RedInk

I posted a speculation I read that had the ending exactly right. I really wish I hadn’t come across it because it was a good twist I wouldn’t have uncovered. Still don’t understand the teacher or his motives though. What’s the point of him holding onto their possessions? He’s just obsessive? seems like he didn’t want Janet to possess Maddie, so I just have more questions with him. And how was Maddie able to see/hear the ghosts in the first place? I’d love a second season, but I suppose it would be about getting her body back and possibly being wanted for murder(?), which would kill the mystery element. This darker ending could stand on its own.

I did the same thing. She must have a doppelgänger out there because IMDB says I only know her from Orange is the New Black, but I feel like I can picture her younger.

I had little sympathy for the mom in this episode, but surprisingly also little for Janine. When I have to speak with parents about a behavior concern they’re likely aware of (and by the time I get them, probably for years), they’re often upset and angry and defensive. Doesn’t matter how carefully you explain it or how genuinely concerned you are for the child. Some interpret it as a judgement, so they judge you right back. What keeps me up is when parents are livid with a child, and I worry about how they’ll handle it at home. So I kind of winced when Janine was crying over being called a bad teacher because I’m cranky and jaded and just over that phase lol. But I do think Janine is a great portrayal of a new teacher. It all hurts so much then!

Agree on all points, especially the part you had in the spoiler tag. I feel like it’ll be a sad ending no matter what the resolution is. Which makes for a kind of uncomfortable watch.

I’m not loving the weekly setup & vindication. At this point, I have no suspects. And while I don’t want it to be Simon, he’s the only one that hasn’t been suspected/cleared and the only one who can see her. Unless Mr. Martin is somehow responsible for their deaths in a supernatural way? The school is a magnet for tragedy about every 10 years. ETA: I read a fan theory (not a spoiler, but I’m gonna tag it bc I don’t know the rules 😜) that is way out there, but it would answer a lot of questions. Someone mentioned that the idea of “hijacking” a body was dropped in this episode because I don’t ever even read fan forums, but I stumbled on that one while I was trying to see if there’d be a second season, and it really would give the best possible resolution.

This was an irredeemable move on her part. The pain of knowing your mother would willingly sever ties must be unfathomable. I hated when Jacqueline Laurita made a storyline out of her son’s autism & when Stephanie from RHoD kept airing stories about her son’s learning disability. They scream about kids being OFF LIMITS, but it’s always fair when it can garner you some sympathy and admiration. *I extra hate it when people pretend they’re spreading awareness, but of course they offer no insight except for how it affects them. It’s not “awareness.”

You know, I was thinking that I agree & this was a terrible reason to break up with someone. We aren’t our parents. But THEN I considered what I would do if a guy started crying to me about his hard-scrabble life with a stripper mom who has since passed away. I would red-flag that and move along. Is that the same kind of judgement lol? I don’t think so. But I know I don’t want mommy issues.

Well everyone has their own ideas about relationship non-negotiables, and if Louie (I think spell his name a different way every time) doesn’t ping someone’s weird as hell radar, I get that. To me, apologizing for your spouse’s behavior, telling them what to say, and ultimately asking them to stop talking is horrible. And if he felt he needed to jump in to “save” her, undo some wrong she’s committed, or ask her to leave a conversation to prevent a blow-up, then that might be a clue that there’s incompatibility. But I’ve always felt really disgusted by men who try to parent me. Bill doesn’t even do that to Jen. If that doesn’t bother Teresa, though, then I guess mazel. But I still think it’s going to be a disaster. To me it looks like the classic second marriage where you try to overcorrect what you disliked about your ex-spouse (in this case, she traded in an old-school chauvinist for a sensitive talker), but you fail to see the common thread (control issues).

This is pretty off topic, but of all the dangling plots, the thing that I’m hung up on is the idea that the Nicolettis were apparently able to make millions a week running grifts…but just didn’t? If they could dig themselves out of a multimillion dollar hole when pressed, why are they running a family bar? They’re not new at this. I’m liking the show for what it’s worth. The casting is phenomenal & the family even look alike - I’m frequently confusing mother & daughter con artists, especially when they’re in wigs.

Louis is hyper-aware of the cameras and committed to being The Best Man in HW History. I didn’t really have a strong opinion before because they’re ALL so crazy and awful in their own way, but he definitely seems like a man who will snap…this episode was just the weirdest display. He’s like a cult leader with the armchair therapy and dramatic umbrage and under-the-skin rage and flop sweat.

Well she also played Ellie on Bill Lawrence’s Cougar Town (criminally underrated show IMO), and it’s basically the same exact character she’s doing here. An asshole with a soft spot. I love her though, so I don’t care. It does remind me of the Judd Apatow/Leslie Mann dynamic, and I wonder if they’re kind of playing themselves. I'm in a weird minority because I love everything that Lawrence has ever made EXCEPT Ted Lasso. I like that the Shrinking characters are complicated, and a little bizarre, and like people I’d want to know in real life.

Well this pond is sadistic, huh? Is it taking you where “you need to be” or where it “needs you to be?” Because it really doesn’t do anyone any favors. And Kat & Alice got over the accident a lot quicker than I’d imagined. I see they’re going with the if you hadn’t caused it, something else would have angle, but I’d still need a little more than a day for that one.

