klarsonovsky

Really? I think she rocks them. It isn't easy for a short girl to look leggy, or for a 30-something mom to look sexy but not as if she;s trying too hard to be a teenager, and I think Allisan (or however you spell it) does a great job of toeing that line. Agree with many here that her song choice-- again-- sucked, but I don't agree with the "screeching" comments. I heard an incredibly well-controlled voice that was far and away less screechy than any other version I've heard of this song, including Steven Tyler's. Don't expect it to sell on iTunes, but expect her to stay. If--IF-- she and Christina can stick to nuanced ballads from now on, she probably has this in the bag. Adam is great. He's on Team Blake. Expect him to make finals with a fair chance to win. Like him, but... don't really want another Blake country guy, to be honest. Leith is probably my pick to win now that my favorites (as always) are gone. I have always personally interpreted the show's title to be about having a unique, interesting and compelling Voice as opposed to a generic but technically excellent one. Sawyer was probably the only winner so far that really embodied that (although the finals and semis have at least produced a few over the years). I don't vote, but if I did Leith would be the one I'd vote for. Don't know how many will be left after next week-- based on comments here I gather they are cutting one tonight and then making a huge cut again next week? I think we can agree that Shaylah, Nick and Paxton are most likely to face elimination tonight, and none are likely to survive the "bloodbath". Shaylah has a great voice, but it is pretty much always qualified with "...for her age". Adorable, and hope she's proud to have made it this far. Ditto Paxton; he's a sweetheart, but his genre of choice is a puzzler. We just had a winner who specialized in guy-singing-diva-songs. And his best performance was "Break Every Chain", which I guess is technically gospel but sounded to me more anthemic and more modern than anything else he's done (Couldn't you just hear that playing over credits of whatever currently-in-production Black Lives Matter movie is most likely to be nominated for an Oscar?) And Nick? He does a servicable job in a very specific genre-- is actually very good compared to some of the originals-- but is just too blandly appealing for me to get behind. Plus there is no way the older demo who determine the winners on this show are going to keep voting for a guy who does Nick Jonas songs. Which leaves the wild cards. Mary Sarah I think will stay, and may very well make finals. I'm not a country fan, but she seems very popular in that demo and has a legitamately great voice. Personally, I thought last night was her best song choice-- she was more charismatic than we'd yet seen. Bryan and Hannah are both good. They have little chance to win, or even upset any of the 4 front runners, but good luck to them both. Should, and probably will, survive another week. How many will be left after next week?

I think it's more that conventional voters are more powerful than iTunes voters. I've never voted, so I may not have this all straight, but my impression from reading this forum is that viewers have the option to vote up to 10 times in a number of different ways-- call-in, website, text... and can use all of them every week. So the 10x iTunes bonus is a bit of a tease. It's great if you are someone who's probably also appealing to traditional voters (Jordan, Emily Anne) and can help give you a lock on the finale, but if you are someone like Amy or Madi, you might get a lot of people who want to buy your song but who won't necessarily think to vote in other ways. Basically, the 10x bonus of charting well on iTunes is worth less than the 30x bonus of having the Team Blake voters supporting you.

The thing I still completely don't get-- Daryl finding a sign or something half buried in the dirt pointed him directly to the hidden truck? How? I get that it had the name of the feul company, but how does something buried in the dirt immediately make you search behind those trees and brush over there? Why was it buried there in the first place? Seems obvious we'll see those 2 again, so rather strange they didn't bother to tell us their names. Also assume we were purposely not yet shown face of Head Bad Guy (Wade) either because he has a physical characteristic that would ID him as a particular comics character or because the casting is juicy and they want to save the reveal (or both). Just wonder if it turns out that he actually IS a bad guy or not. Only have Daryl's bike-jackers' word for that really. Don't have a problem with Sasha/Abraham match-up. Came out of nowhere, but they've established that both have recently been in the same headspace, and they just spent some pretty intense one-on-one time together-- I can buy it. And I've assumed that Abe and Rosita haven't really been "together" together since he beat up Eugene, so beyond a bruised ego I doubt she'd be super upset about being officially free from the loose-cannon possibly-suicidal emotion suck Abe has been lately. Daryl really needs to work on his recruitment skills. In a world where gasoline is still good after 2 years, I don't really have a problem with unrefrigerated insulin. [also FierceCritter-- enjoy Angel! I loved that show!]

