PHOTOS:

From "Modern Family's" odd couple Cameron and Mitchell -- who happened to celebrate the ruling in their own special way -- to Willow and Tara, the tragic lovers from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "Grey's Anatomy's" Callie and Arizona, we've highlighted 11 of our favorite gay couples on TV.

Note: While one of TV's most iconic gay couples, "Queer as Folk's" Brian Kinney and Justin Taylor, did not make our list (there's a reason why!), we do hope you'll enjoy a video montage of Jack and Doug's cutest moments from "Dawson's Creek."

Take a look at our picks below, and share your own favorite same-sex TV couples in the comments.

Considering I knew beforehand that "The Spanish Teacher" would be very Will-centric, I wasn't too excited for this episode. Although, I must admit that Ricky Martin's bon-bon shaking was a huge incentive for tuning in.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't hate this episode as much as I thought I would. Sure, it wasn't perfect. In fact, "Glee" may have hit a series low when Sue was soliciting male students for sperm. Yet, I have to say that week-after-week, Santana becomes the show's true savior.

When Will was acting like a total imbécil, it was Santana who set him straight. I can only hope that it's going to be Santana who knocks some serious sense into Finn and Rachel in next week's Valentine's Day episode.

More than just Sue's audacity and Will's super-sized ego, "The Spanish Teacher" was boring. Because, Will, no one really cares about you. At its heart, "Glee" should be a story about the kids of New Directions. Their story lines are far more interesting.

At least we had some much-needed Spanish subtitles to spice things up.

Comenzamos with "La Cucaracha," an homage to Spanish culture for sure. There's only one problem: William -- as Principal Figgins so affectionately calls him -- is boring his students, and it also turns out that he's not really teaching them any Spanish.

What's the problem, Will? Is your head too full of mash-ups for Regionals and jazz square combinations?

If Will wants tenure, it looks like he's going to have to do the unthinkable -- learn Spanish!

Say hola to David Martinez (Ricky Martin), a former tooth model who's now a night school teacher. You see, David got tired of flossing and one day woke up and wanted to teach kids. He wanted to help them find their duende, i.e. art.

Do you know what else he wants to do? Start a glee club! And do you know what he would do with his glee club? Teach them songs in Spanish. Hm, looks like Will has an idea. If he teaches New Directions songs in Spanish, Principal Figgins will have to give him tenure -- because learning Spanish in one week is, like, really hard.

Meanwhile, back at McKinley, Sue tells Will that she wants to have a baby by artificial insemination -- and she needs his sperm. Ew.

Don't worry, "With whose vagina?" is asked at least twice in the episode.

You see, in the '80s, she froze her eggs, and now she wants some babies. Personally, I think that Sue's just lonely. I mean, her sister is gone, and she no longer has Cooter to boss around, so what's left? At least she has her BFF Becky.

Side note: I'm glad that every once in awhile "Glee" shows a sense of Sue's continuity. Her nickname for Kurt -- "Porcelain" -- is a nice recurring touch.

It looks like Will and Sue will have to battle it out for tenure, after Sue finds out that one of her students complains about her coaching methods to Figgins. Now, Sue's out for blood -- nobody messes with the financial security of a momma bear and her potential cubs.

NeNe Leakes reprises her role as synchronized swim coach Roz Washington, and she expresses interest in choreographing the Cheerios. Uh oh. Let the drama begin! She and Sue have an epic verbal takedown, and it makes me realize how much I love NeNe.

Everyone in the choir room swoons over the very handsome -- and very "Sexy" -- David, including Artie. In fact, it kind of reminded me of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" when the girls of the Gryffindor quidditch team fangirls over Cedric Diggory. I don't know why I thought of that... but R.I.P. Cedric.

Okay, so back to the choir room. After David's incredibly sexy performance of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It," it's pretty clear that Will needs to step up his game.

Meanwhile, Mercedes and Sam don't know how to deal with their feelings for each other, so what do they do? They go to Emma. She's only the most reliable school counselor ever. Emma tells them to spend the week apart and think about their relationship to see if there's something really there.

