'Bitten' -- SPN 8x04

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I will admit to getting kind of annoyed by the Cloverfield of the episode. There is really only so much shaky cam that I can handle before I want to tell people to knock it off, and start using a steady cam. Also, I wasn't overly thrilled by the fact that the boys weren't really in the episode all that much, but at the same time, it was also kind of interesting to see things from the other side (instead of only from the side of a couple of hunters). I think that this may have been the first time that the writers took one of the "monsters" and made them kind of human ... showing that they aren't all bad, and they don't necessarily ask for the things that have been done to them (that they are only the way that they are cuz it was forced on them, and to have hunters come in and kill them without considering the fact that they haven't hurt humans isn't really fair). I was glad that the boys decided to let homegirl live, even if it took her showing them all of that footage to prove that she didn't want what had happened to her, and that her life had become kind of tragic cuz of what had happened, and that she didn't want to hurt anyone. That isn't something that happens all that often. Maybe spending all of that time in Purgatory with a vampire helped Dean realize that not everything that isn't human is a monster that needs to be killed as soon as possible.

In a way, I feel bad for Brian ... even though I also don't feel bad for him. It can't be easy to be the BFF of someone who gets all of the attention, and who gets the girl that you (at least think that you) want. When all you really want is for someone to notice that you're really there, and to think that you are worthy of their time, it has to be hard when their eyes always glide over you to the person standing next to you ... someone who seems more than happy to take advantage of you ("Hey, you taped the class I just slept through, right?"). I have a feeling that if he could see that someone really saw him, that he wasn't as invisible as he thought that he was, things might have been a little bit different in the end. Michael still would have ended up a werewolf, but if Brian had really believed inside of himself that he was something special (that he was just as worthy of love as Michael, and that he could find someone who loved him for who he was, and really saw who he was) he wouldn't have forced the professor to turn him, and Kate would not have had the change forced upon her. As much as he may have been comfortable having Michael as his friend, and as much as he probably was grateful that someone like Michael would agree to be his bestie (even though he took advantage of, and hurt Brian in ways that a bestie wouldn't have), it probably would have been better for him to break up with Michael and try to find someone else to be his bestie ... at least until he was able to see (and believe) that he was worth being loved for who he was (and not what he thought that he should be). So, I felt bad for him for how lonely he seemed to be, even with people around him; but I don't feel bad for how things ended up with him ... not after what he did to Michael and Kate. If not for him, Michael would have lived (for at least a while longer), and Kate wouldn't have been turned (at least not right then; who knows if Michael would have turned her later on).

But you know what? I liked this episode way more than I liked "Heart". What happened to these three struck me as being a lot more tragic than the whole thing with Madison (tragic the way a real werewolf story is supposed to be) ... but then, I couldn't bring myself to really care about what happened to Madison, but I was able to feel bad for Michael, Brian, and Kate. It probably had something to do with the writing, and the fact that I don't care for Gamble's writing.

'A Vast and Fiendish Plot' -- Copper 1x10

Warning: Spoiler Alert

For a season finale, this episode didn't really give me all of the closure that I was hoping for regarding the season. Sure, they had to leave some things open for next season, but I am still bothered by the fact that Kevin never found out that it was Eva that killed Molly. While they seem to be going their separate ways (now that Ellen is back in the picture), I don't think that he would have trusted Eva anywhere nearly as much as he did if he had known that she had killed someone so that she could be closer to him; and I certainly don't think that he would have left her alone with Ellen nearly as much as he did, if he had known that she was willing to kill someone who looked like she might be even the slightest bit of a threat to her being near him (and being his one and only). I have the feeling that he would have wondered if she was willing to do it to Molly (when Molly had only the slightest connection to him), what would she do to Ellen? But I'm glad that she realized that killing Ellen was out of bounds (not that killing Molly was ok, cuz it wasn't), and that now that his wife is back in the picture, she should probably take her leave (at least as far as them continuing to sleep with each other was concerned). But I still want there to be justice for Molly ... I still want someone to know what happened to her (what really happened to her). Regardless of her profession, she was still a person, and still deserved to be able to live without being murdered (especially by someone that she trusted).

