Remote Uncontrolled

61: Summer School Edition

The Killing: “Missing”

Zoe: The Killing is a show I really, really wanted to like. I enjoy the hell out of murder mysteries and lady detectives, and AMC has a pretty good track record. Unfortunately, the show bounces around from “terrible and nonsensical” to “boring” and really hits anything good. The main detective characters are fine–the best part of the show–but everything else is really meh. I never thought I would be so callous about victim’s grief, but man, I hate Mitch Larsen. Hate her so much.

Fortunately, this week The Killing chose (or was contractually forced) to ditch those extra, annoying characters in favor of Holder and Linden actually bonding. About 3 episodes too late, really, but a welcome relief all the same. And while we still know next to nothing about Rosie or what she was doing or how racist the Native American Casino plot will become, we learned some more about our main characters and got to see Linden lighten up, just a little bit. Prior to this episode, my investment was limited to being angry that I had waste my time and wanting to see the show through. Now my investment is partially because I actually like some people on the show and their relationship. Progress!

Men of a Certain Age: “The Great Escape”

Scott: Boy oh boy am I excited for this summer’s half season of the show I’m way to young to love on a network I’m way too young to watch, TNT’s Men of a Certain Age. My love of sweet, sweet MOACA (I pronounce it “mocha”) is no secret to regular Remote Uncontrolled readers. Despite the fact that it’s about fiftysomething men in situations I’m decades away from, the great characters, autumnal cinematography, wry observational humor and so-subtle-it’s-almost-slight writing earn it a place on my very favorite shows. Last week’s half-season premiere was maybe its best episode ever, bringing several series-long arcs to fruition but working as a standalone piece too that highlights just what makes the show special: warm, melancholy and quietly magnificent. Joe (Ray Romano), nice guy that he is, finds himself pulled on by the two people for whom he has the most mixed feelings imaginable: his ex-wife he still loves but who cheated on him, and his former bookie/current friend whose mere presence fans the flames of his gambling addiction. Owen (Andre Braugher) gets a ticket out of the $500 million debt his father saddled him with when he handed over the dealership that’s his birthright. And Terry (Scott Bakula) gives up the last vestiges of his prolonged adolescence for a woman who may not even want him. All of the arcs unfold in quiet, unspectacular ways, but the simple humanity the series spins out of ordinary, decent people reminds me of the first season of Friday Night Lights. MOACA’s already back in its stride, let’s hope audiences show up for it.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution “Is It Me or Have We Just Been Pushed Into a Corner?”

Dennis: While I might be slacking on catching up on shows I neglected all season (sorry, Fringe, Treme,Justified, The Middle, and Southland, I’ll get to you eventually, I swear), I’m at least doing well keeping up with shows that the networks hid from sight until the season was over. Poor Food Revolution, a reality show nominated for an Emmy last year, whose really bad ratings caused it to be yanked from the schedule two episodes into its season, for the duration of May sweeps. Whenever anyone asks me how this show is (because I’m increasingly convinced I might be the only person watching, especially in these summer network TV doldrums), I always say that it is manipulative, but for all the right reasons. Three episodes in, Jamie finally broke his fast food-peddling frenemy Deno, who realized that perhaps he could make a difference in the community. I challenge anyone to watch this episode and not tear up as Deno does. It’s a shame these episodes might be the last we see of this show. I guess the Revolution really won’t be televised.

Game of Thrones: “You Win or You Die” and “The Pointy End”

Zoe: Hoo boy! A lot happened on this show in the past few weeks, including Ned finally realizing how fucked he is, the Lannisters and the Starks finally going to war with each other, some zombie action, and Khal Dragoripping some dude’s throat out. Pretty exciting stuff all around, and yet I want to talk about nudity! Im not the only person who complains about this show’s occasionally gratuitous T&A, because it’s so blatant. And yet I see people call those reviewers puritans. Now, look. I’m as ok with ladies boobs being shown as the next gal who doesn’t care about boobs at all. In fact, there are times when being on a broadcast channel would limit perfectly natural boobs showing. But there’s a difference between that and having some ladies finger bang for the hell of it and the latter is damaging not just those scenes, but the shows reputation. With people who don’t really watch, this has now become the show with weird sex acts to hear about and not the show about badass and nobility and snow zombies. That’s a crying shame and I hope that HBO and the writers have enough faith in their audience next season to ditch it. Or at least add some more dong, because Hodor and Theon isn’t really doing a lot for the ladies, you know?

On to more important things, like how fucked Ned is. Because man. It was bad enough when he just wasn’t politically savvy enough to pick up on the massive hints people were dropping on him, but to be betrayed by his wife’s rival and accused of treachery? Harsh. And the one card he had in his sleeve was freed to go help the Hill Tribes take down the Eeryie (land of Motherboy). Whoops! Should have stayed in Winterfell, with your equally foolish wife and teenaged daughter. I guess on the bright side he could always come back as a snow zombie?

Love Bites “Firsts” and “How To…”

Dennis: I kind of feel bad for Love Bites. It was supposed to be one of NBC’s staples last fall and then it was shelved for the entire actual season. When it finally hit airwaves. it was savaged by the critics who bothered to knowledge its existence. I mean, maybe this show isn’t good per se, but based on the two episodes that have aired, I don’t think it’s completely terrible either. Ugly Betty‘s Becki Newton definitely has star potential and I enjoy her scenes here. I wish TBS hadn’t renewed My Boys for one more season, thus pulling from the show its planned lead, the equally as compelling Jordanna Spiro, since now we have to endure Greg Grunberg for a large portion of the episodes. It’s not that I dislike Grunberg, JJ Abrams’ pal and perpetual second banana, it’s just I guess I only like him as said secondary player. The one thing I did like about Grunberg’s character, shifted in between the two episodes. In the first episode, Grunberg’s wife was played by Louie‘s Pamela Adlon, who’s made a career of being sharply sarcastic ever since Grease 2, but unfortunately she’s since been re-cast with Constance Zimmer. Again, nothing against Zimmer, I just wonder what the could’ve been like with Adlon (who ended up on Californication instead). Then again, with this show, unfortunately there’s a lot of wondering what might’ve been. What if this had aired last fall? What if the NBC heads that were supportive of the show were still at NBC? What if Newton’s character weren’t pregnant for the whole season? (Although, I kind of like that real life-dictated addition). Still, as mild summer diversions go, I’ll take this sweet scripted trifle over watching Gordon Ramsay scream at people. or Bachelor Pad candidates getting the clap, any day.

Switched at Birth: “This is Not a Pipe”

Zoe: I know Dennis is a big booster of ABC Family, and I hear good things, like “it’s not as bad as you think!” This, and the fact that as an ASL student, I’m basically required by law to watch anything with the Deaf community, is what brought me to Switched at Birth. Which, honestly, was about what I would expect from something with Family in the channel name–I didn’t feel like I was watching Seventh Heaven, per se, but at least their neighbor. Not that I am against family programming–I defend the Disney Channel, for god’s sakes–but I don’t think this was the most compelling version of it I’ve seen. However, this largely hinges on the fact that the rich parents are such douches that I can’t believe normal humans, estranged daughter or not, would continue to hang out with them. Likewise, the fact that now these two families will be living together is a hard contrivance to swallow. On the plus side, for once teen angst was warranted on a teen show and the show moved along at a good clip. You go from the opening to the reveal in about 3 minutes, which is really all you need when the premise is in the title. All things considered, I can’t judge a pilot as harsh as I would a normal episode, and there’s a chance the rich family will become less douchey to the daughter they raised (and the mother of the daughter they didn’t) over time. Plus, it is fun to see ASL on TV. I’ll keep watching, but the fact that I can’t barely remember these characters names probably says something.

Remote Uncontrolled

60: Should Have Asked for Puppy

Tyrion Lannister, a short blonde man, is holding on to the edge of a circular pit.

Game of Thrones: “A Golden Crown”

Robert: Well, that was a handful. I felt like the show kicked things up a notch last week and although things got a little silly, it didn’t let up one bit in “A Golden Crown”. Daenerys secures her place as queen of the Dothraki and a frustrated Viserys thinks his time to lead the Dothraki army has come. Tyrion appeals to Lysa Arynn’s need for justice, only to mock her court with tales of “making the bald man cry” and so forth. When the king bails on all the drama between the Starks and Lannisters and goes off for a hunt, he leaves Ned (who, despite his wife’s actions, he seems to still trust more than any Lannister) in charge of the throne. And when it seemed like every thread was starting to right itself, it all went upside down. Tyrion does some fast-talking and legal wrangling and finds himself a free man, Ned hears about Gregor’s marauding and proceeds to basically shut down his knighthood and put out an APB on him, and when Viserys threatens his sister to get his promised reward, Khal Drago obliges in a most-horrifying fashion. That last part I didn’t see coming, and because we’re dealing with a fantasy world, I half-expected Viserys to become some kind of golden-masked zombie freak, but it definitely looked like he was a goner, and I can’t complain about that.

Zoe: I thought Catelyn’s kidnapping of Tyrion was the stupidest thing a Stark would ever do, but then there’s Ned, proving me wrong. I can’t imagine hunting Ser Gregor is going to go well for anyone involved (sorry, recently introduced knight!) and even though the king trusts him, you can’t really have your Hand declaring open war. Still, at least Ned has figured out there’s something fishy about all those blonde Lannister children–but that probably won’t go over too well either. I find it interesting that some time was devoted to Sansa and Joffrey’s romance. I don’t believe the latter has any emotions, and while Sansa can be irritating it’s hard to see her naivety preyed upon. And really, is her naive, starry-eyed world view so different from Ned’s? Ned believes so strongly in justice he’s probably going to be arrested for treason because he’s too noble to accept the politics behind ruling a kingdom. I’m not saying I want Daenerys dead, but Robert’s reasoning is pretty good. Hopefully Ned’s foolishness won’t end with his own golden crown.

Camelot: “Igraine”

Robert: The tricky thing about having one character masquerading as another is that there have to be shades of both for it to really work. My favorite example of this is the dual character switch in Face/Off, where John Travolta takes over Nicolas Cage’s role while also acting like Nicolas Cage, and vice versa. He looks like Castor Troy, but Sean Archer is clearly at the wheel, and yet there are moments where the essence of Castor Troy has to be present to keep the masquerade going. For better or worse, Camelot tries to pull that off here, and in some respects, it works. Claire Forlani plays Fake Igraine (Migraine?) with just enough Morgan under the surface, while also playing Real Igraine desperately trying to find a way out of captivity at Pendragon, but things start to lose focus when Fake Igraine befriends a child in Camelot and becomes the touchy-feely, motherly type. Suddenly, it doesn’t quite feel like Morgan is really in there anymore. Almost the entire episode goes by before we finally get to the part that matters—Fake Igraine confides in Leontes and exposes Arthur’s secret affair with Guinevere. When the boy accidentally falls to his death by her doing, Merlin’s oath to personally take out the person responsible—not to mention Real Igraine escaping and returning to Camelot—foretells that we probably won’t be seeing much of Fake Igraine from here on out. Still, the Arthur/Leontes conflict is now in motion and Morgan has managed to sidestep Merlin’s Spidey-senses, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the last two episodes of the season, but the worst part of this episode: no Eva Green. Sad-face.

Happy Endings: “The Shershow Redemption”

Dennis: Happy Endings is really starting to fit into the ABC comedy line-up nicely, but I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment. I gave up on Modern Family, Cougar Town, and the recently canceled Better with You earlier this season because I demand a certain amount of consistency from my comedy that they never provided (though my roller coaster-like relationship with Cougar Town kind of compells me to catch up on it this summer), and I’m finding to be Happy to be equally as unable to find a rhythm. I was sort of ambivalent to this week’s season finale. Few things ellicited a laugh from me, though I sort of hope the show brings back Penny’s over-the-top other gay friend Derrick more next season. More impressions of Kenickie, and Niles from Frasier, please!

