Glee/No Ordinary Family/Sons of Anarchy

Glee – Special Education

     I was so glad Will finally called Rachel out on her bad attitude.  She has always been a brat, but funny and enjoyably.  Lately though she has been insufferable, and I am glad he let her know it wasn’t going unnoticed.

     I felt badly that Kurt didn’t get a solo, but at the same time I am glad he wasn’t able to just waltz into a new school and take over.  He needs to work to prove himself, just like everyone else has, and his time will come.  I was glad to see him and Rachel bonding over their individual issues with their separate glee clubs.

     All the couples drama in this episode felt pretty organic to me, nothing felt terribly forced.  Everyone was edgy because of regionals anyway, and Will mixing up the solos and giving dance assignments to Mike and Brittany was a new, unexpected pairing that threw both their respective relationship mates into new territory.  I AM glad the show didn’t go the route of having them get together though and both couples survived.

     The couples that didn’t survive were Finn and Rachel and Will and Emma.  Last week Santana made noises like she was going to tell Rachel that she and Finn had sex last year, and this week she just got so fed up with them that she finally did tell Rachel.  Once Rachel realized everyone else knew before she did, she was even more upset, and went to Puck for comfort and revenge.  Even though I doubt she would have slept with Puck, I was pleasantly surprised that he has matured enough to be the one to see it would be a horrible thing for him to do to Finn, especially after what happened with Quinn last year.  Rachel wanted Finn to be hurt too, and she got what she wanted, but he broke up with her because of it.  When Finn slept with Santana, Rachel was seeing Jesse, and they weren’t together, whereas Rachel cheated on Finn.  I don’t blame him for ending it with her, and she should be ashamed of herself.

     Emma married Carl in Vegas!  I don’t know what is going to happen with this story, but I want her and Will together.  I love John Stamos, but he is underused here, and I would rather see him in a lead role somewhere else.  I think Will and Emma would be great together, but I know they have to go through more before that can happen, if it ever does.  I just really didn’t see this marriage coming at all.

No Ordinary Family – No Ordinary Anniversary

     I really don’t like Dr King at all.  I actually do like Will, and I think he is being used by Dr King, and being blackmailed into doing what he wants.  That was pretty obvious when the evil doctor refused Will the serum that will keep him extraordinary.  I don’t think Will is a bad guy, just a guy who will do whatever he has to do to remain special.  I also got the feeling he does really like Katie, and I think as he likes her more he, and as Dr King treats him worse, he will come around to being a good guy.  I hope so anyway.

     It was really nice to see Jim and Stephanie work as a team to stop the super-arsonist in this episode.  I understand why she doesn’t want to continue down that path, because they are parents and need to do what’s best for their children, but it was cool to see them both using their abilities together to catch the bad guy.

     I also liked seeing Daphne and JJ work together, although taking a bunch of money from unsuspecting schoolmates, even if they were jerks, wasn’t a great way to use their powers.  Then to do so again to get away with fixing a broken statue and breaking into their school to do it was just annoying.  It bothers me that the writers haven’t really figured out a way to let the children use their powers to do good things, instead of things that are at best morally grey.  I get that they are still finding their way, and as teenagers are already prone to be self-involved, but I really hope the writers come up with something better for these kids soon.

Sons of Anarchy – NS

     It took me all season to realize the episode titled SO was not so, as in so what, but S-O as in the first of Jax’s double ring set that spelled SONS.  Until I saw this title, and realized the N-S is the only ring he still wore, having left the S-O at his father’s grave.  In the episode he left the N-S at his father’s grave, and I think it symbolized his walking away from his father’s legacy of doubt and apathy about the club, and into the role of a leader within the club.

     Kurt Sutter is genius.  Sick and troubled, but GENIUS.  I really enjoyed this season for the most part, and this episode was a brilliant end to it.  I am so thrilled the way it all ended, and enjoyed a second viewing, knowing that the club knew what was going on.  I am hoping somewhere Kurt will say just WHEN Jax told everyone.  Was it during this episode, or was it earlier, like when he first made the deal, or somewhere in between?

     I was THRILLED that Opie was the one that ended Stahl.  I loved seeing her having to watch what happened to Jimmy, and the whole time you could see she knew she wasn't going to walk away from this encounter.  When Opie took her sunglasses off and made her stand there and watch Chibs exact his own revenge, it was awesome.

     Speaking of, I was literally cheering, applauding, and fist pumping when Chibs was the one doing Jimmy in.  The fact that he gave him the "Glasgow smile" before digging his knives into Jimmy and twisting while looking him in the eyes was the perfect revenge.  I actually think, after everything Jimmy did to the club and to Chibs, he got off easy.

