The Price Of Loving Rumpelstiltskin

Once Upon A Time, S02E16

Snow, Charming, Rumpelstiltskin, Emma, and Neal holed up in Gold's pawn shop to protect themselves from the upcoming attack from Cora and Regina.  Rumpelstiltskin told Snow that the only was for them to defeat Cora before she came to steal his powers was to use the black magic candle to kill Cora first.  In the past, Cora and Rumpelstiltskin's first meeting was revealed, as well as Cora's determination to rise to power and get revenge on those who had humiliated her.

It was amazing to me that with so little defense with Rump being indisposed that Cora and Regina weren't able to get Rump much faster.  Of course, that would be no fun for the viewers, so there was enough time for Rump to teach Emma some magical techniques before they were attacked.  I liked seeing Rump have to rely on Emma and him yelling at her when she was using magic in the wrong way (using her head too much).  It would be cool if he continued to teach her some things, even though I don't think her parents would much approve of her learning from the Dark One.

Then again, Snow herself decided to use the candle to save her family, so she shouldn't be able to judge.  I really liked when she told Rump that she should just let him die and then control Cora to make her do the right thing when she got her hidden heart.  That actually would have been the least evil thing for her to do, I guess, but Rump easily played the grandfather card.  How sneaky of him to only care about being Henry's grandfather when it could save his life.  Like he gives a damn about Henry right now.  I love that they have this bond to Rump that prevents them from getting rid of him out of convenience.

Undoubtedly, the best part of Rump edging closing to death while Regina and Cora loomed closer to the shop was when Rump called Belle.  I'm fairly sure it wasn't some kind of act because I doubt he would lie there and talk about his true feelings with an audience if he didn't have a choice about it.  I was starting to get worried that he would end up dying by Cora's hand any moment and got teary-eyed when he was telling Belle all about how wonderful of a person she was but didn't know it yet.  It got even more emotional when Neal was touched by Rump exposing his human side and the two of them embraced each other.  I know that Neal is still far from forgiving him, but I loved seeing the healing process start!  It was then that I felt like I wouldn't be able to keep watching if Rump did indeed meet his end in this episode.

Thankfully, Snow did the "wrong" thing and used the candle over Cora's heart and gave the heart back to Regina.  It did leave a bad taste in my mouth the way Snow had to tell Regina that she could get her mother's love if she put her heart back into her body, knowing that once she did Cora would die.  I never liked Cora, even after hearing her back story, but I felt for Regina when she had about a minute to enjoy her mother's loving gaze before she crumpled down to her death.  It was either her or Rump, and I'll choose her over Rump any day.

I'm worried about Snow, who made it very clear that she was the one who made Cora die by bursting in the room to warn Regina way too late.  I would say that they were sort of even, but it was Cora who killed Snow's mother, not Regina.  So it doesn't feel very much like justice in Regina's position anyway.  I'm just glad that Snow did regret her actions before she had to see Cora dead.  I would have hated her to be happy about Cora's death.  Regina's definitely going to go for her blood, which I'm not looking forward to. Maybe Rump, who's now part of the extended family, might lend a helping hand?  They're always getting flicked away in a second when faced against magic, so it would help to have someone magical on their side (if Emma's not going to be that person).

Cora's back story was certainly intriguing.  I never thought she would be that girl in the Rumpelstiltskin tale that we know.  It all started when Eva, Snow's mother, tripped and embarrassed her in front of several people.  That was a horrible moment for Cora, but to hold onto that grudge for so long that she would hurt every person along the way is insane.  However, you can't ignore that Rumpelstiltskin was mostly to blame for Cora turning into the monster she was.  He was the one that taught her magic and how to remove hearts.  He was a fool, for many reasons, for trusting and falling in love with her.

From that earlier scene when Cora first came to town and Rump and she kissed, it was evident that something had been between them once.  Still, I hoped that Rump was not going to get involved with her when I was watching the story in the past.  Frankly, I thought it was a little gross to see them kissing and such.  Ugh.  It's mainly because you know what kind of person Cora turned out to be.  It doesn't help that if it's not Belle, it seems wrong to me, even though what Cora and Rump had was many, many years before Belle even came into the picture.  I hated the momentary coupling between Cora and Rump even more when Cora easily chose power over her love for him.

Amazingly, Cora seems to be the only one who's ever bested Rump in one of his contracts.  She got him to revise the document to better serve herself and when she told him that she was leaving him, Cora reminded him that she didn't owe him a child or anything else now.  That was impressive.  She had taken out her own heart (instead of that hateful father-in-law of hers) and made sure that she would stick to her decision to keep climbing the ladder without her love for Rump getting in the way.  Wow.  It's amazing that she got away with it, that is until it came full circle when she tried to take Rump's power away.  It seemed kind of appropriate that after double-crossing him in the past and trying to take away his Dark One powers that Cora was the one who ended up dead.  She spent all of her life fighting to be on the top and finally it was her own undoing.  If only she had just lived happily with either Herny, who gave her Regina, or Rump, who would have given her true love.  Her demise would be a sad ending, if I liked Cora better.

