Chris Runs To Herbert's

Family Guy, S11E13

Meg saw Chris steal money from their mom and began blackmailing him to do her bidding.  When Chris got sick of being treated like slave, he ran to Herbert's house to live.  Stewie also got hooked into Anne Murray's music and turned Brian to her music as well.

I wasn't sure what would become of Chris being at Meg's beck and call.  She didn't really do anything too shocking or twisted (save maybe wanting him to call girls and pretend to be their dead babies), but I knew that Chris couldn't possibly tolerate being her slave forever.  I thought he might just come clean to his parents, but he surprised me by running away to Herbert's house.

I was scared what might happen to Chris under that pervert's roof for a few days, but after trying to jump into Chris' bed the first night, he didn't seem to make any other big moves.  He might have been working up to that had Chris not driven him crazy with his slovenly ways.  Chris got kicked out at the right time because in a cabin relatively alone with Herbert miles away, Chris probably would have been in some real danger there.  The collection of tapes he had spying on kids was creepier than anything he really did to Chris, so I guess I was glad about that part.

Chris made a good point that he and Meg need to stick together, growing up in the house they do.  Lois and Peter didn't even notice that Chris was missing for a few days.  That's crazy.  Even if Meg was covering for him, the fact that they didn't physically see him for a while didn't bother them at all.  Great parents they are.

The funniest thing about this story, I guess, was when Chris had to put in Meg's contacts.  It was freaky how her pupils rolled back into her head, but Chris' reaction to that was entertaining.  He first compared her eyes to ping pong balls.  Finally, he said that she looked like some blind jazz man--I really liked that comparison.

Another interesting moment was when Peter and Lois were at a restaurant.  He made a call to someone named "Damone" and asked him to help him pay for their bill.  It was a clip from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, but I have never seen that movie, so I didn't get the reference.  The joke there might have worked for me had I seen it.

In Stewie's story, I liked that it commented on that fact that people listening to music can get very different impressions/meanings from the lyrics.  I think they did a good job about speaking to the fact that arguing about differing opinions is pointless.  There is no right or wrong.  Stewie and Brian thought they would settle their argument by getting the "true" interpretion from Anne Murray, but she had sung "Snowbird" in her own interpretation and hadn't written the song at all.  Somehow Stewie thought that made her a fraud and he felt like he had been deceived, which made him seem all the more ridiculous.  Regardless of who wrote it, the way it made him feel was the right answer for himself.

It was concerning that Stewie tied up Anne Murray and pointed a gun at her.  There was no resolution of that--they just ended it with him harassing her like that.  We can just add that to Stewie's list of messed up things.

I think what I liked best about this story was when Brian first got into Anne Murray's music and imagined when he was a puppy.  It was cute to see him frolicking with his siblings and nuzzling with his mother.  Sometimes I forget how sensitive Brian is because he's often so insensitive and narcissistic.

I liked this episode because Meg and Chris were able to have a pretty sweet ending.  Meg started off treating Chris horribly, but in the end she showed that she appreciated him, and they bonded.  Stewie's story wasn't so sweet, but it at least it brought up an interesting topic.  It really made me think about how there's just no wrong way to feel about music.

Always Carry A Gun In The Hallway

American Dad, S08E05

Stan pretended to put Snot into witness protection so that he could keep Steve and Snot apart.  After spending time alone with Snot, Stan bonded with Snot and fought Steve for Snot's friendship.  Roger kept attacking Jeff in the hallway after Jeff cleaned his room for him.

I usually don't care for Snot, but in this episode he was just such a nice guy about the cruel things Stan was doing to him to keep Steve away that I sort of grew to like him.  I mean, Stan is such a hard person to reach on an emotional level and Snot was able to break through Stan's wall and befriend him.  You just have to love someone who could make Stan cut loose and stop being so callous.  All the things that Stan didn't like that Steve was doing with Snot became the same things that Stan enjoyed.  It's not surprising to see Stan contradict himself, nor try to compete with someone else.  It was just kinda funny to see him competing with Steve for Snot.  Although, if you think about it, it might have been crazier if they were fighting over Barry or something.  At least in this story Snot seemed worthy fighting for.

I can't say that the Roger story was better than the Stan story, but it definitely grabbed my attention more.  Um, Roger is such a psycho!  Usually, he has some kind of selfish reason for screwing someone over, but I don't think he had much reason to attack Jeff beyond wanting to just terrorize him.  At first it seemed like maybe he was doing it just to get back his money so he could get free cleaning services from Jeff, but it went beyond that.  I guess what was the funniest about this sick scenario was that Jeff had no idea that Roger was the same person attacking him, due to that weirdness where some of Roger's personas can't be detected by family members (although I don't know if Jeff even knows that Roger is an alien).  Roger kept attacking Jeff in ways that were impossible for him to pull off because he was basically in two places at the same time.  It made me feel worse for Jeff because he had no chance to escape Roger when Roger could defy the laws of physics.

