HIMYM: The Final Season S9 Episodes 1, 2 & 3 Recap

Aw our babies are growing up.

And by growing up I mean making horrible life decisions like actual grown-ups do. They're adults now, so the MacLaren's gang doesn't get to go on wild adventures without consequences anymore...

or do they?

Let's recap:

OUAT: Can a new locale save the show? S3Ep1

It's the season of change: colder weather bringing with it the brand new fall TV schedule. Of course, like always the perennial favorites are still there. 'Once Upon a Time' began with a novel idea--what if fairy tales were real? What if an evil queen had cast a curse and forced fairy tale characters to live in our world as ordinary people? What if multiple world exists? All of these questions were sufficient to make the first season of 'Once Upon a Time' an intriguing premise. But last season it seemed like a lot of the same thing. Continued flashbacks to characters' fairy tale pasts made slightly less interesting by the fact that said characters now all remembered who they were. At least the end of the second season had a twist--Henry, the birth son of the Savior and the adoptive son of the Evil Queen, was kidnapped and brought to Neverland.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the series has been the attempted redemption of the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla). This season should be particularly fascinating as 'good' and 'evil' join forces to try and save Henry.

Other ABC shows are trying to revitalize by moving their characters to different locations: in this week's premiere of 'Castle' Beckett moved from New York to DC.

Is a  new locale exactly what 'Once Upon a Time' needs to recover from its sophomore slump? 

Horrible Things on Downton Abbey: Season 3 Episode 7

In the never-ending story of misery that is 'Downton Abbey', more horrible things continue to happen to the Crawley family.

Season 3, Episode 7*:

Horrible Things on Downton Abbey: Season 3 Episode 6

In the never-ending story of misery that is 'Downton Abbey', more horrible things continue to happen to the Crawley family.

Season 3, Episode 6:

Horrible Things on Downton Abbey: Season 3 Episode 5

In the never-ending story of misery that is 'Downton Abbey', more horrible things continue to happen to the Crawley family.

Season 3, Episode 5:

Horrible Things on Downton Abbey: Season 3 Episode 4

In the never-ending story of misery that is 'Downton Abbey', more horrible things continue to happen to the Crawley family.

Season 3, Episode 4:

Horrible Things on Downton Abbey: Season 3 Episode 3

In the never-ending story of misery that is 'Downton Abbey', more horrible things continue to happen to the Crawley family.

Season 3, Episode 3*:

Horrible Things on Downton Abbey: Season 3 Episode 2

In the never-ending story of misery that is 'Downton Abbey', more horrible things continue to happen to the Crawley family.

Season 3, Episode 2*:

HIMYM: The Final Page Part One & Two

'How I Met Your Mother': "The Final Page" (S8Ep11&12)

Tonight's Vocabulary: 'Pit Person' (n)--the one person in your life who you want to get rid of so badly you're willing to throw them in a pit in your basement, a la 'Silence of the Lambs'.

'How I Met Your Mother' references its canon again and again in one of the most important episodes of the series.

As those of you who regularly watch the show know, Barney and Robin have both been spinning out of control over the last several episodes. Unfortunately, instead of spinning together they seemed to be spinning further and further apart. Yet we, as loyal viewers, knew that something had to bring them together. Why? Because at the end of last season's finale (S7) a flash-forward revealed that Robin marries Barney*.

The first ten episodes of Season Eight definitely did everything in their power to dissuade us from believing that truth. First, Barney and Robin drunkenly kissed...and Robin rejected him. Then Barney told Robin that he was letting her go...once and for all. Robin's reaction to that was less than favorable, and she began to realize her true feelings for Barney. But she never had time to act upon them, because Barney started dating Robin's "arch-nemesis" Patrice (for a more thorough description of the beginning of Season Eight go HERE).

"The Final Page" was a two-part episode (episodes 11 and 12) and was also the winter finale for the show. In actuality, the climax of the episode felt very much like a season finale, but since the show may not be renewed for a ninth season (and since it would have been painful to watch the writers attempt to drag out the tension much longer), this was a perfect time to air the episode.**

HIMYM: The Over-Correction (S8Ep10)

'How I Met Your Mother': "The Over-Correcting" (S8Ep10)

Tonight's vocabulary:  'Over-Correcting' (vb)--when you've been hurt by someone you've dated so you date their complete opposite.

Tonight 'How I Met Your Mother' showed that it can still deliver.

