Bones Season 10 Episode 3 - The Purging of the Pundit

I am still feeling a bit conflicted about what is going on in season 10 of Bones so far.  Yes the conspiracy was resolved by the end of the second episode, but it didn’t feel satisfying.  Too many things just seem a little too convenient and I am not at all happy about what happened in the premiere.  My DVR is still set to record the show, though I honestly don’t know if that will continue.  I did have the show on when it originally aired, though I wasn’t really paying attention and I missed most of what happened.  I went ahead and watched the episode from my DVR yesterday.

I will be mentioning things that will be spoilers for this episode and possibly pervious episodes as well.  Read at your own risk.

Remains are found in a storm drain by two female high school students who were looking to do some sort of community service to help their chances of getting into college.  Shortly after Temperance and Booth begin investigating, they discover that the remains are of a controversial talk radio host.  The new agent - I still can’t remember his name, so I just refer to him as Junior.  That’s what I thought of him during the first episode and it has just stuck for me.  Anyway, Junior is still around and he is trying very hard to help Booth with the investigation, only to be shut out over and over or sent back to his desk like a child being sent to his room.  Things connected to the case are kind of gross, which has been normal for Bones for years.  It seems they are still trying to find the most gross and disgusting look for remains.  There are even ferrets that have been snacking on the body before it is found too.  The show does go overboard on the gross factor. 

They find evidence that the victim had been involved in some kinky activities.  That is probably the most interesting development in the case.  It wasn’t that interesting overall at all and I didn’t particularly care about who the killer was.  The case is solved by the end - the co host did it - but I didn’t care.  There was more attention given to Booth and he is or isn’t dealing with his lingering trust issues.  Booth is having trouble sleeping that he brushes off when Temperance points it out.  He all but pats Junior on the head before sending him off and handling things alone.  Grumpy Booth was around for much of the episode.  I get that he has trust issues and is even a bit angry over everything he’s gone through, but really nothing is done to deal with it.  Temperance finally talks to him, telling him he can’t isolate himself and he needs to start to trusting again.  Temperance is more trusting and accepting of Junior and tries to encourage Booth to be the same.  Later in the episode, when Booth once again dismisses Junior, he stands up to Booth.  Shortly after that, Temperance backs out of going in during an interrogation, saying that Junior should go instead. 

By the end of the episode, Booth is acting like he is back to normal and fine with Junior.  His issues weren’t really dealt with just by Temperance talking to him once and then making Booth work with Junior.  I have a feeling that grumpy Booth will reappear throughout the season.  It would make sense for him to have lingering issues after everything, but those things aren’t truly being addressed or properly being dealt with.  I find it aggravating that the writers set all this stuff up and then are trying to quickly brush stuff under the rug instead of having Booth do things to deal with his issues instead of just being grumpy.  It does feel like Junior is supposed to be a replacement for Sweets, something that isn’t sitting well with me at the moment even though I sort of like the character.

There was nothing special about this episode of Bones.  I didn’t particularly care about the case and I didn’t care that much about Booth being grumpy.  I just don’t care that much about the show anymore.  I’m not sure what can be done to change that at this point and I’m not fully sure why I still bother to watch.  I guess part of it is because I’ve mostly stuck with it this long, I feel like I might as well keep watching until the end.  I don’t see the show going past this season, though the one producer has already basically said in an interview that season 11 is all but a done deal. 
 

Castle 7-2 - Montreal - Some Answers Along With More Questions

After watching Montreal, the second episode of the seventh season of Castle, I do feel much better about what is going on with the new story tied to Rick that is being introduced.  I still very much dislike the season six finale and I’m honestly not sure what, if anything, will fix that for me.  However that one disappointing episode didn’t ruin the entire show and I’m definitely interested in what is going on.  I still have some issues about how things were set up in the premiere, but this episode does recover some of the backwards steps taken, and I am feeling more positive overall now.

Spoilers for this episode, as well as at least the premiere and possibly finale, are ahead.  There are actually probably more spoilers in this one than I have shared in previous posts about any episode.  You have been warned.  Read at your own risk.

