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Psych S07E04: "No Country for Two Old Men"

¡Muy delicioso! Like sour cream and guacamole, Jeffrey Tambor and Corbin Bernsen made a perfect pairing in Psych's hysterical homage to The In-Laws.

If anyone can walk in the shoes of William Shatner, who plays Juliet's con-artist father, it's the Arrested Development patriarch. And Lloyd, Detective O'Hara's rambling, oblivious stepfather, has more in common with Bluth Sr. than he initially seemed to: He's a recovering gambling addict with huge debts.

Lloyd was introduced at Juliet and Shawn's housewarming party, where his accounting anecdotes were so dull that most of his fellow guests wandered away mid-conversation. But that didn't stop Shawn from encouraging the two dads from becoming early-bird-special besties.

"No Country for Two Old Men" may not be an all-time great like last week's epic "Lassie Jerky," but it was a comical romp that hit all the right notes. One of the highlights was Gus, fancying himself a family man now that he's dating a woman with a young son, injecting himself into every discussion about parenthood.

"Don't worry, buddy, it'll happen for you someday," Gus consoled Shawn as they watched young Maximus, whom Gus just met last week, play soccer in the yard. "They grow up so fast, don't they?"

(It was a nice touch having Bend It Like Beckham star Parminder Nagra reassure her boyfriend after Gus failed to block her "goal." Well played, Psych.)

Henry and Lloyd's innocent lunch date took an expected (for Henry, anyway) turn, with the two fleeing gunmen, stealing a car, flying to Mexico, and clashing with local cops and one of the region's most-wanted criminals—all because the former gambler was trying to square his debts.

With each hiccup, Lloyd cheerfully promised his Costco-outfitted travel companion, "Smooth sailing from here on in!"

Close on their heels were Shawn and Juliet (a.k.a. Julihawn, Shawniet, and Shules, if you prefer one of Shawn's "singular" suggestions) and Gus, whose paternal instincts are warring with his sudden "suffocation" from his new relationship. ("Last week I was my own man. Now whenever I turn around, there they are!"; "A man just needs his space.")

They found an ally in "the Mexican version of Lassiter," who of course turned out to be a corrupt cop whose henchman nearly killed Lloyd.

In the end, Shawn's wish came true: The two dads became unlikely pals—which bodes well for the wedding we hope is on the horizon. Más Tambor, por favor!

The icing on the flan? Henry and Lloyd's adventure allowed Shawn to practice his terrible Spanish skills.

Not since Season 2's "Lights, Camera... Homicidio" has the fake psychic had so many opportunities to rolls his Rs so badly. And like "Homicidio," the Psych theme song—performed by show creator Steve Franks and his Friendly Indians band—was translated and sung in Spanish in the opening and closing credits.

The real in-joke here is that James Roday, born James Rodriguez, is half-Mexican. And although he may not be as fluent in Spanish as his father, it was his first language as a child. ¡Arriba!

Mexican buffet from Olé Mole, cumin, curried crab, Pinkberry, sopapillas with honey (Mexican pastry heaven), lobster thermidor, Tostitos (as in " Vaya Tostitos, Mexican Lassie"), Mexican Coca-Cola ("we use real sugar"), Coke Zero

– "Gus don't be the remake of Yours, Mine and Ours. For that matter, don't be the original either."

– "I wish we were the black Von Trapps." (Gus on Rachael having more kids)

– "I don't want to be the black Von Trapps. I want to be I Am Legend, and that's the truth of the matter." (Gus, later)

– "Semantics." (Gus, a new twist on Shawn's "I've heard it both ways"

– "Chickens, son." (Gus)

– "Look at me, I seem like this great dad and whatnot. The truth is I abandoned my family. I'm a black stereotype." (Gus)

– "I smell something: battered. Fried. Sweet. SOPAPILLAS!" (Gus and Shawn after the Super Sniffer's positive ID)

– "I never say no to disco." (Henry at gunpoint)

– "Mexican Lassie. Way better than American Lassie, not unlike Coca-Cola."

