Cop Fridays: Lies Beget Liars, No Matter How Pretty

Gif from Tumblr

     Dear Jesus, someone in the town of Rosewood is finally making sense! Of course it's not the Pretty Little Liars, but it's Spencer's mom, Veronica Hastings. This time and she is on the nose here. She announced she is putting the family home on the market. Veronica simply said,  "Severing ties with this town would be healthy, for all of us." I'm slapping a palm to my face and yelling duh at the top of my lungs. This town is toxic to all of the characters in this show, except Mona, who has nine lives.  Poor Spencer discovered in last week's spring premiere that Veronica is not her biological mother. Somehow, Mr. Hastings had an affair with Alison's mom, giving us Jason DeLaurentis. Then, Mr. Hastings had an affair with Alison's mom's twin sister, Mary Drake, which brought us Spencer. Spencer and Alison, by my account, are now cousins that share a brother and Spencer's half-brother is Alison's adopted brother, who became a girl (it's deeply socially confusing and a bit backwoods). This revelation came as part of the super creepy "Liars Lane" game that was left for the 5 girls. This creepily customized board game sends clues and tasks via a cell phone, like regular A with the added bonus of a scale model of the girls and their town. Overall, it's less involved than making masks of their faces or re-creating their bedrooms in an underground dollhouse, but still creepy as hell .Do they choose to report the game to the police? Of course not, because they think it would self-destruct before the detectives could even get a look at it. This is one the reasons I can't watch horror movies, I can't believe the characters would be so dumb. As explained in the Cosmo PLL oral history, members of the production staff made a jar and every time someone asked  a logical question (why is she running in heels?? Did the lairs even go to school today?) they had to surrender then door and surrender their disbelief.

The Rosewood Church (c) PipPepPop

     Spencer is now in desperate need to find her mother, who gave birth to her in a mental institution. This is the same institution that Spencer checked in herself for a number of ailments (she went full Jessie Spanno). In short, keeping all these secrets caused Spencer to have a breakdown. Who can blame her, her sister married a psycho who nearly killed Emily before falling off the top of a church. Spencer is also the same girl that blacked out part of the night Alison went missing and realized she tried to bludgeon the girl in the head with a field hockey stick (before they knew they were related). EW!  At the end of the day, Spencer pulled herself together and made it through college.  Adult Spencer devoted her life to her (fake) mother's political aspirations, and spiraled into a somewhat destructive relationship with her best friend Hanna's ex, Caleb. She also stalked her ex, Toby, and his new girlfriend turned baby mama turned fiance. Poor Yvonne is in a coma now after she and Toby  hit a deer with their car (the first non-human hit by a car in this show). The whole messy situation was complicated by Yvonne's mom running for the position Spencer's mom eventually won. Poor Toby was in the middle. Let's also take a moment to remember Toby became a police officer. Was he that good? Well, he didn't get murdered, and I'm 90% sure he never murdered anyone, so in this town that's pretty good.

Image from Giphy

     What is Spencer up to now? She's actually talking to the police about finding Mary, and her recent shooting. We were told by the detective that  out likely Uber A (Blind Jenna) did not shoot Spencer because the ballistics didn't match. This could only mean that Mary shot her own child. She must have been trying to send Spencer a message, unless there was yet another person lurking in the school for the blind when the liars went there to confront the now dead Noel Kahn. At least Spencer is reaching out to a detective!

Rosewood town hall.
(c) PipPepPop

     Here's a roundup of the other potentially legal drama in town. Hannah was designing dresses for a political socialite and Blind Jenna was seen wearing an identical dress. Suddenly the front page of the post claimed Hannah stole the design. This is important to note: Jenna is still bind (or so we think) and her two bodyguards were also blind with sunglasses. It was like she was flanked by the men in black.They also went to a meeting on the "dicey" side of town, which was indicated by a shoe repair shop and a bail bondsman.

     Emily is working at her old school as a swim coach, and trying to help Alison with a situation (see below). Of course, Emily's ex Paige is jealous, and all 3 women work at the same school. This time, Alison doesn't self-destruct; Paige previously lost her mind at a staff meeting. Even A isn't involved in this scandal, it's all in the hands of a whiny teen swimmer. She is a min-Alison, skipping practice and punishing Emily when she got punished. This chick (I'll call her A-minus) shows photos of Emily and Alison hugging during school and alleges some inappropriate conduct with students. Hey, maybe this girl  who would have been 9 when the drama started is the Uber A! Maybe she's another sister of Alison! Clearly, stranger things have happened. Speaking of Alison and stranger things, she is still moping after discovering she is pregnant with her psycho husband's baby. The good news is that the girls killed Alison's kidnapping and embezzling husband. The bad news is that the cops still think he skipped town and fled to Europe. Alison won't tell her other friends about the demon seed, creating a rift between Emily and the other,s like before Ali died. The question I can't figure out is what is Alison's deal? Is she interested in men and women? Does she just like toying with Emily? Will she make a decision about keeping the baby? Will she befall the same fate as her aunt and have this kid in a mental asylum? I don't know, but if I had my way, this baby would be Uber A!

Alison's House / Seaver home-
 Growing Pains (c) PipPepPop

     Finally we wrap-up with Aria. She may or may not still have a job. I'm unclear if she and her fiance Ezra finished writing their novelization about he and his ex-girlfriend getting kidnapped as relief workers. (Yes, this happened, just give in a dollar). Ezra left town because the ex, Nicole, was discovered still alive, and he's spent most of these two episodes in New York with her family trying to help her. Poor Aria feels like she can't even bask in her engagement  (to her former high school teacher) because the news is covering Nicole's story, celebrating the reunited couple (of Ezra and Nicole). Aria ran into a cute, childhood friend, who works for his sister's wedding planning business. Surprise, she's spending all this time with him, and her response to every question is "I don't know what Ezra wants." This is the most truthful thing I've heard in these two new episodes. Maybe it's finally clear that Aria and Ezra do not belong together. The law may not be keeping them apart any more, but they have irreconcilable differences.

{The most interesting thing I learned about filming on the WB studio tour is that every set (inside and exteriors) is dressed daily the the set decorators and teams, down to the signs and knobs}. Please enjoy PLL set photos from the WB studio tour! 

PREDICTIONS:

• I'm still convinced everyone in the town is in on this and they are all "A."
• Aria and Spencer's dads are going to start a creepy dad band.
• Hannah will stop wearing grungy sweats if she wants to be a fashion designer. 
• Spencer will confront her real mother.
• We will never see Spencer's sister or Jason again .
• (because they cannot handle this weird family dynamic) 
• Jenna will get her sight/ we find out she got it back a long time ago.
• Spencer and Toby will get back together.

Cop Fridays 3: It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Bones

Image from Pintrest

     It's time for another installment of Cop Fridays! This time we take a look at the rapidly approaching series finale of my most beloved cop show, Bones. Aside from COPS and American Idol, the 12-season running Bones may be one of the longest-running shows FOX has ever had the pleasure of airing.

