Five Drinks Into TV: How I Met Your Mother Final Season Episode 2 "Coming Back"

Tom's Take:

First off, sorry this is late. I didn't realize there were two episodes last week, so I'll make sure to finish writing this before I watch Episode three.

We have our second episode of the final season of How I Met Your Mother, and this one was a winner. It made me laugh on several occasions, and was also charming in that perfect blend that makes a good How I Met Your Mother episode worth watching. Fantastic job.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 27 Episode 2 "Rule in Chaos"

Tom's Take:

We got our second episode, our first truel, and then our second vote. I continue to like this season, and I am really enjoying the layers behind this twist. Tonight's vote was based on utilizing the Redemption Island Switch, and voting out the loved ones of the stronger players on the other tribe.

Five Drinks Into Anime: Ten Anime in the First Ten Months of 2013

1. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Episodes: 27
Rating: 9.7

Review: This is without a doubt the best anime I've watched of the year. There is a childishness to this anime that may turn many away but I advise you don't let. This series is absolutely fantastic. The characters don't have a ton of depth, and there are a couple of weak episodes in the middle, but the completely over the top action and wild enthusiasm at this show's heart more than makes up for it. This show is damn inspiring. And you'll never be bored watching it. 

Five Drinks Into TV: How I Met Your Mother Final Season Episode 1 "The Locket"

Tom's Take:

Well it's here. The final season of How I Met Your Mother is upon us, and even though I was and still am firmly against how long the writers have dragged out the show, I am excited for the final season, and I like the format of having the whole season take place over a few days. And they're off to a good start as this was a pretty good episode that accomplished two very important things that I'll get to below.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Retrospective

Tom's Take:

So I'm taking this time to take a look back on Big Brother 15 and comparing my initial Cast Reactions to what they actually delivered.

First off, I want to take a moment to discuss the obvious controversy that overshadowed the rest of the season. Racism. Do I believe that any of these 16 BB15 houseguests is or was a racist? The honest answer to that is no. Nor do I think any of them were truly horrible people. I think most of the cast made racial or otherwise unsavory remarks, but that doesn't make them racist. Everyone has stereotypes in their head. And everyone I know has made some Non PC remarks from time to time. It happens. It's part of our culture, and honestly it's a part of human nature. Is it a positive part of our nature? No, and it shouldn't be encouraged. If you get cast on BB, I advise you to stay the fuck away from talking about anything racial or any stereotypes period. I think the HG's were dumb for forgetting the cameras were on, and their comments were stupid. But saying stupid shit doesn't make you Hitler. And these people gave up their privacy for the sake of our entertainment, and I don't think they deserve to be crucified for that. Because honestly, the things "fans" have said about these houseguests is far more horrific than anything the HG's themselves said.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 27 Blood vs. Water Episode 1 "Blood is Thicker than Anything"

Tom's Take:

And we got our premiere. I am so excited about this season. We got a great first episode, and there was some great character development and backstory! The twist this season is doing a great job building in drama and relationships, and I'm doing incredibly well on my early predictions, which I always love.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Game and Show Week 13

Tom's Take:

And we have an ending!

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 27 Blood vs. Water Preview

Tom's Take:

Blood vs. Water is coming, and I'm really looking forward to it, especially after a season of Big Brother that was quite frankly too long, and very emotionally draining for me as my favorite got hated on by most of America. So now we have a new season of Survivor to look forward to, with lots of returning faces that weren't as expected as the returnees from last season. And of course, we have family and loved ones of our favorites. I actually like this twist as it will force people from opposing tribes to work together and will make the post merge more interesting. So let's dive in!

