''Well, in that case, I'd love to come.''

[Credit: ABC.com]

Oh Michael Emerson, how I adore you - no one else can say a line that today's title quote with as much dripping sarcasm as you can. I think that Emerson so brilliantly plays Ben on Lost that I love watching his character on the screen even though he is horribly manipulative, always plotting some nefarious scheme and nothing he says should ever be trusted. I have long been convinced that Emerson reading the phone book would be fascinating, and I feel this clip proves me correct: Emerson on Jimmy Kimmel reading a nursery rhyme in a totally creepy way.


[Credit: ABC.com]

This Tuesday saw the season (and hopefully not series) finale of a new favourite show of mine, Better Off Ted. It has such a fantastic cast (Portia DeRossi and the actors who play Phil and Lem especially stand out), witty dialogue, hysterical situations (eg. the motion and light sensors not seeing black people and the ensuring reaction of the company, especially "Operation White Shadow"), and it's a fantastic satire of the corporate workplace (eg. the company responds to the request for personalized cubicles by decorating everyone's cubicles in one of four non-threatening themes: Green Bay Packers, space, cats, and classic cars). I have my fingers and toes crossed for the show to be renewed, and was encouraged by this fun interview with the Phil and Lem actors in which they express their optimism that the show will return. My favourite part is definitely this quote:
Slavin (Phil): I think that we're the marriage on this show. We're a complex relationship but uncomplicated. We're so enmeshed, we cease to exist without each other. We're the marriage on this show!
Barrett (Lem): You think on our show the love affair is between Ted [Jay Harrington] and Linda [Andrea Anders], but it's Lem and Phil.


[Credit: Adam Taylor/FOX]

So, this week's House: House and Cuddy sleep together. You know what? It worked for me. I've never been anti-House/Cuddy although I'll admit I'm far more a fan of the House/Wilson dynamic. However, I thought this episode nicely demonstrated that House needs someone like Cuddy in his life. And that he does really care for her. I really believed House's line, "I always want to kiss you." (In response to Cuddy asking him if he wanted to kiss her.) I think that what we'll see next week is if House is good for Cuddy because I question whether that is the case. Also, the Fox promos are promising a shocking ending which I'm skeptical about because I don't think anything will top the shock of Kutner's suicide.

Biggest Shock of the Week:
The winner is definitely Lil' Kim's elimination from DWTS. I had been rooting for her to win so was devastated when she was eliminated. I really do like all the contestants and find Ty so charming because he works so hard, but I definitely would have picked Lil' Kim to stay over Ty. Sad.

My runner up is Locke's line to Ben at the end of Lost: I'm gonna go kill Jacob.

Least Surprising "Twist" on TV: When Derek and Meredith gave their wedding to Izzy and Alex. I did feel that it was right for all the characters: Izzy got the "perfect" wedding she'd planned and Meredith didn't have to have the big church wedding that she'd never wanted. It's maybe because it worked for the characters that it didn't feel like a surprise.

Favourite Exchange of the Week is from Lost yet again:
Dr. Pierre Chang: Your friend Faraday said that you were from the future. I need to know if he was telling the truth.
Hurley: Dude, that's ridiculous.
Chang: What year were you born? What year?
Hurley: Uh, 1931?
Chang: You're 46?
Hurley: Yeah. Yes, I am.
Chang: So you fought in the Korean War?
Hurley: There's no such thing.
Chang: Who's the president of the United States?
Hurley: All right, dude. We're from the future. Sorry.

This is our present... We can't be so naive as to think that nothing can happen to us. Any one of us can die.

Thanks to Daniel Faraday on Lost for articulating not just the precariousness of life on the show, but also how everyone is feeling because of current fear around H1N1.

I loved the 100th episode of Lost because it was a regular Lost episode with everything continuing on the way it has been this season. There were no obnoxious or unnecessary guest stars or silly stunts - the show producers wisely decided to be true to the show. That's what I like in my landmark episodes of TV shows, and also what I like about finales. It's also impressive to me that even though the episode didn't have my favourite character, Ben, it was still awesome and captivating with some awesome heart-breaking twists. In particular it was awesome to have a character with mother issues for once (as opposed to the normally rampant father issues). Plus we got to see Desmond and Penny (my other favourite characters) who are definitely the heart of the show.

This was actually a good week in TV overall. I felt Grey's Anatomy had a strong episode. I particularly enjoyed the examination of the Chief and Meredith's relationship, that was very well done. And the Owen and Cristina final scene was so good and heart-wrenching. "You take care" has never sounded more loaded with meaning.

Also making me happy this week was Dollhouse! Despite my favourite show ever being Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and also loving Joss Whedon's other shows Angel and Firefly/Serenity), I have been very resistant to the show. Because, let's face it, it's a creepy creepy premise. I get that it's supposed to be creepy but that doesn't make it necessarily enjoyable TV. Who wants to watch a show where humans are basically being used as slaves? However this week's episode had a couple of big game changers as well as two surprising twists! The writing really sparkled this episode so it was no surprise for me to discover it was written by the awesome Jane Espenson. I was especially impressed by Alan Tudyk's guest starring role which demonstrated his range (I'm used to his jovial Wash from Firefly/Serenity). It was neat to have him, Amy Acker and Eliza Dushku in a scene together - key people from three Joss Whedon shows! That was just a neat moment. Plus, the sleeping beauty theme was excellently used.

I'd also like to give a shout out to three of my favourite comedies: Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and The Office for all having great episodes this week. In particular, I continue to love the dynamic between Sheldon and Penny on Big Bang Theory. Which brings me to....

My favourite quote of the week:
Sheldon: [after telling Leonard he spent the night at Penny's] "I have a much better understanding of 'friends with benefits' now."

Particularly funny considering this had been Sheldon's previous understanding of 'friends with benefits':
"What exactly does that expression mean, 'friends with benefits?' Does he provide her with health insurance?"

Favourite Hurley moment (from Lost): [When he heard that the folks stuck on the island had been in the 1950s] "Wait, you were in 1954? Like, Fonzie times?"