      I'm going to get sentimental for a moment and explain why the show is so emotionally enmeshed in my viewing past. The show premiered in the Fall of 2005. I was a college freshman looking for new friendships and television shows. All you had to say was that David Boreanez "Angel from BUFFY" was playing a hunky FBI agent, and I was hooked. I invited my close friends over for a viewing party of the first episode. We all cheered when Emily Deschanel's Dr. Temperance Brennan grabbed a gun and shot a suspect in the leg to prevent him from getting away. It was illegal, it was wrong, and it was awesome! Remember, she is the forensic scientist - hence the name Bones- and she should not have done that at all for various ethical and legal reasons.

The show became a bonding experience over subsequent seasons, I had regular Bones dates with a group of friends. We held out hope that one day Brennan and said hunky partner,  FBI agent Seely Booth, would get together. It took years... She was with child before the audience discovered they were fooling around. From that moment in the 6th season finale, Booth and Bones seemed inseparable. With two kids, several kidnappings, and trips to faraway places like Peru and London for cases, it seemed like they could handle everything. They even tried giving up their crime solving at the end of season 10, quitting their jobs in an attempt to give their family a normal life (it didn't last).

     This week, it all stopped making sense. Brennan's ex-convict father Max (the incomparable Ryan O'Neal) died at the end of last Tuesday's episode. In another psychotic revenge plot, Max protected his grandkids from an attack at home. [Sounds like just another day at the F.B.I, right?] He came through surgery for a gunshot wound, passing suddenly as he talked with Bones. After that moment, Bones lost it. The father she spent years not knowing (due to her parents faking their deaths and going on the lam, leaving Bones and her brother to grow up in foster care), was gone and died doing what he could to protect his family.

      What would someone do after suffering a tragic loss? She would be the subject of this week's episode "The Grief in the Girl." Bones flipped out, becoming distant from her husband, telling him that he should go to Canada to work a case, and it's really not important if he makes it to the memorial. She catches up with an ex-boyfriend (sorry, I forgot you existed, FBI Agent Sully). She works the case from D.C. She writes a eulogy. She is at best, her pre-Booth robotic self. She is at best, completely falling apart in her own Bones way. I really can't understand why she is/was so into Sully. By the time she reaches the memorial, Bones is finally ready to open up to Booth like most normal people do when they lose a parent. Bones justifies her time with Sully, saying that relationship prepared her for a relationship with Booth. That's cool, but I thought his coming to town just for her dad's funeral and putting in a several-day hang was odd and inappropriate. It seemed bizarre that he left the FBI, skipped town and ghosted Bones, and then wanted to be there in her hour of need. He has a girlfriend he might want to marry back at home. For the record, their relationship was not a Buffy/Angel after Joyce's death situation. It was also odd that Bones would abandon her evolved emotional arc and become so distant from her husband. I have not been this upset over and episode since  Dr. Hodgins got confined to a wheelchair, and before that, when Dr. Sweets unexpectedly died.  While I'm willing to give this episode a pass, I hope this is a justified  plot device that will help the characters move on as we go to the last episode.

I was okay with Bones through this weekend. Then, I got upset again. David Boreanez appeared on The Huffington Post's Build Series this Monday. It was a delightful interview, until he teased there might be several  more deaths in the last few episodes. I went right back into a glass case of emotion. and I cannot keep doing this again. Usually Bones is known for keeping death to the corpses in the lab. Do we as an audience need the schadenfreude of the writers killing multiple characters to help ua walk away from a show? Absolutely not, no bones about it.

*Updated 2/28
See the amazing Forbes recap of the episode here.
See the first COP Fridays post here.
See the second COP Fridays post here.

Hospital Saturday: Too Much Death on TV

     In addition for this week's Cop Fridays, I'm adding a new recurring column. It's been a tragic death week on television, so we will celebrate Hospital Fridays and pour some out for the homies. 

Gif from 1051fm.

   After last night’s blindside passing of Rayna James on Nashville, I went into a glass case of emotion, like Ron Burgundy (left). It was a complete and utter shock. This is Rayna's (Connie Britton) second almost deadly car accident (stale plot writers). Last time, her beau Deacon crashed the car drunk while the two fought for the wheel. This time, it was far more devastating. We have sat though episode after episode of this season with Rayna facing an unknown stalker. When she finally confront him last week, she had a terror-inducing experience convincing him not to hut her. If they had to kill her off (and they did according to this Huffington Post interview), why not just have the stalker off her? She comes out of the ordeal, quite shaken, and gets in the backseat of her police escort to come home. Then someone T-bones the car. Was it an accident? I've learned to believe car accidents on TV are suspect to some hinky stuff. I'm convinced this is some sort of deeply connected plot that ties back to Rayna's ex-husband Teddy and what landed him in jail. I may be wrong because this sounds more like a plot from old Nashville, where the stakes were unbelievably high.

     We also went through a whole  and Tuesday’s passing of William (Ron Cephas Jones) on This is Us, I am completely in a glass case of emotion, like Anchorman's Ron Burgundy.  I knew William would have to die at some point, because when we met him in the pilot, he announced he had cancer. Still, it was shocking to see him wither away after taking Randall on a road trip to meet his biological relatives. We learned all about William's past, growing up close to his single mother and singing in a jazz band. William cared for his mother in her final moments, vowing not to make his family suffer the same fate. We also got to see William (who is gay) meeting Randall's mother and falling in love with her, only to succumb to drug use to cope with the loss of his mother. It made more sense why he gave up Randall at the hospital, he knew he could never do the same job raising a child that his mother did. It was beautiful and emotional.

     I will be hiding out in my glass case this weekend, thinking about happy sitcoms.

Annalee, Annalee, Don't You Know I'm On to You

     Tomorrow is episode 2 of the new season of How to Get Away with Murder, and we might have finally reached the point where getting away is not a forgone conclusion. See the above blog title, also part of a Gavin DeGraw song, for a clear explanation. It's the third year of Professor Keating's (Viola Davis) law class, and the show has finally begun adressing our burning questions as Annalise discovers a dead body and her house on fire (who handles her insurance claims, seriously?)

Answers to Real Life Questions:
1.  How do the Keating 5 stay in law school with all of the murders?
     - These kids are barely holding it together mentally, and their GPAS are revealed at the bottom of the whole law class. The new dean points out to Annalise that she is favoring these sucky lawyers and like a protective mama bear, Professor Keating defends them.

2. How does Annalise keep bringing in money with one big case a semester? How does she find time to teach her sections of Intro to Law?
     - Annalise has an expensive retainer, and she is a good lawyer. Yes, she probably makes some bank, but teaching classes has to cover some of the bills, even if it's just covering her house repairs from all the murders. She is a great teacher, but she has other obligations (lying to the police, court, convincing people she didn't murder Nate's wife)  and missed a chuck of teaching classes last year because she got shot in the stomach (at a crime scene). As per her conversation with the dean, the school is aware Annalise has become a terrible educator. She is removed from the into classes and as a last ditch attempt, convinces the dean she should run an innocence-project based law clinic.

