Desperate Housewives - How About a Friendly Shrink? - 6.13

Lynette balks at the idea of seeing a couples' therapist. In the meantime, Katherine is seeing her own psychiatrist, whereas Gabrielle and Susan are determined to find out which of if their kids are in the smartest math group at school, Orson makes life harder for Bree and Angie disapproves of Danny's new girlfriend.

When Tom learns that Bob and Lee are seeing a counsellor, he proposes going to one with Lynette, but she persists therapy is for "losers". Tom starts seeing a therapist on his own and keeping a "feelings" journal, which he will not let Lynette read. Furiously, she visits the therapist, to defend herself from what she's sure is Tom's unkind remarks. She confesses she gets angry when she is not in control. When Dr. Graham compares this to the need of control Lynette felt in losing her baby, Lynette unwillingly sits down on the couch. Later, when Tom returns from work, Lynette notifies him they will be going to therapy together.

Restricted to a wheelchair, Orson persists to order Bree around at his impulse and declines to let her give him a bath. When Orson declines to say please while Bree brings him breakfast, she places the waffles on a shelf he cannot reach. When the physical therapist arrives, he pretends to be starving and abused. The therapist tells Bree she must be more patient, or she will be reported. Later, when Orson still declines to be bathed, Bree takes him outside and sprays him with the garden hose until he pleads her to stop. He breaks down and confesses he is unhappy at the potential of a life in which he requires to ask for help in everything. Bree finally understands, and asks Orson for forgiveness.

The Oakridge students are positioned into learning groups named after animals. Gabrielle at first suspects her daughter Juanita, who is in the Leopards, is among the slow group, whereas Susan is pleased that her son M.J. is in the Giraffes, which she considers are advanced. This leads to competitive behavior between the two ladies. Finally, by taking pictures of different students' homework and studying them, Gabrielle become conscious the Leopards are actually advanced and the Giraffes are slow. When Susan realizes this, she confronts a teacher in public, and the secret code of the animal groups becomes widespread. While Susan and Gabrielle wait to talk to the principal, they both admit they got carried away and admit fears that they are letting their kids down.

Angie takes an immediate dislike to her son Danny's new girlfriend, Ana; who she fears is too high-spirited and not serious enough. However, Danny feels relaxed talking to Ana, who seems to comprehend what he has been through. Ana guarantees Angie she is not going anywhere. Meanwhile, Katherine talks to her psychiatrist at a mental clinic. She says the medicine is working, but she now understands the person she has become and how much she has hurt her neighbors and friends. Karen visits her and asks her to come back to Wisteria Lane, but Katherine says she will not come back because she does not feel she will be forgiven. Later, Karen returns with Bree, Lynette, Gabrielle and Susan, who comfort Katherine and say they will try to forgive her.

Gossip Girl - "The Unblairable Lightness of Being" - 3.18

Chuck offers to throw a wedding for a very pregnant Dorota who insists that she and Vanya have a traditional wedding before her parents arrive from Poland and find their daughter pregnant and without a husband. Dorota asks Blair and Chuck to be part of the ceremony and walk her down the aisle. Serena tells Nate she is having breakfast with the Humphreys when in reality she's secretly meeting up with Carter Baizen. Rufus discovers that Lily has been lying to him about her whereabouts.

Dorota and Vanya's wedding was the perfect backdrop for a chaotic night. Sure, Chuck made a kind gesture by giving Dorota and Vanya the wedding they deserved, but as Blair said herself, it was for ulterior motives. But to what cost? Chuck still couldn't come to terms that he screwed up big time in his and Blair's relationship. He cared more about his precious empire rather the pure love that Blair had for him. Seeing Blair be basically indiscriminate when it came to what was right for Chuck instead of what Chuck wanted was worrying for a while. She rightfully broke up with Chuck so she can see clearly that they both need to revaluate what the hell is going on with their relationship.

