Grey’s Anatomy 13x11 Review: “Jukebox Hero” (Alex’s Fate) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Jukebox Hero”

Original Airdate: February 2, 2017

Calling all Grey’s Anatomy fans! The episode that we’ve been waiting months for is finally here! If you’re like me and have been dying to know what Alex’s fate will be, then you will be happy to know that it is partially answered. Yes, partially — because the full story isn’t out in the open quite yet, but it’s pretty clear what happened. If you have not seen the episode, don’t read on until you do because the following is a look into Alex’s future.

ROCKY ROAD 

Before I get into the big reveal of the episode, there are a few key moments that need to be mentioned. First up is Eliza Minnick’s first day at Grey Sloan. In the midseason finale, Bailey hired Minnick to take over the residency teaching program that Richard Webber runs, which obviously didn’t go over well with the attendings the show focuses on. Pitchforks and torches are brought out to protest Minnick’s employment in a variety of ways on her first day.

The anti-Minnick clan — led by Jackson, April, Maggie, and Arizona — spend the day devising plans to force Minnick out. First, they block her from being present in any of their operating rooms. Then, they start dropping residents from their service who are promoting Minnick. Finally, when Bailey calls an emergency meeting with all the attendings to hash out the day’s conflicts, no one shows up. Richard is the only one who attends, and with fighting words, to make a point to both Bailey and Minnick that his job can’t be taken over that easily.

It’s obvious that over the years, none of the characters are open to change. Any minor change to the hospital is like the apocalypse to the characters, so it’s no surprise that all-out war is coming. The question that remains is will the doctors eventually cave to Minnick’s protocols, or will they be able to boot Minnick out? Richard is masterfully playing good-cop-bad-cop with Minnick throughout the episode in hopes of rattling her. There’s even the use of a great hockey metaphor about Richard being the enforcer trying to take out Minnick, the skills player. However, this metaphor is ruined when Richard actually announces it and his plan in the operating room with Minnick present in a classic example of too much exposition. Even though most of the doctors don’t want to conform, Arizona finds herself unexpectedly playing right into Minnick’s plan.

BAD DAYS 

It’s been a rough 48 hours for Arizona. First, she had the tough day in last week’s prison episode... which seems to have never happened in this episode. There is a bit of a time warp issue in “Jukebox Hero” because it appears that the day from last week’s episode doesn’t exist. Both Owen and Meredith make it clear that no time has passed since their worlds have started to cave in on themselves. It appears that Amelia left the day before and Alex went to take the plea deal yesterday as well. On the other hand, Jo and Arizona are extremely shaken up by Alex taking the deal, and Ben spends the episode trying to console Jo. So, some characters have had a day pass while others haven’t, which equals a major timeline problem.

But back to Arizona and her problems: another tough day ensues after she tries to help a pregnant woman over the phone. The woman is in labor in a taxi, en route to the hospital. Arizona’s advice for comfort leaves the woman severely injured and the baby in jeopardy after the taxi gets plowed by the husband’s car. Arizona spends the day trying to save both the woman and her baby while blaming herself for the accident. Back-to-back tough situations get worse when the baby starts to go downhill after delivery. Without Alex to save the baby, Arizona has to put her faith in Murphy, who has never performed procedures on a newborn. Thankfully, everyone comes out of this episode just fine. Minnick later thanks Arizona for being a team player in her teaching strategy by letting Murphy do the procedure herself, which really makes Arizona’s day worse as she’s supposed to be supporting Richard. When stuck between a rock and a hard place, Arizona goes home to pour her feelings out to DeLuca, who winds up being surprised and puzzled that Alex went to take the plea deal.

Owen also had a rough day in this episode because he can’t track down Amelia, who left him unceremoniously in the middle of the night with just a goodbye note. Owen has a feeling that Edwards knows something about his wife’s whereabouts, but she doesn’t cave until about halfway through the episode. It turns out that Amelia is crashing with Edwards and taking a leave from the hospital to avoid Owen, who simply wants her to come home. It’s depressing to see Owen’s life falling apart again. He deserves a little happiness for once. Both Owen and Amelia are crazy, so they would definitely work as a couple if Amelia can get over herself.

FATE REVEALED?

Everyone in this episode has a terrible day in some way, but no one is having a rougher time than Meredith. She spends her day hunting through Washington State for her best friend with minimal luck. Maggie helps Meredith in locating Alex through the state’s online archive of criminal activity. They find that his trial has been “indefinitely suspended,” which makes them assume that he took the plea deal. Meredith is devastated and goes into a frenzy trying to find which jail he is in when they can’t find the information online.

After going to multiple local and county jails, Meredith is out of luck and has no more information than she started the day with. She is clearly heartbroken by the loss of her best friend and confidant, which we already knew from her tear-jerking voicemail that she left Alex in the midseason finale. After a long day, Meredith returns home with little hope of finding Alex. She asks Maggie if she has any success, which she coyly answers with, “You’ll find him tomorrow.” Meredith retires to her room to, presumably, cry her sorrows away and flops down on her bed. To her surprise, she lands on Alex, who says he spent the whole day sleeping in her room. The two friends lovingly embrace, and I half-expected Meredith to kiss Alex. Anyone else think that was going to happen?

That’s where the episode leaves us: in limbo yet again. It’s great that Alex isn’t in jail, but the big question is still looming. Based on the facts, it appears that DeLuca dropped the assault charges to let Alex walk free. He is clearly puzzled when Arizona tells him Alex was going to take the plea, and Alex did go to turn himself in, only to be sent home a free man. The question that remains is if DeLuca did drop the charges, why the change of heart? This conflict has been going on for months now and all of the sudden DeLuca is going to forgive Alex? Or, is he also trying to protect Jo from facing her past? The other looming questions: will Bailey give Alex his job back? Will Jo and Alex get back together now that he is a free man? What is Jo’s real name and past? And, when is her past coming to get her?

