Grey’s Anatomy S12xEp11 { Unbreak my heart }

“Unbreak My Heart,” begins with Jackson racing to a church to meet a blushing bride — a bride that isn’t April. The woman in white is Jackson’s long-time patient Tatiana who he’s been treating for facial reconstruction for nearly four years. (She had acid thrown at her, which melted nearly half of her face.) But before audiences can find out why Jackson is sporting a tux, the Season 12 installments flashes back to reality … and it isn’t pretty.

“Unbreak My Heart” explored some of the unseen moments from their relationship, and changed our perspective on some things along the way.

Their fight over Chinese before she left for Jordan the second time revealed some new information – or at least put some things into a different light. Personally, I think April had some really good points about needing to take care of herself.

The episode rewounds us through their entire relationship, from them meeting as interns to them sitting in a lawyer’s office getting divorced. Hilariously, Shonda Rhimes tweeted that she got the idea for the episode’s structure, a series of fast and slow rewinds punctuated by longer scenes, because she “accidentally hit the slow rewind button and saw how cool it looked.” Only, instead of taking us back to moments that reminded us of how right for each other they were, how destined their relationship was, how strong their foundation was, the episode mostly just outlined all the reasons why Jackson and April were wrong for each other.

As the episode came to a conclusion, however, April signed the divorce papers. It wasn’t totally shocking, though it was still tragic to see. Then, though, everything went from sad to stunning: In the final minute, April revealed to Arizona that she was pregnant.

I have to believe that even if something seems like it cannot be fixed it doesn’t mean it’sbroken.

Grey’s Anatomy – S12xEp10 – All I want is You

Meredith’s going through therapy…again. In fact, we’ve seen her there often, whether it’s for her own reasons or because it’s required by the hospital. This therapist has her seeing things in a new way, though. Many sessions with the therapist are paralleled with what’s happening in the hospital, as Meredith finds herself talking more about her friends and colleagues than herself. After insisting she wants to be alone, but realizing that kicking everyone out of her house doesn’t actually make her feel better, her therapist tells her he thinks she’s fine.

Meanwhile, Owen and Riggs are still fighting, because Riggs was with Owen’s sister the day they “lost her”… whatever that means. The show’s been holding back the exact nature of their past long enough that it’s starting to require an awfully big payoff once it’s revealed … surely “with her the day we lost her” isn’t the entire story. They make up long enough to perform one beautifully hectic surgery together but they’re fighting again before they’ve even scrubbed out. An ambulance explodes just outside the emergency room, because that sounds about right. Webber says, “You can’t tame a wildcat,” to Douchebeard at one point, not realizing the wildcat in question is Webber’s own daughter.

Elsewhere in the hospital, the smart yet tragic teen has hired Callie and Maggie to 3-D print her a sternum. This development leaves Alex nervous and pissed, because these doctors fear all new surgery they didn’t come up with themselves. Alex shows up to 3-D printer kid’s surgery just to hold her hand, because with McDreamy gone, Alex is the resident heart melter (really, it should be Jackson, but he’s sending his wife divorce papers, so not terribly romantic).

Everyone needs a family. That family can be made up of blood relatives or friends or a combination of the two — it doesn’t matter, just as long as you have them. And Meredith might have gone through a lot in her years, but she definitely has family. So what does Meredith do next? Her therapist tells her it’s scary, but now she can do whatever she wants!

 

Grey’s Anatomy S12xEp9 ‘The Sound Of Silence’

It must be the case that Meredith has nine lives. I’ve lost count at the times she’s nearly died or been faced with some impossible situation. And so in that context, I find it annoying that Meredith gets attacked in the hospital. I mean, she’s already survived a plane crash and a mass shooting, nearly drowned at a ferry boat crash, held a bomb, and given birth in impossible circumstances. Okay, but here’s the thing. If I take this episode on its own and don’t allow myself to consider how many times Meredith has faced death, it’s actually really great.

But let’s switch back to the beginning of this mid-season’s premiere; Amelia has moved out of the Grey hotel, and Alex has moved in, meaning his proposal to Jo probably didn’t go exactly as he would have liked. When they realize the traffic jam is the result of an accident, Mer gets excited for the possible life-saving opportunities. She and her carpool buddies run toward the sirens, because deciding to wait in the car and catch up on podcasts wouldn’t make for exciting TV.

After her attack, Meredith’s friends guide her through the initial trauma, in a scene that’s really reminiscent of the time she drowned, way, way back in season three, especially because Webber is at the helm this time, just as he was then. But they can’t do anything about the fact that Meredith’s hearing is gone from the trauma to her head, and that she can’t speak, since Jackson broke her jaw to avoid having to do a tracheotomy.

