atlanticslide

We we talked about this Match.com commercial? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpyZRcTt3s The woman featured in it comes across like she legit has brain damage. "My sister! met her... husband! on Match." The pause on "husband" makes it sound like she's trying to remember who it was that her sister met. "And they have a baby!" And then she mouths "that's true" as the host guy says that the sister is living happily ever after, she seriously seems like she has some brain cells missing. It's not the worst commercial of all time, but for some reason the way she speaks just drives me crazy, and it's currently one of the 5 commercials that Hulu is playing at every commercial break so I've seen it about 37 times and it just gets more and more annoying each time. "My sister! met her... husband!"

One thing I forgot - I was born and raised in New York City. I love New York City. Colin is the worst type of pretentious New Yorker. Shut up about New York already, Colin! No one cares!

Ahhhhhhhh I hate the Cindy storyline in this episode!! It could've been an interesting storyline if these characters were actually on the show anymore and if the show ever really cared about their relationship after the first season, but they weren't and it didn't, so why put us through all of this crap only to have Cindy simper over an ugly angel necklace (seriously, Jim buys the worst jewelry) and a lame non-apology note? Like, moving to a foreign country for a spouse's job can be rough if you have nothing else going on yourself, and I can see how it would take a toll on the relationship, especially considering they had basically this exact issue when they moved to LA - moving halfway across the world to a place where you don't speak the language could make that twice as difficult - and it sounded from what she said like there were some serious issues brewing between them. And then she gets a stupid angel necklace and a two-line note and all is forgotten? What happened to you not knowing you are to each other anymore? What happened to all of your issues about having no life of your own out there? Jim's dumb "I love you my angel" is enough to fix all of that? Even if they couldn't get James Eckhouse back, they could've at least made his note a little longer and thrown in a comment from Cindy about joining a club or something when she gets back to Hong Kong. On another note, a bird is a really terrible Christmas/birthday gift.

Sure, but my point is that it's incredibly uncomfortable that this episode dealing with race issues (with such gems as "she's local" and "it's not Adopt a Black Family Month") ended with a black woman learning a lesson from a white woman.

This show was always terrible with race issues (why did they even try?) but for some reason this one offends me the most. I hated the Shaw episode, but at least in that one the characters kind of learned something and had some of their initial ideas challenged (thank you, Jordan Bonner); this episode should've been about Donna learning a superficial/dumb lesson from an underprivileged black family about race relations or the economic hardships of low-income families or what it's like to grow up without the types of privileges she's had. Instead, this episode was about a middle-aged black woman learning a lesson from a 20-year-old white woman who was raised by millionaires.

Billy is sadly very similar to Flint in this regard - he's so blinded by his bitterness and anger towards Flint (and now Silver, and possibly all of the rest of the men who bought Silver's story and turned on him) that it's all he can really see and he's letting it drive his actions now (really, it has been since around the beginning of Season 4). Flint is similarly tunnel-visioned, and I also definitely believe that his friendship with Silver has been real and that he's absolutely capable of genuine friendship, but that he's ultimately a very self-serving man who will throw even those closest to him under the knife if it means he can stick to his plan, especially when it comes to fucking over England in some way. It's interesting to think about the conversations between Silver/Billy and Silver/Flint about their weaknesses now - Silver's is Madi; Flint's is wanting vengeance on England; Billy's is wanting vengeance on Flint. That said, I really wouldn't be surprised if there are a few twists left - I think it's difficult to see how there could be some master plan between Silver and Flint on this, considering factors like the crewman that Flint and Israel killed, or Israel having to point out to Silver that Flint was taking off with the treasure and Silver's expression in reaction to that - but I'm also kind of half-expecting that to be the case nonetheless.

This is such a bummer of the college years - the writers seemed to mostly forget after Season 4 that the characters were actually in college. There's such a shift between Seasons 4 and 5, and then even more so between 5 and 6, that it almost feels like most of the writing staff changed. That's why, for all the goofiness of them, I love the storylines like Brenda and the theater, Steve and the girls going KEG and Alpha, Brandon being courted by the student senate, etc in Season 4 - starring in a school play, rushing sororities and fraternities, even overestimating your own importance as part of the student senate is so, so college - one of my random favorite moments of Season 4 is when Brandon is talking to Josh Richland about becoming the Freshman rep on the student senate and Brandon asks something about the faculty and Josh blithely replies "They're just the teachers. We're the ones who really run this place!" It's so funny and so, so true to college kids of that age. I feel like maybe the writers got bored with the college stories or something, though, or maybe just wanted to speed 90210 into a more Melrose Place-like tone, because there was so much more they could have done with the gang in college that they abandoned in favor of things that would be much more suited to people in their late-20s or 30s, like Andrea/Jesse fighting about child-rearing and each having affairs, endless nightclub shinanigans, everyone dating people at least 5-7 years older than them, and a rotation of people developing drug habits and then going into rehab.

