Should Be Working

In a franchise already chock full of malignant narcissists and borderline sociopaths, Meghan is still a standout in terms of her wholly unique approach to self-idolatry and complete lack of empathy with others. In her many THs, she displays a strange lack of affect unless she's putting someone else down or enumerating her many fine qualities, in which case she becomes quite animated. She is an island unto herself. I'm looking forward to the upcoming exchange with Vicki ("You shut your mouth!!..."Oh, you're just an old bitter woman."). I'm guessing Vicki will either (1) Grab Meghan by her long pointed elf ears and swing her around a few times (2) Put her in a painful giraffe neck hold until she apologizes, or (3) Fall down sobbing.

Plus it's my understanding that she brushes and flosses twice a day and wears her seat belt whenever she's in a moving vehicle. What a gal.

Even if Shannon has a firm grasp on reality (and I don't think she really does), she gives off this extremely vulnerable, easy to rattle vibe to the assholes around her who repeatedly come swooping in like hyenas on an obviously injured antelope. That episode from last season where Tamra was grabbing her face and chasing her around the house is a good example. Instead of standing firm, slapping the pit bull's paws away, and telling her plainly to get the fuck away, she panicked and tried to escape. Not a good idea when you're dealing with heartless predators. I don't doubt that she is able to look back and rationally assess such situations clearly shortly thereafter, the damage has already been done. She's let them get to her and further promoted the notion that she's BSC. I think that, at her core, Shannon is a very decent and good person. She just doesn't do well in the vicinity of mean-spirited persons. She knows that Tamra, Meghan, and to some extent Heather fall into that category. But when will she see that David is just a low-key, soft-spoken variant of the same beast?

As others have already noted, Dr. Terry put the removed growth in a plastic bag, perhaps for a path test. Either that or he's planning on having it mounted on a gold medallion so he can give it back to Heather on her birthday to wear on special occasions.

Yeah, and look what came in 1st to 8th place ahead of it. Pure quality televison.

Beautifully put and right on target. While the media (social and broadcast) is focused on the effect of bullying on its victims, we seldom hear anything about what happens to the bullies when their power over others has dissipated and then evaporated with the passage of time and life's cruel vicissitudes (i.e., aging and plain old karma). Your post conjured up the image of a 50 year old Meghan sitting alone in her studio apartment somewhere cheap, trying to figure out why and how it all went wrong, so fast. Sure, that unexpected quickie divorce from Jimbo was tough, but later, when her good friends stopped coming by or returning her calls. And the guys quit giving her the eye (other than to occasionally ogle at her giraffe neck, that is).

You're so right, 30 is not that young. But Meghan doesn't act her chronological age. She comes across as a self-centered, conniving, and entitled teenager, never a smart or emotionally/intellectually mature 30 year old. Not once. But she'll always be that way, regardless of her age. As for jealously of her youth being the cause of any friction with the older HWs, that may be with a few of them. But mostly, I suspect, it's because she's a spoiled and trouble making intern. We do know that she has that older shit stirrer Tamra's considerable admiration; that says a lot right there. Plus there's the fact that so many posters on this forum find Meghan's very presence on the screen annoying and tiresome. And it has nothing to do with her being 30.

I noticed how Meghan couldn't resist getting in a few on-air slams against Jimbo ("after all, it's not that he does anything around here.") at the start of the episode. The elf princess is obviously just as resentful and unimpressed with him as he is with her. No thought given to the fact that he might be watching that TH a few months down the line, or perhaps she doesn't give a shit if he sees it. What a lovely couple.

Certainly not any licensed and practicing oncologist. Brooks and Vickie have stated that his cancer is not responding to the chemotherapy. (Sorry to hear that; time to consult with your oncologist about other treatment strategies.) As becomes evident in coming episodes, Brooks has decided to try the "alternative" therapies route instead of chemo or other conventional methods. Coffee enemas are just the start. Shannon has apparently done extensive research into holistic treatments for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and will be advising and consulting with Brooks in the weeks ahead. If he really does have Stage 3 NHL, this is a dangerous and deadly strategy to follow. If he doesn't, he can tout the enemas, crystals, and Eastern herbal remedies for his miraculous recovery.

