by Courtney Hilden Spoiler Alert!: One of the turns in the case is revealed in this review. On this very special episode of House, Cuddy's Mom was having a heart problem. This meant that House was going to have to help. This meant House would even dress up in a doctor coat. There was something slow about this episode. I still can't decide if it was boring or not. The highlight of the episode was the possibility that Cuddy's Mom was an alcoholic (which, in fact, turned out not to be true.) Making Cuddy's Mom an addict was a fascinating turn of events. It makes Cuddy's relationship with House all the more fraught with pitfalls, since, as viewers know, House is himself a recovering (and sometimes not-so-recovering addict.) Hopefully, the show will continue to explore this facet of the House/Cuddy relationship and Cuddy's relationship with her Mom. In the B storyline, Taub attempted to make more money working for his ex's brother. You knew it was going to turn out badly, but it became another attempt by the writers to make Taub likable. By the time the writers figure out how to make that happen, the show's going to be over.
This time, in the penultimate episode of Downton Abbey, the carnival comes to town! Which mostly means various couples try their luck with each other and fail (or in the case of Matthew and Mary, fail again.) Then Grandma has her revenge by knowing some medicine and letting poor Mr. Mosley win the flower competition. And if there was not enough cattiness between Grandma and Matthew's Mom, don't worry: Mary and Ingrid are still at each other's throats. If this makes it seem like not much happened in this episode of Downton Abbey, well, yes, not much did. Even though not much developed in the way of the story, not the way the previous two episodes did (or, the fourth episode hopefully will), it was a mostly enjoyable episode. Most of these characters are interesting enough at this point that just watching them interact together is enough. As usual, the politics of some of the things going on are troubling. Thomas must be the most hurtful person on earth, asking Daisy out, even though he knew that William was interested. But at the same time, there's something bothersome in the character of Thomas. He is a terrible human being, but because he is also interested in men, making him into a villain is just another way of making gay men evil, and really, there are enough villain-gay men in the world. Even one of the cooks described him as a "troubled soul," which, although slightly more forgiving than some viewers might be inclined, is still sad. Would it really kill this show to depict how both lonely and scary being a closeted gay man in a homophobic world? Or are they too busy making him into the bad guy, who, at this point, I have concluded probably had the Turkish gentleman poisoned in revenge. It is the sort of terrible thing this show would do. It is so nice, so refreshing, to have a miniseries that engages with the problems of women. Sadly, it is high class women that are mostly explored, but Mary's struggle to accept "just marriage" is sad to watch. It is interesting to note that Mary is not the one who takes up feminism, but her younger sister Sibyl, even though feminism has just as much to offer Mary as it does the other women. "The world is changing," Countess Cora says to Mary, "just not fast enough for you." Mary is right to be angry that no one wants to fight for her. The show also gave Mrs. Hewes a difficult choice: continuing her job at Downton or marriage to the man she spurred many years ago. She chose her job (and, in modern parlance, her career), but there was something sad about this. She too, is limited by the roles appropriated for women. She can be a career woman or a family woman, but she could never dare be both. Also interesting to note that she did not even consider love in her decision: she never said she loved her beau, just that he was "nice man." The cutest couple award for this show goes to Sibyl and Gwen. Sibyl, a budding young feminist, is all about helping out Gwen the maid become Gwen the secretary. So far there has not been any luck, but Sibyl's encouragement (and the lending of clothes) has been heartwarming to watch. They are both nice girls, and I would really like to see a full-blown romance develop between them.
