Monthly Archives: March 2015

TV Time: The Mindy Project 3.18

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Source: spoilertv.com

Source: spoilertv.com

Title Fertility Bites

Two-Sentence Summary Mindy’s new clinic is struggling to find its footing, which leads to drastic measures and a big misunderstanding about Danny’s fertility. Meanwhile, the nurses band together against Dr. Bergdahl—until they find out he’s been sleeping in his car.

Favorite Lines
Dr. Bergdahl: Anybody else want anything? The nurses are making sandwiches.
Tamra: Do I look like I work at Au Bon Pain?

My Thoughts The Mindy Project is a very funny television show. And sometimes that’s all it needs to be in order for me to enjoy it. However, there are other times when the show’s desire for laughs asks me to turn my brain off, and I get frustrated because I know it’s better than that. “Fertility Bites” was a funny episode; I’m not going to say otherwise. However, it came by those laughs at the expense of logic and through clichés that I’m getting a little tired of, if I’m being honest. But, like more than a few episodes of this show, it was saved by a strong ending and the overwhelming charms of its cast.

I actually think I liked the B-plot more than the A-plot this week. There’s something to be said for surprising moments of kindness, and that’s what we saw with the nurses in this episode. I had absolutely no fun at all watching Dr. Bergdahl treat the nurses so poorly, but it did give us Tamra’s great line about Au Bon Pain, which almost made his over-the-top nastiness worth it. And the body-odor jokes were a little juvenile, but I still giggled at Danny saying he should take the nurses out for “coffee or deodorant.” In the end, though, this story wasn’t about Dr. Bergdahl so much as it was about the nurses. It was about giving these supporting characters a chance to show real kindness toward someone who wasn’t in the inner circle of the practice, and I really liked seeing that. I’m still not sure Dr. Bergdahl is going to be a great fit with this cast of characters long-term (which his stay at Mindy’s apartment seems to be hinting at), but maybe he’ll grow on me. After all, Peter went from being a character I didn’t like at all to one of my favorite characters on the show. Sometimes The Mindy Project takes a while with characters and stories to find its groove, and maybe that’s what’s happening here.

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On Grief and Knowledge: Thoughts About Broadchurch

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Today at Nerdy Girl Notes, we have a little treat for Broadchurch fans: Leah is back with some thoughts about the show before the next season starts up! She’s also going to be posting reviews here after each episode, and I know she can’t wait to talk about the show with all of you!

Source: collider.com

Source: collider.com

I recently had the pleasure of binge-watching the BBC drama Broadchurch, and I promptly fell in love with it! The second season’s premiere airs on BBC America on March 4, and, after watching some of the sneak peaks, I am practically quivering with anticipation. In honor of Season Two premiering this week, I decided to write about my favorite aspects of Season One, as well as some reasons why I’m looking forward to Season Two.

Spoilers lie ahead, so if you haven’t watched Season One yet, read at your own risk. I have not named the killer or mentioned exactly what happened, but there are things that could point you toward the answer, so if you truly want to stay unspoiled, I would suggest avoiding reading this post until you are caught up.

For those of you who’ve watched Season One but need a quick recap, here is a short video recap from the BBC to refresh your memory.

Five Things I Loved About Broadchurch, Season One:

The Portrayal of Grief
One of the things I found so interesting and wonderful about Broadchurch was the way in which they portrayed the spectrum of grief in all its nuances. Though not the only ones shown grieving, the Latimer family was the main focus of most scenes involving mourning the loss of Danny, and each family member was allowed to grieve in different ways. We also saw through their eyes the way in which grief can permeate all the different areas of your life. I could write a whole post just on the way Broadchurch shows grief, and maybe someday I will. But for now, I will briefly talk about Beth as a great example of the complexity in this show’s portrayal of the grieving process.

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TV Time: Once Upon a Time 4.12

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Source: imdb.com

Source: imdb.com

Title Darkness on the Edge of Town

Two-Sentence Summary Rumplestiltskin uses Cruella and Ursula to get back into Storybrooke, while flashbacks reveal how the two women originally teamed up with Maleficent after being betrayed by Rumplestiltskin. Their entrance into the town coincides with the arrival of a new monster, which preys on the heart with the greatest potential for darkness.

Favorite Line “I suppose we should go out and see what’s killing the property values this time.” (Regina)

My Thoughts Self-awareness and what we do with it are major themes on Once Upon a Time. The only way its characters can truly become their best selves is by coming to terms with both their best and worst and choosing to be their best. The classic hero’s journey in mythology typically involves a trip to the darkest parts of the underworld, and on Once Upon a Time, that underworld is often internal—these characters face the darkness in themselves and either choose to embrace it, hide it, or work to be better than it. We all have darkness inside of us—even the most heroic—but it’s what we do with that darkness that determines who we are. “Darkness on the Edge of Town” set up a lot of things for the rest of this half-season, but perhaps the most important thing it established was this idea of knowing your darkness and choosing what to do with that knowledge of your worst self.