It also caught my attention that Cora was once a queen.  I knew that she and Regina were sort of well-to-do in the past, but it never occurred to me that they were former royalty.  I guess eventually all that spinning straw into gold didn't allow the kingdom to thrive forever.  If not, I would wonder why Regina would have to marry that other king to become a queen.  She should have been able to become a queen in her own country.  Now I'm interested to know what went wrong after Cora married Henry.  It's obvious that she kept tabs on Eva so she could find a chance to get back at her, but not so clear what happened in the time between Snow and Regina meeting for the first time.  Her story introduced a lot of new questions for me.

Loved this episode.  There was a lot of suspense around whether we would see Rumpelstiltskin die and whether Snow would cross over to the dark side and kill Cora.  Since the latter happened, I'm concerned about the war between Regina and Snow that's started (or rekindled).  If Regina hated Snow before, she's going to increase that hatred my tenfold now that Snow was the one responsible for Cora's death.  I feel for Regina who never got her mother's love, but I also feel for Snow who won't be able erases that black mark on her conscience.  Hopefully, Snow won't let her guilt and regret make her more susceptible to Regina's attacks.  She can't afford to let her lapse in judgement make her vulnerable.  As for Rumpelstiltskin, it was unnerving to see him with Cora in the past, but I'm glad in the present he showed his love for Belle and it made an impression on Neal.  With Rumpelstiltskin still having a long life ahead of him, I want to see him continue to make progress with his son.  There's nothing more I'd love to see than the two of them repairing their father-son bond.

Sometimes It Takes A Punch In The Nose

The Mindy Project, S01E02

Mindy, after being frustrated by their incompetent nurse at their practice, asked for Beverly to be fired and to be given the responsibility of finding her replacement.  Although, Dr. Shulman granted her that right, Danny couldn't trust her and made sure that he was part of the hiring process as well.  The two had completely different ideas of who would be a good employee.

Again, I feel like there was a lot of funny things in the episode, but it didn't make me exactly laugh out loud.  For example, I liked how Mindy was narrating her life on the train as if she was in a movie and then later was interested in a scenario Danny had come up with about stepping off a train and being sent into the past.  It's funny that she sort of lives in a fantasy and can look at the world in terms of it leading to her next big romance.  But again, it was exactly laughable, just entertaining at the moment.

Another interesting thing is the amount of guest starts from sketch comedies that appear on this show.  This episode marks the second appearance of an SNL member (this time Seth Meyers) and former MADtv member Ike Barinholtz.  I like this trend and wouldn't mind seeing more people like that.  The appearance of Barinholtz seems to be a possible reoccurring character, as his character Morgan got hired in this episode.

Morgan is about as crazy as the woman they fired, Beverly, so it's kind of dumb that he ended up being her replacement.  However, if he can supply some extra comedy, I'm all for him.  He was pretty funny during his interview, especially when his name "Ransom Tookers" was questioned:

You wouldn’t ask a black woman named "Destiny" if that was really her name. This feels racial.

I also liked when he fixed Mindy's nose and kissed her on the forehead.  He may be a potential loose cannon, but at least he can seem to reset a broken nose.  At that point, I was glad that Mindy hired him just because I felt like maybe the guy just needed to be given a chance and at least Mindy had some heart to give him one.  Plus, I feel like Mindy could have a little power over him, unlike Beverly who seemed to act like her own boss.

Speaking of when her nose got broken, I was really surprised by that.  I figured that Beverly might do something crazy, but I never thought it would be that violent.  Mindy has the worst luck.  But I think I like that the pattern of this show seems to be things going from bad to worse before they end things with slightly better than she started off.

The  last thing that I thought was amusing in this episode was when Mindy was on the train with Danny again and she pretended like he was her husband and was the one responsible for her injured nose.  It was kind of wrong of her to imply that he had hit her, but I liked it because Danny is a jerk and needs to be taught a lesson.

I'm still not a 100 percent on board with this show, but I feel like I'm getting there.  However, I might stop writing about this show and switch to Ben and Kate, which I've also been watching, but hadn't anticipated it being funny as well.  So we'll see which of them ends up being more my favorite, and rather than writing about both, I'll just do one of them.  I'm still rooting for Mindy, though, because there's just something about her that I really like.