House: “Moving On”

Zoe: Another House season, another dramatic and mostly nonsensical ending. The deaths didn’t stick and the shootings didn’t stick and the firings didn’t stick and the relationships didn’t stick, so we get House banned from the hospital forever–or at least until November sweeps. I would talk about how boring and rote this show has become, except that’s been true for seasons. I would talk about how the soap opera is ridiculous, except it’s been the shining light in an otherwise mediocre season. Instead, I would like to talk about High Laurie. I recently rewatched some of A Little Bit of Fry and Laurie and while Stephen Fry may be a public intellectual now, Hugh Laurie has clearly gone on to bigger fame. And yet, except for when they let House play music, his greatest talents are being wasted. The comedy of House no longer comes from biting sarcasm–it comes from viewers laughing at the show. This isn’t the show it started out as, which is fine, but it’s not even a show taking advantage of it’s greatest asset. I’m not sure if I can stick out another season in the World of Constant Psychoanalysis of Your Friends, Coworkers, Patients, Delivery Men, Etc, but I do hope that the House of the Run plot next season allows Laurie to have a bit of fun. It can be a little dreary to be a viewer of this show–I can’t imagine what being the main part of it would do.

Remote Uncontrolled

59: The Search Is Over?

A picture of Warren Buffett against a beige wall. Buffett is an elderly white man in a dark suit with a red tie.

The Office: “Search Committee”

Scott: Let’s get the discussion of this actual episode out of the way before getting to what we actually care about, which is obviously the casting of Steve Carell’s replacement. So… this episode was pretty much a big fat flop, especially last week’s surprisingly great Dwight-centric storyline. The much-publicized parade of stars was a total bust, and a miscalculation. While I can see the producers and writers thinking a one scene cameo from Jim Carrey was a hilarious bait and switch, I think nearly everyone watching felt shafted. Now, on to my speechifyin’, then a little more discussion on the candidates.

I am surprised that I’ve found myself caring about what happens on The Office so much in the back half of this season. While a lot of people tuned out years ago, I’ve found the show consistently hilarious enough that I’ve always watched. I’ve never thought of it in terms of seasons or years or arcs, it’s just always The Office, existing in a timeless vacuum that always looks, sounds and feels the same. It is a reassuring constant in an ever-changing world. That consistency is what will make this show continue to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in syndication. And that consistency is what’s being shaken up for the very first time by Carell’s departure. Choose someone awful and my precious normalcy will be forever shattered. The first part of the equation — Michael Scott’s actual departure — was handled better than I ever could have imagined, with minor debits for wasting Will Ferrell. But will they stick the landing and find a good replacement?

First, the internal candidates. If this was a real office, I would give the job to someone who worked their way up. But this is a TV show, and one that needs some new blood. If this was a real audition episode, and we didn’t know Ray Romano has a great show already and Warren Buffett is a quadrillionaire, here would be my rundown: Jim Carrey was a one joke fake-out, Will Arnett didn’t make an impression, Ricky Gervais should’ve ended up on the cutting room floor. We keep hearing that there are only two real candidate: Catherine Tate and James Spader. I know Tate has a lot of fans, so presumably she’s funny, but I went into this episode rooting for her as someone who adores British comedy and funny women and came out thinking her casting would be a trainwreck that would get the show canceled immediately. That leaves Spader, who did the creepy/hilarious thing he does so well. According to Hollywood gossip rags, the producers want Tate because she can do warmth and ineptitude like Carell did, but trust me: a mass American audience is not going to like Tate. If NBC has any sense, they’ve called Spader to offer him the job this morning, and after one last season of The Office they’ll start a new spinoff, The Boston Office, with William Shatner.

Game of Thrones: “The Wolf and the Lion”

Robert: In just four episodes, we’ve already gotten a lot of story spanning a lot of time over several locations, but for this episode to start off in the same place right after last week’s…it feels like a trick or something. After the ill-fated joust match that kills Ned’s only lead, Gregor loses to the appropriately-named Knight of Flowers and does something to a horse that only Don Corleone could be proud of. Then it’s all about everyone in King’s Landing whispering in Ned’s ear about the king and who’s been doing what. I like that the show is suddenly more focused now, but it also feels abridged by comparison, as if we’ve glossed over what’s been happening elsewhere (because, as we all know, time just flies by in this show, or does it?). On the other hand, I found it an interesting choice that instead of seeing the Targaryens and their forever-long trek with the Dothraki, we’re instead shown the other side of the equation as news of Daenerys’ pregancy finally makes its way to King’s Landing. Catelyn reunites with her unstable sister, Tyrion finds himself locked away, Arya overhears plotting against Ned, Varys and Littlefinger square off with their secrets, and when Jamie corners Ned and it seemed like he was going to put up a magnificent fight to save his own hide, one of Jamie’s men pulls a complete bitch move and spears him in the leg. Bah!

Zoe: As I described to my younger brother, shit went down this week. After a few exposition-heavy episodes this week we get: Tyrion killing a man, a new location, a conspiracy to kill Ned (and the king), Catelyn’s crazy sister, a plot to kill Daenery’s, Ned resigning, and shit finally going down between the Starks and the Lannister’s. It’s a lot to fit in an hour, but the show does it wonderfully. The pacing was perfect–exciting when it needed to be, but never afraid to linger on some very weird moments. I have to say, as good as the past few episodes have been, I’m excited to see more action. I don’t need giant battle scenes every week, but I’m also tiring of characters doomsaying with “winter is coming” and nothing happening yet. Given the direction I know the series is going (vaguely), I’m excited to see the action play out. While exposition is necessary on this show (there are still characters names I’m learning), lingering on it too long is a disservice to all viewer types. When the actors are this good–and how great were scenes like The Spider and Littlefinger spy vs. spying each other?–there’s really no need to let us know who Theon is again, even if it does give us our first (of many?) dick shots.

90210: “To the Future!”

Dennis: For the second year a row, here I am writing about how much I disliked the 90210 finale. Will I ever learn? Will I ever stop watching this show? Probably not, on both counts. Liam and Annie got a sudden case of “oh hey, it’s season finale”-itis, broke up for no apparent reason, and he went to work on a Deadliest Catch-esque fishing boat. Meanwhile, Noami got cliffhanger-itis and found out she was knocked up. And Teddy and Marco? Reduced to glorified extras this whole hour. I guess it could be worse. Ryan and Debbie weren’t even in the episode, and word has it they won’t even be on the show next year. I guess that began a little early? Don’t even get me started on Adrianna’s storyline. As she sat rambling to a ghost on a cliffside about how she wasn’t going to kill herself, despite having manipulated Naveen and Silver (suddenly, the two stupidest characters on the show, even though they’re supposed to be two of the smartest), never have I more wanted a strong gust of wind to finish someone off. Here’s hoping the umpteenth showrunners commissioned to re-re-re-boot this spin-off next season can fix this mess.

Camelot: “The Long Night”

Robert: A couple of weeks ago, I suggested that Camelot was about to take a new leap forward as Morgan found new backing in her effort to reclaim the throne, and even though “The Long Night” did some of that, it took a big step backwards first. Because some things have to be learned the hard way, Arthur accepts another invitation to wine and dine at Castle Pendragon, this time with Merlin, Guinevere, Leones, Igraine—basically the whole Camelot crew—in tow. It really makes no sense why a king with threats looming abroad would leave his castle with all his best advisors and warriors at his side, and honestly, it felt like the writers decided that, even though Merlin just went through an ordeal during their last visit to Morgan’s crib, they needed a “do over” in order to move the story forward. Granted, Arthur seemed none the wiser to Merlin’s predicament last time (I like you, Merlin, but stop being so somber and cryptic. Speak up, man! Your king is clearly blind without you!), and after spending a night under siege at Pendragon by unseen invaders, he once again comes away oblivious to Morgan’s involvement or her switcheroo with Igraine. Now that we’ve circled around to take care of that little bit of business, the Morgan’s real treachery and usurping can begin. Really sexy treachery and usurping, that is.

Raising Hope: “Don’t Vote for This Episode”

Dennis: This flashback-filled season finale really reminded me how much I’ve come to enjoy this show over its first season. Besides seeing Goth Jimmy and a slightly more lucid Maw Maw, it was great to see the recurring the characters when Jimmy was 18, from Hope’s future homicidal baby mama, to a not-yet-gap-toothed Shelley, to an overweight Barney. I think that being fond of all the characters, not just the regulars is a true testament to a good show. And I’m happy this good show will be back for a second year!

Breaking In: “21.0 Jump Street”

Dennis: Well, I finally checked in on this show… just in time to see it reach its (probable series) finale. There was talk of Fox possibly uncancelling this comedy if it did well in the ratings without its Idol ratings crutch, and I had hope it would do that, paired with Raising Hope, but alas not. I feel bad for Bret Harrison and Christian Slater both at this point. They’re both unlucky with shows, especially likable in thes roles and surely they’ll find a hit series some day (or some season) soon. Right? Right?

Bones: “The Change in the Game”

Zoe: Bones hasn’t been good for at least two seasons, if not more. It’s gone from a show I love to watch, to a show that’s great to have on while I am doing other things. As someone who was a big fan it’s always disappointing to see something you love go downhill so fast, but given the nature of procedural TV it was expected. This season, though, will be my last. It was dreadful in every way that procedurals can be, with the added bonus of completely losing touch with Bones‘ one benefit–it’s strong (and relatively consistent) characterization. All that was thrown away in favor of treating Bones like an idiot infant. While she’s also been strange about social norms, there was at least a sense she understood them (generally) and choose to reject them. I mean, the lady is a best selling author and presumably part of that is because she can write people decently.

On top of all that, the finale gave us not only the birth of Hodgins and Angela’s son who, despite much hand-wring, wasn’t blind, but also the revelation that Bones is pregnant. With Booth’s baby. Because that how TV works–if you hook up once, you’re guaranteed a pregnancy! It is, after all, all ladies are good for. I have to hand it to Bones, though. Not only did they manage to take all the fun out of a “will they/won’t they” situation by having the characters actually create a schedule for when they would become emotionally invested in each other, they skipped right from the sexy fun to the tedious baby having part. At least Hodgins and Angela had seasons of chemistry and relationship development. Bones just gets a baby because Rickety Cricket knocked her up, Thumbs way down.

The Good Wife: “Closing Arguments”

Dennis: Even if the stupid CBS promos gave away the whole end to this season (Will and Alicia’s overdue elevator make-out session, with Mika’s “Any Other World” playing in the background), I still enjoyed this fast-paced finale. Good Wife has probably been my most consistent and enjoyable shows of the season and I’m going to be bummed to not have it around for a few months. I’m going to be even more bummed when it comes back in the fall on Sundays and football time shifts it all around the night. I mean, I love football, but I love my Margulies more. You don’t hear that every day, that’s for sure.

