This was one of those weeks where television was an
afterthought.
Sure, we weren’t hit too hard by Frankenstorm in Michigan – but a lot of
people lost power in the area due to the high winds.
Most of Monday and Tuesday’s slate of shows were postponed
and Thursday’s action was interrupted because of the CMA’s.
I apologize for the limited content this week – but there
were some surprisingly strong showings for the programs that did manage to air.
The top entertainment moments of the week are:
5. Nashville: Hayden Panettierre deserves kudos for this
episode. Somehow, she manages to embody Juliette with a sense of sympathy –
despite the horrible deeds of the character. In truth, Juliette is just white
trash fighting the only way she knows how to with what she has. I also liked the
turn of Eric Close’s Teddy. Up until now, he’d been far too vanilla.
Introducing Kimberly Williams Paisley as a former love interest – who had an
affair with Teddy while Rayna and Deacon were rolling in the hay – was a stroke
of genius. Now if only they’d stop making Powers Boothe so one-note.
4. Supernatural: This was clearly the best episode of the
season. Not only were both of the actors at their best, but the back story on
what Sam and Dean were doing while they were separated was riveting. Sam was
living a normal life and Dean was fighting to the death to save his (and
enjoying it, quite frankly). The episode was still light on the laughter, but
as far as drama goes, this outing was topnotch. I liked the vampire history
lesson – and Dean’s coining Vampirates was hilarious – but I still think the
boys are too much of an island. They really need Castiel and Bobby to anchor
them. I have to say, though, I’m really getting attached to Benny. The look on
Sam’s face at the end of the episode, when he not only realizes what Benny is
but that Dean is okay with it, was priceless. Methinks Dean is going to have to
some explaining to do.
3. Once Upon a Time: We finally know who Sark, I mean Dr.
Whale, is. He’s Dr. Frankenstein. I didn’t see that coming – mostly because
Frankenstein isn’t a Disney character. Kudos on the mislead. Anyway, Dr. Whale
is trying to bring back the dead (in both the past and present). He needs
magical hearts to do that, though. It’s a good thing Regina has a whole room
full of them. Dr. Whale steals one of the hearts and puts it in Regina’s
beloved Daniel as a way to force her to send him back to his world. There’s
just one problem – Regina has no idea where all those hearts came from and the
one inserted in Daniel literally drives him insane. In a moment that actually
made me feel bad for her, Regina had go back on her promise to Henry and do
magic to protect herself from Daniel’s wrath. May he rest in peace. Again.
2. The Walking Dead: I didn’t think anything could top the
end of Sunday’s episode – until I saw the scene below. Still, Sunday’s outing
was a refreshing change of pace. Rick’s chain gang was AWOL for the week, with
all the action being focused on Andrea and Michonne. When they’re first
introduced to Woodbury, both women are understandably flummoxed – especially since
Merle is such a trusted aide there. Andrea quickly begins to shift her beliefs,
though, while Michonne seems to realize that something weird in going on in the
town. Turns out, Andrea should have listened to Michonne (who beheaded her pet
walkers pretty quickly to protect the two of them at the beginning of the
episode). The Governor is not only lying to his people – and killing anyone he
thinks might be a threat to his leadership – but he’s also got a wall full of
aquariums that have zombified heads in the them. I know there’s no more
television – but there’s got to be something better to watch.
1. American Horror Story: After last year’s debacle of an
ending, I’m not letting my desperate desire for quality horror sway me on this show. . .
yet. So far, I was underwhelmed by the first episode of the ‘Asylum’ leg of
storytelling. The two follow-up episodes have been pretty good, though. I think
this year’s theme is less scares and more gore. I’m liking it. The big “Omigod”
moment came when Chloe Sevigny’s nymphomaniac Shelley poked fun at Dr. Arden’s,
um, little friend. When she woke up later, she found that Dr. Arden had taken
his revenge by amputating her legs. I’m not sure how that cures her particular
disorder, but according to Sevigny Dr. Arden isn’t done with his experiments.
It’s creepy – but in a good way.
Honorable mentions go to:
Criminal Minds: I haven’t been thrilled with any of the
outings so far this year, but this week’s unsub grinding up men so she could
use them as fertilizer in her garden was actually funny. I’m sure it was
unintentionally funny – but I definitely enjoyed it. I also loved JJ’s son
Henry dressing up as his favorite profiler – Reid.
General Hospital: Black sheep AJ Quartermaine returns to the
fold and immediately unmasks himself to his estranged son. Michael denies all
the charges AJ levies on his mother and adopted father -- even though they're all true -- and storms away. I can’t
help but think that Michael has a rude awakening about Sonny and meat hooks in
his immediate future.
What do you think? What were the top moments of the week?
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