needschocolate

I almost want to watch the first few episodes again because I found Jim to be so conceited/scary/ragey and thought he was ready to explode any minute, but he doesn't seem that way at all now. I almost think that the show makes them do drug testing so he had to stop taking the steroids he was on in the beginning (no steroids = no roid rage). Was I just over-reacting in the beginning? Judging a book by it's cover too much? Or was he really worse then?

I think they all read it as something would be posted at the location - that they needed to take the items and find a location with a red and yellow flag on it. The same way they have to look around for a clue box. Of course, if could (and did) also mean to bring it the locations posted on the post right in front of you.

If Jon would have played his idol (or if Jaclyn or Keith would have played an idol) there still would have been a tie. Do we know for sure that the idol player be able to vote on the re-vote? Has this ever happened? I just assumed that the 3 vote getters wouldn't get to vote again, and the rest of them would have to vote for one of the other two, because one played an idol. However, now that it was mentioned, it also makes sense that playing an idol keeps you from being part of the tie and you would get to vote again.

I'm not sure the writers thought it was a good idea - when Phil mentioned it to some woman, she gave him a look of "really?" - I think the writers thought bringing the car to the bar would be something Phil would think was a good idea. Phil is all about the moment, the impact, the surprise, and not so much about the big picture or the consequences.. He doesn't think things through.

I liked this episode - a lot. I laughed out loud a few times and thought the gift exchange was sweet. I realized that, lately, my favorite episodes are the ones where they pair up people that aren't normally paired - like Sheldon and Bernie.

It would be extremely difficult to get far in Survivor without lying or at least misleading someone along the way. Players usually have their core alliance that they are loyal to and other players (the alliance of convenience) that they pretend they are loyal to for the sake of their game. So, every season we get those people who tout how loyal they are even when they have gone against people they seemed to have an alliance with - "I was completely loyal the whole season - loyal to the people I decided in my head that I was truly loyal to, even though many others thought I was supposed to be loyal to them, I never planned to be loyal to them, so when I wasn't loyal, that didn't count as being disloyal." Missy had an alliance with Jeremy and Jon. Apparently her true loyalty was with Jon. Jeremy thought she would be loyal to him, but what Jeremy thinks doesn't matter, Missy never planned to be loyal to Jeremy, so in Missy's mind she remained loyal and true the whole season.

As usual, I enjoyed the side comments, jokes and puns - the reason why I look forward to this show every week. But I found the plot to be a bit predictable. I knew Jay would ruin the deal and pay the difference to make it look like he wins as soon as they started that storyline. I knew Claire would get stuck being the only one with a tattoo. And it was obvious that Lily had her own ideas of where babies came from - however, her version was not what I expected (I thought there would be an orphanage involved). I can't decide if we are supposed to think Haley really just chickened out on the tattoo or if she and Gloria were setting Claire up from the beginning. Haley and Gloria didn't seem nearly as drunk as Claire, Haley acted a bit like she was playing Claire, and Gloria was way too encouraging or everything Haley suggested.

I enjoyed this episode as long as I ignored the idea that a jail should have cameras everywhere.

Is Natalie the only one who has given away a reward who was not voted out at the next tribal? I think she was the one who started the giving away rewards theme, too. Jeremy gave away his and was voted out. Jon gave away his this time and was voted out. And I think Alec was voted out the same episode that he gave away his reward. Seems liek there were more, but it is a ll a blur now. It didn't end up mattering, but I thought Natalie was wrong to volunteer for for EI. I suspect she did it so that J/J would have alone time and would think she was doing them a favor (although, she should have pointed it out to them - "I wqill go to exile and you guys can have some time together"). But I saw three potential hazards of her going - (1) J/J would have time to talk and may figure out that Natalie is a threat, (2) Jon may think that there is always an idol on EI and would try to blindside Natalie, and (3) if the reward people come back before the EI person, Missy/Baylor/Keith would have plenty of time spill the plan. Then again, I also thought it was wrong of Natalie to split the vote three ways because it meant telling Missy the plan. I thought Natalie should just have it be 3 for Keith, 3 for Jon and give Keith her idol (with a back up plan in case Jon plays his idol too. But Jon is so bad at reading people that he probably doesn't realize how badly Jaclyn treats him. They are a perfect match - disfunctional, maybe, but perfectly suited for each other. Jon was so good natured as he was voted off and was leaving tribal that I got the feeling he was thinking "I better act like a good sport about this so they vote for me at the final tribal."

