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Tags: About Last Night, Mini TV Watch, Supernatural, Television, TV

Image Credit: Ed Araquel/The CW

I was as excited as anyone about the return of Misha Collins on tonight’s Supernatural, and after getting a sneak peek earlier this week (you’re welcome!), my expectations rose to almost impossible levels. The result was anything but disappointing.

His return in tonight’s “Born-Again Identity” was twisty — as promised. But ultimately resulted in a game-changing, self-less act that both saved Sam and — in my eyes, at least — redeemed Castiel. But let me back up.

Sam’s scrambled egg of a brain was still giving him problems and eventually landed him in a psych ward with Lucifer as a roomie. Dean, troubled by the sight of his dying brother (and, yes, not sleeping for five days is life threatening), went on a search for help, scouring Bobby’s contacts for someone who could help. (Very nice call-backs to “Faith” in this ep.) Finally, he got wind of a legit healer named Emmanuel, who, it turned out, was not just an ordinary man.

Castiel apparently had risen from up the water (butt naked!) and came upon a woman named Daphne, who would eventually become his wife! But he had no memory and no name, so bouncybabynames.com stuck him with Emmanuel.

Dean refused to educate Cas about his past wrongdoings and instead opted to simply draft him to help Sam. Even when Meg showed up (MEG!) and encouraged him to share the truth with Cas (erm, Emanuel?), he refused to strip his former friend of his new-found peace of mind. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 21 2012 02:10 AM ET

'Southland' finale: Does this show deserve another season?

Tags: Mini TV Watch, Southland, Television, Things That Are Awesome!, TV

Image Credit: Doug Hyun

I know my headline is sort of a ridiculous question. Because if you watched tonight’s season finale of Southland, then you know the answer is “absolutely.”

I’ll lead by saying, however, that I recognize that this show — and its subtle approach to story execution — may not be for everyone. (In fact, most of the best parts of tonight’s season 4 finale happened off screen.) But its unique form is also what makes this show so great.

For one, take Lydia’s storyline. After finally coming clean to her superiors about her pregnancy, Lydia (Regina King) was faced with a decision: In what capacity she would work during the duration of her pregnancy. Would she stay in the field? Sit at a desk? Never one to limit herself in any way, I fully expected Lydia to stay out there as long as she could. But then she worked a case that eventually found her having to interview a young (very young) burn victim in the hospital. (We never really saw the child because there were bandages covering every surface of her little body. It was wrenching.) As Lydia made her way into the room in full sterile gear, we saw her sit down with a look of repressed horror on her face, and she started to conduct the interview. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 20 2012 01:00 AM ET

'RuPaul's Drag Race' disqualified contestant speaks out: 'I wasn't caught doing anything'

Well, no one saw this one coming — except for maybe Willam herself.

“Will you please step forward?” RuPaul asked the controversial queen at the very end of last night’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, sending what should have been the routine elimination of Phi Phi O’Hara or Sharon Needles into a totally different — and weird — direction.

Mar 19 2012 09:15 PM ET

'Pretty Little Liars' react: What did you think of the 'A' reveal?!

Tags: Mini TV Watch, Pretty Little Liars, Television, TV

Image Credit: Eric McCandless/ABC Family

So many shows will take a single question and explore it for seasons upon seasons. (How DID Ted meet the mother? Who killed Beckett’s mom? Who IS the boss?) And they do just fine riding the wave. But Pretty Little Liars will have no such long-standing mystery, as it blew the lid off the show’s major question tonight, revealing the identity of “A.”

And the answer is… READ FULL STORY »

Mar 19 2012 08:57 PM ET

'How I Met Your Mother' react: Is Quinn [maybe a spoiler]!?

Becki Newton wasn’t joking when she said Quinn and Barney were on the fast track!

Tags: How I Met Your Mother, Mini TV Watch, Television, TV

Image Credit: Eric McCandless/CBS

In sum: A lot happened on tonight’s new episode — not the least of which was a “Quinn-tervention,” in which the gang tried to stop Barney from moving forward with his relationship after they decided she wasn’t to be trusted. The result? A dramatic display that ended with Barney and Quinn breaking up.

