atlanticslide

In addition to the stupid name, big no to three different fonts and colors in the store title/logo.

I keep forgetting that Eric is even there. I'd totally take him as Bachelor, but yeah, they're definitely not giving him the edit for it. I can't even put my finger on what it is that I dislike so much about Colton, but I just cannot stand that guy. I definitely can't take an entire season of him as the Bachelor. The tearful conversation with Raven and Tia seemed to come out of nowhere, but I do think Raven was right that Colton just doesn't seem overwhelmingly into Tia; he kind of just seems to be coasting along. I like Joe fine - he's cute enough and seems like a fairly decent guy, but I don't totally get the overwhelming love for him either. Mostly he just seems fine. I was kind of into Joe and Kendall for a while there, I think just because they strike me as the most calm, normal people there (along with maybe Eric and Kenny), but there's not much spark between them, which I feel like you could say for everyone this season.

I had the same thought about Kyle and London. I realized last week that there's a lot of time passing offscreen (since the first episode was the start of the basketball season, and now we're at the playoffs, which in real time would be like 6 months or so), so I guess we can just assume that they've become good friends, but I feel like we've seen more of Kyle and Pax becoming friends than we have Kyle and London. And I know why they couldn't have Ahsha show up, but it's weird that they didn't even mention her. Weren't she and Kyle pretty good friends?

Ahhhhh Jenna's voice is driving me absolutely up the wall.

Ahhhh, I never even thought about that! Man, what a bummer. Val/David (version 1.0) were one of my favorite couples on the show (up until she tried to pimp him out to Ginger) and I always liked their connection, especially early on in the relationship.

Huh, they actually really didn't seem in love at all to me. Becca's reaction to the actual proposal was awkwardly muted and I felt like every time Garrett talked about her he was more enamored of the fantasy future he'd mapped out than he was of her (and I'd have suggested that all of those tears were manufactured but... that video of his first wedding...). On ATFR they just seemed like two people who maybe kind of like each other but mostly came across to me like two people who don't really know each other - which, hilariously, Becca even outright said, commenting that they want to get to know each other. The "he snores and leaves paper towels around the house - he loves paper towels!" was supposed to be cutesy, but it was just so basic and didn't actually come across like two people who really know anything about each other or have a personal relationship.

Yeah, that was weird. "You're my soulmate. And now I want you to find YOUR soulmate." Huh?

I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's just something about Garrett that grosses me out. Maybe it's just the combo of his Neo Nazi tendencies and the fact that he sounds like a legit dimwit? I don't know, but I just can't imagine being attracted to that guy. Did I mis-hear, or did he actually say "I like the way she says 'bag'"? On the one hand, I allllllllllmost wanted to give Becca credit for not defending Garrett over the IG stuff and outright saying that it wasn't good and that they had words over it. On the other hand, they both talked about it as something that happened to them, rather than something shitty he did, which is bullshit. And idiotic - your partner showing that he's a homophobic asshole who believes in conspiracy theories about teenage victims of gun violence is not something you "get through." That's not a hurdle to climb over or something to work past unless you're willing to just close your eyes to it. He's not going to change. I'm still kind of perplexed about how she came to her decision. Her only reasoning was "I was so into you that I didn't really see anyone else" which... huh? Why would you then choose someone else?

Becca, you fucking idiot. (not that Blake is much better, but, ugh. Garrett.)

Yikes, posted in wrong thread...

Ha, hilariously, according to James LaRosa, those were Brent Antonello's actual childhood pictures!

Yeah, that was a period that I really hated Val back in the day, and still makes her look like an asshole to me. Especially because, RAY. There was not one single appealing thing about that guy. Val was hot, rich (at that point), and lived in a hotel. She should've been able to have her pick of guys, but she went after freaking Ray? That said, it annoys me that up until their fling was revealed, it seemed to be portrayed as Val being the dark temptress that lured innocent Ray away from angel Donna, when he could've put a stop to it too. And on the one hand, I appreciate that when Donna found out, she didn't buy Ray's excuses and didn't accept his "she's just a lying bitch!" bullshit about Val. On the other hand, there was no real reason that Donna should've stayed friends with Val after that. That whole storyline was such a mess. On the Kelly front, one of my least favorite Kelly moments is from that same episode when everyone finds out about Val and Ray, before they find out, they're talking about best kisses or something, and Kelly snarks bitchily about how Val has kissed Steve, Brandon, Dylan, like that makes her such a slut, and like, first of all, it's 3 guys. Who the fuck cares if a woman in her early 20s (or any age for that matter) has kissed 3 freaking guys. Second of all, those are all guys that pretty much ALL of the gang girls have made out with or fucked at some point! INCLUDING KELLY. Fuck off, Kelly.

