Sun, May 3, 09 - Big Bang Theory, Reaper, Pushing Daisies, Supernatural

06.00 The Big Bang Theory
06.30 Reaper
07.30 Pushing Daisies
08.30 Supernatural

The Big Bang Theory. Season 2, Episode 13. "The Friendship Algorithm" Sheldon works out a formula for friendship.

A delightful Sheldon-centric episode. For once, the Sheldon jokes are not driven by the engine of him being annoying to all of the others. Instead, it is a case of "Sheldon Vs. Friendship" and there are many laugh-out-loud moments.

Reaper. Season 2, Episode 8. "The Home Stretch" The gang find Alan (who tells them how Sam can beat The Devil), Ben's grandmother doesn't like his new girlfriend (who is, let's face it, a demon), Morgan competes with Sam in his efforts to track an escaped soul and Sock crashes a funeral/memorial to chase a hot blonde (Collette Wolfe, from Observe And Report).

So, all in all, another superb episode of Reaper. The show is now officially an ensemble show, with an abundance of good stories for all the regulars and - more important - a high quota of very funny moments. Sam continues to be a likable hero, Andi has not morphed into an unsympathetic character (like I thought she would) and Sock is... hilarious, like he always was.

The show is completely driven by the characters, their stories and the jokes, and the case-of-the-week aspect takes a total backseat. In this episode, the escapted soul only appears twice in the whole episode.

Comedy Highlight? Anything involving Sock, basically. I loved his pursuit of the adorable Collette Wolfe and the scene where he and Ben pitched the self-sucking straw is one of the funniest things I have seen all week. A self-sucking straw! I love it.

Highlight? Reaper always manages to deliver amazing fight scenes, and the battle with the three escaped souls was no exception. Maybe the fight scenes on Reaper have more impact on me than the fights on other slicker shows because the rest of Reaper is so grounded in reality, that it comes as a big shock to the system to see Sam having to fight for his life, when ten minutes earlier he was having a beer and goofing off.

Pushing Daisies. Season 2, Episode 13. "Kerplunk" Murder in the world of synchronised swimming.

Lily and Vivian return to the show, and return to the water, in the last-ever episode of this adorable series. The Ned/Chuck romance gets several solid scenes, and the Cod/Snook partnership yields many hilarious moments. The guest cast are terrific, too. Wendie Malick and Wilson Cruz are two of my favourites and both are completely on-form here, but the real revelation is Josh Hopkins, who is unrecognisable (and wonderful) as a himbo.

The final two minutes are remarkable. With nothing more than heartfelt narration (kudos to Jim Dale) and a long FX shot, the producers are able to bring the saga to an almost satisfying conclusion. I thought I would be gutted by the abrupt ending of Pushing Daisies (and I am) but the ending was sweet and upbeat and hopeful and... it helped me cope.

Supernatural. Season 4, Episode 5. "Monster Movie" A black and white episode finds Dean and Sam facing a vampire, a werewolf and a mummy. All in the style of old-time Universal Monster movies.

An enjoyable change-of-pace episode, after the heavy duty stories that opened the season. Back in Season One, Supernatural stumbled when it tried to do comedy episodes, but at this stage in the game the show has no problem flipping between comedy and drama without damaging the integrity of the backstory, or the integrity of the characters.

Highlight? Out of all the good stuff in this episode, my favourite bit of business was the lipstick clue that led Sam to Dean and Jamie. Nice bit of invention, that.

In an unusual moment, it was the guest stars (Todd Stashwick and Melinda Sward) who handled the Big Confrontation at the end, while Dean and Sam were off camera in another room. It's not normally how SN ends it's stories, but it worked just fine here.

Highlight? Pushing Daisies (the final two minutes were wonderful)
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