Trophy Wife 1.09 Review: Payback, Set-ups, and Relationships

Anyone that has yet to watch tonight’s episode of Trophy Wife, entitled ‘Russ Bradley Morrison’, now would be a good time to go and do that. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

So this series seems to be shaping up to becoming a nice, light, family friendly sitcom. This episode was not exception. Kate ended up having to chaperone Warren’s museum trip – alongside Diane. This caused her to try and set Diane up to “get some”, which revealed that she was actually dating the man, and had been for two years. Honestly, if it were me, I would want to be able to tell people I was dating someone, if it had been that long. But Diane’s neurotic and dislikes failure, so there’s some trouble there for her.

Elsewhere, to get back at Pete, who had become sick, for knowingly letting Kate take over chaperoning duties with none other than Diane, Kate sicked Jackie on Pete. Now, as someone who normally enjoys Jackie’s character and all her ridiculousness, and for most of the episode I did, it became a little repetitive towards the end of the episode. I’m finding that her lack of desire to work is becoming a bit bothersome, and her character annoying. Hopefully this is just a one-time occurrence because I find this show nice and comical.

The third storyline of the episode was between Hillary, Bert, and Bert’s teacher. I have to say that I really enjoyed getting to see Hillary and Bert interact one on one because I don’t think we’ve seen much of that before. And I definitely enjoyed Hillary standing up for herself as being a go-getter, not a suck up. That being said, these characters have become a little too perfect in their problems. They’re seeming a little too superficial for my liking, and I’d really like to see just a bit of drama and depth to them. I realize this is a sitcom, but I believe that could be balanced in well.

All in all, this is a very easy sitcom. There’s not too much brainpower needed, but it’s not dumb funny – which I hate – either. There also isn’t a whole lot of preparation needed to watch this series, or much that needs remembering on a week-to-week basis. This is definitely an easy series for me to watch each week, and with my bad memory sometimes not needing to recall every little detail is a good thing.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Nobody cares about sophomores.” – Pete states, regarding the fact that he could still chaperone, despite being sick.

“I see your Diane and I raise you a Jackie.” – Kate mutters to Pete.

“She called me a suck up?” – Hillary mutters to herself, insulted.

“I want you.” – Diane whispers. “Take me.” – Russ whispers back. “Ew.” – Kate retorts.

Okay, I’m going to go review Supernatural now, and don’t expect a happy review of that. Stay tuned.

Nashville 2.08 Review: Get Tough Or Move On

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Nashville, entitled ‘Hanky Panky Woman’, now would be a good time to go and do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

As always, this series brought it this week. This series is easily the most consistently good show on television. I really feel like I’m invested in these people’s lives, that I’m in it with them, and that inclusion is beyond brilliant writing and acting. This season is definitely building on how good last year was and just making it even better. I actually enjoy watching this every week and am sad that I now have to wait two weeks for a new episode.

We learned a lot about the characters this week. Jeff toyed with Scarlett before her very first stadium performance and it ended up kind of crushing her, but then she seemed to make a comeback the next night. Problem is, it seems like she’s not too happy with all that performing and fame bring, so basically she’s just going to fake it. She did really well performing the second night, I’m not sure why she wouldn’t think she’s good enough, but insecurities do that to a person.

While Raina and Luke heated things up in their relationship, both physical and musical, including an amazing duet, which I’m going to say Gunnar and Scarlett did better, her troubles with Jeff hit its climax. Basically the man sequestered her masters only for her to go out and do a duet partially in hopes that it would help him get his quarterly so that she might get her masters back. Definitely some brilliant back and forth between them tonight. Also, does anyone else agree with me that Jeff has a thing for Raina beyond a work relationship?

Elsewhere, Juliette’s relationship with both Charlie and his wife got mixed up. Olivia basically made it appear as though Charlie had told her and thought it would be a good idea if they hooked up too. I was not at all surprised by Juliette’s reaction, and was quite proud of her speech to the couple spurred on by advice from Avery – who we all know she has feelings for in some capacity. And then Charlie shows up at the end and says he’s falling in love with Juliette. Major (girl) squeal moment right there. I kind of adore Charlie, so I’m hoping something persists between the two because I’d be utterly disappointed if he stopped showing up on my television every week.

