ilovese4

That's an awesome video. I knew he was a dad but didn't know the backstory. Thanks for posting!

I thought Karamo actually came into his own this season. There seemed to be a lot of young or youngish men who were really lost or hampered in some way and needed a bit of coaching and support: Miss Tamye's son, Skylar to an extent, Sean and most of all Ari. Whereas quite a few of the men last season just needed a bit of a boost to one or two aspects of their lives. I like Karamo more and more; I'm not sure what to make of Ari, but he really tried with him, and what he said about accepting when you've failed and that it's ok was really good advice. However, there's no denying that the visual 'wow' factor of a really good haircut has more immediate impact for the viewer. I think Sean was just a bit socially awkward and goofy. I don't think he's a freak and it isn't really that weird that a close family friend took him in when his parents couldn't cope - they were hardly going to go into detail about why his parents gave him up but it was most likely Lulu or the foster system. I do think it's sad he hasn't had the socialisation he needs though. Again, I really warmed to Karamo taking him paintballing. I wasn't crazy about Ari's clothes and grooming post makeover. It was somehow ageing so I was glad he picked out the really youthful clothes for the party.

Great retrospective on the West Wing from Empire Online. I feel like I enjoyed the post-Sorkin part of the series more than some of the cast; I thought seasons 6 & 7 were pretty good. Rob Lowe doesn't hold back:

I thought the point about the older ladies being the scariest prisoners was well made- they're the ones who've committed the serious crimes, they've just transferred over from max for good behaviour.

Suzanne hasn't really had adequate therapeutic treatment that we have seen to say she's beyond help. I agree her flashbacks suggest her parents would have refused to get her the help she needs because of a sort of well meaning denial of her difference. I also agree that the direct contrast between her flashbacks and Taystee's show she still had a much better life than many other kids in 'the system'. Taystee is actually pretty well adjusted for someone who had no stable loving parent.Most of the offenders or ex-offenders I have met smoke. It would be a little surprising if Polly or Larry smoke, but still not beyond the realm of possibility.

Yeah the criminal justice system being ineffective is never unrealistic to me. Let's say the cops didn't write Christopher off immediately, even if his stalker's in prison (hundreds of miles away? Presumably the hospital was closer). They may have called the prison and asked if they've had any escapes recently...and they're told, yes an old woman with dementia, but not since then. Even if whoever they speak to joins the dots they won't want to admit to being slack about monitoring inmates. Especially if it were fig. Do we know how long Daya's sentence is? She's never mentioned who'll look after the baby (apart from Bennett which would be inexplicable to social services/the prison administration), IIRC.

Taystee offering Nicky free smack was particularly despicable when you consider they go to AA/NA together.