Jordan Baker

Every time someone refers to "Sandy and Stewy," I chuckle, because it sounds like it should be the name of a kids' show on PBS.

I cannot remember the last time I heard the term "lily-livered." I so love the writing on this show. And, boy, Brian Cox can sell it. I knew his whole concerned, apologetic father routine was BS, but I was still pulled into it. I was happy to hear Alan Ruck sing a bit. I once saw him in a touring company of "The Producers," and so I wasn't surprised that he sounded pretty good. The wedding should be . . . interesting?

Matthew Macfadyen was terrific in this episode. I mean, he's always great, but this might have been his best work yet.

I thought that line might have been a nod to Jack Donaghy's "Never go with a hippie to a second location." I suspect this show will dominate the Outstanding Guest Actor/Actress category at the next Emmy awards. The acting, from both well-known and little-known actors, is just superb.

I found Episode 2 to be among the saddest--if not the saddest--of all the episodes I've seen. I rarely get teary-eyed watching Vera, but this one did me in.

Am I the only person who finds this commercial sad? I mean, yes, it's wonderful that the father creates a giant snow globe for his daughter, but I've always assumed that the snow globe has some relationship to the mother who's no longer in the picture (either through death or divorce). I assume we're shown the framed picture of the father, mother, and daughter for a reason. Maybe I'm reading this all wrong?

I just finished watching this episode, and it's by far my favorite of this season. Lesley Manville was amazing as Margaret. And the scenes with Timothy Dalton were brilliant. I enjoyed the first three episodes well enough, but only this one had me riveted to the screen. The actor playing Andrew looks quite a bit like the real thing. Sometimes this matters; sometimes it doesn't. (Lesley Manville doesn't really resemble Margaret, although you can imagine her as the older Margaret from Seasons 1 and 2.) Perhaps it's our familiarity with Charles (and the fact that Seasons 3 and 4 Charles did resemble the now-king), but I'm having some trouble with Dominic West as Charles. And I say that as a huge fan (ever since his Jimmy McNulty days). I don't think it's West's fault. He seems to be doing a good job, but he's so physically different from Charles that it's distracting.

I am very happy that Succession scored so many nominations. I'll be even happier if Matthew Macfadyen wins for Supporting Actor. He had an incredible year, but so did Kieran Culkin. I just hope one of them wins. My biggest disappointment is the exclusion of Naveen Andrews, who was just terrific as Sunny Balwani in The Dropout.

I enjoyed this series, although I thought the last episode was a bit rushed. I knew very little about the band (other than the names Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten) before watching, and so I had few expectations going in. I thought Anson Boon was particularly good as Johnny Rotten, but Toby Wallace also did a good job of carrying the lead role. I was distracted, though, by thinking how much Steve/Toby Wallace looked like a young Jim Morrison. I'm not sure about Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Malcolm McLaren. He's clearly the villain of the piece, but all I could see when I looked at him was the boy from "Love, Actually." He still has a remarkably young-looking face. Overall, a good show.

I hope this series is nominated for multiple awards. I found the acting to be stellar across the board. I can easily see Garfield being nominated but I think Gil Birmingham is worthy of a nod, too. The two actors work together so well, and Pyre and Taba are now my favorite buddy detective team. It would be difficult to single out which of the brothers deserves a nomination, but I'd say perhaps Billy Howle (Allen) and Wyatt Russell (Dan). Also Daisy Edgar-Jones (Brenda) is excellent. I don't see any weak links in the cast. The show was very intense, and I definitely had to leave the room many times because of the violence and cruelty, but I learned quite a bit and am happy I watched it. Oh, and watching this series at the same time as watching "Tick, Tick . . . Boom," I am amazed by how versatile Andrew Garfield is.

It's Rory Culkin (Kieran's brother) as Sam. I'm guessing Kieran is busy filming Season 4 of Succession. I agree that the show is well-done, and the acting is top-notch, but I have yet to make it through a full episode. Every time there's a flashback, I know something really awful will be shown, and I just can't watch it. Too much cruelty to people and animals. I'll probably watch the beginning of Episode 4 until it gets too violent or disturbing and then I'll read the recaps.

