Last Week in TV #35

Following the Game of Thrones finale last Sunday, we limp to the final "Last Week In TV" post for the 2011-2012 season. Which means, amongst other things, we won't get around to discussing the rest of Glee or the final Community episodes of the Dan Harmon era, because I am just that far behind in TV watching.

But "Last Week in TV" will be back sometime in September with the start of a new TV season, and, most likely, with a slightly different approach. But we'll get to that in due time. First, here's some final thoughts on a few finales.  

Game of Thrones: Valar Morghulis 

For better or worse (and in some cases, it was both) this episode was less a typical season finale and more a season epilogue that also did a lot of work to setup season three. Even before the horde of zombies arrived to give us our "here's what's coming" cliffhanger, we were given a very clear picture of where most of the characters are headed in the next season. Which is interesting only because that's the kind of work that's usually done in season premieres (and one of the reasons why season premieres are usually pretty boring). By doing the work of establishing the upcoming conflicts and character arcs at the end of the season (with last week's "Blackwater" serving as the climax of this season), Game of Thrones is able to tie the setup of next season to the epilogue of this one, making for a more satisfactory experience I'd like to see more shows try to emulate.

Last Week in TV #26

Bob's Burgers: Synchronized Swimming

Bob's Burgers leaves behind the film parodies for what might possible be called the show's first Linda-centric episode, though a lot of the laughs still came from the kids themselves (so far this season, the kids have pretty much always been on screen together, and while I don't think that would work forever, their interactions have yielded some pretty good gags). This was pretty much just the show being its weird self, with no homage or parody to anchor it, and it worked pretty well, with Louise elegantly but shortsightedly working the system before the entire family is nearly brought down by authoritative bureaucracy (represented in this episode by the kids' guidance counselor ). The pregnant yoga gag from the beginning even paid off at the end, and Louise's various schemes to shut down the pool were great.

Last Week in TV #25

Just a quick note on the Walking Dead episodes: I made a point to watch them separately and write about the first before watching the second, so my reactions wouldn't be colored by the finale.

The Simpsons: Them, Robot

An episode featuring killer robots voiced by Mr. Data doesn't have to work very hard to win me over, so not surprisingly, this episode was a lot of fun.They was some satire about the current state of the economy built into it as well, but it was largely toothless. As the episode seemed to focus mainly on the robots, so too will I, and the result was decent and entertaining episode.

Last Week in TV #24

So because I am apparently incapable of watching The Walking Dead without hiccups, it appears that the recording I had set for Sunday night never actually recorded, something I didn't notice until Mrs. Teebore and I sat down to finally watch the episode last night. Thankfully, like most cable networks, AMC is not dumb and re-airs episodes a lot, so we'll be able to watch it tonight, but that unfortunately means we'll have to wait until next week to discuss it alongside the finale (and while I haven't been spoiled on it yet, I do know that apparently there is much to discuss, adding to my disappointment over missing it).

Anyways, here's thoughts on the stuff I managed to NOT screw up the recording of. 

The Simpsons: How I Wet Your Mother

I think it says something about my expectations for The Simpsons at this point that when it became clear this episode was an extended Inception parody, my first thought was a sarcastic "once again, we're hitting these things at the height of their popularity". Yet later in the night American Dad riffed on The Hurt Locker, and no such sarcasm bubbled forth. Maybe I hold The Simpsons to a higher standard (which would be odd, since American Dad, at least these days, is consistently more funny) or maybe in this day and age of internet bitterness towards latter day Simpsons, I'm more inclined to find the negatives in the show (even though I don't necessarily agree with all that bitterness).

Last Week in TV #23

I'm running way behind on this post, so things will be a bit more bullet point-y than usual. 

The Simpsons: Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart

I get that this was a parody of Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop, and maybe if I was more familiar with that film I'd appreciate this episode more, but the whole thing seemed odd and kind of toothless. There were some good moments sprinkled throughout (most of the Marge birthday stuff at the beginning, the Swapper Joe's bits ("grass fed lettuce"), Drederick Tatum lining his pigeon cage with Kindles, the sincere hats/ironic hats lines) but for the most part, I'm not quite sure what this episode was trying to do.

Last Week in TV #22

February sweeps ended this week, and I'm not gonna lie: I'm looking forward to most shows taking a month off, just to get caught back up on stuff (Glee is taking about six weeks off, so I'll use that time to catch up on it next week, and I still haven't watched this week's Top Chef finale). Anyways, here's what I've got this week.

