This Week in Television - May 17-21, 2010

Sorry, I'm behind on my posts. Will catch up soon. It's finale week! Most of these shows ended this week so this is the last large TV post of this season.

Lost
The Sunday finale will be getting its own post, because I said so. As for this episode: Zoe was like a poor man's Tina Fey (you know it's true) and Widmore, like so many others before him, seemed to have outlived his usefulness once he turned to the good side, so it was acceptable for them to die (and even if it hadn't been, this is the second last episode so who cares?). I enjoyed the Ben-Alex-Danielle scene in the flash-sideways, and Michael Emerson's emotional performance upon being told that he was like a father to Alex. And it was cool that Hurley and Desmond were the only two people who know what's going on in the flash-sideways universe, as we were reminded when Hurley said to him "Oh, you didn't tell me Ana-Lucia was gonna be here!"

Glee
Like Kristin Chenoweth before him, Neil Patrick Harris was an excellent choice for a guest star due to his singing ability and comedic timing. His one scene with Sue Sylvester was awesome.

V
I was starting to like Joshua so it was disappointing (yet admirable) that he sacrificed himself for the Fifth Column. But then Marcus revived him at the end, which worries me because I doubt it's that Marcus is Fifth Column. I kind of like the idea of Anna experiencing a human emotion. I don't expect her to start empathizing with humans, but I do think it could make her a more threatening enemy if she starts to get better at manipulating them because of it. I hope Chad will stop being a douche now that he knows the truth about the V's, and I won't miss Valerie because I always found her character uninteresting and even a little dumb.

Flash Forward
This one was just meant to kill time before they show us whether everyone's flash forwards happen. It was a little frustrating that they kept teasing us by going on about how we were only hours away from the flash forwards and then the episode ended. I get that they needed to save it for the finale, but still, I think this episode suffered because of it.

Parks and Recreation
I wasn't really a fan of Wendy because even though her marriage to Tom was a sham, I felt that she was cold to him in spite of the green card related favour he was providing for her. Lucy seems way cooler, and now that Wendy is boning Ron I hope he doesn't develop Andy syndrome and start pining for an old flame when he's with a better girl. Speaking of Andy, I find it funny that this big, simple (albeit likable) oaf was at one point a loser living at the bottom of a pit and now he has two girls into him. Well done, sir. Also like Chris (Rob Lowe) being the unrealistic optimist who always brings unverified good news and then quickly lets Ben (Adam Scott) take it back. And it was very awesome of Ron to offer his own job to save Leslie's, and even awesomer that he invented a bacon-wrapped turkey leg known as "The Swanson". And finally, Leslie referring to Mark as "Brandanoquitz" was one of those puns that makes you laugh hard even though it's eye-rollingly terrible.

The Office
I loved when the IT guy owned everyone in the room for forgetting his name a mere ten seconds after he said it. And the ending was promising, because as terrible as Michael is with women, Holly was without a doubt his best match. I hope Amy Ryan does come back next season, and it would be funny if her boyfriend AJ came with her, because Michael would lose it.

30 Rock
I like Matt Damon and it was cool to see him appear as Liz's "dream man". His character could have been funnier but hopefully he will return to improve on that. Looks like Jack chose Avery after all, just like I said.

Fringe
Finally we got to see Walter reunite with William Bell! Too bad Bell sacrificed himself for almost nothing, because Walter and Peter will probably have to return to the other side once they realize their Olivia is trapped there, which I bet is exactly what Walternate wants.

Hero of the Week: Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation for accomplishing a lot of awesomeness: Being loyal to Leslie and pulling off an awesome grass slide in a frantic attempt to warn her, eating a Swanson, and finally sleeping with Tom's ex wife after previously hinting at his interest in her.

Douchebag of the Week: Walternate from Fringe. He's just not as cool as our Walter.