I the all contestants, and actually don't remember one on this show that I disliked to the point that I rooted against them (there may have been one or two like that, but they apparently weren't bad enough for me to remember them). I am not fond of the British judge, and the older woman thinks she is more clever than she really is (yummy. yummy. in my tummy. tummy.) I know people who are as happy and peppy as Erin, so I find her believable (at least in the non-talking head segments - more on that later) and she tends to make the stuff I would most want to try. Bill wears his emotions in his eyeballs (they roll so far back they knows what his brain looks like), but I like how he mimicked Erin's voice, then, while she was laughing about it, he was apologizing. The contestants seem to get along well and there is no sabotaging. As far as the talking heads - I can't pinpoint what it is but Food Network competition shows have the worst, fakest talking heads of the shows I watch. I don't remember them being so bad on Challenge, but Food Network Star, Worst Cooks, Rachel vs. Guy, and this show all have a lot of really fake talking heads - like everyone is playing a character instead of just being a contestant. Maybe they ask the wrong questions, maybe they coach the contestants too much, or maybe they are actually scripted. The contestants come off as bad actors rather than regular people competing on the show. I can just imagine a producer telling Erin "can you say that a little peppier?" and, while I can believe that Naylet isn't a fan of peppermint, her talking head made it sound like she never even heard of anyone putting peppermint and chocolate together. Speaking of things that don't go together - strawberries with peppermint (my sil puts a one or two mint leaves in her fruit salad it is refreshing, but peppermint seems wrong to my taste buds), and tropical fruits with pumpkin (they may have holidays in the tropics, but they don't have pumpkins in the tropics). Of the people I know, women tend to have much bigger sweet teeth (tooths?) then the men - the men tend to go more for the fatty salty foods, like chips. But it is just the opposite on this show. Not just with Erin's dishes either. For instance, the female judges thought the orange marmalade was perfect, Duff thought it was too strong and needed something like cream cheese to sweeten it.

If I were a singleton and it was a final three, I would rather be sitting with a couple (ex. Baylor and Missy) that with one of each of two couples (ex. Baylor and Jaclyn. or Baylor and Keith). Loved ones on juries are going to vote for their loved ones on the FTC. plus loved ones on juries will probably try to influence the rest of the jury to vote for their loved one. Also, if you really thought Baylor should win, but Baylor is on the jury with you and Missy is sitting on the other side, you may vote for Missy because she is the closest thing to voting for Baylor. On their other hand, a couple at the FTC may actually split votes, benefiting the singleton. And the singleton gets to play the "I had to be out there on my own since the merge, I had to strategize more." Of the people left, I think Natalie would give the best speech to the jury - if she stays calm.

I am really late to the discussion, but I just have to add my 2 cents ---- The good points to this episode - the unsub was actually a serial killer (well, she had killed more than one person before the BAU was called in) and no torture porn. Last episode, Morgan had to cancel his pre-planned vacation because they have a case, but Rossi can just hop on a plane and leave anytime he wants? The editing was way off in the racing to the airport scenes. The daughter is in line to board and Rossi is still driving. Then Rossi turns on his flashing lights, and gets to the airport gate just as she is about to board the plane. I suppose if you have flashing lights on top of your car, they let you park in the passenger loading and unloading zone, and I guess if you flash a BAU badge, they don't make you buy a ticket or go through security, but he still got there too fast. Did the person in front of her have some issue that made them take 10 - 20 minutes to board? Then the person at the boarding desk says that the plane is about to leave and the daughter has to get on now. And Rossi ends up getting on the flight too! Did they hold the plane so Rossi could go buy a ticket? Is the car still parked in the loading zone with it's lights flashing?

