House: Ugly

ORIGINAL EPISODES, TUESDAYS @ 9PM ON FOX

Sorry Michael Michelle (Samira), you may be gorgeous but you suck at being a diagnostician. I really thought she was going to be around for a while given her high profile stint on "ER" but alas House is just too smart for her and at the same time too dumb. Apparently, he unknowingly hired her believing her abilities were greater than reality because his judgment was clouded by her good looks. It seems this isn't the only time this has happened to him as he thinks it may also be happening with thirteen. Personally I think Olivia Wilde (Thirteen) actually is good at her job but now he's questioning his perception and this may not be a good thing for her. House did bring up an interesting question though, did the same thing happen with Cameron? I think we could all agree it didn't, so a better question is why didn't it? I'm not really sure; I'll have to think about this one a bit longer and get back to you.

Meanwhile, House and his interns spent the night trying to help a young boy with a severe deformity have plastic surgery; or at least everyone was except for House. In an interesting turn, not surprising however, House was more interested in saving his life than getting him the surgery just to keep his feelings from being hurt. Granted none of us could imagine what his life is like with that deformity but I was totally with House. There's no reason to rush into plastic surgery no matter how crazy the deformity if you're going to put your life at risk.

As I alluded above, Thirteen isn't as stupid as House thought she may be. After an hour misdiagnosing the boy, it turns out one of Thirteens ideas that were dismissed was correct. The boy had Lyme Disease; the only problem was that the bullet target at the site of the bite was hidden by his hair. Very good pick up by Thirteen and I think this pretty much shows us that she's going to be around for a while longer.

It was an interesting perspective watching much of the episode through the lens of a documentary film camera. Although I should point out that this wasn't very original. "ER" accomplished this feat many, many years ago when they shot a live documentary of a day in the ER. Still, it was a nice change of pace and an interesting touch to the episode. I loved watching House try to dodge the camera by finding new and interesting places to hide so that the interns wouldn't feel inhibited.

This was kind of the standard "House" episode and very enjoyable. With a mix of the usual mystery, humor, and witty remarks from House, I thoroughly enjoyed this hour of television. From what I'm hearing there's only 5 episodes left of "House" before they run out so enjoy it while you can. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Journeyman: Winterland

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

Amazing! Livia lives in the past!!! To be clear she actually lives in 1948. Apparently, she began time travelling to the future in order to complete tasks in the same manner as Dan. Until one day when she travelled to the 80's and never went back. She has no idea why but since she was stuck in the future she began to live her life and take advantage of all the opportunities available to a woman in the 80's that wasn't available in the 40's. So, she went to law school! Too funny; you have anything in the world you want to do and you go to law school. That aside, as we all know, she ends up with Dan later on but eventually she was sent back to 1948. Why? We don't know that much yet but it's amazing to know this much now. It makes a lot of sense considering everything but it also opens up a host of new questions. For instance, how can she travel forward in time but Dan only back in time? Is this whole time travel thing only happened to them? Is there a purpose to that?

Keeping these questions in mind for the future, I love this new twist. Although I think it pretty much sets aside the idea that Dan and Livia will ever get back together one day. As she said herself, they were doomed from the beginning and never meant to be together. The two of them tonight got to meet up on the 70's at a key party. I know a lot of crazy things happened back then but a key party?! Really? That's cheesy and kind of weird. I'd hate to be the daughter who saw her mother having sex with the complete stranger. I totally understand how she was messed up after that; wouldn't any of us be? I can barely stand the thought that my parents had sex at least the one time before I was born let alone think about either of them having sex with strangers while still married. The challenge for Dan and Livia during this episode was decent; not the best of the season but definitely not the worst. I like when there's some action and excitement to his time travelling rather than just detective work. The best line of the night took place when Dan got home and told Katie about his trip back to t he 70's:

Katie: "I love that you went to a wife swapping party and it was Nixon that turned you on." (referring to the Nixon speech denying his involvement in Watergate that was on the tv at the party)

Speaking of Katie, she and Dan seem to be doing a little better. They had a nice little love session and they also appear to be supporting each other more. She stood up for him against Jack whereas a few weeks ago she was going to Jack for help. I think their communication about everything is getting better which is helping them get through everything. Although by the end of the episode Katie broke down. Understandably so because Livia told Dan that through her own experience the trips begin getting longer over time. It's got to be very hard having your husband disappear randomly, for unknown periods, with no control over it and no way to even speak to him.

