kingshearte

OMG, yes! I don't know how I forgot about that! When she said something about the "vee-ell ville," I initially assumed it was a name or something, and then she said it meant "old," and my brain came to a screeching halt. That does not even approach anything like the correct pronunciation of "vieille." Yikes. I imagine there were others, and I expect that she probably also massacred some Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian words (and I'm sure I would, too, to be fair), but it is rough to listen to when it's a language you do know.

OMG, yes! I don't know how I forgot about that! When she said something about the "vee-ell ville," I initially assumed it was a name or something, and then she said it meant "old," and my brain came to a screeching halt. That does not even approach anything like the correct pronunciation of "vieille." Yikes. I imagine there were others, and I expect that she probably also massacred some Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian words (and I'm sure I would, too, to be fair), but it is rough to listen to when it's a language you do know.

I have never been opposed to strategic use of penalty-taking, but I definitely prefer it to be genuinely strategic, rather than simply giving up. They kind of tried to frame it almost like there was some strategic thought, with the mention that there was no way the other teams were going to get it, but that seemed like a stretch, and I was not a fan. We'll see how things go with future tasks, I guess. Aside from that, I have no particularly strong impressions of anyone else yet.

Thanks for this! I knew that CH was the code for Switzerland, but I've always wondered why (although obviously not quite hard enough to consult google). Watch notwithstanding, my money's still on Peter. All the previews of "I don't know if he's ready!" just solidify that for me. I just feel like, if it were going to be Bryan, we'd have been presented with some reason why she might hesitate to pick him (other than simply "you seem too good to be true"). Nothing in the preview seemed to indicate any angst over Bryan, so I'm sticking with Peter. Did anyone else notice, though, that they showed at least one clip of Bryan with Rachel's family? I mean, it's not exactly a huge shock, but still, way to spoil yourself, show (although I guess we should count ourselves lucky that they haven't already announced the next Bachelor?). I do not understand why they went to a Catholic mass for Dean's date. I get going to church of some kind, since we know it's important to her, but a Catholic mass seems like a super weird choice if you're not Catholic. Was it the only church in Geneva that was willing to be on TV in this context or what? Also in weird choices, part of Peter's date. Helicopter? Great. Dog sledding? Great. Sitting in a snowbank with snow blowing everywhere? Um... OK? Finally, my biggest annoyance of this episode was one of Rachel's coats. Consider this is a slightly ranty PSA for those of you who may not be aware. Often, when one purchases a garment with pleats or slits, there is a large X-shaped stitch at the bottom of the pleats/slits. This is intended to keep the garment properly flat during shipping, so the garment doesn't end up with stuff awkwardly creased. You're supposed to remove this stitch before you wear the garment. I've noticed that many many people in real life seem to be unaware of this, and run around with that stitch intact (and I often wonder if those people think their item is in fact damaged when that stitch eventually breaks, because, hello, it's not designed to withstand daily wear!). But I noticed that one of Rachel's coats appeared to have that stitch intact this week, and don't the leads on this show have stylists? Shouldn't that person, at least, understand something so basic? Any stylist who lets a client outside without taking care of that has no business calling themselves a stylist. OK, I'm over it now. (I'm really not, but I'll pretend.)

This actually strikes me as a lot more believable than the usual story of "I was completely in love and got my heart broken, but now I'm ready to fall in love and get engaged to someone else six months later." But I also know how much this show's audience loathes anything with too much hint of realness (a promising candidate admitting he's just not into this person, someone not picking either finalist, etc.). That said, based on that preview, I'm putting my (metaphorical) money on Peter. I've been waffling between him and Bryan (for obvious reasons), but that preview hinted far too strongly that Peter was going to show himself out for me to believe that anything of the sort is what will actually happen. Plus, we're getting to the point when they need to start showing some sort of doubt or obstacle for the eventual winner, so it will look like the lead could end up picking the other one. So yeah. I'm officially declaring Peter as my prediction. And I'd guess Dean for Bachelor. He's young (which would make the ridiculously young women they usually cast more age appropriate than sometimes), but comes across older than his years — at least in action. He still looks like a baby. But certainly of the guys left, he's probably the best option. Unless Matt or Adam is actually really engaging and delightful. This. I also don't have kids, but I just can't really wrap my head around getting that weepy about being apart from anyone for a few weeks — especially when it's not even a no-contact few weeks. We saw them facetiming two or three times, but I would guess that they probably talked every day. And while I realize that that's not the same as actually being together, it just seems way too attached, and like maybe some more apart time would actually be healthy.

Boo. But thanks for the info, @Mason.

