Best Episode of the Season: Gossip Girl Season 4

June 23, 2011

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“Petty in Pink”

The debut of Kaylee DeFer as “Charlie” in the previous episode was generally inauspicious, but in her second episode, she turned out to be one of those meta-variety cast additions who seems to be so knowledgeable of the tropes of the show such that she must be a devoted viewer.  That was a fun bit of meta-humor at the time, but it was not the sort of comedy that a soap, even an ironic one like Gossip Girl, could be expected to maintain.  With the reveal of Charlie as “Ivy” in the finale, though, it turned out, on multiple levels, that this was in fact the correct way for DeFer to play her part.  As for the finale, it did, as per usual, come packed with the greatest number of juicy twists, but it was the beginning of this season’s final storylines that set those twists up and made them as gratifying as they were.  Blair’s positive pregnancy test may have shown up in the finale, but in “Petty in Pink,” all three of her Season 4 suitors were prominently in the picture.  Thus, the situation in “Pink” made it possible that if Blair is in fact pregnant, the dad could be any of the three.  Well, it almost definitely is not Dan.  And her times with Louis appear to have been chaste.  Basically, Chuck must be the father.  Nonetheless, “Petty in Pink” is still noteworthy for the fullest realization of that love quadrangle.

Next up: Raising Hope

Best Episode of the Season: How I Met Your Mother Season 6

June 23, 2011

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“Hopeless”

It was distressing to see Barney struggle to reunite with his father this season not only because we wanted the reconciliation to be a happy one, but also because we wanted to see John Lithgow break loose and show off his comic skills.  This finally happened with “Hopeless,” in which Jerry (Lithgow) realized that Barney would never start having a good time with his father until they had a legendary night of partying.  So the sometime magician pulls off the ultimate magic trick: a pretend night of debauchery.  Using sleight of hand, he downs several shots in a row, and in the hours that follow, he picks a fight with a biker, yanks out a parking meter, and pukes on a cop car, or at least that is how a very drunk Barney sees it.  Really, the biker is a statue, and Barney is the one who threw up.  As Jerry explains his ruse and its purposes of bonding with Barney and teaching him that he cannot party forever, we have one of those great “think back, remember how it really happened” moments.

Next up: Gossip Girl

Best Episode of the Season: Desperate Housewives Season 7

June 23, 2011

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“Farewell Letter”

During the early days of Desperate Housewives, Gabby was the weakest of the housewives, her storylines less meaningful and even frothier than those of the other housewives.  Now that the show as a whole has grown a little long in the tooth, the situation has reversed, and Gabby’s storylines now have the most emotional depth of the series.  Take “Farewell Letter” for example, in which Gabby and Carlos returned to Gabby’s hometown to confront the demons of her childhood.  She confronted the nun who had never – and still refused – to believe Gabby’s revelations of her stepfather molesting her.  Anyone who has grown up Catholic knows that confronting a nun – particularly a really mean nun – is a powerful situation.  This moment was just as wrenching as Gabby’s hysterics following the loss of Grace, but it was also fulfilling, and the writers had worked hard to get to that fulfillment.

Next up: How I Met Your Mother

Best Episode of the Season: The Cleveland Show Season 2

June 21, 2011

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“Murray Christmas”

It is a modern-day saw that fat people are the last group that it is politically correct to make fun of, but Jews are not too far behind in this regard.  This speaks to the tradition of (often self-deprecating) comedy in Jewish culture.  Because of that tradition, Jewish humor has a knack for showing up just about every area of the comedy world, even a usually Jew-lacking cartoon like The Cleveland Show.  The characterization of Rallo as too smart for his age, but not really, has generally served The Cleveland Show well, and it did so particularly with this episode as the Carl Reiner-voiced Murray taught the previously ignorant regarding Judaism Rallo about Hanukkah.  Rallo provided chuckles with his misconceptions about Jews, and his friendship with Murray ended up being surprisingly and gratifyingly sweet-natured.

Next up: Desperate Housewives

Best Episode of the Season: Smallville Season 10 (Final Season!)

