Sir RaiderDuck OMS

I couldn't believe she was repeatedly haranguing Yohan for misstating a past abortion as a miscarriage (which an abortion technically is, the only difference being an external instead of internal cause) while she's been lying about her entire financial situation and reason for not wanting to return to New York. She's approaching Angela/Big Ed levels of awfulness. Her New Agey stuff was just as bad, but she wasn't this much of a demanding harridan. Also, the mother was quite plain that she's expecting Rishi's new bride to completely take over the housecleaning, cooking and whatnot else. No way Jen is going to be good with that. Kris is starting to give off hypochondriac vibes. Is a "mint allergy" even a real thing? And however bad her neck situation is, I find it hard to believe she'd have to be in a halo brace for an entire year if she had neck surgery. She might have to be in a halo brace for a short time before transitioning to one of those stiff plastic neck collars, but not a whole entire year. Even professional wrestlers who have disc replacements or fusions in the neck don't have to be a collar for a year. As for the apartment: Both Kris and Jeymi are in the wrong. Jeymi shouldn't have gone 25% above budget for a place without asking, but Kris should understand that an "American-style" apartment is going to cost more than the average. Nicole seems to revel in being a put-upon victim. She's constantly crying, begging for attention, asking her hubby to break all sorts of local rules and customs so she can feel better (she's either never heard the expression "When in Rome" or thinks it doesn't apply to her) and generally demanding the world revolve around her. Just watching her on TV is exhausting. I can't imagine how bad she must be in person. My question: If it takes a month or more for his stamp to get from the US to Colombia, wouldn't his clothes take a month to get from Colombia back to his US customers as well? Either this is a made-up storyline or Gabe is dumb as hell.

Sommer's awfully abrasive. Her idea of being assertive is to literally yell at people, and it seemed like she was always stirring up drama. I'd be surprised if Alex doesn't win it.

I was thinking Danny Trejo was kind of weathered for a guy in his 50s, then I looked him up and discovered why: He turns 79(!) in a few months. I also noticed he didn't do any specific food critiquing other than saying which taco he liked more. If you could buy Abe for what he's worth and sell him for what he THINKS he's worth, you'd be a rich person. Tara is the only truly annoying chef left.

And the show is back, although maybe not for long: Irvine broadly hinted on the show's Facebook page that RI is facing cancelation unless the ratings pick up. One of the FB commenters said Food Network is scheduling RI opposite Fox's Hell's Kitchen, which is truly stupid if true: despite their personal animosity, Gordon Ramsay and Robert Irvine have a lot of overlap in their respective audiences, and a Fox show will have an audience reach and promotional heft Food Network just can't match. (I always watch RI on Hulu or D+, so I don't know when a new episode officially "airs.") Anyway, it was a good episode. The owner and her kids seemed like nice people, but she was just beaten down by the stress of running a failing restaurant in a dead-end town, and the fact that her husband's job kept him out of town so much just added to her obvious depression (it's telling that we never saw him once during the ep). I've watched a lot of RI episodes, but few owners have been this emotionally defeated. She came off as a good person who just needed a hand up. On a brighter note, I loved Robert showing her that although driving to Phoenix instead of Flagstaff was ostensibly saving her money by buying from a cheaper supplier, the added gas and car maintenance costs (from turning a one-hour round trip into a five-hour round trip) more than wiped out any "savings," not to mention the equivalent of two full weeks per year spent driving instead of sleeping or being with her kids or whatever. It's often the stingy person who ends up spending the most, and this was a perfect example.

I'm giving this show one more ep. So far, it's showing us a lot, but giving us no context as to what's going on or why we should care about any of it. They need to knock off the world-building and get to the plot, pronto.

