Dawson's Creek: Failing Down (4.2)

It's natural for a show to immediately throw a spanner in the works when a couple starts dating, since it's not all that fun to a see a perfectly happy, contented couple on a soap opera. I went into season four assuming that Dawson will be the cause of Joey and Pacey's trauma, but Failing Down ensured that angst isn't created via traditional means. Instead of having Dawson's love for Joey intrude on their blossoming relationship, it's more about what Dawson represents as a young man -- he's everything Pacey isn't, and while for anybody rational that would be considered a good thing, it's left Pacey an insecure wreck.

Dawson's Creek: Coming Home (4.1)

An important thing an audience needs to grant a TV show is trust. Without trust, you're essentially building a story that people at home have zero emotional investment in. When, as a writer, you lay the foundations for a narrative, particularly if it's a controversial one, you need to have the trust of your audience in order to keep your story intact. No matter how game-changing it may be, if the trust is there, then the audience will follow. All of that is something that kept me at something of a distance this week, since Coming Home seems to be going one way yet constantly veering close to all-out anarchy.

Alias: Spirit (1.10)

Every decision Jack makes ends up confusing his daughter. It's natural that a parent would do everything to protect their child, and Jack going that extra mile to ensure his daughter's safety is powerful and compassionate on its own. But, being Alias, that 'extra mile' involves orchestrating somebody's murder in order to protect Sydney. It's an act of fatherly warmth, but in this twisted, blood-drenched manner. And it ends up being nothing but more ammunition for Syd to use against him. It's how her mind works, though, instantly seeing the negativity in everything that he does. Despite Vaughn's insistence that Russek was a bad man destined to die horribly at some point, Syd doesn't waver.

Alias: Mea Culpa (1.9)

Mea Culpa is the first episode to truly utilize Ron Rifkin. Prior to this week, Sloane has very much been an 'idea' rather than an actual character, various CIA players speaking of his arch evilness, Sydney understandably only reacting with disgust at the events he's supposedly orchestrated -- from the murder of her fiancee, to the lies he forms to convince most of the innocents trapped in SD-6 that they're working for the good guys. Even so, it's evilness at arm's length, the show telling us about a man but withholding the man himself. But here we begin to see the person behind the image, and instantly he becomes a far greater character.

Charmed: The Torn Identity (8.18)

So Christy's machinations continue. Sure, if Marnette Patterson had a mustache, she'd be twirling it 24/7. And, sure, the sisters come off as bigger fools than normal by entirely missing the insidious evil hanging out in their own damn kitchen, but the story continues to be pretty absorbing. Everybody's behaving in an unbelievable manner purely to service the script (particularly the strangely-unmoved-by-her-parents'-horrible-murder Billie Jenkins, or maybe that's just the terrible acting), but it's nice to see that forward momentum surfacing again. The only issue is that the Charmed Ones are still wrapped up in their assy personal problems, leaving most of the interesting material in the hands of Patterson and her horribly vacant on-screen sis. Stupid show.

Charmed: Generation Hex (8.17)

Call me crazy, but is Christy Jenkins rapidly becoming the one shining beacon of interest on this show? I've always loved that television trope of a secretly evil character insidiously manipulating folks from within a group of good guys, and Christy is filling that role really well. The story was filled with a surprising amount of shocks, from Mom and Pop Jenkins turning up in a pile of their own innards to that awesome moment with Christy punching through the Triad dude's chest. It's all just surprisingly impressive watching her various attempts to divert attention from her own secret evilness and fill Billie's head with hooey. Marnette Patterson also deserves special credit for being mildly convincing all the while acting against somebody who looks like she's been living in a trash can for six weeks. What is up with Billie's hair?? Nesting crows would think it was too frazzled...

Angel: Origin (5.18)

There's a great conversation this week in which Connor asks if he's a superhero, and if Angel and his friends are also superheroes. It brought to mind the work of Stan Lee, and how Connor's journey here is very much an elaborate comic book origin tale. In this new world where everybody's minds have been altered, Connor is an ordinary teenage boy from an ordinary family, who gets hit by a truck one day and finds himself completely intact. His parents are concerned, and take him to a strange law firm specializing in supernatural weirdness. There he discovers his true identity, meets his vampire father and his team full of demons and blue-skinned ladies, and gains back his old memories. It's such an incredible story, increased in power by how adorably normal this new Connor is.

Angel: Underneath (5.17)

Underneath spends a long time sifting through the various plot strands that have appeared over the last couple of weeks. There's sometimes little of a uniting theme between the dueling subplots, which means it's no classic, but each individual story is so successful as a standalone piece that you can forget some of the weaker elements here. It only makes Angel's cancellation sadder, the show finally having hit this moment in time where all the cogs that make up the series are cohesive and working like crazy, every character granted an incredible sense of purpose, and a tone that feels just as familiar as it does fresh and exciting. Rest in peace, show.