Castle: “Knockout”

Robert: Earlier in the season, as my annoyances with Castle grew into outright frustration, I remember thinking that this show had to start taking some chances and not settle into the mediocre (albeit safe) territory it had found itself. When the show premiered in 2009, it felt fun and fresh and gave us an outlet to admire our favorite browncoat again, but two seasons later, all that novelty had worn off for me. I’d stopped watching halfway through this season and it was only blind luck that I happened to catch this week’s season finale, but I’m glad I did. In “Knockout”, Castle is all but cast aside as Beckett discovers some startling new facts about her mother’s murder—which, frankly, I thought was already given enough airtime in last season’s weighty “Sucker Punch”—and how Capt. Montgomery is linked to it all. There’s something to do with assassins and betrayals and so forth, but as is the case with Castle, it’s only the (usually upbeat) emotional ride that matters. Montgomery says his last goodbyes to his unknowing family, Ryan and Esposito tear at each other over their doubts, Beckett grapples violently with Montgomery’s sacrifice to save her, and in the end, Castle finds himself in a situation far more dire than any of us could have expected. It’s a stinging cliffhanger for anyone who put money on a breezy Castle/Beckett get-together to end the season, but for what it’s worth, I like that the show went to a really dark place for once. With the direction the show is now pointed in, I’m not sure if it was quite what the doctor ordered, but it’s enough to get me back on board, and I can only hope that next season capitalizes on this big shake-up.

Happy Endings “Bo Fight” and “Barefoot Pedaler”

Dennis: Why does ABC feel the need to air its comedy series’ episodes out of order? They’ve done it with Samantha Who?, Scrubs, and Better Off Ted in the past, and now they’re doing it here. Dave and Max have been living together for weeks, and then all of a sudden now the network gets around to airing the episode in which Dave moves in? And then gets around to airing one of the “Dave and Alex start to get along better even though she left him at the altar” episodes that would’ve made much more sense weeks ago too? ABC seems to have faith in this show. After all, it renewed it and gave it a plum post-Modern Family slot for fall, but here’s hoping they show it by airing episodes in order next year. What a novel idea!

Remote Uncontrolled

58: No More Teachers, No More Paintball

Community: “For a Few Paintballs More”

Rawles: While I wouldn’t say that anything could compare to the original paintball episode, I do think this finale surpassed most of the rest of this season. Troy battling Jeff for leadership, Shirley and Britta saving the day, and Abed taking a turn as Han Solo all held their own special delights. It’s been an uneven year for Community with a few nagging storylines that I constantly wished would go away — not to mention obviously a little confused about how to best utilize all of its characters — but at the very least the Pierce storyline was actually leading somewhere. The only remaining issue with it is the fact that I assume I’m supposed to be sad about him leaving the study group. Er…

Dennis: Surprise! Another Roundtable where undoubtedly 8900 people will probably write about Community! Don’t get me wrong, I like this show, but even I’m kind of sick of hearing about it. I’m kind of happy it’s over because we’ll finally go a few weeks without dissecting this show. But, I sure do wish the season had ended on a better note. I really dug last week’s paintball sequel, but maybe making it an hour long (over the course of two weeks, no less) was a bad choice. The momentum that last week built up, sort of puttered out. City College was behind the nefarious conspiracy? Lame. Abed and Annie kissed? Well, the show did declare early on that everyone could potentially make out with everyone, and I think it’s almost averaging more hook-ups than the Gossip Girl cast at this point. And who didn’t see it coming that Pierce would be the one to ultimately save the day? And who didn’t foresee that he wouldn’t walk back in the study room at episode’s end? That’s all I’ll say about that, since we’ve undoubtedly wasted enough ink (or whatever the blogging equivalent of being wasteful is) on the name “Pierce” this season. I wasn’t even that pleased with the random (but not entirely surprising), silent Cougar Towncast members’ cameo (seriously, did ABC tell them they could appear on NBC as long as they didn’t speak!?). I’m glad it’ll be back, but I’m looking forward to a Community-free summer.

Zoe: You know, as much as I love Community, it’s hard to say a lot about it. It’s either really, really fun to watch that week or just “pretty good”. I would label this week as “pretty good”–not because it didn’t hold up to the standards of last year’s paintball episode, but I just wasn’t very invested in it as a plot. There was fun with Abed playing Han and everyone groaning over Jeff’s douchery–and I was pretty amused by Shirley’s lack of investment in the proceedings, but overall it didn’t quite feel like a finale. On the other hand, it seems like Pierce is gone for a bit and in a way I liked. We’ll see how long this sticks, but at least I got one wish from this season!

The Good Wife: “Getting Off”

Dennis: Hooray! As I requested last week, more Alicia and Jackie face-offs. Yet again, Jackie tried to manipulate Alicia’s kids, and our Good attorney wasn’t having any of it. Although, from her comments, something tells me Jackie might have some dirt on the Florrick kids that could look badly on Alicia’s parenting? As long as it brings more strong lady battles! Also, just one week after Martha Plimpton took time out of her Raising Hope schedule to reprise her recurring role, Mamie Gummer came back on the map (get it!? Because she’s on Off the Map) to reprise her recurring role as rival lawyer Nancy Crozier, as well. As is often the case with The Good Wife, the show’s main case was far too simplistic (non-monogamous marriages clearly always end in murder) and took a back seat (though Sarah Silverman was surprisingly compelling in a dramatic role. Who knew?) to the dramas of Alicia, Jackie, and Kalinda. If CBS’ spoiler-tastic promos are to be believed, Will and Alicia FINALLY suck face next week, to which I say: Bring. It. On.

The Office: “Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager”

Scott: Like you and the rest of civilization, I was ready to write off The Office entirely after last week. In fact, I hated the first half of this episode even more. As expected, there’s a gigantic Carell-sized hole in the Carell-less Office. Hell, removing the star of anything makes it a conceptual art project about the importance of that star, which we’ll probably see again this fall when Ashton Kutcher becomes the long-lost and/or recently released from prison uncle or whatever on Two and a Half Men. But after a bumpy first half, ”Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager” tapped into a vein of deep sadness that The Office hasn’t mined since the show decided Michael Scott was a lovable ne’er-do-well instead of an incompetent moron. Dwight K. Schrute’s short and violent reign as head of Scranton’s Dunder Mifflin branch was the closest The Office US has ever gotten to David Brent begging for his job at the end of The Office UK, which is arguably the greatest moment in arguably the greatest TV comedy of the past decade. I wouldn’t quite elevate Dwight to the comic pantheon of desperate, needy, compelling jerks like Brent, Hank Kingsley and Kenny Powers just yet, but Rainn Wilson (who’s never been my favorite comic actor) convincingly took Dwight from his most egocentric to most defeated in a matter of minutes, and made Dwight sympathetic for once. Now to see who’s the permanent boss. I’m pulling for James Spader or Warren Buffett.

Nikita: “Pandora”

Rawles: The second part of Nikita‘s two-part season finale once again employed just enough twists and turns and reversals to evoke Classic Nikita. While Nikita’s apparent “death” held little suspense as it was obvious Alex was attempting to orchestrate some way to get them both out of their precarious position, the rest of the episode moved into more interesting territory. With Amanda’s defection to Oversight (or, rather, the fact that perhaps she was never much on his side in the first place) Percy seems to be running low on remotely loyal operatives. Michael has gone entirely AWOL with Nikita and Birkoff is sympathetic to the Bring Down Division cause. If the show does get picked up for a second season, it feels like they’ll need a new castmember or two just to balance things out or else it will become a bit unbelievable that with all of this highly competent opposition, Percy is still standing. It’s good, however, that the writers clearly determined the simplistic “find and destroy the black boxes” goal couldn’t sustain itself indefinitely. There are only six and eventually it becomes repetitive. This new idea of using the knowledge within to attempt to right some of the wrongs that Division has done opens up a lot of new possibilities and gives a lot more breathing room. The addition of Oversight to the fold — with the excellent casting of Alberta Watson, La Femme Nikita‘s Madeline, the analogue to Amanda, as one of them — also does a good deal for tension. Especially since Alex is in the throes of striking up a deal with them to reclaim her father’s criminal empire from the people who orchestrated her family’s death. As ever, one of the strongest points of the entire show was the relationship between Alex and Nikita. Alex feels betrayed and thankfully — considering how well Alex knows the paucity of choice involved in being a Division agent — it’s not necessarily the knowledge that Nikita, herself, killed her father, but the fact that Nikita never told Alex. She’s telling herself that she’s let Nikita go, that she doesn’t care anymore, and while it’s obviously untrue, it will be fascinating to see how Alex interacts with Amanda now that Amanda has also saved her life and she’s down one mentor. Here’s hoping for a second season so that we can find out this and many other things.

Parks & Recreation: “The Fight” and “Road Trip”

Dennis: With 30 Rock done for the season and no one exactly clamoring to watch Perfect Paul Resier Outsourced Couples or whatever occupies the 3rd hour of the NBC comedy block these days, I’m glad NBC saw fit to double up on Parks & Rec. The first episode saw laugh out loud moments with everyone (save for Chris and Donna) drunk, and the second episode finally gave us that long overdue kiss between Ben and Leslie. And hey, there was even a reference to Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom! Community might have all the cool film references but at least Parks & Recreation has books cornered!

South Park: “Royal Pudding”

Scott: Trey Parker and Matt Stone are tired. Their first stage musical, The Book of Mormon, has opened to rave reviews and sells out every night. But putting on a Broadway show is a lot of work. Like, watching it five times a day for six months, meticulously picking apart every second of music, acting, choreography, sets, lighting, and so on. So once the thing’s on the stage you’d think they’d get a nice vacation to unwind, right? Noooooooooo, they’ve got a half season of South Park on deck, and they have to write, animate, and record the voices for every episode from start to finish in exactly a week’s time. Only Saturday Night Live has a crazier schedule, and 90% of the time it’s terrible. You’d think these episodes would be terrible too, but they’ve been pretty hilarious so far in that silly, brain-addled way you get when you’re totally exhausted. This week’s “Royal Pudding” might be one of my favorite episodes ever. I’ve always been a fan of Parker and Stone’s Canadian diversions; the sheer absurdism and even cruder than usual animation make them feel like a South Park spinoff on Adult Swim. The show treats Canadians much the way they treat Mormons: awestruck by their sweet ol’ fashionedness, perplexed by their odd traditions. Of course, the royal wedding provides even strange ceremonial fodder, and the consummation of the marriage by sodomy with a severed limb ranks in “Scott Tenorman Must Die” territory for just how gleefully sadistic South Park can get. Some have suggested that Parker and Stone are trying to get Viacom to fire them so they can devote their full attention to other projects, but hopefully they’ll stick around if South Park is going to stay this bizarre.

Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden

Dennis: Admittedly, even I’ve started to grow tired of Gaga in recent months. She’s been furiously releasing songs from her new album, perhaps because none of them have really “clicked” the way previous singles have. And, I almost didn’ watch this special, having seen HBO promos with Gaga crying about being a “loser,” fearing it’d be way too much “behind the scenes” and not enough of the actual tour, which I had previously heard was pretty amazing. Luckily, I tuned in, since it was almost entirely Gaga at her actual best: live and singing. What many of the Gaga-haters don’t understand is that beyond the theatrics and funny costumes, she actually has a decent voice, and this was finally that showcase. Hell, I even liked the two renditions of “Born This Way” (as encore song, and then as an a capella backstage warm-up song while the credits played). I wish we would’ve seen underatted opening act The Scissor Sisters do a song or two (especially from their under-listened to newest album Night Work), but I guess Gaga figured that would’ve distracted from her own spectacle. And what a spectacular spectacle it was.

Game of Thrones: “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things”

Zoe: I read somewhere this week–I think at the AV Club–that Eddard Stark is the wrong guy in the wrong story. He should be in LoTR, fighting Orcs and instead he’s dealing with the time-traveling former mayor of Baltimore who’s definitely taking him for a ride, I’m just not sure how. In fact, all the Starks are people who seem distinctly uncomfortable in places that aren’t their Northern strong hold. Robb can’t quite meet the standards of a Lord and Cate is ready to start a disastrous political situation with the Lannisters on shaky evidence at best. Even Jon Snow, who’s only gone farther North seems out of place and politically naive.