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Game and Show Weeks 11 and 12

Tom's Take:

The Floater Four Triumphed over McCrae, although he took Judd out for the second time in the process. We're left with the most hated Final Three in the history of the show, but there still is ONE decent player amongst them. Although Andy has gotten a lot of hatred online from all corners, he is playing the best game out of everyone left, so I'm endorsing him as being the last possible satisfactory winner.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Game and Show Week 10

Tom's Take:

This was a really hard week for me to watch, as my favorite (Amanda) was evicted, and McCrae, who to be honest I don't particularly like but feel like I sort of HAVE to root for then made a totally boneheaded move and got rid of his only potential future ally in a move that quite frankly showed how in control of the game the Floater Four are. It'll be tough to watch the end of this season, but plod along I must.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Week 9 Game and Show

Tom's Take:

Elissa finally got in the game this week at the same time that Judd re entered the game. The result was her taking the first shot at McCranda and missing horribly. She came out of the week without really making an alliance though, and instead is simply in a slightly better place in the game then McCranda is going into this next week.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Game and Show Week 8

Tom's Take:

This week the Cold War between Helen and Amanda finally heated up, and Amanda won as I knew she would. And now a juror is coming back in yet another mad attempt by the producers to screw over Amanda.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Game and Show Week7

Tom's Take:

A lot of people were pissed off at the "lack of moves" this week, but I enjoy weeks like these, because they are filled with scheming, plotting, and preparation for moves. The Cold War between Amanda and Helen has been going on for weeks under the surface, but this week the Cold War escalated as Amanda finally decided it was time to make her move on Helen, and one of those two will be going up next week, as the two finally clash.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Game and Show Week 6

Tom's Take:

GM won HoH which most  people thought would lead to some giant move but instead lead to a very predictable Candice eviction. Then things got dark when Amanda didn't know who was nominating her and decided to blame it on the one player in the game she thought was smart enough to pull it off, Judd. The result was that America's  MVP status lead to one of the best players in the game getting the boot in the second eviction of this week's double eviction.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Game and Show Week 5

Tom's Take:

Aaryn did the bidding of the house this week, and got Howard out. As an Amanda fan, I was on board with this and was happy to see Howard go. He was nowhere near as interesting as CBS tried to make him out to be. The result was a lot of shaking up as The House alliance shifted around a bunch this week as Howard pretty much solidified the Amanda/McCrae/Helen/Elissa alliance by targeting them.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Game and Show Week 4

Tom's Take:

The "Mean Girls" were broken up this week, and Big Brother 15 has started down what I hope is the path of Aaryn getting redemption. Wouldn't that be the best story of all time.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Week Three Game and Show

Tom's Take:

Week Three is in the books. A lot happened underneath the surface and some new power players emerged and some fun alliances were formed. So let's dive into what these players are doing!

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Game and Show Week 2

Tom's Take:

Week Two was a big week for this show. CBS addressed the racism on the live show. The Moving Company was broken up and a new seemingly truly invincible alliance was formed.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother 15 Week 1 Game and Show

Tom's Take:

So Big Brother 15 has begun and we've got drama. First things first. For those watching the live feeds, you know that there have been a lot of really uncomfortable and politically incorrect language by some of the house guests. I don't want to spend too much time talking about it since they are going to get a ton of shit after the game is over. Instead let's focus on the game goings on.

Big Brother 15 Cast Preview

Tom's Take:

So we've got our cast, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming season of Big Brother.

First off, I think three nominations is an interesting twist, and I'm curious to see how that plays out, although I hope for the dynamics of the game that three nominations ends by the time they get to jury.

As for the America's MVP twist, I'm somewhat skeptical of this, but we'll see if America can get their heads out of their asses and vote based on strategy and not just for the nice people they like. My guess is that it will be used to pushed Elissa further in the game to give us more opportunities for Rachel Reilly cameos.

Anyways, without further ado  let's jump into my cast preview!

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Caramoan Finale and Reunion

Tom's Take:

Congratulation Cochran. It was a well deserved victory, although I do think Dawn had a valid case for the win. But Cochran was the one calling the shots at the end, and he did fully deserve the win.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 13 "Don't Talk About My Mother"

Tom's Take:

The family episode. Am I the only who doesn't tear up at these. Maybe I'm just a heartless bastard.