Agree that Ashley was foreordained to make finale based on PR's desire to feature a plus-sized collection, but have to defend her here-- No offense to poster-- just chose this as representative comment-- but my reply: What regular woman of any size who is older than 26 and doesn't live in a fashion capital/work in publishing/regularly attend black-tie fundraising events would wear almost anything you see during fashion week? Runway isn't about practicality or regular women. It's meant to be aspirational-- a fantasy-- and I think Ashley achieved that. Her collection wasn't about what the average plus-sized woman actually wears; it was a vision of what plus-sized women could wear in a world that embraced and celebrated their curves, silhouettes, thighs, busts, even their back fat. A world where "sexy" isn't a size or shape, but a frame of mind. That's what makes Ashley's collection truly new for PR. Sure, we've seen "real women" challenges that involved people larger than model-sized, but as many have noted-- most real, everyday larger women (and designers working with them) tend toward "slimming, covering, camoflaging" type designs. This collection went in a totally different direction. It makes me want to search online for other major plus- sized collections (I don't really have any idea what the norm is), but certainly for this show it was new and interesting, and Ashley undoubtedly benefitted from the fact that the judges basically had no real frame of reference in their critiques. (And I wonder how much the construction issues-- poor fit in busts, misaligned visible zippers-- had to do with not fitting models until last minute? Is there perhaps more variation in measurements and proportions when it comes to plus-sized models?) The others however-- WOW! That was maybe the worst collective pre-finale smackdown EVER! Which basically came down to "Everything we've rewarded you for all season? We totally hate now!" Still think Kelly has best chance at the win. Judges' comments were on the mark, but really Kelly showed her worst 3 pieces-- better styling may be all she needs to worry about. She seemed to have other pieces on her rack that that make her collection come together and make better sense than what she showed. Edmund made a lot of lovely dresses. Don't know what else to say. Candace definitely suffered most from the schizophrenic judging. All season long she was lauded for derivative, costumey pieces. And now suddenly the judges are calling her on it? Based on what we saw of the rest of her collection, her only hope is to fix the styling and ignore the rest of the commentary-- choose to lose with your own vision, or lose with a watered-down version of it.

Just watched and sorry if I'm repeating but after 3 pages of comments I just can't wait any longer to post! Gotta get it off my chest! And obviously the biggest thing is Glen, and I'm only now processing so please excuse bullet point thinking: 1) Agree with many that it's probably a fake-out: -the way it was shot -(for those who watch Talking Dead) the coyness of no In Memorium and the cagey producer's letter 2) If so it's the best fake-out they've ever done, thanks to all the portents of imminent death: -conversation w/ Maggie where he gave Words of Wisdom, told her to stay strong, and heavily implied that she's pregnant -recall of his days as pizza delivery guy -parallels of Bitten Guy's story, underscored by Glenn's "I've got a wife too" -the pocket watch, which I initially saw as a red herring, until -"We all have jobs to do". Chills down my spine. -Calling Rick a dumbass over the walkie-talkie. That's when I almost turned off the tv, because if I don't watch it maybe it doesn't happen! Right? No other fake-out has ever been so built up. 3) That leads me to believe it's actually, ultimately, a double fake-out. My predictions: -we won't see Glen for several episodes a la Beth -Maggie will hold out hope until evidence is found (probably the watch) that indicates his death -she will grieve, reveal her pregnancy, consider giving up, but ultimately soldier on because that's what Glen would have wanted -we will eventually see Glen escaping his seemingly inescapable predicament and heroically making his way back to Maggie through numerous obstacles (and perhaps encountering Enid and/or the Wolves?) -they will finally reunite and all will be well -until Something Bad Happens and Glen sacrifices himself for wife and unborn child and dies for real by the end of the season. I hope it isn't so.

Agree, but also: I do NOT think coaches have advance intel or instructions to turn for certain contestants, but DO think that as soon as performance ends they are probably getting a lot of info from producers-- what leading questions to ask, heads-up on people they should recognize, etc. I don't have a problem with that-- it's reality TV-- just hope I'm right that the initial chair turns are nor producer-manipulated. And it's not surprising that most of those moments go to Blake, because they fit into his Voice persona. *For anyone who watched earlier seasons, this makes me really wonder about Christina's failure to recognize Tony Lucca back in season 2. Did production fail to get her the info on time? Did they decide not to tell her because it worked better with HER Voice persona as the Bitch? Or did they tell her and she decided to wait until after to acknowledge it because it wasn't relevant to evaluating that performance?

