vibeology

I didn't mind the Bruce/Natasha pairing, but I agree that this Natasha didn't flow right from the one we saw in Winter Soldier. I lived for that Natasha but this one so willing to run away from a big fight didn't feel right. Also, I hated that the team picked Natasha to be the only Hulk whisperer. That makes no sense! Of the five people on the team who aren't the Hulk, Natasha is one of two who doesn't have powers or an Iron Suit. It would be very easy for her to be hurt on a mission and then who would calm Hulk down? Every single one of them should have been able to lullaby Bruce. They still could have had the Hulk Buster stuff- Wanda's mind powers could have been stronger than the lullaby stuff. It would have shown that the team was very smart and planned ahead and then also shown just how powerful Wanda was. But those two issues aside, I really enjoyed this. I liked the first one more, Cap 2 more, but this was a wonderful film with a good balance of the team. The jokes were spot on, the way they handled the large universe with the small cameos was pitch perfect and the new characters like Wanda and Vision feel like whole people to me and not just a cool set of powers.

I was concerned going into this but overall, they were fine. It would be nice to see them detach a little from Mark with the "we're going home" and "we worked so hard" stuff, but I thought they gave their opinions about Mark/Willow and then mostly put it behind them to talk about the rest of the show. The week, in terms of judging, was crazy so I'm not surprised they had something to say. I was surprised they were so positive about Riker and Noah and thought Shirley's insight about both was fascinating. The stuff about how Noah has to work to balance his movement was something I had not thought about before, so good on her to bring it up. Also, I loved that she called BS on the "height difference" problem the judges raised. Lots of Ballroom couples have that sort of difference. Loved that Corky thought Derek's dance was a hot mess. Its nice to see someone in that community say it. Its been a long time since I've heard someone say "Its about the celebrity." He has that relationship with Derek too, so for him to say it is a big deal. I do really wish they had covered the dance off dances. I wanted to hear Shirley and Corky talk technique especially for Rumer's foxtrot and both Salsas. What I really got out of this is I get why Shirley Ballas was never hired to judge this show since she can be such a wildcard, but its a shame because she'd go in when it comes to the dancing at a level none of the current judges would ever do.

Fish has literally been off on an island on her own for the back half of the season. Nothing happening with Fish has mattered to the rest of the characters for weeks. In fact, we haven't seen her for weeks. She was one of the promoted characters starting the season and the writers couldn't even be bothered to keep her involved in the plot for 22 episodes. The writing on this show is uneven and lazy for everyone. The scene where Jim and Harvey got the call from the Ogre and used their "detective" skills to hear a train was painful, but the women seem to get the worst of it over and over. Its very clear from reading this thread that many people couldn't tell that Barbara was drugged because her character is so all over the place that nothing she can do would seem out of character. That's a serious problem. This is a plot driven show and I expect everyone to be handed the idiot ball some of the time to move things forward, but Barbara has her own special idiot ball the writers rely on every single time they plan a story for her and that's not okay and not very compelling TV.

Marlee Matlin, clapping in the audience, had more rhythm than several contestants this season. Patti, Lil Kim and Amber was amazing! I love that Patti just has it. She owns every stage she stands on. And props to Amber and Kim for being strong, not fading into the background but also letting Patti shine. There are several troupe members (Jenna and Henry, I see you in the background pulling faces like no tomorrow) who could stand to learn that lesson. The football boys did a fun number and I loved seeing Anna dance again. Karina too, but its been so long for Anna and she is amazing! Meryl and Maks and Witney and Alfonso showed what really makes a memorable partnership - you can feel how much each person loves dancing with the other. And not to put down any other partnership either pro has had, but both of them found a true dance match and the spark from that cannot be contained. I'd never pick a winner and thank god these two didn't compete against each other because their personalities are so different. Meryl and Maks have that passion, that clean staccato movement and just a hint of darkness. Alfonso and Witney are fun, bounce, razzle dazzle and a strong sense of musicality. I love that we got to see two amazing pairs again. I'm bathed in happy nostalgia. I was even happy to see Corky again, so you know the show did something right.

Reading that forum, that speculation is based on nothing. I think it's disgusting that a conflict between two women is being boiled down to a man. Because whatever this disagreement is about, it has to come back to a man and not something connected to work, right?

This is an awful week for Shirley and Corky to be guests. They can be insightful, but mostly they're crazy protective of Mark so I imagine most of their contributions will be about how he was robbed. I kind of think he was but I don't want an hour of it on Afterbuzz.

