America's Next Top Model: 6
One word: Predictable. After Celia was booted off last week, the ending was ridiculously easy to guess. Aminat and Teyona could not be the final two because they are too similar. I know it's bad to be like, they can't have two tall, skinny, black girls left, but it's true. They want to appeal to more of an audience. So, Allison was basically guaranteed a spot in the final two (and guess who was called first?) as the last white girl, and Teyona was obviously the stronger of the remaining two (if not the rest of the competition). Even though Teyona kind of blew her commercial, she was good throughout most of the show. Allison was so often criticized during the season that I found it funny that they complimented her endlessly in the final judging. I think they wanted to make it seem like it was close. In the end, they are gonna choose somebody that can pass as the strongest pick and someone that adds variety to the list of winners. I don't think there has been an African American girl since Saleisha, so it was time to mix it up. I liked Allison better, but I think Teyona deserved to win. So Top Model you pass for another season. Predictable, but fair. PS...I love the finales because you feel like you've watched the contestants grow up, and you always feel a bit proud despite all the Tyra craziness =)
Dancing with the Stars: 8
YAY SHAWN AND MARK! I pretty much called Melissa coming in third. It would have been a long shot to have two females in the final two, and Shawn was the stronger of the two. I didn't vote too often, but the last two weeks I gave all my votes to Shawn. Gilles was great, but they praised him way too much and gave vague critiques to the others. They would make suggestions that wouldn't even make sense and then claim Gilles should get 11's. Geez. Calm down judges. In the end, the finale was great. You get to see all the old people come back that you forgot were on the show (minus unforgettable Lil Kim who was always fun and entertaining), and you get to see all the cheesy montages about the final three rivalry. I took off two points for the following. First, the Roast. That was just awkward and uncomfortable. This show is family oriented and fun and it just felt weird making inappropriate jokes at the expense of everyone, including a 17 year old who won our country a gold medal. Yeah, don't mock what you can't achieve yourself. The other point is for the announcement that Samantha Harris is going to play Roxie on Broadway. Really? Really? Deduction.
Desperate Housewives: 7
This finale was pretty good, but not fantastic. Wrapping up the Dave story was a relief, but I felt like we already knew everything by the finale. It would have been better to maybe reveal something else about his back story that was relevant instead of just having the showdown....which wasn't much of a showdown. It seemed slightly anti-climactic to me. MJ just gets out of the car and is fine in one minute? I mean, I know they couldn't kill the little guy, but maybe add some suspense. Then they just rush from that scene to a mysterious wedding to claim there is a cliffhanger, but honestly, I don't really care if Mike marries Katherine or Susan. I would be okay with either. I feel bad for Katherine because she reminds me of Juliet on Lost. No complicated current storyline, but somehow always gets screwed by the crazy female star of the show's drama. The storyline with Gaby is kind of lame, too, seeing as how it was already used with Lynette's evil step-daughter. It would be nice to see the hard parts of raising a teenager, but having a girl that controls the husband is played out. I hope they keep that plot line in check when the season returns. Bree kissing Carl? OBVIOUS. I saw that coming a million miles away. And Lynette getting pregnant? Also obvious as the scene got closer. I guess it is an okay twist, but we already did the million Scavo kids thing. I'd like to see Tom learn Chinese instead. So yes, good episode, but a little too predictable and safe. The other season finales for this show were much more exciting.
Dollhouse: 7
Dollhouse peaked a bit on the surprise shockers in the episode before the season finale. Finding out who Alpha is and greatly hinting that Dr. Saunders is a doll toned down the excitement of the finale. However, since the show was on the fence of being renewed, it made sense that the finale would need to wrap up some of the plot in case it was a series finale. I feel like it wrapped up a short, but great first season, and really set the tone for the rest of the show. I'm glad it got renewed because now that they have caught up the audience on Alpha's history, the show can start up new drama. It would be great to see Caroline through to the end of her Dollhouse time. I gave the finale a seven because it kept the excitement up, brought up a few questions to keep you interested, and answered a lot of questions for those who have been watching all season. Good job Joss. I wonder how your 13th episode (unaired) follows the finale.