Chiming in here because it's as far as I've gotten, and best ep this season to date. Really well put. Rape scenes in general are very rarely warranted on tv or movies, in my opinion, for precisely this reason. The victim is too often just that-- someone whose horrific experience is just a way advance someone else's storyline or give someone else the opportunity to be a hero. This felt organic and truly important to understanding Tiffany as a character. I've seen a few posts from people who don't love Pennsatucky's radical character shift-- from season one crazy virulent bitch to season three puppy you'd adopt from the shelter (the sweet bumbling one who was clearly brain-damaged from too many kicks in the head from previous owners). But this flashback for me made everything fit. Sex for Mountain Dew? Rape as a normal thing you just have to accept? Doing meth with your boyfriend because he actually offers a real if twisted relationship (which you've never experienced since that guy in high school who promised to come back for you and probably never did)? Becoming the face of the pro-life movement because a well-dressed person asked you to? Taking on the role of prophet to your needy meth-head friends? Being adopted by Boo and trying to absorb her excellent life skills advice? It all makes sense when you see 9-year-old Tiffany getting the priceless lesson from Mom that life sucks and you are not in charge and the only way to be a good girl is to submit and not make a fuss. Probably being a crazy virulent bitch in season one was her greatest hour-- the only time she had any agency. In prison. And then she got beat into the ground. Other topics: -Gotta defend Laura Prepon. Totally understand why she bugs, but it really works for me for this character. She's not meant to be likable. I think she really nails the disaffected, I'm-so-much-better-than-this loser she's portraying here. -Suzanne's would-be girlfriend-- anyone else reminded of Amber Benson as Tara on Buffy?

I agree that the likely wildcard will be "whoever is eliminated tonight who isn't named Damian",and if it's Taylor then I really hope so. Frankly it would have taken me ages just to remember the names of all the rest of the top 12 on my own. But reading your evaluation of contestants' chances I found myself thinking, "oh yeah! I really liked so-and-so! I wish they'd stayed over fill-in-the-blank." If someone like Luke pulls out a great performance, particularly if it's accompanied by a short clip reminding audiences of their past highlights, I think a lot of voters might think the same thing. In a field this big, that could definitely make an upset possible.

It doesn't really seem fair that Chris got a song that hasn't been released yet. Most people won't have heard it so he's insulated from comparisons to original, and it has to boost his iTunes sales that the single isn't available anywhere else. Will the elimination be done instantly via Twitter? That will suck for contestants whose fan base probably skews older, like Danica and Damien. (I know they are both in their 20s, but based on song choices I'm guessing their fans mostly aren't) My pick to win is probably Taylor, because in addition to a nice voice, he's the only one who really has his own voice artistically and shows it consistently. We've never had a winner like that, which is probably a big part of why no past winners have really made it big yet commercially (I define making it big as having more than just one single that sells well.). But I really like Matt and when he wins, he will have earned it.

3 eliminated tonight? The only sure saves are Matt, Craig and Taylor. I'm guessing Ryan and Chris are gone. (But they've gotten a lot out of the experience so I don't feel bad) So that leaves 3 on the bubble. I think Luke deserves to be in the top 4, but he seems to have been losing momentum. Damien and Danica both have good technical voices but no real artistic voice. Don't know if there will be a save tonight? I think Danica might be the favorite to join the other three in a top 4. She is the only one in the competition who does what she does, and seems to have a large non-iTunes voting base. Her only Achilles heel is the probability that most of her fans may not be on twitter. I think Damien should go tonight but since he had a great performance with the Adele, I think it will probably be Luke (unless it's a bottom 4 with twitter save, which will screw Danica.) Can someone please post iTunes rankings?

To be fair, the writers and Kirkman were wrong and lacked basic knowledge about how viruses are transmitted to think that the entire population of the world could be infected with the zombie virus simultaneously (or at least within a matter of mere weeks.) There are not enough "bioweapon distribution systems" and smart bombs and drones in existence to make that happen. I think we have to assume epidemiology works differently in the WD universe.

Loved this whole post, but especially these bits. My first impression when I saw the book was also that it was intended for him to try to help Carol. On these "capsule" (or whatever we're calling them) episodes: I really like this format. I like the big group eps as well, but too often they come down to everyone standing in a circle making serious faces while Rick explains what they need to do. I like seeing more of how other characters are thinking, feeling and reacting in these circumstances. And I like the suspense and speculation of watching the different threads of the timeline slowly come together. It's like a novel where successive chapters are told from different perspectives: it can be frustrating if you don't care for certain characters, but the format can ultimately inform the entire story in a deeper way than a more straightforward narrative. On ZA sex and Carol/Daryl shipping: I do not ship C/D and I do not see their relationship as romantic, but in my mind that doesn't necessarily mean that they haven't gotten together a few times over the past few years. Random casual hookups within such a small group could be emotionally dangerous, but physical urges exist and unattached adults who share a close, caring, trusting relationship do occasionally have consensual sex that doesn't turn them into a couple and doesn't jeopardize their friendship. The whole Daryl is a virgin thing seems to have come from the actor and never really been addressed or even hinted in the show itself. Emotionally stunted and inexperienced in relationships, sure, but virgin doesn't automatically follow (especially for someone that age who spent most of his adulthood with Merle-- there is no way Merle didn't seek out the company of accommodating women and no way he wouldn't expect Daryl to prove his manhood in similar fashion). Sex doesn't always have to be a story point or part of a big romance. I'm fine with just assuming it happens more than we see. In my head, if nowhere else, the fact that C & D are so totally comfortable with one another and lack any real sexual tension actually makes more sense if I assume they have a history of occasional physical release/comfort sex that is only incidental to their deep and caring friendship.