The marital stress probably isn't being helped by the FBI which has begun to force their way into the their lives thanks to Jack. So, how were they to deal with this problem? Well, it all leads back to the money so if they don't have the money then they can't be in trouble. That's a bit of a simplification but it's really what it all boils down to. Dan ended up leaving the money in the past so I believe this will be the end of the FBI involvement for now. How can it not be right? If the money was back in the past then it never could have come into Dan's possession and then no FBI. I'm really hoping this is the case because this story line has been pretty lame so far.

As for all the time travelling questions, Dr. Langley is definitely involved in everything. Why would he keep contacting Dan if he wasn't? Plus, when Dan disappeared right behind him he had a smirk on his face that clearly showed he knows more than he's letting on. It seems we're starting to get more and more information about him and I'm sure we'll be getting a big dose before long. I also think all the talk about Quartz Crystals as Dan travelled to the past may play a role in the answers we're looking for. They supposedly have the properties that could make time travel possible and with talk of them popping up all over I have to believe we're getting some hints here. What do you think? Anyone know some information about quartz that we don't know yet?

Anyway, this was yet another solid showing from "Journeyman." Hopefully the show will be back after the hiatus due to the writer's strike. I believe we only have two to three episodes left before they run out. I really hope the strike gets worked out soon so we don't lose our favorite shows, including this one, for too long. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Heroes: Four Months Ago

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

I think I'm really starting to like the cut down version of "Heroes." What I mean by that is last year the episodes seemed to contain stories on almost every character. This made the show feel packed and overwhelming at times. This year, so far, the show has been cut down significantly to point that we find ourselves focusing on only a handful of heroes each episode. Personally, I find this much more appealing and I'm enjoying immersing myself in certain characters and plots for a night without the distraction of other short bursts of plot that could have been held for another time.

Tonight, the episode's focus was on the past, specifically four months earlier. If you remember, four months ago was the season finale from last year and our first flashback took us to Peter and Nathan flying off into the sky. Streaking into the atmosphere, the nuclear radiation began to burn Nathan to a crisp. Peter ends up pushing him off and exploding. Except his ability to heal saved him and flew down, grabbing Nathan as he was falling. He rushed him to the hospital, leaving him in the hands of the doctors. So this was the big back story; this was how Peter survived. To be perfectly honest it makes complete sense. The only problem was that it was rather boring. Understandably so since Peter is the most powerful of all the heroes, as his mother told him when he travelled to the future, and it was pretty easy for him to recover and save Nathan. At least this eventually led us to learn how Peter ended up in the shipping container.

I'm not going to go step by step, detailing how Peter ended up in the container but I'd like to talk about some of the things we learned on his way there. Bob, as well probably figured, has motives of his own and was looking to keep Peter tamed rather than training him to control his abilities. So what is Bob's end game? We're not really sure. He has Elle working for him and he also had Adam locked up in the room next to Peter. But what exactly is he trying to do here? Is he purposely trying to put the virus out into the general public? I have a feeling that might be exactly what he's trying to do. It would makes sense since he tried to have Nikki use it on Parkman's father the other week. A big revelation was the information we received about Adam. He was locked in the jail next to Peter as I said but he convinced Peter to stay off the meds and help him escape through the walls. This is how he got out and why he told Peter that they're old friends. I know Bob probably has evil motives but I have to believe Adam isn't any better. He's out to get Hiro and I think he's still looking for vengeance. We still have no idea what his end game is exactly except that it can't be good for anyone. I can't wait to see what he's been planning all this time. The one thing that I am interested in is the Haitian. He saved Peter but we really don't know why or why he gave him the necklace with Tekezo's symbol on it. He has a lot of explaining to do.

Personally I happened to enjoy the Nikki, Mika, and D.L. storyline. I can't believe he survived the bullet wound last season but the ensuing events seemed to make sense. Unfortunately, he ended up dying from a bullet wound anyway when a hot shot criminal in LA got angry when he took Nikki away from him on the dance floor. Apparently, Nikki tried to take the meds Bob gave her to control her abilities but when she stopped she developed a new personality called Gya. A while back this personality had came out (and I guess Nikki doesn't remember) and when it did she went to LA for a time to live the good life, partying day and night. Too bad for D.L. that she hung out with drug dealers and low lifes. I really felt bad when he was shot at the night club. He really turned his life around and became a role model for Micah. The fact that he became a firefight was a testament to his new life as he decided to lead a legitimate existence. This explains a lot about why Nikki left Micah with Monica and decided to go back to Bob for help. At least we know how D.L. died and that there's a third, and more reckless personality, in Nikki.
Was there any bad part of the episode? Sure! As usual Maya and Alejandro turned out to be what I felt was the most unenjoyable part of the episode. Great, she caught Alejandro's bride doing her ex-boyfriend and the black stuff leaked out of her eyes killing everyone at the wedding except Alejandro. How does any of this matter? I have a feeling her ability to kill everyone will play a huge role in the mass outbreak of the virus but at the same time the back story on how she discovered he power doesn't seem to be important in the future events. It seems to be a filler for the episode and a bad one at that. At least give me a reason to watch their story and I'll be a bit more interested. For now though, I really hope these two find their way OFF the show and soon.

