March TV Report: Part 2

I'm so bad at keeping up with these TV reports, but I'm going to keep trying. There's actually been a lot of good TV lately. I marathoned the first season of Shameless (US) and also finished up Big Love over the past few days. Thoughts on those two are forthcoming. For now, here are my regular shows that I watched during the past two weeks...

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER - Barney finally meets his dad and it's the Trinity Killer! The casting of John Lithgow was a bit of a surprise, but I think the chemistry between the two Emmy-winning actors was just right. That basketball hoop scene is sure to be on the short list of Neil Patrick Harris' Emmy submission clips. The rest of the episode was great too with the rest of the gang talking about knowledge gaps such as Ted mispronouncing "chameleon" and Robin not believing that the North Pole was real. So basically, the episode was aces.

CASTLE - Not much to say really, except I think I'm liking what they're doing with Beckett/Castle. Their relationship isn't really a "will they/won't they" it's more of a "they will when they're ready" type of thing and the show is walking that fine line. It helps that Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic are adorable together. The cases themselves aren't really worthy of praise though I do love that I usually can't guess who the killer is until it's revealed.

THE GOOD WIFE - The past two episodes have been super important for Kalinda. Not only did we get a bombshell of a reveal at the end of last week's episode when Blake (good riddance BTW!) told Kalinda about knowing she slept with Peter, but then to see Kalinda trying to keep it all together this week was something to behold. Archie Panjabi is earning her Emmy win this season and then some. And while Julianna Margulies is dependably awesome here, I don't know how this show existed without Alan Cumming. Plus what they are doing with Cary? Just perfect in every way, from his relationship with Kalinda to his interactions with his old firm and Alicia. Though I just wish he'd come back, you know?

MODERN FAMILY - Last week's episode was cute especially Phil/Claire freaking out about Luke hanging out with their elderly neighbor. But it was the gay boys night out that really was a treat since it's been so long since a Mitchell/Cameron storyline was my favorite for an episode. It helped that they had help from Crispin, Longinus, and Pepper (hint: gay friends if you couldn't tell) as well as Jay, but overall fun times!

COMMUNITY - I haven't seen My Dinner With Andre so I didn't get the reference, but all of the Pulp Fiction stuff were legendary. And yet while that was what the promo focused on, I really did like the "deep talk" that Abed and Jeff had, especially Jeff pouring out some of his deepest secrets. Kudos to Joel McHale for pulling them off. Also, yay for all of the Cougar Town shout outs. Of course now we need Abed to actually appear on aforementioned show to make it all the more epic.


THE OFFICE - A bucket for my tears! That was what I needed while watching last week's episode! The whole proposal thing wasn't a surprise, but the way Michael Scott did it was just so him and so perfect and so touching. I bet the candles were responsible for more waterworks than the sprinklers they set off in that scene. Steve Carrell and Amy Ryan were phenomenal and both will be greatly missed. And then to end the wholly entertaining episode with the faces of the Dunder Mifflin crew as Michael tells them the inevitable news of his departure was inspired.

PARKS & REC - Another strong episode especially following a nearly flawless one. Most of it again is due to the strength of the ensemble, but I loved how they humanized the Leslie Knope character by her undergoing this mini-crisis of faith. Of course all of the camping hijinks were great and I certainly loved all of the Adam Scott/Amy Poehler chemistry throughout.

BIG BANG THEORY - First things first, kick-ass Penny is an awesome Penny. Also her scenes with Bernadette and Amy has consistently brought me more laughs than what the boys are usually up to and it's the same for this most recent episode. Are the boys shtick getting too tiresome for me? Maybe a little, but a least with most of them hooked up we don't need to have a "must meet girls" storyline that were muddily handled in earlier seasons.

GREY'S ANATOMY - Don't usually talk about this show, but I felt compelled to say something about the "musical event" episode. First, the cast did wonderfully singing. Granted the superstars were, for me, Sara Ramirez and Kevin McKidd, but every single one should feel proud. The episode itself was a bit of a mess. Emotional? Of course since the lives of one of their own AND her baby were hanging in the balance. A few songs added to this, but others didn't. In fact some songs were just plain BAD. They should've trimmed some of the singing and invested more time on the story. But hey, could've been worse I suppose!