And when Meredith can’t hear anything, we, the audience, can’t either. It’s an amazingly effective storytelling device. We’re as confused as Meredith is about her condition. We want to be able to hear what happens when the Chief and Amy are screaming at each other about Amy’s relapse (I’m curious about whether those scenes were fully shot or just mimed.) And we try to read lips when her friends say comforting things to her. It’s an actual, palpable relief when she, and we, can hear again.

So, essentially six weeks passed by throughout the entire duration of this episode. She didn’t just suffer some scrapes and bruises during her attack — she had some pretty long-term extensive damage. On top of losing her hearing, she also had to have her jaw wired shut, casts on her arm and leg, and a feeding tube through her nostril. It was pretty gruesome.

Once she finally could speak again, she told Alex to go be with Jo. It was okay. He could have more than one “person.” She had “her own damn village” after all. So that was the message we were left with heading into the 10th episode ? Was it manipulative? Classic Shonda Rhimes?….Absolutely.

Pretty Little Liars -S6xEp17 – We’ve all got baggage

We’ve already moved on from Ezra as the main suspect, and have instead zeroed in on Melissa. Rules number one and two of Pretty Little Liars are that it’s never Ezra and it’s never Melissa, but that they’re always mixed up with something shady anyway.

The flashback scene with Melissa and Hanna in the bathroom was a delight regardless of the faux clues it was dropping, and it felt a lot more authentic than the one in the previous episode between Hanna and Caleb. While the reasons for their break-up can be largely assumed by any viewer paying attention, this was just awkwardly done. I worry that Caleb’s getting a bit lost in this love triangle, simply because he’s the boy.

You know when your divorced parents decide to get re-married and then ask you, their traumatized daughter, to officiate the wedding? Aria is right there with you. As if this poor girl hasn’t been through enough, her parents force her to make them man and wife. And then post-wedding, Alison and her weird boyfriend show up and ask Aria to marry them. It’s like, guys. Calm down, take a breath, and find someone else to officiate your nuptials.

Here’s the good news: Emily reapplies to school now that she has money from selling her eggs,and she makes friends with an earnest hipster named Damien. Here’s the bad news: Hipster Damien is actually a journalist who wants to report on the liars. Here’s the worse news: A seems to have fertilized Emily’s eggs and she might be a mom soon. And here’s the completely insane news: Emily almost gets run over by a car while sleuthing for A clues — but hey, at least she finds the murder weapon hiding on the roof of a closed diner! The question? Who put it there?

Finally, there’s Hanna, who is putting her life back together and looking very chill-New-Yorker with her low pony. I’m into it. I like that Lucas is just straight-up letting Hanna live in his fancy apartment, that Emily is basically living there too, and that for some reason, Jordan has no issue with the fact that some random guy from Hanna’s past is willing to let Hanna shack up at his place indefinitely. I also like Hanna’s leather crop top at the Montgomery wedding, her effort to choose a wedding date for a wedding we know won’t happen, and her ability to stay as cool as humanly possible while watching her other half play house with Spencer.

 

SUITS – S05xEp15 – “Tick Tock”

Mike representing himself worked out far better than I thought it would. Not only did it show what a competent attorney he was but it also gave him a chance to show his heart in his closing arguments.

“Tick Tock” is all about putting the partners of Person Specter Litt through a process they’ve never been through before – judgment based in fear. Sure, we’ve watched Louis act from a place of panic before, but never Mike, never Jessica and most certainly never Harvey. But, because they all have just the tiniest doubt Mike didn’t absolutely sell his chances at receiving an ounce of reasonable doubt from the jury, they all end up taking actions they never would have otherwise. Guilty or not, Harvey (attempted) manipulation of an individual in order to gain a mistrial, a mistrial Jessica ordered because she too is afraid for the outcome of the case. Legal grey area or not, we bore witness to a desperate Harvey and Jessica this week, and that fact was made no clearer than during Harvey and Donna’s conversation in the episode’s final act.

“Tick Tock” may go down as a top 5 episode of the entire series for us, mostly because it brought just about everything to the table and then some. Every single character on the show had a fantastic role to play, whether it be Harvey debating whether or not he should turn himself in, or Louis Litt having to be talked out of throwing his fellow name partner to the wolves the moment that he had a chance. Every thought process here was justified; Harvey felt responsible for what he did, while at the same time Louis of course held resentment towards him for being in this situation, even if Louis himself had an opportunity to turn in Mike not that long ago.

