TV Report Card: Week of October 30, 2011

I gave Once Upon a Time one more chance, and I'm starting to realize that it's not really my kind of show, so I left it off the Report Card, but that's OK because Glee and New Girl were finally back. Enough already, here's this week's TV Report Card:

Sunday
The Walking Dead: "Save the Last One"

After a quieter but still tense episode, "Save the Last One" brought back the zombie goodness while still focusing on some decent character moments. The debate between hope and release continued as Lori and Rick discussed the fate of Carl. These kind of scenes can be heavy-handed, but so far their working for me. Elsewhere, Daryl and Andrea had some good scenes where they got to know each other, Glenn and T-Dawg headed to the farmhouse, and Shane had to make a tough call in order to survive. Most of Shane's story was compelling to watch, and I'm interested to see how it will affect him down the line.

GRADE: B-

Homeland: "Blind Spot"

The slow-burn continued on Homeland, but that doesn't mean that "Blind Spot" was boring. In fact, it was probably one of the most tense episodes to date. I love how the show is giving the audience enough clues as to Brody's allegiance without actually telling us anything. What's even better is we still aren't quite sure which side he's on. I'm all for swerves and fake-outs, but like I mentioned on the podcast, I hope this show learned from The Killing. And how good was Claire Danes? Good stuff all around.

GRADE: B+

Monday
How I Met Your Mother: "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns"

Much like Ted, I learned a lesson during "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns". I learned that what may have seemed ideal in the past may not be so in the present day. Ted realized that the perfect woman he created when he met the Slutty Pumpkin back in Season 1 was not the right person for him today. The same can be said about my relationship with this show. The HIMYM I enjoyed during Seasons 1-3 no longer exists, but I keep holding onto the memory of what it used to mean to me. As you can tell, I was letdown by this episode. I could not muster any care about Ted's issues with Naomi, Marshall and Lily thinking about moving to the suburbs, or Barney's heritage. The only gag that worked for me was seeing Barney dressed up as Apollo Creed. Besides that, "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns" was a disappointment.

GRADE: D-

2 Broke Girls: "And the Pretty Problem"

I can still rationalize why I watch How I Met Your Mother because there's a history there that I'm not ready to let go of yet. I cannot say the same about 2 Broke Girls yet I keep tuning in. This week's episode was not as bad as some of the ones that came before it, but the worn out approaches that this show takes are starting to become hard to excuse. For example, someone in the writers room figured that having Kat Dennings say "vagina" 100 times would kill because we all know that repetition is the key to comedy. Instead of being edgy, the running gag became a hinderance. By episode's end, I was so annoyed with the jokes that I ended up not being entertained by anything else the show gave us. The thing is, I can still see the makings of a funny show when I watch 2 Broke Girls. I just don't know if I have the patience to keep giving it chances.

GRADE: C-

Castle: "Cops & Robbers"

Both the strength and weakness of the cop procedural is familiarity. Four seasons in, fans have an idea of what an episode of Castle should look like which is why so many return, but the same old thing can get boring. In order to shake things up, shows like Castle will try to give us an episode that breaks the routine and "Cops & Robbers" was one of those attempts. Stepping away from the Case-of-the-Week approach is always appreciated, and putting Rick and Martha in harm's way was cliched but still effective because it underscored how much these people care about one another. My only complaint had to do with Alexis because her angsty plot points this season haven't felt genuine in my opinion. Yes, she's a teenage girl on the verge of major life changes, so she's relatable, but this kind of storytelling is not why I tune into Castle. I'm not faulting the show for fleshing out Alexis as a character; I'm just not entertained by what they're doing with her.

