Mooncake76

I would never want to marry someone after knowing them for a few weeks either. But I'm not signing up to be on a show where that is an outcome that is expected and encouraged.

I agree mostly with you - I don't hate or dislike anyone either. What I don't like, is the feeling I got that Peter was never that into Rachel, but he stayed around to get a shot at being The Bachelor. I don't think he's despicable for not wanting to propose because I don't think he should have. Cuz he wasn't that into her! But I would respect him more if he had left earlier when he knew he was never going to develop strong enough feelings for Rachel to propose. I value Eric's input because he always came across as pretty perceptive as to what was going on. I can definitely see his take on Rachel becoming more torn after the home town visits when her family seemed to prefer Peter. Even though she defended Bryan to them, it probably has to play on her mind a bit because these are people whose opinions she respects.

Asian Bachelorette - Saw this on YouTube and thought it was pretty funny. https://youtu.be/ag1IisyP1ak

This is where I'm at too. It's hard for me to reconcile my feeling that it was obviously going to be Bryan all along to what happened during the "breakup" with Peter. I was wondering why she was pushing so hard if she was going to just dump him the next day. I'm still not sure what to make of it cuz I'm not of the mind that she settled for Bryan. Can she be so cruel as to get someone to propose with the knowledge she would say no? She doesn't strike me as that type of person. I don't understand it, other than she was undecided until the very end.

Now I'm even more convinced Rachel and Eric had an honest discussion about where he stood in her affections. Neither of them seemed that emotional about his departure - because they both knew it was coming. Contrast that with her outpouring of emotions when she sent Matt home. I'm still annoyed that they didn't show us more of their interactions because her reaction felt like it came out of nowhere. There had to be something deeper between them and I believe her when she said that in a different setting, things could have been different for them. Tonight was the most emotion I've seen from Peter and it made me wonder if he really did have deeper feelings for her. But the cynical part of me can't get over the idea that he just wants The Bacheor gig. Speaking of which, I absolutely think Rachel attempted to sabotage his chance of being the next bachelor by pointing out that this show isn't the right place for him to find love given his preference for taking things slow. Which on the one hand is kinda a bitchy thing to do, but on the other hand, I really don't want to see him as the next Bachelor so I was more than happy to have her repeat it a few times. Despite not liking Bryan initially, I did feel bad for him in the end because I actually do believe his feelings are genuine. Or as genuine as they could be in a situation like this. He strikes me as the type of person who falls "in love" quickly, but on the flip side, can lose interest just as quickly. But when he's "in love", he's the sweep-you-off-your-feet guy. Not my thing but I can see why that is appealing to Rachel, especially in this particular situation. I've never watched BIP and was kind of considering giving it a shot this season because of Dean, but that promo turned me off to it. Is it always that trashy? Why Dean??

I can believe this. Mid season we saw a very neurotic Eric questioning anyone within earshot what Rachel is feeling and generally over-analyzing every decision she makes, while now he seems more Zen calm. It's quite a dramatic difference at a time when the stakes seem to be getting higher. I also remember a scene where he seemed almost blasé about it being obvious who the favorites are, and he clearly knew he wasn't included in that group. Either Rachel had a very honest discussion with him or he has correctly assessed the situation, has accepted the inevitable outcome, and is just enjoying the ride.

I'm a pretty reserved myself and wouldn't be kissing on everyone on national television. It wasn't that. It was the whole thing, when they were sitting on the porch steps and he said (very unconvincingly) how happy he was. It was all just very lukewarm. Even if someone is reserved, usually you can still tell how into someone they are by the the way they look at the other person, by how giddy they smile, and other little clues. Peter likes Rachel well enough as a person, but I don't sense that he's that into her romantically.

I think I fell a little in love with Dean tonight. Or maybe it's just my penchant for broken things, but his emotions while lying on those pillows with Rachel felt the most raw and genuine out of any guy from this whole season. I do think he meant what he said ("I think I'm falling in love with you") in that moment because he was at his most vulnerable and Rachel was the person who was there for him. Although I do think those feelings of love is likely transferred from a more general sense of feeling grateful that someone was there, especially after he was essentially abandoned/rejected all over again when his father walked away from him and was unwilling to mend the relationship. But to him, I believe it probably felt like love. Which makes me really sad for him. I also think Rachel's final pick is Bryan. She clearly likes Peter, but that goodbye was pretty cold, void of any affection even for someone who has his walls up. To me, that wasn't a walls sitiatuon, it's a he's-just-not-that-into-you situation.

My favorite line from the episode: "If he's all-powerful, why doesn't he just tell you what the fuck he wants." - Sandor Clegane, on the Lord of Light I need to rewatch the episode, or the Hound scenes at the very least; I forgot he had been to that farm house before with Arya, so the emotional impact of the scene escaped me. I realize this is the first episode of the season and they need to set up the pieces, but it felt slow moving to me. They only have 6 more episodes and I don't know how they're going to manage to tie everything together in a satisfying way. As much as I like Arya getting her revenge, the way she dispatched Walder and the rest of the Freys felt too easy and abrupt. I hope they'll do more justice for the other events they spent seasonsss setting up.

