Howdy all. Sorry for the late posting – your trusty editor got hit with a double whammy of “being out of town” and “being sick” and so everything got delayed.

Fortunately, the SPJ writers produced some great reviews this week and used the sports-induced hiatus to look at some under-watched shows. Here’s what we thought, tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Robert

Spartacus: Blood and Sand: “Shadow Games”

For the first time since the series opener, we have some actual plot movement! Only it’s not anything revolving around our titular character. Having been the playground bully of sorts for most of the series so far, it’s Crixus that gets the majority of screen time this week as he’s become the object of all the ladies’ affections (Lucretia’s lust, Naevia’s love and now the devilish Ilithyia’s shallow fascination) and starting to realize that his life as a slave and gladiator isn’t exactly filled with hope and promise—The Life of Riley it ain’t. When he’s paired up with that Spartacus guy to take on Theoucles, an unstoppable monster of a man also known as the Shadow of Death, it all comes to a head when Crixus falls and the Thracian must finish the fight. I have to admit while much of my initial impression of Spartacus: Blood and Sand still holds true, this show has something going for it (as the growing ratings seem to indicate), and it finally shone through in this episode. When a strong, seemingly immovable character like Crixus has his world turned upside-down, maybe witnessing all the carnage and depravity that came before it was necessary to provide the contrast to such a momentous character shift. Or maybe it was just fun—as much fun as seeing a man get his face peeled off can be—and I didn’t recognize it. Silly me.

Caprica: “Gravedancing”

Following the the alarming revelation from Amanda Graystone that Zoe was involved in the bombing of Train 23, Daniel decides to set the record straight on a popular talk show (hosted by guest star Patton Oswalt). By the end, Daniel reveals the existence of his daughter’s virtual clone and instates a new “free access” policy to curb the profiteering morass that the holoband technology has created. It’s a small but important leap forward for Caprica by putting the conflict over virtual reality front and center, but there’s far more brewing under the surface. Joseph Adama, having already set the wheels in motion for Amanda’s death at the hands of his brother Sam, has doubts and tries to call it off before it’s too late, and agents get one step closer to tracking down the STO’s source at the school, including the growing relationship with collaborators Lacy and Keon.

Now this is LOST back in top form. An episode revolving around one of its best characters and with some pretty solid plot development to boot. Not only did we learn about Locke, but we also learned about alt-Locke and not-Locke. You’re welcome to help us “un-Locke” more of the mysteries in our weekly Getting LOST feature.

Dennis

Greek: “The Tortoise and the Hair”

I’m happy to see ABC Family did the right thing and gave this show a fourth season, especially after this episode was one of the most enjoyable episodes in the show’s three season-long history. Any episode title that refers to a literal turtle race, a professor’s toupee, and Cappie’s slow and steady moving toward academic growth is great with me already. Plus, I’m pleased that the writers decided to weave Dale more into everyone else’s storylines by making him the ZBT house’s resident hasher. My favorite quotes of the episode? Could be Dale’s reaction to a cranky Rebecca: “Wow, you’re unpleasant.” Or, it could be Rebecca advising a newly civic-minded Casey that “Politics is all about scare tactics. Didn’t you learn anything from the Bush years?” And hey, they gave Sam Page a character that’s nicer than Joan’s douche of a husband on Mad Men. Hooray for that! One more reason to rejoice in having this show around for a while longer

Grey’s Anatomy: “The Time Warp”

I have a long and complicated history with Grey’s Anatomy. I watched it from the very beginning and went from thinking it was bad, to thinking it was underrated and good, to thinking it was overrated and obnoxious. Now I just visit Grey’s occasionally like it was a forgotten relative in an old folks’ home. I tuned in for the few episodes where they brought on Everwood/Privileged/Mad Men’s Sarah Drew but tuned out when they wrote her off. Now she’s back and so am I. (I have a history of quitting shows when they write off awesome actors. See also: the House/Anne Dudek debacle). I also enjoy Greek’s Jesse Williams, the most successful Sunset Beach alum (Randy Spelling must be jealous) Jason George as other recurring doctors, and in the most recent episode, Studio 60’s Sarah Paulson as the compelling flashback version of Mer’s mom. I wonder if they can pull a Gossip Girl and attempt to give Paulson a retro 80s spinoff? Couldn’t be any worse than Private Practice…

The Deep End: “An Innocent Man” and Lost: “The Substitute”

Not too much to say about either of these shows this week. Deep End is still strangely watchable, and I’m still waiting for a Lost episode this season as awesome as the first. But, I at least had fun with spotting familiar faces on both shows! On The Deep End the random fiance to Addy (Tina Majorino) was Dave Giunatoli, erstwhile Road Rules contestant turned actor. He’s been a gay marine on Grey’s Anatomy, and for two seasons, interestingly enough, also random fiancé to another former Veronica Mars cast member, Julie Gonzalo on ABC’s previous law show attempt Eli Stone. Meanwhile, 7th Heaven’s David Gallagher was all-growed up as Sterling’s son, and Sister Act’s meek nun (and Oliver Beene’s mom) Wendy Makkena was the take no bull judge.

And of course, there was Peg Bundy herself Katey Segal back on Lost. I’m so pleased Segal has gotten consistent work post-Married with Children via this show, Futurama, Eli Stone, and Sons of Anarchy. I have yet to see SoA (it languishes on my Netflix queue with The Wire, Battlestar Galatica, and Breaking Bad while I watch shows like The Deep End, apparently) but hope it nets her an Emmy nomination this year. If her work on SoA is as good as her work on Lost, she’s at the very least more deserving than Mariska damn Hargitay.

Zoe

The Olympics

Most of my shows were either typical or on hiatus this last week, so I didn’t have much to watch. However, I did manage to catch a few Olympic events. While the actual scores and medal counts don’t interest me, a friend and I did undertake a campaign to rename some events. I mean, how can anyone take an event where you fly off a ramp and call it ski jumping? Granted, our suggestion of “Death Jumping” may not be the best improvement, but at least it’s something. The most egregious, though, is biathlon. A sport where you ski around and shoot things has been reduced to a name that makes it sound like nothing at all. You can do better than that, IOC.