Big Bang Theory/Vampire Diaries/Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice/The Mentalist/Fringe

The Big Bang Theory – The 21-Second Excitation

     21 seconds of unaired Raiders of the Lost Ark is at the center of this episode.  The guys go out to dinner before a special airing of Raiders with the extra 21 seconds of footage, and he told them they needed to go.  They didn’t listen, and got to the theater when there was a huge line.  As they stood in line, Evil Wil Wheaton shows up with three friends, and they were immediately let in without standing in line.  When those in line were finally allowed in, the theater was full JUST as the guys got to the front of the line.  So if Evil Wil Wheaton and his friends hadn’t gotten special treatment, they would have gotten in.

     The guys were getting ready to go home when an employee came out a side door, so they snuck in.  Instead of doing the expected and sneaking into the theater to sit in the aisle and see the movie, Sheldon stole the entire film, both canisters, and they ran, quickly followed by Evil Wil Wheaton and the rest of the moviegoers, much like something out of the movie itself.

     While the guys were at the movie, fighting off Evil Wil Wheaton, the ladies (Penny, Bernadette, and Amy) have a girls’ night.  It’s very awkward, because Amy has never participated in one before, and she has no idea how to behave.  It was funny in an uncomfortable way, but I definitely prefer the boy storyline.

     I won’t lie; I will love Wil Wheaton and will love every episode of Big Bang that he is in.  He is such a fun foil for Sheldon, and I think it’s great that while Sheldon almost always come out on top with his friends (at least in his own mind) he has yet to best Evil Wil Wheaton.

The Vampire Diaries – Katerina

     We got a lot of backstory on Katherine, and some information on the Originals, and the big-bad, Klaus.  Elena and Katherine spent a great deal of this episode talking, and I actually believed what Katherine told her.  She seemed to be telling Elena the truth about both her past and what brought her back to Mystic Falls and what she was going to do and how she was going to break the curse.

     I am not going to go into the whole Katherine backstory.  It’s very detailed and intense, but the two important things are that she had a child out wedlock, which is how Elena came to exist and Klaus wanted Katherine and now Elena to break the curse.

     Elijah was not killed by Damon shoving a stake through his heart last week, and he can walk in the daylight.  He does wear a ring, so I imagine it is the same type of ring that Damon and Stefan have, which allows him to walk in daylight.  As for surviving the stake, I think as an Original he has more power than most vamps, and staking just isn’t going to be enough to kill him.  My guess is that if they get another opportunity to kill him, they are going to have to cut off his head.

     Katherine did detail what is needed to lift the curse that holds vampires to walking in darkness and werewolves to turning at the full moon.  Katherine was planning to give Elena over to Klaus, along with everything else needed to break the curse: the moonstone, the doppelganger (Elena), a werewolf (first Mason, now Tyler), a vampire (Caroline) and a witch (first the witch she brought to the masquerade ball, now Bonnie).  We also found out through Rose and her friend Slater that if a vampire breaks the curse, werewolves will be forever stuck with the curse of the moon, and if a werewolf breaks it vampires will be stuck with the curse of never being able to walk in the daytime (unless of course they have a daywalker ring!).

     Damon and Rose had sex, and while we only saw the kissing and the aftermath, we did at least get to see Damon shirtless.  That’s always a plus.

     There were two new witches (well, warlocks) in town this week.  Lukas and his father, and Lukas spent this episode flirting with Bonnie, and then he told her that he and his father are warlocks.  Lukas’ father is working with Elijah, which I thought meant that Elijah is also trying to find a way to break the curse.  We did find out that Elijah also has the power to compel other vampires, something else that makes him special.  He compelled Slater to tell Rose they need the moonstone and a witch, and then also compelled him to drive a stake into his own heart, thereby killing himself.

Grey’s Anatomy – Something’s Gotta Give

     Some of these doctors need some pretty serious therapy.  I wish the psychiatrist that was there to deal with the immediate aftermath of the shooting had stayed, because after this episode it’s pretty clear that Alex, Avery, and Cristina could definitely benefit from talking to a professional.