All in all, this week was a quality episode. Raina looked amazing, particularly her hair when she sang that duet with Luke. Scarlett also looked fantastic with her make-up both nights and her hair with the pink tips. Deacon looked like his character was going to move forward with a life away from the guitar but still consisting of music. And everyone else had some nice, quality progression for each of their individual storylines. Also, nice throw back to the first time Scarlett and Gunnar practiced poolside together. It really made me miss them performing together. This series really is a nice, homegrown, drama-filled, heartwarming, character production.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no one I can’t say ‘screw you’ to.” – Juliette explains to her manager.

“Well, you ain’t dead yet.” Scarlett says to Deacon, after he tells her that he’s screwed up every solo career chance he’s had.

Alright, I’m off to watch the last new Revolution episode of the year before it goes on its winter hiatus, and God knows how long that’s going to be. Afterwards, I’ll be checking out American Horror Story: Coven, so stay tuned.

Nashville 2.07 Review: Doing What's Right For Those You Love

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Nashville, entitled ‘She’s Got You’, I suggest that you go do that before reading ahead, or exit the screen now. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

WHAT? Okay, no, really, WHAT? Olivia is gay? Or at least bi? I am so flabbergasted right now; I did not expect that at all. I’m so very… I don’t even know what to say to that. All the power to her, if she is, but she is still married, even if her husband is cheating on her, with the same woman she wants to sleep with. I can’t even recall Juliette ever being into women before, so I’m certainly intrigued to see how that exchange goes next week. I have a feeling Olivia may blackmail her if Juliette doesn’t go along with it, but that’s not something that goes over well with Juliette.

Now that I’m through with that extreme shocker, I have to say that I’m really liking the progression of the stories in this series. It feels very natural for a lot of them. Raina moving forward with Luke and her family, putting Maddie first when it comes to Deacon so that the two of them can have a relationship. Also, Juliette and Charlie’s relationship, how she really doesn’t want anything from him, she wants to be able to get places on her own, but at the same time she uses certain things to her advantage. In that way, she’s surprisingly smart; making it look like she got Santa fired and rehired, just to show him she was the one with the power. While I don’t expect their thing to last, I kind of wish it could between Charlie and Juliette because they fit so well together.

Deacon’s struggle with singing without a guitar, something that is more natural to him was extremely well done. I loved seeing him try to dance with the mike rather than what he’s used to, but he hadn’t gotten the natural thing down quite well. I also loved the fact that the first bar he sang in had turned into a comedy club, so he basically had to man up, especially for Maddie’s sake. It was also a really strange relationship between him and Avery this week, but strange in a good way. I definitely like the way they’re going with this character, redeeming him in the way they’re choosing to do.

There were a lot of great moments to this week’s episode. While I’m still not on the bandwagon of Zoey and Gunnar, I did like seeing the way he maneuvered the rights to his song in order to get a break. Definitely going to be awkward having him and Charlotte on the same tour bus, but interesting all the same. Loved seeing Raina shooting a gun to distract herself from her ex-husband’s wedding. Also Maddie’s fears about being replaced were realistic and nicely done, and nicely resolved, for now. I’m still very intrigued by what way they’re going to go with this Peggy thing.

All in all, this is a very good series to be watching. It’s a nice, easy, very grounded soap that I love watching every week. No, I’m not constantly excited by what’s going on, but I love the fact that it’s not completely out there with the drama, and how very homegrown, down to earth it really is. That definitely makes this a much watch in my books, because there isn’t a lot of that on television these days.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I don’t want to talk about this morning. Ever.” – Deacon states rushedly to Avery.

“Son of a bitch.” – Juliette mutters to her manager about Santa staging a walk out on her part of the concert.

“He always liked me, right?” – Maddie asks her mom, referring to Deacon.

All right, I’m off to watch Revolution now. After that it’ll be American Horror Story: Coven. Stay tuned.

Revenge 3.05 Review: Vulnerability can Create a Strong Relationship

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Revenge, entitled ‘Control’, I suggest that you do so immediately. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

For a late night soap opera such as Revenge, this was a very good episode. The writing was tight, the acting perfect, and the little games afoot also spot on. The red herring of Charlotte being the one that caused the car accident (to which I actually thought she had been the one to commit it, and was almost doing a happy dance for having guessed correctly for once) only to turn out to have been caused by Patrick was beautifully written and acted out. I’m curious to know why he tried to kill Conrad, but I think it may have something to do with how the weird relationship he has with his mother, and did so to try and get her out of Conrad’s clutches. But I suppose we’ll learn the answers in coming weeks, I just hope it doesn’t interfere with his relationship with Nolan because Patrick is gorgeous and Nolan deserves some honest, well-intentioned love. Plus that scene at the end: hot, with a capitol H-O-T.