The episode shifted the group dynamic but somehow managed to be better aligned with the general tone of the show than the last several episodes.

In last night's episode, "The Over-Correction", Robin's worst fears were realized. Barney was actually dating Patrice.

Or was he?

Robin's determination to discover whether Barney really had feelings for her co-worker (and arch-nemesis) carried most of the plot.

A Very Castle Christmas: Secret Santa (S5Ep9)

So, that's it until January folks. The final pre-winter hiatus episode of 'Castle' has aired.

It's doing very well on Hulu this morning, but actually fared very poorly on TV last night. The show hit an all time low (1.7 in the 18-49 category). Yet another example of how Nielsen ratings aren't the be all end all anymore. There's some interesting commentary about last night's 'Castle' and it's ratings HERE. I think the takeaway message is that we can maybe kinda sorta blame that Blake Sheldon Christmas special for the low numbers.

"Secret Santa" (S5Ep9) was a tad reminiscent of a 2007 episode of 'Bones' ("The Santa in the Slush"). However, this was mainly because both episodes were Christmas-themed, they both included a not so jolly Santa, and they both had their main characters stand under mistletoe. However, that's where the similarities stopped.

HIMYM: Lobster Crawl..."But he's her lobster!"

You know how sometimes something is really, really stupid but it makes you laugh anyway?

That describes last night's HIMYM in a nutshell.

"Lobster Crawl" (S8Ep9) opened with an exchange that was so ridiculous that I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or turn off my TV.

Since this season of "HIMYM" has been incredibly uneven (both in quality and in tone) I decided to bear with it.

I still can't decide if I'm pleased with that decision.

The episode opened with the gang (plus baby Marvin) hanging out at the bar.

HIMYM Season 8 Premiere: Farhampton

The premiere of 'How I Met Your Mother' once again disappointed. Craig Thomas and Carter Bays are well-known for dropping tantalizing hints only to snatch them away a moment later. Unfortunately, this time they may have led us on for an entire summer which, to mix my analogies, may be the last straw.

Eh, who am I kidding. Obviously I'm going to keep watching this season of 'HIMYM', but I was seriously frustrated by the premiere.

First things first, we once again began with a flash forward, and we were once again at Barney and Robin's wedding. It's in a little town called Farhampton (way to be obvious that this moment's far away

Watch This: Bunheads

'Bunheads', despite it's ridiculous name, is one of the best new shows of the summer. It comes from Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of 'Gilmore Girls'.

The main character is Michelle (Sutton Foster). A talented dancer who once performed with ABT dance company, she is now a burned out Vegas dancer. When Michelle gets rejected from an audition without even being allowed to dance, she understands that she is now considered "too old". Desperate and drunk, she agrees to marry a man she hardly knows, and moves to a sleepy coastal town.

Once Michelle arrives in the town, she discovers that the man lives with his mother, Fanny, who was once herself a successful dancer. Fanny (Kelly Bishop) is also the town's sole dance teacher.

SPOILER: Who Died in the Eighth Season Finale of Grey's Anatomy

SPOILERS Recap of Grey's Anatomy: Flight

I am completely in shock. Not only did they kill off a main character, but they did it in the first fifteen minutes! Lexie died while holding Mark's hand, and while he promised her that he really did love her (not just because she was dying). Shortly after that, Mark went into severe shock, presumably due to the massive blunt force trauma that he suffered on his chest. Everyone had been completely unaware of it, because he was walking around as though he wasn't injured at all. Meanwhile, Derek's hand was severely injured, and Meredith pulled it closed by weaving a safety pin in and and out of his skin. Thank goodness we didn't actually have to watch that happening.

The episode ended with a massive cliffhanger.

Hart of Dixie: The Big Day

Lots happened in tonight's finale of 'Hart of Dixie', but before we go there, let's get to the good news: the show was renewed for a second season! Thank goodness, because with the massive cliffhanger we were left with a lack of renewal would have made the entire season feel like a huge waste of time.

In case you've missed other episodes, here's a quick recap of important issues that have been raised this season and were addressed in tonight's finale:

HIMYM: The Magician's Code

Lots of exciting things happened on tonight's 'How I Met Your Mother'. Some of them were very expected, and at least one of them was a little less expected. If you haven't seen the episode yet, don't read what follows, because it has massive spoilers.

