RedInk

That’s so true! My daughter is Elizabeth, and we called her Beth. She’s now an adult and has gone by Ellie since grade school.

Ah! Thanks! Clearly I’m only half-paying attention. I just feel like someone will be repeating this cycle from the future, and Casey seemed modern enough/vaguely from “out of town” to be a contender 😉

Do we not think the girl is from another time? The way she pops in and out and has unconfirmed connections to the town reminds me of Alice, so I’m assuming it’s her daughter. Unless anyone else has been shown to interact with her, and I missed it (likely…this season has been a snooze for me).

I got the impression he wasn’t going to kill her. Worse and more cowardly - I think he forced his own son to shoot him by pointing the gun at Liz. Pete Prior is characterized as kind, dutiful and self-sacrificing, especially in this episode, so Hank had to know Prior would do the right thing. The confession immediately before he raised his gun seemed like final words.

Ha! You could really see those wheels turning as she was trying to get that thought out. I enjoyed Heather’s bit about how this bullshit D-list celebrity job would be so perfect if only the negative social media/gossip aspect - the very thing that powers the entire franchise - would go away. Then Housewives could really flourish! Don’t we deserve the money for nothing, all benefits/no drawbacks life? You know that you’re exposing yourself and your children, and this is exactly why normal people don’t go on these shows, Heather! And from a woman who wrote a literal book about family members who wronged her and put out her own press insinuating people, who are anonymous and get no benefit from the spotlight, of something that would cost them their livelihoods. And not to defend indefensible crazy Monica in any way, but that whole thing did smack of snobbery/classism to me because she is truly easy to write off. They’ve all slandered each other on camera to keep the gossip churned up, but that coming from an outsider was a different kind of unforgivable.

Is that the minority opinion? I thought Olivia was awful and Taylor looked sympathetic because of it. I also thought Rodrigo seemed reasonable, but I may have missed him saying STFU? I heard Olivia hurl that. And even though I’m not a fan, the cast’s treatment of Taylor is misogynistic and gross. How is she the most villainized? From what we’ve seen, Shep treated her like garbage and even now acts like she’s a fragile child while also semiprofessing his love for her now that she’s in a relationship. If he cared about her at all, he wouldn’t dangle that. He’s only angry with Austen because of his ego and that weird competition they have over who’s the bigger catch (neither). JT appears obsessed with some image of her he’s created, and he’s constantly putting her in the most awkward spotlight when she’s been clear she has no feelings for him. And Olivia’s treatment of her is a stark contrast from her vacationing with Austen. The bro code/girl code bullshit is for kids.

Yeah! And her hair looked like crap too! 😜 But it really seemed to me like an attempt to ramp up the drama, get people talking about her, and make Taylor look she’d turned on her yet again…when Taylor just sat there. Ugh, Go ahead, Taylor! Why don’t you just tell everyone about how I lied on my taxes and kick dogs and spread VD all around Charleston! I can’t believe you’re such a backstabber! ETA: I’m kidding…I have no scoop😉

I don’t like any of them - to be fair - but the Olivia reveal seemed like bizarre backhanded manipulation on Olivia’s part. I heard Taylor say something vaguely religious, as she does, with that “forgive as you would want to be forgiven,” and then Olivia comes in hot with her “why don’t you just say it…I hooked up with Thomas.” She didn’t have to cop to that! And then she stomped around like Taylor outed her when she did that herself. Not to mention Madison had already dropped it at the last reunion. I noticed that Olivia also mentioned that Taylor told “somebody” that she was never in a real relationship with Austen. I think she didn’t mention it was Taylor’s brother because he’s also recently passed away. No sympathy was shown regarding that.

Dumbfounded. How was this child failed by every single person she encountered? Even the seemingly well-intentioned neighbors didn’t call authorities on this girl who, even if she claimed to be an adult, could not care for herself and was mentally unwell. The people at the GED school didn’t have any questions? No competent adult professionals to be found at the mental hospital or in the Indiana court system? I work with disabled children & young adults, so my radar pings a little faster and louder I assume, but what kind of bizarro world is this? Another baffling thing: you can’t talk about watching your spouse abuse your child and claim any immunity. Your responsibility is to the child, and nobody cares if you’re (implausibly) afraid of your wife. Women are prosecuted when they turn a blind eye to boyfriends/husbands injuring their children. They go to jail. What the fuck. Another failure is Michael and Kristine walking around free on the planet. Anybody know what happened to her? ETA: Of course he could be fabricating that. But if true, he would be equally guilty.

She was probably married to philanthropist/banker/art collector Arthur Altschul at the time. Does anyone remember a brief mention about her being engaged again a season or two ago, or did I dream it? I thought there was a ring. Maybe it was a joke?

I can’t wring any sympathy from the VF article. How can a person admit that they knowingly entered into a contract to compromise themselves for fame, status and money, and then blame the company when they’re damaged by their pursuit of fame, status and money? Would you ruin your reputation, your health, and irreparably damage your family for a million dollars and a seat on WWHL? Hell no, right? And these people were not starving or financially desperate to begin with. The housewives are confusing being coerced under threat of financial ruin or legal action with succumbing to pressure to act against their best interests to secure a multi-season deal. If they hadn’t been cut, we wouldn’t hear a word from them. Except for Bethenny, who’s a toxic opportunist.

Here I was wondering how George even got into law school with just an Associates degree, but I’m here for the happy ending. I kind of half-watched this season, and I’m not sure if it’s just because it had lost some of its shine or maybe just because I knew it was ending & it seemed like they wouldn’t be able to wrap it up. In the end, I was surprised that I found the goodbyes so touching. They really were all characters to root for.