Image from TVLine.

3. Why didn't Frank shave sooner? 
     - Actor Charlie Weber was an Abercrombie model. He is a hottie with a body. Why has he been creeping around with a beard? Oh right, he is a murderer.

4. Is Oliver now part of the group (The Keating 6)?
     - Oliver has seen some things. He was diagnosed as HIV positive,  kidnapped by a would-be murderer, and then he got his boyfriend's acceptance from Stanford pulled. Yes, he is all in, digging up dirt on Annalise to secure his place with the group. Can he come back from the dark side? Can wicked Caleb really be the good one in this pair?

5. Is Annalise a murderer?
     - The fliers in her classroom seem to suggest that she is.

More Questions:
1. Why won't Wes move out of his terrible apartment? 
     - There have been kidnappings, murders, and some seriously bad juju there. It must be very cheap.

2. What happened to Caleb Hapstall?
     - We last saw the police going to arrest Caleb after Annalise proved in court his sister and brother/cousin could not have murdered all of their parents. Did he go to jail? Did the Keating 5 come to watch his trial and figuratively dance on his grave?

3. Did the police give up on trying to wrap up the murder of D.A. Sinclair? 
     - The original setup showed that Katherine Hapstall must have killed her in a murderous rage, but with Katherine's case blowing to pieces and her innocence, did anyone believe Annalise and crew were scot-free?

4. Why is Wes so cruel to Laurel?
     - It's unclear what happened after last season's car kiss, but Wes has turned a cold shoulder on Laurel and found a (relatively normal) girlfriend. Laurel still hasn't heard from Frank since he disappeared. If anyone should be massively upset, it should be Laurel.

Image courtesy of Tumblr. 

5. What's up with Bonnie?
     - Bonnie has been too quiet. Any minute, she may turn into her Paris Gellar character from Gilmore Girls and go off about chastity belts and Harvard. She has some issues that clearly have not been dealt with (her father raping her as a child, helping Asher cover up  a murder, nursing Annalise back to mental and physical health) and her weird unspoken tension with Frank, who has now disappeared.


6. Are we going to get closure on Wes's father being shot right in front of him?
     -This was my question from moment one of the season premiere.  Also see question 1 as it relates to this matter.. Wes needs something good in his life after losing Rebecca and being driven to the point of agreeing to shoot Annalise.

7. Will there ever be a Scandal crossover?
     -I can't be the only one shipping this crossover.  Just picture it, another day at Middleton University when the next presidential debate turns deadly. Annalise represents Cyrus, because, Cyrus must have done it. Or, Olivia and Huck come in and cleans up political scandals and bodies.

8. Will Annalise and Nate finally be happy?
     - Nate came all the way to Memphis to visit Annalise and her family in the season finale. They adored Nate, and he put up with it. Now that they're both widowed, they could be together. There is a good chance this turns toxic. See #10.

9. Is Annalise over the 'Frank caused the car accident that killed my baby' news?
     - There is no answer yet, but let's go with a hard pass. Perhaps Frank is the dead body found at casa d'Annalise? This leads to...

10. Who is the body at Annalise's house?

Nashville '16-'17: Where Are We Going?

From Change.org E-mail

     As much as I hate to see T.V. shows end, I hate it even more when they end without a valid wrap-up of their story lines, like The Mindy Project. This also was the case with ABC's Nashville. It came down to the last two cancellation-doomed episodes for fans to put out a public outcry to give the show a 5th season. In the last week, I joined almost 175,000 fans in signing a change.org petition to bring the show back. That's got to be at least a good chunk of their average viewership. Rest easy, Tennessee Titans, the show will be coming back for a season 5! The show's Lionsgate production company has cemented a deal with Country Music Television (CMT) for a new season. If you don't have CMT (like me), you can catch episodes the next day on Hulu, which is the new home of The Mindy Project (since FOX gave it the boot last season). The best news of all is that the show has been ordered for 22 full episodes for the season. Keep in mind, that's 22 episodes for a show that does not film in L.A. and it's gone from a network budget to a cable budget. I see big changes ahead!

 

Downtown Nashville (c)PipPepPop

   The 22 episodes will give us enough berth to get things in Nashville back to normal. But the new questions becomes, what is normal? With so many plots, actors, and guest stars, something may have to give. We left off season 4 with some major resolutions. Finally, Rayna and Deacon reunited with their angsty, emancipated teen daughter, Maddie. Then, the on-again, off-again band "The Exes", Gunnar and Scarlett shared a kiss while performing, and Will became a crusader for gay rights while patching things up with his ex, Kevin. Even Luke Wheeler, who has had a rough time these few years (his teen son joining the army, his daughter running off to boarding school, Rayna leaving him at the altar, and almost going bankrupt), managed to make a positive change in the country community and reach out to his ex-wife. Justly deserved, the wicked ingenue Layala was left all alone as her record exploded on the charts. Her desperate attempts to ruin Juliet's life blew up as Juliet opened up to the press about her struggles with suicide, depression, marriage troubles and her manege'rs resulting accidental death. Win for Juliet as she reconciled with her manager Glenn and rushed home to meet estranged husband Avery and their baby, Cadence. Where are we headed now? It's definitely a shocker!

     It's time to find out if Juliet's plane has crashed! The last scene showed Avery at the airstrip, receiving news that Juliet's jet lost contact with air traffic control. This plays heavily into the plans for season 5. Hayden Panettiere (Juliet) missed about 1/4 of the last season as she recovered from postpartum depression. The good news is that both Panettiere and Connie Britton (Rayna) have confirmed they will be back for the next season. With new showrunners moving into place, I'm hoping for a season that drags less. I felt that Luke didn't have much to go on this season, and at the same time Will was stuck in the same story lines over and over again. With tighter budgets looming, I hope to see some fresh stories. If there's one thign for sure, I can guarantee that all this hype will bring a 2017 Stars of Nashville tour. With Rayna and Juliet now longtime friends instead of  the warring divas they began the show as, I hope we can focus on the music again.

Hello Nurse: GH Hosts the 2016 Nurses' Ball

     It's hard to top an event when it's been done for the better part of 20 years, but General Hospital piqued my interest for this year's Nurses' Ball. The show has had it's share of dramatic moments over the last 50+ years and it did not disappoint. All you need to know (outside from the very obvious intricate relationships between characters that are made very clear) is that the NB is an event to raise money for GH for the cause of fighting HIV/AIDS. There are disasters, lots of musical numbers (everyone in this tiny NY/Canada border town is a showboater), and hostess Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) usually ends up with her clothes falling off (but not this year). Nobody thoguht last year's ball could be topped. We discovered Jake Doe was really Jason Morgan (see more below) and we saw this unravel Elizabeth (who knew the truth and kept Jason away from his family). Plus, Ric Lasing proposed to ex-wife Elizabeth and got turned down, humiliated and had all of his evil plans exposed.