As for Nathan, I'm glad we got to see why he was seeing the reflection of his deformed figure in mirrors. He looked unbelievably awful after the events with Peter and I can understand why he turned to drinking. He was seriously deformed (which had to cause major emotional trauma) and he thought his brother had died. Heidi (Rena Sofer) made her first appearance of the season and it was a good one at that. Mrs. Petrelli gave her little speech to Heidi about keeping Nathan's condition a secret but she totally saw through it. Heidi clearly knew something else was up and I wonder if she comes to play a big role later on. Maybe she finds a way to get to Mrs. Petrelli for all the manipulating she does. A big piece of information we received was that Peter was the one who saved Nathan's life. Or more specifically, Peter helped Adam escape who saved his life by injecting some of his blood into Nathan's IV. Apparently, Adam's healing power travels through his blood. I wonder if this is how Claire's ability works as well? Is she some how a descendant of Adam's? Definitely some important questions here. I think though that while some people may think Adam is a good guy because of this you should hold up for a minute. He probably only did that to endear Peter to him and make sure he works for him and no one else. So don't be so quick to forget about his vendetta he declared to Hiro.

This was a very interesting episode and finally answered many of our questions we've had since the beginning of the season. The show has picked up the last couple weeks and it's felt more like the "Heroes" of old. Apparently, we only have three episodes left this season. I'm hoping the promo was only referring to the number of episodes left until the writers come back. I would hate to have such a short season because of the strike. If it turns out to be the season finale hopefully it'll be a good one. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Chuck: Chuck Versus The Truth

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON NBC

"Chuck" so far in it's inaugural season has had some good and some very bad episodes. Tonight was not one of the bad ones. It was packed with action (the ridiculous and humorous kind that we could only get from "Chuck"), drama, emotion, and a brand new, shiny guest star in one of my favorite actresses Rachel Bilson. Clearly, her appearance in this episode is not a coincidence - Josh Schwartz was the creator/writer of "The O.C." too. Nevertheless, I will ignore this bit of friendship nepotism and revel in the fact that I love these two teaming up together again and I love Rachel Bilson being on a fun show once again. For how long, I'm not quite sure yet especially with the writer's strike in full swing but I do know that she is just a guest star, possibly recurring. Whether the recurring role lasts for a long while or only a few episodes I will try to find out for you but lets all enjoy the time we have with Rachel, I mean Lou (great character name by the way; the last great Lou was in Doc Hollywood; anyone else remember that?).

Speaking of Rachel Bilson, she came into Chuck's life as a nervous wreck. Her Blackberry was on the fritz and like the rest of us that are married to our electronics she freaked out when she couldn't get it working. Chuck sweet talked her into calming down and the next thing he knew they were flirting with each other. The only problem of course is the fact that Chuck is dating Sarah, or at least he has to pretend to be. So Chuck was stuck between wanting to date Lou and his obligations to the government. Well, not so much stuck since for him it was a clear choice - no matter what happens, he wants to have a life with someone else in it. Basically, this meant that that the real problem was the fact that Chuck couldn't decide between two women; Lou and Sarah.

This led to a moment we've all been waiting for when Chuck seized the opportunity to ask Sarah about her real feelings while they were both under the influence of a truth serum. Unfortunately for Chuck, Sarah had been trained to withstand its effects and held herself together just long enough to turn him down in order to protect her job and her cover. I felt real bad for him because he finally put himself out on a very long limb. The truth is though that Sarah really does have feelings for him. You can tell all throughout the episode that she was jealous of his blossoming relationship with Lou. She comes with a lot of baggage though considering what happened with Bryce so it's understandable that she's hesitant to do anything. But I think that if she ever wants to be happy it might just be with Chuck and if that's the case then she needs to be honest. By the way, I totally didn't buy her explanation about the lingerie she was wearing. That was totally to get him turned on and away from Lou. She did look damn good, I'll give her that; I don't know how he would have been able to sleep next to her in that. Fake breaking up with Sarah was probably the best thing for Chuck to do whether things work out with Lou or not. I felt bad for Sarah but Chuck needs to be happy and if she's not going to step up then he needs to find it somewhere else. For the time being, he and Lou look great together but with this show I'm sure that won't last for too long.

