Blakeston

I think Brendan and Jason want us to remember certain things (Nate tore up the “Believe” sign! Jane and Beard have been wacky together! Dr. Jacob was Ted and Michelle’s marriage counselor!), but also want us to forget other things (Nate leaked Ted’s panic attack to the press, Jane has a history of being an abusive lunatic, and Dr. Jacob was horribly unethical in more ways than just dating Michelle). Speaking of Nate’s redemption…I think we really would have benefitted from a scene early in the Nate/Jade relationship where he explains to her that he had to leave Richmond because Ted betrayed him. And she asks what happened, and when he lays it all out, he realizes that Ted didn’t actually betray him at all. It would have been a bit cliched, I admit. But “man magically becomes decent because he met the right woman” is pretty cliched too.

I had my issues with the season, but I really enjoyed this. I teared up when the fans came pouring onto the field and Colin got to kiss his partner in public. A few quibbles: - They should have made it clear that Michelle dumped Dr. Jacob after he expressed zero interest in something that mattered so much to her and her son (and, you know, because he's a predator). - I'm not sure how I feel about Beard's abusive relationship with Jane being portrayed as cute. - Dani bought Van Damme a mask, so it doesn't matter that he's a psychopath! Sure. Barbara's joy at the sight of blood was a wonder to behold, though. I wish we'd have seen less of Jack and more of her!

I don't think that Shiv's decision was calculated at all. I think it came from pure emotion. She just couldn't stomach her brother getting the top spot over her. It's the same theme we saw with the presidential election - despite all of the reasons why Kendall shouldn't tip the election to a Hitler-admirer, in the end he did it because he was mad at Shiv, and his ego was wounded by her manipulations. At the end of the day, the Roy childrens' decisions are based on emotions rather than logic. You can see Shiv waver when Kendall sits in Logan's chair, and when he says "Let's do this for Dad." Seeing Kendall position himself as their father's successor was too much for her. Also, it sounds like the makers of the show barely took Sarah Snook's pregnancy into account when devising the season - so I don't think motherhood was a driving factor here.

In the past, Ewan insisted on voting for Logan to remain in charge, even though he had clear contempt for Logan. He said something like, "My brother may be a monster, but he's still my brother." So it makes sense that he chose his relatives, despite his issues with them. The difference between Roman and Epstein is that Roman's island wouldn't have underaged girls. Just middle-aged, maternal women who chastise you for masturbating too often and send you to your room!

For comparison's sake, this is a video of Joan Rivers doing standup in the 1960s: This made me laugh out loud at several points, whereas Midge's routines mostly just make think "eh, I guess that was kind of clever." Part of it is Joan's delivery. She's clearly amused by what she's saying, and it makes it a lot easier to laugh along with her, IMO. Midge's style is much more sour, and that's harder to wring laughs from.

I would have found this a lot more impressive if Midge's triumphant routine had actually made me laugh. It didn't.

I can buy that people wouldn't "get" Midge. Joan Rivers dealt with that constantly. An unapologtetic smart aleck Jewish woman comedian who talks a mile a minute and tells it like it is? At that point in time, it was a very jarring thing for a lot of people, and a lot of them were just bewildered by her. People just not "getting" Midge makes sense with the theme of the episode. I don't think it was Gordon. I think it was the industry not being ready for her.

If we get no further explanation for Nate leaving West Ham, then I think we know everything we need to know. Rupert encouraged Nate to cheat on Jade, which finally opened Nate’s eyes to Rupert’s true nature. Nate had no desire to work with a toxic snake, so he left. The conversation Nate had with Jade after the announcement that he left West Ham made it clear that quitting was his choice, not Rupert’s.

If Nate is anything like he used to be, the players (and staff) will be harmed by his vicious bullying. I'm sure the writers want us to believe that Nate has put his bullying behind him. But Ted has no reason to believe that Nate has changed that much.

The thing that really gets me about Nate's very implausible redemption is that it could have been plausible. All the writers had to do was establish in the first two seasons that Nate had a conscience, and some empathy. I could see a somewhat decent person in Nate's situation giving into their worst impulses when they suddenly get a taste of fame and money - and then seeing the error of their ways when a good person (like Jade) inspires them to be better. But they never showed us any sign of Nate having empathy until now. In season 2, it seemed as though the makers of the show went out of their way to show us time and time again that Nate was toxic through and through. A person too caught up in his own insecurities and sense of entitlement to have any concern for others at all. A middle-aged person doesn't just grow empathy out of nowhere because they found Ms. Right.

After Ted dropped the f-bomb on his mother repeatedly, I certainly hope he'll have something to say to his ex-wife and the predatory marriage counselor who broke every ethical rule he could and is now helping to raise his son.

Sorry, no sympathy for Roman. None. I was rooting for the protestors to trample him.

