jrlr

I loved the books so much when I was a kid that I shy away from screen versions completely!

It seems to me that the writers/producers have completely lost all hold on Allison as a recognizable character. She seems to be used by them now not so much as a character but as a device to toss into the story when there needs to be chaos and disruption for anyone involved with her. Allison had good reason to be a shut down, broken-down woman in the first season and I even sympathized with her - but in the intervening four years, one baby and one marriage (maybe?), she seems not to have moved in personal development one bit. I thought the "it's when Joanie turned four" explanation for Allison breaking down again was ridiculous and ridiculously weak. If you're panicked that your second child is going to die at four years old, you do what? Run away? I can't dislike her as much as I dislike Noah, because he is an a-hole to the bone; Allison is more like an irritant that just disappears and reappears like toxic smoke. There's no there there, at least not for me.

When Joanie was a baby she was a redhead, and she resembled Cole so much that Scotty immediately knew she was his, not Noah's child. Now she has thick dark hair and looks like she could be Noah's, even though we know she isn't . I've seen hair darken on young kids, but not change that radically between say one and four years old. WTH?

Dating myself, too, because that made me laugh!

I know Irene Jacob is a critically acclaimed actress, but I couldn't stand her in the first episode. She seemed so loudly on-point about everything and everyone that she came off as smug to me. Also, I couldn't stop thinking "Isn't this supposed to be the Juliette Binoche part?"

I think Erin got her obnoxious special snowflake attitude right from mom, who glared at Tim with a look that could have cut ice when he criticized her daughter's truly awful mess. Not a fan of Erin's anyway, but this was in a category of hideousity all by itself - ugh, that baby blue and horrible lace made me queasy and the coat was, well, the same old coat. Erin needs to go away and get an attitude adjustment. I wasn't crazy about Mah-Jing's outfit, but it really was perfect for his mom. Loved both Rick and Roberi's outfits. Bye Jenni, you won't be missed.

Heidi is a beautiful woman with a great body, but she is not nineteen years old. Her preference for short, tight and shiny is cringe-inducing for me, and why - with her looks - she wouldn't choose a classy and sophisticated style (yes Heidi, that CAN be sexy) is beyond puzzling. That green outfit and those boots - shudder! Who wants to look like a 43 yr. old hooker? I didn't know her sizes stop at 10, but I find that just another disturbing trend to make young women feel like they need to look anorexic. I don't understand why they would put a design-your-own fabric together with a swimsuit challenge, since when all is said and done, you get very little idea of how bad or good the prints may be when they are made into such tiny garments. I didn't mind Tasha's print at all, but the result was not good. Like a poster said above, I had no idea that Jenni and Sarah were different people until last night. I guess Erin is the favorite this year and it's nice to see someone with their own signature style, but no one really stands out for me in this group - at least not yet. I did like the winning look, mainly because it actually looked like a swimsuit and not some tortured effort.

I had a whole lot of problems with this episode, and I'm glad the season is over. Did not buy anything about the mob double/triple/quadruple cross (plus the Eastern European/Russian mob angle has been done to death, no pun intended); did not buy Ray forgiving Sonia so easily, did not believe the drugs-in-the-painting angle at all. I think that Bridget (bye bye) was conveying something with that weird look on her face when she was leaving Ray at the airport, but have no idea what it was supposed to be. And I know that spontaneous remission does occur, but I don't believe Abby's cancer just vanished. Most of all, I'm soooo tired of that worn-out cliche about families always sticking together no matter what kind of crap they have pulled on each other for the past 50 years. I did love that Mickey finally did something right, and I thought the scene with Mickey and Bunchy's old-fashioned gangland style shooting of the mobsters was actually funny - whether it was meant to be or not. And I was very happy to see Avi (and Dog) back in action - they need to give Avi and Lena more to do. But all in all, time for this series to move on - either get better storylines or die a merciful death.

I like his collection. I don't wear a plus size but CS's clothes look like, well, real clothes for real women of all sizes- not only for swizzle sticks. What i really like is how everything from his ripped jeans to work clothes to more formal wear looks stylish and attractive without going over the edge like Ashley did in so many of her pieces.

And meanwhile, seemingly unnoticed by either busy parent, Conor is turning into the potentially biggest asshole of the bunch. Kid should be sent to military school or else, just drop out of school and go to work as an enforcer for his dad. This episode was just plain boring. Everything that happened had the feeling of 'we've seen it before,' from the getting-to-be-really-redundant-pedophile-priests-and-Ray/Bunch/Terry-struggles angle to Bridget being checked out of most reality (although she did actually notice that there was something wrong about Abby, which is more than Ray did) and Mickey's stunningly predictable plans to return to the exact place he's been banished from to fail at yet another fucked up illegal action that Ray will have to bail him out of. Nothing new about any of this. RD seems to have lost its mojo and is just treading water now. Let's hope it doesn't just disappears into the fog of "used to be good."

