Week in Review, Apr 5 to 11

Just got back from pretending to be a beer judge tonight (future blog post there, for sure!--for now, see Facebook), and now I need to finish off this fucking Week in Review post while drunk and tired. Awesome!

This was one of those "all TV, all the time" weeks, except for the new task of spring yardwork. Yay! In my spare moments, I've been enjoying revisiting the second season of Chuck. Next week I will hopefully have time for the new Mass Effect 2 DLC, and maybe I'll dive into Dragon Age Awakenings. I'd also like to start READING A BOOK, for fuck's sake.

The Week in Television

Monday, April 5th
Loved: Chuck (3x13)

"Chuck Versus the Other Guy" wrapped up season 3.0 very nicely. As expected, there was some reset button action, but there were also a couple major changes that should make season 3.5 rather interesting. The writers have now given the fans exactly what they wanted, but they have also written themselves into a corner that few series can escape from.

Tuesday, April 6th
Loved: Lost (6x11)

Lost was back on top of its game with "Happily Ever After," a Desmond story that almost entirely took place in the alternate timeline, but never felt like a waste of time. For those that were worried about the time wasted in this final season with the flash-sideways, this episode almost single-handedly redeemed them, confirming that the flash-sideways have a mysterious purpose beyond just simply being an alternate timeline.

Wednesday, April 7th
Loved: South Park (14x4)

South Park took on Facebook this week with "You Have 0 Friends," easily the best episode of this new season so far. Randy's obsession with Facebook friends, Stan's reluctance to join, and Kyle's new "friend" were the highlights for me. The episode lost a little of its momentum and charm when Stan was literally sucked into Facebook, amusingly depicted with Tron graphics, but everything else was so good that the episode as a whole still worked.

Thursday, April 8th
Liked: Fringe (2x17), Survivor (20x9)

Fringe's ridiculously titled "Olivia. In The Lab. With The Revolver." (the episode only marginally involved the game of Clue) was a solid standalone episode that ended up tying into the series mythology in a satisfying way.

Up to this point in Survivor Heroes & Villains, Sandra has been doing nothing, flying under the radar, apparently hoping to win the game again with the same lame play style. But in this week's episode, without Boston Rob to hide under, Sandra had to make a move, and she deviously turned Russell against Coach. Even though Courtney is more skeletal and useless than ever, the smarter members of the Villains tribe couldn't sway Russell from his mission to boot "the Dragonslayer." Bravo, Sandra!

Friday, April 9th
Loved: Spartacus (1x12)
Liked: Stargate Universe (1x12)

As the penultimate episode of this first season of Spartacus Blood and Sand, "Revelations" promised a lot of changes to come for this series in next week's season finale. The titular revelations didn't come until the latter half of the episode, but when they started coming, hoo boy... Almost every secret from this first season was revealed in a series of tightly plotted scenes, some expected, some startling, and some extremely satisfying.

In Stargate Universe's "Divided," the civilians took advantage of various military distractions to attempt mutiny, with relatively mild consequences to their inevitable failure. The alien threat from last week also returned to throw a wrench into the works. The character work this week was stronger than last, reminding us viewers who some of these people are and why we should care.

Saturday, April 10th
Loved: Doctor Who (5x2)
Liked: Legend of the Seeker (2x16)

"The Beast Below" was a rather silly episode of Doctor Who, but I still enjoyed it a hell of a lot. Matt Smith continued to be terrific as the new doctor, Amy Pond (the super cute Karen Gillan) continued to be a great companion, and Steven Moffat continued to be a great writer. The dialogue elevated this episode above other similar themed episodes from the Davies era.

Legend of the Seeker's "Desecrated" was decent, introducing crazy new mummy mythology to the series, borrowing some of its premise from awesome 80s movie Dragonslayer, and pairing up Kahlan and Cara (always a good idea) for some fun, albeit cliche, bonding. Somehow I didn't even notice (until the pretty promising preview for next week) that the Stone of Tears storyline was completely ignored.

Sunday, April 11th
Liked: The Amazing Race (16x9)

Good riddance to Carol and Brandy. Hopefully Brent and Caite are next. Now for a brief treatise on Amazing Race gameplay and the morality of the U-Turn. It always amazes me when teams describe using the U-Turn as a dirty move. Sure, if you are U-Turned, you have every right to be pissed off, but it's not dirty. It's a smart move to U-Turn a team, to ensure your continued survival in the hunt for one million fucking dollars, and possibly eliminate a team that is challenging you for that one million fucking dollars. I always shake my head when teams elect not to U-Turn anyone. Are you fucking retarded? This is a game that you are trying to win. To win ONE MILLION FUCKING DOLLARS. Why wouldn't you do anything you could to help your team win. You don't need to be popular. There is no vote at the end. There is no social game. It's your team against the rest of the teams. Be unpopular. Be assholes. Use the fucking U-Turn so you have a better chance of winning one million fucking dollars. Okay? Okay.