Kostgard

I suspect we will get a situation where Anne finds out the truth and Rachel Lynde storms into the school and they get Ka'kwet back or something, but...yes. It doesn't solve the problem at large, and I'm not sure how they will handle it. That's actually something that I don't care for in this show - it's good that they address these social issues, but they often get glossed over. That's why I think I was bothered when Prissy Andrews left Mr Phillips at the altar. Gay people married in order to conform all the time back then. And if a woman discovered that her husband was gay, she was pretty powerless about leaving the marriage and was stuck. Not that I wish for a show where we sit around and watch Prissy Andrews be miserable in a loveless marriage, but I kinda feel like letting her run away was a way to gloss over a very real issue they were touching on. Similarly, while I love seeing Cole happy with Aunt Jo...damn, that kid got out lucky. They seem to be doing a somewhat better job with Bash and his family - sure, he moved to Avonlea and the Cuthberts were friendly to him, but others were not. Then they warmed up to him and he got married, but families like the Barrys still stayed away. Then everyone pulled together and was supportive when Mary got sick, but Marilla still got grief from the store clerk for daring to care for a black child. They haven't been able to make racism magically go away, and that's how it should be. I don't know if they will find similar success with the Ka'kwet story.

Everyone is so cute with Bash's baby. Last week it was Marilla and Matthew, and this week Gilbert was so cute with her (helps that the baby is super-cute). I'm beginning to feel about Mary's son the way I felt about the grifters at the beginning of season two - just end it already. Go ahead and rehabilitate him or let him leave. Just move on. Nice to see Matthew give Marilla the what-for. I'm always impressed when he decides to throw his weight around (it's so rare, and he usually does it for Anne). I felt sorry for Marilla, and I'm glad that she finally got to talk it out with someone and came around to supporting Anne. Rachel, if you're going to play matchmaker with Miss Stacey, you'll have to do better than your lame-o son. Miss Stacey is an "outside of the box" kind of gal. Think outside of the box. I like the personality of Gilbert's other love interest, but she still comes off as way too old for him. Again, she's 25 if she's a day, and if Anne is 16, I think Gilbert is supposed to be around 18 or so, but he is a young-looking 18. Cole has really settled into the "rich city boy" role. I had "Anne of Avonlea" flashbacks when Anne came out in her "mature" look, and said "Lose the braids" about two seconds before Cole did. With her hair up, Anne looked even more "Anne of Avonlea" and very pretty. I think they are doing okay with Anne's maturity level. She's come a long way since last season, and I think they are saving some of the real maturing until when she's at Queen's and on her own for the first time. I knew Diana was going to start rebelling here pretty soon, and I loved that she pulled a Pride & Prejudice and was all, "Oh, no! I'm too sick/injured to leave the gentleman's home! I guess I'll have to stay here so he'll fall in love with me!" That whole sequence was very enjoyable. I just wonder how long before her parents try to shut it all down. I pretty much screamed during all of Ka'kwet's story line. There was the sweet moment where Anne gave her the puffed sleeve dress, but the rest of it was a nightmare. I felt pure dread when they wouldn't allow her father to accompany her to the school. When Anne was walking away from the school I wanted to yell, "No! Anne, turn around! Get back in there and wreck up the place and free Ka'kwet!"

Yes, very much so. There's a reason why they were boarding schools - they basically erased the kids' cultural identities and made them as "white" as possible and often these kids never saw their families again. When that dude came around with the flyer for Rachel I was all, "Oh, shiiiiiii..." That happened to a family member of mine back in the day in British Columbia. She was officially an "orphan" but most likely had a family and was just sent to one of these schools when she was very young and her past/family ties were essentially erased. I was really hoping that Mary's crappy son had gone off to America, but...no such luck. We're definitely seeing him again. So terribly sad about Mary. I liked her. Life truly sucked before the advent of antibiotics. I mean, sepsis can still kill you today, but we've at least gotten a lot better at treating it. Matthew and Marilla are so cute with that very cute baby. I liked Matthew taking her around the farm and showing her everything.

