Week in TV Wrapup 10/26/2009

*Note: House, Bones, Fringe, and CBS sitcoms did not air this week so instead I shall be discussing FlashForward, South Park, & Castle

FlashForward, Season 1 - Episode 6: Scary Monsters and Super Creeps

After the events of last week, Janice is in the hospital recovering, Mark decides to take the day off and spend time Trick or Treating with his daughter, and Demetri teams up with Al to hunt down those responsible. When Lloyd decides to take his son home, his son panics, struggling to differentiate between his flashforward and reality, while the mysterious Simon makes his way towards Los Angeles.

As episodes go, this is more of what FlashForward needs to be doing. They provide answers without providing answers, they open up their characters to experience more than one emotion, and allow the audience to get into the show. Sure the mysterious element is there but that only kicks in so long before characters have to pick up, and if FlashForward gets that they'll be coasting along into multiple seasons, or however long they want to tell their story for. The show plays well off of it's dynamic, and really goes along smoothly without too much flashback reminders (I think I'm just getting dull to it now though), and it manages to bring about a few good plot points to carry through the next few episodes.

Episode Rating: 7.75/10

South Park, Season 13 - Episode 11: Whale Whores

After a group of Japanese kill dolphins while Stan is at a petting zoo, Stan decides to take up arms and joins the cast of Whale Wars in order to take down these fisherman. When he realizes the Whale Wars squad doesn't do much, he decides to take matters into his own hands and begins a full on battle.

Lots of people hate South Park because it's sick, offensive, and very politically incorrect. Oddly enough I think that's what makes the show work so well. South Park has the rare talent of calling out everybody, themselves included, for being hypocrites, and Whale Whores tackles 2 issues hand in hand. On one hand it tackles the issue of environmentalist groups, who don't do much but talk about doing much, utilizing media for their own personal fame and benefit. Then at the same time it goes after how we as people like to try and separate which animals are allowed to be killed, and which should be protected because they're smarter, prettier, more pet oriented, etc. Of course South Park carries the same sort of WTF is wrong with you people attitude in every episode, and can get a bit preachy, but this one is perfectly hilarious if you don't mind a bit of vulgarity and blood.

Episode Rating: 7.00/10

Castle, Season 2 - Episode 6: Vampire Weekend

After a man who is heavy into the underground vampire circuit is killed an investigation is launched into his past and struggle with a dark secret he didn't even know he knew. Meanwhile everyone's getting ready for Halloween, and Castle is throwing a party to remember, but can he get Beckett to wear the spicey outfits he dreams up?

Without Bones, Castle is the next best thing for over the top sexual tension, and with a full season pickup in the works, and maybe another if we're lucky, it pulled out all the stops for this weekend's Halloween special episode. Filled with some great laughs, and a decent case to back it up, it was a lot of fun, and a good episode to take my mind off all the things going on at school. At the same time I loved watching Castle tease Beckett about costumes, and of course the episode is riddled with underlying messages and great classic film and novel references for you hardcore buffs out there. To be honest these sort of episodes are as close as I come to really getting into Halloween :).

Episode Rating 7.00/10

Other Shows:
Not much a going other show wise because of Baseball and everyone gearing up for the November sweeps where Executives make and lose their careers.

So You Think You Can Dance: Not a bad episode to kick off the top 20, some performers I like, some I think are trying too hard to appear a certain way, and some are just as dull as they come. I think this will be an ok season, but I'm not sold on it being a great one I just have to watch every week. 6.50/10

MLB Baseball: Is this really a show? Meh, arguably, but it's taken over the time slot for many of my favorite shows so it's going to get reviewed. I don't mind baseball, I think it's not a TV friendly sport which hurts it, but I do believe that this is a good series (Yankees vs. Phillies) overall. I do twitter my thoughts during the game if you care to check that out, but overall, eh I don't really care about either team. 6.50/10

So that's about it, as I've said it's a weak week for TV, hopefully with some shows returning, and Baseball killing off by the end of next week we'll be good to go once again!