Maelstrom

The Season of Sophie indeed. It's long overdue and I'm loving it. The original series, much as I love it, very much showed Sophie through Nate's eyes - a mysterious cipher, a puzzle to deciphered or a tool to be used*. But this reboot has finally shown Sophie through her own lens, as her own person separate from how she relates to Nate, and it really is thrilling. (*And let's be honest, Nate saw everyone as tools to some degree or another) This was a fantastic episode for Sophie - more backstory, more evidence of Sophie's talents as a grifter as she overcomes a mark as psychologically astute and manipulative as she is herself, and her speech at the end about taking care of her family and not being sure if she's up for it was perfect. So, guessing Ramsey was the leader/string-puller of her long ago crew in England, and things didn't end on the best of notes. Also... a daughter?! The mark reminded me of Bronwyn from last season's Unwellness Job, except whereas Bronwyn was an self-absorbed opportunist, Debbie was outright malevolent in her schemes and nasty manipulations of her followers. And wow, was that MLM a super creepy Stepford-esque cult to boot. Spelling Magiq with a Q is a sure sign of evil. Harry's Brom-Com with the husband was hilarious, from the goofy mustache to the weird armored duel. And of course the observation that it had to be Harry, since Eliot was so much more manly and would scare off the mark 😆 Parker's scene with the client was an interesting mix of reality check and pep talk as only Parker can give. Love the bowl belly, especially when she used it for a drumroll, and called it "little Alec." 🥰 And expressed her amazement at how handy pregnant bellies were for hiding stuff, lol. Oh, Parker... Random: "It smells like dude in here." "There are no pyramid schemes in jazz!" I love that it literally took one sentence on Breanna's part to deprogram Ronald the midlevel supervisor, lol. Harry's "manly" mustache ended up on the side of the blender in the final scene Parker the cater waiter's name tag said Alice I feel like we've heard Eliot differentiating lurking from hiding before but can't recall which episode. Breanna going crazy after half a day in corporate wage slavery, lol

Ha, same here. I forgot to mention in my original post, but that scene between Papa Spencer and Breanna was an interesting parallel/callback to the scene between Nate and Hardison in The Juror Job - where Nate tells Hardison that he’s smart enough to really make something of himself, meaning a “real” career rather than crime.

IIRC Breanna mentioned that the park got damaged enough during one of the recent hurricanes that it never reopened, so a real place no longer in operation.

Same for me, I always pictured Nichelle Nichols as Nana too. It’s a shame we never got the chance to see that happen. But I’ve been thinking about other actresses who could work, and CCH Pounder (Warehouse 13) could be an interesting Nana.

I believe the severed arm floated up to the surface of the water after the “gator attack” on Eliot.

Another good episode. Beth did a great job directing, and I especially liked the atmospheric darkness during the big scene at the former alligator park/mythical stash house. (And I can't be the only one who got Jurassic Park vibes during the 'alligator attack' sequence, lol). So Harry gets to lead his first job! I like the more egalitarian feel the crew has this time around - fun as it was watching Nate do what he did best and call the shots, it's refreshing to see other characters get their chance, too. Sophie was absolutely terrifying as the drug kingpin (queenpin?). As McShane succinctly put it, "She's so scary!" 😆 Speaking of McShane (and even though he's a dirty cop I did feel kinda bad for him with how badly his partner treated him), how interesting that they set up a possible connection between him and Eliot. I'm super curious to find out what that might be... 🤔 And to learn more about Sophie's mentor, who got a passing mention for the first time that I can remember in either series. Sarah the idealistic baby lawyer! Nice to see her again. I was hoping she'd turn up this season. And I loved that she knew enough not to ask too many questions, lol. She's learning so quickly. That CI's face when Parker made off with his frequent smoothie card 😢"Aw, I want my free smoothie." 😆

