That Mitchell and Webb Look - 2x01

    This episode had the great Football bit.  And I really liked the interview with the director, where irrelevant questions would be asked immediately before a great one.  The trailer for the Numberwang Code was great as well.  And the job evaluation sketch at the end is just brilliant.

That Mitchell and Webb Look - 3x06

    These shows really defy normal write-ups.
    The ancient inventor sketch was great… and especially the Abraham and Isaac.  The massage one was good too.  There were a few that I didn't care for - the last one with the brothers meeting in jail before an execution.  And the Glugger hotel wasn't to my tastes.  Still amusing though.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x12 - Violations

    The Enterprise is transporting three telepathic aliens.  One of them takes a shine to Troi, and mentally rapes her, and she falls into a coma.  There's an effort to figure out what happened.
    Not a very good episode.  Troi is always kind of a pain to watch, but that isn't what derails the episode.  There's no mystery to solve.  The audience knows exactly what happened, and the only mystery is how it is that the crew will learn what we already know.  Those sorts of stories can work, if the script is strong, and if we get to see enough deflection from the villain.  In this story, the villain has one trick up his sleeve, and it was a clever one.  But it comes far too late, and doesn't seem like anything better than a curious plot move.
    I found the dream sequences to be laughable, although that might be my age.  I actually did like seeing the last one, when Crusher remembers identifying her dead husband's body.  A younger Picard accompanies her, which is sort of hilarious, since he has more hair than I've ever seen Patrick Stewart with.

Death Note - 1x16 - Decision

    Misa is still held captive by L.  Light decides to suggest that he might be Kira subconsciously, and asks that he be held in solitary confinement.  Light's father also decides to be held.
    The story takes a dark turn with this episode.  L's handling of watching his prisoners is strange, and he doesn't seem to consider the ethical implications of his plan.
    Also, Misa relinquishes her death note, which eliminates her knowledge of what it does, or any information she gathered from using it.  I'm a little disappointed with how this aspect has been handled.  It seems a little too convenient.  She forgets only very specific information, but retains other information that seems relevant to what she should know.
    Still, it seems like the story is building to something.

Death Note - 1x15 - Wager

    L is convinced that he's going to be killed by Kira soon.  He instructs the rest of the team that if he dies in the next few days, then Light is most likely Kira.  The two of them meet at school, where Misa shows up.
    This one was also pretty good.  L is playing the game pretty well, and it's hard to say how much he's figured out.  Misa gets arrested on suspicion of being the second Kira, and L has her blindfolded and bound in a room.

Death Note - 1x14 - Friend

    L gets a bit confused about what is happening with Light / Kira.  Misa agrees to let her Shimigami, Rem, be used to kill L at Light's request.
    At this point, the story is moving forward a little more solidly.  I think that the first season is nearing a finishing point (although the show didn't seem to run in seasons).  The episode is decent, and Misa brings some pleasant comic relief to the show.  The other development in this episode is that L specifies that he views Light as a friend, and that this has tainted his perspective of the case.

Death Note - 1x13 - Confession

    Misa figures out that Light is Kira.  She meets with him, confesses that she loves him, and wants to help him at all costs.
    It's a better episode than I expected.  We learn a little more about how Misa worked.  She made some efforts to handle her power carefully, and evade capture or leaving clues.  The episode also humanized Light a little more, and it created a situation where a character was fleshed out a little more than normal.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 3x09 - Spike at Your Service

     Applejack saves Spike from some Timberwolves, making Spike feel obligated to serve her for the rest of his life.  The problem is partly that this is annoying, but also that Spike isn't a very skillful servant.
     Another Applejack-heavy episode?  At least this one was a bit better.  I don't have any particular affection for Spike, and he seemed more annoying in this one.
     Most of the episode was just dragged out a little more than it needed to be.  I still liked Twilight's stuff in this one, her OCD showing through, especially.  The last act made the episode work much better though.  The action was fun, and the cast expanded as I like it.  Plus, we got Pinkie Pie using a mustache.  Instant classic.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 3x08 - Apple Family Reunion

     Applejack takes responsibility for putting together the Apple family reunion.  She tries too hard.
     While I can't say that I disliked this episode, I didn't like it as much as I should have.  I've warmed up to Applejack over time, and she was fine in this one.
     But the episode barely had any inclusion of the other main characters.  I would have loved to see those characters included in more of the preparation.  My main complaint is that Applejack should have had a slightly different arc in the episode.  As it is, she doesn't figure out that she has over-prepared for the reunion until the end.  She should have figured it out earlier, and instead had more of a lesson about not forcing people to participate in activities unless they want to.
     I did like some of the character designs for the extended family.
     I really didn't like the inclusion of Babs.  I like the design, but I seriously dislike the accent.  I grew up in NJ, and I'm pretty familiar with the type of NY accents they're trying to approximate with her.  It's mostly annoying.  I also dislike that they mention Babs twice before having her show up.  This reminds me of Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie.  "Where's Poochie?"