I did almost tear up for Brenda. Jesus Christ that was brutal. Wow.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Canada Finale

Tom's Take

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 12 "Beginning of the End"

Tom's Take:

Wow. Somehow this episode turned into another great one. This was a great time for a double elimination. Just wow.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Canada Week 9 Game and Show

Tom's Take:

So Andrew got screwed by trusting the true Showmance. Yeah. Saw that coming.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 11 "Come over to the Dark Side"

Tom's Take:

Malcolm for Fan Favorite!

Ugh... but Cochran is probably a lock for it.

And could there be a Malcolm vs. Cochran season in the future?

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Canada Game and Show Week 8

Tom's Take:

This was a tough week for me. My favorite player got voted out, and Gary returned to the game. Lame. Still I think the game is still pretty open, even though the showmances are the clear favorites, Andrew or Talla could still pull a string of comps together for a win.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 10 "One Zipped Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

Tom's Take:

This was the third episode in the row that really delivered. If the rest of the season is like this than this season could still be a top 5 season.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Game and Show Week 7

Tom's Take:

I am disgusted by the twist. They shouldn't bring people back. They got voted out! Ugh. I'm now rooting for Emmett and Jillian, just because I don't want the twist to screw up their game.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 9 "Cut the Head off the Snake"

Tom's Take:

Are we at Jury yet? This episode was crazy. Just crazy. I loved it.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Canada Game and Show Week 6

Tom's Take:

This was a great week of Big Brother featuring the downfall of the Shield and the house splitting into an East vs. West battle. I'm rooting for the West, but let's face it, the East is playing the better game. Let's get to it.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 8 "Blindside Time"

Tom's Take:

A great episode! Even though this episode proves me wrong by cutting out the Malcolm/Corinne alliance, and giving rise to Dawn 's awakening.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Canada Game and Show Week 5

Tom's Take:

This week was a consequence of the Canadian Power Shift. A bad player got to stay two extra weeks, but she contributed nothing to the game and was quite frankly an annoyance to the show. But we can move on now, although unfortunately  we've got feed blocks ruining what should be the most interesting weekend of the game so far. Shame on BB Canada for absolutely sucking on these twists so far

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 7 "Tubby Lunch Box"

Tom's Take:

The Butchery continues in what has been quite frankly a boring season...

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Game and Show Week 4

Tom's Take:

This was a great week for the game that proved you don't need a freaking twist to create drama. You just need people with social interactions and jealousy to create drama. Also, Tom got evicted! Woooh!

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 6 "Operation Thunder Dome"

Tom's Take:

The game shifted this week, but not for the better. The Favorites were crushing the Fans, and now....They're just flat out embarrassing them. Now we don't even have fun competitions. It's just going to be a massacre.

Five Drinks Into British TV: Doctor Who Series 6

Tom's Take:

So the first half of Series 6 of Doctor Who was so good that I honestly thought it would be my favorite series of the show. Then it stumbled somewhat, and so now I would have trouble saying it's better than Series Four, but the last three series have been better than the first three and I am looking forward to finally catching up with the rest of the world and watching Series 7 of Doctor Who.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Canada Game and Show Week 3

Tom's Take:

This week actually sucked, and ultimately the twist of Canada having a veto lead to a boring eviction that kept Suzette, my least favorite player in the game. That's a backfire if ever there was one.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 5 "Persona Non Grata"

Tom's Take:

 Jesus, this episode was a travesty. Survivor needs a tribe swap because I am sick of where the season is right now. This episode was more like an episode of Jerry Springer than Survivor, and Brandon's insanity had NOTHING to do with the game. That's not to say it was not entertaining, but I like the GAMEPLAY

Five Drinks Into British Television: Doctor Who Series 5

Tom's Take:

Wow. I am surprised how much I liked this series. Is it as good as Series 4? I'm going to tentatively say no, but this is Matt Smith's first season as the Doctor, and he accomplished the most important task he had. He made it so that I didn't regret losing David Tennant. That's not to take anything away from David Tennant and the Tenth Doctor, but it is a testament to how well this series did to help me move on.  Good work Matt Smith, I don't hate you, and with such big shoes to fill it would have been very easy for me to.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Game and Show Week Two

Tom's Take:

This week was surprisingly eventful despite it really being irrelevant who went home since the alliance in power remains in a position of total control.