The FOX New Girl Is No "New Girl"

The Mindy Project, S01E01

We were introduced to Mindy last Tuesday night, who is a doctor trying get her romantic life together.  Although she had what seemed like a fateful encounter with another doctor, she was soon ruining his engagement party with another woman and getting herself arrested.  Although she tried to recover and start dating again, Mindy inevitably went back to her bad ways of the convenient hook-up with an attractive co-worker.

I can't say that I fell in love with this show, but I feel like it has potential.  First of all, I feel like most women can relate to her trying to further her career while failing at love at the same time.  It's not anything that hasn't been done before, but I think I'm more interested because Mindy seems to have a lot more flaws than the average person.  Her main flaw is that she tends to talk a lot more than she should.  I also like that she's not super tiny like a lot of the actresses are nowadays.  I mean, I want to see someone curvy and doesn't look like the wind is going to blow them away!  Plus, despite that she's a mess, she's got an attitude and doesn't roll over when someone tries to get her down (like when she liked her sparkly dress, but she did ultimately change it).  I feel like Mindy could win me over if she's put through enough entertaining situations.  So far, she hadn't done anything too remarkable just yet.

I think my favorite thing, besides her really awkward date with a guy before she ran out on him, was when she was being questioned by the officer after being arrested.  Mindy felt that her arrest was a waste of time:

[Mindy] I’m sorry, disorderly conduct?  Aren’t there rapists and murderers out there?
[Officer] When you are disorderly, you are a rapist of peace and quiet.

Besides that, I don't think that I thought it was funny--or at least New Girl funny--but it wasn't all together boring.  I'd like to see what kind of trouble Mindy might get into next week.  I think the pieces are all there, but there just has to be something to keep me invested in the overall concept of the show.  Hopefully this week I can see something like that.

Even With Cookies, Grimm Ain't Sweet

Grimm, S01E15

After not seeing Grimm for a good couple of weeks, I felt like watching it hurt my head in terms of how the plot moves in comparison to other things I watch.  Nick having to step into the world of creature (I'll try to refer to them properly by "Wesen") addiction and busting two reptile-like guys was a pretty routine development for this show.  Each time we get to see Nick uncover that some of the Wesen are involved some way or another in the murder of someone in town.   Also typical of the show, we got to see more mysteries, but no more pieces of the puzzle.  The connection between Captain Renard and Adalind continued without giving us much of a reason as to why, but we found out that they are trying to get Hank so they can get to Nick.  But why??  I  don't know what it is about this show that infuriates me so that they create these questions without leaving us some kind of bread crumb trail to the answer.  Most likely, we'll just get to know all at once, but it brings a more important question of whether I will still care by then.

I liked the idea of Wesen having their own kind of drugs they were able to get high on, but would instantly kill humans if they smoked the same thing.  They all used these elaborate and antique-looking horns to inhale, which made the act seem even more exotic.  My favorite thing was when they went to the "crack house," full of all of these red-lit tents of Wesen getting high.  Apparently, there are tons of them all over America, and they're not even really illegal since they're all smoking mold.  I thought Nick would be pointed out as a narc right away, going to a place like that, but I guess everyone was too busy smoking up to notice there were two guys sifting through each tent.

I had to notice again that Monroe does a lot of dangerous things for absolutely no pay.  Nick may be a Grimm and perhaps he has some duty to that side job of his, but he's a damn cop!  After Monroe (and Rosalie this time) fill in all the gaps in his investigation, Nick possibly fights someone and then takes all the glory later (I assume).  Monroe had to play bodyguard in addition to the later drug bust he assisted with--Nick needs to be paying him!  Usually, Nick just milks him for the information and then tosses him away, but when the guy has to stay at a stranger's house and possibly fight off some attackers, that's way beyond helping a "friend."  But I suspect that Monroe didn't mind too much and that Rosalie may become his sweetheart (Huh, didn't see that coming.  Guess there are some perks to helping Nick).

Let's talk about some other "sweethearts."  Hank will soon be obsessed with Adalind, thanks to some enchanted cookies or something.  Do they really need to play around with Hank in order to get to Nick?  I could go along with this scheme better if I had some kind of idea of why it was necessary.  It just seems like a pointless sidestory right now.  Also, I think that it's good that Adalind is an attractive girl (and perhaps Hank is a moron) because anyone showing up at my doorstep at night with homemade cookies would be looked upon as a stalker (this day and age you don't take free food from others so easily).  Must be nice to be able to do something that shady, but have little suspicion raised about you because of your appearance.  That whole "I need to pay you back for saving my life" crap shouldn't hold up at all.  But Hank surely isn't portrayed as the sharpest tool in the shed.