My mother says that if you are going to lie about your age, you should say you are older than you are rather than say you are younger, as most people who fake their age do. If you arte 60 and tell everyone you are 70, they all think you look amazing and marvel at how good you are physically. If you are 60 and say you are 50, everyone thinks "wow, she sure looks bad for 50." I guess it is the same theory with people having cosmetic work done too early, or maybe just having it done at all. I don't know for sure if Jim and Misty have had any cosmetic procedures, but they give impression that they have. And if you give off the impression that you have done something to look younger, people will automatically add years to how old they think you look. Plus, I think most people naturally assume that you don't get that sort of work done until you hit at least 40, so we guess their ages to be in their forties. Actually, if I saw them n real life, I might have put them in their early 50s - but if they were that old, it would get mentioned on the race a lot. I have never been a cab driver, but I would think that when someone gets in your cab and immediately talks about how they are in a hurry and how important it is to them to get somewhere as quickly as possible (in this case,the reason is to win a race), if you get them there quickly, you get a better than average tip. The passengers have mentioned that they are racing for a million dollars and it is not farfetched for a cabbie to hope "maybe if I help them win they will tip me big when the race is over" - there are people there with cameras filming, it wouldn't be difficult to track down the cabbie after the race is over and reward him for his help. Then again, there may be plenty of cabbies that purposely go slower because they find the "I'm in race for a million to be obnoxious, we just don't know they are doing it (they probably wouldn't make it obvious if they are being filmed - they don't want to lose their jobs. Maybe some of the instances of bad taxi luck are really cabbies getting revenge. I guess I am not as overweight as I thought - my socks aren't tight at all. I think it would have been funnier if Jim said, while his eyes were bulging, "it is as tight as my face."

There didn't seem to be more than anecdotal evidence with the soap either - some people in her brother's barbershop like it. I thought the sharks would have trouble with the unsubstantiated claims. I don't think Daymond would have a problem saying - "II want to go into business with you, but I don't want to have to confer with your relatives every time we make a decision." Plus, if he really wanted to just be rid of the guy and was making it up, after the guy left, he probably would have told Laurie "You better enjoy working with his dad because he is going to call him every 20 minutes. I am glad you got stuck with them!"

My luggage isn't very expensive, but we have never had a problem with it and the pieces nest inside each other. Probably takes up less room that if the pieces were separate and collapsed

I got a new appreciation for Daymond when he took back his offer because he felt Laurie would be better for the suitcase guy. He sounded sincere too, and not like he changed his mind and was trying to find a way out (I don't think he would have a problem saying he changed his mind and why). I have noticed at least glimpses of a heart in Daymond, Mark, Robert, and Barbara, but I am still looking for signs of one in Laurie and Kevin. Laurie just seems so insincere when she is trying to sound kind. Kevin is just a pompous jerk most of the time - I know he has shed a tear or two, but I think it was really just his allergies. Oh, think of the catch phrases - "Treat your Lipz to a glass of Zipz" or "Get Tipzy on Zipzy" Hmm, maybe the wine guy can team up with the team shirts people.....

I think Brooke and Robbie ran right past Phil while they were looking for one of the other teams to point them in the right direction. Oh wait, pointing them in the right direction isn't good enough - they were looking for one of the other teams to tell them exactly where Phil was standing.

