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The Pajiba Power Rankings

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (28)

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10. Sons of Anarchy: A good episode, but you know what would’ve made it better: If we cared a little more about O’Neal and McGee before they met their fates. Thank God, though, that Trini didn’t sleep with her half-brother. And am I wrong, or didn’t “Sons of Anarchy” used to have a few more moments of levity?

9. Conan: His first week back wasn’t too different than what we expected, but it’s nice to have Conan O’Brien on our televisions again, and in the Leno/Letterman equation, it’s great not to have to choose between what some consider the lesser of two evils.

8. The C Word: The penultimate episode of the season was only average until that jaw-dropping emotionally achy moment in the end. Bonus points to the writers for turning it into a tearful positive.

7. Dexter: Jonny Lee Miller was a nice addition to the show, but Peter Weller is going to own that last half of the season.

6. Terriers: It’s getting tense again. The broader conspiracy is coming back into focus, Britt lost his girlfriend, and Hank’s ex-wife got remarried to someone hopefully who is part of that broader conspiracy.

5. Friday Night Lights: The office scene between Coach Taylor and Vince is exactly why “FNL” continues to be one of the best, most emotionally heart-wrenching shows on television. “Nobody taught me how to be a better man!”

4. 30 Rock: When I heard that John Slattery was going to guest-host, I assumed he’d be playing a fat-cat friend of Jack’s. Instead, he fantastically played against type and, in the process, hilariously skewered the Tea Party.

3. The Walking Dead: Episode two, which means four more weeks in the top five. See also TK’s recap. Who that is watching this show is not loving this show?

2. Community: The only drawback to this week’s bottle episode was that, in compiling the best quotes for the Friday post, I had to pause every 20 seconds to write one down.

1. The Good Wife: Yes. “The Good Wife” featured the best episode of the week, and it was outstanding, using Michael J. Fox exceptionally well, as a lawyer who uses his disability to his advantage, and who got to both lose and win in glorious fashion.










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Comments

To be fair to SoA, that line about "if we don't want a three-headed grandchild" was pretty good and was it just my hearing or did Jax say "two more minutes and I was playing in Tig territory"? Hilarious: they think of Tig as their little in-bred pet.

Posted by: PaddyDog at November 15, 2010 4:06 PM

Obligatory Community-adoring post.

Posted by: dsbs at November 15, 2010 4:07 PM

Where's our episode 3 review of "Walking Dead"? I need to know if you think that Shane was just a slimy asshole who really lied to Lori.

Posted by: Fredo at November 15, 2010 4:10 PM

I actually saw that episode of The Good Wife, along with the previous episode with the campaign manueverings of Chris Noth + the "potential sexual assault accusation against famous person" storyline, and both were absolutely outstanding. The Good Wife is not really "my kind of show", but to anyone who saw the promos when it premiered and has never watched it: it's not the show you think it is.

It seems (at least) to be an uncommonly realistic depiction of the machinations behind the legal profession and a political campaign. It's surprisingly well done.

And Alan Cumming amuses me.

Posted by: MM at November 15, 2010 4:12 PM

Lied to Lori: Yes, but why didn't she go see for herself? She just took his word for it that her husband had died in hospital?

Slimy asshole: Not sure. He seems to be one of the few guys doing something to keep their community together.

Posted by: PaddyDog at November 15, 2010 4:13 PM

Yes, I also want to write long comments about The Walking Dead. That's "my kind of show"!! Recap recap!!

My take: Shane still not a totally bad guy; obviously a very conflicted guy; but it seems like kind of an asshole move (by the writers) to essentially absolve Lori of all blame. (Which I don't.) But they definitely made a fell swoop of "Shane betrayed Rick, Lori didn't".

Seriously, episode 2 is rightly placed on this top 10 list, as in, it appears, but not in the top 3. Last night's episode (ep 3), though, better be back in the top 3 with a bullet next week!

Posted by: MM at November 15, 2010 4:17 PM

Paddy, I give Lori this much of a benefit of the doubt: she's not likely to go after her comatose husband when the hospital is overrun with zombies. Not when she's focused on keeping her kid alive.

As for the slimy asshole, he seemed rather eager to take his frustrations out on Ed (the fat jerk).

It throws a wrench into the question of Lori-Shane's pre-Zombie affair.

Oh and as an aside, how is last week's episode of "Sherlock" not on this list? Alan Cumming intro? Moriarty finally arrives?

Posted by: Fredo at November 15, 2010 4:18 PM

Much thanks to Rusty last night in PAD but I'm going to post this here too,since I know that people have commented before in this column.