As much as I hate that Adalind is working in the shadows for Renard for maddening unclear reasons, I liked the cookie thing for one reason: Sergeant Wu.  Thank goodness for him bringing humor to this show when I'm sitting there pulling at my hair or scratching my head.  For some reason, Hank brought one of his cookies to work ,and Wu suggested that it would be nice it he shared that gigantic cookie with him.  I was rolling with laughter when Hank only made this face at him:

If it were me, I'd probably not think about stealing his cookie, but Wu was like "the hell with you!" and took the damn thing away.  I didn't think his face would explode with warts and he would nearly die after eating it, but I was totally unprepared for the way he was hoarding the cookie after his near death experience.  I suppose he didn't realize how much danger he was in, not being conscious for most of it, but if he's so oblivious to the danger of the cookie, why they hell is he storing it in his couch cushion??  Either that cookie has made him insane or he has a bad habit of putting snacks in the same place he sits.  So I assume that the same thing won't happen to him again, so is he going to also be obsessed with Adalind or will he be obsessed with Hank (please, let it be the latter because this show could use a laugh)?

I thought that Juliette was going to dump Nick's lying ass, but instead she wanted to learn how to use a gun.  Well, I'll give her half credit for not being a complete idiot.  Obviously it will be dangerous for her to stay with Nick, so a little preparation on her part only seems smart.  Still, Nick's attempts to cover up why the beaver family is laying gifts upon them like they are gods that need offerings to prevent their wrath are laughable (almost in a good way).  I enjoyed how the guy kept coming back to offer a pie or fix the door, and Nick barely had to convince Juliette why this was nothing to be concerned about.  I guess when people are praising you, you ask a lot less questions than when they are throwing fruit at your house or stalking you.  This can't last forever.  Someone who hates Nick will surely find out his location and make trouble.  They better because this show needs all the interesting bits it can get.

I may have to just give up wondering when I'll know what a reaper wants to do with the Wesen connections he has and what it means for Nick.  Instead, I'll turn my attention to whether Monroe might start up a romance with Rosalie and what that cookie will do to Wu.  If I try too hard to think about this show, I think my head will explode from all the holes I could pick at it.

Everyone Seems To Be Getting Dumber

New Girl, S01E18

Jess' romance with Russel continues with a bang!  Just kidding. It starts off with a hearty pat on the back, which leads Jess to wonder what Russel's attraction was to her in the first place.  Cece and Schmidt struggle for dominance in their relationship, but ultimately have to decide to become public about their relationship.  Winston finds out that a little space from Shelby is more than he can bear.  And the best story of all (please know that I am joking), Nick fawns over his old law school buddy who is the "smartest guy he knows." I was underwhelmed by each of these stories.

I just have to say right away that Cece and Schmidt need to finally come out the closet (or the trunk) about their relationship.  If it wasn't for border control or customs or whatever finding the two naked in back of Schmidt's car, I'm pretty sure Cece would continue to fight tooth and nail to hide her "shame."  I'm over them sneaking around since it's pretty clear that Cece can't stay away from Schmidt, so there's no point to keep everyone in the dark.  I think that Winston's response to finding out their secret was funny, though.  His eyes in the rear-view mirror were like he was going to run them off the road.  He looked crazy.  But I guess the idea of someone as hot as Cece addicted to someone as disgusting as Schmidt, is a good sign that the world has turned upside.

Speaking of Winston being crazy--he actually told Shelby that he thought some space would be good for them?  He has to be out of his mind!  They had like a one-night stand, I believe, and he randomly called her again after the longest time and got lucky that she thought he was worth the time for a real relationship.  Winston should be on his knees every day thanking the powers above that a decent girl (and damn cute) would want him.  Glad he came to his senses, and Shelby missed him as much as he missed her.  That moron is so lucky.  I wanted to slap his peanut head.

So perhaps Jess wasn't dumber than usual in this episode, but her relationship with Russel sure seemed to have lost steam since the last time.  We all knew she would have those awkward conversations (talking about guys having to "dig for her gold" was one of her gems last night), but I didn't think that their date would end up being so boring.  It wasn't just the pat on her back after it ended--it was just that we only got to listen to Jess babble on about increasingly more inappropriate things and almost nothing on his end.  Sure, Russel is handsome for a man of his age, but he can't win me over as a good match for Jess on his looks alone.

Later, after Jess took Cece's advice to ask Russel out for a change of pace, the same thing happened again.  Jess steered the conversation toward things that suggested he was much older than her before he had to run out of their date because of an emergency phone call (it turned out to be about his daughter).  Again, he didn't say much at all, and it looks like a non-date.  After that, I was pretty over him dating Jess.  Regardless that at the little college mixer that was going on in their apartment Russel arrived to tell her that he was indeed just nervous and off his game, I didn't care about them together anymore.  I felt nothing when they had their first kiss (except that Dirk was freaky and creepy with his hand on her thigh).

