Cream Cheese Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had starred these cookies in my Google Reader awhile ago, and while looking through my starred items the other day to figure out what to make next, I decided I would try them out. These are from Baking Bites. I guess I go through baking phases, because I made another stuffed-type cookie not too long ago, the Peanut Butter Middles, and I have been on a chocolate chip cookie specific binge for a while. And I just made those Reese's Cheesecake Bars too, so you could say I'm on a cream cheese thing too. I am apparently a creature of habit!

Anyway, these cookies. They, for one, are HUGE. I mean, gigantor. Some of the biggest cookies I have intentionally ever made. Unintentionally, sometimes cookies can spread larger than intended due to various circumstances. But intentionally! Yes. Big. Be prepared for big. And messy, when making them. These are not mess-free or very quick to make. I think I started making them around 1pm, then didn't actually finish up the last batch in the oven until like 6 or 7pm!

Cream Cheese Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Filling
6-oz cream cheese, room temperature
2-oz white chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

First, make the cookie dough. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar until light. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed or by hand, blend in the flour mixture, stirring only until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide dough into two equal parts. Place each on a sheet of wax or parchment paper and shape into a log. Wrap in paper and chill logs for 1-2 hours, until firm.

Make the cream cheese filling. Combine all filling ingredients in a medium bowl and mix at medium-high speed until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove dough logs from the fridge. Using a sharp knife, divide each log into eight even slices (total of 16 big slices of cookie dough).
Working with one piece of cookie dough at a time, flatten the dough into a 3-4-inch wide dish between your palms. Place about 1 tbsp cream cheese filling in the center of the dough, then pinch the sides of the dough together to seal. Work carefully so all the filling is sealed inside. Place on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until cookies are golden brown around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 16 big cookies.

 I figure I've had enough step by step pictures of regular chocolate chip cookies by now that you get the idea. If not, feel free to click on one of the above links and see. Also? Lazy. Yep.

As you can see, I'd already got one log wrapped up. Here's the second half awaiting its fate.

And look at that! It's sort of log-shaped! I used my fingers and the parchment paper itself to give it a general shape. 

Bing bang boom, they are ready to go in the fridge for a couple hours.

With about 15 minutes left into the two hours, I made up the cream cheese stuff and started the oven to preheat.

One of the logs all sliced up. I would recommend only doing one at a time. Leave the other in the fridge until you need it. I also re-wrapped this one up and put it back when I had the first four on the baking sheet. 

And I stress you only put four on the sheet at a time, like so, because they get big. Even these touched each other, I think. I don't have step-by-step pictures of putting the cream cheese globs in the middle, because it's rather messy and when I'm the only one there, I can't do both things at once! TIP: Take off a little chunk of the dough before you flatten it and put in the cream cheese. Once you wrap the dough around the cream cheese, you'll likely end up with a little extra sticking out, but because you took off that little extra hunk of dough before, you can just slap that on it!

Once they are baked, you won't be able to tell there's anything in the middle until you actually take a bite (or two) in. I also had to bake these for more like 20-22 minutes rather than the 15-18 stated in the original directions. But I also used soy milk rather than real milk, so who knows if that played a role. 

My verdict is only so-so on these cookies. They're decent, but not ahhh-mazing. I actually found myself liking the edges more than the cream cheesy middle, so that tells you something right there! I suspect there are many different variations of these you could make, with peanut butter filling, or even maybe a mint filling, butterscotch... the options really seem endless. If anyone ends up making these, you'll have to let me know how you like them!

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Auditions NYC & Miami

Watching "regular" TV - that is to say, scripted rather than reality - most of the time has made me forget just how commercial-heavy this show is. To which I say - UGH. Each commercial break had an extra minute as compared to normal! You learn what's normal when you have a DVR.  Six 30 sec skip clicks? Normal. Eight to ten? Excessive. I caught up on time with 15 minutes left when normally I would've caught up right at the end!

Okay, sorry, enough complaining from me! This was the first week of auditions for season seven of So You Think You Can Dance. They haven't addressed any of the changes taking place this season on the show yet, so I won't either. This was just your basic audition stage, focusing on some of the good dancers that get through, on some of the okay ones that go through to choreography but don't make it, and some of the truly insane ones that are just there to get their chance to be on television. They always claim they're there for dancing, but it's so clearly NOT true. And because of that, I'm not going to give them any notoriety on this blog! No thank you.

The first half of the show focused on the auditions in New York City with judges Nigel, Adam Shankman, and Mia Michaels. There were a crap ton of contemporary/jazz/whatever dancers in this round, it seemed. Or at least those are the ones who got the focus and were sent through. The one contemporary person that really stood out to me in the NYC auditions was someone we had seen last year - Teddy Tedholm. His audition was really well thought out, had a complete story to go along with the music, and he was able to bring out some genuine emotions from the judges (well, except Nigel, who rarely gets emotional). Straight through to Vegas for him. The other dancer that really seemed like a competitor was Edward Spots, who had about zero body fat, though I must say his audition did feel a little jumpy, not very good with the transitions. He did well in the choreography round and was sent through as well. Aside from those two, it's hard to tell at this point. Not until we get to Vegas do we really see who stands out among the pack.

In Miami, Nigel was joined by Sonya Tayeh and Jason Gilkison on the judging panel. There were even less dancers to write home about in this stage of the competition, and even more contemporary/jazz/whatever's. One to watch from Miami is Tyrell Rolle, who had a very strong audition. I didn't expect him to be doing contemporary based on his backstory for whatever reason, so that was a surprise. Another is Jose Ruiz, a B-boy that was getting a lot of comparisons to last season's Legacy. So far I don't think Jose quite lives up to Legacy's reputation, despite his own declarations that he thinks he's better than him (careful Jose, you don't want to start sticking your foot in your mouth so early). There was also a ballroom dancer, Michael Petr, that the judges really liked. I have a hard time getting behind ballroom dancers, though, because they so rarely last long once they actually make it onto the actual show.

Really, though, it's hard to tell anything from this audition stage unless someone is just super amazing, like Russell was last season. And I'm keeping this short and sweet at this stage. Next time: Chicago and Los Angeles. Are you guys excited for this season? So far I'm kind of iffy, but I'm sure once Vegas week rolls around, it will pick up. I hope. Because last season was a bit of a let down to be perfectly honest.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Glee 1x20 "Theatricality"

I love how it was advertised as "Glee goes Gaga" but there were only two Lady Gaga songs in the whole episode! Oh Fox, you are tricksy. What, you ask? Didn't you listen to the songs ahead of time and know that was the case? No, I didn't. I've found that if I listen to the songs beforehand, it kind of ruins their performance on the show for me. Crazypants? Maybe.
In any event, the theme of the night was theatricality. I think one of my favorite parts of the episode was when Artie asked Mr. Schue what the lesson of the theme was, and Schue's just like yo, I don't know (turn off the lights, and I'll glow... sorry, that was a couple weeks ago), and then when they basically spell it out at the end he's like, oh man, I wish I had planned that but I didn't! But I'm jumping ahead! It's what I do best!

Story #1: Rachel meets her mama!

When Rachel, Mercedes and Quinn go to spy a little on Vocal Adrenaline, the coach, Shelby Corcoran, who we learned last week is Rachel's mom, stepped up to show her pupils how theatricality is done, and sang Funny Girl. Rachel figured out who she was because she had heard her sing in the tape last week. She confronted her immediately and it was a bit awkward. Over the course of the episode, Shelby comes to realize that it was ill advised for her to come back into Rachel's life now (it turns out she did because she can't have children now, and she really wanted a daughter), and that she can't have the relationship with her baby girl that she wanted, because she's not a baby. They decide that it's best to not try to force a mother-daughter relationship now, but it seems like they might have the possibility in the future. As a goodbye, they do a duet to a stripped down Poker Face. I think it would be sort of expected for this to be the favorite song of the night, but while I did enjoy it, it wasn't my favorite! My favorite is included in...