Robert Duncan, the composer for Terriers, wrote on his FB page that FX is collecting emails this week to help judge whether or not to renew Terriers for a 2nd season. He is encouraging viewers to send them in. Email address is -user@fxnetworks.com

Posted by: Porkchop Express at November 15, 2010 4:28 PM

Levity died on SOA when Half-sac took a buck knife to the gut.

Posted by: PissBoy at November 15, 2010 4:28 PM

Fredo:

A gazillion percent agreement on Sherlock. A fabulous iteration of Moriarty. And a show that actually cares about the difference between "hung" and "hanged". I did have a moist panty moment there.

Posted by: PaddyDog at November 15, 2010 4:33 PM

The boy and I caught up last night with SOA, and we BOTH said that if Jax slept with Trini then Kurt Sutter would need a serious spanking. I'm still hooked, but this season's been a bit of a let down.

The Walking Dead so far has been ridiculously fun. I'm weirdly excited for it to break my heart.

Posted by: Julie at November 15, 2010 4:43 PM

@Paddydog: I think of it that Tig will fuck anything with a pulse, including family. There's been a few times he's looked at Gemma wondering what it'd be like right before he realizes Clay would have his balls in a vice if he continues thinking like that.

Posted by: bignick at November 15, 2010 5:06 PM

Well, I don't like to be a downer (since when?), but I'm not as in lust with The Walking Dead as a lot of people. It's good television, yes, but it's not the tone of zombie films I like thanks to the presentation. It's my own preferences coloring my view of the Western-like lighting and cinematography. The style doesn't strike me as well as others. It's just so...bright and open. I complain about horror filmmakers fearing sunlight, but there's a spectrum between pitch-black and retina-searing white and this show is really teetering on the edge of the latter. The story, acting, costumes, make-up, and effects are great and I like all of those elements. Maybe I'll like the whole thing when the season arc is over and I process it, but I'm not holding my breath that I'll become obsessed with it in the long run.

Posted by: Robert at November 15, 2010 5:15 PM

Agreed. Tig is totally hung up on Gemma. I actually really want to see the two of them get together just once before this show ends. One of the things that really bothers me about this show (even though it's realistic) is that the men fuck like rabbits and the WAGS stay so adoringly faithful.

Posted by: PaddyDog at November 15, 2010 5:17 PM

Speaking of TV, did anyone see the Brian Williams commercial asking people to DVR the Nightly News? I thought it was a spoof commercial but it's real apparently. I wonder what the big advertisers think about that.

Posted by: PaddyDog at November 15, 2010 5:29 PM

Anyone else think Jax killed McGee a little too easily? Not sure if this is supposed to show him sliding farther down the rabbit hole or what but he shot McGee without hesitation. Who else has he straight out murdered other than the stalker Fed? That one gave him a lot more pause but this one struck me as really casual.

Posted by: TylerDFC at November 15, 2010 5:51 PM

Outsourced was way funnier than Community, wasn't even close.

Posted by: TrickyHD at November 15, 2010 9:38 PM

Tyler - small correction (with SOA spoilers).. O'Neil was tied up, tortured and shot. McGhee was dropped off the building by Clay. But yes, I think that it is telling that Jax is at the point where he can kill in cold blood without remorse, or much afterthought of any kind, as long as it's justified.
He was very casual about it.. but he did hold back from killing the priest's henchmen..
Though I suppose that could have been more strategic than mercy?

Posted by: skeletor at November 15, 2010 11:11 PM

Was I the only one who watched the SoA episode last season after the rape when Gemma and Tig almost got it on but stopped? And my impression was that they had gotten it on more than once before that. And the getting it on was initiated by Gemma and stopped by Tig.

Posted by: Az at November 16, 2010 12:03 AM

I'm not loving Walking Dead. It feels very forced and emotionally manipulative, and I disagree with some of the creative choices (particularly in the way the zombies are highly competent and emotionally expressive). Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if I didn't read the comic, but every episode seems like they're making up a bunch of unimportant, melodramatic silliness to fill time.

Posted by: Lucas at November 16, 2010 2:03 AM

Az, I'm with you-I remember it, and altough I think Gemma initiated it as a reaction to her rape and what that took from her, there's definitely some sexual tension there.
I think Pissboy is right, at least partially. I imagine it's also harder to manage levity when the main character's son is missing. But I think that was partially the point of having that new guy (forget his name) that Tig hates. They are hilarious together.
I'm still trying to shake off the shock of the makeout between brother and sister. ew.
I did uncover my eyes and bust out laughing when Gemma said that line about 3 headed babies.

Posted by: Whorish Mouth at November 16, 2010 8:35 AM

Where were all these people who want to comment on SoA when the recaps were running. Damn you all.

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