June 20, 2011

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“Finale”

Smallville was never the best TV show, nor even the best superhero TV show for that matter, but it was generally always so in tune with the world of geekdom such that there were plenty of moments to make us smile and say, “Yeah, that’s a superhero.”  But then in its last few seasons, it became … something else.  It was never too steeped in its comic origins, while it also never really strayed too far from them either.  It was hard to describe.  (I think part of the problem was Tess Mercer, a character I’ve never heard anybody say they liked.)  Michael Rosenbaum returned as Lex in the series finale, and though he was only on screen for about five minutes, it brought back the best of Smallville long enough to make the finale the best episode of the season.  Rosenbaum was easily the best actor in the main cast during Smallville’s entire run, and it showed in that scene, as he elevated the performances of Tom Welling and every element of the setting.  I could never quite understand why Lex did seem to be legitimately dead, considering that Smallville was principally conceived around the friendship between Clark and Lex and how that friendship contrasted with their future as enemies.  If that future would not come to pass, that would have wiped out a great deal of meaning from the first half of the series.  As for the rest of the finale, the epilogue was gratifying, and it had been set up nicely by the preview moments from earlier in the season.

Next up: The Cleveland Show

Best Episode of the Season: Community Season 2

June 16, 2011

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“Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design”

The thing about poorly constructed conspiracy-laden stories is that as the conspiracy unravels, the story becomes less and less compelling.  The truth is revealed, and that truth is that the way in which the conspiracy was wrapped up in itself was the only interesting thing there ever was about the story.  The writers of Community get this concept, and thus they crafted an episode about a conspiracy that was about a conspiracy, which kept having more layers and tangents added to it until it could no longer really be considered a conspiracy, but instead just “random crap.”  As Jeff attempted to convince Dean Pelton of the validity of his fraudulent independent study, “Professor Professorson” burst out to declare that cliché bon mot, “One man’s lies are another man’s truth.”  Despite the meaninglessness of that line, it was filled with depth and charisma, as Professorson (really Woolery) was portrayed by supporting player extraordinaire Kevin Corrigan, who elevates whatever he appears in exponentially.  In the role that he is probably best known for – Uncle Eddie on Grounded for Life – Corrigan seemed like he was in a completely different show than every other character.  Such an acting style was profoundly apt for the role of Professorson, and a microcosmic representation of Community as a whole.  Here is a show that is so beautifully wrapped up in itself.  Blanket fort town, anyone?

Next up: Smallville

Best Episode of the Season: Fringe Season 3

June 15, 2011

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“Subject 13”

Can all Fringe episodes be set in the eighties?  Alas, I cannot make that request with full sincerity, because if every episode of Fringe was a flashback episode, then they probably would not all reach the storytelling heights that were reached last season with “Peter” and this season with “Subject 13.”  John Noble’s portrayals of the two Walter’s became more and more legendary in an episode that screamed multidimensionality.  As the main-universe Walter, he alternated between an overreaching manipulator and a surrogate father figure for a young Olivia abused by her stepfather (I get choked up just thinking about the moment when Walter warns her stepfather what he will do if he ever harms her again).  As Walternate, he was not yet the obsessed revenge-seeker that Fringe fans had come to know him as, but instead a man driven to despair, both because of the loss of his child and the failure and of his cognitive abilities, as he was unable to figure out the circumstances of his son’s kidnapping.  The most tantalizing scene was the test footage of Walter attempting to coax Olivia’s ability to cross over.  Another J.J. Abrams creation – Lost – was most consistently successful in terms of amping up a mysterious mood with its use of test footage, and Fringe has now shown itself to be just as capable with this simple, yet clever technique.  The scene in which Olivia crosses over and speaks to Walternate teased what was still to come, thankfully making it clear that the eighties storyline is not finished.

Next up: Community

Best Episode of the Season: 30 Rock Season 5

June 14, 2011

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“TGS Hates Women”

“Augh!  My period!  You’re all fired!”

