Faux Pas

Instead of seeming charming or endearing, Anne just came off as full-on demented in this episode. For me, it was off-putting. It wasn’t even the kind of demented that’s fun to watch!

Brandon might want to rethink signing his illustrations "BTK" ...

Confession -- I really, really want to know "Lucas Hood's" real name!!! I get the show wanting to keep it unknown for the symbolism of lost identity, but in that case I don't think they should cliff-hanger tease it the way they have with his whispering it to Siobhan and Brock asking just before being interrupted. It's most powerful as a nothing or as a full reveal. I feel like it's cheapened by in-between winky-wink almost telling. I really see the whole series as an origin story and I'm way more interested in unraveling that than the serial killer sub-par plot. Also, for a story that takes on the long-term consequences of traumatic decisions, it feels off that Rebecca was undone by Satan. Guess the Amish were right all along! The Job part: exquisite. Wish there were more episodes.

That blog Mom should just go ahead and name her kid WTFlee because that's how everybody reads it anyway Or excuse me, WTFleigh

My favorite quote of the episode: Mark -- "I need to find a way to keep Nikki captive........ated here in the States."

Oh, I totally agree about Hollywood -- I'm not into the smugness factor at all. It seems like he enjoys knowing more than the contestants and throwing it in their faces. For me the best judge combo would be Cyril with Mary. I much prefer Mary to Mercotte because she's more kind and gentle. She's a little bit of a Mary Poppins, and the French system needs a Mary Poppins! All we have are bonnets d'ane and la honte. :-)

I *might* be a little bit addicted to Le Meilleur Patissier, and it's also become a gateway drug to buying cream puffs! I've never known anyone to make homemade macarons in France before... they're so hard to make and so easy to buy there! I love Cyril (I've liked a lot of his shows; he had one a few years ago where he was trying to reform school lunches and he was super charismatic). I like his judging style and how excited he gets when the food is good. The French judging is hard core, and I'm not sure I like the "carte blanche" elimination at the end. And, does Mercotte drive anyone else a little bit crazy? She reminds me of a French school marm, kind of delighting a little too much in criticism. Maybe it's because their critique sessions on the show are so much like critiques at school in France. I also think her technical challenges are reaching, and she gets super caught up in the look, even though no one baking could possibly know what those 18th century tarts should look like. For me it's a little OTT to take away electrical gadgets during the technical bake because the recipe came from the 18th century. Cyril is so much less hypercritical, even though he has a Michelin star and Mercotte is pretty much a home taught blogger. I find her grating and wish they had a different judge. It's not stopping me from binge watching though...

One thing that bothers me about Outlander is that I feel like the plot eventually vanishes and becomes like a superficial game, where the characters are little pinballs that careen between near-rape/rape/torture. Or that one time, traveling vaudeville show. Or witch trial/burning at the stake. It's too much, too ludicrous and exhausting to gain enough depth to treat the level of depravity that arrives at the end. It feels paint-by-numbers and gratuitous because it's not dynamic; nothing advances or changes. It's increasingly less powerful because the rape device is overused and over shown. And its surrounding structure -- themes, symbolism, commentary -- are too absent to make the violent scenes worth the trauma of viewing. It seems like on this show there's been a conflation of shocking vs profound. Just showing heinous violence doesn't make a show, or a character, or a love story profound. There needs to be more to create a truly compelling story. And seeming so self-righteous in the presentation the heinous violence isn't helping.

I'm now officially thinking of this show as Rapelander.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a where to watch this in the US?

Regarding Murtagh and Jamie, I noticed at the end of the field hockey match when they're walking off the field together, they're wearing the exact same plaid. I think that means they're the of same clan because they have the same tartan?