RECAP & REVIEW: Scandal “Nobody Like Babies” S2 E13

Was that the season finale?   Because it sure felt like a season finale.   Scandal has always been a show with a fast pace…both speaking and storytelling.  I love that about the show.  There aren’t filler episodes like many shows have or episodes that don’t mean anything or episodes where your heart can take a break.  You are on the edge of your seat with every episode.  And tonight was no different.  Some MAJOR things happened so let’s start going through all this.

The big question that got answered was that we finally learned who shot Fitz.  And it turned out, it was Verna.  I was going with Hollis, until last week.  After last week happened, I had no idea who it was going to be.  I really didn’t think it was Sally Langston and I was petrified it was going to turn out to be Mellie.  But Verna was a good solution.  I’m not going to lie, I was a bit surprised, but not nearly as surprised as how the episode ended!!!  More on that later.   Olivia has a showdown with Verna in the hospital about what Verna attempted to do and Verna called Olivia out.  Basically Verna told her that if she is going to call Verna a coward, she should look in the mirror.  And she’s right, although Olivia is no killer.  Bad person?   Yes.  Killer?  No.   But Olivia’s attack on her certainly got through to her because she picked up the phone and called David Rosen right away.  When Rosen arrives to talk to Verna, he’s denied entrance because of security.  We learn the security is there because the POTUS is there and needs to speak with Verna.  Unfortunately, Verna passes away before she has a chance to confess her sins to Rosen.

Another big payoff, which disappointed me, was Abby finally learning that Olivia and Harrison lied to her and set David Rosen up as an abuser.  While Abby was upset, I thought she would be even more pissed off.  I know I would.  But what really bothered me was Harrison’s reaction to her.  We’ve seen him be torn up about what he had to do to her and how much it bothered him.  So for him to be so cold and robotic and go into that God awful gladiator speech again, was unnerving.  And it goes to back to what my #1 issue is with this show.  Why can’t we get SOME explanation as to why these people will so blindly follow Olivia Pope into the darkness and off a cliff?  For once, Quindsay gave me a reason to root for her when last week, she started demanding answers to the same question many of us viewers have…why do you all do what Olivia says, no questions asked?  I really thought, FINALLY, we’re going to get somewhere with this.  Nope.  Shut down.  I hate it.  Harrison, Huck, even Abby…I am no longer buying the “she saved my life” speech as to why they do anything she says regardless of the consequences.  For me, I need more than that and if Shonda Rhimes is going to ask me to buy into that, she owes me an explanation.  Because it’s getting absurd.   For Harrison to tell Abby to suck it up, it’s the job, after what Olivia has done for them she needs to understand the rules or get out, was awful.  If that blind loyalty is supposed to earn my respect as a viewer, it hasn’t.  In fact, it knocked him down a few more pegs (and he was already pretty low.)  I can’t understand Harrison’s POV if I don’t have any idea what she did for him.  I can’t buy into this loyalty without a reason anymore.  In the beginning, I could let it go.  But we’ve been through enough episodes where I need at least one back story to shed some light.  Otherwise, how could I feel bad for Abby after betraying David and stealing that flash drive and therefore destroying his career?  Better to save Olivia Pope, one of the bad guys, than to save the man you love, who just so happens to be one of the good guys?  I know Olivia saved her from an abusive husband and if I were in Abby’s shoes, I would be eternally grateful.  But at some point, especially after what Olivia did to her with using that abuse as a way to get what she wanted, Abby has the right to call Olivia out and say “if you saving my life comes with the price tag of using my past to throw in my face when you need something to go your way, then I’m out and you’re scum.”  Saving their lives is one thing.  Using that against them later for your own benefit, is just sleazy.

So speaking of David, he subpoena’s James to testify about Defiance and the voter fraud.  As a result, James and Cyrus have this fantastic moment in their bedroom where Cyrus doesn’t trust James and James doesn’t trust Cyrus and they both make the other strip to prove neither is wearing a wire.  It was beautiful and sad at the same time.  While they do love each other, they have a terrible marriage!!  After what they each put the other through, I don’t know how they’re still together.  Hell Cyrus even hired Charlie to kill James!!!  Now he eventually told him to stop but only with 1 second to spare.  He’s insane!!!  Those two need some serious counseling.

The final big reveal is that Fitz finds out…about everything!  And his reaction was not what you expected (even though I called it right away!)  I’ve never been shy about saying the unpopular opinion that I hate Olivia and Fitz together.  Can I deny the chemistry between Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn?   Hell no.  It’s palpable.  But do I like it?  No.  He’s the POTUS and he’s married.  I think it’s disgusting how they not only have the affair but how they have flaunted it and been so careless with it.  Where they’ve had sex, they couldn’t care less if Mellie or someone else saw.  They have been incredibly disrespectful.  Not that affairs are the most classy or most respectful actions a man and woman enact.  But come on.  Do you have to be so blatant about it?  Sheesh.  So I don’t find Olivia and Fitz romantic or destined to be together.  Nope.  Not even a little.  So I did jump with joy when I saw that he ended up choosing to be with Mellie after all.

In the beginning, Fitz told Olivia not to marry Edison and to wait for him because he was divorcing Mellie and he didn’t care what that did to his political career.  He talks about how Mellie induced labor to try to keep Fitz at her side and he couldn’t be with someone like that.  Olivia couldn’t give him an answer.  When she sees Edison later she gives him back his grandmother’s ring and tells him that she can’t marry him.  When he asks why she tells him that she wants a painful, devastating, passionate love and that he should want that too.  Edison correctly informs Olivia that love shouldn’t be painful or devastating.  It should be fun and joyful and wonderful. The look on her face was priceless because she looked at him like she didn’t know there was any other kind of love.

At Verna’s funeral, she goes up to Fitz and accepts his offer and agrees to wait for him.  Fitz coldly tells her that she should marry Edison and that he made a mistake telling her to wait for him and that she should go away and move on with her life.  And while the President is giving Verna’s eulogy, we flash to her time in the hospital with him where she not only admits that she was the one behind the shooting, but that she and her team of misfits fixed the election so he would win.  He starts to guess the names of the people involved and when he gets to Olivia, he is absolutely crushed.  Then Verna sticks the knife in even further by telling Fitz he should have never been the POTUS but she only did so because of his charm and because that’s what his father wanted.  Ouch.  She had to bring up daddy.  Fitz then calmly tells Verna that her legacy won’t be tarnished and neither will his and he gently lifted her oxygen mask off her face and held down her hands so she couldn’t grab the mask or call for help and then she died.   FITZ KILLED VERNA!!!

After all this, Mellie goes to visit Fitz in the office and he asks her if she loves him.  She responds that of course she does and that she will always stand beside him and always be by his side.  He tells her that of everyone he knows, she’s the only one he can trust because she’s the only one who’s been completely honest with him the whole time.  And he asks if she will continue to be honest and stand by him.  She says that while he’s wavered on her, she’s never wavered on him and will never.  They seal their agreement with a kiss and the First Family is back together.

I’m sure there are many people who will be upset thinking “why did Mellie get off the hook about the election rigging and not Olivia?”  Here’s why.  Mellie has never hidden who she is…ambitious, ruthless, and cunning.  She doesn’t hide it, she doesn’t apologize for it.  It’s like McDonald’s vs. Subway.  McDonald’s doesn’t pretend it’s healthy, therefore you can’t be mad at it when you eat there and your jeans feel tight.  But Subway promotes itself has “healthy eating” yet has a million ways to sneak in the bad stuff that you had no idea was in there so that when your jeans get tight, you blame yourself instead of them.  Mellie is McDonald’s and Olivia is Subway.  Fitz wasn’t pissed at Mellie because he wouldn’t expect anything less from her.  But Olivia?  He held Olivia to higher standard and she crushed that when she aligned herself with the group to fix the election.  In that moment, she was no different from his father who said he couldn’t win on his own.  In Fitz’s mind, she didn’t believe in him.  She betrayed him.  And because of his love for her and because of the elevated opinion he had of her in regards to her integrity and loyalty, it hurt much more and cut more deeply than he ever thought possible.   That’s why Mellie gets the free pass and Olivia is left sitting in a church, alone, and crying.

