So You Think You Can Dance: So Close Yet So Far

If there’s one week besides the finals that counts above all weeks, it would be this one. With two more sent home, the top ten is solidified, and those guys get to go on tour and continue to dance out their dreams. It’s also the last time the couples are guaranteed. Next week all the pairing will be done at random.

Now onto how Cat fared! I dub thee a 7, Cat. That’s like a 15 for me so I don’t feel bad getting critical. (And she made up for it with a prefect 10 on the results show.) Her dress color was great, but she kept having to pull it down and the hair was a little frizzy. Of course, she was still as cute and sweet as ever. Some things never change.

RYAN AND ELLENORE
A Lindy Hop by newbie Carla Heiney to “I’ve Got To Be A Rug Cutter” by the Boilermaker Jazz Band
Let me preface by saying that I’ve loved the Lindy Hop ever since I had to perform it in a school musical. Unfortunately, in the performance I watched, I saw characters but it didn’t seem like they were playing off each other. And that’s sad given they may never dance again. I will commend them on pulling off a few cool tricks, but it just didn’t float my boat. Adam thought it was fantastic. Nigel got me for a second when he said, “I thought it was terrible…that we haven’t had the Lindy Hop on this season, well, for three seasons.” 7

A Broadway routine by Spencer Liff to “Razzle, Dazzle” from the Chicago (Original Broadway Cast) soundtrack
Ellenore is definitely one of my favorite dancers, so I was glad they had a second opportunity to prove themselves before America voted. She was perfection as she usually is and also showed some crazy foot flexibility. Ryan also continues to impress me more and more in terms of performance and skill. Mary felt that he really dug in and still managed to pull off a ton of lifts. Adam said that it was “true Broadway vocabulary,” which I guess means it could have come straight off the stage and onto our TVs. 8

LEGACY AND KATHRYN
A jazz routine by Sonya to  “So Deep” by Hot Chip
Kathryn is, by far, the most surprising dancer this season. Sonya’s choices forced her to do things I’ve never seen before all while being sexy and smooth. The number  was insane, and her performance equaled it. While Legacy didn’t catch my eye as often, he was strong and supportive and fit in perfectly. Sonja also put in some jazzified b-boy moves which helped a lot and still managed to elevate the dance. Nigel called it his favorite routine of the season, and Mary called these two “walking into the top ten.” Agreed. 9

A Vienese Waltz by Jean-Marc Genereux and France to “Your Guardian Angel” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The dance brought Legacy to tears again. Who is this guy, Dominic? What is it about Latin b-boys being so emotional. I truly saw a weakness for this pair for the first time. Kathryn was elegant and beautiful, but Legacy’s form was horrible. Basically, he held her back. The judges had a hard time judging him since, well, he cried! Nigel said, “I’m glad, this evening, that you are being judged by three people whose hearts you’ve stolen and will turn a blind eye to a lot of things that were going on there that really weren’t as good as I believe you can actually do now-a-days…you were gorgeous, my darling Kathryn.” 7

VICTOR AND KAREN
A tango by Tony and Melanie to “Monstserrat” by Orquesta del Plata
There’s no nostalgia here as these two have only been dancing together for a week. And I think that nostalgia would have added a little passion to the dance. Karen was sexy (duh) and sultry, and Victor was very strong and poised, but I didn’t see the “hot chemistry” that Adam saw or the great pairing. Maybe I just had a bad day because the judges and I were not on the same wavelength. Mary also commended Karen’s frame, top line and quality of movement. I trust her when she says it was a difficult routine. And they did make something that looked hard seem easy. 8

A hip-hop routine by Laurie Ann Gibson to “Moving Mountains” by Usher
This one had me really perplexed. First of all, the start was completely out of sync. No matter how much attitude those two gave, I didn’t believe a single emotion. Individually, these two are both great dancers and have had some shining moments, but where as many are improving, they’re stagnant. It’s really good but not great. It didn’t help that the routine was boring, and the music didn’t seem to match some of the movements. 6

NATHAN AND MOLLEE
A hip-hop number by Jamal Sims to “Ring-A-Ling” by the Black Eyed Peas
Surprisingly, I thought Mollee had some flaaaavor. Nathan was so uninteresting that I forgot to look at him. I didn’t even notice when he ripped his pants. The routine wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t as hard hitting as it should have been, and there were some flubs. Of course, the judges like Nathan more than Mollee because it was Opposite of Nisi day. Thankfully, Nigel gave me a little back up when he said he‘s looking forward to seeing them each with more mature partners because this one reminded him of “Dolly Dinkle’s Regional Hip-Hop Class 1010”. 7

A Cancan by Tyce to “Cancan Suite” by Offenbach / Ponchielli
I agreed with the judges who thought this face-paced and energetic dance was the perfect pull. With Mollee’s flips and Nathan’s pirouettes, they really got the chance to have a good time, look smiley and show off some skills. These two really need something perfectly suited for them. There were also no characters for them to have to fake. It didn’t stun me, but it was fun. 8
RUSSELL AND NOELLE
A samba by Tony and Meredith to “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira
Samba is, apparently, a difficult dance because of the awkward ways your body has to move. It’s not an easy dance to jump into cold turkey. I’m not a ballroom connoisseur so I can’t point to all the things that were executed poorly, but some of the lifts were really awkward. At times, I feared for Noelle’s life. It was less sultry and more goofy. I feel like the judges went a little easy on this two. Adam loved the performance value. Mary was a little disappointed and critiqued them, but she also prefaced everything with a compliment. Nigel needed Noelle to give him more sex to give him a reason to act pervy. 6

