The X-Files: Pusher (3.17)

Based on Pusher and his first scripted effort Soft Light last season, it's clear Vince Gilligan is an "ideas man", creating an ingenious science-fiction idea and running with it. While Soft Light was in various ways flawed, Pusher's central idea works so well because Gilligan puts Mulder and Scully directly at the center of it, showcasing their compassion for one another during a nerve-jangling final act.

Dirty Sexy Money: The Watch (1.9)

While the storylines started last week (Lisa's anger, Ellen's ultimatum) appear to have been immediately and annoyingly retconned, The Watch did feature a whole lot of greatness, the show finally striking that emotional chord that has so far been eluded. This was most clearly seen throughout the last thirty minutes, with the revelations about Brian's paternity and his subsequent goodbye to his son.

Bonus - The Big C: Pilot (1.1)

Showtime's recent exploration of "half-hour dramatic comedies" makes for a challenging approach to television. While it does create these series that defy any certain genre and appears to attract consistently top-tier female talent, it also proves difficult to get a handle on the show's tone and in certain cases its characters. Nurse Jackie is a titan within this genre, but on the flip side is The Big C, its pilot a sometimes clumsy and sparingly amusing exploration of one of the most disgusting, frustrating and universally loathed of bitches: cancer.

Dirty Sexy Money: The Country House (1.8)

It's screamingly obvious that there's no direction in the Simon Elder storyline and that the writers are pulling the varying plot strands out of their butts. So much of the plot developments related to his arc felt right out of left-field in this episode, from his lengthy connection to the Darling's, to the weirdness about the previously-never-mentioned-unless-I'm-blanking "Kenneth Darling" and his mysterious assassination. All the actors are trying, but you can tell that they're also desperately searching for some kind of understanding of what is happening.

Dirty Sexy Money: The Wedding (1.7)

There was an interesting contrast created throughout this episode, made clear with Kiki's line where she described how she wanted to live in the Darling mansion forever, no matter what. This moment was followed by Ellen angry over being part of a "fake world", smiling for the cameras and being forced to deny the pain she's actually experiencing. It's a tradition of the genre to reflect the dark underbelly beneath the glamorous exterior of the wealthy, and it's something Dirty Sexy Money has done pretty well so far.

The X-Files: Apocrypha (3.16)

While it improved on Piper Maru, a lot of Apocrypha towed the company line: minor revelations, convoluted attempts to tell a simple story, some decent scenes of intrigue. I'm still a little lost in the mythology of the show as a whole, but knowing where the series is headed, I'm not sure I'm actually missing out on anything. It must have been crazy disheartening for the fans who actually cared about the intricate details of the show's villains and conspiracies, especially when so much of it in the end seemed to be made up as the show went along.

The X-Files: Piper Maru (3.15)

It's always difficult reviewing the first part of a two-part episode, especially when it's pretty clear that everything that happens in part one is merely an opener to the major action in part two. But, judged on its own, I really didn't like Piper Maru. What's even more disappointing is that it started so well, with an intense teaser sequence and a great Scully moment.

The X-Files: Grotesque (3.14)

I remember that as a kid, back in the dark ages of the 1990's, that I actually read the novelization of this episode before I saw the episode itself. Yep, remember novelizations? Heh. Grotesque is almost a spiritual successor to last season's Irresistible, both of which help lay the groundwork for Chris Carter's Millennium, especially with the insight into the criminal mind. Grotesque is arguably a better episode than Irresistible, if only because it has far more ideas, and we don't have the seemingly requisite "Scully-in-peril" third act twist.