Amethyst

Jack was 17 when he donated his sperm. I think Elliot is supposed to be in his late 20's or early 30s, and Skip looks about 10. Elliot looks more like a big brother than a father, but I think the time frame matches up. As someone who was looking forward to Elliot's return, it was really depressing to see him and Jack so distant. Their relationship was a real highlight of the original. I wonder if Elliot and Bonnie (his mother) are estranged as well, since she was gay. Assuming Elliot knows that by now. I would have rather seen Jack and Elliot try to patch things up rather than the stuff with Skip. Yet despite years of estrangement, everything is tied up neatly at the end; Jack and Elliot are close again, no conversion camp, and something tells me that Elliot's wife won't be seen again. Jack's speech to Skip was quite profound, but it was really disappointing overall. Skipped Karen and Grace's plot entirely.

These are the kind of flashbacks that work, just showing Jack as a father. It doesn't have to revolve around the Great Mystery of his death all the time. I love seeing him with the kids. Poor Kevin. It's not just that he was a great football player, he clearly links those happy memories of his father to playing football. And it was probably one of the few times that Kevin was the focus and not his siblings, which made those moments all the more special. Looks like he saw the dangers of the pills early on, but seeing the old videos with Jack pushed him over the edge. This doesn't bode well. Eh to Kate's pregnancy. At least she's happy about it. I think Randall just needs to back off and let Deja be. If she only wants to confide in Beth, then that's how it has to be for now. She's not recoiling in fear around him anymore, but it's only been a week or so since she arrived. She'll open up to Randall when she's ready. Good for Rebecca for putting her foot down. Her mother's issues are hers alone to deal with, and Randall shouldn't have to put up with that. Loved his little "What took you so long?" to his grandmother. Knowing how awful her own mother is, I wonder if Rebecca took that into account when she and Kate argued a few weeks ago. She was very good tonight. When Rebecca took Randall upstairs after the confrontation, it looked like she was trying really hard not to cry in front of him. Sad, but impressive.

Oddly enough, I thought this was going in a whole different direction. When Shaun's brother told him that Colleen was sneaking out the magazines, I wondered if she was reading them for herself, not just giving them to the boys. I figured that would be the secret she was revealing to Shaun.

They really need to develop the supporting characters more. Four episodes in and none of them really stand out to me beyond stereotypical stuff. Claire is the only one with any real personality, and it's usually related to Shaun somehow. It would help if people said their names more often, because I only know Claire and Melendez by name. I give it two more episodes before Shaun hooks up with his neighbor.

They finally got some solid footing in the foster plot. The actress who played Deja was very good, and I couldn't blame her for getting mad at Beth for rifling through her stuff. I'm glad Randall is realizing that there is no book, blog, or instruction manual that will prepare him for this. Kind of him to try to soften the blow for Deja's sake. The scene with Annie and William was so sweet. She's a darling. Kevin's reluctance to talk about Jack makes sense. Last season, when he and whatshername crashed the funeral, remember that Kevin tried to give his condolences to the widow, only to break down in tears instead. The pill addiction is interesting, too. Kate was pretty alarmed about Kevin's old knee injury, so it must have been serious. Kevin played football as a teenager, and I wonder if the injury sidelined that permanently, which led to him getting more serious about acting. Anyway, that final scene was well acted by both of them. It was nice for just them to have a plot instead of worrying about the significant others. Glad that Sly was such a nice guy. I was worried he would be a jerk. Not surprising what happened with Randall and the woman in the park. Such an earnest letter, too. Poor kid. I'm just glad that he realized it immediately and got the hell out of there.

Oh, I understood the symbolism of it. So did Melendez and Andrews, judging from the looks they shared. Yes, the rich asshole can get another surgery he needs while people like Chuck slip up once and basically get a death sentence. I just didn't think it added much to the episode.

LOL at them doing the procedure on the highway ramp instead of just taking a few seconds to pull over on the shoulder. All for the drama. Poor Browne. Even though she realizes Shaun's difficulty interacting with people, I understood her frustration. I thought he was just zoning out during a flashback, not deliberately ignoring her. That's gonna get old if people can't actually ask him questions and have to re-phrase everything. And I couldn't blame her for her lack of thrill at Shaun's "We saved a life today, just not Chuck's." I did notice that Shaun tried to touch her shoulder in reassurance, though. So that's progress. The rich guy surgery felt unnecessary. They could have ditched that altogether. Those were some sugary pancakes Shaun was eating.

Ikr? Especially #3. Why was Grace freaking out about drowning when they were basically just floating?

Ah, yes I remember that one. And Grace was livid because Karen basically cleaned out her bank account from dozens of uncashed checks. I'm surprised Grace was still paying her though. I figured Karen wasn't cashing the checks, like before.

