What I’m Watching: 12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys: Season 3, Episode 2 “Guardians” (B)

This was a solid improvement over the opening hour, and a sign that we’re probably headed somewhere positive for the remainder of the season. The most significant thing is that this new technology that allows splintering without any sort of tether or an advertisement placed in the classifieds of a newspaper changes the game entirely, and now once again has led to time being changed around them since the both creepy and destructive Magdalena has again gone back in time to sacrifice herself so that their mission, to keep the baby witness safe, can be preserved. Cassandra was rightly horrified that, when she asked to see her son, she was brought just to a mask representative of him as an adult, with his younger newborn form being constantly transported throughout time to assure that he can grow up to be the man/demon/whatever he is that he will eventually become. I couldn’t have been more excited to see Jennifer, who was trapped in 1917 in France and doing what any good stranded time-traveler should, which is to recreate famous elements of pop culture long before they were actually invented, like playing Charlie Chaplin and E.T. That she put together a version of her own story with “Je splinter” was great, and I like that, after initially arriving in his traditional brutish fashion, he made up for it once they restarted the time loop by applauding Jennifer’s performance and telling her that they came to rescue her. Everyone in the future seemed pretty horrified to see her return, and I look forward to what Jones and crew can engineer now with enhanced knowledge.

What I’m Watching: Married

Married: Season 2, Episode 9 “Guardians” (B-)

I was a bit uncomfortable with the direction of this episode, and it seems like everything has changed just because Jenny Slate is exiting the series since she might get her own show, allegedly being replaced by Sarah Burns’ Abby. I do like Abby but she’s really not Jess, and I think having her as Russ’ best friend was a very strong part of the show. In this installment, however, everyone turned against her as she went off the deep end and stayed out all night, ultimately not even defended by Russ, who has always been a staunch supporter of her even when Shep wasn’t. Telling Russ and Lina’s children that their parents were mean to her was a bad move, to be sure, but it didn’t feel like the Jess we’ve come to know, who is irresponsible but not outright stupid. It seems like Paul Reiser is going to become a bigger part of the show, and it would have stung a lot less if their entire existence had been ignored rather than spotlighted as a way for Slate to leave. Showing their breakup and then Russ going for a drink with Shep rather than Jess was a bitter way to end Jess’ role on the show. A.J. is being very overbearing with Abby and her son, but it’s sweet that she seems moved by his Cookie Monster comparison and might actually end up being just the right person for her and vice versa, which would be really nice.

What I’m Watching: Nikita

Nikita: Season 2, Episode 10 “Guardians” (C+)

This episode isn’t necessarily, but it’s hardly of the same decent quality that the past few installments have been. I think this show would do well to require Maggie Q to do as little acting as possible, since her strengths really lie in her action skills, particularly her running abilities. Watching her try to act opposite Devon Sawa’s Owen is rather painful, and let’s not even mention Shane West. I am glad that Owen called Michael to come save the day, though I’ll admit that his nick-of-time rescue was enormously corny and considerably over-the-top. I never thought I’d say this, but I actually missed Birkhoff since he’s at least somewhat entertaining, and instead half of the episode had to be devoted to a one-woman crawl through the forest to enter the Udinov compound, which revealed a major secret: Alex’s mom is still alive! The only reason this is exciting is that she’s played by Sarah Clarke, the real-wife of Xander Berkeley and former star of “24.” Percy seems to be making a power play as well, despite his decreased privileges, and that’s mainly due to the unveiling of his number one ally, Roan, who is definitely a good person to have in his corner. This marks the show’s winter finale, which only really means that it will be off the air for about a month, returning in January to hopefully neutralize this Udinov dynasty plotline forever and regain its proper focus on Division back home in the good old United States.