One of the most brilliant aspects of The Slap's crackerjack opening hour - one, amongst many - is its structure. Built in similar vein to its Australian counterpart (and, for that matter, the book all of this is based off of), NBC's The Slap presents 8 hours of TV told from separate character perspectives of a singular event: the titular slap. Of the two hours seen, the pilot excites the most. It's most lofty claim to thrill is perhaps a middle-aged man's thoughts - only thoughts, mind you - of an affair with a younger woman. And yet, as you painstakingly wait for the inevitable shoe to drop - studying the intricate dynamics of a woefully dysfunctional New York family - it's one of the most visceral, thrilling and nerve-racking hours of television in years.
There are moments of true heft and drama in "What The World Needs Now," but the show still feels like it's figuring out how to run without stumbling, not realizing that the finish line is six feet ahead.
It's easy to rally behind the importance of a show without first determining whether or not the show itself is worth your time. ABC's Fresh Off The Boat tells the story of an Asian-American family moving from Washington, D.C. to Orlando, Florida so the family can run a cowboy themed restaurant. It's the first Asian-American-focused television series in twenty years, and it's based off of former lawyer, current chef Eddie Huang's memoir of the same name. And it's definitely not worth your time.
Jane Lynch's reign of terror (Love? Questionable adult behavior? All of the above?) continued in this week's two-parter, which hopefully doesn't mean the end to her over-the-top shenanigans as Glee enters its final episodes.
Parks and Recreation enters the middle of its farewell season with a few big shake-ups and a Gryzzlbox full of enjoyable in-jokes for hardcore fans. Treat Yo Self, indeed.
With an emphasis on Glee's wonderfully bizarre story arcs - and a smaller, but hugely enjoyable, music presence - "The Hurt Locker, Part One" unleashes Jane Lynch into every storyline possible with vigorously entertaining results.
There's a lot going on for 12 Monkeys in "Mentally Divergent," the somewhat awkwardly named second episode of the series. The pilot, which left me somewhat cold, felt too standoffish when anything with the vaguest hint at mythology and backstory came into play. Episode 2, however, manages to balance subtle hints to some big answers coming down the pipeline and maintain a brisk pace while doing so.
Though it occasionally feels like most of these actors have outgrown the show that launched many of their careers, Poehler and Offerman remind us in "Leslie & Ron" that there's plenty of substantial material left to mine in ol' Pawnee.
During Galavant's fifth episode, the group comes across a group of musically-inclined monks (they've taken a vow of singing, obviously) who welcome Gal, Isabella, and Sid into their church as a last stop on the way to saving Valencia from King Richard. "Can't we just have a normal adventure," asks Galavant as the monks introduce one another through rhymes, "Weird Al" Yankovic hilariously leading the pack. Given that we're in the home stretch of Galavant's first season, I'd say that's a hard no, Gal. But where he suffers, we gain, as the show continues on the up-and-up, continuously hilarious, smart, and unexpectedly deep.