Nonetheless this week was mostly for, frankly, much needed exposition and it’s to the show’s great credit that it was well handed exposition. But as someone who has never read the books there are characters I was completely clueless about until the chance was taken to explain them. And on top of that we had Daenerys becoming even more awesome than she had been. Besides Tyrion, she’s the character I care most about…though I have to admit Jamie is growing on me and I’m hoping we’ll get to learn more of his backstory soon.

Remote Uncontrolled

57: Summer is Coming

Annie in paintball gear.

Community: “A Fistful of Paintballs”

Paul: So I knew a paintball episode was coming, but I didn’t know it was going to have Lost‘s Josh Holloway as a badass paintball bounty hunter, and I didn’t know it was going to have Guy Ritchie title cards for the whole study group, and I didn’t know next week’s episode is going to be an hour long continuation. But what I did know was that it was going to be great. And boy howdy, was it ever great. Seriously, just go watch it if you haven’t already. The other thing I knew was that Pierce was going to be the worst—worse than the Lannisters, even—and on that count, I was dead accurate. Since there’s been no news about Chase leaving the show (has there?), I assume he’s going to redeem himself somehow in next week’s episode, which is the only part I’m dreading. He’s irredeemable, and he needs to go.

Zoe: A few weeks ago, during some particular Pierce awfulness, I would have argued that the show needs to redeem him–really redeem him–to make this character make sense anymore. But after last night’s episode, I’m not sure that redemption is possible, if it ever was. Frankly, the character was never posed as someone who made “sense” and while Pierce has had his moment, I think he’ll work much better as a villain. Or dead. I’m sorry, Pierce pushes my buttons–friendship isn’t supposed to be a demand, goddammit! Other than that, it feels impossible to comment on what is a mere prelude to next week. The episode this week was a lot of fun, especially with Annie being, well, awesome, but I’m really looking forward to the exciting conclusion.

Game of Thrones: “Lord Snow”

Paul: The third episode of GoT contained mostly setup, but it was good setup: Daenerys pissed her brother off, which is fine with me because I love Daenerys and her brother is an asshole. The Dothraki are also pretty great; that whole subplot is a massively guilty pleasure for me, really. Meanwhile, the Starks mostly suffered and worried a lot, which is probably reasonable because terrible things are going to keep happening to them. This show might as well be called “terrible things happen to the Stark family.” Ayra whined her way into swordplay lessons with Inigo Montoya, which, y’know, that’s pretty cool. I hope we see more of him. Tyrion Lannister continued to be hilarious, and his siblings continued to be the worst. Good times.

Zoe: I suppose the most important thing we learn this episode is that the Mayor of Baltimore is a sleazy huckster no matter what city he’s running–but he’s a lot more fun in this world. The other thing we learn is “winter is coming”. Great. This winter better be an ass-kicker, the way everyone keeps talking about it the way you would an impending Holocaust. I’m not so sure the Starks will need winter to ruin them, though, as the Lannister’s seem content to do that with or without the appropriate weather. And while I feel bad for the House of Stark (clearly positioned as the Good Guys right now) and while the Lannisters are clearly dicks, there’s really no one who’s free from the occasional jerkdom. No one except maybe poor, put upon Daenerys who’s increasingly becoming a bad ass. That and the Tyrion/John Snow friendship is what keeps me going.

Robert: I’ll admit I wasn’t really that excited about this show, if only because, like so many of HBO’s best series, I knew it’d be a big commitment. I figured if the buzz lasted past the first episode or two, I’d check it out, and I’m glad I did. It’s a extravagant production to say the least, and the complicated world that’s being built layer by layer is definitely what I like to see in works of fantasy. I know my cohorts here have some issues with the sort of visceral torment and/or gratuitous sexuality on display, but I have more of a problem with the occasional “fuck” getting thrown into the otherwise well-crafted dialogue. I say if a series trades in barbarism, then by all means it should be embraced (Starz’ Spartacus does this with appropriately-gleeful abandon) but again, that’s a matter of personal taste, I suppose. After watching the first three episodes back-to-back, my only real complaint with the show so far—it’s nitpicky at best, but I could see it being potential problem as the show goes on—is the way it indicates the passage of time. In just two episodes, Daenerys is suddenly two months pregnant while the journey from Winterfell to King’s Landing seems to be only days apart. I like to think all of these threads are progressing parallel to each other, and while I get that one can get away with only so many time-compressing montages of people traveling, the pacing feels entirely arbitrary to me. I am glad, however, that moments like the final scene in “Lord Snow” in which Arya is given a fencing lesson by Syrio Forel stay in, because it’s a perfect example of how Game of Thrones shouldn’t spare us the small moments. When the show comes back around to Arya (which it undoubtedly will) scenes like this will be all the more powerful.

Justified: “Bloody Harlan”

Scott: It may sound a little odd to describe a season finale that largely revolves around a druggy hillbilly gang war as “intimate”, but that’s exactly how Justified‘s pretty damned great second season went out this week. From season 1 to season 2, the show has mostly swapped out gunfights and action movie heroics with deeper, darker, sadder content that delves into broken families and decades-old emotional wounds. That’s not usually the kind of stuff that hooks viewers, especially compared to season 1′s strong one-and-done procedurals, but season 2′s audience has broadened considerably. I think that’s because everyone’s stuck around a lot longer this year. Mags Bennett, for example, would’ve worked great in a single episode arc, but over an entire season she’s become one of the best and most complex TV villains in the medium’s history: murderous but sympathetic, ruthless but loyal, maternal but menacing. In retrospect, Mags is the centerpiece of season 2, and seeing her go from backwoods kingpin, to flirting with cashing out for a semblance of legitimacy, and finally descending back into violence out of familial obligations and stubborn inability to let someone get the best of her, essentially makes her the Appalachian Michael Corleone. While some episodes of Justified have hit me harder (I think “The Spoil” still stands as the series’ single best episode ever), in sheer commercial terms “Bloody Harlan” is as effective as a season finale gets; almost every thread from season 2 has been tied up beautifully and every fan is dying to see what happens next in season 3.

The Good Wife: “In Sickness”

Dennis: I’m pleased to see that Raising Hope isn’t stopping Martha Plimpton from still popping up in her recurring role on this show. Plimpton was back this week as the always amusing Patti Nyholm and it was great to see her (albeit temporarily) on the same side as Will and Alicia (and against Ken Cosgrove himself, Mad Men‘s Aaron Stanton, moonlighting here also). But the main drama this week was the boiling over conflict between Alicia and Peter. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Alicia and Peter’s conflict that was the most compelling (with Cary scrambling for a job and Alicia dismissing Peter repeatedly, I figured Alicia’s two would-be enemies might find common ground), but the faceoff between Alicia and Peter’s always delightful mom from hell, Jackie. I could watch Julianna Marguiles and Mary Beth Peil just battle it for an hour every week if the writers let me.

The Vampire Diaries: “The Sun Also Rises”

Rawles: This episode ends with a hero shot of Damon walking away. I am not sure how exactly that connects to the rest of the episode given that Damon doesn’t actually do anything especially heroic. Before the shot in question, he was requesting that Stefan not inform Elena that he had been bitten by a werewolf in order to spare her grief. Despite not making much logical sense, it’s an odd request since he’s spent the last few episodes campaigning for Bonnie, Elena’s best friend, to die, something which Elena has repeatedly gone to great lengths both to prevent and to make clear how much it would destroy her were it to happen. I can only assume from the way the scene was shot, however, was that Damon’s vague intention to “spare” Elena pain when it comes to his own death is meant to be perceived as heroic and tragic. My prevailing thought was, “…So, am I supposed to care?” But I’m pretty sure I stopped being the audience for Damon a long time ago.

There were other things I found to care about in this episode, however. In grand end-of-the-season TVD fashion, there was a high death toll. John Gilbert, who won’t be missed, and poor, poor Jenna, who will. The show managed to back away — as I thought they might — from Elena becoming a vampire, though that happens fairly early on in the books on which the show is nominally based. It was a bit dissonant, in fact, from that perspective, that the quest to stop Elena from becoming a vampire was given the same, if not more, emotional weight in the episode as things like saving Jenna’s life. It’s not as if half of the main characters on the show aren’t already vampires and living relatively normal lives. The show’s use of be-spelled rings to allow vampires to walk in the daylight even gets rid of the major hinderance. Sure there’s the blood drinking, but the shows many vamps have sidestepped having to murder anyone for that purpose — or even assault them — in numerous and sundry ways. But I suppose that’s always a danger with a drama about vampires. Eventually, vampires become normalized so becoming one doesn’t really seem like that big of a deal, all said. Leaving the question of Elijah and Klaus open wasn’t something I expected. I imagined that whole business would finally be wrapped up by the end of the season which, granted, it still could be, but since we now have to contend with whatever horrible, abusive, murderous grossness Damon decides to get up to in celebration of being near death in the finale, I doubt we’ll have time for more Elijah and Klaus adventures.

Happy Endings: “Dave of the Dead”

Dennis: While technically two episodes aired this week, it was the second of this week’s Happy Endings that made me happiest. Zombie and hipster jokes? What more could I ask for? Casey Wilson was never my favorite Saturday Night Live cast member, so it’s a great surprise as to how much I’m enjoying her here. I liked her character’s relationship with Max the best on the show, and was quite amused by the hipster makeover she gave him. I understand that making fun of hipsters is kind of an easy target, but I haven’t often seen it done as well as it was here.

Camelot: “Guinevere”, “Lady of the Lake”, “Justice”

Robert: In the last few weeks, Camelot shifted its attention away from Morgan’s attempts to take over the throne, but in the meantime, we got to see Arthur and Merlin rebuilding Camelot and cultivating their new rule over the land. First up, Arthur lets go of his feelings—but not his lustful dreams—for Guinevere after she is married to Leontes (who manages to bring retired knight Gawain into the fold), Merlin seeks out a proper sword for Arthur and in the process causes/creates the legend of the lady in the lake and Excalibur, and we see the beginnings of the Round Table when Arthur imposes his own justice on a neighboring village to settle a public dispute. There’s a point where things get very procedural in “Justice” but when you consider it’s supposed to be the first instance of actual judicious case-solving ever, the amount of time spent on it seems warranted. The resulting verdict, albeit obvious, sets a new tone for Camelot and how Arthur wants to lead it.

But that’s not to say Morgan has been entirely absent. After inviting Arthur and Merlin to her castle for a supposed peace-making visit, she lures Merlin with drink and holds him against his will, where we get a hint of how haunted he is by his own abilities. Arthur returns home the next day believing Merlin’s simply flaked out again and left on his own. Later, through a bit of sorcery, Morgan creates a psychic connection with Arthur and discovers his weak spot: his affection for Guinevere. Yet, as Merlin warned, it comes at a cost. After a fevered struggle with darker forces, she succumbs to their power, but not before Sybil, a nun from her past, arrives to witness it. After Morgan is reborn momentarily appearing as Igraine, Sybil, who at first appeared to be a nagging thorn in her side, reveals that she’s actually willing to bolster Morgan’s cause. She advises Morgan that, in order to rule, people must be able to relate to her, and she uses her powers of manipulation to cause a rousing, opportune moment in which Morgan appeals to her subjects and swings them to her side. Thanks to this shift in power, the show has the opportunity to spin in a new direction, and Arthur, while just and principled, has his work cut out for him now that a re-energized Morgan has a new tactic (and a new disguise) to retaking the throne.

