Thog

Lots of leaps of intuition that were necessary to move the story forward, but required some serious suspension of disbelief. Like when Nick somehow knew that turning out their lights would reveal a clue, and when he recognized that the oddly arranged skulls were laid out in a "G" for Grimm and facing something important behind them, and when someone figured out that Grimm blood would be the key to unsealing the 800-year-old magic superglue on the box. But the one that made me laugh out loud was when Eve watched the little red dot wiggling on the screen and said in total seriousness, "Now they're fighting."

I was actually happy that they included the very disturbing movie Roar as foreplay, because it means that maybe they will revisit the idea that Jason is a sociopath. I still think that could be interesting. Lucca's wardrobe is starting to rival Diane's. Love it or hate it, that blouse was notable.

This is one of those episodes that left me wondering who the heck is watching Edie.

I actually really liked the meta-commentary (if it was intentional, which I think it was) of a show that has run out of ideas and needs to introduce a twist to keep it from spinning its wheels. But they can't just bring in Jason Alexander to mock themselves every time this premise loses steam. I love the cast, particularly Fred Savage, so I hope they find a way to keep this thing going.

Those men looked awfully excited to get on the bus, and awfully subdued once there. I have to wonder what they thought they were signing up for when they saw the cameras and a pretty girl offering kisses in exchange for money. I'm so glad that didn't get uncomfortable.

I agree completely. At first I didn't understand what she was doing, but when I saw the result it was so simple and realistic that it gave me chills. It's kind of a shame that the stronger contestants got to sit out the more complex tasks, because I would have loved to see what they came up with. I laughed out loud when Glenn called Robert a weird dude. Pot, meet kettle.

Maybe I don't understand the nature of Jane's graduate program, but shouldn't Prof Chavez have told her he was leaving the country in a few months before he agreed to be her advisor in the first place? Nobody is cuter than Mateo. I love how straightforward and honest the characters are being with each other (Xo and Ro, Abuela and Jane, Jane and Rafael, etc.). It's nice to see writers who are able to move a story line along without ridiculous misunderstandings and unnecessary secrets!

Wait - why would Elsbeth suggest her ex-husband as her replacement if she knew he could so easily compromise her? Was she actually trying to help without breaking any laws, or is it that thing where there are only 2 lawyers in Chicago who aren't part of LAL (just like there's only 1 investigator)?

I was so, so bothered by Diana this week, even more than usual. Hallelujah is an amazing song, and can be interpreted in many ways, but I just can't see any way that you could think it's about a woman getting out of an abusive relationship. And she chose Andrew and Vanessa specifically because they had such awesome chemistry when they were singing to each other in the try-outs, but then she decides they should have an antagonistic relationship? It just made no sense. And nobody had any idea what those red scarves were about. That wasn't art, it was pretension. They "won" on either the quality of the solos (Vanessa is amazing), or the producers' need for drama. (Full disclosure: Andrew is sort of a cousin of mine, and I've known him for years. He is the nicest guy you'll ever know, and there is no way he could pull off "abusive boyfriend" even if he disliked his singing partner. Way to play to the kids' strengths, Diana. Ugh.) I continue to adore Deke. He knows how to get the best out of the singers by building them up and making them want to do well.

I loved that the diamond Rogelio chose was lavender. Because of course it was.

Melissa also looked confused when she wasn't a top or bottom look. My take on it was that half of her work would have been in the top, and the other half would have been in the bottom. They were so befuddled by it that they wanted to hear her explain it, but they couldn't really place her in either category. Some of the close-up shots during the sculpting phase showed such beautiful detail on the skin that I was sure this would all turn out better. Something must have gone very wrong in the molding and painting phases to turn those great textures into such a plastic-looking mess.

I loved seeing where some of the elements of Rogelio's self-obsession came from. His mom singing the "wake up Rogelio" song and telling him he didn't pop in peach gave us a little insight into his childhood. It's kind of amazing he turned out as well as he did!

Yes, but I have to admit I laughed out loud when his wistful flashbacks of Adalind began with her in labor. What kind of man fantasizes about his beloved in the throes of contractions?

I don't think you need a speech pathology degree to know that your lips need to come together to make a "p" sound. I did worry that they were supposed to read the language guy's mind about what the characters would look like, but during judging I thought his criticisms were fair because he didn't go much deeper than that.