– "I suppose you can also use them to carve animal flesh, especially if said animal is invading your home." (Lassie on his ninja throwing blades housewarming gift)

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The Voice S03E14: "The Battles Continue (Round 4)"

The Tuesday rounds always feel like an afterthought to the longer Monday-night rounds on The Voice. The continued reliance upon montages in place of battles because THE TEAMS ARE TOO DAMN BIG doesn't help.

This week, we missed out on Mycle Wastman versus Ben Taub, Adanna Duru versus Michele Brooks-Thompson, and Beat Frequency versus Laura Vivas. I was particularly disappointed by the decision not to show Beat Frequency's battle because I was anticipating what was sure to be an amazing trainwreck.

Instead, we got to see country singers Liz Davis and Nicole Johnson on country singer Blake Shelton's country-saturated team sing a country song by Blake's country-star wife, Miranda Lambert. I don't think it gets much more country (or dull) than that. Both contestants held their own. In the end, Blake went with Davis over Johnson due to her considerable experience.

Adam Levine had a similarly tough decision to make between Alessandra Guerico and Kayla Nevarez, who faced off on "Wide Awake" by Katy Perry. The formally trained Guerico struggled when Adam told her not to be so perfect and rigid. Kayla was pitchy. They pulled it together at showtime, though. Adam went with Kayla because he felt like Alessandra lacked confidence and she was visibly crushed until Christina swept in with a steal and a reference to her time on The Mickey Mouse Club. If you're playing the Christina Aguilera drinking game at home, feel free to take a sip.

In all seriousness, though, it was a good move for both Guerico and Team Christina. How did they not end up together in the first place?

And finally, Cee Lo Green paired country hopeful Emily Earle with cutie-pie MacKenzie Bourg. I just want to pinch his smiley dimples. AND AND AND according to his bio page over at The Voice he's a The Perks of Being a Wallflower fan, so, you know, we should be BFFs or something.

ANYWAY, Cee Lo set up both singers for the most awkward battle ever by giving them the Owl City tune "Good Time." Emily Earle immediately began to panic over leaving her comfort zone. MacKenzie Bourg struggled with figuring out what to do with his hands when Cee Lo took away his security blanket/ guitar. It was all good though. The smiley dimples prevailed.

Here's your round-up of the week's comings and goings!

Sticking Around:

Liz Davis (Team Blake)
Kayla Nevarez (Team Adam)
Mackenzie Bourg (Team Cee Lo)
Mycle Wastman (Team Cee Lo)
Michelle Brooks-Thompson (Team Adam)
Laura Vivas (Team Christina)

Going Home:

Nicole Johnson (Team Blake)
Ben Taub (Team Cee Lo)
Beat Frequency (Team Christina)
Adanna Duru (Team Adam)
Emily Earle (Team Cee Lo)

Steals:

Alessandra Guerico (Team Adam to Team Christina)

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Covert Affairs S03E08: "Glass Spider"

On the plus side, Annie and Auggie made some itty bitty progress toward being BFFs again and I was vindicated in my belief that Lena sucked. However, in the end, we were left with the small matter of Simon (probably) being dead and Annie in rough shape herself, so I'm going to declare "Glass Spider" a draw. It's a draw because it currently sucks to be Annie, but it's totally awesome to be Annie's TV series.

Auggie and Annie checked out Jai's secret evidence lair and Annie realized that he was investigating Simon. With Simon suddenly the most obvious candidate for potential assassin, all eyes turned to him and Annie stepped in to spill the beans about her vacay in Cuba and what all Simon did for TRUE LOVE. Arthur and Joan were understandably miffed about the whole thing. I was just happy to get through an entire episode without one of their tired old marital spats, even if the entire vibe at the CIA suddenly shifted to something resembling "Mommy and Daddy are mad because that darn Annie got caught making out with her sleezy boyfriend in the driveway after curfew again."

Annie claimed that she was cultivating Simon as an asset (lie) and that he was THIS close to joining Team USA (lie) and they should just trust her because she totally knew what she was doing. Basically, "Simon is sweet, mom! He's just flawed. But I can CHANGE him!"