That Mitchell and Webb Look - 3x02

     A sketch comedy show by the British duo, Mitchell and Webb.
     A co-worker of mine introduced me to them by a short football related sketch they did.  This video was linked from youtube, and I've watched the whole thing.
     It's really good.  Good enough that if their show were available in this region, I would have bought the run.
     The first three sketches are fantastic - a meeting at a slogan company, a comparison of ads targeting women and men, and a scientist creating things that seem like they should be weapons.  There are a few misses in the show, but it's still very good, and even the most dull segments have a very worthwhile payout.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x11 - Hero Worship

    The Enterprise finds a ship that has sustained a lot of damage, and one survivor, a young boy.  After he's rescued, he latches on to Data, and tries to emulate him as a way of dealing with the death of his family.
    Another episode of people acting creepy in their relationships with Data.  At least this one isn't as awkward, and it's easier to excuse it, since the kid doesn't really know what he's doing, and he grows out of it by the end.
    They've already put Data into a parenting role, but this one doesn't have the same sensibilities.  Here, Data never seems to care for the boy, at least no more than he cares for any human.
    The plot with the Enterprise investigating what happened to the other ship is really pretty sloppy.  They go into some kind of rift, despite that it seems to have caused the destruction of this other ship.  They ask a lot of questions, but they don't wait for the answers before acting on them.  And there doesn't seem to be a ticking clock of any sort.  It's just a little more reckless than I expect of them.
    This episode was directed by Patrick Stewart.  He also directed the episode In Theory, which dealt with a similar theme.

The Simpsons - 25x08 - To Cur With Love

    Homer doesn't really care about Santa's Little Helper.  While the rest of the family bugs him about this, Grandpa sits down to relate a story about Homer's relationship with Bongo, his childhood dog.
    I had some mixed feelings about this, but I lean toward thinking this was a pretty weak episode.
    I've gotten a little more annoyed with some flashback episodes, mostly because they've done enough of them that they have broken some of the continuity more than they should have.  Some of these changes I don't mind.  For some reason, The Blunder Years has never bothered me much.  But this one directly conflicts with some of the information we've learned about Homer's mother.  And Chief Wiggum used to work as a security guard at Burn's Germ Warfare lab.  In this, despite taking place at the same approximate time, he's working for Animal Control.
    These aren't things I normally care about.  But when the episode is this weak, it's all I have to focus on.
    I don't think I care about Homer's relationship with Bongo either.  Their relationship was more cartoony, and didn't seem have the real moments that are needed to pay off when we reach the emotional shot at the end.
    Which brings me to that.  It isn't as powerful as it could be.  Futurama has the episode Jurassic Bark, which never appealed to me until I had a dog.  But this seems like such a watered down version of that.
    The AV Club also pointed out that Bart has a stronger, and more emotional relationship with Santa's Little Helper.  This is true, in the strangest way.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x10 - New Ground

    The Enterprise is involved in testing a new method of traveling at warp speeds by generating a wave, and riding that wave.  Worf's son comes to live with him.
    These stories seem to be completely disconnected from each other, which isn't a bad thing.  I think Worf needed something to give his character more depth than his interest in Klingon political affairs.  This provided him with an awkward challenge, which humanized him, as well as gave him comedic beats.
    I think some people haven't cared for Alexander's inclusion in the show.  I don't think too much of it, but maybe he doesn't handle properly later on.
    For now, the episode is interesting, mostly because Worf seems to be a little thrown off by having a kid around, but no one seems to think that it's strange.  Worf's mother just dropped Alexander off unannounced.
    Also, the teacher on the Enterprise doesn't seem to be nearly as skilled as she should be.
    The other plot, with the new propulsion method, is a little fun, but still seems a little forced.  At least someone points out "can't we just go around the wave?"  They get some response about how the size of the wave is increasing, and they can't go around it any longer.  Of course, once we see the wave, it's roughly as big as it had been when we first saw it.  I suppose that writing scripts that take three-dimensional space into account just isn't as exciting.

Archer - 1x02 - Training Day

    The boss notices that Lana still finds Archer attractive when he foils an assassination attempt.   To prevent the two of them from getting back together, she makes Lana's boyfriend a field agent, and has Archer train him.
    This was a step up from the pilot.  It still moved quickly, but the little subplots - the new health plan, the boss having swollen eyes - all played out very well.  The pacing is crazy, and it reminds me even more of Harvey Birdman.

