Tell-Tale TV Picks of the Week: Shocking Scenes From The Walking Dead and Once Upon a Time

This week on TV, Joe came clean to Iris about the truth about her mother on The Flash. Blindspot’s Jane Doe remembered where she went after being taken, while Arrow’s Sara was resurrected by the waters of the Lazarus Pit. Santánico and Richie fought to get what they wanted on From Dusk Till Dawn, and Arthur showed how far he went to get everything he desired on Once Upon a Time.

Here’s what our writers loved and hated about this week in television:

Best moment

Lyra: Father/daughter moment between Iris and Joe on The Flash. I didn’t’ see this coming. I expected them to drag it out for long grueling episodes where you’d want to jump into the screen and tell Iris yourself. Instead of doing that we get Joe sitting at the dining table with a tumbler of scotch in one hand and a family album in the other when Iris comes home. He’s been preparing to tell her for hours (we all know it) and he’s so scared as he tells her everything. He tells her all the things he’s hid from her and why. How he was trying to protect her and how sorry he is for hiding the truth. Again I expected Iris to freak out because that’s what happens in most shows right? Wrong! Iris understands. She takes her father’s hand and doesn’t let him feel the pain of this alone. They are a united front! (*sniff* Someone hand me a tissue.)

Lizzie: I want to disagree with Lyra, but I can’t. The Flash really did feature the best moment of the week. Joe has gotten a lot of chances to play caring father, but most of them have been with Barry. To see him finally trusting his daughter, allowing her to make up her own mind is beautiful. And when Jesse L. Martin breaks down and cries, at the end of that scene, well, I cried too. I did.

Christine: I’m going with the moment that made me laugh the hardest this week, and that was Jane the Virgin. While new mom Jane stands at the sink, covered in spit up and weird food stains, her family looks on trying to figure out when her last shower was. So funny, and so very true to life. I’m a fairly new mom, and I can totally relate!

Allison: Peyton remembering Liv’s birthday on iZombie. Liv’s reaction to seeing a birthday cake in her fridge was heartbreaking. YOU ARE LOVED, OLIVIA MOORE! There’s still hope for their friendship! It’s hard to tell where Peyton’s mindset is at on the whole zombie issue, but the cake definitely seemed to be gesture of peace. I’ve really missed Peyton and Liv’s friendship, and I need them to make up ASAP.

Caralynn: The musical numbers on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. There were two of them and I loved both — Valencia’s “I’m So Good At Yoga” song and Rebecca’s “Feelin’ Kinda Naughty Tonight” killed me. The show is so damn clever and Rachel Bloom is SUCH a talented comedy writer. And the songs themselves are catchy as hell!

Most shocking scene

Lyra: Carol from The Walking Dead taking charge and killing every invader in Alexandria. For anyone that doubted Carol’s status as a BAMF, this episode is for you! When everything hits the fan she takes charge and slams into the Wolves head first. She takes them down in her flower power housewife outfit and then switches gears by camouflaging herself in the Wolves outfit. Morgan and his “moral compass” can’t even get in her way when it comes to protecting Alexandria. Hell even the preacher is pushed to the side and left to take care of himself. Carol’s got this.

Lizzie: Arthur, using the magical dust thingie to enchant Guinevere on Once Upon a Time. I didn’t think Arthur was a good guy, but I didn’t think he was this bad either. Like, I seriously thought he was just one of those “the end justifies the means” type of guys. And yet, it turns out he’s not. He’s evil incarnate. Tricking your wife to get her to stay by your side? That’s low. Low.

Christine: Agree with Lizzie on this one! Once Upon a Time is really making Arthur out to be a real jerk. It’s an interesting twist on the classic story, that Arthur only had the love and loyalty of Camelot because of the magic dust. I’m on board with it!

Allison: Carlos shooting Kate on From Dusk Till Dawn. If she dies, I’m going to riot. She can’t die! I mean Seth still owes her a toaster!  All Kate wants to do is do what’s best for Scott, and that has led her to do some dark and questionable things. She killed an innocent. She betrayed Freddie. Kate’s motives are pure, and she got caught up in the power struggle between Richie and Carlos.