The spy story line was also pretty decent tonight. Granted it's always a bit outrageous and never that serious but it was great seeing Kevin Weisman as the bad guy. For all you "Alias" fans out there you'll remember him as the lovable Marshall. He also made numerous appearances in "Felicity" in a recurring role. It was cool having Ellie tied up in Chuck's spy life although completely by chance. It's great seeing her get more and more screen time. Sarah Lancaster is a fantastic actress and deserves the increased time. Plus, I think she brings a bit of stability to the show. With all the craziness that takes place it's definitely a welcome sight when she's around to calm things down for a few minutes and remind us that Chuck still has a regular life to go home to.

Before I end the review for tonight lets take a moment to mourn the departure of our loved assistant manager Tang... With that out of the way, Tang is gone! Woohoo!! He was never that interesting and always more annoying than anything else. Maybe Chuck will finally get a shot at being assistant manager. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Until next week, enjoy the review!

The Hills: Forgive and Forget

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON MTV

Interesting episode tonight, very interesting... To be honest I really thought the whole Lauren and Heidi confrontation scenario would play out to be much more dramatic than it turned out. Kudos to the producers and editors for playing this up. The truth is that not much changed last night. Lauren knows that Heidi either told people the sex tape rumors with Spencer or knew he was doing it and said nothing about it. Heidi knows Lauren knows this and is still pretending to be oblivious. All that changed was we saw the two of them talk for the first time in over a year and Heidi actually apologized; albeit she did so with a bunch of lies and without any true meaning behind it.

The biggest problem I have with Heidi is that she thinks everyone else in the world is stupid except for herself. Pretending to be unaware of what's going on around you and pretending that you're not at fault simply by acting as though you have no idea what anyone is talking about is an insult to everyone's intelligence. Does she really think that pretending she has no idea why Lauren thinks she spread the sex tape rumors will rid her of fault? Apparently she does because her apology at Lauren's apartment was filled with shocked looks and gazes of bewilderment. Written across her face and coming out of her mouth were the words, "I have no idea what you're talking about with any of this. It wasn't me." Please Heidi, you've been taped on this very show mocking the sex tape rumors and basically confirming that you've spread them too. She even told Lauren to her face that it's true when she said "whatever you do with your ex-boyfriend is your business." This could mean nothing more than that she actually thinks the tape exists and is alright telling people about it!

This was really just a pathetic attempt by Heidi to smooth things over without ever actually admitting fault. Her apology was full of lies and until she stops pretending she did nothing wrong and lying about everything, there can never be a friendship with Lauren. Case in point, Heidi tells Lauren, "Spencer doesn't hate you." Are you kidding me? He says he hates her, or at least in other words, at least three times a show. That day he even warned Heidi she was going into "the lions den." Who is Heidi kidding? Spencer is evil, sadistic, and manipulative and he has Heidi wrapped around his little pinky finger. And seriously, how could Heidi think those yellow roses would do anything at all? You can't bring her flowers after all this and expect them to have an effect. This was a pathetic attempt to put herself in a better light so that when the show ends she can still be famous. Someone should let Heidi know that she's only famous for being a horrible person and not because anyone actually likes her. Oh and while you're at it, please ask her to stop trying to sing; haven't we been put through enough.

Speaking of people who should go away, I have to mention Justin. The guy just keeps hanging around and never seems to get kicked to the curb; not even when he burps multiple times directly in Audrina's face like it's something to be proud of. I really don't see the attraction here for Audrina. I can tell she likes the bad boy and the wild side, especially the idea that he drives a motorcycle but is that really enough? The guy is constantly a mess, refuses to call her his boyfriend, and worse he barks things at her and constantly puts her down. For instance tonight, she mentioned that he didn't call the week before to return her call and his answer was, "When I say I called then I called." What is that? Audrina needs to get rid of this guy when she should have done it months and months ago. Hopefully she'll find her way out into reality with her new job. Which, by the way, is an incredible new promotion. She moves from secretary to artist liaison at EPIC?! That's awesome. Congratulations to her; now if only that could happen to me...

Anyway, maybe the Heidi and Lauren drama is finally over. It would certainly be nice to talk about something new for a change. Although I can't imagine Heidi is going to be staying out of trouble for long and it seems that she may finally be having some trouble with Spencer. Until next week, enjoy the review!