Archer - 1x01 - Mole Hunt

    After Archer's absurd expense account gets attention, he attempts to cover it up by staging a mole hunt.  In order to cover his tracks, he tries to get access to the mainframe.
    I recently read a few good things about Archer.  I asked a co-worker if he had seen it, and he said it's one of his "top ten."  And it's good.  It's strange, and I haven't quite decided what I think of it yet.  This was only the pilot.
    The animation is interesting.  It seems to incorporate some very artistic elements, and a strange way of animating movement.
    The show itself reminds me a lot more of Harvey Birdman, only more risqué.

The Big Bang Theory - 6x11 - The Santa Simulation

    Leonard is dungeon master at a Dungeons and Dragons game with the other guys, and he has them go through a Christmas themed game.  The girls go for a night out, and Raj joins them since his character has already died.
    This was a little better than some of the past episodes, mostly because it didn't offend me.  It's fun to see the guys actually being nerds.  It also humanized Raj a little more, since he's been difficult for the writers to develop, beyond some gay jokes.
    There isn't much to say about the episode.  It was fun, but not remarkable.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x09 - A Matter of Time

    The Enterprise picks up an odd spacecraft, which carries a guy claiming to be a time-traveling historian.  The Enterprise is on a mission to help a planet stabilize its environment or atmosphere or something.
    I normally like time travel premises for episodes, but I don't care for this one as much.  The episode is reasonably fun.  The guest star hams things up enough to keep things entertaining, but I guess I'm just annoyed at the way it was written.  He's annoying, and entirely unprofessional.  Even if Picard had reason to believe his story, I don't think he would give him such broad access to the ship.  He wanders around the ship, he hangs out on the bridge, he sits in Riker's chair.  This isn't the kind of thing that Picard typically puts up with.
    The ending is also unusually dark.  After his backstory is revealed, he winds up stranded out of his time period.  Wouldn't Picard be a little concerned that this would have messed up the path of time?  Meh.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 3x07 - Wonderbolts Academy

    Rainbow Dash gets to attend the Wonderbolts academy for training.
    I occasionally get a little weepy at a few of the MLP episodes.  Somehow though, I was a bit teary at the end of this one.  This was a huge surprise for me, since I don't really like Rainbow Dash much.  In fact, I had recently been complaining about the lack of development for her.  They finally gave her a weakness, but the problem is that she already has overcome it.
    There's plenty of fun animation, and most of the episode is packed with flying.  The story follows a predictable arc - training is hard, but Rainbow rises to the task.  There's another pony who is in tight competition with her.  I was expecting the episode to end in a slightly different way, but it pulled together for a wonderful closing.  This hasn't made Rainbow into my favorite or anything, but she has gone up in my estimation.
    I think they should have explored her desire to be "cool" a little more though.  This is an obvious weakness that they could have exploited for the episode.

American Dad - 8x06 - Ad-Ventures in Hayleysitting

    Stan and Francine want to go out for a night of watching horses.  When the babysitter breaks her leg, Hayley gets to babysit Steve.  Steve wants to make things hard for her, so he goes out with his friends to a party, and there are a variety of adventures.
    I wish I knew why they titled this with "Ad-Ventures."  I don't get that.
    A very strong episode from American Dad.  Everyone got something fun to do.  There was the manic behavior I've come to know and love.  They even brought Roger down a notch, which really helps.  I like Roger's stuff, but usually he goes just a bit too far.  In this case, he plays it very well, and he's out of the way most of the time.
    They also did an excellent gag in this one, where a meth-head gets his head blown off.  The shot is framed so that we think his head just exploded.  The misdirection is great.  No idea what happened for a few seconds.

The Simpsons - 24x07 - The Day the Earth Stood Cool

    Homer meets a hipster guy who runs a doughnut truck.  He's impressed with how cool he is, and gets him to move in next door.  While Lisa likes the hipster lifestyle, Marge really doesn't like it.
    This was one of the most straight and solid episodes they've done in a long time.  It actually reminds me a little of the older, second or third season episodes.  There aren't any secondary stories.  There are running gags, but everyone has an arc that is tied in to the main story.
    There was also the shortest opening sequence I've seen in a long time.  I've been getting a little more annoyed with some of the longer opening gags, and it came as a pleasure to see it jump straight into a story.  They even had a segment going over the credits at the end!
    There's a lot of humor to be mined from hipsters, and the only thing I thought was out of place was Marge being uncomfortable with breastfeeding.  The fact that she mentions that she fed Lisa for 9 months seemed like a very peculiar way of balancing out the message that the episode sent.
    My favorite line - "Not only do I like Van Halen, but I think they keep getting better!"