What an amazing episode.  I’m wondering, now that it appears, aside from the David Rosen angle, that this main story is wrapped up, if we go back to the case-of-the-week scenario which started the series.  I hope so.  While all this has been fantastic, I kind of miss those cases.  So hopefully, we can get a little bit of each.  But with so much story to tell with the main arc, I can understand completely why the side cases were put on hold.

What did you all think of the episode?   Would love to hear your thoughts!!

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Scandal “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” S2 E8

UN.BE.LIVABLE!!!!!!!!!  What a flipping episode of Scandal last night.  This show has quick risen to must see TV each week.  There was so much happening, a lot revealed, and many more questions popping up.  And I’m so mad at myself by not knowing who the shooter was right away.  Looking back through the episode, it was SO obvious but I was so entrenched in taking in each scene as it came at me, I didn’t see the forest through the trees.

Here are some of the big questions from this season and over the course of the series:

1. Who Shot Fitz?
2. Why was Fitz shot?
3. Who’s behind it?
4. Why did Olivia leave the White House?
5. Who was responsible for Jesse Tyler’s murder?
6. How did these 5 people (Cyrus, Olivia, Mellie, Verna, and Hollis) come together to get the President elected and fraud the entire country?
7. Where does Olivia shop because she always looks AMAZING!

Let’s take this one at a time.  First, Jesse’s murder and the explosion at Cytron.   We have been sort of following this story since the end of season one when we learned Quinn is not really Quinn but Lindsay and Olivia brought her under her wing at Pope & Associates to protect her (and to help release the huge amount of guilt she has over the situation.)  And while we already knew that Quinsay was set up to take the fall for the explosion, we didn’t know who was really to blame and why.  Now we know.  A reporter in Ohio was getting wind of balloting issues in Ohio and was investigating it.  As a result, he came across Jesse who started to give him intel on what was going down.   Hollis, Cyrus, and Olivia all learn about this and Hollis tells them not to worry, he’ll take care of it.  Next thing you know, boom.  Cytron explodes and Jesse and 6 other innocent people are murdered and his girlfriend Quinsay is set up as the perp.  When Olivia hears about it, she goes straight to Hollis and in a very sinister and frightening way, tells her that you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.  Basically, he could care less that he just killed 7 people and set up and innocent girl to take the fall.  It showed Olivia just how truly dangerous Hollis is.  And it was nice to see that back then Olivia did have some conscious because she was absolutely mortified and disgusted at not only what he did but how he reacted to it.   What made it worse, was when she told Cyrus, he basically reacted the same as Hollis calling the 8 victims (if you include Quinsay) patriots.  I guess that’s why Cyrus declares himself a monster.  And he’s not wrong.   So could Hollis be the one behind Fitz’s shooting?

We also learned why Olivia left the White House.  Although to be honest, it was pretty self-explanatory from the beginning.  She couldn’t deal with her relationship with Fitz and what it was doing to other people and left.  I was surprised it happened so soon after he was in office.  Because here’s my thing.  She made a comment how she didn’t like smiling at Mellie while taking off her clothes for Fitz.  Yet, hadn’t she been doing that for a while already?   Why now does she all of a sudden have a problem with it?   I think what the flashback made very clear is that these were more than just an affair….they were very much in love.  And based on last week’s episode where the President is tearfully going through photos of Liv and Edison and Liv breaks down in tears in the President’s closet while holding his Navy sweatshirt, they are still very much in love.  It’s also clear that the First Lady knew about the affair very early on and in typical Mellie fashion, pushed it aside and dealt with it because it was best for them politically for her to do so.

I said last week (either on the blog or my podcast, I can’t remember which) that I was hoping Liv would stay with Edison and Fitz would work it out with Mellie.  But after seeing last night’s episode and the raging chemistry and passion between Liv and Grant, it’s hard to deny they belong together.  Except for the fact that HE’S MARRIED and therefore unavailable but that’s beside the point.  It’s so fascinating to see these relationships and all the complexities surrounding them.  It appears at one point as if Mellie and Olivia were friends/friendly.  It also appeared that the First Lady loved her husband very much.  Even if they were together for a political end game, she had genuine feelings for him.  And I have to imagine, he had feelings for her, before Olivia came along.  And seeing Mellie breakdown after what the doctors told her and seeing her swollen eyes and tears soaked face when Olivia brought her Fitz’s pin, this is a woman completely concerned over the health and well-being of her husband.  I really believe that.  Is it partially because she sees her political future falling right before her eyes?  Perhaps.  Is it because she was obviously so in love with being First Lady and in the White House that if something happens to Grant, she’s out?  Of course.  But in this situation, I really think it’s secondary to the fact that she just witnessed her husband being gunned down in front of her and she has no idea if he will recover.

So who shot Fitz?  Well we know who but the bigger questions are why and who’s behind it!   If you don’t want to be spoiled, then stop reading now because the discussion about the shooter is about to happen in 3……2……..1……………….   It was Huck!  Now like I said in the beginning, I should have seen this coming.  First, we see Huck in a flashback, looking very Tom Hanksish a la Cast Away, which seemed to be a random, somewhat out-of-place sighting.  Then, I noticed in all the scenes at Pope & Associates, only Harrison, Abby, and Quinsay are together.  Huck was nowhere to be found.  Third, the shooter had to be someone we knew, for maximum impact at the reveal, and who else do we know who’s a trained killer?   All signs pointed to Huck. But the big question is why?  Is this something he did on his own?  Did someone hire him?  Why did Huck do this?   And it appears we’ll get our answer in next week’s winter finale.  Or at least we’ll have some clue but maybe not the whole picture.   There’s a part of me that thinks Huck made this decision on his own only because if someone came to him asking him to do it, he would have told Liv.  However, if the person who hired him played it in a way that this shooting would somehow protect Olivia and she couldn’t know about it, then it is possible someone hired him.  Because the thing that holds me back from thinking he did it on his own is why?  What reason would Huck possibly have to shoot the President?  If he was getting itchy about killing, he should have called Dexter Morgan.  Or, go kill someone less conspicuous.  The POTUS seems a bit of a lofty, not so under the radar, target of your angst.   So I’m dying to know the who, what, where, when, and why of all this!!!   And one final note.  I saw this mini debate on Twitter last night after the episode.  Did anyone else think Press Secretary Lane Kim was a specific target and not collateral damage?   Some people said wrong place wrong time and some people thought it was deliberate.  One of the arguments was that Huck is a trained killer and therefore wouldn’t miss.   I don’t buy that.  He may be a trained killer but he’s not a trained sniper.  So it’s very possible he could have missed and hit Lane by mistake.   I’m not sure why the Press Secretary would have been shot purposely unless something comes out later about maybe her getting too close to the Cytron scandal.  I think it was wrong place, wrong time for poor Lane.

Now we have the VP Sally Langston (side note…I love Kate Burton) taking the oath of office since the President’s condition is precarious at best.  Now she may have jumped the gun a little bit by landing on the South lawn of the White House and announcing herself as Commander-in-Chief while the President was still getting worked on, but eventually the reigns were hers.  We also learned how their relationship became a bit contentious.  You see, one of the big reasons Langston ran on the ticket with Grant was because she was promised the right to appoint the new Supreme Court Justice, once there was an opening.  Well the problem with that is that Verna was promised by Cyrus and Olivia that very seat for her assistance in getting the President elected.  Verna threw her weight around and told Cyrus and Olivia to find a way to fix it and get her that nomination.  And Cyrus does by digging up information on Langston’s candidate which therefore removes him from consideration.  She knows this was all Cyrus’ doing and declares that from now on, she’s all about her and not “the team.”   So it’s understandable that she would be very quick to jump on the power train once she heard of the President’s condition.  The question is, will this be a permanent promotion or does Grant make a miraculous recovery?

So what did you think of the episode?  Will Fitz survive?   Will Huck get caught?  Is there someone paying Huck to do this or is he acting on his own?  I would love to hear what you all think!!!

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Scandal “Defiance” S2 E7

In a week when we lost the incomparable Larry Hagman, we have an apropos episode from Scandal…”Who Shot Fitz?”  In a shocking ending to episode 7, President and First Lady Fitzgerald were heading to a gala event for the President’s birthday when all of a sudden shots ring out and screams ensue.   I’m surprised that Shonda Rhimes would do an episode like this and not have it be the winter finale…because this episode screamed winter finale!!!   But I’m not complaining that I’ll only have to wait until next week to see what happens next.  This was a pretty major episode.  Between Fitz being shot and James figuring out what David Rosen had suspected, Scandal is starting to reach a whole other level.