Remote Uncontrolled

56: The Royal Slap

Peter Dinklage, a short white man with blonde hair, has recently slapped hus nephew, a teenager with blonde hair and a red leather shirt. There is also a tall, dark-haired man in the background.

Game of Thrones: “The Kingsroad”

Paul: I meant to comment on the first episode of Game of Thrones, but I forgot. So here are my thoughts so far:

I want to love this show, but it’s obvious to me that it’s going to be an extended series of awful things happening to the few decent people, while many terrible people go about their terrible business with impunity. I want to like Game of Thrones, but I have a limited stomach for character torture.

That said, man, this show looks amazing. The set and costume design is spectacular, and I hope the constant stream of despair doesn’t put me off it.

So far my favorite subplot is Daenerys Targaryen’s marriage to Khal Drogo, which is doing a thing I’m vaguely ashamed to admit I like (e.g. “the marriage of convenience that blossoms into genuine affection), although it’s going about it in a really unpleasant way. Basically what I’m saying, HBO, is that I could do with less softcore porn. I have to watch this show in a room with other people, y’know? It’s just awkward.

So at this point I’m basically watching in anticipation of the moment when Daenerys winds up being far more politically powerful than her asshole brother intended her to be, and visits payback for his assholery upon his head tenfold. Also watching Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister be snarky is guiltily enjoyable, although I pretty much want all Lannisters to die, forever.

Zoe: I was never a huge fantasy or sci-fi nerd, but given my love of vampire TV shows and the movie Reign of Fire, I probably err more to the fantasy end of things than anything. I never read any George R. R. Martin books (I was a Calling on Dragons, etc., gal), but my younger brother is a huge fan and I had heard good things about the show so I decided to check it out.

So far I am loving all the parts that are Peter Dinklage and with “pale enough to be a LoTR elf” lady. And while I am liking and enjoying everything else, I’m not sure how much I will be able to enjoy the few better than average people getting screwed a lot in the show. That, the T&A, and the racist-overtones of Khal Drago (something apparently missing from the book), give me pause for how long I will be able to watch this show before driving myself crazy.

And yet, it’s a bit addictive. Because it throws so any characters at you so fast, it’s hard to keep track without Wikipedia–which led me down the rabbit-hole of spoilers and new characters and so on. I have to admit I’m liking it enough to consider reading the books when this season ends. That and, well, I mentioned Peter Dinklage, right? He could be doing every single character as a monologue and that would be enough for me to tune in every week. Well, that and him slapping asshole princes.

Nikita: “Glass Houses”

Rawles: Alas, poor Jaden, we knew- well, actually no. We didn’t know her because the show perpetually fell down on offering insight into or adding depth to her character, despite an extremely fertile setup, before ignominiously killing her off. Moving along to things that don’t make me furious: at long last, after many episodes of clearly being suspicious of Alex, Amanda finding her out is both exciting and legitimately satisfying. The show has done a fairly good job of making Amanda seem like the truly formidable villain at Division. Percy is there, and dirty, and always up to something awful, certainly, and he’s the focus of our hero’s attentions, but they just hate him; they don’t fear him. Conversely, the moment way back in “All the Way” when Percy announces to a captured Nikita that they’re bringing in Amanda, it’s one of the only times we’ve ever seen her visibly frightened. Percy is the one who brings them in and who sends them out, but Amanda is the one who breaks them. She’s the one who controls them and she’s the one who understands best how to hurt them. The A-plot this episode wasn’t exactly dull, but a bit of a retread. Given the frequency with which Division agents seem to defect once being let outside, you’d think Percy would start trying something new. Though, to be fair, I guess the point was that he had realized that his Guardians aren’t especially secure. Due the retread nature of this particular Guardian’s dilemma, she mostly served as a narrative device to frame Nikita and Michael’s issues, which left it difficult to really connect with her. Though, her killing four agents in five seconds flat was pretty sweet. All and all, a middle of the road offering.

Community: “Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts”

Paul: It was barely even a B-plot, but the Indecent Proposal section of this episode just made me hate Pierce even more, which is impressive, because I already really hate that guy. That said, relegating him to background antagonist position was the right idea here, since I don’t think I could’ve stood listening to his abhorrent racist logorrhea while Shirley was giving birth in the Anthropology classroom.

Which is to say, yes, Shirley’s baby has been born! And although I wish the baby had in fact been Chang’s, his part in this episode was nonetheless touching, as was Shirley’s and Andre’s gesture. Britta was perfectly awkward, and her conversation with Jeff (“OMG baby!” “Wait, we’re too cool to care about babies”) was another great moment. And Troy and Abed got their handshake back. Miracles all around! Now: It’s time for some paintball.

The Office: “Goodbye, Michael”

Zoe: When I was a kid, my older brother would always accuse me of doing things because I had seen people on TV do them. This infuriated me, but was also usually right. Sometimes the best way I knew how to express an emotion was to act how Stephanie on Full House did–and sometimes the way I learned about emotions was to do that.

I don’t think this is that uncommon in kids, though we all are able to grow out of it (some more than others). Michael Scott is what happens when you don’t. His send off tonight was both sweet and unearned. The show had been building up to a touching send off for him–and his writing this season has earned this goodbye–but the idea of Michael is also the idea of the kid who has never had friends and is a jerk in groups. I believe you can grow to like that kid, but I’m not sure so many would grow to love him or think of him fondly.

I see Community‘s Pierce as the other part of the Michael Scott coin. He’s also friendless man child with petty, jerkish tendencies who wants to be the center of attention to. The difference is that Pierce is more aware of how much people dislike him and that Pierce didn’t grow up thinking he should act like a character on a sitcom. But there’s some Pierce in Michael Scott as many episodes will show you. Being aware of the different Michael’s and how terrible he had been, is what kept me from totally buying into the touching goodbyes. As much as the show has used Holly to force his redemption–and as good of a storyline as I think that has been–he’s also the guy who’s been unbelievable cruel to some of these people and humans just don’t forget that easily.

No matter. Now that Carrell is gone, and with him the heart of the show, there’s not really a reason to watch. In the meantime, I can appreciate the fine work that The Office has done growing his character this season into someone who someone else would want to marry, into less of a petty manchild, and who deserves the sweet farewell Pam gave him. And I’ll get ready to ditch the show at the season’s end because if D’Angelo is any indication, it’ll rough sailing for The Office from here on.

Remote Uncontrolled

55: O! What a City

Community: “Paradigms of Human Memory”

Scott: After an unbelievably strong first half this fall, Community‘s second season has struggled to regain its footing since it came back in January. This is mostly for two reasons; 1) It largely dropped the genre parodies that served as a framework for each episode’s dense and hilarious riffing, and 2) we spent a lot of time with Chevy Chase’s Pierce in an attempt to redeem that character that ended up alienating most of the audience (myself included). This week’s “Paradigms of Human Memory” was easily the best episode the show has delivered in 2011 thus far, and a return to form both figuratively and literally. We got another parody, mocking the “remember that time when…” clip shows that filled out so many 80′s sitcom seasons, mostly with clips from episodes that never happened, including a western episode, an insane asylum episode, and a robot attack episode (actually, a western episode would probably be pretty awesome). As someone who usually hates parodies, I’m not sure why I’m only head over heels for Community when they’re spoofing something. Maybe it’s because I’m like Abed, and I can only communicate with pop culture references. Maybe it’s because genre trappings provide the cast with a perfect platform from which to explore their unexpectedly lovable characters. Or maybe it’s just because the people who make Community are some of the funniest people who ever lived and have a knack for crafting something fresh and unique from cliches.

Zoe: The secret truth of friendship–and hello, maturity–is realizing you’re never going to like everything about the people you love. There are always going to be things about them that annoy you or you wish weren’t there or whatever. Recognizing this truth and learning to love them anyways is what makes bonds strong. It’s also what TV has a hard time with–characters on TV consistently need friendships, groups, and relationships to fit some idea of perfection. Maybe this is because characters on TV are doomed to spend all their time with each other. Maybe because realistic strife is hard to write. Either way, TV friendships are either bounding along or facing issues because a person dared to buck the established protocol/change/what have you.

Enter this week’s Community in an episode that’s all about the difficulty of friendships. While I love the show and think some of the relationships portrayed on it are fabulous, I have to admit that sometimes the group’s dynamic seems too…easy. Too unrealistic. Pierce’s behavior this season has been a good example, but there’s also something about TV friendships where characters are always yelling faults at each other, but then hanging out all the time anyways. Having the group fight (combined with hilarious flashbacks to adventures we have never seen) was a great way to address this issue, even if the ultimate solution was “let’s try and move on”. And while it wasn’t a revelation per se (I mean, we saw them hooking up on Troy’s birthday), I liked the reveal of Jeff and Britta hooking up. I’ve said it before, but their relationship is hyper-realistic, especially in a group dynamic. It’s logical and just a little bit immature and works well for both of them. Of course, the best part is it happening without their relationship becoming any sort of focal point for the show. Probably because of Jeff’s crush on the dean.

How I Met Your Mother: “Hopeless”

Ellen: Ironically, my most regular viewing of CBS’ Friendsy Monday night sitcom coincided with my move to the city in which it takes place, New York City. As a good student of signs and simulacra, I can’t escape the irony of this: I didn’t have a “regular” bar or a constant steady group of friends yet, and I was too broke to be out drinking every night anyway, but I could afford Wifi so I could sit at home eating cereal and hanging out with Marshall, Lily, Robin, Ted and Barney. I craved their routinized camaraderie, honed over years (as shown in flashback).

I fell right back into HIMYM on Monday night from wherever I had left its plot — No mother yet? Okay, good — and I might even pick it up again. The A-plot of Barney imploring his friends to create elaborate personalities to cover the good working kids they are to impress his dad (John Lithgow, always a valuable addition) was just kooky enough and allowed the banter to flow, while Robin’s encounter with her old crush, the Bad Shirt Guy, played to its format although it ended in disappointment. (Robin was always my favorite character, even when the show seemed to bend over backwards to indulge her ‘guy’s girl’ tendencies.) The extended verbal sparring about which hot club to hit — a “Who’s on First?” takeoff complete with Abbott and Costello callback furnished by a confused Lithgow — was a personal high point, proving what I already knew: Silly things like “plot” don’t matter when you’re among friends.

Happy Endings: “Your Couples Friends & Neighbors” and “Mein Coming Out”

Dennis: I think ABC has officially eclipsed NBC as the network comedy leader (sorry CBS, as long as you employ David Spade, William Shatner, and a whole lot of laughtracks, you’re not even a contender). Besides the already established sophomore series The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougar Town, there’s Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings. While neither of this week’s Endings episodes were as uproariously funny as last week’s “The Quicksand Girlfriend,” this week did feature Max burning through beards in front of his confused parents, Penny flirting with a guy named Doug Hitler, and the awkward laughs associated therein. So, much as I’m looking forward to a whole bunch of pilots, I still hope there’s room for both this and Mr. Sunshine come fall.

House: “The Last Temptation”

Zoe: As my sophomore year of college paper on Joan of Arcadia can prove, I’m a fan of Amber Tamblyn. In fitting with the “change is interesting” way of watching House it was nice to see her on the show and I think she played an extremely thinly characterized character well, plus it was nice to see someone actually stick up to House, so to speak.

Alas, last week 13 returns and since the idea of two female doctors on the team would clearly be anarchy, Tamblyn has to go. Of course, she has to go in an extremely convoluted way, involving sailing records and amputation and finally giving up her morals, but at least her going does show a certain standing up to House. Frankly, as someone who is horrified by non-consensual operations/medical procedures, it sucks not to be able to root for Tamblyn at the end. Moreover, this is an issue House has gone over time and time again and it usually ends with the doctor ignoring the patients will. Terrifying, but also sort of boring. Fortunately, in a B-plot there were chickens! And also a fun joke about Tamblyn’s clothes. It was nice knowing you Amber, sorry only one lady is allowed in the club house.

