Night 7: Joke, Joke, Joke, Gay, Gay, Gay, I Will Cut You!

Alright Zayniacs (hm, I think I like that, thank you Paige for the suggestion), we’ve got a lot of ground to cover tonight.  I apologize for the delay but this week has been crazy I haven’t had a ton of time.  Unfortunately, due to the large amount of shows to get through, I probably won’t be getting into much detail on each one.  Why probably?  I tend to ramble so it’s very possible it will be longer than I currently anticipate.  So, let’s get started.

Monday Night

Bones:  A decent follow up to the premiere.  We dealt with some of the issues I felt should have been there.

How I Met Your Mother: Despite a lackluster episode in the comedy department, the ending still got me excited, only to let me down yet again.

Partners:  Not nearly as bad as The New Normal, but there are kinks to work out.

Revolution:  A good step up from the premiere in quality.  I think we’re on the right track.

Castle:  The highlight of my night.  This premiere delivered.

So since Bones wasn’t a premiere or a new series, we’re going to blow through it pretty quickly.  I’ll just say that I’m not sure why they decided to make their main character so unlikable.  I hope we weren’t supposed to be on her side during those arguments with Booth because she was selfish, inconsiderate, disrespectful, and downright mean.  I know she had her little epiphany at the end of the episode but that was almost too late for me.  I didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment from her turnaround because she was so far out there, a couple lines about how she “understands now” will not get me back on board with her.  She’s been in the world and around Booth and Angela for years now.  She should have picked up on some simple steps for human compassion along the way.  (This rant partially sponsored by our esteemed Unknown)

How I Met Your Mother premiered on Monday and despite a noticeable lack of laughs from me, the ending had me sitting up on my couch eagerly anticipating the reveal and wondering how they’d kept it so tightly under wraps.  The reason: there was no reveal.  We got a huge build up and a very leading shot that just ended with more heartbreak.  I’ve huffed and puffed many time about how I’ll be done with this show at some point.  That’s not true.  I’ll watch to the end just out of morbid fascination of how they’ll wrap it up.  Now we know exactly where he meets the Mother.  I thought they were going to pull a Dexter and have us meet her long before Ted.  Then they could be clever and sprinkle shots of her throughout the season showing us how she had been around the gang in near misses.  Alas, we just got teased again with anonymous legs and a yellow umbrella.  Do you know when we found out that umbrella thing?  Over six years ago!  Congratulations, you’ve now beaten LOST in longest unanswered mystery EVER!  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me 25 times, I need to stop watching this show…

Now, after a decidedly mixed beginning in the comedy department this year, Partners came along with the most traditional approach to comedy so far, double entendres and awkward misunderstandings.  Did this show knock it out of the park?  No, but it wasn’t terrible.  There were some funny moments and also a lot of eye-rollingly clichéd moments as well.  I think the cast is mostly solid.  Michael Urie, while definitely taking a Jack from Will and Grace approach, was responsible for several of the laughs that came from me.  David Krumholtz was a little more shticky with his comedy than I prefer.  Brandon Routh was much more amusing than I thought he’d be.  Sophia Bush, however, was a big dud in the comedy department for me.  Maybe she will improve over time but I was not feeling her in the Pilot.  Also, the sassy latina assistant could use some dialing down by about 8 notches, although she did deliver the line that became the title of this post.  Overall, it was a decent way to spend a half-hour of comedy.  I’m going to give it a chance to find a groove and make me laugh more.  I think it has potential to stay both on my DVR and the air, but only time will tell.

Spoilers for Monday’s Revolution are below.  Skip to the next paragraph if you haven’t seen it yet.  I thought this week was a step in the right direction for the show.  I think the plot had a good pace to it.  We know what we’re working for and what pieces they’re trying to put together.  We also got a couple more mysteries including why the Mom is still alive (most predictable reveal ever) and being held by Monroe.  Also, I think the acting was much better this time around, specifically from the main character, Charlie.  She’s still a little too much of a family cheerleader for me but I can see a lot more potential in her this episode than I did in the Pilot.  Also, I like the flashbacks in this show.  They’re being presented as memories of the characters and therefore will be directly relevant to what’s going on in the present.  LOST did this with varying success, but I, for one, hope they continue to expand on them because I’d like to know more about how the world got to the point it is now. 

Last, and certainly not least, Castle premiered and knocked it out of the park.  I think any concerns that the chemistry of the leads would die after doing it were effectively quelled.  Could it still go wrong?  Of course, but I’m not going to be Debbie Downer when the premiere was as strong as it was.  The episode started off with some excellent physical comedy from both leads and a new mystery for the show!  WHAT was “that thing” that Kate did last night that Castle liked so much? (mystery clarification provided by Unknown)  The arc of this show has always been convoluted.  It only pops up in a handful of episodes every year so you always forget what happened before by the time they’re telling you something new that should fit into that story.  It’s gotten to the point where I don’t necessarily care about the arc itself so much as the large amounts of character development that tend to happen in those episodes.  Overall, an extremely solid start to the season and I hope it does nothing but improve. 

Well, that covers Monday night.  Stay tuned during the day for another post covering last night.  Tonight, we thankfully have the lightest load of the week, not counting Friday, and really who does, certainly not the networks.  We have the official premiere of Animal Practice, which I’ve heard nothing but bad things about so I’m not optimistic.  Also, the season premiere of Modern Family and the series premiere of The Neighbors, which I’m anticipating to me another disaster.  Also on tonight is the second episodes of Survivor and Guys with Kids.  For those that follow it, the season finale of Top Chef is tonight.  Finally, if anyone is interested in watching Revenge, which I would highly recommend, there is a special recap of the first season tonight in its formerly regular time slot.  It will officially premiere at its new time this Sunday after Once Upon a Time.  Honestly, I’m hoping all that I think is horrible, will be, because I need to free up some space for the 4 hour long shows that are coming soon to a Wednesday near year, 3 of which I’m almost positive will stick permanently. 

Be back later!