Reviews and a Preview: Happy February!
Today is not only the start of February but of February sweeps. You know what that means: a repeat-free zone for at least the next four weeks. (Then comes Mar. 1, and you know what that means: Unless you're
24, Lost or
Jericho, which will be all-new to the end of their respective seasons, it's a mixed bag of new and old episodes, plus the chaos of rejiggered schedules to make room for mid-season tryouts. But we'll cross that bridge later.)
For now, before we start the sweeps march, I want to reflect on Wednesday's highlights. (I'll catch up with
Bones later, with a preview of next week's episode next Wednesday. That's a promise to that show's loyal and vocal fan base.)
Is there any show that lifts and breaks the heart more regularly and memorably than
Friday Night Lights? The quiet poignancy of Tim Riggins reuniting with his estranged dad (Brett Cullen playing his second memorable Texan of the season, after his guest shot as a laid-back mogul wooing and loosening up Vanessa Williams on
Ugly Betty). Their scene on the golf links, with the dad's ugly competitive side roaring up to crush the son's spirit, is later redeemed when Dad tentatively shows up at the football game anyway. Poor Matt Saracen's hopelessly, helplessly awkward embrace of local fame, which puts a wedge between him and Coach's daughter Julie, proves that Julie really is the coolest girlfriend anyone could imagine. (Matt and a surly Coach Taylor ineptly attempting to front a local-TV sports special was probably the show's single funniest scene all season.) Then Coach counseled Jason Street while waiting to face Jason's family in court, urging the boy to slow down in his pursuit of marriage, and sharing some truth and a laugh before it's time to get down to unpleasant business. And then came the centerpiece of the episode: Smash Williams' desperation to rejoin the team and regain Coach's favor, while Coach's wife coaches Coach to lighten up on the kid, in the process reminding Coach and Smash just why they love football, and why the world goes to hell when it's taken too seriously. As Coach and Smash watch a group of young kids playing football for fun (although with an eye for future grown-up glory), eventually joining in the play, we get to see the sort of authentic life that is almost entirely otherwise lacking in prime-time TV.
Friday Night Lights is a treasure, and we should treasure it for as long as we can.
(Speaking of tear-jerkers, who knew that
American Idol was capable of one? In the form of a 64-year-old widower, no less. Sherman brought with him a petition of 330 signatures to get on the show, gathered while his "lady love" was dying of cancer to cheer her spirits. He brought the panel to tears - the ladies, anyway - and got hugs and handshakes all around after crooning a heartfelt "You Belong to Me." Was that an actual authentic human moment on
Idol? As Clarence walked away declaring, "I won. I am a winner," you couldn't help but answer yes.)
More "reality": the finale of
Top Chef. While it seems clear to me that Sam should have been in the finals in place of either Ilan or Marcel, Sam saved Marcel's bacon, so to speak, by helping him finish the fish dish when the fish went missing. I'm glad Ilan ultimately won; he may not have been as cutting-edge, but I can imagine actually eating the food he prepares. And despite the infamous "Shavegate" incident that got Cliff booted and Internet conspiracy theorists frothing about the complicity of the other contestants (and the honesty of Bravo's editing, like that ever matters in reality shows), Ilan is more of an adult in the kitchen, where it matters most. (Mind you, I'm not defending the drunken, immature behavior of anyone involved in Shavegate, where Marcel was cruelly bullied. It reminded me of being hazed in band camp, the adolescent memories of which I've happily repressed.) Marcel was doomed the moment he foolishly picked Michael as one of his sous-chef assistants. Did Marcel not watch the show? Did he not know that, as much fun as Michael might be to hang with, you can't rely on the guy? If Marcel had swallowed his pride and put the older, wiser (but critical) Frank on his team, I might have respected him. Instead, things fell apart, and while Marcel's concoctions still managed to impress the judges, I side with anyone who considers a "mad scientist" obsessed with molecular gastronomy to be the last person I'd like to see crowned atop anything.
Back to real TV: tonight's
Ugly Betty. You don't want to miss it. If you've been watching America Ferrera collect awards the last few weeks (at the Globes, then the SAGs), you won't be disappointed by tonight's pivotal episode, which revolves around the madness of Fashion Week, the importance of which is expressed by Betty's adorable nephew Justin when he says, with exasperation to his clueless gramps: "Am I going to have to explain couture
again?"
The "I'm Coming Out" episode could just as easily be titled "Sister Act," because the main action follows up on the last episode's rock-the-world revelation that Daniel's presumed-dead brother Alex is alive and transformed into the stunningly beautiful Alexis (Rebecca Romijn). The way she reveals herself to one and all is the gripping hook, but the subplot involving Betty and her sister Hilda (the terrific Ana Ortiz) is equally meaty. Sibling tensions kick in when Hilda, unhappily unemployed, jumps at the chance to help out at Fashion Week, and Betty once again fears being upstaged by her feisty, prettier sister. ("Hilda, 'Mode' is mine. You can't have this, too.") With cameos by reality stars Tim Gunn (
Project Runway) and Katharine McPhee (
American Idol), a funny return visit by Gina Gershon as the Donatella-like Fabia, and several other enjoyably over-the-top twists and escapades along the way, this is a jam-packed, sweet yet tart hour of pure entertainment.
Let the sweeps begin.
