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Friday, April 26, 2013

Last Week in TV #31



So after it was preempted last week, my DVR failed to record the most recent episode of Revolution, presumably thanks to approximately the third unseasonable snowstorm of the month. I didn't see available on demand, but I'm sure I'll find it online at some point. In the meantime, we'll have to soldier on without it. 

Bob's Burgers: The Kids Run the Restaurant


Perhaps I'm just as squeamish as Bob, but I could have done without some of the blood in this episode. Otherwise, this was another great episodes, particularly the last five minutes, as the family, in a panic, attempts to convince Bob to play Fischoder to win back their money, which was a great showcase for each character and the manic energy that builds whenever the family comes together. I also appreciated that Louise ran her casino exactly like a real casino, despite the fact they were gambling on games like an Operation! knockoff and Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Tina: I only floss on my birthday, so I can look back at the past year and remember what I ate.


American Dad: The Boring Identity


The A-plot was entertaining enough (with the enthusiasm of the Futon salesmen to help Francine perpetuate her ruse being the highlight), at least until they punted the ending, with one of those "wait, is that the end?"/"are they going to continue this story next week (of course they're not)" non-endings. The B-plot ended on a similar note, but this particular iteration of the Steve/Roger pairing wasn't as funny (it was kinda a riff on Training Day, I think?), so the bizarro ending didn't feel as much like a copout ('cause I didn't care that much in the first place).


Once Upon a Time: Lacey 


While there was a central story here, involving Gold's effort to first restore Belle's memory then win over her cursed self when those are the memories that come back, it was really all about moving pieces into place for the finale: the magic beans are almost ready so the good guys are preparing to go home, the Earth-bound natives from Fairy Tale Land (Emma and Neal) are debating whether they want to go, Regina is determined to stop them, Gold learns the lesson that women are inexplicably drawn to jerks and thus is done playing Mr. Nice Guy, and in the least stunning reveal ever, Tamara and Greg have smuggled Hook back into Storybrooke for nefarious reasons. All of which on the surface is fine, but it's hard to judge any of it until we get the ultimate payoff.

Other Thoughts
This show is so erratic in its pacing (sometimes dragging things out way past their expiration date, other times burning through plot with surprising aplomb) that I simply shouldn't have any expectations about it at this point, but I was surprised Regina learned about the beans so quickly after Emma stupidly let on that there was a secret for Regina to learn. That felt like a penultimate episode reveal to me, not that I mind they didn't waste any time getting to it.

I seem to recall the announcement that Robin Hood would be appearing on the show was something of a big deal last summer, yet here is, almost at the end of the season, playing a supporting roll in a Rumpelstiltskin/Belle fairyback. I wouldn't be surprised if he popped up again, but then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

So if "Lacey" is the Storybrooke identity created by the curse for Belle, was that the identity she had when Regina had her locked away last season, or is this her first time living as Lacey? Also, since all the FTL characters in Storybrooke remember both lives, won't she be terribly confused/freaked out when people other than Gold start referring to her as Belle/use magic around her?

Regarding that opening: don't tease us like that, show.

Still not a fan of Evil Again Regina. Yes, dead horse, beating, I know.  

Some of the best moments on this show are when the characters actually take a moment to comment on their complicated relationships or the whacky plots in which they find themselves, so I enjoyed both Regina and Gold's conversation about Gold's relationship to Henry as well as Neal and Emma's discussion of August and how Neal likes him better as a kid since he asks for less money.

No matter my issues with this show, I will always be appreciative of the fact that it enables me to consistently write about magic beans.
  

Community: Economics of Marine Biology


While the ostensible A plot, featuring Annie and the Dean's attempts to lure a rich "whale" to Greendale, did little for me (though the Dean, who's had a pretty strong season so far, got some decent material to play), the whole B-plot involving Troy and Shirley taking P.E.E, was absolutely hilarious. If the new showrunners genuinely do want to try and tell more "whacky community college stories", that wouldn't be a bad one to use as a benchmark. And the Jeff/Pierce subplot was a nice moment for those two characters, calling back their relationship from earlier in the show's run, and handled the always-problematic Pierce in a good way.

Other Thoughts
Was this the first time Troy and Shirley were paired together in a story? It worked well; I'd like to see it again.

Pierce is right: getting an old timey shave is totally worth it.

This episode was intended to air prior to the previous one, hence Chang still acting like he has Changnesia without comment.

Troy: Get your damn hands off my Let’s.