Lucy Coe and Richard Simmons  at the Nurses' Ball of Yesteryear (GH Wiki)

Here are the 10 moments that topped 2015:

Image from General Hospital Wiki

10. MURDERER BEFRIENDS KID

     Someone let goofy (murdering) Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth) near children for art therapy? This might have worked when James Franco played the character, because James Franco is soap opera hot, but let's think about this. This guy murdered multiple people for his "art" including the beloved Emily Quartermain. Elizabeth seems to be way too relenting about this whole arrangement of her kid hanging out with Franco, the guy who murdered her best friend!

9. A BUNCH OF OLD CHARACTERS GO TO THE BALL TOGETHER?

Image from Biography.com

     Laura Spencer has had quite the 30 year career on this show, and the first real "ship" couple, Luke and Laura. With Luke (Tony Geary) finally leaving the show last summer, Laura (Genie Francis) has been kicking around trying to save her dumb, adult children from completely ruining their lives. She has mostly been failing at this. They have a small brood of unruly children, and her son Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) bailed out on his wife. Son Nikolas's life fails are outline below. Even her daughter Lulu has made some stupid choices...

    I think we haven't seen the last of Luke yet, but in the meantime, Laura showed up with no ticket, and was able to score an armed escort with psychiatrist Dr. Kevin Collins (John Lindstorm). So hello 90's, what end of the hospital has he been working in all this time?




8. EVERYONE'S STILL TALKING ABOUT CARLOS RIVERA

Image from GeneralHospitalBlog.com

    What is the big deal with this guy? At last year's Nurses' Ball, Carlos was on the run for something bad Then he murdered Duke Lavery after the ball. Now, everyone is trying to figure out who shot Carlos. (It was... oh who cares?) Now Carlos is gone. There have been a lot of murders and deaths in this town that people have made less of a deal about.
   
As far as I'm concerned, he  can get his own spinoff entitled:
 Were In The World Is Carlos Rivera... And Does Anyone Really Want to Find Him?"

7. THE OLD CARLY IS BACK! (NOT LITERALLY) 

Image from Giphy

     Carly Too-Many-Last-Names* (Laura Wright) is finally back to her evil tricks. She cat fights in the bathroom moments before her brother is supposed to get married and she wins! Carly walks out with enough dirt on her husband's baby mama Ava to keep Ava's child away from her forever.

* Her Full name with marriages is something like:
Caroline Leigh Benson Roberts Quartermain Corinthos Alcazar Jacks Corthinos




6. NED ASHTON STILL THINKS HE IS A ROCK STAR
     One of Port Charles' favorite rock stars (there are two, and the other one is played by Rick Springfield) made a rare appearance to duet on Don't Go Breaking My Heart with his dead sister-in-law's cousin's kid. All hail Eddie Main!

5. ROBIN'S BACK AGAIN!

Image from GeneralHospitalBlog.com

     Fan favorite Kimberly McCullogh played Dr. Robin Scorpio Drake from 1985-2001 as a child/teen and has been on and off since 2004. She is the hart of the nurses' ball and is a character living with HIV. Long story short, Robin was presumed dead for a while (She was kidnapped on one of the Cassadine Islands, as most of the people on this list were), but she came back. Nobody is really surprised when she pops back into town at this point.



4. THE GAY WEDDING GOT CALLED OFF DUE TO... NEEDLES?

Image from Soaps.sheknows.com

     First the mother of a groom, Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) collapses. She got injected with something backstage (and this is the least that has happened to Bobbie). When her son Dr. Lucas Jones (Ryan Carnes) arrives with her at the hospital, he was also stuck with a needle. Who's to blame, and is this a hate crime?  It looks like Dr. Liesl Obrecht is mad that nobody wants to see her perform. I'm not sure if this performance denial is her motivation for needling people, or something to do with Carlos Rivera being her grandkid's baby daddy. Can someone on this crack detective squad solve a crime correctly for once? Why hasn't Lisel tried to pick up said grandchild from the clutches of Tracey Quartermain while her daughter Sabrina is AWOL? Why did Sabrina leave her baby with the Quartermains, only to ditch her reunion with her kid to sing the last song of the ball? Please, PCPD, solve any one of these questions!

3. SAM MCCALL-MORGAN IS THIS TOWN'S DA VINCI

Image from Giphy

     Kelly Monaco's Sam came to town as a salvage boat captain after playing Dr. Collins' daughter Livie on Port Charles. She charmed Jasper Jax and ended up in the protection of Sonny and Jason. I honestly cannot pinpoint a job this woman has had since she became involved with the mob guys, but in this one ball, she danced in a salsa number and served as a best man to  a wedding that didn't happen. Plus, she is gaining back the trust of Jason.



2. JASON MORGAN'S ACCIDENT GOT HIS MEMORIES BACK

Image from General Hilarity Blog

     Jason (Morgan) Quartermain (currently played by Billy Miller)  used to be a rich prepster. He lost his memory in a car accident caused by his brother, A.J. Then Jason got amnesia and became the right hand of a "coffee importer", mob boss Sonny Corinthos.  A lot of other stuff happened! Jason's nephew Michael became sonny's stepson, and  everyone had some more kids. Plus, he lost his memory for about 6 months  and thought his name was Jake last year. A few weeks ago, Jason got in a car accident, saved one of Sonny's other sons, Dante, in the crash. Now Jason has old memories and new memories. He is now trying to reconcile with his wife, Sam, as Jason 2.0, Jason is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He has connections to his past and the ability to feel emotions again, which may make him a terrible mob enforcer, but it's all he's known for so many years.

1. NIKOLAS CASSADINE IS A BADDIE... AND POSSIBLY DEAD?

Image from HighlightHollywood.com

     I'm not sure I followed the whole Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) blackmailing and sham marriage to Hayden and stolen diamonds bit, but I know one thing for sure. Nikolas wanted Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) all to himself last year, and he let her unravel by revealing Jason's true identity and made her go all Fatal Attraction on Jason/Jake (see #2).  Also, his nutso grandmother (R.I.P Helena) was the one who kidnapped and sometime brainwashed half the town (usually when they're presumed dead). Nikolas always wanted to circumvent his wild Russian royal family and their blackmailing, murder and kidnapping. Way to parent this guy, Laura Spencer. But when Jason (who is Nik's cousin's husband) confronted him after the ball, it looks like Nik landed at the bottom of a cliff. Now, Nikolas is missing. Who is watching little Spencer? His Aunt Elizabeth is a hot mess, his Uncle Lucky split because he is a terrible father to a his brood of children from other daddies, his grandma Laura is out picking up anyone left at the hospital, and his Aunt Lulu is making dagger eyes at her stepbrother Dylan's new girlfriend and nursing her injured husband Dante back to health after the Jason accident. Yes, everyone in this town is over-related. It's really gross when you think about it, so don't. I don't even want to point out Spencer's mom Courtney used to be married to Jason, who then married Nikolas's cousin Sam, and they are suspects in Nik's disappearance.