Works for me!

So, Will and Jack, huh? Wonder if Rosario is the new Stan: oft mentioned but never seen. Guess it's the only way to keep the character around without Shelley actually being present. :( I loved Will's speech to Blake. Funny, but brutally honest and heartfelt. That inane shower scene had me asking questions. Does Karen even get paid? I thought Grace only hired her because she wanted access to Karen's wealthy connections. Karen conveniently yelling out the words to lock the shower was like watching bad vaudeville. And were the doors vacuum sealed or something? I just figured the water would seep through the doors. Jack was hilarious in his poor flirtation and him trying to date (or hookup), and that end makeup was awful. Poor Jack. It will be interesting to see how he navigates among the younger generations now.

Her discussing Arizona's turn ons in front of Webber was tasteless. DeLuca can certainly stay, but his sister can exit stage left now. Also, does this mean Minnick is gone for good? Pleasantly surprised that the therapist didn't die. Jackson's slip of the tongue during the eulogy was hilarious. Although I call BS on this tumor altering Amelia's personality for so long, I'm just glad that Owen knows and there's no more secrets. Megan can leave, she's just irritating and adds nothing. And she can take Riggs with her.

The "Toby and Miguel get no love!" line had me snickering. I'm starting to like Sophie. It helps that we can see the bond between them vs everyone just talking about it. It was sweet how she was there for Kevin in the end. Her presence made something humiliating into something bearable. Also liked that scene between Beth and Kevin. They have an interesting relationship and I wish we had more scenes of all of them interacting instead of being in their separate worlds. Of course Kevin was feeding Randall those cheesy lines. I think they were trying to show the differing perspectives for Kate and Rebecca. Kate sees her beautiful mother whose talents eclipse her own, while we see Rebecca hard at work trying to turn something that meant a lot to her (the dress) into something special for her daughter. As adults, Kate still hears criticism when Rebecca means encouragement. This. And that whiny "Great, now you've made me say mean things" was just ridiculous. I was glad Rebecca didn't retort, because I'm hoping it forces Kate to realize just how cruel she was. Rebecca probably was pushy back then, but she wants her daughter to be happy, and even now, she can see how insecure Kate is around her. So Rebecca feels bad, and for once, she really shouldn't. Kate was in the wrong and owes her mother an apology. I'm glad that Randall and Beth are back on the same page, because I'm not feeling this foster plot at all. All the yo-yo'ing was tiresome.

Ok, I guess I'm in. Breezy, but a stronger second episode. It was pretty obvious that one of Shaun's "scut" patients would have something more complicated, but I did enjoy him getting his hero moment. Really liked him just saying screw it and going for the operation himself. Boo to Dr. Douche for taking over. It's good that Glassman saw that there was some validity to the other doctors' concerns, even though Shaun is his top priority. Claire seems cool. I liked Carly (the woman in the lab) too. Jared, it's not really going out on a limb for Shaun if you don't acknowledge that the whole thing was his idea. Did I miss something there? He still took the credit. This might seem like a really dumb question, but was there a reason why they couldn't reattach the kidney once the tumor was removed? I wonder if Steve (little brother) is still alive somehow. Like he's on life support or something.

Not just you. Wiendish Fitch basically summed up my feelings, hehe. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either. It was just...there. There were some mild improvements (like the explanation why no one remembered the castle of the servants) but otherwise, it was a paint by numbers remake. Watson was disappointing. It doesn't help that she and Stevens were mismatched and Emma still looks like she's in high school. But her acting is just so weak. The most egregious had to be the Be Our Guest scene, which she had this placed bland smile on her face the whole time. Girl, the silverware is putting on a show. The freaking dusters are dancing and the candlelabra is personally serenading you. Not to mention being served a five star meal. Would it have killed her to clap or cheer, or something? No enthusiasm whatsoever. And don't even start on her "singing." So lackluster. They should have switched her and Gugu Mbatha Raw's roles. At least Gugu can act, and looks closer in age to Dan Stevens. I was initially creeped out by the servants (in non-human form) when I saw the movie stills, but they actually worked a lot better in motion. Wasn't crazy about McGregor's accent (I get why people were hearing Mexican) and McKellan was basically sleepwalking. Emma Thompson was OK, but none of them were that great. I did like Dan Stevens as the Beast, although he wasn't too menacing. But he did bring heart to the role and did a good job. Also liked Luke Evans and Josh Gad. I can see how some found LeFou to be too modern, but I found his little arc enjoyable, and Evans to be appropriately awful. Although Gaston's death scene was more blink-and-you'll-miss-it.

