First off, before I start, a MASSIVE fangirly “Thank you” goes out to my big brother and his family for loaning me their seldom-used VCR. Because of their generosity, I was not forced to choose between new episodes of Grimm and the final six episodes of Nikita, a decision that would have wounded my poor heart.

Now, on to business:

Soooo, a few interesting things have happened on TV since I last posted. And by “a few” I actually mean “a lot.” And by “interesting” I actually mean “OMG, is this the best season of television ever????”

Castle continues to rock Castle and Beckett’s relationship with style, always finding new issues to explore between the two of them so that things never get stale. The death penalty episode was intense, and the 3XK ep with the dead Esposito and Lanie look-a-likes was downright chilling. My favorite of the bunch, though, was the one about a dying man who staggers into a church and hands over an adorable baby before collapsing. Castle and Beckett changing a diaper together? Consider my heart officially captured.

Over on Beauty and the Beast, the conflict rose to new heights when a very pretty female beast entered the picture. The addition of Tori was a great way to keep things fresh and add a little more girl power to the show. Vincent is bugging the crap out of me right now with this whole beasts vs. humans shtick, making Gabe look more and more attractive (not that Gabe really needs help in that department). Gabe’s continued honesty and devotion to Cat – not to mention his knock-a-girl-to-the-floor handsomeness – are making it awfully hard not to root for a Gabe/Cat hookup. And speaking of hook-ups, did JT and Tess really lock lips? Interesting. Not sure yet if there’s chemistry, but it was definitely a cute moment between two unlucky-in-love characters. Can’t wait to see how the group’s dynamics change now that Cat’s father has officially gone down and Cat actually – gasp – shot Vincent in the process…

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD had great fun with one of its special box office tie-in eps, an exciting romp about humans with objects they shouldn’t have, and a non-violent Asgardian on Earth. (I love that actor, too, so I’m super-glad they didn’t kill him off). The surprising May-Ward hook-up at the end was just one example of the wild curve balls this show likes to throw. We had some laugh-out-loud male bonding scenes in the ep where Fitz and Ward infiltrate enemy lines together, and numerous jaw-dropping, holy crap! moments in the thrilling mid-season finale. I still can’t believe the Centipede people took Coulson! And right after that, pretty much everybody and everything exploded! Talk about the mother of all cliffhangers… 🙂 No, actually, I’ll save that distinction for Supernatural’s winter finale.

Speaking of which: OMG. Seriously – O.M.G. That is the only way I can describe the most recent ep of Supernatural. It left me lying on the floor with my guts scooped out. Cannot believe they actually killed Kevin. Sweet, beloved Kevin. That final image of him is burned into my head in the worst way, proving that this show is once again at its very best. Metatron, an angel I still liked, even after he deceived Castiel, is now numero uno on my hit list. He will suffer and die for killing the prophet he was supposed to protect. Gadreel will die, too, but he doesn’t need to suffer quite so much – he seems like one of those lower-intelligence, easily manipulated angels. I still blame him for his appalling actions, but not as much as I blame Old Meta-Evil.

Shame that the highlights of this show usually tend to be the must soul-wrenching moments. It’s not always true, though, and before we had the wonderful awfulness of the winter finale, we got some true gems in the form of a born-again virgin episode with Sheriff Mills, and my absolute hands-down favorite episode of the season so far – an emotional, flash-back peppered ep about Dean’s stay at a boys home when he was fifteen. That ep, more than any other, will give me the strength to keep watching through the painful aftermath of Kevin’s death.

Chicago Fire is a good show to watch after Supernatural, because all the action and drama are a nice distraction from having your heart torn out. CF hasn’t had a single dip in quality yet, and I expect more of the same when it returns in January. The network’s continued faith in this “little show that turned big” makes me smile. They’re even giving it a spin-off now, focusing on the police side of the story. Way to go, NBC! 🙂 Lots of excitement in November and the first part of December, from political drama to roommate dilemmas to long-lost sisters, racial tensions, and rekindled romances. This show knows how to bring it in every way possible, and I am so totally hooked. The fact that they had a wonderful Severide-centered episode was chocolate frosting on an already delicious cake. I am a Severide girl, through and through, and watching him work so hard and long – by himself – to save that boy was enough to make this fangirl’s heart sprout wings and lift off into the sky.

Coming back down to Earth, I have to admit I haven’t been loving Elementary quite so much this season. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s still must-see TV and everything, but it just felt like something was missing. Sure we got some stellar eps here and there, including a gem focusing on Captain Gregson (adore him) and his troubled marriage. Overall, though, it just didn’t have the same feel as Season One, and I didn’t know why until the recent, gripping episode which detailed the events leading up to Detective Bell’s shooting.