Death Note - 1x12 - Love

    Light and L make a video from Kira addressing the fake Kira.  The fake Kira responds.  Her response makes reference to the fact that she has the shinigami eyes, as well as to the existence of shinigami.
    A step down, since nearly nothing happens.  But the situation is a bit more fresh.  Misa is a little too silly.  She's a model!  They also tell a story about how shinigami can die.  If they make a kill with the purpose of extending the life of a human, that does it.  I'm sure that will fit into the story in some way, but for now, it just feels like world building.

Death Note - 1x11 - Assault

    Kira sends some tapes to a TV station trying to force the police into stating that they'll either help him, or refuse to help.  After these tapes air, L reveals that he doesn't believe that the killer is actually Kira, that it's a copycat.
    This episode worked a whole lot better than the other two on this disc.  It moves along at a reasonable pace, but the cliffhanger is great.
    Misa, the copycat, is in a similar situation, having a death note, a shinigami following her around, but she also agreed to take the eyes, so she's got a considerable advantage on Light.

Death Note - 1x10 - Doubt

    Light and L have a tennis match, then they try to test each other in an effort to confirm identities.  Light tries to get onto the task force.  Light's father has an unrelated heart attack.
    The tennis match at the beginning was great.  Everything else was fairly dull.
    I realized part of what makes this series suffer is that we get to hear the internal monologue for Light, which was useless enough, but now that the show has included L's monologue, it seems even more absurd.  The tension would play out much better without the narration.

Death Note - 1x09 - Encounter

    Light takes his exam, and comes out on top, along with L.  L reveals his name, and tells Light that he's L.  The cameras are taken down from Light's house.  Light spends most of the episode wondering exactly what he should do.  And L shares a name with a famous pop star.
    I don't have much to say about this one.  It seemed like a strange jump forward, since we didn't know this exam was coming.  Light is apparently in college now.  And L… I had no idea how old he was anyway.
    I think that L's huge eyes are hilarious.

The Simpsons - 22x20 - Homer Scissorhands

    Homer finds out that he's an excellent hairdresser, and becomes a very in-demand stylist.  Lisa rejects Milhouse, which leads to a 5th grader becoming interested in him.  Lisa can't deal with this.
    While there isn't much to make this episode a noteworthy one, it's really pretty good.  There aren't any gags that outstay their welcome, the performances are good.  It's great to see Milhouse sing a song using a theremin.  And there's a strange gag with Lunchlady Doris and Moleman.
     I like Lisa's story more than I should, considering how much I should identify with Milhouse.  It makes sense for Lisa to have a quiet interest in him, especially since she probably places a certain amount of self-worth on his worship.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 3x06 - Sleepless in Ponyville

    Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo all go on a camping trip.  Before going to bed each night, Rainbow Dash tells a scary story.  Since Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle accept that they're scared, and can comfort themselves in their sisters, they deal with the stories fine.  Scootaloo is too preoccupied with impressing Rainbow Dash that she refuses to admit her fright.  So she has nightmares, which get in the way of enjoying the camping trip.
    I don't think much of Scootaloo.  And I don't really think much of Rainbow Dash.  There isn't much personality for Scootaloo, except for hero worship, and Rainbow just seems like she hasn't been given as much depth as she should have.  She hasn't shown much weakness, which would really help give her more heart.
    The episode seems like the strangest one yet.  We see what pony nightmares are like, which was kind of interesting.  But it also establishes that Princess Luna has some sort of dream powers, which seems like a bizarre development.
    There was plenty of fun animation.  But something seemed to be missing.  It could be that there's no Pinkie, Fluttershy, or Twilight in the episode.  But I suppose it's good to bridge the connections between the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the older ponies.
    At least Rainbow does the right thing at the end, and takes Scootaloo under her wing.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x08 - Unification part 2

    Spock and Picard argue about Spock's goal of peace between the Vulcans and Romulans.  A politician says that he's willing to support a peace treaty.  It turns out that this is all part of a plot organized by Tasha Yar's daughter to invade Vulcan.
    This two parter didn't deserve to be a two-part episode.  The plots move slowly, and probably have enough material for a tightly packed single episode.  There are still a few pleasing moments.  It's a pleasure to see Data and Spock talk, given their obvious parallel parts.  There are some strange cantina-like scenes with Riker and a musician.
    I haven't talked about Riker's plot.  Since Picard is off on Romulus, Riker has the Enterprise, and has been running around doing an investigation.  Of course, this winds up tying into Picard's plot, but even that seems a bit forced.
    While the story did come together in the end, and seemed like a reasonable finish, it still came across like a desperate episode.  There's a lot of padding, still more humor than usual, and once the villainous plan is revealed, it seems needlessly circuitous.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 1x13 - Fall Weather Friends

    Applejack and Rainbow Dash get into a conflict about which one is the better athlete, and they agree to an "Iron Pony" competition.  After that creates further problems, they agree to a race during a marathon.
    I have some real reservations about this episode.  My main complaint is that it's too obvious that Rainbow Dash is cheating.  They even have an audience, and no one seems to point out that Rainbow is really not behaving well.
    There is one instance where I thought that Applejack did go a bit too far, and that's when she used the beehive.  But this brings me to the other strange thing about the episode.  It plays a lot like a Warner Brothers cartoon.
    The real fun of the episode comes with Pinkie Pie and Spike doing their announcing for the race.
    This is the first episode that I watched after the first season came out on DVD.  So far, I was happy with the transfer, but I did only watch it on a small TV.

