gesundheit

That was really obnoxious how Nev was all, "Okay, now let's get this friendship back on track!" Like, what if Chelsea was pissed and didn't want to be friends anymore (or at least for a while)? Anyway, can someone fill me in on the update at the end? My DVR cut it off.

When do these children ever sleep? And now not only does Jane write most of her articles after a night of drinking, she goes to work drunk? Nice life! Wish I could pull that off!

I guess this UO forum is the safe space to say I liked Kelly. And David. And Val was a really bad person.

I'm going to be mad about how this show treated Will for the rest of my damn life, and this finale only proved how little they thought of him. And they REALLY should've given Avery/Will/Gunnar a final performance. They could've scratched Alannah and Maddie's songs for time.

I've always gotten a sense that Connie Britton must've gotten serious series fatigue after Friday Night Lights, because every series she's done since then she's made a shorter commitment to (this one, American Horror Story, 911). Anyway, it was great to see her back and I'd been hoping for it (and that they'd successfully keep it a secret). I liked the Deacon/Gideon stuff. I wish they'd had longer to tell that story because it would've had a bigger impact, but Ronny Cox and Charles Esten sold it like gangbusters, they were so good. I also liked Gunnar's ending, just focusing on his music and friends. Especially since the time jump was only a few months (which made it particularly hilarious that Scarlett was engaged to a dude she'd obviously only just started dating). I didn't want Avery to ever take Juliette back (even though I loved them together, she was too awful to him), and I don't think a few months was enough time for her to change enough for that to happen (she's "grown and changed" for a few months countless times before, only to regress), BUT what can I say, it did still move me. And at least there WAS a time jump. I would've been livid if he'd taken her back immediately. What else... oh, I've hated Maddie for years, so I didn't care. I liked Daphne's ending -- not winning, but still winning? But I'm 100% with everyone else who didn't understand Teddy's absence.

Josh was a total con artist who has used that sob story before, and obviously planned to do so in advance of signing on for the episode. Part of me thinks he does actually value Breana only because of the length of their "relationship" -- some of these girls he strung along for a year or two, but he met her when he was a teenager. He probably did rely on her for emotional support, so in a way it's good their friendship is continuing but that she placed a hard boundary there. The way his friend AND his sister were like, "Ha, that sounds like him!" about being a player is why I don't buy his whole "pity me" act.

Finally finished and still find it hilarious that reality TV viewers would ever give that much of a crap about what a producer was up to. They usually have no idea who they are!

Did anyone else find all those Plan B side effects odd? Sutton was acting like it was completely normal and she'd experienced them when she'd taken it, but man, I've NEVER heard of someone having such an extreme reaction. It's not RU486! (I realize they did that to propel her doctor visit, but it was odd. All meds can have side effects but the show was treating that as completely standard. It kind of irked me because it seemed like it would scare young women watching the show OUT of ever using it.) In general that whole arc was weird. Jane didn't need to get the pill in the middle of the night and certainly didn't need to wake up her friends to tell them a friggin' condom broke. The friendships are a bit inconsistent -- sometimes they'll tell each other something major at work the next day that ANYONE would make a late-night call for, and then other times they immediately Skype to basically tell each other they have to pee.

It's harder and harder to believe Julius is anything but innocent. The later guilty plea for that Hideaway killing is rough, though. I understand the explanation for the plea, but it's not going to help his case. But really, the whole thing was just too convenient -- the murder weapon and bandana just perfectly in his bedroom closet at his parents' house (where he didn't even live at the time, but somehow Chris knew to direct the cops there??), and the total failure of the defense attorney. I mean I guess it's good that he admits he didn't give a proper defense, but what the hell was he thinking at the time? Just... nothing? I get that it was his first capital trial, but makes even less sense for not bothering to present a defense at all.

Still think Charles is a humorless dud, but at least he got over himself a bit. Doubt it'll change his personality much. I missed the final scene (I'm not sitting around through commercials to watch a 12-second scene, which is about what the cappers on this show have been averaging lately), but I'm assuming he went back to get Liza and kissed her in the snow? (Because I've seen TV before.) Interesting that "everything Liza's done has been for her daughter!" when she went entire seasons without acknowledging her existence. Shrug. At least there's Diana!

Pleased about Phoebe's ending. Otherwise? Good lord. I will definitely miss hate-watching.

It was nice to see Peter Hermann play comedy for what seems like the first time in this series, but he was the straight man. Charles is a friggin' humorless asshat, though.

Diana knowing Italian was spectacular.

Abby really is the worst. I can't believe she was saying a teenage girl locking herself in the bedroom was outrageous behavior -- that's the most normal thing in the world! And I'm sorry, if you invite a man and his children to live with you, you're going to have to do some parenting when he's not home. How dumb is she? I guess the upside is that she realizes it was a mistake, but damn. That's a pretty big mistake. I do think Phoebe and her new lady are hot. Sue me! Of course it doesn't matter because there's only one episode left, so of course we won't see a relationship there after having to sit through all the others. I can't decide if I'm happy or sad there's only one left -- I might be a LITTLE sad because hate-watching can be fun?

