FTW vs. WTF: The TV Week in Review (November 2–8)

As a special congratulations to Oregon and Washington, D.C. for legalizing the recreational use of God's Grass on Tuesday (and joining the states of Washington and Colorado), you might find that this week's especially full FTW section of our weekly FTW vs. WTF roundup is a little heavy on 420-friendly cartoons and goofy sketch comedy. This is mostly a coincidence that we took advantage of, but if you want to point a finger at anyone, point it at the networks that just so happened to air such trippy programming in the same week that weed was on the ballot. We smell a conspiracy! A groovy, snacky, irie conspiracy. Anyway, here's what was dank and what was shwag about the last seven days in television...

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't finished watching this week's new episodes (of Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead, etc.), we suggest that you hold off on reading this story until you do.

FTW:

Doctor Who revives the Master! And he's a she!

Due to Doctor Who's Saturday-evening timeslot and the fact that BBC America isn't providing press screeners this season, our inclusions of the show in FTW vs. WTF are running a full a week behind. But OMG the show brought back the Master in "Dark Water" and it was actually very cool? The reveal that the character is now female felt a bit like the writers were trolling the fans who begged for a female Doctor, but we're still choosing to look at it as progress. Plus, the gender switcheroo makes for a very cool dynamic between the two longtime enemies. At the very least, the Master's return is a reminder that the rest of Time Lords are still out there somewhere, and it gives us hope that Doctor Who will soon shift its focus to more Gallifreyan topics.

FTW:

Election Day is over in the U.S., and that means the end of campaign ads

Voting is important and everything, but on the headless, rage-filled body of Spiro Agnew, we're glad the midterm elections are over. Watching even one more ridiculous attack ad or one more pandering spot featuring a candidate walking with his or her family and promising to "fix" things would've been the straw that forced us to break our TVs or Hulu (yep, the onslaught even made it to Hulu this year).

FTW:

Bob's Burgers' "Tina and the Real Ghost"

It's kinda crazy that the animated comedy's Halloween episode was only the second installment of the season so far, and it's simply unfortunate that it aired a couple days after Halloween due to baseball, but the sweet story of Tina's fantasy relationship with Jeff the Easy Breezy Shoebox Ghost more than made up for it. This show is so good, guys. Now Fox just needs bump Mulaney and give it a better timeslot!

FTW:

Carrie's plan goes up in smoke on Homeland

The Showtime drama is still trying to figure out what it is in the post-Brody world, but Sunday's "From A to B and Back Again" delivered a strong gut punch of a conclusion, featuring the death of Carrie's naive asset and recent lover Aayan at the hands of his terrorist uncle. With Carrie likely to crumble under some kind of emotional instability and Saul held captive by the same terrorist, it could be Peter Quinn Time, which is the best time.

FTW:

Nick Offerman helps John Oliver's friends shop at Home Depot

In response to recent news that Lowe's is replacing human sales clerks with robots, the host of HBO's Last Week Tonight filmed a fake Home Depot commercial to remind us that the best customer service comes from flesh-and-blood people, not Terminators-in-training that will eventually try to murder us in our sleep. Archer and Bob's Burgers' star H. Jon Benjamin and Go On's Sarah Baker played a bickering couple whose arguments could only be assuaged by the smooth stylings of a grinning real-life Ron Swanson, and the result was an all-around solid sketch.

FTW:

The Affair continues to screw with our heads

In the show's fourth episode, the detective questioning Noah and Alison told two very different stories about his personal life. To Noah, he said that he was divorced and rarely saw his sons, but to Alison, he said that he'd been happily married for 25 years. Is he a big fat liar, or are Noah and Alison being questioned at two separate times? We're having a hell of a time trying to keep The Affair's various stories straight, but it's making our brains hurt so good.

FTW:

The first promo for Archer Season 6

No dialogue necessary.