The Big Bang Theory - 6x10 - The Fish Guts Displacement

    Amy gets the flu, and Sheldon feels obligated to take care of her.  Howard and Bernadette have dinner with her parents, which results in Howard and his father-in-law being set up to go on a fishing trip.  Howard spends the week preparing himself for it.
    I think this had some fun material in it, but a few things seem really off.  First, I really hated hearing the studio audience give the "aww" when Howard references his lack of a father during childhood.  Second, the plot with Amy and Sheldon started off fine, but veered into really bizarre territory.  Like, fanfic territory.
    It's all built around Amy lying to Sheldon to keep getting his attention.  This is a reasonable sitcom plot, and it's nice to see the roles reversed.  Then, once he uncovers the lie, things get ridiculous.  He suggests that spanking is an acceptable punishment.  She's into this, of course.  We see a single hit, and we hear a second before the end of the episode.
    While this is amusing, it's really forced that Sheldon would suggest this.  In fact, if she had suggested it, that might make it play a little better.
    I actually did like how Howard's story finished up, since it gave a glimmer of hope toward characters improving.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x07 - Unification part 1

    It looks like Spock may have defected to the Romulans, and Picard is tasked to find out what happened.  He calls in a favor from the Klingons, and Picard and Data get in disguise and head down to Romulus.  After finding the person they intended to, they are captured by undercover agents.
    For a two part episode, this one is really pretty dull.  The only thing it has going for it is the tension of waiting to see Spock.  Otherwise, it moves slowly, and never feels like there's anything important happening.
    Sarek dies in this episode, although it happens offscreen.
    The real highlight of it is some of the fun that Picard gets to have.  He has a little fun manipulating the Klingons into helping him.  He lies to the Klingons aboard their ship, to come across more masculine.  And then he gets some great, awkward scenes where he tries to sleep with Data watching him blankly.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x06 - The Game

    Riker picks up a headset video game on his vacation, and brings it back to the Enterprise.  The game seems to have peculiar addictive properties.  Wesley is visiting for awhile.
    This is a pretty campy episode, and it's got a lot of unintentional humor.  The pleasure that people seem to get out of the game is a lot of fun to watch.  There's also a romantic plot for Wesley, who gets to hit it off with Ashley Judd.
    I kind of like the way that the episode is not especially forthcoming about exactly what it is that the game does, except that it causes pleasure, and makes people more suggestible.  But this is counterbalanced with Judd's annoying "rules" schtick, which just makes me cringe.

American Dad - 8x05 - Why Can't We Be Friends?

    Stan is annoyed at the way Steve acts with his friend Snot.  In order to separate them, Stan fakes a mob hit, and puts Snot into witness protection.  After spending some time with Snot, Stan realizes that he really likes him.  In the meantime, Roger is having Jeff clean his apartment, then is robbing him on his way home.
    While the premise isn't as mind-bending as the best of the American Dad episodes, this one did well with lesser material.  Well enough that they brought the quality of the show up above where it would usually fall.  The animation for Steve and Snot playing air guitar is just great.  The designs for the increasingly evil hallway where Jeff gets mugged are wonderful, and especially surreal.
    It was a pleasure to see Always With Me, Always With You get used at the end.  The camera rotating around them as they go through the tapping part was beautifully done.
    It's also nice to see an episode flesh out Snot without making his life seem weirder.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x05 - Disaster

    In the middle of doing nothing in particular, the Enterprise runs into some anomaly, which results in a variety of emergencies, with most of the power out, and communication systems out of order.  Picard is stuck in a turbolift with three children, Worf helps deliver a baby, and so forth.
    This is a lot of fun, but it had just a few moments that made me cringe.
    I actually like the uncomfortable scripting between Picard and the children.  Worf's situation is also great for comedic purposes.  The one part of it that I didn't like was the idea of Troi being in command.  I don't think that a ship's counselor should be left in charge, specifically when it involves making decisions that require some scientific knowledge of how the ship works, and how basic physics work in space.
    There's just one moment near the end, when they make a joke that has Picard saying "You have the bridge, Number One" and both Riker and one of the kids he was stuck with acknowledge him.  It's such a sitcom-y line.  The show should be above that type of writing.