Cut to the Cheerios busting some serious bootylicious moves, thanks to Coach Roz. Obviously, Sue is not happy, and the two go head-to-head in a heated battle of bitchiness. Meow, Roz. You really know how to put Sue in her place.

Example: "Start praying you give birth to a child who likes to eat sand because that's all that's coming out of those old wrinkly boobs."

I'm really loving the feisty dynamic between Sue and Roz. It's about time that Sue had a proper sparing partner.

While watching "Twilight," Bella and Edward's eternal love inspires Rachel to finally tell Kurt and Mercedes about her engagement to Finn, and they don't exactly offer to throw her a bachelorette party.

Back at school, Mercedes sings "Don't Wanna Lose You" by Gloria Estefan and makes some seriously longing bedroom eyes at Sam, who probably has no idea what she's singing. He's too busy tweeting that she smells nice!

Meanwhile, Sam and the boys do a mash-up of Gypsy Kings' "Bamboleo" and Enrique Iglesias' swoon-worthy "Hero," and Blanco Chocolate definitely directs the latter song's lyrics to Mercedes.

Qué dramática.

Back in the McKinley High weight room, Finn and Kurt have a major talk about Finn's engagement and their futures. Finally, a voice of reason! Kurt tells Finn that his future can be more than just Rachel's personal handbag holder on the red carpet.

Hopefully, this means that Finn will start rethinking his decision -- because Rachel already has.

Somewhere between learning Spanish and denying Sue his sperm, Will turned into a major jerk. Instead of embracing Emma's love for silly pamphlets, he pushes her away. While I don't think Emma's pamphlets are practical, I don't think that Will's in any place to judge. After all, he doesn't know how to speak Spanish. ¿Comprende, Will?

In fact, Emma, here's a new pamphlet suggestion: "So You're Engaged To a Jerk."

Cut to the anticipated Español-off. Santana and David do a steamy cover of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita." I'm not quite sure why Santana is wearing a trash bag, but regardless, the performance is muy caliente.

Will looks a little nervous, and for a good reason. His version of Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation" is a lot less impressive. It might have been the matador outfit, but it was probably just Will. That performance was painful. Ay dios mio.

Side note: Brittany and Mike make for some pretty adorable bulls.

Santana is unimpressed with Will's conversación, and in a dramatic turn of events, we find out that it was Santana who complained about Will's teaching methods, and then, she continues to knock some much-needed sense into Schue.

And Will? Well, he's going to teach high school history now ... because he's always liked history. Is it really that easy to be a high school teacher?

Unfortunately for Sam, Mercedes chose Bubba. Somewhere, puppies are crying. I mean, Bubba has all of the personality of a tree stump.

Fortunately for Will, Emma is the most forgiving fiance ever, and it turns out that she's also pretty clever because her "Taint Misbehavin'" pamphlet -- which teaches athletes about proper hygiene -- not only was a huge success in Ohio, but it also earned her tenure.

¡Felicidades!

Seriously, is it Valentine's Day yet? I really can't wait to meet Rachel's gay dads.

Notable Quotables:

"Sorry, I'm trying to listen, but you've got some beautiful teeth."
Random night school student

"This school has got cheerleaders doing broke ass moves from the 1950s. Why don't you admit that you're past your competitive edge, Sue Sylvester?"
Roz, you have my heart.

"Sam just tweeted that I smell good."
Mercedes
"I won't stop until it's trending."
Sam

"Sue, you ain't having no baby. You're as old as a hill... You need to start praying that your child likes to eat sand because that's all that's going to come out of those old, wrinkly boobs."
Roz

"They're Mexican hipster boots."
Finn

"Please don't hog my fiance's nog."
Emma

"If goodness and optimism are somehow genetic, then that's what I want for my child."
Sue, on why she wants Will's sperm

"I thought you were Kurt."
Finn, to Will. Kurt would look good in a matador outfit.