Does anyone know what (if any) network is airing this in Canada? I used to watch it online on CTV, but it doesn't seem to be there this year (at least not yet — we seem to be getting a lot of stuff with a week or several delay lately).

I've thought this for a long time. Especially about Regina, but you're right; it's Rumple too. The thing with a good villain is that by the end of one (or maybe two, if you can find a good way to stretch it) season, you really need to either defeat or properly redeem a villain, or the story stops making sense. Obviously, they weren't going to defeat them, because that generally involves writing them off entirely, and they certainly weren't going to do that. But to redeem them, you have to change the way you write for them, and therein lies the rub. A&E like Rumple and Regina exactly the way they are, so they haven't really changed anything about them; they've simply told us that they're heroes now, and changed the way other people react to them. And then everything starts falling apart, because the relationships no longer make any sense. This. This is exactly why I loved the musical episode so much. It was basically ridiculous and provided little or no story, relationship or character advancement, but it was fun. David and Hook on buddy cop adventures? Not usually particularly important, but fun. Various other quirks of whatever? Usually irrelevant, but often fun. So yeah, if they're not going to write characters and relationships in ways that makes sense, at least write things that are fun to watch, instead of heavy, depressing, and confusing.

Well, there was that offered blow job that time he couldn't get it up for the ceremony. So his subsequent downward spiral was clearly her fault. As others have pointed out, there is a difference between a foreign power invading or attacking, and American citizens killing other American citizens. And, frankly, so much of that already happens that it might take the rest of the world a while to notice that anything unusual was happening. Although I suppose the mass killing of the government would probably be a clue. Still, if it's perpetrated by other Americans (even if they're calling themselves something else), the lines to determine the appropriate international response are murky. I think that, like many things that are considered "Canadianisms," that's more of a regional thing. I do not use KD as a generic term, and I don't believe I have ever in my life used hoover as a verb (although I am familiar with its use as such). I also don't call hoodies bunnyhugs, which is apparently a thing elsewhere in the country, or use any number of other terms widely considered "Canadianisms." And I'm sure I do say some things that people in the rest of the country don't — like hydro for electricity. I think that's largely confined to eastern Canada, where a huge chunk of our power is water-generated. Anyway... I was also pretty stoked to see Moira make it to Canada (also agree that "Welcome to Ontario" is a weird thing to say), and thought Samira Wiley was beautiful to watch through those scenes. Maybe next season we'll get to learn more about her journey there? That'd be cool. Yvonne Strahovski is seriously killing this role. That woman is horrible, but there are moments when the tiny flashes of something still peek through. I was actually impressed that, when she got back into the car after the Hannah outing, she left the glass down for a while. She knew that June would react the way she did (thus her wisely getting into the front seat), and she easily could have just shut it out completely. But she didn't. And there's a little part of me that believes that it was a kind of penance, almost. That she knows she's stooped to a truly low place and is willingly subjecting herself to June's resulting vitriol. Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that June getting to yell at her makes them even or anything of the sort. But it's one of the tiny sparks of humanity that keeps the character compelling, despite her horribleness. Ann Dowd: also killing it. She is also guilty of some truly terrible stuff, but she really does come across like she really believes in what she's doing, and in the idea that all of it is actually for the benefit of the handmaids. It's a basically incomprehensible position, but she sells it, and that's amazing. When I recently reread the book, I was torn between wanting more story and appreciating it being left with so many unanswered questions, but if there's going to be more... I don't think I'm complaining.

Ha, that's funny because all I see when I look at Dean is David Silver. It's starting to make me actually feel nauseous to listen to Lee. The less said about him beyond that the better. If I absolutely had to pick one, it would be Kenny, hands-down, but frankly, I have no use for either of them. Kenny just cannot seem to ignore Lee's baiting (although, given how I feel about having to put up with Lee, I can only assume that pales in comparison to how Kenny feels having to put up with him, so I do cut him some slack there), doesn't seem to understand that getting up in someone's face and hissing at them is not exactly... un-aggressive, and repeatedly tosses around "little bitch" as a way to put a man down, and I'm not cool with that, even if Lee does deserve to be called pretty much every name in the book. I fell a little for Will, though, when he tried to explain to Lee the implications of calling a black man aggressive. It was just so sweet and innocent of him to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that he just didn't know. Will, honey, that fucker knows exactly what he's doing. Finally, I'm a little sad that Jack turned out to be such a dud. On sheer looks, he was actually my favourite. Oh well. Team Anthony now, I think.