"Maggie" standing there and "watching" Kevin shoot up ... I was struck right there by just how much she really did look like Annie, cuz I really did think that it was Annie standing there and watching him ... that she maybe woke up after he had closed her door and had come downstairs to see what was going on. As much as I don't want Kevin to use drugs (and I want him to feel happy enough that he doesn't feel like he needs to use them), I really don't want Annie to see him do it. She's had enough horrible things happen in her life without adding seeing someone that she trusts and cares for shoot up; for all we know, seeing Kevin do it might make her think that maybe it's ok for her to do it as well, and who knows what added horrors would have come into her life cuz of that.

And speaking of Annie (and of Eva), I was really glad when Eva called Annie out for her BS, and her inability to have sympathy (or empathy) for anyone else ... and for the fact that even though she had been dealt a crappy hand, she could make things far worse cuz of her attitude. I don't think that she would have listened to Kevin if he had said the same thing to her (especially since he seems to be so willing to protect her from everything, regardless of what that may mean, and knowing that, she may not take it as seriously if it came from him); it seems like that sort of thing probably held a little more weight coming from Eva than from Kevin (or from anyone else that was in her life).

I'm really glad that Morehouse Jr was able to get out from underneath his father's thumb, and was able to start down the road of becoming his own man. Good for him. His father's company seemed to be rather toxic for him, and seemed to spur him down a road that would have caused him to continue to do things that were harmful to himself. Also, good on Elizabeth for telling Kennedy that he needed to piss off, cuz he had been willing to do more harm than she had thought that he was going to do. This doesn't excuse the fact that she seemed to be ok with the burning of New York when she thought that there would be less loss of life, but at least she was willing to pull herself out of things once she realized that there was more going on than what she had originally thought.

'The Other Side' -- Grimm 2x08

Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, I guess that we know for sure now that Renard really is half a Hexenbiest. I am glad that they had Renard's brother say so, cuz I didn't want to just accept it on speculation (as I would much rather have the writers put something like that in canon). And the fact that Renard is half a Wesen, and his brother seems to be entirely human ... it makes me wonder how the royals were able to know who the Wesen were in general, and who the individuals were specifically? It doesn't seem as though they started off as Grimms, since Renard's brother seems to think of them with a bit of distain. When he was talking to Adalind, it seemed like she felt like she needed to make sure that he knew that she wasn't really associated with the Grimm (cuz he has cooties. Ewwww). Also, why would they have needed (or wanted) to control the Wesen? Is there some reason behind that? Did the Wesen originally help them in getting their power, the power that eventually led them to becoming royals in the first place? And then, they needed the Grimms to make sure that the people that helped them get control were ... under control? I have the feeling like there is so much more there that we are not being told about ... and I'm starting to get the feeling like the writers may not tell us what is going on with this. After all, they are still leaving Nick clueless about how the Wesen know that he is a Grimm, even though he still has two people that could tell him exactly what is going on ... two people who are right there ... and yet, he still insists on walking around and guessing about what may be the cause, instead of asking them (even though he has no problem asking them about other things).

Also, about Monroe and Renard ... what the hell was in that potion that made it possible for Renard to kiss Juliette awake? The effects of it (when it comes to his Wesen half) don't seem to be permanent; but when it comes to the manufactured feelings that they created ... wow. Whatever it was that they created, it doesn't seem like it was a "true love" potion; it seems far more like it was meant to create obsessive feelings. Or could it maybe have really have been something to manufacture "true love," but the longer you go without getting something to counter it, the more likely you are to become obsessed with the person that you kissed awake? Maybe? But until we really know for sure what was in the potion, and how it is supposed to work, everything is guesswork at this point. For a second, it almost seemed like Monroe might be able to get some information out of him that he might have been able to pass on to Nick, but that would be far too easy, wouldn't it? But now that he's seen Renard's face, and knows that Renard is now obsessing over someone (via a potion that he took), I have a feeling that at some point in the future, Monroe will see Renard in an official capacity, and relay some kind of suspicions onto Nick and Hank.

