Friday, July 15, 2011

Ben is Back; Joe Speaks Japanese; A Wrinkle-Chaser...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Recaps & [Commentaries] for "scripted" shows this week include: Falling Skies, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Switched at Birth, Melissa & Joey, State of Georgia, Hot in Cleveland, Happily Divorced, and Futurama. Please note: spoilers abound, so don't jump down if you don't want to know what happens!



Sunday:
Falling Skies
"Silent Kill" (S01E05): 
We open in the dark with
some of the teen fighters coming back with a bunch of drugs. Glass tells Tom that Ben could die with the harness-removal operation. [we already know this. but I guess it needs to be reiterated.] Tom tells Weaver about his strategy to get Ben and the other kids. Weaver points out some flaws in the plan, then Hal suggests another tactic. Weaver says they can go. Glass is still giving the skitter (captured alien) water, which Harris doesn't like. Tom and Hal are practicing with crossbows, Margaret comes and gives advice, plus suggests another strategy to break into the hospital. The skitter freaks out and they end up killing it. Hal wants to use a fake harness to sneak into the area with the real harnessed kids. Tom tries to talk him out of it, but Weaver supports the idea, and Tom points out that until they figure out how to kill it silently, no decision needs to be made. But then Glass tells Hal and Tom about the soft palette, and she tries to take on the skitter alone. Glass gets the chutzpah to do it from thinking about her family - she doesn't even have any pictures of them. [aww. that's sad.] Hal goes in with the harness as a skitter watches closely. The skitter even touches Hal's head like he does to the other kids. 20 minutes after he goes in, Tom goes looking for him, even though he's supposed to wait for a signal. Margaret offers an alternate route. [she is sure coming in handy!] Hal pulls a knife, Tom shoots an arrow, and they take down the skitter. They start to round up the kids as Margaret stands watch. They get all of the kids back and start to prep for the surgeries, planning to do them one after another. They're having some issues with the kids' blood pressures/pulses/breathing - they're guessing withdrawal. One child dies shortly after his harness is removed, but five are saved. [not bad if you ask me, but you always see doctors sad when they lose patients.] Maggie tells Hal that she had cancer when she was sixteen. Tom tells Hal that he's proud of him. There's a baby shower. Hal, Matt, and Tom care for Ben as Weaver looks on. We end with Ben waking and recognizing Tom. [yay. but who knows what will happen next week!] 

Monday:

The Secret Life of the American Teenager
"Hole in the Wall" (S04E05): Opens with Ricky waking up to John missing from his bedside. He rushes around and finds him in bed with Amy in the other room. Ricky wants to move John's stuff into the bedroom and his and Amy's stuff into the living room. He also complains that John has too many things. Ricky says he ignored a call from Adrian the night before, which puts Amy in a bad mood. [this ongoing friends/feud between Amy and Adrian is getting on my nerves.] Adrian is out for a power walk, then talks with Ben, telling him that she's ready to get her life together. [I liked seeing the nursery... very pink, tho!] Amy and Grace think that it's weird that Adrian wants to go to cosmetology school. Adrian calls Amy and tells her that she called Ricky, but doesn't say what it was about. She also asks Amy and Grace to help her get rid of the stuff in the nursery ASAP. Nora is acting as Leo's assistant now, since he apparently scares off others. Ben calls Leo but Leo doesn't want to talk to him... until Ben tries to cancel dinner, when Leo jumps in and says that they're having dinner that night. Katelyn goes to talk to Ben, but he claims that it's none of her business. She reveals to him that she lost a baby two years ago from SIDS... and her husband left her 18 months later. [sad story. but I like how they're bringing up causes of infant death.] She was inconsolable, depressed. Her husband drank. Amy wants to know why Adrian called Ricky. Ben is talking to Nora on the phone, trying to get out of going to dinner with Leo... but Nora won't cover for him. Amy asks George for a sleeper sofa, and after she lays on some shaky voice, he agrees. George and Robbie are visiting Mimsy, who is more out of it than ever. Daniel and Grace are taking stuff out of the nursery. Adrian tells Grace that she and Ben are going to have another baby - but she hasn't talked to Ben about it yet. [and this is one of the many reasons that Adrian perpetually pisses me off.] Ricky tells Ben that Adrian is cleaning out the nursery, and he rushes home to see the empty room. He yells at her for not thinking of him. Ben then tells her that all of the pain they have was caused by her, and that he regrets cheating on Amy with her. [dang. Ben told her!] Adrian punches a hole in the wall. Ricky is upset that he and Amy got a couch without his knowledge. He's also upset that they didn't pay for it themselves. When donating the nursery stuff, Amy had pulled the stuffed bear that Ben wanted, so she gave it to him when he came to look for it. He tells her that he really loved her. [Poor kids. They could've been so much happier if they just said "no" to sex.] George and Anne have dinner, and mention that they need to move Mimsy to a better care area for Alzheimer's patients. [George standing as Anne left the dinner table was a little strange.] Ricky calls George and asks him not to give them anything else. George tells Ricky that Amy won't be happy until they're married. [I feel like we're starting to beat a dead horse here...] Anne asks George to stay over until Mimsy is settled, and he hints around that he wants to be with Anne. Ben is drinking a six-pack on a park bench. Daniel wants Grace to tell Kathleen that he's in college and has his own apartment. [this will be interesting!] Daniel tells Grace that he doesn't want babies for a long time, so he wants her on the pill and they'll use condoms. That's fine with her, as she's already prepared. Daniel isn't sure Grace feels more than friendship for him. [can't blame him. she really likes sex.] Jack comes home and tells Grace that he broke up with Madison because he's still in love with her. [whoa. why aren't we seeing Madison's side??] Leo is eating alone when Ben comes staggering into the restaurant, drunk and carrying his bear, then he passes out. Amy tells Ricky that she is always going to need her parents, and he's upset that she's always running home whenever they have an argument. Ricky listens to the message from Adrian after all, and he saves it - she still thinks about him. Adrian punched tons of holes in the walls of the nursery, and sits listening to music with her hands wrapped up as the credits roll. 