A contemporary routine by Tyce to “A Case of You” by Diana Krall
Tyce wanted Russell to “paint with your face across her chest.” As Nigel mentioned, if that’s not the best advertisement for young guys to dance, I don’t know what is. Technically Noelle is great, she doesn’t have Ellenore’s level of charisma or Kathryn’s level of appeal, but she definitely knows how to command attention and that stage. It was one of my favorite Tyce numbers. I’ve also never seen Russell in such great form and in control. 9

JAKOB AND ASHLEIGH
A lyrical jazz routine by Sonya to “Time Flies” by Lykke Li
Nigel called Sonja’s last dance his favorite of the season, but this one set the bar even higher. Ashleigh is the one I wish I‘d never doubted. Their growth coupled with their eminent split almost brought Mary to tears. Seriously when do these ever falter? 10

A cha-cha by Tony and Melanie to “Cha Cha Heel (Ralphi Rosario Radio Edit)” by Rosabel featuring Jeanie Tracy
See above. These two are on fire! Seeing Ashleigh square in her element was so exciting, and though Jakob wasn’t perfect, he was committed and confident which made up for a awkward body roll or two. 9

THE RESULTS
Want me to allow the anticipation to build before you find out who actually went home? I thought so. I know you’re dying to know who visited the SYTYCD stage this week.

I don’t know where Nappy/Tabs have been hiding this season, but I need to see more routines like this week’s opening group number. Later, Paoloma Herrera performed a ballet piece. And Shakira sang her new single “Give It To Me.” Though I appreciate her hotness, I really miss old Shakira when she used to actually sing.

When it comes to the bottom six, Mollee, Nathan, Victor and Karen were easy to pick. Yet when it came down to Ryan and Ellenore versus Russell and Noelle, I was torn. They’re all great, but I prefer Ellenore over Noelle, and Russell and Ryan are neck and neck. Any way it played out, a talented dancer that I liked would go home.

I think Karen learned from the disaster that was her solo last week. It was like the old Karen before she started flailing a bit, but too little too late. And Mollee seems like a completely different dancer when not paired with Nathan and fighting for her life. Both she and Nathan appeared to have channeled the maturity the judges  have so wanted from them.

Victor did his usual bottom dance thing. He picked some intense music and joined it with some intense faces and intense dance moves. Sometimes I feel like I’m watching some melodramatic contemporary ballet performance. No doubt he is super talented, but not as likable as the other dancers. Ellenore was her unique and odd self. Ryan had fun and flare, playing to the crowd.

In the end, it was Karen and Victor who were sent home. Though Mollee is not my favorite dancer, and I liked Karen more, one’s growth was slowing down while the other was speeding up. And I may not like it, but I can’t disagree with the judges rationale. The top ten was close for those two; just not close enough.

For another opinion on this episode, check out And the Top 10 Are… by Trisha Huntsman.

Season 6, Episodes 17-18:  The Top 12 Perform & Two of 12 Voted Off (originally aired November 24 & 25, 2009)

For more on So You Think You Can Dance, click here.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8/7c on Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro

Heroes: Thankfully That’s Over

All this episode proved to me was that the holidays seem like frou frou nonsense in comparison to our heroes’ real problems. Unfortunately the problem with “Thanksgiving” was the focus on Thanksgiving. Having to sit around a table and hold hands seemed silly when two ticked off villains are about to get really crazy.

“Naked lady, I think you are trying to seduce me! I think you should know my heart belongs to Charlie.” – Hiro
The episode kicks off with Samuel watching Chandra’s old film in awe. Hiro wants to know where Charlie is, but Samuel isn’t done using him yet. Though I’ve enjoyed Robert Knepper‘s performance, this is the moment where I really felt I comprehended his true villainy. He gave me chills.

Lydia finally gets some lines that aren’t in the interactive story “Slow Burn” when she tries to comfort a frantic Hiro. She says he can tell her anything because they’re family, but Hiro isn’t hearing any of it. He explains that Samuel is an evil man and won’t return Charlie, and then it dawns on her. Perhaps Hiro can help her answer some questions?

Lydia gets all unnecessarily sultry as she explains how she can help Hiro with her powers. She says he can read into his soul if he touches her. He does, and she sees what Hiro has told her, though she doesn’t understand why Samuel wouldn’t use Hiro to save Joseph. Lydia convinces him to take her back where she sees Samuel and Joseph argue and then follows a few steps behind them.

Back at the carnival, Samuel realizes Hiro and Lydia are missing. Weeks earlier, Samuel and Joseph argue in a field as Lydia and Hiro watch from afar. “You can move the earth, Samuel, but it’s more than that. Cities. Mountains. You have the power to kill millions. I can’t let that happen.”

Samuel tries to convince him that he can handle the power, but Joseph tells him he’s already told Mohinder to burn the tape. He’s also given some government man (I wonder who.) the compass so that he can find Samuel and take him in.

Overcome with rage, Samuel kills his brother as a horrified Hiro and Lydia look on.

With what she now knows, Lydia feels like she has to stand up to Samuel, but Hiro knows that if she does, he’ll never find out where Charlie is. She beelines it to Edgar who must have done some quick convincing because when Hiro and Samuel pop in, her game face is on.

At the carnival dinner table, Samuel gives thanks, and then proclaims that he knows Joseph’s killer. Duh. Duh. Duuuuuuh. But the reveal is halted when Edgar prods Samuel to confess. Samuel looks to Hiro who apologizes because he has to lie for Charlie’s sake. Samuel points the finger at Edgar and attempts to kill him. Luckily for Edgar, Hiro stops time and lets him get away.

Back in the present, Hiro stands up to Samuel. Too bad Samuel’s brought back up in the form of  a carnie who wipes Hiro’s memories. It all seems doomed until his plan backfires, and Hiro disappears.

