Awake Review: "The Little Guy" (Episode 1.02)
Last week’s phenomenal pilot for _Awake_ set up the ideas of the show, a man balancing between two different lives and struggling to connect the two. This week’s episode “The Little Guy”, shows us how _Awake_ will most likely work as a series. Besides the great moments between his wife and his son and his two therapists, Britten will seemingly deal with two separate crimes in both realities, connecting the links between the two and doing the best he can with the information he is given. While on paper, this may sound like _Awake_ is heading down the line of a police procedural, and it is to a point, _Awake_ handles it in a beautiful way that is satisfying and doesn’t feel like something we’ve exactly seen before. read more
Parks and Recreation: "Lucky" (4.18)
In contrast to pretty much every episode this year, and in fact most episodes of Parks and Recreation, “Lucky” did very little to move the show forward. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but it does have the effect of finally making Leslie’s campaign feel drawn out. The step-by-step method in which the show delivered her choice to campaign and initial hurdles may have bored some viewers, who prefer when Parks deals with the Parks Department, but there was something to be said for its thoroughness. Leslie has been running a realistic campaign, rather than a sitcom one, and this... read more
Up All Night Review: "Couple Friends" (Episode 1.19)
In this week’s episode of Up All Night Chris and Reagan meet Lawrence (Nat Faxon) and Justin (Ben Falcone): a gay version of themselves. Lawrence has word vomit and suffers from nerves in normal situations just like Chris. Justin just wants him to play it cool. read more
Delocated Review: "Sample" (Episode 3.06)
Delocated is clearly Jon Glaser’s show. He writes it, he produces it, he plays the main character – it’s probably as pure a distillation of Glaser’s comedic vision as will ever exist on TV. Even if every other character left the show I’m pretty sure Delocated could exist in a recognizable and satisfying form if the character “Jon” was still around. So is it weird that, halfway through the third season, I’m way more interested in the Mirminskys than Jon?... read more
Archer Review: "Skin Game" (Episode 3.11)
When we last left Archer, he was in a dark place. While in bed with Pam, he found out his possible dad Jakov had been murdered by his archenemy Barry. In fact, we hadn’t seen him this down since the finale of season two when Barry killed his almost-wife Katya. So it comes as a surprise when “Skin Game” begins with a trip to Krieger’s apartment, one where we don’t find Krieger playing Rush songs or any Dr. Moreau-style pig babies, but rather a cyborg recreation of Archer’s beloved Katya. read more
Justified Review: "Watching the Detectives" (Episode 3.08)
This was not a good week for our hero, Raylan. Not that things were good before, what with Winona leaving him and the consistent upward current of animosity between Raylan and Robert Quarles (to say nothing of Raylan’s relationships with Arlo and Boyd). But those are small potatoes and easily lived with compared to the tsunami of serious problems that hit Raylan in unison this week. Let‘s recap. read more
New Girl Review: "Injured" (Episode 1.15)
Most modern sitcoms have an episode where everything sort of clicks, leaving the audience to go “THAT’S why I watch this show.” It’s usually an episode that gets to the heart of what a show is about. Some of my personal favorites include _The Office_’s “Booze Cruise”, “Harvest Festival” on _Parks and Recreation_ or _Community_’s “Modern Warfare”. With “Injured”, _New Girl_ has made their first episode that feels just like that. read more
Shameless Review: "Parenthood" (Episode 2.08)
In what is possibly the best-written episode of this series’ young life, nothing is sacred. Morality, civility, ethics —they’re all thrown out, but then they are all brought back, morphed into a Shameless existence with its own set of standards. read more
Luck Review: "Episode Six" (Episode 1.06)
The characters and storylines finally broke loose in Luck. All it took was an earthquake. Most notable among these is Ace and The Greek’s mysterious scheme, which had been, well … mysterious. The show showed us the first card in its poker hand and revealed that Ace plans to use his connections to Indian casinos to put slot machines at the race track. How wildly nefarious, indeed! read more
Napoleon Dynamite Review: "FFA" (Episode 1.06)
When Napoleon Dynamite debuted a mere five episodes ago, it had to deal with living under the shadow of a cult classic that was over quoted and over merchandised. To the show’s detriment, Napoleon Dynamite went for fan-service, constantly referencing moments from the film in hopes of getting mild chuckles from its audience. While this started off as the show’s first glaring problem, it is no longer the only problem. With the final episode of it’s first season, ‘FFA”, Napoleon Dynamite dumbs down the people of Oklahoma, belittles the characters into caricatures, relies on one first “catch phrases” from the film, and reuses the same pitting of character vs. character that half the season as been built around. read more