This was a lot of fun! A bit of a lighter ep comparatively but lots of fun. The sister was immediately one of the most infuriating marks we've ever met, and it was so satisfying watching her get what she deserved. How sad is it that many of the marks in the original series were breaking the law, yet now the marks merely have to follow the law to screw people over so horrifically. I love that Parker's Christmas obsession is still in full force - the personalized Santa hats, the priceless jewelry as ornaments, and a tree with bright enough lights to put the Griswalds' to shame (Eliot: "I looked right at it"). There was even a dinosaur skull with a Santa hat on the bar. And her statement that truckers are like Santa, handling large-scale logistics and distributions, but without elves. I loved the Nana references too, especially seeing how territorial they got over her pies, and I too enjoyed the implications that Eliot's spent time with Nana along with Parker, Hardison and Breanna. I would dearly love to finally meet Nana before the series ends. That was a wonderful speech Sophie gave to Janice the dispatch lady about holding on to what you love about someone even after they're gone. I always enjoy how seamlessly the emotional arcs of the crew are connected to the job. Though I gotta say it was kind of odd seeing Sophie in blue jeans, lol (was it Breanna that made a crack about not many positions in the trucking industry call for wearing silk, ha). I got a kick out of Eliot wandering around the depot, not in uniform, rambling on about how appearing on reality shows leads to people scouring your past and no one stopped him, lol ("I used to play with Skippy when I was a kid...")

Just watched the mens’ event - wow, Shoma was amazing! It’s so exciting to see him finally get to shine without having to fight his way out of anyone’s shadow. He’s such an outstanding skater and really does make it all look effortless. Bravo! Is it because we had the weekend off last week or has Johnny gotten even more irritating? He seemed super bitchy and catty, especially regarding all Japanese men not named Shoma. Maybe I’m just imagining it. But I did get awfully tired of hearing his double standard of smack talking certain skaters for not having any artistic development yet not mentioning that Ilia doesn’t exactly have much to offer in the components side of things, either. At any rate, it’s so nice to finally get to see an entire competition! NBC is so generous 🙄

After so many years of Eliot and Sophie's backstories being kept so deliberately vague, it's really exciting to finally get to see behind the veil of mystery. We finally get to see behind Eliot's mask, and glimpse the hurt teenager underneath. I gotta say, finding out that Eliot was adopted definitely caught me by surprise - it's interesting that, even with Hardison and Parker both being open about being foster kids, Eliot never mentioned being adopted. Totally keeping with Eliot's closed off personality, of course, but still interesting. I think the most poignant detail for me was Parker and Sophie's reactions - they've known him the longest of the current crew, and been through the most with him, so they recognized the gravity of Eliot finally opening up and letting the team in past his armor. I also appreciated that Sophie's redemption arc was brought into play through her conversations with Harry in the midst of Eliot's crisis, too. Her comment about Eliot being the collateral damage was very insightful, and felt more like classic Sophie (getting inside everyone's heads) rather than uncertain Sophie (trying to lead through organized plans like Nate). Yes! Just looking at him made me want to cry. For all that CK is usually limited to irritation, snark and fighting as Eliot, he can really bring the pathos when he gets the chance. Random: Hardison! It's a shame that we couldn't have him in person for Eliot's Very Special Episode, but a cameo is better than nothing (and I will happily take cheesy green screen effects for a little more Hardison) I do believe that was one of CK's songs playing on the truck radio before Parker and Breanna popped up - and speaking of, count me in as loving the entire exchange of Parker being there for emotional support, Breanna being there so Parker knows what that is, and Breanna's jibe about Eliot being so old, lol ("I'm not that old, Breanna!" "Aren't you though?") Breanna's DIY pepper spray was very creative and a little terrifying Sophie's reporter accent was really odd The lake testing site was totally the lake form the Spirit's Ruse castle job So many throwbacks! The hardware store Eliot worked at (his shirt at the end said Carson Hardware, too); Harry's ever-growing redemption list ("turns out it's really hard to prove something caused cancer in court"); Parker's still set on them getting robot bodies after death ("I'll finish telling you about the robot bodies next time"); Harry mentioning Sophie's superpower and kryptonite, ala the Mastermind Job And of course, "What smells like a fracking rig and screams like a girl?" 🤣 The Bank Shot Job remains one of my very favorite classic eps, so I'm happy for it to get a shout out

I agree, and I never thought I'd say such a thing. I'll admit to having an eye for guys with long hair, but this really is almost too long. A few inches off would make it hang much nicer.

