Wednesday, October 1, 2014

The Voice Season 7 Episode 4 Recap: Toia Jones is the One and Only

Gwen, Pharrell, Adam and Blake were back at it for another evening of spaceship-chair-turning insanity on The Voice Season 7 Episode 4 Tuesday night.
What contestants impressed them enough to land a spot on one of their rosters in this season's fourth Blind Auditions love-fest? Let's take a look, shall we?
Toia Jones - One and Only (The Voice Auditon)
Toia Jones' audition for The Voice, in which she sang "One and Only," was epic.
Toia Jones, with a powerful rendition of “One and Only,” landed on Team Pharrell, and her tone, talent and personality could make her one of the season's gems.
Somehow, this girl was only a two-chair turn, but watch out for this one.
Chris Jamison, whose take on John Mayer's “Gravity” earned him a spot on Team Adam despite Levine's comment that Chris did too much with his voice, was impressive.
He's got a great back story and good looks to go along with talent, too.
Amanda Lee Peers' spin on “Put the Gun Down” won her a shirt from Team Gwen, who was surprisingly the only person to turn around. But it only takes that many.
Jonathan Wyndham impressed Adam with his performance of “Say Something” and deservedly so. When you can take on an overplayed ballad like this and turn four chairs? Wow.
Craig Wayne Boyd sang “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin'” but plenty was working' about his delivery, which carried a power and authenticity that made him an instant fit with Blake.
Ethan Butler brought a refreshing and unique tone to the song “Beneath Your Beautiful” that some might not be a big fan of, but Adam Levine was, signing him up.
Tanner Linford won a position on Team Blake's Season 7 roster with "When You Say Nothing at All," making up for his rejection on Season 6 and making it through.
Katriz Trinidad, a 15-year-old, singing “At Last” was a bit ironic, but all four judges were quite impressed with what they heard, and Pharrell eventually won out.
Jean Kelly got her Team Gwen shirt for a strong performance of “Already Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, and a spot-on cover was enough to get this singer through.
Who do you think was the best on The Voice Season 7 Episode 4? Was it better than Episode 3 (below)? Which coach has the best team so far?

Blessing Offor - Just the Two of Us (The Voice Audition)
Blind since childhood, Blessing Offor can't see that his soulful blind audition, "Just the Two of Us," has all four coaches turned around to see him.

Michael Phelps: Boozing, Gambling at Casino Prior to DUI Arrest

We know where Michael Phelps was around 1:40 a.m. on Tuesday morning:
The Olympic swimmer was about 84 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone and, therefore, got arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.
But now we also know where Phelps was for the eight hours prior to this incident:
According to TMZ sources, Phelps was at the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore. He arrived at 5 p.m. and sat in a VIP room, reportedly playing Blackjack and Poker.
The record-setting Gold Medalist left at approximately 1 a.m. was was drinking beer for most of the night, according to witnesses.
It must have been A LOT of beer because initial reports indicate Phelps' blood-alcohol level measured twice the legal limit at the time of his booking.
"Earlier this morning I was arrested and charged with DUI, excessive speeding and crossing double lane lines," Phelps Tweeted hours after news of his arrest went public, adding:
"I understand the severity of my actions and take full responsibility. I know these words may not mean much now but I am deeply sorry to everyone I have let down."
Over a decade ago, Phelps was also pulled over for drunk driving. He received a punishment at the time of 18 months probation.
In 2009, meanwhile, Phelps was caught smoking marijuana at a party on a college campus.  He was quick to issue an apology following that scandal as well.

Snoop Dogg
"You knowz mofo be rollin' up summa dat dank ass sticky-icky-icky and gettin' fizaded off the bubonic chronic right muthaf--kin' now." Uhhh, what Snoop said.

