Here’s a look back at the best and worst of TV in the past week (Feb. 20-26), and a peek at what’s coming up. Warning, “Damages” spoilers ahead.

Highlights

Joe might actually be worse than his dad. (FX photo)

Joe might actually be worse than his dad. (FX photo)

1. “Damages” (FX). So much to love: Joe Tobin becoming an evil SOB and threatening to crush Danielle Marchetti, Leonard the Lawyer’s creepy “Can I just lay my head in your lap” deal with the hooker, the images of Tom being stabbed before he drowns (contrary to the police report; maybe he was drowned in a toilet or something?), Patty’s powers of persuasion in getting Danielle to plead the Fifth, the mysterious Zedeck, and Carol Tobin’s shocking turn at handling the Danielle situation once and for all (and apparently beating  Zedeck’s black-gloved henchman to the punch). So many twists, such great acting — this is the best drama on TV, period.

2. “Lost” (ABC). My little brain can barely handle the dump truck-full of information this show delivers every week. I’m not even going to try to come up with a unifying theory on what’s going on and where it’s going, I’m just sitting back and enjoying the ride. And noting the many, many clues the writers are dropping. Among them: Does Jack’s son, David, attend the same school that Ben and Locke teach at? Who’s coming to the island? Widmore? Farraday? Walt? Desmond? And wait a sec: How long has Dogen been on the island — how could he be in L.A. in the parallel world if he had blown up on the island in 1977? He must’ve arrived later, right? And now there’s the Psalm connection. Get this: Jack Shephard’s number is 23. Psalm 23 is “The Lord is My Shepherd.” Jacob told Hurley to point the compass to 108 degrees. Psalm 108 is the Psalm of David (Jack’s son?) Chew on that for a while.

3. “Amazing Race” (CBS). The Cowboys may be yokels, but they’re smart and fun yokels who almost single-handedly made this a great episode. (Their cowboy uniform just kills me, I love it. Can they really run the entire race in big hats, collared shirts, jeans and boots?) Their idea of finding connecting buses was brilliant, and one I wish more

Um, Grandma, you might want to move your head. (CBS photo)

Um, Grandma, you might want to move your head. (CBS photo)

teams would think of more often. It was so, so sweet watching the Coalition of the Stupid (Brent & Caite and Jordan & Jeff) miss not one but two buses due to disastrous decision-making (too bad their lead was so wide, I can’t wait for both teams to be gone). The Detectives (who haven’t been too observant) caught a huge break in passing Grandma and Granddaughter. I want to like them, but they really need to pick it up or they won’t be long for this race. And the one thing we all learned from this episode: Don’t mess with Chilean cows. Man, they were ornery. (And poopy — how hilarious were the blurred-out, ah, excretions?) The insurance department at CBS corporate headquarters must’ve freaked when they saw all the racers getting kicked. Luckily Grandma had a thick skull. (BTW, why were Jody & Shannon so far behind? It seemed like they just got a late bus and didn’t bother looking for an earlier one. Their lack of urgency bugged me. It’s a raaaaace!) Gorgeous scenery too, that solidified southern Chile’s ranking on my list of places I have to visit someday.

Lowlights

1. NBC tape-delaying USA-Switzerland hockey on the West Coast. That was just inane. The primetime taping, I can understand. I hate it, but I get that they want to draw the biggest possible audience. But is there really a bigger audience for hockey at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday than at noon? I followed it live on ESPN.com and didn’t bother watching the game when it finally aired. I’m sure a lot of other would-be viewers did too. Brilliant plan, NBC.

2. “The Bachelor: The Women Tell All” (ABC). Two hours of nothing. Talk about a waste. The one highlight was disgraced and cornered bachelorette Rozlyn baring her claws and insinuating that host Chris Harrison hit on her producer/boytoy’s wife in New Zealand a while back. Just tacky all around.

3. There is no third. I guess one of the benefits of moving was not having enough time to watch  crappy shows.

Looking forward to . . .

1. “Burn Notice” (10 p.m. Thursday, USA). The season finale, and after this week’s episode’s semi-shocking ending, I’m dying to know who this “Simon” is. Looks like John Mahoney makes a reappearance as “Management,” which can’t be good news for Michael. Will he have to go back under government protection?

2. “Lost” (9 p.m. Tuesday, ABC). The previews made it look like we get a revelation or two. Hmmm, we’ll see. It appears to be a Sayid-heavy episode, which bodes well.

3. “Parenthood” (10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC). I’m completely sick of the commercials for it that have run throughout the Olympics, and honestly, they haven’t made the series look particularly compelling. But it’s actually getting really good reviews, and with the pedigree it has — the producer of “Friday Night Lights” plus a cast featuring Peter Krause, Lauren Graham and Craig T. Nelson — there’s no excuse for it to be anything but great.

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