I feel that Jo’s past is going to result in a huge character arc sometime in the near future. Shonda Rhimes isn’t just going to let that bombshell walk away and not present itself. It’s only a matter of time before stuff hits the fan more for Jo, so it will be interesting to see what happens. The struggles for the characters are only going to continue through the back half of the season, and I’m sure more questions will arise before any are answered.

Read More

Arrow 5x11 Review: "Second Chances" (Will the Real Black Canary Please Stand Up?)

"Second Chances"

Original Airdate: February 1, 2017

It is Pride and Prejudice's famous Mr. Darcy who once said, "My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever." He wasn't big on giving people second chances, as you can imagine. I've known a few of those people in my life — the ones who are your friends until you do one thing that they disagree with or somehow offends them. Then, you have a black mark on your friend ledger with them forever. I'd like to think that I'm a pretty forgiving person. I try my hardest to extend grace to people who hurt me because I know I've been extended grace from others. Sometimes it takes messing up for us to realize how much we need forgiveness in the first place. This week's Arrow focuses heavily on the idea that we each get second chances in life and can choose how we use them. Our new character, Tina, happens to get a second chance at life when the particle accelerator (yes, the very same one) explodes and gives her super powers akin to those of the currently-deceased Black Canary. Meanwhile, in the flashbacks, Talia works to train Oliver to become someone and something else. And finally, Felicity comes face-to-face with her hacktivist past and has to decide how to proceed.

SAME OLD STORY, SAME OLD SHOW

I actually didn't think this week's Arrow was bad. If anything, I was just a tad bit bored about half-way through. But "Second Chances" introduced us to a new woman to fill Black Canary's boots — Tina (whose real name is actually Dinah because of course it is; nevertheless, I'll be referring to her as Tina throughout my reviews). Tina was a police officer and was undercover when something went wrong. A drug lord was about to kill her when the particle accelerator exploded. Though Tina and he survived, the villain shot Tina's partner and lover (Vince). The last thing Tina did before she became a metahuman was scream in agony over the death of her partner. It's really cool and also pretty sad that this is why Tina has her powers — her pseudo Canary Cry. 

Since Tina has been meta-humaned, she's taken it upon herself to kill or maim any and everyone who had a hand in Vince's death, including the drug lord himself. Tina knows that this is what her partner would have wanted and she stops at nothing in the episode to avenge him. Tina is a lot darker in many ways than the typical woman Oliver encounters. Even when he believes he's rehabilitated her with his support and an extended hand of friendship, she turns around and kills the drug lord in cold blood. 

But it's not enough. And Oliver, in spite of his ways, is the one person who understands well the notion that crossing names off a list doesn't make you feel any safer or happier. If anything, it can illuminate the gaping hole we have within each of our hearts. But back to Tina for a moment: as much as I appreciated the actresses' attempt to inject ferocity into her (and Tina was pretty fierce and unabashedly dark), the character herself isn't very intriguing. She's a trope — we've heard her story a million times before. A woman loses a man she loves, then vows to avenge him and goes dark because of it. The only added bonus in Arrow's case is that Tina is a metahuman and is able to use her powers to help in her crusade. Otherwise, I'm hoping that Tina will be able to break out of her stereotypical role now that she'll be integrated into Team Arrow.

Speaking of Team Arrow, they spend the episode tracking down Tina because they're on the prowl for a new Black Canary. But no one is good enough to replace Laurel, in Oliver's eyes. I didn't hate Laurel as a character as much as some people did, but I'm incredibly confused as to why Oliver didn't think people with professional fighting skills, advanced degrees, and who were humanitarian heroes couldn't replace a woman who went to a few private boxing lessons and worked as an attorney. Laurel was human, but for some reason the show wants us to believe that Oliver elevated her to superhuman status all the time. It's an odd choice for the writers to be so fixated on Laurel's death that it is used as a catalyst for the characters to do things they need to do but don't want to. 

Laurel dying has been at the center of the last two episodes (and many more before it), but this episode was different. "Second Chances," as Oliver pointed out is the first time it feels like Team Arrow is trying to replace one of their own — they want someone to pick up the mantle of Black Canary, and are having a difficult time finding the right fit. (Diggle so wonderfully points out that the team isn't replacing Laurel — they don't want a Laurel 2.0. They're just trying to move forward with another team member.) I can't articulate why, but it feels weird that Team Arrow would just traipse about the city, asking people if they'd like to join their super secret team.

Perhaps it's because this is the opposite of the way the team usually functioned — with would-be heroes just stumbling into the Arrow Cave or not really even becoming heroes until after they've trained with Oliver for a long time — bur something just felt off about them begging Tina to wear the mantle of their dead friend. Of course, that's not exactly what they're asking when they approach her. Oliver, if you'll recall, is still trying to atone for the guilt he feels over Laurel's death. He wants to save someone so they can save other people.

What a totally Oliver Queen thing to do.

I get that comic books essentially center around tropes and men rescuing women, but it just struck me that Oliver was so pushy in this episode in helping Tina. (The best part, obviously, is that in the flashbacks it was a woman (Talia) who was trying to redeem and save Oliver. So maybe I'll let this whole "save Tina from herself" thing slide.) I really did enjoy that Tina is unpredictable, though. Oliver expects that once Tina has the drug lord in her sights and at her mercy, she'll let him be prosecuted by the law. She asks him what Vince would do. Tina pauses, hesitates, and then pulls the trigger a few times. She tells Oliver that he would have wanted her to do THAT.

But in the end, Tina does realize the truth in what Oliver was pushing — she needs other people to help her find her way back to the light again. Killing the villain who murdered her lover doesn't make her life better. And I think that Oliver learned something in this episode too. Because he was extended a second chance, he fought for someone else's. Even if his execution is messy, Oliver's intentions are generally good. He wants people to use the chances they were given in order to become better people. And it's not just because he feels guilty over Laurel — it's because that is what a hero is, at their core: someone who sees the best in other people, even when they can't see it in themselves.

