57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/25/15

Once Upon a Time: So King Arthur us evil, and Lancelot is (presumable) going to break the curse with his love true kiss with Gwenavere? Huh? And what happened to the Brave chick. I thought she went to Camelot with everyone else and she was thrown in jail with no one else noticing?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: Crazy Carrie is back! Is this the first time since season two since we have seen Carrie off her meds (not including when she got drugged last season)? I am pretty sure I saw Dar on her crazy picture wall too so my CIA is at least crazy enough for Crazy Carrie. Then there was the scene with the Berlin chief talking to someone from her bathroom. Obviously who she was talking to was going to be a twist. At first I thought she was going to be a lesbian, but that would be too cliched of a twist. Then I thought she was hooking up with the Foundation head. But no, she has been hooking up with Saul. Alrighty. That certainly makes their bickering over the past couple episodes more pointed and Saul's about face of sending her home make more sense. But now the big question is just what is Quinn going to do with Carrie now that he has her?

The Walking Dead: Too many initials this week. At least we learned the W were Wolves. But what does JSS mean? And what was with the A on Carol's porch?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Affair: After the show flipped up its formats this season, I kind of held out hope that this season would continue to be random instead of following some combination of Noah / Helen / Alison / Cole like I pretty much assumed after the first two episodes. For instance, during the first segment this week I was hoping the second segment episode would follow drunk daughter. Alas instead we just got Allison tagging along as her boss went to kill his dog (but thankfully just scared him off). Le sigh. Maybe drunk daughter will be the format change in season three. Considering he is the one that dies, you would think Scotty and his teen girlfriend would get to tell their stories at some point.

Gotham: Yeah, this show is much more entertaining when crazy Barbra around.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

The Voice: I complain a lot about how bad the coaches are at picking songs when the Battle Rounds start and all my complains can be summed up in the Higher Ground battle. Seriously Pharrell, why are assigning a funk classic to two of the WASPiest WASPs this season? The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the only white people who have earned the right to sing that song. That performance reminded me of the time I was working at the local amphitheater where I had to sit through 98° giving the happiest performance ever of Superstition while I stood there head in hands wondering how this was happening.

But surprisingly there was one coach who actually made some inspired song choices and Cee-Lo is still on his sabbatical (okay, Adam did have one inspired song randomly pulling The Calling out of his musical quiver). Sure Gwen is a horrible coach with a bad team, so bad half of her Battle got montaged. but kudos for finally having the guts to get Regina Spektor cleared. This show loves the quirky girl but surprisingly nobody had ever done a song by the patron saint of quirky girls up to this point I was beginning to think that either the producers thought Regina was too obscure (though I would think she is more well known than Ingrid Michaelson who's song was featured a couple seasons back) or she would not clear her songs for singing show. Hopefully now that the president has been set Regina's whole catalog can be raided.

And it was not just Regina Specktor who Gwen introduced to The Voice audience for the first time. Yeah The Calling was random, but that was last decade, Gwen went back two more decades to resurrect Howard Jones. And though they got the dreaded montage placement, Gwen also assigned The Wreckers and Talk Talk (sure that song was eventually made famous by No Doubt). I am usually the pro-montage guy but most of the montaged Battles looked much more interesting than most that actually got shown, aside from those two new songs that have never been performed on the show before, there were the two coffee-house singers on Team Pharrell doing Riptide, heck, I would have even rather seen the weird Blake assigned co-ed duet of Baby One More Time; sure it probably was a trainwreck, but a trainwreck would have been much more entertaining than yet another boring overdone Motown song done by people whose parents may have not even been born yet when the songs were released.

Blindspot: Nothing better than a good old Mexican standoff between government agencies. But it seems now that Jane used to be one of the CIA's assetts and evil CIA guy wants her back or at least eliminate Jane before she remembers anything.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes..

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I spend all season wondering what was going on with Simmons but for the first couple episodes her story has been relegated to that pre-credit scene at the end of the episode. And just when she was about to explain what happened to her in the galaxy far, far away, they cut to black. Boooo. At the promo monkey makes it seem the next episode is going to be a flashback. Hopefully it is the whole episode and does not inner-spliced with the Inhumans saga. I guess I should guess who Lash's other version is; um, if it is someone we know, that does not seem like a long list. Baron's son is probably at the top of the list. Of course my number one rule of television is if you do not see the body, they are not dead (and even then I am a bit skeptical) I do not believe Blair Underwood is dead, maybe that was Baron's son running from Blair. But I am going with Coulson's new love interest who also has been hunting down Inhumans and for some reason was not riding in the van. Speaking of inconsistencies in storytelling, if Lash wants to kill all Inhumans, why did he not go after Daisy while she was incapacitated?
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: After the first or second episode I said Varner was overplaying himself out of the game and a couple episodes later he is gone. You can also say Monica got voted out this week for playing to hard, except she made the right play. Take out the potential women's alliance (seriously Kimmi, why are you irate at this, you are a female, she is saying she is not voting you out), going after Spencer was the right choice. I would trust Kelly way more than I would trust him. So for the third straight time after the tribe swap, the former tribe with the most members voted one of their own out. The final five that was made this week may end up being just that because the other two tribes are overplaying themselves out of this game. But hey, this week was the very first time Abi Maria did not go to Tribal Council. Who would have thunk it? Good for her.
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Finally a "previously on" package, unfortunately they did not remind me who Pee-Wee Herman was. So now I am even more confused as to why he shot Red's henchman. So was he a plant by the kidnappers, or did he turn on him for other reasons?
The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/18/15

Once Upon a Time: Why is Snow White so quick to believe Sir Lancelot, this is clearly a different dude (wait, was that the same guy poising as an usher at the beginning of the season who told Emma not to pull the sword from the stone)? But anyway. I am beginning to think King Arthur is not who he says he is, maybe he is Merlin in disguises and the real King Arthur is in the tree. But what is bugging me is that all the new characters that come to Storybrooke never change their clothes anymore. Can't they get the Camelotians a change of clothes?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: My favorite part of the early season was when the leaker was talking about how the German spies were probably searching her apartment right now and she did not mind as long as they did not let her cat out, cut to the German spy deadpanning, "Did you see a cat?" Awesome. I also found it interesting that the one guy accused Carrie of being a Trojan Horse for Saul in the evil foundation. That would totally be something they would do (and kind of did in season three when he sold her out to the Senate). But their interaction during their first interaction was too raw and there was no one around for it to be for show (but then again Carrie looked stunned when Saul sold her out to the Senate and no one was around then either). Another great scene was when the German Bureau Chief called out Saul for doing anything for Carrie whenever she messed up but quickly sold her out after one mistake. It is about time someone did that. But the big question is who want Carrie dead? Is the CIA too obvious?

The Walking Dead: Last week I called the plan from the season finale of Fear the Walking Dead the dumbest idea in the history of dumb ideas, but the main show came close. Would it have not been wiser to just set the whole lot on fire instead of Pied Pipering them to... where exactly were they leading all the zombies? Of course, as I have said many times before, if these characters were smart it would be a very boring show.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Quantico: Wait, the gay dude (who is probably not even gay) is in cahoots with Jacob from Lost? Huh, that makes little to no sense and just a shock for shock sake. If your secret agent knows where the suspect is, who not send in the SWAT team? Which probably means Jacob is in on the whole conspiracy. And why is she still on the run anyway, doesn't the fingerprint thing just exonerate her?
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: Wait, did I just see a grown man punch a teenage girl on national television? That is messed up.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

The Voice: I really do not like the Battle Round, they just seem to drag on since they went from four Battles per hour to three after the first season. I figured I would just watch the episode On Demand later and watched other programming live (I still watched the second hour Monday live thanks to the lack of anything else on at the time). Except when I went to watch On Demand, I just went, nope, cannot watch this crap anymore after the boring hour I already sat through. So I just watched the YouTube versions, so overextended training clips and stop watching when the coaches start talking in hyperbole about how great the performances are just to sit on their hands when Carson tells them the losing singer is available for a Steal. Plus the two bald jokes I already heard got old real quick.