GRADE: B-

Tuesday
Glee: "Pot O' Gold"

Glee was finally back after a long baseball/X-Factor induced hiatus, and the episode that it came back with had me feeling mixed emotions. I was happy to see The Glee Project's Damian McGinty make his series debut as Rory, and I thought that he had a good introduction with some fun moments and a memorable song ("Bein' Green"). Unfortunately, everything around Rory didn't quite click for me. I'm still unsure of why we're getting two glee clubs, and I'm still not on board the Brittana ship, but at least we got some decent Finn moments for once this season (so what if they're still making him out to be a jerk). Another story line flop was Quinn's continued quest to get back Beth because it's only making her out be a horrible person...and giving Puck the chance to mack with Shelby. Besides Rory, the other bright spot had to be Burt Hummel getting into the Congressional race to take on Sue. Does it make much sense? Not really, but it feels true to the character. "Pot O' Gold" wasn't Glee's best effort, but I was so won over by Damian that I'm willing to give it a pass.

GRADE: C+

New Girl: "Naked"

If you believe some of the reviews on the Internet, the shine may be coming off of the adorkable apple after "Naked" because Jess veered off into the "unbelievable character" zone. I never quite buy this argument when it comes to sitcom characters because they're supposed to be a little out there because of the very nature of the genre, so Jess' amplified quirkiness didn't bother me. If anything it made this episode more enjoyable because without it, "Naked" would have been run-of-the-mill. Plus, seeing Zooey say "pee-pee" was a lot funnier than watching Kat say "vagina". "Naked" wasn't anything new, but it was worth a few laughs.

GRADE: B-

Sons of Anarchy: "Kiss"

The craziness was amped up during this week's Sons of Anarchy, but it wasn't the draw for me as a viewer. Sure, the on-going cartel war and Gemma's reaction to Piney's murder added some intrigue, but for me the highlights revolved around Jax and Juice. We're finally getting glimpses of why Jax was the heir apparent because he was able to defuse what would've been deadly situation involving the cartel, and for the first time in a long time I could see him as the leader that he's supposed to be. As for Juice, I still think his death would've been the more powerful road to take, seeing him blow up on Roosevelt felt real and justified. The spider's web may be getting a bit too tangled for my tastes, but watching Juice squirm has been captivating. I just hope we get a payoff between him and Chibs sooner than later.

GRADE: B

Wednesday
Up All Night: "Parents"

For the first time ever, the workplace part of Up All Night was better than the family stuff, but that doesn't mean that "Parents" was a good episode. The set-up, Reagan's parents drop by for a visit, should have led to some exploration of the character, but the conflict that was staged between her and her mother has been beaten to death. I get that parents can royally screw up their kids' lives, but this concept as a sitcom trope has to go because it rarely adds anything to the story. What was even more annoying was the fact that Reagan's mom was a psychologist because they tend to be the ones who ruin their kids lives most of all. By the end of "Parents", I felt like I had seen the same episode for the 100th time because I kind of did, and unfortunately it was a light on Chris which didn't help matters.

GRADE: C-

Modern Family: "Treehouse"

The way I feel about Up All Night is very similar to how I feel about Modern Family, which means my enjoyment of an episode is related to how much Chris or Phil we get. Like Up All Night, "Treehouse" did not have enough Phil for my liking, but what little he was given was gold. Having him struggle with the fact that it's hard for adults to make new friends gave him the right amount of vulnerability to layer on top of his winning goofiness, and the final scenes where he bonded with his neighbor felt earned. Everything else that went on during "Treehouse" was forgettable at best, but at least they tried to give Cameron something new to do.

GRADE: C-

Happy Endings: "Lying Around"

Recapping my thoughts on Happy Endings is starting to become difficult, not because it's a bad show (it's one of my favorites) but because I usually don't care about the stories. The chemistry between the characters and the jokes are so good that they've become the selling point. This week's episode didn't stray too far from traditional sitcom plots; Brad and Jane told each other white lies to get some alone time, Penny and Alex dated some guys, and Max and Dave messed up a commercial for Steak Me Home Tonight. Pretty standard fare, but the jokes and physical comedy were on point which made "Lying Around" better than most comedy episodes. The Brent Musburger and Fred Savage cameos were nice little treats to top things off. Best Throw-Away Joke of the Night: Knitter with Attitude.