“You are Nathan Petrelli…we are still a family.” – Angela
In New York, Angela’s finally back. She’s already in bossy Martha Stewart mode, but Peter has questions. He wants to know about the body, Matt’s story and the possibility that Sylar’s really dead. It seems like she has an answer for everything, but they eventually back her into a corner. She gives them an ultimatum: Sit down and celebrate the holiday like family or she walks.

Then out of nowhere, Nathan starts to change back into Sylar. Or so it seems. There’s a lot of electricity. I don’t really understand what happened because there’s no rhyme or reason to this sudden and overly dramatic transformation. But he’s back, and Angela and Peter are mute with awe.  “It feels good to finally be me again. What‘s for dinner? I‘m starved.” Doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere anytime soon.

As Sylar and the Petrellis sit around the dinner table, holding  them telekinetically hostage, he eggs them on. He tells Angela, “You’ve raised the evil incarnate bar to an entirely new level. Thank you for giving me something to strive for.” Then, he plants a kiss straight on the lips. He tries to scalp Angela but is stopped by some force he can’t see. It’s clear that Nathan is still fighting within his mind. When Nathan regains control, all he can ask his mother is “what have you done to me?”

After Nathan storms out, Peter’s hellbent on saving his brother. With this turn of events, Angela might as well have clued him in to the plan in the first place. It just irks me how quickly things turned.

“I think that Thanksgiving dinner was just his way of letting Claire know that she has a family that loves her. Nothing wrong with that.” – Lauren
Elsewhere, Noah attempts to convince Claire to join the family for Thanksgiving dinner and does a pretty good job of it, by holding over her head the fact that Sandra will be bringing her new boyfriend. We flash to his cell displaying a picture of his old partner Lauren. And poof! She pops up in his supermarket aisle. There’s some silly banter, but she basically gets an invite to what can only be the most awkward dinner ever.

Of course what we see next is awkward. Claire’s like Lauren “pretty, new lady” who? Sandra gives Noah the “you’re dead” eye. Surprise, surprise.

Sandra must be happy that Mr. Muggles found himself a love mate. Too bad it came with the legume-intolerant, cheesy Doug.  Sandra gets a little sassy when she realizes that the two used to work together with The Company. She even brings up all the times her mind was wiped. It gets to the point where Claire can’t take it anymore, and she confesses that she’s thinking about dropping out of school.

It’s not just one thing. It’s Becky and Gretchen and an inability to ever feel like she fit in. It’s clear that Sandra has no clue what’s been going on in Claire’s life. Doug thinks all her feelings are perfectly normal, and it’ll all blow over. If only he knew. Wait! He did know because she sliced her forearm at the dinner table. (Didn’t your parents teach you some manners?)

Lauren imparts some wise words when she finds Sandra sitting alone. Sandra comments that nights like this are par for the course with her husband. She wonders what’s going on between him and Claire, but Lauren reminds  her that it was a nice gesture to have a family dinner. (I will say I like Lauren, as a character. I thought her last episode was a little jarring, but she brings out a fun side of Noah.)

Noah picks the moment of his daughter’s mental breakdown to tell her about the compass and what he’s been researching. She’s tired of it all. He tries to tell her that the carnival people aren’t on the side of good, but I think that only gives her a potential idea. She doesn’t get too long to ponder though because Noah has called Gretchen to come over and cheer his little girl up.

In another rapid change, Claire and Gretchen make up and make googly eyes at each other. Lauren and Noah make a date. Claire apologizes to her mom. I love when Sandra says, to explain the madness, that she told Doug that he ate a peanut. “He’s not the sharpest tack, but he’s a good man.”

Claire’s looking perkier by the minute, but we quickly find out that Claire and Gretchen are about to embark on a roadtrip to find out the full extent of what Claire’s choices truly are. I’m sure Noah will be kicking himself after he finds out that she snagged the compass.

WRAP IT UP
So I understand it’s TV but, writers, please do not take every liberty in the freaking book. If you’re going to create some huge build up, give me a powerful and deliberate resolution. I’ve pretty much enjoyed the season so far, but tonight’s was one of my least favorite episodes. The way the story unfurled was so inconsistent. It was like the writers just rested on the family tradition of Thanksgiving and got lazy. And it sadly tainted the reveal of Samuel backstory which I was really excited about, and made my Monday night a little less “happy”.

Season 4, Episodes 11:  Thanksgiving (originally aired November 23, 2009)

For more on Heroes, click here.

Mondays at 9/8C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC  and Justin Lubin

V for Void

V opens with a way too overly used scenario: Georgie is bleeding, Erica is tending to him, and then Ryan comes up and shoots his gun in Erica’s direction. Then, change shots, and it’s 14 hours earlier. I am beyond tired of this set up. It doesn’t accomplish anything for this scene. The only show that did this whole jumping around in time to frame a creative story line was Alias.

So, we are taken 14 hours back in time for absolutely no reason, and Anna is pissed about Dale’s murder and Joshua plays dumb asking who would do something like that. Well, he would. Back at Erica’s house, she has no time to listen to Tyler so he watches the news covering the healing centers established by the Vs and Anna announces how they are going to offer a vitamin supplement to help strengthen the immune system. Would this ever fly in real life? Where are all the Republicans to stop universal healthcare when you need them to fend off lizard-aliens? But I digress.

Erica gets an urgent call from Ryan and the four V resistance fighters meet up and Ryan tells them that the vitamin injections are a lie (duh) and that this is Anna’s plan to do something bigger (shock) and remembers this scheme from before, and knows some names of the scientists involved, one being Peter Combs. Erica wants to know how Ryan is so smart, but he offers no explanation while Georgie wants to go Rambo and make an example out of the Vs by skinning one and showing the public. This group needs to regroup and get on the same page.

