nara

I am not supposed to cry watching a comedy! This came as a complete shock to me. I hate, hate, hate the loss of Michael and Michael/Jane and now I really wish she had been pregnant. That being said, I think the time jump is a good idea because we can get Jane's grief in small doses, rather than having a completely somber rest of the season.

I think that the job for that moment was to keep Rebecca from jumping to her death, so I think Paula did the right thing to make sure Rebecca didn't blame herself. Going forward, a real examination of Rebecca's life is in order, but at the time, I think this was appropriate. Pointing out that sometimes relationships don't work out, while true, might have seemed dismissive of Rebecca's pain and literally sent her over the cliff. I didn't notice, but OMG, that would be brilliant! I wish I hadn't already deleted it off the DVR so I could check. I wondered for a moment whether Rebecca was still in the mental hospital and meeting Josh in the city, the move to West Covina, and everything that's happened in the show were all just in her mind. But that's too insane, right? BTW, Rebecca looked so beautiful in her dress. Is the show coming back for Season 3? I thought it had been canceled. If it is coming back, please keep her single or a little bit...

Can Fitz please keep his hands off of his employees? By my count, this is the third one.

My immediate assumption was that he killed Vargas. I was astonished when they appeared to be going the Cyrus route. I still think my first reaction was right. Logistics is an issue, but he probably has a private plane or helicopter stashed somewhere...

Agreed that we should have seen some of the transformation of Noah. :( Maybe next season will focus more on the affair between Alison and Cole...

Thank you. I couldn't quite get where they were going with that. I half expected the package to blow up! ;) I enjoyed the reference but forgot that Mandy starred in the Princess Bride! Next week: "My name is Dar Adal. You killed my CIA budget. Prepare to die. " I do like Saul and Carrie's optimism about the world. It keeps them likeable in spite of the sometimes horrible things that they do. Really enjoyed Saul's argument with his sister. I felt like I could understand both sides of the situation and it showed how truly polarizing it is.

I actually liked what happened in the episode, but it didn't make sense in many ways. First the bad... It was not great as a season finale because the female lead wasn't even in the episode! I think it would have been better if they had crunched the Noah mental issues to the first 5 episodes and shown some recovery in the next 4 episodes AND had a time jump of however long parole lasts. THEN his trip to Paris and his state of mind would have made sense. Now the good... I actually enjoyed Juliette's POV, especially learning that she has no credibility on her own within academic circles and her husband had multiple affairs. It made me more sympathetic to her "I'm trying to be edgy by sleeping with a murderer" pathetic attempts to create her own identity in the US. I thought it was telling that she was very nervous about PDA in Paris after her supposed frank sexuality in the US. It was also interesting that Juliette apparently accomplished nothing during her time in the US. Perhaps the university dean was right--and she has done nothing to show her own capabilities separately from her husband. Whitney was kinda heading down the same path with Furkat, but maybe now she can establish her own goals and go for them. I liked Noah finally admitting that he was a bad father. Way to finally take responsibility. I would have preferred it if Furkat had not hit Whitney and was just done with having sex with her and wanted her to just be his assistant. It's easy to make him the bad guy, but it would have been better if he was just done with her IMO. She would still be upset and feel used, so Noah could have come to support her and said the same things, but the lesson would have been better and better connected to Noah and Helen's relationship. I liked that both selfish people finally chose their daughters over their own fun. I liked the way it ended with Noah having no where to go. You reap what you sow, buddy. Other observations: Whitney is beautiful, but I thought she looked very dull when Noah saw her in Paris. Go makeup artist! That was a good way to show her unhappiness. Similarly, I though Helen looked beautiful in the final scene, and the lights on the tree were impossibly bright--Noah missing what he gave up. The scene of them trying to stuff Etienne into the elevator was horrifying. What a sad, undignified end to the great professor. Furkat said he sold a ton of those posters. I'm sorry, but who would buy and display those posters?

Others have answered your question, and to add to their points, I thought that Alison was a little worried that it would appear that she deliberately pushed Scotty into oncoming traffic and would be liable. She certainly had motive. Didn't it fall into the sink full of water?

My assumption is that wasn't the first person she called. Darryl's song was AWESOME. There are many unequal friendships in real life and frankly, he's been more of a best friend to Paula than Rebecca, IMO.