     I am not going to recap this ep.  I just want to say that Alex needs to get a handle on his family issues as soon as possible.  I think that they are setting something up here, perhaps his 16 year old sister is going to need to come and live with him for a time, and we will get to see Alex actually grow up outside of his profession, as he has in his career.  I loved that regardless of all the drama going on with his family, he was still able to find a solution to the baby’s issue with the transplanted liver being too big/heavy.  Then he turned around and was a complete ass to April, bordering very closely to abusing her.  He deserved the beating Avery gave him, and I think even he realized it.

     Avery seemed frustrated that he can’t seem to get himself together, and he was afraid no attendings wanted to work with him, because he has blown it with so many of them lately.  He really needs someone to talk to, someone who is outside of the situation, that he can be really honest with, because his friends weren’t really helping him.  They were trying to be supportive, but it seemed like he needs something more than support.  I think he beat on Alex as much because of the way Alex treated April as because he just really needed to vent some of his anger and frustration, and this was a convenient excuse.

     Then there is Cristina, who is absolutely floundering.  Her dancing around the new place was a great callback to when she and Meredith would try to dance out their problems, but even this didn’t help.  It was great to see Cristina and Callie together, because the show often neglects their friendship, but they ARE friends and were roommates, and sometimes I forget that.  It was great seeing them together, actually having a bit of fun, but Callie was also indulging Cristina’s moods.  I think Cristina is definitely deep in PTSD and may even be a bit manic-depressive at this point.  I can’t understand why Owen hasn’t been more forceful and pushed her into therapy.  She did it to him when he was suffering, and he is a better man for it.  She needs to talk to someone who wasn’t there the day of the shooting, who won’t coddle her, but also won’t be judgmental of her.  It’s frustrating to see her continuing to deteriorate.  I hope she gets help soon.

     The housewarming/intervention would have been a bad idea though, and I am glad Derek kept her from it.  The two of them have actually started to develop a friendship apart from their respective relationships with Meredith, and I like seeing it.  I think if Cristina doesn’t go to therapy, Derek may eventually be the one person who can help her find her way back.

Private Practice – What Happens Next

     Charlotte went back to work and this episode dealt mainly with that.  There were a couple of medical cases, but they were pretty insignificant compared to Charlotte’s storyline, so I am not going waste space here on them.  Charlotte still didn’t want to admit to anyone she had been raped, and didn’t even want to deal with Addison because she is the one person who knows the truth about what happened.

     All of the doctors, except Cooper, came to the conclusion on their own that they think Charlotte was raped.  Addison actually told Sam, because in addition to being alone with the knowledge of the rape, she also did an unauthorized rape kit on Charlotte and was trying to figure out what to do.  Legally she was supposed to report the rape and have the scrapings processed, but she had promised Charlotte she wouldn’t even do a rape kit.  She didn’t know what to do and the conflicting emotions were too hard for her to deal with on her own.  She finally called the police to process the pelvic washings.

     Sheldon was doing his best to do nothing for Charlotte, to leave her alone as she had asked.  She appreciated it, but even he couldn’t just walk away when he thought he might know who raped her.  Violet didn’t come right out and tell Sheldon she thought Charlotte had been raped, but based on their conversation he came to it on his own.  Then he went to the police and told them he thought he knew who Lee McHenry raped.

     Sam went to Violet and asked her to talk to Charlotte.  He didn’t tell her anything else, but just asked her to really talk to her.  Violet saw the signs, and talked to Pete, who was the first one to see Charlotte the night of the attack.  While Pete didn’t know for sure, when Violet asked him if he though she had been raped, he said he thought she was.  Violet went to see Charlotte, and told her about the fact that she was raped in college, and she understands what Charlotte is going through.  While she remained stoic while Violet was talking to her, after Violet left, Charlotte went into a rage and trashed her office.  She was scared, angry, and upset, and vented the only way she knew how.  I think she knew that people were starting to draw conclusions, and that upset her as well.

     Charlotte at least knew herself well enough to know her limitations.  She went to Amelia and asked her to take her to a NA meeting.  Amelia had offered earlier, but Charlotte shut her down.  After the day Charlotte had, and her coming to realize her secret wasn’t so secret, Charlotte needed the support.