Another fantastic episode, and another for my ever growing all-time favorites list, lol. These last three episodes have all been especially strong, and it's such a joy that not only did this show come back, but it came back better than ever. Sophie and Eliot always had the most mysterious backgrounds, so it's been so wonderful to finally start to learn a little more about them this season, one crumb at a time. This was a great look into a little corner of Eliot's past, and CK played it well. And Dr Paul's line that Eliot wouldn't have lied and gone with the mark's coverup was quite telling about Eliot's character, too. This is an excellent point, Llywela, one that didn't even occur to me. I thought it was a nice touch that Eliot got momentarily choked up when he saw Dr Paul's picture but you're right, the reactions of the rest of the crew are almost more telling. You're spot on with your analysis. I don't recall the original series ever having a moment where the others see Eliot lose control? Maybe in the warehouse with Moreau's men at the end of season 3, but Nate was the only one there and promised (at Eliot's request) not to tell the others. Harry's gravel-voiced Eliot impersonation reminded me of Sophie doing the same in season 4 of the original ("What's that voice? Is she doing me?" 🤣) Kudos to NW for writing and directing such a wonderful episode - and I give him credit too for writing an Eliot-centric episode, rather than the Harry-centric episode that one would expect. Well done! I agree that Sophie's quick turnaround after the mark made her was a truly fantastic moment. For all that we're told these characters are amazing and talented, it's moments like that which *show* us that amazing talent in action. As marceline said, Sophie has become a seriously impressive mastermind, one very different from Nate but - dare I say - one I like better. I'd rank that scene up with the RIZ lady confrontation scene from last season's finale as far as being among the very best Sophie moments. And seeing her do the Flop so flawlessly gave me Hustle vibes - Ash Morgan would be proud! (Though I agree the frozen peas were a nice touch). Random bits of goodness: Hanging in the headquarters is a painting of what appears to a poodle holding a flaming torch in its mouth? lol Breanna's cap read Make Crawfish $1.97/lb again Massage Therapist Parker is as terrifying as Belly Dancer Parker is hilarious. I love the clear implication that Hardison won Parker over to the conspiracy theories during the past decade, and she knew all about Bohemian Orpheus Grove (Lugal beat me to it but I had to say it anyway) "What's a flyer?" I am simultaneously heartened to know there is a generation that will never know the aggravation of making flyers, distributing flyers, & throwing away flyers; and depressed to realize that I am that old, lol. Breanna: "Still waiting for my umbrella of freedom and my shower cap of equality" (DearEverette beat me to this one but it's worth quoting more than once 🤣) Parker's delighted reaction at having to steal three keys off three guys to open a super secret safe was perfect - love that these characters genuinely love what they do! Frogs to the rescue! Overall another brilliant episode, one I look forward to rewatching over and over!

I’ve been wondering about these as well, but could never find out any more information either, so ???