Story #2: Tina the vampire

Principal Figgins calls Tina into the office to tell her that she can't keep dressing like a lady demon on school property, thanks to the crazed Twilight teens pretending to be vampires and literally trying to suck people's blood. In order to help Tina find a new look, and to get the theme of the week, Schue tells them they can Go Gaga. The girls (plus Kurt) all fully embrace this turn of events, with each of them taking on a different Gaga look. They then perform Bad Romance together, and that's the one that gets my award for favorite song of the night. Maybe it was their performance, though, because that really put it over the top. Santana can rock Bad Romance! My favorite outfits of the group, in case anyone is wondering, were Santana's black lacy number, Quinn's pink dress with those crazy eyelashes, and Brittany's lobster head. Rachel's final outfit was pretty awesome too. Anyway, the guys aren't really into Lady Gaga, so they go their own route with theatricality and perform Shout It Out Loud by Kiss. Weakest one of the night, if you ask me. Anyway, by the end of the episode, Tina has decided she's not going to be told who she is, and totally goes awesomely badass, pretending to be a vampire with Figgins and threatening her Asian Vampire Dad's wrath if he doesn't let her wear her lady demon clothes. HA! Love it.

Story #3: Kurt and Finn move in

Finn's mom informs him that they will be moving in with the Hummels now that she and Kurt's dad are getting serious. Kurt is excited, but Finn is.... not. Especially once he starts to get picked on by his football jock buddies almost as badly as Kurt does. When Kurt tries to present him with a newly decorated room for them to share, complete with "privacy" partition, Finn flips out and starts calling various items in the room "faggy." Which he shouldn't have done, because Papa Hummel overhears and gets very upset with him about it, giving him a nice long lecture. And damn, way to go once again Mike O'Malley! He tells Finn that he's not welcome there, no matter if it's going to hurt his relationship with Finn's mom (what in the world is Finn's mom's name? I have no recollection!). Finn eventually steps up to the plate and dresses in a hideous (just listen to Kurt's "oh my god" reaction to it) bright red shower curtain get up to show his solidarity with Kurt against the football baddies. The baddies are going to pound them anyway, but the rest of the gleeks show up for support. The baddies leave for now, but say they'll bring their own friends next time. Eep!

Story #4: Puck's baby names

At the beginning of the episode, Puck wants to name his and Quinn's baby Jackie Daniels (since Jack would be for a boy), but she quickly douses this idea because they won't even get to name the baby. He apparently gets some kind of clue from this theatricality assignment that that particular name would be ridiculous, and also mentions how his own dad never paid him any attention when he was a kid when that's all he wanted, so he gathers the guys around for a rendition of Beth. Afterward, he requests that Quinn please let him be there and see his daughter when she is born. This served as a parallel to the Rachel and Shelby storyline as well, and we have to wonder if Quinn will really be giving up the baby for adoption in the end.

Rather conspicuously absent this week: one Jesse St. James. He was all about getting Rachel and Shelby together, but wasn't there for her when it actually happened. And it looks like next week he goes back to Vocal Adrenaline? It would be too bad, because I've grown rather fond of his character. And, let's face it, I've grown rather fond of seeing Jonathan Groff as well. Yummy.

Quotes:

"I don't mean to state the obvious, but you do know that vampires aren't real, right? They don't exist." - Will

"My parents won't even let me watch Twilight. My mom says she thinks Kristen Stewart seems like a bitch." - Tina

"Yes, for several years in my early twenties, I dressed up as Elvis. But he was a Christian, Will! And he did not possess the ability to transform into a bat!" - Principal Figgins

"Is there a car down here for me?" - Finn
"Honey, we're indoors." - Finn's mom

"What's up with this Gaga dude? He just, like, dresses weird, right? Like Bowie?" - Puck

"And she changes her look faster than Britt changes sexual partners!" - Kurt
"It's true." - Brittany

"Because even though I'm painfully shy and obsessed with death, I'm a really effervescent person." - Tina

"You look terrible. I look awesome." - Brittany

"We live in Ohio, not New York or San Francisco or some other city where people eat vegetables that aren't fried!" - Finn

"My balls keep falling off." - Tina
"I've been there." - Kurt

"Brad! He's always just, around." - Rachel

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Chuck 3x19 "Chuck versus the Ring: Part II"

Up until the last couple minutes of this episode, it really felt like this one could've been a series ender, had that been the case/need. As we all know by now, though, Chuck is coming back for another season! I wonder if they had it planned so that it could've ended with just them being happy and not that last scene if they hadn't been picked up?

Anyway, this episode wasn't quite as action packed as its predecessor, but it packed a big emotional punch and brought up what will be happening next season, as well as revealed something kind of cool about Chuck's past. It all started with a flashback to when Chuck and Ellie were young, just before their mother left, wherein Papa B tells Ellie she's got to promise to take care of Chuck. And in the present day, she's doing just that, following after him after Shaw has taken him, Casey and Sarah hostage. She loses them, but luckily Morgan and Devon are on the other side of the trail and have them in their sights.

Shaw is preparing to kill the trio, but Morgan presses a button in Casey's Crown Vic, which sends a missile at the truck, knocking Shaw out and freeing the trio. Chuck tries to flash to take out Shaw, but his flashes are getting really bad and Sarah has to help him into the car so they can get away. The whole group discusses what their next move should be. There is some talk of going on the run, but Ellie won't have it. She and Chuck have a conversation where they decide they're going to take down the Ring and Shaw, but Ellie makes Chuck promise that he'll quit the spy life for good once that's done with. We all know how well these sorts of promises go, don't we? Yeah.

Back in Castle, Chuck is able to get in contact with General Beckman, who has been put in lockdown since last episode's events. She tells them that Shaw is planning to take her place at some kind of big government agencies meet up where the Five Elders will be in attendance. The Five Elders being the leaders of the Ring. The team has one final mission to go on. Sarah and Chuck pretend to be Russians of some sort or another and Chuck places a phone in Shaw's pocket, while Casey and Morgan get information on where Shaw's office is, I guess. I kind of missed what they were looking for, but that seemed to be what room 752 was.

Shaw goes to give a presentation to the biggety bigs, but gets a phone call in the middle of his chat from Chuck. Shaw sends a text to the Elders to leave and goes to talk to Chuck. They get to talking and Chuck reveals that Casey, Sarah and Morgan are capturing the Elders at that moment thanks to Shaw tipping them off! Way to go, team. Shaw posits that their capture means nothing since they are working off the grid, and proceeds to out himself as a Ring operative, doing the stupid villain speech and getting caught on camera. Sucks to be you! He and Chuck face off, but Chuck's flash just sends him into another headache-flashy thingy, only a lot worse this time. Sarah comes shows up before Shaw can kill Chuck, but Shaw manages to get away out the window.

Meanwhile, Big Mike has had a call from his secret phone (Moses) that informs him that the store isn't doing well enough and will be shut down. He confides in Jeff and Lester and Lester comes up with a plan to have a going out of business sale, which will increase their sales enough to not have to close their location. That sale is just starting...

When Sarah takes Chuck back to Castle, where it looks like he's not recovering from this latest flash. While they are down in Castle, Morgan spots Shaw entering the Buy More and setting up bombs. He tries to warn Sarah, but Shaw captures him and tells Sarah to bring Chuck up and face him. Shaw locks Morgan up in the cage and Sarah goes to face Shaw, leaving Chuck downstairs. They are facing off when Jeff, Lester and Big Mike see that a Buy More bigwig has arrived to shut down the location, which was apparently already supposed to be closed. They decide to create a diversion so they aren't caught, and pull a pineapple - that is, the fire alarm (right after Morgan had broken his own thumbs to get out of his restraints to do so himself! Poor Morgan broke his thumbs for nothing!).

Everyone exits the Buy More, except for Shaw and Sarah. Shaw handcuffs Sarah to the Nerd Herd desk, and that's when Chuck makes his big entrance. He and Shaw will have their final showdown, sans guns, just Intersects. Chuck's flash is still hurting him, but he fights through the pain. He and Shaw get into a very cool fight (with an insane Jeffster video playing in the background, no less), but eventually Chuck starts to wear because of his Intersect-brain issues. And as he's lying there, mostly unconscious, we see another flashback to that same time period as before. Papa B leaves his office for a moment, so little Chuck goes to see what dad's been working on. We can tell it's an early version of the Intersect. Little Chuck presses the button and he's downloaded with that very first Intersect!! Dude's had an Intersect in his brain for most of his life! Papa B comes back and tells him he's very special to have survived that.

