Girl in a Cardigan

I know this is from a couple of day's ago, but it needs to be here too, for posterity 😂

Yeah, if there were only going to be two women in the final, I'm glad that one of them was the final winner. I was really pulling for Jose because he was just such a great guy, not seeming to play a character. But once he was out, I was ready for Rachel to take Tyler down! Way better than the worst guy winning last year! But yeah, having this show start in June and not finish until September really does it a disservice. I had completely forgotten about half of the contestants (even BLAKE SLEDGE!) by the time we got here. I know there were Olympics or whatever, but they gotta run this show straight through, 10 weeks in the meat of the summer.

I'm simply hoping that she didn't know what to say because truly how do you respond to an ex at a funeral, telling you they love you (again? still?), but I really thought this show was better than a love triangle shit. (Especially since they are still messing around TedxSassy and TedxRebecca.) I also kinda can't believe that it's now been two episode and literally no one has mentioned how Jamie totally broke down in Roy's arms in front of the whole team. Like - that has to be addressed somehow, right? I love Isaac taking control of the boys' wardrobe and everyone complaining about the dress shoes. Dani with his hair pulled back was so off-putting! Bless Colin for thinking that all shoes must be waited in line for! I'm glad the Sam/Rebecca thing is over, though I still don't understand how/why neither of them seemed concerned about the ACTUAL issue of her owning the team he plays for. I mean, Keeley brought it up slightly, but it seems like both Sam and Rebecca should/would know there are actual legitimate issues with their relationship. I don't get it. And ugh, Rupert. Whispering to Nate who wants to be a tiger will never end well. I assume this is him going to the Dark Side now? Absolutely fantastic stuff from Jason Sudeikis during Ted's therapy session with Dr. Fieldstone. Not only did Ted find his dad, but his dad did it while he was home/as he came home. Absolutely horrific! And now we know why Ted doesn't quit things. BRB sobbing! I liked it better last season when I could watch the whole season in one day - waiting from week to week is killing me!

I didn't watch last year as I didn't agree that training camp/the show needed to happen in the middle of a COVID surge (in Texas) and I didn't have the channel on cable. This year, I had to upgrade my cable package to keep another channel, so I get CMT again. I thought I had set up a season recording for this show, but apparently I missed the premiere last week. All that to say, that I have no strong connection to last year's rookies as I didn't see their season and once Brennan was cut, there were fewer and fewer vets that I cared about at all. I was a little bored throughout this episode with so many people that I didn't know. I still don't understand why CMT insists on forcing sob stories on us about the new girls. I'm very sorry that KayDiana had identity issues (growing up in the 80s as a biracial person, I get it) and the other girl was in a DV relationship as a teenager, but those facts don't help me get to know their dancing or why I should root for them to make the team. It's so awkward to go from Kelly talking about someone's power solo to someone crying about DV. It was also weird to me that Kelly had a boot cast and scooter for most of the first episode (the "walk out on the field," all of the the showcase, all of the deliberations, etc), but then when she and Judy walked out to announce who they need to "visit with" she was just wearing sneakers. As a person who broke their foot twice, I would think the end of the day, you would want the support of the boot cast MORE, not less. But hey, it's her foot. Add me as another one who doesn't "get" Kat and I'm not sure why everyone thinks she's all that. But I'm a lot less invested in the team than I used to be, so as long as they don't shove her down my throat (a la VK), I'm meh about her. I know this was filmed as the vaccine was becoming more available and cases were going down (before the latest Delta surge), but it was kinda hilarious that they had everyone all distanced and doing everything outside or on the concourse, but we never saw the women wearing masks once as they waited outside the stadium for the first meeting or as they clumped up to enter the stadium, etc. Same with the judges that are taking selfies together, but then spaced out for deliberations, etc. I get that Texas probably had no regulations at that time and I'm seeing things through my California lens, but it was ridiculous to me all the same. Either explain that everyone tested, etc or whatever the protocol was, so we don't need to wear masks or actually keep people apart and doing all the protocol things. But don't have Kelly's VO about not being in the bubble play over the women all scrunched together as they enter the stadium and pass Phil! Anyway, as nice as it was to take a year off last year, it's nice to see how things have changed (mostly for the better). I want to see how the team comes together and the HARD decisions of cutting girls who are good, but not great. Or great, but not extra great. Not girls who can never kick or can't remember choreo from the first night, but Kelly thinks they're pretty. So far I haven't seen that.

