How I Met Your Mother 9.12 Review: Life is Full of Surprises

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother, entitled ‘The Rehearsal Dinner’, now would be a good time to go and do that. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

This is going to be short and sweet, because I am very tired, and I have two more reviews to catch up on, so here goes.

Last night’s episode was much better than the episode before it, mostly because it didn’t have anything to do with rhymes. Honestly, I have no plans to ever rewatch that episode; it was terrible. But anyways, I really enjoyed how flashback heavy this episode was, particularly the flashback sequence where the gang all spits off the many bad ideas Barney has had. I’m definitely happiest when there are more flashbacks in an episode, so that I get to see the gang in New York City, versus the terribly situated inn where the wedding is being held.

That being said, this series is about halfway through its final season and only twenty-two hours are left until the wedding, and it’s feeling a bit hokey. As anyone that has read my previous reviews regarding this season will know, I’m still not happy with the way this season is going. It just feels like it’s dragging on and going nowhere. This is all just a bit too much for me. All of this could honestly have been settled in a handful of episodes.

My biggest problem with this season is not that everything is occurring over this one, really long, weekend, but more so that almost all of the episodes have felt like unnecessary filler. We really didn’t need that one poker episode, or most of the terribly done Halloween episode. We also didn’t need to include Anna Camp’s character, or the Friday night cocktails where Ted chose a woman unwisely. A lot of these things were completely unnecessary, so much so that I’ve only really liked about three or four episodes this season. It really is disappointing.

All in all, I’m wishing that the writers would pick up the pace a bit and get to the juicier stuff. While it was funny watching Ted dress like Liberace and almost be able to figure skate, but otherwise this episode was too hokey for my taste. I really am hoping the second half of this season is better.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Puppies!” – Barney enthuses, after pretending to break off his engagement to Robin and surprises her with the bundles of joy.

“You’re a fricken weirdo.” – Lily calls Barney, to which Ted concurs.

“Isn’t that right, Theodore?” – Barney questions Ted, getting up in his face.

“Poppycock!” – Barney utters.

“Well dog my cats, what are the chances?” – Barney expresses.

Okay, that’s one Monday show down, two to go. Check back shortly for my review of Almost Human, and afterwards The Blacklist.

Once Upon A Time 3.06 Review: There Are Such Things As Second Chances

All those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Once Upon A Time, entitled ‘Ariel’, here’s where I suggest that you do that before reading ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Once Upon A Time finally delved into The Little Mermaid treasure trove with our very own Ariel, Eric, and Ursula. JoAnna Garcia Swisher played the titular character in this week’s episode, and while I wasn’t as convinced with the casting decision as a lot of people seemed to be, being that she appeared a little older than she should’ve been, I was pleasantly surprised. Of the three new fabled characters we met this week – although we didn’t completely meet the real Ursula – she was the one I was happiest with. She was actually good at portraying the innocent, yet curious mermaid, and wasn’t half bad by this series standards. Eric, on the other hand, was a little ridiculously written. Maybe there is a thing such as love at first sight, but the way the prince was played and written just made me see him as a kind of dud with no personality. They’re kind of ruining my second favourite Disney movie, after already ruining my first (Beauty and the Beast).

For the most part this week, I wasn’t all that happy with the flashback scenes. Sure I liked the way Ariel’s personality was portrayed, at least in the beginning, but the way Regina pretended to be Ursula was like the actress was trying to mimic the animated movie character instead of making it her own person. Plus Regina was just way too overdone in the flashbacks. It’s like this series is trying to be over-the-top when it comes to acting and writing. Also, while the octopus tentacles looked decently realistic, the actress looked ridiculous pretending to be Ursula, especially with how fake that hair looked.

Elsewhere in the episode, I was happy to see Hook actually tell the Charmings that Neal is both alive, and in Neverland. He doesn’t seem to be going back to his conniving self, he appears to be turning into a better man because of Emma, and that’s something that I love. So basically, everyone – except for Regina – makes their way towards where the trail to Neal leads, and have to reveal their darkest secret. David’s was obvious, but Snow’s was saddening because of David’s secret. Complete squeal moment when it came to Hook’s, who never thought he could love again. Good on the writers to make it so that everyone doesn’t just get one True Love, a person can find another, that makes it possible for them to back themselves into a wall. Emma’s secret was little less encouraging, mostly because I’d’ve expected hers to be about how she didn’t know if she could forgive Neal for leaving her and not coming back for her when he’d learned she’d broken the curse. But then, maybe that’s already been dealt with. I am excited to see this love triangle going ahead, mostly because it isn’t the center of the universe in this series – unlike The Vampire Diaries – and because, like with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I keep going back and forth with who I want her to be with. I think, I think I want her to be with Hook, but then Neal so obviously loves her too, and I loved Emma’s flashback scene last year when they were falling in love. It’s a complete conundrum for me, but it keeps me watching, so I commend the writers for being able to do that.