Chuck wakes back up and it looks like he's got things under control. As he said, he just needed to reboot. He defeats Shaw, and has him in a chokehold. Shaw tells him he'll have to kill him, but Chuck doesn't. Instead, Sarah hits him over the head, having escaped the handcuffs. I guess he'll be arrested and put in lockdown? That means he'll probably be back. Anyway, Sarah gives the Governor that Shaw stole back to Chuck, to ease his Intersect-y brain, though I sort of thought his flashback did that? I guess he apparently still needs the watch? That kind of didn't make sense.

While the CIA has come in to clean up the Buy More, Morgan finds the detonator to the bombs. And what does he do? He drops it! A countdown begins and, before you think someone is going to stop it, the Buy More BLOWS UP!! And according to the local news, Jeff and Lester are being blamed for it. Oh Jeffster, you are in big shiz now!

Back at home, Chuck and crew are having a celebration for defeating the Ring. And guess who joins the party? Casey's daughter Alex. They share an awkward little hug, but it was very cute. Ellie makes sure that Chuck has actually quit the spy life like he said he would, and he tells her he informed Beckman of his resignation. And things could've stopped here...

But then, he gets a message. He goes back to his room and finds his computer sitting there full of snow until an ominous "Press Enter" pops up on the screen. It's a message from Papa B, telling Chuck that he's been doing what the government couldn't for years. He has a whole big secret underground lair that Chuck goes into, and in the message Papa B says that he's done it all for "her." The her in question being, please tell me you guessed this at the beginning of the episode - Chuck's mom! Mary Elizabeth Bartowski. As Chuck figures out that his mom's involved in all of this, we see the back of a woman's head. She answers the phone and a man tells her that she has to move. DUN DUN DUN!

Well guys, that's it for season three of Chuck. Next season looks to be all about finding Mama B and figuring out just what in the world Papa B was doing down in that lair. Will Ellie and Devon be drawn back into the spy game, or will Chuck start lying again? What will Chuck be like without the Buy More? And will Casey let Morgan take Alex on a date, or will he re-break his thumbs? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Quotes:

"Gee, Morgan, I think that when one is facing a group of murderers, one should have a plan." - Devon
"Okay, I agree with you, in principle. But we're here now, what would you like me to do, open up the glove box, pull out a spy manual?" - Morgan

"Two Bartowskis. Double the fun." - Casey

"What we lack, profoundly and proudly, in on the job competence, we more than make up for in listening skills." - Lester
"Actually, I'm deaf in my left ear. Except for a faint ringing." - Jeff

"Hello?" - Jeff, into phone
"The phone did not ring, Jeffrey." - Lester
"Stupid left ear." - Jeff

"Are you ready?" - Sarah
"I was born re-- well actually, no I wasn't born ready, but I am ready. Now." - Chuck

"Your heart's racing. Pupils dilated. Skin's flushed. You like her." - Casey
"Or you're choking me." - Morgan

"I'm sorry, are you asking me to make the classic villain mistake of explaining my dastardly plot to you? You know what, I'd love to." - Chuck

"Smile, Daniel, you're on TV. What do I say to that? Muahaha!" - Chuck

"Did we do that?" - Lester
"I don't know." - Jeff
"Start the van." - Lester

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Chuck 3x18 "Chuck versus the Subway"

After a few weeks of good-but-not-great episodes, this one really hit it out of the park. The next one, the second half of the finale, is sure to follow suit, but I'm writing this up before I watch that one, or else my brain might go mushy like Chuck's on Intersect 2.0. And we certainly don't want that.

This episode started out with Papa B (what I shall now be referring to the elder Bartowski as) working on the 2.0 version of his Governor watch for Chuck. Chuck is feeling the pressure and transferring that pressure onto his dad. Sarah tells him he needs to calm down and leave him alone for a while to finish, though she still doesn't know what exactly this watch is for. Chuck! Don't lie to your lady!


In any event, Sarah takes Chuck out to relax, but he gets sidetracked when he hears Shaw's voice. He follows a mysterious figure down into the subway station and at first thinks he's gone nuts, but then Shaw shows his face! Yep, Shaw is really alive! He informs Sarah and Casey, but they can't find General Beckman to tell her. That's because she's at some kind of tribunal hearing type thingy in the CIA arguing the Intersect's, and therefore Chuck's, case. The trio decide they can't just let this lie and, despite protestations from Papa B, follow Shaw's path out of the subway into a mysterious location they think must be a Ring headquarters.

They get inside and split up. Casey and Sarah meet up and figure out they're not in a Ring facility, but actually in a CIA headquarters. But Chuck doesn't know that. He ends up taking out a guy who happens to be... Justin?!?! And who sees him do it? Ellie! Yep, that's right, this is the location she had been taken to in last week's episode. Before she can get any answers out of Chuck, he takes off after Justin, and attacks him right in the tribunal hearing room, in front of all of the CIA biggety bigs. They bring in Casey and Sarah to continue in arguing the case, but things take a major turn for the worse when Shaw himself shows up! While our group tries to convince the CIA that he's turned rogue and is working for the Ring, Shaw claims that he was working as a double agent. But Chuck sees him flash on something. He wants to show them that Shaw's lying and is an Intersect too, so he tries throwing a letter opener at him (why was that letter opener just randomly lying there?), but Shaw, knowing he'd do that, just takes it in the chest. They haul off Chuck after Shaw convinces all of them that his brain is deteriorating because of his Intersect. So now Sarah knows that bit of info.

Casey, who we learned earlier on in the episode has been regularly going to the pie shop where his daughter Alex works, goes to get Alex to safety since he knows they will be coming after her. But just when he arrives, Justin shows up. They have a tete-a-tete in the pie shop until Casey punches him out and hauls off Alex. He gives her a key to a locker at the Buy More and reveals to her that he's father before more dudes show up and take him away. In the end of the episode, she shows up at the Buy More and, with Morgan's help, discovers that Casey has left her a ton of money and passports.

Chuck, locked up in custody, gets a helping hand from Papa B and escapes, with Sarah following him. Sarah tells him he can't go because they'll put a burn notice on him, but Papa B tells him that if he doesn't go, he'll be putting everyone in danger. So he goes, because Chuck likes to save people. Sarah, pissed off at Shaw, goes to confront him, but he uses her emotions against her and makes the CIA think she has gone rogue. So now she and Casey are in custody.

Okay so meanwhile, Devon has been thinking that Ellie is cheating on him because of all of her shenanigans with Justin. But when she shows up back at home and tells him that Chuck is in trouble with the CIA, the full truth comes out! Well, almost, because Devon doesn't know everything. So they go see Morgan. Morgan then calls up Chuck to tell him that everything has gone to hell in a handbasket. Papa B wants to keep running, but Chuck convinces him they can't. Oh, and Papa B gives Chuck his finished Governor, which immediately makes Chuck feel better.

They meet up with Ellie to try to figure out what the deal with Justin really is. She takes them to their rendezvous point she they discover a secret Ring base. Chuck and Papa B infiltrate it and find the Intersect location Shaw downloaded from. They want to take this information to the CIA, but Shaw has been tipped off and cuts them off at the pass and forces Chuck to give him the Governor. Chuck wants to face him one on one and see who wins, but Shaw doesn't think it's fair since Chuck will be emotionally compromised. Chuck says he is, in fact, quite calm. So what does Shaw do?! He flipping shoots and kills Papa B!!! Which Ellie also saw, because she saw Shaw going down into the secret base and followed him. Luckily she keeps hidden, though, as Shaw takes Chuck.