And the fact that they seemed to be making such a big deal about the new ring that Renard is wearing, it makes it seem like there is something important about it. On the "Grimm" Wiki, they were saying that it could have been a ring with a coat of arms on it, but it seems much more likely to me that he stole it after he broke into Nick and Juliette's place. Ok, yeah, if he stole one of Juliette's rings, he would probably have to wear it on his pinkie (unless he had it enlarged to fit his ring finger), but the fact that he didn't start wearing it until after he broke into their place seems kind of significant to me when trying to guess its importance and its significance (to him and to the overall mythos of the show).

Mixing the DNA of different Wesen in one person, creating a person that could access two different Wesen ... interesting. It makes me wonder what would happen, if it occurred naturally (instead of the alternate Wesen DNA being added artificially, when the person already has a complete set of DNA from one group of Wesen, and the alternate information creating what appeared to be an alternate (and foreign) personality). If it happened naturally, would it be possible for the Wesen to be able to access two different Wesn Woge forms? Or would there be some kind of merging of the two? Since this particular kid had added things that were foreign to his original makeup, it makes me wonder if that was the reason why he had two different forms (and where there was one that he really wasn't aware of being there). Now that it's official that Renard is half a Hexenbiest, it makes me wonder if the way he looks when he Woges is the way that anyone would look when they Woge (if they were half and half) ... but maybe that only works when you're half human? I know that I have a tendency to think far too hard about this sort of thing when it comes to genre television, but I needs to know!!

'Child Predator' -- Elementary 1x03

Warning: Spoiler Alert

If the writers continue on the track that they've been going on, maybe I won't give up completely on this show. I still think that the Beeb does it better, but even within the three episodes of this show that have been presented, the writers seem to be getting better at what they are doing. Perhaps they have figured out where they want to go with the show, or maybe they are feeling a bit more confident in their own abilities when it comes to the show ... maybe it's a little bit of both?

With that in mind, I'm still not sure how I would feel about this version of Sherlock Holmes tackling stories from canon. It would seem almost inevitable that at some point the show would deal with Moriarty and Irene Adler, but it seems like the show (and the writers) should get more firmly on its feet before trying to tackle two of the more notable characters from canon. I have the feeling that if the writers try to bring either of these two into the canon of the show to early, they may be bungled. The episodes may be getting a bit better with each new offering, but there are still only three episodes, and until the writers and the actors are able to really sink their teeth into the material, and they are able to stand on their own feet as far as what they are trying to present to the viewing public, I'm not sure that they will be able to do justice to either Moriarty or Adler (hell, if they aren't even able to really present Holmes and Watson as well as they could be presented, when they are the main characters, doing the epic bad guys right now may not be the best of ideas. And no, I don't think that they've got Holmes or Watson down quite yet ... but then, it is still early in the show's run yet).

I don't know if it's because of the American sensibility when it comes to television programs, but it feels almost like the Holmes of the American version of events isn't nearly as smart as he should be. Sure, he's clever, but he doesn't feel nearly as clever as he should be. Of the episodes that are out so far, he's really only solved one of them as far as I see it. In the other two, Watson was far more instrumental in getting the case solved than she was given credit for. In "Sherlock," Watson is clever, and he certainly helps a ton on the cases, but Sherlock is still the cleverest person in the room (unless maybe Moriarty is there), and he isn't quite as dense when it comes to figuring things out. It almost seems like you kind of have to shake the Holmes of "Elementary" a little bit before he is able to be clever, and I'm not sure that I really like that. At this point, if that continues, Moriarty and Adler would mop the floor with him; and seeing as how he is supposed to be the protagonist of the show, I'm not sure that would look good on him.

So, even though it's getting a bit better, I still think that "Sherlock" (and even the Guy Ritchie movies) are better at this point.

'Heartbreak' -- SPN 8x03

Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, this is the second week in a row where there has been a reference to Thor. Last week we had Mjölnir, and this week, we have a testy police officer calling one of the boys "Thor". There's probably nothing meant by it, but it still seems rather odd to me that this one particular god would be alluded to, two weeks in a row. It makes me want to think that there is something going on there, but I'll admit that a big part of that just may be the fact that I would really love to see Thor show up on Show (and is it horrible of me that I would kind of like to see him mop the floor with the boys for a little bit?). It would be kind of awesome if the boys became allies with him (if he did show up), since he's supposed to be a champion of the people. But knowing them, and the way that they want to kill anything that isn't human (with the exception of Cas and Gabriel), I doubt that he would last for very long against them. Even though he's supposed to have +1 Billiony in strength, I'm sure that the writers would add some sort of weakness for him so that the boys could gank him before the end of the episode.