MY HACKTIVIST QUEEN

In trying to exonerate Diggle, Felicity takes a trip into the dark web and quite literally stumbles right into her past. With Rory watching and listening, she explains who she used to be — goth, a little angry and reckless, and a one-woman hacktivist. As Felicity recounts who she used to be, she does so in the way we all do: with wisdom and a little bit of nostalgia. I think it's easy to remember that time Felicity hallucinated her past self's scathing remarks and think that Goth!Felicity was all bad. But she really wasn't. If Felicity hadn't experienced the harsh darkness in the past that she did, she would not be the woman we know today. I think the one thing that this week's story illuminated is the fact that Felicity is at a crossroads in her life. It's something that we've known for a while now and that the show should have properly portrayed (given the fact that Felicity had to drop a nuclear weapon on a town, watched a friend of hers die, and then also learn her boyfriend died at the hands of her ex-fiance), but is at the center of her story in "Second Chances."

When Felicity is trying to hack the NSA — as you do — she gets a message from someone named Kujo Sledgehammer who says that they have all the information that Felicity needs to exonerate Diggle. But they want to meet in person. Taking Rory along as back-up, Felicity comes face-to-face with her biggest fangirl. Kojo is a bespectacled, Felicity 2.0 who essentially tells our blonde that there's an entire world out there that Felicity could be helping. Her skills are being wasted. Doesn't she even miss those days of hacktivisim? Doesn't she itch for the power and the secrets and the vigilantism? (She doesn't say those things but they're all implied.) Kojo gives Felicity the flash drive containing all of the information she needs for Diggle... and all of the information Felicity needs to return to her hacktivist calling.

The writers of Arrow noted that Felicity would be taking a darker path this year. And I was worried, a bit, that the show would try to turn her into some Sara Lance Jr., with baggage and pain and no hope. But that's not who Felicity is, at her core. Felicity is always going to be a character who hopes and who fights to find the light inside of everyone. She's always been determined to rescue people from themselves and to make an imprint in the world for the better. She's the queen of pep talks and inspirational monologues. And yet, she's also a woman who can choose exactly how she changes the world. 

That's where it's critical that this storyline is handled well. Because Felicity's descent into the rabbit hole that is Pandora — the program that Kojo handed over to Felicity — must be deliberate and delicate. Felicity's darkness is not like Oliver's darkness. My hope is that she slips slowly back into the way she used to be and that she continues to crave the power and freedom that comes with being total uninhibited and totally reckless with the rules for how she delivers justice. Felicity wants justice to be served and my hope is that this season, we'll get the chance to see her explore what that means and what lines she's willing to cross to accomplish her goals.

It'll also be interesting to see some parallelism with Oliver and Felicity's journeys. In the present-day, it seems like Oliver is beginning to learn the value of hope and of practicing what he preaches — in "Second Chances," he was open with Curtis and Rene about the plan he had to help Tina. When is Oliver EVER transparent about his plans? As Oliver is learning how to embrace hope, Felicity is being pulled into darkness. Will they be able to rely on one another and support each other now that their roles are reversed a bit? My assumption is that this inversion is on purpose and is a way for the writers to bring the two together again (maybe not romantically, yet, but at least in storylines). If Oliver and Felicity are able to understand one another — to walk in each other's shoes for a season — then trust can and will be rebuilt.

"Second Chances" introduced us to some new key players who will surely influence Oliver's life. It also delivered us to the gateway for Felicity's new "dark" trajectory. Though the episode was a bit slow in parts, it accomplished its goal of reminding all of us that second chances aren't to be wasted.

Bits & pieces:

• I loved the fact that Tina's powers and the villain-of-the-week's powers canceled each other out. It was cool to see metahumans who had related powers, especially since I'm not watching The Flash anymore.
• Normally, I've come to tune out the flashbacks. And this week, admittedly, I did that a little bit. But Talia al Ghul has arrived and she's incredible. I'm always a fan of a woman who can put Oliver in his place, and she certainly does. More than just that, though, is the fact that Talia helps Oliver become the person we meet in the pilot episode. She's the one who gives him his crusade and who helps him suit up. She's so different in a lot of ways from Nyssa, and I'm excited to learn more about her in the future.
• "Why did you save me?" "Well, from what I could tell, you needed rescuing." I love me an inverted male/female rescue trope. Thanks for that one, Arrow.
• "It doesn't matter because I am having FUN."
• Rene enjoying eating crazy stacked burgers is probably my favorite thing this show has done recently. Also, I'm still digging the new Curtis/Rene friendship.
• "Your belly hurts? Yeah, that's not surprising."
• Felicity having her own fangirl is adorable.

What did you all think of this week's episode? Sound off in the comments below!

Read More

The Flash 3x11 Review: "Dead or Alive" (Who Tells Your Story) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]

"Dead or Alive"

Original Airdate: January 31, 2017

I hate it when the episode has such a perfect and comprehensive title that I struggle to come up with a clever subtitle for it, but that’s the case with “Dead or Alive.” The title covers the two main ideas of the episode: the “wanted, dead or alive” retrieval of H.R. by an Earth-19 bounty hunter, and Iris’s struggle with her looming, possible death and what she can do to make her life matter after she’s gone. One half of the title’s meaning is action-packed sci-fi fun; the other half is a well-written, well-acted internal struggle for Iris that gives the character more to do (and more emotional motivation) than she’s gotten in a long, long time. Far too long, in my opinion, and I actually regret that her plot thread was resolved by the end of the hour.

So anyway, I went with a Hamilton quote for my subtitle. That’s a good fallback for cleverness, right? I mean, my motto is “If you can’t be clever, quote Hamilton.”