While I viewed the Jess and Russel coupling as exciting as dry toast, I watched Nick sink even lower into "Moron Town," by showing us that "the smartest guy he knows" is a jackass named Dirk.  Dirk was beyond obnoxious and had the intelligence of mashed peas, but somehow Nick kept praising him at every turn.  Really, Nick?  This is your idea of a genius??  What were the other students like that he went to law school with?  I'm starting to doubt that his school was a real school at all, if someone like Dirk was around.  Nick was man-crushing on Dirk a little too hard, I thought.  Especially when he demonstrated to Winston what happens when you ask a girl for space, and Nick nearly had his head on Dirk's shoulder.  I couldn't help but giggle at that, despite Nick was hanging on Dirk's every stupid word.

So Nick was making out with college girls who thought he was cool because he could mix a drink, and Jess was dating a guy with so little swagger he was putting me to sleep.  What?  Why can't we just have Nick and Jess together instead!  I don't want to see either on the dating paths they are going down at the moment.  Stop the madness and start steering these two together!

On another note, I did laugh when Nick had to puke in Russel's car and he was hugging Russel.  Before leading Nick to the grass where he could expel the "poison" he told him gently:

OK, we can hug some more later.

Loved that.  I bet Nick, drunk or sober, would have gladly hugged him some more later.  Nick gets pretty insane when he's drunk, but it's hilarious.  You gotta love him shouting out for everyone when the car was right behind him.  His drunk behind even called Dirk to ask where they were.  Nick, you are so sad, but definitely my favorite character on the show.

Next time better signal the end to Cece and Schmidt fooling around behind everyone's backs (hope Winston doesn't keep quiet about it), and Russel better lay on the romance thick quick, or I'm going to get pissed.  I want Jess and Nick together so bad; if Jess (or Nick) isn't dating someone of equal or better character, I'm not having it.

When Don's Happy, No One Else Is

Mad Men, S05E01-02

Don and the rest of the gang from Sterling Cooper Draper Price are back for their fifth season!  Typically, this show is in my reserves because it's one of the few dramas that I like, but since it's fast approaching the summer break for most shows, I think I'll watch it as it comes out, for the most part.  I have to say that I have a bit of a crush on Jon Hamm, and the show's just full of great characters and stories.  Also, historically it's an interesting thing to watch, such as the technology differences and the way everyone smoked all the time (especially around children and while being pregnant).  At the center of this week's episode, Don's new wife, Meagan, threw Don a surprise party and performed for him as a present, but Don wasn't exactly ecstatic about it.  Another major issue was the "battle for power" between Roger and Pete.  These were just some of the many things that happened in this double-episode.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Pete continues to show signs that he will just never be satisfied until he is the "King of Advertising" or something like that.  While I realize that Roger is starting to look like a useless bag of bones around the office, Pete can't just stamp his foot and think that everyone will so easily boot him out.  I was glad that he ran into the wall and had blood coming out of his nose when he was whining about Roger appearing at his meeting with Mohawk Airlines.  I know they had to make Pete a junior partner in their firm, but he is so insufferable at the way he thinks that he should be on the same rank as the big dogs.  Sure, he brings the money and all, but let's be real--if Pete was in a business by himself with just his name, no one would give a damn, and no one would want to do business when him.  He needs to calm the hell down.  He has a loving wife, a new baby, a new house, I think, and a job that most people his age would kill for.  Still he is out for Roger's blood.

It's sad that Pete had to resort to sending Roger off on a fake meeting with Coca-Cola just to get back at him for showing up at the Mohawk meeting.  But I think that wasn't as bad as Pete bringing in all of the partners so he could demand that he be given Roger's office on the grounds that he was basically more important than Roger.  Even if that were so, I just don't like the way he did it.  It just looked like a child crying over having the smaller half of the cookie.  Later, when Roger tries to pacify him (or annoy him?  I'm not sure what Roger was playing at) by getting Crane to switch offices with him, Pete just isn't satisfied.  No, he won't be happy until he's in a position where he can walk the halls of their office like Roger, and Pete is the one giving orders that few can refuse.  Seriously.  When is he going to shut up and be thankful??

Onto something a little less infuriating.  I loved how lovey-dovey Don was being with Meagan.  I was worried that things wouldn't be going so well between them when the season started again, but they really looked like they were in love.  Meagan even sang that wonderful song in French for him, which is more than Betty would even dream of doing for him when they used to be in love.  I did think her dancing was a little too much for all the company they had (I can't blame Crane for saying those disgusting things about her at the office later), but I think Don should have tried to be less of an ass about it.

I like that Meagan seems so different from Betty, in the sense that she's not determined to have Don control everything in their marriage like he used to (for example, "forbidding" a birthday party for him).  My favorite thing about her so far is that she can see how the people at SCDP are so cynical and unpleasant.  I can't believe she is the first person to say, "What is wrong with you people??"  Almost everyone in that building, especially the guys, that question applies to them.