Mrs. RaiderDuck and I liked the series well enough until the final couple of episodes when it went seriously off the rails. First, Wednesday decides to accuse multiple people of being both the Hyde and the bad guy, then wonders why no one believes her. Then the cliché festival starts: Troubled boarding school student ends up being expelled even though they've done nothing wrong? Check. Put-upon roommate finally snaps and gives the protagonist a piece of her mind? Check. Friendly supporting character turns out to be an evil minion in disguise? Check. Good guy's ally shows up in disguise (or shapeshifted) and gets the evil minion to reveal all their nefarious plans? Check. Long-dead Big Bad wasn't just killed and buried, but had some extra-horrible curse placed on their soul that could be reversed and make them all-powerful? Check. Evil minion resurrects the long-dead Big Bad, hoping to be the Big Bad's sidekick, only to discover the Big Bad has no use for them? Check. Seriously, it seemed like the writers ran out of ideas how to finish up everything and just started throwing elements from The Mummy, Bully and other applicable properties against the wall to see what would stick. Other than the horrid finale, the series wasn't bad. Jenna Ortega did a great job (even if the show did overplay her "cynical sociopath" shtick) as did the other actors (Luis Guzman is seemingly incapable of a bad performance), and the production values were through the roof. I just wish they'd come up with a better ending.

The jury disliked Cassidy and Owen: they felt betrayed by Cassidy (no doubt egged on by a spiteful Karla), and saw Owen as a curmudgeon prone to anger outbursts. Gabler was the nice old guy they all liked (or at least didn't actively dislike), and that was enough.

Just like Nicole on BB All-Stars a year or two back, Karla thinks any backstabbing SHE does is just part of the game, but strategic play by anyone else is an unforgivable crime to be resolutely punished by any means necessary. Pet Peeve Time: I cannot STAND it when reality show contestants respond to a surprise announcement with that "Slowly turn your head towards the person saying it while opening your mouth in shock and making your eyes really big" shtick. It's so obviously practiced and never convincing. He may not have been able to. Years ago, Probst said there were two things that would get a contestant kicked off the show immediately with total forfeiture of their prize money: 1) A physical confrontation that's not part of a Challenge, or 2) Any discussion of giving up part of one's prize money in exchange for votes or other considerations. Gabler may have been worried about violating the second one.

My guess (and I do not claim any "inside information") is that Mike wants to keep those sweet, sweet TLC paychecks coming, and that will only happen as long as he stays married to Natalie and agrees to get together with her on-camera every now and then. If it was a matter of her not signing the papers, he could always file for a Default Divorce Decree. I did this when divorcing my first wife (and she knew about it, but this was the cheapest way for both of us).

If Josh was actually in this for love and had any self-respect, he'd have walked out of the studio after they showed that recording of Natalie basically saying he was a backup in case Mike didn't want her back. The fact that he stayed around either means he has no self-respect or, as you said, he's just in this to increase his social media profile. At one point, when asked why she didn't leave Mike, she said she'd be all alone if it didn't work out with Josh. Others have questioned whether Natalie suffered some kind of emotional trauma early in life that left here with these weird attachment issues. I'm thinking she could just be a narcissist, and remaining married to Mike and pursuing flings with other guys is her way of thinking "I have men FIGHTING over me!" She doesn't realize that Josh is only in this for social media likes and Mike is likely in this for that TLC $$$: remember that when he started on 90-Day, his home was about to be foreclosed. Now, he apparently has enough loose money sitting around to give a near-stranger (Natalie's mom) a free plane ride from Ukraine to Bulgaria. Since Colt's no longer living with Mommy, he might now be understanding just how manipulative and controlling she really was. He lost one marriage partly because of Debbie's meddling and hatefulness, and was about to lose another one when he finally moved out. How many other relationships has he lost over the years because Colt and Smother Debbie were a package deal, and potential Colt GFs just didn't want to deal with that?

Anyone know if the Vanessa Kirby footage was all from earlier seasons, or did they bring her back to film new stuff? As others have pointed out, the Queen Mother casting bugs. Couldn't they have brought in an actress who looks even a little bit like her? Even the body type is all wrong. OTOH, Lesley Manville absolutely killed as Margaret. She and Debicki are the best casting this season, with the always-excellent Pryce right behind.