"Oh Becky, I've know never since I tinker tailored soldier spied my way into Figgins' files."
Sue, cracking the case of the student snitch -- Becky.

"Glee" airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.

The narrator begins the ad with a voiceover: "After reinventing the Toyota Camry, we decided to keep reinventing." Then, a dorky guy carrying a bag of groceries opens the door of his apartment and is stunned at the sight before him: a group of seven bikini-clad female models forming the shape of a couch. "This is the reinvented couch." The dorky guy smiles. Then the couch reappears as a group of seven shirtless male models. "It also comes in male." What is the dorky guy's reaction?

He shrugs his shoulders, raises his eyebrows, and nods his head with the approval of a customer who understands the options. A basic oh, cool, OK reaction: no demarcating comment regarding masculinity, no insult-as-joke, and no homophobic disinterest.

Within 13 seconds, Toyota defies the heteronormative relationships that make up this coveted commercial landscape. Rising from the company of Chevy's "Happy Grad" and his straight parents, Kia's "A Dream Car, For Real Life" woman dreaming of a fantasy horse ride with a dashing hero, and Fiat's "Seduction" between a dude and his car-as-fantasy-chick, Toyota's "It's Reinvented" introduces a homosexual -- if not bisexual -- encounter with sex.

Just for a moment, let's alter the heteronormativity of another commercial from the evening's lineup. Let's take Dannon's "The Tease," starring America's favorite uncle, John Stamos. A beautiful heterosexual couple sits at a kitchen table enjoying a cup of Oikos Greek Yogurt. Stamos, holding a spoon of yogurt, sensually teases the woman by not giving her the satisfaction of consuming the product. They smile and giggle until she can't take it anymore, and she is compelled to headbutt him and take the spoon herself.

Now let's imagine that the woman was cast as a man instead. If everything were scripted and acted the same way, would sex still sell? My predictions for the aftermath of such a commercial include: YouTube comments expressing foul language, Twitter hashtag explosion of #JohnStamosGay, and OneMillionMoms.com boycotting Dannon. They would write on their website something like, "The homosexual behavior exhibited during Dannon's Super Bowl commercial was lewd and inappropriate." By the start of summer, Dannon releases five new products thanks to the ridiculous amount of sales generated from a commercial advertising sex -- gay or straight (and with Uncle Jesse).

Taking into account the context of the Super Bowl as an arena of mediated masculinity, commercials for products like GoDaddy.com and Bud Light have established themselves as expected moments of overused gender-specific imagery and action. While these brand names of generic products -- an Internet domain registrar and alcohol, respectively -- have no gender, the deployment of sex within the advertisements has targeted an audience and formed a reputation for finite entertainment value.

Whatever the super objective of each company's commercial is (to entertain an audience? to sell a product? to win an award?), I'll never know. But for me as a guy who watches too much non-recorded television (yes, I love commercials), it's amazing to see Toyota's "It's Reinvented," not because it showed gay sex, but because it showed a reaction to gay sex as oh, cool, OK.

Mandel gushed about how much he enjoyed co-hosting the show, and while he insisted he was hearing about the rumors for the first time, he didn't close the door on the possibility. "I love the show, I love Kelly, ["Live!" producer] Michael Gelman has always been a great champion of my career," he said. But then he added, "The truth of the matter is, I haven't been asked -- only by you."

The "America's Got Talent" judge and "Mobbed" host went on to call Regis "irreplaceable," and also noted that the rotating co-hosts have given "Live!" a new and exciting feel. "It's lovely that people think that I could even sit there and do that ... And I hope they keep calling me back ... But no, it's a rumor," Mandel concluded. A rumor that we'll be keeping a close eye on after watching this interview.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

According to Syfy, "Face Off's" second season premiere on Jan. 11 was watched by 2.5 million viewers.

The Wed., Feb. 8, episode of "Face Off" will feature Vivica A. Fox and "Being Human" star Sam Huntington. LeVar Burton of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame will guest judge on the Wed., Feb. 22 episode. In Burton's episode, the remaining designers will be tasked with creating original alien creatures from series judge Patrick Tatopoulos' sketches. Two people will be eliminated at the end of that episode. Burton will sit on the judging panel alongside three-time Oscar winner Ve Neill and special make-up effects artist Glenn Hetrick.