Death Note - 1x08 - Glare

    L gets cameras and taps installed in the houses of the people that Raye Penber was trailing.  Light is aware of this, and comes up with a scheme to thwart the surveillance.
    The episode is one of the most humor-injected ones.  They finally use Ryuk as a comic element, and reprise Light's ingenuity in figuring out how to deal with these problems.  Similarly strong to the fourth episode, this one played nicely.

Death Note - 1x07 - Overcast

    Light spends most of the episode in conversation with Maki.  He tries to kill her, but her name isn't right.  So he spends most of the time trying to figure out how to get her to reveal her real name.  L is still having a meeting with the investigators, and gives them a bunch of stuff to help protect their identities.
    For an episode in which very little happens, it's not bad.  It ends on a nice, dramatic moment, especially the last shot, which is only symbolic of her impending death.  Otherwise, the episode felt like it was treading water.

Death Note - 1x06 - Unraveling

    L meets with the investigators in his hotel room.  They discuss some protocol for how to handle the case, as well as a few leads they can follow.  Light stops by the station to deliver a change of clothes to his father, and runs into Maki, the girlfriend of the FBI agent he killed last episode.  They talk about the case.  Maki is deemed a threat.
    An improvement over last episode.  This episode is much more about deduction of what we already know, so it doesn't feel like any real progress was made.  Light decides that he has to do something about Maki, since she's figured out that Kira can kill by means other than heart attacks.

Death Note - 1x05 - Tactics

    Light executes his plan, which involves killing the FBI agent that was following him.  He uses that agent to kill off all the other FBI agents that were sent to Japan to assist in the investigation.  Raye Penber's girlfriend survives, and plans on tracking Kira as well.  The FBI withdraw from the investigation.  There are very few people left that are willing to work on the case, and the remaining investigators strike a deal to meet with L, so that they can trust each other in their collaboration.
    The show has started to change a little.  Light's behavior has been moving into a much more villainous territory.  His decision to kill Raye - as well as a variety of other FBI agents he doesn't know - seems too preemptive for my tastes.  It's also that Light seems to have forgotten about his primary goal of eliminating criminals.  Now the elimination of criminals seems to just be his method of playing a cat and mouse game with investigators.
    This episode also had two really goofy bits.  The conversation between Raye and his girlfriend was hilarious, and Light's sister has some great enthusiasm at the dinner table.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 3x05 - Magic Duel

    Trixie returns, and uses an amulet to amplify her magical powers.  She wins a duel with Twilight, which leads to Ponyville being kept under a dome, and Twilight being banished.
    I wasn't expecting this to be a great episode.  I never really got into the first episode with Trixie (but maybe that's since I only saw it once).  But this was one of the best written episodes the show has put together.  It's more complex than most of them.
    The plot has a clear focus - there's no secondary plot going on.  But they still manage to incorporate all of the main characters into the story without it feeling forced.  Twilight should be the primary character, but at times, the focus shifts to Fluttershy.  To a lesser extent, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all have things to do.  Pinkie is muted for most of the episode, but it still plays very well.  This is a tricky type of story to write.  It doesn't come across as being an episode about Twilight, or Fluttershy.  They both have small arcs within the episode.  It comes across as the friends dealing with an adversary, which is exactly what the show is supposed to be about.
    No songs, but it was nice to hear that Pinkie has gotten a different version of 1-man-band music.

The Big Bang Theory - 6x09 - The Parking Spot Escalation

    Howard buys a new car, and his new fame as an astronaut means that he has been awarded the best parking spot at the school - a spot that Sheldon used to have.  While Sheldon doesn't have a car, he insists on wanting to retain the parking spot.  This leads to Bernadette and Amy fighting on Howard and Sheldon's behalf.
    While this episode was better plotted, and had a more succinct plot than many episodes of Big Bang Theory, I didn't like it.  I found something more distressing about it.  Normally, Sheldon is the only one who acts like a jerk.  More recently, Amy did as well, although that is probably to be expected.  The problem is that here, everyone was acting like a jerk, with the exception of Penny, Leonard, and Raj.  Of course, all of those people are barely in the episode.
    There's the strong conflict to drive the story forward, except for the problem that the conflict is hard to buy into.
    There were also a few moments that I cringed at the script.  After Penny gets hit in the face, someone asks "do you think we've gone to far" or something like that.  Penny gives this "Do you THINK?" line.  That kind of response just destroys any sense of sympathy I have for her.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x04 - Silicon Avatar

