I give this episode 4.5 MeowMeowBeenz.
Community can still bring it with the concept episodes, and “App Development and Condiments” takes that concept and runs with it, crafting a wildly entertaining 22 minutes of television. This is just plain fun.
The Americans “Cardinal” Review (2×02)
5 Mar
“We’ll get used to it, like we got used to everything else.”
The Jennings family has been through a lot recently. Last week, Philip and Elizabeth saw the bodies of a murdered family with ties to their own, and that traumatic event has compounded upon their paranoia. There’s an unsettling feeling permeating this second hour, a slower, yet still compelling episode with nice character work.
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Arrow “The Promise” Review (2×15)
5 Mar
This is Arrow at the top of its game.
It’s thrilling, moving, and intense, and “The Promise” is one of the best episodes this show has ever produced. Featuring brilliant performances and fantastic action, this is a can’t-miss for any Arrow fan.
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Person of Interest “RAM” Review (3×16)
5 Mar
Now that’s more like it.
After a few shaky weeks, we’re back in full force to kick off the final arc of the season. “RAM” is the perfect mixture of backstory and teaser, shading in myriad character moments and tying together myriad storylines; this is some truly impressive stuff right here.
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Justified “Whistle Past the Graveyard” Review (5×08)
4 Mar
“You’re both under arrest, because you’re a fugitive…and you’re a dick.”
Justified can still bring the humor, but while this line is, for me, the funniest of the episode, it also encapsulates all of the problems of “Whistle Past the Graveyard”. There’s an ambivalence here that’s creeping throughout the show, and this episode in particular stumbles a bit in that department.
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True Detective “After You’ve Gone” Review (1×07)
3 Mar
“My life’s been a circle of violence and degradation, long as I can remember. I’m ready to tie it off.”
So, we’re back to the idea of time being a flat circle. We’re now at the beginning of our story, back to the beginning of our case and the first leads we encountered. We’re now simultaneously sliding toward the end, and my, what a ride has it been.
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Saturday Night Live “Jim Parsons/Beck” Live Blog/Review (39×14)
1 Mar
ELLEN COLD OPEN: Well, we’re back after an extended hiatus, and we’re treated to a lazy, meandering cold open that features Parsons doing an awful Johnny Weir impression and myriad lame jokes; at least Kate McKinnon is mildly entertaining. Not a very good way to kick off the night. GRADE: C
MONOLOGUE: “I’m not that guy. I’m not that guy.” Uh, cool? Understandably, Parsons goes off about Sheldon Cooper, but he doesn’t really bring anything to the table that suggests he isn’t. You can tell he’s a bit nervous, though, and the whole thing is very shaky. GRADE: C-
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Banshee “Evil for Evil” Review (2×08)
1 Mar
At what cost?
That’s the question that’s constantly asked in “Evil for Evil”, quite possibly the best episode of Banshee this season. It’s an hour of genuinely hard-hitting emotion that’s simultaneously thrilling and heartbreaking.
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Hannibal “Kaiseki” Review (2×01)
1 Mar
This right here is art.
Season 1 of Hannibal burst onto the scene with an operatic, intense, and beautiful thirteen episodes that transcended our expectations, and it’s back and better than it was before. When we last left off, the roles of Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham had been switched, leaving Will behind bars and Lecter to take his place in the real world; now, Fuller’s exploring the various nuances and complexities behind the inversion, and it’s some fantastic television.
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Community “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality” Review (5×07)
27 Feb
Community is fundamentally a comedy, but that comedy is rooted in a deeper understanding of our characters; yes, these people are attending a community college and all feel varying levels of unfulfillment. There’s a time in which they all have to stand back and take stock of who they are, and this episode explores that idea in depth.
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