Oh, he definitely did, that was a point back in Season 1 and brought up again when they were circling around each other in Season 4. But everything from Season 4 through Season 8 basically contradicts the idea that they see each other as siblings - feelings can change, so I can certainly buy that Brandon developed real feelings for Kelly, and I can even buy that one or both of them slid into feeling more platonic towards the other at some point in their relationship and their domestication. But I have a lot of trouble buying that they went from, yeah, fucking in elevators or whatever to suddenly feeling platonic in the span of a few episodes.

I remember finding Val absolutely insufferable when I was younger - I'm generally not a fan of scheming characters who just want to screw people over - but watching the reruns now I like her a lot more. This might sound crazy considering the show, but I think TAT actually did a really good job conveying Val's vulnerabilities and elevated way beyond the material that was written for her. Randomly, on this note I always think of that scene between her and Brandon at the end of Season 5 when she's inexplicably desperate for his junk and she talks to him about how in all the months she's lived at Casa Walsh, they've never touched each other, and the writing is absolute garbage (especially considering it's fucking Brandon) but she sells the shit out of it. In general in Season 5 I think she did a good job of coming across as someone very mixed up about who she is and what she wants, which I don't even really think is what the writers were going for - I think they were mostly just going for Scheming Soap Bitch - but TAT really made it work. I think the other thing that's made me appreciate Val more in recent years is seeing how much of an asshole Kelly was to her right from the jump. Val tells a dumb white lie about pot and Kelly basically hates her forever from that point on. I don't know why, but that just makes me want to be on Val's side, even when she does things that are inexcusable.

If you'd asked me before I listened to these last two episodes, I would've sworn that the non-wedding took place in the season 9 premier, and that Brandon and Kelly just randomly decided that they were happy with the way things were and didn't want to rock the boat by getting married. I always check out of the later season reruns somewhere around the end of the college years, so I think I only ever saw these episodes once, and I could've absolutely sworn that the non-wedding was a lot more chill and there was no "we're like siblings" talk or breakup talk and that they only decided to break up when Brandon wanted to go take a job in DC or something. Maybe I crafted an ever so slightly more plausible scenario in my head because what actually happens in these episodes makes absolutely no fucking sense. The show has spent the past two seasons, plus parts of the one before that, trying to sell us on how in love Brandon and Kelly are, angels brought them together, blah blah blah dee blah blah. Now all of a sudden they want us to believe that they feel like brother and sister?? And yeah, their chemistry is pretty much non-existent (though I have to admit, I totally shipped them back in the day, before I grew up and realized how insufferable they both are), but this is what the show has been selling us, that they're this great love story, so they don't get to just suddenly tell us that "oh no, they're really like brother and sister" out of nowhere.

Word. He's incredibly handsome - and more so last night than when he was on the show - and he seems nice enough, but his exchange with Chris was utterly devoid of... anything, really. I can see the appeal of someone who doesn't come across as perfectly polished and camera-ready, but to me he seemed fumbling and awkward and almost seemed like he didn't really want to be there. I didn't enjoy the yelling at each other about the same bullshit from previously in the season, but I guess that's nothing new with the M/WTA episode. I don't care much for Jordan, but the guys STILL harping on the stupid gold underwear, even after knowing that Becca was the one who gave them to him so presumably she's cool with them, were so obnoxious. There's something so patronizing about a group of guys pontificating - wrongly - about what a woman wants. Jason is still my favorite, and I liked his reflections on the whole thing. Still pulling for him for Bachelor (please, for the love of god, NOT COLTON). Jon running the math on Jordan's Tinder claims was the highlight of the episode. Chris's "this is what happens if you drop out of school. The world is not flat," in the blooper section was my other favorite moment in the episode.

Why do you think it's gross?

I didn't watch Arie's season and only just caught up with this season so I'm sure I missed it, but - I don't even know what Becca's job is. I have no idea what her interests are In terms of stuff she likes to do, I've heard her mention church and brunch. That's it. She seems like a nice person and I've found her rather charming at times when some of her reactions to things feel very relatable, but she seems REALLY dull. I remember Kaitlyn being unpopular around here, but she was one of the most interesting Bachelor/ettes in recent memory, which made her a lot more fun to watch. I don't think there's anything wrong with having sex on all three FS dates. I'm struggling to even imagine what could be so "skanky" or gross about it. Assuming everyone used protection, who cares? I actually always find myself caught up in the logistics of the overnight than the sex part - do they go straight from the date to the hotel room? Is it the guy's hotel room, or neutral ground? Where'd Becca get her change of clothes (and if it's neutral ground, where'd the guys get their change of clothes too)? Do they each pack a bag ahead of time assuming that they'll be going to the FS, and it gets brought over for them or something? Where'd Becca get that flowery robe?

