March, 2014
March 1st, 2014, 3:03 p.m. - Eh
7. The Psychopath Test (Jon Ronson)
Up next: Rapture Practice (Aaron Hartzler)
March 2nd, 2014, 1:16 p.m. - "Her head sounds like Pop Rocks"
The Amazing Race - "Back in the Saddle": Nothing outstanding here, but at least we got rid of an annoying team right off the bat. Hopefully that trend will continue. Rating: 3 wedding dresses
How I Met Your Mother - "Rally": Fun, but a little choppy. I always love a good callback to Tantrum, though. Rating: 3 pieces of bacon
Psych - "1967: A Psych Odyssey": I wasn't fully paying attention, so I'm not going to grade the episode, but it was clever. Dul� Hill was especially great. I'm interested to see how the rest of the season goes in terms of changes like Juliet leaving and Lassiter being in charge.
Modern Family - "The Feud": So basically, Phil used Lily to engage in germ warfare. Okay, then. Rating: 3 possums
The Big Bang Theory - "The Table Polarization": One of those episodes that made me giggle a lot. Poor Leonard. He held on really tight until the end. Rating: 4 computers running Windows 98
Scandal - "Ride, Sally, Ride": I really think James is going to die this season. I don't know how they can keep him around. Possibly Sally, too. Leo might be the one to do her in. He'll just say he was possessed. Rating: 3 text messages from Publius
March 8th, 2014, 1:14 p.m. - Jesus is coming, but I really don't think he cares if you drink beer
8. Rapture Practice (Aaron Hartzler)
Up next: The Circle (Dave Eggers)
March 9th, 2014, 5:39 p.m. - It's Hard Out Here for a Shrimp. Brilliant
The Amazing Race - "Baby Bear's Soup": We're 2 for 2 on annoying pairs. Next: Leo and Jamal, please! Rating: 4 bikes
How I Met Your Mother - "Vesuvius": So many great callbacks, especially Swarley and The Wedding Bride. Also, Robin's mom is Tracey Ullman! How cool! Rating: 4 glasses of wine Ted moved away from Lily's wedding dress
Psych - "Shawn and Gus Truck Things Up": I was going to give this a 4, but then I kept remembering things and giggling, so I have to give it a 5. Especially for the running Mystic River joke. Rating: 5 Skittles omelettes
Modern Family - "Spring-a-Ding-Fling": Aisha Tyler! Yay! I hope she comes back. Also, Alex and her friend/future boyfriend's attitudes were spot on. Rating: 4 souvenirs
The Big Bang Theory - "The Friendship Turbulence": So Leonard just bought Penny a car? Um, okay... Rating: 3 times I said, "Why doesn't Raj call the vet from a few episodes ago?"
Scandal - "We Do Not Touch the First Ladies": So much going on, I can barely keep it all straight. But it's kind of awesome. Rating: 4 judgmental First Lady portraits that do NOT approve of your behavior, Mellie and Andrew
March 15th, 2014, 3:06 p.m. - "Tell Joe his old man died as he lived: saving a trainload of people"
The Amazing Race - "Welcome to the Jungle": The rafting seemed a lot more dangerous than most of the tasks on this show. I can't help thinking the producers regretted going that route after so many people ran into trouble. Rating: 3 fake parrots
How I Met Your Mother - "Daisy": I just wanted them to name the baby Daisy, so I'm happy. Rating: 4 cigarette butts that were actually a pregnancy test
Psych - "A Touch of Sweevil": Kind of a meh plot, but great guest stars this week. I've never been a huge Tom Arnold fan, but he was really entertaining. Rating: 3 bottles of hand sanitizer
Modern Family - "Other People's Children": I was wondering why Alex, Manny, and Mitch didn't spend more time together, since they have so much in common. Now we know why. Rating: 3 Belle dresses
The Big Bang Theory - "The Mommy Observation": I was so excited for Laurie Metcalf and a murder-mystery plot. Disappointing on both fronts. Rating: 3 Penny refuses to have
Scandal - "No Sun on the Horizon": Dang, Jake, when did you get so interesting? Rating: 4 double Lincolns from Gettysburger
March 21st, 2014, 6:17 p.m. - "I don't know if we should know everything"
9. The Circle (Dave Eggers)
Up next: The Man in the Rockefeller Suit (Mark Seal)
March 22nd, 2014, 1:22 p.m. - "Oh, fact that Ted got a butterfly tattoo, will you ever stop being hilarious?"
The Amazing Race - "Smarter, Not Harder": The drink Detour was brilliant. Part of that brilliance was putting it in a location full of noise and people, which made it that much harder for the racers to concentrate. And the other option was deceptively easy. I like that even this many seasons in, the task designers are still coming up with some great ones. Rating: 4 broken glasses that indicate Luke's need for anger management
How I Met Your Mother - "Gary Blauman": I liked seeing how some of the previous characters ended up, but this felt like a lot of filler. There are only two episodes left! Let's get with the program! Rating: 3 books of poetry Zabka wrote
Psych - "A Nightmare on State Street": Speaking of only two episodes left and getting with the program... I liked the guest stars, though. Bruce Campbell was as awesome as always, Sutton Foster stole the episode, and William Zabka was even better here than he's been on How I Met Your Mother. Rating: 3 pictures of Martin Sheen that cracked me up
Scandal - "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang": I knew James wouldn't make it to the end of the season. Too bad Jake was the one who had to kill him. Are there any really good people left? I think David might be it. Rating: 4 totally gross kisses between Huck and Quinn
March 29th, 2014, 1:27 p.m. - "You don't want to keep killing dudes." "Yeah, I do. It gets easier"
The Amazing Race - "Can't Make Fish Bite": I was impressed with how many people were able to do the dancing/plate-spinning task successfully. I probably wouldn't have even attempted it. Then again, the alternative was fishing, which is risky because you have little control over it. So this was another leg with good task planning. Rating: 3 very short connections that Brendon and Rachel were really lucky to make
How I Met Your Mother - "The End of the Aisle": Uh...the finale better be really good. Rating: 3 new vows for Marshall and Lily
Psych - "The Break-Up": The perfect finale! I can't think of anything I didn't like. Now I want to go back and rewatch a bunch of episodes. Rating: 5 handfuls of flaxseed
Modern Family - "Las Vegas": Slow at first, but when the comedy of errors started, I loved it. Stephen Merchant was awesome. Rating: 4 female versions of Barkley
Scandal - "Mama Said Knock You Out": STOP IT, HUCK AND QUINN. Rating: 3 Reston T-shirts
March 30th, 2014, 5:28 p.m. - A genuine fraud
10. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit (Mark Seal)
Up next: The Weight of Blood (Laura McHugh)
Too uneven. You'd think a book about a fascinating subject would be more...fascinating.
Hartzler is a great writing, very open and relatable. I think a lot of people who grew up in conservative Christian environments will see themselves in his story. This is a book crying out for a sequel.
Eggers sees your comments about how the Internet is ruining privacy and how we can share too much and raises you a cautionary tale about how social media takes on cult-like proportions, and how we shouldn't worry about the government going all 1984 on us because we're bringing it on ourselves. I would write more, but I need to go check my Twitter.
Remember how I said I wished Jon Ronson had written a more interesting book about psychopaths? Here's a more interesting book about a psychopath.