The Walking Dead: Triggerfinger

I actually did watch this two week's ago, but as we learned from last week's post, I just plum forgot about it. Which is odd, because it was a very solid episode, and it was good to have an episode that improved on the premiere instead of being a step back. Thankfully, the bar siege began and ended within the episode and didn't drag on too long, and the closing scene, in which Lori finally lays it all on the table for Rick regarding Shane, was fantastic, especially as it's been about about six episodes coming (though if Lori really wanted to rile Rick up, she should have mentioned the attempted rape; I'm not quite sure why she didn't). Speaking of Shane, for once I didn't disagree with one of his dickish moves, as lying to get Lori back to the farm was the smart play, since she had no business being out there in the first place. All in all, the energy level barely dipped from the previous episode, and that's a good sign for the rest of the season.

Last Week in TV #21

Still playing catch-up. I did watch last week's 30 Rock and Parks and Rec (the Batman pastiche where Jack was mugged and the one where Louis C.K's Dave returned to Pawnee), but haven't had a chance to write about them, so feel free to sound off in the comments (and I'll get to Glee eventually, I swear). 

The Simpsons: At Long Last Leave

500 episodes is one heck of a milestone, but at the same time, how can this show celebrate it? It's not like the writers can try to make it extra good; for all the talk of declining quality, I have no doubt the various writers, directors, cast, etc. of each episode believe they are always turning out the best possible product. And for a show like The Simpsons, which rarely allows for long term changes in the characters or the status quo of the series, it's not like the 500th episode can feature some radical new direction or the introduction of a significant new character. And so we're left mainly with a brilliant couch gag that celebrates the history preceding it, and an episode that, like every before it, does the best it can.

Last Week in TV #19

How I Met Your Mother: The Burning Beekeeper

This was clearly an episode meant to play with structure and tell a simply story in a structurally complex and interesting way. And in that regard, it succeeded. I'm a sucker for these kinds of episodes, and HIMYM has a history of doing them, and doing them well. The only problem is that this episode wasn't very funny. It elicited a few laughs, but I'm an easy mark. For the most part, any reactions I had to the episode were to the reveals created to the unique structure ("oh, that's why Ted was so eager to fight Martin Short", "that's why Lily stomped the Gouda") instead of to any of the jokes. And while HIMYM has certainly had episodes intentionally light on the laughs before, in most of those cases the laughs were replaced with significant character development; here, we didn't get much of that aside from Lily's realization about being a parent, and even that seemed less important that the structural wackiness. Like I said, I like these kinds of episodes that manipulate the traditional time/space elements within a show, but it only works if that manipulation is done in service of big laughs, good character moments, or both. Here, it did neither, and we're left with nothing more than an episode with a unique structure.

Last Week in TV #18

Busy week, and I'm already posting late. Let's get right to it!

The Simpsons: Moe Goes From Rags to Riches

 
The idea of an episode built around Moe's sentient bar rag, voiced by Jeremy Irons, is the kind of thing that could be ridiculously fun or just awful. In the end, it turned out to be neither, which is pretty much the most disappointing outcome.

The episode started out strong, as I'm enough of a history nerd to enjoy some of the historical jokes (like Medieval Homer fighting in Flanders), but lost focus as it became apparent that the bar rag's tale would have to jump huge swathes of time (I could have used less of the 1001 Nights segment) before ending up in Moe's hands in the most random way possible (he's the son of a Mt. Everest Yeti). Then, the episode suddenly shifted into Moe searching for the rag after it was stolen, and because the episode was almost over, it turned out to be Marge who stole it, and the whole thing could have been avoided if she'd just left a note. The episode ends with the Simpsons affirming their friendship for Moe, and it could have been a sweet moment, except for the fact he'll go back to being an unliked troll the next time the plot or a joke demands it. With a high concept like this, you hope for something clever and fear something awful. What we got was, unfortunately, neither.

Last Week in TV #17

A quiet week and a short post, as most shows are in reruns in anticpation of February sweeps. I wasn't able to catch the Thursday night shows yet, so they'll be covered in next week's post.  

Once Upon a Time: 7:15 AM

Thanks to this show taking a little mid-winter break and a couple weekend catch-up sessions, I've managed to get current. Like Lost before it, it's become a show where I tend to enjoy one-half of the episode more than the other. Unlike Lost, here, it's the flashbacks that are most compelling (dicey CG and anachronist dialogue aside), while watching Regina be a bitch in the present day can get a little one note (and like Lost, the best episodes are the ones where both halves are compelling, like the episode where we learned the origin of Rumpelstiltskin and Emma ran for Sheriff).