New Girl: "Re-Launch" Review

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

It didn't take long for New Girl to get back in the swing of things for Season 2. In a matter of minutes, I felt right back at home as Jess and Nick shared some quippy bathroom banter and Schmidt begged Winston to scratch the inside of his crotch cast. ("And before you ask, yes, I have been able to reach completion with some very precise and vigorous nipple play.") But after a long and seemingly uneventful summer, it was time to kick things back into high gear with Schmidt's DANGER-themed "rebranding" party, at which Jess, recently laid off from her job, volunteered to be one of the shot girls.

I must admit, I actually really like the idea of Jess's unemployment as an overarching plot device. Much in the same way that she had to cope with losing her boyfriend in the pilot, here we got to see how she handles another loss, this time with her teaching position. It was also fun to see the hilariously awkward support from the guys once they got the news (a la Nick's winking and Schmidt's disoriented sense of direction).

Jess's turn as a cocktail waitress was also pretty classic and -- what's that word again? -- "adorkable." Parker Posey's guest spot as Jess's "26-year-old" competition made it all the sweeter, too; her appearance was definitely one of the highlights. It's almost a shame we didn't get to see more of her, but then again, that almost made it funnier. Nick's comments comparing Jess to other shot girls were also pretty great. ("You're the nurse that I want to wake up to after I've had my stomach pumped. Different kind of hot -- but still hot!") And reintroducing the tiny silver hat from the lost and found was a nice touch.

We also learned that, not only are Schmidt and Cece are still broken up, but Cece now has a new boyfriend, Robbie (played by Franklin Nelson). Of course, that left the door open for Schmidt to continue his usual parade of shenanigans. His spinning flails of fire -- "the most dangerous element of all the elements!" -- was perhaps the most delightfully ridiculous, although I also enjoyed Robbie's nonchalant responses to Schmidt's interrogation. ("I don't like music. 'What's up with me,' you know?")

True to form, this episode also had a couple of really sweet moments, too. Schmidt and Cece's final conversation seemed to hint at a future reunion at some point, which would be preferable. Meanwhile, Nick and Jess's heart-to-heart outside was exactly what the episode needed to round things out. Indeed, "Re-Launch had just about all the makings of an exceptional episode of New Girl. Unfortunately -- as always, it seems -- Winston got the short end of the stick here. He never can seem to find his place, even when he's loosely attached to another character's storyline. While his drunken schtick was certainly not without its laughs, it felt like his character was kind of on the outskirts this time around. Having said that, Jess's storyline was the real draw this week, and it should be interesting to see how her unemployment pans out in future episodes.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

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Warehouse 13: "The Ones You Love" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Wow, that episode sure did get going in a heartbeat. It's rare that Warehouse 13 starts off with crazy action, but within minutes we've got Artie and Brother Adrian fighting it out. And the pace never slowed down after that, giving us more varied, action-packed scenarios in one episode than we've ever seen before. But too much action can lead to sacrifices in cerebral storytelling, and that's exactly what happens here.

Here's the first sign that something was wrong. After Artie and Brother Adrian scuffle for a bit, the dear brother says, “Come, here. I want to tell you my plan.” And Artie dutifully leans in so the dear brother can whisper in his ear. That was the most awkward thing I've seen in TV in a long time. It's just incomprehensibly contrived and illogical.

But it was still early in the episode, so I didn't give up on it yet. Soon it is revealed that Brother Adrian is playing pretty dirty and he's going after the family members and loved ones of the warehouse agents, and we've got the thrust of this week's plot. Meanwhile, Mrs. Frederic and Jinks are off to the Vatican to get to the root of the problem in a story initially seems pointless, but becomes very important later. Still, the peril of the loved ones dominates this story, and the whole core cast of characters gets set on a different adventure. Myka goes off to see her pregnant sister who is stricken by sudden desire to poison her. Jeri Ryan returns to the show as Amanda, Pete's ex-wife. And Claudia rushes to California to save her brother again. To say this episode has a lot going on would be a severe understatement.

In recent past episodes, the writers tried to do too much. There were one too many stories, which left each mini-plot with less screen time than it needed to really shine. You'd think I'd lay down the same critique here, but...you know...although I was all prepared to be the big bad reviewer on this one, it isn't necessary. Despite the many, many stories going on here, I have to say that it works. Each of these little stories is simple enough that it doesn't need much exploration, and the scattered structure keeps the episode from having any sagging parts.

The most entertaining of these stories is Myka's. The sisterly rivalry is hilarious, and culminates in one scene that has Myka physically fighting with her pregnant sister while trading insults from years worth of juvenile grievances. It could have descended into Jerry Springer material, but it's actually tastefully funny. On the other side of things, Pete's story is the more dramatic one for once. Just as it looks like Pete is going to have something very nasty happen to him, quick thinking saves the day. Myka's conclusion that the leather box was the medium for the tattoo was brilliant, and Pete's idea to just lie on the ground and press the box against his back is immediately obvious, but the obvious sometimes escapes Pete so this is progress for him.

