eringogreen

Given the heavy material of this show, this is may be really petty, but it might be a nice reprieve for a moment. Did the wardrobe choices stand out to anyone else? Particularly with Jessica and Alex, this started to take me out of the show. With just a few exceptions (ex: the dance, where Jessica wore a dress) the two of them had a VERY specific style that they didn’t veer away from. I get that it’s part of building a character, but this was kind of ridiculous. Jessica had an affinity for those patterned open-front coat things with tight wrists and Alex always wore patterned button-ups with cardigan sweaters. It’s like they found one item they liked and ordered it in every color offered.

This episode left me terrified and with anxiety! I didn't quite know what I was signing up for on a quiet night, hoping to get into a new series. I don't normally scare easily, but the show really played well with the tension and the creepy factor, while the actress that played Hope completely nailed her part. If a piece of entertainment/art (TV, movies, books) can work its way under my skin and stay there, I think there is something special about it. Props to this show (or episode, at least, I haven't even made it to ep 2 yet).

I laughed. His description was sort of unnessecary. I was thinking the same thing that Bethanny said, I just wouldn't have said it.

I think Wes has grown up. I probably didn't like him at some point, but I do today (with a bit of reluctancy). He has self awareness, like he has learned something over the years about how to handle himself. Compare that to Johnny, and Wes is just completely inoffensive these days. I loved how he took every question in stride. Answered honestly, consisely, with a little smile and a chuckle. Q: "What did you think of the redemption twist?" A: "Hah. Hah. I thought it was a terrible idea." Also, not interjecting himself into every discussion, trying to be the loudest voice to try to "win" at least something this season.

After Jay and Jenna quit, I just stopped the episode, deleted it, and started watching the reunion. I didn't see a point in watching the rest of the final challenge - sounds like the decision was good.

Not surprised that Johnny's true colors are back after he gets thrown into an elimination. Disappointed, but not surprised. I was glad that Jay stood up for himself when Johnny called him an idiot like he and Jenna weren't even there. Johnny was all pouty and mumbly and Jay was articulate and direct. Such a pretentious, entitled, disrespectful P.O.S. He really just makes himself look bad.

I'm glad that Sarah was able to remove herself from the emotions and manipulation of Johnny after she had some time to calm down and think about it after the show stopped filming. She stood strong on the after show and her points were all logical, while Johnny just looked like a sore, butt-hurt loser. I've waited years and years to see this!! I'm also glad that it was someone like Sarah that stood up to Johnny, rather than someone like Wes, who Johnny already viewed as a rival. I loved Sarah asking how good of friends they really are. Johnny plays the "friends" card with as many people as he can, using initiation periods and then making them feel like they're part of the cool kids, so they don't ever want to be on the other side. Then he uses years to measure loyalty. Sorry, we might have been forced to live in a house together multiple times in the last 8 years and gotten along just fine, but it doesn't mean I'm handing you a ticket to another final. I loved Sarah's point there. Johnny is ridiculous and compromises my enjoyment of this show. At the beginning of this season I was actually starting to lighten up on my negative feelings toward him because I thought he was maturing. Whoops. But the outcome certainly made these last few episodes enjoyable!

I think I can understand where Nina's frustration must come from, because it must generally be frustrating in life. But what I didn't like about her approach in this episode is that she tried to make the girls out to be mean girls and the other 3 people on the tribe got no blame or praise. If she was able to make a genuine connection with the other people on the tribe, she wouldn't be so concerned about her interactions with two younger girls. We see interesting and unlikely pair-ups on this show all the time, it's part of what makes it great. So why isn't Nina mad at Joe for not interacting with her or trying to forge a deeper bond with Will and talking about whether she feels their alliance is strong or not? Nina used stereotypes and visually identifiable features to decide who she feels she should "fit in" with, when that's exactly what she doesn't want people to do to her. Then, she got upset because it didn't naturally work that way. That being said, some of Jenn's comments were insensitive and I wasn't a fan of them. I did feel that Hali was making a genuine effort, and might not have known quite how to handle it. Edited to Add: I had forgotten about Hali's insightful comment ("I guess she didn't want to be a mom, she wanted to be a girl"). That was a great moment and I hope Nina opens herself up a little bit more and we can see the group overcome the barrier together.

Schwartz clearly has a problem growing up. He can't hold a job or work a full shift. I think his marriage issues are tied to that. It seems typical in my experience that the female's timeline expectations are speedier than the male's. Schwartz has been stringing Katie along with the "some day." Some day to Katie means a year. Some day to Schwartz means whenever he happens to feel like it's right (maybe never). She's doing the right thing by speaking to him about it openly, but probably not by providing an ultimatum. I would always be filled with doubt if my marriage existed because of an ultimatum and my SO was acting out of fear of a loss of comfort.