However, I wondered what was wrong with Meagan (and Don) when they were having a fight back at home about the party the next day.  She was cleaning up in her underwear.  Her excuse that she didn't want to get sweaty seemed flimsy.  I don't know if she was intentionally trying to turn Don on or punish him for him being so inflexible, but they were soon having makeup sex on the floor.  So ridiculous.  Who pretends to clean in their underwear??  If she wanedt to get her point across, surely she could have come up with something better.  Geez.

Peggy, like Pete, was her usual self, wanting to be more important than she already was, but wanting others (Don) to use their power to make things work better for her.  True, if Don had used some of his Draper magic to convince Hines to like their bean ballet idea, she would have had less work to do and felt accomplished, but this was new Draper.  As Peggy put it he was "kind and patient," and she didn't like it.  So she'd rather have the Don who would have chewed her head off for having such a crappy idea (the idea wasn't bad--their client was just stuck in his ways about how beans should be viewed)?  I can't believe she couldn't get past her own jealousy about Meagan (of course, Peggy doesn't like any woman at the office who can achieve things easier than she) and be glad Don was happy.  He hasn't been happy in a long time.  Probably the happiest he was when he was married to Anna.  I don't know if he was ever really happy with Betty for a significant amount of time.  Peggy, again comparing her to Pete, needs to lighten up and realize how good she has things and stop trying to bring others down.  Sure it would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth if the boss's wife was getting privileges that you had to work your ass off for, but at least Meagan is working and recognizes that Peggy is her boss.  Just swallow your pride, Peggy.

I felt bad for Joan because while she seems to love her son, she desperately wants to go back to work.  I don't care what those other girls say in the office--she looks great.  Perhaps when she was first seen in the episode with her hair disheveled and in a bathrobe, she wasn't her typical self, but when she came to the office for a visit, all those other girls could suck it--they don't have half the beauty she has.  I'm glad that the fake ad (I definitely missed why they made it) she saw in the newspaper wasn't a call to replace her ,and Don and Lane (particularly him) seem to be counting down the days until she comes back to SCDP.  I am, too.  Joan, among many talents around the office, keeps those stupid girls there in check.  She also tends to ground Peggy when she starts get self-important.  Without Joan there I don't want Peggy to be the only  figure of female power around.

With all the drama that happens, I'm glad we have a little comedy relief with Lane.  I really like him, the more he appears in episodes.  He was so sweet in the way he comforted Joan and let her know that none of those dumb girls could hold a candle to her, but he was also hilarious in the way that he re-enacted Meagan's dancing and his little awkward conversation with Alex's mistress.  The latter was so funny to me.  It was like he was calling one of those sex phone lines for the first time, the way he was acting.  I had forgotten that he had some tension with his wife, but it seems that he may soon be cheating on her in the future (he's gotta join the club with the rest of the partners).  But as funny as he is, it's a bit creepy that he would keep a picture of a woman he hardly knows that he got from a stranger's wallet.  Hope that Alex guy doesn't return in another episode to beat the hell out of Lane.

Lane was also pretty funny when he had to tell the male black applicants that came to their office they were "free to go."  Of all of the partners, they had to get him to speak on their behalf.  Hilarious.  I'm pretty excited, though, that through their gag ad, they were pretty much forced into hiring their first African-American employee (one who wasn't operating the elevators).  Yay!  You can't blame them for not having someone sooner (because that was the times, sadly), but as a black woman myself, I'd like to see someone like me in the show since Betty fired her housekeeper and all (damn Betty).

Speaking of Betty, she didn't appear at all in this episode, so I wonder how things are going with her.  When Don dropped off the kids, it looked like he left them at some apartment building, but I wasn't sure.  Perhaps that means that she got divorced again?  I hate to be happy about that, but Betty had a chance at a new beginning, but instead she was just taking out all the angry she had from her previous marriage out on her new marriage.  As much as I want to know, I'm glad I didn't have to see Betty berating Sally for some petty thing again as she had become custom to do since last season.

One last thing I really liked was Crane saying those gross things about how he would gladly do Meagan if he had the chance, and she heard all the horrible things he said.  Later, he kept worrying about if Don had heard what he said about his wife.  He was so scared!  He even seemed to like having Pete's new office because it gave him a chance to hide from Meagan until the heat was off.  Good ol' Crane.  On a side note, does it look like he lost a little weight?  Maybe it's just my imagination because I haven't seen him in a while.

I'm pretty happy with the return of this show.  I can't wait to see what sort of things unravel and go wrong this season.  Although, I really hope that Don and Meagan will be the real deal (and he won't start cheating on her like Betty).  I can handle all the other random shit that might hit the fan, but I'd really like this season to be the end of his super-drama in his love life, at least.

