It's a three-day weekend in the American States, so please adjust your television viewing accordingly. Instead of going to bed immediately after Veep ends on Sunday night, you can now stay awake for another 24 hours straight and continue to watch even MORE television! It's a good opportunity to catch up on Beauty and the Beast or Baby Daddy before they return. Get to it!
Now here's what we liked and didn't like from the week in television.
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't finished watching this week's new episodes (of The Flash, Mad Men, Silicon Valley, etc.), we suggest that you hold off on reading this story until you do.
FTW:
The Flash wrapped up its freshman season in thrilling, character-focused fashion
The best thing about The Flash's Season 1 finale was that it kept the focus on Barry's emotional arc of the season. Instead of saving Nora from the Reverse-Flash's machinations, he provided her (and himself) with words of comfort in her dying moments. Barry realized that the life he had now, the life that led to him being the Flash, was actually pretty great and that he and his team could do real good. And then a black hole opened up above Central City and Barry rushed into it because SUPERHEROIC CLIFFHANGER. Is it October yet?
FTW:
Bob and Louise reunite "Hawk & Chick" while also bonding on Bob's Burgers
One of the many pleasures of Bob's Burgers is when the parents and kids get a chance to work together, and when Bob and Louise spotted the hero of their favorite martial arts film series—"Hawk & Chick" (a riff on "Lone Wolf and Cub," but with a little girl)—they decided to reunite him with his estranged daughter. A convoluted plan involving a film "festival" and amateur dubbing (never not funny) resulted in the father-daughter martial arts duo having a heart-felt hug, but it also allowed Louise and Bob to reassure one another that their relationship will stand the test of time. How better to realize that when dubbing a fight with a seaweed monster?
FTW:
Mad Men lets Don Draper find happiness and a kick-ass advertising campaign
Don Draper did it! He finally found inner peace in the thoughtful and fantastic (or dull and anticlimactic, depending who you talk to) series finale, exploring enlightenment and using that inner sense of contentment to create the infamous "I'd like to teach the world to sing" hippie-dippy Coke ad. Or did he not create the Coke ad? The ambiguity of it all falls right in line with Mad Men's intellectual pursuits, and made it a fitting way for the series to end.
FTW:
Supernatural moves into the Darkness...
Bucking tradition, Supernatural plopped both Winchesters down in mortal peril before calling it quits for the summer. Dean killed Death but he didn't kill Sam and that distinction makes all the difference for a series whose big dramatic death scenes have become a bit of a joke over the years. The Darkness, with its slimy obsidian fingers in seemingly every disaster in Supernatural's mythology, promises to be the sort of evil that miiiiiight just rival the apocalypse.
FTW:
iZombie's majorization of Major
When iZombie premiered you probably looked at Robert Buckley's Major as the obvious man candy that he was ("Blonde pretty boy who looks like he's straight out of a Nicholas Sparks movie?"), but over the course of the series' incredibly strong first season, the writers have given him a worthwhile arc that's run parallel to Liv's main zombie action. Major's investigation may have led to him losing his job, getting attacked by Blaine's cronie, and believing that he was losing his mind, but it's also allowed him to develop on his own and exist beyond the limits of a traditional love interest. Liv's decision to not clue him in on the real truth is frustrating and ridiculous, but luckily a fellow member of his group at the psychiatric hospital he checked into was more forthcoming: "This city has a zombie problem." Boom.
FTW:
David Letterman bows out gracefully and sincerely
Letterman's final episode was about as perfect as it could have been in honoring a late-night legend. Celebrity guests stopped by but were never the focus, old clips showed off just how good he was throughout his career, a killer montage cemented his relevance in pop-culture history, and most importantly, the final broadcast let Dave be Dave and do what he does best: host. Still, he deflected as much attention away from himself and toward everyone in his life who helped him make The Late Show and Late Night such successes during his tenures. We'll miss you, Dave. We already do.
FTW:
The late-night camaraderie surrounding Letterman's exit
Late-night television is notoriously cutthroat, but everyone put their differences aside to honor Letterman as he exited his post. Jimmy Kimmel was particularly awesome, demanding that ABC air a repeat of his show the night Letterman signed off. And in his shows leading up to Letterman's departure, he told his audience to go watch Letterman and offered up a teary tribute to his idol.
FTW:
Silicon Valley SWOTs Blaine's fate
Danesh and Gilfoyle met daredevil douche Blaine and then found out that his calculations for his death-defying stunt were off, which would turn Blaine into a splatter mark on the side of the building. After trying to warn Blaine and getting shut down for being losers, the two used Original Jared's SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) board technique from business school to figure out the pros and cons of saving Blaine's life in one of the funniest gags since Season 1's epic dick joke.
FTW:
There's going to be a Breaking Bad-themed bar
A london drinkery will be themed on AMC's hit, complete with an RV that looks like a meth lab. We're booking two tickets to Londontown RIGHT NOW.
FTW:
Dean Pelton paintballs his way out of a sticky situation
This week's episode of Community brought back paintball, which was highlighted by this action sequence. Go get 'em, Dean!
FTWTF:
Netflix's Between is right between being good and okay
You probably didn't know this, but Netflix premiered a new series this week. The under-the-radar Between is all about a virus that kills off everyone over 21 years old in a small town, but the real story here is how Netflix is releasing the series: one episode a week like a real television network. As such, we still don't know how good this show will be after an interesting but ultimately lukewarm pilot because we can't instantly flip on the second episode. What is this, the Stone Age? We guess we'll have to wait *gulp* a week to stream the next episode?
FTWTF:
Stars drop by the Black-ish finale, but it was more of an event than the comedy we like
P. Diddy! Mary J. Blige! Fancy Roarin' 20s getups! The Black-ish finale certainly looked great, but it didn't touch the heart like most of its successful first season. It's okay though, the event episode was entertaining, and Jack (Miles Brown) showed off some nasty dance moves.
WTF:
Game of Thrones' Sand Snakes have no bite
We were supposed to be impressed with Oberyn Martell's trio of dangerous daughters, but so far they've fizzled instead of sizzled. The biggest problem is we don't know who these people are other than pissed-off revenge machines, and we can't tell them apart because they have no personality. Game of Thrones has done remarkably well with bringing its characters to life, but the Sand Snakes stink. Perhaps the impossible task of bringing the books to life is finally catching up to the show.
WTF:
Stalker died as it lived
Our contention that Stalker's pilot could've just as easily been Episode 18 as Episode 1 bore fruit in its series finale. While no women were set on fire, a serial killer wearing a mask for no discernible reason—other than for audience mystery—stalked and murdered women. Although there were occasional male-centric cases, Stalker never consistently expanded its focus beyond women in peril. It continued to be competently acted and directed, and it dropped the Jack-as-a-stalker angle (thank goodness), but it remained a repetitive and dull slog with delightfully bizarre cover songs to wrap-up episodes. At least it brought Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott together, so something good came from it all!
WTF:
ABC produces a horny factory on The Bacheloretteand freaks out when someone takes advantage of it
Previews for the rest of the season of The Bachelorette showed Kaitlyn sleeping with a dude and then ABC made a big deal out of it, bordering on exploitative slut-shaming. But that's wha happens when a network provides Costco-sized servings of romance, alcohol, and bare abs. WHAT DID YOU EXPECT, ABC? WHAT. DID. YOU. EXPECT. ?.
WTF:
Whatever this is
What?
What's on YOUR list of TV loves and hates this week? The Supergirl pilot leak? Another Good Wife exit? The Survivor finale? Share your own FTWs and WTFs in the comments!