I’m not sure exactly how much time has passed since the end of the premiere, but it doesn’t seem like a long time.  Rick does an interview tied to the release of his two newest books, but the woman conducting the interview is more interested in asking questions about Rick’s disappearance and if his relationship with Kate is still good.  Rick comes up with the idea of offering a reward for information leading to answers about what happened to him.  Captain Gates is less than happy when she discovers that Rick gave out the number of the precinct for the tip line.  Rick’s reaction to hearing that the phones have been ringing off the hook is shockingly hilarious.  

Rick is back for the first time helping Kate and the guys with a new murder, involving the owner of a toy company.  When they go to the office to talk to the employees, Rick quickly gets distracted playing with the different toys.  It doesn’t take long for Kate to discover that the victim had been keeping some kind of secret from everyone before his death.  The case is all right overall, but it isn’t as interesting as what is going on with Rick’s search for answers.  Alexis is helping Rick sort through all the calls, most of which seem to be from crackpots or women desperate to meet Rick.  Martha has started to go out with someone she met in a grief counseling group, and if Rick wouldn’t mind to much, it would help if he would pretend to still be gone.  Martha says that she and her new guy connected over their grief and it would mess things up if he found out that Rick came home.  It sounds like Martha logic.  When Rick gets a mysterious call on his personal cell phone, he decides to meet the caller even though Kate has misgivings.

At first, when Rick meets the guy who called alone, I thought it was fake Jenkins from the premiere.  Once I got a better look at him, I realized it was a different guy.  At first he seems to have information that may be helpful, but it quickly becomes apparent that the guy is one of the crackpots, something he doesn’t want to seem to admit to Kate.  Not long after a couple shows up at the precinct saying they may have information.  They think they found Rick in the background of one of their honeymoon pictures in Montreal.  With some help from Alexis, they figure out that Rick is standing outside a bank, which causes Alexis to suggest the key that Rick had hidden in his jeans when he was found was for a safe deposit box at that bank.

Kate agrees that going to Montreal makes sense in their search for answers, though she says she won’t be able to go until the weekend because of the active case.  Rick thinks he can go alone but Kate doesn’t think that is a good idea.  Alexis agrees with Kate and they decide that Alexis will go with Rick to keep him out of trouble.  They find the bank and Rick comes up with an idea to get into the safe deposit room.  Something seems a little off with the banker that Rick meets with, almost like he knows something.  The key does in fact open a safe deposit box.  Inside the box are envelopes addressed to Kate, Martha, and Alexis in Rick’s handwriting.  Each envelope contains a memory card.  When Rick is back in New York, he takes the one for Kate to her and has her watch it, saying the ones for Martha and Alexis have basically the same message on them.  The card has a video message Rick made during his two month disappearance in which he says that if  Kate is seeing the video then he is probably dead.  He also says that he did not leave on his own to avoid the wedding and says how he loves her, always.  Seeing that video does a lot to help Kate and it clears up once and for all that he was not trying to leave her.

Kate comes up with the idea of seeing if Tori can get any information off the memory card.  Rick decides to stay behind in case Tori finds anything when Kate and the guys head off after a new lead.  Tori has some sort of computer program that can analyze the faint images out a window behind Rick in the video to figure out where it was made.  When the program comes up with a location, Rick decides to head back to Montreal alone to check it out.  Once there, he finds the room where he made the videos and Fake Jenkins turns up again, this time with a gun, saying that Rick shouldn’t be asking questions and trying to figure out what happened.  Fake Jenkins then goes on to say that Rick wanted to forget.  When Rick objects, Fake Jenkins mentions something that happened when Rick was 11, that he hasn’t told anyone else before, claiming that Rick told him as a way to convince himself he really did want to forget. 

Once back home, Rick shares what he learned and is troubled by the thought of what he would have done that he would want to forget.  Alexis suggests that he had just seen something while Martha basically says maybe it would be best to let it go.  That night, Kate reassures Rick that she is not going anywhere while pointing out that they both need a little more time to readjust before getting married.  She also points out that Rick must have had a reason for wanting to forget.

There are a few answers provided during this episode, the most important coming in the video Rick made for Kate that makes it clear he was not trying to leave her and what happened was out of his control.  I’m glad that Rick made that video since it does a lot to help Kate with her concerns with what has been going on.  We also now know that for at least part of the time, Rick was in Montreal, though that doesn’t explain why he had antibodies to Dengue fever in his system when he was found.  It also doesn’t explain how he ended up in the dinghy. 