Switched at Birth
"The Persistence of Memory" (S01E06):  Bay is looking at the photo of Regina pregnant with her, which she has now scanned onto her computer. She zooms in and realizes that there's a parking pass sticker on the windshield. Daphne made dinner for the family. It's a Greek lasagna with tofu instead of lamb. Kathryn suggests Daphne take a cooking class at Buckner. Daphne asks Bay if it's okay, and she agrees that an hour a day at school is fine. [I'm really happy to see this is going well.] Toby begs Bay for $200. He even grabs her arm to get her to agree. Daphne is panicking about the class, and Regina tells her that she's going to have an interpreter. Daphne feels an interpreter is like a stalker. [interesting analogy. I can see that.] And apparently she doesn't have to wear the uniforms like the other kids. [I suppose this will be addressed in a future episode.] Toby owes Wilke $10k and he only gives him $4k. He's already sold all of his amps plus his mountain bike. Wilke is in the hole to someone else [I'm guessing a loanshark from what he was saying!] and needs the money very quickly. The hospital has offered to settle the issue, though they're offering less than a quarter of what John asked for. John's golf buddy brings up the fact that the hospital can't afford what John's asking. In cooking class, Daphne struggles to understand the teacher when she talks with her back to the class. [again, I appreciate how they show demonstrates the world of deaf people.] Additionally, she is struggling to be understood when she asks a question. Bay runs into Emmett and they show one another some artwork. Emmett knows how to enlarge and sharpen images, so Bay asks him to help figure out the parking sticker. Wilke is Daphne's lab partner in cooking class. Daphne can't hear the timer on the french fries, and they start smoking, starting the fire alarm. Daphne now has to have an interpreter for liability reasons. The principal suggests a cochlear implant, which Kathryn further encourages. [I don't feel it was appropriate for the principal to say anything.]  Meanwhile, Bay gets the address of where her dad's car is from Emmett, who used the license plate. She gets on his motorcycle with him. Wilke stands up for Daphne when some girls in the cooking class sneer her way. One girl says "this is what happens when special needs charity cases are forced on the rest of us" which makes Daphne uncomfortable. [I'm having some difficulty following the timeline... Bay and Emmett arrive at a junkyard on what I thought was a different day... it's a new cooking class!] Bay and Emmett find the car in the junkyard and Bay searches it for clues, but finds nothing. Back at Buckner, Daphne almost walks out in front of a car. She goes home and asks Regina why she doesn't have a cochlear implant. Regina says that she "learned better" after meeting Emmett and his mom. [I figure we'll find out more about this pretty soon, too.] Daphne says that she can't bring her "deaf stuff" everywhere she goes, like bringing her own timer with lights to class. Regina is a bit upset that Kathryn brought up the idea of a cochlear. Back at the junkyard, Emmett does signs and charades for Bay to let her know that when he and Daphne were younger, they found a guitar case that may be in his mom's garage now, as Regina stores some stuff there. They plan to investigate the boxes the next day. Toby is planning to break into the school at night to steal some tests... apparently Wilke sells them for $1,000 each. [dang. $20 could get you a test at a poor public school ten years ago, LoL!] Kathryn asks Regina how she could possibly not have gotten the cochlear for Daphne, and Regina says that Kathryn isn't trying hard enough to communicate with Daphne. Regina tells Kathryn to learn to sign. [which she totally should be doing!] Daphne is surprised that Bay hadn't heard about her mishaps at Buckner. As a kid in a hearing school, Daphne used to eat lunch alone and never received birthday party invitations or valentines. [:(] Other girls calls her retarded. [:( :(] Emmett came to her rescue when she was eight. [I'm a bit confused... if Daphne didn't meet Emmett until she was eight, but was deaf much earlier, how hard was Regina thinking about the cochlear? she brushes it off by saying Emmett's mom taught her "better," but she had YEARS to decide before ever meeting her!] She had not seen sign language up to that point. [what?? had a doctor NEVER suggested to Regina that she sign with Daphne?? Had Regina done NOTHING to help Daphne succeed as a young kid? I don't get it...] Daphne is considering not continuing with her cooking classes, but Bay tells her that she hopes Daphne stays. Toby goes to his dad and tells him that he has a problem. John guesses poker and money right after girls. [LoL.] John tells Toby that he can't keep bailing him out. He gets out his checkbook, but after he starts to get upset at $3,000 (he keeps trying to guess how much Toby needs, increasing a little at a time), Toby tells him that he needs to learn to take care of it himself. Kathryn is worried about the hospital firing good doctors because of the money they're asking for. [this is a good, legitimate point.] John says that he just wants an apology, aka admission of guilt. John says they'll probably take the settlement because he doesn't want to bankrupt the hospital, either. Bay goes to Emmett's and they search the garage. They find a briefcase with Daphne's birth certificate, which gives the name of her father. She also finds a mix tape which she takes home to play. [this sounds like a bad idea... Regina's eventually going to hear it...] Toby breaks into the school, though he was having serious doubts. [a school like this doesn't have security cameras everywhere?!?] He finds a Chemistry exam. The next day, Daphne is at cooking class and apologizes to her teacher. She also tells the interpreter to hold back unless something's burning or if she asks for assistance. [awesome. I love that she's taking charge.] The hospital withdrew their settlement offer, now wanting to go to trial. Wilke talks to Toby, telling him to play dumb if anything should come up with a specific teacher later that day. Kathryn goes to Regina and signs "You're right. I want to learn," which leaves Regina speechless. Regina thanks her deeply and helps her with the sign for "thank you." [love it!] Meanwhile, Bay is searching for her father online, and finds 45 Angelo Sorrentos in the country, including 3 in Missouri. [and now we're having continuity issues. Different places online I've read Kansas City, Kansas AND Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are in MO, so the show would most likely be set there. But for some reason various online sites are stating KS...] At the last moment, we see Regina has the guitar case in her closet. The end credits are different, showing scenes from the episode. [cool.]  

