Grimm

Kyle’s Review

Grimm didn’t quite live up to the episode that aired just before its spring break, but “Bad Luck” did progress the main arcs. While I liked Grimm’s interesting (and disturbing) twist of a “lucky rabbit’s foot,” the Wesens of the week paled in comparison to the continuing Adalind and Juliette drama.

In fact, Wesen having fertility issues so they switch to magical means to conceive by means of severing a rabbit-person’s left foot feeds into Adalind’s baby issues, which in turn feeds into Juliette and Nick’s relationship. I didn’t buy Juliette forcing Nick to accept her hesenbiestness in a 24-hour period. She didn’t accept Nick as a Grimm right away, so that was unfair and yet, I think they’ll get through it. Here comes a spoiler: Adalind as Nick’s baby momma will be harder to overcome—end of spoiler.

I do like how Rosalee and Monroe conducting reconnaissance might stir cross-Wesen breeding to the fore, and I can see Grimm drudging up Wesen-race issues again. All of that’s working, but I agree with Renard, when he said that Adalind doesn’t care for their baby as much as she says (or thinks) she does. For an episode centered on families and how they protect each other, Adalind has a cold, disconnected aura between her and her daughter. I’m not sure if this works or not.

One could argue that hesenbiests can’t love, but that would mean that Juliette will fall victim to this fact, or one could say that Adalind never had someone to love her, so she can’t love anyone else. It’s a classic nature versus nurture argument. We’ll have to wait and see how Grimm responds.

Verdict:

A solid outing that might have brought up some points that’ll drive Grimm to a strong finish.

Archer

Kyle’s Review

At first glance, this week’s episode of Archer (“Achub Y Morfilod”) looked like it abandoned the Katya hijinks of last week. The first scene deserts Archer’s penthouse apartment—where we left him and Lana—for Archer driving a foreign car across a lush, countryside. We think Archer’s alone, talking to his mother, but soon, Lana wakes up in the car’s backseat.

Archer drugged Lana and brought her to Wales. He thought that a romantic and neutral site would give him the chance to explain how Katya’s unmentionables ended up in his apartment. It’s never that easy with Archer. In addition to a romantic getaway in Wales, he abducted Lana for a new CIA mission. Things get nutty as the mission blows up in Archer and Lana’s face—when does that not happen?—because the two entangle their personal lives with getting the job done.

In the end, Archer and Lana are on the rocks, and their status with the CIA might be in danger. It looks like another crazy Archer finale’s in the works in the next couple of weeks.

Verdict:

Archer ups the ante in more ways than one as it heads toward the end of its sixth season.

Bob’s Burgers

Kyle’s Review

Bob’s Burgers continued its eighties nostalgia year with “Runway Club.” It was only a matter of time before the Belchers and company took on the classic Breakfast Club, but this episode was underwhelming. The cast split up into adults and children—another thing that’s happened a lot this season—and instead of the show hinting at its film’s namesake, it recreated most of the plot. And it didn’t do it well. The two biggest problems with this episode are that the kids don’t fit neatly into the Breakfast Club’s archetypes (a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal), and it foregoes the multiple reasons for the children being in detention for a single instance.

While it’s usually a good thing that Bob’s Burgers doesn’t pigeon hole its characters, it makes the Breakfast Club motif a tough fit. The movie started with those stereotypes and then the characters tore through them with the myriad of reasons why they ended up troubled in the first place. Bob’s Burgers never put up those walls, but it also cheapened the source material for not having something with more weight than Tina and Tammy’s beef.

Despite these problems, I liked the attempt to mash up Breakfast Club and Project Runway—I just wished they didn’t trade the group essay of Breakfast Club for a group fashion show. I guess the lesson here is that when you take on a classic, you must bring your “A” material.

Verdict:

“Runway Club” did manage to capture some of the Breakfast Club and Project Runway’s feel, but it tripped on its train and fell flat.