a) Criminal Minds--sadder than I thought I'd feel, even when the end game became obvious
b) CSI--why am I still watching this? I mean, it's not bad like it's been, but what's good about it?
c) Southland--wait, where did all that come from? The gay cop wants a kid, the Latino cop is a massive liar, Shaq is on the force, Regina's partner doesn't want to do the right thing, and OC cop is suddenly chilling on the dark side? That felt like a lot of motion for one episode.

"Hey, it's that guy" sighting: Lester Freamon just popped up in an old episode of Waking the Dead. (Multistorey, the first ep of Season 3. Good ep so far, lots of team dysfunction and cranky Boyd.) Interesting, Freamon (well, Clarke Peters) has done a lot of work in the UK, including playing an African dictator on The Professionals back in '83.

I guess I really don't need canon to be canon, because I like the way they brought in Mrs. Hudson in Elementary. (Also? Aidan Quinn? Still yummy.)

The actress who plays Ms. Hudson is gorgeous. I really liked how her trans-ness wasn't the primary focus of her story.

Sherlock throwing a tantrum in the snow plow about how they don't know what they're going to find and that's why it's an ADVENTURE! like a 6 year-old = way cuter than it had any right to be.

I continue to love the way this show does slow-building character work.

Bt, I think he has lived there most of his working life, I think as an expat, but since I found out Idris Elba's a Brit, I haven't been entirely sure.

The actress who plays Ms. Hudson is gorgeous.

She was fantastic on Dirty Sexy Money.

CSI--why am I still watching this? I mean, it's not bad like it's been, but what's good about it?

I feel like I'm asking myself that every week. It seemed like it was gonna get good again for a little while there, but I don't think that's actually going to happen. Or, what I think is good and what the show thinks is good are not coinciding, more like. And yet, still watching. Intermittent rewards are a bitch, man.

Intermittent rewards are a bitch, man.

Seriously. I remember Kat describing them as the best way to train children, counter-intuitive as that might seem. I feel...played.

But what I am sure about is that when I have piles of episodes to watch, and there's Elementary in the heap, that's currently what I go for first. Canonicity aside, I think it's one of my favourite procedurals right now.

That's probably true for me, too. Well, Castle gets watched first, then Elementary. Does Psych count as a procedural? It's up there. Some of that is what night they air, also, I think. With all of those, though, I'm no super attached to the proceduralness of the show as much as I like the characters.

I've had a lot of episodes pile up recently so I've been paying attention to what I want to catch up on first in hopes that I can maybe winnow some of the shows I don't so much like anymore out completely, hard as I find that to do. March Madness is giving me opportunity to catch up, so we'll see how this plays out.

Castle I never watch for the mystery, Psych I watch for Gus, but Elementary is probably filling the procedural slot the best, because I like that and the characters (watching Watson work stuff out gets me all choked up...).

I did finally ditch Vampire Diaries and 90210, and I realise I don't even remember if I ditched CSI: NY...well, if I haven't, I should, huh? I'll give Las Vegas till the end of the season.