He loads Chuck up into the van with Casey and Sarah, and Chuck has completely given up. As they drive away, he says that all hope is lost because there's no one to come after them now. BUT NO, Chuck, you are wrong! Because your sister is here to save the day. She is following the van, and has called in Devon and Morgan as back up!!

As a fun aside, I loved the bit where Beckman was talking to Morgan and Devon and the video was cutting out and repeated the "You are our only hope" line and then she was dragged away. Hello Star Wars reference!

Quotes:

"Dude, you don't look so hot, buddy. I mean, compared to your normal level of hotness, you lost a little sizzle." - Morgan, to Devon

"Devon..." - Morgan
"Whoa, you just called me Devon." - Devon
"Yeah, well, this is no time for frivolity." - Morgan

"It's my dream come true. Ellie is exactly like Chuck, but with lady parts." - Jeff

"Nice work, guys. Awesome." - Morgan
"What?" - Devon
"No, not you, Awesome." - Morgan

"I'm sorry, Sarah. But if I have to choose, I will always choose to protect you." - Chuck

"Morgan Grimes. The boy who took my pillow as his date to junior prom, knows more about my family being spies than I do." - Ellie

"Much as it pains me to admit, you are our only hope." - Beckman
"Dude, did she mean you or me?" - Devon, to Morgan

"Don't know when it happened, but our boy became a man. Bartowski's a spy. Picked a good one, Walker. Finally." - Casey

"Let's do this." - Devon

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Glee 1x19 "Dream On"

Though Glee tends to get overly literal with its themes in each episode, at least they are usually fairly sincere. This week was all about dreams and how they can possibly be shattered. But the best news about this week was that it featured Neil Patrick Harris in an awesome guest star role as Bryan Ryan, former Will Schuester out-doer and current school board member looking to cut the glee club. It was also directed by Joss Whedon, what what!
See, Bryan used to be the star of the glee club back in the day, and thought that meant he was going to be a big star after high school. It didn't quite happen that way, and now he wants to take these kids down a peg. Will won't have that, and after a beer gets Bryan to admit that he really misses singing and feels empty without it. Will encourages him to try out for an upcoming local musical production of Les Miserables, that leads to a sing-off between the two of them. Bryan, certain that he has won the role over Will, decides he's going to cut back some of the Cheerios budget and give it to glee. But when he finds out that Will actually won, he takes it all away. Will gives him a whole big speech about stars and black holes, but it's not until he tells Bryan that he'll give him the role if he keeps the glee club that Bryan decides to keep glee around. All around a very fun performance by NPH, right? He was great, as he tends to be, and he got to perform a couple of songs with Matthew Morrison - Piano Man and Dream On.

The other big storyline of the night centered around Artie. With all of this dream talk, Artie is forced to admit to Tina that his dream is to one day be a dancer, but he knows it can never be. He tries to use some of those arm thingys that people with cerebral palsy use (I truly apologize, but I have no idea what they are called) while creating a dance number with Tina, but ends up falling and getting really upset about her seeing him that way. She tells him not to give up hope and presents him with a ton of research about emerging techniques on fixing broken spinal cords. He then has a really fun dream sequence of a big dance number set to Safety Dance and gets psyched about the possibility. He goes to see Emma to and tells her he thinks the new research is going to get him to walk again, but she is forced to give him a dose of reality and tell him that any of these techniques won't be available for human testing for at least 10 years. Awwww, Artie! He tells her she should have someone else dance with her in their number, but she asks him to at least sing for them. She dances with Mike Chang (other Asian!) while Artie sings Dream a Little Dream of Me.

In the third main storyline of the night, Jesse is back in town after his spring break, and gets Rachel to admit her secret dream - to meet her mom. They do some research, and it's here that we learn that Jesse DOES have a secret agenda after all! He slips in a tape "From Mother to Daughter" into one of Rachel's baby memorabilia boxes. At this point, if you hadn't figured out that Shelby, the Vocal Adrenaline coach, was Rachel's mom, then you're sorely behind the times when it comes to TV viewing. I hadn't thought about it until then, but once that happened and I stopped to think how much Idina Menzel and Lea Michele do resemble each other, it was like BAM! It was confirmed later on when Jesse and Shelby had a meeting where we learn that Jesse's main mission was to get Rachel to figure out who her mom is, then go back to Vocal Adrenaline. Jesse, however, has started to fall for Rachel, and doesn't want her to get hurt. I'm guessing they're going to try to get her to join Vocal Adrenaline. Anyway, Rachel at first refuses to listen to the tape, but Shelby makes Jesse force it on her, which then turns into a duet number between Rachel and Shelby of I Dreamed a Dream.

Next week: Glee goes Gaga! I'm sure everyone has been waiting for this day, and it looks to be appropriately crazy.

Quotes:

"I was introduced to Jesus. He was my Honduran social worker." - Bryan Ryan

"I'm in a wheelchair, but I'm still a guy." - Artie

"I sound like someone put tap shoes on a horse and then shot it." - Artie

"Can't feed a child sheet music, Will. I mean, I suppose you could for a while, but it'd be dead in a month." - Bryan Ryan

"I have a box of playbills hidden away in my basement, Will. Like porn." - Bryan Ryan

"What if she's singing on the tape? What if she's terrible, or worse, what if she's better than me?" - Rachel

"Is it a tad over the top to build a district for sky diving lessons to have the Cheerios parachuted onto the football field? Perhaps." - Sue

"Should I lock the door?" - Bryan Ryan
"No, I've got a secret room upstairs. Like Letterman." - Sue

"I've grown weary of your insults, Will. They sting, and they make me want to punch your face." - Bryan Ryan

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Chuck 3x17 "Chuck versus the Living Dead"

This episode, while still good, felt a lot like a setup for next week's two hour finale. The pieces are in place, and the preview for next week looks awesome. But let's talk about this week, shall we?

It all starts with Chuck confessing to Morgan he's been having dreams about Shaw being alive, but he hasn't told Sarah yet. Morgan freaks out about Shaw possibly coming after him, and gets Chuck to let him stay in Castle for the time being. But Sarah finds him down there and gets him to tell her what's going on. So now Sarah and Casey finally know that Chuck believes Shaw to still be alive. They decide the best way to figure out whether this is true is to go over some of the stuff Shaw and Sarah did while they were together and see if Chuck flashes on anything. He flashes on the penthouse apartment they stayed at, which has a secret safe. Shaw's probably hiding something in the safe!

Meanwhile, Ellie is still in contact with Justin, the Ring dude. She has contacted her and Chuck's dad to get in touch with her. He shows up and gets suspicious of Chuck's life when he sees Casey and Sarah are still around, because he was led to believe that Chuck was out of the spy life for good when he got the original Intersect out. Chuck LIES to him and tells him he's just an analyst on occasion for the CIA, then promptly takes off for his mission to infiltrate Shaw's safe that night.


Sarah and Chuck are in the penthouse and find the safe, but when they go about trying to open it, someone shows up at the apartment. They believe it to be Shaw, but it's not clear. Whoever it is takes a briefcase from the safe and takes off. They go after him. He ends up dropping the case and we see that it wasn't Shaw. Was it Justin? For some reason I really can't seem to remember what that guy looks like.

It turns out, what was in the briefcase was Shaw's spy will. And since the Ring wanted to get it, they must therefore conclude that Shaw really is dead, because why else would they need it? Right about this time, Patriarch Bartowski also figures out that Chuck is still in the spy game, and has downloaded the Intersect 2.0, no less. He gets upset and leaves, telling Chuck he doesn't want to stick around to see his son die.

After some convincing from Sarah, Chuck decides to go find him and tell him that it's his choice and he's doing good for people. Mr. Bartowski has headed back to his cabin and started to do some test on a mysterious watch thingamajig, when a bunch of Ring dudes show up. Because, oh yeah, earlier, Justin had Ellie stick a tracking device on him, still under the pretense they are "protecting" him. These Ring guys infiltrate the cabin just as Chuck shows up, and he has to whip out his Intersect fighting skills, and also gets some help from a hatchet-wielding Sarah. It turns out, incidentally, that the Ring dudes wanted the watch thingamajig, now given the name Governor.

