Tearjerker Returns

American Dad, S08E13

In a sequel to the Tearjecker story, Stan abandoned his life as a spy when his wife, Sexpun, was murdered by a new foe, Black Villain.  Bullock got him to return to his old life and partnered him up with Tearjecker to stop Black Villian's newest evil plan.

I was so excited to see that they did a continuation of this story.  I've been wanting them to do the Tearjerker bit again since I saw the first one a while ago.  It wasn't that I was curious about how Stan and Sexpun's married life went--I really wanted Tearjerker to survive the volcano and come back to be a thorn in Stan's side again.  Roger makes such a good villain since he's usually plotting and screwing people over in his real life.  Like, he's born to be a bad guy, with his loose policy on morals and common decency.

However, Tearjerker didn't end up being the main antagonist, and it was Black Villain who was running the show.  Principal Lewis as a bad guy wasn't a stretch either, but it was his lazy-ass name that I liked the most about him.  It was like someone don't even try to give him a real name.  It made him seem more like a joke rather than a man bent on destroying lives.

Next, I liked how Tearjerker got out of prison.  I was a little annoyed they showed all these underwater levels that separated Tearjerker from the surface until I saw him get pulled through all of them via the magnet inside of him.  It was kind of funny to see him get pulled through acid and cacti and stung by jellyfish.  I shouldn't have doubted that they wouldn't have bothered to slowly show us all of those layers of Earth if it wasn't going to be relevant.  I guess the way I was "fooled" helped make that joke about Tearjerker busting out a lot more funny to me.

My favorite part of the episode was when Sexpun (the clone) regained her memories of her original life and Tearjerker argued that this was impossible:

That's not how cloning works!  You're a completely different person!  You are so dumb!

I feel like he was set up to say that so that the "technical" viewers wouldn't be saying something similar.  Again, I like when they take a second to be the voice of their viewers to sort of combat future complaints (you can't complain about far-fetched concepts if they point them out first).

There were also a few gross moments.  The first, of course, is when Sexpun died.  It was bad enough to see a chunk of herself slide out of her middle without her falling on Stan and the hole around her spreading to Stan-width.  Since it's a cartoon this horrific image was amusing, but I can't imagine if I had to see something that gory in real life.  That would be so nasty.

The other nasty part was when the Tearjerker clones started fighting each other.  True to the DNA they had been created from, all of them were violent, unstable, and horny.  I don't know why Black Villain would have thought it would have been effective to use him as the base for his army.  They took care of themselves in less than two minutes.  And some of them were making out with each other.  Roger making out with anyone is bad enough, but seeing double Roger is double the gross.  But it was ironic that Black Villain unleashed the Tearjerker army only to have them be utterly useless.

Oh, I forgot that I liked how Tearjerker met his end in this story.  Something about him claiming that if a volcano couldn't kill him, nearly nothing would before he got stabbed through by a marlin was funny.  I guess this was because he was done in by something so cartoon-like.  How many people fall to their deaths on a fish?  And just when it looked like he was going to make it, a killer whale dragged him and that marlin into the sea.  So much for a third chapter in the Tearjerker saga.  Unless I'm lucky enough for them to simply make a convenient excuse as to why he survived a second time.

This was one of my favorite episodes.  It's definitely up there with that mock play.  I was extremely pleased to find out that they would do another Tearjerker story, even if it wasn't necessarily about his evil plan.  There was still enough comedy and general suspense with Black Villain added to the mix that I couldn't complain that Tearjerker wasn't in the center of it all.  I just hope that if they decide to make a third story that Tearjerker will be the headlining villain.  Maybe luck will be on my side, and I'll get to see that episode in the next season.

Thanksgiving Prison

Community, S04E05

Jeff was forced to have Thanksgiving with his estranged father because, despite he couldn't find the courage to knock on the door and bolted, Britta went ahead and entered his father's house without him.  Shirley invited the others to her house for Thanksgiving, but they were all so miserable there that they hid in the basement and plotted to escape without Shirley realizing it.

How I wish that Britta would have just burst into flames and turned into ash.  She was so intrusive in this story.  I guess I could blame the Dean for having such a big mouth and telling the gang about him going to meet his father, but I wish that Britta would stop trying to be a therapist to him.  If her ignorance about psychology was humorous maybe I could let her slide, but her stupidity just makes me so angry.  Leave Jeff alone!  He definitely needed a push, but she just thinks she knows exactly what to do to get Jeff to deal with his issues.  It's her smugness about her that made me not want her to be around for the whole first meeting.

That being said, it was great that Jeff didn't end up being too chicken to meet his father.  I think he might have found another way to get over his fear without Britta, but since she was the reason, I have to give her credit there.  I just wish she had left as soon as Jeff had gotten settled in--he and his father really got along well.  Obviously they were both regarding the other with all of their emotions heavily guarded, but they didn't go at each others' throats (at least at first) or act too stiffly as if each second together was torture.  I liked seeing sort of an older version of Jeff.  If that was what Jeff is going to be like, it doesn't seem too bad by his standards.  Still, William didn't seem like the best dad when Willy Jr. acted like the most insincere guy ever.

I loved Willy Jr.  I thought that Jeff's half brother would be some kind of asshole like him, but he was more like a little boy who couldn't get over that his parents had brought home a new baby.  In just a few seconds of meeting Jeff, he evaluated himself as inferior and felt threatened that Jeff would take his place.  His insecurity due to Jeff's existence was pretty funny.  My favorite emotional explosion was when he was having trouble getting out Jeff's name:

[Jeff] My name is Jeff.