In addition to the $100,000 prize, the winning artist will win a year's supply of Alcone make up products and a 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

"Face Off" airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on Syfy.

Sources tell us ... Kris and his lawyer, Lee Hutton, want to "expose the M.O. of reality TV" by proving Kim had no intention of staying married to him, but just wanted big ratings for her reality show.

Relax, people: "I wish everybody would stop and take a breath. It's the Super Bowl, remember? It's supposed to be a bunch of cool, edgy commercials and an overproduced, pseudo-controversial halftime show, all wrapped around a boring game," says Gail Shister at The Philly Post. "As in the past," added a St. Louis Post-Dispatcheditorial, "the predictable effects of this silly incident were excessive media attention, effusive Internet traffic, a smattering of protests and little of consequence whatsoever."

Let's move on: "The outrage is tiresome and deeply hypocritical, in all the tiresome ways you've been tired out by before. M.I.A. was illustrating her line, acting out the attitude of the words: performing," says The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones. "Fine, it may not be legal to flip the bird on television, but that's simply a remnant of the fifties we haven't shaken."

It's good TV: "Anything rattling the league's self-righteous attitude is a blessed event," says Mike Imrem at Chicago's Daily Herald. "To me, NBC has nothing to apologize for or be fined for. Live television is supposed to be real life, or else you wind up with one of those unscripted scripts pawned off as reality TV."

Redo the halftime show completely: "Truthfully, if the NFL wants to save itself from even this tepid level of annoyance while making the halftime show something people would actually watch and talk about the next day, it's time to get rid of the music entirely," says Ray Ratto at CBS Sports. "It's dated, bland, lip-synched nonsense by people and bands that only appeal to 50-year-olds in denial about no longer being hipsters. The answer, and I may have proposed this before in some other drunken venue, maybe even this one, is comedians."

In the lead up to the actual show there's the requisite snippets of what to come. And what's to come is a lot of Mafioso speak with phrases like "Breaking point," "That's a lie," "Oh, f*ck off" and my favorite: "You are angry spice." (Did you notice the sly smile Kyle flashed at Andy after she said that last part? Looking for approval much?)

This second part of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was not such a thrill-fest as the last one. Its weakest point was the talk about what happened after the cameras stopped rolling. A lot about who got invited by whom to what and I just couldn't keep up. Ladies, when stuff happens that I don't see I cant be the omniscient judge of all. When it's on the show, I can call it like I see it. I will play God with you then. Only then.

There were some sly references as to what may go on behind the cameras when they are being filmed. This stuff I'm into. Camille hiding. (Her publicist taught her well.) Kyle saying that someone had told her Brandi was talking smack about Kim. (A producer?) Giggy's sarcastic tweeting that set Taylor off. (Was that a joke? So hard to tell... ) There is so much that goes on that we aren't privy to but boy do I want to know. The ladies seem to let a few things slip now and again which gets my wheels turning.

Brandi was the first one on the hot seat. I like Brandi. I don't like Brandi in that I want to be her friend. I like Brandi in the same way you might like Severus Snape: he's mean but fun to get to know.

Andy immediately introduces her as having "crutches, no bra, one high heel and no filter." That's a pretty amazing list. Drunk yet chic hobo or Brandi Glanville? Brandi. And how great is it when Brandi is LOLing in the corner as her own shenanigans play on the screen? (That S&M bra/top she had on during a confessional was epic and I don't know how I missed it the first time.) When they show scenes of her from the show it seems to me that she's says "bitch" just about as much as Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad yet poor Brandi will never win a Golden Globe. I guess there's no justice in this world after all.

Speaking of justice, I do think that Camille and Brandi's friendship is so cute. It's nice to see that these two jilted sad-sack women found each other.