Does Maddie have her lip color tattooed on? It's just as awful as the rest of her look. It would look okay if she went with a softer eye look instead of the falsies/raccoon eye, but you can't do both. Driving me nuts. (Though in fairness, I fast-forwarded most of her scenes.) I'd have no problem if Deacon and his girls (I guess Daphne and Teddy are just done-zo for good) ended their arc with Deacon making peace with his father and them having a new family member as part of their world. If that were the story. But now the story is his drinking again. No thanks, too much new drama for a new character at the end of the show. And I guess Will ends the show with nothing at all.

I was wondering the same thing. They do print the follow-up but they don't show them anymore?

Oh and another thing that cracked me up was when she still thought she was going to go meet her "girlfriend," she got all gussied up with FOUR INCH FINGERNAILS. That was supposed to be her great first impression? Any lesbian would run screaming from those nails!

I have a funny feeling we're not going to get the awesome recaps anymore, which is a bummer because it actually made watching the show kind of fun. But I certainly wouldn't blame her for being as burnt out on the show as everyone else (if my suspicion is correct). I did watch the insane "we have a baby together but have never met!" premiere last night, though, and let me me just say I did not feel sorry for that idiot catfishee at all. How friggin' dumb do you have to be to (a) think $1K is enough money to send to think that you're seriously contributing to a SURROGACY fund, (b) think a surrogate "came through" out of nowhere without meeting with the OTHER mother-to-be, and (c) think the surrogacy came through, went through pregnancy, and gave birth all in the course of a couple months. And then she's talking about walking around having to be careful about her behavior because she's "a mother now." Good lord. She takes the cake, I think her gullibility beats even Katy Perry dude.

While in fairness I'm biased because I think Charles is really boring (and not very bright, to be honest), I also don't understand how we're supposed to be all "Charles is The One!" when they've literally never been on one date. A mutual crush means nothing, so if they're going to ask us to accept them as endgame, we need to see a relationship. The way to get a foot in the door in the publishing world IS getting coffee and making copies. That's where you start. So sure, while she might've been able to get a receptionist job with no upward mobility at an investment firm or something, these menial jobs in publishing are VERY competitive and they have movement in mind. No way could she have gotten that being honest in her situation.

There's definitely nothing easy about getting an entry-level position in a competitive field at 40 after a near two-decade resume gap. Even her education in that field is 20 years out of date.

Hahaha, some people have different pronouns (this would not be news to anyone in that group, especially Maggie but also Josh). I realize it was just to set up Liza's whole "age queer" thing later, but ugh. They could've still established it without everyone acting so brand new about it. Anyway, my main response to this episode was: Yay, no Charles! Boo, too much Kelsey. On the upside, the previews showed some Diana/Lauren bonding, which I am all for. Oh also, would it REALLY be that massive a story that some new editor at an imprint is slightly older than the name of the imprint?

I remember hearing about the Julius Jones case. I'm curious to see them delve into the proof of innocence, since obviously what we've seen so far is pretty damning. On the other hand, also a little convenient. He was identified as wearing a red bandana and they literally found the murder weapon wrapped in a red bandana in his house? I mean, I guess he could be really dumb, but he doesn't seem like it.

Oh yay, people are talking about this! You guys have already discussed the main points and I'm still just as torn as I was at the beginning. And I wasn't there at the trial so I don't really know HOW much they focused on character. But if it's as much as it sounds like? That's gross. Just from what we saw, I'd say there was reasonable doubt even if she did it. Also (and this is as irrelevant as bringing it into the trial, but this is a message board and not a trial so I'm just chatting...) to me? The fact that her behavior after the fact (and on the stand) was allegedly outside the usual accepted confines of grief behavior actually makes me find it LESS likely that she did it. If someone who came up with this extremely elaborate staged plan to pull this off then didn't remember to play up her sorrow afterwards? That's just odd to me. One would imagine she'd try to perform generic grief. Anyway, who knows. I can't fathom why it's taking years to get a fingerprint run, but I guess that's bureaucracy. Oh, and I'm with everyone who found Darin deserving of more scrutiny. Doesn't add up, and I'm not sure why he wasn't investigated further (just as an accessory even if they were already convinced about the primary perpetrator).

I was under the impression that one of last night's two episodes was brand new, but to be fair I only got hooked on this show during the promotional marathon so I wouldn't recognize a new one from a rerun!

I was actually kind of glad about Phoebe and the new girl because I'd been wondering if the writers forgot that Phoebe was supposed to be bisexual. They'd really ignored that since the first (?) season and I thought it was odd that she was on dating apps only looking for men. Besides that, what else is there really to say? Abby continues to be intolerable.