     Which brings me to the most  important question. How do people get out to Nikolas' Wyndamere/Spoon Island so quickly? Is there a speedboat I'm unaware of? It's an island and these people are walking there minutes after announcing they are off to the island.

UPDATED JUNE 3rd

Good Wife, Great Lawyer, Terrible Friend

     Alicia Florrick's story came to an end Sunday night, but the ending was less of an ending than legendary "meta" show endings like The Sopranos.  Alicia (Juliana Margulies) has often been referred to as "Saint Alicia", the First Lady of Illinois, Peter's wife, and  Grace and Zach's mom. Yes, she is no doubt The Good Wife. When her State's Attorney husband Peter (Chris Noth, a.k.a. Carrie Bradshaw's Mr. Big) went to jail for corruption (and using government money for hookers), Alicia stood by him, sold the house, and got the kids set up in a stable home and public schools. She the got a job at the only firm that would hire her, ran by an old college pal, Will Gardner.

     Despite her occasional bad moments this season (calling in sick to work to spend the day in bed with her bad boy investigator Jason), and giving into her long-brewing affair with Will (Josh Charles) in season 4, Alicia is almost too nice. The most bold things she has done (running for State's Attorney, leaving Lockhart/Gardner to start a firm with Carey) were both things she had to be talked into. Time and circumstances have made Alicia more "bad", (relatively of course) because drinking too much wine and disrespecting her mother-in-law Jackie (Mary Beth Peil) are usually her worst crimes. Mrs. Florrick defended known mob boss Lemond Bishop (Mike Colter) and suspected wife-murderer Colin Sweeney (Dylan Baker) but never got involved in anything against the law. At the forefront of Alicia's moral code, the law is there and emotion is a close second.

     But "Saint Alicia" tossed off her halo in the series finale last week, giving into passion (not of the carnal variety), but in the "save my family" variety. With Zach running off to Paris to marry a grad student and Grace threatening to postpone college for a year, Alicia needed to get her ducks in a row. Her highness threw her partner and now ex-friend Diane Lockhart's (Christine Baranski) marriage under the bus to win a case, using associate Lucca to get the job done. Alicia insinuated Diane's ballistics expert husband could not be objective in his testing report because he had an affair with his protegee, a second ballistics expert called in on the case. Alicia won her case, which helped prevent her husband Peter from going to jail (again over a corruption charges). Alicia saved her family, walked away from Peter to chase Jason the investigator (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), lost both men, and got b****-slapped by Diane.

     This brings me to the point of this post. Alicia built herself a new life in Chicago. She left behind the cushy life of PTA meetings and dinners to jump into corporate law to save her family. Peter was mostly gone (in jail, at the Governor's mansion, sleeping with women). Alicia stayed with Peter to save her family. Alicia even went on the campaign trail for the presidential election to save her family. But when it comes to making friends, ALICIA IS TERRIBLE. The show should be called "The All-Alone Wife" because that's how she ended up. There was no Peter, no Jason, (no Will because he is long dead), no salvageable job at Diane's new female-led firm, and her kids are leaving the nest.

     Alicia doesn't have girlfriends like other female T.V. characters. She merely has co-workers, clients, and family. Sometimes these people overlap. Eventually, her mother-in-law and co-worker got married. Alicia's only true friend, former P.I. Kalinda (Archie Punjabi) left town a year ago after Lemond Bishop threatened her. It is important to make clear here, Alicia was mostly drinking buddies with Kalinda. When K.S. revealed she had also slept with Peter when she worked in his office. At this point, it's harder to find a woman that hasn't slept with Peter. Alicia began this season pretty despondent until she created a drinking buddy in Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo). The two women were working in bond court and eventually created a practice, and got hried back by Alicia's old firm. Other female friendships have not gone smoothly. ER alum Maura Tierney played potential donor Maddie Hayward several seasons ago. She invited Alicia out for a drink and Alicia deflected, saying she was married. Maddie countered, she just wanted to make a friend and she was not into Alicia in that way. Cold and calculating boss/co-worker Diane also had a tenuous relationship with Alicia. Diane grew frustrated when Alicia let her down more than once:  when Alicia left Diane's firm to anew and when Diane was promised an appointed  judgeship by Peter, only to be swapped in for a male candidate at the last minute. It seems the only constant in Alicia's life has been her daughter Grace (Mackenzie Vega), who pulled her weight this season as Alicia's legal secretary after school.

     The men in Alicia's life have also given her more heartache than friendship. Alicia/Peter's campaign manager Eli Gold (Alan Cumming) betrayed Alicia, lying for years about deleting a voicemail from Will just hours before he died. After a lot of time and wine, Alicia moved past it, but she seemed more betrayed by Eli than she ever did by Peter. As for Peter, he and Alicia became more like friends (and sometimes friends with benefits) over the last few year as their political aspirations eclipsed the family they tried so hard to save. Of course, Will let Alicia down by dying. They teased their possible relationship for so long, taking one step forward and back until it was finally too late and Will was violently killed  in open court. After Will's passing, Alicia became close with ADA Finn Polmar, who was with Will right before he died. Eventually their relationship crumbled and a close friend was gone. Of course, P.I. Jason was gone in the last scene, as he made it clear to Alicia he was truly a bad boy and couldn't stick around waiting for her to make up her mind, and he was a free bird and everything else that goes with those speeches.


     Last but not least, there's the unresolved issue of Alicia and Cary Agos (Matt Czurchy). Alicia's relationship with Cary has "carried" thorough the show since episode 1 and it was dropped like it was hot (one evidence tip in a case does not repair a friendship) in this last episode. This is literally THE FRIENDSHIP of the entire series. Both AF and CA were hired as junior associates in the first episode with promise of one being able to stay at the firm. We didn't want to like Cary from the start because he was fresh out of law school, a preppy blonde guy, and he walked in like he owned the place. He was entitled and privileged, a real villain type.  This is the guy in the 80's movie that Andrew McCarthy or James Spader would play.

     Will was always on Alicia's aside for obvious reasons, and as Diane took a shine to Alicia, she rose up the ranks at the firm and Cary got shafted. He left to go to the SA's office for a while to work off his bitterness. Later, Cary came back to Lockhart/Gardner and stayed there until he and the other associates got fed up, and he started a firm with Alicia. The guy became humbled and went on trial for a trumped-up charge of instructing clients how to bring in drugs into the country, and was almost jailed. Finally, Cary folded back into Lock/whatever the firm eventually became. Then what did Cary do a few weeks before the finale? He quit as Diane "locked in" her all-female led firm idea. He left without a fight. There was never any true resolution to the constant tension and competition between Cary and Alicia. In the end, I don't think Cary could stomach the life he built for himself. Alicia had something to fight for (however misguided her notion of family was) and Cary had nothing (especially after Kalinda left town). As for Cary's relationship with Kalinda, he loved her a lot. Maybe loved him, but she also loved several women. Often. It was just never meant to be. But Cary sincerely respected Alicia. Maybe Cary realized that he didn't want to end up like Alicia, at the top of her game and very abruptly, alone and back where she started? We see Cary in the finale, a guest lecturer at a law school, putting his valuable knowledge of both sides to good use. I can only hope we get some sort of Cary spin-off, maybe Cary could get a job on  a cruise ship or something totally out of character.