And it dawned on me – that’s what’s been missing: an arc. Something to string the episodes together into a cohesive whole. Something to prevent Season Two from being a mish-mash of barely-related to totally-unrelated stand-alone stories. Sherlock’s road to recovery, and the Moriarty storyline, did this for Season One. And now we have the much-needed arc for Season Two: the fallout from Bell’s shooting. Sherlock’s guilt. Bell’s struggle for recovery. Gregson and Watson caught in the middle between these two characters. This storyline made me sit up straight and take notice. It made me excited to see what happens in the next episode. It gave new breath and life to Season Two, and I’m happily falling back in love with one of my favorite shows.

If there’s one show you can’t accuse of not having an arc, it’s good old Grimm. Try multiple season-long arcs, intricately interwoven. Nick’s still rocking the zombie powers, Hank has happily ditched the crutches and is back knee-deep in the action, and Monroe and Rosalie are so cute it should almost be outlawed. Having Juliette and Nick back together this season is also a bonus that adds a big old dose of happy to my Friday nights. Couple that with a delightfully different episode featuring mer-people, a really bad-@$$ old lady on neighborhood watch patrol, and a freaky exorcism, and, to quote several McDonald’s commercials, I’m loving it. 🙂

To make my Friday nights even more awesome, one of my all-time favorite shows, Nikita, returned on November 22^nd with both fists swinging. As I sit there watching movie-quality explosions, quiet moments of unresolved feelings between Nikita and Michael, sparks flying between Alex and Sam, and a whole slew of girls kicking butt, I can’t help but wonder – for the millionth time and counting – why the CW is canceling one of the most stellar shows on TV. Seriously, what brain-sucking amoeba infected the top dogs at that network and made them say, “Hey, let’s cancel Nikita?” It’s one of those sad cases where a brilliant show is dumped in the world’s most heinous time-slot, and then left there to rot. Most people don’t know that Nikita even exists, never mind that they’re missing out on something spectacular by not watching it. **Sigh** But at least we got six final episodes, and so far, I’m the exact opposite of disappointed. I long for Nikita and Michael to find their way back to each other, for Sam to be redeemed, for Amanda to get what’s coming to her, and for all of our heroes to get the happy endings they deserve. Only two eps remain for all this to happen, and my fingers are crossed like pretzels.

And now we come to The Mentalist. Which, if I’m being honest, is probably the one most worth talking about, simply because of the dramatic changes taking place all across the board. Since I last posted, Patrick Jane identified Red John, murdered him, and fled the country. The CBI closed down, and two YEARS passed. (Time jumps – especially unexpected ones – always throw me like a football). Jane spent the time on an island with tough extradition laws, Lisbon became a small town Sheriff, Cho joined the FBI (which is cool, because it goes with a fic I’m posting), and Rigspelt started their own investigative software (????) company. (That’s just a guess – all I know is it had something to do with law enforcement and computers.)

In any case, it was a lot to digest in a few short weeks. It hurt seeing FBI goons dragging Jane’s brown couch away, and watching his favorite blue teacup smash to the floor. I think I knew then that nothing would ever be the same again. Change is hard, but in this case I think it was necessary. The Red John storyline had dragged on for too long, and it was pulling the rest of the show down with it. The future of The Mentalist depended on a fresh start, and the showrunners boldly wiped the slate squeaky clean.

But before they could do so, they had to wrap up Red John, as quickly and satisfyingly as possible. I like that Red John was not Bertram, who had an odd pleasantness about him that did not quite fit a serial killer. The Sheriff had a little bit of that manic gleam in his eyes that went a long way to convincing me that he could, in fact, be a homicidal maniac. I like that Red John’s death was slower and more drawn-out than the mall shooting. I like that he said he was sorry for killing Jane’s family, and that he was also afraid to die. I like the moments of genuine fear I felt when RJ ran right through a home with a family inside, and a yard where a little girl was playing. I like that Jane said he felt a little bit disappointed, because the writers knew the audience would feel that way, too.

After all those years of build-up, how could the moment ever live up to our expectations? For me, the only real letdown was that Red John did not seem to have any special connection to Jane, or any attachment to him. I did not get a sense of their relationship – Red John has saved Jane’s life numerous times, and also killed for Jane on several occasions, yet I felt none of that twisted “bond” when they finally met face-to-face.

Like I said, though, it never could have lived up to everyone’s expectations. I’m pretty happy with what we got, especially the emotionality of Simon’s performance in those final moments, almost turning the gun on himself, and then making the decision to live and be free. Amazing stuff.

And now we have The Mentalist: A New Beginning. Honestly, I felt so much more excited about the previews for the “New Beginning” eps than I did for the “Red John: Final Chapter” eps, and that alone told me how much I was ready for Red John to be over. I feel like the show can finally breathe. It was crippled and tied down, and now, at last, it can spread its wings.

Some people will probably hate the show’s new direction, but I, for one, can’t wait to see how far it will fly.

Up Next: The Race: Week Twelve – with most shows in reruns, the few left standing battle it out for the top spot!

And also: Great Reads, Volume One: Superhero Stories. As the title suggests, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite superhero tales – whether you’re a lover of original short stories or a fanfic-aholic, you’ll leave a satisfied customer.