Vanya and Dorota have been the same all through and know that true love can come from the simplest things. Like that apartment Cyrus bought for the happy family in Queens. In the end, Vanya and Dorota's simplicity correlates with what Chuck and Blair need: no games, no masks, just plain, simple love.

When Carter Baisden showed his face again, Serena faced down Carter and apparently was over him despite her excruciating quest to save his soul earlier this year. So here comes Little J ready to wreck hell on the happiness of Nate and Serena, associating things that she has no clue about whatsoever. When all is revealed, Jenny will look like a bigger fool than she already does.

When Serena found a clue about her father this year, Lily was either there or two steps behind or forward. So one has to wonder what in the hell could Lily be trying to achieve with William Van Der Woodsen? Why has Lily seen a man who has been only vaguely mentioned in the three years of Gossip Girl's history?

Vampire Diaries – “Miss Mystic Falls” 1.19

At the Founder's Day Gala, Elena and Caroline compete for the title of "Miss Mystic Falls" against other girls from town. Elena is happy to have Bonnie back in town, but Bonnie still has issues to work through. John Gilbert attempts to intimidate Damon. Damon discovers that Stefan is hiding a dangerous secret that could impact everyone in town.

Damon discovered Stefan’s deceit about drinking blood very easily, and realized the threat it posed to their cover. So he told Elena, knowing she would help him get his brother under control. He perfectly covered his motives with Jon, saying he’d only been agreeable to the blackmailed assistance because he thought they could help him find Katherine, which Jon bought hook, line, and sinker. And he manipulated Anna and Pearl into giving him exactly what he wanted: the artifact from Jonathan Gilbert, senior, which Pearl gave him as an apology for what her coven did to Stefan.

I guess I was wrong on Anna giving Jeremy hell as a woman scorned. They made up when he confronted her about the plan to use Gilbert blood to open the tomb, which meant they had both been using each other and either they had both really developed warmer feelings or neither had. But they both did, so now they’re friends again, possibly on the road to being more again, and totally sweet together.

Damon became Elena’s escort at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant like he’d been the one all along. There were some intense looks between Elena and Damon during that dance. After the pageant was over he was right onto his brother and, while not in time to stop Stefan from attacking a girl, was there in time to stop him from killing her and to cover up Stefan’s involvement with the sheriff. And then he came up with the enforced detox padded-cell for his brother.

One of my favorite angles for this episode was the notion of consequences. Bonnie came back and wouldn’t talk to Elena, and finally admitted that she blames Damon and Stefan for her grandmother’s death and that, rather than making Elena choose, she is choosing. This (losing Bonnie) is really the first real consequence to Elena, other than a sense of guilt, for her relationships with Stefan and Damon. Stefan’s addiction is both the consequence of a sum of actions—his lifelong adherence to feeding on animals, his kidnapping, Elena’s love for him and need to save him—and the genitor of other consequences, specifically his nearly killing a human girl, surely the most horrific of actions for him.
Should be interesting to see what shakes down from the Jon Gilbert situation, Stefan’s rehab, Bonnie’s new ability to control vampire minds for at least a little bit, and the new alliance between Damon and Pearl…

Desperate Housewives - 'You Gotta Get a Gimmick'

Susan turns up the heat for Mike while Bree learns that it won't be easy to take back the hurt she's caused Orson. Meanwhile, Lynette uncovers the true intentions Tom has, while Gaby is forced to examine the feelings she's suppressed about her heritage.

Following last week's death of her ex-husband Karl, Susan attends the reading of his will and ends up with his secret business — a strip joint named Double D. She investigates it, and upon talking to a dancer named Destiny, Susan discovers that Mike utilizes the place (to do their plumbing, he says). She gets on Mike's case, and he lashes back, telling her she can't tell him what to do. To prove a point, Susan gets on the pole herself and strips - Mike promises to never go back.

