Week in Review, Mar 15 to 21

The Week in Video Games

In the limited spare time I had this week (I had a couple house guests this week--not complaining!), I completed Chapter 3 of Tales of Monkey Island and started Chapter 4. Chapter 3, Lair of the Leviathan, was easily my favourite chapter so far, featuring some of the funniest moments of the entire series and some of the best puzzles. I especially enjoyed the face-off battle and manatee date that captured some of the magic from the insult sword fights in the original Secret of Monkey Island. Chapter 4, like all of the chapters before it, is quite different so far--the diversity in this series has definitely been one of its strengths--but I'm too early into the game to judge its overall quality.

The Week in Television

Monday, March 15th
Liked: Chuck (3x10)

"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" was an important episode because it finally provided some background information on John Casey, but the storytelling wasn't quite up to the standard set by this season. The best scene had Morgan and Captain Awesome learning that they both now know the truth about Chuck. I imagine that the unexpected ending will be quickly resolved in next week's Chuck, but I'd love to be wrong there.

Tuesday, March 16th
Liked: Lost (6x8)

"Recon" was a lesser episode for this final season of Lost, although there were many good moments, and con-man Sawyer is one of my favourite characters. It didn't seem like much of importance was established on the island, except for the minor reveal that Not!Locke had a crazy mother. The alt-reality storyline was enjoyable, with Miles continuing to be awesome, but it didn't really have any pay-off.

Wednesday, March 17th
Liked: South Park (14x1)

South Park returned to the air this week with "Sexual Healing," hilariously making fun of the media's shoddy handling of celebrity sex scandals. The Tiger Woods jokes were initially lame and unfunny, but once it was revealed that the scenes were a part of EA's new Tiger Woods golf video game, I laughed pretty hard. I enjoyed Butters' and Kyle's struggles with their newly discovered sex addiction, and loved how the voice of reason was not Stan but a random extra.

Thursday, March 18th
Loved: 30 Rock (4x15)
Liked: The Office (6x20), Parks and Recreation (2x19)

"Don Geiss, America and Hope" was a terrific 30 Rock episode, picking up where we left off last week with Liz's completely incompatible future husband and Jack's transition from GE to Kabletown. Tracy's struggle with being outed by the media as a faithful husband was also hilarious.

The Office's "New Leads" featured a jarring main storyline that could have used some more build-up. I just didn't buy the fact that suddenly all the sales staff were a bunch of dicks and the office had this huge schism. If we had seen some of this schism hinted at in previous weeks, it may have worked better in this episode. Laughs-wise, this episode was also below average for me.

"Park Safety" was a really funny Jerry-centric episode of Parks and Recreation. Jerry has been the go-to office punching bag, so it was nice to have an episode that humanized him a little while still delivering plenty of laughs at his expense. Also good: Andy Samberg had a great guest-turn as the loud-talking park ranger, Ron taught everyone self-defense, and Anne finally realized that something is going on between Andy and April.

Friday, March 19th
Loved: Spartacus (1x9)
Liked: Caprica (1x8), The Ricky Gervais Show (1x5)

Goddamn, Spartacus Blood and Sand is a twisted motherfucking series. For a series that started out as a mediocre Gladiator meets 300 bore, it has come a long way, now reliably delivering awesome fight sequences, political intrigue, shocking violence, and softcore pornography on a weekly basis. "Whore" was another fantastic episode, developing all of the major storylines and characters, and ending with a completely unexpected game-changer.

Caprica's "Ghosts in the Machine" featured some tense moments as Daniel tried to torture the truth out of Cylon Zoe, culminating in a frightening sequence where Zoe was ordered to shoot the family dog. Is that worse than being forced to tear off your own arm? The other major storyline was also strong, with Joe Adama running wild in New Cap City.

Saturday, March 20th
Loved: Legend of the Seeker (2x14)

Sister Nicci returned in "Bound," a very good Legend of the Seeker episode that diverged quite far from its source material to interesting effect. With Nicci and Kahlan bound by a nonsensical (but dramatically useful) maternity spell, Richard was forced to work with Nicci to do Rahl and the Keeper's bidding, ultimately introducing elements of the awesome Faith of the Fallen very early into this canon. We were also introduced to Kahlan's father in a surprisingly effective storyline with some of the best guest acting this series has ever featured. I'm still unsure about the new actress playing Nicci; she had some good moments here, though, easily besting her first awkward appearance.

Sunday, March 21st
Liked: The Amazing Race (16x6)

The cops finished first again!? I have to admit that they ran a clean leg, while a number of the other teams did not. One of the clues in this leg was rather tricky, and it led a lot of teams astray, including Team Big Brother who were at the back of the pack all the way until their well deserved elimination. Brent and Caite's bickering was quite entertaining in its immaturity, but they are hopelessly stupid and are surely the next team to go home.