    Some of the crew are helping some people work on building a settlement on a planet, when the planet is attacked by the crystalline entity.  Most of the settlers and the crew survive the attack by hiding in a cave, where the entity seems to be unable to reach them.  An expert on the entity comes to interview the survivors.  She distrusts Data because he has survived contact with the entity a few times, and her son died on the planet that Data was created on.
    This was a good episode.  It doesn't start too well, since we get a bit of Riker hitting on some settler.  And it isn't very clear how satisfying the direction of the episode will be.  It's always uncomfortable to see characters being mean to Data.
    There are a few common threads to an earlier episode - In Theory.  Both this episode and that one dealt with characters trying to put deeper feelings into Data than were appropriate, and feeling bad as a result of the act.
    What makes this episode work is the end of it.  There's some hammy bits as Picard is amazed that they are communicating with the entity.  But when we see the entity destroyed as a result of Marr's actions, it's clear that she was out of line.  Since we aren't going to get to see her get into deeper trouble, it's a dark ending for Data to tell her that her son would not be made happy by her actions.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x03 - Ensign Ro

    After a Federation outpost is destroyed, and one species claims responsibility for the attack.  Picard is called upon by an Admiral to find the terrorists, and bring the one responsible back to his proper place.  To assist with the mission, the Admiral assigns a poorly regarded former Starfleet officer, Ro Laren.  Picard's investigation of the situation suggests that there is more than had been offered to him.
    This episode was more serious than most of the well-regarded episodes, but it's actually pretty good.  It's easy to dislike Ensign Ro from her poor behavior, especially early in the episode, but we learn to like her, along with Picard.  This also handles Picard in a much more fatherly way.  He is tough, but fair, and he's willing to use the Enterprise's resources to help the settlement he visits.
    I also liked how the story played out.  We know that there's something more underhanded going on, but it isn't clear what it is.  Again, we learn about it as Picard does.  It's pleasing to see a story develop this way, instead of artificially timing the reveals.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 5x02 - Darmok

    The Enterprise goes to work on establishing relations with another alien species.  All prior attempts have been friendly, but they can't communicate.  Things seem to be heading the same way.  Then the aliens transport their captain and Picard to the surface of the planet nearby, where the pair of them wander around, and are eventually attacked by some weird invisible creature.  Picard eventually figures out how the other captain communicates.  They talk by using metaphors from their cultural history.
    This is a fun episode, and it's memorable.  But it is honestly one of the least believable premises they've used.  Most of the outlandish Trek plots can be excused, since they use science as a story device.  In this case, the aliens using metaphors to communicate is just completely absurd.  Some ideas can be communicated this way.  But the system is absurdly inefficient for explaining complex ideas.  How did these aliens ever build a spaceship?  I'd expect a language like this for Jar Jar.  Not for a Trek universe species.

The Simpsons - 22x11 - Flaming Moe

    Smithers and Moe team up to turn Moe's into a more accepting gay bar - one that doesn't exclude the less attractive gay patrons.  The problem is that the patrons think that Moe is one of them.  In the meantime, after Mr. Largo leaves Springfield Elementary, a substitute music teacher is brought in, Ms. Juniper.  She's kind of a hippie, and Skinner gets into her free spirited nature.
    I know I've watched this episode at least once before, probably twice, and I know I enjoyed it.  This time, I still liked it, but I felt a little like the jokes were a little too stereotypical.  I think that's intentional though, since most of the joke is about how little Moe understands gays and gay culture.
    I don't care for the Skinner plot, although it has a few nice moments.  Ms. Juniper's daughter is very fun, and it's good to see Bart try to be nice to someone as peculiar as her.  And I like seeing Skinner having confidence.  The misdirection with Chalmers is great.

Family Guy - 11x06 - Lois Comes Out of Her Shell

    After Peter makes Lois feel old and unattractive, she decides to act young, and turns into a party girl.  Stewie finds a pet turtle, who turns out to be evil.
    I haven't bothered watching Family Guy much, (as this blog makes obvious) but there was a fairly positive review of this episode, and the idea of the turtle was very interesting.  And I was fairly happy with this episode.
    Honestly, I think that Family Guy has gone the way of South Park.  They have this strange nihilist sensibility, which I normally love.  But the problem is that they are irresponsible with their point of view.  Family Guy doesn't bother me in the same way though - they seem just a bit more lazy than anything else.  Sometimes they stretch the formulas, and I can appreciate that.
    But I think it's a bit like Zappa's music.  In some cases, you have to be familiar with the norms in order to nuke them.
    I didn't care as much about the A story.  I like seeing that Peter and Lois are a mostly normal couple, but it just didn't matter much.  I did enjoy the turtle story though.  It's tricky to make a turtle menacing, although the show went further than it should have.  It was much funnier to try to figure out how the turtle did things.