FTW:

Pigeon from Mike Tyson Mysteries

TV.com favorite Norm MacDonald is back on television—or at least his vocal chords are. He's currently providing the pipes for a cantankerous human who's been turned into a pigeon... and who helps Mike Tyson solve mysteries and punch things in Adult Swim's new throwback absurdity, which revolves around Tyson playing Scooby Doo with a bird, a ghost, and his adopted Asian daughter. So far, the bird is the best part; he drunkenly torments the uptight ghost (voiced by Community's Jim Rash), and in Episode 2, which aired Monday, he figured out that chess-champ machine Deep Blue was actually powered by the brain of Bobby Fischer, not IBM. We can't get enough.

FTW:

Sleepy Hollow humanized the Headless Horseman!

Silly demon pregnancies aside, Sleepy Hollow finally returned to its overarching storylines in "Deliverance," and it worked out quite well. But the most surprising part of the episode wasn't the ridiculous resolution to Katrina's pregnancy—it was that we actually felt things for Brom when he tried to save Katrina from Henry and the Hellfire Club. WHAT? Stop making us sympathize with villains, show!

FTW:

Jane the Virgin's Rogelio is the best

We love pretty much everything about Jane the Virgin, but Jane's father Rogelio, who's a huge telenovela star, might be our favorite. From the way that women (including Alba) swoon in his presence to his decision to spy on Jane from a distance and then to crash her trip to a bridal boutique after a crowd of fans chased him down, he's endlessly entertaining. And if you need more proof, just consider this exchange:

More screentime for this guy, stat!

FTW:

Marry Me finally delivers the episode we'd been hoping for

"Annicurser-Me" wasn't perfect, but after a string of disappointing outings to kick off creator David Caspe's follow-up to Happy Endings, it was good enough to keep us watching for a few more weeks. A bottle episode with fun flashback gags, it was the most creative and Community-esque installment of the promising sitcom to date. That's how you go from failing TV.com's 4-Episode Test™ to squeaking out a pass.

FTW:

Sons of Anarchy takes a hit in a big episode

It seems weird to label an episode that killed off dear old Bobby Munson as "FTW," but this is the biker drama's final season, and people are supposed to die. "What a Piece of Work Is Man" may not have been a heroic send-off for the Elvis impersonator, but Bobby's death appears to be the catalyst that Jax needs to realize his errant ways. Obviously it's too late and he's already driving a semi that's hurtling down the highway with its brakes cut, but if there's any hope of reconciliation for the guy, it starts now. Also, Chibs had sex with Sheriff Jarry on the hood of her car, Juice crammed something up his anus, and SAMCRO played dolls with a pair of corpses. Not bad for an hour's 90 minutes' work.

FTW:

Winston's home evaluation goes awry in the best New Girl episode in like, forever

The Fox comedy's fourth season has been a nice little return to form after a bumpy Season 3, but this week's episode? That sucker was on an entirely different plane of comedic existence. "Background Check" not only gave us Insane Nick and Insane Jess (a rare thing on the show these days), it also managed to remind us that amid all his quirks, Winston really wants direction in his life—as well as for his friends to take him seriously. We're not sure how "Winston Bishop, Cop" will play as a longterm story, but letting Winnie be a normal guy every once in a while is something New Girl needs. Plus: Jess shoved a bunch of meth aquarium rocks in her bra!

FTW:

Too Many Cooks may be the best thing Adult Swim has ever done—and the less we tell you about it, the better it'll be

Just trust us.

FTW:

Steven Universe has a super awkward meet-the-parents dinner

We love Connie and Steven as friends and possible young romantic partners, so Connie's parents demanding to met Steven's parents in "Fusion Cuisine" was pretty much the best thing ever—and in no small part because the Gems playing "nuclear family" roles fused all three of them into a giant, multi-armed, multi-mouthed creature. It was hilarious watching the evening play out, and rewarding watching Connie's parents realize that Steven's home life, while unconventional, is still grounded in his best interest.