The Mindy Project Season 3 Episode 3 Recap: The Ex Factor

The Mindy Project Season 3 Episode 3 was a reminder that those looking for an uncomplicated romance for Mindy and Danny had best not hold their collective breath.
Why? Because in the span of 22-23 minutes, we saw:
  1. Mindy go on a secret "date" with her ex-BF Cliff.
  2. Danny reveal that he is still technically married!
Sigh. It's one thing after another for these two.
To the first point, Mindy gets served by the government for not paying her taxes in six years. She should know from Teresa Giudice that this is unwise.
In any case, she turns to Cliff (Glenn Howerton), who's familiar to those who watch The Mindy Project online orIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Cliff, ever the upstanding attorney that he is, promises to help provided that Mindy is no longer with Danny, with whom Mindy cheated on Cliff.
Which made for the rub of The Mindy Project Season 3 Episode 3, as she lied and told him they were no longer an item because Danny cheated.
Cliff buys it hook, line and sinker, and Mindy keeps the clandestine ball rolling by telling Danny she is going to her “all women’s gym” to work out.
In reality, she's really meeting Cliff for dinner.
She's not the only one harboring a secret, of course. According to Danny, his marriage is annulled, but he's still technically married and Mindy isn't happy.
At least he's enlisting Cliff’s help in finalizing the divorce, though. Mean, that guy ends up with so much business from this crazy group of OB/GYNs.
As for the other cheating involved in Season 3, the Peter-Lauren-Jeremy love triangle played itself out last night with Peter on the losing end.
Jeremy and Lauren decided to keep seeing one another, leaving Peter all alone ... well, except for the dog he got from Morgan's auction last week.

Poor P-squared. His heart was in the right place, too. Maybe someday, he will finally find a nice girl to settle down with and not give orgasms too.

Person of Interest Season 4 Episode 2 Recap: Bad Samaritan

Person of Interest isn't just a procedural.
It's a procedural that focuses heavily on technology, machines and artificial intelligence.
Nevertheless, this CBS drama often stands out for including human emotion as part of its more procedural-type elements - and Person of Interest Season 4 Episode 2 was a perfect illustration of this impressive balancing act.
The hour introduced viewers to a computer genius named Claire Mahoney, a college sophomore who is searching for meaning in life, a mission that gave her focus… even if it was a big dangerous and misguided. But it also served to push Finch back into action.
He was hesitant at first, for reasons long-time viewers understand well, but Reese helped his partner get back out there. He invited Finch to a diner, only to stand him up and then give him the Machine's latest number, the one that belongs to Claire.
And, hey, look at that: she's seated at the very same diner!
Finch isn't happy, but he's clearly intrigued by a chess prodigy who has turned to a life of crime.
He followed her and learned more about her and then seemed like a run of the mill case... until about halfway through. At that point, we discovered that Samaritan itself was behind the super-genius city-wide scavenger hunt that in which Claire was participating.
Pretty cool mythology twist, no?
In the end, Claire rejected Finch’s offer to turn to the good side and ended up finishing the game - but Finch finished off his own journey of self-discovery in the process.
He ended the hour by showing Reese and Shaw their new (old) subterranean train station hero base. Welcome bat, Person of Interest Bat Cave!
Once Finch realized how Samaritan was actively recruiting lost souls - lost BRILLIANT souls, that is - he took extreme exception. Now, he does have a side to pick, aware that Samaritan could easily seduce most people out there seeking for a higher purpose.
Overall, this installment delivered on many fronts. There were puzzles... mercenaries... invisible snipers... Shaw torturing a barista... Fusco solving a major number problem.
We were missing Root a bit, but she's busy at the moment. She's in behind-the-scenes mode, following a number of missions from The Machine and assuming a myriad of identities. We'll get her back in the action soon.

For more at TV Fanatic, you can watch Person of Interest online. You can also sound off on this episode right here and now. What did you think?

