(S04E08) "I'm not a cowboy. I'm just a field agent." - David

I never thought I'd say it, but the cases on Numb3rs have officially taken a back-seat to the personal lives of the main characters. The cases just aren't that interesting anymore. Come on! A Paris Hilton wannabe with daddy issues. Big deal. I practically wanted to throw my glass of soda at the TV screen when Megan figured out that the daughter was behind it all -- 45 minutes into the episode! Could it have been more obvious? It doesn't help that Charlie's math (the centerpiece of the show) has been relegated to him just sort of being there, rattling off a few complicated theories every now and then. However, Don and his gang are now more interesting than they've ever been.

(S04E08) "You want me to fake a heart attack? I do a great fake heart attack." - Sloan

Oh my god, me writing this is like totally like a term paper! Hellooo stereotypes and clichés! Who thought of this idea? Let's compare the show to high school? Cliques, cheerleaders, nerds, best friends, secrets, sex, and jocks. Weren't these types of comparisons blatantly obvious without all the teeny-boppers running around? The only thing that was missing was a prom... wait, that already happened. It got to the point where I was yelling at the TV, "Ooh ooh, this is gonna be a principal's office joke!" And it was. However, if you can look past the high school level writing that went into this episode, it was actually pretty good.

(S04E09) "Looks like someone found some fresh meat at the market." - Drama

Once again, another episode that didn't really have anything major going on. It was good though. It had some funny story lines and kept up with this trend of character development. We got tons this time around from Eric, Mrs. Ari, Vince, and Drama. Overall, the show is really establishing itself as more than just the story of Vince. It's broadening out in all directions, and even though I'm looking forward to the culmination of the season at Cannes, I'm looking forward to where everyone else ends up too.

(S04E08) "Yeah... let me, um, just put the axe away." - Tommy

Well it's about time. This is the Rescue Me I remember. Granted, Tommy never got drunk, but there were moments where it sure felt like he was. From the fight with Janet, to the onslaught of all his ghosts at once, to running into that fire all by himself, Tommy seems to be back to normal. Sort of.

I suppose we should talk about the ghosts first. They've been far and few between all season, but it was all building up to this. The only missing spook? Connor. But that makes sense to me at least because Tommy never sat down with his late son and got advice from him like he did with Jimmy.

But everyone else, including Jimmy, was there. Billy (all the way from season one) along with that other unnamed firefighter who died in 9/11, Johnny, and even Jerry. Although it wasn't Jack McGee in the chair, from the backside it was clearly meant to look like him. What are the ghosts up to these days? Poker and lighting themselves on fire.

(S04E08) "So... you've come to acquire my newly acquired desk." - Gary Busey

I'm starting to get the impression that the goal of this season of Entourage wasn't to create some huge season long story. Most of the season four episodes have been one-shots, with little connection to an over arching plot. Instead we've gotten boatloads of character development and this was no exception. Eric is going legit (finally) and it proves to be harder than he thought since it seems the only person in Hollywood who knows him is Vince. That story, while great, pales in comparison to the return of Gary Busey though. I guess Turtle's previous prediction of Gary "flying off the planet" didn't quite pan out.

(S04E08) If this keeps up, the current season of The OC won't just rival the first -- it'll beat it. Everything that was great about this show in its debut season has returned. The writing is stronger than either of the middle seasons and it seems clear that Josh Schwartz and Co. are flexing their creative muscles fully knowing that this may be their last chance to do so. Seth's dry wit is in full force. The storylines are funny again (no more Marissa to bring it all down). But they're believable storylines too. And the relationships? I actually care about them again.

To illustrate what I'm saying, just look at this episode. It ripped a page right from the Alias playbook and gave us an opening scene only to jump back seven hours earlier. Before this season, I would have never expected to see something like that on The OC.

(S04E08) I'm really loving this season. Might be the best one since the first. The whole exploration of the McNamara family and their issues is far more compelling than any of the Quentin/Carver stuff. It's not that I disliked last season, I just think this kind of material works better for Nip/Tuck.

This was a really well crafted episode. It brought back a wonderful character in Mrs. Grubman and we got a rare glimpse into Sean's childhood. Plus, the surgery du jour was none other than young Conor McNamara, something that's been causing tension between Sean and Julia since the child's birth. On top of that, Peter Dinklage was back and Mo'Nique guest starred as Mrs. Grubman's sassy live-in nurse. Sounds like a winning combination right?