FRINGE - First of all, YES FOR THIS SHOW BEING RENEWED! So we at least have one more year of this insane ride of a show. Now there's no new episode tomorrow, but last week's trip to the Other Side will keep its fans going. All of the twists and turns that episode took gave me whiplash. The accelerated pregnancy was horrifying as was the discovery that it was all masterminded by Walternate. Evil, evil Walternate! The Observers are keeping an eye out and Lee/Charlie are also starting to suspect something! Speaking of, Seth Gabel and Anna Torv (who has been on fire ALL SEASON BTW) together is wonderful. Oh and I nearly forgot about the reappearance of Henry! Good ol' Henry.

Birthday Boy: Ewan McGregor

Before talking about anything else, can we all just reflect that Ewan McGregor is turning 40 years old? I mean that's just crazy talk. He's been working quite consistently for the past two decades racking up 37 non-animated features and a few more on tap for later this year. Out of those films, I've seen nearly half with 18 films.

My absolute favorite performance of his was that of the penniless writer and romantic Christian in the magnificent film Moulin Rouge. Of course this begs the question, why hasn't he done a follow-up musical? I mean really now, Hollywood, give this man a musical, preferably reuniting him with Nicole Kidman who I would also like to hear sing again. No, her performance in Nine doesn't count.

My three favorite McGregor performances

Renton in Trainspotting and Curt Wild in Velvet Goldmine are two of my other favorite roles of his. Both roles was totally in Ewan's wheelhouse of manic and crazy characters not afraid of some frontal nudity for which this fan was thankful for. Last year I saw both The Ghost Writer and I Love Your Phillip Morris, though in both he played the more subdued character reacting to the manic-ness and craziness of others.

Next up for the totally over-the-hill Scotsman is Beginners, a quirky drama in which his finds himself conversing with an adorable puppy as well as finding out that his dying father is gay. I'm excited to see the film mostly because Ewan looks like he's 10 years younger, which is just, you know, not fair at all.

Van Gogh's Birthday & Doctor Who Trailer!

Vincent Van Gogh celebrates his 158th birthday today. So I guess it's fitting that today was also the debut of the first full-length trailer of the new season of Doctor Who. Wait, back up. Let me explain.


One of my favorite Doctor Who episodes from last season was "Vincent and the Doctor" in which the Doctor meets fellow madman and genius Vincent Van Gogh. Nothing earth-shattering or even epic happened in the episode, but Tony Curran seemed like he was born to play the great artist. Plus his scenes with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, from the breathtaking starry outdoor scene displayed in the graphic above to the heartbreaking breakdown that hinted at the madness within, were amazing. It was a quiet, but powerfully emotional episode that deserve recognition.

So happy birthday Vincent, and to the rest, enjoy the season 6 trailer of Doctor Who:


Other than not having enough Rory, it was perfect. Definitely made me ridiculously excited for the new season set to premiere in less than a month's time.

Looking Forward To...

Hanna
Release: April 8, 2011
Distributor: Focus Features
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Eric Bana, Tom Hollander, Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng, and Cate Blanchett

Quick Reviews: Jane Eyre, HappyThankYou, and Paul

After Oscar season, it usually takes me awhile to start watching movies again and this year was no different. Didn't see my first 2011 feature until a few weeks ago, but now that March is nearly over and summer movie season is just around the corner, just like to do quick reviews on the three films I did end up seeing this month.

Jane Eyre - I already briefly talked about this film in a previous entry and I don't have much to add except to say that everyone involve should be proud of the film that made it on screen. And if I didn't make it clear in my other entry, I thought Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender were magnificent. B/B+

HappyThankYouMorePlease - The story revolves around three 20-something New Yorkers dealing with their usual problems. Here's the thing, it was a little boring and a whole lot self-indulgent, but in the end I didn't regret watching it, because the actors more than made up for it. Kudos to Josh Radnor who wrote and directed this film mostly for inhabiting a character that isn't Ted from How I Met Your Mother. B-

Paul - The plot itself left much to be desired simultaneously underdeveloped and overcomplicated, but everything else was a ball of fun. This was a geek movie from beginning to end from the opening scene in Comic Con to the appearance of Ripley towards the end. Writers Pegg and Frost do their usual bromance thing to perfection and color me shocked at how well Rogen did as Paul. B-/B

Next month, I'm going to try and catch two films from two directors I really like, Source Code and Hanna. And then it'll be the summer movie season and I don't even have the bandwidth to think about those films.

