May 17 – May 23, 2015
* New series in CAPS
* Reviews May Contain Spoilers
Notes:
Since I only watch the episodes that I’m interested in and don’t watch in a timely manner, I will not be reviewing Celebrity Wife Swap. Also, I will not be reviewing Troy: Street Magic (Syfy) so as not to be redundant as every episode is just as magical and fascinating as the last so…be sure to watch/DVR and catch them all!
Also, there will be no TV Week in Review next week as I will be at Book Expo America.
Photo Credit: ABC
Modern Family (ABC) – Episode 6.24 “American Skyper” (Season Finale)
Once again, Modern Family used technology to base an entire episode around. This time, a sick Phil is away and skypes the family through a robot to celebrate Alex’s graduation. Pretty awesome. I loved how everything played out in this episode and how the story lines intersected and streamlined when they didn’t.
Cam had quite a secret he was hiding from Mitchell! But I love how Mitchell handled finding out and just love their relationship, all of the ups and downs, so this was all great. Meanwhile, Jay attempted to pull a secret out of Gloria, deception via Gloria’s cousin staying in town for awhile. Assuming the worst, as per usual, that Jay. Ha. At least he is consistent. As is Gloria with her response. Go, Gloria.
Finally, there’s Haley who is in love and if the scene with Phil, Haley, and Andy at the end wasn’t one of the best scenes for a finale this TV season, I don’t know what is. Awesome finale. What a fantastic ending! I am so, so, so excited to see how season seven, (ahhh seven!!!!!) begins, especially for Haley.
Photo Credit: ABC
Blackish (ABC) – Episode 1.24 “Pops’ Pops’ Pops” (Season Finale)
Pops tells the kids a story about their great great grandfather which brought upon a flashback episode with some interesting guest star choices (Diddy and Mary J Blige). Eh. Especially eh to Mary J singing her song and not a time appropriate song. I get it but that doesn’t make it right. It totally didn’t flow. Overall, I was actually confused with an episode like this being a finale and not, say, an episode during sweeps. One would think with these guest stars, a time like that would be more appropriate.
Also, while every episode of this show stands alone, this one felt like a disconnect from the flow of all of the rest so it seemed especially odd for an episode like this to close out the season. The change in tone was jarring to say the least and that’s coming from someone who loves a well executed flashback, especially in an era I am fascinated by and it being an episode where the people of the past are played by the main cast that we know and love so we get to see them in different roles so close to them which is super exciting.
Still, this finale really didn’t win me over. It just felt off and kind of like a cop out in regards to creating a finale with closure for a show that isn’t serialized and yes, that is a great challenge to do but at least attempt to go after that challenge…and give us some form of closure for the season. I didn’t leave this season on a high which is strange considering how much of a high I’ve been on all season long.
I loved the message of black families knowing and appreciating their history… maybe they could have ran with that for the season one finale a different way? Episodes like these usually don’t come so soon in a show’s run and maybe, just maybe, I don’t feel like I as the viewer have earned this experience yet. It feels too soon. It feels like I need to have loved these characters for longer than one season to have me appreciate this episode way more than I do right now. Was this episode good? Yeah, they accomplished what they wanted to accomplish, I think. But the timing of the delivery of this episode just seemed off. It didn’t work for me. What did you think?