I also find it suspect that Sister Mary-Whoever that Jesse mentioned apparently gave them nasty looks while Hannah was crying. It's a baby! Does no one in the 90210 universe - not even a nun! - get that babies cry?

Actually I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be fairly well off - Phillip called him a spoiled rich boy in the first episode, and it looks like Lukas and his father live in a pretty nice house with a lot of surrounding land. Seems like his father is paying for Lukas's motocross hobby, and Lukas has an air of "rich popular kid" at school.

I'm getting close to Coked-out Kelly, but I'm not there yet. I just finished the Thanksgiving episode and I think Kelly starts doing coke around New Year's Eve. Season 6 is such an up and down season for me - I love David and Val together, but then she blows it because of idiot Ginger and hooks up with Colin, who is probably my least favorite of Kelly's boyfriends and dominates way too much of the season. Shut up about your stupid art, Colin! On another note, it will forever irritate me that they never actually committed to Brandon/Andrea but then trotted in Susan as an Andrea-replacement, but what bugs me more than anything is the way that Susan kisses him - she pretty much throws her entire body around him and does every kiss like it's a scene out of From Here to Eternity. Kiss like a normal person, Susan! To bring it back to Unpopular Opinions, another about Season 6: I love Single White Tara. That was one of the craziest, most unintentionally hilarious storylines they ever did on the show and I love every moment of it.

No, she was definitely in the burn unit until then - Kelly comes to pick her up (because apparently Allison, like Toni and Susan and Ray and Jesse and Joe and Nat and every other minor character has no other friends?) from the burn unit in the season finale (or maybe second-to-last episode), they go back to the beach apartment where Allison spends the night, telling Kelly at some point that she's in love with her, and then heads off to parts unknown. And they neeeeeever saw her again! (I just watched this episode a few days ago)

Well but then we wouldn't have gotten all of that amazing drama of Kelly obsessing over her non-existent scars for the next 17 episodes.

Have been marathoning the show in my post-Election blues, and I'm in the midst of Season 6. It's just occurred to me that I think out of all of Donna's boyfriends, Joe was my favorite. He was bland, he was boring, but after David being an asshole to her and pressuring her for sex before cheating on her, Griffin being a sleaze, and Ray being... Ray, it was nice to see her with a boyfriend who was actually kind to her and generally respectful of her, and who didn't pressure her about sex. It was also nice just to not have sex be an issue in her storylines for a while.

Yeah, it's definitely Tivoli - there have been several shots of the town sign as well as signs for Dutchess county, which is near NYC. They're also near enough to NYC to get there in a pretty short drive, while Buffalo is about 6 or 7 hours away. And I'm pretty sure the FBI woman (Kameela?) mentioned something happening in Buffalo in '07, hence the title.

Yeah, and you know, dumb as I find debuting and all of that crap to be, Donna was talking about taking one semester off, not dropping out of school and getting a job at Wendy's for the rest of her life. And even if she was? That would still be her decision to make, not Kelly's. I feel like Season 4 Kelly would've been supportive and chill about it, but Season 5 Kelly just jumps straight to judgemental and lecturing, and never even tries to talk it through calmly with Donna and understand her point of view.

I'm happy about this, especially if Luke was the other choice. He seems perfectly nice but also perfectly blah for TV. Nick has occasionally seemed like a dink to me, but I liked him on Andi's season, a little meh about him on Kaitlyn's, and loved him on Paradise. Honestly? I'd date him.

The thing I had trouble with when it came to Val is that she was so up and down. I do feel like some of her vulnerable moments were well done, but there's no consistency to her or to them, so I never had any idea what she was really supposed to be going for. Did she want to be in with the 90210 crowd, or did she think they were lame avocado-heads? Did she want to be part of the Walsh family, or did she not really give a shit other than how much money she could grub from them? Some days she seemed like deep down she really did want to have this normal, perfect family life (isn't there a scene when Dylan accuses her of wanting to have a perfect little life and she tearfully replies "what's wrong with that?") and fit into Brenda's life, or that she really wanted to be friends with these people - she even went so far as to pay Ginger to help her gain their friendship - but then she does stuff like sleeping with Ray for no real reason other than the fact that she could.

Something that bugs me about the Texas Dip bit is that the way the scene is played goes totally against Kelly and Brandon's words at the end of it - the music that swells gives the feeling of "this is so beautiful and lovely and you should be awww-ing" and everyone watches her with these expressions of awe and wonder, looking impressed, and it feels like the scene is telling us that this is really lovely, but then Kelly and Brandon tell us that this is terrible, "trained seal," etc. Mostly it just feels like the music doesn't match what we're supposed to be getting from this scene at all, which really annoys me.

Also, on top of the points made above, it's just such a freaking bummer to watch something like that play out. It's more of a bummer even than watching someone I dislike compete and win, because at least they won fair and square. And the way the episode ended was so weird and depressing - Johnny decides to keep all the money, Sarah crouches down on the ground, everyone looks shocked and disgusted, TJ kind of mumbles "sorry, Sarah," and... that's it. Season over. Even if it was all fake and made up for the sake of a storyline, what weirdly bleak and blah note to end the entire season on.

