How I Met Your Mother: "The Front Porch"
Season 4, Episode 16, 4/16/09
This was a complex HIMYM, combining a storyline set in the present, multiple (potential) flash forwards, multiple flashbacks, Robin's "Wake Up New York" program broadcast within the show, and a fantasy sequence demonstrating the aeronautic freedom found in a nightshirt. It was an exhausting 22 minutes, but it held together wonderfully. And, here are five reasons to sleep in a nightshirt, according to Marshall:
1. No need to wear anything underneath.
2. Sexy.
3. Grandpa Olaf wore one and lived to be 107.
4. No elastic waistband leaving its judgmental pink teeth marks around my Thanksgiving belly.
5. Every night, when I go to sleep, it's the freest, most wonderful feeling in the world. I feel like I'm flying.
Chuck: "Chuck vs. The Ring"
Season 2, Episode 22, 4/27/09
Sure, there was the wedding-destroying performance of "Mr. Roboto" by Jeffster (or, "Sam Kinison and an Indian lesbian"), which was resolved by a lovely beach wedding set to Slow Club's "Christmas TV", and plenty of well-cast bit players, such as Scott Bakula and the lovely Matt Bomer . However, the last two minutes were perhaps the best in the series' short history. After selflessly re-downloading the Intersect into his brain, Chuck finds himself suddenly more - agile - than ever before, flattening the bad guys and uttering these five words to end the season: "Guys, I know kung fu."
Top Chef: "Le Bernardin"
Season 5, Episode 11, 2/4/09
Finnish wonderboy Stefan skins and fillets an eel for Eric Ripert by first grabbing a huge nail and pounding the head of the dead - but still wriggling - slimy creature into the cutting board to steady it . This brutal display of culinary skill ranks second in TC history, bested by Hung's decimation of four whole chickens in minutes during Season 3.
Better Off Ted: "Racial Sensitivity"
Season 1, Episode 4, 4/8/09
Veridian Dynamics installs new power-saving lights that apparently don't recognize black employees, as scientist Lem finds out.
Ted: The system doesn't see black people?
Veronica: I know. Weird, huh?
Ted: That's more than weird, Veronica. That's basically, well... racist.
Veronica: The company's position is that it's actually the opposite of racist, because it's not targeting black people. It's just ignoring them. They insist the worst people can call it is "indifferent."
Ted: Well, they know it has to be fixed, right? Please... at least say they know that.
Veronica: Of course they do, and they're working on it. In the meantime they'd like everyone to celebrate the fact that it sees Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Jews.
Oddly enough, HP recently had an incident where the built-inwebcam wasn't recognizing darker skinned people.
Dollhouse: Beginning with "Briar Rose", Season 1, Episode 11 and continuing through all of Season 2
It was worth suffering through the sub-par first ten episodes of Dollhouse for the payout. After the focus was removed from Eliza Dushku (who suffers from a very limited acting range, let's be honest) and onto the inner workings of the multiple (!) Dollhouses, the Rossum Corporation (!!), and the destructive potential of the download/mindwipe technology if misused (!!!), the show exploded into a complete mindfuck . The two most recent episodes, "Stop-Loss" and "The Attic" were tightly, sickly, written. Of course, just when Dollhouse finds its perfect pacing, FOX kills it. Enjoy the last three upcoming episodes, and buy the complete series when it lands on DVD.
Battlestar Galactica: "Daybreak, Pt. 2"
Season 4, Episode 22, 3/20/09
I was disappointed by the resolution of Battlestar Galactica, how all the technology was destroyed when they settled on earth; how Starbuck was actually an angel (?); and how 150,000 years later we're cautioned to be nice to our robotic devices less they turn against us - again. The reason the last 30 minutes or so were such a letdown was because the hour leading up to it barely gave you time to breathe. The peak of the finale was when the Final Five Cylons - Tyrol, Tori, Ellen, Tigh , and the incapacitated Anders - realize they need to share the contents of their minds to fully understand the resurrection technology. They dip their hands into Anders' tub o' goo... and all hell breaks loose. Tyrol learns that Tori had ejected his wife Cally out of the airlock, so he strangles her. Cylon Cavil realizes it's all gone to shit and shoots himself, the CIC dissolves in chaos, nuclear devices explode and destroy the Colony, and Starbuck jumps the ship because "there must be some way out of here". If only the last half of the finale had maintained that level of energy.
