New fall season: The good, eh and ugly

Last week was the first full week of the new television season.

And as a dedicated journalist, I sat through hours and hours of television to sort of the best from the rest.

And, boy, the rest was really unimpressed.

The Good:

Monday - "Castle" returned for a second season and hit another one out of the park. Not only did it continue the story from last season, but resolved it by the end of the episode. It also gave one of the best mysteries of the week which had me guessing until the end. More people should be watching, and loving, this show. 9 p.m. ABC.

Thursday - "Fringe" actually aired its second episode this week and it was just as good as the season opener. This one dealt with a scorpion-mole-man creature that pulled people underground to kill and eat them. There was even a point at the end that made me almost jump off the couch screaming like a little girl. For that, they win.

Friday - "Dollhouse" came back with a vengeance (in the Friday night death slot) with a great new episode. Like with "Castle" we got more from the stories left over from last season. Amy Acker got a wonderful chance to shine and was amazing. She deserves an Emmy for this episode. We were also introduced to what could be the "big bad" this season in Alexis Denisof playing a United States Senator looking to take down the Dollhouse(s).

The "EH" (Not bad, but not great either) -

"Law and Order: SVU" - Started out great with guest star Wentworth Miller, but lost steam when characters started acting stupid. The cop is crazy the whole episode, beating people up, acting weird, but you let him take a little girl alone, then escort the serial killer alone to the bathroom? Come on.

"The Office" - Last week I told Stephanie that the show seemed repetitive to me. Like they recycled old plots. Last week Jim had to be the good guy and save Michael from looking stupid all while revealing something personal. Been there, done that. Now this week Michael acts all crazy because he thinks something is happening, says a lot of horrible things, then realizes he made a mistake and tries to fix it. And yes, Jim should have just quit on the spot.

"Mercy" - The new medical show from NBC. I was intrigued by the premise of a Iraq returning nurse who is dealing with her life after war. Apparently the show is really about nurses with too much time on their hands. There was more hand holding and comforting that actual nursing being done. Plus, two of the main characters had significant others, but in the span of an hour were hooking up with people that weren't their boyfriends/husbands, THEN trying to get with a bartender at the very end of the episode.

The Ugly -

I won't even waste time or typing power on these:

"Smallville" - Stupid, annoying and major out of character actions.
"Brothers" - Just because one actor is in a wheelchair and one has a gap in his teeth doesn't mean 90 percent of the jokes have to be about those two things.
"Heroes" - Yeah, still bad.
"Community" - Watched the pilot, didn't laugh. Watched the second episode, didn't laugh. That's it.