Oh, and it was all a set-up. (After predicting the group’s reaction to Quinn, Barney and Quinn came up with a detailed plan on how to counter-attack.) READ FULL STORY »

Mar 8 2012 02:01 AM ET

'Top Chef: Texas' reunion: Did Sarah tell Emeril Lagasse to 'f-- off'? Also, worst Fan Favorite ever.

by Stephan Lee

Tags: About Last Night, Food and Drink, Mini TV Watch, Reality TV, Television, To Care or Not to Care, Top Chef, TV

Image Credit: Virginia Sherwood/Bravo

According to reunion master Andy Cohen, 90 percent of all questions about Top Chef: Texas had to do with Beverly and the trio of sweaty, foul-mouthed meanies who bullied her throughout the competition. But honestly, after a whole season in which the food took a backseat to all the undercooked drama in the kitchen, I was glad that most of the reunion focused on other topics — like Ty-lör and his furry bottom (click this borderline-NSFW link at your own risk). Oh my God. Seriously, why were we subjected to that? He’s a good-looking guy, but in that photo he looks like an unholy union between Bluto and the Coppertone girl. That wasn’t the most disturbing moment of the night, though: We also learned that Sarah has “teary orgasms.” Thanks, Bravo. I can’t un-know that. I need a nice sorbet to cleanse that from my brain-palate. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 6 2012 01:00 AM ET

'RuPaul's Drag Race' week 6 query: Was Milan's lip-synching awful -- or genius?

Image Credit: Mathu Andersen/Logo

They say the third time’s a charm. But that certainly wasn’t the case for Milan on last night’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which — SPOILER ALERT — saw the Broadway- and oddly dude-tinged queen from NYC get the ol’ “sashay away” after her third week of lip-synching for her life in a row. Not charming!

And it should just be put out there: Gurl is a bad, bad, bad lip-syncher, and last night’s performance to Lady Gaga’s pride anthem “Born This Way” showed exactly why. And that was mostly because she ripped off both her top, exposing a bare man’s chest, and her wig. (She sure can do the splits, though.) Stripping down is nothing new for the main stage’s lip-synching-for-your-life showdowns, but there is sort of a feel of “been there, done that” when the wig-throwing starts now. And with all the disparaging comments Milan got from the judges about her drag being too “mannish,” it didn’t help her cause at all.

Or am I just not understanding Milan’s style of performing? Was it actually genius in some secret way?

The hilarious thing about the lip-synching last night was that Milan’s competitor in the bottom, Jiggly Caliente, was also God awful, but clearly, not as bad as Milan. (And don’t even get me started on what Jiggly did on the runway — that cape, really?!?) Honestly, it was a toss-up about who should have been sent packing. No doubt that Jiggly’s time is nearly up, too.

Mar 4 2012 01:00 AM ET

'Being Human' react: Mitchell Who?

by Aubry D'Arminio

Tags: About Last Night, Being Human, Mini TV Watch, Sci-Fi, TV Recap, Vampires

Image Credit: Huw John

Before you get upset about the title of this post, hear me out: I stole it from one of you, who promised in the comments to last Sunday’s Being Human Q&A that by episode 3, Damien Molony’s posh new vampire Hal would have us asking “Aidan who?” in reference to Aidan Turner’s dearly departed, long-loved bloodsucker John Mitchell. I just think it happened a week earlier. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not foolishly saying that Mitchell wasn’t Being Human’s cornerstone for the last three years (he was), that I don’t love him (I do), or that I’m glad he’s gone (I’m not). But the hole left by the death of Mitchell—and his then best friend, George—closed up for me yesterday night… [If you haven’t watched last night’s Being Human on BBC America, rentaghost to another post immediately if you don’t like spoilers] …right around the moment when Hal finally met Tom and Annie.

If the point of last week’s premiere was to say goodbye to George, establish werewolf Tom and ghost Annie as the protectors of “war child” Baby Eve, and introduce Hal, then episode 2 was about bringing Tom, Annie, and Hal together to reestablish Being Human’s werewolf-ghost-vampire holy trinity. Hal, a very old, apparently once very vicious vampire, has spent the last 55 years dry and living above an Essex barbershop with his best friends Leo (a werewolf) and Pearl (a ghost). Then Leo, who is dying, hears the voice of an “angel”—presumably the mysterious Girl in Yellow from 2037, who might be the grown up Baby Eve, but also wants to kill Baby Eve—that instructs him to go to Barry where a werewolf and a ghost are caring for an infant who could save his life.