Andy questions Brandi on etiquette as if she's Emily Post... But maybe Brandi is right when she says you've got to "own it and just have to keep on moving." Preach, girl.

Then there's the incident at game night where Kyle and Kim, looking pretty bad, hide Brandi's crutch. Pardon me. Kyle had nothing to do with it. Kyle has turned into a bit of a mean girl this past season. What's up with that, K? Yes, saying that Kim did Crystal Meth was pretty ridiculous (maybe Brandi does belong on Breaking Bad... ) but the girl had a point: Kim went cray-cray.

And Taylor rightly points out that Brandi wasn't entirely blameless. "You said 'I will kill you' two times," Taylor points out. "Well...yeah" says Brandi as if that was the only thing to say. Classic Brandi. "That's a figure of speech," Lisa interjects. Oh Lisa and her "British humor" (as Taylor puts it.)

Andy then launches into one of his fluff pieces that Bravo concocts to ease the tension and pad time. Andy jokes the woman all have "Refinement, Dignity and Class." RDC should be Lisa's new restaurant. He then wants to have his "James Lipton moment" and asks them what they're favorite curse word is. The problem is that when all the ladies say their favorite curse word it's bleeped out so I don't really hear. Not well thought out, Bravo. What is worth my time is hearing Kyle say, "Let's hear Season-One-Camille's favorite" curse word. Points to Kyle.

Things get really going when Taylor and Brandi go at it. This is a bit more like it. I cringe a bit when Brandi talks about running into Russell and talking about the threatening email he sent Camille. Brandi seems the only one who isn't quite ready to let Taylor dictate the narrative of post-Russell suicide. Taylor tells Brandi she "texted my shrink immediately" to prove her point that Russell was erratic. Ay-yi-yi. Taylor please get a shrink that you don't text! Taylor throws it in Brandi's face that she knows Brandi slit Eddie Cibrian's tires. Brandi cops to it immediately. And to top it off she throws in some BS that they both owned the tires. Later, she admits she accidentally texted Kyle saying she was a c*nt. Yeah. SHE'S AMAZING.

Brandi gives it right back to Taylor asking her when her book is going to come out. I have to say I may agree a bit with Brandi here. I like to think that Taylor had bigger fish to fry after her husband killed himself than getting together a book. Again, Camille backs up Brandi when she goes after Taylor. Trying to keep track of these womens' quickly-changing alliances is like trying to understand how WWI started. (And by that, I mean it's kinda hard.)

So then I get my hopes up that Kim may make an appearance. But as Lisa notes Kim's "storyline" is mostly about Kim not being there. Don't you think it's interesting that Lisa uses the word "storyline"? I sure do. And in this segment about Kim and Kyle, Kyle says that she's not quite the enabler she appeared to be on the show. Kyle thought it was a good idea for Kim to be on the show. To focus less on her kids. Uh ok... Going on a reality show isn't quite like picking up a new hobby, Kyle. But I think the truth lies more in the fact that Kyle hoped Kim would clean up her act. I was dying to Andy to bring up the fact that Kim thought she was pregnant. I guess it was too silly for him to even mention. At the end, Brandi clings onto the suggestion that perhaps Kyle was relieved to have someone point out Kim's problems. "Maybe I did help," she suggests. Kyle shoots that down pretty quick. That Brandi and her ideas.

Andy finally calls Camille out on being more "calculating" this season. Um, yeah. "Come on, I know you're going to hang the whole thing on Kelsey cheating on you last season." In the end Camille admits that she was humbled which called to my memory all the times last season Camille droned on about her staff while I dreamt of strangling her.

And at the very end, Andy brings it back to Taylor and Russell's suicide. She says she was abused ever since she became pregnant. Oof. She also says there were bank accounts, offices, documents and flash drives in a suitcase that Russell left behind. She doesn't want to look at what's on the flash drives. I may not be a lawyer but I think she should maybe look at what's on those flash drives...

The show ends brilliantly with the teaser that Taylor thinks that Russell's partner who also committed suicide -- can this get any more twisted? -- may actually have been murdered. And voila! The Housewives reunion turns into a murder mystery party. You have to admit it's a great ending.