I'm planning on watching next week to see how they wrap up the season, but I have a hard time imagining I'll watch next year. This show has a problem with women. Barbara got the worst of it tonight and has all season, but they way women have been written on this show all year bugs me. Barbara's characterization has been so all over the place this season that it wasn't clear at the end of this episode that she'd been drugged. For Barbara that could have just been her being her. I did like Bruce's plot this week and Harvey is always fun.

Except with those injuries, Derek is not going to be dancing again this season. An ankle sprain is brutal and it really limits your movement. If it was just the toe, maybe, but that ankle is a killer. Even if he can get up and moving without splints, he will not be able to dance to his full potential and it would hold Nastia back to pair her with someone who is hurt.

I'm so upset. I love Willow and now she's gone. She had so much skill and so much potential for more growth that its a damn shame to see her go this early. Her Salsa-off vs Riker was so illuminating. Willow dances with speed and skill and shade. Her salsa had some earthy grounded moments that Riker and Allison could never pull off since everything they do is set to 11. Her Nin-jazz was cool and focused. Its awful to imagine next week without Willow considering I do have to sit through Noah, Chris and Robert. Carrie Ann is fucking nuts. Noah did not deserve a 10. He doesn't move much and he didn't really do anything to project a character. I could forgive some of his non-dance moments if there was something really interesting happening performance-wise, but week to week Noah doesn't really do much to bring character to each style. There's very little there. Chris is getting better but he started off so bad that getting better means very little. Also, I hate that CAI became the lift police but why was the lift in this dance not a problem? Robert had a much better week but those lifts looked so laboured. And I get that, he's not a pro, but yikes they were bad. Also, Word Up is not a deep song and when you slow it down and put the focus on the lyrics its not a good thing. Rumer was fine. It wasn't very memorable. Riker's quickstep was way overscored. He's awful in hold, so jerky and his neck and shoulders do look tight. As for Derek (and Nastia and Sasha) embarrassing. He made the entire dance about himself. Trust Sasha to be a partner. Let him choreograph, let him be the partner and let the dance be about their partnership. He situated himself right in the middle of the dancers, sang and made sure that no one would forget who was actually the "star." Also, what the hell is a "Modern Charleston"? Its kind of bullshit that everyone else had to do an era and a dance style while Derek got current era, new crazy dance style! Just bullshit! I will say this, Nastia generated some partner chemistry tonight now that she got to dance with someone who isn't a chemistry black hole. If Derek can just sit his ass down, she might actually come out ahead.

Part of the problem now is that only 2% of all the clothes we buy are made in the USA. It's very hard for families to buy American when there is barely any American to buy. I wouldn't know where to go to buy things made here and I don't have the skills or the time to make things myself. I would love to buy clothes made in the USA (or Canada, or any other developed nation where I could be confident that working conditions were acceptable) but the only brand I can think of is American Apparel and it has its own problems.

Abby dropped her phone because she saw her Dad with Jess and wanted the attention. I think that she dropped her phone and stomped on it and screamed to stop them from being together. The timing of it if it was an accident was too perfect.

Agreed you're talking about Brittany Cherry. This Brittany Cherry. I love that she's got a history with the show. And considering her recent work, she's kind of a get for the troupe.

Exactly. Here Julianne went in and gave them a very low score considering what Chris, Noah, Patti and Robert all got but her main complaint was you danced to Bootylicious in a way that suited the character of the song. Its not like she has never been given a song (Jesse's Girl) and a dance (Tango) and found that to make it work she had to play up to the song or anything. Rumer/Val were in a bad place. Rumer would have shined with something jazzier to show off her real skills but she got jazz and Bootylicious so Beyoncé poses, booty popping and raunch it is. Len and the other judges weren't really wrong but its not like Rumer could have gotten her Fosse on to Destiny's Child.

I loved this so much! I started yelling "Adam" at my TV about halfway through, round about when Hanson went to the hospital to dig up info on the hit and run victim, but the whole thing was so heartbreaking. The final autopsy scene when Lucas had to correct Henry about how Abigail died was so well acted by all three of them. I was blown away. Obviously Jo doesn't know the whole story because no regular person is going to jump to the conclusion that her friend is an immortal human but its also very clear based on how ADLG played it all episode that she gets the emotional truth even if she can't make rational sense of it. She knows that Henry loves that woman somehow and its more than just caring about his friend's mom. I'm so sad for Henry. I wanted Abigail to be alive so bad somehow even if it didn't make sense. Knowing she died to protect her family is small comfort but hopefully it will help Henry. Also, poetry sex is super hot.