Very good episode, once again. Everyone is great in their roles, although I do confess that I keep waiting for the Boies character to threaten to kick everyone's ass, ala Red Foreman. The intimidation of the ex-employees and doctors and anyone else who wanted to cooperate with the WSJ was despicable. The most surprising thing I learned in the episode was that Rupert Murdoch refused to kill the story (assuming that tidbit was true). Has "fake it till you make it" evolved over time to now mean stall, obfuscate, and hope things will work out? The first time I ever heard it used (many years ago), it was in the context of personal behavior. For example, if you're feeling down, project an air of happiness and eventually you'll be happy. If you want to appear confident, project an air of confidence, etc. It was actually supposed to be a positive thing to do. (I'm not saying the philosophy is correct, BTW. But it wasn't about fooling anyone else.)

Was the tape ever mentioned in the show? After Tyler gave it to Erika, I mean. I remember thinking that putting the tape over the camera would be noticed immediately, based on how hypervigilant the security people were. I thought one or both of them would be called on it, but I don't think that happened.

I loved this episode. It was suspenseful, poignant, and exasperating. It even had a tiny bit of humor (Sunny, in the background as Tyler was seranading Elizabeth, munching on the cookie decorated with Elizabeth's face). And the small touches are so well done. When Ian's widow answers the door, she is clearly in a bad state, as anyone experiencing grief might be. She looks like someone who is having a hard time functioning at all, and one small detail that symbolizes her state is that her roots are an inch or so long. The next time we see her, she looks determined and full of purpose. And her roots are gone. Kate Burton is wonderful in this small role. As are Laurie Metcalf and William H Macy in their roles. I can't think of anyone in the cast who isn't doing a first-rate job. So, a question--did Elizabeth make Tyler repeat the song to humiliate him or because she wanted to hear her praises sung (literally) again? Or both?

After all these episodes, I still haven't warmed to Bertha. Her moment of triumph didn't change that. The ball was well-staged, though. Many of the gowns were beautiful, and I vote for Agnes as the loveliest surprise. It was nice to see her a bit more done up. The moment between Bridget and Jack, with the "anything is possible in America" line, which I think was written to be optimistic and hopeful, just made me sad. The Raikes storyline went out with a whimper. He dropped Marian for a wealthier deb? Yawn. Audra McDonald is a gem. The best line of the night (and one I might have said to myself a time or two in college), courtesy of Agnes: "Isn't Henry James a little dense for a young lady?"

Did we learn in this episode that Agnes had lost a child (or children)? I'm referring to the scene in which Peggy revealed that her child had died. Either Agnes or Ada (or perhaps both) indicated that this was a subject with which Agnes was all too familiar. Was this the first mention of Agnes's loss? I'm guessing having lost a child or children was meant to make Agnes even more sympathetic to Peggy. Agnes, who, in the previews, was seemingly meant to be the villain of this piece, has become more and more sympathetic (to me, anyway). Yes, she's a prig. But she's had a difficult life (marrying a horrid man, losing children, etc.) and she still has empathy in her own way. Or maybe it's just that Christine Baranski is such a good actress that she can make me root for Agnes. It amuses me to remember that both she and Nathan Lane played Val's mother in The Birdcage.

I'm surprised at how much I like this series. The story itself is compelling, but the acting is just top-notch. I am particularly moved by Stephen Fry's performance. And even the smaller roles are filled with excellent actors. I loved seeing Alan Ruck as the odd Walgreens exec. He seems to have entired an era in which he plays the wacky guy. (He is very good as the oldest son in Succession.) I saw him once on stage in a touring company of The Producers in which he played Leopold Bloom (Matthew Broderick's character in the original cast.) Funny that they both went from Ferris Bueller to The Producers. Amanda Seyfried (whom I associate most with Mean Girls) and Naveen Andrews (whom I've never seen before) are wonderful in their roles. I really felt for Sunny when he was being treated so poorly by the TSA staff, but my sympathy has since flown out the window. I hate to compare it to Inventing Anna (but I will, anyway), but this series is so much better.

I first read this as "bag of meth," which would put a whole new spin on Marian!