Personally, I don’t trust Fake Jenkins.  He is already a known liar who sounded very convincing in the premiere when he gave his story to Kate.  Too many things about his story don’t fully make sense, including the fact that he has a gun pulled on Rick.  The hint about what happened when Rick was 11 was supposed to be the proof Rick left behind to convince his future self to stop looking for answers, so the gun seems to be overkill.  I really don’t see Rick, even if he wanted to forget, being all right with the idea of Fake Jenkins threatening to shoot him.  I’m not that convinced that Fake Jenkins is telling the truth. 

If Rick wanted to forget something from the missing two months, that still doesn’t explain how he was shot, why he had the Dengue fever antibodies, not to mention how and why he ended up in dinghy floating on the ocean for days or why stuff was planted in the tent.  If the memory loss was Rick’s idea, then why wasn’t a better cover story concocted that didn’t raise as many questions?  It does seem odd that Rick doesn’t seem to be questioning if he can trust what Fake Jenkins said, probably because of the mention of the childhood incident.  Even with that, I think it is possible Fake Jenkins is lying.  It doesn’t mean that Rick willingly shared that story.  Some kind of drugs, like a truth serum, or hypnosis could have been used to get the information. 

While Rick may say he will deal with not knowing, I don’t think that will last.  He may manage for a little while, but the need to finish the story will become stronger and he will be back to looking for answers.  I also think that Rick, before he lost the memory of those two months, would have known fully well when he said he wanted to forget that he wouldn’t just give up.  If he truly wanted to forget, then why didn’t he do something else to try to convince his future self, like maybe leave himself a video or letter.  By the way, I think Rick made the videos without Fake Jenkins and whoever else was involved knowing and managed to get them in the safety deposit box.  It doesn’t make sense that they would have let him make the videos, leave them somewhere safe, or keep the key. 

After I thought about things from the premiere more, it seemed like there were more holes in the evidence discovered that pointed to Rick being behind his own disappearance.  Certain little things here and there that don’t fully fit.  Normally Kate is able to pick up on those things, though I can see why she didn’t notice those things as fast in this case since she is clearly more emotionally involved.  It would have been nice if it came out during the episode that Kate had started to pick up on the odd things, but that didn’t really happen.  Kate and Lanie have another little talk which is nice.  Esposito has a new ring tone on his phone thanks to Lanie that I found funny once I realized what it was.  Evidently the two of them have definitely gotten back together officially. 

There is a nice scene with Ryan and Esposito at the toy company office in which Ryan acts like Rick, picking up the various toys while he shares worries about being able to afford everything for the baby.  Overall, the episode has a good mix of humor with the more serious moments.  I liked Alexis in the episode.  She has shown an ability to point out useful things in the past.  She has shown that she has a bit of the same interesting in mysteries that her father has in previous seasons - that was mostly missing last season.  To me, it fits and makes sense that she comes up with useful ideas again and that she wants to go with Rick.  I really like that she and Kate are in agreement with Rick not going to Montreal alone.  His declaration that he is a grown man and doesn’t need permission followed by basically begging for permission is really funny.

With the premiere, while I felt better about where things were going by the end, there were things that I didn’t like about it.  With this episode, I feel even better than I did after the premiere.  Yes there are still a lot of unanswered questions, including a few new ones, but there has been a little bit of progress and the most important thing has been made clear to Kate - that Rick didn’t intend to miss the wedding.  I do think this stuff will come up again, though I’m not thinking it will be brought up in every episode.  I do think that the story has recovered a few of the steps back that were taken with the premiere.  From the short teaser at the end of the episode, it looks like the next one will be one of the sillier type of cases that Rick loves - along the lines of him thinking the killer is a zombie or that there is a vampire running around the city.

Recent episodes of Castle can be watched online at the ABC website.  I think they usually show up there a day after they air.  From when I looked before, the website will only have an episode available to watch for a limited amount of time. 

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Episode 4 - The Hook-Up Reverberation

Season 8 of The Big Bang Theory is continuing well after a good start with the premiere.  The fourth episode just aired.  It is another fun, entertaining episode overall, though a few slightly serious things do come up once or twice.  