Why do they want it? Because it's something that governs the Intersect so that it won't overtake a person's mind and make them slowly go insane. Bartowski the Elder has determined that he can make one for the new Intersect, and he will do just that for Chuck, since his motives are to help people and yada yada.

Meanwhile, Chuck has asked Casey to look out for Ellie with Shaw possibly still in the mix. When she sees him lingering around, though, thinks this is all part of what Justin told her about Casey - that he's on the lookout to get their dad. Casey overhears a conversation she has with Justin and thinks maybe she's having an affair, so goes to Morgan for help. Morgan is appaulled by the mere thought and investigates, determining that Devon is basically the best husband ever. If she is having an affair, it's all on her. So Casey decides to take a look around Devon and Ellie's apartment when they're not there. But Ellie comes home early and knocks him out, then runs off with Justin to someplace where he says she'll be "safe." Yeah, right!

And, in the end, we see that Shaw really is alive, and he's downloading his own version of the Intersect! No wonder the Ring people wanted the Governor. They want it for Shaw.

In the Buy More side story, Jeff and Lester temporarily disband Jeffster after disagreeing about taking on Big Mike as their manager. Big Mike eventually convinces Lester to re-join. I can only assume that we get to see the Jeffster video in the finale next week. Bring it!

For those who may not know, Chuck was also renewed for a 4th season. After seeing the preview for the finale, I kind of wonder if maybe it should be a series finale. Not that I want to see the show go, but once everyone finds out, how is it really the same show anymore? I'm sure they'll surprise me and do something great. I hope.

Quotes:

"He fell into a river?! Of course Shaw is alive! Have you ever seen a John Carpenter movie?" - Morgan

"Reviewing pictures of people you've killed? I've done that myself from time to time." - Casey

"Please, stop." - Buy More customer
"Awkward. And cruel. But not incorrect. Because you are not playing from your soul. Your soul is in Seattle." - Lester

"You know what, fine. But I'm gonna take something with me that you can never have back. The 'ster! As in Jeff-ster." - Lester

"Would Ellie cheat on Devon for any reason?" - Casey
"John Casey, if I had the height or the willpower I would slap you across the face right now." - Morgan

"Does she have the Intersect too?" - Steven
"No, Dad, that's all her." - Chuck

"I won't be fooled by corporate trickery. I will never bow down to the man." - Lester

"I can't wear this anymore. But you have the hips of a six-year-old girl. Use them." - Big Mike

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Reese's Cheesecake Bars

When I first saw the recipe for these over on the Tasty Kitchen blog, it was like two halves of my heart had been finally made whole. Cheesecake! Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! In an easy to make bar form! What in the world, how had I never thought of this before?!

 

I'd been wanting to make these for a while, and today decided to go for it, even though yesterday I really felt like crap most of the day and the thought of food was a little quease-inducing. But nothing will separate me from my Reese's Cheescake Bars! I'll probably be bringing them to work, because no one person should eat that much delicious saturated fat. Alas, the woes of life. Without further ado...

Reese's Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

• 7 whole Graham Crackers, Broken Into 1-inch Pieces
• 6 Tablespoons (3/4 Stick) Unsalted Butter, Melted And Cooled
• 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt
• 2 packages (8 Oz. Each) Cream Cheese, Softened
• ⅔ cups Granulated Sugar
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• ¼ cups Sour Cream
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 12 whole (0.75 Oz Each) Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Divided, Cut Into 6 Pieces Each
• 2 ounces, weight Bittersweet Chocolate, Chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by lining the pan with aluminum foil, leaving 3-4 inches of foil draping over the sides of the pan.

The crust:
Place graham crackers into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the crackers form fine crumbs, about 30 seconds. To the crumbs, add butter, brown sugar, flour, and salt. Pulse until the ingredients are fully combined. Using the bottom of a measuring cup or your fingers, press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Bake until the crust is beginning to brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Let the crust cool on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes.

The filling:
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is very smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape the beaters and sides of bowl frequently. Gradually beat in granulated sugar until the mixture is combined, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs, one a time, making sure that each is fully incorporated. Beat in sour cream and vanilla extract until fully combined, about 30 seconds.

Unwrap and cut 9 Reese’s peanut butter cups (0.75 ounce each) into 6 pieces. Gently fold into the cream cheese mixture. Scrape the cream cheese mixture into the baking pan, over the top of the cooled crust. Spread evenly.

Bake until the edges are set but the middle still jiggles slightly when the pan is shaken slightly, about 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Place the pan on a cooling rack and allow the bars to cool for 2 hours. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours.

Using the overhanging foil, lift the bars from the pan. Gently remove the foil and cut into 16 bars.

Place bittersweet chocolate in a small bowl. Microwave on 50% power until melted, stirring every 15 seconds. Drizzle the chocolate over the bars, top each with a small chunk of a Reese’s peanut butter cup and serve.  (I didn't do this last step, as I may or may not have eaten a bunch of the Reese's earlier in the week, and didn't feel the need to add the extra chocolate.)

 If you don't have a food processor, like me, here's how you can achieve these crunched up graham crackers. Stick them in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin! If you don't have a rolling pin, also like me? Improvise with something else. I used the thing of salt. Not a salt shaker, but one of the large things a bunch of salt comes in. Works just as well.

Important when baking? Reading directions. Because I skimmed and thought I read 3/4 CUP butter, when it actually said 3/4 STICK butter. Major oops. I added some more graham crackers and had to bake it for longer than listed. Seems to have turned out okay enough, thankfully.

After the bottom has baked. Yours may look a little different if you actually put in the correct amount of butter!!

While the crust is sitting for 30 minutes, I cut up the Reese's. 

And when there was about 15 minutes left, I started on the filling. This is just the cream cheese after it's been beaten for a while.

Once the sugar is added. It's a little fluffy at this point.

I had photos from all the different steps with the filling, but it really just looked the same. White, liquidy. So here it is with the Reese's bits added in.

Yep, I forgot to take a picture after I added the filling into the pan, so here it is in the oven. It fills very close to the top!

Here it is fresh out of the oven. Now here's where all of the waiting begins. First you have to let this sit out for two hours. THEN you have to put it in the fridge for at least three hours before you can eat it! So much waiting!

But! Finally! It's ready! Lift it out of the pan by the foil and unwrap it, stick it on a plate. Slice into it and enjoy.

Sorry it's not the sharpest. I was impatient and don't have a fancy camera. 

I cut into this when it was just three hours into the fridge, and it was barely cold, so I'd definitely recommend waiting a little bit longer. I thought I'd be over the moon for this since I love cheesecake and I love Reese's, but I don't know, it didn't wow me as much as I thought it would. I guess maybe I have been spoiled by the light fluffiness of The Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes that this was a little too heavy for my tastes. It's also my first try at any sort of cheesecake ever, so I guess I should just be happy it turned out as well as it did!

...Set: Supernatural 5x22 "Swan Song"

Oh my GAHHG, what a roller coaster of an episode. (GAHHG, in case you've forgotten, stands for: Great Almighty He Him God.) People are dead, people are back to life. I'm thinking the Impala is going to be destroyed because of all the focus it was getting. It was a somber episode that took its time, and really felt as though it could have been a series finale, up until that final shot, of course. And I have my theories as to how it would've ended had there not been a season six, but I'll discuss that when I get there.

Because here we motor into recaptown (and the return of our favorite "THEN" with Kansas' Carry On, Wayward Son. It does not disappoint). Kripke and company are giving us a little info on the backstory of the Impala before it came to be in John Winchester's hands. This history is all being narrated by our returning prophet Chuck, who gets to do all of the subsequent little bits throughout the rest of the episode, detailing one very important, uh, detail, that becomes very, well, important, in a much later scene. Rather than keep returning to these Impala scenes each time they occur, here's the general breakdown: some bible thumper first owned it, then Dean convinced John to buy it, then little Sam got an army man stuck in one of the ashtrays, then little Dean put some legos down the vents, and all of these little quirks are still here today, even after Dean had to rebuild her from the bottom up. Dean, such a sentimentalist. And when the boys had some time off, and it was a clear night, they'd just hang out and look up at the stars. Excuse me while I wipe a tear.