For weeks, David has been trying to figure out what really happened with Quinn Perkins.  And what started out as a simple investigation into why Olivia was so desperate to protect Quinn that she sabotaged his case, causing him to get fired, has turned into a major uncovering of voter fraud.  Now it took many steps to get to this point, with Abby’s help, but this is where we are at.  David knows Olivia and Hollis Doyle are involved and he wants to uncover the truth.  Since Olivia destroyed his relationship with Abby and his reputation on top of it, David now needs another partner in crime to help him with research…enter Cyrus’s husband, James.   David gives James his research and asks him to help with the investigation using his reporter connections and investigating prowess.  At first, James wants no part of this because he didn’t see anything in the data all that alarming. That is until he’s sitting at dinner in the residence with the President and First Lady and the President starts telling a story about how one small county in Ohio gave him the presidency.  Fitz was talking about how you can never trust pollsters. He talked about what all the exit polls were saying and how the votes came in completely opposite of what the exit polls said.  He mentioned the county of Defiance, Ohio.  This set off alarms in James’ head.  After dinner, he went back to his office to pulled out David’s research and found the county of Defiance listed as one of the counties that was impacted with faulty voting machines.  So James catches the first place to Ohio.  Long story short, he finds the voting machine in a high school and tests the machine.  He votes 5 times for Fitz’s opponent.  When he prints out the copy of official registered votes on the machine, he is stunned to see the results were 2 votes for the opponent and 3 votes for Fitz….Fitz wins.  He has his proof.   Uh oh.  This is BAD news for James.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up dead.  He’s a pretty expendable character, as much as I like him, so I have a bad feeling this is going to get him killed.

Now we need to figure out, how all the players are involved…Doyle, Cyrus, Mellie, Verna, and Olivia.  We know why they wanted to do it but the question is how did these 5 people decide to come together to defraud the citizens of the United States?   And how were they able to get away with it?

Here’s another question I have, was it really necessary for Olivia to do what she did to Abby and David?  Think about it.  Did she really think David would stop investigating this after Abby broke up with him?   If so, she isn’t as smart as she thinks she is.  So she broke Abby’s heart and ruined David’s reputation for what?   For him to still figure out about the voter fraud?   Each week going by, Olivia is looking worse and worse.  I think it’s fair to say at this point that she isn’t a good person.   She’s been a mistress, a liar, a manipulator, and now a defrauder.  And she constantly justifies her actions to her own warped views about what is right and wrong.  Yep, no longer an Olivia Pope fan here.

So let’s get to the huge cliffhanger….Fitz is shot.  Who shot him and who’s responsible?   I’m going to go out on a limb and say it isn’t Mellie because it’s too obvious.  The way she was looking around outside and limo and the fact that she didn’t want to go to the party and tried to stop Fitz from getting out of the car…it screams Mellie is behind this.  But the big sticking point for me that it isn’t her, is that if she really changed her mind about having him shot, he gave her the perfect out…the baby.  He asked if the baby was ok and she said yes she and the baby are fine.  If she was really behind it and really didn’t want him to go, she could have easily used that as the excuse to get him out of there.   So I don’t think it’s her.   Could it be Doyle, sending a message?  Could it be Senator Davis being a lot more ambitious than we thought?  Could it be Cyrus?  Could it be Verna?  Or is it Mellie?  The promo said the shooter will be reveled next week.  I think that’s a bit soon but maybe it’s the shooter but not who’s behind it.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough!!!!

What do you think of Defiance?  Did you love it?   Were you shocked by that ending?   Let me know!

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Scandal “Spies Like Us” S2 E6

I love this show.   But I’m not going to lie, I am falling less and less in love with Olivia Pope each week.  When we first met Olivia, she was “The Fixer.”  A tough, no-nonsense, intelligent woman who could fix any situation. The fun part was that Olivia’s job wasn’t to find the truth (although she does most of the time) it was to find reasons to get her clients out of the tight situations they were in and handle it/spin it to the best of her team’s ability.  We also learned that Olivia’s team would run through fire for her.   Whatever she did for them, they feel as though they owe her everything and will do whatever it takes for her.   That was never more true than this week.   And as a result, I’m now questioning my initial feelings about Ms. Pope.  My initial feelings being she is smart, tough, and very well-connected and has garnered much respect and fear in DC.  I liked seeing a strong woman take control and dominate situations the way she has because she’s always putting the good of her clients first.  And even though that hasn’t changed, the peek behind the curtains we have been getting into Olivia hasn’t shown such a rosy picture.

As we have been seeing these last few weeks, there is something major that went down that involved Olivia, the First Lady, the White House Chief of Staff, a Supreme Court Justice, and a very wealthy oil man.  And at the end of last week’s episode, we learned it might have been voter fraud.   Don’t know that for sure, but that’s what the show is hinting at as of right now.  But I think we’re getting to the point (at least for me) that I want some more clarity on what these secret meetings are about, why they are all so concerned, and at what levels each person was involved.   Because certain decisions are being made to protect this little bridge club and those decisions are disgusting and vile.  So I want to know why such decisions are being made.  And this is Scandal so I have to believe that we can’t believe just what we are seeing on the surface.   There has to be something else going on that will be revealed so we don’t end up hating the lead character.    Right?

In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, I’m referring to Olivia’s decision to take Harrison up on his offer to help her and break up Abby and David.  And not just break them up.   Use the fact that Abby’s husband used to beat her, against her and David.  I can’t even begin to explain to you how much that disgusted me.  And my question is why?   Why would you do something to protect a circle of people (half of whom you hate) yet destroy someone you are obviously close to and care deeply about?  Is it because “All Roads Lead to Fitz?”   Is it to protect the President of the United States or is it to protect the man she loves or both?   I mean let’s think about this.  Olivia just destroyed the reputation of David Rosen.  She painted him as a wife beater.  AN INNOCENT MAN.  She could have set him up as a cheater or lying about being married, but a criminal.  And a wife beater???   Really?   How do you live with yourself after doing something like that?   And what about what that information does to Abby?  How do you face her everyday as if nothing happened?  It’s unfathomable to me.  And as a result, I find Olivia Pope repugnant.  I no longer feel she’s a strong, smart, successful woman.  I think she’s a coward, a manipulator, and vile.   I guess people would argue that there must be a reason she’s doing this.  Well, I’d like some insight because right now, there is no justification for what she did.  And there are a MILLION other ways she could have handled this.  How about not being a coward and do the dirty work yourself instead of letting Harrison do it (more on him in a bit.)  Or even better, why not have a come to Jesus talk with Abby and tell her why she can’t see Rosen anymore and if she doesn’t back off, then break them up…but not the way she did.   Speaking of Harrison (and for that matter all of these associates at OPA) how about getting some background into why he is so loyal to Olivia.  See, it’s one thing to be grateful to someone for standing by you when no one else would.   It’s one thing to stand by someone who got you out of a terrible situation.  It’s another to blindly go where they tell you and destroy people in the process out of “loyalty.”  In one breath he tells Abby he loves her like a sister.   In the next, he’s setting up her boyfriend as a wife beater so he can destroy her trust in him and break up with him.  Apparently, there are no boundaries that can’t be crossed in the name of loyalty to Olivia.  And maybe that’s what Olivia is banking on.  Did she purposely go after these people to begin with knowing that if she took care of them, she would have Charles Manson like disciples for the rest of her life?   That’s why I need more back story.   I need to know more if I am to also follow Olivia wherever she goes.