It still feels like there's a lot of directionless, random story bits, like Lionel having nothing really to do, Kyle's random non-plot subplot, and basically everything with Pax (really hoping his prostitution storyline is over now), but overall I'm still enjoying it. I think they have some fun core plots in Jude vs. Derek and Eve vs. everyone, and for the first time I kind of enjoyed Jamie vs. London since we got to see a little more of Jamie's vulnerability. Her friendship with Noah is random but seems nice and makes her a bit more likable. I really wish there was more time to explore Jude's feelings about the breakup and how it's still impacting his ability to move on, but I loved seeing some bits of evidence of that, like how he seems really hesitant to view Noah as anything more than a casual hookup while Noah seemed to be dropping pretty clear hints at wanting something more serious. I'm really curious about what else the show might do with them over the rest of the season. I'm also really curious about how this Jude vs. Derek thing is going to continue playing out. I like them both a lot so I'm hoping they'll eventually somehow end up on the same side.

New episode! Much better than the first one, I thought. Better paced and the storylines all seemed to flow pretty well. I'm interested in Pax and his backstory and his money troubles could be interesting, but I'm really not into this storyline with him basically becoming a prostitute. German becoming the new head coach was silly but not unexpected, so whatever. Loved everything with Derek - I like that both Derek and Jude see affected by their relative breakups, but not wallowing in them. I wasn't sure about Jude and Noah in the first episode, but I really enjoyed them in this one. Noah seems fun and charming, and I love how charmed he seems by Jude. He seems similar to Zero in that way, but a lot less dark and internally broody. I can't imagine how a serious relationship could work between them, though, considering their jobs. Lionel/Eve was less hot/fun than I expected, mostly because it felt like there wasn't really enough buildup to it. Jelena! I can't believe how much I used to hate her, and somehow she became one of my favorite characters. I get the sense that this may be the last we see of her for a while, if ever, which is a bummer, but I love how she went out. Jude becoming the new team owner is really interesting and I can't wait to see where they go with this, but I hope he doesn't change too much - I could see them taking him down a dark path, maybe, and having him become more Oscar-like, which I think could be really fun and interesting, but not forever. I like that Jude is a generally decent guy and really don't want him to go too dark or too bad. It's kind of weird after they barely interacted in Season 3 to see Derek and Jude so pissy with each other I feel like there should be some other explanation for their tension but it kind of seems like it really just goes back to that stuff from Season 2. I'm liking London a lot. Jamie I could take or leave.

Good point! Why would Donna be so STUFF! about someone suggesting she model when she's already been a model and was ready to drop out of high school to pursue it just 4 or 5 years ago? (god, thinking about those episodes feels like thinking back to a completely different show)

Yeah, wasn't Olivia the director in Season 1? And then... who, Sloane? And then Jelena? So it's not like they haven't had a director before. Weird. I love Lionel's friendship with Jude and how concerned she is for him, even if her attempts at helping may be misguided. I'm not clear on how long ago Jude and Zero broke up so I'm not sure how long Jude's been wallowing, but I think he's probably justified in still wallowing and being depressed considering how serious the relationship was. I'm so down for this revenge plot, but yeah, the surprise daughter is kind of weird. Why not just retcon that they had a daughter everyone knew about but who wasn't around and wasn't able to come to the funeral because [insert reason here]? It's been a while since I watched Season 1, but wasn't Pete Chase and Olivia's best friend or something?

Anyone else watching? I just finished the season premier and Hit the Floor was never the best show, but even for HTF this was a little lackluster and oddly paced. I'm hoping that was mostly due to being off for a year and having to cram a lot of exposition + reboot material into 40 minutes. The explanation for Derek/Ahsha's break up was interesting; the explanation for Jude/Zero's breakup was less so. I have a lot of trouble believing after all of that, after Zero came out on national television and was ready to build a house with Jude, that he'd balk at getting married and apparently go running. I honestly wish they'd just killed Zero off instead. Not sure how I feel yet about the new dancers, but I'm totally here for Olivia's vengeful daughter wreaking havoc on the team. Kind of shocked that they killed Pete! Badass move. Loved Jelena, especially her scenes with Miguel, and with Jude. I really want more of Jelena and Jude. Lionel and Jude were also fun together as usual.

For example: the girls didn't go to a strip club for Toni's bachelorette party, they had strippers at the Beach Apartment. (I mean, in the grand scheme of continuity mistakes, this one isn't really that bad, especially compared to, say, Kelly and Steve's retconned backstory, but still)

"Oh, so you didn't GET the job, you took someone else's." Janet for President. If Brandon was any kind of real pinko, or even a "Liberal kinda guy" like he claims to be, he'd have marched right back out of that newsroom as soon as he realized what the deal was and why he was there, not gotten all defensive about he totally deserves to be a scab. The timing of this episode coming up is actually pretty interesting, considering the wave of newsroom unionizing going on right now.