As usual, there are spoilers, so read at your own risk if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

Raj finally brings his girlfriend Emily over to the apartment to meet everyone.  It seems like she has a problem with Penny immediately even though she agrees to meet so Penny can practice her sales talk for her new job.  Things don’t go well when Penny goes to Emily’s office to practice.  It seems Emily does have a problem with Penny and it goes back to her almost having sex with Raj several years ago.  Howard is still having issues with Stuart living with his mom - evidently she signed up for HBO, something she never did for Howard, and bought fancier toilet paper.  The guys, when visiting another comic book store, miss Stuart’s store and start talking about the possibility of investing so he can reopen.

Emily has been good for Raj and she seems nice, so it was a little odd to see her act the way she did toward Penny.  Things do get discussed and seem better briefly, but then something indicates that they aren’t liking each other.  I’m not sure how I feel about this development at this point.  If it doesn’t come up all the time, then it more than likely won’t bother me.  If it comes up a lot, it will probably get a little annoying to me.  I never did like that a drunk Penny ended up in bed with Raj even though not much really happened, so I was less than pleased for that to be brought up again.  As part of thinking of investing in the comic book store, Leonard, Howard, and even Sheldon discuss the subject with Penny, Bernadette, and Amy, with each having a different reaction. 

I was intrigued by the idea of the guys investing in the comic book store and I liked that Stuart was around again.  He seems to have a lot of problems, but I like him.  He’s entertaining when he shows up.  I also love what is going on with him living with Howard’s mom and how Howard is flipping out about it.  There was another very funny conversation between the two of them when Howard claims that his mom’s house is his and that he is welcome to drop in any time he wants.  You can see Howard struggling to stay calm at Stuart’s comeback to that. 


Penny's hair didn't look as bad to me in this episode.  It almost seemed like it was slightly longer than it was in the first episodes.  I still don't like it, but that is a minor thing that isn't preventing me from enjoying the show.

Overall, I thought this was another fun, entertaining episode that touched on a few slightly serious things.  I like that something is going on related to Stuart and the comic bookstore.  I absolutely love that Stuart is still living with Howard’s mom and how much that irritates Howard. 


The first three episodes of season 8 are available online at the CBS website.  I think they usually show up a day after they originally air.  I'm not sure if the episodes are available through any of the streaming services. 

Bones Season 10 Episode 2

After the season premiere of Bones, I was irritated and annoyed by the show again to the point that I wasn’t sure I was going to watch the second episode as it aired.  I ultimately decided to watch it, mostly because there wasn’t anything else on at that time I wanted to watch.  Once The Big Bang Theory goes back to Thursdays, Bones will wait on the DVR. 

I will be mentioning things that will be spoilers for previous episodes of Bones, especially the season 10 premiere.  You have been warned, so read at your own risk.

Everyone is still trying to deal with the death of Sweets.  Booth is in a full on guilt mode, blaming himself since Sweets was doing something to try to help clear Booth when he was killed.  The team is very focused on trying to figure out who the ultimate bad guy is.  Daisy is there as well, saying that helping the investigation will help her.  They manage to uncover more evidence tied to the conspiracy.  The person who actually killed Sweets - but not the person behind it all - is found dead from when Sweets was able to shoot him with rats crawling all over him.  More of the evidence starts to tie back in to J. Edgar Hoover and what he was up to when he was in charge of the FBI.  By the end of the episode, they have decided that the conspiracy does go back to things Hoover did, including secret files, that were passed down to the step father of the person behind the current problems.  There was an exhibit at the Jeffersonian of Hoover’s office and the real files that link to all the real crimes are actually in the exhibit.

I don’t know much about Hoover, though I have heard that he kept secret files on a lot of people, so the idea that his files were passed down to someone else kind of makes sense.  At the same time, it seems entirely too convenient for the whole mess to tie back to Hoover, never mind that all the proof was right there in the Jeffersonian the whole time.  Once again, the writers tried to set up something big with a long story arc only to have it fall incredibly flat.  I even though to myself after it was over, “That’s it?”.  It just isn’t working for me.  I think there are a few little loose threads hanging as well.  They didn’t identify any current FBI agent as being dirty or at least as being blackmailed into doing stuff by the bad guy.  It seems like with certain things that happened - the team sent to kill Booth in the finale and then Booth being framed for murder - had to have a current FBI agent involved to pull off.  It just doesn’t really make sense, but the characters were acting like everything was all resolved and tied up with a neat bow.

