What I’m Watching: Person of Interest

Person of Interest: Season 2, Episode 8 “Til Death” (B+)

This show is finding magnificent ways to outdo itself each with increasingly creative plotlines, and this episode was a stellar example of that. Bringing up two numbers because a husband and wife were trying to have each other killed was superb, and I like how Reese and Finch chose to get involved, taking both of them in and forcing them to reconnect over wine and shared recollections of why they fell in love in the first place. It was appropriate, and convenient, to have both detectives experience some romance of their own at the same time, with Fusco having the unfortunate displeasure of having his date meet an unfriendly Reese and a very awkward Carter. Taking someone to a fancy restaurant with small, pretentious portions doesn’t fit at all with Fusco’s personality, and her suggestion of stakeout falafel was far better. Carter could also use some relaxation, and I’m hopeful that both Detective Beecher and Rhonda will become recurring characters. It’s wonderful to watch Finch’s relationship progress at the same time, albeit six years in the past. Leading Grace on a romantic scavenger hunt for her birthday was extremely sweet, though it does make me dread finding out what it was exactly that set them apart. Finch following Grace in the present day suggests that there may well be a chance for them to reconnect, and it would be nice since Finch has been off his game recently following his abduction by Root. It shouldn’t be long before Reese too is reunited with a former flame, which is sure to be explosive in all the wrong ways.

What I'm Watching: 'Til Death

'Til Death: Season 2, Episode 1 "Performance Anxiety" (F)

I could barely get through five minutes of this show. How I made it the entire half-hour is a mystery/miracle. I wanted to check in with this show just to be sure I had not judged it too harshly when I gave the pilot a "D+" a year ago. It is so well-paired with "Back to You" in terms of awfulness. It is also essentially the exact same thing I saw a year ago, so brutally formulaic and undeveloped. The young couple is at first gleefully happy, the older couple bitterly at war with each other. By the middle of the episode the young couple is fighting and the older couple is fighting even more, but by episode's end all is well and everyone is smiling. In this episode we are berated with lots of awful singing from Joely Fisher and freakishly decent celebrity impressions from Brad Garrett. Each scene is so painfully unfunny and predictable that this show is unbearable.