I didn't really get Marilla's freakout at the end, either. I mean, I get why she's freaking out overall - she's terrified of losing Anne - but the end felt very strange. I guess we can safely say that Gilbert has a type. He's into oddballs. But that gal he was having tea with was 25 if she was a day, and he looked like her kid brother. Weirdness. I initially thought maybe she was going to be some sort of Christine Stuart stand-in, but I don't know where they are going with this. Nice to see Cole doing so well with Aunt Jo and as mentioned above, even the snooty butler. Apparently being a massive butthole is a job requirement for that orphanage. Geez. I do hope Anne is allowed to discover what she is looking for, but that it isn't as devastating as "they just left her there and the orphanage told her they were dead." I think/hope they aren't going for a Miss Stacey/Matthew match. He seemed a little weirded out there for a bit at sitting next to such an Anne clone. They are leaning so hard into the Anne clone thing that perhaps it is a good thing that Gilbert is looking elsewhere. Anne's first husband is clearly destined to die young. I did laugh when Miss Stacey was all, "What, exactly, are you implying is covered in cobwebs during my singlehood, Rachel?" I too am over Mary's son. They were hitting the crocus symbolism pretty hard. Miss Stacey noted them, they were at the orphanage, and Gilbert plucked one from the vase on the table at tea. Officially I think they are meant to symbolize "cheerfulness" or "rebirth" as they are the first flower to bloom after winter, and I'm guessing they are going with the former - that they are all symbolizing change or happiness after darkness.

I think they are going to have to deal with Matthew's fate at some point, but I don't know when. If they are roughly following the books they aren't quite there yet, but will be relatively soon. Ruby's story line they can definitely push out until much later, I think. I did wonder about Billy Andrews' character turn too, and how they are are going to pull that off if they still plan on doing it, because watching this episode I thought, "Well, Billy still sucks. And nice to know he's racist too, I guess."

I took it as the board is there for notices in general (for the school, and in small towns like that the schoolhouse usually doubled as something else, like a church, that would also post notices) and at one point in time the students used it as a "take notice" board, but the practice died out as those kids left school. Don't know why Prissy was aware of it's former purpose and Gilbert wasn't - that's the part that didn't make sense to me, since they are presumably about the same age (Gilbert might even be older) and if Prissy had witnessed the "take notice" board in the past, he would have as well. It also kinda bugs me that all the students are about the same age. If this is one of those one-room schoolhouse deals, kids like Minnie Mae should be in there. But I guess it's all for logistics. I thought that was kind of a big leap for Rachel as well, seeing as she was trying to get her fired last season. But I'm not sure how much time has passed - enough time for Bash and Mary to go through a pregnancy and have a baby, so I assume it's been at least a year since we saw everyone last? All the same, I'm willing to forgive it since the matchmaking has the potential to be entertaining. They do give Anne some pretty awful dialog, but I was enjoying her so much this episode. This calmer, more mature Anne is pretty appealing. And I enjoyed her prayer the night before her birthday where she said he accepts that she's "unique" (in her looks and otherwise) and embraces being "the bride of adventure."

Managed to see this despite being in the US. Much better start to the season than the slog that started season two. And I’m so glad they have allowed Anne to mature quite a bit. She’s definitely not grown up yet, but she no longer has the social graces of a toddler, which is a very good thing. The stuff with Anne and the Mi’kmaq girl was clunky, but also very sweet so it was still easy to watch and enjoy. The anachronisms still bug me. Gilbert saying he’s “not the kind of guy” who does something does not feel period appropriate. And all the girls wearing their hair down and flowy feels off - they should want to wear their hair up, which was the style at the time. They are really leaning into Miss Stacey being Anne from 10 years into the future, what with her greeting the geese. But I like the idea of Rachel playing matchmaker with her. Diana is itching for a rebellion. She’s totally gonna hook up with a poor dude. And I love her blue coat. I’m glad it sounds like we’ll see Cole and possibly Aunt Jo again this season.

Someone put the trailer on YouTube for those of us outside of Canada I’m glad they aged her up a bit (she’s going to be sixteen in season three), I hope they let her mature. I like this Anne, but my complaint last season was that in many cases she was way too immature for her age. The actor who plays Jerry hit a major growth spurt.