And maybe more growing (and living) territory. Right now, the vast majority of our population lives within a fairly narrow band close to the border, largely due for climate reasons. If things were warmer, it might make it easier to expand a little, which might be helpful if we were being inundated with American refugees.

Haha, yes! As for the below, unless it's a super high quality music box, its mirror is probably made of non-shattering plastic.

Same here. I'm an editor and translator, and many people treat me like a walking dictionary — rare is the day that I don't get asked how to spell at least one word — but I have to stop and seriously think about it to spout out the letters out loud, and I too can only do it by effectively seeing the word in my head. I've never actually participated in a spelling bee, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I would fare shockingly badly if I ever did. The fact that you don't get any sort of do-over if you screw up, even if you realize it, also sometimes screws people who clearly do actually know how to spell a word, but misspeak at the wrong moment. That said, I did side-eye a few of the errors. Eric(?)'s rendition of "facade" was particularly inventive. And I will echo all those who find the moments of people just hanging out and being themselves infinitely more entertaining and enjoyable than all the manufactured drama. Can we start a petition or something? Because it's been bad for a while, but this season seems to really be finding new lows in that department.

Seriously. I really wasn't sure what to make of the Commander in the book. He was quite ambiguous there, which was interesting. This portrayal is also interesting. And all credit to Joseph Fiennes. I find him simultaneously inscrutable so I don't really know what he thinks, but also so clearly repulsive because of what he thinks. I still maintain a shred of sympathy for Serena Joy, but the Commander is seriously just 100% awful. Not since the uncle (? stepfather? don't quite remember) in Pan's Labyrinth have I seen a portrayal of such a completely human and completely horrible character. Depends on the collector. Some believe that cars are meant to be driven. One of my exes found the concept of keeping cars locked up and never subjected to the horrors of being driven to be completely incomprehensible. He would definitely joyride the classic car if that's what he felt like doing on a given day. And I think I've just skeeved myself out with applying that part of the metaphor to this situation... That said, as far as June's value goes, and the risk of "damaging" her, so to speak, I think comes back to the Commander's exceptionalism. He knows she's valuable property, and would probably chastise another man who risked his Handmaid in this way, but he's special, so he can make an exception. If it happens to go wrong, well, that's unfortunate, but I expect he knows that he's powerful enough that he'll just get a new one, scarcity be damned. It's just one more element of his own personal ickiness. Seriously! I might as well have been listening to a radio play for most of this episode. Which is especially unfortunate, because the visuals as described in the book are quite striking, and I was really looking forward to seeing them on the screen. Instead I got a lot of shadows that I'm not sure would have even made much sense if I didn't already basically know what was going on. I cannot wait for the current trend of TV unlighting to end so we can turn the damn lights back on and see what the hell is happening.

Glad to hear it's back on... I think. I do hope, though, that they were serious about making some changes — at least enough that they're not just plying the cast with alcohol 24/7 and hoping for the best (i.e. that fun stuff happens, but nothing that crosses anyone's lines). Looks like we'll never truly know what happened, but it really does sound like both participants got too drunk to be getting it on, and, assuming that is indeed the case, I hope that this doesn't completely screw up DeMario's life forever. As for who's responsible if that is indeed what happened, the two of them together, for sure, but also production. Although it is certainly true that no one is forced to drink, it's also true (in some jurisdictions, anyway. No idea about this one.) that the party providing the booze holds a high degree of legal liability in cases where something happens. Bars can be held liable for drunken situations, and even party hosts sometimes, so from a legal standpoint, the show, the network, and/or the resort where this takes place could be legally responsible for any number of things. I guess the point I'm getting at is that unless they legitimately change up the culture of drunkenness and way overserving on this show, they're just delaying the inevitable some more. I guess we'll see what happens... But to be honest, if all this results in Corinne not being on, I won't miss her.

I'm kind of trying to avoid having feelings for or about either of these two unless or until we find out the real story, but I will say that it's really only been a matter of time before something like this happened on this show. When you keep the booze flowing freely (probably freer than the food), throw people together in skimpy clothes with very little to do, and hope/encourage them to hook up, it'd basically inevitable that, eventually, something is going to happen that is morally/legally ambiguous at best. Someone's going to feel uncomfortable with something, and it's pretty much all downhill from there.

The thing with the every leg fast forward was that each team could only do one fast forward. Which is why it became interesting strategically, as teams had to decide when was the best time to go for it. Grab one early and (almost) guarantee yourself at least one first place finish (and the associated prize) but risk not having access to it in a later leg when it might actually save you from being last, or hold off until you really need it and risk getting eliminated before you do it or having to fight other teams for one of the few remaining ones available. It also tended to shake up the placements a little more, rather than seeing the same handful of teams in various orders at the top of the rankings for most weeks.