On the flip side, I LOVE Cyrus.  His evilness is just so delicious to watch, I can’t stand it.   Now you’re probably saying I’m a complete hypocrite for loving how awful Cyrus is yet bashing Olivia for it.   Here’s the difference.  Cyrus was always a monster (as he himself puts it.)  We were always to think that Cyrus is a whole other level of scary that we don’t want to mess with him.  Olivia, is our protagonist.  Our heroine.  It’s hard to be a heroine when you destroy anyone in your path to get what you want.  Olivia is supposed to be the person we root for.   Cyrus is not.  Therefore when Cyrus puts Mellie in her place in the middle of the White House in one breath and in the second accepts her invitation to the residence for dinner, it’s not awful, it’s awesome.  When Cyrus breaks out the tears in the Oval Office telling his husband not to pursue stories because it will destroy him and then shuts them off completely after James has left the room showing there wasn’t an ounce of meaning behind what he just told him, it’s fantastic!!!!  Because, Cyrus is the Evil Queen.  So having those expectations going into the character are fine because that’s what he is.  And as a viewer, I would disappointed in his character if he was anything but what he is.  He isn’t pretending to the good guy while being awful.  He’s the awful guy being awful.  Olivia thinks she’s a good person (even donning wearing white at all times) but is anything but good.   And maybe she was at one time, but the lines are so blurred at this point with decisions she has made and people she’s aligned herself with, that the word good can no longer be used to describe her.

But this show is awesome!!!  It is must see TV each week.  And even though I’m disappointed in the path Olivia’s character has gone down and I’m frustrated with the lack of back story explaining why she’s making the choices she is making, therefore giving me reason to cut her slack, I still love the show.   What do you think of Scandal this season?

 

SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW: The Finder “An Orphan Walks Into A Bar” S1 E1

I guess you can’t really call this show the pilot since the pilot really aired last season.  But this episode officially kicked off the new series The Finder.

(Insert HUGE sigh here.)  I feel like I am being really negative so far this mid season.  I had to watch this episode 3 times because the two other times I tried to watch it, I fell asleep.  I really thought this was a boring case and I had very little interest in it. It surprised me considering how much I enjoyed the pilot episode last spring.  I know many Bones fans who watched The Finder last spring and hated it.  I wasn’t one of them.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  So you can appreciate my disappointment in this episode.  I tell you one thing, if this was the pilot episode last season, I might not have tuned in again.   But I will….especially since Sweets is on next week.

Right off the bat, the cast is strong.  Geoff Stults is great as former military man Walter Sherman, aka The Finder.  Walter has some brain damage from his time in the military but it has made him keely astute in locating people if not very socially awkward.  I’m glad the show revisited that issue because quite frankly, I forgot about it.  Although I’m not sure why he needs to have brain damage to be the way he is.  Can’t he just be that way?  If the idea is to show Walter as a more layered character than simply a dorky wacko, I guess I can go with that but I need more.  Hopefully we will get it.

Michael Clarke Duncan plays Walter’s partner and BFF, Leo.  The episode gave the impression that Walter basically saved Leo’s life.  Not in the literal sense but in the “my-ass-is-not-in-jail-because-of-you” sense.  Leo was telling Isabel about how Walter saved him from killing a man, therefore he owes him his life and would do anything for him.  Can you smell bromance?  I can!!!!  I am already looking forward to the backstory on their relationship and the story that Leo is referencing.

As for Isabel (played by Mercedes Mashon) she is a US Marshall who works with Walter and Leo although she isn’t always happy with the way Walter goes about doing his job.  I already like her much better than Saffron Burrows character and she fits the mold nicely.  Plus it’s always good to have some sort of legal enforcer working with you to keep you in line!

The only character that didn’t work for me at all was Willa (played by Maddie Hanson.)  I don’t understand what the point of her character is.  She’s staying with Walter and Leo in a trailer outside the bar and she’s trying to keep her nose clean, at least that’s the message she is trying to convey to her parole officer.  What she is ACTUALLY doing, is a whole other story.  She seems to be using Walter and Leo’s generosity to steal from them with some dumb sidekick I hope we never have to see again.  Leo is trying to see the good in her while Walter, at this point, sees nothing but someone suspicious and he has his eye on her.  So they have this grouchy, I-Hate-Life teenager living with them who is plotting to steal from them.  Like I said, don’t see the point to this at all and wish she would go away because I could care less about her.

As I mentioned before, the case was boring to me.  Maybe part of the reason why it was boring was because sometimes, they spoke so fast and so technically about what was going on, I couldn’t follow.  When Walter was explaining to Leo and Willa about the “Microwave Ovens” and how that impacted his flight, he explained it so quickly and garbled that he might as well have had marbles in his mouth.  My husband and I had to rewind that scene three times to understand what he was trying to say.  Usually if one of us missed something or didn’t follow, the other did and explains it.  But we’ve never had a situation where we both didn’t understand so many times.  Hey, it still could have been our fault…too many Sam Adams or what not…but I think the dialogue can be more clear.  There were many times I felt that they were speaking so quickly that it lost me….and this is coming from someone who has which show in their top 5 all time favorite, best shows on TV?   That would be The West Wing.   I figured if I could follow the West Wing, I can follow any show.

Am I going to watch The Finder again?   Yes.  Will I rush to make sure I watch it?   No.  But I will watch it.  Maybe it was this one episode and I’ll chalk it up to maybe I wasn’t 100% into it vs. the show’s issues…to be fair…but I am giving it another shot.  I think it can be a very light and humerous show with some solid drama mixed in.  But we’ll see.

DVRs: 3

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Grey’s Anatomy “Suddenly” S8 E10

I finally caught up with Grey’s.  I literally watched 6 episodes last night including last night’s “Suddenly” episode.  Yes there are lots of things that happened but I don’t have 5,000 words to recap 6 episodes so I only want to focus on two storylines…Meredith and Teddy & Henry.

Teddy and Henry

What would you have done and what is the right thing to do?  That’s really the question hanging over both episodes of “Suddenly” and the previous “Dark Was The Night.”  Let’s set this up.  Henry was rushed to the hospital after puking up blood.  It wasn’t looking good but everyone felt, he would be ok.  Teddy was called away to a brutal surgery of a woman whose heart was literally tearing to shreds because of a mistake made by Jackson and by extension Callie.  Teddy was the only one who could save this woman’s life.  Henry had to go into surgery and Teddy insisted that Cristina be the one to do.  To not freak her out, Owen, Bailey, and Chief Webber (sorry, but he will always be the chief to me) decide they aren’t going to tell Cristina who the patient is so it wouldn’t frazzle her.  Cristina performs the procedure but a complication erupts and she realizes that the damage was already done and this man has no change to survive.  The chief is frantically trying to save him while Lexie starts to cry (she also knows it’s Henry.)  Cristina can’t understand why the chief is doing this considering the situation.  She calls time of death and Owen and Bailey run in to see what was going on.  Everyone is devastated and Cristina is completely clueless as to why everyone is reacting this way.  Owen pulls her aside and finally tells her who the patient was.   Understandably, Cristina loses it and freaks out on Owen.

Cut to Teddy’s surgery.  The surgery is very complicated and is taking a long time.  Teddy needs to focus and stay with patient or she will die.  Owen decides not to tell her about Henry because it could compromise the life of the patient on the table.  April is sent in to make sure Teddy doesn’t check on the status of Henry and April is told what happened.  So April has to stand next to Teddy and pretend like she doesn’t know.  After a while, once Teddy knows Cristina is done with Henry’s surgery, she requests her in for the final part of the surgery (the trickiest) and she only wants Cristina.  So Owen tells Cristina that she has to go in and finish Teddy’s surgery with her.  Cristina wants no part of this once she realizes that Teddy hasn’t been told.  But she has to go in and she pulls it together just enough to get through the surgery with Teddy.  It is excruciating to watch Cristina being forced to work with Teddy knowing what she knows and Teddy not having a clue.  In the end, the surgery is a success and as soon as they are finished, Cristina pulls Teddy aside privately, and gives her the news that Henry didn’t survive the surgery.

I revert back to my original question…what would you have done and what is the right thing to do?   Did Owen make the right call by not telling Teddy?  Did Owen handle the situation properly with April and Cristina?  Did Owen make the best decision he could with an impossible situation?   In my opinion, yes and no.   I think Owen made the right call by not telling Teddy right away.  I don’t know how long it was between the time Henry died and the completion of her surgery.  But I thought Owen 100% right when he said that he can’t risk the life of a patient who still has a fighting chance.  Her best chance of survival is a focused Teddy.   So telling Teddy this news in the middle of a life or death surgery would have been wrong and it could have risked the life of the patient, which is always their number one concern.  Not to mention, it would have compounded an already difficult situation with the family of the woman in surgery.   Basically, the woman was in to repair her back due to scoliosis, and Jackson took the lead while Callie observed.  Jackson used the wrong screw and her vertebrae couldn’t hold it and that’s what was destroying her heart.  This woman almost died because Jackson made a mistake and Callie wasn’t paying attention.  If you added to the fact that you informed her heart surgeon that her husband just died during the surgery???  LAWSUIT!!!!   Of course that’s second to the woman’s life but it’s still a factor.