An Idiot Abroad: "Climb Mount Fuji" (2.7)
While it implies in An Idiot Abroad‘s opening credits that Karl knows what he’s getting into this time, the show’s second season hasn’t really captured that jadedness until now. With Karl finally at his last journey, he seems ready for the usual visit to a culture he can’t understand while partaking in various activities that he can’t hope to be remotely good at. In “Climb Mount Fuji” Karl is pretty much resigned to it and as a result the episode doesn’t have quite as much fun as some of the others. The torments have become standard and he’s ready for... read more
The Walking Dead Review: Judge, Jury, Executioner (Episode 2.11)
Some of the most interesting—if not always the most exciting—episodes of The Walking Dead deal with morality in a post-civilized world. read more
Life's Too Short Review: Episodes 1.02 and 1.03
Life’s Too Short is troll TV. It’s either an incredibly cruel and misguided attempt at extreme cringe comedy or it’s an attempt to make us question why we like shows like The Office or Extras. More importantly, it simply isn’t funny enough to justify its cynicism.... read more
Eastbound & Down Review: "Chapter 16" (Episode 3.03)
I’ve known Eastbound & Down is special since the first episode of the first season. The pilot ended with one of the most intense coke-sniffing scenes on TV, as Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) and his bartender friend Clegg (Ben Best) furiously cut and snorted line after line. It made it clear that Eastbound wouldn’t flinch in showing just how sordid Kenny’s life can get, while proving that it could be disturbing and hilarious at the same time.... read more
Portlandia Review: "No Olympics" (Episode 2.09)
Is Portlandia hitting its sophomore slump? We love this show, but after Friday’s “No Olympics” episode, we want to pull its hipster card just for a little bit. Despite the guest turns by Kyle MacLachlan as the Mayor and Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Modest Mouse) as a bike valet customer, it wasn’t enough to salvage the uneven—and we’ll say it—unfunny episode. read more
Parks and Recreation: "Campaign Shakeup" (4.17)
The addition of Bobby Newport as Leslie’s competitor several episodes ago was great because it meant Paul Rudd made a (extremely) brief appearance on Parks and Recreation. However, Newport didn’t actually add much drama to the show, or tension, because his idiocy made it clear that he wouldn’t be much of a match for Leslie and her crew. “Campaign Shakeup” doesn’t make it seem any less possible for Leslie to win the race if that’s the direction the show’s creators want it to go, but it does make things less certain. It’s no longer a cakewalk in which the campaign... read more
Archer Review: "Crossing Over" (Episode 3.10)
Not since the very end of _Archer_’s second season have we seen Barry, Archer’s nemesis who is now a bionic man. In fact the last time we see him, he had killed Archer’s wife of a few minutes and ran off leaving Archer crying and in despair. In “Crossing Over”, Barry returns to bring Archer even more heartbreak, but with him comes one of season three’s best, and one of _Archer_’s best combination of signature wit and continuing story. read more
Up All Night Review: "New Boss" (Episode 1.18)
Two episodes ago Up All Night threw a wrench in Ava and Kevin’s relationship, but it all seemed to work out in the end. He wasn’t present during last week’s down episode, but I was shocked to discover that the character (played by a hilarious Jason Lee) was now off of the show. He was always supposed to be a reoccurring guest character, but he worked so well with the rest of the cast that I was hoping they’d find a way to keep him around in some sort of role. Alas, he’s gone and Ava is beyond upset. read more
Awake Review: "Pilot" (Episode 1.01)
This year NBC has quite a problem in their 10 pm slot, after “Comedy Night Done Right”. They consistently have tried to fit the slot with dramas like _Prime Suspect_ and the even less successful _The Firm_. Now NBC fills the slot with a third show this season, the oft delayed _Awake_ starring Jason Isaacs. Based on the show’s pilot, _Awake_ gives us NBC's most unique and exciting drama pilot since _Friday Night Lights_ and the most promising show in the last season. read more
Delocated Review: "Warm-Up" (Episode 3.05)
(This review originally referred to this episode as “Jon’s Pub”, the title listed on our screener disc and press materials. The final title was changed to “Warm-Up” when it aired. We’ve updated this review accordingly. – Ed.) Whoa, I’m disappointed. How did that happen? Delocated is the funniest show on TV. Cheers is an iconic classic that basically defined the sit-com for people my age. Sam Malone should be an easy target for “Jon” (Jon Glaser), as Sam’s exactly the sort of cool, handsome sex genius Jon clearly tries to be. Jon’s immature, inappropriate sexual advances are typically too funny... read more
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