Needlessly caught up to the 14-hour mark: the fantastic four are going to intercept Peter Combs. Georgie goes rogue and starts shooting him, he shoots Georgie, Erica shows up, and Ryan shoots Combs, thus saving Erica’s life. Then Combs takes a suicide pill and the jig is up for Ryan when Erica figures out he’s a V, but is cool with it because he’s got her back and he (kind of) explains the fifth column.

Back on the mother ship, Anna interrogates the medical team and says she will make an example out of a random member if the guilty party doesn’t step up. Joshua’s partner takes the heat in the name of the fifth column and gets skinned as a punishment. It does not sound pretty.

The vigilantes go raid Combs’ storage facility to get the injections, which turn out to be R6: some bad drug that they aren’t putting in a vitamin, but in our flu shots. Erica (who is looking like a member for the boxcar children right now) gets all philosophical about how this was so calculated by the Vs, and how they are using predictable human nature to manipulate us. Is getting a flu shot really that indicative of human nature? I know it’s swine flu season but come on… Ryan uses the fail safe to blow up the building and sends a message to the mother ship: “John May Lives”. How the hell is he living undetected in New York?

Anna is using all her lizardy wiles to try and butter up Tyler since she and Lisa think he is “the one”. No comment. She also sends some weird naked trippy message to the Vs. Tyler notices Lisa kind of zoning out and she says that her mother just gave them a gift: bliss. Looked like she slipped them LSD, but I guess it’s all culturally relative.

The show ends with healing center discoveries: Ryan’s fiancée is preggers and Scott Wolf is going to have a brain aneurism, which poses a problem for both because a) I’m not so sure how inter-species babies are going to pop out, and b) Scott has a huge ego. End scene: super zoom out to a galaxy far, far away where there is a fleet of V ships. Not that earth shattering and not really enough to keep me guessing or caring until March.

For another take on this episode, check out V is for Reinforcements by Paul Secrest.

Season 1, Episode 4: It’s Only the Beginning (originally aired November 24, 2009)

For more on V, click here.

Tuesdays 8/7c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Sergei Bachlakov

V is for Reinforcements

Can it possibly be that nearly 4 weeks have already passed, sending V into a holidays and Olympics induced hiatus till March? Seems like just yesterday we were watching the Visitors hover ominously into focus for the first time and now that phase one of the ride is over, I can’t help but feel like this is a show whose roller coaster hasn’t even crested the first hill yet. This might bode well for V’s future, meaning that we’ve got loads of action and twists to come, or it might prove to be a crippling disaster if fans on the fence just weren’t quite wowed enough by the intro eps that placed more dominoes than they bothered knocking down. The final episode provided lots of teasing about stuff we had a very reasonable expectation of learning explicitly, “big reveals” about stuff we could see coming from lightyears away, and, I’ll readily admit, enough emotion, surprise, and sense of wonder to keep me poking around the mothership next spring.

Tyler & Erica share some painfully awkward and realistic mother/son moments in the wake of Erica finding out about Lisa, and it seems like the poor kid will actually reach out to his mom until a phone call from Ryan pulls Erica closer to the resistance, but drives Tyler closer to the Vs. He later shares these sentiments to his shrink who turns out to be, surprise surprise, Ryan’s fiancée Valerie! The show’s strongest characteristic continues to be a ready willingness to link disparate characters together for the sake of a focused story, but that story still needs some work.

Anna uses her monkey puppet Chad (who could really use some of those links I was talking about) to start spreading the good news of Healing Centers where the Vs will use their considerable technology resources to cure just about everything other than the common cold and offer an immune boosting “vitamin shot” that I’m sure is in no way an evil mind control virus or some such malevolence. Val leaps at the chance to cure a heart condition, so she visits behind Ryan’s back to get her ticker fixed as well as finding out why she’s been feeling sick. In the morning. Hint. Chad gets scanned as part of his story, and gets the news that without intervention from Visitor Medical Group,i he’s destined for a deadly aneurysm in a few months.  Anna’s consigliere Marcus offers Chad’s continued cooperation as his price of treatment. He hasn’t had much trouble pimping his journalistic integrity thus far, so I’d hardly expect any difference when his life’s on the line.

Ryan reacts to news of the healing centers with the recollection that his sinister kinfolk had been working on an injection that they plan to distribute in the guise of plain ol’ flu shots. So that’s why they can’t cure a cold! Well played, shifty lizards. The resistance foursome of Erica, Ryan, Father Jack, and Georgie try to break into a V lab to destroy the tainted vaccines and while their ultimate goal is successful, Georgie gets shot, Ryan force feeds an ex-comrade the spontaneous combustion suicide pill we now learn all Vs carry, and Erica puts 2 and 2 together about what’s under Ryan’s skin. Discovering that the ever mysterious and evasive Ryan is one of the Visitors hardly puts Erica in a good mood, and it doesn’t help that her all too brief interrogation provides no useful questions or answers, when Ryan could surely at least spill what planet they’re from or something.

Back on the mothership, Anna is just plain all over the place as she careens between roles as caring mother:  showing Tyler around to welcome him into the family since he’s dating her daughter, scary dictator: ordering the exposure and skinning of whoever killed Dale, and shiny happy sex goddess: getting naked in a pool of light to offer a universal feeling of bliss to all of Visitor kind at once. Yikes. A lower ranked 5^th Column spy takes the fall, forcing the well placed medical officer to flay his own brother in arms alive. This wouldn’t have been a problem for the rubber suited Vs of the ’80s, but the new breed are clearly more attached, literally and figuratively, to their new skin.

