Terrific TV Tuesday

Glee

Well, it was only a matter of time, but Glee has finally done the impossible. They have made an episode that I was able to enjoy without a need to constantly complain. They still straddled their line between drama and parody, but they managed to pull it off today, and I'm still not entirely sure how. 

The dramatic moments, like Rachel's moment with Finn in the nurses office, or Quinn's inner conflict as she and Finn circled the ghost light in the auditorium, were touching and almost real without the forced cheese or sappiness that Glee usually tries to cram into it's meaningful bits. 

The moments of comedic parody, like the girls sleepover and their ridiculous pajamas or the girl fight in the hall were outlandish without being over the top. In fact, the whole episode was fairly low key. Nobody got together, nobody broke up, nobody had any huge dramatic fights. Even the moment I was expecting to turn into the disaster, Kurt admitting his feelings for Blaine, played out like a couple of mature high school students discussing their relationship. The whole episode just worked. It might have had something to do with the fact that they left out Sue and her insanity, but the episode just worked for me. In fact, they left out all of the adults and their oddly messed up lives. That may have been the key. I really don't care about Mr. Shu. 

The only part of the episode that really gave me pause was Santana's arbitrary voice over while she plotted against Finn and Quinn. Trust me, a pointed glance would have sufficed. Her character is pretty straightforward. Jealous. Easy. Jerk. Now listen to her voice over and let me know if you find any part of it that isn't summed up by those three words. 

All in all, a rare win for Glee. 

Raising Hope

It's finally back, and for tonight's first episode since winter hibernation, Raising Hope did not disappoint. It was the same mix of touching family values and hilarious trailer trash comedy that I have come to expect out of the Chance family, with just the right amount of Sabrina drama thrown in. 

I'm anxious to see if they bring Jimmy's new friend back for future episodes, or if it was a one time gag. This is one of those rare shows where I think I'd be ok with either decision. They've established a strong enough world where he could play a recurring villain without it seeming like a forced multi-episode arc or contracted guest appearance. That said, if Justin never was in another episode, I wouldn't feel betrayed by the writers since they have firmly established a pattern of stand alone episodes.

Either way, I'm glad Hope is back!

White Collar

I haven't actually seen this one yet, as it doesn't come out here on the West Coast for another couple of minutes, but I'm just going to go ahead and assume it managed to meet/exceed my standards once again. I'll post more details if necessary tomorrow.