Emma, The Bad Boy Magnet

Once Upon A Time, S02E06

Emma volunteered to go up the beanstalk with Hook, and they worked together to find the compass in the giant's belongings.  Emma's sorted past was revealed, where she committed petty crimes with Henry's father.

I want to start with Emma's past.  I really didn't want to see a flashback about her, even if it did shed some light on Henry's father, until I saw that her first love (I'm assuming) was played by the same guy who played Renee on True Blood!  Wow.  I couldn't help but think of him as that character throughout the episode, especially since I failed to catch his name on OUAT and had to look it up.  Besides being entertained by Neal's actor, I was engaged in her flashback when August made an appearance and became the reason that the two split.  I was further surprised that Emma only spent 11 months in a minimum-security correction facility and that was where Henry was born (although, it might have already been mentioned that he was a prison baby).  No wonder Emma has so many walls up when she spent time in jail, lost her love, and lost her baby all in a short period of time.  She sort of has August to blame for that, but if Emma wasn't already stealing cars in the first place, she would have never met Neal.  She did get a car out of it, but that's hardly a compensation.  I'm surprised that she still wanted to use it after all the pain he probably put her through.

I did like that this episode explained who the hell that guy was in the season premiere that I didn't recognize as the actor from TB at the time.  It was Neal and he had finally gotten the postcard from August that the curse was broken and he could he could return to Emma's side.  I guess.  I doubt she would take him back very easily.  That could add some drama along the way if Emma ever makes it back to Storybrooke.

But I wonder what it was that August showed Neal in that box to make him believe in magic.  Because whatever it was, how come that didn't work on Emma?  Or was it the same as her not being able to see August turning into wood thing--because she didn't want to believe, she couldn't see the magic right in front of her.  I hope they will let us know what he had in that box (unless it's something we've already been shown and I've just forgotten).

In the present, I was glad to see Emma and Hook climb the beanstalk together because they were kinda of funny.  I mean, he was telling her that he knew her because he had experiences with the Lost Boys, who had the same look as she did.  Emma didn't care for that, nor for him openly flirting with her.  This was funny, but also a little creepy because I know that Hook has to be kinda old (he's been preserved thanks to his time in Neverland).  Anyone who knew Rump before he became the Dark One, has to be a little long in the tooth.  But Hook might have just been teasing her to get her guard down and sort of gain her trust.  I liked that they managed to take the giant down together (and that the giant was played by Lost's Jorge Garcia--cool), but ultimately when the giant was free it was Emma that got shit done and got the compass in her hand.  I loved that although Hook thought they were buddies at the end, she cuffed him and left him up there so she could get a head start.

Well, Emma and the rest have half of what they need to get home, but I don't know how they'll manage to get that wardrobe dust from Cora without suffering some damage.  Plus, I don't think that Hook will be so eager to work with them again with Emma sort of betraying him (even though she had a lot of reason not to trust him).

And what's up with that red room that Aurora and Henry were dreaming about?  It sounds really creepy and makes it sound like they are connected in some way.  Their dreams did differ slightly with Aurora seeing a man looking at her, and Henry seeing a woman (were they seeing each other?).  I can't guess what kind of disaster those dreams are foretelling.

I have to admit that I missed Rump in this episode.  Every episode can't be about him, but even with these guest stars and Hook sleezing on Emma, I wasn't so focused on this week's story that I didn't wonder what was up with the rest of Storybrooke at that time.  I'm really anxious to get back to a Storybrooke-centric story.  Emma's love story was okay, but I don't think I'll be okay to see more of her story next time.  Save that for maybe five more episodes later.  Haha.

Leave My TV Alone, Peter

Family Guy, S11E02

The Griffins were selected to be a Nielsen family, which gave Peter a lot of power to influence local TV shows.  Peter stole more of the Nielsen boxes when he realized this and started to ruin TV nationwide.

This episode poked a lot of fun at many different TV shows while Peter took advantage of being a part of the Nielsen family.  They also went after some of the people who play a hand in making some of the popular TV as well, which was nice as well.  I'm glad that Family Guy didn't go too crazy with bashing any particular show, but they did make sure they got a jab at as many as possible before the half hour was over.

One of Peter's first changes to TV when he suggested that prairie dogs pop up during the news whenever Tom said something sad was kind of funny in a cute way.  I just find news in general to be a little too serious (and rightly so), so I enjoy Peter's attempt to make it a little more entertaining for the simple-minded (which I can tend to be).

I was a little annoyed later when Stewie was concerned that the volume on their TV wasn't working:

No matter how low I turn the volume, Aziz Ansari is always shouting at me.  What did I do?

He's not that loud!  I know it's a joke and all, but come on.  When I think of Aziz, him shouting all the time isn't the first thing that comes to mind, so I'm annoyed that they didn't think of something more clever for him.  Boo.  But least they didn't say anything racist because they love to go down that road whenever they can.