Late to the party this time but I really loved this one. There was so much going on I had to watch it twice just to feel like I caught most of it. So many little details and callbacks and twists. It goes without saying I'm always thrilled to see Hardison and AH back, and I'm continually impressed by and in love with how easily he slots back into the show like he never left - both Hardison's dynamic with the team and AH's dynamic with the other actors. I continue to love how this reboot has shown how the characters have grown yet still remain at heart the same people. Parker is still weird (licking the t-rex skull) and Hardison is still afraid of vents, heights, and dust mites ("my boyfriend cries in vents too" lol) and yet as a couple they know each other well enough to discuss their issues and fears maturely. They have such fantastic chemistry together, though I agree it seems odd to not have have them give each other a peck on the cheek. I loved Parker's Doctor Who reference at the end ("we're both Doctors, like a Christmas special" awww he turned her into a Who fan too) I enjoyed Mason's scenes with Eliot and Parker - both have such a wonderful connection with kids. Parker's conversation with Mason about loss and being alone in the world was a wonderful moment. Nice fakeout with the widower, for a minute there I thought maybe he wasn't the bad guy. But no, turns out he's much worse than anyone would've expected. The sticky note on the door was a nice touch. Random thoughts: Spirits' Ruse has an app now, and Harry is ALL IN. Parker and Hardison are banned from the ax-throwing place... somehow I'm not surprised. How did Parker conceal a pair of pants under her short leather skirt? Hardison's "I'm proud of me" 🤣🥺🤗 awwww Eliot: "I'm going to get kicked and punched on your date, aren't I?" and Hardison in a super unconvincing voice: "Noooooo" Sophie's breakdown mentioned Grandma's wealth coming from her second husband but the screen said the first Harry flinched at the robbers' gunshot but Sophie was cool as a cucumber Nice change to have Breanna's date be understanding about her ducking out "Tasing is fun" "What's awhile of air?" Nana! YES. And yes. That entire scene really was epic, IMO it was one of the single most epic moments of the entire series (old and new) and put many of Nate's epic takedown speeches to shame. And he had some good ones.