The Normal Heart

I don't really know much about The Normal Heart other than it being centered around the AIDS crisis happening in New York City during the 80s, which is intriguing enough, but the Broadway cast looks absolutely, positively amazing.


It caught my eye when I first heard that Emmy winner Jim Parsons and Emmy nominated Lee Pace were going to be part of the cast. I've been a long-time fan of Lee Pace since I saw him in Wonderfalls and he has followed that with some inspired work in Pushing Daisies and The Fall. It was after I was already obsessed with him that I discovered his brilliant work in Soldier's Girl where he plays a transgendered performer. I only really know Parsons from his hilarious work in Big Bang Theory, but I'm looking forward to seeing him play a role that's hopefully vastly different from his vaguely autistic character on the show.

Now comes word that the adorable Luke McFarlane will be joining the ensemble and it's apparently his Broadway debut. I know him from Brothers & Sisters and I think his addition to the cast will be perfect. The rest of the cast include Ellen Barkin, Joe Mantello, John Benjamin Hickey, and Patrick Breen. The play will have a limited 12-week engagement starting next month.

RIP Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

At the age of 79, Elizabeth Taylor has died. She was a true Hollywood legend and star and now she can rest in peace. The only film of hers I have seen is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and a few clips of Cleopatra so I'm going to check up on a few of her other notable films in the next few weeks. The consensus seems to be to start with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf for which she won her second and last Oscars. Others have suggested Suddenly Last Summer and Taming of the Shrew.

Any other suggestions?

Looking Forward To...

Source Code
Release: April 1, 2011
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Michelle Monaghan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeffrey Wright, and Vera Farmiga

March TV Report

Today is the first full day of spring and it also means that the networks are finally getting over their post-February sweeps funk to bring us a slew of new episodes of our favorite shows this week. Oddly enough, Glee is taking about a month break now to recharge its batteries after a good Regionals-centric episode. More on that later.

So in an effort to catch-up on the past few weeks of TV, just wanted to share a few thoughts on a few shows I've been watching since the beginning of March. Well, other than Downton Abbey and Being Human since I briefly talked about them on an earlier post.


GREEK - This charming show on ABC Family had its last episode a few weeks ago and it will be missed. It wasn't groundbreaking or even high-caliber, but it was consistently enjoyable with wonderful characters. The demolition of the KT House was an unusually emotional moment, but how everything wrapped up for all of the main cast was more than satisfactory. Still think they could've done a better finish for the Evan character, but sadly he just wasn't that important in relation to Cappie/Casey and even Rusty. Though again kudos to the cast of that Ocean 11-esque sequence. Brilliant!

GLEE - While others took a brief break, this show rolled on giving us huge momentum on not one, but two of its LGBT storylines. Yes, we finally got the much anticipated big moment/kiss between Blaine & Kurt and it was all sunshine and rainbows. But the really affective storyline was shouldered by Naya Rivera whose realization of her feelings for Brittany was both heartbreaking and sincere. A few other stuff happened such as Paltrow's second appearance and a few original song debuts (and a good chunk of them didn't suck!), but it was all about the queers and their storylines for me.

V - Its season (series?) finale pretty much confirmed my suspicions that if this show had been structured as a miniseries, it would've been glorious, because the finale really was spectacular from start to finish. Unfortunately it's a case of probably too little too late, but I've enjoyed the ride. Plus if it does end with the bad guys winning, well I'm okay with that, too. I praise Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin whenever I can, but really Laura Vandervoort's Lisa was my favorite character of this season and if the show does get renewed, I no doubt she'll continue to shine.

THE GOOD WIFE - There haven't been any new episode since the first of March, but since I didn't blog about that episode, I'll just say, this is still one of the BEST shows on TV on air right now. Every episode confirms this, but the most recent episode was chock full of moments including Bond's ouster from the firm, Glenn Childs withdrawing from the race, and a dubious case about working with China.

BIG BANG THEORY - Just the one new episode since I last blogged and it was about Priya being concerned about Leonard's friendship with Penny. It's a well-known plot device on sitcoms and while it wasn't executed as well as others, it actually made me invested a bit on Penny/Leonard. The B-plot line (or is this was the main one?) was Howard frustrating Sheldon over a magic trick, which was fine, though the twist in the end wasn't that mind-blowing.

