JAYJAY1979

That attitude isn't just reserved for fundies in the south. One of my managers in a blue city (Boston) was pregnant last year during the whole RSV/Flu activity of late November/Early December..and got the flu after going out and about. She didn't realize it was so bad...but still seemed blase about getting the flu while pregnant (she did get the flu shot so maybe that's why she was). Hopefully it's just allergies for Whitney and not anything too serious.

It's not so much she cried...but the intensity of it. To me, it came across that while she was sad about her sisters leaving...she also was doing it to get attention...and maybe to compensate for the subdued reactions both Michaela and Tori were having.

Carlin has always kind of struggled even back on the show. She was the one to cry when Michaela moved, when Tori was at the wedding dress try on, etc. And it was telling she had trouble multi tasking when she switched to online school for Crown College so she could help with homeschooling the kids and to be available to Evab. She took over after Tori married..who seemed to be better at juggling school, her courtship, and doing the home school leadership. So it's no wonder she is frailing right now with 2 small kids, no direction, and a husband that doesn't seem mature enough to help her. I'm wondering if she still has some untreated postpartum? Having baby #3 will make her feel more at odds with herself..imho.

This is why contrived gatherings should be held off until mid season..especially on a new show that's a reboot. We need at least 1 scene for each woman during her day to day life..so we can get to know the women better.

Tricia wasn't even in the book except a brief mention of her as her mom's oldest friend from NY. This movie at least gave her a slightly bigger part. And yeah I would think she would put Longchamp as her last last name instead of Cutler..unless Philip was the one in charge of the tombstone..then we would know why it is the way it is.

Unlike with Gates of Paradise, the changes done on Midnight Whispers kind of enhanced the story.. which always felt a bit incomplete with some dots not connecting. - While I understand omitting Laura Sue in the movie vs the book, it does take away the reason why Branson was unable to take Christie/Jefferson (since Laura Sue was declining mentally and needed constant care). - Christie had more backbone in this movie vs in the book. - Betty Ann's descent into becoming the wicked aunt was better explained here then in the book where she was just cold/mean in the book with no explanation while this movie added the context (i.e. finding Philips shrine to Dawn, projecting her anger at Philip not loving her onto Christie, etc). - In the book, I don't think Philip had anything to do with Dawn/Jimmy's death.. it was an accident... but in the movie, he was the cause of their deaths (Jimmy's on purpose, Dawn's by accident). Which did add to his mental decline where he confused Christie with Dawn.. partly due to guilt over causing her death. - Fern did have one brief moment where she wasn't evil (when she understood why Christie was angry at Philip).. but otherwise, she was just evil.. but actually drove the action of the 2nd half of the movie vs Clara Sue.. who really didn't do anything except cause Dawn's miscarriage. - I'm glad the movie showcased the Meadows again.. the darkness/gothic undertones still there with a touch of Charlotte clinging to her doll. I'm hoping once the strike is over, Lifetime greenlights Darkest Hour because the movie kind of set the stage with Charlotte's tour with Christie of the Meadows.. and the history of her dad, 'mom', Eugenia, Emily, and Lillian... plus the loveless start of Lillian's marriage to Cutler Sr. I guess Lifetime dropped the Lillian being Charlotte's mom story since I don't think that was ever mentioned in the movies.

I'm holding out hope Alyssa will recommend a fun book for adults that isn't political, for kids, nor is non fiction.

No, I don't think they were better at running things. It looked and felt like watching Stepford Wives where everyone thought and felt the same thing...and daring to think for yourself like Margot's Barbie will result in you becoming human. It's interesting that she opts to stay in the real world vs staying in the Stepford esque world of Barbieland. And never thinking of the Ken's, and taking them for granted is a classic example of mistreating someone. And when the Ken's stand up for themselves, the Barbies use manipulation to control them. So no...they didn't run things any better

I'm reading Colleen Hoover's 'Too Late'..and I'm about a 100 pages into it. It's interesting..but I can tell this was done as a writing exercise vs an actual story she plotted out. Classic love triangle with a rich college kid, his unhappy girlfriend staying with him due to family financial obligations, and a new guy that comes into the fold that instantly clicks with the unhappy girlfriend. Twist is the rich college kid is an abusive drug dealer, the girl is only with him because he pays for the care of her special needs brother, and the new guy is an undercover cop trying to bust the drug ring of the rich college kid.

Saw the movie late last night and it was adorable. I don't think it was anti male at all despite giving off that impression. Barbie land was run by women and it was just as toxic as a society run by men..proving power corrupts and that checks and balances are needed in order to run an effective society. And that's a society where men and women work together, respect one another, and are equal. What I most loved about the movie is that the two leads didn't end up together, the both set out to get an identity that's more than just a Barbie or a Ken. A lesson to all of us to be ourselves and not follow the group think mentality of our world and Barbieland.

From what I recall Fern was a more effective antagonist in Midnight Whispers than Clara Sue ever was in the other books... and I liked in Twilight's Child, there was a scene where Betty Ann sensed that Philip didn't love her.. which was the seed that eventually led Betty Ann to become cold/distant in Midnight Whispers

I'm wondering if the reason we're seeing Megan and Isabella in these states is because this was from Luke's POV (i.e. Isabella being more possessive than we've seen, etc). At least this episode was a nice switch with things from Luke's perspective...though if I were this episode...the confusing flashbacks to random times in the past would have been Luke's life flashing before his eyes as he dies..and we could have had the last scene be Luke dying while a figure is looking on as he takes his last breath

I don't think Jessel was aware how rude and blunt she was coming across. She was raised in the UK in a strict Indian family where maybe being blunt is the norm. Maybe she felt comfortable enough where she could be honest. However...she isn't with her family and I hope she gets called out. Ubae... I mean...we've seen her cousin Aylan so we shouldn't be surprised how brutally honest she is..though I think she's warmer than Aylan is...so far. I didn't miss Brynn.

