Greek: When the Morning Comes

Greek:
"Fumble"

Well, we were all grappling to come to terms with things tonight. Rusty was trying to figure out what exactly had happened to him the night before. Casey knew that what she'd been up to the night before could lead to trouble (she had had drunken, unprotected sex with Cappie) and spent the day dealing with the fallout from that. And as for me, I spent the evening trying to come to terms with the fact that every episode of Greek from here on out will not be as magical as the Beaver-centric "All About Beav" of two weeks ago.

Last week's episode wasn't as fantastic as "All About Beav," but it did have some rather funny moments. This episode, however, wasn't as amusing. Not that it was bad; it was just pretty serious. Thank goodness we (and Calvin) had a chance to watch Rusty uncover his own humiliating drunken episodes and that Katherine turned up to whip off some fantastic lines about how she has "taken a lover." All in all, the episode was fine, but it didn't leave me in a state of rapture like the really great episodes of Greek do.

Also, there was no Evan.

Highlights and observations:

• Casey: "She'll misinterpret things and think we're getting back together."
  Cappie: "Is that such a bad thing? It's what the people want!"
• Rusty: "Well, I either kissed a girl or gave a clown mouth-to-mouth."
• Dale: "Thanks for the heads up that Ashleigh was sleeping on the couch. I got up to get a drink of water and she saw my Full Monty in the fridge light."
• Dale: "Hi, Calvin. I'd stay and talk, but I'm making a dramatic exit."
• Calvin: "What's with the eyewear, Snooki?"
• Katherine: "I have taken a lover."
• Casey: "Wait, wait, you're sleeping with Beaver, and his name is Walter?!"
• Katherine's daughter's name is going to be Anastasia. :-)
• Ooh, Ash is in a saucy mood today.
• Prof. Simon's daughter (Hailey) is cute. Until she starts talking, that is...
• Calvin: "It's like watching bizarro Rusty."
• Calvin: "She handed you her virginity on a silver platter and you just sent it back to the kitchen."
• Awwwww, Beaver and Katherine :-) :-) :-)
• Katherine: "I think your exact wording was, 'Ok, you can have me now.'"
• Whoa, now Prof. Simon's daughter is talking about One Tree Hill. OTH is on everyone's lips this week.
• Is Ashleigh's "Pedro" Prof. Simon or Rusty? I feel like Prof. Simon is just a giant red herring here.
• Rusty: "Please have my wire. And be my soul mate."
• Cappie: "No, but she can't have gotten far."
  Casey: "Unless she's in the back of a van!"
• There had to be a safer way to get Hailey down from the rock climbing wall.
• Ashleigh: "No, no, I was just admiring this girl's hair. It's so soft."
• Ok, so Prof. Simon is maybe not a red herring? He wants to take Ashleigh to dinner, so we know he likes her anyway. Still not convinced he's "Pedro."
• Ok, I no longer care whether Cappie and Casey are together, apart, or whatever. What I adamantly care about is that Cappie NEEDS to get a HAIRCUT. Even if it's just a little trim. His hair looks bad. Bad, bad, bad.
• Casey: "Cappie and I got drunk, and, uh, studied."
• Cappie declared philosophy as his major! Oh, Cap, of all the majors to declare... Luckily he knows a really rich guy who offered to help him out in the post-college world.
• Cappie's taking a 10 a.m. class! And not even a Tuesday/Thursday class! It's a Monday/Wednesday/Friday class.
• Called it! Rusty is "Pedro." You cannot fool me, Greek! (cue evil laugh)
• Rusty: "Because you're a human magnet and people are drawn to you." (Aww, drunk Rusty is so sweet!)
• That was a pretty hot kiss there between Rusty and Ashleigh. The pieces for the Rusty/Ashleigh coupling are falling into place... Now all we need is for Rusty to remember it.
  

(photo: abcfamily.com)

Chuck: Boy Meets Russian Mafia

Chuck: "Chuck Versus the Cougars"

This episode of Chuck was especially exciting for several reasons, not the least of which was that it featured a guest star appearance by Ben Savage a.k.a. Cory Matthews from Boy Meets World. Like most members of the T.G.I.F. generation, I imagine I'll always have a special place in my heart for Cory, Topanga, Shawn, and even Minkus (although my allegiance to him thankfully doesn't mandate me to watch him on One Tree Hill). The last time I saw Rider Strong was his horrifying turn on Veronica Mars where he brutally harassed poor Neil from Freaks and Geeks during a prison simulation. I've made a point of checking out The Dish, Danielle Fischel's new The Soup-esque program on the Style Channel, so I now have semi-regular Topanga fixes. But how I've missed my Cory...and his amazingly hilarious facial expressions (see above).