Another funny point was how the hallway back to Jeff's room kept looking more and more like a creepy alleyway or just the outside of some ghetto apartments or something.  It was all dark and overly long, and at one point I could hear a baby crying.  I liked that ridiculous element of it because you started to forget that Jeff was just walking around in the house, probably not that far away from the attic in the first place.

Roger made the mugging more twisted when he decided to pull down Jeff's pants after assaulting him.  Luckily, Roger said that he didn't have time for it and walked away, but it was very unnerving!  Roger is the best at contradicting the statement that things couldn't get worse.  Even though it's sick that he was trying to violate Jeff, it was funny before Roger's last mugging attempt that he said to himself:

I’m gonna rape him this time.

I just don't get Roger.   With all of his talents (he seems to be able to fake a thousand different professions) and disguises, he could have his choice of real jobs and function outside of the Smith house as a normal person.  But instead, he spends a lot of time at home messing with people.  I mean, it was wonderful that Jeff had a gun to shoot Roger because he seriously was going to rape him.  And for probably no reason more than that he could get a kick out of knowing that Jeff wouldn't know it was him.   But despite all of Roger's flaws, he does spice up an episode with his horrible actions.  And you can't really know what he's going to do in the future because he's some kind of crazy, awful person (err...alien).

This was a good episode to make you appreciate Snot as a character more and possibly it was good to remind you that Stan is pretty pathetic in the friend department.  Roger, as usual, is so insane to the point you can't figure out why he's doing unspeakable things to friends and family.  However, if he didn't do all these shocking things, the show would be pretty dull.  I just really hope I don't have to see him top himself with something worse before the season ends.

Distraction Waffles

Parks and Recreation, S05E07

Leslie and April fought over using lot 48 for a dog park and ultimately had to stop Jamm from using it for a burger place.  Andy tried to investigate the disappearance of his computer and learned that police work might not be as exciting as he was imagining.  Ben went back to his old accounting job and tried to help Tom with his new business, but kept getting job offers.

I really liked that April sort of took the role of Leslie and Leslie had to slip into Ron mode a bit when the two were butting heads with each other.  My favorite part was when Leslie went to Ron for help:

[Leslie] Ron, thank you for agreeing to see me.

[Ron] I didn't.  You just walked in here and started talking--

[Leslie] I don't have time for a history lesson.

Ron continued to be hilarious when he explained how he got Leslie to cool her jets when she would be overly excited about a project.  He brilliantly used waffles as his best tool of distraction:

[Leslie] Those were distraction waffles?  I thought they were friendship waffles.

[Ron] Breakfast food can serve many purposes.

 I don't know how one man can be so wise and hilarious, but Ron Swanson does it.  I would love to get advice from him, especially if he could work the subject of breakfast into it.

Besides Ron being brilliant, as usual, there was a touching moment in this story when Ann got Leslie and April to make up.  Leslie grabbed April's hands and they both said they loved each other and it was just so damn sweet!   Particularly because April was being sort of shy about gushing with emotion like Leslie can do at the drop of a hat.  Leslie really is like more of a mother to her than her own mother and I love that they have that kind of relationship.  But I can't say that I didn't also laugh at them battling each other because they're both strong, opinionated women who don't back down easily, so watching them fight was pretty entertaining.

Also, Jamm is such an ass.  But he made the mistake of making not just an enemy of Leslie, but also of April and Ann.  He may have a lame catchphrase, but I don't think he's prepared to take all 3 of them on (which sort of reminds me when April suggested they all do a 3-way with him--what??).  They better take that jackass down.

I loved that Ben and Tom are set up to work together again.  It was cute that Tom was being jealous of Ben getting offered job after job.  And how funny was it that there was this pigeon next to Tom after he was feeling down about being rejected left and right while everyone seemed to want Ben to work for them?  It was like that bird was his only friend.  Haha.  But even though Tom felt bad about Ben's high demand, their little business trip made Ben see that being an accountant was a waste of his talents and life.  He might be worried about the job security thing and all, but I'm sure he'll one day thank Tom for leading him on a much more interesting career path.

Andy was pretty cute, too, while trying to figure out who took his computer.  What I liked best was when Chris got involved.  I love that everyone seems to be pointing out how good Chris looks, but Andy stating it so naturally really makes me laugh:

Don't play stupid and handsome with me.

Followed by a little later:

You're as guilty as you are sexy.

It was nice to see Chris in this story end up pumping someone else up instead of the other way around like it has been lately.   He not only suggested that they investigate who stole the gruff policeman's positive attitude (loved that), but offered Andy the job as city hall security to give him a taste of being a cop before he took the test.  I sense a little bit of a disaster with that as Andy is prone to an overactive imagination, but I love that Chris believes in him and is willing to take the risk.