COMMUNITY - NBC's comedy line-up just came back last week and this show brought Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse) to play an Eastern European soldier hellbent on genocide. The joke walks the fine line of black comedy and offensive, but it was great seeing Enver back on TV as well as seeing Britta interact with Troy-Abed. Her "Hit me with a genie bottle all over me" line had me on the floor laughing as did her reaction to being caught on camera. Though I admit I closed my ears when she almost spoiled Catfish for me. No comment on the Chan-Sherry baby storyline.

PARKS & RECREATION - Its most recent episode featuring the Harvest Festival has got to be one of my favorite episodes ever. Not just of this show, but of all shows of all time. That's how incredible it was. Every character got their due, the chemistry/scenes with the cast was off the charts, and it was just a big episode for a bunch of reasons. Leslie finally gets her big project to suceed, her relationship with Ben and his defeatist attitude were resolved, LIL FUCKING SEBASTIAN making even Ron and April act giddy, the curse, Joan Callamezzo, that last overhead shot, I can go on and on and on...

FRINGE - Best show on air right now? If not, it's right up there and it's in no small part thanks to the wonderfully gifted Anna Torv who is now playing an old man. That last part got you confused? THEN WATCH THE SHOW OMG PLEASE. But seriously the whole concept of soul magnets and William Bell inhabiting Olivia was pitch perfect as was Torv's performance as Bell. His interactions with Astrid and Walter were comedic highlights just as gutwrenching his scene was with Peter when for a moment Olivia came through. Not to mention that we meet Lee of this universe and he's just as great as his more outgoing counterpart in the other universe. This show is just on fire right now, I'm afraid I'm going to burn.

SUPERNATURAL - Finally, not much to say about this show. Its last new episode brought us a few familiar faces, but since they all died in the end it actually felt a bit anti-climactic. The whole "mother of all things" storyline so far hasn't captured the excitement like past arcs, but I'm increasingly in the opinion that this season of Supernatural just hasn't been that good.

Looking Forward To...

Paul
Release: March 18, 2011
Distributor: Universal
Director: Greg Mottola
Starring: Seth Rogen, Nick Frost, Jason Batement, Blythe Danner, Simon Pegg, Kristen Wiig, Sigourney Weaver, Jane Lynch, Bill Hader, and Jeffrey Tambor

Birthday Boy: Jamie Bell

Young Jamie Bell who I have been following since his amazing debut as the titular Billy Elliot in the 2000 film is not so young anymore as he celebrated his 25th birthday today.

Out of the 13 released films he has worked on, I've seen 7 films including his most recent turn as St. John Rivers in the critically acclaimed film adaptation of Jane Eyre. A few weeks ago he also appeared in the lesser acclaimed film The Eagle opposite Channing Tatum.

But despite doing good work (even in a few bad films) since his Billy Elliot days and being one of my favorite actors, it's in my opinion that he has not topped that debut performance. When will he get another great lead role like that? I'd wish he team up again with Stephen Daldry for a period piece where he plays the dashing leading man.

The one project of his I'm most excited about is The Adventures of Tintin, an animated film, so he won't really be on screen. Plus with Steven Spielberg directing and Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat writing, Jamie Bell is not even my #1 reason to see the film. Despite my assertion up top about how not young he is anymore, he is still very much have a lot of years to look forward to. And I'll continue waiting for that next great role until it happens.

My Very British Weekend

My impromptu trip down to Nashville, Tennessee two weekends ago afforded me some much needed time off which partly explains the little blogging I've done since then. The other part is that it's always difficult to get into the rhythm of blogging again once you take some time off, but I'll try to start it up again this week.

It doesn't help that with Oscar/awards season done and February sweeps over, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of things to watch and be inspired at enough to post. This weekend though I gorged on British films and TV shows without even meaning to. From this point on there might be very mild spoilers, but I think even spoilerphobes should be okay to continue reading.

My Anglophilic weekend started off with a screening of my first film of 2011, Jane Eyre which starred Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, and Jamie Bell. I read the novel back in school, but it took me until more than halfway through the film to start remembering plot details. Now I've never seen any other film adaptation of this book before this film and I think my fuzzy memory helped in my overall enjoyment of the film. They got rid of a lot of things, but the crux of the story still got through. Mostly I was intrigued to see this because I miss seeing Bell in films and though I was fans of their solid supporting work in The Kids Are All Right and Inglourious Basterds respectively, Wasikowska and Fassbender were both able to shine as the leads in this atmospheric film.