I just finished the series. What an inconsistent mess it was. I found the first few episodes almost boring, even though I was interested in watching the series and seeing how everything played out. I hate giving up on shows (unless they're too distrubing), and so I plodded ahead. My perseverance was partially rewarded by the episode set in Morocco, which I thought was well-written and well-paced. That episode actually had some tension, and I felt something for the three people who were not Anna. The episodes for me seemed to go downhill after Morocco. The last episode was just crazy, especially when Viv kept saying "we" to Todd about winning the case. And I could almost excuse Viv's being so all-in because she didn't strike me as the best journalist in the world, but why would her fellow Scriberians be rooting for Anna? That made no sense at all to me. And would a judge really allow court to be held up until a defendant was finished getting dressed? On a positive note, I found many of the actors (for example, the three non-Viv residents of Scriberia) to be top-notch. I also enjoyed seeing Anthony Edwards and Kate Burton and many others who did a good job with some so-so material. I'd never seen Julia Garner before, and I thought she did a pretty good job. Anna Chlumsky, though, was woefully miscast. Her facial expressions were completely over the top. I honestly couldn't figure out whether she'd been told to overact or whether it was her own choice, but the eye bulging, grimacing, etc., were way too much. Oh, well. The scenery was nice. I'm always happy to see NYC. Morocco was gorgeous. And I enjoyed seeing the German town. I guess it wasn't a total waste of time.

I saw him in Passion at the Sondheim Festival in 2002. He has a magnificent voice and stage presence. I hope we see more of him. The talent in some of these secondary roles is just crazy.

I'm having a difficult time rooting for anyone on this show, except possibly Ada and Peggy. I don't like either the Russells or the Old Money crowd. Sometimes I'm OK with that; for example, my favorite (current) show is Succession, in which all the main characters are quite awful. But that show has sterling writing and an amazing cast, and sometimes I do feel bad for the characters or root for their shenanigans. The Gilded Age, to me, has so-so writing and an inconsistent cast, and I find most of the characters completely unsympathetic. I assumed, when I started watching the show, that we were supposed to root for the Russells. I don't. Yes, it would be nice to see the plucky upstarts shake things up, but they are just as bad if not worse than the Old Money crowd. I'll keep watching, if only for the beautiful costumes and sets.

It was also a musical on Broadway starring, among many other wonderful talents, Audra McDonald, cast here as Peggy's mother. The show is chock full of Broadway talent, which is the main reason I'm going to stick with it. Yes, the costumes and set design are gorgeous, but I'm not feeling the story so far.

I think Shantall is the best and most consistent of the remaining designers, and I'm rooting for her to win it all. I'm a bit puzzled about why the other designers didn't offer to help her, even as they rushed to help (was it Chasity?) Only at the last minute did Coral ask Shantall if she needed help. I can't figure out whether the other designers dislike Shantall (she seems pretty inoffensive to me) or whether they view her as their main competitor and don't want to help her for that reason. I could certainly understand why she took it personally that she was the last to be selected to choose the prop and that she was virtually ignored by the other designers when time was running short. Am I missing something?

This season is probably my least favorite of all the Bravo seasons. Too much drama (in the first few episodes, anyway) and too little talent. I'm sorry to see Aaron go because I thought he would have created an interesting collection. I knew he'd be in the bottom, and I figured Coral would be too. But my third would have been Chasity. Yes, her dress was a good fit for the hair, but I really didn't like the dress. Maybe it was the sequins around the slashes, which really cheapened the look. I also thought there was too much going on. (Is that a Heidi-ism?) I thought Kristina's was interesting, but it was middle at best. Shantell's was probably my favorite. What was the little tiff between Shantell and Kristina at the notions' counter? I think I missed something.

I've gone back several pages, and I haven't seen anyone mention Tana French. I loved her Dublin Murder Squad series, particularly Faithful Place. I liked The Witch Elm, which was something of a departure from the Dublin Murder Squad novels. I recommended her books all the time. But then she came out with The Searcher. I thought I would love this book because it's set in the west of Ireland. Something about it really bothered me, and I've never been sure what it is. It's grim, but so are some of her other novels. Perhaps it's that she introduced an ex-pat from the US. I didn't think the character rang true, and I found the book to be unsatisfying. The recent mention of Louise Penny reminded me that I really enjoyed her first few books. Then came Bury Your Dead. The book was well-written, but it really got to me, so much so that I didn't want to read any of her other books. I felt Gamache's despair too deeply, I think. Perhaps I'll try again.