The Walking Dead - Season 2

Starting off the season the group of survivors from the Season 1 explosion find themselves stuck on the highway. When one of them is lost they decide to reside on a farm in the neighborhood so they can continue looking. 

There you have it, that's the premise of Season 2 and it hardly gets any better than that. As far as zombie apocalypses go The Walking Dead is unique in slowing down the story so much it hardly even leaves a place. Whereas Season 1 was a road trip through zombie nation encountering several diverse groups of people trying to survive, Season 2 is about a farm with a barn and how no one should have kids ever in case zombies take over the world. 

How To Make It In America - Season 2

The second season of the youth's guideline to success is as promising and positive as it's characters' hopes and dreams. Besides endless optimism and ambition, the show supplies a sufficient stream of drama, comedy and underground feel that makes it stand out from the crowd.

A lot of the show's power comes from the idea that this is New York like no one knows it. For those of us that only see it from our tube it's a completely fresh take on the capital of dreams and it feels edgy, raw and exciting.

The 5 Best New Ships You Need To Board

In this day and age, a TV show simply doesn't matter if it's not tweeted, tumbled, facebooked (you get the picture) about. And about 90% of all that talk consists of fans fighting about which couple is the best. Some shows are even based around the mere possibility of fans arguing over who the protagonist belongs with (I'm looking at you TVD fans). So with the big slew of new shows settled in, which couples are the ones that make my heart beat faster? I'll reveal all in this list.
Let me say that I really didn't want to care about ships anymore. Writers seem too aware of their abilities and often leave fans hanging for the sake of hanging rather than the sake of romance. Yet, somehow, these news ships looked pretty enough to start caring for and several episodes later I find myself with banners and matching T-shirts watching these shows, cheering whenever these couples share a scene. I present to you: the best new couples of the fall and why you should ship them too:

Grey's Anatomy S08E09 - Dark Was The Night

Grey's Anatomy is here again. After more than a year of healing we are here again, in that moment where everything can go wrong, where no character is safe from pain or destruction and viewers are doomed to do nothing else but sit and watch. The show is at its best in those moments. But for our emotional well being, it's probably best those moments don't come around every week.
The episode starts off pretty dark with the news that Zola won't be completing Meredith's happy family. It all happens through brief conversations so the impact is minimal, but Meredith's attitude for the remainder of the hour sticks. She did put herself out there for a child and now she's lost it. This woman knows pain.
But she isn't alone. Soon enough another woman will know pain too. Henry is going into surgery and Teddy is fixing mistakes Callie and Jackson made, so Cristina is unknowingly doing the procedure. It makes up for excellent drama as Cristina is being her indifferent self and carelessly witnesses how Henry is slipping away. The tension built there and the horror that arises when Cristina finds out is powerful. It's drama from such a strong level that it's easy to forget how often Shonda Rhimes and her team have put her characters through this. Denny DuQuette has a new buddy.
Another melo-dramatic plot expands as Alex and Meredith are sitting in an ambulance slash timebomb in the middle of the road with a dying newborn while Derek and Arizona are listening on the phone. You prepare for the worst but even that's not good enough. Of course Rhimes went there of course I find myself wondering if there really is a possibility that Alex will meet his end or that the ambulance is going to exploid. This show presents a case, prepares you for what could go wrong, gives you hope and pulls the rug right under you. You do not stand a chance.
And so another moving episode comes to a close, where characters found new issues or faced familiar ones that aren't any easier. And with winter break at our front door, viewers are just left picking up the pieces, of their TV loving self.

How I Met Your Mother S07E09 - Disaster Averted

How ridiculous can it get? No, I'm not going to complain about how How I Met Your Mother is past its prime because this episode had just enough ridicule. I love crazy, as long as it's so crazy that we can all laugh about it. And with bears attacking out of nowhere, you're doing just fine in my book.
This was actually one of the best episodes of the so-so season for How I Met Your Mother. Kevin remained in the background where he belonged and we were actually locked up with the gang, the way it should be.

Gossip Girl S05E06 - I Am Number Nine

What a marvelous episode! It really had everything that makes this show so much fun to watch, including some very stupid mistakes. With a lot of characters acting like spoiled children it's a relief that there are two who make it all worth it. Chuck & Blair are, even when separated, icons of modern day television.
But let's get all the clutter out of the way first. Because there certainly was a lot of during the hour.

Pan Am S01E07 - Romance Languages

One of the best hours of TV of the season. It's impossible to believe a show like Pan Am would have anything to offer but pretty faces and a lot of drama. How mistaken those are that can't see past those factors.  Because behind the pretty faces lie incredible acting chops and an engaging way of storytelling that hasn't been opted since a show had a different kind of airline at the centre.

The Walking Dead S02E04 - Cherokee Rose

While the predictability of the show keeps growing the entertainment value remains constant. The Walking Dead is one of those shows where the slow pace feels right.
Another episode that has some good twists but is just as crazy as it feels real. Throw an Asian in a well to a get a fat zombie out? Sure, we're up for it. Or investigate an empty house by yourself to find a girl? Very smart.

Allen Gregory S01E02 - 1 Night In Gottlieb

The second episode gives us exactly what you expect; more of the same, but in the case of Allen Gregory that's not necessarily a good thing.
One of the reasons I didn't feel like reviewing the first episode was because it was too focused on settling the characters. That's not a bad thing to do for a pilot but it left little room for interpretation of what the show would be about. The teaser suggested it was about this rich kid trying to fit into public school, a premise that held up so well it brought me back for a second episode. Now that the show had time to try on some new stories I'm not sure if Allen Gregory is that kind of show I hoped it would be.

Grimm S01E01 - Pilot

The show starts with a wonderfully recognizable scene that ends quite shockingly. It sets the tone for the show perfectly. It's fantastical and full of references but it's mainly grim.
The introduction of the show's detective couple works rather against me. I hate to think in stereotypes but I can't help it. The black cop is, unfortuntely, characterless. He cracks some jokes but falls short of helping our protagonist or even believing in him. Not to say our lead is interesting. He wants to propose to his girl and has a good eye but through out the rest of the episode he remains functional opposed to actually likable.
The story these characters serve, however, is good enough. Starting with the famous Red Riding Hood tale, Grimm seems to want to tackle every story the brothers wrote and put it in a contemporary setting. And though it was very easy to choose for a child/molestor setting, it worked. But more importantly, it gave us the episode's best character. The werewolf wasn't introduced very naturally (he first attacked and later invited our lead in for a drink) but his flaws, his intention to do good and his fear of being compromised made him very interesting. I actually want to see more of him than anything else.
The main problem of Grimm is that it tried to serve the audience more than anything else. Instead of focusing on characters or explaining the plot, the show went out of its way to have fight scenes, scary faces or shocking shots in it. Most of which weren't necessary for anything. Much of why the Grimm descendants should die isn't explained, for example.
I'm not extremely interested in how the show pans out but even with a bad execution, Grimm still has one of the best concepts of any crime show out there. So I might turn back in, this week. How about you?

How I Met Your Mother S07E08 - The Slutty Pumpkin Returns

How I Met Your Mother is quickly becoming that show I love but can't get rid of while it shamelessly waltzes over my heart. Every. Week.

I don't know why I even bother to get invested in any of the stories this show puts in front of me. It's certainly not for the laughs that, these days, rarely occur, and not for the characters, who start to feel like they come from a Hannah Barbara show. So why hope that a descent guest star and the revisitation of an old, familiar and slightly nostalgic story would straighten things out?