pp logo1 Private Practice 2×06 — “Serving Two Masters”: Some parts of this ep were good, but others were just… meh. I don’t like how Shonda Rhimes uses the exact same approach here as she does on Grey’s Anatomy as far as having the patients of the week reflect the issues that the main characters are going through in their lives. For instance, that elderly black couple was obviously supposed to call to mind Sam and Naomi, and Naomi’s speech at the end about how the husband will always love the wife but nevertheless has to move on was obviously the impetus for Sam to say he’s ready to start dating again. It’s just so heavy-handed to have stuff like this happen week after week. That being said, I’m a sucker for older couples who profess their undying love for each other, and have to admit that I teared up a bit when the wife woke up from her surgery!

I’m surprised that Addie and Kevin seem to be moving forward in their relationship, as I thought they were done for sure after Addie followed him to a friggin’ crime scene! Which, by the way, was hilarious — especially when the squad cars surrounded her and the one guy asked if she was calling someone inside that building! I loved the shout-outs to Derek and Mark, and am still holding out hope that Mark will eventually find his way back to Addie again. (But for the love of god, PLEASE stop wearing those stupid SWAT t-shirts!! I’m sure real SWAT guys find time to change clothes before going to their girlfriends’ houses every night. Heck, even the GA doctors change out of their scrubs before heading home.)

I did not see the “Dell is a dad” thing coming, but I like this extra dimension to the character. It’s not surprising that he never mentioned this before, because none of the others actually ask him about his personal life anyway. I wonder where this storyline will lead….

Bones 4×10 — “The Passenger in the Oven”: This was a pretty good ep, though not as strong as the last one. I enjoyed having Booth and Brennan outside of the Jeffersonian for the entire episode, and trying to solve the murder with improvised tools was pretty fun. I also thought the final sequence, with Booth trying to convince the D.A. to sign the arrest warrant before the plane touched down in Shanghai was awesome! Bones usually doesn’t bring suspense or tension, so that scene had a really different feel to it.

I’m still tired of the Angela/Roxie relationship, so I wish the writers would stop shoving them down our throats every week. Angela and Hodgins were wonderful together… why did that have to change? Sigh.

House 5×08 — “Emancipation”: This episode veered from the typical one-case formula, and I actually liked it. It’s not something I’d want to see every week, mind you, but it was a nice change of pace. Plus, it was good to see Foreman actually being a doctor rather than just sitting around giving House admonishing looks. He’s supposed to be a first-class neurosurgeon or something, right? It’s odd to have him doing nothing all the time.

The main patient of the week, the emancipated girl of the title, was a bit weird. Something about the actress creeped me out. It might have been that she looked way older than 16, or it might have been the two red dots on her forehead that were left after the team did some test or other. Whatever the reason, I didn’t care about her plight at all. And once Taub and Thirteen launched into that “make it personal” argument? Ugh, forget it!

The House/Wilson scenes seemed kind of pointless. It was funny at first that Wilson wasn’t talking about the Cuddy thing, but the writers went to that well a few times too often. I wonder how long this angst is going to play out before House takes action. I’m betting that he’ll do something horrifically jackass-y to drive Cuddy away, and then win her back somehow. Meh.

Entourage 5×11 — “Play’n with Fire”: Hey, Turtle’s real name was revealed: it’s Sal! On most Entourage-related forums that I read, fans don’t really like this character because he’s the one true hanger-on in the group. But I’ve always had a soft spot for him because he’s the only one who seems like a genuinely nice guy who would go to bat for his friends in any situation. It was cool to see him being appreciated by Jamie-Lynn Sigler… who is surprisingly likable as “herself” on this show. Hopefully the writers will stick with that.

I can’t believe that the movie studio would shelve Smoke Jumpers instead of replacing either the director of Vince. And frankly, if there really was such a terrible conflict between the two, I’d think the supporting actor would be replaced first. But whatever, the important point is that Vinnie and the boys are going back home. Didn’t they do this in one of the earlier seasons? Or didn’t they threaten to? This whole thing feels like a rehash for some reason, but I don’t watch shows closely enough to be able to pull up all the details from memory alone….