#4) Greek Is "All About Beav." - After three seasons of speculating and wondering about who Beaver really is, where he came from, and what his real name is, we got a glimpse into this complex and mysterious character's true identity... Just kidding! That's Mad Men. Greek's Beaver has pretty much always been a hilariously dumb frat boy, and we love him for it. But this week, for the first time, we got to see almost a whole episode from his point of view! And may I just say, it was glorious. Here are some things we learned about Beaver this week: His mother calls him every morning to wake him up and reminds him that he's the star of his own life; he watches Glee; and he's studying to be a kindergarten teacher. Having Beaver "sing" the show's intro song (which has no lyrics, so he just sang the word "Greek" to the tune of the song) was a great touch, and since Beaver is usually the comic relief, his episode was even funnier than usual. Some notable quotables from The Beav:
- (On his class assignment for To Kill a Mockingbird:) "I'm reading Don't Mock the Killer Birds all by myself."
- ...And his other misconception of the book's title: "Tequila Drinking Bird."
- (To Casey:) "You're my favorite lady I've never had sex with."
- And of course, ever the voice of wisdom: "It's never over, Casey. That's pretty basic."
#3) Parks & Recreation- Sometimes I forget how amazing this little show has become. The addition of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott to the cast has helped Parks & Rec surpass The Office as the second best of NBC's Thursday night comedy lineup (after Community, of course). This week featured such feats of brilliance as Leslie's flu-induced displays of public delusion, Ron and Andy eating "meat tornadoes" and bonding over manly things, and Rob Lowe throwing up in a drawer.
#2) The Return of The Vampire Diaries - I'm sure by now we should be used to seeing characters killed off on The Vampire Diaries (considering approximately 50% of all the characters on this show end up dead, or at least undead), but this week's casualty packed almost as much sting as if it were the first big death, probably because of the huge impact it had on broody bad-boy Damon. I don't know what was more moving: the way he conjured the perfect dream world for Rose to make her as comfortable as possible before she died, the shattered look on his teary face as he plunged the stake into her heart, or his confession that he misses being human more than anything... I mean, OH MY GOD. How does this show manage to be so campy and so profound at the same time? Other memorable moments from this week's episode:
- Caroline's declaration that, "Everyone just needs to stop kissing me!" after locking lips with her ex, Matt, and sexy werewolf Tyler.
- THE RETURN OF UNCLE JOHN (played by former Alias villain David Anders), with or without all ten fingers, TBD.
#1) Castle and Beckett Kiss on Castle! - I must admit, I have not always been the firmest supporter of a Castle-Beckett romance, but this week's episode was so well-done it got me onboard the "Caskett" ship. When you're dealing with a "will-they-won't-they" couple like Castle and Beckett (see also: Booth and Bones, Maddie and David on Moonlighting), it's easy to mess up that first romantic encounter where some outside force manipulates them into a situation in which they somehow have to confront their innate sexual tension and/or one of them becomes aware of his/her romantic feelings for the other one. But Castle and Beckett's impromptu lip-lock was believable enough to not seem contrived, and plenty steamy enough to please the fans. Beckett was eying the security guard that was their target while kissing Castle, and when the guy was sufficiently convinced they were just a couple in love, she went all Karate Kid on him and knocked him unconscious. This prompted Castle (who was sufficiently flustered) to announce, "That was amazing...the way you knocked him out, I mean." But the icing on the cake was Castle's hysterical reaction to the whole situation, which you can see here. Bravo, Castle writers. Bravo.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
*Dan and Blair's hate-flirting on Gossip Girl. So adorable and yet so disturbing at the same time...
*Cougar Town winking at its ridiculous name...again. Jules tried to convince Barb she isn't a cougar anymore, saying: "I don't do that anymore. What do I have to do? Change my name?"
*Veronica Mars alum alert! Tessa Thompson guest starred on Off The Map this week.
*Chang playing "Drugs" in the presentation of Annie's anti-drugs play on Community. Nothing scares kids off drugs more than associating them with Chang.
*Ricky Gervais guest appearance on The Office.