Even condensing those two hours into less than twenty minutes on YouTube (seriously, there were 180 minutes of the show airing this week and only something less than a half an hour are devoted to people actually performing) this week was quite dreadful. The only thing more shocking then Blake picking Zach (I agree with Blake more than any other coach, but I disagreed with each of his decisions) was that Battle was not montaged. Seriously, just how bad were those montaged Battles that they were possibly worse than that Battle. I have a hard time believing it was worse than Madi vs. Sydney, two of my five favorite Blind Auditions this season. Then you had Ivonne vs. Siahna Im which definitely would have been montaged had Gwen and Blake inexplicably pushed their Steal buttons. That was not even the most head scratching Steal Gwen tried this week as giving Regina Love a second chance was mostly unnecessary, not that any of the other loser were really worthy of one either. Can we please just montage the rest of the Battle Round and go straight to the Knockout Round next week please?

Blindspot: I tune into this show mostly to see Lady Sif beating dudes up but maybe one of the few things more entertaining than that is seeing two dudes in HAZMAT suits trying to beat each other up. My favorite part was hen FBI guy reached for his gun and realized, oh wait, I am wearing a HAZMAT suit. But the more serial aspects of the show got really confusing. Seriously, carbon dating teeth can tell you where someone was born? What? If true, does it make the most sense that Lady Sif's teeth were replaced? And while I am predicting things, Chrissy Seaver's boyfriend has to be evil, right? The boring significant other on conspiracy shows are always evil.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes..

Castle: I saw it coming a mile away because I thought early on that the blind priest was going to be involved, but still, the sight of a "blind" priest runnung away was still hilarious.
You can download Castle.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: My favorite part of the episode was when the went subtitles for the Cockneys. But I had to wonder when Fitz showed up right after that scene why they do not subtitle him too but he is unintelligible at times. I was very disappointed that Simmons did not even bring back a parasite or anything and thought we were going to go through a season of watching her get back to normal like Fitz last season, but thankfully the end credits scene she had a Jack from Lost moment saying we have to go back. It would have been a total waste of a cliffhanger if we never say that planet, or any of it inhabitants again. But why exactly does she want to go back? Is the English guy from the opening of last episode still there? Did she befriend an anthropomorphic duck?
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: How disappointing that Abi Maria did not flip alliances for the forth straight episode. I was actually begining to think this may actually be the episode that the tide turned against Abi Maria, but shockingly her name did not come of across anyone's lips (well aside from when Abi Maria reminded Woooooooooooooo not to write her name; classic Abi Maria). Almost as surprising was that everyone played the short game and booted Jeff because Wooooooooooo is better at challenges. I get booting Jeff because he is slippery, but how do you even know you would have another swap before your next challenge? Probst could swap tribes every two weeks until the merge. But before that, that was a boring Reward Challenge. If you are going to only have one person per tribe participate, at least let the other tribes pick who does it. It would have been much more entertaining had it been Abi Maria vs. Cierra, vs. Kimmi bumbling their way threw a challenge instead of three alpha males.
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

Nashville: I like how the alt-rock dude just called out everybody's dirty laundry. Though I was surprised when he met Layla he did not say, oh yeah, you are the reality star with the gay husband, right? Hopefully he sticks around long enough to cover Juliet's latest album in its entirety in the vein of Joy Division.
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Again, the show seriously needs a "previously on" package. I remember Pee Wee Herman was on the last season, but I barely remember who he was on the show.
The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/11/15

Fear the Walking Dead: Well that had to be the dumbest idea in the history of bad ideas to let out an arena full of zombie and lead them into the building you are trying to sneak in to. Certainly there had to be a better plan out there than that. And that ocean looked pretty blood red which is ominous for the next season.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The StrainWith everyone converging on the Luman I predicted someone would die. I was right and wrong, no one going after the book perished but the show befuddingly killed off the two hot chicks. Hurph.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Quantico:Of course the dude did not die in the future, but I guess it is better than waiting until the middle of the season to reveal that like the first season of Revenge. Then my favorite twist from the premiere the twin Arabs got a little less interesting after learning they were brought in by the Assistant Director. And it is too obvious of a prediction that the gay dude is not really gay and just wants to be the first openly gay recruit? I would not be at all surprised if he does not hook up with one of the Arab Twins before Christmas.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: Barbra and Tigress, oh my. I know we the audience know he is evil, but c'mon, did no one notice how bad Galavan and Jerome were interacting in their interaction? At least they killed the latter because he was really becoming the annoying. But Alfred flirting with Dr. Tomkins really made this episode.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

The Voice: Only one episode this week but the final Auditions did bring a couple of great song choices before the coaches take over and pick the same tired songs (Ain't No Mountain High Enough and yet another Sam Smith song were featured in the promo, le sigh). The last gasp song first ever songs from the catalogs of Tom Waits, Gary Clark Jr., Wonderwall (darn you montage) and whoever you want to credit Dream a Little Dream to, Mama Cass probably being the most famous. But we hay have had our worst Blind Audition of the season when someone had the audacity to try to cover The Scientist. Um, no, Holly Henry owns that cover; it should be retired to The Voice Hall of Fame (to a lesser extent Shelby Brown was alright, but she is no Amanda Brown).

Blindspot: Well that was shocking. I expected bearded dude to be an integral part of the show and they just killed him off. But who exactly was he telling Lady Siff not to trust? I thought he was talking about the FBI but was he not the one who sent her to them? We do know he wiped her memory, but maybe he did not put the tattoos on her. Mmmm, this show is slowly getting interesting. At least we got confirmation that Lady Siff is the FBI dude's childhood friend (which ironically made me a little suspicious that maybe she is not for the first time; though I still think his father was/is involved) so they are not drawing out that storyline.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes..

Castle: I guess I read the Kate leaving situation wrong, she was not leaving town to catch the bad guys, just leaving Castle to keep him safe. Alrightly. But it turns out I am kind of right with Alexis turning into Veronica Mars. Not only did she go blonde but investigated a Stanford Prison Experiment, something Ronnie did in season three. And if Halloween lasts all month like Kate suggests, does that mean we get three more weeks of Angel Alexis? I would not have any problems with that.
You can download Castle.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Well that was disappointing. I was hoping that we would get more of Gemma on the other planet, maybe running into otherworldly characters in the Marvel universe. Instead we got maybe two minutes on the other planet. We did not even get to see what was chasing her last week. Meh. Maybe she brought back a parasite or two.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor:Second Chances: For those keeping track at home, there have been three episodes and Abi Maria has switched alliances three times. Awesome. Seriously, how do you have a four to two advantage in the numbers and then have three of them being the only three discussed in going home. You would think having all returning players would cut down on the stupid mistakes but this has been the most wild season after three episodes maybe ever. On paper taking Abi Maria to the finals is a sound strategy because no one would vote for her but everyone she is aligned with keep on getting voted out the very next episode. I cannot wait to see who she turns on next week.
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

Modern Family: Boooooooo. I was hoping Dylan was going to move in permanently.
You can download Modern Family on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So Ressler would not stop the Russian limo because it was tantamount to invading Russian soil to arrest Lizzie, but he had no problem possibly starting World War III to save her life. I love the logic on the show.
The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/4/15

Once Upon a Time: Seriously, who brings a baby into a twister bound restaurant to another land? But anyway. I kind of liked the ending even though it probably means for the first part of the season we will probably get split story lines from present day and six months ago.