[Willy Jr.] Don't help me! Mr. Helper Guy! First, mom died, and now this!

Willy was a mess, but I enjoyed every time he opened his mouth and got frustrated over every little thing.  I was set to be disappointed that Jeff and this little ball of emotions couldn't bond until Willy appeared in the back of Jeff's car.  I was happy that Jeff's outrage at his father's attempt to justify being absent in Jeff's life came to a boil when he heard how Willy was also a victim of William's bad parenting.  It was sort of a moving moment when Jeff exposed his neediness as child, where he faked an illness just to have someone worry about him.  To hear that he still holds onto the get-well cards from then really makes you see how sad Jeff is deep inside.  It was a very effective and colorful way to show that Jeff wasn't the superior child that William claimed to have contributed to by leaving him.  Although his deadbeat dad tried to fake a heart attack to get out of this emotional moment, Jeff's grandstand got through to Willy and he hugged the hell out of his older brother.  Aww!  I hope that Willy returns for another story--him and Jeff would make a funny pair.

In Shirley's story, I felt bad that her friends were so determined to leave her.  I understood that Shirley's family, though, sounded like such unpleasant people.  Anyone who could sit around and laugh at Pierce's antics (especially when he was trying to fake breaking a hip--they didn't think to worry about him) were probably not the best company.  And, as we later found out, they took joy in making fun of Shirley at these gatherings, making her situation feel all the sadder.  While her friends were trying to break out of the "prison," Shirley was locked in her own.  I don't think my heart has ever gone out to Shirley as much as when she admitted that she wanted her friends to be there as her buffer and yet they had been avoiding her the whole time that their presence didn't even matter.  They made me happy when they decided to grin and bear it for her sake.

I also liked how Abed, seeing that they were trapped in a prison-like state, started narrating their actions as if was Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption.  Although, he didn't get to break out of there through a secret tunnel (which was revealed in the extra that he dug out behind a Shirley's Sandwiches poster), he did enough spoofing of this movie that it was pretty funny. 

Troy, too, had a funny moment the first time he escaped to the basement:

What is going on?  Why is Thanksgiving so terrible?

I feel like that's a great summary statement of that holiday.  If this episode was aired in the right season, I'm pretty sure I'd be thinking that in my head at one point or another.

My favorite part of the story was when Jeff had set up the study room for the Thanksgiving dinner that they had all missed out.  Jeff was on a good-guy roll.  I really appreciate those times when he makes up for being so detached all the time (or at least pretending to be).  It assures me no matter what selfish thing he might do or say, he'll eventually show his true colors and win me over again.

This was a good episode, especially for a Thanksgiving story.  I can't remember if it was as good or bad as the others I saw this past year, but I'm betting it was up there.  The meeting between Jeff and his father went much better than I imagined and wasn't the sappy reunion that it could have been.  I most liked the introduction of Willy Jr.  I don't think they could have made a better brother for Jeff if they tried.  Shirley's Thanksgiving was equally as good because we got to see Annie, Troy, Abed, and Pierce act like inmates and attempt to break out.  Although they saw the merit in staying opposed to fleeing, it was amusing to see them struggle along the way.  And thanks to Jeff's surprise dinner for them all, everyone got to have the Thanksgiving they had really been looking for.  Nothing more I like than a great ending!

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.

Hello, Martin Channing!

2 Broke Girls, S02E01

Strangely, I was comforted to see this show back on, and I looked forward to the season premiere on Monday (especially because HIMYM wasn't too funny and I checked out a lukewarm premiere of Partners before).  It took me a moment to get used to all the dirty jokes crammed into a thirty minute show, but I was laughing a hell of a lot more watching Max and Caroline attend an estate auction for the Channing house.  They went because Caroline's father wanted Caroline to win an item back for herself.  It wasn't the best story I've ever seen, but after the rest of the crap I had watched on CBS that night, it was pretty entertaining in comparison.

First of all, we got to see Martin Channing's face for the first time.  What I loved most about that was that Max was charmed by him to the point that she was saying things like she would be Caroline's stepmother one day.  Although it's a little creepy for your friend to be hitting on your father, I just love Max in general, so I couldn't help but think that it would be actually kinda interesting if she did seriously go for Mr. Channing.  I hope that they will, despite Caroline being a little disillusioned by him, continue to visit him in prison together so I can see Max bat her eyes at him and promise to do whatever he asks of her.

It would have been nice if there really was money in that trophy that Max and Caroline spent 200 bucks getting back, but that would be a little too good for them.  I mean, the show is about them being broke, so it wouldn't be good if they suddenly had a bunch of money.  I would have said that it was a rip that they had to go to the auction in the first place if it wasn't for them meeting Hamish there.  His character (along with his ridiculous dog, Pickle) were the highlight of this episode for me.  I wish he could appear again because he was an unlikely and pleasant antagonist for the two.  The best line of the episode came from him and Max:

[Hamish] I'm a paddle bitch.
[Max] I'm a bitch bitch.

I was wondering in the first place who would want someone's trophy for their own (I mean, it has someone else's name inscribed on it) until Hamish said he was going to have his dog bathe in it.  Ridiculous.  But I loved Hamish.  Really made me appreciate this show and the random people that Caroline and Max meet.

This episode felt like it took away a bit of the stomachache I got from watching the shows the preceded it last night.  Sure, it wasn't brilliant or really inventive or anything, but it made me laugh a hell of a lot more than anything else.  So happy this show is still on the air--I think it'll be really useful to provide me with a little bit of the comedy that's missing for me on Monday!