Week in Review, Apr 26 to May 1

The Week in Video Games

On Sunday afternoon, I finally played through the two Assassin's Creed II DLC packs, "Battle of Forli" and "Bonfire of the Vanities." Other than some minor issues with buggy audio in a couple of scenes, I really enjoyed both DLC packs. Because (I believe) these DLC packs were content that was cut from the retail game at the last minute due to production issues, they don't feel out of place in the overall storyline, and in fact add some interesting new elements. I whipped through the first pack in just over an hour, so it's arguably pretty sparse for content, but the second pack is quite substantial, even including a new section of Florence to explore. And one of the assassinations in the second pack is easily the hardest in the entire game.

The Week in Television

The first half of the week was pretty light for TV, and with Chuck out of the way and the weather being shitty, I needed something to watch. Not quite ready to dive into Breaking Bad, I remembered that I still had two Top Gear episodes from the 2009 series to watch. One of which was the South America special (14x6). I don't know why I didn't watch this special earlier, but goddamn, it was bloody fantastic. And easily the funniest thing I watched all week. So now I need to track down the rest of the specials and watch them. I generally enjoy the regular episodes, just not quite enough to dip into the back catalog, but that special was... uh, well, special.

Monday, April 26th
Loved: Chuck (3x14)
Meh: House (6x18)

With "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners," the writers have thrown down extremely strong evidence that they can make Chuck and Sarah work as a couple. Almost everything about this episode was fantastic, starting with Chuck and Sarah being adorable as well as an impressive spy team (the hand-cuffed fight sequence at the end of the episode was probably the best fight sequence this series has ever produced), but also including Casey and Morgan as a hilarious yet effective support team, General Beckman as a secret 'shipper, and Jeffster making their triumphant return to the series.

Tuesday, April 27th
Liked: Glee (1x16)

I was actually pretty unimpressed with the musical moments in Glee's "Home." But, fortunately, the story was stronger this week, especially in the case of Kurt's machinations to get Finn living under the same roof as him. I became a fan of Glee not because of the music, but because of the twisted shit these characters were doing to each other early in the series, and it's nice to have that element back.

Wednesday, April 28th
Liked: Modern Family (1x21), South Park (14x7)

South Park headed into its summer hiatus with "Crippled Summer," an inconsequential but funny episode with two loosely linked storylines. In the first, Towelie returned, still as high as ever, and was forced into a pretty great parody of Intervention. The frequent title cards and faux-dramatic music made this parody work, despite Towelie being really played out. Towelie's job (as a towel) at a summer camp for handicapped kids was the link to storyline number, involving Jimmy (and to a lesser extent, Timmy) and his rivalry with hilarious nemeses Nathan and Mimsy.

"Travels With Scout" was another solid Modern Family episode, bringing the awesome Fred Willard back as Phil's dad and establishing Cameron's mad drummer skills in a pretty hilarious B-plot. The C-plot with Jay accidentally exposing Manny to a horror movie was less successful. Most importantly, Luke as a dog was comedy gold.

Thursday, April 29th
Loved: Parks and Recreation (2x21)
Liked: 30 Rock (4x19), Fringe (2x20), The Office (6x23), Survivor (20x12)

Parks and Recreation was the best of NBC's comedies this week. "94 Meetings" was pretty fantastic, making great use of the entire cast. Having Ron hire April as his assistant was a genius move this season, along with having April fall for Andy. This series now has the heart that The Office has mostly lost.

The Office had a good week with "Body Language." Dwight and Kelly, and to a slightly lesser extent Darryl and Gabe, were hilarious in their storyline. Micheal's awkward flirting with Donna was hard to watch, but the ending provided the perfect redemption. And Jim and Pam were cute together again.

"Argus" was another consistently funny, thoroughly nonsensical 30 Rock episode. I don't know how they made a peacock so damn funny.

Fringe's "Brown Betty" was easily the most fucked up thing on TV this week. In a drug induced state, Walter told a noir-ish, slightly musical story that was basically a big crazy metaphor for his relationship with Peter. With mechanical hearts. I felt the episode could have embraced the musical element much more than it did; if you are going to do something this weird, you should go all the way.

After last week's crazy awesome tribal council made the rest of the season pretty predictable, it wasn't surprising that this week's Survivor was pretty predictable. Good-bye Heroes, one by one.

Friday, April 30th
Loved: Party Down (2x2), Stargate Universe (1x15)
Liked: The Ricky Gervais Show (1x10)

"Lost" was definitely one of the best Stargate Universe episodes to date. Lots of cool sci-fi, lots of excellent character moments, an unexpectedly bleak ending (again!), and interesting backstory. I'm totally back on board with this show again.

"Precious Lights Pre-school Auction" was a pretty great episode of Party Down. It's too bad nobody watched it. I love the new dynamic this season with Ron as employee and Henry as conscientious boss.

Saturday, April 31st
Loved: Doctor Who (5x5), Legend of the Seeker (2x19)

There was a lot to love in Doctor Who's "Flesh and Stone," another strong entry from Steven Moffat. The story was resolved satisfactorily, the character work was well above par for this series, the Weeping Angels were scary (mostly), and it zipped along at an amazing pace. There were a couple questionable moments, though. Moffat created the Weeping Angels, so I guess he can make up whatever rules he wants to for them, but there was a scene in this episode that didn't really fit what we've previously been shown about them. And then there was the crazy ending scene. Wow, WTF was that?

Now that Legend of the Seeker has officially been canceled, it's a tad bittersweet. This second season has not lived up to the first for me, so in some ways I'm glad the series won't have a chance to fall any further, but at the same time, I will miss my weekly fantasy fix. And it would figure that the series would finally start getting awesome again this week with "Extinction," an episode that finally had the dramatic weight that this Stone of Tears arc deserved.

Sunday, May 1st
Liked: The Amazing Race (16x11)

Ugh, how did Brent and Caite make it into the final? I have to admit that it is pretty awesome that Caite is always claiming that her actions on this show are going to help erase her reputation as an ignorant idiot, and then she is the only person that can't fucking count in a challenge. Sorry, Caite; it's not working. Anyway, next week (ie. the finale), go cowboys!