Therefore, it seems as though Mike is set to take one of two deals from Anita Gibbs: Two years in prison, or no prison time but a name partner’s metaphorical head on a silver platter.

SUITS S05xEp14 ‘Self Defense’

What does it take to get someone to do what you want? Does the answer reside in a specific amount of manipulation? Bribery? Distress? Hope? Lies? It’s a hard question to answer, and Suits approached a variety of avenues during this week’s episode. For Mike, we know what it takes to rattle him is someone who’s willing to play dirty when he believes once the rules are set, they can’t be changed. For Harvey, it’s when that same person bites back because, under his life philosophy, once pressure is applied, people back down. Is Harvey a bully? Maybe a little. For the right reasons or not, there are times he amounts to little more than a high school jock, and he knows it… which is why we love him.

It will be difficult now that it appears Louis is cracking under the pressure. A better solution for him would be to make Jessica aware of what Gibbs did and bring it up in court. I get that he’s scared, but Gibbs is using as many scare tactics as she can on everyone.

We really do need to have a chat about Mike. Everyone put their head on the firing line for him over this lie, and he should be thankful that he got the opportunity to practice law in the first place. He’s good at his job, but he didn’t have the appropriate credentials to apply. He doesn’t seem remotely thankful for anyone helping him. He’s desperate. Anyone would be in that situation, but the chances of him getting away with fraud are slim to none. The only way I see this playing out now is if someone else goes down instead of him.

After a lengthy series of debates and searching for witnesses, eventually Mike and Harvey did find what seemed to be their ace in the whole: Jimmy, a Harvard law alum who Mike had helped out in the past. Harvey convinced him to take the stand and lie for him, saying that he did attend school with him. This was a win. Unfortunately, there were many other problems that quickly mounted up for Mike and Harvey as they continued their crusade.

SUITS S05xEp13 – God’s Green Earth –

For most of Wednesday night’s new episode “God’s Green Earth,” the story was primarily about Rachel Zane, and how Anita did everything that she could in order to endanger her career. This included even threatening the Dean of her law school to expel her over suspicion that Mike Ross took her LSATs for her in order to ensure her entry. This is something that he was able to turn around on Gibbs thanks to him remembering taking this said test for one of her colleagues within the U.S. Attorneys office.

Louis and Jessica get a stack of applicants from Harvard – Louis rants that Sheila is sending them the “bottom of the barrel.” Jessica says that it is time to start considering hiring people from other universities like Yale or Stamford. Louis scoffs that is a horrible idea – they only hire people from Harvard.

As a character, Louis has improved the most from the beginning of the show. There’s obviously lingering feelings between himself and Sheila, but that didn’t stop him from sending her on her sweet merry way. He wanted her to believe that he was doing it for her own good.

Jessica is tired and broken down and I don’t like it but I also understand it. She said in this episode herself, she has sacrificed everything for this firm. Her first marriage, her social life, Jeff Malone. All of it so she could run the firm and be at the top of her game and now it’s all on the edge of falling apart. And she isn’t even all that mad about it, she’s weary and you can see the toll all this has taken on her. For lack of a better word, Jessica came across very defeated this episode. She rallied for a little bit and tried to pull out the old Jessica when she attempted to poach another firm’s whole department but when it didn’t work she folded back in on herself and sat quietly in her office with a drink. Hopefully this time she took in this episode to retreat means she was strategizing and she’s going to come out swinging next episode.

Of course, the real bomb came at the end of this week’s episode when it was revealed Gibbs and her team had found Mike’s former roommate, Trevor – thus explaining how she knew about the LSAT fraud she can’t prove in court. Most likely, this reveal is what will lead to an extensive amount of heart racing scenes next week between Mike and Trevor on just how much of a “bad man” Harvey’s protégée truly is. No matter where the discussion ends, its effects are sure to be felt heading into the trial itself.

“God’s Green Earth” was another solid installment of this USA drama. It slowed down a bit from the opening episodes, but there is still enough going on to keep the intrigue very much present.

SUITS – S05xEp12 -Live To Fight

Donna has always been one of the best characters on the show and her scenes with Gibbs made me love her even more. She was to the point with Gibbs and even Harvey.

From the moment Mike was arrested during the final moments of the summer finale, the biggest question Suits fans had was who turned him in? There were many suspects on the list, but odds are good few (if any) of those lists included Sheila Sazs. Now that we know Sheila’s responsible, there’s no longer a lingering question hanging over here. What remains going forward is merely the fact of the main problem at hand: how can Harvey get his protégé out of this? and by knowing who turned Mike in, Ms. Gibbs now has a tangible piece of evidence to build her case upon. Real, potentially undeniable proof Mike never went to Harvard. We may have thought this reveal wouldn’t come for another 4-5 weeks, but in hindsight, it makes complete sense for it to come now.