30 Rock “100th Episode”

Dennis: Who would’ve thought, 100 episodes ago that we’d reach this point? I was so fearful that 30 Rock would be eclipsed by its seemingly superior dramatic sister show Studio 60. Hah! Congrats Lemon and friends! There were some pretty good chuckles (and, with Alec Baldwin and Michael Keaton, a mini-Beetlejuice reunion!) in this (arguably, a little over-stuffed) episode. It’s a true testament to a show, when I can tolerate, (and better yet enjoy) a partial clipshow and thanks to Liz, Jack, Jenna, Tracy, and (the one who holds a special place in my heart, for obvious reasons) Dennis, I tolerated the hell out of this episode. To one hundred – nay, one MILLION more!

The Celebrity Apprentice: “Raising The Steaks”

Scott: I’ve been an infrequent viewer of The Apprentice; I watched the first three seasons, the misbegotten Martha Stewart season, then just an episode here and there. I hadn’t watched a single episode of The Celebrity Apprentice before 3 weeks ago, laughing it off as a pathetic Dancing With The Stars rip off, except with capitalism. But then I heard scattered reports of things I simply had to see. Things like Dionne Warwick mocking Marlee Matlin’s deafness, then Marlee shrugging off Warwick’s work because she’s deaf. Things like Jose Canseco sending secret messages in Morse code by blinking and starring in homophobic TV commercials. Things like Meat Loaf threatening Gary Busey’s life over sponges and creating Jackson Pollock-esque paintings by dropping paint-covered basketballs on blank canvases. How could I — how could anyone? — resist such a show? I quickly caught up, and though I can’t speak for seasons 1 and 2, season 3 of Celebrity Apprentice is the crown jewel of reality TV, a program so completely bonkers that it defies description. I mean, there’s an actual competition involved, but that’s pretty much meaningless because Star Jones (a scheming spider woman who is nonetheless eminently capable at any task that comes her way) will clearly win. One watches the Celebrity Apprentice for the journey, not the destination. And what a mindbending journey it has been, this week bringing us to the land of Omaha Steaks, a reprehensible right wing organization that nonetheless produces a fine piece of meat. Playmate of the Year Hope Dworaczyk, who spent the first 6 episodes uttering maybe three words and serving as the unhinged Dionne Warwick’s babysitter, served as team leader for the women and delivered a cooking presentation for Omaha Steaks in which they referred to the company only as “Omaha” and didn’t actually cook anything. Still, they won, mostly because Gary Busey, who is despised by his teammates because he’s mentally ill and suffered a brain injury, led the men to a presentation derailed by long stream of consciousness ramblings about flying kites on Fathers’ Day. Busey was mercifully sent home by Trump, the biggest villain in America right now, and the power trio of John Rich, Lil’ Jon and Meat Loaf are now free to wreak havoc on the women’s team, which consists of Jones, the delightful Marlee Matlin and a bunch of crybabies

90210 “The Enchanted Donkey”

Dennis: It’s a shame 90210 is on the precipice of another showrunner change (and still generally on the bubble), as it seems to have really finally found its footing. Silver and Adrianna’s Navin-fueled feud is pretty fascinating. Annie and Liam are quite cute (whodathunk?). And Teddy’s still on his big gay journey to self-discovery (which this week, meant getting rebuffed for a hook-up with Marco, actually hooking up with an old prep school roommate, awkwardly meeting said guy’s quasi-boyfriend, and then scoring a date with Marco. Not too shabby!). Here’s hoping this show gets a fourth season, and a new showrunner who can keep everything on track (and maybe bring back Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth? Please?).

Nikita: “Girl’s Best Friend”

Rawles: I’ve been ceaselessly clamoring for an episode really featuring Jaden since literally the day Nikita premiered and now, at long last, it has arrived. It’s a mixed bag. I definitely enjoyed the 400% more Jaden, and the episode did provide much-needed insight into both her past and her inner life. Her and Alex making some small peace and agreeing to work together — even if for completely different reasons, at first — was something for which I’d also been desperate since their perfunctory (and gender essentialist) rivalry was always lacking both layers and interest. Alex choosing to rescue Jaden instead of taking her chance to get out of Division and be free was basically the stuff of my dreams. Even better than that though was the moment she listened in as Jaden spoke to Kalume, and it was made clear that, at long last, Alex confronted the fact that Jaden isn’t just some bad seed who irritates her, but a person who has also experienced pain and endured. Their fighting side-by-side, saving-each-other battle scene was a great way to cap it off. It’s only in the denouement that I run into problems.

While I don’t expect Alex to be the type to start gushing her emotions everywhere, the lack of Alex/Jaden follow-up scene makes her saying that she chose to go back out of a desire to emulate Nikita and because she felt that she was doing good with the mission seem completely at odds with the rest of the episode. While it was true that Nikita would very likely have made the same choice to save Jaden, there was absolutely nothing to indicate that Alex was considering Nikita at all at that moment. Plus, the idea that she wanted to complete the mission makes no sense because blowing the lab would have done that. If she wanted to stay with Division she could even have said she got out. In the moment, as it played on screen, she clearly went back entirely out of a desire to save Jaden from death.

On top of that, while I appreciate that a twist ending is, once again, Classic Nikita, not only was there no perceivable chance for Jaden to have acquired the nerve toxin to give to Percy, but if I’m supposed to, once again, feel like Jaden’s a bad seed for this then it’s a failure. What was made clear about Jaden is that she’s a survivor and she’s fighting her life. She recognizes that Division and the people in charge of it control her fate and if she wants to live, she has to do as they ask. That’s inherently sympathetic and it’s made even more so by the fact that when she was in the lab, she deliberately asked Alex to blow it. She was explicitly willing to die there to complete the mission to destroy the toxin, despite how much she clearly values her own life. In short, the final scene is a mess of ominous music and confused authorial intent that seems to have very little to do with the rest of Jaden’s arc in the episode.

Obviously, there are also a ton of issues I’m not even ready to start trying to unpack involved in the fact that the first mission we ever see Jaden on is fighting corrupt Nigerian politicians. The episode was still okay. The subplot of Nikita and Michael essentially arguing over what their kid — Alex — was going to do with her life was generally fine and a good way to maintain conflict now that they’re on the same side, but I still feel like I’m waiting for them to do right by Jaden. It was so close, but they veered off somewhere weird at the end.

Remote Uncontrolled

54: The Vampire Is the Boss

Being Human: ”A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Me Killing You”

Zoe: Though I have had made my issues with Being Human fairly clear in the reviews here, I have to admit, I did like this first season. And while there are many (many) things I would like to se changed or improved upon in the next season, I’ll be tuning into it. That said, this finale was a bit underwhelming. It’s not as if I went into it with grand ideas, but the execution was pretty meh. Plots were rushed forward in a confusing and erratic matter and a flashback was tacked on to explain stuff that audience (or maybe just me) had already assumed.

Despite that, the show managed to work the things I enjoy: the roommate interaction, the homosocial relationship between Aiden and Josh, getting rid of a useless baby, even a relatively good cliffhanger. But the things that were supposed to be thrilling, weren’t. Aiden’s fight was fine, but not intense like one would want from the situation, though that may be my love of Bishop talking. Josh continues to be the worst boyfriend ever that we’re supposed to root for. Sally is going to hang around for no reason, still. Etc. Being Human is a fine show, but I prefer it erring on the side of light drama, then trying the heavy stuff. When it’s serious but fun it works for me. When it gets pulled under by “dark”, complicated plots it loses it’s way. I’m not saying it should be a sitcom, but I would prefer it tackle the more directly human issue of relating to the world than trying to be a supernatural thriller. Maybe next season. Really, I’d just be happy with better episode titles.

American Idol: “8 Finalists Compete (Music From The Movies)”

Scott: I was as shocked as anyone that American Idol‘s Tyler/Lopez/Jackson reboot was not only watchable early on, but better than the past 3 or 4 years of the show. Everything felt more energetic: the judges were into it, the auditions were packed with really talented and unique singers, the editing was tighter, the running time was mercifully shorter. Then we moved from Phase 1 of the show (auditions) to Phase 2 (the actual competition), and everything’s gotten worse and worse week by week. So, nice try, AI reboot, but time for more rebooting. Number one, the judges need to stop liking everything. The new panel seemed to love discovering talent in the auditions but don’t provide any guidance to the contestants or the audience now that the actual show’s underway. You don’t have to be a cartoon villain like Simon to tell Paul this week that he sucked (and accordingly went home). Secondly, this voting system’s got to go. Maybe returning producer Nigel Lythgoe was right that Pia’s controversial departure last week was a forgone conclusion as far as the audience’s votes were concerned, but the people who vote for American Idol are drooling morons who shouldn’t control the show. I’d be happy with getting rid of audience voting altogether, but the show needs to at least go to the So You Think You Can Dance system of voters selecting a bottom three and the judges sending one of the three home. Third, the new Jimmy Iovine segments of the show were great; I loved seeing a seasoned industry veteran guiding impressionable young artists and pairing them with well-known producers to create new, modern versions of songs we’ve heard a thousand times before. Now those have been dropped, and Iovine is forced to sit with noted cultural garbage bag Will.I.Am as he spouts stream-of-consciousness ramblings and combines names of musical genres. Get rid of this fool, and while you’re at it, can the shittiest band on TV, led by the guy who crosses his hands and mouths “namaste” to Ryan Seacrest at the end of every episode. Pretty much any bar band in Pittsburgh would blow these clowns off the stage.

You’re welcome, Rupert Murdoch.

Community: “Competitive Wine Tasting”

Paul: This episode was all over the map. There seems to be some setup occurring for a Troy/Britta storyline, which I can’t say I’m a huge fan of, mostly because I don’t find Troy and Britta’s interactions to be nearly as interesting as Troy and Abed’s, and while I have no time for “bros before hos” zero-sum relationship theorizing, when you’ve only got 22 minutes of episode, relationships do become zero-sum, with time spent on one taking away from time spent on another. Anyway.

Abed’s rivalry with and triumph over his professor was great—so great, in fact, that I wish it had been the focus of the episode. Finally, I find Pierce weirdly less insufferable when he’s paired with a woman roughly as awful as he is. I doubt the show will go anywhere with that relationship, but I hope they do.

The Vampire Diaries: “The Last Dance”

Rawles: Every once in a while, The Vampire Diaries and I need some time apart. Be it from a little too much of Damon’s tortured soul and miscellaneous other douchepires and/or weretools or just needing a break from some more unfortunate PoC and female guest stars deaths, I step back for a bit before returning to its embrace. Usually, it’s happy to see me. This time, it was evidently ecstatic since it gave me an entire episode about Bonnie and Elena. Bonnie and Elena, their relationship, foremost, but their relationships with the other characters as well. Bonnie Bennett is, more than anyone else, the hero of Mystic Falls. Damon is 98% self-interested, Elena and Stefan mostly do damage control, but Bonnie is the one who accepts — in straight-up Peter Parker style — that with her great power comes great responsibility. And she sees her responsibility as defeating evil that threatens the innocent. While the current story arc revolves around everyone’s quest to save Elena, Bonnie’s heroic nature heavily informs all of her actions. She’s willing to die for Elena because she loves her, because they’re best friends, because Elena would do it for her, but it’s not out of character for her, it’s not above and beyond. It’s a heroic sacrifice only befitting who she is. Now, if Bonnie had actually died, this reaction would be entirely different, but as it stands this episode was basically a tribute to how Bonnie Bennett is #1 the biggest BAMF in Mystic Falls, and #2 incredibly important to everyone around her — even if some of them aren’t willing to admit it. Aces all around.