The cliffhangers we’re left to ponder till March are, in least to most order of how shocking they were and/or how much I care, Father Jack getting stabbed in the gut by a V: Really? He’s a series regular. He’s not going anywhere. If the Vs wanted him dead, they could have done it. Ryan finding out that Valerie’s having his baby: I’m eager for the conversation that’ll have to happen when Ryan tells Val his real species, but for now it’s just melodrama. The biggie? A slick zoom out from Tyler hanging out with his new family that goes beyond the solar system to a jaw droppingly huge fleet of hundreds of V ships, each at least as menacing as the current crop of mega-saucers. Earth is reamed.

For another take on this episode, check out V is for Reinforcements by Liz Cooper.

Season 1, Episode 4: It’s Only the Beginning (originally aired November 24, 2009)

For more on V, click here.

Tuesdays 8/7c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Sergei Bachlakov

House: Ignorance is Bliss

House cannot seem to sit still during this week’s Thanksgiving-themed episode. Is the sweet smell of turkey and pecan pie putting him in a holiday mood? As if. No, House has a plan up his sleeve and boy, is he having fun with it! And when House has fun, the viewers are having fun watching.

This week’s patient is what I would like to call a “retired” genius. Jimmy was one of those wiz kids who went to college early and published scientific books by the time he was in his early 20s. Now, though, he’s grown a beard, looks as if he hasn’t showered in days, and works as a delivery man. When a bookstore owner recognizes Jimmy, he asks for his autograph. Only Jimmy can’t remember how to write!  Oh, sweet irony. Shortly thereafter, he collapses and finds himself in the hospital under the care of House’s team.

House is not about to let his feelings for Cuddy linger into nothing, and he wants to get Lucas out of the picture. So as he giddily confides to Wilson, House plans on inviting himself to Cuddy’s Thanksgiving dinner at her sister’s house. After all, sitting on the sidelines and not doing anything is not House’s style. According to him, testing the limits of Cuddy and Lucas’s relationship gives him a purpose in life. How charming!

Lucky for him, House manages to score himself an invite from Cuddy for Thanksgiving. She’s impressed with his new found willingness to do clinic duty, however she’s extremely suspicious all the same. Although, it’s really not even suspicion anymore; Cuddy really does not trust House. She provides him with a false address for Thanksgiving, completely fooling him. And that was just cold. House tries a few more antics to break-up Cuddy and Lucas, but to no avail.

In other relationship news, Chase is inwardly dealing with the effects of Cameron leaving him. Everyone wants to try and help him out: Foreman tries talking to him, Taub invites him over for Thanksgiving dinner, and Thirteen suggests he start seeing a therapist.  Chase ignores everyone’s suggestions, however, and prefers to deal with his problems alone. Well, to each his own, but clearly Chase is harboring a lot of anger inside him which he chooses to take out on House with one hell of a punch.

This episode also finally saw more of Taub. After a brief, unceremonious leave from the show, he’s back and finally getting some action story-wise. Taub’s wife has a problem with him working for House and in her eyes, it’s like he’s back to being an intern and it makes him wimpy. I would think working for House was anything BUT wimpy, but it would seem this woman has pretty high standards. In a little funny moment, Taub takes a photo of House’s bruised and battered face to show his wife and take credit for the damage.

Back to our patient – Jimmy admits to abusing cough syrup and alcohol in order to dumb down his IQ level. He would rather be happy than smart. At the end of the day, though, his deteriorating condition was the result of a spleen which split into several pieces after Jimmy attempted to commit suicide several years earlier by jumping off a building.

For another take on this episode, read Why It’s Better To Be A Stupid Person by Cameron Cubbison.

Season 6, Episode 8:  Ignorance is Bliss (originally aired November 23, 2009)

For more on House, click here.

Tuesdays 8/7c on FOX

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and IMDbPro

House: Why It’s Better To Be A Stupid Person

The patient in this week’s episode of House makes the case that being a stupid person is a much more happy existence than is being a smart one. Now I’m certainly no genius, a fact I’m quite proud of, but I’m smart enough to know that the guy is right. Ignorance really is bliss. I’m reminded of a line that Billy Bob Thornton (jesus I never thought I’d be quoting that guy) says in Bandits as Terry Collins: “You know the hardest thing about being smart? I pretty much always know what’s going to happen next. There’s no suspense.” That’s certainly how the patient—James Sidas—feels. Sidas was once a famous intellectual, but when we meet him in the prologue, he’s working as a delivery man and dropping off boxes at a book store. The owner of the store recognizes him and tries to get him to sign a copy of one of his books that he has in stock. Sidas tries to but finds that his hands don’t work. Yikes. Cue the opening credits!

House takes the case with no protest, trying to show Cuddy that he is a new, easygoing man. This of course is a ruse because House wants to get in her pants. At least he’s honest…with himself. The team—consisting of Chase, Taub, Thirteen and Foreman (but minus Cameron because she left the show last week after calling the whambulance)—initially think Sidas is suffering from a rare blood disorder called Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Yeah, I definitely know what that is…

Now why, if Sidas is such a genius, is he working as a delivery man? Well as he tells Taub, it is because he doesn’t have to think. He fell in love with his wife Dara because she didn’t care about his brains, and decided he would rather be dumb and happy than smart and miserable. He’s dumb not only because of his job but because he has been drinking cough syrup like hot chocolate for years. That, coupled with alcohol, has been damaging his brain and lowering  his IQ for years. Sounds like a pretty good system to me. At any rate, the team starts running the usual battery of tests. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if, for once, the team’s initial diagnosis was right and the treatment lasted five minutes? I mean man, for supposedly the smartest doctors in the galaxy, these guys never get it right the first time!

Meanwhile, everyone is trying to comfort Chase about Cameron leaving him, and Chase just wants to be left alone. This is perhaps the smartest course of action Chase has ever taken. Personally, if I had just succeeded in getting Cameron to haul her sanctimonious ass out of town, I’d be partying like a drunken monkey on Drunken Monkey Day. And yes, I realize that sentence didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I’m writing this thing on an airplane and am desperately trying to block out the screaming babies sitting behind me, so just go with it.