Ray Donovan: So the pop Armenian singer did not work? Maybe I should have guessed that you should not trust Armenian gangsters to keep their word. I was a bit surprised that the FBI guy did not come back at all, Ray did shoot and left him by the side of the road. Maybe next season. Instead we had to spend too much time with Bridget and her teacher who, yes, crossed the proverbial line, but did not do so with two feet. But they did go back to the priest whose storyline was dropped halfway through the season, but no Arayians who were dropped around the same time. But I am guessing Ray going back to the Lord will not last by the time season four comes around.

Fear the Walking Dead: Wait, are the two step siblings going to hook up. That is kind of ew. And why trash the house, just live there? It is much nicer than the one you are living in and the owners are not coming back. And why do I care more about some silly throwaway scene more than the revelation that they are going to "humanely" kill off the civilian population.

Masters of Sex: Oh wow, Bill gave up on Virginia. So does that mean the Little Brown Man (when Betty first said this I was like "oh my" as I did not know that Little Brown was a publishing house) goes nuclear at the press party telling the press about Bill's legal trouble? It it plausible with how the show does time jumps that Bill could spend some time in prison (like the last two summers I am going to stay away from the spoiler zone that is his Wikipedia page). Then there are the questions of the state of his marriage, whether Virginia marries the scent king, and Bill's legal troubles. It actually may be harder not to look at spoilers this time around.

The Strain: I would not all be disappointed if the show devolved into the Gus and Angel show. It would be better than bring back the rat that sits on Eph's head. And it was a different wig to. I wonder if Corey Stoll burned the anime looking original wig and when it came time for the flashback the costume department just had to grab a random one off the rack. I joked earlier this season that they were not going to kill someone off right after including an opening credits sequence (which aired just that one time randomly) but someone has to die next week, right? With everyone descending on the Luman it is hard to think all the players get out alive. Sadly I think it may be the Nazi Vampire (who would have guessed three years ago I would be sad someone killed a Nazi vampire?).
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Quantico: When I saw the previews I wrote that best case scenario it was going to be Homeland season four; worst case scenario: Homeland season three. After one episode it looks much more like season three. Actually it may be worse, it may be more like some crappy Shonda Rhimes show where absurdly attractive professionals have sex with each other in between twists upon twists even if those twists are extremely obvious or make little to no sense. Really the only twist I liked from the premiere (even though it fell into the makes no sense category) was the Muslim twins. I also do not like the storytelling devise of flashing back to the first days of Quantico mixed with a blown up building. Why not tell a linear story of the first days of the FBI and then blow up the building in the season or mid-season final? But I will continue to watch. And let me go ahead and predict the FBI trainer guy is the one setting up the hot Indian chick. Either him or "Taylor Swift" because it will either be the most obvious or one that makes little to no sense.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: So the big new from the show this week was that Jim Gordon and Leslie Thompkins are having a kid. Well not on the show but the actors are in real life. Alright. I wonder if that will be written into the show or she will be hiding behind medical tables soon or maybe she will be kidnapped in the second half of the season. As for the actual show, so a bunch of cheerleaders are about to be set on fire but no one thought to go out the fire door?
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

The Voice: The first couple seasons were mostly enjoyable, I made it through the whole season for the first and third seasons (I have to skip the disastrous second season finale). Since then I usually am out sometime around the time the show goes live. I usually fault this on the lack of good singers because in those first three seasons the openly recruited seasoned professionals but since has been more of American Idol type show with mostly armatures (seriously who are there some many teenagers with braces this season?). In the first three seasons there were about twelve different singers on the show who were already in my music library before they auditioned by since that number is one (and she was montaged off the show).

Then this week I was kind of bored again with the same old mediocre teenagers doing boring and bland karaoke versions of songs. And then they introduced another rocker nanny, which we have seen a few times on the show (remember the good old days when Alicia Keys backup singers were the cliche; have we run out of Alicia Keys back up singers?). But then rocker nanny mentioned she used to be in a band called Sleeper Agent. Wait, what? Not only were they in my music library, their song Get Burned was #22 on my list of The 100 Best Songs of 2012. Okay so her Blind Audition was not great, but if she makes it around to the Knockout Round maybe they will actually let her perform Get Burned.

Last week I mentioned how the Blind Auditions bring out some awesome song selections (before devolving into the same overused catalog in the Battle that get more tired the closer to the finale) and this we got first ever songs on the show from Cheap Trick, Mountain, Cameo, Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness, oh yeah, and someone auditioned with the Rollergirl theme song. That was definitely the most random song choice since someone sang The Jeffersons Theme Song.

Blindspot: Well that is and interesting plot that Lady Sif may be someone from the FBI's past (whom his father was accused of kidnapping and murdering). I do fear this may play out like The Blacklist where there was overwhelming evidence that Red is Lizzie's father only for Red to deny it for two seasons. I am guessing the DNA match will come up negative next week but still tease that that is what happen. The show would be much interesting if it turns out FBI guy's dad did actually kidnap Lady Sif and was the one who trained her.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes..

Castle: Wait, what just happened, is Kate leaving the show or are we getting two separate story lines every week, case of the week and Kate looking for the real killers? I mentioned last week offhandedly I would not mind if the show switched into a Veronica Mars, father daughter PI dynamic with Castle and Alexis but I did not actually think it might happen.
You can download Castle.

Marvel's Agents of S.I.E.L.D.: So over their summer vacation Fitz went from brain damaged to Indiana Jones. Alrighty. While I have spent all summer trying to figure out what happened to Gemma and a black hole portal that bends space and time never once crossed my mind. Hopefully the end of this storyline is not as bad as the ending to Intersteller. But anyway. I am not that familiar with Marvel comics so I am not entirely sure where she is and even though cinematic characters rarely show up, I will be slightly disappointed if we do not see one of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Hey, Bradly Cooper has shown willingness to show up on crappy televised versions of his movies. I would even be content with the cosmonaut dog or even Howard the Duck.I was interested in the clock counting down until the Inhumans reach one hundred percent but there are no Marvel movies coming out February 2017 (assuming my math is right) but the next movie after that is the second Guardians movie, not that Gemma will still be around by then (unless this is like the Intersteller water planet where hour equaled like five Earth years). Plus we are still four years away from an Inhumans movie. Speaking of which, the new big bad is effectively scary in a Buffy monster of the week kind of way.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: After thirty season, Survivor has become a well oiled machine that I can recognize every beat that it hits. But that last segment was a weird one. When Varner teased before the break that Shirin and Spencer sealed their fate, I have been conditioned to think either 1) his plan will go horribly wrong or 2) the show will may think think someone is going to flip but ended up towing the line. So when Abi Maria actually told Shirin she was probably going home I though, uh oh, you never tell someone that, now those two will scramble to get someone out. So when they talked to Wooooooooooooo I thought we would get Wooooooooooo saying that maybe he should weigh his option, but no, he shut them down right then. So when they walked to Tribal Council I thought, okay, Abi is going to go full crazy Brazilian chick and get people to turn on them. But no. The dominate alliance did not even mess up splitting the vote. So not only is the show playing with the contestants this season (two twists in the premiere and the promos spoiling another big one next week) they are playing with the viewer's expectations too. And I kind of like it.
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

Nashville: I wonder why they did not kill Deacon's sister last week but I guess they just waited a week.
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

The Blacklist: This show really needed a previously on package. It is hard enough for me to remember last week let along what happen three or four months ago. But, oh my, blonde Lizzy.
The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/5/15

Hannibal: I was unfamiliar with most things Hannibal before watching the show so they actually did fool me of the Red Dragon shooting himself in the face. But as we come to the end of the season and quite possibly the season I am almost glad it is over because they really laid on the homoerotic codependency way too heavy this season. The which side is Will on last season was fascinating but it was just eyerolling this season with Will flinging himself over the cliff in a loving embrace. An FBI falling in love with the serial killer he is trying to catch sounds like the conceit of a bad Lifetime movie. Still if Bryan Fuller manages to revive the series, I would still watch because I am still very interested to see where this is going especially if Will rides off into the sunset (though it sounds like Fuller plans to use Will if the show continues in any form) as I believe he is completely absent from future books. And of course what was up with Sully's leg on a platter after the credits?
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Ray Donovan: I usually complain about the "x amount of time" title card that start episodes because I find it lazy writing, but it actually worked in this case because it teased a murder mystery. Sure it was clear right off the bat that the red herrings were just that, I never thought that the government lady was going to die or that Ray would kill yet another priest, but it was shocking that Al Swearengen killed his son-in-law / lover. The show even upped that tease with the eventual inclusion of Avi. I am not sure if I can believe that Ray would finally accept his apology like that, but Ray has seemed to be a bit more forgiving this season.