 

The Mentalist – Balls of Fire

     Patrick was kidnapped by a hired gun, who was shot in the process, and then was finished off by the actual kidnapper, a young woman named Rachel.  CBI conducted a joint investigation with the FBI to try and find him.  Rachel posed as a witness at the initial crime scene to misdirect the investigation, but they eventually figured out who she was.  In the meantime, Rachel used a cattle prod on Jane, and wanted to torture him before she killed him.  Her torture however, saved Patrick’s life, since if she had just killed him when she got him they wouldn’t have found them in time.

     Eventually Lisbon got close, Rachel caught her and took her to Patrick, and they got close to escape.  However, just before they escaped she figured out what was going on, and almost shot them.  Of course, the CBI arrived just in time, Patrick and Lisbon were rescued, and Rachel was shot and killed.

Fringe – 6995 kHz

     In our universe this week and Fauxliva had seduced and slept with Peter.  He is going to be SO upset when he finds out she isn’t really Olivia!

     Several numbers were transmitted over short wave radio, and the fifteen people that we know of that were listening went unconscious for a brief time.  When they woke up, they didn’t know who they were or who anyone around them was either.  Walter finds a second wavelength, under the numbers, that they believe was used to wipe these people’s memories, and they believe it was done because these people were close to solving the question of what the numbers were.

     Eventually the Fringe team found out that the numbers are coordinates on the world map, latitude and longitude markers.  When the team went to one of those locations and they dug, they found another part of the machine from the alt-universe, which they believe could cause the destruction of one of the universes, with Peter at the helm.  They decided they need to dig up the remaining pieces, 37 in all, and see what they create.

     There were some cracks in Fauxliva’s façade this week.  Nina called her out on the fact that it wasn’t like Olivia not to talk to Walter directly about his concerns.  Also, Fauxliva failed to recognize a name on a list Peter found, a name of a man that Olivia and Peter have spoken to more than once.  Peter seems to have blinders on regarding all these little out of place things, but Nina seemed a bit more curious.  I wonder if she will figure out Fauxlivia is not our Olivia.   

Big Bang Theory/Vampire Diaries/Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice/The Mentalist/Fringe

The Big Bang Theory – The Apology Insufficiency

     Eliza Dushku guest starred as a FBI agent doing a background check on Howard, to get security clearance to work on a new project.  Raj eats rum cake to talk to her, and ends up throwing up on her shoes (thankfully, off camera), while Leonard hits on her while trying his new approach of exuding confidence while talking to women.  Both of them blamed themselves for Howard not getting his clearance, but in reality it was Sheldon’s fault, since during his interview he mentioned the time Howard crashed the Mars Rover while trying to impress a woman.

     Sheldon attempted to apologize to Howard, but Howard didn’t accept.  After talking about the situation with Penny, Sheldon went to Howard and offered to give Howard his beloved spot on the couch.  Because that spot was so important to Sheldon, it was obvious to everyone, including Howard, just how badly Sheldon felt and wanted to be forgiven.  So Howard forgave him. 

     After 94 seconds in his new spot, Sheldon wanted his spot back, and Howard gave it back to him.

     This episode was highly anticipated in some circles, because Eliza Dushku is well liked in some of the circles of fans of the show.  I thought it was a fine episode, but far from one of their best.  My favorite part of the ep was Chuck Lorre’s vanity card at the end, which doesn’t say a lot about the episode.

The Vampire Diaries – Rose

     Elena was kidnapped at the end of the last episode and a good deal of this episode is about many of our people trying to find her.  Rose, Trevor, and Elijah are the new, old vampires on the scene, and Rose and Trevor presented Elena to Elijah as Catherine’s doppelganger.  He gave Rose absolution, for an old wrong, but kills Trevor, by beheading him with his bare hand.  Elijah is one of the “originals”; one of the oldest vampires of all time and his power is immense.  Eventually Stefan and Damon showed up, rescued Elena, and staked Elijah to a door.  Elena went home, Stefan apologized to Damon for turning him 145 years ago, and Damon took his apology to heart.  Damon then went to Elena and returned her vervain necklace, which Elijah had torn off her, but before he returned it to her, he told her the truth.  Damon told her that he is in love with her, but he didn’t deserve her, Stefan did.  He wished he didn’t have to make her forget this moment, but he did compel her to forget, and disappeared.

