: As everyone is moving onto the new found footage craze, the show went back to the ol’ early ’00 documentary footage route. And it was probably for the best.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.
Go On: Can they please add the hot station mascot to the cast please? Maybe her dad can die and join the support group for more airtime.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Go On on iTunes.
Parenthood: Why is grief the biggest aphrodisiac in Hollywood? It seems like whenever a guy on television show or movie has a lost in his life, the closest female to him is willing to have sex with him the cheer the dude up. Seriously, Drew is talking about his aunt that has cancer which makes his ex-girlfriend, with a college boyfriend, rip off all his clothes. Does this actually happen in real life because I have had a lot of loss and hardship in my life and not once has any chick had sex with me to console me.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: There are so many moving pieces on the chess board this season I have no clue where this season is going. Actually I am not entirely sure if I understand what is actually going on right now. So many deals on the table, double and triple crosses it is hard to keep track.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Survivor: Philippines: When the votes were revealed to be tied 4-4 I knew that Penner would be going home because I figured that Skupin and Blair would vote together. So I was shocked to see Artis go home and even more shocked that it was Skupin that flipped his vote. I thought if only one flipped it would be Blair after being berated by Abi at Tribal. I was also surprised that Malcolm did not play his Idol. You can only bluff once and why hang onto it when everyone know you have it, an you alliance needs the numbers. Either play it for yourself so you do not get blindsided or give it to Penner just in case Skupin did not flip. At any rate, I cannot wait to see Hurricane Abi next week. Between her and Camilla from The Challenge, it is clear these reality shows need to recruit more Brazilian woman to these competition shows.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.
The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons: Watching Hunger Games I have to wonder why Survivor ever stopped their gross food challenges. Quality entertainment. But you have to feel bad for CJ, dude somehow managed to beat the behemoth Zach at the physical challenge three out of five times but still went home. And fewer things are more entertaining than a crazy person acting all crazy while shouting, “I not going to make to look like a (expletive deleted) crazy person.”
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons on iTunes.
Last Resort: I do not understand, if someone stole Marcus’s key, why even dock the submarine. Search everyone before coming up for air. And just how many crew members have to be captured before they realize they should travel the island in pairs, or even groups?
You can stream recent episodes on Last Resort on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: I was expecting that the number 43 to not live up to expectation that I was kind of hoping they would leave it unexplained. Yet they managed to come up with two extremely funny ideas, the fake Sheldon looking for life in other dimentions, and the real Sheldon trying to break his own hackeysack record.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Grimm: Even though I hate when episodes, especially episodes before a long break, end with “…To Be Continued” but I did have to laugh the show had a sense of humor enough to add “Sorry” to it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.
Once Upon a Time: After a year of wondering, it turns out Dr. Whale is… Dr. Frankenstein? Alrighty. When he was first introduced as a wizard, I actually thought he would turn out to be the Wizard of Oz (okay, my first thought was, oh goodness, he is not going to be Harry Potter is he) when they talked about his ability to transport to places without magic. So what world exactly does Dr. Frankenstein live in, one where all the classic horror monsters live: Dracula, Wolfman (who I assume would end up being a love interest to Little Red Riding Hood), The Mummy, The Invisible Man. And I know they live in a world where Captain Hook looks like an Abercrombie model who does not think there is such a thing as too much eyeliner, but how can you have Igor without a hunchback?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.
Revenge: I thought for sure Amanda was not going to make it through surgery. I guessed she made it so Mason Treadwell could come back to cause more havoc. Of coutrse if Mason knew what was best for him he would stop snooping because the last time he got on the case, his house burned down. But I wonder if they are going to put a burn scar on Emily’s back even though I am pretty sure we have seen her in a bikini without one.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.
The Walking Dead: The infamous Governor has finally appeared and he and his wall of floating zombie heads lived up to the hype. Of course without television in a zombie apocalypse, what else are you going to stare at hours on end than a wall of illuminated zombie heads? Oh yeah, and Mearle! And I have to wonder if this is the rape camp that Randell came from. I have a feeling Andrea will find out sooner than later.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.
The Voice: Last week I wondered how they could get forty songs into two hours, I assumed they would just montage half of them, it turns out instead they just gave everyone about a minute of screen time with some really bad editing as they cut down songs. And it turns out the much ballyhooed Steal ended up being a major flop. I got a sense when lesser talent got stolen that coaches just did not want someone who would end up replacing an original tram member. Only Adam is taking a saved member to the Live Shows Playoffs even though Caitlin Michele and MarissaAnn clearly won their Knockout pairings.