Totally, I've always thought the same and really enjoyed that - she pretty came straight off of Saved by the Bell: The College Years (complete with the same short, bouncy haircut) and was Kelly Kapowski in that first episode, all smiley and over-the-top warm and friendly and sweetness and light and "I always dreamed it would be like this" vomit-inducing heartwarming (even though I loved Saved by the Bell, not gonna lie) - and then bam, lighting one up and calling everyone avocado-heads! I thought it was nicely done. On the other hand, the whole stringing out whether or not Brenda was coming back crap at the beginning of the episode was just dumb, mostly because the writing is very coy and vague and the characters dance around explicitly stating who they're talking about... and then Brandon just casually spills it in the most anti-climactic way possible to David, of all people. It would've been much more effective if they'd done a big reveal with, say, Valerie coming out of baggage claim to meet them instead of Brenda or something. Also, did Donna cut ties with Kelly and Brenda for the summer? Why doesn't she know that Brenda's staying in London? What happened to her simpering "you're my best friend"?

I have no idea why this is the line for me, but somehow it is. I have loved this dumb show for so many years, and there have been plenty of times that I've been annoyed by the ending and/or who won, but for some reason this ending bothered me to such a degree that I think it's killed my interest in the show. If this is all genuine and true and Johnny really did keep all of the money for himself, that's so fucking low and vile and such an unpleasant note to end on that it just leaves a terrible taste in my mouth. I didn't even get through more than 10 minutes of the after show because I just couldn't stomach any of it anymore. If this is fake and all for the storyline, it's just obnoxious and manipulative and still a terrible downer of an ending for the season. It wasn't shocking or dramatic, it was just weird and depressing. If this is what Bunim-Murray thinks the show needs to keep people interested and entertained, I think I'm out.

I think this is just an example of confirmation bias. If you think their relationship and his feelings are genuine, it's more likely that you're going to see this as proof that he really does love her. If you think their relationship is BS and/or that he's just putting this on for show, this just looks like a guy who's read the chatter online about not being genuine and the two of them looking at ATFR like they had no interest in even knowing each other let alone getting married trying to somehow prove that he's not in this just for the fame. (to me, it looks like the latter, but ultimately there's no way to prove whether or not someone has genuine feelings so I guess we just wait for if/when they break up)

I just finished watching the episode and ATFR, and man, this was the dullest finale capping off one of the dullest seasons. I still have no idea what Robbie is actually like, which made his "she's my best friend" all the more barf-worthy and phony. Luke looked completely shocked when he was sent home. Chase looked hurt when he was sent home. When Robbie was sent home, he looked... sweaty. Mildly put out. Ready for a nap. That said, I also don't believe for a second that Jordan actually had any feelings for JoJo either, and frankly, I kind of doubt that she's oh so head over heels for him. None of these people seemed like they were there for anything more than a fun trip around the world and a chance to make out with a hot woman/bunch of hot men. This seemed further exemplified during ATFR when JoJo and Jordan looked like they barely liked each other while sitting next to each other on the couch. It was like someone put a gun to their heads and told them to sit very close together and occasionally touch the other one's leg. Also, jeez, they flew Neil Lane all the way to freaking Thailand for this? That's a serious trip just for a couple of rings. (And I know, that's what happens every season, but still, it's such a long trip).

I'm really not exaggerating, Andrea's look in this episode, specifically the protest scene, is exactly the look my mom (in her early 50s at the time) was rocking at that time, right down to the hairstyle. Andrea doesn't even look like she's 30ish-years-old as GC was at the time, she legit looks like a 40-something-year-old; she looks like she's Brenda and Donna's professor, not one of their BFFs. On the flip side, I agree that this was probably Donna's best hair period, and maybe her best look in general - her hair, for once, looks fresh and healthy and normal instead of bleached and fried beyond all reason as it did before this, or shellacked into the unmovable helmet shape it takes in Season 5. Her style in general at this point all looks very age appropriate and normal.

I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I've always found Brandon and Kelly kind of charming together in these episodes. Maybe it's because Kelly's relationship with Dylan was so overwrought and volatile and they just don't seem to have anything in common or really like each other, and by comparison Kelly seems to actually be happy and have fun with Brandon. And like Adam, I find her reading of "You want something pithy? Pith off" (and Brandon's reaction) pretty cute. I liked Claire in Season 5, but Season 4 Claire really irritates me - mostly her over the top desperation for Brandon, including that time when she shows up at his house, won't leave, listens in on his phonecalls, and then handcuffs herself to his bed. Sooooo gross on a number of levels, not the least of which is that it all screams sexual harassment to me. If their genders were reversed that behavior would pretty likely be seen as rapey instead of cute/sexy the way it's played up in the episode.