Sorry to double post, but we're getting this episode three hours early this week:

Well, I think meeting her will then set up what happens next as we've seen the dynamic between Rebecca and her mother and heard about the dynamic between Rebecca's parents. So if Rebecca's father dies, the impact on her mother and Rebecca herself would come front and center and we have context for how it looked before. Besides, this season seems to be all about fathers - Ted's, Jamie's, Phoebe's, etc, so to me, it makes sense if we now focus on Rebecca's, if he passes and we see what he's left behind.

Why are there so many straps on Kaylee's dress? Is she wearing the little straps that you hang it dry as if they are spaghetti straps? And why a bright red shirt under a blue and purple dress? I know she's "got" man now, but c'mon girl! These Awkward Courtship Photos are FOREVER!

I was actually surprised to see that she wasn't the actress picked to play Ted's wife last year. But maybe one of them needed to be in LA as their kids finish school? (Or have all of the Miller/Lawrence offspring go off to college/become adults because I'm SO OLD?!)

Yes, I was expecting that too! I know that Richmond isn't a team like Chelsea or Man City, but Rebecca is still the team owner and Sam is still a player who clearly does post-game interviews. While the dinner could be explained away as a business diner, when he walked her home and then she kissed him, I was waiting for the flash. I think this relationship is a bad idea for the reasons Rebecca listed plus all of the ways it will be detrimental to Sam's career if/when it comes out, but if they're going to do it, stop kissing in brightly light entry ways please! Also - what did Sam say about the original date when he got back to the locker room the next day? What did Rebecca say about it to Keeley? These two have involved most of the cast in this romance before they knew what they do now, so how did they proceed?? Perhaps it is the way I see Nate now, but he seemed to be noting every secret being spilled (while not sharing anything remotely personal of his own) and I have a feeling that's going to come up later. Especially the thing about Roy and the scouting reports. Nate seems most threatened by Roy, so yeah. I hate seeing Nate in this light now, but I really can't stand him now. Also - just all of the feels for the Roy/Jamie hug and the deafening silence that preceded it. I'm curious now as to Roy's backgroun as well - we know that his grandfather drove him to Sunderland when he was NINE, so where was his dad? (Or his mum?)

And that’s with him searching his name on Twitter. It doesn’t seem like he has an account since no one is coming into his mentions or snitch-tagging him any of this stuff. It would be interesting (in an academic way, not that I actually want to see the spiral)to see how he’d react if he tried to get into social media and engage with “his public.”

I mean without context, it looks like the silly photos they would take back when they worked together 15 years ago. I wouldn’t get too worked up about any Benson/Stabler sex scenes yet. This is just how Mariska and Meloni play when they are at work (for some reason).

This scares me a little bit but after the week I’ve had, I’m ready for whatever they throw at me!

The most generous reasoning for the AirPods I can think of is perhaps translation. It was helpful when I was in a country where I didn’t speak the language to use Google translate to “talk” to people in urgent situations where my dad wasn’t able to translate. But that assumes there is service which is probably not the case. And that he’s not a dbag which is also not the case. 😂

Given this recent Men's Health profile and the resulting photos, I thought we needed a thread to appreciate the man himself. https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a37081725/christopher-meloni-interview-law-and-order-organized-crime/

That was everything I never knew I always wanted. The rest of the plots are silly and kinda dumb (not enough world building to know who the other randos on the trip are yet), but every once in a while, MAGIC!

