chaifan

I am generally someone who balks at every show having to have everyone nicely coupled off. But I'm ok with it on this show, simply because the ghosts are capable of having ghost sex. (Even if we're not quite sure to what level of satisfaction.) For most of us, living an eternity without sex would be awful. They only have each other to couple (or throuple) up with, so why wouldn't they be coupling off, breaking up, recoupling, etc.? This is a group that uses backrubs as currency, after all. It would make sense if Trevor and Flower hooked up soon after Trevor's death, and continued as friends with benefits this whole time. So Pete & Alberta? Yeah, I'm on board with that. She deserves a little somethin' somethin' after almost 100 years.

Great episode! But I'll just start with this... THAT was Rosie O'Donnell??? I only recognized her from her voice. And even then, I kept thinking, no, that can't be her. I had to google it to confirm. Lots of good bits in this episode, from the popping of the balloons to the swigging of the champagne. Ava and Deborah both hitting lows. I really had no idea if they were going to kill off the dog or not. I mean, that's pretty dark, but this show has had some dark moments. But going from Deborah saving the dog to her crusade to save Ava was fabulous. Ava's make over... years ago I was in one of the major department stores. I was passing the makeup section, and there was some "famous" makeup artist to the stars that was there. I had the time, I figured, oh hell, why not? I've never been a big makeup kind of girl, but thought it would be fun. I told them "fresh", "minimal", and gave them this scenario "First date, Sunday brunch, outdoor patio". When I finally saw the end result, I had to really keep myself from screaming. I looked like a pumpkin! (I'm naturally very pale.) I drove home very carefully, so afraid I'd get into a car accident and die looking like that.

Someone needs to convince Patience to get in the car with the chef while he's smoking pot. I'm not normally a fan of cliffhangers, but this was a good one!

I totally agree. He could have also claimed he was there on "Eye" business, that he can't discuss. Or say he went to investigate the guy that June & Moira killed, of course not knowing he was dead until he got there, saying he was a suspected mole, or whatever. Nick is smart enough to have an excuse in his back pocket at all times. But nope, he just stared dumbly at Wharton, deer in headlights, and we're supposed to believe he couldn't think of anything on the spot and his only choice was to sell out Mayday? It's lazy writing. I've said before, I do not want a redemption arc for Serena, and I really hope they're not going there. But... I can believe Serena could be (finally) seeing the light on the true treatment of the handmaids and is changing her perspective on this. A real life comparison would be accounts of people who were once in extreme white supremacist groups, who have been "deprogrammed" and now renounce racism. These are people who previously would have had no problem personally harming someone based solely on the color of their skin. It's not that they just now realize that was bad - they always knew it was bad, but they were able to justify it based on their warped beliefs. So I don't see Serena's progression (if there really is one) as a retcon.

I do miss the little glimpses of ESM we had in the earliest of seasons. But what I really really miss are the Elimination Station extra videos that used to be posted on TAR's YouTube channel. I loved watching those! I think we got a lot of inside info from those videos, as well as seeing which teams wanted to hang out together post race. I like the head to head competitions. But I agree, a team shouldn't be penalized because an other team got lost or fell way behind. I think the solution is to only have head to head challenges right after some equalizer - first challenge after all teams are on the same flight, or first challenge after a significant HOO where all teams would be bunched up. Or, you make it part of a detour - you have a choice, do the head to head challenge (which may or may not mean waiting for another team) or do the alternative challenge. And, just to chime in, I'm perfectly ok with a NEL being just a NEL. A surprise save for the last place team, and nothing else. No penalty, no additional challenge. That doesn't bother me at all. What does need to change is Phil's obvious telegraphing of when a leg is or is not a NEL. Stop with the "WILL be eliminated" vs. "may be eliminated" vs. just not saying anything. Just make every leg "may be eliminated". Because that's why I like the NEL - it gives hope in any leg that your favorite team, who is horribly lagging behind, just may be saved. Or, it makes me scream "this better not be a NEL!!!" at my tv, if the lagging team is one I want eliminated. I'd just rather not know until the last team hits the mat.

Really? I guess I missed that. Thanks for the clarification. Geez, what was he thinking???

I can understand why Josiah wanted to hold on to the express pass - it makes sense to hold it to use it next leg to guarantee their space in the final 3. But... you can't get to the final 3 if you aren't in the final 4, so yeah, his hesitancy at the cheese task as other teams were passing them by made no sense at all. I don't want TAR to mess with starting times because of flight bunching, because then they may as well do it when the first task has an HOO, and then it's meaningless. Also, unless it is a pre-booked flight, there is almost always a chance that teams will find different flights, or one will sell out mid-way and teams get split up. We've seen that happen, even had later teams snag better flights because of a different agent or something opening up. But, I think showing teams going to the travel agent one by one, simply to say "we want the same thing" is booorrrring, and I'd rather the screen time be spent on actual racing/challenges. So in that case, when it turns out they are all on the same plane/train, I'd be happy with the episode more or less starting as they get off the plane with a voice over from Phil.