In comparing Bethany to the Country Singers, I think you hit upon the reason Bethany is not getting a lot of negative posts about her comment about putting the car together being a man thing. Unlike the singers who asked for help many, many times, Bethany has proven herself to be very capable a variety of things, including physical things that some would consider to be "man things" like surfing. She is more capable at some things than most people with 2 arms. This was the first time we heard something like this from her, we know she hasn't played the "I'm a helpless female" card before. Based on what we have seen so far, her comment was the exception, not the rule. So, we natural cut her some slack.

So the daughter knew her dad was at the club because she could hear the music in the background. This got her so upset that she went to the club, followed the guy in her mom's suit and killed him. Then realized that she killed the wrong guy. Two questions - -- If the other guy was wearing the suit, how was her dad at the club? What was he wearing - the other guy had the suit on. -- She followed the guy in the suit, but I thought the guy stepped out of a car and the daughter was on foot. How did she follow him. I am probably just not paying enough attention - or maybe I am paying too much....

One of the things I love about this show is that there is no one perfect strategy. The strategy that won one season might get you voted out pre-merge in a different season. I agree with not liking people giving away their challenge wins. They are just kissing up in my opinion and I don't think most players play this game so morally that they would feel like they owe someone for giving them the prize. However, I am confused by declining the win being passed to you because it would make you go home, unless you are Missy. Isn't it sort of the opposite? Natalie and Jeremy passed their wins to Jon and Jaclyn and Jeremy got voted out, and Jon and Jaclyn are still in it. Then Reed passed his win onto Missy and Reed was voted out (or am I misremembering that?). Seems like there is no problem accepting someone else's win, but giving away your win is bad luck.

They didn't state it in the episode, but Teddy was leaving Alex flowers while she was still with Alec (he also asked her out within an hour of her changing her facebook status to single). However, Teddy didn't leave any note with the flowers, since no one knew they were for Alex, so I am not sure that I would call it "pursuing Alex" it was more like he was setting himself up to look good/romantic if Alex and Alec broke up.

Regarding dropping the backpacks - I thought there had been instances in past seasons where racers dumped their backpacks for the last leg of the race. They had the important stuff - passports, money, clues, etc... - in their fanny packs. So I thought it was okay for them to lose the backpacks, but I was not sure if they could get them back after dumping them - that maybe you could only continue racing with what you had with you on the mat the leg before.

The host's tone of voice is annoying to me. She sounds like she is speaking to a group of kids on some Saturday morning show. This show may be about (very) young designers, but it airs at 10 pm, so the audience is made up of adults.

It would make a lot more sense if Alex couldn't get/keep a boyfriend because of her personality. I could see guys being intimidated or turned off because of her sarcastic put-downs and smarter-than-thou attitude. But that would be hard to write into the show. They would probably end up with a scene where Alex puts guys down and Haley explains that she needs to play dumb. Not only is that a foolish scenario in this day and age (one can be smart without being obnoxious), but I think they have already done it. I still like this show. Stuff like the co-worker sleeping over plot are distracting - what happened to the guest room? - why ask a co-worker to sleep over if you know you don't have a spare bed (it would have made much more sense if she was invited for dinner and was too drunk and despondent that they were afraid to have her sleep alone) - why not tell Lily she gets to have a slumber party in Daddies' room and let co-worker sleep in Lily's room? However, all sitcoms do this sort of thing, I think I just expect more from MF. I still like this show because of all the levity in small comments, all those little "jokes" that one would miss if they don't pay attention - like the way Phil usually answers the phone with a pun, or all the things at the dog bark mitzvah - gravy fountain, etc. - plus the mention of Buster's bris (how does one circumcise a dog?).

I think part of the reason to take out Jon now was because it would be a blindside and he wouldn't play the idol. If they take out Jac now, Jon might actually figure out that he is on the chopping block and play his idol next week, if he doesn't get immunity - and he would probably vote for Natalie as she would be seen as the backstabber for voting Jac out. Or maybe they didn't vote Jaclyn out because they didn't want to spend the next 3 days listening to Jon go on and on about how much he missing Jaclyn.