Wednesday:
Melissa & Joey "Lost in Translation" (S01E15):  Mel is making breakfast and offers Joe some, who immediately assumes that she needs something from him. [haha!] Turns out, she needs to learn Japanese. She only wants to learn a few phrases to show that she's made an effort. [not thrilling, but fits the character.] Joe teaches Mel "hello," "goodbye," "pleased to meet you," and "did you have a pleasant flight?" She later learns "where is the bathroom?" Lennox has a Civil War project to work on with a partner, who has a crush on the same boy as Lennox. [haha on Mel making fun of the name Braydon - one of her sons has that name!] Turns out, the son of the businessman went to dinner with Mel, and he doesn't have a translator, so Mel calls to beg Joe to get over there. Mel mimes as she speaks to Toshi, waiting for Joe. [I actually had to pause the episode after hearing Mel guess that the guy she was supposed to meet either "ate some bad shark" or "was eaten by a shark" ... I was laughing SO HARD! I also enjoyed "talk talk glug glug."] Lennox's partner comes to the house to work on the project, but Lennox doesn't want to talk to her, so she has Ryder be an intermediary. [strange teen drama!] Back at the restaurant, the flirting gets kicked up a notch, but Joe doesn't want it to go that way so he mis-interprets on both sides. The next day, Toshi sends Mel roses, and the card mentions that he's sorry she had diarrhea the night before... so Mel goes to confront Joe about what he said to Toshi. [haha!] There's going to be another dinner meeting, and Mel doesn't want Joe to be there. Lennox and her friend make up, since the boy broke up with the girl by text message. Mel shows up at Toshi's hotel room, and they try talking to one another in their own native languages. A translator shows up, but she's really an escort/prostitute of sorts. Mel goes home and tells Joe that he was right - Toshi was sleazy. Turns out, Toshi's dad had parasites and is going to make it to Toledo soon for an actual meeting. [strange episode overall. I want more emphasis on Ryder!]

State of Georgia "Best Friends For-Never" (S01E03):  Jo and Georgia use the same strand of dental floss at the same time. [whoa, strange!] Jo wants to meet for lunch at a food truck, but Georgia has an improv class. Georgia suggests afternoon coffee, but Jo has a project. They also can't make dinner together. They use a curling iron to heat a bagel. [yep, I'm staring at them blankly!] Aunt Honey tells Georgia about her best friend from years ago, and that they grew apart. Georgia and Jo try to meet to see a movie, but they're at different theaters. Georgia complains that Jo has a life and friends that she doesn't share. At Jo's physics group, Georgia shows up to see what it's about, and quickly offends most of the other students. Georgia rubs up against a whiteboard accidentally and erases part of a formula before she finally leaves. [how do you not feel you're rubbing up against a board??] In Georgia's improv class, Jo shows up to learn about her world. Things go amiss there, too. Back at the condo, Georgia tells Jo that she called Patrice (Aunt Honey's long ago BFF) and said she's a bride-to-be... Patrice is a wedding planner in NJ. [sneaky. I don't figure this could possibly end well...] Georgia greets Patrice at the door, and immediately tells her that she's there for a big surprise. Jo brings Aunt Honey into the room and the two older women begin insulting one another. [heh.] Then, Aunt Honey tells Georgia that the court ordered them apart, as Patrice stole Honey's man and Honey drove Patrice's car off a cliff! Patrice leaves, and Honey says that the problem was that they had too much in common, which reassures Jo and Georgia. [I still liked the pilot the best...] 


Hot in Cleveland
 
"Love Thy Neighbor" (S02E15):  Joy is looking to have a baby. [where'd this come from?? but I like the appearance of Mindy Cohn!] Joy looks at a few profiles at a sperm bank, and wants to see a specific file that has produced great results, like "an American Idol contestant." It turns out to be Rick, who has retired from donating. Victoria wants to be the lead in a production of Driving Miss Daisy in Cleveland, but she's apparently not convincing enough as an older woman, so Elka gives her some "old lady" pointers. Joy asks Rick to come out of retirement to give her a baby. Rick tells Joy that he likes Melanie. Melanie tells Elka that she thinks Joy may be on drugs, going off of the symptoms in the pamphlet that Rick gave out. [haha. Melanie is too funny sometimes!] Victoria is ready to "workshop" her character in the community. Joy comes home and continues to act a bit strange, so Melanie asks Rick over to talk about Joy's condition, and then asks him to take her to where "it all goes down." Elka and Victoria are at the bar, and Victoria spots the director and goes to chat with him. In the stakeout van, Rick is putting the moves on Melanie. [LoL!] Joy shows up and yells at Rick, who claims that he was trying to keep Melanie in the dark about their "relationship." At the bar, the director wants Victoria to audition, but he also hits on her. Elka mentions that he's a "wrinkle-chaser." [haha! new term for me!] Joy and Melanie tell each other that they'll help the other to stay away from Rick. Victoria (still in costume) auditions for the director at the house, and he's impressed. He then tells her that "Victoria Chase" wanted to try out, and he insults soap opera actors. Victoria asks him to leave, and reveals herself as she slams the door on him. [eh. could've been better in my opinion.] Joy tells Victoria about her sex with Rick, who shows up moments later with a "Carnegie Hall... practice, practice, practice" joke. [loved it. perhaps because I heard it often as an adolescent.] He rubs Victoria's shoulders a bit, and the episode ends with a mini version of Rick coming to grab a misdirected soccer ball. [strange. and not the greatest episode.]  