I saw this late, but I have some strong opinions about it. 😀 1. Janine is right that she needs to do work on herself before she'll be ready for a serious relationship - but I don't really believe that she would have this realization. It takes some serious self-awareness and self-control to turn down a great person who wants you. And Janine is practically defined by her lack of self-awareness and self-control! I get that she's made some progress. But it very much came across as "Let's just keep these people apart for as long as we can." 2. Melissa was so unlikeable in the scenes with the volunteer. Throughout season one, the writers did right by Melissa, but they really made some screw-ups this season, by leaning way too hard into the mean girl side of her. It would help if she got some comeuppance for her smugness, but she almost never does. Speaking of the field trip - bringing kindergartners on an overnight trip was pretty strange, and not at all realistic, so far as I know. And if I worked at the Franklin Institute, I wouldn't want people to think that we'd expect a young volunteer to stay overnight tending to little kids.

I really enjoyed this episode, but I have a nitpick. Bewitched was on the air until 1972, so Elizabeth Montgomery would not have been available to star in a new sitcom with Andy Griffith in 1970. Unless she dropped Bewitched to do this new show - but destroying Bewitched would make Susie a monster!

When we learned that Sam had been excluded from the Nigerian team, I figured it was because he denounced the Nigerian government last season. But apparently that really was just meant to be a cute one-epiisode storyline with no real consequences for Sam (despite him still having family in Nigeria).

I'd love it if Ted was a co-star! His role is more like a walk-on.

Shiv has expressed discomfort throughout the series with ATN’s right-wing agenda. As for whether Roman actually agrees with Mencken, I think Roman’s “turning back the clock twenty years sounds pretty good to me” speech in this episode shows that he’s genuinely pretty reactionary.

Question - we didn't see Cyd at all in this episode, did we? Did they actually fire her, like Logan wanted?

I'm genuinely worried that this episode will inspire people to try to burn ballots in the next election.

None of Roman's behavior was remotely surprising to me. I've always regarded him as the worst of the Roy siblings, because he's always been uniquely amoral and sadistic. Connor can be kind. Kendall can at least feel remorse. And I think Shiv has some genuine concern about the state of the country, and that she would turn ATN into something less evil if given the chance. But Roman is both a bully and a weasel, and he has outright contempt for the concept of doing the right thing. I can't imagine any of the Roy siblings doing what Roman did in the pilot, and taunting the little boy over losing out on a million dollars. It takes a real asshole to stand out as the worst of this bunch of siblings, but Roman has managed it.

Even if the judge was okay with Perry practicing law, I wouldn't expect the state bar association to feel the same way. Any ethical lapse on an attorney's part that lands them in jail for four months would normally get an attorney into deep, deep shit with the state bar. I'll give the show credit if they follow through on this, and Perry faces some professional consequences beyond incarceration.

The coming-out story was cute, but very predictable (even for this show). A bunch of us figured out last week that Isaac's issue would turn out to be "why didn't you tell me?" rather than anti-LGBT hatred. And of course the team ended up being supportive. Not showing Colin actually coming out was an....odd choice. The one thing that I really appreciated, and struck me as unique, was Ted's "we don't not care" speech, which was great. "I don't care one way or another if someone is gay" would be seen as a very supporting thing to say back in the '90s. But nowadays? But I think a lot more people understand now that if someone doesn't give a second thought to sexual orientation or gender identity, that means they're very lucky. People who grow up queer don't have that luxury. And if you're not queer, you should care that your friends don't get to take certain rights for granted the way that you do.

I think Rupert was trying to get Nate to cheat. He wanted to know that he had more control over Nate than the new woman in his life.

Some things I don't find believable, in no particular order: - Mattson casually revealing to Shiv just how overvalued GoJo is. (Unless this is all part of some sort of fakeout, of course.) Shiv only knew that there might be something off with the numbers. Even Elon Musk wouldn't be clueless enough to divulge that they apparently only half their subscriptions in India are real. - Connor being free to attend this party on the night before the election. He's committed enough to spend his honeymoon in the north Midwest, but not committed enough to campaign in his most important states as things draw to a close? - The powers that be at Waystar Royco being okay with Kendall being co-CEO. He just cost the company a fortune by publicly revealing their crimes, which led to a DOJ investigation that resulted in a huge fine. And he interrupted their stockholder meeting by playing "Rape Me." I'm not buying that all of that would be forgotten just because Logan died.

I don't think Shiv could ever learn to be a good mother. She's an inherently cruel, selfish person who always thinks she's right, and she has no concept of what a healthy parent/child relationship looks like. I don't think she's ever had a healthy relationship of any kind with anyone. Speaking of which - sorry, Shiv, but even if Tom hadn't been a rat, you still wouldn't have been spending quality time with your father during the last six months of his life. Your plan was to block Logan's deal - if that plan had succeeded, she and Logan would have been on the outs anyway. I actually do think that Tom loved Shiv, despite how severely messed up their relationship has always been. I believe him when he says how badly he was hurt by her. And I think she loved him, in the way that someone loves their dog.