H.R. FLEEINGSTUF

As it turns out, traipsing through alternate dimensions is not a legal thing on H.R.’s Earth-19, which makes me wonder what the heck those people were doing in order for Earth-19 governments to put a planet-wide ban on all multiverse portals. Was there just a rash of people pulling their alternate selves through so they wouldn’t have to go to work that day? An onslaught of super intelligent gorillas? Just too many speedsters — wait, actually... that’s a perfectly valid reason to stop the multiverse portals. Please, Earth-1, do whatever it takes in order to put a halt to all the speedsters popping up.

H.R. never informed Team Flash that he was breaking the law by visiting them, so it’s a huge surprise when a metahuman with the questionable name of Gypsy pops up to haul him back to Earth-19. Everyone is understandably confused and, shockingly, reticent to let H.R. go with the bounty hunter. I kinda thought they just tolerated H.R. as a goofy, occasionally useful eccentric, so it’s interesting how strongly they oppose the idea of him getting put to death for his crime. The most surprisingly defensive of H.R. is Cisco, who goes as far as challenging Gypsy to a trial by combat. You know, in between flirting with her in a way that is somehow simultaneously suave and nerdy-awkward.

Much of the main plot revolves around the team trying to save H.R. and, really, trying to save Cisco from his trial by combat situation. Because the trial is to the death and Gypsy seems to have a lot more power than Cisco does, though they seem similar in nature (and not at all like the powers the character has in the comics, according to my research, so I don’t really understand why they picked this character to give those powers to).

Pretty much everyone thinks Cisco is going to die and they work on trying to stop it from happening. Behind Cisco’s back. Yeah, that won’t make everything worse than — oh, wait! It totally makes things worse than they were before, because Barry has the genius idea to ambush Gypsy and ends up getting H.R. swiped for insurance. So, rather than allowing Cisco to prep for combat and maybe think of a way out of the whole situation, Barry just makes it even harder for the team to get around the trial because now Gypsy has who she’s after and is really only sticking around because she has an honor system and promised Cisco.

Cisco and Gypsy eventually get their universe-hopping fight scene (they even end up on Supergirl’s Earth!) and, after Gypsy taunts Cisco for not giving it his best, they seem pretty evenly matched. It’s Cisco who gets the upper hand in the end, though, and (of course) he spares her life.

Gypsy is moved by the compassion of Team Flash (and the charm of Cisco, I have no doubt) and decides she won’t take H.R. back to Earth-19 to be killed for his crimes. That’s the good news. The bad news is that her long-standing perfect retrieval record means no one would ever believe that H.R. got away, which means that she has to tell everyone he’s dead and he can never go home.

But we all know that this show gets a new Harrison Wells every season, so I’m sure they’ll get around that somehow. New Earth? Death by gorilla attack? Cloning gone wrong? Who knows! But I do hope the next Harrison Wells is grumpy. Julian Albert is doing well filling in for Grumpy Harry with some high quality English Snark, but it’s just not the same and Julian will probably be evil soon anyway.

LET’S TALK ABOUT IRIS (AGAIN)

I once equated Iris West to a shooting star in one of these reviews, and it’s been unfortunately accurate: chances for Iris to shine are few and far between, so rare that when these moments do show up, you might as well make a wish. Now we’ve had two episodes in a row where Iris gets a review section all to herself? How sadly unprecedented! And, judging by the previews for the next episode, there is even a chance she’ll get her own review section then, too. Remarkable. Keep the Iris stories coming, The Flash. You’ve got a lot of missed opportunities to make up for, and I hope you realize that.

Here’s the thing, though: throughout this “Save Iris” storyline, a majority of the “weight” has been on Barry. How much Barry loves Iris. How he doesn’t want her to die. And that’s understandable — of course it is! Iris is the most important person in Barry’s life right now — but it makes Iris a supporting role in her own story. When opportunities arise to spotlight a character that has been largely underutilized throughout a series run, it’s strange for a show to continue focusing on the character who has all the story and development. We know Barry would be sad if Iris were to die. We know that he’s struggling with the flash-forward to her death. We want to know what Iris thinks of her death, the possibility that she might not be saved despite all the work her friends are putting into saving her.

“Dead or Alive” touches on Iris’s feelings, mostly revolving around the legacy she hopes to leave behind. People don’t normally get into journalism to be forgotten, after all. There’s a permanence in print that appeals to those who grow up to be journalists, not to mention the idea of changing the world (or, at the very least, changing the city in which they live). So it’s no surprise when Iris’s search for a legacy leads her to a big story that could put her on the front page — a big, dangerous story about smuggling high tech guns out of a warehouse that Iris manipulates Wally into helping her enter.

My favorite scene of the episode was the one that took place in the warehouse, actually: Iris (naturally) gets caught by one of the smugglers, but her impending demise has made her reckless. The scene, wonderfully acted by Candice Patton, takes only a few minutes but manages to perfectly reveal Iris’s mindset at this point as she steps right up to the gun pointed to her chest and says “Everyone’s gotta go sometime, right?” She thinks she’s going to die at the one, particular moment that Barry saw, but there’s a glimmer in her eyes as she faces down the criminal and I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the back of her mind, she thinks going out in a blaze of glory in that warehouse with the big story at her fingertips would be just fine.

More of this comes out later (after Iris is rescued from the warehouse by Wally) when she’s talking to Barry. The Iris/Barry scene has less oomph to it, though, because the show does what it’s been doing this whole plot and gives the “pain” of Iris’s death to Barry, instead of letting her own it for herself. When she talks about how she doesn’t want to die like her mother, leaving nothing important behind, Barry tells Iris that her mother left behind “the woman I love” and, eh. You could’ve done better with that, Barry. And writers.

Like I said, next week is another story about Iris dying — but this time it’s a different dying! Man, I really hope Iris saves herself at the end of all of this. This much Damsel in Distress on TV is way too 1960s for my tastes.