5.23.16  UPDATED See more unresolved plot points from The Good Wife finale.

Poor Meredith Grey

     As the leading lady of Grey's Anatomy, Meredith Grey has been through a lot of terrible situations. When we first met the grumpy, friendless, brilliant, makes-bad-decisions while drunk surgeon in 2005, she was simply trying to get her Alzheimer's afflicted mother to sign over power of attorney. Compared to that piece of cake, Meredith has faced a significantly greater  hardship. On Thursday's episode, she got beat up by a patient that was in a fugue state from sedation. Mer had broken bones, a broken jaw, and hearing loss, among other problems (Season 12, Episode 9). She was watched over and cared for by her dear friend Alex, and at this point I think he should just be her new husband. They both have some pretty serious relationship issues and understand each other on a deep level. (Plus, in a weird alternate flash forward, Meredith was engaged to Alex, so I could see it working).  Here are Meredith's 35 greatest hits and struggles that led her to this moment:

1. Meredith gets caught caught having car sex with her boss's boss. (Season 1, Episode 5)
2. Meredith finds out her boyfriend's ex-wife is back in the picture. (Season 1, Episode 9)
3. Everyone at the hospital find out Meredith's mom has Alzheimer's. (Season 2, Episode 3)
4. Her one-night stand ends up in the E.R. with a sex injury. (Season 2, Episode 10)
5. Meredith has to hold a live bomb in a patient during surgery. (Season 2, Episode 16)
6. She has sex with her roommate George and feel terrible about it. (Season 2, Episode 19)
7. McDog is put down and Meredith must choose McDreamy or McVet. (Season 2, Episode 27)
8. Meredith's half-sister is admitted to the hospital. Family drama! (Season 3, Episode 10)
9. Meredith drowns and almost dies while rescuing ferry boat accident victims and her mom dies (Season 3, Episode 17)
10. Meredith gets a group of residents and meets another of her half-sisters, Lexie. (Season 4, Episode 1)
11. Mer and McDreamy's clinical trial succeeds, they get back together, and she makes breakthroughs in therapy. (Season 4, Episode 17)
12. Mer and McDreamy cancel their dream wedding to let Alex and dying Izzie (not really) get married. They sign a post-it note and call themselves wedded. (Season 5, Episode 22)
13. George gets hit by a car and dies. (Season 6, Episode 1)
14. Meredith's  no-good father comes into the hospital needing a liver transplant and she is the only match. (Season 6, Episode 4)
15. Meredith watches Derek get shot at the hospital and loses her baby. (Season 6, Episode 24)
16. Meredith discovers fertility problems, gets on Derek's Alzheimer's clinical trial, and her dad comes into the hospital again with a girlfriend younger than her. (Season 7, Episodes 14-16)
17. McDreamy and Mer adopt African orphan, Zola. (Season 8)
18. Alex and Meredith are in an ambulance saving a newborn baby when they get into an accident. (Season 8, Episodes 9-10)
19. Mer, McDreamy and most of the gang are in a plane crash. (Season 8, Episode 24)
20. Everyone is messed up (Derek, Arizona, Meredith, Cristina) or dead (Lexie, Mark) from the plane crash, but they get offered a lot of money from the hospital and end up becoming the new board of directors. (Season 9, Episode 3, 11, 15, 16)
21. Meredith finds out she is pregnant. (Season 9, Episode 9)
22. Meredith has to get back on a plane. (Season 9, Episode 17)
23. Meredith gives birth to Bailey in the middle of a blackout. (Season 9 Episode 24)
24. A 3-D printer becomes available for Meredith's clinical trial to make fake organs. (Season 10, Episode 8)
25. McDreamy takes a job in D.C. advising the president, and Meredith is not consulted. (Season 10, Episode 18)
26. Meredith says goodbye to bestie Cristina and discovers another half-sister (Maggie) that is working at the hospital. (Season 10, Episode 24)
27. McDreamy agrees to quit his new brain mapping job and come home to Meredith, and she convinces him they can make it work. (Season 11, Episode 1)
28. Meredith has flashbacks to her mother giving birth to Maggie and attempting to kill herself during the same time, which makes it pretty difficult for Meredith to let this go. (Season 11)
29. Meredith goes to visit McDreamy in D.C.  and chickens out. (Season 11, Episode 12)
30. Meredith calls McDreamy after an earthquake and some woman answers his phone. (Season 11, Episode 15).
31. Meredith and McDreamy patch things up. (Season 11, Episode 17)
32. Meredith freaks out after a plane crash in town and she can't confirm McDreamy made it back to D.C. for his final meeting to resign his job. (Season 11, Episode 20)
33. McDreamy dies...... and Meredith is relatively emotionally solid. (Season 11, Episode 21)
34. Meredith falls apart, disappearing for a year, having a baby, and avoiding contact with all of her friends. Alex finally lures her home and gives her back the deed to her house, which he bought back when she moved in with McDreamy. (Season 11, Episodes 22, 23)
35. Meredith is named Chief of General Surgery. (Season 12, Episode 2)

Freeform: Coming to your Local Television

     Tomorrow, ABC Family will change its name to Freeform. Since 2001, they have been known as the gawky teen cousin network of ABC, showing reruns of  Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Gilmore Girls, Step by Step and other 90's and early 2000's shows. The network also launched the wildly successful and addictive Pretty Little Liars (teen murderesses) and a host of other interesting shows and subject matter such as :

• Make It or Break It (gymnastics team with issues)
• The Fosters, (a charming Lesbian couple and their foster children, with issues) 
• and the often dialogue-plagued: The Secret Life of the American Teenager (pregnant teens- with issues)

     According to statements from ABC Family, they are trying to hold on to their 18-34 females demographic and feel this name change will help them become more accepted or cool. I find this a big funny for a network that built it's empire on teen dramas. Let's face it, the WB never tried to be cool, but it drew a huge pull of women in that demographic and both women older and younger than it , and still does as the current CW network. It also calls its demo (or its Demi Lovato, as comedians Nikki Glazer and Sara Schafer referred to the demographic of their short lived MTV show), the becomers. To me, as a woman in that coveted "Demi", I am really creeped out and a little offended. The Becomers sounds like the next Vampire Diaries spinoff. "The Becomers" will get you at 9 P.M. on Thursday night.

     We'll have to see how this all plays out. The same network held a blaze of glory from 1998 - 2001  as Fox Family Channel before it changed over to ABC. I was pretty upset at the time and may never recover from the lack of S Club 7 reruns. (S Club has shows in Miami and Los Angeles and they were amazing). Fergie of the black eyed peas also hosted a show where kids won prizes for the best lip sync to a popular song. It was truly a renaissance. Before that, the channel was known as the Christian-inspired  Family Channel and I'm not too sure it had any appealing programming other than old reruns of Bonanza.  