One performance I was enamored with in this episode was Jack’s. His anger during the confrontation with Aiden when he has every right to have wanted Conrad dead was brilliant. Then his whole heated speech with Emily where he asks her what happened to the sweet, little girl he used to know. He really gave it his all, and I’m actually starting to remember why I loved him so much during the first season, only to find him dull last season. While Emily VanCamp is a good actress, her acting as Emily in this series is not the main reason I watch the show. It’s for the intriguing plot and all the other actors that make up the cast, and this week Nick Wechsler brought his all as Jack.

Nolan, as always, I adored in this episode. His friendship with Emily is beautiful and perfect, just the thing she needs. He seems to be the only one she is ever able to fully count on, or trust, because we all know Aiden is a loose canon. Aiden, who tried to threaten Jack out of town, and I believe Emily only said those things to because she saw Jack moving on. I would’ve liked to have seen a little bit more of a loose canon from this week, and for his jealousy to come through a little more clearly, like it seemed to have done in the promo for the episode.

As Emily began to lose her control of Daniel, Nolan gave her a solid piece of advice, to give him a piece of herself despite her incredible aversion to him. She took it to heart and masterfully weaved a bit of her honest vulnerability into the life of Emily Thorne. The tears solidified her character’s ability to both act, and show the side of her she so rarely shows. And just like that, dimwitted Daniel is like putty in her hand. That innocence in his eyes as she told him part of her familial story just told me how naïve he really is. Compared to Charlotte, who is growing to become a younger, more polished version of her mother, Daniel is definitely the artist type.

All in all, I quite enjoyed this episode. Seeing the straining muscles in Patrick as he shed clothing and also while he painted. Also seeing Jack’s nice abs as he totted Carl around was wonderful. Emily was beautifully dressed for the launch party for the magazine Daniel works for, with her hair and jewelry perfect. As in most of this season, I also enjoyed Charlotte’s look a great deal throughout this episode, including her ensemble as she told Conrad she had been the saboteur, and her hair during the dress shopping. The emotions, the writing, the acting, it was all just great for this series.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Phones still have numbers?” – Nolan sarcastically asks Patrick in rebuttal.

“But then again, I’m just a self-made billionaire with a 170 IQ, what do I know?” – Nolan remarks to Emily, in reference to Aiden’s accountability.

Alright, folks, that’s all for tonight. Check back in tomorrow for reviews of How I Met Your Mother and The Blacklist. Bones and Sleepy Hollow don’t return until November 4^th.

Trophy Wife 1.04 Review: True Friendship Can Survive Harrowing Trials

Anyone that has yet to watch tonight’s episode of Trophy Wife, entitled ‘The Breakup’, then now would be a good time to go and do that. As always, this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Not a bad episode of television. While I don’t think Trophy Wife will be winning any awards for writing or refreshing takes on life, it is a nice and easy sitcom to sit down and watch for half an hour.

The friendship between Kate and Meg was tested a bit in this week’s episode, something that must happen in all close relationships, when a new dynamic is explored. Sure, Meg isn’t the smartest person out there, but she balances out Kate nicely. I can really see, while not at a deep level, that these two women have been friends for a very long time. It’s not as easy to see as in long running series, like How I Met Your Mother, where the audience has seen the relationship develop over time, but there is a clear history there.

Hillary is beginning to get a little on my nerves though. While she may appear to be growing up to be just like her mother Diane, there is an obvious spoiled syndrome going on with her. Sure she’s seen her father going through two failed marriages, but she seems a little too anti Kate sometimes. It be nice to see her soften up to her once in a while.

As well, Diane has become a little too smothering. I get that the writers want to keep these ex-wives in and out of newly married Kate and Pete’s lives, but she’s encroaches a little too often into her children’s lives. Particularly this week with Warren, where she snoops on his studying at not her home, but his father’s. That was a little too much for her character, I think it’d be a good time to scale it back just a tad.

So, yes, this series needs some work when it comes to developing a little more depth to its characters, but the stories are nice and easy to follow along with. There are some easy laughs, and some funny characters that I do like in this show. The only problem with it is that I wouldn’t be heartbroken if it were cancelled.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“It’s due in three weeks.” – Hillary says, regarding her ruined project.

“You want me to pee in another cup? I’ll do it!” – Meg shouts, claiming innocence over the ruined project.

“Are you talking about our honeymoon?” – Pete asks Meg, who says her best friend vanished for a week after the wedding.

All right, I’m off to watch Supernatural, then it’s The Originals time. Stick around.