FTW:

Dandy's American Psycho training montage on American Horror Story

If only it hadn't ultimately resulted in a dead hooker who looked a lot like Matt Bomer.

FTW:

The women on The 100 > the men on The 100

If you're still not watching The CW's best sci-fi drama, you're missing out on some truly amazing layered performances. The show's female characters in particular are some of the strongest we've seen on TV in awhile, and you better believe they don't need any of the show's men to save them (though that doesn't mean some of the guys aren't trying). From Clarke and Anya to Abby and Octavia, these ladies who know how to handle themselves even in the toughest situations. Wednesday's "Reapercussions" might've spent an awful lot of time on Kane's personal struggles regarding how to be a good leader, but Clarke and Anya's fluid allegiance stole the show.

FTW:

Cartoon Network goes Over the Garden Wall

Whimsical, imaginative, funny, and spooky, Cartoon Network's first miniseries spun a yarn about two brothers—one voiced by Elijah Wood—as they ventured through mysterious woods and met all manner of man and beast. At 11 minutes per segment, the 10-episode series flowed with the pace of old-time radio and came to life with gorgeous animation-influenced by The Wind in the Willows. But a unique mix of creepy atmosphere (Episode 2 recalled the original The Wicker Man, not the Nic Cage one) and absurdist humor made it the kind of compelling and unique television we couldn't stop watching.

FTW:

Parenthood is going to break us

Does anyone know the name of a good therapist? Because the show's ongoing storyline involving Joel and Julia's divorce refuses to listen to the Backstreet Boys and won't quit playing games with our hearts. Can we talk about that scene where Joel tried to break up with the Bravermans and say goodbye to Zeek? It was like Niagra Falls was pouring out of our eye sockets. At least Joel's not giving up without a fight—there might still be a happy ending to this after all. (Please, please, please let there be a happy ending.)

FTWTF:

Beth goes solo on The Walking Dead

At this point, any break from The Walking Dead's standard format is welcome, and "Slabtown" switched things up by giving Beth an hour to herself. She spent it creeping around a hospital with ulterior motives, and some of it was good—including the dumping of bodies in an elevator shaft and the slow reveal of her bad situation. But some of it was just a return to the same formulaic villain stuff of the past, and overall the hour splintered Season 5 into yet another storyline. However, the most FTWTF part of the whole experience was when "cop" Gorman shoved a lollipop into Beth's mouth and gave us all the heebie-jeebies. We feel violated for you, Beth!

WTF:

Felicity finally got some backstory in a lousy episode of Arrow

Ms. Smoak needed some history on Arrow, but it shouldn't have taken until Season 3 to get it, and it should've happened in a better episode. Felicity's interactions with her mother were wonderfully played by Emily Bett Rickards and guest-star Charlotte Ross, but everything else—the dead-but-not-dead ex-boyfriend, the computer virus, and the very poorly staged action sequences—made "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak" the first true dud of the season.

WTF:

New Girl cuts its title sequence in exchange for whatever this is

Yes, it's important to recognize Cece and Coach, but Is nothing sacred?!

WTF:

Even the merge can't get Survivor on track

Good news: The tribes merged on Survivor. Bad news: Most of the castaways are pretty bad at Survivor. This week's episode tried to push a Josh-Jeremy rivalry that could've been intriguing, but even that was derailed by Julie's unwillingness to continue playing the game once the tribe discovered that she'd been hoarding trail mix. Also, it rains out there, or something. Having someone quit right after the merge is kind of the perfect thing to happen to this relatively lame season.

What's on YOUR list of TV loves and hates this week? Hanging out at Capt. Holt's house and learning his middle name on Brooklyn Nine-Nine? Gotham's "they were working together the whole time!" reveal? The big start to White Collar's final season? Dr. Geena Davis's shocking secret on Grey's Anatomy? Damon's stalkerish tendencies on The Vampire Diaries? Share your own FTWs and WTFs in the comments!