Britney Comes Back to TV, a JTV Special

     In Monday night's Jane the Virgin, the show had a special guest star, none other than Britney. I began this episode being super excited to see the Brit, but I was quickly let down and disappointed.

     Appearances like this  used to be a pretty big deal back in the day, but somehow it made me feel kind of sad. The show opened with Jane taking her baby to the Maribela hotel to stalk Britney, then they got together and did a creepy dreamed-up imaginary dance sequence to one of Britney's much weaker hits, Toxic.

     Something seemed off about Britney in a way I cannot explain, like she might have been forced to do this as a favor to someone, or it was a blackmail scenario? We're way past the days of "eave Britney alone", but I have to wonder, who is she? Could is just be weird for her to act in something that's not the Mickey Mouse Club? Having seen Crossroads (never the full movie, just bits and pieces), we know she is not he best at holding down a feature presentation.

     This led to a much weirder plot where Britney had been invited to Miami to perform at a highly important wedding ceremony. Who's wedding, you may ask? Crazy Petra is blackmailed into marrying a crazy explosives salesman, Miloche.

     The episode got  downright hilarious when Jane's telenovela star dad Rohelio De La Vega (always use his full name) admits to having a feud with Britney over a Latin Grammy Awards presentation. A very serious twitter feud with some "Mean Girls-esque" banter. I did at least laugh at Britney and her dancers began walking around the hotel in one large synchronized group. Is Brit really that desperate for exposure, or am I just not in the joke?

     My favorite Britney tv appearance is when she showed up on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, teaching Sabs some dance moves in Paris. It was also kinda a weird situation,  but it worked because she really seemed like herself, just a teen pop star dancing around with a fan, and not a glambot. Alas, it was during the Drive Me Crazy phase of 199, so maybe Britney was just more of an authentic gal back then.

Paging Dr. Mindy: Let's Get A Doctor's Note For This News

I have to thank BuzzFeed for this meme. 

   
Hello everyone! I'm taking a break from my Month of Bridal Showers to expound on some terrible news. Fox has cancelled The Mindy Project! Words cannot really explain how upset I am by this...

   





     We are rocking a major cliffhanger of an episode! Danny Castellano is finally coming to become the romantic male lead we always knew he could be! I'm hoping the show might be picked up by cable or something... a la Cougartown, just two years ago. I could see this type of move working for the quirky comedy Mindy brings to TV. While still reeling from the death of McDreamy, this is more than my TV-finale bound heart can take.

A Note: I Just Want the Last 27 Minutes of My Life Back

Powerless to find the remote after MTV's VMA awards this week, I found myself watching I Just Want My Pants Back, which was one of the most pointless shows I've seen in a very long time (and I specialize in finding pointless TV shows). See video here to judge for yourself. It was just a preview episode of the show, which is set to debut several months from now, or if I have anything to say about it, never. The only thing that's better (read WORSE) than listening to scripted 20-somethings complain about being broke, aimless, and loveless is to listen to HIPSTERS complain about being broke, aimless, and loveless.

Lead hipster Jason works at a casting agency, his boss hates, him, he can't find love with a girl, and seems to be somewhat of a screw up with his friends. Tina, his overly slutty BFF, clearly belongs with him in the future. Jason ends up with a broken thumb and Tina gets a rash on her neck- all due to choosing bad people to canoodle with. They spend all their time with a well-adjusted couple, Eric and Stacey. Quite honestly, Stacey and Tina looked so much alike in the show, I couldn't tell them apart in some scenes. And poor Jason nearly cried about the skanky girl who borrowed his pants after a one night stand and gave him a fake phone number. Sooooo sad..... I just can't care. This idea was so much more original in shows like the wildly popular Thirtysomething, or even the short-lived ABC show, Wasteland.

A Note About Gossip Girl!

Musings from tonight:

Oh Dan/Blair, how I hated the idea of thee.. then became strangely intrigued.

Nate and Chuck need to stop swapping girls. It's creepy.

Dorota is one of the best characters on the show. She and her husband/doorman are great.

Nobody misses with Lily Van der Woodsen/Bass/Humphrey (Klaus) etc...

Serena, that Ben guy is a total tool!

Mr. Humphrey is a total DILF, and a sweetheart.

What is the Baldwin Brother doing there?

Vanessa, nobody likes you.The only person we hate more than you is Little J, and maybe cray cray Georgina.

I can't wait to read the EW synopsizes tomorrow; they are 100 times better than watching the episode.

A Note About Re-Watching TV Shows

I have a lot of shows I like on DVD. I also have a lot of shows I used to like on DVD. I just got BOY MEETS WORLD season 1 on DVD now. One of the most important things I've realized is that like a song you listen to over and over again, a show you watched growing up means different things to you as you age.

FOR EXAMPLE: Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Season 6 was very dark. Although the first few episodes brought great comedy: "Flooded," (Buffy beat up a demon in a bank and asked for a loan), "All the Way" (Halloween, Xander and Anya's engagement), "Life Serial" (Buffy trying to find a job) "Tabula Rasa" (group memory loss) and the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling," it got pretty dark.

At the time, I wasn't a fan of the dark parts. I was in high school, and i naturally related to the earlier seasons (read- the seasons before Buffy died and switched to UPN). As I've been re-watching season 6, I've found love for many other episodes for one simple reason: I get it! Season 6 wasn't about darkness. Well, to some extent it was about darkness- (I mean, Willow did almost destroy the world and all).

But with my life establishing in my twenties, I can appreciate season 6 and recognize the simplicity of it. Season 6 was about growing up, trying to fix your life, find your life, and be an adult. Giles left, the kids had to grow up. Everyone made some bad decisions. Tara was killed. Life is hard, and season 6 was all about that. Sometimes people make mistakes (Buffy's whole relationship with Spike). Sometimes you have ato take a job you hate (at the Doublemeat Palace), and soemtimes you're not as ready to be as grown up as you think (Xander leaving Anya at the altar). But in the end, you have your friend that remembers you being upset about your broken crayon, and you know it will all be okay in the end.

A Note About Desperate House-Why

It's no secret Desperate Housewives has been on a downward spiral this season. Gaby's kid was switched at birth, Paul Young gets out of jail, Bree dates David Silver, Susan's husband moves to Alaska and they go broke... (not in that order).

After the crushing mob in the December finale, it was clear things were going from bad to worse. Sunday's episode was no exception.

Best moments:
Bree's ex husband calling her new beau "Stanley Kowalski." And her beau having no idea he is being referenced to a "Streetcar Named Desire" episode.

Lynette giving her husband burning coffee after finding out he slept with her best friend 20 years ago.

Worst Moments:
Susan needing a kidney transplant.

Renee confessing her transgression with Lynette's husband.

Gaby taking her daughter to a doll shop.

Gaby then buying a doll that looks like her biological daughter.

Every scene with the corny detectives.

Susan collapsing on the floor.

Susan's annoying kid talking about ice cream.

A Note About The Worst OTH Ever!