Other Things:

• It took me until a Google search to figure out where I knew the actress playing Gypsy from, and then I did that Google search and... oh. Right.
• The Flash-Forward scene. In Lego. Amazing.
• Iris manipulates poor, unsuspecting Wally so easily. Can you even imagine how they would’ve been as children growing up together?
• "I challenge you to trial by combat." "What are you doing?" "I'm challenging her to trial by combat."
• "She must've been having an off day." "...." "What?!" "Wow." Seriously, I’m really starting to love Julian.
• There were so many brilliant and wonderful pieces of dialogue in this episode. Except for that “woman I love” line from Barry. That was meh.

Read More

Suits 6x12 Review: "The Painting" (Forgiveness... Can You Imagine?)

"The Painting"

Original Airdate: February 1, 2017

I once heard it said that bitterness is like swallowing poison, hoping the other person dies. The point of the analogy, of course, being that bitterness doesn't harm someone else — nor does anger. What it does, however, is eat away at us and slowly kill us. "The Painting" tackles the subject of anger and forgiveness extremely well. In fact, it's the best Suits episodes in a very long time. Maybe even of all time.

Perhaps it's because we took a break from the high-powered legal world (and that meant that I got the chance to take a break from trying to wrap my head around the legal jargon and loopholes that are expertly spouted each week). Or maybe it was because we got the chance to see flashbacks of Harvey, Marcus, and Lily Specter. But the real reason this episode stands out to me is because its emotional core resonates with all of us and progresses Harvey as a character in the process. Forgiveness is messy. It's complex. It's downright hard. But NOT forgiving someone is often more detrimental to us than we realize. Donna astutely pointed that out at the end of last week's episode — because Harvey refuses to forgive his mother, he's relying on the team at Pearson Specter Litt to fill a hole in his life they were never meant to fill. And the only way he can resolve that is by finally forgiving Lily. Which he does... but not easily.

Forgiveness is hard. It is messy, it is beautiful, but it is hard. And I'm really thankful we got the chance to witness Harvey learn that in "The Painting."

A GRACE TOO POWERFUL TO NAME

Most of the episode focuses on Harvey, so most of this review will do likewise. Harvey decides he's finally ready to forgive his mother, and we get that decision juxtaposed with the decision he made years ago to attend his father's funeral. In both instances, Harvey's rock and moral conscience — known by her mortal name of Donna Paulsen — convinces him to make amends. In the flashbacks (I missed Suits flashbacks, didn't you?), it is Donna who pushes Harvey to attend his father's funeral, even though his mother will be in attendance. Donna's reasoning? If he misses this because of Lily, he'll never forgive himself. Harvey's father's funeral isn't for Harvey or Lily — it's for Gordon. Meanwhile, in the present-day, Harvey misses his flight to see his mother on purpose, and Donna gives him a pep talk, telling him that he's ready. The fact that he packed his suitcase means he's ready. Harvey seems grateful for her encouragement, and hops on a flight to meet Lily.

This whole episode juxtaposes the past with the present, and both time periods hit a crossroads in which Harvey blows up at his mother and leaves. If you think that's a coincidence, it's not. Harvey does this thing where he faces his problems long enough to feel good about himself but then bolts at the first sign of conflict. He wants the road to forgiveness to be easy and painless, but in reality, it's anything but that. Forgiveness requires sacrifice — on the part of the person who is forgiving, and the person being forgiven. In the flashbacks, Harvey was initially resistant to forgiving or even speaking to his mother, but something important nudged him in the right direction.

Harvey meets Marcus at the cemetery, and the man informs him that Lily will be saying a few words at Gordon's funeral. Harvey is angered and dismissive of this and his mother... until he hears her words. Watching Gabriel Macht break down as Harvey was a sight to behold. It was beautiful to see him become more and more vulnerable as he heard about how much his father loved him and Marcus. It was also the catalyst for Harvey wanting to forgive his mother. He recognized the fact that she may have done something horrible, but that if Gordon could forgive and make it work with her, then maybe he could too. And that almost happens... until Bobby, Lily's current partner and a man she cheated on Gordon with, shows up at the wake. The fact that Bobby shows up sets Harvey over the edge. Any hope of reconciliation is immediately decimated in that moment. And so, Harvey leaves even angrier at his mother than when he arrived.

In the present-day, things are off to a slightly better start. Harvey is in a good place when he meets Lily — he compromises on a time, and they both seem genuinely excited to sit down with one another and catch up. Harvey is fully prepared to forgive his mother. But what he doesn't expect is for her to want an apology from him, too. Anger drives wedges between relationships, and often we think anger only affects us. We're the only ones who have to carry it around. And sometimes we — like Harvey — do so proudly and boldly. We're the righteously indignant, after all. The world owes us because of how we've suffered. Or, at the very least, the person who wronged us owes us something.

It's easy to forget, then, that our anger we can hurt other people too. Harvey is so fixated on his own anger that he doesn't realize what it's done to his mother, or what it has done to Marcus. Lily tells Harvey that she's ready to forgive him, and he's baffled. Forgive him for what, exactly? She then explains that 20 years of him not caring whether she lives or dies was painful. Lily may have hurt Harvey, but he continues to hurt her and their family years later. Lily is right in a lot of ways — Harvey's method of operation is to get angry and walk out on people whenever things get rough. He's stubbornly held onto his anger and bitterness for years. But Harvey is also right. Lily hurt him and to think that time will heal it without an apology is absurd.

After his angry outburst in which he leaves (a habit we all know Harvey favors whenever things get heated or difficult), Bobby shows up to yell some sense into him. Harvey doesn't care about what Lily is feeling because he doesn't believe that she deserves any pity. But that attitude separates him from his family. So much, in fact, that Marcus reveals he got sick again a few years prior and didn't tell Harvey.

OUCH.

