About Last Night…REVOLUTION, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, NASHVILLE, and More

Remember last week when only THE X FACTOR was on? Good times. So much television last night, so let’s get down to it…

THE X FACTOR: How is it this these judges are always so late or MIA for their job? This is the easy part! It’s not live, if you’re five minutes late, it’s not the end of the freaking world. There were a couple good singers, but the only ones who stood out to me were Tim (who sang “A Thousand Years”), and was so adorably nervous; Wesley, who was good but, oh my goodness, needs to breathe next time he’s in the same room as Kelly (has he never been around a woman he’s attracted to before?); and the newly-engaged couple. The long stretches of time devoted to bad auditions gets tiring.

BACK IN THE GAME: Like I said in my mini-review, I like all of these elements to the show, but I have concerns about this working as an actual series. If you limit yourself to saying these kids will never win a baseball game…that makes an important element of the show get potentially super boring, super fast. So I’ll stick around and hope things gel.

REVOLUTION: I actually really like Aaron, but I would have respected the show so much more if they had just killed him off. If you’re going to pull off the “OMG THEY’RE DEAD…OH WAIT, no they’re not” trick, make it plausible. Had it been Aaron’s new girlfriend, even, it might have felt like the danger was more real. The premiere was better than much of season 1, but it’s still a bit frustrating that massive, world-changing events happen, and rather than experience the immediate fallout, we move forward months later (or years, in the case of the actual, original blackout).

MODERN FAMILY: I will admit to totally tearing up when Cam and Mitch said “yes.” They’re engaged! So adorable. And it was really sweet that Manny’s note to Gloria was about Jay’s health. Can you blame the man for crying? The second episode of the hour was fine, but not as solid (or as important) as the first.

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: After all summer of wondering who would save Benson, it turns out…she did it herself. (Which is appropriately badass.) Mariska Hargitay (Olivia) was gut-wrenching at the most unexpected times; I actually think what got to me the most was when Olivia heard the sirens of the cop pulling Lewis over as she was under the tarp in the backseat of the car.

It’s very…curious…that the show played the Elliot card in the premiere. Olivia certain channeled her inner rage like Elliot might have if he was in a similar situation (and the fact that Lewis is just in jail versus being dead could equal to some sort of return at some point), but I certainly didn’t expect him to be mentioned/referenced when I started the episode. I know Elliot’s departure is still a sore point for some fans, so I’m really curious what you guys thought.

As for episode 2, the hour was fine, the case was fine, I’m just interested to see how long the show can/will play out Olivia’s PTSD. It would make sense if this bothers her for the rest of the season (or, heck, the rest of her life), but procedural shows by nature normally don’t cling to one story and touch upon it in every episode. Will there be more flashbacks in the rest of the season? Or will the pain be more evidenced by Olivia’s reaction to things? (I’m also wildly curious what will happen next time she’s in real danger. When she walked out of the squad room in the first episode, the people whose reactions I was most watching were Munch/Fin/Cragen — they’ve been with her for 14/15 years and I can’t imagine how truly messed up they were over her time with Lewis when they could really stop focusing on saving her and process what she went through.)

NASHVILLE: I mean…what? Charles Esten  (Deacon) was great in an absolutely ridiculous storyline — seriously, no one mentioned Rayna’s injuries before Deacon’s lawyer started digging? — but man, that premiere didn’t give me a lot of faith that the show won’t be a mess going forward.

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What did you watch last night?

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