Because we all know it's about the little things:

• Lisa defending Brandi's slashing of the tires while fixing her bear of an earring. Those things have to be heavy.
• Kyle being blatantly pissed about the turnaround in Taylor's and Lisa's relationship
• Taylor knows it's painful for people to look at her lips.
• Brandi's creepy hands with Michael Jackson gloves slithering all over Camille's butt in Vegas. (Not new but it never looses it yuck-factor)
• Andy likes Camille's maiden name Donatacci. It's so Mob Wives.

The "Spartacus: Vengeance" star, who frequently appears on "The Soup" and guest starred on Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," revealed to The Huffington Post that she was very close to sparking fear in the heart of Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) on "Parks and Recreation." No, not as Xena, the role that made Lawless a star; but as one of Swanson's ex-wives.

I've read in the past that you love comedies. Is there a comedy you'd like to guest star on?
Oh, I love "Parks and Rec."

It's amazing.
Love that show. Love anything to do with Larry David.

Right, you did "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Yeah, I've done that, but you can just never get enough of that guy. He's so unusual and so -- I find him really charming.

Do you have a "Parks and Rec" character already created in your head?
Well, they did come to me about playing one of the ex-wives of --

Really!? Tammy!
Yeah, and I couldn't because I was doing "Spartacus." I would have loved to have done that, but I had a very good excuse not to. [Laughs.]

As great as Patricia Clarkson was as Tammy 1, can you imagine Lawless going toe-to-toe with Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope? The Tammy ship may have sailed, but let's hope Mike Schur and the "Parks and Recreation" crew find a way to get Lawless to Pawnee.

Check back with HuffPost TV for more of my conversation with Lucy Lawless coming soon.

Or did they? We would like to say that the writing left things tantalizingly open on the question of P. Gordon's identity, but come on. He was introduced, dropped a bomb, and then was dispensed with, all within 60 minutes' time. We confess, we don't understand the point of this character at all -- and it left us QUITE annoyed that Julian Fellowes would try to return to the inheritance-drama well when that question consumed all of the first season and had been pretty much put to bed. But there was Matthew, bitterly informing the family that his faux-replacement was, "not very pretty, of course. But he can walk around the estate on his own two legs and sire a string of sons to continue the line." And there was Mary, weepy at the thought of Matthew having to deal with this on top of everything else and viciously lashing out at Edith for wanting desperately to believe it. "What a stupid thing to say!" So what does the presence of P. Gordon and his curiously muppet-like affect do for the story? We already know Matthew is bitter about being a paralyzed, impotent Earl of Grantham. We already know that Robert is distressed that his heir will not have heirs of his own. We already knew that Mary carries a torch for Matthew. And we already know that Edith is desperate for someone to love her and if she needs to imagine that an angry muppet might not only love her but can make her the future Countess of Grantham, she'll happily throw all common sense overboard. At episode's end, P. Gordon was gone, Edith was still hungry for love, Mary was still pining for Matthew, and Matthew was still miserable and stuck in his chair. P. Gordon's entire existence changed the status quo not one bit and told us nothing we didn't already know about all the people involved -- except that many of them are disturbingly willing to consider a story as ridiculous as P. Gordon's Canadian-causing blow to the head. A total narrative waste of time -- and a very silly one, to boot.

But wait! Not content to throw merely one ancient soap opera cliche into the mix, Fellowes threw a second one at us as Matthew sprung a secret, surprise, Grantham-line-affirming woody. Or something. All we know is, Matthew felt a tingle somewhere down below and that means he'll be sprinting across the grounds by the end of the next episode. We reserve the right to laugh even harder next week when that happens. Thank goodness Lavinia stumbled back into their lives. If Matthew starts getting erections and Lavinia's not around to applaud them, the next thing you know, Mary'll be falling into his arms and then an entire plotline will be happily wrapped up. But that's not going to happen, of course. And to be honest, we probably wouldn't want it to happen that way, anyway. Fulfilled, happy, requited love is narrative death in a serial drama and we should all get used to the idea that if Mary and Matthew ever get together, it'll be after several more roadblocks and narrative right turns are put in front of them.