Where I thought Owen was wrong, was putting people in the position of having to lie to Teddy.  If anything, he should have been in there with her, not April.  It wasn’t fair to put April in that position.  But I also understand why he would want someone in there who knew the situation and could distract Teddy and keep her focused on the case.   But it should have been Owen, not April.

I’m torn on how I feel about Cristina.  On one hand, I think he was wrong for sending her in.  Cristina and Teddy can’t be the ONLY cardio-thorastic surgeons who could handle this.  Now, Teddy is the best and you need the best to lead this difficult case.   But there have to be several, competent, excellent surgeons that could have assisted her…it didn’t have to be Cristina.  Who was assisting Teddy when Cristina was off being a bartender for several months?   There had to be someone else.   Owen should have found a reason that Cristina couldn’t assist and find someone else.   On the other hand, it comes down to what is best for the patient.  If Cristina and Teddy as a team gives this patient the best chance for survival, then Cristina needed to be in that room.  The same logic applies here that applies to why you don’t tell Teddy…it’s in the patient’s best interest and gives them the best chance for survival.    If I had to pick one, I would say he was wrong for sending Cristina in.  With Teddy already in the room, someone else could have assisted and give the patient a chance to live.  If Teddy wasn’t the best and was just good, but Cristina was the best and they needed her, then Cristina HAS to go in.  But that wasn’t the case here.

Overall though, I think Owen made the best decisions he could considering the situation.  It was awful.  It was unimaginable.  And he had to make those decisions quickly.  So he did the best he could.  Could he have done better?   Sure.   Did he make some decisions I support….yes.  Did he make some decisions I don’t agree with…yes.  But hind sight is 20-20 and with no pressure or timelines.   The thing that bothered me the most was when he went to see Cristina after she told Teddy and all he seemed to be concerned about was the fact that he wasn’t the one to tell her and that she was going to be mad at him.  ARE YOU FOR REAL?   Shouldn’t your first concern be how Teddy is holding up?   Shouldn’t your next concern be your wife and how she is doing considering what you put her through that night?  And I’m glad Cristina called him on it and reminded him that this wasn’t about him.   But I wanted to smack him for being so selfish and juvenile.

Meredith

I don’t have a ton of things to say but I wanted to touch on one storyline.  Meredith has had a lot going on…dealing with Bailey still hating her and not trusting her, the stress of waiting to find out what was going to happen with Zola, staying away from Derek at work while still being interested in neuro, and then of course, the car accident.  Eventually Bailey and Meredith work it out and Zola is returned to Derek and Meredith even after they thought it was a lost cause.  I was very happy to see Zola back with Derek and Meredith!!!!

I couldn’t talk about last night’s episode without discussing that car accident.  It was the dumbest thing I had ever seen.  The ambulance driver tells Alex and Meredith that if they don’t get out of the car, it will basically explode if it gets hit because of all the oxygen tanks inside.   Well guess what, they got hit and they didn’t explode.  Not only did they not explode, but the injuries to them were minor.   Unless this get revisited down the road due to post accident related issues, nothing happened to Alex and Meredith.  However, the car that hit them threw everyone from the car but one girl and 3 out 6 people died, one passenger almost lost her eye, and the boy almost had his legs crushed.  It was that bad but Alex and Meredith have bumps on the head and the baby who was near death and you had to be so careful with, had no effects from the accident.  Really?  I’m not wishing something bad to happen to Meredith, Alex, or the baby, but a little realism would be nice and there was none of that here.

So what did you think of last night’s episode?  Are you sad that Henry is dead?   What did you think of the way the situation with Teddy and Cristina was handled.  Let me know!

 

SEASON FINALE REVIEW: Grey’s Anatomy “Unaccompanied Minor” S7 E22

We have a new chief resident, an unwanted and wanted baby on the way, a child adopted, a new mother and father, two marriages on the rocks, a new relationship forming, a relationship going to the next level, a potential rekindling of a previous relationship, a relationship ending, and friendships in turmoil.    So basically nothing happened in the 7th season finale of Grey’s this year!!

Derek and Meredith

The fallout from the news about Meredith tampering with the Alzheimer’s trial has made its way to the Chief and Derek.  At the end of the last episode, Alex, in a drunken stupor, told Owen, who is making the final decision and was just bragging about how great Meredith is, that Meredith tampered with the results of the Alzheimer’s trial.  Owen of course tells Derek who tells the Chief.   Not only is the trial ruined but they are considering firing Meredith.  Chief wants to know who Meredith tampered with and she refuses to tell him.   Her point, and I agree, is that the trial isn’t compromised as long as she doesn’t divulge who was involved with the switch.   But the Chief figures it out that it was Adele that received the benefit of the switch.   As a result he wants to suspend her vs. firing her.  Derek still can’t seem to forgive her so he is now staying at their new home that isn’t built yet.   The problem with that is, they were approved to adopt so Meredith was able to bring the baby home with her but she can’t get a hold of Derek to let him know since he won’t take her calls or return her calls.

Here is what bugs me about this whole thing.   The Chief was ready to fire Meredith.  However, once he found out that she did it to help his wife, now he’ll just suspend her to save face?   What?   If she ruined a trial and put the reputation of the hospital at risk, it shouldn’t matter who she saved.  If she should be fired, she should be fired.  Logically, you know it had to be someone she knew.  Why else would she tamper with the trial?  Not to mention, she’s right.  If no one knew who was effected by the switch, the trial still works.   But the whole situation is ridiculous because the Chief was just as guilty as Meredith here.  He let his personal feelings affect his decision-making and made a choice he shouldn’t have based on personal connection.

Cristina and Owen

This is a perfect example of why you should have conversations about having children BEFORE you get married.  Cristina is pregnant and has made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want children.  Owen has made it perfectly clear that he wants children.  I don’t know how they thought they were going to be able to move past this since both are firmly entrenched in their view-point.

I have to say, I am on Cristina’s side here.  She was always very clear about her thoughts.  Owen thought he could change her opinions over time.  And now that she is actually pregnant, he wants her to go through with it because he knows she will change her mind about being a mother.   Could he be any more disrespectful to her and her feelings?   This isn’t the same as asking her to like one of his friends and give him a chance because once you get to know him he’s great.   This is bringing a human life into this world.   This is not a decision you enter into lightly or crossing your fingers hoping that you eventually change how you have always felt about parenthood.   And I give her credit for standing her ground about this very serious, life changing situation.  She also brought up a great point.  What if she has the baby and doesn’t change her mind and doesn’t feel any different?   How is that fair to the child?   I guess what really bothered me is that Owen never really seemed to listen to what Cristina had to say.  Every time she would try to explain how she felt and why she felt the way she did, Owen seemed to just blow her off and brush off her feelings.   That really pissed me off.  She’s your wife so whether you like what she is saying or not, you have to listen to her.  Just as she should give you the respect of listening to you.

I have no sympathy for Owen.  You knew how she felt about being a mother.  She never kept it from you and she never lied to you.   YOU just assumed you could change her mind overtime and never respected her true feelings.  So it shouldn’t shock you that she made an appointment to terminate the pregnancy.  And your solution is to kick her out?  Screw you.   I understand that you are angry and upset because it’s your child as well.  But again, this is the woman you married.  If having a child was THAT important to you, you shouldn’t have married Cristina Yang.

I never liked Cristina and Owen as a couple and never bought into them the way I did when she was with Burke.  So if they break up over this, it wouldn’t bother me at all.  In fact, I hope they do because Cristina deserves better and Owen should be with someone who can give him what he wants.

Meredith/Cristina/Alex

I don’t know how this friendship will ever be the same again.  Alex has made a lot of very self-destructive decisions over his tenure on the show but this has to be the biggest.  He wasn’t in the lead for Chief Resident so he sabotages his best friend to knock her down because he’s pissed.  Cristina was right.  There were so many times Meredith stuck by him when no one else would.  And he can disagree with what she did because there were lots of times Meredith disagreed with him, but he still should have had her back the way Meredith always had his.

