“American Horror Story”- Season 3, Episode 1: “Bitchcraft”
The premiere of “American Horror Story: Coven” was not a light affair. The episode began with
Kathy Bates’ (“Misery”) character Madame LeLaurie torturing her black slaves in horrifying
ways, ending with a gang rape of Emma Roberts’ character, the movie star Madison
Montgomery.
The season will bounce around between the 1830s and modern day. In the 1830s, we learn the
horrors done by the twisted Madame LeLaurie, who is so obsessed with youth that she rubs
fresh blood on her face on a regular basis.
The modern-day parts featured the beloved Jessica Lange (“The Vow”) playing the Supreme Fiona
Goode, her daughter Sarah Paulson (“12 Years a Slave”) played by Cordelia Foxx, Evan Peters
(“Kick-Ass”) playing Kyle Spencer and Taissa Farmiga (“The Bling Ring”) playing Zoe Benson.
Benson starts off the show discovering that she kills her partner during sex, after which her
mother sends her off to boarding school for witches. At the New Orleans school, Benson meets
a telekinetic, clairvoyant and human voodoo doll as well as Fiona Goode. Goode plays a
powerful and accomplished witch that shares the same affliction as Madame LeLaurie, the
obsession with youthful. Goode finishes the episode with digging up Madame LeLaurie who
happens to still be alive.
- Danielle Green
Key and Peele – Season 3, Episode 4
This week’s “Key and Peele” episode lacks much of the laughter and charisma that
characterized the show’s phenomenal third season. However, some of the skits on
Wednesday’s episode are hilarious and worth watching.
The opening skit takes the cake, starting with an interview of Peele playing a famous basketball
player who deals constantly with “adversity.” It turns out that adversity is none other than Key
who proceeds to botch the interview and assault Peele. The play on words and “in your face”
attitude of the skit is a classic “Key and Peele” maneuver that leaves viewers roaring in laughter.
Some of the less entertaining skits were the pre-fight smack talk and thrifty gangster. Both of
these skits use the same punch lines and tropes, progressively becoming less funny and
lasting longer than needed.
Although this isn’t the strongest episode of “Key and Peele,” it has a few good skits that
viewers are sure to enjoy.
- Alex Patel
How I Met Your Mother – Season 9, Episode 4: “The Broken Code”
The final season of “How I Met Your Mother” is preoccupied with tying loose ends, and episode
four is no exception. However, unlike the previous episodes of season nine, this is not
particularly exciting or comical.
The episode picks up right where the previous episode left off–with Barney telling Ted, “I saw
you and Robin at the carousel.” As Ted struggles to explain why he was in the pouring rain holding Robin’s hand in Central Park, Barney seems to shrug the incident off, much to Ted’s
relief.
However, as the episode progresses, Ted finds himself completing odd and tiresome tasks on
Barney’s behalf. After rewriting over 200 guest cards for the second time, Ted finds Barney
having the “Best Man Poker Game” without Ted, his best man. Barney admits that he made Ted
run unpleasant and unnecessary jobs as retaliation for Ted meeting Robin in Central Park.
Barney explains that Ted’s relationship with Robin makes him uncomfortable and Ted is forced
to admit that he still has feelings for Robin.
After the heart-stopping end to episode three, episode four of “How I Met Your Mother” is a
disappointment. Although the hijinks that Barney makes Ted endure can get a chuckle or two
out of the show’s viewers, this episode lacks the hilarity that the other episodes of season nine
bring. Moreover, episode four makes no mention of Ted’s wife, which only makes the episode
more uninteresting.
Episode four did not give the Ted and Robin conflict the closure it deserves. One of the central
plot points of “How I Met Your Mother” is Ted’s undying love for Robin–surely season nine has a
bigger and better ending for the ill-fated couple.
- Kara Avanceña
Parks and Recreation – Season 6 Episode 3: “Doppelgangers”
After an episode that pushed Leslie Knope’s animosity for Eagleton to new extremes, Pawnee’s
next-door neighbors invade the Parks department this week. Each person in the Pawnee office matches up with an Eagletonian in a similar position, leading to a wide array of conflicts and clashes. Ron initially warms to his doppelganger Ron Dunn (Sam Elliott, narrator of“The Big Lebowski”), until he finds out that Other Ron doesn’t eat meat and loves sandals. (“I don’t like Ron anymore,” he says concisely.) Meanwhile, April mimics her ditzy doppelganger Tynnyfer (June-Diane Raphael) in an impressive feat of performance that climaxes with sending Tynnyfer to the home of NBA star Dwayne Wade. Tom and Donna also run into trouble with their doppelgangers, who are respectively inhuman and overly caring.
But the thrust of the episode lies in the show’s two central relationships: Leslie-Ann and Chris-Ben. Leslie reacts with horror and skepticism when Ann announces that she might be leaving Pawnee with
Chris, but by the end of the episode, Leslie realizes that she’s being unreasonable and
sometimes the best approach to an unpleasant situation is simply to talk about it. Ben rekindles
his bromance with Chris, which is highlighted by celebratory lunges and a marvelous “Good Tax
Deductor/Bad Tax Deductor” routine. Ultimately, Ben encourages Chris to do what feels right
when it comes to Ann.
The episode’s focus on the evolving dynamics of long-term friendships extend even to the side
plots, in which the characters confront aspects of their personalities that they can’t reconcile
with the new people in front of them. A warm, wild and wacky episode that integrates its guest
stars (Elliott, Raphael, Billy Eichner) and advances the season-long arc without sacrificing
individual bits of comedy gold? It must be “Parks and Recreation,” TV’s most reliable source of
delight for six seasons running.
-Mark Lieberman