Finally, Ben is just the best fiance ever.  I mean, first of all he wanted to go back to his boring accounting job so he could ensure he had money to pay for a wedding and a future with Leslie.  Second, he gave her the best engagement gift by letting her meet Vice President Biden.  Leslie was acting like such a dorky fan.  She even was feeling all up on his face and threatening secret service!  Wow.  I bet she would have put Biden into her purse and kidnapped him if Ben had left her there long enough.

The more I watch this show, the more I can't imagine it not filling my Thursday nights with happiness!  Like this show has so many characters I heart who are always making me laugh in unexpected ways.  I have to say that once Ron Swanson is no longer on the air it would take more than distraction waffles to help me cope.  Haha.  I guess next time I'm most looking forward to what Ben and Tom will accomplish together.  Last time they did business it was just too funny.  Even though Tom is a little smarter this time, I still anticipate that Ben and Tom are going to mix up some great comedy again.

Lord Of The Coins

Grimm, S01E13

A theft at a jewelry leaves another dead body for Hank and Nick to investigate.  What makes this story more interesting than most is that we learn a little about Nick's unknown past (did he ever mention his parents were in a car crash?), and we get to see another side of Captain Renard, though not the kind that reveals any of the questions I have.  The whole quest to get the coins that bring you power and whatnot just reminded me of Lord of the Rings.  When Hank was trying so hard to keep them, I just was waiting for him to come out with "My precious..."

Anyway, Nick found out that his parents were mostly likely killed by a creature named Soledad.  He not only made Nick an orphan 18 years ago, but also ruined the relationship between another eagle-like creature named Farley and Marie.  Huh, so Grimm sometimes date the creatures?  I know not all of them are bad, but it seems kind of backwards.  Then again, Monroe is like Nick's best friend (if his friend was like his assistant against his will).  I found that this information could have been more intriguing but for some reason it wasn't.  I guess because we only got to hear it from Farley's side, and he's not the best storyteller around.  We can't, of course, have Marie give her side now that she is dead, but I wish there was something to add to that background story.  Juliette, instead of Nick, confirms that Farley was indeed living in Rhinebeck around the time his parents were killed.  I didn't know his girlfriend was such a sleuth.  I just think it's odd she is able to get that information so easily.

Nick also gets a good bit of information about the Soledad's kind after he enlists Monroe to translate some journals in German for him.  That's none too surprising, but again I just feel bad that Nick uses him so unashamedly.  The second Monroe finds something that interests him (antique cameras and such), Nick pretty much kicks him out.  The reason I even mention this typical Monroe abuse moment by Nick is because Monroe had a pretty funny line about Soledad-type creatures:

They ate a baby.  That's rude.

Sick as that is, his definition of "rude" cracked me up.  I could have used a little more Monroe comedy this time to offset all of the "drama."  It's not that it was too intense for me, but it would have helped me keep engaged with the story better.

What I liked most of all was Captain Renard becoming possessed by those coins.  I knew he would already know what those coins would do, but I didn't think that he would be able to be taken in by their power.  I guess not even reapers are impervious them.  Hank sure wasn't.  I liked how ambitious he became and how good he looked in his police uniform.  And  that guy has a pretty nice body!  We got a good look at it when he was absentmindedly rubbing the coins between his fingers in his room.  I'll admit that scene was a little creepy, but getting to check out his great abs distracted me from that fact pretty well.

Luckily for him, Farley took the coins away from him before he went mad with power.  I have to hand it to Nick that he was able to get into Farley's room before the creature could escape with them, though.  I don't have much confidence in Nick's skills as a detective, but he has his moments.  I guess eagle creatures aren't much of fighters because Nick smacked him down once and took the coins.  If anyone has been watching this show, Nick can't fight for crap, so if Farley had fought a little harder, he would have probably won.  The stupid thing is that Nick took them back to Marie's trailer of Grimm goods and hid them.  I just know that someone is going to find that place and get those coins or some horrible weapon from there.  That is not a secure place!

The last thing I want to mention is that Nick watched a film that showed Hitler was a creature.  What the hell??  When I saw that I was like "Really, Grimm writers?"  There's something stupid about that, and I'm not sure what.  I guess it shouldn't be surprising that historical figures could be creatures in the Grimm universe, but I feel like it was an unnecessary reveal.  They ended the episode like that as if it would make you gasp.  I would have rather they did something with Renard at the end instead of that.  Or something that would reveal more about Nick's past.  I would have rather that Farley mentioned it in his story than the way it came out as if the viewers were wondering about Hitler's humanity.  Thanks for answering a question no one asked.

This week's episode didn't deal with Juliette and Nick's relationship, which is a shame.  And there was nothing else about why Renard pretty much knows about everything going on in the creature world.  I loved him speaking French, by the way.  It would be nice to know what it is that makes him multilingual and with whom he was speaking in Paris.  I feel like with this show I keep shouting for answers, but get almost nothing in return.  Seriously, Grimm--it's time to give us more than what we see.  You're not so thrilling of a show that I won't drop you.