TV Reviews

Oh, yay, more garbage from The X-Files reboot. Not only did we get a recycled monster of the week, it was hand-waved away in favor of even more baby drama from Dana Scully! I thought we got rid of this crap a long, long time ago. Wishful thinking, I guess.

We’ve sorted through our DVR to bring you the five best episode of television that you may have missed this week. The Simpson Trial returns to TV, The Muppets are back with a new showrunner, Black Sails weathers a storm, and more!

Shades Of Blue explores the cause and effect of crime and punishment in Equal and Opposite, Newton’s third law of motion. In TV drama, a cause must have a powerfully unequal response. Dramatic laws are much closer to life; completely unfair.

Well this series is definitely blurring the lines of who to root for. Obviously the “Visitors” aka alien invaders are the big baddies, but they have yet to be revealed on the show. So we’re left watching our fellow humans running around, scrambling to get the upperhand.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has never been nominated for an Emmy, nor have any of its cast. But after last night’s episode, they must consider Glenn Howerton for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for his role as Dennis.

When I first heard of FX’s latest, American Crime Story, and that it was to be focusing on the infamous O.J. Simpson trial, I was skeptical. I’m pretty excited to report that they pretty much nailed it.

The Muppets are back from their winter hiatus or as they best referred to it, a much needed vacation. Feeling refreshed and repurposed the team is anxious to get the first show back underway.

It’s great to have the Huang’s back. There’s plenty of fantastic dark drama on the schedule but you have to dig the family that solves their problems with creative effort and loving cooperation.

Agent Carter goes for backstory in “Smoke & Mirrors” to give context to all that espionage. It’s a solid episode with the usual balance between action and intrigue with the added bonus of a little patriarchy smashing.

It had to come at some point. As the saying goes, “All good streaks must come to an end.” OK, that might not technically be the way the saying goes, but the sentiment stands: The Grinder had a mediocre-to-bad episode.

Paula’s back…and I like it! She was adulting too much, responsibility and sensibility doesn’t really suit her. Instigating and pushing psychotic ideas into Rebecca’s head is more like it.

Last week’s episode of Supergirl served up a strong episode but left a lot of strings hanging. Last night in “Bizarro,” this same pattern holds true. These episodes are so fun but it’s only a matter of time before the love triangles, mentors, and secret identities come to a head at the end of the season and who knows how that will fair.

Superstore continues to shape the characters, their relationships with each other, and our connection to them, but this episode isn’t exactly the strongest of their freshman season — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable.

Lucifer returns to the streets of Los Angeles, populated by deceptive people in Lucifer Stay, Good Devil. Fox’s Prince of darkness is driven by mystery and desire; otherwise, he’s a demon of his word. A great element of the show’s fun is watching him explore and audit the naughty realm of human desire.

Well, so far two-thirds of The X-Files reboot is phenomenal. Two out of three episodes have been self-aware without being self-conscious. “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” is the perfect blend of in-jokes, existentialism, and monsters.

This week’s episode of USA’s new series Colony was a step back in the right direction after a mostly “meh” second episode. Don’t mistake me, I wasn’t blown away, but they planted some interesting story seeds this episode that have me curious enough to keep following.

Shades Of Blue digs deeper into Loman’s heart as the man is torn between the colors he represents in “Who Can Tell Me Who I Am” Santos wakes after an intimate evening with AFA Nava. So far, he and Cristina seem to be the most innocent characters of the show.

I can’t think of three back to back episodes I’ve enjoyed as much on first watch as I did the first three episodes of season eleven of Sunny. But the fourth episode felt disjointed and short on laughs.

Agent Carter is back for real now! Hurray! I’m throwing streamers and serving cake! “Better Angels” saw the return of not only the series’ stylistics, but a proper mystery plot, and some complex characterization as well.

In a follow up to last week’s cliffhanger, The Grinder delivers its funniest and best episode yet. I would say, if you haven’t seen the show, or want to recommend an episode to someone, this is a great place to start. It works within the framework of the cliffhanger but it also works as an entry point.

Supergirl is at its best when it builds on the emotions of its strong characters while still creating a contained villain-of-the-week plot, and last night that is exactly what the show delivered.

Superstore is rolling along nicely and the show is turning out to be a sweet show with a very strong cast of comedic actors. Like dating, I have reached a point with Superstore, where I am ready to commit. It is the seventh episode, after all.

Lucifer is the most fun you’ll have watching television since Ash returned to slay the evil dead. The fallen angel, in the form of a handsome, piano playing Brit, complete with a devilish smile, takes a vacation from his duties running hell to spend some quality time with the mortals in L.A.

Let’s get one thing straight, The X-Files —if you promise me a monster-of-the-week I better frickin’ get a monster-of-the-week. “Founder’s Mutation” was mytharc masquerading under one-off mystery.

There are some people that need craziness in their life to feel a bit of excitement. If Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Monday nights was what you were missing, fear no more. Golden Globe winner, Rachel Bloom is back! Rebecca and the gang get in to some weird situations as they all plan a beach day which is no surprise anything less than unconventional.

This X-Files revival was concocted explicitly for ratings which still has me on guard. The second thing that has me on guard? To be overdramatic about it: The X-Files is a foundational piece of my soul.

The second episode of a series can make or break a show. The pilot, a single dot on a chart, can stand or fall on its own. But once the second episode airs, lines must connect to plot a clear direction. Unfortunately I’m not sure that this episode sends us in the best direction.

Shades Of Blue peels back some Woz layers in False Face, False Heart, and the FBI puts pressure on Santos and Stahl to deliver actionable evidence against Woz immediately. It turns out; Woz had a daughter of his own.

Yes. After eleven seasons, we got the best/worst sex scene Sunny fans have ever experienced. And I’m not even sure it was real. Let me explain.

If you’re so over gratuitously gruesome crime shows, Limitless is here for you with kittens on pedestals, cool dinosaur toys, and a whole lot of unsolved hugs and cuddles.