Man, I hope this show gets renewed. It gets Netflix Emmy attention, so maybe that makes them happy, but they have been very cancel-crazy lately, and I'm sure this cast is expensive. But overall for this season, I'm glad to see how far Debbie and Ruth have gone in healing their relationship. This is so much better than the constant tension. But Ruth is still blind to the truth, and Debbie is too blunt about the truth that Ruth doesn't want to hear it from her. Ruth IS better suited for the director's chair. Just as Debbie is better suited as a producer. I'm glad Carmen is striking out to do what will make her happy, but I do hope that if the show comes back, she does as well. I love her. Also glad to see Sheila spread her wings as well. I really feel sorry for Bash. He's not in a great place. Between the homophobia and the AIDS crisis, not a fun time to be gay, and layer in his conservative mother, and it's no wonder that he's a complete mess. Saddened but not surprised to see him race back into the closet - even deeper this time. I hope Rhonda is smart about it. She knows what is up. She knows that his proposal that they have kids is a terrible idea. I guess it will depends on which track she takes - she could continue down the path as basically the assistant who protects Bash from his worst impulses and manages his finances, etc for him, but understands this isn't a real marriage and doesn't even try on that front (beyond keeping his mother happy), or will she take Bash's mother's advice about "keep him interested" and just bow to what he wants, be it kids or whatever else he cooks up to avoid the truth.

This is the show that keeps on giving - scratch the surface and there are all sorts of little Easter eggs. I think I am at a point where I just really appreciate the level of thought and detail that went into stuff, especially after disappointments in shows like Game of Thrones, where I feel like I put more thought into than the show runners did (and I'm not even a mega GOT fan), Like in the flashback to 1941 - you see a statue in the church behind the Nazis that kinda looks like an angel/kinda looks like a bird. It survives the bombing because you see it intact behind Aziraphale when they are standing in the rubble. But we also see it somewhere else - in the current timeline, in Crowley's flat. After dropping Aziraphale off, he clearly went back and stole it (why he did it is up for interpretation - did he steal it because he thought it looked cool? Or for sentimental reasons, like when he took Agnes Nutter's book from Aziraphale's burning shop?). The camera never points right at it in Crowley's flat to be all, "SEE! Look here!" It's just there in the background, for you to notice. Then in the flashback to Rome, Crowley is pretty clearly in a bad mood when we see him. He just sort of vaguely tells Aziraphale he's in town for a temptation and gives no details. Did it go bad and that's why he's in a bad mood? Or was he given as assignment that grossed him out? Scratch the surface and learn what happened in Rome in 41 AD - Emperor Caligula was assassinated. Something that may not have bothered Crowley too much, but Caligula's wife and baby daughter were also killed, and the show made it clear that Crowley isn't a fan of child murder. Again, they don't straight out tell us something, but if you pay attention and know your history/do your homework, then you probably know why he's in a bad mood. Or when Crowley tells Aziraphale that he changed his name from "Crawly" and Aziraphale guesses "Mephistopheles" and "Asmodeus" as options he could have changed it to - who are they? Well, Mephistopheles is a demon in Faust who considers serving Satan his own personal hell and prefers to collect souls that are already corrupt versus corrupting them himself. Sounds like Crowley. Asmodeus is the demon associated with lust (again, read into that what you will) but is also seen as a mostly harmless, good-time guy in later Christian works who is all about music and the arts and having a good time. Again, fits the bill. This show isn't the most cleanly written thing I've watched this year (I think that might go to Fleabag), but I just love it when a show's writers actually put some thought into things and throw out these little hidden gems.

I haven't seen what Gaiman has said on social media, but in interviews he seems to shift around a bit. I've read interviews where he was all, "Absolutely not" when asked about season two. In others, he says, "Well, if we have a good idea and the will is there, then maybe." Either way, it sounds like IF it happens, it won't be for a while and no one should hold their breath (which is a bummer. I will forever champion "Aziraphale and Crowley Dick Around Through History"). But maybe if Amazon drives a dump truck full of money into Gaiman's driveway, he may find some motivation...

One little kudos I meant to give the show was the consistency with Crowley's eyes - even in scenes where I don't think you are meant to see them (you just get a glance from the side of his glasses). That's one of my bugaboos, when TV/movies just slack off on stuff like that in scenes where they think you can't see/won't be looking (oh, hello Harry Potter movies where 75% of the time you couldn't be arsed to draw a scar on the kid's forehead). So I appreciate Tennant's diligence in wearing the contacts/the CGI team doing a good job with clean up.