Parks and Recreation: “Fancy Party”

Scott: We’re really at a point now where you if don’t like Parks and Recreation, I don’t like you. At a point when almost all of my favorite shows started incredibly strong this season only to limp across the finish line (Fringe, Community, American Idol), Parks and Recreation is just gets better and better. Take a character like April, for instance. There’s really no reason that a selfish, lazy teenager who’s unimpressed by literally everything the world has to offer should become lovable and sweet. And yet that’s exactly what P&R gave us this week with Andy and April’s thrown-together wedding in an unexpectedly heartwarming episode that began with a tooth being pulled without the benefit of anesthesia (or was it?!) and ended with love in the air for nearly every character. It’s pretty impressive that Aubrey Plaza, a very talented comedian who’s never really broken out of playing a certain type of character, has squeezed so much out of April this year, allowing her character to express love, anger, happiness, and so on with just a slightly different eye movement or tone inflection. In conclusion, I plan on being Ron Swanson for Halloween.

Nikita: “Covenant” and “Into the Dark”

Rawles: After leaving us hanging in an unconscionable manner during the hiatus, these first few episodes of Nikita have been good, if not up to that same OMG standard. A show can only totally change up its paradigm so many times in a short period, so it’s be expected. Michael’s immediate reaction to finding out the truth about Nikita and Alex defied expectation, however. It was also harsh and brutal, thus perfect for Nikita. They didn’t hold back on how betrayed Michael has been feeling since Nikita stopped him from killing Kasim and it doesn’t it really let up until he’s finally faced with an even bigger betrayal. When talking to my friends who never watched the original La Femme Nikita TV show, I often refer to certain twisty-turny plot machinations as “classic Nikita.” Kasim being a Division double agent who was specifically ordered by Percy to destroy Michael so that Percy could recruit him is 100% classic Nikita. I think it’s an interesting choice to have Michael’s final turning on Percy be rooted in something so personal as opposed to the fact that Percy is just generally the worst. Personal pain is pretty much everyone’s main motive on Nikita, but with the pains they’ve often gone to in order to present Michael as an idealist at heart, a person who believes in the greater good, I assumed the thing that pushed him over would be a little more lofty. Not that it doesn’t work and, of course, it also assists Michael and Nikita in finally making out. I’m all for Nikita getting action of every sort.

Then, we jump right back to Owen, Nikita’s other dude — I’m not even counting the highly boring and, thankfully absent, Ryan — who I will admit, I have at times secretly preferred the idea of her with over the idea of her with Michael. That said, I do like their relationship as is. His admiration and respect for her is a bit more adorable than anything a deadly assassin does should be. He feels almost like an audience insert at times, pondering how exactly Nikita is so amazing always. I actually wish he would become a regular, but him departing again wasn’t surprising. The episode was engaging anyway. Owen and Michael’s sniping at each other wasn’t even as annoying as it could have been due to Nikita’s shutting it down constantly. One complaint is that Alex hasn’t had much to do in these episodes. Well, besides something I was barely paying attention to with her new boring boyfriend (can we kill this one too?) and be harassed by Amanda again. Though, the latter is much more interesting than the former. Now if only Jaden could ever do more than appear in one scene every few episodes as a plot tool. I’ll keep dreaming.

House: “The Dig”

Zoe: I think Zack Handlen hit the nail on the head when he says that, at this point, change in House is inherently exciting, even if it’s just surface changes. To wit: despite never really getting on board with 13, I found myself enjoying her a lot this episode. It was different. It only sort of involved her Huntington’s. Maybe it’s just that she wasn’t in the hospital. But it felt like new life for a show that so often trudges around in the same, tired stuff. To further wit: if I never see Taub and his wife again it’ll be too soon. I thought we were free of that plot monster, but it keeps rearing it’s ugly head. Is anyone on the planet invested in Taub’s relationship besides his fictional roommate? No? Oh well, at least there’s Chase being a skirt chaser in the background and, not coincidentally, more fun than he’s been in years.

Remote Uncontrolled

53: It Was My Birthday

The Rock is throwing John Cena onto the mat.

WWE: “Wrestlemania 27″

Zoe: It may surprise no one that, growing up with two brothers who didn’t care about it and parents who didn’t want to pay for TV, I have never actually seen wrestling before. Going in knowing only the vaguest information and famous wrestlers meant I got to annoy my friends with questions and cynicism throughout the entire show. They had a great time!

It also meant that, until the final match, I had no idea that The Miz was actually the Real World’s Mike. While I’m always pleasantly surprised to find a Real World cast member who’s made something of their life (what up, Judd Winnick!) Mike wasn’t exactly a cast member I was a fan of. However, that changed when I became annoyed with John Cena’s overly wrought entrance, which included a massive gospel choir and an extremely long prayer. Then I wanted sweet blood. Which, it turns out, wrestling doesn’t have that much of. Sure, there’s the thrill of a concussion and the drama of multiple back and knee injuries (pre-determined winner or not, those guys actually get hit with things), but I wanted limbs flying everywhere.

Fortunately, my movie boyfriend The Rock stepped in and half fixed the match, half beat up Cena in his jorts. Suck it, guy I just learned about!

As for the rest of the show? Eh. I mean, some matches were a lot of fun or intense, like the Undertaker v. Triple H, but the rest required a love of jingoism and grrrrr-faces masculinity that I find appealing, or a lot of boring shots of guys lying on the ground breathing a lot. I think action movies have ruined professional wrestling for me, even as I appreciate I could never, ever do it. Well, since Snooki could, maybe I could too.

Armando: Confession: I am an incredibly huge mark/geek for “Pro” Wrestling. It’s my guilty pleasure. And while yes, I am fully aware that it is a mass pandering, nonsensical hysteria of excess, circus of lowest common denominator hullabaloo, I LOVE IT.

Why you ask? I love the hype. The art of whipping the crowd into a frenzy and then holding them there and then taking them for ride via the storytelling that happens in the squared circle. To me it’s like primal ballet. It encompasses every aspect of entertainment. Showmanship. Athleticism. Comedy. Action. Sadness. Anger. Confusion. And it does what I look for sometimes with my entertainment, takes me away. It takes itself so seriously but at the same time, it doesn’t. It’s the ultimate scripted reality show.

And when it comes to Wrestling, there is no bigger show than Wrestlemania! The entire year of WWE “story lines” and “rivalries” lead up to this circus. Even when I wasn’t watching the WWE on a consistent basis, I would order the PPV madness that is Wrestlemania.

This year’s edition was one of the best in years. My favorite match of the show was “The Game” Triple H vs. “The Dead Man” The Undertaker. (See? How ridiculous does that sound?) The Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, 18 years in a row. Triple H has accomplished everything in the WWE. Won every championship. Headlined on every show and PPV. He’s even married the bosses wife. (This was an instance of art imitating life) And a after a year long hiatus from a real life injury that was worked into his show storyline, the only thing left for him to conquer in the business, The Undertaker’s Streak at Wrestlemania! He would be the one to end “The Dead Man’s” dominance at this year’s biggest show on Earth.

Sitting there watching these two athletes, the pageantry of their long super produced introductions, the way they were able to tell a story in the ring and be able to captivate and entertain a live audience of over 70,000 and millions via PPV was fascinating and reminded why I love wrestling so much.

It truly is “take me away”‘ entertainment. Sure I love smart thought provoking entertainment. Things that are the complete and total opposite of wrestling. But sometimes, after a long day at work, battling the man, fighting the system, just trying to hang on and keep your sanity you, ok I, need wrestling.

It’s got ACTION! HYPE! COMEDY! VIOLENCE! MUSIC! EXPLOSIONS! BABES! STUNTS! SHOWMANSHIP! BEER!

Come On! What more could you ask for? Because I know you are dying to know

The Killing: “Pilot”/”The Cage”

Scott: Most critics and TV nerds agree that AMC is the best channel on TV right now (I’d make that argument for FX, but I digress). They’ve got a pretty fantastic track record so far with two unqualified masterpieces with middling ratings in Mad Men and Breaking Bad, one gigantic hit of middling quality in The Walking Dead, one critical hit with no ratings in Rubicon, and only one total flop in The Prisonerremake. They occupy the same space as HBO in the early 2000′s: about a half dozen buzz-worthy shows winning Emmys left and right, with more emphasis on making quality product than getting huge numbers. Now that The Walking Dead proved the big audiences are willing to tune in to the channel, though, will that corporate ethos hold up? The Killing arrives at a time that may tell the tale, as its first two episodes reveal it to be an odd beast of a show that pairs the artsy atmospherics and sometimes glacial pace of AMC’s less watched series with an accessible, standard issue genre premise like The Walking Dead.

For me, I’m not that impressed yet. From the plot to the characters to the acting to the writing to the direction, there’s very little in The Killing you haven’t seen four billion times before in filmed media. There’s lots of staring into the distance, ruminating on the evil in the world. There’s a glowering adolescent who doesn’t like his mom’s new boyfriend and snaps, “He’s not my dad!” There are cuts to high school hallways synchronized with bells ringing, and the kids in the high school are either shy and silent or raging junkie assholes. The murder victim’s parents collapse at the scene of the crime screaming “NOOOOO!” into the sky, and cry in the doorway of their child’s bedroom just the way they left it. Apart from the muted cinematography, there’s no difference between The Killing and whatever’s on CBS on Tuesday night.

I’ve watched all of AMC’s shows, though, and I’m sticking with The Killing for a little bit longer for two reasons. Number one, I really liked Frans Bak’s music, which is full of anachronistic synth fills reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti’s classic score for Twin Peaks. We also get some nice, primal percussion near the end of each episode that reminded me of Bear McCreary’s work on Battlestar Galactica. But really, all the great music in the world isn’t going to keep me watching CSI: Seattle. The real MVP on The Killing so far is Joel Kinnaman as a truly strange rookie homicide detective who’s a bit like an overstretched piece of taffy with a druggy past and an accent that sounds like he’s the long lost white Alabaman member of the Wu-Tang Clan (complicated all the more by the fact that Kinnaman’s from Sweden). At first, Kinnaman’s Stephen Holder seems like the traditional hothead newcomer on the force, but by episode two he’s such a shifty rogue that he’s impossible to pin down. And AMC, you’re welcome to use the description “an overstretched piece of taffy with a druggy past and an accent that sounds like he’s the long lost white Alabaman member of the Wu-Tang Clan” in your ads for the show.

Camelot: “The Sword and the Crown”

Robert: The highly-rated April 1 premiere of Camelot began with a repeat of the first episode (see my write-up here) and concluded with this second episode that sees Arthur laying his mother to rest, encountering the mysterious blond from the sea and facing the challenge of a certain sword lodged in stone high atop a towering waterfall. It’s all traditional Camelot territory, sure, but it’s presented in a way that’s grounded in the sometimes odd ways that the real world can present itself. When Arthur frees the sword and asks Merlin about the legend and whether it’s all a ruse, the rationale is seems solid, hokey mysticism be damned.

Meanwhile, Morgan grows frustrated with King Lot and his rambunctious approach to the throne. She’s more concerned with being a legitimate ruler while he is, quite frankly, simply interested in the perks of the job. He’s clearly underestimated Arthur, but she knows better, and when Arthur frees the sword from the stone, their alliance is pushed to the limit. Lot tries to take charge by removing her from the picture and hastily planning an attack on Camelot, but she won’t stand for it, instead choosing to warn Merlin. The resulting melee works out just as she planned when Ector takes Lot down with him, but when Arthur and Merlin try to appeal to her better senses, Morgan’s insistence on ruling without the help of any man turns her toward darker forces for direction. Dark forces that require a nude Eva Green sauntering through the forest, natch.

