nara

I interpreted the Little League caller as follows: 1) She was new to the group of moms involved in Little League and did not know most of them (I think she actually said something about being new), 2) she was going down a long list of names of kids and parents and delivering a standard spiel, 3) by the time she got to Adam Warren on the list she was doing it without thinking, 4) after she got off the phone, she probably realized her gaffe and was mortified--but that all happened off screen.

The fact that he ate a whole cake that wasn't even chocolate is enough reason to hate him IMO! ;)

I actually like this one better, because the flashlights were all done by one person who somehow managed to avoid being seen. This was done by a mass of people who were not being surreptitious.

Observations I forgot earlier. Why do we see so much of young Willa, but not young Danny, when he went down such a destructive path? I liked Danny taking Adam driving, though I would start with an empty parking lot...and wasn't Adam astonishingly good at controlling the vehicle? (Suspicious!) Danny also knew that Adam is the one who turned off the security system at such an inopportune time. Danny is the only one who seems to get Adam. I'm afraid that when it comes out that Adam isn't Adam, Danny will be the one most hurt. Also, I think I would have preferred not actually seeing the pock marked guy, so if we could wonder if he really existed...

I think they are making the point that she will tell any lie to get to her story. Newspaper wants a lesbian blog to be edgier? I'm a lesbian! Newspaper wants a cooking column? I studied cooking in Paris! (Or she would have made the latter claim if it helped her.)

I think he just built a fantasy out of what he saw and had lived the fantasy for so long, he forgot what he was actually seeing. His mind had converted what he saw to what he wanted to see and filled in the details like the head of a dragon.

If someone looks safe, people are careless. I am surprised by how many times strangers in airports have asked me to watch their stuff while they go to the bathroom. You could argue that they are crazy for trusting me not to steal stuff or slip something in, and you could argue that I am crazy for agreeing, but it happens. It was a paternity test, so it tests parentage only. Good catch, I didn't think of that. That might explain why Claire doesn't seem to care about her husband's affair. We also don't know if that was Adam's DNA that was tested, since it came from a trash can--right? I think that Zach Gilford is being completely wasted in this show. I hope they do more with him. I am not surprised that Danny has been skeptical from the get go. He has felt guilty for so long that he's afraid to accept that his brother is home and be relieved by it, in case it's not true. He senses that this is not his brother and it appears that he is the only one with good instincts. Of course, I think his suspicion is meant to make him look guilty, because how else would he be so sure that this boy is not Adam. I want to see more about Claire and why she is so sure it's Adam. Of all of them, she's the most likelyto be able to sense whether or not he is her son. Am I the only one hoping that awful reporter gets killed?

RE: Mac story, I think Smash learned a lesson because he's a main character and Mac is not. Also, Smash didn't initially take issue with the comment--he had to be coached into having concerns by Waverley. Smash did not seem to feel discriminated against or treated unfairly on the team or by Mac in particular. Smash learns repeatedly in the series that race issues are not handled fairly--like when he had to apologize for fighting the guy insulting his sister and when he lost his scholarship. It's not fair, but those are accurate storylines. Agree that Voodoo was entirely wasted. He should not have been introduced at the time, or he should have been awesome and just recruited away by another school that was willing to do more for his family. However, he could not really stay as quarterback, because Matt's arc was to be the everyman who was not super gifted, but worked hard to achieve success. I think Landry's jerk behavior was important. With the possible exception of Matt, no one on the show is completely good. And by the way, lots of guys feel entitled to date the girl they want, so I think it was very realistic. I liked the move to East Dillon. Working with the same team and going back to the championship year after year would have gotten old. The changing ages of the kids annoyed me completely. In the first season, Matt, Landry, Tim, Tyra, and Lyla were all driving. To be 16 in fall season usually means you are a junior (with some exceptions of course for people born September to December). Also a big deal is made out of Matt being a sophomore, but then they changed things so that Tim was also a sophomore in season 1, so why wasn't that a big deal that he had been starting on the football team since he was a freshman? For Landry to graduate a year after Matt was even more ridiculous because that meant he was driving at 14 or 15. For any high school shows, they really should establish ages and live with them, even if it means losing popular characters. Thanks for the explanation of why Buddy would use his daughter's full name. I found it jarring at the time, but your explanation is plausible.

Lots of excellent moments mentioned above! My additions: In season one, when Coach tells Matt to get a girl in the back seat of his car, the look on Matt's face was priceless. Plus, when Coach realized that Matt liked Julie and said, "I think I just told that kid to get our daughter in the back seat of his car. " When Matt puts on his grandfather's voice and sings Mr. Sandman to calm his grandmother. When Tyra tells her mom that if they cannot figure out how to change the car themselves (without the help of a man) they are done for. Tyra playing powder puff football. That's when I realized that in a town not obsessed with football, she could have been an athlete too. She's got natural ability, but no one ever noticed anything other than her looks. Tami's complaints about her sister turns to genuine delight when she arrives. Tim Riggins protecting Julie with his body during the tornado. When we saw that the much ballyhooed JD Mccoy was an innocent 14 year old boy who spent every second being forced to think about football. Too bad he became more of jerk later. When Julie shows up at Matt's doorstep in Chicago. It was such a relief that she chose to see him instead of her ex-lover, and the smile on his face said everything. Tinker helping with Luke's fence and telling Luke's father how great his son is. Tami's screeching voice when she and Coach are arguing. I think that only showed up in the finale.

