OH MY, SPOILERS!
While not a complete week in terms of air dates, last week was excellently epic, one of my favorites in quite some time. Maybe this has to do with a certain romantic comedy/drama show no longer messing with my brain, or maybe Joss Whedon and his crew finally outdid themselves like we all hoped he would many, many episodes ago. Either way, I’m a happy camper, and after reading this, I hope you go glue your face to the boob tube and enjoy like I did.
As said before, How I Met Your Mother is gone and is never coming back. Well, actually, the series may have alternate ending to be released on DVD. Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, you are monsters.
New Girl didn’t air. I am displeased. Moving on.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was super damn awesome. Set at the same time as the new Captain America film (thanks television, for spoiling films in the same franchise), the episode focused on HYDRA’s takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D. from within its own ranks, pitting Coulson and his crew against double and triple agents (so many different plot twists, most of them actually well executed). Clark Gregg showed a new level of badassery as the betrayed Coulson, the rest of the cast dealing with all the narrative twists and turns with similar amounts of toughness. Ming-Na was especially great, her portrayal of May no longer stiff and hard assed after losing Agent Phil’s trust. Each new twist was more epic than the one previous, the HYDRA reveal startling, and the realization that Garrett was of HYDRA kinda heartbreaking (for Phil and his crew). The best twist, though, came in a post credits scene, and I can’t spoil that, nor the sweet acting turn taken by the character who turned out to be one hell of a deadly HYDRA agent. It was awesome, the whole thing, and I’m happy finally with Whedon.
Community was kinda weird, but better than last week’s G.I. Joe mishap. After saving Greendale, the study group found themselves without problems or stories, leading to Abed losing his mind (a bit more) and being followed by the camera (you can’t avoid story, says the inventors of meta) half the episode. Of course, that all changed when those two drunken board members that every once in a while make an appearance on campus revealed that saving Greendale meant they could sell it to Subway (making a sandwich university!). So, all of a sudden the study group had to reconcile with the possibility of never seeing one another again. This, of course, made for some strange, but pleasantly unpredictable twists, the first being a mysterious buried treasure hidden by a former Greendale professor that reportedly had sex with a computer, and the recoupling of Jeff and Britta. Dan Harmon threw us for a loop with this one; Britta and Jeff decided to marry, then Abed, the Dean, and Annie showed up with news of a treasure? Weird. And also, the mid-credits scene was too good to be true (I love Duncan and Hickey sometimes).
Elementary was rather, rather good, as well, rounding off a rad week of television. Last week, Sherlock received news of the passing of Alistair, that actor friend of his that played Sherlock’s father to a super peeved Joan. This led Holmes to be closed off, as he often is, and plunge into the mystery at hand, a crazy plot to spread anthrax (the intended victims, revealed at the end, not whom you’d suspect) in New York City resulting in the accidental death of a pickpocket, and later the involvement of a scary group of anarchists (this was a loopy mystery). It was one of my favorite mysteries of the season, though, because the reality was far less terrorism-based and actually weirdly personal, making for an adventure through different crime cells, all linking oddly to a dairy farm. I was happy with the writing on this one. And, as per usual, I was more than ecstatic to see Holmes delve into his emotions, especially in one scene in which a vision of Alistair, upon seeing a mourning Sherlock, calls the consulting detective a cliche. That was amusing, and Jonny Lee Miller played it so well.
If you missed them, the season premieres of Mad Men and Californication aired this weekend, so run to your nearest Internet, and stream vigorously.