Ariana sure is a bit crazy and delusional. Interesting, given how much she loves to point out that Kristen is crazy and delusional. I would not have been happy about Tom's choice of timing when he asked her to move in if I were Ariana (and if that moment were real and not so clearly scripted). I know it's a show for our viewing pleasure, but their entire relationship is based around Kristen. If Kristen actually does back off, I think that's when the magic will fade with these two. It was really odd how Ariana's defense mechanism seems to be her own perceived intelligence. She was getting visibly upset and speaking more about how their problems were their business in her THs -- which is a different tune from the usual "it definitely didn't happen because of how rational and smart I am." ETA: The next time my friends are trying to save me from myself or warn me or stage an intervention or whatever, I'm keeping "I'm smarter than everyone I've ever met in my life," in my back pocket.

When I saw "Cherilyn" (or whatever it was) on the parchment, I immediately knew So was out. I just KNEW it was Joaquin that spelled it like that, it fit with the vibes he gave off all episode. I wish Jeff had commented about it. Does anyone remember when he finally got annoyed in Thailand and had to hold up a vote and scold the group for not making it clear enough who the vote was for? Clay voted for Ghandia (I think) and wrote like 8 different names on it ("Denver Diva" being one). God help me that I remember all of that, but my friend and I bring it up from time to time because we got such a kick out of it.

Jenn took me through a string of emotions. At first, I kind of took a liking to her. Then I noticed that everyone on the tribe seemed to be drawn to her and got the feeling that the edit was trying to make viewers like her, too, so I immediately flopped just to be rebellious. When we got to see some of her personality and her jest-ful way of handling and narrating the bizzarre situation with Vince, I couldn't fight it anymore - she's at least going to keep me entertained while she is around! One thing that frustrated me with the interaction was how she handled Vince's immediate jealousy and in her TH said "I think I know how to handle him." She was backed into a corner and probably completely surprised, so I can't promise I would have handled it better, but I wish that she would have just been straightforward with him and saved herself some trouble. "Yes, I do feel a connection with Joe. I'm not going to talk to you about who I find attractive because it's not your business. I'd like to continue our alliance, but right now your actions are confusing me. Please respect my space and let's focus on tribe unity for now." For one thing, if she hurt his feelings or pissed him off or whatever, it wouldn't put her on the outs with the tribe. For another, he sniffed out that she wasn't being genuine, so she set him on high alert, anyway. Now, it will just be more sneaky and paranoid instead of out in the open.

I don't understand Tom and Arianna's relationship. I can understand why Tom would be enamored with Arianna - she's not Kristen, so he has that relief factor of being with someone that doesn't constantly stir up drama, and she's conventionally pretty. But why did Arianna jump into a relationship with Tom? For being as above the drama as she tried to seem last season, that seems like a terrible idea. As nutty as Kristen is, I understand her points when it comes to her frustration with Arianna and her relationship with Tom. And you know Arianna is insightful enough to have seen the situation she was getting herself into there. Something is off - it just doesn't make sense.

I've always liked Averey for some reason. She seems like a "cool girl" (TM Gone Girl) and I fell for it. But she really lost me for a moment on the aftershow when she defended herself with, "even my boyfriend, who I was accused of cheating on Johnny with, will tell you that I didn't cheat on Johnny." Umm...maybe you should have kept that argument to yourself? Because it's not a strong one.

This episode actually kept me thoroughly entertained and chuckling because of how weird and uneventful it was. I sort of wish I was taking notes about everything that stood out to me. From memory: - It was totally hilarious how over-the-top dramatic Violetta has been about her visitors and their visit ended up being totally tame and resolved in 5 minutes. And these quotes just summarized it all up and killed me! One of the visitors: Violetta is dramatic Bruno: I don't understand these rich people problems Sylvia: These Sarasota people are weird Annndddddd all problems are solved and none of the viewers have any idea what the actual issues were in the first place. -Violetta constantly saying "Byyyeeeee" was annoying me instantly, and then once it started firing Bruno up, it was cracking me up. She's totally calm and smiling and just lightly spritzing gas onto the fire as Bruno disproportionately flies off the handle. -Tony actually being someone that exists. I've never seen that level of behavior in real life or on TV, and I watch a lot of trashy reality TV. He truly only sees what is in front of his face at that exact moment. It's like he's running entirely on his ID and his ego and superego are completely missing (if you have ever followed Freud). Watching him following Madison and upsetting her and then his eye catching the other girl and just sliding his hand into hers and using his lines on her immediately - it was unreal and almost creepy!!