Darkness on the Edge of Tree Hill

So I finally got around to watching the Winter finale episode of One Tree Hill. Plain and simple, "Darkness On the Edge of Town" sucked. It may tie for the worst episode ever. things weren't this dumb and ridiculous since season 3 when Nathan's dad killed Uncle Keith and pinned it on Jimmy, the school shooter in "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept," (Moment of silence for Uncle Keith).

And the one where psycho Derek kept attacking Peyton were ridiculous, but at least there was a prom going on,and kinda the same with crazy Nanny Carrie trying to kidnap Jamie (a much-protested wedding)/ murder Haley and Jamie (Halloween-themed in honor of THE SHINING).

Ok, so these psycho murderer plots seem pretty common now that I think about it. But here's where things went from bad to worse- little Chuck- friend of Jamie walking down the street with a pool of blood on his head. (P.S. where did their makeup artist study? Ms. Lauren had the same pool of blood on her head).

Other common themes included:
Cars going over a bridge and into the water.
From season 3 "The Show Must Go On" into 4 "The Same Deep Water As You", Nathan's other uncle (Coop) and Rachel went off the bridge in a limo into the water. Nathan jumped in and rescued them (or did he? Maybe Uncle Keith used some divine power...) while Haley stood by screaming in her wedding dress.

Shooting someone at point-blank range.
Not only was it happening twice (Katie trying to shoot Quinn, and then Quinn shooting Katie), and a fairly well mirrored image of Season 7's finale, but it totally had the Dan shoots Keith theme written all over it [see last week's episode for some wrong information surrounding Dan murder of Keith (he didn't get a shovel and bury the body, he left it in the school to be found)].

Car tragedy on the road.
In the season 4 Winter finale "Songs to Love and Die By" and its precursor "Some You Give Away", Haley was pregnant (again) with Jamie and a jealous Dante ran her over after Nathan refused to throw the final score of the championship basketball game. Lucas saw the accident and his heart condition took over, sending him into cardiac arrest and a "Its a Wonderful Life"-style dream where life was different.

Small jokes only a true Hill-er can appreciate:
- The opening credits were back to the original Gavin DeGraw version.
- Nathan's comment about big moments in his and Haley's lives happening in the rain.
- Nathan threatening to make Jamie walk home in a joking impression of papa Dan.
- Nathan referencing "A Christmas Story." Odd choice, but a small attempt in acknowledging they weren't doing a Christmas themed episode??
- Ms. Lauren being in an episode. And Mouth, Clay, Alex, and Millie not (they are in the opening credits).
- And the fact that Jamie attends Tree Hill Grade School. How much in the middle of nowhere is this town?I thought they were slightly cosmopolitan.

I thought these characters were going to be dead at the end of the episode:
Chuck
Ms. Lauren
Brooke
Jamie
Psycho Katie
Quinn

I would have actually cared if these characters were dead at the end of the episode:
Ms. Lauren
Brooke
Jamie

There was a definite moment when I saw the masked words behind a recent comment by EP Mark Schwan about Lucas and Peyton not making it back to the show for Brooke's wedding.I saw them coming back for her funeral... I honestly thought about changing the name of the show to Naley Hill.

What really bothered me about this episode was that it came on the heels of a fantastic Thanksgiving episode "Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace" and a fairly decent "night out at tric" episode "Lists, Plans." Both of those were really character/plot moving, fun, and a true ensemble piece. It brought back the good feelings of the early seasons.

And most important, it made me remember why I love One Tree Hill in the first place. It's about friends, life, and the relate-ability of these characters [yes we're not all ex pro athletes going back to finish our degrees like Nathan (surprisingly interesting plot line)], but we've all have that jerky teacher we wanted to show up. We grew up with the kids in the Hill, and hopefully the last episodes this spring will honor the show's long legacy of being kick-ass (and sometimes thought provoking- I really miss Lucas's voice-overs. O Hell, I miss any voice-overs).

A Note A'bout the GREEK

First of all, strange weather going on...

That being said, happy belated birthday to Katy Perry and happy wedding to her and Russel brand. In a twisted kind of celebration, I finally saw "Get Him to the Greek" tonight. Interesting movie, although we turned on the subtitles because RB was "pre'ty bloody 'ard to 'ear," but then again, so was Diddy. This is definitely not a family movie,(even if you are forty) and other than the overall idea that Mr. Snow (Brand) needed to get on stage at the Greek theater, it wandered all over the place. The promos definitely hyped it up to look like more...

A Note About Dancing with the Animals

First of all, I think theme nights on reality contest shows are completely overrated. Second of all, when they involve the theme songs of old tv shows, I am far more repulsed than nostalgic. There is a difference on American Idol (for example) of doing a theme "Songs from Musicals" rather than a narrow theme like "Songs from Jekyll and Hyde." Which, is beautiful music, but has no place on AI.

Back to Dancing's asinine theme of tv themes... While Bristol Palin is not the best dancer, and man, had she had her dirty laundry aired, she's been giving it a try. I personally favor Jennifer Grey (nobody puts baby in a corner), but I haven't been following all that religiously. Tonight, Bristol and her partner danced to the theme song to "The Monkees", and they wore monkey suits. Not only is that a cheap trick, but they looked ridiculously stupid.

And as expected, Florence Henderson, AKA Mrs. Brady, danced to "The Brady Bunch" theme song.

A Love Note About Noah Puckerman

WHERE IS PUCK???

After last week's sweet rendition of "Only the Good Die Young," I was thankful Puck was given his due on Glee. But, false alarm, it may have been his swan song. Puck was sent to juve, as most juvenile delinquents are. This brings up the important question: What's happening to Noah
Puckerman. According to imdb.com, Mark Salling is listed for the 2010-2011 season of Glee.

I could not find any news about Salling leaving Glee, other than his second album just coming out (yay!).

On a related note, it was nice to see some of the lesser-sung Glee kids get a chance this week - Mike Chang, Santana, and Quinn - (hasn't sang a stand-along song since she auditioned for Glee club). Strangely, sue Sylvester was not in the episode at all.

A Note About Faith

In a GLEE episode directed the themes of religion and prayer, it was natural to expect songs such as "Losing My Religion" and "What If God was One of Us" (shout-out to the great show that was Joan of Arcadia). And of course there was the delightful version of Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young," sung by Puck (Mark Salling), who has been pretty quiet this season.

But in a crucial mistake, GLEE missed the most important song of all. Any guesses. Well, if the episode is all about faith, it might be a good idea to include a song by George Michael.

Any guesses now? No, not his delightful Wham! classics :Careless Whisper" or Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. Not the sweet songs of "Last Christmas." Not "Freedom" or "Father Figure," although you are guessing closer.

Drum roll please.......

FAITH. Remember Faith? The song was even redone by Limp Bizkit, and is one of the few Fred-Durst songs I can tolerate listening to today. And yes, the verses have little to do with someone being in the hospital, but the central message of the song is "I Gotta Have Faith." Kinda sings to the theme of the show, doesn't it?