Sweets being murdered added absolutely nothing to this story.  There was an attempt to tug at the heartstrings early on when Christine walked out talking about Uncle Sweets and Daisy taking her to the park or something.  We don’t see Temperance and Booth try to tell Christine that he is dead, but it is strongly implied that is what will happen when the scene ends.  All the murder has done is set stuff up for Booth to be guilty and basically be Mr. Grumpy.  I just have a feeling that he will be having more outbursts and just be, well, grumpy, throughout this season.  I get that he would have issues tied to everything that has happened, but I don’t have a lot of faith that the writers will deal with it properly.  Given what they have done before, I could see them just having him moody and grumpy until he snaps and shoots another clown or something. 

I don’t care for how this story has played out at all.  I didn’t have high expectations because of how prior longer stories have been done, but I was still irritated and disappointed.  I really don’t want to see Booth racked with guilt for the rest of the season.  It would make sense for him to deal with that for a little while, however, the Bones writers have shown in the past that they like to drag something on and on and on well past when the story stops working.  I am glad that there is at least some closure to all this conspiracy stuff, though I won’t be surprised if they decide to bring up something tied to it again at some point.

Criminal Minds and Stalker Make for Creepy Viewing

I have watched Criminals Minds from the beginning for the most part, though I have missed some episodes here and there over the years.  That show in particular can creep me out more than any other because of the nature of the crimes that are part of the stories.  There are times when I’m not in the mood for that type of show.  I have been known to follow watching it with very silly comedy or even a cartoon or two.  For the last few years, CSI has been on after Criminal Minds but that has changed.  CSI is now on Sunday nights and a new show, Stalker, follows Criminal Minds.  It was just about as creepy as Criminal Minds.

There are potential spoilers ahead, for both Criminal Minds and Stalker. 

At the end of the last season’s finale, the newest member of the BAU team, Alex Blake decided to leave the team.  That particular case seemed to really get to her, so I wasn’t surprised that she decided to leave the team.  The promos for the episode said that someone would be leaving forever, so I was slightly concerned that someone would be killed off before seeing the episode. 

I’m not sure how much time was supposed to have passed since the finale, but both Reid and Morgan were fully recovered from the injuries they sustained.  Kate Callahan, an agent the team has worked with before at some point, becomes the newest member.  The team heads off to work on a new case while time is also taken to show what looks like a regular family.  Then we see that the husband/dad has severed body parts hidden in the house.  It isn’t long before he is arrested, with more limbs in his car.  He claims he just bought the limbs and didn’t kill anyone to get them.  As the investigation continues, the team discovers he was telling the truth while the audience sees a young woman being held against her will by a very creepy looking guy.  It seems like he is the person who sold the limbs to the first suspect.  The young woman is able to get away, after losing an arm, just as the team is arriving.  They believe that they have captured the person responsible for the disappearance of several young women, though Kate does raise a few questions.  The last bit of the episode shows another woman runner being kidnapped and then someone looking at some sort of website where it looks like women are sold to the highest bidder.  It seems like the show is setting up another ongoing major villain.

When I first saw promos for Stalker, I wasn’t planning to watch it.  Somehow, I didn’t hear that CSI was moved to Sunday nights and that Stalker would be on after Criminal Minds.  I really just didn’t change the channel after Criminal Minds since there wasn’t anything else I wanted to watch on at that time.  I’m not sure what I think of the show yet or if I will watch more.  It seems like there is some potential there, but it has to be handled correctly.

Within the first few minutes a beautiful young woman is confronted by her stalker.  Things don’t go well and it ends with him setting her vehicle on fire with her inside.  That has clearly escalated beyond stalking.  Later we see Jack Larson, a new detective joining the special stalking unit with the Los Angeles police department led by Beth Davis.  She is not happy with Jack at first, something that doesn’t improve when he cracks a few stupid jokes.  Another pretty young woman is doused in gas in an elevator, but she manages to get away.  In addition to that case, Beth is also trying to help a male college student who says his former roommate is stalking him.  The roommate is from a wealthy family, which makes it even harder to deal with.  They discover two men had been working together to stalk both women, though one of them turned far more violent and wanted to burn the women alive for some reason.  I honestly can’t remember if a reason for that was given.