That gutted me, and it did Harvey, too. It's easy for Harvey to be mad at Lily — to blame her for so much in his life. But "The Painting" was an amazing episode in which Harvey realized that his bitterness and anger is hurting his family. Marcus has forgiven his mom, and Harvey's refusal to prevented his brother from confiding in him. Marcus' speech about how Harvey isn't a part of their family because he hasn't made the effort was heartbreaking. And it's this that really strikes a chord in Harvey. It's the fact that he's lost a good chunk of his work family and his real family that really wakes him up.

So he visits his mom's art class, and he genuinely apologizes for what went wrong between them. Moreover, Lily apologizes too. And she lets him in on a little secret — even through all those years he hated her, she never stopped loving him. It's an incredibly emotional moment to cap off an incredibly emotional episode (I can't emphasize Gabriel Macht's brilliance too much), and sets Harvey on a path of self-growth and reconciliation. He and his mother hug, express their love for one another, and forgive each other. Now that he's accomplished this, Harvey is ready to work to get Pearson Specter Litt back in order. Watching him grow as a person — not without missteps — in this episode is so pivotal to the rest of the season.

Forgiveness. Can you imagine?

I can't say it enough: this week's Suits was really emotional and incredible. My only concern is that this episode was SO good, I don't know how next week can possibly live up to it!

And now, bonus points:

• Have I talked enough yet about Gabriel Macht? He navigated the nuances in Harvey's character — balancing both the past and present day versions of him — so deftly. It was incredible, emotional, and perfect.
• In our B-story this week, Mike gets a new job as a supervisor at a legal clinic. (I don't know exactly how he's heeding Anita Gibbs' warning, but I assume he's in the clear because he's technically not practicing law?) He meets a really enthusiastic young law student and helps her with a case... much to her anger and chagrin. That's because everyone at the new legal clinic assumes Mike is just some lawyer who couldn't cut it in corporate law. Mike takes steps in the right direction this episode, telling everyone about what happened to him and why he wants to work at the legal clinic. To further prove that Mike is growing, when a client loses in court and is on the verge of being evicted, Mike personally pays for her rent so that she can stay in her home. I actually quite liked Mike's storyline, you guys.
• "You remember me." "I remember everyone." Sometimes I forget that Mike has a photographic memory. It used to be this show's major plot point. Everyone remember those days?
• "I think you meant you'd live in a shoe box if the Thai place still delivered." "... And the sushi place." "Of course."
• "Why now?" "Someone very special to me convinced me I needed to." "Whoever it is... I'm glad she did." And then we all dissolved into puddles of feelings.
• I'm really glad the firm is remaining Pearson Specter Litt. Mostly because I don't want to have to change what I call it in my reviews. Yes, I'm selfish in that way.
• The final shot of Harvey smiling next to Donna was beautiful.

What did you all think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!

Read More

5 Reasons You Should Binge-Watch Sweet/Vicious ASAP [Contributor: Jenn]

I trust recommendations from friends when it comes to television shows I should binge-watch. It was Anne who told me to give Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend a chance. It was Jaime who pressed me to start watching Community and Sherlock. And my Twitter timeline got me into Arrow. So when some of our writers attended the Sweet/Vicious panel at Comic-Con this year and talked, in the months that followed, non-stop about the show, I grew curious. Admittedly, I didn't know much about the show — it aired on MTV, had two female lead characters, and dealt with them becoming vigilantes. Not much to go on, really. It's a testament to their influence that I started watching (I generally don't watch anything on MTV... at all), but it's a testament to the incredible writing and acting of the show that I stuck around.

When I was home sick last week, I finished my binge-watch of Sweet/Vicious' first season. And man, it was an incredible ride from start to finish. At only 10 episodes, the series is a quick watch and will have you begging for more. (As of right now, the show has not been renewed for a second season.) It is witty, dark, the epitome of #LadiesSupportingLadies, and such an important piece of art that illuminates the current state of campus assault.

In case you're curious about the show and why you should watch it, here are five reasons to do just that!

Note: minor spoilers included throughout.

Read More

The Bachelor 21x05 Roundtable: Love is Kinda Crazy with a Spooky Little Girl Like You [Contributors: Patti Murin, Chelsea, Rebecca, Alisa, Rae]

This week on The Bachelor, the producers do some real mental gymnastics to host a date at a plantation house without ever mentioning its sordid history, Corinne and Taylor finally face off, and Rachel outshines everyone. See what Patti, Chelsea, Rebecca, Alisa, and Rae have to say about this week’s haunted dates.

Who would you have sent home: Taylor or Corinne?

Patti: Uh, both. I respect Taylor’s career path of being a mental  health counselor, but that doesn’t mean she has to be a smug bitch about it when dealing with the other women. Studying in school does not diminish the fact that she is 23 YEARS OLD, and has much less actual life experience than, say, Rachel. Also, she was having this argument with a 24-year old. I mean, Corinne’s still a moron, but, man, is she a smart moron. Does that make sense? Anyway, Taylor is boring and Corinne is not, so I think he (see: the producers) made the correct decision.

Oooh, one more thought. I think Corinne is a good one to keep around, as a sort of test for the other women left. Like, who is going to fall prey to her crazy next? Because that girl probably shouldn’t be who Nick picks in the end. Know what I mean?

Chelsea: I agree. Honestly, I’m super annoyed by Corinne and she is manipulative... but Taylor is 23-years old and must have just gotten her Master’s degree. You’re no better for engaging the toddler and starting drama. You could have been more straight with Nick about how Corinne is, and try to rise above it. Corinne is good to keep around because she’s good television, and I’ve only seen Taylor talk like twice this season. Corinne hasn’t had an actual meaningful conversation with Nick, so you know the producers are keeping her around so we can see that nanny. I don’t think she’ll be going home next week. Nick has done this a hundred times, and he isn’t stupid about what’s going on with the girls and the character Corinne is playing.

Real talk though: the most important things to happen this week were Corinne’s room service order — because that was just goals — and her asking how to make a voodoo doll. Girl got her cheesy noodles, hot wings, a steak, dessert. Gotta give her props for that and knowing how to play the game on this show.