GRADE: B

Thursday
Community: "Advanced Gay"

Sometimes Community is too focused on being meta, riffing on popular culture, or coming off as too smug and its characters can get lost amongst the hype. While some of its high concept episodes stand out ("Remedial Chaos Theory" for example) they can dominate a season, which is why I was happy that "Advanced Gay" was a return to the Season 1 formula of having a story based around character growth instead of the Study Group bickering. I've never been a fan of Pierce, but I was happy to get a better understanding of why he does what he does after meeting his father. It may have ended up being more about Jeff, but it was still interesting to watch. By far my favorite moments though involved Troy and his struggle between being a plumber, an air conditioning repair man, or hanging out with Abed. This plot was wacky but also relatable which is always a good thing. "Advanced Gay" wasn't as strong as "Chaos" or "Horror Fiction", but still a good episode from the Greendale gang.

GRADE: B-

The Vampire Diaries: "Ordinary People"

You'd think that a mythology heavy episode of The Vampire Diaries that covered the origin story of the Originals would be right up my alley, but overall I thought that "Ordinary People" was slightly above average.  Unfortunately, the backstory of Klaus and his family was the weakest part of the episode because I didn't think Rebekah was the right narrator mostly because Claire Holt overacted in the majority of her scenes. It was all very distracting. Plus, I'm not quite sure I buy Rebekah being so open with Elena. Ah well. On the other hand, I pretty much loved everything that involved Stefan and Damon so all in all it was a decent episode.

GRADE: B-

Friday
Chuck: "Chuck vs. The Bearded Bandit"

I still love Chuck, but so far Season 5 has started off on the wrong foot. "Chuck vs. The Bearded Bandit" was probably one of my least favorite episodes mostly due to the fact that Morgan's character took a big step in the wrong direction. I got that the Intersect has been messing with his head, but the way he was acting throughout the episode made him close to unwatchable. If the writers keep taking Morgan down this path, then this is going to be a hard season to get through. The Mission of the Week wasn't particularly groundbreaking, but that was easier to overlook. I'm just glad that we got some good moments from Chuck and Captain Awesome.

GRADE: C+

Nikita: "Clawback"

So far Nikita's plot during Season 2 has been getting twistier, and the web has been getting more and more tangled with each episode. "Clawback" didn't have any real conflict between Alex and Nikita, the element I've been liking the most this season, but it did bring the focus back to Oversight as we learned more about its members and operation. We also saw the return of Ryan which was a nice little surprise especially after the big twist at the end. My only gripe had to do with Alex because I'm starting to be bored by her mission of revenge. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I'm taken out of the episode when Lyndsy Fonseca uses her Russian accent. Quick Aside: we need more Roan. That dude's a badass.

GRADE: B-

Grimm: "Bears Will Be Bears"

While I still cannot say that Grimm is a good show, I do have to give it credit for doing things a little bit differently. This week's episode used "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" as source material, but the show put more of a native spin on the tale as a pack of bear-like teenagers used home intruders as prey for their rite of passage. I'll admit that I never would've thought of doing something like that, so Grimm gets points for creativity, but the acting was still too stiff and some of the dialogue was atrocious. Thankfully, I'm still liking Monroe so it has that going for it.

GRADE: C

Supernatural: "The Mentalists"

"The Mentalists" had an old-school feel to it since it pretty much focused on Sam and Dean taking on ghosts in a town littered with psychics. Admittedly, I wasn't too engaged by the Monster-of-the-Week (I cannot remember who was the culprit and what their motivations were), but I did appreciate a week off from the standard brotherly angst. Sure, they addressed how Dean killed Amy, but it didn't feel like they dwelled on it for too long, which was both a good and bad thing. Sometimes Supernatural can rely too much on the "Sam and Dean Are Fighting Because They Don't Communicate" crutch, so even the slightest of breaks can be welcomed. That being said, I was expecting more fallout from Dean's actions, and we very well be getting it in the future, but it didn't seem like it was that big of a deal this time around.

GRADE: C

So there you have it. This week's Report Card. The line-up is starting to solidify, but I might add Hell on Wheels, so keep checking back.