I finally had a peek at Lauren and Amanda's photos (thought it was probably best not to look at them at work), and yeesh! Amanda's pics are OK, but Lauren's? Good grief. She researched posing in swimsuits and had a pro coaching her, and this is what they end up with? Yikes. Even the ones that aren't just straight up crotch shots, she just stands there awkwardly. So. Bad.

This. So much this. The brief little scenes they show at the end of episodes are pretty much always among my favourite moments of each episode, and they almost always show either a contestant and the lead or a few contestants just hanging out and goofing off. They are among the more genuine moments we see, and I for one find them truly delightful more often than not. Why can't we have more of that instead of the shouty, angsty, stupid bullshit they show us during the actual episodes?

I also wasn't watching closely and assumed the sex was flashback sex, but then came here, where the consensus seemed to be that it was present, and assumed that I was mistaken. Now I have no idea. I will agree that they need to explain the Mexico situation better, because thus far, it's really unclear and doesn't seem to make much sense. Regardless, I think I'm very disappointed in the Mexican ambassador. When Offred was first fretting that she had lied to the ambassador, I was thinking that surely someone in that position is good enough at reading people that she would know it was lies. But then... whether she knew or not, she knows now, and although she seems vaguely sympathetic, her sympathy seems very much of the "well that sucks, but what can you do? <shrug>" variety. As for Fred and Serena... I have to give the show and the two actors credit, because I just can't decide how to feel about them. They're basically despicable, for sure, but at the same time, I can't bring myself to be 100% unsympathetic for the trap that they've now found themselves in, even though they made it and put themselves in it.

If by "a couple," you mean "more or less constantly." If I forget everything else about either season, I will forever know that JoJo's love language is words of affirmation.

But you missed the H. :) I noticed that too, and would not be remotely surprised. No way would I agree to spend one-on-one time with that dude. Not without ear plugs, anyway. Blake, OMG. Just stop. Here's the thing, dude. Lucas is so mind-numbingly annoying that he will dig his own grave. You are not the one c**** in his armour; he is the giant gaping gash in his own armour. While I appreciate the desire for him to leave as soon as possible, or sooner, he's not going to win, and no matter what you tattle to her about him, he's going to stay as long as the producers can convince her to keep him. So just stop, because you're not doing yourself any favours, and you're making yourself an ever closer second on my list of guys I'd like to see gone. The DeMario thing? As someone pointed out, ex-gf has to have had some producer assistance to know when and where to show up, so to that extent, of course it was staged. Not sure how much Rachel knew beforehand. DeMario, though? Definitely blindsided. Or else he's an excellent actor, because he portrayed blindsided very well. All that said, I also think there's more to this story, and that ex-gf is not quite on the up and up herself. The main red flag for me was that she really didn't seem particularly hurt or bothered by the whole thing; just a little vindictive. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, whatever relationship they had, it wasn't a particularly healthy one. Finally, can we have Ashton and Mila provide commentary from now on? Wasn't a huge fan of the date, but those two amused me. Especially Ashton's entirely nonplussed reaction to Whaboom. And Mila's dig at the quality of the show's contestants.

I'm still not so sure. I mean, obviously there's something beyond the borders of Gilead, and there's probably some conflict, because the rest of the world wouldn't likely be down with what happened and is happening in there. But I'd hardly consider the Gileadean authorities reliable narrators as to exactly what is out there. Even the notion of the conflict may not be real, or it could be wildly exaggerated, because creating that opposition to the outside Other is Propaganda 101 (see 1984). So until they actually show us what's on the other side, I'm taking anything said or implied about it with a hefty grain of salt. An additional note, book-related:

I ultimately kind of loved this episode, but it occurred to me that there were a few things it was missing. A legit Emma and Killian duet. I mean, come on. A Charming and Killian duet, like someone up there suggested. Not necessary for plot reasons, but so necessary for awesomeness reasons. The Snowing theme. This one only occurred to me recently, but they've been using this musical theme since the pilot, and yet it makes no appearance in the musical episode. Hell, that should have been the song Emma found inside herself. My music geek heart would have loved that so much.

I don't know if this one counts, because it's so unlike anything else I've encountered that I really don't know what boxes to put it in, but there's a book called I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman, about a teenager or young woman who has spent her entire life in a cage with 39 other women. They end up being freed, and then set out to try to find other people. Much more than that would spoil the unsettling nature of the whole thing. Not sure if it counts as feminist, but it's certainly some combination of post-apocalyptic and dystopian, and it has stayed with me for years.