BBDi

I definitely don't think they should try romance or marriage again. But I do think it's possible this process caused her to change, although who knows whether it will last. I'm sure what her romantic history has been, but my guess would be that a difficult person like her could have first dates that never lead to second or third dates, or dates that never lead to relationships, etc. I would imagine that when that happened in the past she just blamed it on the guy and never really had to see the consequences of her behavior. Basically what she has heard from Neil is that her behavior and attitude were so bad that it turned him off to her, so much so that even when she had a change of heart it didn't matter. She seems to realize that she deserved it. Of course social media suggests that she hasn't turned it around completely. But I do think maybe she learned something.

I thought Sam's issue with Neil is that he was more open and engaging with her off-camera (maybe to the point of challenging her on stuff) but then would be extremely neutral or at least very diplomatic on camera. She said she liked the "real" version better. So I dont think the issue was that he was an awful person offscreen. I wonder if he saw even more crazy offscreen than we did onscreen? Maybe he just saw so many red flags in her behavior that when she started being nice to him and liking him it just didn't matter. Seems like he was constantly playing defense and trying to work around her for the first few weeks. That doesn't leave much room for building a relationship when you are just trying to "manage" the other person. Not to excuse him or say he's flawless. I don't think his communication skills are great.

That NY Post article was very interesting. Neil definitely has that detached, analytical thing going and he sounds like he is being as honest as he can about his feelings without being cruel. For example, that Sam became more attracted to him while he became less attracted. Sam sounded so normal and sincere in that interview. Is this just part of a mood swing? It's hard to believe that someone changed so much in a relatively short time, but if she did more power to her. I didn't care for the way Neil delivered the news but I wonder about editing too. Or perhaps if he was asked something like "Neil, you've said all along that you are committed to the marriage. What is your decision?" Then he says "I am committed...to getting a divorce." It doesn't sound so harsh that way. But maybe there was no editing and he had just run out of f**ks to give.

I could never see the two of them together. David seems like he would want a girlier type of woman, someone kind of princess-y - unlike Sam. And I don't think David - though he seems like a decent person - would meet her manliness criteria.

I really don't want to believe it but I guess it could happen. So in real time the 6 week period ended last August, right? I guess that's enough time for something to happen between them. If she's just making up shit in her own, however, she's even crazier than I thought. ETA: When does the reunion show air?

Hmmm. Well I haven't seen pt 2 yet so I don't know how it comes off, but I wouldn't have expected Neil to be unkind. It's especially confusing given the suggestions on social media that they are at least friends. To phrase it that way sounds like there's anger, whether at Sam or the show I'm not sure.

I Ike Neil a lot so I tend to interpret what he does in the most favorable light. I feel like he went along with Sam throughout the six week period and then when it was over, considered everything that had happened when making his decision. I do think he takes marriage seriously, and I'm guessing that he realized when Sam started acting affectionately toward him that it was just the other swing of the pendulum. Meaning that if he stayed married to her he was likely to see more of her original behavior again. Maybe he also came to the conclusion that she is somewhat emotionally unstable. With that said, I would still be interested in hearing whether he actually started feeling more warmly toward her and seriously considered staying married to her.

Sam could finally be having her psychotic break.

Is the SM coming from both sides, or just Sam's? I'd hate to see him choose divorce and then take her back, though I'd love to see them be friends.

What I looked at Fred Goldman then I saw an ordinary looking man with a ridiculous moustache, caught up in grief, who over time I came to appreciate as actually one of the more dignified people involved in this shit-show. I was still a fairly new parent when the crime happened, but now one of the things I really appreciate is that he tried so hard to make people see Ron as a real person deserving of respect and attention. Just looking at Ron superficially, he sounds like a good looking, friendly guy who wanted to have a nightclub or a restaurant - the kind of guy who is a dime a dozen in LA. Very easy to dismiss, but Fred and Kim managed to make him seem like a real person who had a full life ahead of him. I understand the attention being on Nicole because she was OJ's target and without that situation, the murders would not have happened. But if Ron were my kid I'd damn sure want to make sure people did not see Ron as less important than Nicole.

Wow, so my spoiler was right after all. I remember when I first heard it, it was kind of a no-brainer, but Sam's recent behavior led me to think otherwise. Good for him. He's a smart guy and probably realized there's a fundamental problem with her.

In a recent interview Marcia talks about her perm and says it was all about having "wash and wear" hair. If you've ever had a perm, you know what she's talking about. You get out of the shower and maybe a scrunch it with your fingers and you are good to go. Looks the same every day - there are no bad hair days, except for the fact that every day is a bad hair day. Prob seemed like a good idea at the time for a single mom with a demanding job and 2 little kids. You can tell from her clothes that she wasn't particularly fashionable. I doubt she made a ton of money, either. I know hundreds of very smart, accomplished women who love their work and just don't think that much about their exteriors. I fall into that category myself. So I feel you, Marcia. It shouldn't matter as much as it does. But it does. I have a female relative who's dealt with the same stuff, but she's in private practice and makes shitloads of money and just outsources caring about her appearance to others. Ironically, post-OJ Marcia figured it out and looks quite different.