All in all, I was happier with the present day scenes wherever Emma was involved, as well as Hook. Ariel is also a curious character going forward that I’d like to see more of, but Eric needs more personality, not sure how happy I am about his casting. Pan, while not inherent in this episode, was good as always, and it was interesting to learn Belle wasn’t a figment of Rumplestiltskin’s imagination, but Pan’s shadow. And while it does create for interesting possibilities with Rumple and Regina working together, there wasn’t much to it this week that was any good.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

No lines jumped out at me this week, so I’ll just say that I took a break between reviews and watched the episode ‘The Zeppo’ of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so here this is now. I’m off to go write up the review for Revenge now, so stay tuned.

The Blacklist 1.06 Review: Love Blinds Us

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of The Blacklist, titled ‘Gina Zanetakos (No. 152)’, that are hoping to do so spoiler free, I suggest you divert your gaze from this blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Not as solid of an episode as this series has debuted the last few weeks, but there were still a number of good things to this episode. It brought to a head the mystery box in Keen’s floorboards, as well as her husband’s possible hand in a Russian defector’s death. For now it appears that the issue may have been settled, but I can’t help but believe Reddington over Keen’s husband and Zanetakos. Why would the man leave clues that point directly at him? Reddington is smarter than that, and I thought Keen was to. But I suppose love blinds even the smartest people, and I expect this to come back around eventually.

The performances this week, I found, were a bit uneven. While I believe Megan Boone has improved her portrayal of Keen this week, James Spader’s take on Reddington this week made me feel like the guy is understated but comes off a little bland. I enjoyed the subtlety between Donald and Keen, but I would have thought Harry Lennix’s character Cooper would have gotten more interesting by now. His role on Dollhouse was still much better than this one. I do have to say that I was glad to see Aram back again this week, although he wasn’t nearly as funny and interesting as he was last time.

Maybe my paranoia is getting the better of me, but I just don’t think Tom is innocent. The writers are better than that to have planted little things in each episode to build to this, only to have had Reddington be the cause, so I can’t believe that this is the end of it. Not only that, but there’s no way Reddington is going to put that much effort into making sure he works with Keen, only to have it foiled by Zanetakos’s word that he was the one that paid for the hit and thus set up Tom, dissolving any trust Keen had in him. The way that was written was well done, so I expect there to be more.

While I am very much a believer in the chemistry between Keen and Donald, certainly over her chemistry with her husband, it was the relationship between Keen and Reddington I found most interesting this week. Struggling with the fact her husband may have committed murder, Keen clings to her relationship with Reddington and seeks comfort in him (not in that way, get your mind out of the gutter) as a fatherly figure. I still say that if he isn’t her dad, there’s too much of that relationship between them that just isn’t realistic to me any other way, even if he feels indebted to her actual father. But anyways, to see the one eighty of her seeking his time and company, to her telling him to go to hell, there was a phenomenal amount of subtlety to the interactions. While she may not trust him now, I am intrigued by where they are, as I hope for many seasons of this mostly brilliant series.

One thing I have to remark on before I go was the brilliance of the music as Donald and Gina fought in the elevator, to the silence of Keen looking through the phone in the hotel room. Just a subtle addition that this series seems to do well in, for the most part, that they are able to work with such subtle nuances and acting and writing, and tie it brilliantly well.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Delivering criminals to you is a hobby.” – Reddington informs Cooper.

“That’s my girl.” – Reddington remarks, referring to Keen’s ability to put things together. (Can I get an ‘awe’ moment right there, before she tells him to go to hell?)

Alright, that’s all for tonight. I’m off to get some sleep; I have a bit of an early morning for me. Check back in tomorrow for reviews of The Originals, Supernatural, and Trophy Wife. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and New Girl will be back with new episodes next week.