Castle: Always

Season 4, Episode 23

Castle and Beckett are finally in a good place, in fact they might have...a date? Alexis is graduating from high school, and will be busy partying with her classmates after the ceremony. Martha is going out of town to see friends. And Castle is planning a movie marathon to drown his sorrows. He invites Beckett, and she accepts!

Unfortunately, it seems like the date might be put on hold.

Monday Nights are Tricky

I just realized that I've been failing miserably at recapping two of my favorite shows. 'Bones' and 'HIMYM' have kind of fallen by the wayside, and I apologize for that. Monday nights are hard, y'all.

Actually, what's hard about Mondays is the fact that everything I want to watch (besides NBC's Thursday night comedy line-up, and the random assortment of shows I watch on all the other networks), is now relegated to Mondays. And it's the start of the week. And while I could previously watch almost everything I ever wanted (except for 'Castle') on a Thursday night, and not feel guilty about going to bed at an ungodly hour (who goes to bed at a reasonable time on a Thursday night? Not my frat-boy neighbors), now that's impossible. Because there's swanky new TV scheduling out there which makes my Mondays look like this:

8 pm: Quick, pick, do you want to watch 'HIMYM' (CBS) or 'Bones' (FOX)?
8:30 pm: If you watched 'HIMYM' this is now a half hour of free time to recap/discuss/debate that 'HIMYM' episode--but let's be honest, you probably went with 'Bones' and that's an hour long so...
9 pm: 'Bones' is over. Sometimes you might watch 'Hart of Dixie' (CW), except, let's be honest, ratings aren't so hot and it's probably going to get cancelled. Plus, you're hungry, and 'Castle' starts in 45 minutes. And you could have just spent this past hour recapping/discussing/debating 'Bones', but now it's an hour later so...
10 pm: Hey, it's time for 'Castle'. Sometimes commercials are used for writing a blog post, because (honestly) you feel kind of guilty about not doing anything else. <--This is how 'Castle' posts end up showing up every week, FYI.
11 pm: Well, that's over, and technically it's probably time to go to sleep, because there's this thing called work that happens in the morning. And will continue happening every morning for the next four days. Because it's only Monday.

I leave you with this, a song about hating Mondays. Which I feel kind of bad about posting, because I now realize (post Googling) it may actually be about some school shooting that happened in the '80s. But let's just focus on the hating Mondays aspect.

Castle and Zombies and Beckett, Oh My!

 "Undead Again", Season 4 Episode 22

Tonight's 'Castle' gave us something we haven't had in weeks: hope.

During the last several episodes (read my recaps HERE and HERE) Castle has been pulling further and further away from Beckett, and she has been too hurt to do anything about it. To refresh your memory, it all started when Castle overheard Beckett say that she remembered everything about her shooting that happened at the end of last season. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that Castle told her he loved her, and for the past 21 episodes Beckett has been pretending she didn't hear it. When Castle realized that she had heard it, he assumed she had ignored it because she didn't feel the same way. Since he had been going for weeks on the assumption that she returned his feelings, but wasn't "ready yet", this stung a bit. And so, he decided that last night's case would be their last one together. Ever.

And it was a doozy. At first, it seemed like they were dealing with a rather simple murder. A trader was murdered at 4 am in a parking structure, and everything pointed to his disgruntled co-worker who had been turned down for a promotion. Everything, that is, until said co-worker was found chained in his apartment, ranting that zombies had killed the trader.

Castle rather typically immediately latched onto this. Zombies! Something he could talk about endlessly. And Castle is always at his best when the murder leads to oddball theories. He told his mother that he'd decided that this would be his last hurrah, and he was thrilled that it was an interesting case. He admitted to Beckett that he was glad it wasn't a boring one, and also told the medical examiner (sarcastically) that he would "treasure these special moments [they'd] shared"--this definitely made Beckett suspicious that something was going on, but due to the tense relationship they've had during the past several weeks, she didn't ask him anything.

It wasn't just the co-worker's words that made them suspect zombies, it was security camera footage that Ryan found. It showed a zombie going after the man. As the gang stood around discussing this probability Espositio told Castle it was good to see that he and Beckett were getting along again. In reality, it was because he had decided it was his last case, and that he would be leaving, that Castle was acting so friendly with everyone (even Beckett). His mother's statement earlier in the episode, that he had been flaunting women around just to punish Beckett, also got to him. Beckett certainly recognized that he was more like his old self, it would be hard not to since he was back to his usual schoolyard teasing ways. When Ryan asked him if he really believed in zombies, he admitted that he didn't, but he loved to tell Beckett that he did.

