“Banished...Banished...Forever”

OK, Alex was not banished forever but for only this week (for now), but it is still Halloween in some places.   So, I figured if there was no Alex, at least I could bring Ariel into the picture with a line from her song which at least sounds like a Halloween thing.

It beats saying “Bah Humbug”, and, despite tonight being another Alex-less episode, it was funny enough to deserve better.

On to next week, I guess.

“It's The (Third) Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”

Yep, Halloween is the third most wonderful time of the year.  Christmas is the second most wonderful time of the year.  Every other time of the year is tied for first.


OK, that's mostly my retail cynicism rearing its ugly head (as far as Christmas is concerned, anyway), but I really stopped enjoying Halloween many years ago, between not being allowed to trick or treat after I turned 10, and more than one bus ride at night coming home from work where said bus got egged.  I'm not quite at Cam's earlier level of hating/fearing the holiday (he does seem to have gotten over that over the years), but I do hate it.

So, now that that rant is over, let's get on with a more topical rant – what do I think about tonight's “On The Same Paige”?  Will Alex even be in the same library?

“At Least I Can Say That I Tried” (“Good Grief” Recap)

This morning I wondered why they'd do the death episode for Halloween.   After seeing it, I still wonder why.  Light-hearted comedy and sad stories don't mix too well – they tried too hard to be both.  I think this really should have been a stand-alone episode.

“Do You Like Shakespeare?”

Tonight's “Good Grief” might end up being one of the most talked about episodes of the season, what with some big news (possibly the death of someone that affects the whole family) being revealed.

And Alex's boyfriend Bill is there.  Will it live up to the expectations, or will it be “Much Ado About Nothing”?

"Just For Fun He Says, 'Get A Job'" (First Impressions - "Did The Chicken Cross The Road?" - Season 10, Episode 7)

Well, if I was surprised that next week will feature a new episode (instead of a rerun), I'm even more surprised we will have a seventh straight new episode on November 7th, as I was expecting the usual pre-emption for one of those music award shows that litter the airwaves around the turn of a new year.  But, it turns out, that show isn't happening until the following week (on the 14th), so we do get a new episode to start the month after all.

And, it's actually going to be a pretty significant one for Alex:

“Loving You Both Is Breaking All The Rules”

One door closes, another door opens.  Unless you are Alex, in which case you end up figuratively running into the door that Haley closed.   In other words, it looks like I was right about this being the last we see of Arvin.

Yeah, my metaphors suck.  At least I'm not using an unlit cigarette.

(Actually, Gus's metaphor was brilliant – too bad it didn't help him in the end.)

That's about all I've got to say about Alex-less Episode #25.

I was hoping we'd see a commercial for next week, but no go on that either.  I guess we'll be kept in suspense for a while longer.

“Couldn't Really Blame You, If You Turned And Walked Away”

Given as I said before how “Torn Between Two Lovers” is one of my all-time favorite songs¹, I wish I could be more excited about tonight's episode with the same title.  But I can't, at least as far as Alex is concerned.

"In My Book Of Dreams" (First Impressions - "On The Same Paige" - Season 10, Episode 6)

I'm surprised we're actually getting a new episode on Halloween night - I figured since this season's Halloween episode is next week, they'd just plug in a re-run for the actual night (either this season's opener or last season's quasi-Halloween episode). 

Actually there's still a small chance this episode might get pushed back - if the World Series goes to a seventh game, it would be played that night.  Last year, unlike other networks, ABC didn't make a last-minute switch-out when last year's World Series went to Game 7, but who knows what they'll do if it happens again this year.

“Sing For The Laughter, Sing For the Tear” (“A Sketchy Area” Recap)

For a while, I was beginning to think that one scene they showed between Alex and Gloria was going to be the only time that story would even be mentioned.  Then, at least they got back to it at the end.

“Hoping That The Answer Will Come Down”

When yesterday started, I was pretty much expecting this pre-show post for tonight's “A Sketchy Area” to be full of doom and gloom, with the main talking point being how big a chance it would be that it would be the first Alex-less episode of the season¹.

And then this happened:

"My Love For You's A Tragedy(?)" (First Impressions - "Good Grief" - Season 10, Episode 5)

When I first saw the  press release for the (previously mentioned) Halloween episode, I thought, OK, nothing new added, so not much news, right?

And then...

“Staring At The Blank Page Before You” (“Kiss And Tell” Recap)

I feel like I should have more to say than what you're going to see here, because it felt like there were a lot of bad optics for Alex (odd considering how little she actually had to do tonight), but I'm having a really bad case of writer's block.

“Hope My Boyfriend Don't Mind It”

Whatever microscopic chance of an Alex-less episode there might have been is no more, as Alex was in the promo commercial for tonight's “Kiss And Tell”¹, albeit it was a blink and you'll miss it moment again.   Foreshadowing the rest of the episode, anyone?

"There's Just This Empty Place Inside Of Me" (First Impressions - "Torn Between Two Lovers" - Season 10, Episode 4)

As soon as I saw the title for this episode, which also happens to be the title of one of my all-time favorite songs (not that I've ever had to deal with that - I've never even reached one), I pretty much knew Alex would once again be left out in the cold (she's only fared slightly better than me).  And, sure enough, the press release confirmed that (not surprisingly given the title Haley is the focus, again).

Actually it bugs me more that Manny has another story (he has one this week as well).  Nothing against Manny, but unless there is a surprise somewhere in the next three weeks, Haley, Luke and Manny will all have two or three stories each in the first month, while Alex probably won't have had much of anything (maybe being generous and counting last week as a third of a story?).  At the rate we're going, Lily and Joe will probably get stories before Alex, too.

I know that sounds like nothing new, but with time probably running out on the show as a whole...