Mellie was much colder when Teddy was born. It's retconning by Shonda, but I'mchoosing to explain it as Melle being changed by the death of her son. Agree on the ridiculously liberal views of the Republican President. Even in season 1, I was thinking he should just be a Democrat. Aren't most television presidents Democrats? And Mellie used to be more conservative than Fitz, but I am comfortable saying that her experience as a rape victim, and specifically, her finally opening up about it, might give her some sympathy for Planned Parenthood. Moreover, it's been mentioned before that she's stubborn and she said that she just got tired of being pushed around. That makes Planned Parenthood less relevant, really. For me, it's "leader of the free world", especially when Fitz refers to himself that way. I believe Congress adjourned a few days before Christmas day. In 2016, it was December 16. Liv broke up with Fitz that same day. That would give her a couple of days before Christmas to order and receive the sofa. When I heard that line item, I thought it sounded more legit than the others. But Mellie didn'thave time to review them all prior to the filibuster, so she was randomly picking line items that sounded odd. I liked that Olivia was admiring Mellie--I believe that is a first for this series. Can Mellivia be far behind? But there will be consequences to her defiance of the party... David and Liz have zero chemistry IMO. That needs to end now.

That sounds like the song by Boney M!

I have a very hard time buying Mellie playing along with the man who killed her child--for any reason. She's ruthless and ambitious, but her grief was genuine and overpowering. She has to at least have some idea of killing him in the future. I think she's done a great job acting throughout this series, though some seem to disagree. I also think she's had some of the best material for showing a range of emotions. That's exactly what I was thinking! Perhaps it will be like Al Capone, and stealing the ring will be the President's downfall. ;) I don't think Liv is the marrying type, though I believe she's genuinely in love with Fitz. The Vermont fantasy is not really her--though I do think that Fitz would be very happy living out of the spotlight. She will be working and plotting until the day she dies.

The hooded figure turned around and it was not Martin. It was a younger version of Noah. (There was some debate in the comments above about whether it was young Noah or young Gunther, but a look at the credits clarified things.)

Amen, sister! She's clearly a masochist--likes being tied up, invites annoying students to dinner... ;)

I believe this is the first time they confirmed that Noah euthanized his mother, right? I cannot remember what I guessed vs. what they have previously told us. I really enjoyed the Nina-Helen conversation (Jennifer Esposito is underrated IMO) but I wish she had told Helen the truth about Noah and his mother. Clearly, Noah volunteered the guilty plea out of guilt for killing his mother. I think it would be good for Helen to understand that and not continue to think he did it out of love/guilt/loyalty towards her. I had assumed it was Noah, but Gunther makes sense too. If it's Noah, it's about how self-destructive Noah is. It's also a nice throwback to the very first episode in which Martin faked a suicide to get out of going to Helen's parents' house for the summer. If it's Gunther, I wonder if Gunther killed himself as a teen after losing to Noah. In that case, the prison guard is a manifestation/halucination of Noah's long-delayed "guilt" related to that incident. Just in the last episode's forum, I was wishing for the return of Max. Ask, and ye shall receive! I actually felt a little sorry for him. He's trying to settle down and Helen comes around, clearly looking for a booty call, and he can't resist the lure of someone he's loved for 25+ years. Of course, it was awful that he cheated on his fiance, but I put more blame on Helen in this case. I think she's the Noah (self-destructive, delusional, narcissist) of this season. This is her Descent. Maybe it can inspire Noah's next book? ;) I don't blame Helen for her distrust of her parents' reunion, but she needs to grow up and fake it! I can see where the kids (especially Whitney and Martin) get their snarky, sulky behavior. Vik is now too good for her. I do think Helen's self-destructive behavior is a result of her guilt about letting Noah take the blame for Scotty's death--just like Noah's behavior is a result of his guilt. In that way, they are exactly alike!

