Category: Episode Reviews

• March 15, 2011

  The Chicago Code, “The Gold Coin Kid”

  

  I thought this was going to a 200-word blurb before class, but it ended up being much longer. First of all, I really like this series. A lot. I think that it still has some kinks to work out, but I’m really hoping that FOX sees the value and is willing to let it continue…
• March 15, 2011

  House, “Out of the Chute”

  After last week’s controversial episode, House and House could have gone a number of troubling directions. I suspected “Out of the Chute” would be overly melodramatic and annoying and since the series has gone this troubling route in the past, there was an outside chance that this episode didn’t actually deal with the fall-out of the…
• March 9, 2011

  Season Finale — White Collar, “Under The Radar”

  

  I have noticeably mixed feelings about the season finale of White Collar. On one hand, “Under the Radar” was a solidly-execution to the Adler story and all the drama that’s been driving the series from the very beginning. On the other hand, it features yet another problematic cliffhanger from a series that seems destined to…
• March 9, 2011

  Glee, “Sexy”

  

  At this point, I have resigned myself to the fact that Glee is only going to produce episodes like “Duets” on rare occasions and the rest of the time, the series is going to be horribly messy, swinging from one extreme to another. As a viewer and “critic,” watching Glee has become something of an…
• March 8, 2011

  House, “Bombshells”

  In my review of last week’s episode of House, I expressed my frustrations with the series’ inability to stick to any interesting development in regards to House and Cuddy. In “Recession Proof,” the series suggested some compelling tensions between the two of them but ultimately avoided any major blow-out so that it could provide the…
• March 3, 2011

  Modern Family, “Two Monkeys and a Panda”

  

  I haven’t written about Modern Family in a while because I felt like I was picking nits. I am fully confident in my opinion that the series has not been as strong here in the second season as it was in its pretty-awesome first, but things aren’t so bad on a week-to-week basis, it hasn’t…
• March 2, 2011

  Southland, “Failure Drill”

  

  Southland is one of those series that I watch every single week and really, legitimately adore, but can never find the time or desire to actually review on a regular basis. A lot of the series I regularly review — from Supernatural to The Good Wife to White Collar — are procedurals, but for whatever…
• March 2, 2011

  White Collar, “Power Play”

  

  When you have two fantastic leads like White Collar does, that can get you through even the worst of episodes or any sort of gimmick. “Power Play” might use a gimmick device in its storytelling, but it is certainly not one of the series’ worst episodes. After last week’s middling and disappointing effort, “Power Play”…
• March 1, 2011

  The Chicago Code, “Cabrini-Green”

  

  The Chicago Code is so close to becoming a really great television series, but every week there are some random shortcuts or plot issues that bring individual episodes down just enough to annoy or frustrate me. This week’s effort, “Cabrini-Green,” is absolutely no different. There is so much to like about Code. I think all…
• March 1, 2011

  House, “Recession Proof”

  I know I’ve been one of the only supporters of this season of House. And I can see why a lot of people are frustrated with the series at this point. The version of House that we all fell in love with in those earlier seasons has been completely deconstructed in such a way that…
• February 26, 2011

  Supernatural, “The French Mistake”

  

  Well, that was awesome. “The French Mistake” was the most anticipated episode of Supernatural in a long time and going into it, I assumed that it would either be unbelievably fantastic or pretty terrible. That’s not the most advanced analysis in the world and in the end, I probably had no reason to be concerned.…
• February 26, 2011

  Smallville, “Fortune”

  

  UGH. Ever since I read a few spoilers about “Fortune,” I prepared myself for a terrible episode. But I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the giant suck-fest I watched unravel on my screen this evening. It’s been well-established that the Smallville writers have no qualms about ripping entire plots from other texts…
• February 25, 2011

  Parks and Recreation, “Indianapolis”

  

  Because of my schedule, I don’t get to write about Parks and Recreation every week and that just makes me sad. I think I’ve settled in on a schedule where I write about every other episode, which is better than nothing, I guess. Although it’s moderately disappointing that I didn’t have time to write about…
• February 25, 2011

  Perfect Couples, “Perfect House”

  

  I’m just going to say it: I really like Perfect Couples. Not just “like” it in that I can watch it while I bide my time between Community and The Office. I legitimately like this series now. In fact, I’d probably be willing to argue that the last few weeks, Perfect Couples has been funnier…
• February 25, 2011

  Community, “Intro to Political Science”

  

  After last week’s high-concept, high-profile and flat-out fantastic episode of television, it makes sense that Community came back with an episode more in-tune with its basic framework. Well as “basic” as the series can get at this point. There appears to be rumblings of a minor backlash towards the series after the last handful of…