With the show long gone.. but recently watching sections of the show on Tubi... I finally came across the Tori engagement saga episodes this past week. After reading in season 7 about how horribly she came across, I was expecting Carlin style dramatics.. and was surprised that it was the opposite of Carlin... and I think I find myself sympathizing with Tori in some cases. From watching, I'm not sure if it was Tori's idea to move the wedding up to December.. or if it was UP Tv or Mama Kelly's idea, but I could tell it was going to be a disaster. She was still in school so her mind wasn't going to be 100 % on the wedding. So I'll break it down my thoughts based on some of the events. Wedding Cake/Wedding dress: Tori did state her wedding colors, what types of cake she wanted.. but I do think she could have just said chocolate or vanilla cake with a purple/lavender frosting. And I knew she had her heart set on wedding dress #1 because she was talking to the bridal lady Renee about a few alterations she wanted on the dress, yet Kelly/Carlin were trying to get her to do their preferred choice of wedding dress #2. Thank gosh the bridal lady Renee kind of stepped in and backed up Tori's wish for wedding dress #1. Also Alyssa/Whitney's both had a good suggestion to switch the color of the tuxedos for the men. Wedding Shower: After hearing Pious Erin's story about only 9 people showing up for her wedding show, I bet Tori was secretly hoping only 9 showed up to her party LOL. Now everyone seemed to understand that Tori didn't really want the huge wedding shower nor to be center of attention... but Bridezilla Kelly just didn't care and put her daughter in a horrible position. And if you don't suffer from anxiety, then you don't understand that you can't control how you act sometimes in those situations. Bachelorette trip: God Kelly was such a nag about wedding stuff non-stop when I think Tori wanted a few minutes to just enjoy the water and dolphins. And Tori was very respectful with her wishes not to do the silver dollar painting and sat off with her phone in a comfy sofa with Kelly nagging her to come over and make new memories. What I noted was Alyssa and Tori had a nice conversation about wedding registries, and Alyssa was low key and helpful with her advice on what to put on it. I can tell from watching the show that Kelly/Tori are not super close and that Tori/Gil are super close as father/daughter. That's just my impression from watching these engagement episodes of Tori.

Twilight Child is probably the only ghost written book that spanned years. My thoughts on the 3rd movie: - they didn't include the custody issues between Dawn and the people that adopted Christie. It wasn't important so I understand why it was left out. -the scene where Clara Sue was beating up Dawn was intense..probably the most intense scene of the movie. It was brutal. - I loved the use of Emily and Lillian as 'ghosts' affecting Dawn, though they cut out the part where Luther told Dawn that Charlotte was Lillian's from her 'dad'.. which made Dawn understand why Lillian was the way she was. -loved the Clara Sue death scene..much better than in the book. -Randolph was a tragic character -Fern was everything Clara Sue should have been. -Betty Sue/Philip story was done well...and she seemed so sweet..but there is a hint she knows Philip doesn't love her (which I'm sure will lead to the coldness she will display in Midnight Whispers). -Oramand was in the book..so not sure why he wasn't in the movie.

So my fear that Barbie would show Barbie as everything and Ken as just Ken isn't a reality. It seems when a feminist makes a movie, they tend to over correct by making the male lead into an object while injecting all focus/development into the lead female character. Which is no better than when the reverse. That said, I'll wait till it's available to watch at home since movie tickets are expensive.

Heather absolutely deserves to have a taste of her own medicine. She's evil. So I hope she keeps getting called out on her delusions and snobbery.

I didn't enjoy the mistress being allowed a piece of the family business, especially after she lied about her daughter being a Walker.

Jen sort of has to Tamra. I think Tamra's pissed off because she's not getting the reaction from Jen then she wants. She's confused Jen with Alexis/Gretchen... and while all three are blonde... Jen seems like she has a backbone and will push back in a calm way unlike Alexis/Gretchen.

Heather is insecure, if she wasn't..she wouldn't talk down to people. And Emily is right that Heather lacks self awareness

Looks like we will get a little bit of Donna Mills in part 3 if this preview is accurate

Jesse/Sophie are the weakest characters. I can't imagine the ditzy Hilary Duff's Sophie turning into the calm, confident and cheeky Kim Cattrall's Sophie.

If your show is going to be stupid...might as well go over the top. After the complexity of season 1...season 2 seems more like a Christopher Pike novel come to life.

I think before getting into the petty arguments over cheese and restaurants, perhaps the show should have spent the first episode letting the audience get to know the new housewives in their personal lives with no interaction between the women. Do the editors not understand anticipation? Lastly, Jenna should have been a cast member in season 12 or 13 of NY. She's quirky, has legit fashion cred (used to love J Crew), is part of the LGBTQ community, and is pretty open with showing some skin. She would have totally bonded with Sonja/Luann.. and I think she would have been a better bridge between the OGs and Eboni in season 13 then Leah was.

I managed to watch part 2. It's been years since I read the book, but it seems like they adapted the important key elements of the book. Fran Drescher plays stern much better than I thought she would. She definitely played the aging delusional actress well. No Fran Fine laugh. Donna Mills was not in it as much, but she was scary in the main scene she was in. I liked that Dawn had an ally with Trisha and fit in well with her classmates...and Trisha shaded Clara Sue in one good scene. Michael/Dawn was as creepy as in the book. And wow.. the southern plantation that Dawn is sent to was so dark and gloomy. Some nice southern gothic with the religious sister Emily and sweet Charlotte. Dawn gets her backbone back at the end and the end of this part is perfect. I'm awaiting Twilight's Child..that was my personal favorite of the books back when I read it.