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The Watercooler: DVR lifesaver for TV fan

By Dawn Meade Davenport
Press TV Blogger
ddavenport@johnsoncitypress.com

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My DVR continues to work overtime on Thursday nights, and I’m loving it. Last night offered particularly strong episodes of the shows I’ve watched so far.

I’m saving “30 Rock,” “Fringe” and “The Mentalist” for the weekend.

”Survivor: Samoa.” If you weren’t already rooting for the underdogs of Foa Foa going into the merge last night, surely you are now. With only four members to Galu’s eight, Foa Foa entered the merge with a plan: Stick together at all costs, find the cracks in Galu and exploit them to sway the vote their way. Even as the four them scrambled to find new allies among Galu, Russell continued to play his aggressive individual game, showing off his immunity idol and making individual promises to share it until someone bit. It’s a risky strategy, but so far it’s paid off for him. Foa Foa quickly discovered that several members of Galu would be more than happy to write down Laura’s name at Tribal Council. Shambo in particular was excited by the prospect of getting rid of that thorn in her side. When Laura won individual immunity in the T-ball challenge, though, I doubted that Foa Foa could rally enough votes to take out their next target: Monica. I was right, to a degree. Every member of the former Galu expressed doubt and reluctance at the suggestion that they could target Laura by taking out Monica. It’s not going to happen, Shambo said. “No, no, no,” was Erik’s response when John said it might be a good idea. Dave said the only good move would be to take down the Foa Foa alliance one by one before they start picking off each other. Dave was probably right, but rocket scientist John managed to convince Erik that voting out Monica was the right move. The men didn’t count on the bond among the young women. When Natalie reported the plan to Monica and Laura, they recruited Jaison and Mick to vote out Erik instead. I loved this plan to blindside Erik, but what I loved even more was that Shambo and Russell seemed left largely in the dark. I didn’t think anything could make this blindside more interesting; then came Tribal Council and Erik’s speech about how Foa Foa’s former members had nothing to offer the former members of Galu. I guess he knows better now.

”FlashForward.” Last night, “FlashForward” finally lived up to its premise with an episode that finally tackled head-on the question of whether the future as seen in the flash forwards can be changed. The short answer: Apparently it can. FBI Agent Al Gough, who saw through his flash forward that he was going to be responsible for the accidental death of a young mother of twins, plunged to his death from the roof of the FBI building. His note to the young mother whose life he ostensibly saved tells her to live her life without the dread that he knows has consumed her since her flash-free blackout. “The future is unwritten,” he wrote. Is it, though? Aaron Stark saw his presumed-dead daughter, Tracy, in his flash forward. The DNA tests say the remains he buried were hers, and Tracy’s friend Mike says he saw her die, but in this episode’s final scene, Aaron comes home from work to find Tracy sitting at his dining room table. The best thing about last night’s episode is that finally the characters are coming into focus and I’m feeling emotionally connected with them. Perhaps this is because the characters are finally connecting emotionally with one another. In the first several episodes, “FlashForward” was spending so much time trying to explain the blackout and set up its central mysteries that its many characters were getting lost in the shuffle. But last night, Demetri finally told his fiancée, Zoey, that he had no flash forward. Lloyd and Olivia had an uncomfortable conversation in the wake of his discovery that she was the woman from his vision. Bryce and Nicole connected over his drawings of the woman from his flash. And Mark, after witnessing his friend’s suicide, rushed home to embrace Olivia, the mistrust over their future transgressions melting away – for the moment.

”The Office.” This NBC sitcom is on a creative high, presenting the best-written, -directed and -performed episodes in its six seasons. Last night’s episode, “Double Date,” featured another in a string of Emmy-worthy performances by Jenna Fischer as Pam. The writers have given Fischer terrific material this year – her unplanned pregnancy, the long-awaited wedding to soul mate Jim and her new position in sales have given the character new depth. But nothing that’s happened to Pam in the last several episodes can top her boss Michael’s mercifully brief relationship with her mother, Helene. I loved watching Pam go from finally accepting Michael as her mother’s boyfriend to anger over his callous breakup with Helene on her birthday after learning she’s 58 years old. It all came to a head with a hilarious scene in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot, where Pam planned to hit Michael in the face, changed her mind and then hit him anyway when he just couldn’t leave well enough alone. No one pushes Pammy anymore. And don’t call her “Pammy.”

”Grey’s Anatomy.” I’ve never been happier that I’ve given a show a second chance. I dropped “Grey’s” from my viewing list after the whole ghost Denny debacle last season, but when it returned with fresh episodes this fall, I found forgiveness and started watching it again. Last night’s episode, focusing on pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins, was the best of the season so far. Arizona’s reaction to the surprise birthday party that awaited her at the end of her worst day yet at Seattle Grace was the kind of emotional moment this show used to be known for. I’m glad those moments are back. I’m also glad to see the chief behaving a little more like a human being and less like a jerk. His lowest moment: handing Alex a folder full of Izzie’s medical bills. He needs to step up and be a leader to his emotionally battered staff.