FTW vs. WTF: The TV Week in Review (April 19–25)
No jokes, no fake news, no holiday cheer, just a straight thank you to our managing editor Jen Trolio as she moves on from TV.com after six great years making this site better than we could even imagine. Without Jen, TV.com would only have stories where Tim complained about superhero TV and Kaitlin commented on James Wolk's hair. Thankfully, we've learned a lot from her, and will do our best to keep her influence alive by constantly asking ourselves, "WWJTD?" From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much, Jen! We'll miss you!
Now here's what we liked and didn't like about the last seven days in television.
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't finished watching this week's new episodes (of Revenge, The Americans, Grey's Anatomy, etc.), we suggest that you hold off on reading this story until you do.
FTW:
Victoria takes matters into her own hands on Revenge
In a shocking turn of events, Queen Vee blew up Grayson Manor from her infamous Constitution Chair... while she was still inside and sitting in it! Given that both the character and Revenge itself probably should've ended after Season 3, maybe Victoria's death will be what finally sets the conclusion of this story in motion? Let's hope so. It's time, guys. Let's just let it go.
FTW:
Too Many Cooks, Game of Thrones-style
Why it took humanity so long to make this mashup we'll never know, but the result is pretty damn great.
FTW:
Everyone is telling Don Draper off, and it's glorious
The final season of Mad Men is not going to be full of "answers" or immediately recognizable "conclusive" moments, but if there's one running theme we can identify after three episodes, it's that people can't help but dress down the previously untouchable Don Draper. Last week it was Megan, and in this week's improved "The Forecast," Peggy, Sally, Mathis, and even Don's realtor got in on the action. Everyone around Don now sees through his façade, and you have to wonder how many folks have to tell him that he's desperate/sad/pathetic before something actually changes.
FTW:
Selina and Gary have it out on Veep
Give Tony Hale another Emmy, because Gary's showdown with the president in "East Wing" after she callously took him to task for being the most caring employee ever was one of the best moments in the series' history. You tell her, Gary Antoinette! Also: What happened on Labor Day?!?
FTW:
Randy Orton runs roughshod on the roster in an otherwise lackluster Raw
The post-WrestleMania period is always an interesting one for WWE, but this spring's stories have felt especially toothless in preparation for the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view. With the Authority angle losing steam, Daniel Bryan on the shelf again, and Brock Lesnar taking his annual extended spring break, WWE is leaning a bit hard on Randy Orton and its new Champion, Seth Rollins. Their feud isn't that great—again, the Authority stuff is pretty tired by now—but Orton is doing some of the best work of his career as the renegade loose cannon who's out for revenge. His series of RKO attacks on Monday's Raw played up the danger of one of wrestling's best finishing maneuvers and produced some fun callbacks to a similar episode of Raw from many years ago that featured Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same role.
FTW:
Chang shows off his PowerPoint skills in a fine episode of Community
There was lots to love about "Advanced Safety Features," another product-placement skewering outing and an additional highlight of Community's fantastic sixth season. Elroy's role as a black Pierce or an old Troy and Frankie's comforting of Dean Pelton in the worst way possible were awesome, but the goofiest part was Chang's episode-opening PowerPoint presentation. The guy's only purpose in Season 6 may be to populate unimportant side gags, but they're great unimportant side gags.
FTW:
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plan is finally sort of coming together
After weeks of everyone talking to each other in enclosed spaces, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. brought back some of the action and adventure when it positioned Ward and Coulson in Hydra's path. Oh, sure, there was still plenty of chatting going on in "The Frenemy of My Enemy," but anything that ends with Ward shooting a bunch of people can only be considered a good/sexy thing.
FTW:
Everything comes crashing down on The Americans
HOLY MOLY the Season 3 finale of The Americans was excellent. And instead of ending on a thrilling spy mission, the show focused on what mattered most: family. Philip's increasing sense of doubt about the spy lifestyle, Elizabeth's concentration on Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech, and of course, Paige's phone call to Pastor Tim all collided in the final scene to reveal just how messed up the Jennings family unit is.
FTW:
Amy Schumer drinks all the wine as Tami Taylor
The sadness we've been feeling since Broad City ended morphed into happiness this week once Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer returned for Season 3, and the premiere featured a funny Friday Night Lights parody that also made an important statement about rape culture. But our favorite aspect of the skit was Schumer's hammy impersonation of Connie Britton's Tami Taylor, complete with an ever-growing glass of white wine.
FTW:
Murray and Adam find common ground on a standout episode of The Goldbergs
Underrated story of this TV season: The Goldbergs evolving into the undisputed best comedy on broadcast television. This week's episode was particularly charming due to its concentration on the Murray–Adam relationship, a pairing that the show doesn't quite employ enough. Thankfully, the Princess Bride-channeling "As You Wish" worked their lack of common interests into the plot, giving us a warm, funny story about fathers and sons trying to speak to one another through popular culture.
FTW:
Vikings' Princess Gisla plays hard to get
Vikings' solid Season 3 finale continued the push on Paris, but it was love that stole the show in "The Dead." A surprise arranged marriage between Gisla the French princess and Rollo the Viking brute caught the headstrong bride off guard, and she expressed her disappointment through a tirade of demeaning insults directed at her spouse-to-be. Luckily, everything she said was in French, so he was none the wiser. Thinking she was proclaiming her love for him, he whipped out a little trick he'd learned to impress her and said the one word he'd learned in her native tongue, "Hello." Awww, sweet young romance. Read the whole exchange here.