I really don't see why Dean isn't taking Sam's threats seriously. It isn't as though Sam hasn't wanted to get out of the hunting life since before the show started. Hell, he's gotten out for a while, more than once. Just cuz Dean is gung-ho about the family business (and just cuz he's got blinders on right now) doesn't mean that Sam won't bail on him at the first opportunity ... again. Too bad Bobby isn't around to knock their heads together and demand that the two of them actually talk to each other (as well as actually listen to each other). It might not do a whole hell of a lot, but at least it would be something, since the two of them have always seemed bent on not communicating with each other. The way that the two of them turned out with John "raising" them, it makes me wonder how different things might have been if it had been John that died, and Mary had been the one that raised them. She would certainly have been far more sympathetic to their lives, being raised as hunters (since that's how she was raised as well), and she would more than likely have understood why Sam would not want to be a part of it. As much as it seems to give Dean a direction, a purpose to his life, Sam only seems to really thrive when he doesn't have to hunt. I have a feeling that if Mary had raised them, neither of them would have really understood what it was to be a hunter, and maybe Sam would have been able to go to college and be a lawyer ... maybe he'd have a family of his own by this point (whether he would have still met Jess and had one with her, or met someone else along the way).

I get the feeling that the way that Dean keeps brushing Sam off when he says that he wants to give up hunting, we're going to have a repeat of season four when the boys had that knock-down/drag-out before Sam bailed ... and season five, when they had that fight and Sam walked away. But what was I saying before about the writers rehashing old ideas instead of coming up with anything new? It would be truly fantastic if they would do something new, instead of doing the same things over and over ... as well as if they would Joss some of the theories that people have about what will happen on Show, instead of consistently pulling a Kripkie. But that may be expecting a little too much from them.

'Murder, He Wrote' -- Castle 5x04

Warning: Spoiler Alert

This is one of the first episodes that I've really enjoyed in a long time, as it made me keep laughing through the entire episode. Most of what I really found amusing about it happened with Ryan and Esposito trying to figure out who it was that Beckett was seeing now, and being so completely wrong about who it was. I almost expected the two of them to realize that it was Castle almost right away, after everyone seemed to know that Esposito and Lanie were seeing each other ... but maybe the two of them were a little worse at hiding it ... Castle did seem kind of obvious about it to me, but maybe that's just cuz I had the advantage of being a viewer and being privy to information that Ryan and Esposito didn't have. I also almost expected Ryan to tell Esposito all about what he had found out, especially after he seemed to enjoy making Castle sweat, and implying that he knew exactly what was going on, but I'm glad that he didn't. It seemed to be Esposito that was all worked up about trying to find out who Beckett was seeing in the beginning, and Ryan seemed to be more than happy to just let her have her secret.

But the fact that the person that got killed just happened to stumble into Castle's Hampton backyard and fall into his pool on the one weekend that the two of them were there seems a bit of a stretch to me. The odds of that happening seem to be a little too high. It's not as though Castle goes out to his Hampton's home all that often (only seeming to go on an odd weekend, or over the summer when he's trying to escape his feelings for Beckett), so it almost seems like there would need to be a "perfect storm" for all of these things to happen at the same time. It seems far more likely to me that something like that would have happened when he wasn't there ... but then, we couldn't just have Castle and Beckett having an "uneventful" weekend away, can we? That would more than likely make for an episode that didn't appeal to viewers of a show about a detective and a mystery writer. But I suppose we can take from it that at least Castle got an idea for another book, and he may be able to fool mostly everyone for a while longer.