Noah thought that their package made Sharna look bad? In what world? I know that Chris is probably the weaker dancer, but now I'm straight up done with Noah. Riker's Samba was not deserving of those scores. It was sloppy and frantic. Also, the choreography was incredibly repetitive. I don't know if it was a time issue or the fact that Allison just doesn't know as much Latin as the actual ballroom pros, but it felt to me that every move they did on the stage was repeated on the floor just in a different order. Where did he go for days? And why didn't she go with him? I think Nastia and Derek have a connection problem and I think that Nastia is a closed off "cooler" dancer, but I don't think that's a problem. I never thought of Karina as a "warm" dancer, but I loved her movement. She knew how to use her strengths and personality to her benefit. The problem with Derek and Nastia is that they're trying to force her against type. Let her be a cool dancer and play that up in the choreography. Derek just doesn't seem to have the time to work with her to find her ballroom personality and match the choreography to what she's projecting on the dance floor. I kind of ship Kym and Robert, but my god, did Erin trying to get them to make out bug me. Back off lady. If they are or aren't together, I don't need them to be forced into an awkward situation on TV. Just let them be cute and have fun dances. I actually liked both team dances. Its clear that there was some strife in YOLO. The package did a good job covering it up, but the tension was real. Trouble's dance appealed to me more because I like seeing the personalities of each team and I'm glad Patti got to go out on such a high note.

The whole nanny thing is crazy to me. Juliette sat around bored for weeks. Obviously she was going to want to get back to work after having the baby. She should have used that time to hire her nannies. And yes, I said nannies. She needs a day nanny and a night nanny/sleep doula. Juliette wants to work and Avery wants to work. They need nannies to make that happen. Most celebrities who want to get back to work right away have a nanny team. I don't mind seeing some sort of conflict between Juliette and Avery. They rushed into a marriage, the didn't plan Cadence and it makes sense that they're going to have to work things out. What does bug me is the risk that Juliette will be the one cast as the "bad parent" because the expectation is on her as the mom to be there for their daughter.

One of the big problems I'm having with the show right now is that they've written themselves out of all of Alicia's adult relationships. Kalinda is no longer her friend because she once slept with Peter, Will is dead, she can't just chat with Finn because of the "sexual tension", Cary and Diane are at odds with her over work and she's still angry with Peter because of their past. It leaves Owen and Veronica but that requires booking guest stars and you can't always have the people you need when you need them and even with her family the writers created tension. When you have a character like Alicia who is closed off, you need her to have at least one outlet so the viewers can get inside her head in an organic way. JM plays Alicia with this calm and I think its a wonderful choice but it makes it hard to follow all of her choices. She needs to talk things out sometimes but there isn't any character who can fill that role. The fight to be Alicia's best gal pal is between Eli and his 21 year old daughter. And the 20 something is probably winning.

The thing that's great about that question is that Barb can just write it off in her mind as wanting to get to know more about the fiancee. Barb is masterful at creating scenarios where she can excuse her own behaviour while still judging others. There is no excuse for asking where the family is from originally but to Barb she'll say it was about curiosity and not racism. Also, I don't think the situation would have escalated quite so quickly except for the fact that Mark set both women up to be on edge. We saw him tell Barb about being engaged. If you know your mother is a gross racist with a mean streak, its probably a bad idea to say that you weren't even sure you wanted her to know about it. Barb was defensive and ready to lash out before Richelle even walked into the restaurant. Richelle also went in there primed for a fight because Mark had her expecting one. He thinks he's better than his family and their drama but he can play right into it. I think Aubry was telling the truth at the end about her brother. I've gotten a very strange vibe from her about him since he was first mentioned by the dad.

I've always thought it was pretty clear that Sheldon and then Howard can leave Raj and Leonard in the dust intellectually. Not that Raj and Leonard aren't smart, because they are, but Sheldon is next level smart and Howard has always been shown as a brainiac creative who can build things and solve problems. Howard basically built the fighting robot on his own, designed several things for NASA including a satellite. He speaks several languages and has actually made the most career progression of any of the guys since the start of the show. We've seen him go toe to toe with Sheldon and hold his own. I think its nice that the writers have been very consistent building up Howard's intellect and arrogance about his accomplishments and paying it off here with the parallels between Raj/Howard and Leonard/Sheldon.