I think the notecards were a study tool for her, so she could just focus on one or two prophesies at a time without lugging the book around. It made it so leaving the book in Crowley’s car didn’t matter (to her. It was a useful tool to Aziraphale), but that book’s prophesies ended with the events of the show (Agnes’ last prophesy was the one Aziraphale caught about changing faces). So the notecards are essentially “outdated.” The big move was when she destroyed the second volume she received at the end of the series, since that had prophesies that went beyond the events of the show. Adam didn’t destroy Satan - he controlled reality in that moment and said, “You’re not my dad.” Unmaking himself as Satan’s son. So Satan lost his son/Anti-Christ, and was banished back to hell, but only for the time-being. Crowley was convinced at the end that they would take some time to regroup, then they’d definitely be back.

I really enjoyed this - though I admit some of the parts that didn’t have Sheen and/or Tennant in them dragged a bit and in rewatch I fast-forwarded through some of them. But the two leads were perfect. If they do another season (please do!), I hope it is (as mentioned up thread) basically just Aziraphale and Crowley dicking around through history. In fact, just rename the show “Aziraphale and Crowley Dick Around through History: The Charming and Surprisingly Sweet Love Story Between an Angel and Demon Who Love Mankind and Each Other Too Much To Do Their Jobs, So They Mostly Half-Ass It and Spend All Their Time Hanging Out, Eating Lunch, and Drinking Copious Amounts of Wine”. The long episode three flashback was probably the best part of the series, and it was great to see how their friendship started and developed, and how the seeds were there all along - neither of them really all that married to the mission statement of their side and were willing to go against them (Aziraphale, despite being the one who clings to the rules and his official role, caught Crowley’s attention by doing the right wrong thing and not carrying out whatever punishment heaven wanted for Adam and Eve and instead helped them escape and gave them his sword), both, consciously or unconsciously, using their “powers” on each other (Crowley tempting Aziraphale into half-assing their work or lunch, and Aziraphale nudging Crowley to the kinder option), though it wasn’t all that hard since they aren’t that different at their cores, and both do things someone in their role shouldn’t (Crowley is a demon who still talks to God and begs for answers, Aziraphale is a big fan of free will, which was kinda Lucifer’s thing). And while they bicker, they both have infinite amounts of kindness and patience for each other - a somewhat frustrating thing as a viewer is Aziraphale’s blindness to reality a good deal of the time and his resistance to do what is needed to be done to actually make things happen instead of just following the rules. But Crowley seems to understand that it’s Aziraphale’s nature as an angel that makes him blind and why he’s so married to the “official” roles and ideas, and usually has the patience to allow Aziraphale to eventually come around (or knows he just has to try again until he comes around), and knows what a big deal it is when Aziraphale does break the big rules and how hard that is for him (like when he got the holy water for Crowley). That’s why these two were far more fascinating than the Anti-Christ or the end of the world.

I ended up bingeing the whole season and loved it. The first two episodes are the weirdest/most surreal, but it gets more character driven after that.

I don’t know if Jaime is really loyal to Dany, but I think his days with Cersei are over and he’s not going to return to her side. Their parting felt pretty permanent (outside of any return to kill her if the show goes that way). The pregnancy is a wrinkle and maybe that will cause Jaime to ask for a peaceful resolution or seek mercy for Cersei, but Cersei showed Jaime that she had zero respect for him (planning all the Euron stuff behind his back, calling him stupid to his face), plus he’s found that he’s far more honorable when he’s not under Cersei’s thumb. Also, Cersei saw him leaving as a betrayal and sent Bronn out to kill him. I don’t think Cersei would welcome Jaime back with open arms. She’s doesn’t like the honorable man he’s become. In episode one she told Euron she likes his arrogance. I think he reminds her of season one Jaime. The man Jaime says is no more. I think Jaime will stick by Brienne or Tyrion for now. Surely there will be some conflict and mixed feelings for Cersei, but I don’t think that now the NK is dead, Jaime will be all, “Well, I kept my promise and helped fight for the living. Now that fight is over, I’m heading back to the Lannister army. Bye!”