The Big Bang Theory: The Grasshopper Experiment

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @8:30PM ON CBS

Tonight on "The Big Bang Theory" Raj speaks! Okay, so it doesn't sound all that interesting upon first glance but if you've been watching the show all season you know that this is actually a VERY big deal. See the thing is that Raj (as one of the nerds) has always been able to talk to his friends and family but never to women, especially beautiful women. Needless to say this makes scenes with Penny quite interesting as she tends to talk while he sits there looking frightened. Anyway, last night Penny told everyone she started bar tending and wanted to practice mixing drinks for the group. Raj, however, had never had a drink before in his life and low and behold the grasshopper Penny made him was some sort of magic talking elixir. Raj immediately began talking to Penny and couldn't shut up! It was amazing and actually funny since he started talking to her like they'd been friends for 20 years.

What was funny about Raj's transformation was that his usual nice, calm demeanor turned into a truth telling ass. His parents, who were broadcasting themselves from India to his laptop, set him up on a date with a girl he knew when he was younger back home. Given his issues with speaking to women, Raj decided Penny's cocktails were a necessary addition to his date so he wouldn't look like a complete moron. Sadly, the fact that he also tells the truth got him into a lot of trouble; although funny for us to watch. You could tell the date wasn't going to end well when he constantly reinforced the fact that his date used to be very, very fat. Even Leonard and Sheldon knew this was horrible as they watched from the bar.

Interestingly though, Sheldon actually has some skills of his own. Granted he was utterly clueless about his flirting but nonetheless he actually said the right thing for once. I knew it would happen someday. I was actually pretty impressed with his smooth taking ways as he explained to Raj's date that she reminded him of a beautiful and elegant fictional Hindu goddess. This apparently swept her off her feet and she ditched Raj to go have dinner with Sheldon. Now, you're probably saying to yourself, "no way, Sheldon always screws things up. This can't possibly be the end of the story." Oh how right you are. The guy has a great date with great conversation but somehow it completely eluded him that he was even on a date to begin with! Sheldon explained it to him and yet he still had no idea he had just been on a date. Oh well, it's pretty obvious at this point that although Sheldon is brilliant he's extremely immature. Somewhere along the way he became so immersed in his own intellect that he forgot to grow up. Personally I love his humor and innocent sarcasm but at times you have to wonder how much longer he can go on this way.

I also think the animosity between Penny and Sheldon is one of the stronger points of the show. Their back and forth jabs are extremely comical. For instance, this exchange took place last night between them:

Sheldon (arriving late to Penny's restaurant for her first night bar tending): "Sorry I'm late"

Penny: "What happened?"
Sheldon: " Nothing...I just really didn't want to come."

A quick mention about Howard before I wrap up. His quick interjections of inappropriate sexual humor has become a stable of the show and very funny, especially when Penny shuts him down completely. For instance, she asked him what he wanted to drink and he asked for a slippery nipple Penny replied with a quick, "okay you're cut off." They've become very funny together as she does whatever she can to ignore basically everything that comes out of his mouth. He was especially funny tonight when he impersonated Raj on the phone with his date. His Indian accent mixed with American slang was brilliant.
Tonight's episode was amazing and if you stuck around for the end you saw something we'll probably never see again, a drunk Sheldon singing Fiddler on the Roof in the restaurant! Penny secretly spiked his Virgin Cuba Libre (rum & diet coke). He's a really awful singer and even worse if it's Fiddler on the Roof but fantastically hilarious. Until next week, matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match...

How I Met Your Mother: Spolier Alert

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8:00PM ON CBS

Spoiler Alert! When you like someone or you have close friends you never notice their most annoying habits! Well, not all the time. It certainly holds true for people you date. You tend to put them on a pedestal and you never notice the little things that in reality would actually drive you crazy. With friends, generally someone notices it but never brings it up while most of your friends tend to disregard it as if it was never even happening. So why am I talking about this? Well, Ted's new girlfriend (not for long though, don't worry) started a firestorm of controversy among the group when she talked her way into Ted's life.

Yes, she literally (thank you Robin) talked her way in because she could not stop talking! She answered her own questions, spoke about irrelevant facts, and generally filled any small second of silence with non-stop chatter. The funny thing is that Ted had absolutely no idea. He was clueless, at least until Marshall finally told him and with a glass shattering revelation he realized exactly how much she talked throughout all their dates. A funny thing started to happen though, glass started shattering all over the place. Everyone had their own quirks and no one was aware of them. With each offering of information came glass shattering revelations by the group about each of their habits that annoyed everyone else. And it was great!!!