I Think Nick Is More In Love Than Jess

New Girl, S01E17

Instead of Nick and Jess finally getting together, Jess was unexpectedly thrown into the arms of a parent of one of her students, who seemed like the biggest jerk at first.  As his generous nature and interest in Jess is made clear, Jess is able to look past her first impression of him and see a charming guy.  Nick, on the other hand, takes much less time to fall for the man, and it took little more than a sweater and a cellphone.  Winston also struggles to look smart while Schmidt shows that he thinks that Winston isn't as smart as he is.

Before I talk about how I laughed almost the entire time Jess and Nick both came to know Russel, I will say that I didn't care much for Winston's story.  I did realize that Schmidt is a know-it-all, talks way too much, and looks down on others.  I guess I have been so distracted by his OCD qualities and sexually unnerving banter to notice this earlier.  In the end, Winston learned that Shelby didn't care that Winston didn't know a bunch of random facts, but Schmidt didn't learn anything.  In fact, he continued to give his opinion about matters no one asked him about while Winston and Shelby were making out.  This may have been the first time I wanted him to shut up (usually the things out of his mouth are gold).

That story paled in comparison to the laugh fest I was treated to with Nick and Jess.  In the beginning, Nick was ridiculed in a cellphone store because his credit score was so low, he became a breathing, walking joke.  I love that that they brought the whole staff out to laugh at him about that.  Although Jess tries to comfort him by suggesting he use his inability to get a phone to add mystery to himself, his friends are not really that sympathetic to his credit problem.  Two of my favorite comments made about Nick's poverty was that he had a credit score of a "homeless ghost" and that he weighed more than his credit score. 

Jess' rocky start with Russel was due not only to her defending her teaching methods (mostly that of "dreamcess") against a parent who complained that his daughter needed tutoring and less creative time, but was also due to the fact that she was playing "Mr. Monogamy" and rambling on about just having had demonstrated the proper way to put on and remove a condom with a cucumber.  We would expect nothing less from Jess.  It reminds me a little of how bad she was at picking up guys at the bar.

Even though I think Jess was stupid to listen to the craziest poor man she knew (aka Nick) and go tell off Russel at his office, it was a good thing that she did.  On a side note, no one wanted to listen to Winston (aka the 3rd smartest guy in the loft) who suggested that she just make a simple apology to Russel to reduce the likelihood she would enrage him enough to withdrawal all his donations to her school.  If she hadn't gone to Russel's office, her car wouldn't have broken down in the street, and Russel wouldn't have been able to show up and offer her his car and an invitation to his cookout.

I had mixed feelings about Jess accepting Russel's help (although if my car was stuck in the middle of the street, I think I would readily take anyone's help) and his invitation.  I mean, they barely knew each other and the first time they met, he was pretty rude.  I would wonder if he had something under his sleeve.  Worse still, she accepted the invitation and brought Nick along.  Really?  Nick?  I was worried he would either make a huge jackass out of himself or piss off Russel without Jess having to do a thing.

Instead, Nick went from scoffing at all the luxury Russel lived in with classic lines such as:

This hallway is excessive.  It's braggy.

To becoming so enamored with Russel's desk that he felt like he could be a CEO or a president.  He also grabbed a wooden duck and felt like he understood hunting for the first time.  It was incredible how Nick went off the deep end (of amazement at a better lifestyle) in such a short while.  By the time Russel came into the room, Nick already had his sweater on and seemed pretty settled in (I think Jess could have easily left him there without him noticing for a day).  When Nick rambled on to explain himself to Russel, it was hilarious that he thought the sweater was for the chair (a chair sweater--how fancy do you think he is?).  I wonder if Russel would have been as nice to let him keep the sweater and give him a new phone if he didn't like Jess as much.  Still, that's a long way to go to date a girl.  I would take more time to figure out if Jess was on the level (she's on her own level, that's for sure) before I tried to win over her friends.

I felt embarrassed for Jess when she had the fiasco in the bathroom with the Japanese bidet, but it was also very familiar to me.  The control panel for the toilet was just like the many ones I saw while in Japan, so I enjoyed the reminder of my previous life.  I'm just glad that none of the toilets I ever used had an automated voice.  Also, what was Jess thinking pressing random buttons and sitting down on a toilet like that?  I would have ran out of there too, acting as stupid as she did.

 The best part of the end of this story was not that Russel asked Jess out properly, nor that she fell into the koi pond, but was that Nick, listening to Russel's instructions that he should only fold his new sweater, rushed to fish Jess out of the water, but never made it there in time because he was too busy folding his sweater as carefully as if it was his most prized possession (it probably for a man who has a credit score like he does).