It’s not all that surprising that everyone was starting to turn on each other. Mike’s lie could cost them all their career and even their freedom. Harvey is probably wishing he could relive that day again right about now.

Louis had the one light moment in this episode and it was needed. Gretchen playing him at the beginning and getting the day off was funny. Even from the grave Norma comes back to haunt Louis one more time. The rest of Louis’s part in this episode I mostly covered above while discussing Shelia. I did have a pang of sympathy for Louis when he looked so done and told Mike he couldn’t help him anymore right then but like I said, he made the choice to cover for Mike.

Rachel is going to have to toughen up a little if she really wants to be a lawyer. Anita Gibbs has just barely started to apply pressure and she’s already a wreck. She has to keep it together and I don’t know if she can. She’s terrified, I get it but going into the bathroom and projecting all her fears on Donna wasn’t the smartest of moves. Mike is nervous about her, as seen in their bedroom at the beginning of the episode. Donna is nervous about her and who wouldn’t be after that bathroom scene?

 

 

SUITS – S05xEp11 – BlowBack

We’re back! Five months and finally we get six brand new shiny episodes of Suits. In the biggest cliffhanger this show’s ever had we left Mike Ross being arrested and his secret finally being exposed so needless to say this episode had a lot to live up to and in my opinion it completely delivered. The performances, the tension and the path with some of its obstacles were laid out in this episode for the characters to overcome.

I think we all shared Mike’s look of surprise when Robert Zane walked in as his attorney instead of Harvey, but it made sense. It was always just a a matter of time until he found out the truth. Now no matter how this all plays out, there will be serious tension between Mike and his future father-in-law.

The news of Mike’s arrest starts to spread quickly. Jack sees it as an opportunity to threaten Jessica once more. Louis tries to keep Donna away from Harvey and Mike because he can’t bear for her to be put on the prosecution’s suspect list, but she ignores him.

In the end of the episode 11 of ‘Suits’ Season 5, Louis finally frees Donna so that she could help Harvey. Jessica heard what he did so she went to see him and apologized.

The biggest challenge Suits will face over the course of the next five episodes is how to keep Harvey and Mike in the right despite being so very much in the wrong. How are they not the bad guys? Can they not be the bad guys? Can all the good they’ve done outweigh the overtly bad crime they committed? Yes, Mike is a genius, but does that mean he should get a pass simply because he was a fantastic (fake) attorney? How would his acquittal not open the doors to any imbecile that’s ever read two chapters of a law book from causing serious damage? Looking at the impossible to deny issues, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the gang comes out unscathed by season’s end.

Pretty Little Liars S06xEp16 “Where somebody waits for me”

Was it really worth going five years forward? Not that much has changed. The girls are still very much being terrorized by someone, and they are still sure as hell making the most terrible decisions. You have Hanna moving into Lucas’ apartment and then Aria climbing down to the bowels of Radley alone. How is it possible that expensive contractors didn’t find a whole underground creepy torture chamber when they were converting Radley Sanitarium to Radley Hotel?

Are Ali and Dr. Rollins actually dating? Why is it a secret? Either way,their chemistry is awful. And Why is Ali the one that trusts the police? They targeted her just as much as the other girls.

Of course the murder weapon probably belongs to Melissa. How is a Hastings always in possession of the murder weapon? Why didn’t the police realize it was a suitcase handle? That’s a very common object.

Mona told Yvonne to leave her phone at lunch to prove that Spencer was untrustworthy, but also because Mona wanted Spencer to find out about Veronica’s vague illness, and also Mona didn’t even use the way Spencer took the bait to turn Yvonne against her, and also Mona thinks this is too dirty a campaign trick to pull. Are these contradictory impulses? Listen, Mona is a complex woman who contains multitudes, all of which are oddly fixated on the phrase “plausible deniability.” It is not for us to question her motives. It is only for us to admire the chess game that is never not going on inside her brain. Let’s be grateful that someone in this godforsaken town is actually playing offense. “Just out of curiosity, who kisses better: Hanna, Spencer, or me?” That Mona asks this with the confidence of someone who knows she has no competition just makes me love her more.

Everything just feels like it’s been done before, and that’s not a good thing in the slightest. The fact that Tanner still has a job scares the life out of me. There is the potential that she could miss a lot of things, and A could still be running things five years from now.