That was not the only really bad decision from Blake Shelton. Even though he was the best coach when it came to making decisions in the first two seasons, he made some really bad pairings this season decimating his team. After pairing up two of his three best singers in the Battle Rounds with Suzanna Choffel and Lelia Broussard, he then paired his best two in the Knockout Rounds when he put Suzanna up against Cassadee Pope especially when Michaela Paige and Julio Cesar Castillo advanced. When it got down to the final four on his team I thought he was going to pair MarissaAnn with Cassadee and Michaela with Suzanna. Maybe Blake tipped his hand when he said the reason he paired Liz Davis and Gracia Harrison was that he did not want the two to siphoned votes from each other so he was only going to take one, so he took some weak singers (Michaela and Julio) to the Live Shows Playoffs to make it easier for his stronger singers (Cassadee and Terry) to advance.
If anything, the Knockout Round showed just how important song choice is. And for all the dude karaokers out that did not know earlier; never ever ever ever ever sign a Taylor Swift song. Like ever. Dare I say you would be much better off with some indie record that is much cooler than hers. And this week we actually had two dudes try to sing a Taylor Swift song. It was actually a big week for guys singing chick songs, which I rarely think works. Also, do not sing songs but dudes who beat on women. I thought Avery Wilson had a chance to win the whole thing but after a poor song choice, he danced himself off the show.
Even though the Steal ended up flopping because no none but Adam wanted to take them to the Live Shows Playoffs, I do wish they were still allowed one more steal during the Knockout Round. Blake could have finally gotten Caitlyn (assuming she did not reject him for the third time), Adam would finally gotten Gracia, maybe Cee-Lo takes a flyer on Suzanna, and Christina… who knows what stupid decision she would have made. Maybe Kayla Nevarez or steal MarissaAnn back. Really Caitlin was part of my favorite thing that happen this week when she was caught dancing to Nickolas performance.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.
Castle: Stupid credits. I actually did not think much when I saw Michael Mosley’s name at the beginning of the show, but as the evidence started to mount against Catle, I remembered, oh yeah, he was the serial killer that was never caught and he is totally setting him up. At least he showed up on screen shortly after I figured it out. But seriously, they really need to figure a way to keep the guest stars out of the beginning of the episode.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.
Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23: It was nice to see someone finally put fans of The Wire on blast. I will never watch the show because I never want to turn into one of those pretentious jackasses.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: After Gemma talked about overcompensating after losing a child, I thought for sure Able was a goner, and was a bit surprised with all the shocking deaths this year they stopped short of killing a kid.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Survivor: Philippines: I was a big Astros fan back when I actually paid attention to baseball so I know how big an idiot Jeff Kent is so it is not surprising he has a horrible game plan on the show. Seriously, if you were so keen on getting rid of Penner, why not do it last week? Then had you stuck with him this week you would have had been the leader of the majority alliance with two former players that would be bigger targets. Now you need someone to make a dumber move than you made to get back in control of the game.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.
Subugatory: I was super disappointed that after this episode when I went to iTunes, Tessa’s version of Sussudio was not there yet.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.
Grimm: Last week when the promo monkeys said there was a new, more violent, Grimm was coming to town, I thought, this is just going to be a retread of the other Slayers on Buffy. I do like that it turned out to be a Vessin who hated who he was. But you know there have to be other Grimms out there somewhere.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.
Once Upon a Time: I am beginning to think that the question of why some characters were sent to Storybrooke while others stayed in the Enchanted Forrest is akin to the question on Lost why some people on the airplane were sent back to the seventies and others were not. Of which the answer turned out to be, there is none other than the writers wanted to split them up to amp the tension. Darn you writers of Lost.
With the curse broken, it is weird that some of the Storybrooke inhabitants have gone back to their fairytale names while others have kept their new monikers. Again I have a feeling that it is at the whim of the writers. But the most surprising change with the curse broken is that Little Red Riding Hood is dressing less slutty, and like most females who do so looks much more attractive.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.
Revenge: This show really likes its “Oh Snap!” moments and a very pregnant Amanda falling over the balcony was certainly one of them. Unfortunately they lessened the impact of it by telling us someone at the very least would lose a lot of blood (or just dropped a punch bowl) making Amanda an obvious suspect. Although I was waiting for mommy to smother her in the hospital after it was revealed she tried to kill a young Amanda. Maybe that is next episode. But what I really want to know is what is going on with Nolan. It was clear last episode that Rebecca Logan was flirting with him, and the last time we saw him getting intimate with any one was when he was making a sex tape with the rent boy, yet here he is initiating a make out session with Rebecca. Was he just emotionally drained from his father’s death that he needed some human intimacy? Is he really into women? Is this part of some nefarious plot we are unaware of yet?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.