Ahem, okay. In main storyland, Dean tells Sam that he's on board for the whole plan - Sam says yes, then they open Lucifer's cage and Sam gains enough control to jump in, locking Lucifer back up. They have some meaningful talks, wherein Sam tells Dean that he doesn't want him to try to bring him back once he's gone. He wants him to go find Lisa and live the normal, apple pie life they never got to have. Sniff.

Meanwhile, they've bled a couple of demons, and now it's time for Sam to hulk up. He says goodbyes to Bobby and Castiel, asks Dean to please not watch him be so gross and drink gallons upon gallons of bloody blood blood, and then it's time for them to go meet Lucifer in that preordained yes location - Detroit. Sam and Dean head up to face off with him (and Sam kills some other demons with barely a flick of his too long-haired head - WHOA AWESOME), but then start to get panicked when Lucifer reveals he knows their whole plan to get him back in the cage, but he's willing to give it a go against Sam. Dean tries to get Sam to change his mind, but he says the big YES. And big white flash WHOOSH!

Sam's on the ground. Dean does the ring thingamabob stuff into the wall and the cage opens up. Sam steps over to the cage, and we think he's going to jump in but SURPRISE! Lucifer was just toying with poor Dean's head and pretending to be Sam. He quickly shuts the cage doors and blips out of there, leaving poor Dean all alone.

Lucifer has a little mirror chat with Sam, telling him it was always meant to be this way. They are two halves of the same whole, and Sam never felt right in his own family, etc. etc., so on and so forth. He has also brought what he considers a treat for Sam - all of the various people throughout his life that Azazel apparently had watching over him. And he gets to kill them all. I have to give big props to Jared Padalecki for the way he played Lucifer once again. So awesome.

Dean, Cas and Bobby are watching some store TVs as the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket. Dean wants to know what they can do, but the other two basically tell him there's nothing left to do. Hope, she is lost and forgotten. Lucifer and Michael are meant to meet at some specific battlefield spot at some specific time, and they don't know where that is. Dean is having none of this tomfoolery and calls up Chuck, who, being a prophet and all, knows that it's going down at Stull Cemetery near Lawrence, Kansas. Well, this thing has just come full circle, my friends!

Lucifer and Michael, in Adam's meatsuit, meet up on the field, and Lucifer goes about his usual hissyfit shenanigans, complaining about their totally mean dad GAHHG and how he so totally doesn't get it, and come on, bro, let us run away together! Michael calls him out on his childish tendencies and says he will follow through on Dad-GAHHG's wishes. But lo! What is this we hear? It can't be! But it is! It is the guttural ka-chunk-chunks of the Impala, with Dean at the wheel! Mikey and Luci are none too happy to see this human fellow crash their party, and prepare to probably smite him or some such, but then Castiel shows up and is all, "Hey, assbutt!" (no, really, that's what he says) and throws some holy oil fire on Michael to give Dean a chance to get through to Sam.

Lucifer, ever that arse of a hole, gets very upset with Castiel for messing with his brother, because that's his job, duh, so in retaliation he EXPLODES CASTIEL INTO BITS AND BITS! AAAAH! And then he turns to poor old Bobby, who came with Cas, because probably Cas can't drive, and what does Lucifer do? HE BREAKS BOBBY'S NECK! We barely have time to even register these huge deaths before Lucifer turns his attention back to Dean and starts to beat the living hell out of him. I mean, really, really, really, beat it. His face becomes barely recognizable! Lovely Jensen Ackles' face! How dare he!

While he's doing it, though, his eyes chance upon a glimpse of that army man stuck in the ashtray inside the Impala that we saw earlier and then! Then, just like that, Sam's memories start flowing, from when they were kids to all of their time together the last five years. And I wonder how many episodes all of the clips were from throughout this whole episode, because it would be kind of cool if they had one from each, but I don't know if they had enough time. Maybe some erstwhile fan will figure this out.

ANYWAY, I digress. Because right, Sam's memories come back and he takes control! Yay, Sam! Go, Sam! We always knew you could do it, Sammy! He pulls the rings out of his pocket (well, Sam clearly must have had some control earlier, because why wouldn't Lucifer just destroy those rings rather than keep them with him?) and proceeds to re-open the cage. That's when Michael shows back up, telling Sam that he can't do this because Lucifer and Michael are meant to battle. But Sam's having none of that. He falls back into the cage, taking Michael with him. SAAAAAMMM! And as I promised, here's my theory. And I'm sure it's nearly everyone's theory, but you get to hear it anyway. I bet that if this really had been the end of the series, both Sam and Dean would've gone down into that hole, sacrificing themselves for everyone else. You know it. They live to be martyrs, those two.

But, this isn't the end. Dean must go on living. Luckily, however, guess who comes back! Castiel! What! He's back, and back as an angel, no less, thanks to, he thinks, GAHHG. And he promptly brings Bobby back as well. Rather than stick around, however, he thinks he should probably go back up to Heaven to sort out the mess that has surely erupted now that Michael is gone. Dean and Bobby share a goodbye, and in voiceover from Chuck, we learn that they won't see each other for quite some time, but that Bobby goes back to hunting (a Rugaru, for those who are curious).

Dean, however, follows through on Sam's wishes, and goes and finds Lisa. He says he'd like to come in and have a beer, if it's not too late. Lisa tells him it's never too late. So he goes in, and it's not clear if a lot of time has passed or if it's that same night, but one night while he's having dinner with Lisa and Ben (who we don't actually get to see the face of because clearly the kid who played Ben could not be there yet again), outside the house, a streetlight flickers out. And then, who should be standing under that streetlight but... Sam! But is it really Sam? He stood there watching Dean eating with Lisa and Ben but didn't look that happy about it.

Well, people, we're going to have to wait until next season to find out what happened and where things go from here. And I have to say that, while many people have voiced reservations over the show continuing and possibly outstaying its welcome, I am rather looking forward to what next the Winchesters must face.

What did everyone else think? Were you satisfied? Did you cry some tears like me? Did you think the Impala was going to bite the big one too? Are you going to watch next season? Are you sick of me asking questions yet?

During the hiatus time, I'll be filling the void of Supernatural by watching old episodes and doing recaps of those, and probably also doing some best of (and worst of?!) lists. I have a whole host of lists I could do. Be afraid, be very afraid. Or excited. Whichever.

Quotes:

"Ah, ain't he a little angel." - Dean, about a sleeping Castiel
"Angels don't sleep." - Sam

"Take care of these guys, okay." - Sam
"That's not possible." - Castiel
"Then humor me." - Sam
"Oh, I'm supposed to lie. Uh, sure. We'll be fine." - Castiel

"Hey guys, is your father home?" - Dean

"Chock full of Ovaltine, are we?" - Lucifer

"Such anger, young Skywalker." - Lucifer

"It's starting." - Castiel
"You think, genius?" - Dean
"You don't have to be mean." - Castiel

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" - Dean

"Dean, even for you, this is a whole new mountain of stupid." - Lucifer

"Hey! Assbutt!" - Castiel

"Sam, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here. I'm not gonna leave you." - Dean

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Glee 1x18 "Laryngitis"

Tonight was a song-filled Glee, that's for sure. I don't remember the last time so many songs were packed into one episode. But it didn't feel too overloaded either. Maybe that's because it wasn't a ton of Rachel singing solos, but featured quite a few of the Gleeks. This episode also featured a lot of top quality quotes, so I'm going to try to keep the recap itself to a minimum, and just hit on each of the characters who had a biggish storyline. And in case you're wondering what the moral of the episode was (how could you NOT know, though? They weren't exactly subtle.) - it was be true to yourself.

Kurt - Kurt's dad has still been spending time with Finn since he and Finn's mom have been dating. Kurt is getting more and more upset about them spending time together, mostly because his dad never invites him along. So, he decides he's going to attempt to be more like his dad. Which means wearing flannel, singing Mellencamp, and dating girls - more specifically, Brittany. It doesn't really work, though, because he's not being true to himself. He and his dad finally have a heart to heart about everything, and it looks like their relationship is on the mend. That scene was really great. Not only because Chris Colfer got to belt out Rose's Turn, but also because of their conversation. One of the best scenes of the night.