     At the same time, Caroline lied to Tyler and said she really doesn’t know what was going on with him, because Damon told her he can’t find out about the vampire population.  Tyler knew something was going on with Caroline, but he thought she was also a werewolf.  Eventually he provoked her enough that she turned, and he discovered she is a vampire.  She told him she was the only one though, so he still doesn’t know about Stefan, Damon, and whatever other vamps wander into town.  It definitely seems they are setting these two up to also be a couple.

     Also, Bonnie and Jeremy bonded when she did some spells and became so overwhelmed she passed out.  It scared Jeremy, and the two of them talked about how alone each of them feels most of the time.  Bonnie had no one to talk to about her witchy ways, and Jeremy felt like he’s the only person he knew that knows about all the supernatural people around him, but isn’t supernatural himself, aside from Elena, who’s in love with a vampire.  I think Bonnie and Jeremy are a couple in the making as well, and while I don’t know how much I like everyone coupling up, they are teenagers and it’s bound to happen.

     I wonder if they are going to keep Rose around for a bit.  She said she had a thing for bad boys, which leads me to believe maybe Damon with hook up with her.  If that means we get to see him shirtless, I say:  go.for.it!

Grey’s Anatomy – That’s Me Trying

     It was Trauma Certification day at Seattle Grace for the 4^th year residents and Hunt was running it, as part of the trauma grant he received a couple of episodes ago.  They worked on 9 dummies for the day, in the parking lot and in the rain.  Dummy after dummy died while they waited for the imaginary helicopter to arrive.  Eventually Avery got so frustrated that he quit, while April and Alex kept going until April snapped, and took matters into her own hands, changing the scenario.  She kicked butt in the certification, and even Hunt had to admit she has the makings of a great trauma surgeon.  He also got Avery to come back and finish, giving him the lecture he really should have been giving to Cristina, that just because you’re having a hard time dealing with things, you don’t get to just quit.  Oh, and it seems as if April has developed a bit of a crush on Alex after today.

     Bailey participated in the autopsy of Mary Portman, the patient who survived the shooting, but died last week after not waking up from her routine surgery.  She is angry, frustrated, and mortified by what she feels is the caviler attitude of the pathologist.  She is also very angry that the science of the autopsy was failing her, and that the autopsy was inconclusive. 

     Callie and Arizona spent the episode preparing to board a plan to Africa for three years.  Callie decided to go with Arizona, because she loves her, but she acted unhappy, angry, resentful, and passive-aggressive throughout the ep.  Finally, at the airport, Arizona called her on her attitude, and said Callie was ruining this for her.  Arizona told her she didn’t want Callie to go with her; Callie said if she got on the plane without her they were over; Arizona said they were standing in an airport screaming at each other, they were obviously already done.

     Cristina was dealing with the lung transplant patient, Roy, from a couple of weeks ago.  While Teddy was off getting the lungs for transplant, Roy developed a heart problem, and Cristina had to deal with that on her own.  She admitted to Meredith that she was scared all the time, even just walking through the lobby.  She also told Meredith that she (Cristina) didn’t understand how Meredith could just be okay, after everything they went through on the day of the shooting.  Cristina said she is broken, dead, wrecked, and she didn’t understand why Mer seems okay.  Cristina also blamed Mer for what is going on within herself, because if it had been anyone else begging Cristina to save her husband that day, she would have had the option to walk away, but because it was Meredith she didn’t have that option and now she is broken.  I don’t think that was fair of Cristina, but what’s happened to her isn’t fair either, and she is just in a terrible mental state right now.  So bad, in fact, that at the end of the episode, she quits the hospital.  Hunt was shocked, but she took a deep breath and seemed to be better than she had been since the day of the gunman.

Private Practice – Did You Hear What Happened to Charlotte King?

          KaDee Strickland knocked this episode out of the park.  Her character, Charlotte, was brutally attacked and raped in her office at the hospital.  This episode was the immediate aftermath of the attack, and how she and our doctors dealt with it.  Sadly, Charlotte refused to tell the police she was raped and refused a rape kit, although she did tell Addison she was raped, and allowed her to do a pelvic exam and give her all the necessary tests and drugs for after a rape.  In addition, Charlotte is allergic to local anesthetic and can’t take any pain medication due to a prior addiction, so when she was getting her stitches she just had to endure the pain.  She wants to be strong, to continue to be in control, and by the end of the night, she just wanted to go home, away from the eyes of her hospital staff.

