Any hopes of having a full week of television have been lost, Internet friends and fellow viewers of indulgent amounts of media. According to TV guides across the web, a couple of the shows I hold dear will have spotty airing schedules this month and the next, but we shall persevere, I imagine (tragic how the programming gurus at TV studios know how to engineer media addictions, those terrible wizards). Let’s get started.
How I Met Your Mother was super, super silly last week. I mean, usually the show has a nice layer of romanticism, but this previous episode was smothered in gooey cheese. Robin and Ted went searching for a drunken Barney and spent the time talking about exes (these folks are awful at timing near weddings). Marshall and Lily continued their massive fight, Marshall realizing via hallucinations of Lily that his competitive ways could drive Lily away (it took this many years?). And Barney encountered two dudes and taught them how to pick up ladies (these segments redeemed the episode). Seriously, the mushy stuff in between Barney’s antics was a little too emotionally squishy, even for HIMYM. They even used the balloon trope (remember how Ted’s best friend as a child was a balloon and we all laughed at him?) to demonstrate how Ted needed to learn to let go. So, yeah, Robin floated away, and it was emotional, and it was overly silly. Decent laughs, but seriously HIMYM?
New Girl didn’t live up to the glory of the episode before it, as there were no further appearances from Prince. The main plot involved Nick and Jess dealing with exes, and that was neat, but not so great overall. According to Nick, exes only stay friends to cherish the ability to doink the other ex, and that turned out to be right, and Jess had to eat her optimism. The other plot arc, the Schmidt arc, was far more fun. The now Internet-recognized “good bro” finally finished his loft and gave keys to Winston and Coach, which led to a whole lot of awkward utilization of the place for sex (Winston’s new girl is the best new minor character, as she’s completely twisted). It was a strong episode on all accounts, and it was nice to have a good ol’ fashioned farce at Schmidt’s expense.
Finally, you guys, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is living up to its hype. Last week, Coulson and his crew tried to track down Ian Quinn (a medium level bad guy working for the Clairvoyant), only to botch their cover, discover Mike Peterson’s still alive and under Centipede’s control, and that the secret item they had to track down was a cyborg leg for Peterson (oh man it said “Project Deathlok” on it, I am pumped). Also, Skye got shot a couple times and now the group has to keep her alive (Whedon has us craving the next few installments with this cliffhanger). The performances and writing have really settled in for the ride, and after an uneasy first half of the season, the new episodes are showing better stories, and awesome character development. I can’t wait for the totally predictable episode where Skye turns out to be super powered (not sarcastic). And more sexual tension between May and Ward? Sweet.
Community doesn’t air for a while and I am very unhappy.
At least Elementary (top image) was solid. It wasn’t a fantastic episode, but it was pretty enjoyable. There was a lot of awkwardness surrounding this Sherlock’s mechanical sex drive (I do love a sign that reads, “Coitus in progress”), but weirdly they fit that into how Sherlock solved the episode’s mystery. This one focused on the death of a ballerina, and the sordid affairs that occur behind the scenes of the ballet (Darren Aronofsky would be amused). It wasn’t the best crime arc of the season, but Joan’s supplementary narrative, in which she tracked down a couple extorting homeless folks, completed the episode and gave it emotional richness (we learned more about Joan and it was depressing). Also, the writers made use of little details that only Sherlock would notice, a device they don’t employ enough (well, that is). Overall, a passable end to this week in television.
I believe a few of these shows are to air on weird schedules over the next couple of weeks, but stay tuned anyway and continue on my television journey, Internet friends. Hopefully one of these shows will give us the payoff we’ve been hoping for.