They found out that the murdered man had texted a woman the night that he died. When they questioned her, she admitted that she used to date him, but that she was now engaged to a law student. She had briefly cheated on her fiancé with the man, but once her fiancé found out she had broken it off. The trader wouldn't take no for an answer and kept texting her. This, of course, made them immediately suspect the law student, but it turned out he had an airtight alibi. He had been studying in the library during the exact hours of the murder.


By tracking where the murdered man had been that night, Beckett and Castle went to examine an abandoned warehouse. While they were there they were suddenly surrounded by zombies! Beckett pulled out her gun, but Castle pointed out it wouldn't be enough to kill them all. Caught up in the moment, they both panicked. Castle, proving that he still cared about Beckett more than he wanted to admit, yelled at her to get behind him. It was this order that made Beckett realize how absurd the whole situation was, and she immediately yelled "NYPD". The zombies all stopped being zombies, and turned into normal people. They admitted that they were doing some event called 'zombie walking', where they pretended to be zombies, and chased the 'normals'. Beckett ordered them all to the precinct for questioning.


They talked to a lot of the zombies, including some who were clearly high on drugs. After showing the picture of the zombie in question to all of them, one guy finally identified him as Kyle. But when Ryan and Espositio burst into Kyle's apartment, he was dead. And still decked out in zombie makeup. The paramedics brought him to the morgue, and Beckett and Castle showed up to the attend the autopsy. Castle tentatively asked the medical examiner if it was possible the guy really had been a zombie, and right as Beckett was telling him not to be absurd, the medical examiner cut into Kyle and he woke up. He jumped off the table and ran away, and Beckett chased him down the hall, screaming at Castle to call for backup. 


But Kyle wasn't really a zombie, it turned out he had been given high doses of a drug similar to a roofie. Except, with this drug the person stays conscious and becomes highly suggestible. It is actually known as the 'zombie drug'. As the drug leaves their system they lose all memory of what has taken place and can even go into a coma. This is what happened to Kyle.


Beckett remembers that some of the 'zombies' they questioned were high, and she brings one in for questioning. He admits their dealer is the law school student. Beckett realizes that he dosed Kyle and told him to kill the trader. She tells Castle she's afraid that it's the perfect crime. and he assures her there is no such thing. 


Because it's Castle, he comes up with a perfect plan. They trick the law school student into thinking both he and Kyle have been released. They then put Kyle's make-up on Castle, and he 'attacks' the law student, causing him to admit everything. 


Kyle is released from jail, and Beckett tells him the DA may not even press charges. He was completely manipulated by the law school student. After Kyle leaves, Castle tells Beckett he doesn't know how Kyle will ever get over it--you don't forget really tragic events. Beckett's eyes widen slightly, as though she realizes that Castle knows she has a memory of what happened during her shooting. She tells him, clearly talking about herself as much as Kyle, that it will be very hard, but that with therapy he will learn to live with it. Castle admits that he didn't realize that she was in therapy, and she tells him she didn't want anyone to know, she just wanted to do what she had to and then move on. She also admits that she is almost ready to deal with everything that happened that day. She then pauses, looks Castle right in the eye, and states "everything". Clearly she is talking about his statement of love, and they both know it, although nothing is said directly. Castle says he hopes that's true. Beckett then asks him, showing that she realizes his behavior has been slightly suspicious that day, if he will be in again tomorrow. And he promises he will.

The episode ends with that--a promise of a tomorrow, and a conversation (however much was left unsaid) that insinuates a reconciliation between Castle and Beckett. 

SPOILERS

The promo for next week's season finale suggests that Castle and Beckett will finally get even closer! The episode is titled 'Always', and it will finally deal again with Beckett's mother's murder. This is the one secret that Castle is still keeping from Beckett. He promised unknown forces that he would stop Beckett from investigating and that in return they would let her live. She doesn't know any of this, and if she did, the secret would surely tear them apart again. In the next episode, Beckett will learn what Castle was keeping from her. Beckett will quite the police force to investigate on her own. And we will have another declaration of love on Castle's part, as well as the possibility of them finally getting together. At the very least, I think we can finally expect a kiss. See if I'm right next week. 'Castle' airs on Mondays at 10/9C on ABC.

We've never had a real kiss--the closest we got was S3Ep13. Is it time now?