This group dynamic should be very interesting moving forward and I’m curious to see how the writers are going to handle it.

Teddy/Henry/Andrew

Finally, Teddy saw what we have all seen all season long…she should be with Henry!!!!!  I was so mad at her because of the way she was handling this relationship with Henry.   She knew he was falling for her.  She’s not stupid.   But she would go to his apartment and tell him about her dates and I hated that.  While it set up and showed how good they are together and how comfortable they have become with one another, I hated how clueless she was.

But she finally woke up to not only his feelings for her, but her feelings for him.  You knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time!  Plus I hate all the hinting around.  She would ask if she should go so she can test to see if he really does have feelings for her.   And he doesn’t tell her to stay because he loves her and isn’t sure how she feels about him.  For gosh sake will one of you have the balls to tell the other person how you feel and just have an honest discussion?   dear Lord people!!!   But Teddy finally did and kissed Henry and told him she was falling in love with him.   Yeah!!!!

So I hope Scott Foley will be back next season and they don’t kill him!!!   Do you hear me Shonda Rhimes?   DO NOT KILL SCOTT FOLEY!!!!!

Eli and Bailey

I love these two.  I love how he doesn’t take her crap and she respects him for it.  However, I don’t think it was fair of him to push her into bringing him home when her son was there if she wasn’t ready to introduce her son to Eli yet.  Now maybe she needed that push because Bailey has always been hesitant in the relationship department since her marriage broke up but when it comes to kids, I have no problem with parents being extra cautious.  Bailey throws up her walls very fast and Eli brought up some valid points.  So valid that Bailey agreed to let him come home with her.  I just hope he respects that she may have to let their relationship move forward at her pace because she does have a son.  But I think these two are in it for the long haul because they are really great together.

Slone/Lexie/Avery

Slone and Lexie still love each other.  It’s quite obvious.  But she’s with Jackson and he’s got his life with Callie, Arizona, and the baby.  But something tells me the love story between Slone and Lexie is far from over and this episode’s interaction between them I believe was purposely done to remind us of that connection.  So we’ll see where this goes.

Alex and Lucy

Alex turned down the Africa position and Lucy ended up taking it.  So she’s leaving to do Charlie’s Angels, I mean help children in Africa and she goes to see Alex to beg her not to go.  He tells her to go to hell and she leaves.   Good riddens Lucy.

April

Dr April Kempner was named Chief Resident.  Ok I didn’t see that coming.  I hope she proves me wrong and she is fantastic.  But I would have picked Dr Jackson Avery.

A much different season finale from last year but lives were still turned upside down.  Just in a very different way.  This was a better season of Grey’s than they’ve had in a few seasons.  Still not as good as the old days, but better than it had been.  So I will be tuning in next season…especially since it may be Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo’s final season.  I don’t know how you have Grey’s Anatomy without Meredith Grey (and don’t give me Lexie because you know this show is about Meredith and her perspective on things) so I wonder if this will be a final season of Grey’s or not.  I would think not because it’s still pulling in huge ratings but you never know.   But I will be back next season to see how all these hanging storylines play out.

 

SEASON FINALE REVIEW: Bones “The Change in the Game” S6 E24

When Hart Hanson says “A Change in the Game” he sure wasn’t kidding!!!! That was quite a whopper of a last scene…on many levels! Angela and Hodgins had their new born son (complete with Billy Gibbons’ Michael cap) and Brennan had some pretty big news for Booth…she’s pregnant and the baby is his. Wait, what??? Back up a minute. Did Brennan just say she was pregnant with Booth’s kid? When the hell did that happen and why didn’t we get to witness at least some very very very early parts of that? Believe me I’m not complaining but I would-be lying if I didn’t mention that I was slightly disappointed. Although I’m not surprised Emily’s real life pregnancy was written into the show.

I hope no one minds, but I’m not going to get into the case of the bowler that was killed. With everything going on, I could have cared less about the case, who was killed, and why. Sorry! I will say though that I may need to see more episodes where Booth sports a mullet and Brennan has 1980s South Philly hair. Freaking fantastic!!! The only thing that really mattered was how many times, during the case, Brennan made comments about having kids with Booth or the way other children were behaving.

Before getting into the Booth and Brennan stuff, let’s talk about the birth of Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins. How cute was it that he has Angela’s dad’s name request and Vincent’s name all as part of his official name? I loved it. I also loved the labor and delivery. Leading up to all that Angela is helping Wendell and Hodgins with their case while at the same time, eating enough hot sauce to season 100,000 chicken wings, to try to help speed her labor along. It works because her water breaks at the lab. Hodgins, for once, is staying calm while Ang goes into labor. He calmly speaks to her while she screams at him to get the car and the flashback to a freaking out Hodgins resurfaces when he flips out again and scrambles to find his car keys. They get to the hospital and Ang is hilarious. One minute she’s yelling at Hodgins and the doctor while the next she is being sweet as pie to them. Hodgins didn’t take the name calling so well but the doctor just took it all in stride. She’s seen it all before. The best part is while she’s in labor, she’s on a web cam still helping Wendell and Cam with the case. I seriously would have hurled that computer across the room before I worked while being in labor (with no drugs to boot !!!!). Angela is a much stronger woman than me! But right before the baby is born, they say the sweetest things to each other, about loving the sound of each other’s voice and how the touch of her hand resonates throughout his body. It was so touching. Michael is born and his vision is checked immediately. The doctor turns around and tells them that their baby boy is just fine and his vision is perfect! “After what they did by killing Vincent Nigel Murray, that kid’s vision better be perfect” my husband says to me. He is still very bitter about the last episode! Who can blame him?

This all leads to the crew waiting to hear news about Ang and Michael, Brennan visiting Ang and giving her a stuffed bunny from her and Booth, and Brennan’s conversation with Booth. I think it was pretty obvious that Emily’s pregnancy was going to be written into the show. A few episodes ago she mentioned how she would be the only one in the lab without a child. She mentioned several times in this episode how she and “Buck” would never raise a child like that (meaning the annoying brat on the bowling team). When she went to see Ang, her first question was about how labor was. And finally walking with Booth, she was asking about having children. So it was coming. The question was, how would this be possible? We haven’t seen (on camera) Booth and Brennan getting together so how could she be pregnant with his kid? Could Hart Hanson be THAT cruel? The answer is yes. It’s safe to assume this happened the night of VNM’s death when Brennan cried in Booth’s arms in his bed. Now there was a conversation with her and Angela, the next day, about her being in bed with Booth. It was a very vague conversation and even though Ang was excited, I thought she was reading too much into it and the writers were also leading us to believe that as well and it would turn out to not be true. Well so much for that. Thinking back, it makes sense because why would Brennan make a point to tell Ang about that night if nothing happened. Well folks, it happened. The thing all of us B&B fans have been waiting for for 6 seasons FINALLY happened. We just didn’t get to see it or enjoy it.

How do you feel about that? I’m pissed. Like I said before, don’t get me wrong. I’m THRILLED they finally got together and the baby is his and not some random motorcycle doctor’s kid (Castle fans will understand that reference). But are you kidding me???? Booth and Brennan have sex for the first time and we don’t even get to see a kiss? Really? I feel cheated. I feel like I have been waiting all this time for B&B to unite and they did but we didn’t get to share it with them. I mean, we couldn’t even get a kiss or a HUG after she told him the news. Nothing! I don’t get it. I know some people will think I am splitting hairs and other people may think that nothing is ever good enough but I don’t care. I understand the real life pregnancy needed to be written in. I get that. I just wish it would have started with a kiss or date or sex and then it slowly build to this. I really feel cheated. At the same time, I really liked the season finale and like the fact that we are starting to move B&B in the right direction. I just hope Hanson doesn’t pull one of those “they’re having a baby together but they aren’t together as a couple and they will need to learn to co-parent separately.”. I will never watch Bones again if a stunt like that is pulled. We deserve and B&B deserve to be happy together in a real relationship. I hope tonight’s finale was the start of that moving forward.

What did you think Bones fans? Did you like the finale? Do you love or hate the pregnancy bomb? Are you happy or mad about the way B&B getting together was handled? I want to hear from you!! One thing I do know, I can’t wait for September!!!

