Finale Review: The Carrie Diaries

Renewal Status: Unknown, but renewal is unlikely

Season Thoughts: I haven’t enjoyed this season quite as much as season 1, but it’s still one that I really enjoy watching. I haven’t loved the various ways that the writers tried to add tension between Carrie and Sebastian in the early part of the season when they are at their best when they are happy and exploring where their future will take them both individually and together. I feel like TCD’s Carrie started reminding me more and more of SATC’s Carrie as the season went on, which for me, wasn’t exactly a good thing. 

I did enjoy the addition of Samantha. She’s always been my favorite SATC character and she didn’t disappoint me here. I especially loved seeing her interact with Larissa and wish we would have gotten to see a little more of it.

Just as it was in the first season, however, my favorite part of the show was Walt. I have really enjoyed watching him come to terms with who is and fall in love with Bennett. He had to come to terms with the fact that his two dreams for a future relationship were incompatible at the time along with his parent’s early rejection and it was truly the best story on the show.

As the show has transitioned more to New York, the high school plots weren’t as fleshed out as they could have been. Maggie, Mouse, and Donna got left behind a little bit. Mouse’s friendship with Donna turned out to be one of the better aspects of that part of the show. Their personalities just worked well together and it was fun to watch.

Finale Thoughts: This episode would work really well as a series finale, which I’m gonna assume was intentional. It closed the high school, Interview, and Sebastian chapters of Carrie’s life while leaving us with a glimpse of a future full of potential and friendship for her.

Finale Review: Masters of Sex

Episode Title: Manhigh

Renewal Status: Renewed for season 2

Pre-finale Thoughts: It’s not a secret that Masters of Sex has been one of my favorite shows of 2013. I love the subject matter and even more than that, I’ve come to love so many of the characters. They are all brilliantly acted and written and every single one of them deserves recognition. I may not always like them (especially Bill, who is difficult to love) but I believe them and that’s what I have been most thrilled with. I don’t like Ethan – I started warming up to him when he was with Vivian and then lost that all again in the last episode – but I think he’s an interesting character. 

I also love the variety of women portrayed on the show. Libby is very different from Virginia but also very different from Dr. DePaul and all are portrayed sympathetically and given complexity. Betty was written as a very likable character, which has not always been the case for sex workers on TV. For a show that I expected to predominately be about Bill Masters, it’s really been the female characters that make me love it as much as I do. 

Finale Review: New Girl

Episode Title: Elaine’s Big Day

Renewal Status: Renewed for season three

Pre-finale Thoughts: Over the past season, this show has become my second favorite comedy on air. It shares one major thing in common with my favorite show – the positive tone. New Girl is about a group of friends who enjoy each other’s company and do things like buy each other the occasional cookie because that’s what friends do. The characters all have their problems and they screw up but they are still shown as being lovable people. 

I have also been really impressed with the way they have handled Jess and Nick’s relationship so far. From their first kiss during Young Americans to their post-sex visit and talk with Nick’s dad, everything has felt very natural and organic. I don’t feel like things are being forced between them. They have just evolved from their friendship and I like that. That is how to properly get a couple together on a show.

Finale Thoughts: I think New Girl had the most enjoyable finale of the season so far. It was funny and sweet at the same time. It resolved some plot points, while opening up new possibilities for next season. It was what a finale should be. 

He doesn’t get enough love, so I’m gonna start with Winston’s story. I love his enthusiasm and ineptitude for pranking. Who else would think it was a good idea to drop an angry badger on a priest’s head to disrupt a wedding? Mostly though, what I loved the most was when he told Nick that there were other moves, that he didn’t have to be his dad. Winston may be a bad pranker, but he is a good friend. 

I fully expected CeCe to call off the wedding for Schmidt, so that didn’t surprise me at all. I do like that Schmidt wasn’t just waiting for her to realize that she still loved him. I think he genuinely cares about Elizabeth and has been enjoying the rekindling of their relationship. I think he’ll ultimately choose CeCe but I hope Elizabeth can stick around somehow because I really like her. She is so confident in herself and such a good influence on Schmidt. 

I was ready to be done with television after Nick and Jess called off the relationship. I had had enough of potential breakups or large relationship-altering events for one finale season. The end completely made up for it though. Jess does have concerns (and Nick shares those concerns) but they want to make it work anyway. They are choosing to be together now, even if it doesn’t work out. I really love that. 

Hopes for Season Nine: I hope that this show keeps up the great work it has done with Jess and Nick next season. It has been so good and I would hate for that to go away.

I’d like more Winston. He’s been underutilized and I want to see more of him.  

Finale Review: Suburgatory

Episode Title: Apocalypse Meow/Stray Dogs

Renewal Status: Not yet renewed, but probably will be

Season Thoughts: I haven’t enjoyed this season quite as much as I did the first, but I still really love it. Dallas continued to be my favorite character throughout the season and I’ve actually been pretty happy with the way they got her and George together. I missed the dynamic that Malik, Lisa, and Tessa had though. Her relationship with Ryan didn’t actually interest me all that much once they actually got together. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Noah’s love for Carmen. I know they can get more comedy out of Alan Tudyk, they just need some better material.

Going into the finale, I wasn’t really sure what to think about Dalia. I love the way Carly Chaikin delivers her lines and end up laughing about something Dalia has said in most episodes, but I didn’t love how confused I was about where her character was going all season.

Finale Review: Go-On

Episode Title: Urn-ed Run

Renewal Status: Not yet renewed, could go either way depending on how many comedy pilots NBC picks up

Season Thoughts: For the most part, I really enjoy this show. I love the episodes that focus more on the whole group and their interactions rather than predominately Ryan. However, I can’t say that I want the show to just be about the group because I really love Steven and Carrie. The show hasn’t quite gotten the balance between the two sets of people right yet, but it’s a first season and still figuring itself out.

It also hasn’t quite figured out how to fully use all the members of the group. Owen got some great development for a while then was largely put on the back burner, as did Danny. Even Anne got kind of forgotten while Simone was there though she’s been much more present in the last few episodes. I like all of the group members, I just want to see more of them.

Finale Review: The Carrie Diaries

Episode Title: Kiss Yesterday Goodbye

Renewal Status: Not yet renewed, not likely to be renewed based on ratings

Season Thoughts: In just 13 episodes, I think I actually enjoy The Carrie Diaries more than Sex and the City. While the fact that I enjoy young Carrie more than older Carrie certainly has something to do with it, what I love the most about The Carrie Diaries is the self-discovery that has been a central theme of the show. There is an excitement (and a little bit of fear) that comes with growing up and figuring out who you are and who you want to be that is captured so well in this show.

Finale Review: The New Normal

Show Title: The New Normal

Episode Title: Finding Name-O/The Big Day

Renewal Status: Not yet renewed, not likely to be renewed based on ratings

Season Thoughts: I did not expect to like this series at all although after the first episode, I was completely hooked. In my opinion, they show only continued to get better throughout the season. They stopped relying so heavily on Nana’s character for jokes about how bigoted she was and made the show about the family Bryan and David were creating with Shania, Goldie, and Rocky.

Finale Review: Malibu Country

There are still nine weeks left in the 2012-2013 television season, but finale season has already started and with it comes a new feature on TVexamined. Stick around for the next nine weeks as I write about the finales for all of my currently airing shows and talk about what I’d like to see next season.

Show Title: Malibu Country

Episode Title: All You Single Ladies

Renewal Status: Not yet renewed, could either be renewed or canceled depending on ABC’s plans for Friday