But Baby Eve has no such powers and Leo does die, taking Pearl, who declared her 50-plus year love for him, to the other side, and leaving Hal to live with Tom and Annie. I assume this was the Girl in Yellow’s plan all along: But was it so that Hal, who can read the skin scroll, will be there to protect Baby Eve when the Old Ones finally arrive in the U.K. or because he’s the supernatural most likely to bite her face off? My guess is the latter—which nearly happens when the Girl in Yellow appears on the TV coaxing Hal to “do it” while he’s holding the infant—but the former is what actually happens. After Leo’s death, grief sends bloodthirsty Hal to Eve’s crib (where he is intercepted by Tom) and then to attack the owner of a local pawnshop (where he is intercepted by Tom and Annie). But then when he’s back at Honolulu Heights, safely ensconced on the couch with a cup of Annie’s black tea, he admits that he really wants the skin scroll’s prophecy to be true and that he hopes Baby Eve is the war child who will wipe out vampires forever.

NEXT: Mitchell vs. Hal vs. Tom vs. George

Feb 28 2012 01:00 AM ET

'RuPaul's Drag Race' week 5 query: Which queen did the best celebrity impersonation on 'The Snatch Game'? POLL!

The Snatch Game returns! Last night’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race once again featured the fan-favorite challenge, which finds the competing queens dragging out their best celebrity impersonations for a rollicking riff on ’70s-80s game show staple The Match Game. As we’ve seen in the past, the challenge can be a star-making turn for the gals who get it right: Both Pandora Boxx and Stacey Layne Matthews cleaned up on the past two seasons by serving up delightfully fierce versions of Carol Channing and Precious, respectively.

The fact that Chad Michaels took home the crown for the evening was basically a foregone conclusion — girl has been shilling her Cher impersonation since she walked through the door in the season premiere. I don’t think any of the queens thought they had a chance at beating her. Despite that, though, I thought there were several other stellar celeb impersonations, namely from Sharon Needles as Michelle Visage; Willam as Jessica Simpson; and Dida Ritz as Wendy Williams. (And several bad. Notably, Beyoncé by Kenya Michaels, who was mercifully shown the door at the end of the episode.)

Sharon proved shrewd by doing Drag Race judge Michelle — but it was risky, too, since it could have easily blown up in her face. Willam committed to playing Simpson as super stupid and scored. And Dida showed smarts for choosing someone — talk show host Williams — with such an iconic speaking voice and catchphrase in, “How you doin’?”

So, I’m asking you to choose between Chad and those other three ladies — Sharon, Willam, and Dida. Whose impersonation was best? Vote in our poll below:

Feb 21 2012 01:00 AM ET

'RuPaul's Drag Race' week 4 query: How much are you loving Latrice Royale?

Image Credit: Mathu Andersen

Sharon Needles has been dominating RuPaul’s Drag Race in its first three episodes this season, and of course, there are other strong contestants, like Willam and Phi Phi O’Hara and some of the other sundry queens. But last night on the show’s new episode, “Women Behind Bars,” saw a star who was burning somewhat quietly really brighten up: Latrice Royale.

I’ve loved the big gal since the show opened — and I’ve been rooting for her — but she really turned it on last night in the main challenge, which found the ladies acting out a scene from the fake sitcom Hot in Tuckahoe. As Ru described at the top of the challenge, Tuckahoe was about “four best squirrel friends who keep getting arrested and sent to jail.” (The show looked cray-cray, but also like something I would watch… and enjoy.) Considering her prison past, Latrice was sure she was a perfect fit for the sitcom. “As soon as I saw that there was a prison guard,” Latrice said, “I knew that was the role for me.” And Latrice delivered, giving the camera such a load of facial expressions that the editors cut various shots of her lip-pursing into her group’s comedy scene. “Honey, you could do that for half an hour,” Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnick told Latrice, of her perfect pursing, “and they would laugh.” She was successful largely because she just went for it and performed over the top, which is what works in television sitcoms. (To be fair, Dida, Willam, and Phi Phi did well, too — they all employed a similar balls-to-the-wall approach.)