 

REVIEW: Bones “The Sign in the Silence” S6 E21

There didn’t seem to be a lot of love for this episode of Bones and I’m not sure why.  I really enjoyed it on a many levels.  First, it was different because Bones was dealing with a living breathing person that she could connect with vs. just a victim and their bones.  Second, the dynamic between Bones and Vaziri and Sweets and Bones and their difference of opinion on Brennan.  And finally, Hodgins and Angela and her delivery scare.   Hodgins had me crying laughing.  He was so hysterical so let’s start with that one.

Hodgins and Angela

We all know these two have been through the ringer when it comes to this pregnancy.  But they have always handled whatever was thrown at them with class and dignity and while sometimes their emotions got the better of them, someone was always there to calm and comfort the other and get everyone back on the right track.  I have always loved their relationship and this pregnancy has solidified that view for me even more.  However, when Angela thought she was having contractions and needed to go to the hospital, instead of staying calm, Hodgins completely freaked out.    He started yelling and spazing so Angela, who was in labor, had to calm him.   She had to remind him to get the car and when he couldn’t find his keys, he started asking her where they are.   Priceless!!!!  It was so funny to see him come completely unglued like that.

They get to the hospital and it turns out it was false labor.  I love when couples always say they feel so stupid when it turns out to be false labor.   Why?  This is your first baby.   You have no idea how to tell the difference between real labor and fake labor.   You feel what you think is labor pains so you go to the hospital.   There is no reason to feel foolish!   But they joke about what a good and funny test run it was and that hopefully next time when it’s real, they will be slightly calmer and more prepared.  I loved it.  Although there is one comment I would like to make.   Why the hell was Angela driving?  When Hodgins went to get her out of the car, he got her out on the driver side.  The woman just had false labor pains and you’re making her drive herself?   That seemed odd to me.

Brennan and Vaziri

There was a point where Brennan and Vaziri were examining the bones of the victim who Amy/Samantha alleged to have killed.  Vaziri made a comment about Brennan being distant and this is now the second time in the episode that someone has made a comment about Brennan being cold.  Earlier at the diner, Sweets was giving Brennan a hard time about not wanting to find the real reason why Amy/Samantha may have killed a man twice her size.  She explains that her motive is very important to her because she wants to get behind the real reason for this crime.  She also thinks since the door of the victim’s apartment was busted through, there is no way someone of Amy/Samantha’s size and stature could have done it.   Therefore there could be something else going on.   “I’m not as cold as everyone thinks I am” she tells Sweets and he apologies to her.

Back to the scene with Vaziri, you could tell how upset Brennan is that this is now another person that has made a comment about her “chilliness.”  Vazini made a comment about Brennan becoming very attached to this case.  She asks him what he means by that and he explains that normally she insists on maintaining distance in a case.    She teaches him that it’s objectivity that allows them to analyze evidence without being clouded by personal judgement or wishes for how a case should turn out.  ”I’m sorry if you think that means I don’t care.”  He tells her that he didn’t mean it like that and she tells him that’s exactly what he meant.    She finishes by saying that if she knew how to communicate how she felt she would, seeing as that it would make everyone else’s lives much easier.

Now I see both sides to this.  From Sweets and Vaziri’s side, their assumptions are very logical.  Brennan is not an outwardly warm person.  She is very clinical and direct in her logic and expression.  Therefore it’s easy to see how they can make the assumption that she is cold and unfeeling.  She has even on several occasions bragged about how scientific she can be in not allowing feelings to cloud her work.  She takes pride in it.  But on Brennan’s side, just because she treats her job as a science and keeps to being 100% objective, doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about the victims and the truth.  She is the best in the world because of how she is able to conduct herself.   But Sweets and Vaziri have known Brennan long enough to know better than to assume she is a cold, unfeeling person.  Especially Sweets.  With all the sessions he had with her and Booth, he knows better.  Vaziri I would give the benefit of the doubt a bit more because he doesn’t interact with Brennan as much as the others.   I think this was a classic case of miscommunication and assumptions gone wrong.   But the air has been cleared and hopefully everyone knows now that when Brennan acts the way she does in the case, it’s for the betterment of the victim so she can get to the truth.  That is her showing that she cares.

Amy/Samantha

This was a very sad case that thankfully ended on a very happy and touching note (which of course made me cry!)   Amy is a deaf-mute who was found covered and blood and wielding a knife.  At the Jeffersonian, there are having a terrible time getting her to cooperate so they could find out who she is and what happened.  Sweets at one point goes to Brennan to remind her what being a foster child is like and how you never trusted anyone and people made decision that hurt you because they were in a rush.  She agreed and decided to take a softer approach with Amy and it finally got her to cooperate.  Unfortunately, her x-rays showed years and years of physical abuse that started around age 3.   They were able to trace her parents, the Mike and Denise Sheffield, to a town in Pennsylvania and brought them down to the FBI office.  Once the judge approved Amy be moved to child protective services, her parents flipped out and left to get a lawyer.  Brennan realized that Amy had some sort of condition that at least one of her parents has to have.  She tested both and neither showed signs of the disease proving they aren’t her biological parents.  Booth and Sweets question the parents and while Denise is opening up, Mike keeps telling her to shut up.  She doesn’t so he loses his temper and hits her in the face.  Great guy!!!   Booth then loses it and punches the guy.

Later investigating shows Mike knew the victim.  When Amy ran away to DC, he called his friend to pick her up and hold her until he got there.  Amy was so afraid that she grabbed a knife off the man’s counter.    They struggled and fell down.  He went to hit her and she stabbed him to protect herself.  It was all self-defense on Amy’s part.   She then left and ended up in the alley where the cop found her at the beginning of the show.   When Mike showed up at his friend’s apartment and saw him lying in his blood, he just took off back to PA.  Again, nice guy!!!

So now the hunt is on to find Amy’s real parents.  They believe she was kidnapped around the age of 3.   They ask her if she can remember anything from that time.   Any sort of happy memory.  She says she remembers a favorite stuffed bunny she had and that was it.   Now here comes the part that I think has to be far-fetched.  There is a lot of stuff that happens on TV where I can find a logical explanation for how it could be real.   This next bit of forensic work, I can’t buy.  They decide to pull one of Amy’s wisdom teeth to see where she was from.  Apparently, the isotopes that developed in her jaw line, where her adult teeth were forming, can show particulates that will show where she grew up.  Yeah right!!!   I don’t believe that for a second but I am going to go with it because I like happy endings.   They trace her back to a town around L.A. and found a missing persons report that shows Amy’s picture with the bunny she talked about.  Turns out her real name is Samantha and they contact her parents immediately.

Outside the Jeffersonian, Booth and Brennan are there with Samantha and she looks so pretty.   She asks Brennan if she looks ok and if she thinks her parents will like her.   KLEENEX STAT!!!!!   Then the Winslows show up and they are so excited to see her.  They signed to her that they never gave up looking for her and pull out her bunny and ask if she remembers.  She does and she runs to hug her parents.   MORE KLEENEX NOW PLEASE!!!!!   What a great moment.   As B&B are walking away, Booth confides in Brennan that he was upset at himself for hitting Mike Sheffield.  She tells him that she understands why he did it but Booth says he has to be better.  Just because he was abused, doesn’t mean he can pop off like that.  He doesn’t ever want his son to see him like that and he expects better of himself.   Brennan tells him that Parker is very lucky to have a dad like him and Booth tells her, that he wants it to be more than just luck.

I thought it was a great episode and I really enjoyed it.    This is all building to next week’s season finale…..The Change in the Game.   What will that change be Bones fans??

 

QUICK REVIEW: Grey’s Anatomy

While I mention in the titles that these are “quick reviews” you may notice that they are still quite long.   Keep in mind, I am pretty much recapping about 3-4 episodes in here (although this one is only 2) so there is still a lot to talk about.  I’m just not posting 3-4 different reviews so I can catch up.   But I am just going to hit the highlights here.