Puck, meanwhile, had to get his mohawk shaved thanks to a suspicious mole, and finds that with the mohawk gone, so has his mojo. He even gets tossed in a dumpster by a bunch of geeks. He figures the best way to get it back is by dating a cheerleader, and sets his sights on Mercedes. She brushes him off at first, but then he busts out The Lady is a Tramp to prove he has soul, and they end up dating. But when Puck gets his popularity back and starts tossing geeks back in dumpsters, Mercedes doesn't like it. She breaks up with him, and also quits the Cheerios because it basically condones such behavior. But not before a rather awesome rendition of The Boy is Mine with a very jealous Santana.

Rachel, on the other hand, realizes something is wrong with her voice after she attempts to sing The Climb, and fails miserably. A doctor tells her she has severe tonsillitis and needs to have her tonsils removed, but she's afraid that it will affect her vocal chords. Finn knocks some sense into her by taking her to see a friend of his who was paralyzed from the upper chest down. The basic message is that even though she might lose her voice, her voice isn't all that she is. Or something like that. To thank him, she starts giving him vocal lessons, which starts with One - which also turns into the big group sing at the end of the show. And I have to say, the big group sings are almost always the best songs.

And if six songs weren't enough, we also got to see Finn's rendition of Jessie's Girl, which was a pretty much on the nose nod to his wanting Rachel back. Jesse St. James was out of town this week, so he wasn't around to see it.

Aaaaand - scene. Next week: the Joss Whedon directed episode featuring guest star Neil Patrick Harris. It looks to be legen... wait for it... dary! Yeah yeah, corny, but whatever. Who doesn't love Neil Patrick Harris?

Quotes:

"Who is that guy?" - Brittany, after seeing Puck without a mohawk

"I feel like that guy who lost all his hair and lost all his strength." - Puck
"Samson?" - Santana
"Agassi." - Puck

"You're like a toddler with a loose lid on his sippy cup. No more juice." - Geek

"Get ready black girl from Glee Club whose name I can't remember right now. The Puckster is about to make you his." - Puck voiceover

"I'm a sex shark. If I stop moving, I die." - Puck

"There are so many lyrics." - Brittany

"Girl, you got more curves than a Nissan ad." - Puck

"So you like showtunes, it doesn't mean you're gay, it just means you're awful." - Sue

"He's an idiot and his mother won't let me eat bacon." - Quinn

"But at least if you guys are dating, I won't have to spend so much time listening to his insane theories on how Super Mario Brothers changed civilization." - Quinn

"So you're pretty much the only guy in this school that I haven't made out with, because I thought you were a capital G-gay. But now that you're not, having a perfect record would mean a lot to me. So, let me know if you want to tap this." - Brittany

"I am like Tinkerbell, Finn. I need applause to live." - Rachel

"Okay, I'm confused. I came home to find this note on your doorknob: "Do not enter under any circumstances, I am making out with a girl." I just thought it was the start to one of your murder mystery dinners." - Kurt's dad

"If things get serious, use protection." - Kurt's dad
"Does he mean like, a burglar alarm?" - Brittany

"Enjoy it while you can, weezy. His hair's already starting to grow back." - Santana

"Nobody quits the Cheerios. Either you die or I kick you off." - Sue

"Guess I'll just have to take to the mic and deliver a diatribe. Probably something about immigrants." - Sue

"Now I know what it's like to date a baby." - Brittany

"I'm dumb but I'm not stupid." - Kurt's dad

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Chuck 3x16 "Chuck versus the Tooth"

While I enjoyed tonight's episode of Chuck, it really could have gone a little more crazy than it did, since it was dealing with the idea of Chuck possibly going crazy. It did serve as a good set up for the last three episodes of the season, however. A couple things I enjoyed: the Spies Like Us reference at the beginning with a nod to Chevy Chase, who played the big bad villain last season on Chuck, and the crazy Merlin guy at the loony bin telling his spy buddies to jump into action to save Chuck, only to have them all be shot down by tranquilizers. "It was a good thought, Merlin."

Tonight's installment started with Chuck and Sarah enjoying each other's company while watching TV. Chuck falls asleep and proceeds to have a very vivid and weird dream involving the president of Zamibia, Beethoven, and Shaw. He infers this dream to mean that the president (Kudi? They always have such weird and difficult names on this show. I guess maybe I should turn on my closed captioning? Boo to closed captioning!) is going to be assassinated while at a Beethoven symphony. He calls up the team to inform them of this, but once he confesses it came from a dream, Beckman decides he might be having some mental issues between his brain and the intersect and has him go see a CIA psychiatrist.

And that psychiatrist is played by Christopher Lloyd. Not sure exactly what that doc's name was, but it seemed like kind of a wasted role for Lloyd, who's usually best known for being over the top and kind of crazy himself. Not so, here. I guess they did get to call him Doc a few times. Back to the Future for the win! Anyway, this doctor thinks that Chuck needs to be taken off active duty since it appears to be causing a lot of stress, and therefore, the dreams.

But Chuck is still convinced something is going to happen to the president, so he recruits Morgan to help him look into it, since Casey and Sarah aren't going to be any help there. Chuck and Morgan head to the symphony, and while Chuck accidentally falls asleep during it, he has another dream-vision, this time of a Dr. Kwambe killing the president. Meanwhile, Casey and Sarah have figured out that Chuck has gone off to try to prove he was right, and show up. Sarah goes along with Chuck to question the doctor, and Chuck flashes on him, and on one of his teeth that has Ring information on it. He punches the guy and grabs the tooth, but by this point everyone thinks he's gone nuts, and they lock him up in a CIA loony bin.

But Chuck managed to get the tooth and turns it over to Sarah and Casey, who analyze it, only to find it's just a tooth. This makes all of them start to think Chuck is really losing his mind after all. But Sarah doesn't want to give up on him, and wants to go see him again. And a good thing too, because Dr. Kwambe has shown up at the hospital to question Chuck about how he knew about the tooth. Turns out, Chuck had gotten the wrong tooth! And, can I just ask, is it really that easy to punch a tooth out? Because it seemed pretty easy, and teeth are pretty strong. Just saying. In any event, Kwambe drugs Chuck and things are about to go down the toilet when Casey and Sarah show up and do some ass-kicking.

Chuck is okay for now, but the doc tells him that while the Intersect is working with his unconscious while he sleeps, it will probably start to overwhelm his brain over time anyway, since it's so powerful. He advises Chuck to talk it over with Sarah. Chuck heads home to do just that, but ends up not doing it when Sarah finally is able to tell him she loves him. Because yeah, that was another of the storylines tonight, getting Sarah to say she loves him. A very minor one, though, because it was only a few half-scenes. But it was enough to make Chuck hold back in telling her he's in danger of really going nutso someday. That night, he has another Intersect vision-dream, wherein Shaw is actually alive! Well, duh. Of course he's not really dead.

The largest of the side stories fell upon Ellie and Devon. They're back from Africa, with Devon recovering from "malaria" or whatever that Justin dude gave him. BUT, when Ellie is out and about, guess who randomly shows up? That Justin dude! He tells her that her father is in danger, and that John Casey is tracking him down to kill him or... something. Ellie goes to Casey's place to try to determine whether it could be true and ends up seeing a bunch of his guns and gets freaked. When she tells Devon about how Casey has a ton of guns and that they should get away from him, Devon tells her she's acting crazy, which is just what Justin said he'd say. So Justin asks if she knows how to get in contact with her dad, so they can "protect" him. You are being played, Ellie! You are being so played. I'm thinking there's no way she won't know the truth about Chuck by the end of this season, yeah?

And, in the final side story of the night - Anna Wu shows back up in Burbank to see Morgan. He brushes her off a couple of times to do some spy stuff, and when they finally do talk, she basically says she didn't know what she had until it was gone, and she wants him back. But instead of jumping at the opportunity, Morgan takes a step back. Is he acting... CRAZY?! Sorry, I had to throw one last crazy in there.

