rating6

(S01E22) Oh, sorry. Give me a minute to stop crying after that episode. I was crying about William and then I saw the scenes for next week and that just made it worse. Are they allowed to make people cry this much in two episodes in a row, when one of them isn't even the season finale?

Commenter Tomb100 told me last week that Brothers and Sisters had broken into the Top 20 TV shows two weeks ago. That is completely unsurprising to me because this show has gotten so strong. This episode was just excellent. They hit every note.

(S14E14) Oh my. Yau-Man made this season one of the most interesting to watch right up until the final episode. This was nearly the season that proved to me that Survivor should just be retired. But then we got to see some very interesting twists, not the ones by the editing team, which were haphazard and ineffective but by Yau-Man as he became one of the most loveable longshots the game has ever seen.

(S32E19) Cold Open: Bill Hader's Ryan Seacrest impression isn't that accurate. Has the impressions master finally met his match?! I knew Mary Katherine Gallagher would make an appearance at some point in the episode. It wouldn't be a Molly Shannon episode if she didn't. Although I'm not a fan of that character, it was a pleasant moment, if only for the nostalgia. And either Molly Shannon has lost a lot of weight or they couldn't find a top that fit her.

(S10E15) Bounty is one of the funniest SG-1 episodes this season. The Orion Syndicate Lucian Alliance has put a price on SG-1s head, and plenty of bounty hunters want in. Vala was in rare form, Cam got a little action, and Daniel was saved by... a city bus. The show gets the plot out of the way pretty quickly, so we go to relax and watch each member of the team deal with their own personal assassin.

(S07E23) "So now you're building your own?!?" -Catherine

A fan favorite returns. This was only Melinda Clarke's fourth appearance as Lady Heather on CSI, and I'm fascinated with how much they've developed her character in that short time frame. It just proves that good writing can go a long way, especially when the notion of "less is more" is kept in mind.

The episode started off quite unexpectedly, as we were reintroduced to Heather in a situation that didn't exactly jive with her own beliefs. She's a dominatrix, so why has she put herself in a submissive role? Recall what she told her late daughter Zoey in her very first appearance? Something like, give your body and heart to a man but never your power? Well now Heather is ignoring her own advice. Sounds like a good premise for an episode to me.

(S06E21) Okay, before we get much further, can anyone tell me why Lex's super-powered project Ares can turn invisible, has super-strength, can deflect bullets, but has to use a knife? Did that strike anyone else as weird or was it just me? I'm trying not to digress here because I really enjoyed this episode, but a couple of small things nagged at me.

Chief among them was the fact that ... Ares is Helo from Battlestar Galactica! Tahmoh Penikett is a terrific actor who lives in Vancouver, where both Smallville and Battlestar Galactica are shot, but I have a rule of thumb that if one actor is on a fairly popular sci-fi show and then jumps across to another, it's going to rattle a few fanboy brain cells, mine included. If Helo suddenly appeared on say ... Law & Order, it probably wouldn't feel so jarring, but this was a bit distracting for me.

(S03E23) After last week's comment massacre, I was hoping to be able to come on and give this episode a glowing review that would turn the comments from "I wish Jay would die of some sort of exotic fish poisoning" to "thank you for re-affirming why I watch this show by providing a series of highlights from tonight's episode, plus a 7 rating... if you ever need a kidney, email me."

So which is it? More vitriolic bile or an army of willing organ donors? The answer, as always, after the jump...

(S14E13) Will the car curse last another season? Certainly anyone who is a student of Survivor has seen the effect that the car reward challenge can have on the game. But this season, figuring out who would get the curse is tricky. You see, it depends on who you think would be cursed - the person who won or the person who ended up with it. This unique situation along with the fact that Yau-Man was in jeopardy made this episode one of my favorites of the season.

(S01E22) First off, I have to say I love a good flashback. The way tonight's show blended the flashbacks with the current scenes was really well done. For a show that has really become very basic, the level of artistry is very high.

Well, Heather is alive and she's in Nebraska. I've been to Nebraska and, quite frankly, she was better off dead (that's a joke, son). It was great that Heather was able to alert the military to what's happening between Jericho & New Bern but relief is clearly going to come at a price and Robert Hawkins' name is on that price tag. I loved that shot of Heather looking at the flag, that very disturbing looking flag.

(S02E21) I am giving you all fair warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!!!

Great orbs of rapid oxidation that create heat, light and smoke! I go away for one week and all of a sudden everyone is jumping into these shotgun weddings. Last week Luka and Abby got hitched in a last-minute ceremony on ER, and now it seems like Hodgins and Angela are going to be tying the knot very quickly as well. Yes, you read right. Angela finally accepted Jack's proposal for marriage. Funny thing is Jack wasn't even trying to ask her. He was just being his quirky, romantic self. But, it hit the right chord in the lovely Ms. Montenegro. So, a wedding is afoot.

(S08E11) It seems like only yesterday I began using this space to relentlessly make fun of 13 want-to-be models, and now we find ourselves already down to the final four. I feel a sad, little tear forming in the corner of my eye.

If Brittany were here, she'd probably cry with me.

Four remain. Which one of the girls will become America's Next Top Model?

(S08E20) Usually I would say that if Elliot Stabler gets naked, it's gonna be a great episode. I wouldn't call it "great", but it was "good". It's surprising, really, because the topic was incredibly emotional. A man killed his wife and children because his lies were getting out of hand. It's a believable premise because we've seen it played out too many times in the news media (even though L&O didn't promote this one as "ripped from the headlines").

The episode was Elliot-centric, which usually means his family is somehow involved. It was. He saw a man who was bored with his life in Staten Island, so he started making up a new life for himself complete with a fiance who thought he was a CIA agent. Of course, it imploded and, as Dr. Wong said, family killers are so narcissistic that they can't live with the shame of being caught in their lies.

(S03E22) The opening of this episode made me laugh out loud throughout the entire credits. It's things like this that remind me why David E. Kelley is as successful as he is. So brilliant.

The line of the night had to be, "Human rights are so yesterday." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Having Denny and Alan work on this case together was perfect. Without getting on my soapbox, I loved the statement it made about the Iraq war and the current state of the government but more importantly it pointed out that, like Alan & Denny, Americans who have different points of few can all work together for a common goal. As a liberal, who often insists he is right, I consider myself schooled.

(S03E17) Y'know, these mini-mysteries (minsteries?) are growing on me. It's quite possible that not having to worry about a longer and larger storyline gives the writers more time to concentrate on some of the other aspects that make (or made) this show great. Hell, even the relationships are done pretty well -- from me, that's saying something.

(S07E21) So here we are... the next-to-last (or penultimate, if you want to use SAT words) episode of Gilmore Girls. Like I said when the show's demise was first announced, it seems like the show wouldn't be able to wrap up any of their loose ends, especially because the season was already in the can when the announcement was made. But as we found out from one Ms. Lauren Graham, chances were that the show wasn't going to come back, anyway, and the last few episodes were written to function as a season and series finale.