Derek and Meredith

The clinical trial is moving along but after an eye-opening conversation with Adele (and after seeing a post-it note on Chief Webber that dropped where it said “I am Richard.   Richard is my husband”) Meredith realizes Adele really needs help.  She sneaks in to see her test and sees that she is schedule to receive the placebo.  She checks the next patient’s chart (patient # 123) and sees they are scheduled for the active agent.   At that moment, she switches the results so she can give Adele the active agent and patient #123 the placebo.   WOW!!!!  I would never, ever think Meredith would do something like unless it was for Derek or Cristina.  And even then I wouldn’t be sure she would do it.   So this action really surprised me.   As fan, I love the fact that she did it for Adele and Richard.   But as someone who knows better, what she did was awful on so many levels.  She denied the real patient the active agent they deserved.   She lied and falsified results.   She compromised the integrity of the clinical trial and the hospital.   And she compromised her own integrity.   I can’t wait to see how Derek reacts to this news.    He will find out you know. I understand why she did it but it still never should have happened.  It’s exactly why she should have never been part of this trial.   She’s too close to the disease and the people involved.

On a happier note, as a result of Alex bringing African children to the US to give them medical assistance (more on that later), Derek falls in love a beautiful little girl and decides that they should adopt her.  Meredith’s first reaction is shock but after holding her and hugging her, she warms to the idea.   So they decide they are going to adopt.   One tiny problem though, they aren’t married….legally.  Unfortunately, a post-it wedding will not suffice in a court of law when you are trying to adopt a child.   Down to the JP they go and make it legal.  I have to say, I loved how the show intermingled MerDer’s wedding wtih Calzona’s wedding at the same time.   And I love how they are going to adopt this baby.   Love the story line!!!

Owen and Cristina

Not much on the Owen front other than he is being tasked to pick the next Chief Resident.  But Cristina has some issues with Teddy, her current mentor.    I haven’t been a big Cristina fan this season.  Actually, throughout the series, she’s been one of my least favorites from a personal standpoint but one of my most favorites from a complex character standpoint.  I really like how her trauma was handled this season but her attitude since has bugged me.   Cristina has always thought she was better than everyone else.   Cristina wants to learn how to be the best surgeon but she has no interest in learning how to be the best doctor.   What I mean by that is that she wants to learn all the newest techniques and procedures but when it comes to patient care or proper hierarchy in the hospital, she has no time.  I’ve always disliked that about her.   However, I don’t know how I feel about the situation with Teddy.  While she needs to be respectful to her attending, when it comes to life and death and you think you have a better way to do something but your attending is too proud to let you help, I have no problem with Cristina stepping in and saying let’s do this.  At first, she suggests something and Teddy says it’s too risky.   So she looks at Owen to back her up.  I would be pissed at Cristina too.  Don’t look at your husband for back up and disregard my opinion as the expert in this particular situation.  It would be one thing if she was seeking another attending’s opinion but she wasn’t.  She was looking for her husband, the attending, to back her up so she could get her way.  And that’s what pissed Teddy off and rightfully so.  But then when they get into surgery, Teddy’s procedure isn’t working so Cristina wants to try hers.  She even had Owen on her side in the OR since Teddy’s way wasn’t working.   Teddy kept saying no but eventually Chief Webber told her to back off and step away.  She does, Cristina takes over and her procedure works.  Later when she sees Teddy, Teddy tells her that she is off her service since she has nothing else to teach her.  Uh, ok.  I’m still not sure about that one yet but alright.  Owen tells Cristina that she needs to apologize to Teddy.   Maybe for the earlier portion but for the surgery, I don’t understand…I’m with Cristina on that one.   She sees Teddy in the elevator and apologizes but you can tell it isn’t sincere, she’s just saying it to get back into the OR.  Teddy doesn’t accept and tells her that it’s important it mean something.   Finally at Calzona’s wedding, Cristina goes up to Teddy and tells her what she really thinks.  That she is sorry about the fact that Teddy is threatened by her and her success.  Teddy tells her that she still doesn’t get it.   You know what Cristina, neither do I!   Maybe Teddy will it explain it to all of us at some point!   Then maybe it will make sense!

Callie and Arizona

Wow, is Callie’s mom a bitch or what?  I understand being true to your religious beliefs….but at the expense of your only daughter’s happiness?   That’s cold.  But let’s back up.   Callie is still recovering from her injuries and it is a slow and painful process.   She also has yet to see her daughter who is fighting for her life but getting stronger every day.  I have to say, I like how Grey’s did a FF, if you will, with the one episode, showing the steady progression of both Callie and Sophia.  Obviously they were both going to be in the hospital for a long time and Grey’s isn’t going to show that in real time.   So the way they did it worked very well.  And it was nice to see Arizona and Mark start to come together as friends and family after how things had been between them.  At one point, Callie was so frustrated by not being able to see her daughter that our favorite crew of residents rolled her bed down to the NICU so she could finally meet her Sophia.  It was such a sweet moment.  It also gave Callie, even more strength.

She and Sophia are eventually cleared to go home and while everyone is cheering for both of them, Callie is freaking out.  Sophia is in a car seat and Callie burst into tears saying cars aren’t safe and she doesn’t want her daughter in the car and screams at Mark to get her out of the car seat.  Bailey comes over and calms her down and tells her that she’s just taken the first step in becoming a mom.  There are so many dangers out there and she can protect her as best she can but she also needs to live and enjoy life with her.  It was a really terrific speech and it did calm Callie’s nerves to the point where she agreed to take Sophia home.

Now, it’s time for the big day…..the wedding!!!!!  Both Arizona and Callie’s parents are in town and everyone seems to be a having a great time and getting along.   But something seems off with Callie’s mom.  She is polite and social but just off.  Things start to fall apart though.   The major problem is the minister who would marry them couldn’t perform the service (I think his wife was in the hospital or something) and since he was the only minister who would perform the ceremony, they are screwed so Callie wants to call off the day.  Bailey to the rescue again!   She tells her that a wedding is about sharing your love and committing to your partner in front of all your friends, family, and God.  God doesn’t have to be in a church.  He’s everywhere.  So no matter where they profess their love to one another God will be there to support and witness it.  So the wedding is back on and Bailey will be the officient.   Love it!!!  However, we have a few more issues….mainly Callie’s slit ass of a mother.  Callie is trying on her veil which is very similar to the one her mother wore at her wedding and Callie’s mom could care less.   Finally she asks her what is going on.   Why all the nasty stares, indignance, and the fact that she refuses to hold or spend time with Sophia.   Callie’s mom finally admits that it’s because she can’t support a lesbian wedding or a baby out-of-wedlock.  What is this 1950?  Does she not realize that her daughter and granddaughter almost died????   She’s lucky they both survived!   Now, Callie has found someone who makes her incredibly happy, someone she wants to share her life with, and a beautiful and strong baby girl to add to their family.  I’m sorry, exactly what can’t she support?   Shouldn’t her daughter’s happiness trump anything else?  I would think so.  But she is so selfish and cruel and she can’t see beyond the wall of judgement that is blocking the view of her daughter’s happiness.  I’m glad she’s not there to ruin Callie and Arizona’s day.  But I think it’s also a shame that her father (who had his own issues but eventually came around) had to leave and not share this day with his little girl.   But we never should have worried!!!   Calzona gets hitched in a beautiful service and have an awesome reception.   When it comes time for the father daughter dance, Arizona goes to dance with her father and Mark dances with Callie.   But there is Callie’s dad to cut in and have his dance with his girl!!   Oh the tears!!!   So stick it Mama Torres!!!!!!

Everyone Else

The fight for chief resident is still going on with Alex taking a slight lead at this point by using a dying woman’s money (that she gave to him) to bring children over from Africa to be able to save their lives.  Alex is also the only one who knows what Meredith did during her clinical trial with switch the placebo for the active agent in Adele’s case.   So we’ll see how that plays out.

Teddy is still married and dating.  I find it horrible that she goes to her husband’s apartment to share her leftovers with him after every date she goes on.  It’s terrible and heartless!!!   Doesn’t she see how much he has fallen for her and this is probably killing him?  And how come your husband (the adorable Scott Foley) isn’t on your list of potential suitors?  Ugh.  Unfortunately, the shrink is back and he has received a crazy job offer in Germany (I think it was Germany) and he is planning on taking it.  As an added bonus, he made them offer Teddy the chief cardio-thorasic position as well.  So now she has a choice.  Does she stay with hubby or go to Germany?