     So as the season ended, several of our boys are going to be in jail for at least 14 months, Gemma is on house arrest for 3-6 months, and Tara is pregnant and in possession of John’s letters to Maureen.  In at least one of those letters John comes right out and implicates Gemma and Clay in his own death.  How those letters are going to come into play next season is going to be in the back of my mind for the next 9 (sob!) months until next season starts.  I can’t wait for the DVD of this season to be released.

Glee/No Ordinary Family/Sons of Anarchy

Glee – Britney/Brittany

     It took me a minute to realize Brittany wasn’t Ms Spears in the first fantasy song sequence when she went under general anesthesia the first time.  It’s Brittany bitch!

     I love how drug-hazy they all were when they came out of the general anesthesia.

     Now I am going to show my age a bit:  I have no idea if the dream/Britney fantasies were shot for shot recreations of her videos.  If they were, it was genius! 

     Terri was back!  It was only a brief scene, but it was great to see her.   I am not a Terri fan, but I am a Jessalyn fan, so it was fun to see her looking pretty fierce.

     Jacob Ben Israel’s scene of, ummm, pleasuring himself in the library was gross.  As I am sure it was meant to be.  I didn’t enjoy it at all, but I think it was a good scene for Sue.  She told Will how much she disliked the idea of the glee club doing Britney, and that is what pushed him to allow it.  It also pushed him to go too far, and decide to perform with them.  I thought the performance, as well as Jacob and his friend’s reaction to it, were a bit over the top and uncomfortable.  At least Will admitted it was inappropriate.  I did love Sue pulling the fire alarm and getting injured.

     Overall, I thought it was a strong episode, not their best but not their worst.  I enjoyed the music, and it was great to have John Stamos back on my TV.  How does that man just keep getting hotter and hotter?  He either has great genes or an amazing surgeon!

No Ordinary Family – Pilot

     Another ABC show, another plane crash, another dead pilot.

     Jim felt weak in his life, and got super strength, and maybe not invincibility but he also didn’t get injured upon landing, or when he caught the balls and bullets, and he didn’t die when he got shot.  Stephanie felt like she had no time for her life, and she gained super speed and a super metabolism.  Daphne felt like no one listens to her and she can now hear other people’s thoughts.  I liked her reaction, saying that she doesn’t want new abilities, high school is hard enough as it is.  JJ’s power took longer to kick in, but when they did, the “stupid” kid was suddenly the smartest kid in the room.

     Jim and Stephanie’s relationship was very close to being broken.  Their marriage counselor must think they are completely insane.

     The bad guy having extraordinary abilities, and saying they are not alone before he died, was a pretty standard plot device.  I was a little disappointed in that, it would have been nice if there had been at least one episode before the bad guys had special powers too.  I thought the lair with wi-fi George created for Jim was great. 

     This one has potential.  I liked Heroes the first season, and this has a more family-centric vibe, but is similar. 

Sons of Anarchy – Home

     Opie made up for last week’s porn girl debacle by selling his Panhead and giving Jax the money to try to help find Abel. 

     I loved that Gemma would rather shave her head than go redhead.  That really made me laugh.  Tig telling Tara and Gemma they were killing him made me laugh and clap my hands.  I didn’t like Tig at first, he was a hard character to get to know, but over this time he has been with Gemma, I have really grown to enjoy him.

     Hal Holbrook broke my heart.  The fact that he didn’t remember Rose was gone and he had to move into the care facility, and Gemma’s reaction was devastating. 

     I was glad to know that the IRA faction that is against Jimmy-O is really interested in keeping the SoA Belfast in their wheelhouse, and that Abel is more being protected until they can figure out what to do, rather than being held captive or just given away.  They are all using that baby, one way or the other, but whatever keeps him safe is a good thing. 

Seeing him in that orphanage broke my heart though, and then cutting to Nate in the care facility was telling and sad.

     Maureen calling Gemma while she still didn’t know about Abel being gone and the chance that she had a heart attack is a great story point, but she needs to be able to tell them Abel is in Belfast SOON.  Also, her knowing who Maureen was is a great twist and I think it is going to flesh out nicely over the remaining episodes.

     Lastly, the song that was playing over Gemma arriving and the phone call and her passing out was Katey Sagal’s song of the season.  She has the perfect voice for this show, and for this type of song.  I thought it was a beautiful choice and excellently done.

I still have Parenthood on the dvr, but I won't get to it until tomorrow.  I am going to see Tony Orlando in conversation, in celebration of his 50th anniversary in show business.  I remember his variety show in the mid-70's and he was really my first celebrity crush (when I was 7 or 8 years old!).