I don't know if that's what did her in this week, but if she had made it to next week the whole "maybe I should just quit" would have cost her voters for sure. Her personality was not a good fit for this sort of show. Maybe she's great in real life, but here she came across as self centred, lazy, entitled and whiny. When you compare her to Patti who won't complain about her knee no matter how much Erin asks, Suzanne looks even worse. Not everyone is good at playing the reality TV game.

I think Willow was underscored and Nastia way overscored. Willow should be the one in the "best for last" section. She did have the best score last week. Her dance tonight was more interesting and dynamic than Nastia's. Willow can play a character and there were moments in her number where I thought I'd like to see her turn at Alice in a movie; there was strength and vulnerability that really drew me in. Nastia did an Ana impression. She still hasn't put herself into any of her routines and while this one might have been silly and fun it was still completely detached from her own personality, just in a different way from previous weeks. And just a point, if you really must use Friend Like Me for multiple bumpers, play the actual song. I don't want to see Genie and hear some crappy band singer to a Robin Williams impression.

I know that Alicia is being bought out of the firm or has been already, but she worked with Diane, Kalinda and Cary for years. Diane was nearly put in jail. Does Alicia even know? The worst part of the whole SA thing was how fractured the story has become. I hate it and whatever it takes to get everyone in the same universe again, I don't care. Diane and Kalinda's mess is heartbreaking. Kalinda was wrong to do what she did but Diane didn't know and the fact that she'd be the one to suffer the most for it is crazy. Kalinda, Cary and Diane are in this high stakes situation and I'm supposed to care that the state snack is popcorn? Honestly, I hate Alicia and her smug face. She thought people would believe the "it was a flirtation" crap. Those emails read like exactly what they were, two people who have sex emailing about it. I laughed and laughed as her situation got worse and worse. She's made the choices she's made and those choices have consequences. The only person I hate more than Alicia is Geneva. The case against Cary was crap and using methods like that to go after Bishop rather than actually finding something on him is a low move that she's still defending now. There are probably people in the SAs office more qualified than Cary was or Finn is to be the deputy, but its not Geneva. She's a lazy prosecutor with incredibly questionable ethics.

I was in Toronto back at the end of February and saw all the trailers and trucks setup for filming at Roy Thomson Hall. Ever since then I've been lowkey looking forward to its return.

Why am I supposed to like Leonard with Penny? When Sheldon is doing a better job boyfriending you know Leonard is just the worst. He doesn't want Penny to act again but he doesn't like that she's successful at her current job. What does he want? Its a small-ish part in Clerks III, Penny could probably take a few vacation days and shoot her whole part if she got the role. I know they're engaged and they need to have conversations about these sorts of things, but when his entire point is "be less than me but not too much less" I don't want to see them together. That blanket fort was amazing and I'm glad Amy and Sheldon had a fun date night and were able to compromise to keep the fun going. I've never loved her pushing him for more than he was comfortable with, but since he was the one to first suggest she stay late, I'm glad they had a great time. Also, I really want to build a blanket fort this weekend.

I'm pretty sure this is going to be the end of Sadie and I'm bummed about it. I really liked her and I liked the relationships she forged with the rest of the cast. She had connections to Rayna, Luke, Avery and Gunnar. I wanted her album to be a big success so Avery could have a win. I also really liked the potential between her and Luke. At least we got one of the best songs of the season from the two of them before she took off. She really does. I think she's the most mature character on this show followed closely by Emily and then the unnamed Barkley-Barnes baby. This! It was so creepy and uncool. Gunnar is awful in relationships. He was awful with Scarlett the first time, awful with Zoey and awful again now that he's set his sights on Scarlett. Last week he creepily barged into her hotel room and this week he's decided to force a different sort of boundary. I love them singing together, but I cannot be here for their ship until Gunnar shows some serious growth. I don't know if its necessarily that. Rayna has been using her label more for helping artists who inspire her than for any sort of business decisions. She's all about finding a poor soul and giving them support. She likes people who remind her of herself (which explains why all of her named artists are women) in some way and doesn't make decisions based on numbers but rather her gut. I guess that's fine for a vanity label, but she's on her own with H65 and she needs to care about the real world. Bucky didn't betray Rayna; he just knows he'll be outvoted so why put up the fight. I don't even think Teddy would have had to resigned if he'd come clean right away. He's single and just lost his wife in a very tragic way in the past year. (I think, the timeline on this show is pretty messy) Sit down with a friendly reporter and talk about his mistake, how he was lonely, how he knows he has to do better for Nashville and for his daughters. He's probably got a few more years before re-election so he'd have to be totally above board moving forward but by the time it mattered, most people would have moved on.