Category: Episode Reviews
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Season Finale — Dexter, “The Big One”
Sigh. The thing with Dexter, a thing we all know about, is that it is completely bound by its formula. It has been said over and over that the series cannot really move forward until it knows an end is in sight. Dexter has one more card to play — Deb finding out — and…
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Fringe, “Marionette”
Last week, after Fringe‘s fantastic episode that felt like a mid-season finale that actually wasn’t a mid-season finale, I smarted off on Twitter about how this week’s episode would be a return to the episodes that we didn’t care as much about. Of course, I was being an asshole, because all Fringe episodes should be…
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Community, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”
As I was watching Community‘s glorious entry into the claymation Christmas canon last night, I couldn’t help from thinking about my essay about the series that discusses Abed’s popular culture-tinted worldview. Last night’s episode is kind of an obvious example for the points I make in that long essay, but I’m not really sure that…
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The Vampire Diaries, “By The Light of The Moon”
As the final episode of 2010, “By The Light of The Moon” isn’t the most exciting effort of The Vampire Diaries‘ second season. In fact, it’s fairly timid compared to some of the crazy episodes we’ve seen this season. However, Mike Daniels’ script does a really smart thing by building the entire episode around what…
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Cougar Town, “The Same Old You”
I haven’t seen all of Cougar Town‘s first season, but one of the biggest concerns of this season has been finding the right balance between Jules, the forceful,, but ultimately helpful friend/person and Jules, the awful shrill who bullies everyone into doing whatever it is she wants. It’s been really hard for the series to…
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Human Target, “The Return of Baptiste”
Apologies for the delay in this write-up, I’ve been swamped with end of the semester business and unfortunately, that will continue for the next week or so. I’ll try to have some things pre-written, but it’s going to be light around these parts for a while I think. Anyway, this week’s Human Target? Pretty great,…
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Glee, “A Very Glee Christmas”
If there’s any series that should be able to integrate the overwhelming joy that is supposed to come from Christmas specials, it’s Glee. The combination just seems so obvious, which is perhaps why I can’t really say that I’ll be too critical of this episode. But at the same time, there needs to be some…
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Christmas Special — Warehouse 13, “Secret Santa”
I have a surprisingly strong affinity for Syfy’s Warehouse 13. I quickly caught up on season one before the second aired this past summer, and by the time things came to an end in late September, I was really impressed with how the series expanded its universe nicely by continuing to rely on the dramatic…
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Season Finale — The Walking Dead, “TS-19”
For series with a fairly high concept and only six episodes to fill out the first season, the season finale of The Walking Dead was bound to be at least partially unsatisfying. There’s just not enough time to introduce the concept, the characters and really make the audience feel (especially those who aren’t familiar with…
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Supernatural, “Caged Heat”
Well, then. Season six of Supernatural just continues to surprise me. I kind of hate it, but I also kind of love it. After taking four or five episodes to set up the new equilibrium and figure out what the hell was happening with Sam, Samuel, etc. and settling into a new comfortable groove, “Caged…
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Smallville, “Luthor”
Time travel, alternate universes, these storytelling techniques are such gimmicks — gimmicks Smallville uses on a fairly regular basis. However, because the series is so good when they do employ this gimmicks, I’m willing to give them a reprieve for dipping into an elseworlds-type tale in “Luthor.” Plus, the series is based on a comic…
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Community, “Mixology Certification”
I imagine that “Mixology Certification” is the most divisive episode of Community‘s second season. It’s set outside of the safe Greendale walls, features little pop culture referencing and for the most part, isn’t funny in the same kind of way all the “great” episodes of Community are. Instead, it features a fairly boiler-plate sitcom plot…
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Fringe, “Entrada”
Stupid scheduling mishaps have led to me not writing about Fringe for at least the last couple episodes and maybe three episodes. That’s unfortunate, because you all know that Fringe has been awesome in almost every way for the first seven episodes this season. Well, make that eight episodes actually, because “Entrada” is another damn…
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The Vampire Diaries, “The Sacrifice”
Figured it was time to update the title card image! Though I really enjoy episodes where the big ensembles come together for one important task like “Masquerade,” (which is still probably my favorite episode of the season) The Vampire Diaries is ridiculously good at pairing off its ever-expanding group of characters without losing any sense…
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Psych, “Dual Spires”
I haven’t checked in with Psych since it returned from the hiatus, which is unfortunate because I adore Psych and the first two episodes back have been pretty fun. I especially like that the series finally pulled the trigger on Shawn and Jules and has pretty much integrated their relationship into the series with little…
CB, PhD 