Fear the Walking Dead: Okay, this show is just trolling us. One of the biggest complaints of the flagship show is they cannot have two black dudes on the show at the same time, they have to kill one before bringing on a new one. So the new show actually looks a bit more diverse, except the three black dudes they introduced in the premiere are (un)dead by the end of the second episode. Okay the boyfriend is not (un)dead yet, but he was just left to turn and we will probably have to wait for the girlfriend to bash his head in next week. But the most disappointing part of the episode was that the fat pimply kid did not go with Matt Saresen's mom he is the only person that has been on either show that apparently knows what a zombie is.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: Holy Beth Greene sighting! After being the best part of The Walking Dead in the last season or two, it is nice she can still get work, even if it as just a sex surrogate who has to sleep in the surrogacy room at night. But with Virginia hooking up with the fragrance king I hope she does not become a personal surrogate for Bill even though it is clear she has a crush on her former neighbor (it would also be the second time someone way too young for him hits on him this season. But as usual, the episode belonged to the staff of the office be it Betty failed attempt to get her girlfriend pregnant or Lester being the lone male in the surrogacy program just to irk Jane.

Falling Skies: On one hand, the new queen was the creepiest of all creepy aliens in the history of the show, but on the other. that was a pretty anti-climatic ending with Tom just touching the bomb thingy and the queen dissolving like a vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And of course Anne was not going to actually die after telling Tom she was pregnant again. Of course I was wrong to turn my back on my do not believe anyone is dead on television until you see the body (and even then am still a little suspicious) as I thought Pope was really dead last week. He might as well have been because their final talk was just as anticlimactic. And they must have spent all their CGI money on dissolving aliens because that crowd at the end looked about as really as crowds in Playstation 1 sports games. Oh well.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

The Strain: Hopefully now that the young Goodweather saw his mother try to kill his father he can stop moping around because that kid is seriously dragging the show down. But at least we got a great passive-aggressive conversation between the old dude and the Nazi vampire this week.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Tyrant: Sure the first sixty minutes were boring but what a final scene. After actually seeming contrite and humbled by all he horrible past deeds, Jamal gets on camera and goes full Trump and denies everything and does not give an inch. And then it managed to get even more shocking when his daughter in law shoots him. Wow. Sure I am guessing he will survive (he did survive driving off a cliff while getting his manhood bitten off) but the fight for power has only begun (well if there is another season).
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: What a bizarre way to start and end the episode. It opens with the cheater from the first episode taking about bringing down Elliot for his crime (and how he was part of the extremely timely Ashley Madison hack) and is not seen again in the episode, but I guess he is one of numerous people knocking on the door. Except that was not the end as we get a scene of (presumably) The Illuminati with the Evil Corp head and B.D. Wong. It took me a while to put two and two together and figure out that was also B.D. Wong that met with Elliot earlier this season (I was wondering why that scene was included in the "Previously On" montage). So are these two in cahoots and the Evil Corp dude condoned the hack? Mmmm. We may have nine and a half months to find out.

But the part that struck me the most coming out of the finale (other that how perfect playing Got Your Money at an end of the world party after a financial collapse is) is how I am starting to believe that Elliot and the American Psycho dude may actually be the same person. In a episode of bizarre things, Elliot talking with American Psycho's wife may have been the most bizarre. She seemed to know more than what she was letting on, so maybe she knows her husband has a split personality and known not to bring one up to another. To the best of my recollection, they only had three scenes together, American Psycho offering Elliot a job, the time they ran into each other at Steel Mountain (what a coincidence they were there at the same time), and last week when he barged into Elliot's apartment (again, conveniently waiting until Dalia Royce left). Of the big flaw in my theory is that Elliot could not have a job at All Safe and Evil Corp at the same time without anyone noticing. But maybe American Psycho never worked there and that delusion was just Elliot there in an All Safe capacity. Mmmm, I may have to watch the first season again looking for clues. I am still guessing the better theory is that everyone is a delusion inside Elliot's head and the real Elliot is staring at a snowglobe in some mental health hospital somewhere.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Under the Dome: So the new queen is same actress as her mother but in a bad wig and blue contacts. This show is so horrible. Thank goodness CBS finally canceled it.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/4/15

Once Upon a Time: I remember back when we saw Emma's back story saying that it was surprising that her friend did not turn out to be a fairy tale character. Well, it turned out she was in fact from the fairy tale world and apparently Malificant's daughter. Except wasn't Lily Hispanic? Or was I thinking of someone else?
You can Download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Even though I thought it was the case, I still laughed at the end when Sammi started banging on the storage bin revealing she was not so dead. I do wonder if that is the last we see of her, it does seem like that character has run her course and this show has no problem getting rid of characters they do not know what to do with anymore.

The Walking Dead: During the final commercial break I was thinking, are they really not going to kill anybody off in the season finale. Sure Glenn somehow made it out of the zombie dog pile, Daryl somehow was saved by one dude as about a hundred zombies surrounded his car (no one thought of at least trying to hot wire it). Things got even more surprising when Glenn and his nemesis and Sasha and the Reverend were all seen in some weird friendship montage. Of course that was all red herrings for the finale when the evil doctor stabbed the politician's husband who gave Rick the okay to kill him right in front of his old friend Morgan who just got done telling Daryl "Every life is precious." There has been a lot of discussion this season about how Rick has morphed into Shane. Does that make Morgan the season one version of Rick to Rick's Shane? We will have to wait until fall to find out but first up we get to see how the outbreak broke out with Fear the Walking Dead this summer! Starring Matt Saresen's mom!! Hopefully that show does not take four to five seasons to get good.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So Courtney Love pops up in one scene as a hit man who services will not be needed? Alrighty, I have a feeling this will not be her only appearance. Does she still go after Emily Amanda or go after Margot for knowing her identity? This is just getting too silly, hopefully this is the end of the show, just let Courtney Love and Louise kill them all.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Finally a showdown between Bobbie and May, and it certainly lived up to expectations. But the feuding SHIELDs is a little silly, you are both on the same side, there is no need to act so covertly against each other.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: Rarely is there is a scene that is extremely shocking but Mikey Michael strangling Katherine to death while she keeps shooting him had my jaw dropped for a couple minutes.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Wow, an Immunity Idol actually worked I cannot remember the last time that happened. Not that it matters much if it stays six versus four. I am surprised the White Collar went with the Blue Collar who is full five, why not go with the easier No Collar tribe?
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Finally Paige learned who her parents were after teasing that she was on to them way back in the first season finale. Of course right went something interesting was about to happen when CIA Agent Stan showed up to diner, the episode ended. Meanwhile Henry got more lines this week than in his entire run of the series to date.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/29/15

Once Upon a Time: So if the good guys are going to pick off Mr. Gold's cabal one by one with kindness, does this mean they are going to give Cruella Dr. Hopper's Dalmatian as an appeasement to her at some point?
You can Download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh no, Sammy called the Army to report Ian. Which begs the question how did it take a tip from someone to catch him, Ian was hiding in his own home? I wonder if he will get a bunk with his brother.