House’s agenda this week: breaking up Cuddy and Lucas. Yeah, I knew he wasn’t going to stand for that for very long, and I say more power to him. As he tells Wilson, he’s really doing them a favor. His reasoning is that either one of two things will happen: Cuddy and Lucas will break up, in which case House is doing them a favor by preventing them from wasting more time with each other, or they’ll stay together, and House’s meddling will actually strengthen their bond. House is banking on the former, even though Wilson tries to talk him out of it. Why? Because that’s Wilson’s job. For once, I’d love to see Wilson go totally on board with House on a completely uncouth and inappropriate mission.

House keeps trying to charm Cuddy but she keeps brushing him off. But he will not be deterred. You gotta give it to him. If nothing else, House is one tenacious dude. Finally, he succeeds in getting Cuddy to invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner at her sister’s house—a vital part of his Secret Evil Master Plan. Except Cuddy outfoxes him and gives him a fake address. Hey, even I find that cold. So what does House do?

He shows up at Lucas’s house and waits for him, a full bottle of tequila in tow. When Lucas gets back, House drunkenly tells him that he loves Cuddy. Of course, House isn’t really drunk, he’s just employing one of the oldest tricks in the book. Lucas eats it up like candy corn and breaks up with Cuddy, saying that he doesn’t want to come between the two of them and their history. Or is Lucas a more formidable force than House gave him credit for?

Taub is also taking flak, from his wife no less, about leaving his plastic surgery practice for the second time and going back to work for House. When he misses Thanksgiving dinner, she starts doing the whole pouty-middle-aged-housewife-passive-aggressive thing. She thinks that Taub has emasculated himself by going back to work for House. So when Chase punches House in the face for causing Cameron to leave (this is actually a ruse, as Chase just wants to make a scene so that everyone will stop trying to comfort him), Taub is quick to snap a photograph with his camera, take it home to his wife and pretend that he did it. What a weasel. And yet, I can’t help but admire him slightly.

More diagnoses and epiphanies and last-minute desperate treatments follow. That’s the House formula. Either you accept it or you don’t. Given all the dildotastic drivel that’s on television these days, I accept it, and am grateful for a show with a modicum of intelligence. And Hugh Laurie still seems like he’s having fun with the role, which is enough for me to keep watching rather happily.

For another take on this episode, read Stephanie Jaar’s review here.

Season 6, Episode 8:  Ignorance is Bliss (originally aired November 23, 2009)

For more on House, click here.

Tuesdays 8/7c on FOX

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and IMDbPro

Gossip Girl: Movers and Shakers Take Note

No new Gossip Girl this week *tear* so instead I’m going to go over the projects in the works for our favorite Upper East Siders. In case you can’t get enough of the cast during your weekly dose of madness and mayhem on The CW, here are their plans for 2010.

Chace Crawford – Besides the fact that he’s agreed to play Ren McCormack in the 2010 remake of the classic Footloose opposite Julianne Hough (Dancing With the Stars), Chace Crawford has two additional projects slated for next year. The first is a drug/crime film called Twelve in which he plays a character named White Mike (I have no idea about the name). The film also stars 50 cent and Emma Roberts (Hotel For Dogs, Nancy Drew, and Aquamarine). The third is a rumored appearance in Upstate, also starring Mischa Barton (The O.C.). Few details are available at this time.

Blake Lively – Ms. Lively still has two movies scheduled for 2009 that have either been pushed back or not released nationally at this time. Both actually made my To See list, and I look forward to their release in the Midwest. We are last in line for everything trendy, unfortunately. The first is The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a drama starring Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin, and Maria Bello, among others. Lively plays the younger version of the main character, Pippa Lee. The second is the star-filled New York, I Love You, where everyone’s part is essentially a cameo. It should do well in the box office because basically, there isn’t anyone who’s not in this movie. For 2010, Blake Lively is working on a crime/thriller opposite Ben Affleck, playing Krista in a film entitled The Town.

Ed Westwick – I have to say, Mr. Westwick’s 2010 project excites me more than just a little. Wuthering Heights is one of my all-time favorite books. Definitely in my top five, and strangely enough, I can see him playing Heathcliff. Chuck Bass and Heathcliff actually have much in common and I am excited to see him translate the character. Since Bella reads the book obsessively in Twilight and has made it a best seller again worldwide, look for the Twilight audience to attend this film. Starring opposite Ed is up-and-comer Gemma Arterton, the Bond girl from Quantum of Solace. Look for her in The Prince of Persia, slated for early summer 2010 as well. The previews look impressive.

Leighton Meester – She portrays my favorite character on Gossip Girl, and she’s taking her talents to the big screen early next year. Leighton has a smaller role in Date Night, the Steve Carrell and Tina Fey comedy that’s sure to be a juggernaut at the box office with the force of their names alone. Rounding out the cast are, among others, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, and Mark Ruffalo. In sure to be less impressive fashion, she’s starring as Rebecca  in The Roommate, a crime/thriller set to release in 2010 as well. Co-stars include Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights, 500 Days of Summer) and…try not to shriek, people…Cam Gigandet (Twilight, The O.C.)

Penn Badgley – Topping the dismal box office receipts of The Stepfather shouldn’t be too hard. At least Penn Badgley is soldiering on in 2010 with the release of Easy A, a teen comedy. Box office should be improved by the again shriek-worthy Cam Gigandet, as well as Emma Stone (House Bunny, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Zombieland) and a personal favorite of mine, Amanda Bynes (Hairspray, Sydney White, She’s the Man). Also, Lisa Kudrow (Friends) will make an appearance.