We didn't actually think Cora would be one of the people putting those roadblocks up, though. Robert was livid with her for inviting Lavinia to dinner, calling her "curiously unfeeling" for it. Frankly, we thought he was being a jerk -- and that seems to be his character arc this season, which can be summed up as "I'm an Earl, dammit!" He's mopey and cranky most of the time, never seems to have anything to do except whine about social engagements his wife keeps canceling. We're not sure where this is going either, but whatever the point of this arc, it's making him look quite a bit less likable than he was last season. He wasn't allowed a shot of glory on the battlefield, so he's spent the entirety of the war sulking about it, even as everyone else in his family pitched in to help. And now he's making eyes at a housemaid who, we suddenly realized last night, looks quite a bit like a younger version of his wife. Ooooh, you dirty dog -- and we don't mean that adorable lab.

Was Cora "curiously unfeeling" for inviting Lavinia? Maybe, but she clearly loves Matthew and he clearly loves her. If anything, we think Robert was the unfeeling one for thinking Matthew's injury was a chance for Mary and him to reconcile, tossing his actual fiancee aside. Sure, Cora had ulterior motives, but "I want my daughter to have children and a normal life," isn't the worst thing in the world for a mother to feel and inviting a recuperating man's fiancee to the house isn't the worst thing in the world to do. The only reason her actions looked bad is because they were prodded by Sir Richard's words. He's made the leap from slightly threatening character to full-on villainy, coming awfully close to assaulting Mary right there in the hall. We all knew the second Mary told him about Pamuk that it would be the undoing of her. There's no way of getting out of this engagement without a huge price to pay.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bates is, in his words, "a stupid, stupid, stupid man" and we find ourselves nodding our heads vigorously in agreement. This is ridiculous and it's straining all credulity that:

A) A servant with as much baggage as Bates would continue to have a high-ranking position in a great house, since he constantly seems to be flirting with various forms of scandal, from jail time to a scheming wife willing to destroy the House of Grantham, and

B) That a woman with as much common sense as Anna would spend all her time and energy fussing over him.

We can't say we're a bit surprised by Vera Bates' death. In retrospect, she was one of those characters created to come in, stir up the pot, and then die, leaving the pot permanently stirred in her wake. Of course we're supposed to think Bates did it and of course the police will think the same thing, which means he gets to tell Anna about even more problems that will keep them apart. We're kind of hoping she throws her hands in the air and says "You know what? I'm probably better off with Thomas. Or maybe I'll just put some yard on my head and become a bitter spinster ladies maid."

And speaking of O'Brien, there's something a bit odd about how she's constantly interjecting herself into Bates' and Anna's conversations, listening in and asking questions about the state of their relationship. At first we thought she was going to start trouble -- and maybe she still is, since she's heard some things that could easily get Bates arrested -- but we swear we're detecting a sense of ... concern? This could be totally off-base, but the second Vera's death was announced by Anna, we checked O'Brien's reaction because our first thought was that she'd done it. That doesn't seem likely because how would she gave gone down to London without anyone noticing? Still, we can't shake the idea that she knows something about Vera's death and that she's had more contact with her than we know about.

Ang explained how she was arrested herself, with the help of an informant, for selling cocaine in 2001. "A girlfriend of mine, an informer, had a wire ... She went into witness protection and then we all got arrested. I did house arrest ... We had parties every day for six months," she said.

When Gillian Reynolds pressed Ang on the contradictions involved with airing a real-life mafia show on TV, she explained that the mafia's code of silence no longer exists. "How could it be secretive? Everybody's rats ... There's no more secrets, they're all ratting each other out. It's over," she explained.

So while the mafia may not be a crime family anymore, Big Ang doesn't have to worry about her real family disapproving of the show. "Thank god they're dead," she said.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.