Ted can't stop correcting people, Lilly chews louder than a jackhammer on concrete, Robin always says the word "literally" even when she should be saying "figuratively," Marshall sings everything he does, and Barney uses ridiculous catch phrases, says things in a girly high pitched voice, and generally ignores whatever people are saying to him. Ted's nickname for Lilly, "Chewbacka," was classic! And the fact that Marshall couldn't stand her eating made it eve more hilarious. I think I speak for everyone who watches this show when I say, we love every minute of all their annoying habits. These characters are funny along many dimensions and the fact that they have weaknesses makes them that much more likable.

I should mention I was a bit disappointed about the information we got about the New York Bar Exam. I recently had the immense displeasure to take this test and while it's as horrible as we were told (and yes, people do throw up during the test and actually many worse things than that happen as well), there were a couple things completely wrong. First, if you continue to write when they call time you fail the test right there. Second, unfortunately New York is one of the only states to publish not only whether you pass or fail on the Internet but they actually put your name rather than a distinct ID number next to it. If you wait one day you don't need the password because you'll be able to check the public list. Granted, I understand that the storyline went this direction in order to suit the shows purposes (which is totally alright); I was just a bit disappointed. Chalk it up to frustrating memories on my part.

Two best lines of the night:

- The description of Lilly's chewing: "It sounds like cuflings going up a vacuum cleaner!"

- Barney congratulating Marshall: "Lawsuit up!"

I loved that during their rant they all point out the most annoying song Marshall has ever sung and in unison they sang his password. Too funny. I'm not sure how funny a dog pooping on a baby is but I'll give Barney the benefit of the doubt.

I never stopped laughing throughout the entire episode and this was classic HIMYM. If you've never watched this show, watch this episode and you might find yourself setting HIMYM on your season pass very soon. Great, great, great episode and I can't wait until next week when I believe we're getting another installment of the slap bet! Until next week, enjoy the review!

Brothers & Sisters: 36 Hours

ORIGINAL EPISODES, SUNDAYS @ 10PM ON ABC

Tonight's episode was another shining example of why "Brothers & Sisters is the best show on television today. It might not be the most action packed, it might not be the funniest, and it certainly isn't the flashiest, but the writing is top notch and the acting superb. I haven't seen a show with such amazing talent in all facets of production come around in my entire life. True enough, I haven't been around for more than a quarter-century but in the time I have been watching television I can honestly say that this is the best all-around show I've ever watched.

The focus of tonight's episode shone directly and brightly on Justin Walker who once again had to go through De-Tox after becoming addicted to his pain medication. It's sad really because he fights for his country, takes shrapnel to the leg, and is forced to take the very pills he was trying to stay away from. Even more ironic and depressing is that Justin tried to convince the Army not to send him back because of his addiction which began while serving over seas during his first tour. What's worse though was the intervention. This family has got to get on the same page man. For a bunch of people who spend so much time poking into each other's lives they really should be able to work cohesively a bit more. This was the worst and most poorly planned out intervention ever; didn't they watch "Party of Five," that was a good intervention. Apparently Kitty was smart enough to realize what was going on and drew the line in the sand. Everyone else got defensive when Justin attacked him (which to me would seem like the obvious response from an addict - deflect attention from oneself by pointing out the weaknesses in others) but Kitty saw it for what it was, told him she was only there because she loved him and gave him a choice to either fix this or leave forever. It was brilliant, poignant, and emotional and exactly why I love this show.

For the next 36 hours Justin went through detox at home. Now, I was and am very skeptical on the whole "do-it-at-home detox," especially since the idea came from Justin. True, his reason was convincing (he didn't want to ruin the campaign) but I'm still not sure this was the best idea. At least for the time being it appears to be working and at the end of the night Justin met Nora by the pool for a beautiful mother-son moment where she told him he was no longer her baby and he had to be a man. This is going to be a very good thing for Justin and force him to finally grow up.

Aside from being Justin's detox wardens, Tommy and Kevin have quite a few problems of their own. Tommy, predictably, has been continuing his affair with Lina despite all the warnings from Holly. What's new is how deep into it he's gotten. He used to leave the relationship at sex but tonight we see him beginning to sleep over at Lina's. Not that he didn't cross a line long ago but now he's really gone too far. It was one thing when he was lonely and hurt (although never excusable) but it's completely another thing to be in a relationship with Lina. And you just knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this a secret for long in his family. I don't blame Holly for saying anything to Saul. Tommy is completely in the wrong and especially in an emergency she shouldn't have to protect such a horrible secret. Meanwhile, the way Tommy treated Saul when he said something to him was uncalled for and hurtful. Everyone in this family takes for granted what Saul brings to their lives. If they took a second to look around they would realize that he's a great man and a great uncle who they should respect.
Speaking of people who treated Saul terribly, Kevin needs to come off his high horse. He was doing so well for so long and all of a sudden he's right back up there. I sort of felt like it was coming though; Kevin has never really been one in control of his emotions. He should cut Saul some slack and let him be who he is. Of all people, Kevin should know how hard this must be and the additional weight from growing up in the era he did. I have a feeling that he's going to come around eventually but it would probably be very good for Saul to admit that he's gay. He'd have a much more enjoyable life as himself rather than living a lie. At least he told the truth to Nora. I was so glad that all she did was show her love and not judgment. It probably meant a whole lot to him.