The Walking Dead: An interesting conundrum, what do you do if you find prisoners inside a prison in a zombie apocalypse. Do you kill them because they are in there for a reason or do you give them a clean slate because you need every human that you need? Granted if I am Bernier Madolff type prisoner I would off the bat start screaming I am a white collar criminal. But then again if I am a Jerry Sandusky type I would be saying the same thing. Of course Rick gives you once chance and if you even look like you are crossing him, then it is a machete to the head. Sometimes I wonder if Rick trusts the zombies more than the humans.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.
The Voice: And mercifully the Battle Rounds are over. The Steal started out being a good idea and Amanda Brown and Caitlin Michele both got a reprieve, but I had to scratch my head about every other Steal. And it did not help that there was a Steal at the end of every episode ruining any suspense. The next round would have been much better had Lelia Broussard, Brandon Mahone, Nelly's Echo, Benji, Alexis Marceaux, and Emily Earle would have gotten the Steal over the other people who did. I began to wonder if the coaches liked their teams so much; they did not want to Steal anyone who would take a spot on the Live Shows from an original member of their Team (that seems to be the case as Cee-Lo has his stolen Terisa Griffin going up against frontrunner Trevin Hunte in the Knockout Round). I would be surprised is more than one stolen singer makes the Live Shows.
The biggest surprise of the Battle Rounds is that every girl on Cee-Lo’s team lost their battle. The first two seasons, Cee-Lo’s finalist was a strong rocker chick and was so loyal to the fairer sex that he stupidly picked Erin Martin to go to the Live Shows. Worse of all two of his girls, Alexis and Emily deserved to win their battles. Of course both of Cee-Lo’s steals ended up being female (five of the six steals overall were female). Granted, as stated above, Terisa will not be on the team for very long, unless of course that turns out that it is one of the favorites that are not safe that Carson teased.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.
Pretty Little Liars: So Mona was faux Caleb (which I guess Grantland would call Faux Faux Riggins) so who was in the clown costume? Was that Toby or another member of The A Team? If it was Toby that would ruin anyone’s theory that Toby infiltrated The A Team to protect Spencer because why would he kill Aria in the process? At any rate, Hanna’s mom and the ghost storyline was pretty worthless.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.
Sons of Anarchy: When Gemma was talking about loving Jax too much to make up for losing her other son, I thought, oh goodness, they are not actually going to kill off one of Jax’s kids are they (as the last shot of the season finale suggests, Jax is becoming his father and Tara is becoming Gemma)? And it certainly does not look good for Able after the accident. Rally you know bad things are going to happen when the final segment is nothing but a montage. Although I had to laugh when they guys with uzzies could not even wing anyone while Jax was able to hit the guy square with two shots from his handgun.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Survivor: Philippines: A note to the Survivor: either stop casting beauty queens or figure out a way to make sure they last to the merge because they rarely onto the jury. And how exactly have a mud wrestling type challenge that ends before any of the hot participate? That is an epic fail on Jeff Probst. You know TJ Lavin would not have let two whole teams quit like that.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.
Subugatory: As much as I enjoyed Tessa’s Daphne costume, I am severely disappointed that we did not get to see Kimantha’s slutty skunk costume in action.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.
Nashville: What made the first couple episode good is they played to Hayden Painteierre’s strengths: a bratty no talent who sleeps her way to the top. Having her try to emote this week was a bad decision.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.
The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons: Much like TJ Lavin, trivia week is my favorite episode of the show, but I really hope the Insane Games becomes a Challenge staple from here on out. It was if they ran out of idea for challenges so TJ and the producers decided to drop acid and just pick the five most insane ideas, and decided to call it the Insane Games. Brilliant. I really hope fish slapping becomes a thing.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons on iTunes.
Mockingbird Lane: It is weird watching a show you know will probably not air anymore episodes. Even though it was Bryan Fuller’s fourth best Pilot, it still managed to be the second best of this season (after Last Resort). It was a lot darker than I expected, I was surprised it started with a “baby bear” destroying an entire Boy Scout troop (okay, as it turned out, no one ended up being hurt). But I did like Grandpa starting up a blood army, and also really enjoyed the Marilyn character. If NBC bothered to put some promotion into it, a Mockingbird Land / Grimm pairing could do really well on a Friday night, but it does not sound like they care. Oh well.
You can stream the episode on Hulu.
exclusively on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime members
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type place. While back at the original camp, the natives (I assume) are giving off a very The Others from 
vibe. Of course that turned out to be completely anticlimactic. I take it whatever took down the beacon tower is their version of the Smoke Monster. Ug. This season has to be ending soon, The Blackllist starts up in two weeks. So I guess only two more episodes. Hopefully there is not a multi-hour finale because I am ready for this show to end.
- Janelle Monae