Next week looks to crank things up a notch, with the return of the Bartowski patriarch, in big heaps of trouble.

Quotes:

"You know how dear my sleep is to me, Bartowski." - Casey

"General, permission to slap Bartowski." - Casey

"Just a solid good night's rest and I'll be right as rain. Which I don't totally understand because rain is kind of all over the place." - Chuck

"I'm just gonna say it, I need a woman. It's been far too long, Jeffrey, a man has needs." - Lester

"You're leaving me home appliances? It's full of lumpy housewives. My favorite." - Jeff

"It is Anna Wu. I knew the day when she left to break Morgan's heart she'd come back to break mine. Crush it." - Jeff

"You take Bartowski, I got the little elf." - Casey

"Tricky language. Clicks and vowels." - Casey

"Okay, Casey has some serious guns. Is that creepy? Yes. Is that illegal? Sadly, no." - Devon

"Is that...?" - Sarah
"Yeah, the tooth." - Chuck
"Is it yours?" - Casey
"What? No, that's crazy. It's Dr. Kwambe's tooth." - Chuck

"The truth is in the tooth." - Chuck

"That's a giant needle. Bad. Bad. Colored liquid, even worse." - Chuck

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Supernatural 5x21 "Two Minutes to Midnight"

After last week's kinda-sorta-maybe-a-lot disappointing outing that involved a lot of talking, talking, and more talking, this week things amped back up. And we got quite a long recap to fill us in, you know, in case we hadn't been paying attention. I can't wait to see next week's recap, the always good "Carry On, Wayward Son" belting in the background. Should be awesome! But I'm getting way, way ahead. Anticipate, much?

Tonight's events started in Davenport, Iowa, where a kindly elderly lady was greeting her returning doctor, who we come to know rather quickly as that dastardly yucky Horseman by the name of Pestilence (played by Matt Frewer, of Max Headroom fame.... and also of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids fame, if you grew up in my era). He gives her a whole host of diseases, one of which I remember to be Dengue Fever, and something Japanese, and the chicken pox, plus a couple other things. She proceeded to die after spitting out a bright green splooge into his face. GROSS. But for some reason, the fact that it was bright green made it less gross than if it was, say, mucus green. Am I right?

Back up a day to the brothers Winchester hanging out at Bobby's place, arguing about the whole sacrificing Sam to get the devil into the cage plan. While there, they get a call from Castiel, who has mysteriously materialized in a hospital, only to find himself completely stripped of his angel-ness! He can't just zap over there now, he's gonna have to take a plane, and get money, and food, and painkillers. Welcome to the human world, buddy. It's not always fun.

In any event, the boys head over to Davenport to find Pestilence. They finally catch up with him, only to be slowed down by a whole host of other diseases Pesty decides to foist on them. Things aren't looking so good for the boys, but then Cas shows up just in time! Only he starts to get diseased too, luckily he is able to cut off Pesty's ring before fully succumbing. And that's all we see of Pestilence? SHEESH. Could we not have had a bit more of him and less of a random demon last week? Bizarre choice. Before he blips out of there, Pesty tells them it's too late. They figure he must have set up some kind of disease bomb somewhere earlier.

The boys head back to Bobby's, and Crowley shows up. He knows where Death is, because as was hinted at last week, Bobby gave him his soul on loan to do so. There's also that pesky Ziveus Pharmaceuticals vaccine for the swine flu about to be distributed all over the place, which is really the Croatoan virus in disguise. The boys decide they've got to split up to take care of business, so Dean and Crowley head for Chicago, where Death be brewing, and Sam, Castiel and Bobby head over to wherever Ziveus' distribution plant is. But not before Sam and Dean have a patented Brotherly Moment, and also not before Crowley GIVES BOBBY HIS LEGS BACK! That's right, Mr. Singer, Crowley decided to give you a break from some stupidity and give you your legs back without you asking. The idiocy of these guys, sometimes, I swear. Of course, it's probably got some kind of price down the line, but for now, Bobby is happy.

Sam, Bobby and Cas arrive at the plant just as one of the trucks is about to leave. They cause a ruckus, and that evil janitor from last week sets loose some of the virus inside the warehouse. That leaves Sam and Bobby to start shooting up the infected while saving the innocents. Sam is about to get choked to death (Sam's getting choked? I am shocked and amazed at this turn of events!), but Cas comes in just in time. That's twice in this episode alone. OH, and, before they did all that, Cas informed Sam that he actually agreed with his plan, but that there were a couple bits of information he needed to know first. One, he'd have to start really drinking in the demon blood to be strong enough to hold Lucifer, and two, Michael, as we suspected, has taken Adam as his vessel. So if Sam can't control Lucifer, there will still be a fight. Hopefully we get to see Adam/Michael next week!

Meanwhile, Crowley and Dean are in Chicago. They think they've tracked down Death, but he's not where he was supposed to be. So, they're about to head out, when Crowley figures out where Death really is - some apparently famous pizza place. Crowley doesn't stick around to see Dean go have a chat with Death (Julian Richings). It's rare to see Dean genuinely as afraid as he was in the presence of Death, but oh was he seriously spooked, particularly once Death took his only weapon - Death's very own scythe. Yeah, Crowley gave that to him earlier, which was kind of pointless because Death just took it back before it was ever used on any of the things they said it could be used on - demons, angels, reapers, Death him/itself.

Basically, their conversation boils down to this: Death is fed up with Lucifer keeping him chained to him, he wants to be free to do whatever the heck he wants (which probably includes killing GAHHG - that's God, for those who don't remember). As such, he's inclined to give Dean his ring, if Dean will promise him something. That something is to go through with Sam's plan to say yes, then jump into the cage. Dean agrees, Death gives him the ring, and proceeds to start giving him instructions as to what to do. How nice that he had instructions! It's not like all of this came at the last minute or anything!

The aftermath scene finds Dean and Bobby having one of their chats. Dean admits that he lied to Death about letting Sam go through with it, but I'm thinking it will probably happen. The preview for next week basically gave that much away. But I also saw a photo from the last episode, and all I will say is HMMMMM. If what that picture seems to indicate is actually happening, I will say a big fat I told you so to a couple people. And then have a cackle to myself all muahahaha style.

The only thing about all of this is that we know they are either going to survive or be brought back, simply by knowing of the existence of a season six on the horizon. Just because of that, the stakes aren't so big as they would be if this were the end. If this were the end, I think they'd have both gone out fighting. But now, who knows! What happens after an apocalypse?

Oh, and for those who haven't heard the full version of Jen Titus' "O Death" - Click!

Quotes:

"Eunice Kennedy?" - Sam
"That's the beauty about improv, Sammy, you never know what's gonna come out of your mouth." - Dean

"I don't understand your definition of good news." - Castiel

"Did you kiss him?" - Sam
"Sam." - Dean
"Just wondering." - Sam
"NO!" - Bobby
Crowley shows the proof.
"Why'd you take a picture?" - Bobby
"Why'd you have to use tongue?" - Crowley

"You kill demons. Gigantor over there has a temper issue about it." - Crowley

"Let me guess, we're about to have a talk." - Dean

"You two are lucky you have your looks." - Crowley

"All right, well, good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse." - Dean
"Yeah, good luck killing Death." - Sam

"Bobby, you just gonna sit there?" - Crowley
"No, I'm gonna Riverdance." - Bobby

"This is getting maudlin, can we go?" - Crowley

"Balls!" - Bobby

"Hey, let's stop for pizza." - Crowley
"What are you, kidding?" - Dean
"I just heard it was good, that's all." - Crowley

"Actually, these things can be useful." - Castiel, about shotguns

"But what about Chicago?" - Dean
"I suppose it can stay, I like the pizza." - Death

"How'd the Rockette's audition go?" - Dean
"High kick's fair, boobs need work." - Bobby

"What exactly are you afraid of - losing, or losing your brother?" - Bobby (I think we all know the answer to that!)

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