Gossip Girl: 5
Okay, you were a hot mess sometimes. I feel like this episode tried to do way too many things in one hour, and most of the plot twists all came in the last 5 minutes. Too much Gossip Girl, too much. First of all, Graduation Day. Everything is going okay, and then for some reason, no one turns off their cell phone during the ceremony and everyone gets the same loud text message that doesn't even make the speaker skip a beat. And then the message is supposed to be so horrible, but all it does is call the main characters bad names. Really? That happens in elementary school and people move on. But no. Everyone bands together to take down Gossip Girl because of this. I would think maybe all the stuff she revealed earlier would cause a war, but no, just simple name calling set off the war. After feeble attempts to uncover Gossip Girl, everyone laughs and giggles in the end when they realize they are all gossip girls. Wow. I'm glad Blair and Chuck got together, but it seemed too cheesy for them the way it happened. I think they overdid the whole I love you/I don't love you thing and then tried to quickly make up for it. Too late. I would have been happier with a reunion had it not been the third attempt in a single episode. Lily and Rufus' son trying to find them again....meh. I don't really care too much. I also don't care about the on again/off again affair between those characters. I think the writers think splitting people up keeps people interested, but you can only do it a certain number of times before it gets old. I did like the Jenny storyline with Blair helping her, and it will be nice to see Georgina in the show again. I had forgotten completely she existed, but her character is well written. As I said, the last 5 minutes were ridiculously drama filled, and the most ridiculous plot twist was Serena finding out her dad is in Fiji. I felt like I was watching a bad soap opera. Overall, good. But I think the writers try to hard and don't know how to logically progress a relationship.
Grey's Anatomy: 8
This finale was prettygood. Usually I'm kind of meh about Grey's during the year, but am always fairly happy with their finales. This was no exception. Izzie's struggles were poignant and not overdone. I liked the scary parts when she was having her memory pre-tested and when she kept repeating herself. The reactions from the other characters during these times and background music helped me feel the tension of what was going on and feel emotionally invested. I was also happy with the friend character they gave her to talk to (and not just because she is a Gilmore Girls alum). The small subplots like the post it wedding, George's intervention plan (loved the roles they gave everyone!), Bailey's decision, and Arizona's history about her brother all kept the episode going and gave you a break from the main drama points. As soon as John Doe was wheeled in I knew it was someone we knew. Since we had just seen George, I didn't guess him. I first thought Sloane, but after seeing him, assumed I was *probably* wrong. Then I thought maybe it was Meredith's dad since they had recently brought him back, but gave up on this guess when the surviving girl described how she didn't look at him because he wasn't really cute. Then I was stumped. As soon as they said George wasn't at the hospital, it clicked. I liked Alex a lot in this episode, too. His notecard strategy was both funny and meaningful. I loved how they ended with Izzie retaining her memory, but then the show crashed for me. Izzie just going limp was so random and didn't really make sense. I think it would have been more meaningful if she showed some type of symptom before going unconscious, such as bleeding or slurred speech. It was too much too fast. This added on to realizing it's George made the last 5 minutes too intense. George was obviously injured, but he was stable when Meredith was talking to him. And then all of the sudden they are rushing him to surgery? He should have flatlined or something right after telling Meredith to make the run to surgery logical. So yes. Good episode. Last 5 minutes could have been written better in my opinion, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. I think Izzie will survive and George will either die, or live but leave the show to go off in the army.
Lost: 4
Lost, lost, lost. WTF. I was ridiculously unimpressed with you. This might be because I waited to watch you until Thursday and had seen exciting Facebook status updates about you to build up the hype, but by the end, I was bored. Jacob's scenes to me were absolutely pointless. We get it. You get around. Even his interactions that helped piece together some survivors' history (like how Nadia died and why Hurley got on the plane), weren't really enough to really be meaningful. The whole Locke thing also seemed very pointless and just a way to confuse your audience AGAIN. I mean seriously. Now I have no clue who those new island people are or who the Jacob counterpart man/Locke ghost is. That better go somewhere. And then the whole plot in the 70's. I like how comfortable everyone was with carrying a hydrogen bomb around about as carefully as an elementary school kid with a backpack. Although to be fair, I would have played fetch with it had I known dropping it down an abyss wouldn't set it off. And poor Juliette. It's not enough that you permanently live in Kate's shadow, but they kill you by wrapping you with chains being pulled by an electromagnetic force......that drag you to a horrible fall......that doesn't even kill you let alone knock you unconscious. I would have beat the crap out of the hydrogen bomb, too, to get out my frustration at the producers. I feel the episode ended too soon. Lost usually ends with something like the bomb going off and then some one minute cryptic scene. Maybe showing them all on the plane with one person having their memory of everything perhaps? I dunno. The finale was also lacking a Jin/Sun reunion. Showing their wedding is not the same writers. Don't try to appease me with flashbacks. This episode just seemed like filler to me. A bridge of sorts to the final season. Here's hoping this all comes together well.
The Office: 6
If this wasn't a season finale, it would have been a good episode. I think 1 hour Office finales are always better, but that is just my opinion. The Pam/Jim development was cute, but easy to guess from the episode of description of "Pam and Jim get good news." That usually points to a baby bump. I liked that Michael didn't go after Holly and came off as the good guy, but it seemed like a letdown of a plot line because it didn't really go anywhere. I would have done a shot of Holly by herself crying a bit or something to show she still loved him. Then it would have been more hopeful? I dunno. I enjoyed the Dwight/Jim cooperation with the prank in the beginning and the Volleyball tournament. It was a cute little thing to add. I also liked seeing a different branch's Toby equivalent. As brief as that scene was, I was amused. Good episode. *Okay* season finale.