Veronica is now 36 years old and entering middle age alone. She has a teenage daughter and an ex who she obviously shares a deep emotional connection with. Either of those will turn some guys off; combined, they narrow down her dating pool drastically. The low-cut, revealing outfits are a way for her to feel desired and wanted. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but when combined with her neediness and horniness, it will attract the wrong kind of guy. And when someone has an active herpes sore, sleeping with him anyway screams "desperate and horny."

I chuckled when Debbie was asking if Colt would be upset about her moving to Vancouver. Lady, Colt would love to be multiple states away from your Smother act. Just ask him to wrap his beard in something when he helps you pack so your possessions don't get too greasy. Also: She doesn't have many good options other than Tony, and to be blunt, there's a good chance at least one of them will be either be dead or in a nursing home within 5-10 years. They do NOT have the luxury of doing the Long Distance thing for a couple of years. Alona may well think she's bagged a rich American in Caesar. Wrong.

Mrs. RaiderDuck pointed out why the youngsters are doing so much better: Everyone on the show has to act as a line chef, at least during the early going. The twentysomethings are already doing that five days a week. The fortysomethings are all running their own kitchens or doing other cooking jobs besides line chef, so a line chef role isn't something they're used to at this point in their lives. O'Shea seemed like a nice guy who was way out of his depth. Bottom line is that he kept messing up proteins and you just can't do that.

I get a real Trailer Park Miss Ellie vibe from her. Remember on Dallas when Miss Ellie was an incredibly sensible and likeable character except when her sons Bobby and JR (in their 30s and 40s by this point) wanted to move away? She'd immediately become inconsolable and blame everyone around her. And Debbie is not nearly as appealing as the late Barbara Bel Geddes. I assume it's because they need to wait until their Green Cards to arrive before divorcing. They all rushed into marriages they weren't ready for. It reminds of the dynamic my ex-wife and her best friend had when we first met. She was living with her BFF who did NOT like me at all, not because she and I clashed, but because I was taking her sidekick away from her. I never wanted to make it a competition, but she (the BFF) sure did. If you can't grow hair on your face, don't grow out a beard. And if you grow one anyway, at least WASH it. My car has less oil. My wife and I may be in the minority, but we didn't mind someone who's not 20 years old and a Size 2 being portrayed this way. I thought she was kinda hot in a MILFy way. Bottom line is that she and Tim are soulmates. They'd be best served by having FWBs on the side while their main emotional partners remain each other. Methinks he's not over his ex(?)-wife and wants to get back together with her, but wanted to be able to say "Hey, you know Veronica from 90-Day Fiancé? I totally bagged her!" to his buddies.

They can also go back to the motion picture well one more time: Hillary Swank and Michael Ironside are both still alive, and Swank has expressed interest in coming back. Maybe fugitive Kreese hooks up with Paul Dugan from NKK and Daniel-san reaches out to Julie Pierce for help?

The brief Cobra Kai dojo montages once again highlight a major problem with the Terry Silver character: Martin Kove still looks legitimately badass all these years later. Thomas Ian Griffith (who is one year younger than Ralph Macchio but playing a character decades older) doesn't. This was always going to be a problem bringing back the original cast (i.e. they're all either senior citizens or approaching that age -- William Zabka is the youngest at 56), but it really shows when trying to sell us on Terry Silver being this awesome fighter when we can plainly see he isn't, no matter how much muscle padding they put in his karategi.

Barnes was just a ringer hired by Silver in KKIII to go after Daniel. Silver offered Barnes half-ownership in Cobra Kai, Inc. if he beat Daniel in the All-Valley. NOTE: If my preceding description makes no sense, it's because the entire plot of KKIII made no sense. Hell, even Silver himself lampshaded it last season ("I spent months mentally torturing a teenager over a high school karate tournament! It sounds INSANE to even say it!")