Momma bear Joan sent Annie off to the mall with a CIA entourage and a warning about dealing with the fallout. Then she tracked down that terrible influence of a co-worker, Lena, for a grumpy reprimand.

Meanwhile, Arthur, despite his irritation at Auggie meeting with Henry Wilcox to glean more information about Jai, met with Henry himself. Henry made it clear that he knew more than he let on with Auggie, but really, we've all known that. That entire storyline is just an exercise in patience. I know we'll get there eventually. I mean, Lena was fairly obvious from the start too.

I honestly didn't think she would be THAT evil, though. Throw Annie under the bus when the mission with Simon fell apart? Sure. Maybe she'd even go as far as to ruin Annie's credibility herself for some to-be-determined reason. But I humbly say that I did not peg Lena as the type to totally waste Annie's charming spy boyfriend before taking Annie out as well. Well done, Covert Affairs. Well done.

For a brief period of about ten minutes, it looked like Annie and Simon would play out in the only way it really could if we wanted them to remain a viable couple. After killing his handler, Simon was cast out of his own spy club. He became the epitome of a rogue agent, forced to become entirely self-sufficient, with no country or agency willing to back him. Annie caught up with him at a busy D.C mall and pitched her deal: If he sided with the CIA, they could live happily ever after. Or something. I thought that was some fairly naive thinking on Annie's part, though given a choice between crossing her fingers and hoping it all worked out or standing aside and letting her agency hunt him down like a criminal, I can understand why she went with the sales pitch that she did. Also: nice touch, smashing Auggie's mic.

Annie confessed, "This may have started out as a mission, but it turned into something more."

Simon said TTYL and Annie went back to Langley to face the music and be grounded FOREVER. No cars, no fake passports, no jetsetting to exotic locales with her charming assassin boyfriend— GROUNDED. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, ANNIE WALKER?

She asked about sticking around Joan's division but Joan didn't seem to want her around anymore. She tracked down the shooter at the mall and connected him to Jai's murder, but he offed himself before anyone could take him into custody. (How rude!) Auggie was grumpy about the whole stomping-on-his-mic thing and finally asked Annie if she deliberately let Simon go after the botched mall mission and if she loved him. Cue the awkward silence.

But then, finally, and maybe a little bit predictably, Simon showed up at Casa Walker to rescue Annie from the repercussions of her actions. He painted a romantic picture of a life on the run, a life lived for "each other" rather than "other people" and Annie was totally down with it. She got right to packing: a handful of passports, a few wads of cash from a small contingent of nations, and a photograph of her and Danielle as kids.

It's ALWAYS the photographs, man. ALWAYS.

While it would be easy, romantic, and liberating to hit the road with Simon and spend the rest of her life hiding from their former employers (I guess?), Annie realized that, unlike Simon, who is truly an island unto himself, Annie has family, friends, connections that depend on her and care about her.

I pick on Danielle a lot because she's written as an annoying, clueless "outsider" who has no concept of what Annie does or how important it is but truth be told, I've kind of missed her since she moved across the country. The move was essential, though. By killing off Jai, by giving Auggie his own encompassing drama to deal with, by taking Annie out of the comfort zone of Joan's department and plunking her into Lena's very different environment, and by removing Danielle from the picture almost entirely, the Covert Affairs writers have effectively isolated Annie from her usual support systems. The Annie of Season 1 and Season 2 would have never even considered Simon's offer and by ultimately refusing to go with him, as hard as that may have been, is a return to herself for Annie.

Unfortunately, we will have to postpone our celebrations. Before Annie could even explain her change of heart to Simon, Lena stepped out of the shadows and efficiently shot both Simon and Annie.

Let the conspiracy theorizing begin!

1. I wouldn't be surprised if Lena was responsible for Jai's death. Would you?

2. But WHY?

3. If Lena was responsible for killing Jai and Jai was investigating Simon, do we think that Lena and Simon had a connection? If so, what was that connection?

4. So help me, if we find out that Lena and Simon were a thing and this was all some kind of scorned lover revenge quest and all of Lena's man-hating hilarity came from having her heart broken by Simon back in the day, I'll... I don't know. There's really nothing I CAN do. But I certainly won't be happy.

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