I think they changed history on that. In the pilot episode, he seemed to be newly discovering her crush, but in all subsequent episodes it's felt like something he's always known--and the reason why he stayed on the sidelines. I agree that Danny's lack of action is not Ben's fault, but it seems very strange that he did not pick up at all on Danny's interest in Riley. The brothers are close, after all. I think that Riley overreacted big time. However, it makes more sense if you think of her history. She seems to still be haunted by her childhood weight issues. I get the impression that her belief that she didn't deserve to be loved by someone as great (popular, kind, good-looking, etc.) as Danny is a big reason for her blindness to his affections. When they finally got together, I believe that Riley couldn't quite believe it was real and was waiting for him to decide that he liked someone better. Finding out about Sam played into that fear, especially since it happened while Danny was supposedly in love with Riley. That being said, I am a total Riley/Danny fan. I adore love stories that are a long time in the making. Although it's frustrating they dance around each other for so long, I do think it's necessary for Riley to experience a relationship with Ben and realize that her idealized version is not reality before she can recognize that she's really in love with Danny. She also has to learn to love herself before she can truly accept Danny's love. I believe that her crush on Ben is more about seeking approval from someone who mocked her than about true love. Disposing of the fantasy of Ben and gaining some success as a lawyer puts her in a position to have a real relationship with Danny. I agree. Memory is selective. We tend to remember things because they are somehow significant to us. That's why 2 people will have completely different recollections of the same event or situation. I think Danny genuinely forgot about the hookup with Sam because it meant nothing to him. Similarly, Danny overreacted when Riley didn't immediately profess her love for him after hearing the voicemail. He forgot that she did come to him right after hearing it and he chose to go to his room with Milena, his girlfriend at the time. The showrunners play fast and loose with timelines, in my opinion. In the pilot, Danny makes a comment about Riley finally being in law school after failing the LSAT. But she takes the bar in season 2, which is normal (not untraditionally late) for a 24 or 25 year old. Then they made comments in season 5 about "7 years ago" which would make Danny 25 or 26 (he started school a year late). It's either sloppy writing or a desire to retcon. I gotta give Loni credit that any work she may have had done does not look terrible! Exactly! I really like Riley, but she has been consistently selfish with regard to Danny. It's good that they didn't just brush it under the rug and had Danny notice it and hold her accountable. One of my favorite moments of character development for Riley is in the pageant episode when she realized that her desire to win was hurting her. ************************ I recently watched this show on Netflix and I love it! It's fun and the actors interact so well with each other. I love how much they include Emma in things. Often times, children are forgotten on television and are props to be occasionally trotted out (I'm looking at you, Downton Abbey!). Bonnie-Tucker was an unexpected gem of a relationship. They play so well off each other with their scheming, antagonism, and occasional loving moments. I also love Bonnie-Danny -- it feels so genuine and affectionate and is one of my favorite parent-child relationships on television. Her role as his manager adds another dimension to the "teen mom/first child" relationship. I enjoy the fact that Danny is shown to be the least intelligent character, but is actually the wisest one. Ben is interesting as a focal character. I like the way he has shown maturity since becoming a father, but has not completely changed and is still a bit of dog. Much more realistic! And most of all, I really like the fact that although Ben is the title character, it's truly an ensemble show. In that way, it reminds me of How I Met Your Mother because the non-title characters were so essential to the story.

that's not 10 Little Indians, it's...(spoiler tag because the book in question is still a classic).

Not sure if they will turn on her in the same way. I get the impression they believe Noah deliberately killed Scotty, but in her case it would definitely be a drunk driving accident. we'll see... As for not wanting to have sex with him, don't be so sure. Whitney has already had the lesbian and older man relationships and she may want to try incest next. ;)

I kinda miss Max, his and Helen's old friend, and I want him back. I doubt Audrey actually said that. Since it was Juliette's POV, I bet that she was thinking that the student probably just wanted to f**k Noah and projected her thoughts onto the memory of the dialogue . Brendan Fraser/Gunther is super creepy. Have we seen him on screen when any other characters were present? if he is real, my guess is that we will find out that he raped Noah in prison. :( I am looking forward to when Noah and Helen's bratty kids find out that he sacrificed himself for their mother.

Aafrin and his revolutionary girlfriend (Kaira--I think) were working with Naresh Banerjee, also a revolutionary--but a violent one, who was hiding out at the tea plantation. However, neither Aafrin nor Kaira supported Banerjee's violent approach to kicking the Brits out of India. However, because they went to visit him at the plantation, there were at least a few people who could identify Aafrin.

The character could be adopted, but that's not necessarily the case. I met someone who I thought was of South Asian descent (like me) and he turned out to have 1 white and 1 black parent. He was very patient, as he was used to being asked his ethnicity.

Seems like I misunderstood your comment. I thought you were equating the 2 situations and that you were saying Dean was/would be a horndog in both.

In all fairness, I didn't get the impression that Dean was attracted to his mother in that episode. It was more that he never really considered whether or not she was good looking. Therefore, it came as surprise to him when he realized she was. I had the same experience with my parents. I had seen plenty of pictures of them as youngsters when I was growing up, but it wasn't until I came upon pictures of them when I was adult (30's) that I realized that they were good-looking. It surprised me -- and it was more about my growing up and being able to see them as something other than mom and dad than anything about them.

I wonder if they should have recast the role of Mary with a younger actress in heaven and for the return to Earth . I like the current one, but having someone younger than the brothers would have highlighted her discomfort better.

Maybe she took her ring off after starting to read the journal and realizing that John became a different man from the one she married.