by Courtney Hilden Spoiler Alert!: Everything except the B-story line is spoiled in this review. "Nepotism" the opening episode of The Office's last season with Steve Carrell, was about Michael hiring his nephew from a part of his family he is estranged from (which itself might have been a good story.) Luke, Michael's nephew, was every awful stereotype of "kids these days." He was lazy, he seemed almost gleefully incompetent (in a far more malicious way than his Uncle), and he liked The Boondock Saints. Given the audience make-up of this show, there was something strangely nasty about this character, and it felt like a commentary on those who actually watch The Office. The opening, featuring (almost) the entire Office trying to make a YouTube video, was entirely too cute. And from there, the episode rolled from one great moment to another. Michael's stupid God and Jesus argument was another classic moment of Michael narcissism and stupidity. Most shows in their seventh season start to slow down, but this was a relatively strong episode, even by Office standards. There was an unusually high amount of awkward-funniness. The spanking comes to mind. Michael's spanking of Luke was horrifying on some basic level, and then the various characters replicating the moment was awkward, especially Dwight's spanking of poor Andy, who has gotten metaphorically spanked enough on this show. The episode contained a few surprises. The first was Gabe and Erin now in a romance. Gabe and Erin make a lot of sense, since both of them are so socially awkward and well-meaning. Erin acknowledging that she felt compelled to date him because he is her boss's boss was uncomfortable. It was also sad that the show has not (so far) alluded to what a problem in the workplace this is, especially for women. Part of me hopes Andy handles it as relatively well as he has so far, but part of me would love to see him descend back to that angry place he was when he first joined the show. Andy's anger problem was so tidily solved a few seasons back that it seems appropriate to bring it back, and show how a problem like that never really goes away. Great lines of the episode: "It got infected, even though I peed on it." -Michael, explaining an infection, completely unaware that peeing on something is for sting rays. "Nard Man is my Father." -Andy, explaining why he is suppose to be referred to as "Nard Dog." "What's up, Venus?" -Luke, to Phyllis. "My favorite part of an ice cream party is the bagel chips." -Oscar "He can swim in my pool; he can't come in my house." -Jo, explaining to Michael how she treats her nephew. "He's totally going to get Pammed!" -Pam on her prank for Dwight. "Everywhere I look it's Betty White this and Betty White that." -Creed, on Twitter.
In True Blood land, Bill has officially (thankfully) dumped Sookie. A normal girl would get angry, break some glass bottles, and then move on. Sookie, of course, decides to take denial to new levels by staying in another state to look for him. Sam tries to right his family, Jason attempts to bypass become a police officer the traditional way, Tara is held hostage by Franklin, Lafayette fails to sell his drugs, and Eric's club is sacked. A lot happens in these episodes, so let's focus on the good and the bad. It's really bothersome that Sookie takes two seconds to be attracted to Alcide, especially after he's involved in violence. Is Sookie attracted to violence and emotional baggage? She's almost as bad as Bella Swan.
In the books, the audience does not see Bill's stay in Mississippi, and now that the audience can see it on screen, it's easy to see why Harris, the author, left it out. Bill's plotline continues to be boring and slows down the rest of the episode. The other irritating plotline is Arlene's anti-vampire screed. Once again, this show has decided that women are all crazy and bitchy, especially when they are pregnant.
Some of the other problems with this episode included originality. Jason's little football-playing-rival Kit called himself the "QB" which is exactly what Kevin called himself on Daria. And apparently the writers have watching high school rom coms from the nineties, because Sookie got a makeover in order to impress a guy. But some things are worth watching for. The acting by the secondary characters continues to amaze. Franklin and Tara's scene where Franklin dictated her call was spot on, both scary and terrifying, like a particular moment in the "Midnight" episode of Doctor Who. Tara's scenes where she was tied up was great too, showing us that Franklin is a rapist, using not just sex but people's mind against them. Points also to Sookie and Eric, who once again have chemistry in a line of dialogue that outdoes everything Sookie and Bill have had this entire show.
The interesting juxtapositions with faith have also continued, though this is by far the bizarrest way yet. This time, vampires donating blood in a ritual meant to imitate the Christian ceremony of drinking Jesus's blood. How exactly the audience should interpret this on-the-nose reference has not been yet revealed, but probably will be as the season continues, just like the show's thoughts on evangelicalism was fleshed out over the course of season two.
There are also great friendships on this show. At the end of the last season, the show highlighted Andy and Jason, which continues to be wonderful but now slightly painful. It's too sad the relationship between Andy and Jason is souring, because so many shows lack friendships that feel as real and faithful as the ones in our lives. This episode showed Eric and Lafayette in a different kind of friendship. Scenes where Lafayette is discriminated against because of his sexuality, his race and his connection to vampires is hard to watch, but seeing Eric protect his own was a relief, though not as empowering as "AIDS burger" from season one.
And no show can be bad if it uses a song from Massive Attack, so the show, despite having clunky elements to it, also has moments of genius.