Five Drinks Into Survivor Season 26 Episode 4 "Kill or Be Killed"

Tom's Take:

This episode sort of pissed me off. It was clear before this season even began that the Favorites would crush the fans, but I didn't think it would happen like this. I underestimated how strong the Favorites would be in the challenges, and now they're just steamrolling the fans. Shamar's exit was also a huge disappointment, and it feels like the pre-swap portion of the game has played itself out. I'm ready for a swap! The only hope the fans have honestly is Brandon Hantz, and the breakdown that he's going to have next week. 

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Big Brother Canada Game and Show Week 1

Tom's Take:

Wow. Two episodes and we already got an HoH, noms, Veto, and an eviction. This 1st week was rushed, and I'm still having trouble telling everyone apart, which is hard with so many people in the game. Still, it was a lot of fun, and for the most part I feel like the production quality is okay and the novelty makes up for any areas where it's lacking.

So let's get to grading everyone's game and showplay.

Five Drinks Into Reality Television: Survivor Season 26 Episode 3 "There's Gonna Be Hell to Pay"

Tom's Take:

This episode set up some things and had an interesting mislead, but ultimately was kind of disappointing. 

Five Drinks Into British Television: Doctor Who Series Four

Tom's Take:

So I'm going to start this off with a bang. Series Four of Doctor Who is the best series of the show so far. Part of this might be on purpose,  as this was David Tenant's last series as The Doctor, and also the last series helmed by Russell T. Davies. So they had the power of finality in their corner, but that didn't get in the way from telling some of the best regular series episodes here, as well as telling the strongest series concluding arc to date. So let's dive into every episode of this series!

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 2 "Honey Badger"

Tom's Take:

I kinda felt like this episode was too short. I wanted to see more from both tribes, which is a good sign, and I almost feel like every episode this season could be double length, because there is constant gameplay going on with the Favorites. So in episodes where the Fans lose and go to Tribal Council, and the producer HAVE to show us their gameplay, things are going to seem a little rushed. A lot of people are getting left out, which is unfortunate, especially since I think the Producers' are clearly playing favorites among the favorites in terms of who's the biggest character, instead of where the gameplay is. But some characters are emerging on the Fans Tribe, which is a nice development.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Episode 1 "She Annoys Me Greatly"

What an amazing episode of Survivor. I'm glad that the Favorites went to the first tribal council for two big reasons. First, the Favorites are in a sped up version of the game, so their first Tribal was already as tense and exciting as any merged tribe Tribal. Secondly, because we got the funniest vote of all time. Francesca got voted off first...again!

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Preview The Fans

Tom's Take:

So this won't be as in depth as the Favorites preview, mostly because we don't know the Fans as well yet, but I think I'll give everyone at least a sketch, and a prediction.

Five Drinks Into Reality TV: Survivor Season 26 Fans Vs. Favorites 2 Preview

Tom's Take:

In one week, Survivor Caramoan will begin, and I think it's going to be a great season. It's Fans vs. Favorites 2, which is not the best format, since I think I would prefer a pure all stars season, but this format does give the Favorites a lot of pawns to play with, which will be interesting to see.

Five Drinks Into British Television: Doctor Who Series Three

Tom's Take:

So this one took a while...

Seriously, I think it's been months since I watched the first episode of Series Three, but I only just finished the Christmas Special in between Series Three and Series Four "Voyage of the Damned." And that really isn't the fault of Series Three, because for the most part this series was just as good as the previous series, but other things just got in the way, namely my decision to finish Torchwood before I finished this series.