Aside from being a bitch, what an extremely odd looking woman this Meghan is. Like an early and flawed prototype from Walt Disney's 1950s animatronics lab, she comes across as quasi-human at best, her posture erect and rigid during her TH sessions, large oddly-shaped alien head mounted atop that giraffe neck, while a ragged symphony of conflicting emotions simultaneously play across her face - extreme aloofness, a tight smile to pretend friendliness, cold dead eyes - and all of it looks like it's being controlled remotely by some technician at a computer in another room. Meanwhile, Dr. Heather Kissinger is busy with her shuttle diplomacy, a caring heart to heart talk with a tearful Shannon in an upstairs room at Napa, then a quick trip to Meghan/Jim's house to send out feelers for a possible compromise on the non-invitation a short time before the soiree actually begins. And still she finds time to run the over-budget but fun McMansion on the ocean project. Well Meghan, you rusty Midwest cyborg, with your frosty animatronic ways you've accomplished what no one else has yet done before: made Tamra, Vickie, and the rest (excepting, of course, our busy career diplomat) seem sincerely warm and human at that restaurant/bar in Laguna Beach.

Watching Brooks at Vicki's garden party. He still spews the same ol' conman BS (his flip reply to Tamra that "Oh, there's a lot of concoctions (of chemo)" made it sound like he gets his from black-magic shops in Tijuana instead of from legitimate infusion centers in real hospitals). But a tight HD camera shot in good lighting tells a lot, and Brooks, who has sported that grubby-looking 5-day growth of beard perpetually from Day 1, is now sporting just a few sprigs of hair on his chin, with nothing along the upper jaw. His head hair even looks a bit thinner. Plus he seems to be running at lower RPMs and looking a bit out of it. Of course, these could all be part of his "I've got cancer" routine, but then again, maybe not.

Erlich to not-lawyer Hanahan: "Don't let the door hit ya where God split ya."

Not as good as the final S1 episode, but a redemptive finale for a disorganized and frustrating S2. Sure, Laurie's last-minute actions pretty much took the wind out of their short-lived triumph over Belson, But Judge takes peverse pleasure in doing the unexpected,toying with his audience, keeping them guessing (granted, sometimes to the point of tuning out). Assuming he intends to do several more seasons of Silicon Valley, I'd hope that S3 is their breakout season, where Richard and his PP pirates are finally recognized (and properly rewarded) for being the technical visionaries they are. Which means that Laurie will probably keep them constrained on a tight leash all season long. But then again, Monica might use her charm and persuasive skills to intercede in their favor.

Well, if he was your average Joe Blow, I'd certainly give him the full benefit of the doubt absent solid proof of willful deceit or fakery. But then, we're dealing with Brooks Ayers, whose past actions very much call into question the veracity of his claims about the NHL cancer and his possible motives for lying about it. Without access to his recent medical records, no one can claim with certainty that this is just another of his scams, albeit a most deplorable one. Vicki, while blasting RHOC cast members who doubt his NHL diagnosis, has not yet backed up his claims by citing her participation in discussions with his doctors and/or accompanying him to chemotherapy sessions. And that is her choice. Perhaps we'll hear something along those lines as the season progresses. Those who are interested might check out his Twitter account to review his posts and profile information. I, for one, did not know (as he claims) that he is a 1989 graduate of MSU, or that he has worked in the fields of medical sales and as a financial advisor. His tweets are positive in nature and forgiving of his detractors in an interesting way, advising others not to be bothered by those who question their truthfulness (as though other cancer victims are routinely doubted by those around them). He speaks repeatedly of the power of positive thinking in the face of cancer, an honorable and understandable sentiment to be sure, but one that is repeated so often by Brooks as to appear rehearsed and calculated. At least to me.

Jobs agreed to have his pancreas checked after his urologist saw suspicious shading on his scan. But then he waited almost nine months before he allowed the surgeons to do a whiffle procedure to remove the malignancy. In the interim, he was trying diet-based cures and driving his doctors, family, and closest friend crazy. That delayed surgery confirmed spread to the liver.

That diagnosis is coming up on two years instead of three, but we know that it can be years for cancer to spread before detection, which explains the staging. Wonder if Vickie is paying Brooks' no doubt substantial medical bills (he's too young for Medicare and not the type to have a generous employer-funded plan). "Just give me the cash, hon, and I'll drop it off at my next chemo session."

OK, spent a bit of time Google-searching information about Brooks' cancer, the Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins lymphoma first diagnosed in the Fall of 2013, Almost all of it comes from your usual reality show gossip sites, but they all pretty much describe the same situation. That he claims that his chemotherapy treatments have not succeeded in bringing about any improvement or remission. That he's been on a largely liquid-based diet, which must do wonders fortifying his immune system. That he's now consulting with Shannon Beador to develop a workable holistic treatment plan to take the place of more aggressive standard cancer-fighting therapies. Three of the RHOC cast members are leading the campaign to prove that he does not have cancer (Megan, Brianna, and Tamra), Megan recently gave an interview with Perez Hilton claiming to know for a fact that Brooks is faking it. Vickie's response to this interview and the season preview snippets? They are "nothing short of disgusting." Brooks' response? He simply calls them "unsubstantiated claims." That gets my attention. One might expect a man seriously ill for almost three years with Stage 3 cancer to angrily denounce such allegrations as complete and disgusting bulllshit (or something to that effect). "Unsubstantiated claims" sound far more like the words of a scammer who is confident he's properly covered any traces of really incriminating evidence of fakery. Close to three years with a Stage 3 cancer without improvement or remission is strongly associated with metastasis to crtical organs like the kidneys, liver, lungs, and brain. If he is actually telling the truth about his medical condition, then Shannon's holistic remedies are the last thing he needs. He should instead be getting his final affairs in order.