So on another subject...Back in mid January I saw a friend and we got to talking about crap tv. I mentioned this show and she said omg I know someone whose friend/relative went on that show (I'm trying not to give away the source). I was all like, who? It turned out to be Sam. The source was at the wedding and is close enough to Sam that she should have accurate information. My friend said, oh yeah, they got divorced right away, like right after the wedding. My friend had never watched the show so she didn't understand the timing, so I don't know if that literally meant right after the wedding, or maybe just at 6 weeks. Given that my friend doesn't understand how the show works, she didn't ask the questions I would have and prob won't have any opportunity to ask follow up questions. So since she told me this I've been confident that they would divorce, but now I'm not so sure. I wouldn't put it past Sam to think it would be a fun prank to have friends/relatives spread that they were divorced even if they had stayed together. Or maybe they did divorce and we are just seeing nonsense, something happened and they decided to keep trying. Who knows?

He sounds like he was a caring and loving father, and I think that's how they remember him. I don't take anything Kris J says at face value, though. I think maybe because Robert was a regular guy with a professional job KJ uses him to lend an air of respectability to the family. (Like, he actually worked for a living.) At the same time, KJ gets the benefit of being able to claim a certain moral superiority bc she stood up for Nicole while he defended a murderer. I am guessing the kids really loved him and that his memory is useful to KJ.

Though the cat is a lot cuter than Ashley, I think.

Ashley and David remind me of Pepe le Pew and the cat. At this point I just laugh when they are on.

Well he certainly sounds like he has convinced himself that OJ is innocent in that interview. If so, I wonder at what point he stopped believing?Watching that interview reminded me why I had such a low opinion of him.

I know, right? How long could it take to say Hell, no 6 times?

In the copy of the email that was pasted his mom said that he really wanted to get married and settle down. It's toward the end of the email. I can't tell if that's in general or specifically with Ashley. It's right there in the email that was cut and pasted. Sounds like he was reluctant to go on the show, though. That doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't want to get married. Also wrt Tinder - I have 2 daughters in their twenties who have met and dated (not hooked up with) men from Tinder. The oldest dated someone she met there for >8 months and the youngest has been with her guy from Tinder for >1.5 years. I asked them a lot of questions about it due to my lack of familiarity and inherent discomfort with Tinder and they said that some people use it to hook up while others use it to date. So I do not infer anything about David's intentions from that.

Yeah, I think the blank canvas idea must have been part of his appeal to the writers and there's no living 2016 version of him to invite comparisons. I grudgingly accept that this is just the choice the writers made to hang the story on. I do object to the idea of him as some kind of moral center to the story. He was more of a stooge in my opinion. That might make him a reasonable stand-in for the viewer, in that so many people have OJ far more credit than he deserved based on his football prowess, looks, and fame.

Well, it has not been brought up on the show - if it had I would expect David and the producers to address it on the show. It's just rumor at this point. If it's true perhaps he will discuss it in some venue. I'm of 2 minds about it myself. I feel that the show absolutely is obligated to do a very thorough background check before they put 2 strangers together. If they didn't, they fucked up. I wonder if there are things in the other 5 contestants' pasts that haven't been investigated or disclosed either. At the same time, if it's true I don't think an incident like this in the past with no subsequent incidents is a huge deal - though would be worth disclosing to a partner.

I don't think that it was that benign, at least Nicole apparently did not perceive it that way. There's a quote from Nicole on one of these threads to the effect that Kato was part of a pattern of Simpson taking her friends away from her, or getting them on his side, or something. After Kato moved into Simpson's guest house, Nicole would not see him or speak to him. OJ offered him a guest house rent free, and didn't seem to expect anything in return from Kato, vs Nicole collecting a small rent from him, and him helping her with things. Kind of an offer he couldn't or wouldn't refuse. Also keep in mind that Kato was Nicole's friend and that he and OJ did not have a friendship independent of Nicole. I'm guessing that if Nicole had stayed friends with Kato, OJ might have thought he could pump Kato for information about her. When you put all that together it looks more like controlling spouse behavior rather than a favor. ETA But I also think that looking like a nice, generous guy was important to OJ.

I'd like to think that OJ is really pissed off now knowing that someone who is relatively unimposing and not so good looking is playing him in the show.

It is a good illustration I think of how weird and multilayered our racial issues are. The implication was that by making him darker they were trying to make him seem more menacing and playing on readers' associations. But it's inherently racist to equate dark with menacing, and those very assumptions are racist So even just the assumption that they were trying to make him look like a "bad" man by making him look darker is so inherently racist and f**ked up. I know I didn't express that well but hopefully you know what I mean. I guess I'm trying to say, yeah they shouldn't have tried to make him look darker, but how messed up is it that people are assuming that being darker is bad.

Re ClareWalks' post, that is one of the things that mystifies me about Ashley. I mean, what does she care about? She seems to have given no thought to how she would look on screen, in her character, personality, and appearance. I guess all she was thinking about at the time was getting through the six weeks. So weird to me.