A little bit comes out about both Beth and Jack during the episode.  It seems very obvious that Beth was a stalking victim sometime in her past.  She has a ritual every night at home, going around checking all the window locks and closing the sheer curtains before activating an alarm system.  It does seem like she wants to help people being stalked, though sometimes she goes too far.  She takes matters into her own hands with the rich young college student stalker, actually attacking him and then telling him that she can lie so much better than he can.  It sort of looks by the end of the episode like the stalker is becoming fixated on her.  She also tends to wear somewhat inappropriate clothing for work - low cut bouses - and then gets an attitude if someone notices.  While I am not saying that a woman is asking for trouble if she wears low cut, tight, or revealing in some way clothes, there are things that just aren’t appropriate to wear to work.  I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to that, but the writers made a point to make a big deal out of it by having Jack talk about it.

Jack has not been truthful about why he wanted to move from the other side of the country and join the unit.  Taking the job was an excuse for him to be able to move to Los Angels and once again be near an ex - I’m not sure if it is an ex-girlfriend or ex-wife - Amanda and the child he believes is his son.  He didn’t attempt to call the ex and talk to her about seeing the child or anything.  He just skulks around the boy’s school, watching.  At one point, he did take pictures from a distance as well.  So John is basically a stalker himself.  Amanda spots him and tracks him down to confront him, telling him to stay away.  Nothing is shared to indicate that Amanda just disappeared with Jack’s son or anything like that.  While I can get that he wants to see the child - though it seems like it is questionable if it is his son or not - the way he goes about it makes it very hard, if not impossible, to have any sympathy for his situation. 

Criminal Minds was creepy like normal, which is what I expect from the show.  Kate seems to fit the team well so far.  With Stalker, I’m not sure what I think just yet.  The two main characters both have issues that make them harder to like.  The show has some potential along with the issues.  I’ll keep watching for now.  The pilot episodes can be different in some ways from how the show ends up being after a few episodes.

Castle Season Seven Premiere is Full of Twists

I have been ready for the seventh season of Castle to begin for a while now.  Really since the disappointing season six finale because I was immediately read for the story to get past what was set up then with the disappearance of Rick.  I have read different things about what would be coming in the premiere, and some of what I read did make me a little nervous.  In the past, I have had more faith in Castle than really any other show I watch.  The season six finale shook that faith a bit.  I did briefly consider waiting and watching the episode from my DVR later, but that didn’t happen.  I am mostly all right with what happened in the episode, though there are some things that I didn’t care for. 

I will be discussing events from the season seven premiere of Castle and possible some things from the finale of season six as well.  There will definitely be spoilers for people who haven’t seen the episodes yet.  You have been warned.  Read at your own risk.

Season six ended with the cliffhanger of Rick’s car in flames along the side of the road.  He had been on his way to his and Kate’s wedding at his home in the Hamptons when he disappeared.  The last the audience saw, a black SUV came up beside his car.  Then it jumps to Kate getting a phone call and her arriving at the crash site in her wedding dress.  I was much less than pleased with that episode and that ending in particular.

The premiere picks up immediately after that, with Kate running down to the car and trying to get to it.  Once the fire is out, she is able to see that no one is in the car.  A search is quickly started and Ryan and Esposito each find evidence that Rick was forced off the road and then taken from the car.  In no time, Kate and the guys follow a lead, seeming to get there too late.  Kate goes a bit extreme when questioning someone.  The FBI gets involved and the idea that it could be someone that Rick and Kate put away behind it is brought up.  New evidence seems to indicate that Rick was actually actively involved in his disappearance, a development that I absolutely do not like.  Esposito is quick to jump on that and decide that Rick was behind it all.  The FBI is willing to go with that theory and indicate that their involvement will soon be over, so Kate vows that she will find Rick.

