Weeds Improves, Dance Nears Finale, and Other TV Thoughts

Is it just me or were the last two episodes of Weeds really quite good? This week's episode was probably the best of the season so far especially with some S1 goodness in the form of Heylia (and Dean). Yes, it was great seeing her again and she didn't disappointment, but I love more the way she indirectly helped Silas and Nancy to confront one another about the whole Lars business. The decision for Silas to stay with Heylia might do both of them good, but they're slowly getting back to one another. I'm also loving that Andy and Shane's side plots are colliding with Nancy's what with Shane helping Andy out with one of his crazy ideas by investing in a start-up business that could be use as a front for Nancy's dealings. In terms of plot contrivance, this is actually pretty tame compared to the past few seasons so bravo. Finally, it's been far too long since I've felt Nancy was an actual person, but her last "story" on the plane with the montage of the people she loved, made me remember why I rooted for her in the first place a long time ago. Hope the show keeps this up.

Four episodes in and I do have to say that I expected a bit more from Torchwood. At the moment it's feeling like last season's failure FlashForward --great concept, poor execution. Now Torchwood isn't THAT bad, but I'm an eternal optimist. I hardly care about the drama with Rex's and Esther's families maybe because I've just haven't connected with them more, though I did have a lump in my throat when Gwen's father was taken in the end. Speaking of Gwen, she continues to kick ass and take names this season. Her attempting an American accent was amazing in its awfulness. I admit, the scene with the assassin, Jack, and Gwen was intense and the storyline of the Tea Partier vs. Oswald was entertaining in its realistic absurdity. Okay, this season hasn't impressed me much, but I'm looking forward for more.


If you watched this week's Breaking Bad, you could be forgiven into thinking that Walt was just a supporting character because he pretty much stayed in the background most of the episode. Instead focus was shifted to Jesse, Skyler, and refreshingly different Marie. First, Jesse is still recovering and his never-ending party has turned into his personal hell. When he invited Walt to go go-karting, it's such a cry for help and it breaks my heart. With this said, I hope this doesn't last too long since I like it when Jesse is reacting rather than wallowing. Skyler was the MVP of this episode though as she is slowly breaking bad herself by flawlessly going through with her plan to buy the car wash, at a lower price she wanted to buy, and without doing anything too illegal. Sure, Walt is still keeping secrets from her, but the fact that Skyler is now privy to his part of Walt's life is so great. Finally, it was wonderful to finally see Marie dealing with her continuing struggles with Hank. Bringing back her kleptomania was a stroke of genius and seeing as Hank has perked up by the end of the episode, methinks things will get back to normal (unfortunately for Walt).

Not sure where I read it, but someone called this past week's True Blood Shakespearean and I think it was quite apt with the residents hanging out in the woods and being affected by the full moon. My favorite scene include Jessica keeping Jason company as he fears being turned into a werepanther (he doesn't). I was really impressed with Deborah Ann Woll and her chemistry with Ryan Kwanten which was a nice respite from her drama with Hoyt. Two more performances that deserve kudos is Kristin Bauer as a pathetically rotting Pam trying to do anything and everything to snap Eric out of his fugue state and Sam Trammell as he channeled his inner Tommy who can now turn into other people by virtue of him killing his parents. The rest of the episode contained Werewolves, brujos, lesbians, witches, demon babies, and a long-awaited meeting of flesh between Sookie and Eric. So... a typical episode.


Finally, the final four who will compete for the title of America's Favorite Dancer this season on So You Think You Can Dance has been chosen and it's the four who I thought all along would make it namely Melanie, Marko, Sasha, and Tadd. They all deserve to win, but I'm thinking it'll be one of the first three. It is fantastic seeing two Asian guys in the final with one of them being Filipino. I'm not rooting for any one person to win since I like them all, so I'm just going to enjoy the finale and hope we see some amazing routines. Guest judge Christina Applegate was quite good.