Soon, however, the episode got back to sloppy writing. Artie utters the illogical line, “I'm not a murderer. But don't worry; you're never getting out of here again.” Uhm...wouldn't never leaving be something to worry about? That whole sentence should've never left the writer's room. And since when did Leena not listen to a grave warning from Mrs. Frederic? Run, girl! Run!!!

Still, the shocking revelation that Brother Adrian had never actually been there is one of the biggest WTF moments WH13 ever had, but it's surprising because it comes out of nowhere. We didn't have any really hints for this turn of events. While a good plot twist is never seen coming, you do want it to make some sense based on what the viewer has seen. I don't know if re-watches of the previous episodes would really support this development, so I can't give the producers highest marks for execution. But I'll definitely give out extra points for effort, and this plot point does make it easy to segue into evil Artie doing a truly villainous deed; killing Leena.

Leena being dead is sad, but let's be honest – she was the most disposable of the cast members. It's been ages since she had anything to actually do in this series. Her death just means that we may finally have a permanent change in this series. But we've seen disaster averted so many times in WH13 that it's hard to know if this will actually stick. This is one of the times when the show's own history works against it, and the drama we should have is tempered by uncertainty. Despite that, I'll still be eagerly awaiting what WH13 has in store for a follow-up to this week's intriguing events.

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4not sneaks by Chupper's Troopers in a close three game series

Chuuper's Troopers vs. 4Not

Game One:

Only the first few minutes of game were casted, but CT took little time to get Rengar (Nickwu) rolling and shutting down VMan7's AP Alistar mid. While 4Not's intentions in champion select were unclear, their results were abyssmal and they dropped game one 28/7.

CT 1, 4Not 0

Game Two:

CT Bans:

Diana, Shen, Malphite

CT Picks:

I Am Tera - Top - Lee Sin

Daegen - Mid - Orianna

Chuuper - ADC - Draven

Kelsey Jeong - Support - Blitzcrank

Nickwu - Jungle - Shyvana

4Not Bans:

Rengar, Alistar, Ezreal

4Not Picks:

OnebadBrad - Top - Jayce

VMan7 - Mid - Evelynn

paroL - ADC - Graves

Neko the Cat - Support - Lulu

jdwut - Jungle - Dr. Mundo

This was a sad game to watch. Everyone but Draven (Chuuper) and Blitzcrank (Kelsy Jeong) were extremely fed for CT by the twenty minute mark. Graves (paroL) and Lulu (Neko the Cat) were able to push, deny, and farm very well off of Draven and Blitz wherever they went. Dr. Mundo (jdwut) became extremely tanky by mid game despite being behind and became a Blitzcrank hook magnet. Kelsy Jeong's Blitzcrank inexperience really showed and came to a head when he pulled Mundo into Baron pit as CT were finishing up the 27 minute Baron that would have sealed their victory. Mundo was able to steal it and put his team well back in the game. 4Not's six item builds were much scarier and Shyvana (Nickwu) could not compete with Mundo tankiness. 4Not were still behind in gold for the next 20 minutes, but that didn't stop them from taking three inhibitors and winning the game as waves of enhanced minions poured into CT's base.

Game Three:

CT Bans:

Diana, Evelynn, Malphite

CT Picks:

I Am Tera - Top - Lee Sin

Daegen - Mid - Ahri

Chuuper - ADC - Ezreal

Daydreamin - Support - Leona

Kelsey Jeong - Jungle - Nunu

4Not Bans:

Rengar, Blitzcrank, Alistar

4Not Picks:

OnebadBrad - Top - Jayce

VMan7 - Mid - Mordekaiser

paroL - ADC - Graves

Neko the Cat-Support - Janna

jdwut - Jungle - Shen

I Am Tera played a brilliant Lee Sin once again, but his team suffered from the same loss of lead and late game hopes as they did in game two. The agression that got Ezreal (Chuuper) and Leona (Daydreamin) so far ahead early turned against them when Shen (jdwut) got his ultimate and Mordekaiser (VMan7) did not hesitate to follow Ahri (Daegan) when she roamed bottom. I Am Tera managed to work his magic two team fights in a row to ace 4Not, but CT were unable to follow up with a significant objective. CT lost yet another game that a more experienced team would have won.

CT 1, 4Not 2

Key Team Fight:

The key team fight came in game two when Mundo was handed a Baron steal on a platter and CT got whiped out. This was when CT lost all control of the game and the series. They will need to learn to win games like this if they want to be successful any time soon.

Most Valuable Player:

paroL carried his team when he was the only with a respectable amount of gold for 4Not. He was able to stay relevant and use his relevancy throughout each game to give his team the time they needed to catch up.

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