Caralynn: Gretchen’s breakdown on You’re the Worst. Holy hell, the show just absolutely nailed their portrayal of mental illness. It was incredible how the episode managed to be simultaneously one of the funniest episodes and one of the most genuinely emotionally moving at the same time. Aya Cash KILLED that scene, as did all of the other cast members with their characters’ reactions to Gretchen’s alcohol- and depression-induced tirade.

Storyline we could’ve done without

Lyra: Harrison Wells return on The Flash. I know I’m bringing up the same show again but I just had too. How is he back?! I thought we were done with him and his bag full of crazy. I thought the glimpse we got of him on Earth 2 was strictly going to stay in that verse. How wrong I was. Harrison is back and he’s sure to tear open old wounds for Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Iris and Joe. Next episodes going to be real fun…(insert sarcasm here.)

Lizzie: Sara coming back to life, on Arrow. Look, I love Sara. I thought killing her was a mistake. Bringing her back THIS WAY? Also a mistake, because the writers have completely destroyed Laurel to bring back Sara. Laurel was never one my faves, but I wasn’t one of those people who spent every second she was on screen thinking, ugh, Laurel. Now? Ugh, Laurel. UGH.

Christine: Lizzie is in my brain. Yes. Laurel was also my favorite character, and in resurrecting Sara on Arrow, they’re running her into the ground. We know that Sara is going to Legends of Tomorrow, so I’d like to believe we won’t have to deal with it for very long, but you just never know with these shows and how their timelines will line up! Also, quite honestly, I’m just sick of getting jerked around with Sara. She’s alive, she’s dead, she’s alive, she’s dead. Just stick with one, please, for the love of God.

Allison: 90% of the Camelot stuff on Once Upon a Time. I know that we needed some of it to show how twisted Arthur is, and how everything he has is from the dust. However, it didn’t need to be most of the episode. I was so bored. The legend of Arthur and Camelot doesn’t interest me. What does is our core cast. I thought we learned this lesson with the Frozen storyline last season.

Caralynn: Same as last week, I am still despising Hunter’s HYDRA infiltration storyline on Agents of SHIELD. Luckily, that seems to be over this week now that he ended up coming face to face with Ward much sooner than he expected and got May’s ex Andrew killed doing it. UGH Hunter. Just ugh. What a stupid. Always listen to May!!

Character of the week

Lyra: Arthur from Once Upon a Time. Every single time that man walked into a room Taylor Swift’s “Trouble” started playing in my head. There was just something about him. Something that grated on my nerves and shouted, “HE’S EVIL!” Taylor Swift and my gut were right. Arthur is evil. With that perfectly coiffed hair and beard, he set his will across an entire kingdom and his own wife. Why you ask? For a stupid sword. For his “birthright.” (insert eyeroll here.)

Lizzie: Felicity Smoak, from Arrow. She took down a meta ALL BY HERSELF. First she hit him where it hurts the most, and when that didn’t work, she just shot at him with the biggest gun she could find. Oh, and she yelled Oliver and Diggle into submission. She gets at least half the credit for them removing their heads out of their own asses. Felicity kicked ass this week, and she looked fabulous while doing it.

Christine: Rebecca, on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She’s managing to be completely insane and still make me for empathy for her. Her actions end up reminding me of myself when I fall down the rabbit hole looking up old friends on Facebook. (Though, I’d NEVER go to the crazy lengths that she does.) Rebecca is funny and smart, and I can’t believe that this show, with a title that basically screams for a feminist argument, manages to still empower their females. It’s all because of Rebecca. If that character was even a little out of balance, it would make the entire show falter. Good for me, it’s not looking like it will ever happen. Rebecca is perfectly imperfect.

Allison: Seth Gecko from From Dusk Till Dawn. He shocked me by actually helping Santánico. He has hated her up until an episode or two ago. To Seth, she is the person who took Richie away from him and turned Richie into a monster. There wasn’t a begrudging respect for her or anything. No, Seth completely hated her. Even though Seth was about to make off with millions, he answered her call and helped her out. I loved, loved, loved this moment. I want to see more of Seth and Santánico working together.

Caralynn: Chad Radwell on Scream Queens. Everything he says is a gem. I can’t get over how much I love Glen Powell’s portrayal of that affable, self-obsessed buffoon. His whole spiel letting Hester down “easy” (where he compares her “muffin” to Space Mountain at Disney Land…) was just hilarious.

What did you think of TV this week? Share your thoughts in a comment below.