Alex’s TV On-the-Go: Week of April 30th

This week on…
Glee - “Home”

After coming off last week’s crazy Madonna episode, the show took it easy with a night that mostly followed Will (Matthew Morrison) dealing with his divorce and Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Finn’s (Corey Monteith) parents becoming romantically involved. Will, aka Mr. Schuster, went out to get help from previous Glee member/sort of recovering alcoholic, April Rhodes (Kristin Chenoweth). She ended up staying in his apartment overnight and although both were tempted, their friendship remained platonic and they just shared a bed. Both Morrison and Chenoweth really shined in this episode and did a great job of showing their loneliness without making it over the top. The rest of the episode featured Kurt’s master plan to pair his dad (Mike O’Malley) with Finn’s mother (Romy Rosemont) in order to get closer to Finn. Of course the plan backfired when Finn and Kurt’s father Burt started to bond. At first I rolled my eyes at this storyline, thinking they’d be paired off for an episode and end up breaking up, but it seems like the parents are in it for the long haul. It’s interesting; most of my friends either hated or loved this episode. They either felt it was “boring” because they didn’t know any of the songs or that it was extremely touching and had some great performances. Where do I stand? I really enjoyed these two storylines, but Mercedes’ (Amber Reily) struggle to lose weight for the Cheerio’s felt a little forced; it at least led to some screen time for Quinn (Dianna Agron) - we’ve missed you! Line of the night was once again said by fan favorite, Brittany (Heather Morris): I’m pretty sure my cat’s reading my diary. Enjoy!

Parenthood- “Perchance to Dream”

First off, a congrats is in order as “Parenthood” has officially been renewed for a second season. Hats off to NBC for making a smart choice - something not often seen at the peacock network! This week Kristina (Monica Potter) went off to help out an old friend with a political campaign and left Adam (Peter Krause) alone with the kids to deal with bras and videogames. Peter Krause could literally do no wrong as he continues to provide the best moments of the night. Perfect example: him showing off his “Fever” alter ego, his dancing self from high school. Otherwise, Sarah (Lauren Graham) put pressure on Amber (Mae Whitman) to look at colleges so she doesn’t end up like her mother, a 40-year-old bartender. Towards the end of the episode, Amber made Sarah realize that she should go for her dreams and return to school. The show has only been getting stronger since its pilot episode and there’s not much to complain about except the overload of storylines. At the same time, each character has grown on me and as much as I love seeing their stories come to life, it’s starting to be a bit much.

Notice the lack of “How I Met Your Mother”? Blame it on the repeats!

My Friend the Serial Killer: A Look into “Dexter”

Watching as many shows as I do is not as easy as it looks. Not that I’m complaining since there’s always something for me to catch up on, but it can be a bit overwhelming at times. Therefore, there are shows that I’ll lose touch with and never look back at, ala “Heroes.” However, after watching the second season of “Dexter,” I was completely convinced the show and I would be in a serious relationship for a while, but by the third season, “Dexter” was the one that got away.

After skipping the third season I eventually caught up on the most current one with the brilliant John Lithgow as the main villain of the season. Words cannot describe how brilliant this past season was and to anyone who hasn’t seen it, shame on you.

To those of you not familiar with the show, it follows Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a blood splatter analysist by day and murderer by night. He saw his parents brutally murdered as a child. As Dexter grew up, his adopted father knew he was going to be a serial killer so he trained Dexter to kill for good, and in a neat manner, if that makes any sense. By the fourth season Dexter and his wife Rita (played by the brilliant Julie Benz) had started their married life with their newborn baby.

From the start it’s hard not to be hooked by the show’s brilliant premise; not many people ever think they’d find themselves sympathizing with a serial killer, but that’s not the case with this show. The character of Dexter is so rich and complex that you feel like he’s your brother, friend, father etc - even if he does kill for a living.

Michael C. Hall has done wonders with the part and, as I mentioned before, this past season was just incredible. Every episode had viewers completely wrapped up in what was going on and on the edge of their seats. I felt so emotionally invested in these characters that by the finale, when a fan favorite was killed, I felt like I really lost a friend. I know, it’s sad, but do yourself a favor and watch the show and maybe you won’t be as quick to judge.