Two months pass with no sign of Rick and Kate doing everything she can to find him.  Then Rick is found unconscious in a dingy by the coast guard.  He remains that way for a while, even once he is in the hospital.  His return does offer a new lead or two that once again points back to Rick voluntarily being gone.  This time even Ryan and Kate buy into it.  When Rick wakes up, the reunion isn’t overly happy since Kate is wanting answers.  Rick doesn’t remember anything about the time he was missing and is shocked to hear he was gone two months.  Kate believes that he is lying about not remembering and only changes her mind after it is learned that a witness turned out to be fake.  Rick is back home by the end of the episode, but there are a lot of things unanswered.  Kate is with him, though it seems like she still has at least a few doubts.

I just do not like all the doubts raised about Rick and how almost everyone lost faith in him.  Esposito was the first, which didn’t really surprise me given some of his actions in the past, but I still didn’t like it.  Then Ryan and Kate after some DNA evidence is discovered.  Ryan and Kate never once consider that the DNA could have been staged, much like it was back in season five when 3XK framed Rick for murder.  I don’t like that Kate didn’t believe Rick.  I don’t mind that not everything was answered by this episode, but it would have been better if more was done to erase the lingering doubt about Rick that some of the characters seem to still have.  Hopefully at least that point will be cleared up sooner rather than later.  The acting by everyone was very well done, especially Stana Katic as Kate.  I was very happy that there was no Alexis drama or fit.  There was enough of that to last ages last season,  though I think the possibility for it is still there.  I won't be a bit surprised if Alexis has a fit in a later episode, throwing up how Kate questioned what was going on.

I didn’t hate the episode, but it is far from a favorite.  I’m just not liking this story that much, at least right now.  I’m fine with the writers wanting to explore Rick more and do this new mythology thing tied to him.  I just don’t like the way the writers decided to set everything up.  I was a bit aggravated at times when watching the premiere, but I did feel better by the time it ended even though I was less than happy with certain aspects of it.  I haven’t forgotten the season six finale and I still don’t like it, but I’m not as annoyed and irritated as I was after that one was over.  From the short preview after the end of the episode, it sounds like they may be something else shared or figured out in next week’s episode.

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Episode 3

Even though season eight of The Big Bang Theory only started a week ago, it is already airing the third episode of the season since two new episodes last week.  Since then, CBS has decided to continue airing two episodes as long as the show is on Monday nights, with the second episode being a repeat.  The second episode that aired tonight was from last season.   

I will be discussing things that happened during the episode, so there will be spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen the episode yet.

The new episode mainly deals with Howard training to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game despite the fact that he has absolutely zero athletic ability.  His first attempt playing a baseball video game - I believe it was on the Wii - and he still manages to hurt his arm.  Bernadette offers to help him learn to pitch, and she discovers that it will be much harder than she anticipated.  They have been together for a while now so she really should have known better.  Howard ultimately comes up with a unique way to deal with the situation that may or may not work out for him.

Sheldon owes Amy some dates per the relationship agreement.  They end up going on a double date with Penny and Leonard and Sheldon proceeds to carry on about his relationship with Amy is so much better than Penny and Leonard’s relationship.  There is a little bit of an issue that comes up, but it gets dealt with in a way that works and doesn’t leave any lingering issue or mess. 

The wedding does get mentioned, along with Penny’s reason for wanting to wait a while.  I’m fine with them having a long engagement just as long as they don’t go and mess up their relationship again.  I think the funniest things are tied to Howard’s attempts at throwing a baseball, like when Raj decides to heckle Howard when he is using the video game for practice.  Howard does some odd stretches or some sort of nerd version of yoga at one point that is hilarious.  Sheldon is a bit insensitive once or twice, but that is normal for him.  Raj is mainly regulated to assisting Bernadette in trying to teach Howard throw or making fun of said attempts.  There is no mention of his girlfriend.  There is also no mention of Stuart, Howard’s mother or their situation.

For things that really don’t mean anything overall to the show, I still don’t like Penny’s super short hair.  I honestly think that in some of this episode, her hair looked even worse than it did in the first two episodes.  I’m thinking there was an attempt to make her hair look cute with some sort of barrette or clip or whatever, but it didn’t work.    

Overall the episode is fun and entertaining, though maybe not one of the funniest of the show.  It is still worth checking out.