Blakeston

This is actually one of the most sympathetic portraits of Crawford out there (at least, ever since Mommie Dearest was published). I'm sure Christina embellished Joan's flaws, and frankly, the book doesn't make Christina come across very well either. But I'm not prepared to brush off Christina's accounts, either. The fact that Christopher also maintains that Joan was abusive says a lot. I don't think Joan was a monstrous person overall. But it's pretty easy for me to believe that when Christina and Christopher were young, she became full-on abusive when she was drinking.

It's funny - I could easily see Stan learning the truth and going berserk (like when his partner was killed in the first season, and he shot Vlad.) But I could also see him looking the other way, or even helping them escape detection. We've seen that he doesn't necessarily follow the rules when people he cares about are involved.

Wendie Malick would certainly be a huge step up for Bonnie from Rosie O'Donnell.

When they revealed that Adam and Christy were in an accident, did anyone else think they were going to reveal that Adam had been drinking?

Was the accent a reference to something? I felt like something was going on there that I didn't understand. Was the accent a reference to something? I felt like something was going on there that I didn't understand.

I didn't get the impression that the USSR sent Pasha's father to the US to work diplomatically. I got the impression that he had defected somehow (like the Jewish scientist who Philip smuggled back to the homeland). And now that he's in the US, he's more than happy to share secrets with the US government.

Louis didn't say anything to Marvin about Jessica being a bad loser, did he? IIRC, Marvin was only there at the end of the conversation, when Honey demonstrated how to criticize someone diplomatically.

The guy Hans killed was anything but innocent. He was a stooge spying for South Africa's Apartheid government, and he was part of a plan to bomb some Americans, and blame it on an anti-Apartheid student group.

But just because you've observed something doesn't mean it's universal. I've known plenty of gifted kids without big egos. Children in "gifted and talented" programs come in a wide range of personalities - some are arrogant, some are self-conscious about being different, and others are insecure because they aren't <i>the</i> smartest. And some think nothing of it.

Just because you haven't dealt with any gifted children with pleasant personalities doesn't mean they don't exist. The kids in my school's gifted program were mostly well-behaved, quiet and sweet. I wouldn't be surprised if there are certain gifted programs that encourage bratty behavior - but I don't think those are the norm. It's possible she did correctly identify her strangler. If she didn't, it was presumably because she was too afraid of the real strangler to point him out. And if that's the case, it was very smart (in a cunning sort of way) for her to choose the new kid, whose claims of innocence wouldn't be believed. At this point, I don't think we've seen nearly enough of Amabella to have any idea whether she's actually gifted or not.

Over and over again, Perry's anger has been set off by what he sees as attempts to cut him out of the family. I don't doubt for a second that he's afraid of losing his significant other - most possessive, violent creeps are afraid of exactly that. That's why they go to such great lengths to scare their partner into staying. Do I think he was being 100% pure of heart at the therapy session? No, I'm sure there was some manipulation there. But you can manipulate someone and also express some truth about how you feel.

Between people getting boners over Bonnie waving her arms in the air, and there being a huge protest to stop a community theater from doing Avenue Q, I'm thinking these people really don't get out much.

As soon as Sarandon was cast as Davis, I knew she wouldn't be doing the voice. Sarandon's biggest weakness as an actress has always been that her voice is her voice, and she isn't able to change it up much.

Renata is the one who reminds me the most of Tracy Flick. Tracy would never give up her career for her kids, and work part-time at a community theater like Madeline does. And she wouldn't be concerned with fighting for the "little guy" the way that Madeline is. The world is crawling with attractive people who are insecure, and afraid that their partners will leave them. And it's an especially common theme with abusers, so it fits him nicely.

The Tyler/Clementine plot had to be about recreational drugs. They were waiting for something to "kick in," and they were expecting to feel differently when it kicked in. And they thought they'd play music better once it kicked in. And then at the end, when they still felt nothing, they were convinced they'd been ripped off (ie, sold a fake substance). It was confusing at first, but by the end I was glad they didn't feel the need to spell it out completely. But at the same time, I get that it wouldn't be obvious for viewers who don't have much personal experience with recreational drugs.

Regardless of whether Abigail has a license or not, or what kind of license she may have, there are plenty of ways for someone in her specific circumstances to get to a place where she can get birth control. It wasn't as if she specifically needed Bonnie's help to obtain it.

Oliver Platt's character's creepiness has never been funny to me at all. It seems like his idea of playing a gay man is to throw on a lisp and act like a sex offender.

They did a great job setting us up to think that Evan was guilty of the dishwasher incident, rather than the papaya-eating. Is it just me, or is Evan becoming a lot less likable? The actor is great at giving a pompous, imperious look.

Just because Bonnie's actions were legal doesn't mean they were morally right. When you're a stepparent, enabling something like that without informing the parent is being really crappy to the parent, and undermining the parent-child relationship.

I really hope Ed doesn't turn out to be a creep, because one "seemingly doting father/husband turns out to be an abusive monster" storyline is enough for me. As for Amabella talking about whether the hippo wants to be hugged, I took it to mean that after the choking incident, Renata had given her daughter a huge lecture about consent and how no one can touch her without her permission.

Do you mean Abigail (Madeline's older daughter) has no chill? I would agree. Especially considering how easy a mark her mother is. "You're on birth control, but you say you've never had sex? Sure, that sounds plausible! Just please talk to me before that future day when you lose your virginity."

I actually don't have a problem with Bonnie getting more focus than Christy. Anna Faris is great and all, but I really don't care about her kids (especially Violet), or the restaurant, or college or law school or whatever the hell educational institution she's in right now. I just wish the Bonnie stuff wasn't all revolving around a relationship that's obviously doomed. William Fichtner is clearly very talented, but IMO the character of Adam is nowhere near as funny as the writers think he is.

Taking the photos was sneaky, but what did he lie about? I guess you could call it a lie of omission that he didn't mention that Michael was being investigated, but Jane herself acknowledged that she was better off not knowing that, at the time. And if he had told her that he was trying to continue Michael's work, instead of telling the truth that he was trying to defend Michael against accusations that he was corrupt, wouldn't that be a pretty big lie?

I get that misunderstandings are an inherent part of sitcoms (especially farcical ones like Modern Family). But a good sitcom won't put an allegedly smart character in a situation where they have all the information they need, and nonetheless have them act like an idiot for the sake of the plot. And I think they could have worked this one out for it to make sense. One of Claire's coworkers could have said that she doesn't understand how they feel, because her family is so rich. And Claire could have said, "My family's not that rich; we don't throw around money like it's nothing." That would be a lie, obviously...but it would have given her reason to hide her gift from everyone.

Is it just me, or was Heather Locklear terrible in this episode? An over-the-top nasty rival should be right in her wheelhouse after all the campy roles she's played.