My favorite TV star they mentioned was definitely Jon Hamm.  I think he is hilarious when he's not playing a dramatic role (though sometimes I think Don is hilarious), and I had no idea he was gonna to pop up on this show.  He and Peter had a pretty funny conversation:

[Peter] Hello, Jon Hamm?  Peter Griffin, Nielsen family.  Listen, did I catch you at a good time, or are you and the critics busy sucking each other’s butts?
[Hamm] Excuse me?
[Peter] Look, your show is really boring. But don’t worry, I got some ideas on how you can jazz it up.
[Hamm] Listen, I don’t need your suggestions, pal.  I’ve been a big celebrity for a year and a half now.

But then Hamm changes his mind when Peter makes their ratings drop and listens to his suggestions to put in light sabers and Kiss (I think) playing the theme to Star Wars.  For a show like Mad Men, that is just the craziest thing ever, but I feel like it would be so off the wall that I would totally watch an episode like that.  I'd like Family Guy to make some more jokes about Mad Men if they are going to give me as good as a laugh I had last Sunday night.

That was about the best thing in the episode, but I also liked Mayor West complaining about Cougar Town:

You put a real cougar on Cougar Town, and now that cougar’s dead because Courtney Cox ripped it apart with her teeth and claws!

And I also liked Peter basically summarizing what J.J. Abrams' shows are like while speaking to him:

[Peter] J.J. Abrams, you take wonder and complexity and present it in a way that no one can possibly understand.  Whaddaya got?!
[Abrams] I’ve got an alien that goes back in time and encounters a koala bear in an Eastern European town.
[Peter] Totally confused.  Do it!

I'm still not sure what the hell was going on in Lost, which was really aptly named.  Haha.

I also thought it was nice of them to do this episode in memory of the deceased Phyllis Diller and Michael Clarke Duncan.  I enjoy when they dedicate these episodes because it just sort of helps the memory of their lives live on.

This could be one of my favorites for this season, but it is a little early to know whether something will top it later on.  I hope that there are a lot of stories with a lot of good jokes, like this one, instead of like last season where I felt I spent most of my time complaining about what I didn't like.  Good job this time!

Stranded On The Treadmill

The Simpsons, S23E18

Homer got obsessed with a Lost-parody show called "Stranded" that he started watching on his treadmill.  Marge, after putting up with his obsession for long enough, ruined the show for him by explaining all the mysteries he had yet to figure out.  She apologized for it later by decorating their room in an deserted island-like fashion.  Bart had to watch over Jimbo's girlfriend and found himself cheating with her behind his bully's back.  He had to pay the price for that with Jimbo, but his girlfriend did take Bart's advice that she could do better than Jimbo.

I guess that Springfield is supposed to be in Oregon, according to the opening credits.  Is anyone still even worrying about that insignificant matter nowadays?  I always thought it was nice that they just denied that Springfield was anywhere by referring to impossible geographical details throughout the show.  It was a long-running joke that I enjoyed.  I don't like too much that they felt it was necessary to point that out (if they were being serious, anyway).  Any fan could easily look up where the creator grew up and figure out the state that inspired Springfield.  I feel like this is another ploy to get viewers (I'm sure that didn't work if it was).

It's funny that Homer was using his treadmill so much, but only to watch streaming videos.  I could totally see me doing that if I could afford a fancy treadmill like that with internet capabilities and a HD screen.  What was even funnier was that he set up a lawn chair on the sides so that he could just sit and watch (is it impossible to watch the screen without the belt moving?).  It's too bad he's creative with his laziness because with a TV on a piece of exercise equipment that might have been the best way to get Homer to exercise for more than a few seconds.

I also liked how they made fun of Lost.  I could identify with Homer's determination to figure out what it was all about and how ridiculously mysterious the show was (and not being too wowed by the final answers).  I wouldn't have gone as far to have a discussion group or a notebook of clues, but I also didn't watch the show until a few years after it had been completed, so I had to fight to remain ignorant of any spoilers others could provide me.  It would have been nice to have the air horn Homer had used on his friends.

I thought Bart's story wasn't much to talk about except the part where he freaked out after seeing Shanna's boobs.  I liked that his first comment was that they looked exactly like Homer's.  That's disgusting in such a humorous way.  Then at dinner, everything kept reminding him of breasts, which was a nice touch.  I thought that would keep him away from the girl permanently, but Bart kept seeing her until Jimbo found out.  Sometimes it's hard to remember that Bart is only 10 years old.  Since he does so many terrible things, I would just assume that not much could shock him.  Then again, Bart has shown several times that he has no idea how sex actually works (except in that one episode).  Still, it's easy to forget, which makes those kind of jokes with Bart work.

The ending, where Bart was finally caught by Jimbo, didn't have the consequences that I would have thought.  Jimbo was seen holding Bart upside down, but it really seemed like he got off pretty lightly.  I didn't think that Lisa or Shanna explained well enough to get Bart off the hook, so I don't know why Bart wasn't more brutally punished for his betrayal.  But then again, I wasn't that interested in the story to begin with, so I didn't really care what happened to Bart by then.

I actually liked Homer's story well enough that I liked the episode overall.  It's nice to see that as technology evolves to make it easier for people to exercise, Homer evolves his laziness just as well.  And I'm sure there are many people who might even pretend to go to the gym to work out, but spend more time watching movies on the machines more than anything else.  Mostly, I liked that they made fun of Lost in a way that I'm sure many fans of that show could relate to.  I'm always up for a good parody.