In an episode that dealt heavily with the idea of self-awareness, it helped to have writing that was also wonderfully self-aware. This was the funniest and most purely entertaining Once Upon a Time episode in ages. Maybe I’m just saying that because absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I honestly had so much fun watching this episode that the hour flew by. For as wonderful as Season 4A was, it was pretty heavy, with little comic relief (besides Elizabeth Lail’s Anna). Therefore, it was nice to start Season 4B with some very sharp humor from so many characters—from Hook calling the Internet a magic box and Regina wondering about property values to Rumplestiltskin eating ramen and Ursula being fed up with him mooching off of her in New York.

There was something so delightful about the “Villains: They’re Just Like Us!” angle this episode took when dealing with Rumplestiltskin, Cruella, and Ursula. It’s what makes this show so special, and it’s something I think gets lost from time to time as the plots get more complicated and dark: This is the only show on television where Rumplestiltskin, Ursula, and Cruella de Vil can take Cruella’s car through a drive-thru and order fast food. (Who caught the Lost shout-out with the franchise they visited?) It sounds like the setup for a horrible joke, but it’s that kind of multi-fairytale/real-world mash-up that made Once Upon a Time so unique in the first place. In an episode filled with highly entertaining moments, nothing could top those supervillains picking up fast food like it was the most normal thing in the world. Even Queens of Darkness need to eat.

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The Best Thing I Saw on TV This Week (2/22 – 3/1)

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This was one of the hardest “Best Thing on TV This Week” posts I’ve done in a long time. Sunday’s Oscar telecast was filled with inspiring speeches and two great musical numbers: Neil Patrick Harris’s opening and Lady Gaga’s powerhouse Sound of Music medley. Monday’s Castle took us on a trip to “Mars,” and it also featured a beautiful moment from Martha that allowed us to reflect on how much that character has grown since the show’s early days.

Tuesday’s episode of The Mindy Project tackled the morning sickness sitcom cliche, but the night was really about two big finales. On Agent Carter, Peggy said one last farewell to the love of her life and reminded us that we need to know our own value rather than relying on others for validation. And on Parks and Recreation, we took one last ride into the future with these characters in a series finale that reflected everything that was good and special about the show as a whole.

Wednesday night featured a trifecta of 10 p.m. dramas that brought their A-games this week. On Nashville, Rayna proved why she should ultimately be remembered for the way she defends and protects the other women around her. On The Americans, Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell broke my heart once again with their vulnerability and honesty in the final scene of a very painful hour. And on Suits, the possibility of Donna going to prison forced Harvey to confront how much she means to him, leading to a moment I doubted we’d ever see: Harvey admitting to Donna that he loves her.

Deciding between the endings of The Americans, Suits, and Parks and Rec was one of the toughest choices I’ve had to make for one of these posts. In the end, though, this is my last chance to choose a Parks and Rec moment, so I had to follow my heart.

The entirety of “One Last Ride” was beautiful, but if I had to single out my favorite moment, it had to be Ben telling the whole gang that Leslie was running for governor. In that moment, I was given one last chance to fall in love with Ben Wyatt all over again. I’ve found so much hope in the way this character was written, and it was wonderful to see his story end with one final moment of support for his wife and her dreams. From that scene on, I couldn’t have stopped crying if I wanted to. It’s a rare thing for a series finale to leave a diehard fan completely satisfied, but I can honestly say Parks and Rec ended perfectly. I’m still so sad it’s over, but I’m also still so happy it went out on such a high note.

What was the best thing you saw on TV this week?

TV Time: The Americans 3.05

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Title: Salang Pass

Episode M.V.P.: Matthew Rhys
“Salang Pass” was an episode that focused heavily on Philip and his many aliases. As such, it relied heavily on the versatility of Rhys. Like last week’s “Dimebag,” what made Rhys’s work so impressive in this episode was his ability to show the cracks in Philip’s exterior as both Clark and Jim in ways subtle enough for the audience to see them but to still make it believable that both Martha and Kimberly wouldn’t be able to notice something was amiss. For example, the scene with Martha where they were looking at potential foster children asked for such nuance from Rhys, as he had to show Clark still holding back from the idea while also showing Philip’s deep nostalgia for simpler times with this own kids just under the surface of his alias.

That same dichotomy between the persona Philip was projecting and his real emotions was never more evident than in the juxtaposition of his scenes with Paige and Kimberly. His shopping trip with Paige was filled with the kind of warmth and realistic fatherly behavior Rhys gives to every moment between Philip and his kids. And that same silly sense of humor and parental warmth worked its way into his final scene with Kimberly so perfectly that it took my breath away. As she talked on the back porch about the big rake and small rake, you could see the same pull between detachment and paternal nostalgia that he brought to Clark in the beginning of the episode. And when they had their food fight, Rhys made every beat feel like the kind of fun a dad would have with his kid rather than making it anything remotely sexual. That same sense of paternal care was brought to the heartbreaking moment of him carrying Kimberly up the stairs.

In the hands of a different actor, that whole sequence in Kimberly’s home could have been sexualized, making it difficult for us to ever root for Philip again. However, Rhys has done such a brilliant job showing that Philip’s natural instinct toward Kimberly is that of a protective father, which makes his interactions with both her and with Paige more fascinating than ever. And it makes it even more tragic to think about the possibility of him having to sleep with Kimberly, because we know that’s the one act he might never be forgive himself for committing.

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