Another interesting aspect of this episode was that we finally got some back story on Sarah and what her life was like pre-Chuck and pre-Bryce and pre-CIA. Like Chuck, I was really excited to find out that Sarah's real name is Jenny Burton...that is, until we found out that Sarah/Jenny and her father were seasoned con artists and "Jenny Burton" was just one of a long line of aliases. Still, we learned more about her than we knew before: her dad went to prison, she was nerdy, Nicole Richie terrorized her in high school, she joined the CIA as an alternative to going to jail, etc.

Highlights and observations:

• Wow, high school Sarah had terrible hair.
  
• Sarah used to live in San Diego and now works in LA and her cover hasn't been blown yet?
• Oh no, Cory's in the intersect. That's not a good sign.
  
• Chuck does not seem to spend much time in the BuyMore these days. Luckily for him, the management is lax.
• Shades of The O.C.: Chuck talks about cilantro, which Caleb Nichol notably hated. What is it with Josh Schwartz and cilantro? It seems like it's bordering on an obsession ;-)
• Chuck: "Cilantro--very controversial. You either love it or you hate it. I love it."
• Chuck and Cory are not a very unbeatable combination.
• Chuck: "A self-defense class I took at the Y. It was very comprehensive."
• How gullible is Cory if he believes Chuck is "Mad Dog"?
• Lester is the worst manager ever.
• I'm surprised the BuyMore is only out $3700 after these stupid sales practices.
• Whoa, they decorated the reunion with humongous yearbook photos? That's harsh!
• "Mmm Bop"! I hope high school seniors didn't like "Mmm Bop."
• This Dick Duffy joker was on the last episode of The Ex-List. Ugh, I'm embarrassed that I know that.
• Hahahaha, Casey being the deejay was hilarious.
• Ahh, Nicole Richie is Russian mafia. Who'd have thought?
• Sarah should be able to beat up skinny little Nicole Richie.
• Why did Sarah go back into the reunion all wet and bleeding from the mouth? That would seem a bit suspicious.

Next week we meet Chuck's ex! The one that Bryce stole from him? Who we haven't heard a thing about since the very early episodes? The one who was seemingly forgotten all about? Awesome! I've been wondering what was up with her.

(photo: nbc.com)

Cliff-Dancing

Yeah, I couldn't think of a title so I just took the two highlights of Wednesday night summer television--SYTYCD and Cliff from Hidden Palms--and hyphenated. It's kind of like "cliff-diving," only not. Ok, yes, any title that requires this much explanation is not a good one.

So You Think You Can Dance:
Whoa! These 20 dancers are fantastic! Granted, I watched the episode while simultaneously watching Hidden Palms and, God help me, the first ten minutes of One Tree Hill, and missed a few of the couples, but every pair that I saw was really bringing it. Last year's top twenty definitely had some weak links and it wasn't until we were down to ten or so dancers that the cuts became painful, but this year looks like it's going to be tough the whole way through. I guess my favorites of the night were the two (I don't know names yet) who performed the jive. They were very good. It made the jives on Dancing with the Stars look like, um, the crappy imitation jives that they were?

And I also like how it seems that everyone in this year's top 20 has a connection to last year's top 20: little sisters, an adopted brother, cousins... That's awesome. And seeing Benji and Travis in the audience just made me miss them more. Tonight's display of dance also inspired me to go on YouTube to watch Benji and Heidi do their routine to "Black Mambo." That thing is sick. Like one of the judges said last season, I totally want them to perform that number at my birthday party.

Hidden Palms:
I don't really like this show. I don't care much for Johnny, I can't stand Greta, I have no interest in the lurking "smart" girl whose name I still can't remember, I see nothing very special about Nikki, all parental storylines bore me to tears, and the show has the worst theme song sequence I have ever seen. But that said, I was absolutely engaged in this entire hour of television for one reason: Cliff. Ok, Michael Cassidy was cute on The O.C. as Zach, but he was never this engaging. I guess it's too late to restructure the entire show around Cliff? Because then I think we'd have something.

Highlights--
Johnny: What's your problem?
Cliff: I don't have a problem, but you seem to be strung a little tight.

And Cliff calling his mom's new boyfriend on his lies, then saying, "You should really Google yourself."

It seems like Hidden Palms is doomed anyway since the CW in its infinite wisdom (I now think every decision the CW makes is stupid) has decided to show two episodes every week so they'll all be burned off by July 4. But I sincerely hope that somebody out there with a TV show notices what a catch Michael Cassidy has become, gobbles him up and gives him something juicy to do :-)


Oh, and just a warning that tonight there was a sign that hell may be freezing over: One Tree Hill made me laugh. Out loud. I am so ashamed. Here's what did it:

Minkus: Is this shirt a little blouse-y? ... Do I look like I'm competing in men's figure skating?
Laguna Beach guy: You look like you're winning men's figure skating.