I also liked that they showed a few clips of Nick playing "boss" or whatever kind of important person he could imagine.  It was like watching a little boy playing in his father's study or something.  Perhaps Nick really will take the things that Russel told him to heart and start to get a little of his life together.  It's like as the episodes go on, you get to see one more thing about Nick that makes you wonder how he gets by.

I'm not too in love with the idea of Jess dating Russel, but I'm curious to see if he can really impress her.  I know that money isn't going to make Jess swoon, but perhaps he can relate to her on some level that no one else has so far.  Or at least, we can enjoy Jess floundering around while she tries to have a normal meal with him (looking forward to that disaster).  If Russel can do any kind good for this show, I would love to see him have a good impression on Nick and challenge him to be the best man he can be.  Perhaps if Nick grows a little as a person, we might see him and Jess get together a little sooner than I'm waiting for.

Don't See Why Dwarves Don't Use The Axes To End It All

Once Upon A Time, S01E14

In the other world, dwarfs are born from eggs and live a loveless existence, knowing little of the world beyond the diamond mines.  But, hey, they get to spread joy to everyone else in the world with the fairy dust that is made from the diamonds--it all equals out, right?  Seriously, sometimes this show depresses me.  Of course, there are many things in reality that are far more depressing than little men forced to be miners for their entire lives, but I don't watch shows like this to think about the suffering in the world.  I'm just saying--those dwarfs in the fairy tale world get screwed over pretty well.  And who in the hell is making those eggs they come out of??  I suppose they can't have factories where the full-grown men are born; this is a magical place.  Eggs it is.  Still, when a human-like creature pops out of an egg and their kind is noted for lacking females, I can't easily go along with it.

OK, enough with that head-scratcher.  I think that Leroy and Astrid's romance was cute, but awfully fast-paced (as much as it can be for a nun and a drunk).  He fell for her so easily and was ready to give her the moon in a second.  Even for love-at-first-sight, he was a little too forthcoming.  Leroy told her all about his life's dream within a few minutes.  Then again, maybe that's something he does every time someone insinuates that his custodial profession isn't the most glamorous career.  This aside, they made an interesting couple with her being a klutzy dreamer and him being a scruffy scamp.  Luckily, they seemed to make a significant connection in the current world, even though there were some hiccups.

My favorite of such bumps along the road was when Leroy tried to save Astrid by selling his dream boat to Mr. Gold in exchange for money or to extend their rent payment date.  Mr. Gold reveals another level to his status of being a heartless old miser by refusing to deal with Leroy if his intention was to save the nuns.  Apparently they were a "distasteful" group that he has a "complicated" relationship with.  God, how I wanted to know more about that!  What made me love Mr. Gold even more at that moment was Leroy pointing out how surprised he was that when it came to getting his money, Mr. Gold had no special place in his heart for the Sisters:

You don't like nuns?  Who doesn't like nuns?

 It's good that I was thoroughly engaged in Leroy's story well enough that I hadn't been wondering when Mr. Gold was going to make his appearance, but I was glad when he did and have no complaints about the length he was around.  He was there long enough to kick down another person in need of money before he shuffled away with his cane.  Gotta love him.

 Another good that came out of Leroy and Astrid's "love affair," was that MM seemed to gain a little perspective about her own harlot-status while watching Leroy fight for a romance that could never be.  In fact, Leroy was great at not giving up, despite MM wanted to throw in the towel.  He even imparted upon her some wisdom about the value of creating good moments, despite they may be short-lived:

Isn't that what life's about?  Holding on to your good memories?

Indeed.  I think Leroy was just what the doctor ordered to kick MM in the ass and make her stop wallowing in self-pity.  And in the end, after they sold all the candles that seemed impossible to sell (really? everyone managed to buy off 1000 candles in one night??), some of the townspeople seemed to be warming up to MM again.  That was a nice moment that gave me those warm fuzzies I usually don't get when watching TV.

Possibly David is headed to jail for Kathryn's disappearance and the Mayor and Sidney are trying to set him up, but who gives a damn?  If MM was smart she'd keep out of it because he deserves whatever setup they are trying to pull.  But MM won't.  She'll believe in David, despite he acted like an ass.  And speaking of asses, I was so annoyed by the Mayor telling Emma to do her job or she'd find someone else to do it.  Bitch, shut up!  So tired of her trying to tell Emma how to do her job.  I was happy, though, she was barely in this episode and not preventing more love connections.

This was an unexpectedly fairly good episode about lesser characters.  However, maybe I'm a little more inclined to enjoy this story after I haven't seen much TV lately that I liked as a whole.  Either way, I think that Once Upon a Time has a good chance of fixing a spot in my primary shows if it indeed makes it to a second season.