     I understand Paul Adelstein, who plays Cooper, didn’t see KaDee in full prosthetics and makeup until this scene, so his reactions were real.  I though it was pretty intense when he turned his back to her, to try and gather his wits and not be in tears when he turned back to her.  I was upset with Cooper though when he went to Charlotte and laid his head on her leg and she had to comfort him, and tell him she was okay.  I do understand it, but I think if I was Charlotte I would be a bit resentful of that.  He should be comforting her, but she is always the strong one in their relationship and that didn’t change because she was attacked.  At least not yet.

     Everyone came together to support and help Charlotte starting with Pete, who found her after the attack.  After she hid both her underwear and her wallet in her desk drawer, locked it, and hid the key, she left her office.  She went down the hall to try and clean herself up, and Pete found her, took her to a room, and started the exam.  She then called Addison, who came immediately to help, while Pete tried to call Cooper.  He didn’t answer his phone, because he was out with Sam and Amelia, so Pete called Violet, who then went and found the others, which is how everyone knew. 

     The only one who didn’t know about all of this was Sheldon, who was called to the police department to handle a 5150 (involuntary psych hold) evaluation on someone they had in custody.  The person in question is Lee, the man who attacked Charlotte.  He basically admitted to raping someone, but there was nothing on file to tie him to Charlotte, because she didn’t report the rape.  Sheldon may have put two and two together, if he had known about Charlotte’s attack. 

     This is the first of many episodes to come that will deal with the aftermath of this attack.  I think they are going to do a good job exploring how a brutal rape and assault affects the person who is attacked specifically, as well as the people in her circle.  As Charlotte walked out of the hospital, her place of work, her safe place, they showed flashbacks of her rape.  It wasn’t clear to me if this was for the audience, or if she was having the flashbacks, but I think they were in her mind, because they are going to have to explore how her workplace is now a frightening place for her.

The Mentalist – Red Hot

     One of my favorite guest stars was back tonight:  Currie Graham, who used to be on NYPD Blue.  He was a guest star last year, and his character Walter returned tonight.  Walter is VERY wealthy, and in this episode Jane and Lisbon are trying to find out if someone is trying to kill him, or if he is trying to kill someone else.  He ended up being the target, a potential victim, and they captured the perpetrator.

     The best part of this episode was that Walter had a bit of a crush on Lisbon.  When she didn’t just fall into his bed, I believe he was surprised, because he is used to getting whatever he wants when he wants it.  Also, he could be very charming and expected to be able charm her immediately.  She was attracted and intrigued, and by the end of the episode, she actually did sleep with him.  He said he is going out of town on business for two months, and couldn’t believe he was HER one night stand.  It was nice to see Lisbon get some, and smile for a change.

Fringe – Amber 31422

     Back in the alternate universe this week, where our Olivia still thought she is their Olivia.  She was, however, still having visions of Peter, who only exists in our universe.  Peter is our Olivia’s subconscious mind, trying to keep her alive inside her brain.  She went into a sensory deprivation tank, as an experiment run by Walternate, and she was able to jump to our universe.  Her subconscious Peter told her things about our universe, things she could only know if she had been here, and she went back into the deprivation tank, jumped again, and put a couple of those things to the test.  She was proven correct, so when she slid back into the alternate universe, she lied to Walternate, and said the experiment didn’t work and all she saw was black.  It was very hard to tell if he believed her and was just disappointed in the results, or if he doubted her.

Big Bang Theory/Vampire Diaries/Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice/The Mentalist/Fringe

The Big Bang Theory – The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification

     Steve Wozniak had a cameo.  If I didn’t watch Kathy Griffin’s Life On the D-List I would have needed the explanation of who he was, but I did recognize him.  Sheldon’s virtual presence device seems like something he would have invented when he was 16, not something he wouldn’t have tried before now.

     Any call back to “Soft Kitty” always makes me smile.  Now I will be singing that dang song for the next week, again.

