January, 2016
January 9th, 2016, 3:37 p.m. - "Good news: You're an asteroid." "Uh...please tell me what to say next"
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – "Hostage Situation": The A plot was a good idea but wasn't executed very well. The Gina plot went nowhere. The Amy/Terry plot was dumb. Disappointing all around. Rating: 3 questions about lacrosse-team hunks
Modern Family – "Playdates": Please bring back Keegan-Michael Key for future episodes. His dynamic with Ty Burrell was perfect. Great guest stars this week all over. Ray Liotta is, in fact, underrated. Rating: 4 crickets
The Big Bang Theory – "The Sales Call Sublimination": Another showing of a solid guest star. Jane Kaczmarek is good in everything. Also, how long until Howard and Bernadette inevitably have a baby? Rating: 4 asteroids
Top Chef – "Big Gay Wedding": How is Phillip still here? Oh, right, because he makes for good TV. Well, ostensibly. P.S. Shut up, Jason. Rating: 4 undercooked asparagus spears
January 11, 2016, 10:26 p.m. - Peter and the wolf
1. Finders Keepers (Stephen King)
Up next: You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine (Alexandra Kleeman)
January 16th, 2016, 2:33 p.m. - "Why do I have to be the bad guy?" "I don't know. Why am I the pretty one? We all have our thing"
Teen Wolf – "Damnatio Memoriae": I binge-watched the whole series over the past few weeks and now I'm obsessed. I just wish this episode hadn't been so slow. Bonus points for the awesome Stiles/Sheriff Stilinski scene in the morgue, though. Rating: 3 bathtubs
Modern Family – "Spread Your Wings": I still love Alex the best. I'd love to see her make a bunch of friends after this episode and have Haley become jealous. Rating: 4 prom dresses
The Big Bang Theory – "The Empathy Optimization": Character development? What? Sheldon having compassion is so weird. Rating: 4 commemorative T-shirts
Top Chef – "Banannaise": God help me, I think I love Isaac. He's so much fun to watch. I'm also a fan of Marjorie and Karen, so I was happy to see Karen win this week. Now can we be done with Blais, please? Rating: 4 unplated tacos
January 20, 2016, 10:11 p.m. - Is it bad that I want to try a Kandy Kake?
2. You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine (Alexandra Kleeman)
Up next: The Crooked House (Christobel Kent)
January 22nd, 2016, 5:46 p.m. - "Kase!"
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – "9 Days": They've done the stuck-together thing before, but this was still funny. Thank God for Amy, right? I think Jake would be dead by now without her. Rating: 4 plates of horrible ziti
Teen Wolf – "Codominance": This season (or half-season) is off to such a slow start. None of the interesting people are around. Also, sorry, but I really don't care about Hayden. Rating: 3 spears in Kira's shoulder
Supernatural – "The Devil in the Details": I spent the first 50 minutes bored, but during the commercial break before the last scenes, I started wondering if Lucifer might have pulled off a trick. And I was right! Nice twist, and I'm excited to see Misha Collins imitating Mark Pellegrino. Rating: 3 witch-catchers
Top Chef – "Back in the Day": So Phillip's still here because Jason had an existential crisis? What's up with this season? Rating: 4 "unnecessary" pieces of fish
January 28, 2016, 8:15 p.m. - Christobel Kent has Jeffrey Deaver's Can't Stop Using Everyone's Full Name disorder
3. The Crooked House (Christobel Kent)
Up next: The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson (Jeffrey Toobin)
January 30th, 2016, 1:32 p.m. - "I was never fun. You take that back"
The X-Files – "My Struggle"; "Founder's Mutation": I knew the first episode wasn't supposed to be that great, so I was pleased that it was better than I expected. The second episode was better than that, so I was even more pleased. I've been watching a lot of episodes lately, and these weren't on the same level as those, but the idea of this show being back on TV after all these years is pretty cool. Rating: 4 toy rockets
Teen Wolf – "The Sword and the Spirit": You know why this season has been do bleh? No Melissa McCall. I DEMAND MELISSA McCALL. Rating: 3 flames in Parrish's eye
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – "The Cruise": Pontiac Bandit! I always love seeing Doug Judy (and Craig Robinson, for that matter.) My one complaint about this episode was the misuse of Niecy Nash. But the fact that Niecy Nash was there at all kind of makes up for it. Rating: 5 tangs
Supernatural – "Into the Mystic": Dee Wallace? Awesome. Deaf legacy hunter? Awesome. Two capable, smart women who could easily make another appearance? Super-awesome. Rating: 4 banshee-killing blades
Top Chef – "Where's the Beef?": Seriously, who caters an event called Beefsteak with something other than beef? These people are dumb. Rating: 3 Instagram likes
I'm happy that King decided to write a trilogy featuring such great characters. I enjoyed them in Mr. Mercedes and enjoyed them again in this. I also really liked the addition of Pete, who I hope turns up in the third book. I took forever reading this, but it's a good start for a new year of reading.
Only okay. Too weird for me. And I usually like weird.
Too much going on here. Too many characters, too many crimes, too much unnecessary stuff. A couple of good twists, but not enough to make up for the rest.