Yeah, I was just starting to warm up to her, and then I saw her daughter wearing a "Team Mommy" t-shirt. Ugh.

I watch this with my 8-year-old son, and episode 4 led to an interesting discussion about respect for authority vs. standing up for yourself. Diana has been positively awful, and clearly Andrew's attempt to quit had a positive effect on the team dynamics (though her interviews suggest that Diana is just faking the nice bit). The thing is, I don't really like the message that the kids are in charge and they can change her coaching style if they don't like it by threatening to walk out. The last thing I want is my kid thinking that if his 3rd grade teacher (or coach, or parent, etc.) is too "mean" he gets to protest. Obviously Deke's style is more fun and seems effective - the kids are working hard to please him as much as to improve themselves - but Diana isn't Deke and the kids don't get to choose. Having said all that, though, I do think Andrew genuinely felt the need to bow out and wasn't just being manipulative. He seemed to communicate with Diana respectfully rather than storming out in a huff, though he didn't seem to take into account the effect his actions would have on the group. I also appreciated his willingness to hear her out and rejoin the group without a ton of drama. I have to wonder what all happened behind the scenes and how much of that played out as we saw it.

Who does Alicia have left?? Is there anyone she hasn't lost and/or kicked out of her life in one way or another? Peter, Will, Zach, Grace, Eli, Marissa, Kalinda, Diane, Cary, everyone else at the law firm, anyone in the condo who may have still had good will toward her... She's about to lose Luca as well. If JM is to interact with anyone in her scenes, they'll have to bring back Jason or introduce a plot line with her brother.

Wow, Johnny is distractingly tall. It was funny that his partner was named Ant, because he looked like one by comparison in some of those shots. And this week's (deserving) winner will be easy to remember because she looks like a Glenn Close doppelganger. Otherwise I've got nothing, but I'm excited for the season. I totally forgot it was starting, and it was a pleasant surprise.

I watched this, too! In fact, it's what I think of whenever I see most of these actors (maybe not Clooney, but certainly Corinne Bohrer, Conchata Ferrell, and even Mary McDonnell). Wow, special guest star Martha Quinn really dates it.

I thought it was a lesbian attraction, and that's why they lost the youth ministry leader. But maybe I'm making up plot lines that don't exist. Did they purposely make up Alicia to resemble all those Texts from Hillary memes, with the sunglasses and the iPad and the central hair part? I thought the most unintentionally funny part of this episode was the scenes with Jason in San Francisco with the trolley bells clanging and the Golden Gate Bridge reflected in his windshield. I'm sure it was meant to scream "Look, I'm on location!" but kind of gave the impression that he was sightseeing. I work in San Francisco a week out of every year, and I have yet to see the Golden Gate. It really doesn't loom over everything in the city.

It's not actually that unusual. A restaurant in my town makes an awesome margarita with Chapulin salt on the rim, which is basically crushed crickets and spices. But of course they tell you that when you order it so you're not surprised by it or tricked into it by your husband. I thought that was a great reveal.

Thanks for the reminder! My cousin (once removed) is one of the featured high school singers, and I'd completely forgotten it premiered tonight. This would never be on my radar otherwise, and I'm not sure I'll stay past the first episode. Whatever the outcome (or the ratings), they apparently had a heck of a time filming it.

The new Tuesday lineup is made up of the only 4 comedies I watch. So nope, not just you. (And I would probably have dropped Grandfathered if they hadn't done this - inertia will keep it in my lineup).

I know that in my town cabbies will tell each other about people who stiff them. I have to wonder whether Justin's justifiably angry cab driver didn't get on the radio and tell everyone else not to pick up the green idiot with the camera crew, because the other cab seemed happy enough to go to Belmont as soon as it was someone else asking. Also, the cabbies never told Justin they were waiting for someone else - they just tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. I just love that Justin went out on his own mistake, and that the paparazzi stayed true to their bickering selves right to the end. Otherwise, what a sad season - watching the previouslies, it was almost as though the teams went out in order of likability (TMZ excluded).

This episode was even better than the last. I feel like this show is really finding its ground; I just hope it also finds its audience, because my life needs more Fred Savage in it.