Friday, April 4, 2014

TELEVISION: What were this week's top entertainment moments?

This was a big week for television.

The Walking Dead ended its fourth season on a rather grim note.

How I Met Your Mother infuriated almost every fan they had and incited them to claim it was the worst series finale ever (which means they’ve clearly never seen the Roseanne series finale).

Once Upon a Time killed off one corner of a triangle – and ticked of a whole legion of their fans (which, even if you’re not a fan of Neal and Emma, just wasn’t a smart move).

And The Following brought someone back from the dead. Again. Okay, that wasn’t even close to a surprise.

So, what were this week’s top entertainment moments?

5. Suits: After announcing that he was leaving the law firm – which caused Harvey to freak out – Mike
ultimately changes his mind and admits that he had a friend hack into the records for the Bar Association and make him a lawyer. “I made a mistake.” While I love the bromance between Mike and Harvey, I’ve often thought that Mike’s predicament was an albatross hanging around the necks of this show. This “fix” doesn’t really fix anything. While it is an obviously new wrinkle in the situation, there’s still a lot that can blow up here. I was also a fan of Donna’s when she told Harvey he couldn’t tell Scottie the truth – especially because they always run so hot and cold on one another, and Scottie would probably use that as a weapon to hurt Harvey at some point. For me, that’s the reason the Harvey and Scottie relationship will never really work.

4. Once Upon A Time: This show is really starting to write itself into a corner. This week’s outing ended with the death of Neal – which makes absolutely no sense at all. Neal is the son of Rumplestiltskin and the father of Henry. Forget the romantic entanglements – which are so annoying anymore I want them all to be banned on this show – but look at the character. How can Rumple ever be a better man and get his happily ever after now? How can Henry? To me, this was just another way to prop the Hook character – and I’m so over that. I don’t think Emma should be romantically involved with anyone right now. She’s got a lot to deal with – and she still hasn’t come to grips with who her parents are and who she should have been. Neal was important to the history (and balance) of this show – and I think the writers just made a huge mistake in killing him off. I’ve been struggling with the writing all season. This is just more reason to worry for me.

3. Justified: Raylan is having a tough time right now. Feuding with his mentor, Art, was bad enough when
the man was just going to retire. Now that he’s fighting for his life in a hospital – and Raylan knows that Daryl (not his young nephew/brother) is responsible for the hit – Raylan is truly spinning out of control. Between pairing with Boyd (which is always funny and charming), to trying to cajole Ava into helping him (which she stupidly fights) to locking Dewey Crowe up, Raylan continued to push his agenda. Finally, Raylan came to a different conclusion and went to a judge and asked for a favor. What was that favor? Raylan informed a furious Daryl and Wendy that young Kendal would be tried as an adult for his shooting on Art. See, the Crowes were banking that Kendal would only do a few years in juvie and then be set free – and Raylan has made sure that Wendy had a choice to make: Her brother or her son. I can’t wait until this week’s season finale. It’s bound to get bloody between Raylan and Daryl.

2. The Walking Dead: This whole season was about coming to grips with who you are now and letting go of the person you were in the past – or even the person you want to be. That’s what Rick found out when the “claimers” decided they were going to try and rape Carl and Michonne and he completely broke from his “Farmer Rick” persona and literally bit a man’s throat out. That’s what Daryl found out when he offered to sacrifice himself for Rick, Carl and Michonne. “I didn’t know what they were.” That’s what Carol found out when she had to off Lizzie and admit that she was the one who killed Karen. And that’s the idea that Rick truly embraced in the final seconds of the episode when he informed his fellow survivors that the Terminus folks have “screwed with” the wrong people. Something tells me that the Terminus inhabitants are going to wish they’d never met the Ricktator.

1. How I Met Your Mother: Sorry kids – but I was not infuriated by the HIMYM finale. To be fair, I quit
watching the show several seasons ago because I couldn’t get over what a betrayal the Robin and Barney relationship was and how Barney would never really do that to Ted. So, when I was watching the finale, I couldn’t help but think it was a little ingenious how they had planned this out from the beginning. The truth was, Ted did love the mother of his children. She was just never his greatest love. That honor went to Robin – who tried to make her life fit around Barney but, ultimately, realized that she wanted to be with Ted. Like the finale or hate the finale, it got big ratings and it got everyone on social media all fired up. That was a big win for CBS – any way you look at it.

Honorable mentions go to:

Law & Order: SVU: Olivia and Cassidy break up because she wants a family. It just seemed a little contrived. I wish Cassidy would have rejoined SVU – but the development is what it is and this show is long past fresh.

Criminal Minds: This show has had a rough two seasons, but I actually liked this outing. Since I’m a cynic, I scoffed that the reason this was happening to these two families was probably because of inbreeding. Who knew I would ultimately be right? Still, great casting for the episode and nice ambiance. Plus there was none of that pesky “private lives” stuff that is dragging this show down all the time anymore.

The Americans: A teasing Elizabeth asks Philip to show her what kind of “animal” he is with his “other
wife.” When Philip shows her – as Clark – he leaves Elizabeth a crying mess on the bed. I’m guessing the role playing is going to stay out of the bedroom from now on.

The Following: Ryan has a new girlfriend he likes and Claire is suddenly back. This should go well.

The Big Bang Theory: Sheldon can’t decide between Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – but watching him try is always entertaining. Plus, Wil Wheaton’s cameo this week was just hilarious.

Hannibal: Will is starting to lose his humanity – and he proves it by sending a “fan” after Hannibal. Hannibal survives (of course) but more (and more) people are starting to get suspicious of Hannibal.


What do you think? What were the most entertaining moments of the week?

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