😆 I was also thinking it was weird phrasing. Glad I'm not the only one. Yes! This! Every time he was berating Ana for making them lose time, that's all I was thinking of. God, he's awful. I don't care about any post-race diagnosis of ASD, he's still an asshole. I liked this leg. I'm rooting for Jack & Carson or Han & Holden to win, but I'd be happy with Alysa and Josiah. Just anyone but Jonathan. Sorry, Ana. I wish there was a harder "task" at the European Council. It sort of seemed like a waste of a good location to just have that one question. The detour was good. I expected the Amazing camera crew to focus in on a pen spot or stain or whatever Holden was missing on that shirt in the laundry. I loved the cheese challenge. The teams were lucky that it was designed so they knew immediately what they messed up on, and the order stayed the same with each try. It would have been much harder if they had their own cheese stations, and had to put name tags on each one all at the same time. I now want cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. I love self driving legs. It seems we've had a lot this season, and that makes me happy. Next week... ugh, I hate that they're doing back to back episodes on Wed and Thursday next week. I will have out of town guests staying with me, and I'm going to be a really crappy host to make them watch 2 nights of TAR. But I don't have Paramount, so I can't stream later. aaargh!

One scenario I could see happening... Serena figures things out on her own, notices Rita doing something, overhears the Marthas, something like that. And Serena just keeps it to herself. She doesn't join in, but she doesn't stop it, either. She just simply doesn't eat any cake. (I'm on board with the theory that Rita will be poisoning the cake.) She has to go to the ladies room, or check on Noah at just the right moment. And thus, she survives, and becomes the most senior person in Gilead. Not what I want to happen (I want her to die by the end of this show, no redemption arc), but I could see it happening. Correct me if I'm wrong, but from season 1 on, hasn't Gilead been relatively low-tech? Isn't that part of their schtick? In today's world, you'd be right, there would be video surveillance all over these places. But I don't think we've ever seen that in this show. I can't point to a specific detail, but I've just felt that the Aunts have been somewhat neutered since the earlier seasons. The Commanders have become more brash, evidenced by Bell's open conversation at Jezebel's about putting Lawrence on the wall. I think this has been a gradual regression/progression since Season 1. There were "checks & balances" set up in Gilead, but those don't really exist any longer, and the Commanders have unfettered power. (ugh, hitting way too close to home.) Lydia did not fear Waterford, because she knew the system would back her. She fears Bell, and knows she's not protected.

It's possible. If Wharton hadn't told her about the handmaids being killed at Jezebel's, I could see Serena learning this to be something that could turn her to the resistance. But if she already knows that and is still planning the wedding of the season, I just can't imagine what would make her go against Gilead. I said this in an earlier episode thread, but I really don't want a redemption arc for Serena. I'd rather see her die, either due to her own delusions about her role in this new Gilead, or, as cliche as it may be, dying to save June. So I'm really hoping that for the next 3 episodes we just see Serena in full Gilead Bridezilla mode, she's never looped in, and we get to see the horror on her (hopefully dying) face as everyone is slaughtered at her "perfect" wedding. However, I have -0- confidence that the writers will give us that. Also, I really want this plan to play out. I want to see the pomp and pageantry of Serena's wedding. (Sorry, I'm a sucker for a wedding scene.) I want to see what a Gilead wedding dress looks like. Will it be white or pink? Do the bridesmaids still all to have to wear teal? When I was watching this episode, I thought we only had 8 for this season. But now I see there are 10. I'm almost afraid that's too much time for the writers to really fuck this up. Just let the plan continue, kill everyone off, and end this show already.