You're so right. I think the issue with Daryl/Beth is more about the fact that the character isn't supposed to be more than 20. I personally admit that I have a bit of squickiness when it comes to very young women being with significantly older guys-- or even by just 5 or 6 years. Just because those are such important developmental years, mentally, emotionally, socially. I assume Rosita is closer to 30 so that doesn't really bother me; she's old enough to make informed decisions. (Of course, we could also assume ZA years are akin to dog years, rendering all of these discussions moot)

OMG I am going to immediately visit that thread! Trek touched on this upthread, but I'd already written this so: Now that Eugene has blown his own cover the point may be moot, but I just want to respond to the many posters who keep referencing season 1’s visit to the CDC as a reason that our heroes should know Eugene is lying, and that the writers are ignoring that fact, because the notion that Jenner, as the only surviving staff member at CDC, would be privy to the kind of “classified” information Eugene’s been claiming is absolutely ludicrous. The CDC is a publicly-funded research facility staffed by thousands of civilian scientists and government bureaucrats, subject to massive oversight and transparency regulations. The hypothetical lab Eugene is talking about -- which may or may not be Ft Detrick, as someone (Nashville?) already mentioned--is a top-secret military facility devoted to developing biological weapons and the means to disseminate them (and thus likely circumventing a number of international laws). Those are 2 very different things. While there might be a very small number of top-level CDC administrators with a security clearance high enough to know about Eugene’s lab (if it exists), they would not be likely to include scientists such as Jenner and his wife. The only reason anyone at CDC would have that kind of clearance would be to ensure that the results of any relevant research were made available to the “top secret lab” as quickly as possible (ie long before the protocols could be met to legitimately publish scientific findings), and possibly to direct/encourage research in the directions required by the “top secret” people—and both of those things would be considered entirely unethical and possibly illegal without the protection of some type of wartime/anti-terrorist military sanction. This is not something that even the most senior civilian scientist at CDC would be expected to have. And I also want to say—the herd blocking the road was nowhere close to the number shown that kept Michonne, Daryl & co from the veterinary college. Many viewers saw a cattle yard, but my impression was that most appeared to be behind the walls of gated communities on either side of the road. It can’t be said often enough—cover yourselves in zombie guts! That should get you halfway through at least and then just start fighting- it really didn’t look like the number of walkers actually in the road was more than they could handle.

I was fine with this episode. If Abraham, Eugene, Rosita and Tara are going to be hanging out for a while, I was happy to get a better sense (finally!) of who they are. I was also fine with last week’s episode—I’ve been insanely curious about what happened to Beth. I didn’t think the explanation was terribly coherent, but it was no LESS coherent than “How the Terminus crew became cannibals”. I actually kind of like this format of discrete stories. Sure, I miss some of my favourites, but I feel like it gives us better STORIES, which have always interested me more than the action. (Don’t throw sharp objects, please, but: I actually LOVED season 2!) When the group is all together, so many characters fade into the background. If Rick is your favourite character that may not bother you. But I personally am interested in seeing how all the different personality types deal with this new reality. I agree. The rape story might have factored in the comics and into the motivation of Michael Cudlitz as Abraham, but it was NOT a part of this story. Viewers can choose to believe that his family was attacked, or that the men Abe killed were threatening them, or that they were simply raiding supplies and Abe saw that as a potential threat. All we know is that Abraham believed he was acting to protect his family, and his family found his capacity for violence to be just as threatening as whatever else the Zombie Apocalypse had to offer. I did like Rosita in this episode, but the scene that sticks with me isn’t this final one—it’s the previous scene where she suggested they wait a day or so before continuing on. He didn’t respectfully persuade her that it was better to continue—be lashed out and pretty much called her a baby and a coward for even considering a delay. And she immediately caved and toed the party line when Maggie made the same suggestion. What got me was the creepy, smug way he said, “you heard the lady”—like his satisfaction came as much from imposing his will on Rosita as from just getting his way. It actually made me rethink the earlier scenes with his family. I’m not saying Abe was an abuser—just that the show didn’t do anything to make me think he wasn’t.