Cannot locate any info on Brooks' cancer on the web. My first instinct is to suspect he's concocted the illness to garner sympathy from Vicki and the rest. But how do you fake stage 3 lymphoma and chemotherapy? All we know from the season previews is the whispering campaign about him not being sick. Still, with Brooks, you never know. Perhaps he's found himself a pretend oncologist who provides saline-filled chemo bags when Vicki wants to accompany her gravely ill boyfriend to his treatments.

My heartfelt congratulations to Mike Judge, Alec Berg, and their writing staff for single-handedly, in a single season, turning Silicon Valley from a smart, astute, and hilariously entertaining story about brilliant tech nerd underdogs taking on and beating their billionaire overlords into a maudlin, uninspiring, poorly-written tale about complete morons repeatedly grasping defeat from the jaws of victory. They should have steamrolled End Frame's ass, won the bakeoff, and secured a mega-deal with Intersite, then moved on to even more lucrative non-porn ventures. But no, that just wouldn''t do. At best, they'll end up in some strange servile symbiotic relationship with Gavin Belson, the most despicable character in the show. Well played, Pied Piper.

This lousy episode accomplished little more than make a compelling case for removing Richard as CEO of PP and retaining him only as chief architect/programmer. Why the silly need to keep contacting Seth Lee, the network guy terminated from End Frame, only to succeed in pissing him off more and more? Why the lame and counterproductive interaction with the head of Intersite just before the bakeoff? When it comes to CEO decision-making, Richard ought to adopt the "do the complete opposite of every impulse I have" strategy that George Constanza used so effectively on Seinfeld. Even Monica, with her weakness for sneaking an occasional cigarette, would do a far better job. And of course, Gilfoyle could serve as chief technical strategy advisor to the new CEO. His left-hand path approach is laudible in Silicon Valley.

They must have brought in the script-writing team from Nucleus this week.

Thanks for the detailed insights into what looks very much to be the future of porn. For those inclined to use the rapidly-improving VR technology and assorted hardware accessories, it would represent the natural evolutionary progression from skin mags, VHS tapes, DVDs, and streaming video, only far more "immersive," as you so aptly put it, than anything other than real human-to-human contact. And we know how problematic achieving that can be for some people (just ask Dinesh). What's also interesting is to consider how our sexual relationships with our real human partners might be affected by this new technology. It's one thing to exit a streaming video and quickly turn off the home computer if the wife comes home unexpectedly. It's another to remove and disconnect from the Oculus headgear and hardware accessories before she comes strolling into the study and demands to know WTF is going on. But advancing technology can prevent those "coitus interruptus" issues as well as delivering the entertainment. Something as simple as a smart phone app alert signal that chimes as soon as her car pulls into the driveway. Or even new online courses instructing couples on how they can actually partake in and enjoy the VR-based porn together, without shame or recrimination. Hell, it might create a new sort of swinger party paradigm. As you observed, both astonishing and terrifying.

So the porn industry's future salvation, amidst the current explosive growth in free porn, lies with a few hokey mechanical dildo devices? Focus on those virtual reality goggles. Partnered with the absolute best in middle-out compression technology.

Or Russ could drive his cursed Maserati and himself off a towering cliff near Pacifica. Or perhaps slip on that dog turd in his mansion and break his neck. His uber-obnoxious character adds nothing to the storyline and just takes up valuable episode time. No need for a vapid character from the 1990s in this contemporary piece.

Addendum: That scene at the Incubator where Gilfoyle shows them End Frame's contract with Intersite is hand's down the best one of Season 2. Monica off in an adjacent room, not wanting to be in the same one with the hacking conspirators, but still taking an active part in the conversation..Just their good fortune that the End Game CEO remembers his system logon the same way my grandmother does her AOL account logon. BTW, Gavin is really losing it if he actually believes that Job's invented/promoted the Newton, That was Sculley's baby all the way and Steve hated it from the start, banishing the product as soon as he replaced Amelio.