Happily Divorced "Spousal Support" (S01E05): Peter is going to have a big commission coming, which will mean he'll be able to move out shortly. Cesar is upset, and they're joking with him as if he was their child. [LoL.] They start talking about what furniture Peter will take, but Fran fights for the couch, the tv, the living room chairs... and it seems everything else. Peter mentions he might move to NY and Fran kinda freaks out. Fran believes that there's even a possibility that the new client might have a crush on Peter. Peter and the client go to the opera, and Fran sneaks in to sit behind them. [loved the "car being towed" excuse.] The guy "makes a move" on Peter, and Fran tells him off. Turns out, the next day's paper shows the guy got engaged and bought a large estate. Peter defends the night before by saying that the guy just slipped - he wasn't making a move. After talking to her parents, Fran thinks that maybe she should join a support group. She joins "When Your Spouse Comes Out" and the leader immediately makes a joke about her voice. [haha.] Looks like Fran hasn't grieved her loss, and she intentionally ruined Peter's sale. Fran brings Peter to the next meeting of her group. Peter begins talking about his pain, and we see how alike Peter and Fran are. [didn't care too much for this one.] 

Thursday:
Futurama "The Silence of the Clamps" (S06E18): The next delivery is to Earth, to the Don Bot, a gangster. Leela, Bender, and Fry arrive while the Don's daughter is getting married. Bender sees an open bar and wants to sneak in. He does, and has trouble remembering who he has previously been with. [haha, figures.] "Clamps" beats up Calculon. Leela tells Bender that he needs to go to the police since he witnessed the beating. He wants to take the secret to the grave until he hears that there's a $50 reward. [typical.] He tells the police, who say he'll need to testify in court. He appears as "Mr. X," but its obvious who he is. The jury is about the find the Don Bot guilty, but Calculon comes in (under instruction from another crook), saying that the wounds were self-inflicted. Bender needs to go into hiding. Hermes hires Francis, who can clamp/crimp/snip (aka, he's Clamps). Fry befriends him. The Professor sends Francis/Clamps on a delivery to the moon. Fry spots a Bender lookalike there, and the crew goes to see him. But "Bender" keeps to his new character. [I liked "the moon shall rise again" hat! "Jethrovian" also made me snicker.] Turns out, "Bender" doesn't remember his old identity, as his hard drive has been cleared. When the crew leaves the moon, Francis/Clamps stays behind to take out "Bender." Zoidberg interrupts and the two start fighting, with Zoidberg eventually snipping off Francis' clamps. "Bender" ends up getting shot as the Don shows up. The crew goes for pizza and they find the REAL Bender working there. Since the mafia thinks he's dead, Bender can return to his old life. [too "it all works out in the end" for me.]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off-Season/Coming Up:
How I Met Your Mother (Season 7 September 19th, with TWO episodes!)
Two and a Half Men (Season 9 September 19th)

The Middle
(Season 3 is back September 21st)

The Simpsons (Season 23 begins September 25th. In the meantime, go online and vote for what should happen to the Nedna relationship)
Terra Nova (premiering September 26th with a two-hour event)
House, M.D.
(Season 8 starts October 3rd)
South Park  (Season 15, Episode 8 in October)

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