New Girl Season 4 Episode 3 Recap: Trashy Ashley and the Sponge Salesmen

On New Girl Season 4 Episode 3, Bob Day came to visit with another New Girl - his much younger girlfriend - which made for plenty of tension with Jess.
Awkward, downright adorkable tension, it goes without saying.
New Girl Season 4 Episode 3 was titled “Julie Berkman’s Older Sister.” Also known as Trashy Ashley, played by Kaitlin Olson of It's Always Sunny fame.
Jess tells Cece, before finding out who her dad is dating, that this time she plans on being super nide to his new girlfriend, no matter who she is.
That's when Trashy Ashley appears, right on hilarious cue.
Cece and Jess retreat to her room to freak out, reminiscing about her legendary sexual antics and generally wondering just how her dad ended up with her.
The other storyline you'll see when you watch New Girl online this week involves Schmidt and his idea notebook, also known as Nick's napkin.
It's a very dirty collection of papers overall, it turns out.
Schmidt has bigger problems, though. Dude has to figure out how to sell sponges to men, and his roommates are no help when it comes to easing his fears.
At brunch, with Jess and her dad, Trashy Ash confesses that she did do a lot of drugs back in the day ... and guys. In fact she was in rehab for sex addiction.
That's a way to win over your boyfriend's daughter.
Then Bob drops an even bigger bombshell while Ashley is in the restroom ... he wants to marry her! Entering DefCon3, Cece starts going through her phone.
Obviously, the texts they think are to another man she's cheating on Bob with are to a client, because the former sex addict is actually a sex therapist.
Jess realizes she doesn't need to take care of her father ... until she sees Ashley walking and talking with another man. Who it turns out is her sponsor.
Saying she needs some space, and freaked out for good reason, Ashley leaves, but now Jess is not having it, racing after her with the ring Bob bought.
Not even Jess getting plowed by a group of cyclists can stop the fairy tale moment as she holds up the ring and Bob proposes. Ashley accepts.
Jess is going to be her little girl. It's magical.
Meanwhile, Schmidt pulls together a focus group to impress his boss, and obviously recruits the guys to feed lines to and make him look good.
The group is so clearly rigged, it's hilarious.
Just as Schmidt is about to lose the account, Nick pleads with Julia to let him keep it because they are sharing a room and Nick wants to bring a girl home.
A cute girl he met at the focus group, natch.
This becomes the genesis of a new sales pitch, as the two friends realize men will clean their dirty room - which they know plenty about - if it means getting laid.

Schmidt's account is his for another week.

NCIS Season 12 Episode 2 Recap: Health Scared

The Case of the Week wasn't all that enthralling on NCIS Season 12 Episode 2.
It centered on a murderer lieutenant was on his way to visit his basketball buddy... the President of the United States.
This connection, as you might expect, forced Gibbs and company to work especially hard (and covert) in order to determine the killer and whether or not POTUS was in danger.
In the end, however, the resolution was fairly anti-climactic: there were some government secrets involved... a company that yearned to keep everything quiet... and a company manager who was willing to commit homicide to ensure all remained hush-hush.
There was some misdirection involving a mugger, but it wasn't difficult to determine that the company CEO was involved as soon as we met him. 
So this aspect of the episode was a bit boring and very predictable.
But two personal elements of NCIS Season 12 Episode 2 stood out this week:
FIRST, after learning Vance doesn’t have his affairs in order (he’s still a mess following the death of his wife), we watched as this leader suffered a pretty major health scare.
Were we going to lose him to cancer, a diseased that has touched so many viewers and which NCIS tackled here with grace and respect?
No. Fortunately, the smile on Ducky's after the biopsy belied positive news: Vance has a relatively harmless virus, one that mimicks the appearance of cancer on x-rays and CAT scans. He's gonna make it.
SECOND, Abby has a new love interest! Both she and the suitor have tattoos and both seem quite smitten with one another. It's early, but let's hope this goes somewhere. Wouldn't it be fun to see Abby with a steady boyfriend?
Also, Tony teased Bishop about having phone sex and said he misses the sexual harassment seminar every year. Gotta love Tony.
What did you think about this NCIS installment? Did the personal storylines make up for the watered down investigation?

Go watch NCIS online via TV Fanatic if you need to catch up and sound off in the Comments section below.

Kim of Queens Season 2 Episode 3 Recap: Guess Who's Back!

A familiar face returned to Kim of Queens Season 2 Episode 3 Tuesday night, making for a noteworthy appearance (and episode) on a number of levels.
Kim of Queens Season 2 Episode 3 came on the heels of an episode that featured Allisyn going behind Kim's back, and in which Katniss appeared.
Okay, not really, but Kim took on a tomboy client, with a bow and arrow in tow, Hunger Games style making us think that we had seen it all officially.
Until Kim faced two new challenges on this week's show:
  1. Angie is back! After being recently fired!
  2. A pageant rivalry needed to be settled!
Yes, Kim Gravel was forced to take on a rival coach in what was easily one of the most competitive pageants of this season, if not her entire career.

So how did it play out on the Lifetime series?

Follow the link above to watch Kim of Queens online and find out, but beware: You can cut the tension with a knife at multiple points throughout.