Is Tina Fey the official voice of reason when it comes to women’s affairs today?  As perhaps the biggest female name in comedy today, she is certainly in a position to be a major influence on the representation of women in a field that has often been characterized as a boys’ club.  So by taking on the article from the Jezebel blog that criticized The Daily Show’s hiring of Olivia Munn with the storyline of “TGS Hates Women,” she made it clear that this sort of thing is a complicated issue.  Liz Lemon hires a female writer in an attempt to assuage criticisms of TGS as misogynistic.  But it blows up in her face in more ways than one, and all TGS is left with during Tracy’s absence are sketches about Hilary Clinton, Amelia Earhart, and Wonder Woman getting their period at inopportune times, which Liz tries to characterize as “ironic re-appropriation[s],” and they really are, whether they were meant to be or not, considering how absurdly nonsensical they are.  At least they come off as ironic to viewers, as 30 Rock consistently represents TGS as a hopelessly dumb show.  Meanwhile, Jack competes with Kaylee, Kabletown CEO Hank Hooper’s granddaughter, as he tries to position himself as the top candidate to succeed Hank as CEO.  Kaylee, as played by the prodigious Chloë Grace-Moretz, proves to be the most formidable competition Jack has ever faced in the area of corporate climbing.  Jack distracts Kaylee from succession by encouraging her love of marine biology, a love that she faked as a scheme to lead Jack back toward his love of marine biology.  Ultimately, once each figures the other one out, they lay down the law with each other, Kaylee making it clear that she is not above accusing Jack of giving alcohol to a minor and Jack making it clear that he is not above seducing Kaylee’s teachers for the sake of having them flunk her.

Next up: Fringe

Best Episode of the Season: Perfect Couples Season 1 (First and Only Season!)

June 13, 2011

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“Perfect House”

“Do you even know I’m a woman?”

I was sad to see Perfect Couples depart from the airwaves after only one season, as it was that rare show with a clearly stated premise that actually followed through on that premise.  Here were three “perfect” couples: obviously they weren’t actually perfect, but the general openness about the problems in their relationships (whether that openness came from themselves or one of the members of the other couples) made them about as perfect as they could possibly be in this modern world.  The standout pair on the show was Hayes MacArthur and Olivia Munn as Rex and Leigh, the husband and wife who have read every piece of relationship advice and who both actually seem to follow it all.  Olivia Munn can pull off that rare awesome trifecta of being sexy, funny, and actually seeming like a real person, so it was an engaging change of pace to see her miserably flailing about at tennis and at dealing with the jealousy over the sports-bred camaraderie Rex shares with his sister Julia.  Rex and Leigh are like the couple who have everything, partly because of the attitude they share of a desire to be number one at everything.  A couple like that needs to be knocked down a peg, but it was heartening to see that being knocked down did essentially no harm to their relationship.  “Perfect House” was also notable for its very real take on “Telling Stories,” featuring these choice quotes:

Julia: “You mean the black guy?”
Dave: “Oh, uh, ye-, black.”
Julia: “Bravo, Dave, so enlightened.  You mean you didn’t even notice?  Woo!  Get a new dream, Martin Luther King.  This one just came true.”

Vance: “Okay, that detail doesn’t matter, will you just get to the end? … What is pertinent, like, I can’t follow the thread.”

Leigh: “I’m sorry.  Are we boring you?
Rex: “Like the story about your kid’s play was so riveting.  At least we’re trying.”

Julia: “What is that movie I love so much?  Men in- unh, what is that word?  It has that actor, Will Smith, you know, the tall guy.”
Dave: “You know what, excuse me for being sensitive.”
Julia: “No, Dave, I am in awe.  I mean, where does it stop?  Do you see gender?  Do you even know I’m a woman?
Dave: “I’m walking the dog.”
Julia: “Well, he is a dog?” (Dave: “Bye-bye.”) “Or he is just a horizontal life-force?”

Next up: 30 Rock

Best Episode of the Season: V Season 2 (Final Season!)

June 12, 2011

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“Concordia”

The major problem with much of the first season of V was that hardly anything of significance happened.  The major problem with the second, and ultimately ultimate, season was that when something did happen, the status quo rarely changed.  Double crossings were re-crossed, and major characters seemed safe from death (until the finale, whose explosiveness was rendered moot thanks to cancellation).  “Concordia” worked in that the Fifth Column finally decided to take act against the Visitors in a way that would have repercussions and could not be reversed.  Though Anna was protected against assassination and Marcus’s chances for survival were considerable, the message of this action could not be ignored.  Viewers now had a general sense of character loyalty that not every character was aware of, throwing matters into a state of disarray that demanded resolution that was eventually cut short by cancellation.

Next up: Perfect Couples

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