Weekly TV Recap

Look for the TV Recap every Tuesday night!

Glee came back in a big way with The Break-Up episode. You knew it was bound to happen. Long distance rarely works … especially when graduating seniors are heading off to college and/or the real world. After four months of radio silence from Finn and a lot of attention from upperclassman Brody, Rachel had purchased her tickets to Splitsville. Kurt got the companion pass as his job at Vogue opened new avenues for him that didn’t feature hometown boyfriend Blaine (who sought comfort on his own). Blaine and Finn show up in NYC and the break-ups were underway – including a heart-wrenching performance of Teenage Dream. Back in Lima, Santana returned to levy the boom on an unsuspecting Brittany. Even the adults were immune as Will’s new commission position is taking him away from Lima briefly and from Emma (although I think these two will end up back together). This episode alone almost redeemed this season for me.

The New Girl and Raising Hope were some of my favorites last season and in their second season they aren’t disappointing. Schmitt impersonating a Romney was laugh-out loud funny. I hope that postpone Jess and Nick getting together. I think it’s too early in the show’s run for that kind of couple … although it is obvious that it’s moving in that direction. Raising Hope came back as zany as ever (I can’t believe I just wrote the word zany but I think it is strangely apropos).

I missed The New Normal to give The Mindy Project a second chance. It wasn’t worth it – definitely the weak link in an otherwise strong comedy night. From now on it’s FOX from 8:00 – 9:30 and then over to NBC at 9:30 for The New Normal. Sorry Mindy.

I liked the twist of being able to steal a contestant over on The Voice. I think it will help keep the battle rounds interesting. Based on last night’s show, the coaches did an excellent job of picking teams AND musicians to help them work with the teams. Michael Buble (Team Blake), Mary J. Blige (Team Adam), Rob Thomas (Team Cee-lo) and Green Day’s  Billie Joe Armstrong(Team Christina) all added some valuable advice to the contestants. This show keeps getting better.

And so does 666 Park Avenue. I like the direction the show is heading. The subplot with the birds was sufficiently creepy and there are enough questions to keep you guessing. I’ll be watching.

And of course, I can’t end without talking about Once Upon a Time. I was worried at the end of last season, when magic returned that the show would have nowhere to go. However, it reinvented itself in a good way. I hope Mary Margaret/Snow and Emma aren’t trapped in the Enchanted Forest for the entire season. I also appreciated Charming’s explanation for David’s wishy-washiness. Charming is clearly more heroic and I’m glad to see he’s really back (and heroic is also pretty damn hot).