Season 4 general impression: wow, that was disappointing. ☹️ Warning: this will be long. After three years of waiting and speculating, I’ve built up a lot of expectations and have undoubtedly put far too much thought into this. I rewatched the first three seasons leading up to this, and this really felt like a different show in many ways. The tone was wildly different from the previous seasons, to its detriment. I found it very juvenile and shallow (as far as really delving into the story). Even though it's always been nominally a kids' show, it never treated its audience like kids before. Waaaay too much stupid pointless filler, too much dumb humor, too much silliness that really took away from the story. Frankly, the force that drove the majority of the plot was stupidity, and I hate it when shows need stupidity to make the plot points happen. I found the time jump was poorly handled. Too much was left unexplained in the aftermath of such a big, world-changing battle. What happened with the other kingdoms? Two rulers were dead, Neolandia's king was gravely injured and their prince was monsterified and killed. Their armies are largely wiped out. What’s going on with them? What’s Anya been up to in Durin? How did the Sunfire Elves end up living in a camp that is presumably in Xadia (a guess since they never confirmed it)? Obviously the Sunforge is still corrupted but did they try to purify it and reclaim the city? Is that an option? Is the city even still standing? Why didn’t they address any of this? Also, Janai and Amaya's romance would have meant more if we'd gotten to see it develop. Speaking of romances, what happened with Callum and Rayla? I'm not going to do homework for a show and track down a comic book, tell the story within the story, please. Presumably Rayla's been searching for Viren, but is that it? For two whole years? Did she try returning to the Silver Grove to get unghosted? Did her actions as Dragonguard to Zym, sacrificing herself to stop Viren, mean nothing to her people? Why is her skin a different color than before? It used to be kind of a lavender, but now it’s just kind of a generic pale. I almost think it would have been better if the season had started mid-quest - have one of the boys narrating a letter/journal entry to Serai or Harrow explaining everything that had happened in the past two years, and how they came to be searching for Rex Igneous and why. It would have spared us a lot of the pointless filler of the earlier episodes and used that time to fill us in and better set up this new, changed world. Ezran’s voice actress has done a fine job but now that the character has aged a little I honestly think they should have recast with a boy. I found the voice very incongruous and distracting at times. And I maintain that the actress for the dragon queen was miscast, but oh well. Claudia’s side of the story was a big part of the problems I had with this season. First off, she won way too easily, every single time, and it got pretty frustrating to watch. We all know Aaravos is a force to be reckoned with, and I fully expect him to get the better of everyone without even batting his sparkly lashes (I’m almost looking forward to it, does that make me a bad person? 🤔) But it felt unearned for Claudia to come out on top so easily every time. Especially since, once again, we don’t know exactly what she got up to during the time jump. Terry and Claudia did not work for me, and I found them (and the excessive focus on bathroom humor) one of the worst parts of the season. My biggest problem being how can an elf, or any Xadian, condone a Dark Mage? How can he be with her? Why is he? It’s a weighty issue, one that the show itself set up to be a big deal - the divide between Xadians and Dark Mages is what spurred the central conflict within the world’s history. I can’t just overlook it or hand wave away, and it wasn’t addressed at all. I liked Viren’s crisis of conscience, however short-lived - if dying can’t make you reflect on your choices in life, nothing can. Unfortunately, Claudia and Terry’s antics undercut a lot of the impact this storyline could have had. And what happened when he met Soren? How can we not get to see this scene? This should have been a big moment. They didn’t exactly part under the best terms. Soren was undoubtedly my favorite character this season, and the only one that I felt any real emotional connection with - Callum and Rayla, despite being the main characters in the first three seasons, felt very flat and I didn’t connect emotionally to them as I did before. I liked that Soren seems to have learned from his past mistakes and grown from them, and figured out Claudia’s place in Aaravos’ scheme so quickly. He’s a good guy at heart, and it’s fun seeing him so unequivocally happy to be one the good guys now. And I thought it was in character that he would still try to get through to Claudia even though it’s pretty clearly a lost clause - however conflicted his feelings are about Viren, he and Claudia have always been close, and of course he wouldn’t be able to just give up on her. Soren’s flowered jammies made me smile, though I have to wonder - does he spend all of his waking hours in armor, and only takes the armor off to sleep? That’s dedication. Bait has somehow become adorable this season. I liked that he comforted Soren after Aaravos' Speech of Evil, it was a nice little moment. And Bait’s face when he got to ring the harmonic crystal 🥺 Also, if Aaravos is powerful enough to control Callum through the mirror, how has he not already conquered the world? I suppose the magic mirror gave him a boost power-wise, and maaaaybe Callum having performed Dark Magic left a little opening for Aaravos to slip in. Still. And why was the show subtitled Mystery of Aaravos when we got the least Aaravos of any season since the first? Is the mystery why he’s not around in his own season, lol? Random thoughts: Am I the only one that found Rayla’s little monkey creepy? I love the new opening sequence and theme music (I had to pause it and try to identify some of the constellations). And of course I loved the Avatar references (Yip yip! Aang’s glider and Sokka’s boomerang in Rex Igneous’ pile o’ treasure! Squee!) Ivis (Ibis?) 😭 we hardly knew ye. Also, loved how Callum just swiped his staff and then later told Rex Igneous that it was "given to him" 🤨 For all the buildup we had around Gollum Sir Sparklepuff, he didn’t really do much other than gesture, spit goo, and point. Although he did spur one of my favorite lines of the season: “Even that goo-spitting homunculus deserves a better name than Sparklepuff.” 🤣 Viren's never more fun than when he's surrounded by idiots and at the end of his patience. I think that's everything for now. Told you it’d be long 😉

Marceline, I suspect at least part of the problem is that ugly seems to be the current trend in fashion - every show I watch is full of ugly, ugly clothes, lol.

Mabinogia, I'm also one of the 5 Americans who never watched ER! I watched NW on the Librarians series, and didn't necessarily like him there for various reasons so I was wary when he was announced as being on this show, but for the most part I've enjoyed him far more than I expected. He really does fit with the team, and it's always good to have an outside perspective to compare with the others (Breanna, though technically being a newbie, grew up with Hardison and Parker in her life and therefore has a slightly skewed outlook on the world as one would expect, lol). Agree that the final fight sequence cutting between Eliot and the game was brilliantly done. I have to admit that I'm actually liking the time between new episodes. (So far, at least, lol). Having also grown up on network television, there's still a big part of me that finds waiting week to week more "normal" than having all of the episodes dropped at once* - and it helps make the season last longer, since we have to wait so long between seasons. Then again, I'm a dinosaur when it comes to the modern digital age 😄 (*Except for my Korean drama addiction, because so help me if I had to wait a week for more episodes. Those shows are television crack.)