oh, so many thoughts... sorry this is going to be a long post... First of all, I will admit to being 100% wrong in my theory of why Nick blabbed. Last week, I was really hoping that there would be a good explanation, that maybe Wharton already somehow got wind of the Mayday plan and Nick was actually doing Mayday a favor by tanking the whole plan. But nope. I was giving the writers a bit too much credit for making Nick look not only stupid, but a horrible liar (which we know he's not). So, in the end, Nick got accused of adultery, and to "save himself" (from what??? an angry father in law???) he sold out Mayday. I never liked Nick, thought he was dull as wallpaper paste, and never got the Nick/June twu luv story. So I'm actually glad I was wrong, and I hope this story ends with Nick dying at the wedding, a moral coward with no convictions other than his own self preservation. One thing I'm not clear on... when we're seeing the scenes of the women at Jezebel's being rounded up and shot, is Wharton actually telling Serena about this? Is June hearing this from Wharton in the moment? If so, why in the world would Wharton tell Serena this? It's barbaric, even for Gilead. Serena would have been horrified to learn a dozen women were shot in a bathroom. Especially given her plan with Lidia to let them "retire" to NB. Wharton could have simply said they were rounded up and sent to the colonies, or put back in service. I think that her chat last night with June finally made her realize that it's not "service", it's not "god's work", it is rape and it is torture. As to whether or not Serena is in on it... if she is, I think Wharton telling her about the slaughter at Jezebel's would be what it would take to make her flip to the resistance. But given June's voice over, especially Serena's self importance being her downfall, it seems pretty clear Serena is not part of the plan. The women at Jezebel's get birth control. I remember that being mentioned in whatever season we first saw Moira at Jezebel's. As for Lydia vs. Bell, I have no problem believing that Bell simply makes up his own rules, and knows no one will challenge him on not letting an Aunt in. He didn't just say "no" and slam the door in her face, he made up a plausible excuse. Lydia really didn't push it, she didn't "demand" to be let in. So I think the writers have been consistent in these instances. I really liked this episode. I really wish the last 4-5 episodes had as much movement as this. And OH, The Twist with the new Aunt (D'arcy Carden)!!! I just squeed when she turned out to be a good guy! I think June & Moira being part of the Handmaid Brigade is stupid, given how easily identifiable they are. I hope they come up with something to work around that giant plot hole.

Yep. This is what this show needs. A good wardrobe makeover montage, with June popping out of the dressing room/from behind a screen wearing one ridiculous outfit after the next, June & Serena making funny faces with each outfit. Scored, of course, to a classic 80's Brat Pack soundtrack. 😂 Honestly, that would be the best way to end this show. The entire main cast, except for June, dead. And dead because of her. And all the remaining people just run like hell as she starts heading their way. And the show ends with a flash forward to the future, with Angela, now an old woman, telling a bedtime story to her granddaughter.... yes, dear, everyone has heard of Typhoid Mary, but let me tell you the tale of Everything I Touch Dies June...

Yes, this sums up how I feel about the blackmail situation. I've never had the "oh, you're a horrible person" response to Ava about this, and this concisely says why. I am wondering... is the late night ad demographic really targeted to 25-45 year old women? Because that makes no sense to me. Mainly, because (mostly) this is the age range of women with infants/small children. You know, those creatures who suck every bit of energy out of you and force you to find sleep whenever you can. I don't see new/young mothers wasting time on late night tv. I also wonder about what audience the writers are writing for. In real life, I don't think it makes much difference, but with Deborah's set up, I think her in-person audience will be her true, life long fans. But the tv audience has to be broader than that. What goes over really well in studio (dancing mom) will probably flop with a wider audience. The same for her jokes, guests, etc. Deborah is writing for her in-studio audience, her loyal fans. Ava is going for something bigger. I am among those not crazy about this season. If the season were 12, 15 or more episodes, this all would be fine. But it's too much conflict, taking up too much of the season, and not in a funny way. Edited to add: Julianne Nicholson was great as dancing mom. Such a departure from her more recent role in Paradise. Which, if you haven't seen, you should.

I thought this was a fun episode, and I didn't see the twist coming. I agree, the costume department must have had a field day finding all the gowns and wigs, and making what probably were good costumes look bad. (They weren't all bad, but many were.) But what I really got out of this episode is now much of a drag Harry is on this show. I generally like Noah Wylie, but I've just never warmed up to Harry. At least this season he's seemed to have toned down the awful here it is ooops there it goes New Orleans accent.

It made sense to me. The woman, while alive, but barely so (deathbed) wanted to gift an heirloom, but she died before it could have happened. She told Kyle this story as a ghost. Maybe she died at home and as someone said, Kyle was walking by and saw her in her front yard. Or maybe she died at a hospital where he was visiting someone else. It really doesn't matter, does it? I think Kyle's story made enough sense for plot purposes. As long as the writers keep consistency within the main group of ghosts, ghost rules, etc., I don't need everything else to make 100% sense all the time. It's a show about ghosts, after all. Yep, a lot of that, too. I live in an area that was big in the Underground Railroad. A lot of old houses had places big enough for a person. But I was talking specifically about little hiding places. And some of those old houses had plenty of those, too. Side note: if anyone has one of those big old secretaries (the furniture, not the employee), many of those were built with secret cubbies.