Meanwhile, Robert almost came clean himself. He had the perfect opportunity to tell Kitty how he feels about having a baby and instead he took the politicians route - he faked a smile, told her how important she was to him, and told her the answer she wanted to hear. This is no way to start a life together and one way or another this is going to come back to haunt him for a very long time when Kitty finds out the truth. She's a wonderful person and deserves a lot more than that. I didn't really understand why Kitty thought she wouldn't make a great mother. As much as they fight she's her mother's daughter and has the same strength, kindness, and love as Nora. She's going to be a great mother...someday, but probably not anytime soon. The truth about Robert may come out sooner than we think if the previews are what I think they are. Kitty decides she needs to speak with Robert when they're at the altar, which can never be a good thing. I'm really looking forward to what happens.

Personally I love Rebecca and I think her character is great. It is about time though for her to move on and find some happiness in her own life without trying to find it with the Walkers. They should certainly be part of her life but not all of it. I hope Justin apologizes because their relationship is something special. He was horrible to her and she deserves a lot of grovelling from him.

This was another great installment from "Brothers & Sisters." I can't wait to see what the rest of November Sweeps brings for the Walkers. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Las Vegas: It's Not Easy Being Green

ORIGINAL EPISODES, FRIDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

The usual "Las Vegas" episode doesn't require all that much analysis like many of my other reviews and tonight's episode was no exception. It's really just because the show is supposed to be fun, not dramatic. Basically it's supposed to be the anti-Grey's Anatomy. Whereas "Grey's" mixes in some fun with loads of drama, "Las Vegas" brings the fun all the time with little bits of genuine drama here and there. And we love it! There isn't another show on television that brings this much fun all the time and never fails to NOT take itself too seriously.

Tonight the Montecito went green! Partially at least. A "Save The Earth" type convention was being held at the hotel and Delinda took up the opportunity to do her part by working on improving the Montecito's enivronmental efficiency. Unfortunately, the cost to converting a hotel Green is enourmous! And as Cooper explained to her, this is a business in the end and he couldn't do everything she wanted if the hotel were to stay in business. At least he decided to convert a number of suites and consider converting the entire floor if the demand for the suites were sufficient.

Sam spent the night going Green but in a completely different way. Her revenues were still down for the quarter and she needed a way to pick them up and fast. Luckily for her an opportunity for a scam basically dropped in to her lap. Las Vegas had its very own matchmaking service catering only to rich men and women looking for mates that weren't golddiggers. How was Sam able to use this to her advantage? Well, she lied her way onto the service and scheduled dates with three rich whales all on the same night, obviously at the casino. So while the men thought they were on dates and were just gambling to spend time with her, they were actually making up her revenue deficiency all in one night. This is exactly why I love Sam. She has no shame, always keeps you on your toes, and is damn fun to watch every Friday night. What's even better is that lately she shown some signs of a conscience and actual feelings. In the end, she felt bad about what she did and she decided to find each of them women that would be perfect for them and weren't out for their money. Of course she didn't return the money they gambled away :)

Cooper didn't screw anyone out of money or property this week. Well, at least no one who worked for him at least. Paul Grant, a developer, owned some land in Canada that Cooper wanted to buy and luckily he was speaking at a conference in the hotel. At the same time Paul shows up at the hotel so does Erin Hudson, a business nemesis of Copper's. Apparently the two of them have a long history of butting heads in the business world and this was no exception; Erin too had a very keen interest in Paul's piece of land. So what does Cooper do? Well at first he tries to beat her outright but then in the fashion we're beginning to get used to, he shocks everyone with an end around. He convinces Erin to team up with him on this one deal to screw Paul out of the land for a very cheap price. The plan was brilliant actually and the two of them work very well together. I don't think this is the last we're going to be seeing of Erin at the Montecito anytime soon.

This was yet another great, fun installment from team "Las Vegas." Stay tuned, until next week, enjoy the review!

