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.

'New Girl' Christmas Episode ('The 23rd') Recap

"Why are you guys hugging?"-Jess
"Just guy talking."-Nick 
"About, uh...how moved we are by jazz music"-Paul

"That's a lie. I told him you didn't love him, Jess."-Nick

"What?!"-Jess

"But he said it nicely!"-Paul

The episode began with a cute roommate moment minus Jess (unfortunately these Jess-less/bro-time moments are a rarity). The guys are all wearing roller skates that Jess has given them for Christmas, and Schmidt starts a bro-fight (how many times can I use 'bro' in this post?) because he is apparently the best skater since he had figure skating lessons till he was thirteen.

Jess realizes that she needs to buy Paul a gift, but they've only been dating for about a month, and so she is clueless about what's appropriate. She takes Nick shopping with her, solidifying the fact that he is the guy she trusts the most (can they please hook up already). Apparently she was going to give Paul a homemade nerdy sex gift certificate, but decided it was too ridiculous. She shows it to Nick and he snatches it from her, stating he'll keep it for the future (yeahhh, he'll use that in the future).

Schmidt reminds the group they all have to come to his office Christmas party. He then goes and visits Cece and presents her with a homemade perfume (which apparently smells horrible). He also gets to watch her make out with her hot boyfriend (equally horrible).

Paul gives Jess a super expensive presents (tickets to Vienna etc.), plus the gift of an "I love you". Jess gives him a plush beating heart, and says "Thank you". Equivalent gifts? I think not.

She admits to Nick that she doesn't love Paul, and asks his advice. Nick, unfortunately, runs into Paul on the office party's balcony and lets Jess' secret slip. Jess walks into the middle of the conversation, and awkwardness ensues. Further awkwardness? Nick, Paul, and Jess all get locked on the balcony. This gives us some comedic gems, including Nick answering a phone call from his mom while Jess and Paul discuss breaking up:  "Hey Mom! I can't talk right now, I'm in a real awkward situation".

Jess and Paul break up, and Nick feels bad. He misses his flight home so that he can take Jess and the gang to see a row of Christmas-decorated houses (gee Nick, just ask her out already!). Unfortuantely, by the time they get there all of the lights are off. Nick starts yelling at them to "turn on the lights!", and soon Schmidt, Winston, and Cece join in. Eventually Jess perks up a little and joins in too, and the lights get turned on. As this happens we get to hear Zooey Deschanel as She of 'She and Him' sing a Christmas song in the background, while we watch Zooey Deschanel playing Jess on screen. It's very...meta.

Maybe we'll hook up when 'New Girl' is back in January

Christmas Music!

I typically hum Christmas music year round, which rather obviously annoys a lot of people. Luckily, it's December 1st today, which means that Christmas music is once again appropriate! Apparently the media agrees with me. Ellen's 12 days of giveaways started today (if you were in the audience, I'm jealous!) and She & Him performed a song from their new-ish Christmas album.
There is a video, just give it a minute and it will appear.

Grimm's Pilot Reviewed

Did any of you manage to catch the premiere of 'Grimm' last night?

'Grimm' is exactly what its title suggests--a modern re-telling of the classic Grimm fairy tales, with a twist. In last night's episode Nick learned that his ancestors were the original Grimms. They are the only people able to see the true faces of supernatural people walking among us. Unfortunately, now that Nick's aunt is nearing death, he is inheriting her power. I say unfortunately because it seemed as though Nick's life was going pretty well before his aunt burst his bubble. He had a job he loved, a nice house, and an almost-fiancee. It's highly questionable which of these things he'll be able to keep now that he knows the truth.

Yesterday's episode had its strengths and weaknesses, not unexpected for a pilot. One of its biggest issues was a reliance on situations which have now become somewhat contrived in fantasy/sci-fi shows. The idea that a person is happily living their life, only to be suddenly interrupted by magical powers/a secret gift and instant responsibility is nothing new. We saw it in the first episode of 'Charmed' and 'Smallville' and even 'Fringe'.  It's such a typical plot device at this point that I expect the main character to develop special abilities or supernatural knowledge at the beginning of every new sci-fi show I watch.

Sticking with cliches, 'Grimm' also offered us a mysterious and beautiful blond (when her face isn't doing the whole "I have fangs and a furrowed brow because I'm evil" thing) who it's fairly easy to guess will probably be somewhat conflicted about her orders to destroy Nick. Despite the fact that this woman (played by Claire Coffee) got limited screen time, she was still a lot more interesting than Nick's girlfriend, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch).

Juliette was presented to us as the love of Nick's life, but the screen-time she got was limited, and when she was there she might as well not have been. When she discovers Nick investigating his aunt's trailer in the middle of the night she barely questions what he is doing, and doesn't even ask him about the huge old book he was just paging thorough. Also, while I'm sure the questions she was asking about where Nick grew up and how long his aunt raised him were written in for the benefit of the audience, they made her seem completely clueless about her boyfriend's past. I hope they build up her character a little more.

In terms of the actual plot of the episode I think that more could have been done. I definitely enjoyed watching it, so in that sense it was successful. But there was no real mystery at all. It told us who the murderer was fairly quickly, and they found him equally quickly. That was fine in the pilot, which was really more about establishing Nick's abilities, but now that we know about them I'm hoping the writing is more complex in the future.

What were your thoughts on the premiere episode? Will you be watching again?

Watch 'Grimm' Fridays at 9/8C on NBC.

Halloween!!

I love Fall. Pumpkins, foliage, apple cider. I also love watching my favorite shows celebrate holidays.

Typically the special holiday episodes kick-off around Halloween, and then continue with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have a post coming that lists my favorite holiday-themed episodes of all time, but first lets talk about this week's Halloween episodes:

1. Halloween festivities kick-off on Tuesday (Oct 25) with 'The Biggest Loser'. There's (obviously) a candy challenge, and a haunted maze. Tuesday, 8 pm, NBC.

2. Join 'The Middle' on Wednesday for Halloween pranks, costumes, and teen general awkwardness. Wednesday, 8 pm, ABC.

3. 'Suburgatory' follows 'The Middle' with yet another Halloween-themed episode. Wednesday, 8:30 pm, ABC.

4. 'Community' is new again this week, and it's bound to be a challenge as the writers try to outdo last year's zombie-themed episode. Sociopaths, anyone? Thursday, 8 pm, NBC.

5. 'Parks and Recreation' is also new, and promises spooky laughs at April and Andy's Halloween bash. Thursday, 8:30 pm, NBC.

6. Continuing NBC's line-up of Halloween-themed episodes is 'The Office'. I can't be the only one who is waiting impatiently to see whether Erin is capable of throwing a Halloween party. Thursday, 9 pm, NBC.

7. This isn't really Halloween-themed, but it does have monsters: 'Grimm' premieres on Friday. Friday, 9 pm, NBC.