Week in Review, Oct 29 to Nov 4

The Week in Music

This week's notable new music release is Weezer's "Raditude." Unfortunately, there's very little that's notable about the album itself. There are a few catchy songs, sure, but the lyrics are pretty awful throughout, and I really don't need Lil Wayne with my Weezer, thank you very much. Even 2008's inconsistent "Red Album" is better than this. The best tracks are probably "Put Me Back Together" and "I Don't Want to Let You Go." I've been listening to the Deluxe Edition which includes five bonus songs, with "Underdogs" standing out as something special.

The Week in Television

This week featured the DVD/Blu-ray release of Battlestar Galactica's final content (boo!): "The Plan." With impressive skill, the storyline weaves between footage from the mini-series and the first two seasons of the show, giving some background on what Cavill and the Cylons were up to during this time. It doesn't always work perfectly, but I definitely admired the attempt. I question the addition of a new character at this stage, but almost everything else worked brilliantly.

Thursday, October 29th
Liked: 30 Rock (4x3), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (5x7), The Office (6x7), Parks and Recreation (2x7)
Meh: The Mentalist (2x5)

The Thursday comedies were all solid this week. The Office's "Koi Pond" had plenty of good laughs; I especially enjoyed the Pam and Andy (and Erin) B-story. Parks and Recreation had a strong week with Leslie's hilarious battle vs "Greg Pikitis." Jack and Liz traveled to Kenneth's hometown in 30 Rock's "Stone Mountain," but the best laughs came from the celebrity death rule of 3s and a gay Halloween party back at the studio. In Always Sunny, "The Gang [Wrestled] for the Troops" vs poor Rickety Criket with expectedly hilarious results.

The Mentalist's Halloween ghost story episode "Red Scare" started interesting and quickly devolved into typical predictability. The characters in this show are just barely good enough to keep me watching despite the weakness of the weekly mysteries.

Friday, October 30th
Liked: Stargate Universe (1x6)

Stargate Universe's "Water" was a good but not great episode of this young series. The sequences on the ice planet played out like every "crew member in jeopardy" episode of Star Treks and Stargates past. However, it was nice to see further exploration of the alien lifeform introduced in the third part of "Air."

Sunday, November 1st
Loved: Dexter (4x6)
Liked: The Amazing Race (15x6), Bored to Death (1x7), Curb Your Enthusiasm (7x7)

Dexter's "If I Had a Hammer" was another very strong episode, albeit much slower paced than the past couple of weeks. It's still hard to believe that the plot is at this stage only halfway through the season, and I really wonder how the writers can get six more episodes out of the Dexter and Trinity relationship when Dexter is so eager to finish off Trinity. There was also some very good stuff with Deb in this episode.

Curb Your Enthusiasm's "The Black Swan" was another excellent episode, full of terrific moments and with the welcome return of Larry's father. Bored to Death won me back with "The Case of the Stolen Sperm," possibly the best episode to date thanks to the unexpected resolution to Ray's season-long sperm donation storyline and the hilarious cliffhanger.

Monday, November 2nd
Liked: The Big Bang Theory (3x6), Heroes (4x8)

Heroes' "Once Upon a Time in Texas" was a desperate yet somewhat successful attempt to recapture some glory, revisiting one of the best storylines from season one: Hiro and Charlie. One of the things that annoyed me about "Acceptance" earlier this season was the complete disregard for the time travel rules the series has established: Hiro was somehow reliving the same moments of his day over and over, when he really should have been running into his original timeline self over and over. Fortunately, the time travel rules were respected in this episode--mostly. It's pretty tough to buy in to the idea that Hiro's encounters here with season one Sylar wouldn't have drastically changed the events that followed; however, I'll grant a little dramatic license when an episode is this entertaining. It is nice to actually enjoy a Hiro storyline for a change. The writers did their best to try to ruin the episode with a completely unnecessary B-story involving Noah, but the Hiro and Charlie and Sylar material worked well enough to earn a Liked.

The Big Bang Theory's "The Cornhusker Vortex" was a good but not great episode. Sheldon schooling Leonard on football was fun, but Leonard's awkward use of those lessons with Penny's friends was too cringeworthy. I preferred the B-story with Raj and Howard's "marital" problems.

Tuesday, November 3rd
Meh: V (1x1)

I wanted to like V's "Pilot" more than I did. The series definitely has potential, now that most of the awkwardly staged setup is (hopefully) done with. The terrorist cell storyline didn't work for me at all; and I really hated to see Alan Tudyk so wasted here. But the scenes on the alien space ship were better. And I like most of the cast so far.

Wednesday, November 4th
Loved: Modern Family (1x7)
Liked: South Park (13x12)

Modern Family's "En Garde" was one of the best episodes to date, with non-stop laughs and some of the best moments in the series since Phil stole the wrong bike. The figure skating in the parking lot was hilarious, as was the scene with the slippery stairs.

Big Gay Al--awesome! With "The F Word," an episode that wasn't so much comedy as it was social commentary on the power we give words, South Park cleverly redefined the meaning and usage of "fag." Sure, there was funny stuff, but this was an episode that delivered more with its message than its laughs. So, from now on, everyone remember: fags are Harley riders!