The Walking Dead: Oh snap, I just figured that the old group would just blindly follow Rick with his overthrow of Alexandria but it did not cross my mind that any of them would actually want to assimilate which apparently Michone does. If Rick is exiled like I assume I wonder who goes with him. Of course they will be back just as Rick warned Deanna that anyone exile will be back. Sure the middle episodes were a bit of a drag but no one does season premieres / finales like this show and next week should be explosive. Plus we still have the person that is marking walker foreheads with a Scarlet A.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So a taxi to happened to plow Margot over in the fire lane? Seems fishing, nothing is that coincidental on this show. I wonder if her henchman had anything to do with it, with or without Margo's knowledge, because he seemed a little to overeager not to give up the fight.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

Bates Motel: So Norman did not kill the token hot chick like I feared, but she still ended up dead. Meh.
You can download Bates Motel on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I have long predicted a not so dead Mona would turn out to Be A, well at least I was half right. When her name flashed up under the guest star list I then assumed a not so dead Alison's mother was going to be A after realizing it was not Mona. Completely wrong at that. We learned that Charles is actually A and by the home movie that do make it seem like Charles is Jason's twin brother that apparently no one knew existed. If so, where has he been all this time? Did the Dilarentas family have him hidden in that bunker this whole time?
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent of SHIELD: So the "Real SHIELD" does not trust Coulson and his alien DNA, that actually seems reasonable. They could have spent the whole episode in that conference room explaining stuff I would not have minded because I could not care less about Ward and Agent 33 (but it did give us some decent comedy with Talbott ruining his marriage and basically sexually harassing his female underlings).
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: One of the main problems with this season was that you knew that Raylan was not going to catch Boyd until the series finale but much like season four where they actually caught Drew Thompson a couple episodes prior to the finale and then ending up have its best episodes of the season after that, Raylan actually caught Boyd redhanded with a couple episodes left. It looks like we may get the trial Tim was hoping for. Though since the CI shot him, I wonder if a RICO case will stick.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: Congratulations to Sarah and Jordan. And since you won, you can both retire because I really have no desire to see either back on the show. And take Jay and Jenna with you because they do not deserve another invite after quitting (though it is odd the other challenges had a thirty minute time limit but the drinking one). Pure rookie moves, first they do not look at LeRoy's answer and then they actually tried drinking the fish oil while Sarah and Teresa clearly poured half of it down their faces and then spit out the rest while pretending to puke.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: Blue Collar vs. White Collar vs. No Collar: Morons, Survivor 101 states you never, under any circumstance: throw a challenge. The only time anyone threw a challenge and actually ended up winning was when in Fans vs. Favorites they did not even bother to compete just to get rid of Brandon Hantz. Every other time a team that has thrown a challenge, no one involved ever won that season. It is weird to think after how bad their tribe was, No Collar may actually be in the drivers seat. Blue Collar is in disarray, White Collar lost two members after the tribe swap, if smart the No Collar could easily decimate everyone, but are they smart enough to do that now that the merge is immanent?
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Could Stan actually take the fall for the bug in the pen? If someone catches him working with Oleg he would have to move to the top of the suspect list for the FBI. But I have a feeling the black dude will end up being that fall guy.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Wait, did they just out Lizzie as being pregnant? Tom having an ultrasound in his pocket pretty much confirms it. Red is going to be very disappointed.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/22/15

Shameless: I was hoping for a Carl / Chucky juvenile spinoff but it looks like we will be getting that on the main show with both being sentenced to hard time. Of course Chucky ended up with the white supremacists while Carl ended up with the hood gang. Elsewhere I really liked the doctor story line, I just wonder how long it will last. On one hand, Frank needs a place to stay, on the other, the last time he took care of a dying women in hopes of being left her estate did not work out very well for him. But then again, nothing really works out for him except for his inability to stay dead.

The Walking Dead: A couple weeks ago I floated out the theory that it was not Rick and company who should be weary of the residents of Alexandria because they always run into evil doers, it should be Alexandria that should be hesitant of the new group. It looks like I am not the only one as the reverend also voiced his concern over Rick. With the death of the congresswoman's son, I am guessing the coup will be coming next week (or at the very least in two weeks for the finale).And poor young Chris Rock, but how do you let one person out power two in the revolving door? And speaking of those two deaths, the camera really lingered way too long on those death scenes.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Bates Motel: So Norman maybe killed the token hot chick already? Bummer. But that was not her in the lake was it, it looked more like a dude, I first thought that was the creepy neighbor.
You can download Bates Motel on iTunes

Community: About a decade ago Arrested Development did everything it could to get a fourth season, they even slipped some in jokes about hoping to being picked up by HBO or Showtime into episodes. But alas, the show could not find a new home. Five years later, DirecTV saved Damages from cancellation opening up a flood gate an now five short years after that no beloved or cult television show is allowed to died because there are so many channels, band streaming sites looking for content. Even horrible shows that everyone hates like The Killing somehow manages a reprieve. Seven years later Arrested Development finally got its fourth season. So it is clear we are now living in an era when no media property will die as long as everyone involved wants it to live on (sorry Friday Night Lights fans, Kyle Chandler has no interest in reviving the series, probably for the best).

So when Community finally got the ax from NBC, the was little question on if it would get its prophetized six seasons a movie, the question would be where would it land. Hulu passed and surprisingly Yahoo! wanted to get in the streaming game. Even more surprising is that the show is basically commercial free and free to watch. I watched the first two episode and they only aired on ad before the first one. As for the content itself, it is still Community even though it is down yet another cast member (Shirley escaped to CBS multicam hell), it did not even relish in the lack of network standards and practices. Like always it is somewhat enjoyable but I really hope that this is it, well plus a movie. But even if this is it, it will probably be revived again in five years or so.
You can watch Community on Yahoo Screen.

Pretty Little Liars: I have been out on this show for a season or two now, but this episode finally pulled me back in with the characters acting like idiots (passing notes in jail with the lawyer calling them out for it; Aria's brother leaving the car after getting hit with an arrow... stay in the car and keep driving you moron, do not leave the car where there is not a windshield to protect you) and other characters just doing things for no apparent reason (Calab just sitting in the dark at the cabin) and a big plot twist: Alison gets convicted followed directly by all the Liars getting arrested. If only they had gone to the police after the first text. An let me predict one more time, a not so dead Mona will turn out to be the next A that will be revealed next week.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: So the big secret Bobbi and Mack have is they are covert operatives for "the real SHIELD." Alrighty. At least they only drug that secret out two episode. Granted if Edward James Olmos is involved, maybe it is the real SHIELD. And let me guess, he is going to want to lock Skye up but over Colson's dead body.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes

Justified: If you are dumb enough not to assume the evil crime boss lady does not keep a gun in her purse, you definitely deserve to die. The Ava finally tipped her hand and went with Raylan this week, unfortunately for her, Boyd did not get caught red handed as he did not make it through the bottom of the floor. Yeah, it probably was not the best idea to trust the crazy explosion expert.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: So Sarah has had two of her partners leave prematurely and was sent home too as a result; Leroy had two of his sent home and both times got a replacement partner. This time he got an upgrade right before the finale. Lucky boy. Why not just hand him the prize right then and there (well probably because Sarah ends up winning anyway). But the best part of the show was the After Show with Banana's saying he would never sell out a friend / cut to him selling out Paula. Did he forget all of this was on tape?
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar: Ask and you shall receive, just last week I was complaining about no Reward Challenges and we get two this week. The show flows a lot better with two challenges per episode. Then we had a Tribe Swap which could not have ended better for Blue Collar, a majority on one tribe and a swing vote on the other. Bearded dude brought up it ended up like the swap back in One World but it was also divided by strength back in the Fans vs. Favorites II season also. Maybe it is fixed.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Wait, is Martha really going to forgive Clark? Even more surprising, how does Clark kill Martha just in case?
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Wait, so they just let Tom walk after confessing to killing harbor master just to keep Lizzy out of jail even though the AG guy could have made the whole thing go away anyway? Maybe Tom should have been taken to a black site. I really hope he does not end up joining the team somewhere down the road.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/8/15