I always assume when people say they can pay after they “move things around,” the blackmailer needs to watch his/her back. Of course I know even filthy rich people can’t necessarily write a check for $5M, but in TV world they rip it right out of the book like it’s no big thing.

I’m thinking this show may not be smart enough for a really clever twist, so yeah. She knows her mother’s pain comes from seeing the strange woman there, so why go? Not to mention she’s *already* attended her dad’s funeral. Unless she’s going back just to reveal everything to Del or her younger self so that she can stop them from ever going in. Something I’ve been wondering about, and maybe this isn’t really a spoiler, but

Good thought! I’m betting that’s at least why they go back, but I can’t tell if it would do any good because this time loop seems to make everything and nothing a possibility. But if they do send Elliot a message, I really hope we’re not headed for a reset where this all plays out again with different results in S2, Groundhog Day style. About the unlikely rural witness…weren’t there also sirens? I deleted from my DVR, so maybe I’m wrong, but I seem to remember thinking that was quick.

I’m afraid they won’t solve it, and it’ll be canceled. I hope not because I’m sucked in! It’s a different take on a ghost story, and it’s interesting that of all of them, only she can communicate with a living friend and doesn’t know what happened to her. That’s why half of me wonders if there’s more gray area with her story. The other half spends every episode hoping she doesn’t stumble across her own dead body 😆

I realize I’m nerding out and taking this too far 😂, but that’s what I mean. It’s a confusing concept for me to explain, but her dad died because she was there. That means she had to do the exact thing that led them to this reality. They’re showing that the past isn’t the only thing unchanged - the future can’t be changed either. So there aren’t really choices, they’re just on this trajectory of doing what they do. Is that right? Or if she realized it was a mistake to go back, her dad would just…appear in the present? Idk.

Agreeeee. To add to my earlier post, it’s also kind of ridiculous that Kat - a newspaper reporter who meticulously investigated her brothers disappearance - missed the detail in the same newspaper that covered her father’s death about two mysterious women running into the woods after the accident. And doesn’t even consider that she or her daughter would be the grieving woman at the funeral? I mean… This time travel business really negates free will, huh? I guess if what happened will always happen, they really can’t stop themselves from going back into that pond to screw everything up. They were always going to be making poor decisions 😉

I was wondering the same. If they don’t shift focus to Del’s origin story (or Jacob’s), I can’t see where they can go. I also don’t want to spend a season watching the two leads process that they’re somewhat responsible for the death of their father/grandfather. That’s a plot point most of us saw coming, but I hated how it was executed. Alice and Kat standing in the very road at the very time his accident occurred should have made one of them consider that they could play some part in it, just like interfering with Jacob the night he disappeared may have lead to his disappearance. I understand that what-happened-will-always-happen is show canon, but it was so logic-defying - it’s kind of exactly what someone would do if one WANTED to cause an accident.

Disappointing that there’s so little traffic here. This show is a bit of a sleeper, and I’m getting more invested each week. I’m even holding out hope that she’s not really dead (mostly dead? 😉), although that’s unlikely.

Definitely! But Jen is committed to her martyr act and not really concerned about the ramifications. Evidenced by her bringing up her children’s concerns in a televised therapy session. I’ve been in her shoes (I assume plenty of us have), and the cruel truth is you’re stuck with two options: you can decide it’s salvageable, find a way to forgive, and move on; or you say this can’t work, and we have to find a way to coparent separately, like Delores did. Jen appears to think she deserves a medal for staying in a loveless marriage and weaponizing her kids. And I do think it’s loveless because she delights in Bill’s humiliation. It’s been 11 years. If anyone were to bring up my own marital trouble, I’d say, “yeah, that was some bullshit, but it’s done.” Then it’s not really a storyline - what could anyone possibly add? But maybe that’s the point.

Exactly. Jen is writing the playbook on how not to handle an affair. Bill was totally in the wrong - no excuse. But she appears to have gone on the show just to shame and humiliate him, and it’s dragged on for so long, we now all feel sorry for poor, philandering Dr. Bill and his sad relationship with his repulsive wife. He looks like the victim. The kids are paying the price. It’s so egregious, I don’t even love to hate Jen. The most despicable hw I can think of was Danielle Staub, and even she appeared to have better parenting instincts.

I’m over here trying to figure out why the baby in the photo with Jocelyn is several months older than the newborn she’s holding when she dies. I’m sure it’s just a continuity error, but when Elena was checking the dates on the photo and the birth certificate, I’m like…is there a SECOND BABY? 😆

This episode was miles better than the last, but I dislike the doubling-down on Margaret’s fledgling law career. I’m not rewatching, but I’m certain she seemed better established at the beginning of the series. I thought that’s how Todd was hired on in the first place. I don’t love her being a newbie, but I guess it’s supposed to put Todd & Margaret on a more even plane.

I’m afraid it is someone from the past that causes him to swerve, mainly because it’s a clip they show repeatedly, and I can’t think of a reason his death scene would be filmed if it weren’t crucial to the plot. Of course if we stick to the “we can’t change the past” rule, it could be a fakeout, and he dies in a different accident later. I’ve been making a lot of false assumptions based on this being a Hallmark show, but this series breaks from the formula quite a bit. It reminds me of when I watched the first season of “You” on Lifetime - I couldn’t convince anyone to check it out because of the Lifetime stigma, and I’m having the same issue here. I tell people this one is different, but no one believes me 😜