I'm Asian (Taiwanese)-American and I absolutely understand where a Shirley or Sheldon comes from in their passion for the food they grew up with. Taiwanese food isn't something you can find in mainstream America, so I associate it very strongly with "home", cuz that's the only place I got to eat it. I can't cook my way out of a ramen package, but if I could, I would very much love to be able to stitch some of the food experiences from my background with something more ubiquitous to the average American; it would be a way to put "myself" into a new dish. Maybe they're fooling me and they are cynically using their heritage to win a cooking competition, but my personal sense is that it feels genuine and I have no problem with it. Plus both their dishes looked super yummy. I would love to see Sheldon win this. Is it a fix? I don't know, but I'm okay with a talented likable person winning.

The culinary world is dominated by male chefs so I can see why a female chef/cook would be all too aware of the imbalance, not just in a competition but as the reality of their chosen profession. To be able to rise to the top of an industry dominated by men would be worth noting and I don't blame Mei at all for commenting or focusing on it. Same with Melissa for wanting to be a "role model" for female chefs. They both have said that if they can't win, they would want the other one to win. I don't see anything wrong with that, any more than Gregory or Doug saying they want to "represent" Portland. Presumably, Doug is rooting for Gregory because of the Portland connection, not because he dislikes Mei.

I realized how much I loved this final 3 when halfway through the episode, I was dreading the moment someone would get eliminated. Glad Mei stayed over Doug though, just cuz all else being equal, he had already been eliminated before and was only back because of LCK. I would watch a show with just Doug and Katsuji. They're so cute together. Next episode looks exciting with all the praise the final 2 were getting! I think Gregory is going to win, but I'm pulling for Mei.

I think Gregory kinda got spooked when he landed in the bottom for taking a risk during the Thanksgiving challenge and he's been playing it safe ever since then. It must be tough winning all the time and then suddenly be put in a position of getting kicked off. Melissa is on the opposite trajectory; she had been in the bottom multiple times early on and throughout the competition, but she has really picked up her game despite her past missteps. She talked about challenging herself a lot in these last couple of episodes and how that was her goal in this competition. It appears to me that that's a healthier attitude to adopt than one where the focus is simply to not get kicked off. In any case, I thought I would have been upset with the possibility of Melissa becoming Top Chef, but now I think she would be deserving of it. Still want Mei to win though. Like others, I didn't like George for a long time because of the Isabella connection, but he turned out to be a pretty decent guy. I don't think it was fair he got to come back the way he did, so for that reason alone, I'm glad Gregory is moving on. But I do feel bad for him going on a challenge where he really embraced the theme of the challenge and ended up being penalized for it. I also liked that he was good-natured about it, telling Gregory that he basically knocked him out twice. I wouldn't mind seeing him back in an all-star season, but for the same reason I wanted Gregory to move on, I hope Dougie comes back from LCK instead of him.

All the posts about Jeremy having to play with people who don't know how to play and how it affected his game is interesting. I think playing with people who don't know how to play is part of the game. I remember from the first season I started watching (Cook Islands), that Yul and Jonathan seemed to want to play with other "rational" players. IIrc, Yul was into game theory and he wanted to get rid of all the unpredictable elements. I think he would have targeted the Keiths from the get-go because they're wild cards. At least playing with other "rational" players (i.e. someone who knows how to play the game), you can predict to some degree what their moves will be. He wanted to get rid of Cao Boi and that other girl whose name escapes me, who was there just for "the experience", before the more strategic players (Jonathan, Candice). Unfortunately for Yul, Candice did something based on emotions that he didn't see coming! ETA: Everything is season specific obviously. Jeremy didn't want to play with people who were also strategizing; based on the interview with Reed, the reason he didn't want him as an ally is because he knew that Reed was doing exactly what he was doing. This idea of getting rid of the strategists first is very Boston Rob-esque. He didn't like others out there thinking for themselves. I think both paths can be taken depending on the mix of people. I also liked that little gesture, and after watching Ponderosa, I think it's because he sees Josh as his equal. He trusts Josh's perception of what happened, but he said something like he'll have to wait to know what is really going on because he doesn't trust Reed and Alec's take on what was happening. I don't blame him.

I loved the eyebrow raising from Baylor when Jon (and Jaclyn?) said he was thinking about his jury speech. Even if he truly believed that he would make it to the end, it wasn't wise for him to broadcast that to everyone else. It's presumptuous, arrogant, and it gives other players extra satisfaction from taking him out. I don't think Nadiya and Natalie had a toxic relationship, but it was obviously unhealthy (that constant yelling and screeching at each other for stupid little things). It's nice that they always had each other, it's comforting and feels safe, but I think it's also important to spend time apart to develop as an individual. I think that's what we're seeing with Natalie. She doesn't have someone to rant at whenever she felt frustrated, she had to get along with other people without her sister to fall back on, and more importantly, she had to think for herself and make her own decisions. If they genuinely did spend all their time together and essentially experienced the same things, she now has something significant that is her's alone. I do wonder how all of this would change the dynamic of their relationship, but that's OT. I'm just glad that I can see them as separate entities now.