Gaby and Carlos are trying to get Juanita into an elite private school, but the head of the program only seems to be interested in their daughter for her Mexican heritage. However, Juanita doesn't even realise that she is Mexican. Gaby and Carlos begin to question whether they've disadvantaged their daughter of their cultural background, so when she gets in, Carlos wants her to attend a school in a more Hispanic area instead. Gaby raises a fuss because she's embarrassed of her past growing up Mexican and poor, but eventually they decide to tell Juanita about their history.

Lynette doesn't want to allow herself any time to grieve after the death of one of her twins. When Tom offers to step in for her at work until she recovers, she instantly feels threatened of being replaced at her job. Carlos tells her that Tom recommended that she might want to stay at home with the new baby. Lynette faces Tom, and he tells her that he thought she'd want to spend time with this new child given all that she's gone through. Lynette is falling apart, but it's clear that Tom is also having a hard time.

Bree admits to her church minister that she had an affair with Karl, and he suggests that she try reparation of sorts by caring for a now handicapped Orson. Just one thing: Orson doesn't want her back anymore. Bree tries to plea to him, but when he won't listen, she takes him back by force — right out of the McCluskeys' home, where he was planning on staying. Orson finally agrees to stick with Bree, but he asks her to wait on him hand and foot.

Ana confesses to Julie that she has the hots for Danny, so Julie suggests that they all go to a comic open mic night for Eddie. Ana seizes the chance to come on to Danny; he responds by saying she's too conceited, and she bites back by bringing up his suicide attempt.

Grey's Anatomy - Episode 6.14 - "Valentine's Day Massacre"

It's Valentine's Day, and the doctors must treat dozens of injured people after the roof collapses at a popular romantic restaurant; Derek tries to manage his busy schedule as Chief of Surgery; Meredith wrestles with her new duties as the Chief's wife; and Mark and Callie team up to convince Sloan to do the right thing for her baby.

The opening starts off with new best mates Derek and Owen who plan to take their ladies out for Valentine's Day, except they aren't having it. "We don't DO Valentine's Day!". And to their delight, a massive trauma leads to the guys getting paged and they have to head back to the hospital. There's been a roof collapse at one of Seattle's most famous restaurants on Valentine's Day.

Three of the victims of the roof collapse are Mrs. Banks, her husband, and the maitre'd, Emile (who has been silently loving Mrs. Banks from afar for fifteen years). Meredith and Alex get sucked into this unfolding drama, but later she has an illuminating conversation with Mrs. Banks who, as it turns out, has a strong marriage despite Emile's perceptions. "I made a choice," she tells Mer. "...and I keep making it every day. That's what marriage is." And that's when Meredith realises she needs to attend the brunch she's been avoiding. She needs to be Derek's wife. It doesn't make her any less of a surgeon. But in that moment, he needs her to be his wife.

Meanwhile, all around the hospital, characters are reinventing themselves. Derek is struggling to be the chief of surgery at the cost of actually being a surgeon. Miranda is trying to deal with anesthesiologist, Ben, and ends up agreeing to go out with him. Lexie's become a blonde, but Jackson helps her to see that that's only an external change and that true change comes from purposeful, internal choices. Mark is trying to complete his change from shallow pretty-boy to responsible grandfather, only to be shattered when daughter Sloan takes off after making the decision to give her baby up for adoption - good thing Callie is there to help him pick up the pieces. And Teddy understands that the end result of her unfortunate attempts to admit her never-ending love to Owen has led to the breakdown of their friendship. So she changes course, offering to be Owen's friend and Cristina's teacher. But can she undo what's been done? Can she "unring the bell?" And as a final note, how cute are Owen and Cristina? Arm-in-arm at the end of the day, he's fine with her being called into surgery with Teddy (lesson learned from last week) saying: I'll see you at home.

In her closing voiceover, Meredith touches again on the choices we make. How we change. How we adapt. Life is change. Life is adaptation. Life is reinvention. Because we are either moving forward or we are moving backward. There is no standing still.

Preview of next episode: Grey's Anatomy 6.15 "The Time Warp"