That being said ... if the writers are already having other characters in Castle and Beckett's lives figuring out what is going on between them, how much longer before the information is all over the place? I don't think that Ryan will say anything ... at least not for a while yet (and I don't think that Martha and Alexis are going to say anything ... unless by accident), but eventually Esposito and Lanie are going to figure it out, too. And if the information gets back to the captain, Castle really isn't going to be able to tag along with them anymore (and there goes the show). Montgomery would more than likely have pretended that he didn't know about what was going on, but that is cuz he liked Castle. The new captain ... there is no way that she isn't going to throw Castle out on his ear. Is it wrong that I kind of want the captain to figure it out, just so that I can see how Castle would figure out how he would still be able to help them on their cases? It might be kind of interesting.

'A Day to Give Thanks' -- Copper 1x09

Warning: Spoiler alert

Ahh, so it looks like Ellen did kill Maggie, but that it was an accident. The fact that it was an accident doesn't make me feel any more forgiving toward her for what happened ... probably for the fact that she was having an affair, and that Maguire had been lying to Kevin about the whole thing ever since he came back. Sure, she was lonely, but that doesn't seem like it's an excuse to be disloyal to him IMO. But at least now we know what it was that happened that the writers have only been hinting at since the beginning of the season.

And now I'm wondering when exactly Maguire's relationship with Molly started, and if he was really in love with her. Could it have been that he started it up right after checking Ellen into the hospital? That seems like it might be likely. And if his relationship with Mary is anything to go by, perhaps Molly was only someone to fill the hole that was left by Ellen. He really seemed like he cared about Molly, but if Kevin can be believed about Maguire's character (and what the man looks like when he's in love), maybe it all really comes back to Ellen.

It also seems much more like Maguire was trying to protect Ellen. Maybe not so much from Kevin's anger (which I'm sure he would probably have known would be coming), but from the ghosts that were inside of her own head. She seemed to be wracked with guilt over the baby and over Maggie, so her being in a constant, drug-induced haze probably seemed preferable to her, and something that might be helpful for her to him. Of course, it only delayed the inevitable when it came to dealing with what had happened, but it probably seemed to them like it was something that could help her deal with everything.

Morehouse Jr seems to be up to his neck in it now, and I'm not entirely sure that he's going to be able to extricate himself from something that might be eighteen kinds of awful. It seems much more like he's trying to show up his father in some manner, and so he's willing to agree to do things that maybe he should back away from (and things that he maybe doesn't entirely agree with. I don't get the impression that his thinking is completely aligned with Kennedy and his pals, regardless of what he may say. It seems maybe that he is looking for a bit of excitement in his life (cuz he feels like it's dull), and that he is trying to get his father's attention (especially when you consider his little outburst in this episode)). It seems like the longer he stays palling around with these guys who are trying to burn down New York, the harder it's going to be for him to stop them, and the harder it's going to be for him to look like he's completely on-board with everything that they're doing. It's almost funny that he also says that Kevin is really the only person that he thinks that he can trust, even while I want to go "well, duh". Even while he's the one that has said that everyone lies to Kevin, he also seems to realize that Kevin is really the only one (besides O'Brien) that is really honest, and who you can trust to be someone of his word (and someone who is authentic).

Elizabeth and John Wilkes Booth ... yeah, there is certainly something going on there. It could be that the two of them had an affair sometime in the past, but I'm thinking that it might actually have been something more like she is a Southern sympathizer, and met him that way. Either way, I really can't bring myself to trust her, and I kind of want something bad to happen to her by the end of it for all of her lies and manipulation (I still think that she's trying to manipulate Morehouse Jr (and really anybody that she thinks that she can) to get herself a leg-up).

Good on whoever wrote this episode for putting in that line about Molly, and the director put Eva full in shot for that look of d'oh. It kind of seemed like Molly's murder had been forgotten, and maybe now that other more pressing things had been figured out someone will figure out what had happened to her. Why do I kind of want Annie to be the one who finds out? It probably wouldn't be good for her to find out that just one more person had been murdered by someone that she trusted (it would more than likely give her another reason not to be able to trust people and to become bitter about life), but at the same time ... Eva isn't exactly the best person for her to be looking up to. I'm not talking about what she does for a living, but I'm talking about what she is willing to do to people who trust her. While I don't see her sending Annie off somewhere cuz she has become "problematic" (the way that Elizabeth did), but the fact that she is willing to lie to Kevin and kill someone who she thinks is getting a little too close to him (in her own obsessive mind) means that she probably shouldn't be a role model for a little girl.