It's been four years since Hell's Kitchen was filmed in LA: remember that the Las Vegas seasons were both filmed in early 2019 and held back for over a year. The show might well be filmed in a different studio now. I can attribute that to a couple of things: 1) The HK chefs all live together in a big TV studio. The Masterchef contestants don't. Living together with strangers means more opportunity to be irritated with them, get in each other's way, etc. 2) If I had to guess, the Masterchef contestants are probably told to be supportive towards each other, as befitting the tone of the show. 3) Ramsay can afford to be nicer on Masterchef because it doesn't matter who wins: the producers will cut the winner a check, and Ramsay never has to see them again if he doesn't want to. The Hell's Kitchen winner will be working either in a Ramsay restaurant or a restaurant Ramsay's been pumping up the whole season. If the HK winner flops, it reflects directly on Ramsay. Orange soda might be OK if you really know what you're doing with it and why. I remember Morimoto stir-frying natto with Coca-Cola in an old Iron Chef Japan episode (the old-school Japanese chefs watching from the gallery were suitably scandalized, I might add). But as soon as he'd left a small puddle of soda around the base of the food, I knew he was sunk. There is ZERO excuse for using boxed pasta and canned tomatoes when you're in a televised job interview for a high-end restaurant run by a celebrity chef who famously abhors anything not freshly made. Meanwhile: *It was great seeing Christina Wilson and Jason "Blue Jay" Santos back as the sous chefs. Ditto with Marino as the maître d. *A rare moment of HK compassion from Ramsay when one of the fortysomethings described his restaurant going broke because of COVID. Ramsay probably knows a LOT of people whose dream restaurants simply didn't have the money to make it through that time. *Is it just me, or do the fortysomethings as a group look seriously rough? I'm 51 and my wife is 53, and some of those chefs looked a decade older than either of us. ETA: And I agree that Truffle Guy is an arrogant jackass.

There's not a nightclub in any major US city that would give Usman the time of day. They'd see an unattractive thirtysomething hack with no real talent and say "Thanks for for coming in to show us what you've got. Don't call us, we'll call you."

Libby has a nice voice, but it's all wrong for this project. Nursery rhymes are light and bouncy because that's what soothes babies. Libby's renditions sound like some 90s alt-rock group doing dark, edgy rhymes as part of a concept album. Sumit's become so disillusioned with low-income life with Jenny, he's willing to work 6 days a week. Either that, or Mommy and Daddy were paying his bills and no longer are. Ed and Liz aren't nearly as interesting as they think they are. Ditto with Kimberly and Usman, and Angela and whoever.

Heck, they may have been doing Brittany a favor, i.e. "She's been really tired and is trying to get some sleep, so we'll stay out of her room."

It's one thing to auto-tune your singing. Auto-tuning your RAPPING??? I have no (non-autotuned) words. Notice how it's just not us who are endlessly annoyed by Angela? Her Yoga teacher looked she wanted to strangle The Cackling One. And I think her painter either needs eyeglasses or a better screen. He could do SO much better than Angela, and she needs to lay off the Botox. Jovi's mom is right. She deserves to live her own life. Can anyone reading this confirm or deny Yara's assertion that all Ukrainian grandmothers are unpaid 24/7 nannies? ETA: I don't think that was Usman's actual parking space. Notice how, as he was driving off, two guys came out of the left door and started angrily gesturing at his car? ETA Part II: I loved Angela trying to use the lawyer as an ad-hoc therapist, and the lawyer saying "Nope. Not going there."

Now that we've seen middle-aged Stewart, I guess Todd is next?

Michael, like a lot of people who believe they "deserve" something, decided to be a jerk and ride the bitter boat when he realized he wasn't getting it. Brittany, who'd forgotten that this is ultimately a game show, was genuinely hurt by his sudden flip. Michael's big problem was winning so many comps so early, thus marking himself as a threat who should be targeted. He should've taken a lesson from Xavier last season, who half-assed his early challenges so he WOULDN'T be seen as a threat, then turned it on towards the end.