I liked Julie because she seemed the most realistic of the teen characters (until the TA storyline), and I could relate to her. I also liked Aimee's portrayal. Julie has been sheltered by her parents, so she's a little spoiled, innocent, and unaware of the harsh realities of life. However, she inherently has her mother's wildness. The combination of her innate rebellious behavior and her sheltered life was surprisingly combustible and made her rather bratty . In all fairness, her father was somewhat ridiculous about her relationship with Matt, so I don't completely blame her for rebelling. Getting to know Matt was good for her because he's so mature and unfailingly kind for someone his age. It made her appreciate her own parents more and she learned to be more generous too. When she visits him in Chicago, he calls her on using him to escape from her life. Eric and Tami really should have noticed the good influence he had on her.

I think it makes sense. She respected Edith's courage in telling her the truth, but in her mind that truth still made her an unacceptable bride for Bertie

Her dress game has definitely upped since she started working with the magazine. I actually liked her wedding gown and veil better than Mary's. Oh no, you didn't!Unlike some others on this thread, I enjoyed the neat wrap up of the show with lots of happily ever afters--though I agree they did not all have to be saved for the finale. I teared up quite a lot and I am not ashamed to admit it. I especially liked that they remembered that Thomas rescued Edith from the fire. My only semi-complaints: I was hoping that Rosamund would catch the bouquet. The Tom/editor future romance was already heavily implied, so she really didn't need to catch the bouquet. Rosamund was the only one left without a wrap-up. I would have liked Carson to retire in an earlier episode and in the finale realize that he could enjoy a life separate from the Crawleys. I wanted Denker to be fired! Actress is great, but the character is mean mean mean. When Mrs. Patmore called Daisy on her unwillingness to believe she deserved love, a shout out about William would have been good.

Part of me expected Doug to kill himself so that a liver would be available for Frank...He is obsessive in his devotion to Frank.

Was I the only one who initially thought that the hostage situation might be a fake one created by Conway to make himself look good? I am guessing that was way off base...is watching this show making me paranoid?

I do like Claire's arc this season because she's not a complete screw-up. The timing works too. Last year, I would have scoffed at the idea of a person who has never held elected office running for veep, but Ben Carson and Trump have shown us that plenty of people would support someone like that. On a practical note, would the Underwoods live separately for security purposes? Having the prez and veep living in the same building seems risky.

That's because she was unmarried in seasons 1 and 2. My understanding is that the norm was for married women to take breakfast in bed (or have the option to do so)and everyone else came down. I guess widows continued the practice. That's why Edith has always come to the table and so has Robert. Mary came down because she expected Henry to be there.

In addition to Thomas's accumulated crimes and obnoxious behavior, weren't they (Robert and Carson) under the impression that he wanted to leave Downton and become a butler somewhere? I got the impression that they were encouraging someone who wanted to leave to do so. I thought the premarital sex was only important with the previous suitor because Mary's gut was telling her that there was no chemistry between them and she was trying to convince herself that there was. In Henry's case she felt the sexual attraction (even though none of us seemed to see it) so there was no need to test drive him.

I don't think they were being malicious. The idea of adorable Pattmore being associated with ill repute was so absurd it made them laugh. If I remember correctly, all the laughing was before she heard that people were canceling reservations...

Lady Mary, is that you?

Interestingly, in The Good Wife, Matthew Goode was one of the string of men they threw at the female lead after Will's departure. It didn't work there either IMO. I think he deserves better than these "replacement" roles.

Glad people are FINALLY calling Mary on her spiteful behavior! That should have happened when she was a teenager! I'm a little annoyed that she got her happily ever after so soon after screwing over Edith. She didn't even stop to think about how much Edith has suffered over the past few years. Though I have to admit that Edith used the nuclear option first, back in season 1, when she revealed Mary's affair with Kemal Pemuk to that gentleman's father...Not terribly thrilled with Mary's choice of husband--I likedCharles Blake from season 4, and thought he was better suited to Mary. Big fan of Matthew Goode, but I find his character Henry Talbot to be not much of a life partner for Mary.<br /><br />

We've already seen that Becca lacks empathy--not surprising for someone her age. If I remember correctly, she was dating Wes. Weren't they the couple in the diner where the guy was abusing the girl and Anne asked him to leave? If my memory is correct, I wonder what she'll have to say in the aftermath of his death. I wasn't sure if he was a gay man who suddenly lost his temper or a bigot who faked being gay to lure men to be killed. This was pretty awful, but I felt that "The Missing" on Starz in 2014 was much more brutal. Another brilliantly acted series that didn't get the attention it deserved. Ironically, the "crazy woman who abandoned her child" is the best parent of the lot. IIRC, Kevin rented a space where the party was held. But yes, he should at least be punished for hosting the party. I have thought since it was revealed that Eric had sex with Taylor that perhaps other(s) raped Taylor. It seems unlikely that Eric would have left Taylor with his pants down (because that would have created suspicion about a gay sexual encounter happening at the party, which might have eventually led to people realizing Eric was gay) but that's the way Taylor was found when he was photographed.

I think that young man was only there to demonstrate Mary's superior fortitude. I also love the chaplain. I wonder how Emma's family will react when she decides to marry him--because things are definitely heading in that direction!

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant their reaction when he showed up at the reception, not after he was hit. Surely, seeing the guy who knocked up their daughter would have stood out in Noah's POV and even in Alison's he didn't react that much. Regarding Alison's walk, I'm not sure we've seen the end of that. There is something suspicious there IMO.

It might be an American Sniper-like situation in which the baby (babies, actually, IIRC) that we cast got sick and they ended up using a baby doll. It was so obviously a fake baby that they were laughed at mercilessly for doing that. Perhaps whoever played Joannie in the present was not available so they substituted a random baby because we didn't see the child's face in that scene.