Laura's TV Round Up Week 14

1. HIMYM - This episode felt like the writers wrote it in about thirty minutes, then decided to go play paintball for the rest of the day. It's okay to have no plot advancement, but you have to do it in a way that is humorous. I laughed out loud about one or two times, but the rest of the time was just boring. I didn't really care for punch-them-out Lily, though at least it didn't go the way I expected (I thought that even with Jenkins' confession, Lily would still think Marshall was trying to trick her). Robin's character is such a shell of what it once was, Ted was barely present and Barney was even less so (Neil Patrick Harris directed this episode, apparently). I really feel like they even wasted Amanda Peet, who can be quite funny if given the proper outlet. I want my good show back. And on a medical note, why is Lily's school having a measles outbreak? Those kids should be immunized, I would have found a flu or staph outbreak much more believable.

2. Modern Family - I feel like I shouldn't even comment on this, because every week I just say that I love it and that continues to be true. I missed a little bit in the middle, something to do with the flowers but fortunately returned to see the bouqet go up in flames. I love that Manny's first "date" lunch was grilled cheese, tomato soup and ice cream (because Manny likes ice cream). I read an article complaining that you never see Mitchell and Cameron kiss at all, but really, I feel like that's in tune with their characters and the theme of the show and not some diss to the gay community. You see them show affection in their actions, especially in their interviews. Furthermore, I don't think it's really a huggy kissy show - I don't think we've seen Clare/Phil or Gloria/Jay kiss. There's been some references to their love lives, but I think that's true of Cameron and Mitchell as well (in the pilot, which just re-aired on Wednesday, Cameron mentions an incident with his mother walking in on them). I'm all for showing gay relationships, but as long as it's true to the characters and the show.

3. Fringe - Hey, why don't we walk into a building with a potentially contagious disease and not wear any protective gear whatsoever? Okay, that sounds great! That's my nitpick here - Peter could have just as easily been exposed by a hazmat suit tear or a needlestick, but they let them wander into a place where a guy spewed vaporized blood out of his mouth and died? Overall, this show is still enjoyable and I didn't have a hard time picking things up despite missing the rest of the season. Has any of the Peter is dead thing been explained? There was a mention by Walter to Astrid that she should leave things in the past, but I didn't know if the viewers were let onto anything. I'll look into it myself at some point, but I was just curious.

4. Grey's Anatomy - I think I like it better when everyone's pissed off at each other:



Meredith/Derek - I thought that she was in the wrong, but he didn't use the best means to convince her either. I'm not really concerned for them, but the writers do have the tendency of dragging fights out (see Meredith and Cristina last season). At the very least, the Chief's problem is out in the open. I just hope that Derek's not a snarky smarmy jackass when he's inevitably chief. And I want Meredith's bathrobe.


Calle/Arizona - Okay, they weren't really pissed off at each other, but I really like the two of them together and was hoping Arizona wouldn't be so superficial. At least she got over it in the end, and Callie got some funny lines to boot ("Please take off my gauze paws" was probably my favorite). So far the two of them seem to be getting over their arguments, etc quickly and believably and I hope that stays true


Lexie/Mark - Lexie had my favorite line of the night ("We've already had sex. It's like recycling, it's good for the environment"). I wish that Dr. Double Standard could get over himself and realize that Lexie was hurting too and he's not the only one who should get a free pass. She was dumb and drunk, but they were broken up and it's not like Mark hasn't assisted adultery before. I typically like these two together, but Mark's been a bit too much for me in the last two weeks, especially when he did his sudden "Why don't I move to LA" monologue.


Owen/Cristina - Once again, I hate this triangle, but at least it shows us how desperate Cristina really is to be taught. I'm not a huge fan of them together, but I'm hopeful that they can work something out. However, with hearing that Kim Raver (Teddy) is officially joining the cast, it's unlikely that everything will be sunshine and rainbows for them.


Alex/Izzie - If nothing else had happened this week, Izzie getting her ass dumped was enough to make this episode for me. I really miss season 1/2 Izzie - she was annoying at times, but she had a good heart. Ever since the writers decided that she and George had always been in love (see "Things I Pretend Didn't Happen" below), she's turned into this entitled bitch who stomps over everyone else's feelings. I don't think Alex was particularly smart in "cheating" on her, but she left him (and not for a very good reason), never returned his calls, ignored him the one time she did return to the hospital, and was gone for a fairly long time (not 100% of the exact time, but we know that she was gone from Thanksgiving through New Year's at the very least, and other things have suggested that it was longer than that). The fact that she came back expecting everything to be okay just because she snapped her fingers is proof enough that she's deranged. It's a shame because prior to her leaving, I really thought the two of them were good together - I wish they could have shown them dealing with the whole getting married to soon/Izzie almost dying thing while they were actually together. This is just something else that the writers have completely botched.

Things I Pretend Didn't Happen
Sometimes I find it more enjoyable to pretend that certain events on television shows didn't happen:
1. Izzie and George on Grey's - I might have been able to stomach this if George hadn't been married to Callie at the time. George cheating on a girlfriend is a stretch, but cheating on his wife (even if he was drunk) was a completely character assassination and even felt wrong to the actor playing him. I like to pretend that George and Callie just realized they were wrong for each other, they split up, and no one suddenly realized they were in love with Izzie out of the blue.
2. George dying on Grey's - I understand TR Knight wanting to leave Grey's, but they really did not need to kill him. There are a dozen ways to send a character off, and the show even provided two outs (1. He could have gone to the army as planned or 2. He could have been laid off during the merger), yet they still went with the option that most shows do. I like to pretend that George isn't really dead and he's being the sweet fun character he originally was and is kicking ass as a trauma surgeon somewhere out there.
3. Kutner killing himself on House - See above. Be a little more creative writers.
4. Cameron and Chase Marry/Cameron Leaves - If Cameron is going to leave the hospital, why does she have to leave her marriage too? This was just the dumbest way to have her leave.
5. Carter and Thandi Newton on ER - I think her name was Kem on the show? I'm all for having Carter fall for someone who's (a) not blonde and (b) doesn't work at the hospital, but they made her such a shrill person. Their future was left up to intrepretation in the finale, and not only do I choose to believe they break up for good, but I like to pretend that they never were to begin with.
6. Kerry's partner dying in a fire on ER - Sandy? I'm really rusty on the ER names here. The writers felt the need to kill off a character that we barely saw in the first place, and then they didn't really give Kerry enough screen time to show her suffering. Laura Innes is a great actress and could have done well with this, but instead it fell flat.
7. Barney and Robin on HIMYM - You know how I feel about this, so I won't elaborate.
8. Joey and Rachel on Friends - This was just stupid and very similar to the Barney/Robin situation to me.
9. Joey's Spin-Off vs. the Friends finale - There was no indication that Joey was leaving his NY friends for California in the series finale of Friends, so I just pretend that the spin-off didn't happen.