Rebecca: I would have sent them both home, too! They’re both annoying and immature. I loved the conversation they tried to have at the beginning of the episode — I literally could not follow a word they said. They try to act so mature and wise, and they’re FAR from either of those things. I definitely loved the drama, but man, I won’t miss Taylor a bit and I won’t miss Corinne when her time is finally up.

Alisa: Both, definitely. Corinne is super annoying and Taylor is super irritating and neither are “here for the right reasons,” whatever that even means. I have to agree with Chelsea on the room service order. Corinne is clearly learning how to navigate the world without her nanny because all that food was really everything I’ve ever wanted in life but didn’t want to pay for myself. Corinne is the girl on every season that the audience loves to hate because she’s great to watch but you’d never want to spend five minutes with her in real life. She can stay on my TV as long as she wants to. As for Taylor, bye girl.

Rae: Definitely, both. They are both too immature for this. Taylor may be a better person than Corinne, but she was so focused on talking about emotional intelligence, she forgot to have any fun. Nick wasn’t into it, and neither am I.

Was the haunted house super lame or super cool?

Patti: This was the worst date I’ve ever been on, and that’s saying a lot. Like, you’re in New Orleans — one of the most unique and exciting cities in the U.S. — and you go to a tourist plantation that doesn’t even advertise on their website that it’s haunted? Dude, they have weddings there. It was kind of hilarious to see how drunk the girls got though. But seriously, go eat a Po’ Boy or cram into Preservation Hall to see some jazz. Take the trolley through the Garden District! Go shopping on Magazine Street! Can you tell I love NOLA?

Chelsea: It was a terrible place for a date, but it was super fun to watch. I don’t necessarily believe in ghosts or haunted houses, but I wouldn’t want to test anything. YOU NEVER KNOW. But it was a lot of fun seeing the girls get super drunk and wander around, and this show really needed some fun. It was nice seeing Nurse Danielle, Raven, and Vanessa just embrace the area.

Rebecca: I didn’t mind it. It was definitely weird, but I didn’t think it was as bad as some of the other dates this season. Jasmine totally was bumming me out, but Raven and Alexis were so fun to watch. They got really into it, and I always like when the contestants (pretend to) have fun on the group dates. The haunted house is definitely something I’d be down to try, but a bit weird for this situation.

Alisa: Well, first I have to agree with Patti that NOLA is amazing and has such a rich and interesting history and I would’ve been bummed if I was there and all I got to see was some lousy “haunted” house. At the same time, my boyfriend and I kinda have this running feud about ghosts. I don’t believe in them at all, not one bit, and he does. He watches all those paranormal, ghost-hunter type shows. But I’m the one who gets easily scared and freaked out by literally everything, and he’s super chill in scary situations. So, I feel like a haunted house date would actually be pretty awesome for us. But as a group date on The Bachelor? Meh, maybe not so much. I definitely preferred the zombie shooting on Ben’s season to this date. And also, how did all these girls not realize that clearly the caretaker stole the creepy doll while they were all downstairs and had that chandelier on a pulley system to drop it at just the right moment? These girls need to get out more.

Rae: Leave it to The Bachelor to have an entire date on a plantation, say it’s haunted, and not once mention slavery. Like, “hmm, who may have died here who would have a reason to be angry? Whatever! Bring on the mimosas.” I can’t. It’s so representative of the shiny image the Bachelor franchise paints without ever delving into historical context and problems that made it possible.

For the record, if we're voting, I do believe in ghosts.

Do you think Rachel can win this thing?

Patti: Nope! But I hope she doesn’t, because I WANT HER FOR THE NEXT BACHELORETTE!

Chelsea: No, but she’s gonna be the next Bachelorette and I CANNOT WAIT. She is way too good for Nick and I can see her being so much fun this summer.

Rebecca: I hope not because she’s too good for Nick! I also want her to be the next Bachelorette.

Alisa: Can she win it? Yes. Will she? No, because Nick is a moron. But as the other girls said, I’m all about her not winning because she is the Bachelorette this show needs but doesn’t deserve. Can we get #RachelForBachelorette trending? Please and thank you.

Rae: Okay, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say... maybe? I have her in my final four but not getting the final rose, but Nick does seem super into her so maybe I am wrong! But, like everyone else, I’m already dreaming of Rachel as Bachelorette.

And as we do every week, here are the current Bachelor Fantasy League standings:

1. Chelsea (420 points)
2. Patti (360 points)
3. Rae (280 points)
4. Alisa (280 points)
5. Rebecca (250 points)

Read More

Supergirl 2x10 Review: "We Can Be Heroes" (Just for One Day) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]

"We Can Be Heroes"

Original Airdate: January 30, 2017

Even though this week’s episode features more Mon-El than my patience can generally handle, I found it a lot more enjoyable than last week’s episode. Maybe it was the straightforward plot, or maybe it was the really fantastic J’onn J’onzz stuff, or maybe it’s because the title borrows from one of my favorite David Bowie songs and I sway easily with my pro-Bowie bias. No matter what, though, “We Can Be Heroes” was a fun bit of superhero TV, and I hope more of this sort is in store for the rest of Supergirl’s second season.

WE CAN BEAT THEM, FOREVER AND EVER

First up on the list of people who think they can be heroes: Mon-El, who has been training with Kara since the last episode, I guess. I’m sure Kara is pleased, since she was excited about having a superpowered buddy back when Mon-El was more obviously selfish, rather than stealthy-selfish (we’ll talk more on that later). Things seem to be going well, too, since Mon-El graduates from training and gets the all-clear from Kara to costume up and get to savin’ people.