Grey's Anatomy: Physical Attraction...Chemical Reaction

ORIGINAL EPISODES, THURSDAYS @ 9PM ON ABC

Derek is dating The Chief! Well, not exactly, but for all purposes he sort of is. The Chief is living on his own for the first time in his life and isn't really able to do anything on his own. For instance, he has Derek doing his dry cleaning for him in exchange for free use of his extensive DVD collection (I would totally make that deal with my collection). These two really have great chemistry (well, no) and that was the theme that permeated tonight's episode. If you've ever watched "Grey's" before you know that one thing will always remain true - nothing good ever lasts for very long. Tonight's episode was a grade A lesson on that subject and for many of you I'm sure you're happy some relationships appear to be ending while some you wish others would keep going.

Let's start with the most prominent relationship in the past few weeks - George and Izzie. As I said last week I was a big fan of these two last year and even in the beginning of this season. Somewhere along the way though, these two just stopped being a cute couple and became, for lack of a better word, creepy. I just do not see it anymore and in fact I was quite disturbed by all the sex talk and sexual acts between them the past couple of weeks; and I'm pretty sure they're disturbed themselves. The fact of the matter is that if you ever end up crouching in fear after sex, need liquor just to keep going, and almost cry afterwards then you probably need to stop doing it. These two need to accept the fact that they're just very close friends and nothing more. For the mental health of viewers and the characters themselves, they need to save us from this troubling and disturbing roller coaster and just get off the ride. The look on Meredith's face when George tried to talk to her about how terrible everything went is pretty much exactly how I feel about it; I don't want to hear it anymore and I especially don't want to see it.

While not as disturbing Meredith's relationships are on very fragile ground but could go either way. To start, she hasn't much much progress in either direction with Derek. They're still sleeping together and Derek is still looking out for himself. Rightfully so, in my opinion. He shouldn't have to wait around for Meredith when he could end up being happy much sooner. The simple truth is that she may never be ready. I have a feeling that her ability to love and be ready to commit may be somewhat connected to her relationship with Lexie. Meredith has never had a stable family in her life and there's the very good possibility that Lexie could be this family she never had. Lexie is a great person with a good heart and Meredith should give her a chance. It looks like that may actually be happening since Meredith finally referred to her as "my sister" at the end of the episode and was looking out for her by asking Alex to take her home from the bar. Granted she was pretty awful to Lexie throughout the episode before this but I think the ice may be thawing. I should also mention that Lexie doesn't have things as good as Meredith may think. True she may have had a decent life growing up, one that Meredith never had, but her life now is certainly far from decent. Her father is a complete mess and has become a mean alcoholic since Lexie's mother died. I hope Meredith can find a way to get close with Lexie before she finds out about Thatcher. I'd hate for her to finally open up and then have Lexie resent her because she feels Meredith is pitying her.

As for an unlikely relationship, mainly because we had no clue she was joining the staff, between Haan and Christina, I'm actually enjoying the struggle that's taking place. It's really a lesson that every choice in life has consequences and past choices in choosing Burke and her professor to sleep with have finally come back to bite her in the butt. I think Haan is nowhere near the right one here but I also understand her motivation. Bailey was certainly right in telling Christina to look for another specialty though. If she really wants to be a heart surgeon she needs to fight for it and right now she's just rolling over and asking someone to give it to her. Things in life don't come that easy and Christina seems to finally be learning that.

Speaking of Bailey, she's finally Chief Resident! She totally deserved this from the beginning and I'm glad to seethe Chief finally came around. I feel bad for Callie but it shouldn't have been hers to begin with. I feel bad mainly because she truly loved George and the fallout from the marriage is ruining her entire life. You never want to see that happen to someone especially since Callie is really a good person. The thing here though is that Bailey is much more qualified for the position than Callie anyway. It was nice seeing Bailey break down; it really shows how much she wants to be recognized for the sacrifices she makes, which are many.

Oh yea, there were actually some patients in this episode too. The mother who passed away a week after adopting her child was just terrible. It's never fair when something like that happens especially when its simply because she tripped on a stair. Thankfully her husband was there to take the baby when she passed away. I think he's going to be a great father even if he's not fully convinced yet. The fact that he's willing to take on the responsibility to carry on his wife's wishes for the baby to have a great life, really shows how much he loved her. The other patients were actually just annoying and catching them having sex together was almost as disturbing as George and Izzie's sexcapades.

This was a very good episode and a great start to November Sweeps. Hopefully the writer's strike will end soon so we don't have a very long break after the end of the episodes they've filmed so far. Until next week, enjoy the review!