Once Upon a Time: Seriously, no one noticed the smoke monster slither out of the magic hat? And if Mr. Gold is such an evil genius, why wait at the city line for a sea hag that in no way should help you get back into Storybrooke when you could just stowaway in the truck of the car? But when your adversaries are dumb enough to believe someone stole your phone and just happened to call you out of nowhere, you look like a genius next to them.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

The Walking Dead: Last week I suggested there will end up being something nefarious about Alexandra, but watching this episode I am beginning to think that Rick and company will be the antagonists to the city folk, not the other way around. And why did no one offer Carl a haircut too?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: I was hoping through Skye's transformation she would find a new hairstyle, but alas, it is for not. overall kind of a meh episode even with the Hydra take down and the new Raina. Is it possible they can get Agent Carter into a time machine and inserted into this show?
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes

Justified: So Limehouse did sell out Ava and yet Boyd does not irrationally kill her like Dewey (aside from a brief question from Raylan last week, does anyone care that he has been missing since the first episode; Dewey deserves justice). Boyd cannot possibly trust her anymore (which is why he gave her a gun with no bullets), so I wonder if he will eventually (try to) get rid of her once he knows for sure what Raylan is doing.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes: Welcome back Nany, who wastes no time getting into her first fight. Whoever decided to put her in slo-mo while Bananas puts a fist in his mouth deserves a Emmy for that editing.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar: I was racking my brain trying to think of a time when an entire tribe was blindsided by a vote where an Idol was not involved. And what a horrible move, Will went from the swing vote and in control of the destiny of his tribe to the least liked person in the tribe that no one can trust. This show is at its best when it is filled with morons and this season has its fair share of them.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

Hindsight: You gotta love any show that starts off an episode with a Toad the Wet Sprocket deep cut. Though I do not understand why Becca just does not stop Kevin right away, she know what it does to her relationship with Lolly and it is clearly not something that lasts because she end up with Andy. But kudos to Lolly for deciphering that Letters to Cleo song.
You can download Hindsight on iTunes.

The Americans: After two and a half season, are we finally going to get two plot twists that should have happened at the very least last season? The promo sure makes it looks like Paige will finally learn about her parents' double life and that one of the Jennings will actually get caught after too many close calls.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Television has been littered with countless characters that should have been killed off a lot earlier than they did which range from just rolling your eyes whenever they walk on screen to completely ruining a great show, something that will forever be known as "The Brody." Tom is currently closer to the eye-rolling portion of the spectrum right now, but the show should have really killed him at the end of last season, he serves no purpose now.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: It became pretty obvious that I would have no chance on this show. During that name as many nerd culture things as you could, I probably only would have done good in the movies and Mario Kart categories. Though I would have crushed the Stratigo Nerd Off. C'mon, you always put the flag in the front row if you are playing someone smart.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/1/15

The Walking Dead: The biggest problem with the show is that the show is predicated on the character being completely stupid for it to be any good. The smart thing to do in a zombie apocalypse would be to join up with as many living people as possible to beat back the zombie hoards. The smart thing to do back in season one would have been to join forces with the nursing home people, but had they done that, that show would have been extremely boring. So our protagonists are stupid. Which leads us to this week. The smart thing would have been to jump in the camper and ride up to Alexandra and enjoy all the homemade applesauce they would let someone else force down their throats. Instead we get an entire episode of Rick being paranoid when the alternative is that his group starves to death. Of course Rick has every reason to be cautious because the homosexuals will obviously turn out to be evil like every other group they have run into since they opted out of the nursing home: The Governor was a megalomaniac, Terminus was full of cannibals, even the cops in the hospital were basically using slave labor. Now the only question is what demented thing are these Alexandrians in to. Well, besides forcing their children to eat applesauce against their will. That is the evil cult I want to run into when their is a zombie apocalypse.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Gotham: After The Dark Knight trilogy I was hoping for a little more lighthearted Batman adaptation as a follow up. I was not expecting The Brave and the Bold or even Adam West type cheesy fun. If Man of Steel was any indication, Batfleck will be as dour as Christian Bale and the show is not much cheerier. That is why I liked all the silly comedy associated with the Red Hood this week. Unfortunately the mail characters went to darker places this week with Alfred getting stabbed and, oh goodness, why did Fish scoop out her own eye and step on it? When she said their was a option C, how did that be the only thing that crossed her mind? Fish Mooney has quickly moved into Brody territory of why did they not kill them off much earlier then they actually did? Really she is only behind Brody and Otto from Sons of Anarchy (who also lost and eye and was into self mutilation) on that list right now.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent Carter: It has become Marvel tradition that the final scene is dedicated to some big plot twist or recognizable star making an appearance. I figured that scene for the season finale of Agent Carter would be dedicate to her being the first S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Nope, they went with the more shocking route with the dude from Captain America lurking in the shadows. That will be a formidable big bad team for a potential season two. Instead of waiting until next winter, how about another eight week season this summer?
You can download Marvel's Agent Carter om iTunes.

Justified: Poor Choo-Choo, it did not quite have the Of Mice and Men ending as it teased, but still sad. I thought maybe he would make it when the train stopped but alas, it looks like he is gone. And the plot twist just kept coming, it is clear the Lawnmower Man set up for Boyd to go down that hole, but why? And why exactly did Limehouse sell out Ava?
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes: Stupid promo monkeys. From the very introduction of Ex-ile in the first episode, we have heard Sarah say, "This changes evvvvvvverything" and they play her saying that basically every week, or very least on every episode. So it was pretty clear she and Jordan would still be around by the time TJ announces the twist to the unsuspecting competitors still around. This lead to little drama in the dome as it was clear Sarah would be back. Speaking of spoilers, the promo for next week really looked like Nany's ponytail making their return inevitable (of course if the show were scripted, then Nany and Bananas would obviously be the ones chosen to get back in the game). But they do have to go through the behemoth that is Zach, but since he just lost a strength based dome, it is very possible.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar: The show is at its best whenever it divides its tribe along specific attributes, well except the age season, that one not surprisingly turned out bad. And the show needs a good season after the disastrous last season when it became how flawed Blood vs. Water was. No one really stuck out as someone to root for, I kind of want to do that for the "hearing advocate" (hey, it is better than coconut vendor and this is the No Collar tribe) but the promo monkeys make it look like she is not long for this game.

One thing that really stuck out to me is how much this season resembles Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty. White Collar are the Brain, Blue Collar are the Brawn, an though they are not all that attractive, No Collar do share some attributes of the Beauty tribe. And just like the previous season, the White Collar are trying way too hard to outsmart each other early like the Brains tribe did. You just cannot take the deceit that early in the game and if you do, you better come up with a better excuse then what they did. Poor So, pretty much was voted out because of it.

Except that was a really dumb play on the White Collar tribe. The move was to vote out Carolyn, first off she seems really annoying, is old, and most importantly has the Hidden Immunity Idol. The two swing guys should had targeted her, if she does not play the Idol, a weak and annoying player is gone; if she does play it, oh well, So goes home and the Idol is flushed out.

Since I see this season playing out like Brains vs. Brawn, vs. Beauty, that means a White Collar will not win because they will try to out think each other, eventually playing themselves out of the game; the No Collar will turn on each other early and often (that love triangle cannot possibly end well); so that mean a Blue Collar wins. I just hope that the Masshole does not turn out to be this season's Tony, so I will predict Mike as the winner.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

Hindsight: I thought the music supervisor really screwed up when Vanessa Carlton started playing at the beginning of the episode. But they threw a curve and eventually let us know they flashbacked (or forward depending how you look at it) to 2003. Lolly's normal looking hair should have been the hint at the time. Granted later in the episode during the 2003 timeline they did use the nineties Sarah McLachlan classic, so the music survivor did much that up a little.
You can download Hindsight on iTunes.