Of course, then news that Livewire — the electric-powered villain and Supergirl-hater who definitely does not want to be a hero — has escaped her prison cell reaches Kara and they have to deal with that. When Livewire attacks some NCPD officers, Mon-El proves that he’s not ready to fight by Kara’s side when he ignore Kara’s order to protect the normal people (who were trained police, granted, but still significantly more killable than either Kara or Mon-El) at all costs. Also, Mon-El’s costume is a complete disaster. How can Kara team up with someone who decides a hero costume is a black coat and ugly, yellow-tinted sunglasses? Disgraceful.

And here’s another wannabe-hero of the episode: James, whose identity as Guardian is revealed during the Livewire/NCPD kerfuffle. Kara is, of course, angry that James kept his superhero alter-ego a secret from her. She’s doubly angry when she learns that Winn and Alex both knew about his hero hobby, and that Winn even helped James regularly and made his suit.

The team learns through security footage that Livewire hadn’t escaped prison — she’d been kidnapped out of it, to be used as an energy source for some mad scientist dude’s evil schemes. Winn keeps yet another secret (such a good idea, Winn! Totally not making things worse!) about being able to track the villain down so that he and James can go alone, in order to prove that Guardian can be a useful ally. Mon-El tags along and, because they’re idiots, all of them get captured by Mad Scientist and have to be rescued by Kara. Of course. Kara needs smarter friends.

The big finale has Kara imploring Livewire not to kill Mad Scientist despite all the evil things he did, and then letting Livewire go when she doesn’t choose to murder. I... guess that’s cool? It’s very obvious that Livewire isn’t going to turn to the side of good, but Kara’s an optimist to the core, so I guess she still has hope. Good for her.

And the last could-be hero of the hour (yes, there’s three!) is my favorite and the highlight of the episode, in my opinion: J’onn J’onzz. M'gann M'orzz, the imprisoned White Martian, starts the episode by shouting things about blood and death and “beautiful war,” then falls into a coma that seems to be slowly killing her. There’s a chance that J’onn could save her with a Martian Mind Meld (you know, like a Vulcan one, but with less Spock) but he has to put aside his deep-seated hatred of White Martians first. He has to accept the idea that melding with her means sharing his memories of his family with someone he can’t help but see as an enemy.

In this situation, J’onn is a reluctant hero — but he is (more than the others of the episode, perhaps) most certainly a hero. He saves M’gann’s life with the meld, going into her mind and seeing one of her last memories of their home planet. She confesses to him that she killed the other White Martian guards after they ordered her to kill a Green Martian child, and that she was certain she’d never make it out alive. J’onn tells her that she makes it out, that she gets to Earth, and that the two of them can work on being friends.

Then she tells him that her whole scream-induced coma deal was because the White Martians had found her and are on their way to Earth, so that puts a bit of a damper on things. Whatever, it was still a wonderful plot and I want a significant increase of J’onn J’onzz on this show, pronto.

MAYBE WE’RE LYING, THEN YOU BETTER NOT STAY

Bring on the lies and deception! What’s a superhero show without some lies and deception, right? (Answer: a better superhero show, but let’s just sigh and get on with it.) This week, it’s James and — to a lesser extent — Mon-El who are caught up in some tangled webs.

James, as we all know, has been keeping his role as Guardian a secret from Kara since the beginning. We learn that it’s been months since James got found out by Alex and he hasn’t made any effort to confess to Kara outside of his faltered attempts during Thanksgiving dinner. He makes a halfhearted effort in this episode, but gets all mopey when Kara starts going on about Mon-El’s hero training. Look, show: is Kara/James still going to be a thing? Credit to you for giving James a little jealousy, here, since the abrupt end to their romance and zero hints at lingering feelings has made no sense, but... I just don’t know.

So anyway, James never tells Kara the truth and when she does find out, it’s an accident — he gets unmasked during a fight. That’s a point against James. Personally speaking, I think James makes up for it (just a tiny bit, mind you, since I am endlessly frustrated with people lying to each other on these kinds of shows) when he tells Kara why he wants to be Guardian: James doesn’t want to be a hero for glory, or for feeling powerful, or to even out the moral playing field between himself and his superhero BFFs. He wants to be a hero to help people, period. He knows that he’ll be putting himself on the line, but he wants to do it anyway because he feels like he should do his part to keep people safe and help where he can.

It’s the purest hero-motivation a character could possibly have, but Kara doesn’t accept it. No powers, no training, no Supergirl ally. She doesn’t want to stand by and watch someone she cares about get hurt, and the fact that he’d kept it from her is a pretty strong indication that he knew what she would say about it. Now, I’m not sure how differently things might have played out if James had been honest with Kara about what he was doing, but I suspect the truth would have softened her at least a little.

And finally, Mon-El. Hey, you know who doesn’t have pure motivations for being a hero? Mon-El. His incentives are a stark contrast to James’s, as it finally becomes clear to Kara that her new superhero buddy is a lot more interested in spending time with the pretty Kryptonian than he is in actually keeping people safe.

I kind of like the contrasts of James and Mon-El in this episode, actually: Mon-El’s lie about not remembering kissing Kara, about having feelings for her, is a pretty innocent one, while James’s lie is a lot bigger but a lot more sympathetic. Mon-El’s motivations are selfish, while James is propelled by a selfless desire to do good. Kara supports the selfish Mon-El’s heroism because he has powers, while she denounces the more pure intentions of James because he doesn’t have powers.

In the end, though, Kara seems pretty fed up with the both of them. And they have a White Martian invasion to worry about now, so...

Other Things:

• Nervous Kara was a lot nerdier in her mannerisms than Regular Kara, which I enjoyed a lot.
• "What is that, a toy?" "No, it's expensive." The simple delivery of that very simple line was absolutely hilarious. It doesn’t even really sound like a punchline, but it was so good.
• James Olsen: Professionally Handsome Desk Person.
• Oh, yeah, and Kara/Mon-El stuff happened. But Kara seemed unhappy with it, so I thought it was safe to ignore.
• I miss Lena Luthor.

Read More