This Week in Television - Nov. 1-5, 2010

Survivor: Nicaragua
I do think it was unfair that Naonka made all the tortillas and everyone else ate them and she got the smallest one, but she should've just said something instead of taking the crazy way out like she always does, which was to steal food. Was it stupid to vote out Alina over Marty? Not necessarily. Marty may be the more strategic player, but at this point he is also desperate and powerless so others can get leverage over him, making him a useful tool.

Community
There was really no reason for the "head mean girl" to be played by Hilary Duff, or anyone famous, but the Robocop stuff with Abed was fun, and Chang's exaggerated reactions to the burns. Even better was the secret trampoline of tranquility (tranquiline?) storyline, although I saw it coming when Pierce's spy copter followed Jeff and Troy. Also really cool to see Troy and Abed in the Morning make a comeback. And, like everyone else, I will continue to refer to Star Burns as Star Burns no matter how many times he asserts that his name is Alex.

30 Rock
I liked the characterization in this episode, illustrating what Liz and Jack mean to each other by keeping them apart, and that neither Jonathan, Tracy, nor Jenna have all of the qualities of an ideal protege - apparently Liz is the only person at NBC who does. The joke about Googling one's self is kind of old by now (Craig Ferguson does it regularly in his monologues), but then they flashback-whipped to Tracy using Liz's office to do it and that made it funny.

The Office
I don't think I really laughed at this episode (except for the beginning with everyone sneezing on Dwight), but I guess it was a good one for Michael's character. We've always known how lonely and needy he is, and it makes a lot of sense that he would enjoy a church youth group, the kind of people who would automatically accept him with open arms. And then in true Michael fashion he gets bored on the bus ride and realizes he just signed up for 3+ months of manual labour.

Fringe
I liked the second half of the episode better than the first half. Briefly visiting the other side in order to prove who she is was a cool way for Olivia to finally admit that she is not Fauxlivia (and her visions of Peter are a clever way for them to keep Joshua Jackson in the episodes since he's only in one universe.) The plot with the Ashmore twins wasn't really that interesting, though.

Hero of the Week: Hero Cat from 30 Rock. Why not, he's already a hero.

Douchebag of the Week: Joshua from Community, for secretly being racist. That came out of nowhere! OR DID IT?