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.