The Americans: It seems like Philip has ninety-nine problems, and they are all (expletive delete). Two wives and two fifteen year old's. The Jennings have done some pretty morally corrupt acts on the show, but seducing a fifteen year old have to be number one.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: It seems like every week things go from bad to worse for Layla, but shockingly something went her way this week getting signed by Rayna (off of a kind of crappy song, but alas). But then it looks like she already sabotaged that relationship but hiring Rayna's archnemesis Jeff as her manager. Bad move Layla.
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: Well that was disappointing. I was kind of hoping that the secret six five alliance would make the wrong decision and Colby would send another one of them home. Oh well.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 2/22/15

The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special: That somehow managed to be awesome and a complete mess at the same time. Sm basically like every SNL episode ever. The great moments were great: Bill Murray singing The Love Theme to Jaws, Emma Stone, Wayne's World, Jerry Seinfeld's Q&A, Turd Ferguson, R.I.P. Jon Lovitz. But the bad was really bad: Did anyone get excited for another installment of The Californians which was almost inexplicably saved by David Spade (I wish there were more generational cross pollination), the ESPN guys, Eddie Murphy's weird acceptance speech type appearance, and why have Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake since forty years of catchphrases when ninety percent of the people who originally uttered those phrases were sitting the crowd, yet the only ones included were Debby Downer and Mary Catherine Gallagher.

Plus all the musical performances seemed unnecessary except Paul Simon (and it was nice that they brought back G.E. Smith); did we really need to hear Paul McCartney horsely sing Maybe I'm Amazed (at least it was not Hey Jude for the millionth time; the weird country version of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (with no Vanessa Bayer sighting); which was only out-weirded by whatever Kanye West was doing. They could have cut those to give more time to Weekend Update, maybe all the guys could have read some fake news too even though the greatest anchor Dennis Miller was conspicuously absent from the evening, but it was funny during the retrospective that the the one Norm McDonald joke they showed was an OJ one considering it is assumed he was kicked off the show because of too many Simpson jokes.

And why have Jack Nicholson of all people introduce the political package when they could have had all the presidential impersonators intro that. I wonder if what stopped them was a lack of Ronald Reagan without Phil Hartman or Dennis Quaid (though Jim Carrey does a very good impression) or maybe they could not decide which of the five who did W Bush would represent. But overall it was an enjoyable walk down memory lane.

Shameless: Jimmy is back and of course Fiona made a bad decision because that is the only kind of decision she seems to make. Sure she kicked him out in the end, but I have a feeling that will not last long because her husband will undoubtedly walk in on them at some point. I do find it odd that there is no episode tonight, the show went head to head with the Super Bowl, but takes Oscar night off.

The Walking Dead: It is clear this show is at its best when the group is separated because this episode was quite boring until the guy at the end who knew Rick showed up. I take it he was the friend with the water.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Gotham: Last week's promo teased the arrival of The Joker (um, his first name is really Jerome?) but we also got our first glimpse of Robin. Well, sort of, but not really. No Dick Grayson's were mentioned but I am just going to go ahead and assume that the couple who said their were going to name their first child after him will be Robin's parents. I though for sure when the female was protesting the name I was convinced she was going to say something like, "I though we decided on Richard." Oh well. But I kind of like how excited Brody's wife was about helping Gordon out with the case.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Those dance montage sequences may have been the most entertaining part of any episode of this show. Why couldn't Hanna training for a pageant be an entire season plotline?
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent Carter: I was mildly surprised when Peggy got caught last week, but the Chief throwing himself out the building was a huge shock. Guess he will not be back if there is a second season. Not that anyone but Peggy would because it seems clear this season will end with the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Peggy as its first agent.
You can download Marvel's Agent Carter om iTunes.

Justified: Oh Constable Bob, where have you and your taser been all season? Though Ava trying to leave town just seemed like filler even if the taser and the cattle prod were entertaining byproducts of that storyline.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: Last week Zach almost a legitimate Of Mice and Men reference and this week he gave a, albeit warped, parable from The Bible; how did he not win the trivia challenge? But clearly T.J. enjoys trivia week way too much. I am guessing it was his idea to swaddle the contestants like babies and unwrap them when they lose. Disappointingly no one gave completely inane answers except when Leroy answered "Africa" when T.J. was looking for a country.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Hindsight: A couple weeks ago the show highlighted one of my favorite songs of all time, R.E.M.s Nightswimming and this week they pulled out another personal top ten, All I Want Is You by U2. I will forgive that the song actually came out in the eighties (though you could argue it is a nineties song because it was on the Reality Bites Soundtrack). The rest of the episode was pretty much a filler, Becca and Australian dude broke up, again; the two boring people did not break up again, instead got married. But next they do promise all the questions will be answered, so there is that. At the very least, it will still have an awesome soundtrack.
You can download Hindsight on iTunes.

Nashville: Oh snap, Rayna just got Jeff fired (and looking at the previews, sinks the whole label in the process). And poor Layla, about to get her shot in front of the owner and the meeting gets canceled after Jeff gets fired. Nothing is ever going to go right for that girl
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: I have been out on Under the Dome for the entirely of the second season, but who knew the chick from that show was extremely cool? Get that girl on more talk show people.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 2/15/15

2015 Grammy Awards: I had a feeling 2014 was not a very good year for music when I was making my best of the year list and watching this year's Grammy's verified that after seeing Sam Smith and Beck win the top four awards especially considering they were basically the best in very weak fields (well I would have given Haim the Best New Artist Award). But usually in weak musical years, the show can produce great once in a lifetime duets, but all of those fell flat. Really, a week later nothing really stands out to me this year except how boring it was.

The Walking Dead: Hold ghosts of Tyrese past! I have to admit I have enjoyed this season significantly more that the earlier ones, but why oh why had the show killed off its two most entertaining characters in back to back episodes yet Carl is still alive (thee third, Bob literally bit it earlier this season two).
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Oh Spencer, you are a moron. Did she really think that some college hired the dude to make a mural and to do it with spray paint at night? But I really could care less about these girls personal lives, just stick the the overly complex murder mystery of someone who probably is not even dead.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Mavel's Agent Carter: Whoa, they were actually able to catch Peggy, I was a assuming as soon as she went on the lamb she would stay there until she was able to clear her name. And even more shocking it was a kiss from a Russian spy that brought her down. But the most shocking was the Russian scientist ended up being in cahoots with the spy. All this intrige should make for an interesting final two episodes.
You can download Marvel's Agent Carter om iTunes.

Justified: Watching this episode and the previews for next week was a greatest hits of recurring characters past (Loretta McCreary! Dicky Bennett!! Constable Bob!!! Elmore Limehouse!!!!) and that pretty much sums it up because I think the rest are either dead or in jail. Jake Busy is already on the dead list after just one episode with yet another memorable death scene on the show. I laughed through the entire commercial break. But it was nice to see Loretta outsmart Dicky one more time, not that it very hard thing to do.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: It is time for the annual annoying "To Be Continued" episode. Usually this comes right before the final elimination challenge. So we have to wait a week to see who goes home. But this has been two straight sad challenges. Last week TJ had to admonish all the guys who were too scared to jump out the surfboard contraption challenge and this week half of the teams could not even finish at all and had to institute a mercy rule. Even more sad, Jonna's puzzle was extremely embarrassing (Zach was right to compared it to something a third grader put together which was his second best comment of the evening after his almost correct reference to Of Mice and Men) and Brittany somehow did worse than her.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Hindsight: Of course the show eventually worked in the famous Say Anything boombox scene, but this definitely the first time anyone thought to use KWS as the soundtrack. And it only got better when the batteries ran out.
You can download Hindsight on iTunes.