Agree with the whole post, but especially this. Why did Bruce feel like he needed to come back as a masked vigilante? Everything was largely fine. The show’s major problem is that they forgot that Jim Gordon is not the ultimate hero of Gotham. If he could handle things in the official capacity as police commissioner, Gotham wouldn’t need Batman. Jim Gordon is a man who is supposed to be struggling with his own demons while he does his best to try to help Gotham, but can’t do it on his own. That’s why he accepts the help of a masked vigilante. Instead we got a guy who put away the major criminals, removed all the corruption from the GCPD, was happily married to one woman and peacefully co-parenting with another. Like, since when does Jim Gordon have such a peaceful personal life? We should have seen something that showed us that while Jim did a good job of rebuilding, crime and corruption seeped back in. And Jim couldn’t stop it, no matter how he tried. We should have had Oswald and Ed out and working together because they were right that they are a nearly unstoppable team. They should have been always just out of Jim’s grasp. They would have emboldened other criminals and the cops would have started taking bribes again. Jim should have been at the end of rope when Bruce rolls back into town. But I guess Bruce somehow knew that J was just waiting for him. That’s how I feel they bungled the end. But as for the series: - Better development for Bruce. I understand when an actor is under 18 they can only work so many hours a day. But that’s fine. This is an ensemble show. But don’t waste the time you’ve got. - Lee absolutely should have stayed gone when she left at the end of season three. I get MB and BM are happily married in real life, but their characters would not have a happily ever after. They let their real life relationship bleed too much into the show. - Fewer villains. You don’t need to cram in every Batman bad guy under the sun. Spend your time really developing the ones you’ve got. They had excellent actors playing the characters. They should have developed them properly. But instead the development died out mid-season four for most of them when they turned their attention to Jeremiah, then season five was a somewhat out of character mess for most of them. - I know Ben McKenzie was the star, but his character was not the ultimate hero. He did a lot of corrupt shit, and it all got swept under the rug, and rarely acknowledged except for a tiny bit in early season four, but he never really paid a price for it. Instead he stayed Gotham’s greatest son and hero. Which...no.

That was...a thing that happened. It wasn’t terrible, but it felt like they needed a two hour episode. I felt like we just got a small taste of things. Glad that Oswald finally got sick of Jim’s shit. Yeah, he’s a criminal who belongs in jail, but Jim was incredibly unfair to him in how he ignored most crimes, ran to Oswald for help when he needed it, threw Oswald not in prison but the insane asylum twice for crimes he actually didn’t commit (including a murder Jim himself committed), and after Oswald helps him save the city, Jim turns around and throws him in prison for a decade (and no mention of what the crime was that put him there, so I’m assuming it wasn’t something so heinous Jim couldn’t look past it). The constant jerking around was what was cruel. If Jim always treated him like a criminal it would have been far less offensive. Oswald is right to be pissed at him. But he fell into the bad guy trap of monologue-ing and Jim got away. I hope all those chemicals Jim dumped in the river a little while back are all gone. Don’t have much else to say because it all slipped by so quickly. Even the Jeremiah stuff seemed over before it began. I loved this show despite its faults and I will miss it.

Yeah, I'm really not sure what the point of the whole Nyssa thing was. It was all sort of pointless and terrible. I get that Bruce decided that he needed to leave because people keep targeting him and the city pays the price, but I think they could have achieved the same thing with Jeremiah and it would have been more interesting. And boy does Selena need to kick him in the shins when she sees him again. A note that he just left for her at the GCPD? Not cool. That is probably a defining moment for them. There's the antagonism, but they actually love each other too much to really eliminate each other. Doesn't mean they won't be pointing guns at each other a week later. And second time Ed finished a season holding a knife on someone. This time it went much better than it did with Lee. ETA: Ha! I was right about Jim's preferred brand of whiskey!

There’s no way this lawsuit will happen. They can say they are suing for slander, but I would be really surprised if they actually do it and give James and Wade’s lawyers the opportunity to dig up evidence and witnesses to disprove claims of slander. Discovery can be a bitch. In other news, in the most recent episode of the “Real Crime Profile” podcast, Jim Clemente hinted that he believes more evidence/victims will surface in the near future. It could be speculation on his part, but he is former FBI and had ties to the Gavin case and it didn’t sound like he was just spitballing.