FTW:
"You're firing me so you can be my friend?" Elementary's Sherlock + Alfredo 4-ever
The main case in "Under the Skin" was perfect naptime fodder (Fisher Stevens did it, big shocker), but it was worth waking up every now and then to watch Sherlock try to get Alfredo out of a hole he had dug himself into, albeit one of a non-addiction-related nature. Their sponsor/sponsee relationship has always been one of Elementary's highlights, so to have Sherlock sack Alfredo as his sponsor just so they can be pals promises a great deal of fun in the future.
FTW:
Louie receives a visit from an old friend
The most Season 4-ish episode to date examined the role of secondary relationships in our lives when Louie's sister's old flame (Michael Rapaport as an NYPD cop) ran into Louie on the street and demanded they get together and hang out, seeing as how they were almost in-laws. Well, it turned out the guy was a jerk, and Louie told him as much. But when he lost his gun and his life was in shambles, Louie saved the day and got the warmest, weepiest man hug in the history of TV.
FTW:
Orphan Black's Alison Hendrix: clone, soccer mom, scrapbooker, and... drug dealer?
Alison Hendrix is many things. She's smart, she's resourceful, and she knows how to carry a tune and make sure everyone remembers her performance in the local musical. Now we can officially add drug dealer to that list after "Transitory Sacrifices of Crisis." That's right, everyone's favorite uptight mom is taking over Ramon's business (remember Ramon?) for political gain and to cure her family's financial woes. If the internet doesn't immediately create a Breaking Bad–Orphan Black mashup (Breaking Black? Orphan Bad?) featuring Alison glue-gunning someone while ordering them to "say my name," then we've failed as a society.
FTWTF:
Grey's Anatomy ends the McDream
Derek's unexpected (or not so unexpected) death in "How to Save a Life" featured moments both sentimental and silly. Tissues were necessary during his realization that he wasn't going to make it and the montage of MerDer highlights from 11 tumultuous seasons, but geez, talk about a terrible way to go out! Double-parked on a road as a truck materialized out of nowhere and barreled into his car? That was corny as all heck. It also reminded us a little of Sons of Anarchy's series finale, so we immortalized it in a .GIF.
FTWTF:
The Originals breaks our hearts
It's like this week's soul-crushing episode of The Originals just wanted to remind us that we have feelings when it killed off Aiden just as his love with Josh was blooming. That'll teach anyone on a supernatural teen drama to ever say "I love you" to anyone else.
WTF:
Is it time to worry about True Detective Season 2?
Not to overreact, but now that a somber teaser trailer and a few vague posters have hit the web, True Detective's second season looks less interesting with each new little drip of marketing HBO puts out. There's no way to tell what's in store from these small snippets, but it's obvious the network wants to promote the show with a particular brand of self-seriousness—the exact thing that made Season 1 a bit questionable toward the end.
WTF:
Olicity's long-awaited hookup on Arrow was so painfully awkward
Please allow us to reenact the specific Arrow scene from this week's episode where it all went down:
Thea: *Nearly dies after being run through by a sword because that's how Queen ladies do it*
Thea: I am resurrected. Who are you? Oliver is dead.
Oliver: I really love my little sister who almost died because of me.
Felicity: I think we should have sex.
Oliver: Well, I might as well. *rips off shirt*
Viewers: Um, what? That was not what Olicity 'shippers had in mind!
WTF:
The Comedians gets stoned for the week of 4/20 and it's harsh, bro
When Billy Crystal caught Josh Gad smoking some reefer on the way to an awards show, the old man showed the kids that he was once a tokin' youngster too, and ripped a fat bong. Then, the duo's trip to the Kids' Critics' Choice Awards took a detour to the supermarket, where tired pot stereotypes about munchies and Crystal's imitation of an old man (that old shtick) served as the episode's big set piece. At least there was a cutaway to a parody of an Anthony Bourdain show with projectile vomiting induced by eating animal genitals. Now THAT's (relatively) funny.
WTF:
Survivor: Worlds Apart has fallen into the darkest timeline and just can't get out
For many Survivor fans, the hope coming into this week's episode was that Joe's departure in the previous Tribal Council would really kick off the strategic game. The big threat was gone, so it was surely time for "real" Survivor gameplay, right? Well... sort of. While Joe's exit did jump-start the simmering feud between former allies Rodney and Mike, the episode's story—yet again—was misogyny. Previously ineffectual Will exploded on the season's punching bag (and hopefully eventual underdog hero) Shirin, telling the Yahoo executive she had no one at home who loved her, among other terrible things. Though Shirin exacted a little revenge on Will by blocking his ability to get a letter from home, her sudden alliance with the two other outcasts Mike and Jenn couldn't survive the numbers game and Jenn was voted out. Survivor has now positioned Shirin and Mike as the two remaining likable and interesting people in a game full of hate, but it's getting less and less likely that they'll be able to outmaneuver the other six. This is truly the darkest Survivor timeline.
What's on YOUR list of TV loves and hates this week? Once Upon a Time's Cruella de Vil backstory? The Season 1 finale of Scorpion? Gotham hitting a new gear? Share your own FTWs and WTFs in the comments!