MTE. Critics have been hyping this reboot left and right. I expected better than this for the premiere. On the plus side: the group basically falls back into their roles like a slipper. They have an ease from years of working with each other and it shows. That was nice. No awkwardness. However...the political stuff was a fail. It was kinda funny at first, but not that funny, and it went on too long. And the longer it went on, the broader it got. When Grace "casually" opened the bag of Cheetos...really? Enough already. And all the winking to the audience? Just silly, and another gag that they stretched to the breaking point. As one of the few who thought the series finale made sense, I really hate how they're doing the "it was all a dream" bullshit. Years ago, the writers painted themselves into a corner with Will and Grace's co-dependence on each other, and everyone knew it. But apparently Karen dreamed up the final season, not just the finale. So stupid and lazy. But what's done is done, so I gotta let that go. It's not Must See TV by a mile, but I'll watch again, I guess. At least we have DVRs now. If the last season really didn't happen, then maybe they can bring back Nathan as Grace's future/alternate reality boyfriend, and not Leo, the plank of wood.

I've witnessed alcoholism from close family members, for many years. I'm not saying Jack had to be a fall down drunk for people to notice what was going on, just that they could have picked up more than he thought. Low life? Ouch. I don't think Toby wants to (or should) infringe on Kate and Kevin's relationship. Didn't Kate drop everything to run to Kevin's side for something last season, and Toby was pretty baffled until Kate told him that that's how things were with her and her brother? So Toby knows how close they are. Given everything Kate and Kevin have gone through together, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But Kate lied to Toby about the audition instead of just being honest and telling him the truth. Would she have told him if hadn't pried about it at dinner? Toby did act like a jerk towards Kevin and owed him an apology, but I get why he's frustrated with the situation. If he and Kate are getting married (which they probably shouldn't) she needs to be honest with him about what's she's really feeling. And it's ok if he wants some boundaries about who shows up at his house.

I just don't buy that no one noticed anything in those several weeks.

Those last few minutes felt like the writers saying "What, you thought you were upset during last season's finale? Ha! We'll have you sobbing uncontrollably by next week!" For once, I didn't care for Randall's speech to Beth. It's not that it wasn't heartfelt, but the whole episode, I was waiting for him, or anyone to ask if this was what Beth wanted. Has he been ignoring or just blind to his wife's (obvious) unease towards the whole idea all year? I hated that "You need to get on board" line. Fuck that. This isn't a goldfish, it's a child, and Randall was shitty to railroad over Beth's feelings like that. So his "perfectly imperfect" speech was nice, but it felt manipulative. And wrapped up way too neatly. I like the idea of adopting an older child, but this still feels like a compromise for Randall's sake. Nice idea having the birthday open the season, and this time, the Big 3 were happy. So Jack's been off the wagon for weeks? Um, ok. It's hard to believe that none of the Pearsons knew anything about this. No whiff of alcohol, no stumbling or slurred words? Or was there? Hmm. They better expand on this during the season. Team Toby. This isn't some rando off the street, he's Kate's fiance and he has the right to be angry. It's not just about Kevin, it's Kate just casually dropping that "Yeah, I didn't go to this huge audition that meant so much to me and y u mad that I didn't tell you?" She may be 37, but she acts 16. I would have been mad, too. And sorry, but no sympathy for how the audition went. It was a much needed lesson and now she can improve. Meh to Sophie, but it was sweet how she showed up for Kevin. Ron Howard is very cute. Welcome to season 2!

Same. Highmore's performance is better than I thought it would be, and I want to give the show a chance. His performance really anchors the show. The rest of the cast performances are eh, but it's still early. Still, some stuff was baffling. Did Shaun's mother really think it was OK for her sons to live alone in an abandoned bus in the middle of nowhere, with no food, shelter, or protection? And how long was Shaun wandering the airport trying to find supplies? If he was busy looking for a knife as well as stopping to buy the alcohol, the paramedics should have been at the scene by the time he got back.

MTE, I thought that was the point. The commercial draws your attention because the product looks like something that Apple or Samsung would shill. The muted color scheme, the sleekness of the product, the trendy music. Clever idea. Still not buying a mattress, though.

It looked a gold muumuu. Many congrats to Darci, but I felt bad for Angelica. She's still a little girl who lost on live TV, and she basically broke down in tears. When Darci's brother nearly pushed Angelica aside to get to his sister, (kid was excited, I couldn't blame him, really) I just wanted someone to give Angelica a hug already.

Same. I rewound it and didn't see any reactions from Elizabeth at all.

Something I noticed on rewatch: Pamela Adlon going bonkers when Sterling K Brown won. It was so cute, she was fist pumping in the air!

I love Oprah's pantsuit, even if it's not very Emmy-like. He's been robbed for his work as Capt. Holt on Brooklyn 99.