The Vampire Diaries – Memory Lane

     I wanted to know what Mason Lockwood did to trigger the curse, and once they explained it, I want to know more.  I want to know who he killed.  I am a bit disappointed that silver didn’t work on Mason, just because it breaks away from folklore.  However, if they were going to do it, I loved the explanation Mason provided.

     I would also love to know how long it took Mason to figure out Damon is a vampire.  Did he know before the BBQ, at the carnival last week?  Or did he just figure it out at the BBQ? 

     I figured Caroline was trying to stall Elena, on Katherine’s order, and it was good to be proven right.  I believe the fight/breakup between Stefan and Elena was staged for Caroline’s benefit, and I was right again.  Very interesting to find out that she really did love Stefan, but I was more interested to see that the moonstone the Lockwoods have passed from generation to generation actually came from Katherine!  Now to find out what it does.  I think there are two possibilities:  When one is in possession of it, the changed doesn’t happen, regardless of whether the curse has been triggered, or possession of it makes one pack Alpha.  Either way, it’s obvious Mason would want it.

Grey’s Anatomy – Shock to the System

     Derek is making me a little crazy, with this speed demon tendency.  He spent the night in jail for reckless endangerment, for speeding, and within the same morning he is ready to take Richard out to do the same thing again.  I am glad Meredith finally told Derek about the baby, and I hope it makes him realize why she is so afraid when he gets behind the wheel.

     Really, Cristina?  Really?  You have a panic attack in surgery, and you give up on your marriage?  I am so glad Hunt came for her, and that she went with him, but I hope it isn’t an indication of how she is going to respond every time she/they have a problem.  Don’t run away from it, hold on to the good in your life.

     I felt really badly for Mark, when Lexi told him to leave her alone.  He was getting ready to propose and instead he now has to leave her alone.

     I am also glad Meredith FINALLY got cleared for surgery.  The shrink (sorry, his name escapes me just now) saw she was being honest with him, and with herself, for the first time, and that was all he ever asked from her.

Private Practice – Short Cuts

      This episode was all about relationships.  Mother and autistic son, Sheldon and Charlotte, Violet and Pete, Cooper and Charlotte, Cooper and Violet, Addie and Sam, Addie and Na, even peripherally Amelia and Derek.  It was also about a woman’s relationship with herself and her desire to complete transgender reassignment and have surgery. 

     I was glad Cooper and Violet are starting to let go of each other, at least a bit.  They need to do that in order to bond with their respective partners.  I am also really glad Addie finally told Na about her and Sam.  Naomi actually took it better than I thought she would.

The Mentalist – Cackle-Bladder Blood

     Jane was a suspect for the first time.  His brother-in-law was an ass until he Patrick apologized for his wife’s death.  I knew from the moment Danny spit the paper clip out of his mouth that it was a con.  I didn’t know who was involved in it, but it was pretty obvious both Patrick and Danny were, and probably Lisbon. 

     Seeing Patrick at his wife and daughter’s graveside was sad.  His admission that he hadn’t been there since the funeral, and his grief were heartbreaking.

     Does anyone else find it jarring when Simon Baker says to stay tuned for scenes from the next episode in his true Australian accent?  It’s good that it’s at the conclusion of the episode, because it pulls me right out of my “suspension of disbelief.”

Fringe – The Box

     We spent most of the last episode in the AltUniverse.  This episode is set mostly in our universe.  Fauxlivia is subtly different than our Olivia, and Anna Torv is doing an excellent job shading her differently.

     Walter pulling the brain out of one of the suspects was gross.  I agree with Astrid, it’s a weird noise, and his fingers plunging into the brain was just icky.

     They got me with the little person’s head exploding.  I absolutely didn’t expect it, didn’t see it coming, and jumped when it did.

     So, Walter is the sole shareholder of Massive Dynamics.  I expected he and Nina would be co-owners, but I think this is going to be an interesting turn of events!

Big Bang Theory/Vampire Diaries/Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice/The Mentalist/Fringe

The Big Bang Theory – The Robotic Manipulation

     “Diggin’ the Shamy!”  Sheldon has a cyberspace girlfriend named Amy!