In the opposite end of the spectrum, I also saw Brit-film Four Lions which is a black comedy/satire about a group of terrorists wanting to leave their mark by becoming suicide bombers. I actually saw the film without knowing that much about it so it took me awhile to get use to the surrealism of actually wanting a COMEDY about TERRORISM, but what's great about this film was its conviction in telling its story to the end and how they really didn't shy away from anything. Like the best of satires, it was funny and sobering all at once.

For television, I finally got around to the first season of Downton Abbey which had been recommended to me by a few people. I would've seen it sooner, but I started and finished Friday Night Lights first. With that said, it really is a wonderful series and reminds me so much of one of my favorite films Gosford Park not only for its beautiful surroundings, but also by its expansive and ridiculously talented cast. It's so difficult to pick a favorite actor/character, but I'll give a shout out to Dame Maggie Smith whose bitch-face deserves its own wing in an Acting Hall of Fame. I blazed through its way-too-short seven episodes over the weekend and I'm quite content that there'll be another installment later this fall.


Finally, I saw the season three finale of Being Human. And just... it literally left me speechless. Saying ANYTHING would be a huge spoiler so I won't since it hasn't aired yet in America, but saying it was an intense roller coaster of emotions would STILL be understating the brilliance of not only the season finale but of the whole season. Last year, I declared this show as one of my top ten favorite shows of the past year and I have NO DOUBT it will remain there this year. I'd take a moment to single an actor, but I realize that with this superb cast, it'd be moot. They're all wonderful. I'll hopefully do a more extensive post/review/whatever for this season once the finale airs in America in a couple of weeks.

The Totally Awesome Totally Tentative Cast of The Hobbit

So it seems like that long-awaited Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit is going to happen. Maybe. I mean you can't blame me for questioning all the news that everything is A-OK and that this movie is ready to be filmed after the insane history it has had from legal fights about money and rights to the studio going bankrupt to settling on a director to getting everyone's schedule in line. In fact, there's even an infographic about the tortured history of this film.

With that said, let's say everything is set and the cast is ready. What a cast would it be, at least according to what's on IMDb at this very moment. Let's take a closer look shall we?


Two of my favorite actors, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom, are back and since they played elves in the first and are also naturally beautiful, their appearances should be a no-brainer. Elijah Wood, who played the protagonist to the initial trilogy, is also back probably as a way to bridge the two set of movies together. Finally, Christopher Lee is returning as Saruman, but while he's still able to work, seeing him receive a BAFTA Fellowship this year just reminded me that the clock is ticking and people are not getting any younger! This movie needs to start filming now.

Two newcomers to the films are Martin Freeman who will play the titular hobbit and Saoirse Ronan as presumably another elf what with her delicate and fine features. Now would be the time to let you know that I actually have no clue about any of the characters in The Hobbit as I've never read the books and that all my knowledge of Tolkien's classics solely comes from the previous films. With that said, I've enjoyed Freeman ever since I saw him in Love, Actually and more recently in Sherlock Holmes and Ronan has just been exquisite in everything she's done so far and at such a young age.


But that's not all. Of course Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis will reprise their roles from the first films. In fact, they seemed to be the two that have always been attached to this project even with all the drama this production has endured. Ian Holmes is also rumored to be back and I hope he does albeit playing an older version of the character he played last time.

Now this is where this cast goes from epic to an epic of epic epicness. Richard Armitage and Aidan Turner appear to be confirmed to play dwarves. I love both of them from Robin Hood and Being Human respectively so I'm very excited for their casting. The one problem I do have is the tragic fact that all of their beauty is going to be hidden behind makeup, costumes, hair, and CGI. What a waste! Though don't think I missed those two rumored names... David Tennant and Leonard Nimoy? You mean two actors who played two of the most iconic characters in science fiction in two of the most popular sci-fi shows of all time? ALL TIME. Don't mind me, I'm just hyperventilating here. If these casting rumors do happen, fanboys (and girls!) from Bangladesh to Los Angeles will collectively cry in ecstasy.

Of course, it's also possible that by the time I post this there's a new wrinkle for the project to worry about. Leonard Nimoy hates the script! Ian McKellen quits the movie to do Broadway! Martin Freeman-Aidan Turner sex scandal! Cate Blanchett beats Peter Jackson to death! Or you know, maybe not. The first film is tentatively scheduled to be released on December 2012. Yeah, okay, we'll see.

