In “The Slump,” Jake hasn’t been able to solve any of his cases in weeks–his pile of open cases is significantly higher than his unsolved case pile, and he’s losing the running competition to Santiago. Although everyone rags on him for being in a slump, Jake is in denial. “I’m in the opposite. I’m in a pmuls [i.e., slump spelled backwards]. I’m pmuls all over this bitch.”
Jake’s in a rush to close his easiest case, a missing grandma, but the old lady he picks up is actually a dementia patient from the nearest senior center. His next plan involves trading an unsolvable murder case with the inept Detective Hitchcock for a seemingly open-shut drug bust, but Jake ends up storming in on a clueless old man obsessed with birds. To add insult to injury, Hitchcock gets a win when the killer returns to the scene of the crime and turns himself in.
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Episode two of Brooklyn Nine-Nine does another funny job in taking the odd couple cop partner trope and creating a fresh and humorous cast chemistry. The theme of this episode (and, I’m guessing everyone hereafter)? Convincing Jake to get his act together.
The episode opens with Captain Holt calling out Jake for his disorganization, holding up two pictures: “One is your locker, the other is a garbage dump in the Phillippines. Can you tell which is which?” (Trick question: they’re both of his locker). He’ll face some repercussions later.
Santiago, Diaz, and Boyle are assigned to a cocaine bust on Jay Street, while Jake is in charge of a minor vandalism case in which someone’s defacing squad cars with penises. Sergeant Jeffords offers his minivan as an undercover car (“SUVs roll!”); to Jake’s disappointment, Captain Holt decides to accompany him on the stakeout as a baby-sitter. (more…)
This week, New Girl is all about complicated relationships. Each of the four are dealing with their own significant other issues: Jess and Nick are coming down from their “all in” excitement, Schmidt is still juggling Elizabeth and Cece, and even Winston is angling for an exclusive with Daisy (Brenda Song), his casual girlfriend in Season Three.
Schmidt: Schmidt initially asks Cece to be his date to the upcoming office party, but gets caught out by his conniving co-worker Beth (Eva Amurri), who spills the beans about the office party to Elizabeth while Schmidt is giving a tour of his new office (a 3/4 size replica of Don Draper’s office, natch). Schmidt’s forced to cancel with Cece by telling her that he can’t bring “Sig-oths” to the party. (more…)
“The Mindy Project” started to hit its stride last season when the writing started to focus on the cast as an ensemble, and tonight’s episode showed off just the right amount of comedic input from each character. In this episode, Mindy is still at odds with the perfect Dr. Paul Leotard (still James Franco) after returning eight months early from her year-long sojourn to Haiti.
The episode opens with Mindy attempting to reenact the famous whipped cream bikini scene from Varsity Blues on Skype for Casey, but she ends up making a granny one-piece. Mindy panics and falls over as she’s swarmed by sugar ants. (more…)
By last season’s finale I felt more confident that “The Mindy Project” had finally found its comfortable zone. Tonight’s season two premiere seemed to pick up easily in that same stride, and I’m hoping that it’ll stay at this level.
Mindy and her minister boyfriend, Casey, seem to lead a content life in Haiti building hospitals. One morning, Casey surprises Mindy with a ring; as they try to consummate their engagement, Mindy feels a sharp pain. Cut to: Mindy in a clean hospital bed, after having been airlifted back to NYC for emergency gallbladder surgery. As her partners visit her in the hospital, Mindy and Casey reveal their engagement, and we’re not even going to pretend that Dr. Danny Castellano wasn’t visibly disappointed.
And what’s a “Mindy” episode without a prominent guest star? James Franco is paying an extended visit to the series as Dr. Paul Leotard, who has taken Mindy’s place at the practice. His portrayal of Dr. Leotard reminds me that Franco is actually capable of being funny when he’s not taking himself too seriously. (more…)
In “The Slump,” Jake hasn’t been able to solve any of his cases in weeks–his pile of open cases is significantly higher than his unsolved case pile, and he’s losing the running competition to Santiago. Although everyone rags on him for being in a slump, Jake is in denial. “I’m in the opposite. I’m in a pmuls [i.e., slump spelled backwards]. I’m pmuls all over this bitch.”