I think it would have been a more respectable ending had Aiden actually broken up with Carrie without the 5 years bullshit and the not charming snap. That’s a full-circle moment and a far better play on the “expectations” speech. My kids are in their late teens, and I adore them, but even I winced at the “he’s only 20” re: his oldest. I don’t even like Carrie, and I think she can do better than that. Yuck.

Apologies, because I’m sure this has been discussed at length, but HOW loaded are they all supposed to be? I’m a Texan with little understanding of NY real estate, but I watch home tours on design sites, and I’ve never seen anything like Harry & Charlotte’s apartment. What is that? Like 5k square feet in Manhattan? An attorney can afford that? Or is this a little unrealistic & just more fun to watch?

As much as I’m sure the show runners would hate to admit it, they’ve clearly done an about-face in response to viewer criticisms. Now I can’t see an endgame for Miranda (who’s now basically her old self) and Che at all. Plus real estate, plus fashion, plus light storylines. It was like last season was a dream sequence. There are still plenty of nitpicks, dragged-out storylines and eye rolls, but it’s still an improvement. My guess for the LTW plot is she’s not pregnant but Nya is. I wish I had more interest in either one of them.

It’s the most egregiously bad writing I’ve seen on any show ever. Did they write themselves into a corner and decide to just tell us what happened because they couldn’t work it out? Also! There aren’t false negative pregnancy tests. You have the hormone or you don’t (or you’re taking fertility drugs). They obviously threw in as many potential twists as they could to keep people hooked. Megan’s rich dad? Mysterious mom illness? Bloody cabin? Bloody…rag? Hey @attatude, we posted same thoughts at the same time 😜

She also drugged him, which contributed to the convoluted things that led to his death. And I don’t know why I keep commenting on this show…I just hated it so much! But it was fun to laugh at with my 17yo, so I guess it wasn’t a total loss.

These writers really went, “I guess it’s time to end this thing.” And then they did. And then nothing anyone did made any sense. And I’ll never know what this show was supposed to be about.

Yes! Decent acting in combination with a conflict that made sense for the first time in this miserable installment. I guess “I’m drugged, and I’ve been shot at while tied to a bed” is probably easier for an actor to sink his teeth into than “If anyone finds out it’s me in a sex tape that 20 people saw, I’ll never go to college.”

If this show were written better, it could have been the jumping off point instead of the penultimate episode. This was maybe the best hour of this regrettable series for me because things actually moved along a bit and I felt sorry for a character (Luke, weirdly). So after an entire season of nothing happening, we’re headed for a finale that’s going to reveal a murder/murderer, decide the fate of two people I couldn’t care less about, establish a motivation for the crime, and solve a vague mystery about another barely-mentioned and possibly connected death. How they gonna do that? And like others have mentioned, the Coast Guard Academy is as hard to get into as an Ivy League school - very prestigious. Dad is reacting as though Luke were just enlisting. These paths are not similar!

I don’t disagree with this, but what’s the statute of limitations on previous bad behavior? She could have dumped Steve then, and maybe she should have. But blithely walking out of a life you’ve created for the last 18+ years to chase after a stranger can’t really be waved away because the other party was a jerk a long time ago (IMO). The part that made me sympathize with Steve was that it seemed sudden and cold. Like he didn’t even cross her mind. I think lots of people experience that in relationships, and it’s just the worst feeling, so it tugs at the heart. Maybe they could have written it in a way that would make Miranda seem less casually cruel, but they didn’t.

I saw the condom scene as a way for the writers to let Miranda off the hook and make us feel a little less sorry for Steve. Hoping we would think, “well he’s obviously not hurting too badly or else he’d be pining away.” Which is bullshit. People have sex when they’re heartbroken/depressed/angry/in love with other people…fill in the blank. And agree with everyone who thinks this is not the end of Miranda & Che, which is a bummer because Che really can be a decent character, as this episode shows, but not when partnered with Miranda. Honestly, it’s a Miranda issue. It must be very difficult to essentially write yourself into a script as an empowerment story (if that’s really what happened) and then get universally rejected. No wonder there’s so much blame being thrown around.

Oof, I can’t keep the 3 timelines straight! They really could have kept it to 2 - before and after the murder. There’s no payoff for this gimmick, but it’s confusing the hell out of me.

And the drugs were…Megan’s mom’s drugs for her mysterious illness that was casually mentioned and then dropped, while she was written as though she were never sick? Or did I miss something? And they first decided to commit this significant crime to see if he’d confess to lying about who went in for that one kiss? That’s some overreaction. And why did he have to be drugged and bound to get the confession out of him? It is funny that the scenes are set up so that any reasonable person would think it’s going to play out a certain way, and then they *zag*! When Isabella added the “one more (pill) for good measure,” my daughter and I both settled on overdose. But no! Gun! Pure hate watch at this point.

I was going to comment the same thing! Also, I think it’s kind of sad that Sonja does this rich-lady-slumming-it schtick when there’s really little significant class difference between her and the men she’s playing to. She even does all the crass performative stuff that I *think* is intended for the viewer to assume she gets away with because of status, or maybe because she assumes it endears her to the “common” people, but it just looks like a tacky person doing tacky things. ETA: Class/status is a meaningless thing to me and most people, anyway. I don’t mean to imply otherwise 😉 But she clearly thinks she’s on another level.