Parks and Recreation: Article Two


Comedy is subjective, the notion of how much it causes one to "laugh out loud" even moreso (I, for example, am an easy mark in this department, whereas Mrs. Teebore rarely laughs at things, despite assuring me she finds them funny). That said, this episode of Parks and Rec had me laughing out loud more than a lot of other recent episodes, good as they were. While the various plots were all straightforward enough (they were pretty standard P&R material), they packed in a ton of jokes and for whatever reason, many of them landed for me. Hard.

Other Thoughts
Patton Oswalt's extended filibuster scene is widely available online, and it's worth checking out if you haven't already. It's roughly ten uninterrupted minutes of him detailing what would possibly be the greatest movie of all time. 

I appreciated that this episode established early on just why Leslie was initially a proponent of the outdated laws and then proceeded to point out some of the one that don't involve throwing Ted in the lake which she wouldn't logically support. 

This was a great episode for Ben, with both his "well, duh!" explanation of Game of Thrones to Ann and his sudden reaction to her breakfast doll ("Just burn it, bury the ashes and pray they won't haunt you.") triggering some of the biggest laughs of the night.

Ron: I love when people do nothing. In fact, I’ll work all night if it means nothing gets done.

2 comments:


  1. Once Upon a Time: Lacey

    Gold learns the lesson that women are inexplicably drawn to jerks and thus is done playing Mr. Nice Guy

    In this case, though, there's the added wrinkle of him really not being a nice guy, and so it dawns on him that he can be himself — or at least give in to the Dark One power-corrupts side of himself — with "Lacey" instead of having to go against his nature with Original Flavor Belle.

    I was surprised Regina learned about the beans so quickly after Emma stupidly let on that there was a secret for Regina to learn.

    Me too. Even before Regina made her way to the field, however, I wondered if Emma actually knew what she was doing when she referred to Regina "losing [Henry] for good" in the hopes that Regina would uncover and stop the plan to open a portal back to FTL. There was just something hinky in the apparent slip.

    So if "Lacey" is the Storybrooke identity created by the curse for Belle, was that the identity she had when Regina had her locked away last season, or is this her first time living as Lacey?

    I have the same question, since when locked up she apparently had no memory of any identity and that's the state to which she appeared to revert when crossing the city limits. At first I thought that Regina created an identity for her with that matchbook, but Gold seemed convinced that it Lacey was a mundane Storybrooke identity, and now I'm not sure there's a good answer. Plus, I'd been waiting all episode for someone to talk to Lacey as if she remembered FTL and knew about magic like everyone else does; bupkis.

    I seem to recall the announcement that Robin Hood would be appearing on the show was something of a big deal last summer

    My big issue with Robin Hood is that there is an actual Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, which stokes my constantly burning curiosity over FTL's relationship to the real world. Since the Robin Hood legend goes back some 600 years, too, historical and geographical stuff aside, it begs anew the questions of (1) exactly how time operates in FTL vs. the real world — nobody other than Gold/Rumplestiltskin, I don't think, has been revealed to have lived a supernormally long life — and (2) why there was no time difference between the realms when Snow and Emma visited.

    I think this was the first time we were told that Gold "procured" Henry for Regina. And it seems to be that neither Regina nor Gold knew that he was Emma's son. I don't mind chalking it up to fate, given the whole conceit of the show, but it's strange that I don't remember a moment of incredulity on Regina's behalf after Emma showed up and Regina discovered or realized that she was Snow's daughter and thus the prophesied curse-breaker.

    Community: Economics of Marine Biology

    I have nothing to add except that the (juvenile, but/and surely intentional) joke in the acronym "P.E.E." hadn't registered until now.

    Parks and Recreation: Article Two

    That filibuster is crazy fantastic. So was Ben's Game of Thrones explanation to Ann.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Blam: Plus, I'd been waiting all episode for someone to talk to Lacey as if she remembered FTL and knew about magic like everyone else does

    Right? I feel like this is something that would happen more often than not, especially considering the disconnect between Belle and Lacey.

    I think this was the first time we were told that Gold "procured" Henry for Regina.

    I feel like we had learned that in a previous episode, though I can't place which one. You're right though that I don't think we've ever gotten a moment of incredulity from Regina over the huge coincidence of her adopting the son of the one person who could break the curse (frankly, the show doesn't comment on its own history/coincidences often enough for my taste, which is why I always enjoy it when it does).

    the (juvenile, but/and surely intentional) joke in the acronym "P.E.E." hadn't registered until now.

    And it didn't register for me until you pointed it out, and I typed it!

    ReplyDelete

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