CSI: "A Space Oddity"
Season 9, Episode 20, 4/16/09
Every so often, CSI: (Original Recipe) takes a break from the blood 'n' gore and does a cute - but not cloyingly so - episode. This centered around an "Astro Quest" fan convention, where a producer trying to re-boot the vintage series is murdered. There's cute Hodges and Wendy interaction, cameos from BSG cast members, and BSG producer Ron Moore himself screaming "You suck!" at the idea of an "Astro Quest" re-boot. (The joke of course that Ron Moore was lambasted when he introduced the re-boot of BSG.) Even in its tenth season, CSI: effortlessly manages to be entertaining, amusing, and smart television. The recent permanent addition of Laurence Fishburne has re-energized the program, as well.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: "Adam Raised a Cain"
Season 2, Episode 21, 4/3/09
The killing of Derek Reese (the surprisingly good Brian Austin Green) in this episode was surprising in that it was nasty, unexpected, and matter-of-fact. There was no extended death sequence, no crying, not even any time to really mourn. It was realistic for the premise of the show. Of all the shows that have concluded naturally or were canceled brutally over the past few years, T:TSCC is one of the largest losses.
The Big Bang Theory: "The Monopolar Expedition"
Season 2, Episode 23, 5/11/09
Truthfully, the best TBBT episode of 2009 actually occurred at the butt end of 2008, when Penny gave Sheldon a napkin with Leonard Nimoy's autograph (and stray DNA) for Christmas, and he was actually stunned as how to respond. However, there were plenty of worthy Sheldon moments in 2009 proper. Consider his exasperation at being called to a meeting with the Dean at 8AM:
Sheldon: Must be an emergency. Everyone at the university knows I eat my breakfast at 8 and move my bowels at 8:20.
Leonard: Yes, how did we live before Twitter? I guess you'll find out what it is in the morning.
Sheldon: That's fourteen hours away. For the next 840 minutes, I'm effectively one of Heisenberg's particles. I know where I am, I know how fast I'm going, but I can't know both.
Sam Axe, Burn Notice
No particular episode, just the entirety of Sam Axe, as played to the edge by the Human Chin wrapped in Tommy Bahama, Mr. Bruce Campbell. This may be his most realized, fully developed role ever. Whether toting a fish around, plugging MGD 64, helping out Michael's mom Madeline, roughing up a suspect, or pulling a Charles Finley, it's obvious Campbell is loving this role.
Bonus: Gray Areas
These are television episodes that were released only on DVD in 2009, but not actually broadcast:
+ Caprica: This BSG-prequel begins on SyFy next month, and I can only hope the remaining episodes are nearly as elegant as the first film-length episode. It's perfectly cast.
+ It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: It's a Very Sunny Christmas: This will probably NEVER air on FX, and if it does will be heavily bleeped and edited. Watch it in its purest form on DVD or through Amazon-on-Demand. Along with The Ref, and Die Hard, this will be a new Xmas tradition for me, one I'll settle in to watch after I finish throwing rocks at trains.
+ Dollhouse, "Epitath One": The unaired 13th Episode of Season One, which could have served as a series ender if needed, and now makes a lot more sense after certain events of Season Two have occurred.
2 comments:
For some odd reason the IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY... Xmas isn't available via Netflix. I wanted to see it, but not enough to actually pay for it.
It's probably "embargoed" from Netflix until after Xmas. I was able to buy it cheaper via Amazon-on-Demand through the TiVo box. But it will turn up on Netflix eventually.
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