This Week in Television - Mar. 14-18, 2011

Glee
Wasn't expecting Regionals this soon, but when they got there I knew they were going to win because it's too early to end the season and if Regionals are now, Nationals will probably be the season finale. I'm glad Kurt brought up that Blaine gets all the solos, because the Warblers really are just his backup singers, making them a stupid team. It was pretty much the same deal with Timberlake and 'N Sync, and now nobody remembers the other four members. How did Quinn suddenly become evil again after spending an entire season-long arc turning into a better person? The original songs weren't that great except for "Loser Like Me", which I actually kind of liked. Best moment was when Brittany said her favourite song was "My Headband".

V
I guess that was the season finale. They really pulled out all the stops though! With its flaws - as all episodes of V will have - I'd have to say this was the best episode of the series so far. Ryan is dead (most likely), Diana is dead (definitely), TYLER IS DEAD! (hopefully!), and pretty much everyone except Erica is blissed. Though they haven't really established the dangers of bliss because after Tyler got it last week he exhibited no change in his usual massive tool behaviour and then was murdered. Could've set that one up better, guys. And realistically, someone would've shouted that Anna was behind Diana. I get that they wanted their horrifying reveal with just the tail piercing Diana's torso, but obviously the giant crowd of people would've seen her walk in. I don't see V coming back for a third season, but if they do then they made a smart move by sort of resetting everything, letting the network and any remaining viewers know that it could be entirely different next season.

Survivor: Redemption Island
I would've thought Stephanie would be more dangerous to keep than Krista. She seems more evil and more strategic. Rob switching the idol clues just because it's fun to mess with the others was funny.

Community
Not the funniest episode this week, but it had its moments, like Chang trying to saw the custody papers to shreds with a handsaw and wearing the stereotypical 1950's dad outfit, Britta being so uncool that her attempt at singing a Britney Spears song came out as "Hit me with your genie's bottle", and Annie presenting Shirley and Chang with a letter from the doll manufacturer promising to expand their diversity to Asian dolls. Pierce and Annie were kept to a minimum this episode, which I suppose is fair because they've both had a couple of episodes this season largely focusing on them, and characters like Britta and Chang don't get many major stories so they got their screen time.

Parks and Recreation
This episode almost felt like it should have been a season finale, or at least a "semi-finale" before that little break we just had, because they'd been building up to the harvest festival for a few episodes and it was this big important event. We also got to see Joan Callamezzo and Perd Hapley again, making the episode feel even bigger. Great moments: Ron yelling at everyone on the ferris wheel, "The atrocities are in blue", the Native shaman's phony ceremonies, the excitement everyone feels over Li'l Sebastian (who has an honorary university degree), Larry Bird's aunt being a special guest, the crazy CGI reenactment on the news followed by the shaman stating "That's exactly how it happened", and pretty much everything with Andy and April. Also the big overhead shot at the end was cool, again giving the episode a larger than average feel.

30 Rock
That was a neat idea, making the whole episode like an episode of Angie's reality show. I still find her annoying, but she didn't hog 100% of the screen time, and she did provide one of the best moments of the episode. I am of course talking about the quick cut to her saying "Ham!" But it was a perfect parody of all those terrible reality shows. If Angie and Tracy Jordan were real people, they would totally make a reality show about Angie (part of the nauseating trend is that a lot of them are about relatives of famous people, not even the famous people themselves), and it would totally be called "Queen of Jordan," and she would totally act like a diva and have her posse of superficial drama queen friends. Hating those shows just makes me enjoy this episode more. Jack constantly making it easy for the show to label him was funny, and I also loved the randomness of Kenneth finding someone's lost glove and then realizing it was his and wanting the other one.

Fringe
Hmm, I was wondering how long the William Bell thing would last, because it doesn't quite seem fair to sideline the main character in favour of another, even if Walter and Peter are more interesting characters than Olivia anyway. I can understand Peter's frustration, not just because he, too loses Olivia again, but because it's simply disturbing seeing your girlfriend embodied by an elderly male scientist. I actually thought they might just use that suicidal woman as a host for Bell, but I guess that would be cruel, as she wouldn't make it to the afterlife to see her family. Looking forward to the day when Lincoln comes back and Olivia recognizes him from having known the alt-version. Probably won't be anything significant, actually, just might be an interesting little moment.

Hero of the Week: Evil Lisa (maybe we'll call her Visa?) from V, for finally killing one of the worst characters in television history. However, if the show comes back and it turns out he survived, this award will be retroactively stripped and given to Li'l Sebastian. Not even Visa would kill that little fella!

Douchebag of the Week: Grizz from 30 Rock, for not being DotCom's best friend. That's cold, dude.