Saturday Night Live: 4
I am ONLY giving you a 4 because 1) You did a Celebrity Jeopardy skit which is the reason I started watching this show in middle school. 2) I was able to play spot the celebrity with you having about 10 guest stars, half of which were old cast members. 3) Green Day did a good job. I like their second song, 21 Guns. I will probably download it later. And 4) Tom Hanks in a dry cleaning bag....I don't know why, but this was hysterical to me. You followed the Justin Timberlake episode which was 9 quality (10 if Ciara hadn't performed her awful numbers), so I understand you had a lot to live up to. You fell pretty flat, and seemed desperate with all the guest stars, but I still liked those 4 parts mentioned above.
Smallville: 2
I hate you Smallville. You hype up Doomsday for an ENTIRE season and then barely show him in the finale. Doomsday is the only villain in the Superman lore that actually killed Superman. Smallville took a different spin on who Doomsday is (making him half human) and they developed this whole intricate plot line for Chloe in which she is the only one who can keep the beast at bay. Then they are just like, she doesn't work anymore, let's split his human part from his Kryptonian part. The next 5 minutes encompass the following: Kryptonian part goes crazy in the city. Clark shows up and gets thrown pretty hard, so he pushes him back by jumping Doomsday into the air and crushing him down a tunnel to the center of the Earth. Fiery explosion. Human side of Doomsday turns out to be evil, too, and stabs and kills Jimmy Olsen for no reason, and Jimmy kills him back right before he dies. Clark is somehow alive and fine at Jimmy's funeral. WTF. Clark makes the decision that he is weak because he thought saving Doomsday's human side was important and it backfired, so he says "Clark Kent is dead" and walks out the door. Ummmm, what just happened? I feel like the writers didn't think out the finale and pulled an all nighter the day before shooting to come up with something passing as a script. I had high hopes for this episode, but I really can't think of anything worth complimenting. I would maybe say Jimmy finding out Clark is "the red/blue blur" but he died, so it doesn't really matter. I should have seen that coming. People who know Clark is Superman have a high mortality rate. I can't see how they can salvage this show unless they use time travel to re-do the finale, but I will still watch since I have given this show 8 years of my life.
Supernatural: 7
My standards were uber-low going into this seeing as how I just finished Smallville's finale, but this show pulled off a good end to their season. I was happy right when it started because they did a montage of what happened up until then to "Carry on my Wayward Son," a Rock Band favorite of mine because I recognized the song from Supernatural's pre-finale re-cap last year. The plot twist that Ruby has been evil all along (a character that has been around for two seasons) was surprising and satisfying. I didn't really see it coming until right before it was revealed. I also liked Dean forgiving Sam and trying to save his brother after everything. That was heartening. I feel good knowing that even thought the show ended with Lucifer about to be released from hell, at least the brothers made up =) The chemistry between the two stars I feel is the driving force of the show, and it is much more fun to watch them banter then be all dramatic alone and fighting each other. I'm hoping that next season is less intense and gets back more to individual episodes (the first season was more freak of the week, while this one was very heavy on an ongoing storyline). I will miss Castiel if he doesn't make it back next season. He was a great character as an angel conflicted by whether god's word is what's right. He kind of looked like he was gonna die, but we'll see.
Ugly Betty: 6
I really like how much Mark was in this episode. Michael Urie is great in his role, and I love when they give him material that goes beyond just interacting with Wilhelmina and Amanda (although that dialogue is great, too). His short talk with Justin was great. I think it's amazing that they are building a mentor/mentee relationship between them. I always enjoy when he and Betty work together since that is so rare, so I appreciated the scene where they both stuck together and agreed to resign if one of them was not chosen as editor. I'm glad Betty was chosen. I really thought that they would either make them two junior editors to share the position, or give it to Mark to make more drama for Betty. But surprise, surprise. She got it. I am really starting to hate Matt. He is pretty annoying and now that he has no direction and is blindly taking over as a boss at Mode to get back at Betty? Sigh. It would be better if he was just hurt. Then I could feel sorry for him and like him better because he is the victim. Henry coming back was fun, but kind of pointless. Why didn't he come back earlier when Betty was single? I knew there was no hope for them, and yet the writers toyed with my emotions and had them confessing they still love each other on a bench. Oh, and then had them kiss for a minute and then just walk off. I just threw my hands up in the air at the whole thing. And of course Matt would be right there to see it. Of course. Rachael Dratch falling off a building was hillarious. I think that is the only time I will be able to say that sentence. Daniel's wife's exit was nice. It was emotional enough without being crazy over the top. It seemed right that the episode would end with Betty being there to offer her support. The episode was okay, but seeing Henry again made me miss the good ol' episodes of Season 1, especially Secretaries Day, where Henry dons medieval armor to battle for Betty's honor.
love the new blog, Kelly! I look forward to reading, especially since these are shows I don't watch normally or write about on my blog. best of luck this summer!
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