'Twas the night before the night before the night before the night before Christmas, and all through the house, the sounds of last-minute Christmas shopping were clicks of a mouse. All the TV.com writers were laid up in bed, the poison of the previous evening's cocktails throbbing in their heads. Important errands would not be run this day, at least not until the hangover went away. Do we really need to travel for in-law convergin'? Can't we sit on the couch and marathon Jane the Virgin? Bah humbug to this holiday nonsense, we just want to be TV geeks. And here's what we liked and didn't like about what we saw on the small screen this week.
This is our last FTW vs. WTF of the year! Thanks for reading and being awesome!
Happy holidays,
The TV.com staff
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't finished watching this week's new episodes (ofThe Newsroom, Homeland, The 100, etc.), we suggest that you hold off on reading this story until you do.
FTW:
The Missing plays mind games
After Episode 4 led us to believe that Ian Garrett was dead in the current timeline (or at least, as the show's title says, missing), his appearance in the opening of Episode 5 left us all, "Wait, what?" Chillaxing on a boat with his wife in the middle of an impossibly blue ocean, Ian was very much alive. OR WAS HE!? He wasn't. Back in 2006, we watched as Tony confronted Garrett, discovered he was a dirty pedophile, and crushed his head against a desk. Meanwhile, also in 2006, Emily visited Garrett's wife and noticed there was something off about her. Flash forward to the current timeline, in which Vincent met with Garrett's wife to tell her what an awful person her husband was, and we finally learned the truth: Garrett's wife was in a mental ward and the boat scene, including the presence of her very-much-alive husband, was a figment of her distorted imagination. You done tricked us, The Missing!
FTW:
The Newsroom signs off with a great showcase for its cast
The Newsroom's final season certainly had its flaws, but the finale did a good thing by dialing back on the "issues" and concentrating mostly on its characters, which gave its actors one last chance to display just how darn good they are.
FTW:
Homeland hits us with a wild twist in its penultimate episode
The Showtime drama continued its run of good-to-great episodes on the back of another great performance from Rupert Friend, and then capped it off with one heck of a twist involving the long-missing Dar Adal—who made his triumphant return in the convoy of Season 4's terrorist Big Bad. We're not sure what's going to happen next, or whether the finale will stick the landing, but it's fun to see Homeland's confidence rise by the week.
FTW:
Are you really going to leave us hanging like that,Jane?
"Chapter Nine" revealed a bit of Petra's backstory after she made a play for Jane's unborn baby, but since we already knew she wasn't who she said she was, it wasn't all that surprising. When it comes to her wheelchair-bound mother, however, not only is Magda a big fat liar who's faking being CRIPPLED, she pushed a tipsy Alba down the stairs. NO ONE lays a hand on Alba and gets away with it, lady! We've got our eye on you.
FTW:
A wild finale saves an otherwise sloppy, lame season of Survivor
Season 29 wasn't Survivor's best, but Wednesday's big finish provided some tremendous, shocking twists, and ultimately, the rightful winner was crowned. The show stumbled into a fitting beginning-to-end story with Natalie snagging the million-dollar prize after her twin sister and partner was voted out first, forcing the former Amazing Race competitor to maneuver through a minefield of bad gameplay and nonsense all on her own. It's probably time to let the Blood vs. Water concept go for a few years, but when the right person wins, everything is okay in Survivorworld.
FTW:
The 100 goes daaaaaark
Despite our many vocal complaints about the rushed events that led to Finn's death in "Spacewalker," we have to hand it to The 100 for being willing to go where many other shows won't. There were no loopholes, no eleventh-hour saves, just a dude paying for his crimes with his life. We might never figure out exactly how we feel about Finn's death, but it's hard to fault a series for sticking to its guns.
FTW:
AHS: Freak Show spends an hour with Pepper
"Orphans" was easily one of American Horror Story's most powerful episodes to date, and Naomi Grossman was outstanding. Amazing stuff.
FTW:
Thanks for the memories, "Stephen Colbert" and CraigyFerg
Late-night TV said goodbye to two great hosts this week; each one bid adieu in his own way (and with lots of famous friends), but both will be missed.
FTW:
The Legend of Korra goes out with a bang and a quiet surprise
Korra's series finale served up some of the show's best action sequences since Book 1, with a city-wide battle against a giant robot—THEY DROPPED HALF A BUILDING ON IT AND IT JUST KEPT GOING—and character redemption galore for Wu, Varrick, and even Hiroshi Sato. But perhaps the biggest pleasure of the episode was the as-explicit-as-the-writers-could-get-on-Nickelodeon final scene, in which Korra and Asami joined hands and set out on an adventure together, as a couple. It was a bold way to stick the landing for a series that weebled and wobbled over the course of its run. We'll miss ya, Legend of Korra.
WTF:
The Real World: Skeletons sets women back several decades
MTV's latest round of "people being real" features seven more strangers being real... assholes. The four women in the cast are all nightmares, swigging booze into their faces and then scratching, kissing, and clawing anything in sight. Violetta, a saucy little number from Florida who beats up guys she likes if they won't have sex with her, could very well not make it through the season alive. And the "skeletons" haven't even arrived yet. This show is either completely and totally fake, or there is no hope for our future.
WTF:
Syfy's Ascension shot for the stars but didn't get off the ground
While Ascension started off promising enough with a hoax of a space launch and a multi-generational, locked-room sociological experiment, the wheels came off the wagon pretty quickly as the miniseries that was really a backdoor pilot opted to burn through a season's worth of crazy plot turns within the span of three or four hours, telling stories about a little girl with ESP, an evil corporation, a would-be whistleblower, and the show's protagonist waking up on what appeared to be an alien planet (but was probably a soundstage somewhere in the bunker). Without any real time for plot or character development, these events just felt like wild ideas thrown in for the sake of wild ideas. It might've all been worthwhile if Ascension had a 13-episode season to work with, but as a miniseries? All weak flash and no substance.
What's on YOUR list of TV loves and hates this week? NBC's animated Elfspecial? The first episode of Person of Interest's latest trilogy? Once Upon a Time's fall finale? White Collar's series finale? Share your own FTWs and WTFs in the comments!