The Good Wife: “Wrongful Termination”

It breaks my heart that this show is still on the bubble for renewal, even though it’s on the bubble for the same reason it breaks my heart in the first place — this show is actually good. Unlike most of CBS’ mindless procedurals, The Good Wife actually rewards we the viewers who watches this from week to week. We know Denis O’Hare’s judge is a big softy, and that Michael J. Fox’s Canning is also compellingly cunning. We know that Andrew Wiley is a good PI, even while humorously doting on his kids, and we mourn the passing of erstwhile patient Jonas Stern and aren’t surprised when Will finally finds out Stern had Alzheimer’s (and that Alicia knew about it but couldn’t tell anyone due to attorney-client privilege). And we appreciate the ever-growing closeness between Cary and Kalinda, and fear what the reveal of the Kalinda/Peter dalliance will do to both Alicia and Peter’s relationship and Alicia and Kalinda’s friendship. God I love this show. (Well, except for Elizabeth Reaser’s still thankless role as Tammy. I was really hoping Josh would let her leave for London). But seriously, can more people watch this so it’ll see another season? Pretty please?

Bob’s Burgers: “Spaghetti Western and Meatballs”

Ellen: Bob’s Burgers is one of those shows everyone on my Twitter feed seems to watch except me. (Also in that category: Mildred Pierce, but I understand it’s because I’m too cheap to shell out for HBO even for my girl Kate Winslet.) The gentle wave of pleasant feeling that swept that feed yesterday when Fox announced the quirky Sunday-night cartoon had been renewed wasn’t the first time I had thought about watching the show. This is actually last week’s episode, because there wasn’t a new one this week, but I’m hoping Editor Zoë will just glaze over the exposition and let me get to the opinionizin’.

Bob’s Burgers is an at best mildly entertaining family comedy featuring Simpsonsy art and Family Guy-style humor with a slightly offbeat style. Bob (voice: H. Jon Benjamin) owns a struggling restaurant and wife Linda (voice: John Roberts) looks after their three children, sulky Tina (voice: Dan Mintz), goofy Gene (voice: Eugene Mirman) and hyperactive Louise (voice: Kristen Schaal). In “Spaghetti Western and Meatballs,” Linda attempts to score major points with the other PTA Moms by signing Bob up to cater a school function, and Bob and Gene become obsessed with a classic Western movie series about a rebel named Banjo who shoots bullets from his instrument.

The plot line of a father sharing a beloved pop cultural artifact with the next generation — even if part of the next generation (Louise) thinks it’s extremely dumb — was tailormade for me, and I enjoyed the knocks on Western cliches, but the unintended consequences of Gene’s wanting to emulate Banjo the cowboy were extremely predictable and dull. My biggest laugh was hearing that one of Banjo’s onscreen rivals was named “Ceviche.” The perpetually shouting Louise would be grating if anyone other than Kristen Schaal was voicing her — the only voice I recognized right away (despite having seen Mirman perform in person). Neither a Family Guy-style cutaway nor a solid 30 seconds of fart-joke progression (which felt INTERMINABLE in a 22-minute comedy) landed their targets.

The difference between Bob’s Burgers and its companions in the Sunday-night block is that their defenders can fall back on “Well, it used to be better, and occasionally still gets in a few jabs.” Bob’s Burgers got a vote of confidence this week but will have to build on what it does have in order to not be in jeopardy next season.

Top Chef “Reunion Special”

Dennis: This reunion episode was less terrible than recent seasons, and that’s actually greater praise than it seems like coming from me. I’m on record as saying that these reunions are often painful hours of clipshows someone thought was funny, and yet another hour of a Bravo day given over to Andy Cohen’s shameless mugging. And yes, there was still clipshows and Cohen galore, but at least some important questions were quasi-answered (Will Blais really give Mike a cut of his winnings? Maybe. Was Jaime even trying? It’s debatable, but she doesn’t regret coming on the show. Were the Sesame Street judges as delightful as they seemed? You betcha), and there was even some (admittedly, Andy-instigated) drama between Tom and Elia. Apparently, Elia loves grass fed-beef and hates high fructose corn syrup, but Tom’s ok with corn-fed beef, and really likes Coca Cola. Yeah, that’s as dramatic of a revelation as there’s ever going to be on one of these reunions. Now everyone needs to rest up until whenever Top Chef: Original Recipe gets put back on the menu (What? You really thought I wasn’t getting one more food pun in?)

Remote Uncontrolled

52: America’s Got Mobbing Talent

Mobbed: “Series Premiere”

Ellen: This week in Shows I Don’t Watch: A series premiere! I was sitting with my roommates after dinner trying to explain who Will.I.Am is when we saw a preview for the new Howie Mandel-hosted reality show Mobbed. It’s a flash mob… reality show. Hey, remember when flash mobs were a thing that wasn’t on TV? I feel old, but I was both intrigued and lazy enough to take it in.

The premise of Mobbed is is Punk’d in reverse, meets Glee: Mandel finds people who have big news to impart — in this episode, dutiful boyfriend Justin who wants to make his marriage proposal to Nikki the Best Ever — finds volunteers to learn dance moves to be performed around them, and surprises them with a spectacle. (In the opening he suggests with an eyebrow-waggle that someone might use a flash mob to come out of the closet — truly, a step backward for everyone involved.) Mandel’s function to the show is to constantly push the envelope; if they have 200 dancers recruited (“via social media,” shadily), why not 400? If Justin and Nikki are getting engaged in the open-air courtyard of a mall, why not get MARRIED there? THAT NIGHT?

I’m of two minds on Mobbed. The first is that this is a wholesale ripoff of the genuine shenanigans of Improv Everywhere (working with 1/100th of the budget, and 100 times the heart, of Mr. Mandel), and also, that you shouldn’t be able to refer to it as a “flash mob” if the people involved are rehearsing for days and weeks up to the event. A further twist — hiring an actress to throw a drink in Justin’s face over dinner in some kind of “crazy ex-girlfriend” behavior — wanders into mean-spirited prank territory. (Also, stereotypes! All your boyfriend’s exes wear short dresses and act rudely! SO IT HATH BEEN DECREED!) The other is that I would kind of like to live in a movie musical, and I bet a lot of people would too. I may have been cringeing on the outside but somewhere in my dark, cold heart, I heard a whisper of “Well, no one really got hurt in the end.” I might watch this again, if the weekly “reveal” looked either funny or terrifying.

Justified: “The Spoil”

Scott: It just occurred to me this week, with only a third of its episodes left to go, that Justified’s second season is almost completely different from the first one; it’s just so subtly written and well-plotted that I hadn’t even noticed. Season 1 was great, but was structured as a traditional TV cop show: case of the week, with maybe a little bit of a season arc sprinkled here and there. Season 2 has done that great thing that only The Shield and Fringe have pulled off successfully, which is a case of the week that directly feeds into a season long arc. It’s a best of both worlds approach that gives our lizard brains the closure and satisfaction we expect from an episode of TV while developing the dramatic heft of long-form, epic storytelling. This week’s “The Spoil” was pure perfection, tightly pulling season (and series)-long plot threads together that we didn’t even realize were there, and doing it with brilliant dialogue, tense plotting and characters so richly developed that the only thing I can do is kiss my fingers like I just had a delicious spicy marinara sauce and say “Muua! Magnifique!” It’s only the second episode with input from the legendary Elmore Leonard, and his masterful character work looms large over the hour. The murderous drug runner Mags Bennett is given an impassioned speech that makes her out like a hillbilly Al Gore, our hero Raylan is defeated by an ethical lapse in the name of love, and the bad even when he’s trying to be good Boyd finds himself in the employ of thieves who aren’t even breaking the law. I couldn’t hope for a better episode on the week we learned Justified will be returning for Season 3 next spring.

Top Chef: “Finale”

Dennis: Oh, Top Chef. I was so psyched for this season, and while it was thrilling to see all our favorites (well most of our favorites, I’m still compiling my list of cheftestants for my Fringe-esque alternate universe edition of these “all-stars”), unfortunately (yep, here come the food puns) this season felt a little overcooked a bunch of episodes before. There was that week that no one got kicked off, and the following week where 5 people went to the “finals” in the Bahamas. Then three grueling weeks where 3 of those people did get eliminated, the last of which seemed like it was trying to trick people into thinking it was the finale (it was called “The Last Supper,” dammit).

Now, finally, the final final final finale! I’m just happy after an hour of “both contestants’ food was so good” proclamations, that the judges even managed to name a winner. And, I’m happy it was Richard. Well, not happy as I would’ve been if it were Carla or some of the other more beloved personalities. But if it had to be between sometimes cocky, sometimes confidence-less Richard, and all cocky, all the cock-a-doodle-clock Mike, I’ll gladly take Richard. I’ll also be gladly taking a much needed break from this show (I say no thanks to Top Chef Masters, Top Chef: Just Desserts, Top Chef: Special Victims Unit, etc) ASAP. And by ASAP I mean after next week’s Top Chef: The Season That Wouldn’t Die — Zombie Cheftestants (plus a Richer Richard) Reunite!

Parenthood: “Taking The Leap”

Scott: After a triumphant February sweeps period which found Parenthood getting its highest ratings ever for its best episodes ever, the show slumped back this week with a typical entry finding the Bravermans basically just hangin’ out. The biggest development was the introduction of Richard Dreyfuss as someone named “Gilliam”, the most effete Vietnam veteran this side of Oliver Stone. “Gilliam” is a Broadway producer known for shows with titles like “Pickle Juice” and Zeke wants him to stage Sarah’s play. Who knows how this will play out over the remaining three episodes of the season, but for now it’s played in that annoying vein this show can get into where it’s cutesy and silly and pulls us out of the family reality the show can generate really well in its more affecting moments. For example, Zeke apparently harbors a long dormant desire to act that we’ve never seen or heard mention of previously, and reads Sarah’s play on the toilet. I also hate how the Braverman kids talk to their parents, with everything in a breathless “Ugh, Daaaad” tone that might be realistic (I don’t have kids, so I don’t know), but is certainly annoying and makes mostly great kids like Amber come across as snotty little jerks. Also, Julia and Joel found out they can’t have another kid, a development that found me breathing a sigh of relief for Joel, who justifiably never wanted another one anyway.

Being Human: “Going Dutch”

Zoe: Hey guys, did you know that women can have babies? Because that’s all TV writers know! Apparently we’re going to do a baby plot on this show before we do a “Josh actually grows and matures as a person” plot line. Because I would really hate to not be constantly annoyed by 1/3 of the show! Instead we get to have a baby, or a lot of melodrama about a baby that may die. On the plus side, this at least got the two main characters to interact with each other. And as much as Josh can annoy me (because his writing is bad), what annoys me can become a lot more fun around Aiden. So at least there’s that.

Another positive thing: Rebecca is totally dead!DEAD, DEAD, DEAD! I don’t know anyone who watches this show at all, but I also don’t know anyone who cares about her. She was a boring, annoying character who had all potentially interesting plots killed in favor of an unbelievable love storyline. So not only do we get Bishop being a badass (I love Bishop and will be sad if he dies), but we also get Rebecca’s death. You win this week, vampire storyline! Especially since while Sally’s plot was interesting (for her), I couldn’t help but yell at the psychic. You saw this man kill a woman and yet you don’t tell his girlfriend that? That’s awfully callous. But hey. Baby!!!!