I also got the "so we're really doing this?" vibe from Sam, not a "wait, WTF?!" during the last scene. As others pointed out, Jaime coming back to Richmond would be a big press deal, so it's not like he'd just show in the locker room (after everyone else) and no one would know. But I'm very curious to see where this goes. Ted wants this for Jaime, but does Jaime really want to make amends and work WITH the team this time? I was more thrown off by the snow. I don't know anything about soccer schedules, but it seemed odd that it would already be snowing in, presumably, the middle of the season, given the tie situation that Ted is trying to fix. From the trailers, it seems like we end (?) around Christmas, but I wasn't expecting winter so quickly.

Interesting post about sex and purity culture (the Duggars are also name checked - though in the section about the Pearl method of child training): https://jezebel.com/i-didnt-want-to-deny-my-husband-his-martial-rights-for-1847361950

All this talk of Roombas and pets just makes me think of this horrible story that stuck with me from a few years ago: https://www.boredpanda.com/robot-vacuum-cleaner-spreads-dog-shit-everywhere/ 🤢

This is my thought as well. I'm definitely guilty of asking my parents to take a photo of me on vacation to post on Insta, but I can't imagine asking them to either take a whole photo shoot at a mini golf place or wait while I set up a tripod to do it myself. I know their Insta is their income at this point, but it's still hilarious and weird and awkward to me.

Season 2 has started filming: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgx0WljXfi/

TVLine also wrote about it here: https://tvline.com/2021/07/15/law-and-order-for-the-defense-cancelled-nbc-spinoff-not-moving-forward/ Still don't really have any details, but it seems like NBC decided to pass before anything actually happened. No pilot had to be reviewed, so they likely were still in pre-production this summer and NBC said no - for some reason. It seems odd given the rest of the article indicates that NBC really wants Thursday night to be all Wolf, all the time, but who knows what happened behind the scenes?

Oof, episode 5 was ROUGH! I still don't feel like I understand what happened with Konnor and her coach or how they were able to move to WOGA so quickly, but yikes that exit interview that she did was A LOT. And the husband too. It was so cute to see Kyla and Madison with Laurie at the gym. Those girls have all been through it and I wish there was more of that to see - the camaraderie between gymnasts who don't have any other elites in their gym, but stay connected to the other national team gymnasts because they are the only ones who get it. I'm not entirely sure why we got the whole family getting ready for the day with Sunisa's coach (I admit I'm biased because I don't find children cute, so I didn't need any of that), but hopefully that comes up later. It was rough to watch those who faltered at Nationals (Morgan, Laurie, etc) start to see the end of their dreams for this cycle. Next week is going to be even rougher to watch, I think, even though I know what happened. (I'd love to know when some of those talking heads were taped because Morgan's "it's not getting easier; maybe I've already peaked; if I don't make the team, my world will collapse" TH was hard to watch knowing that she doesn't now. Is that a hindsight TH made to look at like it happened two months ago or could she already feel it coming before she ever went to Nationals?)

I really hope they are just trying to capture the Mariska/Meloni fans by putting those two shows back to back, but if there's a three-hour crossover premiere, I will riot!

Yeah, she even says something to the effect of like, "if I could apologize" - and I'm like, there's literally a camera crew interviewing you about it right now. You could apologize, explain how you've grown, etc. But instead we get like ten people saying that she was 4th and they didn't pick her even though that's never been how Marta (or anyone else) ever picked a team before. It wasn't just that she "retweeted a picture" but everything that came after as well. She got the "Miss Congeniality" award at one of the recent competitions, so I'm open to the fact that she has grown up in 5 years. But if she's 24 now, then she was 19 then and that's old enough to know what she was doing. Never mind her coaches and the other people from that segment. I'm happy she's an Olympian now (even if that's a dumb way for the US to use the +1 spot), but stop trying to sell me on how you got screwed in 2016. I'm not buying.

Apparently, yes, today only, it's two-for-one at Chipotle if you're vaxxed (or just use the right promo code)! https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/chipotles-tasty-tuesday-offer-and-other-vaccine-incentives/ss-AALQ9sg