“In The Meadow We Can Build A Snow Man”

So much for “safe guesses” - I was more than certain there would be a rerun of last season's “White Christmas” next Wednesday.

Nope – we're getting a repeat of “A Stereotypical Day” (and the beginning of Alex's mono battle) instead. And my TV listings show no other episodes airing through Christmas night. It looks like we're not going to get to hear Alex sing again after all (it looks like it isn't airing in syndication or on USA either).

Which brings us back to this week, and the final new episode of 2016, “Snow Ball”. I did see Christmas decorations in one scene in the promo, so it will be at least an unofficial holiday episode.

But there still was no sign of Alex – so do I have much hope for tonight?

Anticipation Level: Very Low. I almost bumped this up to “Low” because we won't get a new episode for at least three weeks (no word yet about whether that will be on 1/4 or 1/11). But even if I'm wrong about the likelihood of tonight being Alex-less, I still don't think she'll do much so I'm not really waiting with baited breath.

Emotional Moment Potential: Very Low. See above and below – if she's not there or barely there...

Chance Of An Alex-less Episode: Extremely High. For the first time in almost two years, I think it is more likely than not that we will not see Alex tonight. Now, if you want a piece of optimism in this category, I was wrong the last time I thought that (“Fight or Flight”), so my opinion that the chance is more than 50/50 doesn't necessarily portent doom. But as a whole, I'm not optimistic.

And oh, by the way, if you are holding out hope they wouldn't keep Alex out of the final episode before the holiday break, it has happened before: in both Season 2 (“Dance Dance Revelation") and Season 4 (“Diamond In The Rough”).

In Which Story Do I Want To See Alex Be A Part? None of them, really.

Are There Any Other Questions?

Is there even one bright spot? Well, Reuben wasn't on the guest character list, so at least he won't be trying to woo Alex again at the dance.

(But there's a flip side even to that: Dwight's not on the guest list either – it would have been interesting to see Alex and Dwight on a sort of date.)

I'll be back tonight one way or the other (either a recap or a rant), sooner if something strange comes up.