Oooh, this was a good one. Think I'd call it one of the best of the new series, IMO at least. First off, I absolutely loved how they kept Hardison so present despite being offscreen the whole time. Loved Hardison's texts to Eliot after Breanna snitched - I could just hear Aldis saying all of that with that aggrieved tone of voice he gets when sniping with Eliot, just perfect. And his last minute save advising Sophie to have Parker use the techie failsafe. "He really is always watching. That's disturbing." Sophie's not wrong 😄 Eliot is always at his best when he's playing big brother and looking out for the little guys, and this was a strong ep for him. I saw Beth directed this one, which would explain why Parker wasn't in it quite as much. Even so, her terrible Schwarzenegger impression made me laugh every time (though Eliot's expression might have had something to do with that) and getting to take down the mark with a t-shirt cannon was epic. Speaking of, the mark was definitely one of the worst we've come across in all seven seasons, yikes. I'd seen the actor in another role years ago, where he played a perfectly nice human being, so I was impressed with just how damn soulless and evil he was here. Breanna getting to be the inside woman was a good development for her character, too. One of the things I've always appreciated most about this show is that the female characters are never victims or damsels waiting to be rescued. Eliot's busy beating up the cybernetic organism enforcer? She'll just take the mark out with a champagne bottle (it's a miracle that didn't kill him, lol). I'm on record for not being the biggest Noah Wyle fan, especially when he gets zany, but somehow they kept him reined in enough here that I enjoyed his over the top nerdiness about the gaming, and it worked for me. Definitely to be rewatching this one!

OK, so that was... convoluted. It felt like the job had so many twists and surprises and plan changes that I honestly lost track of it all. I wouldn't call this one of their stronger episodes. That being said, I really enjoyed the deeper dive into Sophie's past, specifically with the Charlotte Prentiss persona. I remember during the original series John Rogers and the other PTB said that Sophie's mystique was central to her character, but as Llywela said, Nate's past got plenty of focus and development so IMO it's about time we get to know more about Sophie. I especially liked the moments when Eliot called her out a little on holding things back from the crew, and Harry asking her whether she was protecting the team or protecting Wilde. I only wish we could have gotten more moments like that. Hopefully in coming episodes. The McSweetin references made me happy too, though I continue to hold out hope he'll show up onscreen in a future episode. And Tara, too. And I wouldn't say no to another appearance by Hurley.

Woo hoo, Leverage is back! Watching this show always makes my day, and having new eps is a cause for celebration. A solid first ep back, and I'm happy for however much Hardison we can get. I really liked seeing him and Breanna interact more, since we got relatively little of them together last year. Last year's Card Game Job gave Parker a nice chance to recognize that Breanna had outgrown being just "the little sister", so it's fitting that Hardison gets that revelation this year. Though their sibling dynamic hasn't necessarily had much chance to develop onscreen the actors do so beautifully with it that I fully believe the two of them grew up together. I don't know whether Aleyse Shannon rehearsed with Aldis much or practiced on her own or if it's just natural, but she imbues Breanna with so many of the same mannerisms and speech patterns and little quirky touches that Aldis/Hardison has that it's absolute perfection. I can just picture little Breanna following Hardison around Nana's house trying to be just like him. Yet watching her find her own strengths and make a place on the team that's all her own is so much fun. It's not often the "replacement" character is as good as the original in their own way. And that superhero stylin' is really working on Aldis. 😎 Sophie having a much more methodical approach to leadership so far is interesting, and while I'm not completely sold on the idea yet (being a drama queen is in her DNA, lol, I'm not necessarily sure she could switch it off even if she wanted to) I trust that this show will develop her character arc as the season progresses. They've never failed to do so with any of the characters, which is one of the things I love most about this show. I do find it believable that officially being The Leader would put a little more mental pressure on her, hence coming at the jobs with a different approach. At any rate, it's always nice to see Charlotte Prentiss, Duchess of Hanover, make an appearance. And we got to meet yet another artist Sophie acted as muse to! In a related note, seeing Eliot geek out over something and Hardison being grumpily indifferent was a fun spin on their usual dynamic. Though, of course, the thought of messing with Eliot's sandwich continues to strike fear into the hearts of everyone except Hardison. Classic. Other fave callbacks beyond The Sandwich: Parker's love of puppets, the bedazzled pretzel on Hardison's phone, Parker's caterer name badge being Alice, Hardison complaining about the smell of truffles and Eliot snapping that they built an entire job on truffles. (Sophie's truffle hippie remains one of my favorite of her personas). I have never seen the name Todd spelled with an H, lol. Loved that Parker didn't know how to pronounce it.