Jessica Szohr – I am surprised at how many irons young Jessica has in the fire, to be honest. She doesn’t stand out for me on Gossip Girl, but hey, maybe the big screen will bring out her inner sizzle. IMDB has a 2009 project listed that I didn’t hear of or see released, but again, I live in the Midwest. It’s called Fired Up, and is a teen comedy starring other as-yet fairly unknown actors Nicholas D’Agosto (Heroes), Eric Christian Olsen (Eagle Eye, Sunshine Cleaning), and Sarah Roemer (Disturbia). For next year, she’ll have a part in Piranha 3D as Kelly, a horror flick about Loch Ness-type piranhas. I had to read the description a few times before I believed it, but that’s really what it’s about. Also talked/coerced/bribed/forced to do this film are Elizabeth Shue, Christoper Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O’Connell, and Steven McQueen. Bigger names, people who should know better…perhaps is it better than it sounds. Ms. Szohr is also rumored to have a part in a film called Walks, still in pre-production.

Notice no mention of Taylor Momsen. It’s not because I can’t stand her, I swear. Apparently, neither can casting directors, because she has no projects in the works (besides Gossip Girl) at this time. So, by my count, if you want to see more of this cast you have twelve movies to see in 2010. Apparently, we aren’t going to be able to throw a dart at the 2010 box office without hitting a film starring someone from Gossip Girl, Twilight, or The O.C. What is this world coming to? There are, in my opinion, also some really great movies coming out in the next 60 days and beyond. Stay tuned to poptimal.com for those reviews. XOXO.

For more on Gossip Girl, click here.

Mondays at 8/7C, The CW

Photographs courtesy of The CW, Andrew Eccles, Eric Liebowitz

The Big Bang Theory: A Vengeance Not as Sweet

Ever wonder what happened to Bernadette, the girl that Penny reluctantly set Wolowitz up with from episode 5? Well, apparently the two have since gone on a second date because this week’s episode joins in on the after hours of their third.

Howard Wolowitz gets denied the convention of third date sex when he has to decide whether or not he wants to pursue an actual relationship with Bernadette. For someone who is usually desperate about the opposite sex, he has high hopes that he’ll eventually land Megan Fox, so he decides to forgo a real-life relationship. It takes Battlestar Galactica‘s Katee Sackhoff, guest starring as herself in one of Howard’s bathtub fantasies, to make him realize real life is at least more than fantasy.

It takes some convincing, but Howard eventually wins Bernadette over via an impromptu open mike performance at The Cheesecake Factory (last time I checked, they didn’t have a stage for open mikes).

The episode title “The Vengeance Formulation”, however, comes from Sheldon’s part in the episode, when they bring back Barry Kripke and his annoyingly overpronounced rhotacism.

To his excitement, Sheldon gets invited on National Public Radio as a guest speaker only to be mocked and sabotaged when Kripke sources helium into Sheldon’s office during the interview. Leonard then tries to console Sheldon, with the ineffective help of Raj, by suggesting a plotted revenge.

Things backfire when Sheldon’s prank befalls not only Kripke but also the university president and the board of directors. Of course, Sheldon takes his due credit by activated video and audio pre-recordings that incriminate both Raj and Leonard. But I wouldn’t expect the repercussions of this episode too soon since Big Bang‘s storylines don’t always pick up where they left off.

Overall, the episode was pretty entertaining. And it seems like there will be more development to Howard’s character now that he has a girlfriend. Raj has gotten most of the funny lines in this episode, so I wonder if his character’s story will be next. As the only non-citizen of the group, he faces the biggest threat from Sheldon’s prank. As for Sheldon, you wonder if this prank is going to lead to some kind of suspension similar to season 1.

Season 3, Episode 9:  The Vengeance Formulation (Originally aired November 23, 2009)

For more on The Big Bang Theory, click here.

Mondays 9:30 EST on CBS

Photographs courtesy of CBS and Cliff Lipson

Grey’s Anatomy: Holidaze

This episode chronicles the doctors’ lives over the Thanksgiving-New Year’s Eve holiday stretch.  It begins with the Chief tacitly admitting that he’s fallen off the wagon to Meredith.  She busted him drinking last week, and he offers to mentor her this week as a passive way of buying her silence.  She gives no indication that she sees it that way, but his timing is questionable, in my opinion.

Everyone continues adjusting to the newest doctor, Teddy Altman.  She removes a patient’s heart until she can come up with a better treatment solution.  The woman was on a date when she became ill, and the guy decides to hang around and wait with her in the hospital, despite not knowing her well.  I thought that was very sweet and decent of him.  Cristina assures the patient that she’ll probably get a new heart around New Year’s Eve, because there are usually a lot of accidents, which leads to an abundance of organs.  That’s a macabre thought.

Family is a big part of the holiday season, and a few of our characters are in for a surprise.  Mark finds out he has an 18-year-old daughter named Sloan.  He ends up letting the girl move in, and doesn’t have the heart to give her the boot, especially after she tearfully admits that she’s pregnant and has no place to go.  Mark suspected he had a child, but had paid for an abortion for Sloan’s mother and never inquired further about the matter.  He probably feels guilty and that letting his daughter live with him for a few months is the least he can do.  Meanwhile Bailey’s father comes for a surprise visit.  Miranda has kept her divorce a secret from her family, and her father is very displeased when she confirms it.  He blames Miranda for the demise of her marriage and the dismantling of her son’s family structure.  He fails to see Miranda’s perspective and even calls her out about the situation in front of all of her friends around the dinner table.  She finally puts her father in his place and sticks up for herself, saying that her son is happy and so is she.

Things have been awkward between Teddy, Cristina and Owen.  Teddy admitted to Owen that she was in love with him in the past and wished he had chosen her when he became single.  He admitted that he had feelings for her at one point also.  Despite all of this Owen remains committed to Cristina, and the two share a devouring embrace, with Owen swallowing up any doubts before Cristina could express them.  So much for her hooking up with Dr. Avery.