I wasn’t that moved by the whole thing. The big showdown with Bane was a big nothing. Bruce got away from Bane by making bats fly at his face. Okay. He got all dressed up in his armor and didn’t do much with it. Barbara naming her child (in part) after Lee was a little too big of her. I mean...no. I like a more frenemies vibe between those two. And I thought for sure she would insist her daughter was a Kean after Jim was mostly a dick to her during the pregnancy and questioned if she could be a good mother. Narrows lady to Lee: You’re not coming? What will we do without you? Um, how about what you’ve been doing for the last year or so Lee hasn’t been around? Ed and Oswald were worth the price of admission. But it also highlighted all the wasted potential. Oswald is bitter that every time he tries to help and succeeds at improving things, he never gets any gratitude and Jim Gordon tends to shit all over him. THAT is interesting character development. That explains why he becomes a monster. It also shows the push and pull between him and Jim. Why weren’t they exploring that instead of his dumb dictator phase? And Ed harboring indifference (at best) to straight up contempt and hatred for all the “normies” who treated him like shit for being nerdy and awkward. Again, THAT is interesting. Not him making out with Lee or just forgetting who he is. Another wasted opportunity. His monologue was the most interesting thing he’s said/done in a long time. And it made his decision to stay interesting - he clearly doesn’t give a shit about the city or the people in it. He was absolutely ready to get on the sub and leave everyone behind. He stayed for Oswald. And speaking of... They are so much better together rather than running around trying to kill each other. Again, it’s the push-pull of them genuinely caring about each other and neither of them trusting each other fully and wondering if they should stab the other in the back (literally and figuratively) before they find a knife between their own shoulder blades. Finally - Jankey Piss Whiskey.

Was Jim drinking “Jankey Piss” whiskey? Seriously - is there a screen shot out there? I swear the bottle said “Jankey Piss.” No wonder Oswald turned down the drink.

Either MJ got all his grooming ideas from an episode of Diff’rent Strokes, or there must really be a child abuse playbook out there. I just ran across that and even though it’s a comedy video about an 80s sitcom, the similarities are amazing - the gifts, the junk food, the video games, showing the kids porn, the wine...the list goes on.

Dan Reed clarified this in an interview - James’ dad died shortly before they filmed the documentary of a brain tumor. He said James told him what happened with MJ not long before his death (I think he said it was before a surgery that sounded like one of those “this may not go well so say what you need to say” situations). He didn’t mention how much detail was shared or the dad’s reaction. But with his death so recent before the film, I can see why they didn’t talk about him much. The Vanity Fair piece also mentioned that MJ bought the Safechuck a Rolls Royce. So - house, $100K car, who knows how much cash...MJ really had those people under his thumb.

The other Vanity Fair piece worth a read is this one where she does a deep dive on the Jordy Chandler case. While she mentions Wade and James in the article (written originally back in the '90s, I believe) by name only to ID them as the kid who went on tour with MJ and the kid who did an interview on the news saying MJ never did anything to him, she also mentions incidents without naming anyone that we now know are about Wade and James. The stuff with Wade's dad calling her is especially sad. And outside of that, you see that MJ used the exact same methods to groom him that he did with Wade and James, including basically moving into the Chandler house (he seemed to do that with James, and he also did that with Emmanuel Lewis). And speaking of Emmanuel Lewis - I was able to believe that maybe nothing happened there, but the article mentions that he and MJ tried to check into a hotel together as father and son(!), so...yeah. Other interesting tidbit I ran across today about Jordy - the podcast I mentioned in a previous post that was discussing this case was the "Real Crime Profile" podcast. One of the hosts, Jim Clemente, can be a bit much (he gets really yell-y when he's worked up about stuff) so I don't listen to them unless the topic of the week really interests me, but he is a former FBI agent and he was with the FBI during the time of the Gavin case. Jodry was paid off for his case, so he didn't testify. He did, however, speak to the FBI while they were helping the local PD gather evidence for the Gavin case, and Jim Clemente said that all of Jordy's story lined up with what Gavin said, but Jordy did not want to press criminal charges himself. He did say he would be willing to go forward with a Federal criminal case if things didn't go well with the Gavin case, but by the time they could get things lined up, the statute of limitations had run out. They also talk about why it takes victims so long to come forward (especially male victims) and why they frequently start out lying about it (it's actually all part of the incremental disclosure process). Gayle King has another interview with a psychologist that talks about why it takes so long to disclose.