Wow, Adam Siao Him Fa and Loena Hendrickx were both fantastic last weekend! I love that both have such a unique, distinctive style that totally fits their personalities. And I was really impressed by Rion Sumiyoshi - considering how deep the field is in Japan, she really stood out to me, and I will be keeping an eye out for her from here on. I loved her music too (even though Johnny had to go out of his way to pooh-pooh it, since because of course music that Johnny dislikes is music that's no good 🙄) NBC's shitty coverage especially infuriates me because finally, finally, the ladies have a fair playing field with Eteri's cheaters out of the mix, and of course there's a whole new crop of up-and-coming skaters to watch. When you follow skating year after year (as opposed to every four years when the Olympics roll around) and watch as various skaters develop and grow, it's so rewarding when they finally get their moments and rise to the top. By not getting to see most of the skating except for a few select highlights, it really detracts from the appreciation for and enjoyment of this sport. So frustrating, and so unfair. (And yes, I know VPNs and Youtube are probably the best bet at this point, but I prefer watching on my tv like the old-fashioned dinosaur that I am, so I can take my time and enjoy it.) The French camera work is especially bad, I noticed that last year too. Yes, please give me an artful fade-in to a close up of the skater's sequined belt rather than showing the amazing spin they're doing 😒 And several times at GPdF the camera shook as though someone knocked into it. Do better, France!

Schedule for anyone who needs it 🙂 https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/sports/2022/10/5/television-schedule.aspx A reminder, the highlights from GPdF being reaired tomorrow on NBC.

Wow, this is the quietest I can remember seeing this thread during a Grand Prix weekend. It's as though making it almost impossible for people to watch cuts down on viewership. 🤔🤬 Also, it's probably too late to say anything by now, but for those of us relying on broadcast our crumbs of Grand Prix de France are airing on E! today, not NBC. NBC will show them next weekend.

Amen to your entire post. It's so ridiculously messed up that they outbid all of the other networks to have exclusive airing rights in the US, then slap 98% of it behind a paywall. I have Thoughts on Peacock, which are largely off-topic to this thread so I'll spare everyone my rant, but suffice it to say I refuse to reward NBC's abominable coverage with more money. Figure skating deserves better than this - skaters and fans alike. On topic - so happy to see Amber Glenn do so well last week, and Kaori is always a delight even with her short hair. Pairs turned out fairly exciting, and I really enjoyed Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, and though I'm still sad we don't have Jason skating during this Grand Prix season, it was a fun surprise to see his brief interview with Terry et al. Earlier today I caught the beginning of our 90 minutes of Skate Canada crumbs that NBC has deigned to share, and was incredibly impressed with Rinka Watanabe, especially since I don't even remember hearing about her before now. Looking forward to seeing more of her in the future. If NBC sees fit, of course. Still have the rest to watch - might as well try to make it last as long as I can...

Previously needs a "wtf" like button for occasions like this.

Don't know if this is kosher, but here's what I posted on the movie's thread a few years ago As for the show, I would add that IMO they've done a good job of building off the world of the movie while expanding it in new and interesting ways. I really appreciate seeing the show focus on a character with a much different background than the movie - family is so very central to Victor's life, as well as the religious and socio-economic aspects that affect him, all of which offer a richer story.