     I love any time Sheldon and Penny are in the car together.  Their scenes together are such a joy to watch, and adding Amy into the mix only made if more fun.  The callback to the check engine light in Penny’s car was perfect.  Penny’s chaperoning the date was unexpected and very funny.  Mayim Bialik was really perfect as Sheldon’s new friend Amy.

     Howard “borrowing” the robotic hand to unpack their dinner, give him a shoulder massage, and then him getting it stuck on his “junk” not once, but twice, really cracked me up.  When he was getting the massage I saw where it was headed, but didn’t expect it to get stuck!  Then he goes through the humiliation of going to the hospital and getting it removed, only to try it again…  only Howard. 

The Vampire Diaries – Bad Moon Rising

     I saw the title and was very hopeful this meant we would finally get some information about the Lockwoods, and maybe Tyler would be clued in to why he gets so easily enraged.  Glad that storyline is finally moving forward.  And shirtless/naked Uncle Mason was a definite bonus!  My question is this:  Mason, as a wolf, responded to Tyler’s command of “No” in the woods, when Mason was on Caroline.  Does that mean, based on the pack mentality of most canine animals, that Tyler is actually the Alpha of their pack/family?  That would be an interesting dynamic to see.

     I was happy to see Alaric back.  So, a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire.  I find that really interesting, and even though I have read my share of books and seen my share of movies regarding vampires and werewolves, I don’t think I have ever heard this before.  I don’t know if it is a true legend or if it’s been made up by TVD writers, but either way, I find it really interesting, and a great twist.

    Carolyn made Matt break up with her, for his own good.  At first I wasn’t sure if it was just her heightened insecurity, but when she sat down after Matt walked away from her, I truly believe she knew exactly what she was doing.

     I really hope Elena isn’t truly done with being Damon’s friend.  They are so great together; the flirty, witty banter will be sorely missed if she is done with him.  I can’t imagine they will be kept apart for too long, especially with Katherine back in the picture next week.

Grey’s Anatomy – With You I’m Born Again

     Chief Webber’s dance in his office was one of the best things I have seen this show do in a while.  It was just evidence of his pure joy at being back in his office, and in his position as chief.  This show does tension, anxiety, and even humor very well, but this was a great example of the simple fun this show can do, even in the midst of recovery from tragedy. 

     I enjoyed seeing how each of the staff members dealt with their loss, fear, pain, and even the joy of having survived.  Everyone reacted differently, some were angry, some still scared, Bailey ran away, and then ended her relationship, Cristina and Owen decided to get married, Derek decided to start taking risks and thinking less.  Meredith needs to tell Derek the truth about the fact that she was pregnant and miscarried that day.  She won’t ever start to heal until she does.

Private Practice – Take Two

     Dell is gone, and Pete and Violet got married.  Addie and Sam seem to be headed into a relationship, and I just hope Addie tells Naomi ASAP.  I am glad Dink finally stood up to Naomi and started to take responsibility for Maya and Olivia.  That’s about all that happened that interested me this week, oh except, WTH happened to French Stewart?  I am hoping his look was makeup, and he isn’t really aging that badly.

The Mentalist – Red Sky at Night

     I love when Jane plays mind games with people he doesn’t really like.  There wasn’t really much in this episode to talk about, other than I had a pretty good idea that the step-father was behind the deaths fairly early on, I just wasn’t sure why.  I hope Jane does stop pulling away from the team, it’s always much better when they work as a unit, not when Jane is off doing his own thing.  I like their give and take, Jane using intuition, feelings, observations, while the team goes after the facts and evidence.

Fringe – Olivia

     Our poor Olivia has been drugged, or infused, into believing she is Fauxliva (not my creation, but the name I will use to refer to the Olivia from the other side).  I like seeing her kick ass, but I don’t want her to believe she is Fauxlivia.  I hope either she is playing them, and still knows she is Olivia, or that the cab driver helps her come back to herself at some point.

     The final scene between Fauxlivia and Pete made me unhappy, only because it should be Pete and Olivia having those scenes!  It’s going to be pretty hard to keep track of who’s who, and who knows what this season, but I think in the end it’s going to be worth it.  I think this season is going to be an interesting ride.