Death Note - 1x04 - Pursuit

    Light comes up with a plan to find out the identity of the person who has been following him.  He orchestrates an event for his shadow to follow him on a date, eventually leading to the shadow revealing himself to be Raye Penber, an FBI agent.
    I thought this was easily the most solidly plotted episode so far.  Light has tested the limits of how much control he has over the deaths he dictates.  His plan is interesting, and it plays out as he expects.  Of course, it would be more interesting if he had to work around some unforeseeable problem, but this is still very nicely handled.

Death Note - 1x03 - Dealings

    It is revealed that the officer in charge of finding Kira is actually Light's father.  After Light finds out that the police suspect that the killer is a student, he changes his patterns to kill criminals on the hour.  Shortly afterward, Light finds that he's being followed, but doesn't know who is doing it.  Ryuk offers to make a deal with Light - Light can gain the eyes of a shinigami, in exchange for half of his remaining lifespan.
    There isn't as much plotting in this episode, but the developments were nice.  Mostly, I liked getting a clearer explanation of what Ryuk is.  While he's described as a shinigami, they also translate this as "death god."  He's a god that is supposed to user people into death.  This is good to know.  At first, I thought he was supposed to be some sort of demon.
    It's interesting that they ended the episode on the offer, but without any resolution.
    Also, they use photographs in the animation.  Sometimes, it's an establishing shot, sometimes, it seems to just be elements of the frame - like a stop light or something like that.  It's a bit jarring, but it actually makes the production look a little cheaper.  Plus, some of the animations of people talking remind me of G.I. Joe.

Death Note - 1x02 - Confrontation

    The authorities have put together that someone is behind all of the criminals suffering unexpected heart attacks.  An anonymous detective is assigned to the case, someone who uses the name L.  Light sees a broadcast where L reveals himself to the world, and takes the opportunity to kill him with the notebook.  After the person dies, it's revealed that the person who announced this was a criminal, and they've just proven that Light (although he is known online as "Kira") is able to kill at a distance.  L also reveals that the broadcast he was watching was only shown in a particular district.  So they've narrowed down his location substantially.
    For a very light plot, it moved along very well.  Plus, an additional rule is revealed - anyone else who touches the notebook will be able to see the otherworldly creature that follows Light around.  In order to defend against this, Light actually puts together a pretty ingenious trap in his drawer.
    The moral and ethical implications of the story have started to get more interesting.  Light is clearly too cocky about his power.  But he's still pretty bright, and he seems to not be entirely ruthless with his power.  But there's still the implication that he might be.

Death Note - 1x01 - Rebirth

    A high school student named Light finds a peculiar notebook.  It specifies that anyone whose name is written in it will die of a heart attack, unless the death is otherwise specified.  He also learns that the original owner of the notebook was some sort of otherworldly creature named Ryuk.  Light explains that he plans on eliminating criminals, and thus take it over.
    This is the first anime that I've been able to sit through, and I think this is a fairly interesting one.  The premise is interesting, although it doesn't seem like the sort of plot that would be able to sustain for a whole series.  The story is more straightforward than I expected.  There wasn't as much nonsensical development as I was expecting.
    The animation style is interesting.  It's clearly a bit cheaper than the type I'm used to, but they get around those weaknesses by using the camera in some clever ways.  There's a lot more shaking and other movement of the camera to compensate for the lack of actual animation going on.
    Also, the subtitles are fantastic.  The show has been dubbed in English, and there are English subtitles.  Except that they clearly are translated by different people.

Seinfeld - 6x09 - The Secretary

    George hires a secretary, and decides to go with an unattractive woman, so that he can focus on work.  Kramer gets Uma Thurman's number, sells his suit to Kenny Bania, Elaine deals with a store that uses "skinny mirrors."
    I watched this episode mostly to show Cathy the George plot, partly because his secretary is named Ada.
    This episode doesn't have a broad scope, and it seems to take place over the course of about a day or two.  Everyone has something to do, but there aren't many gags that stand out.  Except, of course, George's affair with his secretary.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 3x04 - One Bad Apple

    The Apple family has a relative from Manehattan come to visit.  Babs is roughly the same age as Apple Bloom, and also doesn't have her cutie mark.  So the Cutie Mark Crusaders try to invite her into their club.  When the mean girls from their grade stop by to make fun of them, Babs joins up with the bad girls, and picks on the other girls.
    I've never been a huge fan of the Cutie Mark Crusader episodes.  This one isn't horrible, but it's also not especially strong.  Most of the main characters have very little to do, except for Applejack.  At least the wedged a bit of Pinkie Pie into the story, which was some fun stuff.
    The real highlight is a much more rocking song in the show.  It doesn't sound quite like the normal work from Daniel Ingram, but it grew on me by the end of it.
    I didn't like the voice that Babs had.  They gave her an attempted NY accent, but it just came across as annoying.  And something didn't seem right about the ending.  They give a reason for Babs being a jerk, but that doesn't exactly excuse her behavior.