Thog

I thought so too, until recent years when they've played up her uptight traits and his childishness to the extent that they look like polar opposites. Now I don't see how they ever got together in the first place, let alone managed to raise 3 kids. They used to show us the love underlying all of the main relationships by the end of every episode, which made it really sweet. Now I guess they're just relying on us remembering that these people do like each other somewhere deep down underneath all the sarcastic barbs. I thought that line was referring to the unfortunate stereotype that parents of adopted children (particularly from other countries) are irresponsible and have lots of kids they can't support. It was a throw-away line, but it really rubbed me the wrong way.

I agree that the lack of kids was a little startling. I especially wondered who was watching Joe. But I loved Ty Burrell in this one - the Phil/Julianna storyline could have gone in a number of directions, but I thought it ended very sweetly. We're not often shown any evidence that these two even like each other, so it was nice to see them being silly and happy together. Also, Stephanie Beatriz has range! I watch her every week on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and she was barely recognizable in this. Huge respect.

Mr. Thog does alumni interviews for another ivy league school. They're meant to be very low-stress - just a chance for prospective students to ask questions about the school and chat with someone who's been there. The interviewer does get to make a recommendation, but it's not likely to make or break a student's chances. And yes, they're usually held in coffee shops. Based on the location, Alex's casual dress, and the interviewer's line about "I hope we weren't that boring when we went to Princeton," I assumed that's what this was - not a formal part of the admissions process, just a chat with an alum. When did everyone on this show get so mean? I used to love how sweet it was; even though they carped at each other, in the end you could always see how much love was there.

And I especially loved the detail that the realtor was Suzanne Acker (the cop's sister from the last episode). Say what you will about the writers, but they know their audience. The bullet hole storyline will provide them with ample excuses to have Renard take off his shirt. The haunted house scene at the beginning was really, really creepy.

"There's nothing to hold on to!"

I will never be able to see a set of characters walking meaningfully down a hallway like that without picturing Puppet Angel in the lead. Not usually a fan of violence, but I was oddly thrilled to see everyone get a piece of the cult (sometimes literally). And I love Wu's reaction to all this - steels himself, processes it, then immediately goes to learn more. Great episode overall.

As all the Freaks met in purgatory, all I could think is that they borrowed this ending from Lost. And that really wasn't a good idea. I thought the massacre scene was the first true horror (not just the gross-out kind) they've shown all season, but then they went and undid it. Not that I wanted any of them to end like that (particularly Paul), but at least it was bold. Totally agree that Matt Fraser and Amazon Eve need their own shows. Is there a petition somewhere we can sign?

Nice use of "effulgence." Heh. I had no idea that was Amy Adams! I need to go back and watch Family, I guess. I thought I first saw her in Junebug. Thinking back on the story as a whole, it was a terrible idea to keep Spike on this show. But his performance in this season is what kept me watching. I couldn't stand Glory or Ben or Riley or so much of the rest of the main plot.

I was actually hoping that Eva would run out to be Mozzie's ride-off-into-the-sunset opportunity, because they seemed so well suited as a couple and why else introduce her right now? So I was disappointed when the episode ended and we were back to the status quo. When the fiance came on screen, Mr. Thog and I both had the nagging sense we'd seen him before. A little while later we both had epiphanies... Mr. Thog: "Justified!" Me: "Herman's Head!" That was probably the most entertaining moment of the episode.

Was I the only one who really wanted to see Cary and Bishop play a hand of Rat-A-Tat Cat?

I agree the fakeouts are getting old and it breaks the tension if there is no real danger, but I have to say they'd better not kill off Paul. They made me love Twisty, then killed him. Now they're making me love Paul, and I want him to be the hero of the show. I adore Mat Fraser, and I'd really like to see him get work after this. How awesome would it be to see him as the new wacky neighbor on Modern Family or a judge on The Good Wife? They can mention once that he had some birth defects, but otherwise treat him as a regular person and give him character traits other than "freak." If nothing else, let him run the Amazing Race. Now THAT I'd watch.