Monday TV Report: Hearty Mother, Redemptive Greek, & Explosive Castle

Slowly, but surely catching up on my TV. Here's my thoughts on Monday's shows excluding Mad Love which I *did* see, but I'm having such a difficult time remembering what actually happened. I think there might have been a birthday party or something?

How I Met Your Mother - So that theory that Nora could've been the mythic mother dashed this week since Ted and her had a scene together. Oh well. moving on to Barney and his feelings for Nora. Now do I like Nora? Yes, greatly. She's actually damn fantastic, but are they doing this just so Barney grows up and is thus ready to be in a healthier relationship with Robin, because as a friend said "Nora is just Robin with a thicker accent" and I agree. Also his heart "literally skipped a beat?" That's too corny even for me. Loved the interplay between Barney and Lily though and it's insane that this show doesn't take advantage of the chemistry these two have. Finally, I like most of the Scooby/dog stuff, but it was a bit long in the tooth towards the end.

Greek - I can't believe that next week is its series finale! But I guess that's why they really tried to tie a few loose ends in this episode, mostly in regards to the "villains" i.e. Frannie and Tripp as well as repair the relationship between Evan/his parents and even Evan/Rusty which I didn't expect them to do at all. It was great seeing Frannie reconnect with Casey, Rebecca, and Ashley and glad she's no loner APESHIT CRAZY. I also loved how the show/Calvin handled the obnoxious Tripp with Dale getting back to Omega Chi! All in all it was a cathartic episode for a few people, but I'm just on the edge of my seats of the finale next week!

Castle - The beginning of the episode was a bit of a distraction in that they really tried to sell the whole freezing to death/seriousness vibe even though the promos all week have shown Castle and Beckett get out just fine and dandy. Still, it was a beautiful scene between the two of them as they ALMOST died and what followed was a strong episode reminiscent of early 24. The ending's deux ex machina resolution was fine for me especially since the faces/reaction of Castle and Beckett were THAT priceless. All in all, an effective two-parter though I've enjoyed their previous ones just a tad more.

Thursday/Friday TV Report

Just some quick thoughts on Thursday's TV shows just so I can talk about the epic episodes that aired on Friday.


Big Bang Theory - Really love the episodes this season that take advantage of its big cast and this episode was no different. Stuart, Kripke, and Penny's ex hanging out with Sheldon was comedy gold as well as anything Penny/Amy being "besties."

Community - Lots of negative reviews in the blogosphere over this episode, but I found it just fine. Yes, Britta is wasted yet again and that's a shame, but the Abed/FBI agent plotline was great and I'm forever amused by "Pop Pop!" I know, sometimes I'm like 5.

Parks & Recreation - Another wonderful episode from this cast that I can barely fit what I loved in just a few words. Ann not knowing she got dumped, Ron's reaction to the steak house closing/grilled mushrooms, and finally Ben making friends. Ben is just too adorable. TOO ADORABLE.


Fringe - This... this was a stupendous episode. Seeing the Fringe gang way back when filled in a lot of holes and raised so many questions about the relationships and the motivations of so many characters in the present. The actors playing young Olive and young Peter were exquisite especially being asked to play scenes that required them to really dig deep into the character. Olivia's fear over her father, her tearful scene with Walternate, Peter's scenes with his not!parents especially his not!mom, and of course that brilliant scene between Peter and Olivia in the field of white tulips. There's probably going to be a little bit of retconning later on, but I'm okay. This show just keeps delving deeper and deeper into the mythology and I've been enjoying it more and more.

Supernatural - When I heard they were going to do an episode when they get stuck in a reality where they are actors named Jared and Jensen working on their show interacting with Misha, Genevieve, and the crew, well, I thought it was going to be so damn hokey. It was, but it was also very, very awesome and epic. Oh sure it was all great fun for all of the actors involved, but what I loved about this hilariously meta episode was that it made SENSE in the context of the overarching plot! It was a nice twist to find out that Balthazar and Castiel essentially used the brothers as decoys. My one complaint about this episode is my one complaint about this season: WHY AREN'T WE SEEING THIS EPIC CIVIL WAR IN HEAVEN? I mean I know the practical reasons like budgets and the need to focus on the two brothers, but UGH need heaven war, need angels, need Castiel. Make it happen, show.