This episode introduced new conflict and put others to rest.  It also laid the groundwork for an explosive revelation about the Chief’s alcoholism.  It’s nice to see that the series hasn’t stalled at the midway point, and I’ve come to expect nothing less than great storytelling from Shonda Rhimes.

For another take on this episode, check out ‘Tis the Season by Allison Toner.

Season 6, Episodes 10: Holidaze (originally aired November 19, 2009)

For more Grey’s Anatomy, click here.

Thursdays 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC, Danny Feld

The Amazing Race: These People Need To Be Euthanized

Amazingly enough (no pun intended), The Amazing Race wasn’t the most irritating thing I watched on television last night. But I still blame the show, because had I not had to watch nimrods on The Amazing Race lower humanity’s standards, I would not have seen the series of obnoxious commercials that made me shriek violently like a baboon in heat.

First there was the one with two women in an apartment. One is doing a crossword puzzle while the other one asks “how it went” last night. Crossword lady answers by asking “What’s a thirteen-letter word for a marriage proposal.” The question lady responds that she doesn’t know, which prompts Crossword Twit to flash her hand, revealing an engagement ring. Crossword lady exclaims: “He went to Jared!” Maybe he did, but I’m going to the apothecary to procure some deadly poison. I’m coming for you Crossword Twit.

Next there was the one where a man lights up a Christmas tree while his wife rocks their young and grotesquely ugly baby in a chair. She asks him what he is doing up so early this morning. He replies that it’s not just any morning, it’s Christmas morning! Then he gives his wife an equally garish and grotesque but also (much more valuable) watch! He tells his wife that this is their first Christmas as a family (thanks for sharing) and asks her if he thinks their ugly baby will remember its first Christmas? The wife replies that she sure will. Then they suck face. Okay, first point: of course the baby won’t remember the Christmas you flaming idiot. Second point: get a room (okay, a different room) and get off my tv.

And finally, the third charming commercial was about some young guy coming home after long travels in Africa. He walks to his front door in the early morning, but before he can knock his younger sister opens the door and embraces him wildly. They walk inside and she tells him that the folks waited up all night for him. He tells her that Africa is a long way away. This guy is a geography whiz! He then gives his sister a Christmas gift with one of those plastic bow things on it. The sister takes the plastic bow off the box and slaps it on her brother. “You’re my gift this year!” she exclaims. Then we cut to a full coffee pot, heavenly in its glow. It’s Folger’s Crystals! “Thank goodness, real coffee!” The traveler exclaims. Then we cut to the folks up in their bedroom, who smell the beans and jump up excitedly. “He’s home!” Let me get this straight: this guy was in Africa, probably drinking some of the best coffee in the world, and now he’s excited to drink ersatz Folger’s Crystals? I don’t think so. And if the dumb sister (is there any other kind?) doesn’t want her gift, I’ll claim it, take it to a pawn shop and get what I really want for Christmas.

So once again, I blame The Amazing Race for exposing me to all that saccharine Christmas bull. Oh wait, you mean you actually want to know what happened in the episode? Well anything I write after this will seem anticlimactic, but then again, so was the episode, which opens with everyone flying from Estonia to Prague.

The first task: find a man in a Praga—a vintage old car—in the town square.  At the airport, the smart (I use the term loosely) teams get online and look up Pragas online. We get some real heady philosophical waxing from Meghan and Cheyne, and The Globetrotters and openly gay brothers Sam & Dan say that they have put aside their differences from last week. That’s stupid, why would you do that?

Everyone takes a cab to the town square except Brian & Ericka, who make the misguided choice to take the subway. Meghan & Cheyne find the Pragas first. Next stop: Kayaky Troja. This week’s detour: “Fast and Furious” or “Slow and Steady.” In the former, teams have to kayak down a professional-grade whitewater course and grab the next clue. In the latter, teams have to hook into a pulley system with carabiners and traverse the cables. I would have done that one, as did Meghan & Cheyne and The Globetrotters, with no real problems. Sam & Dan go with the kayaking and screw the pooch royally, flipping over and clawing their way to the shore. They decide to try the cables now, while Brian & Ericka have yet to arrive. Man that team sucks.

The next challenge: rush to a theater in Prague and search throughout the huge structure for a tiny mandolin. Meghan & Cheyne and the Globetrotters decide to team up initially, but then Cheyne leaves them in the lurch. The Globetrotters and Meghan whine about it. I really didn’t care. Meanwhile Brian & Ericka share that Brian is afraid of heights and Ericka is afraid of water. Sweet jesus. Ericka convinces Brian to conquer his fear and do the cables. Ericka is smiling and laughing, feeling happy and impressed with herself that she is going to dominate this challenge. Except as soon as she gets on the cable, she starts whining about how hard it is and pulls herself screaming across the cables about as fast as Oprah Winfrey would. This segment ends with Sam & Dan stealing the taxi that Brian & Ericka had waiting. They pout at them from afar, but even that fails to make Ericka move her slow ass any faster.

From there we get everyone, scrambling in the theater, and it is mildly amusing to watch everyone get frustrated. Brian & Ericka arrive there dead last, and guess how they finish the race? Yep, at least they are consistent. But once again, this entire episode was pointless because nobody gets eliminated. CBS sure wants to make this pedestrian crap last as long as possible. Oh joy.

For another take on this episode, check out Lady Gaga playing the piano on fire was soooo much better. by Alana D.

Season 15, Episode 9:  We’re Not Working With Anybody, Ever, Anymore! (originally aired November 22, 2009)

For more on The Amazing Race, click here.

Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS

Photographs courtesy of CBS

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