Entertainment News - TV

THIS ISSUE: The Voice, Bates Motel, Dancing With the Stars, Blindspot, Houdini and Doyle TOP MOMENT OF THE NIGHT The Voice Finds Its Olympian NBC BECAUSE: Frontrunner is rapidly becoming too weak a word to describe Alisan Porter on The Voice's 10th season. The bite-size mom once again coupled up her patented mix of melodic delicacy and vocal power on Patty Griffin’s "Let Him Fly," and we assure you, Blake's was not the only mind that was blown. READ OUR RECAP Bates Motel A&E WHAT HAPPENED: After taking his morning dose of meds back at his own kitchen table since he's finally free of Pineview, Norman teases that he's "all fixed now." Oh pal -- you wish it, we wish it; you know it's not true, and we know it's not true. Being back home means dealing with the changing aspects of his relationship with Norma. And Norman doesn't exactly do change, even if Norma is trying to keep her relationship with Alex a secret from him. Norman confronts Alex in town -- it doesn’t go well; Dylan and Emma come by for some Christmas tree shopping -- it doesn’t go well; Norma finally confesses that Alex is "a good man" and she likes him -- Norman vomits at the news. Because the heater is broken in the house, Norma and Norman have been pushed into neighboring rooms in the hotel, where Norman hears Alex's car pull up at night. And here we reach another critical Psycho intersection: Norman removes a painting from the wall, punctures a small hole, and spies on his mother having sex with Alex. Those don't make for great memories when Alex is invited over for dinner the next day. Things get heated, and suddenly the sheriff is standing in front of an axe-wielding (for firewood, of course) Norman Bates. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: For now, though, everyone is still breathing -- Norman fled instead of axed. But there are only two episodes left in season 4, and the tension in the Bates household has reached critical mass. Much of that is thanks in part to Monday's superb episode that has a pretty good reason for offering such insight into Norman's delicate psyche: it was written by his portrayer Freddie Highmore, in his first ever screenwriting credit. In a blog that showrunner Kerry Ehrin writes for EW about some of the series' most pivotal episodes, she asked Highmore what drew him to contributing to Norman in this new way: "I wanted to be involved in the wider process of doing the show. It seemed odd to me to put so much energy into shooting the season over a period of five months in Vancouver and then just pack it all up and leave the show behind in the hiatus... Maybe I just missed Norman, but I felt like I had ideas that I wanted to contribute in terms of how he developed." And if that turns into an episode like Monday's, then we're inclined to agree that Highmore has plenty to contribute. READ OUR RECAP Dancing With the Stars ABC WHAT HAPPENED: Not only was this the first week the season 22 contestants would face double-dances -- one solo performance and one men vs. women group performance -- but at the end of it all, they faced a double-elimination. And apparently a little pressure was all it took! Every single one of the contestants stepped up their game in a big way (including -- sad face -- eventual eliminated stars, Kim Fields and Von Miller), nabbing the two first perfect scores of the season, all in one night. The first goes to Ginger Zee who was disappointed the judges weren't feeling her "Nasty" vibes last week, but pulled out the big guns -- a.k.a. the full-length mirrors -- in a mesmerizing and purposeful Viennese waltz to Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing." And to help you get over all those resulting emotions, here's Paige VanZant in a fuller-than-full-throttle jive to "Proud Mary" that makes it nearly impossible to believe she was a novice dancer a few short weeks ago. Paige may be self-conscious about coming into DWTS with a smaller fanbase than most, but believe us, baby -- it is growing fast! WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Ginger and Paige may have scored the only perfect scores of the night but there were a few other 10s given out... and then taken back. AGAIN! Nyle DiMarco was once again robbed of a 10 he thought he'd received when judge Bruno once again held up his 10 paddle, announced he was giving Nyle a 10, and then Tom Bergeron had to come back and tell us that producers were saying Bruno had actually written a 9 on his official judging card (Tom also joked around, asking if Bruno does his own taxes -- thank goodness for Tom). The last time this happened, Nyle told EW, "Honestly I think what probably happened is that’s what they really wanted to give... Subconsciously they wanted to give me those 10s." Considering the fact that it happened to him again, that hypothesis is starting to hold a little more water. READ OUR RECAP Gotham Fox WHAT HAPPENED: "Strong as an ox, fast as a snake, mad as a hatter," is how Hugo Strange describes his own little Frankenstein-style monster, Theo Glavan 2.0., on Monday's Gotham. The only thing about this Theo is he's just a little lost, what with all the scribbling in the blood of those he's murdered and the yelling into nothingness. So Hugo decides the fella just needs a little identity -- next thing you know, Theo thinks he's the great 12th-century warrior Asrael who served St. Dumas (Hugo, duh), and Dumas/Hugo has a mission for him: kill Gordon. H'oh geez. Not only does that put Gordon in danger, but it gives Hugo the idea to do a little more experimentin' with this whole "imprinting new ideas on mentally ill folks" thing. Theo proceeds to attack the precinct on his mission to kill Gordon in what EW writer Keertana Sastra calls, "one of the most fascinating fight sequences on Gotham since that epic and bloody Maniax attack so many episodes ago," and in the process reveals himself as the mayor everyone thought was dead (because, y'know, hewas!). WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: The episode ends with Ed discovering the secret elevator down to Hugo's creepy lair, and if that means there's potential for an evil collaboration between Dr. Strange and the Riddler, well that might just make for some must-see-TV. This was a good episode of Gotham, one that caused the A.V. Club to exclaim, " Gotham briefly remembers that it’s okay to be fun." "Briefly" would be the key word there, as the A.V. Club also tempers that statement by reminding that, "One of the longest-running issues with Gotham has been its futile search for an identity," especially among an ever-growing group of stand-out comic book series. So, if Gotham wanted to join up with the "fun" group... we're just saying, we'd be game. READ OUR RECAP One More Thing... Just Two Guys Having a Good Time Fox GOOD OL' FASHION MYSTERY SOLVIN': Did you know that famed illusionist Harry Houdini and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle were buddy cops? Well... they weren't, but they are now!