The Americans: Yawn, another near miss by the FBI. At least there was that bizarre and random scene with Paige finding a picture of their neighbor in a bikini in her brother's room.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: Of course his niece was not a match and his sister does not want to give hers (okay that was a bit of a serve, I just thought she would not be a match), it is beyond obvious that Deacon is going to have to get a new liver from his daughter. I wonder how long they will stretch this until he asks (or more likely she offers).
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: Whoa, Moby really takes his nerd culture seriously. But you have to side with him because it is really stupid for someone to pick a fight with a judge.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/6/14

Once Upon a Time: It is probably not a good sign when you laugh through a whole death scene, but Neil’s death was just silly. C’mon, how about at least trying true love’s kiss to revive him?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: So Frank finally got his liver and then thinks the little girl in the next bed who died is Fiona. So will that actually be the catylist for him to be a better man? I am guessing he will be back to destroying his new liver by next season’s premiere.

The Walking Dead: In the lead up to the season finale, the questioned seemed like it would not be if one of the main characters died, or even which one (Rick already being booked for Talking Dead for the very first time seemed ominous), but how many. Well it ended up being none. Sure there was a very gruesome death; Rick ripping out the neck of some dude with his teeth was nearly as gruesome as any zombie on human violence in the show, but it still was anti-climatic that the foursome all made it out with only a black eye to show for it. We also found out that Terminus was naturally not what it seemed. Glen went in the front door and Rick went through the back but still ended up in the same place. It was dark, but it I did not see Carol, Tyrese, or even Beth. Now I have to spend seven months debating if to check out the graphic novel spoilers to see what I actually up with Terminus.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Resurrection: So is this going to turn into a new dead person a week type show? The latest zombie is the most interesting of the three we have met, one that committed suicide but no longer wants to die and kind of wants to rekindle her old flame who just so happens to be married now. That is a lot more interesting than the kid and the criminal.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Resurrection on iTunes.

Revenge: Why is every time Aiden leaves, they still find a dumb reason to bring him back? Just let him go, he brings nothing to the show. Or better yet, just kill him off so you are not tempted to bring him back.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

House of Lies: Finally they killed off T.I. He really dragged down this season. I am glad Marty accused Dre of setting up a gang hit so it seemed less racist when it first crossed my mind.

The Voice: So the big twist this season is that there is a second round of battles instead of the Knockout Round with the big difference being that this round the singers get to pick the song they sing. Except as we found out, the song they had to pick was from a short list of three songs. And I wonder if they really had a choice between the three because Stevie Jo and Morgan Wallen settling on One Direction looked like really bad acting.

We did not even get to learn the other two for half of the battles this week and with so many bad songs this week I have to wonder just how much worse the other were. You had Christina Grimmie and Sam Behymer doing the horrible One Republic song which was used in a Battle just last season. It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World was also used in a Battle last year. Then there was the horrible Miley Cyrus song which I think Blake included just so he could make a twerking joke. The only song choice this week that did not have me rolling my eyes was Have a Little Faith in Me, one of the greatest songs ever written.

And as bad as the song selection was, some of the coaches’ decisions were worse. I disagreed with five of the nine Battles shown (as for the one montage, I would have also would have seen Emily B advance). Personally I would have gone with Tess Boyer, Sam, and Ddendyl to win their Battles. Then there was the curious case of the steals this week. I was scratching my head when Usher and the other coaches were talking like Stevie Jo was the frontrunner when Morgan has been better (maybe he really bombed in his montaged first Battle). And then Usher let Morgan get stolen by Adam even though he could easily go further with the voter than Stevie Jo. But I am only assuming Usher let Adam have Morgan because Adam inexplicitly let Josh Kaufman go to Team Usher when Josh was Adam’s best chance of winning this season.

Now I doubt Josh and Morgan will make the Live Shows (which will not be until the top 12 this season) because I do not think any stolen contestant will make it that far except for Tess just because someone on Team Shakira has to advance besides Clarissa Serna and a third random singer who will be voted out first (I am assuming will be Deja Hall). I think we may have to pencil Blake in for a fourth win in five seasons because he is the only person that has not made a colossally bad decision so far this season and looks like he will go into the top 12 with three singers, Audra McLaughlin, Sisaundra Lewis, and Jake Worthington, that would contend to win this season. Of course there is still another round and a half for him to make a colossally bad decision himself. But this is the guy who last season dumped Holly Henry for the worst singer to ever make the Live Show.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: So we spent an entire weekend at Barney and Robin’s wedding just to see them get divorced about ten minutes into the series finale. But to put it in perspective, we spent nine years learning how Ted met the mother only for him to end up with Aunt Robin.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So Tom really thinks that he left behind no clues that link back to him from his evil abandoned warehouse? Maybe after his “brother” end up dead he will realize that maybe his wife may be on to him. Hopefully something finally goes down between the two in the next episode.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I was going to be fairly disappointed if The Clairvoyant ended up just being Steven Hawkings but it looks like it will end up being a SHEILD agent. But I wonder if I should even watch the next episode for fear of having Captain American spoiled for me because I have an irrational dislike of movie theaters and will not be seeing it until it comes out on Blu-Ray at the earliest. Sure the post-Thor episode did not spoil anything other than London being destroyed (but you could see that in the trailer) because it mostly took place in Asgard. It is my assumption that Winter Soldier is all about the interworking of SHIELD which should have some sort of effect on a show based on the agency.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: Oh Raylan, you sneaky guy, you: having the judge go after Kendal as an adult to get Darryl to fess up for his crime. Of course that will not happen, but I am sure Wendy is not going to just go along with this, but who does she go after, Raylan or Darryl? But more importantly, what loophole will Dewey use to get him out of jail this time? Or are they finally going to greenlight my Dewey Dickie jail setting spin-off show. I am not sure if Ava will make it that long to star in a co-ed version.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: I have really come to dislike this cast, but that was still a pretty entertaining Tribal Council, maybe even top five of all time. First you had two Immunity Idols, that no one but the owners knew about prior to being played, being traded. You had the mad scramble by the non-Idol holding alliance to someone new. They managed to land on someone who was not saved by an Idol making the big Idol play by the minority alliance the anti-Parvati. Oh, but that is not it, when the final name is called, it turned out all this Idol madness did not even matter because in one of the dumber moves in Survivor history, Cass flipped out of what looks to be pure spite to Sarah for being a preening schmo. Awesome. So Cass went from being in what look to be an almost lock for final three with the remaining Brains to being sixth in a six person alliance. I do not think they could have cast dumber “Brains” if they tried.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

The Americans: Oh my, Elizabeth seducing Clark went as well as I thought it might.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: Wait, Scarett shares the same mother with Tyra Collette (who is inexplicitly now a doctor on Jason Katim’s new show; god bless him for keeping Dillon alumni employed)?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Community: I did not buy an HDTV so I could watch poorly drawn seventies type cartoons. I bought so I could see Alison Brie in all of her high definition glory. But if you must do a crappy seventies cartoon episode, at least when Jeff comes to, have Annie dress up in her cartoon outfit.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Parenthood: Oh Julia, what have you done? Up until now, Joel was the idiot because nothing happened, but something did happen this time that cannot be unexplained.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Hannibal: When Beverly got caught in his basement, I theorized that Hannibal may keep her down there and might be saved, albeit with a few parts missing by the end of the season. Of course the very next week she was found sliced up debunking that theory. That is what makes the final scenes even more shocking, that Hannibal would keep Miriam Lass alive all this time. Up to now, Hannibal has stayed a step or five ahead of law enforcement and we have yet to see him make a mistake. So I have to wonder if Hannibal left Miriam there for Jack or is this his first mistake. Miriam does know that Hannibal is the one that did this to her but is she currently mental stable to remember what happened to her so it could go either way.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.