Wow, thank you for that video of Mat Fraser. He is really extraordinary. It's funny that he had a line about his handsome face, because I was just saying to my husband that if he were of normal proportions (Mat, not my husband), he'd be a stunner. (I used to say that about Peter Dinklage as well, but I've come around to thinking he doesn't need to change a thing to be handsome.) Love the accent, love the confidence, love the humor. I hope he does go on to do other great things.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Cam-Lily storyline was not the usual "Daddy is neglecting the kid for work and needs to learn a heartwarming lesson," but rather "Kid needs to learn that Daddy's other obligations are also important, and she needs to take some responsibility for their relationship too."

I didn't catch the part about the next town over having a curfew, but I did think I heard one of the moms say that she thought they'd caught the serial killer, and he was part of the circus or something. I assumed they all thought the killer was Meep, he'd been dealt with, and life could go on. That museum of morbidity, or whatever they called it, is real, and it actually is in Philadelphia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCtter_Museum It's really cool and very disturbing, particularly if you're 6 months pregnant when you visit (lots of abnormal fetuses in jars, if I recall correctly). Best parts for me: Ma Petite jumping out of the pumpkin, and Twisty's "shhh" to the little girl. I've hated clowns since Dumbo and Poltergeist, but this one is growing on me. I couldn't handle him until I looked up the actor and realized he was Drew's cross-dressing brother on The Drew Carey Show. I'm also bothered by the inconsistency of Jimmy's hands.

I thought Cat looked lovely tonight. Enviable hair, nice dress... and then I saw the cape. Was that a cape? So, so happy to see Rudy go, and appalled at his open blubbering (but then one thing I don't like about him is how he wears his giant emotions on his sleeve). Furious about Tanisha, though. She was far and away my favorite female dancer. I wish we could have an all-male top 3.

On what planet does Zack belong in the bottom 2?? I will say that I love watching Ricky dance, and I do believe that he will win (and will probably deserve to). But while he's always been technically good, I feel like Zack has been stunning recently. Maybe it's because my expectations are lower? I don't know, but I may just have to figure out this whole voting system and give Zack some love. That was nerve-wracking. I'd like to know who is voting for Rudy. He danced well tonight, but he was trying harder to connect with the camera than with Jenna, and overall I find him unwatchable. At least they finally called him on the mugging. Nigel telling Cat to not bother opening the envelope with Ricky's results was just offensive. Ricky looked more uncomfortable with that statement than he did when he was told he looks like a hobbit (also uncalled for, though Nigel isn't the first to say that). If they keep the boy-girl format to the end, I hope Tanisha is the last girl standing. But I'd really like to see a Ricky-Zack final two. I watched the first 30 minutes with my 7-year-old son. As he went to bed he told me how much he loved Bridget's and Emilio's numbers, and he choreographed his own snake dance hip-hop as he brushed his teeth. I don't know how I'll break it to him in the morning.

My top four are still Ricky, Stanley, Zach, and Marcquet, not necessarily in that order.When Valerie was pulling a name I thought "anyone but Ricky!" I love watching Ricky dance, and I knew those two wouldn't partner well. I do like Valerie as a tapper, but I didn't believe she could pull off what he can, and she didn't prove me wrong. (On a shallow note, how does Ricky get his eyes to sparkle like that? If he could bottle it he'd be rich). Zach really surprised me tonight. He's more versatile than I'd realized, and I thought he was as fierce this week as well as he was fun last week. I wish Stanley and Marcquet had had more to work with, because they just disappeared among the others and they've both given me chills in other routines. I enjoy most of the women while I'm watching them, but can't remember much about them later. Hopefully as the numbers get smaller some of them will start to stand out more.

Rudy and Nick were never among my favorites, but Rudy's face at the end just broke my heart.

I started at Season 6, just after emerging from my tumultuous 20s and a very bad relationship. So it resonated with me at the time, and I have a soft spot for it. I caught up on the other seasons by binge-watching that summer, and I was blown away by what I had missed. The first season was slow to get started and the arc in season 5 never worked for me, but S4 had some real stand-outs and 2 and 3 were pure magic. I was super excited to watch Season 7 in real time with the rest of the world, and I was so horribly let down that I won't even acknowledge it as part of the same show. So my list would be: 3 2 4 6 5 1 . . . Some other show that featured Kennedy.