Abby is a difficult and unhappy person (with some reason, I admit), but her reaction to the diagnosis was that of an idiot. First of all, NO doctor is going to tell someone with stage 0 that she has to have her "tits cut off." Second, the term "stage 0" would have been explained to her in a way that would allay her fears. Third, I know lots of BC survivors (myself included) who simply refused to indulge in panic and self-pity because those reactions put huge, counter-productive stumbling blocks in the already-scary process of dealing with the illness. I've always thought Abby was pretty street smart and controlled, but this made her seem both pathetic and annoying. I hope she recovers her equilibrium and musters up the strength needed to go through treatment. Did Bridget drop out of high school?

I had forgotten so much that I looked up an episode recap to understand why Morse was living in a trailer and chopping wood instead of back at his job. I found the Gatsby-ness kind of amusing at first, then just irritating; and the twins reveal was tortured at best. On a personal note, I've always hated Daisy Gatsby and found this new incarnation just as obnoxious ("Are you falling in love with me? Men do.") as the original.

LOL! But off-the-shoulder sweatshirts, leggings and tight jeans were also in style in the early 80s. Phillip should introduce Paige to Kimmie for some less-hideous fashion advice. :) It could also mean that William's "wife" was assigned, just like Philip and Elizabeth were. So if William returned home, he would be an unmarried man who could find someone of his own choosing to marry.

William did say his wife was recalled to the Soviet Union - I don't remember hearing anything about her being killed (although I immediately thought that that was what really happened). As for Philip and Elizabeth being caught, if that's going to happen it's got to be when the series ends, at which point Paige will be old enough to go to college or live on her own. Or she could be fostered by the Groovyhairs and keep wearing those hideous buttoned up outfits and Henry could be fostered by Stan and embark on an endless period of playing video games.

I love the relationship among the three of them - it seems like there is genuine affection, but then again, Gabriel is their handler and because of that, I'm always a little suspicious about what he is telling them. He does seem to be a little more forthcoming with Elizabeth, maybe because she is more like him than Phillip is, but I really enjoy trying to figure out how much of what is being said is accurate and how much is just meant to spur them on - kind of like what Gabriel did with William (although to me, that was way too obvious!). Langella is one of my faves and has been forever. Ages ago (1970s?) I saw him as Dracula on stage and he was fabulous and sexy. His first entrance when he flings his cape off and tosses it backwards to a servant without even looking was swoon-worthy!

Are Paige and Kimmie supposed to be the same age?

Oops, you are correct! I'm a mystery reader too, but I think I've got a line stuck in my head from a 1970s Agatha Christie parody called Murder by Death in which there's a running gag about "two-two-twain." I guess comedy fiction overrode mystery fiction in my memory!

22 Baker Street is Sherlock Holmes' London address.

Please don't blame your thinking about rape on your left wing family. I came from exactly the same background as you did, and to say that rape isn't true in the majority of cases is neither right nor left - it's just ignorant.

As a nonbeliever, the phrase "New testament for non-believers," sounds a lot like "There are no atheists in a foxhole" to me. Both are smugly dismissive of any idea that doesn't fall in line with believing that all the answers to your cosmic questions will be addressed and explained first and best in the writings of Christianity. The reality is the golden rule in various forms predates any version in the old or new testament. It's seen in Egyptian writing as early as 2000 BC, the Hebrew bible around 700 BC ”Love your fellow as yourself,", Buddhism c. 500 BC "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful," Confucianism c 500 BC “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others” and Socrates.- circa 400 BC “Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others." So maybe the more accurate statement would be that the new testament for believers is simply based on a lot of pre-existing ideas, including the much older golden rule.

I agree with everyone who identified Pastor Tim's church with Unitarianism because that's exactly what I thought when he was talking to Elizabeth. Also, a friend's father is an extremely liberal pastor at a United Church of Christ, which affirms the belief in Christ but also strongly pushes social justice - I think each congregation kind of does their own thing within certain covenantal guidelines, but it's completely not my bailiwick so I'm not sure. This question is not meant to be offensive, but is that phrase "post-literal (when it comes to) theological interpretation" a commonly accepted phrase? It kind of startled me when I read it; I certainly understand what it means, but it's not something I've every heard or read before.

Agree Hiddleston is boring, at least in this part. I think he's waaaay too pretty to be a convincing Bond (or anything other than a convincing male model), but I've never seen him in anything else that I remember; the Pine-Jed exchange of longing glances in front of Roper was idiotic, and Roper would have to be an idiot to miss them. Hugh Laurie was fine up until he strayed into the comic-book villain faces. On the other hand, Olivia Colman didn't make a single mis-step in her expressions, especially when Roper saw her waiting for him in his suite and she finally got to let him know what had happened. For me, Colman made this entire series and without her it would have been unbearably heavyhanded and overwrought, even though it was very suspenseful in parts. Am I the only one who immediately, after loving Roper being stuck in the paddy wagon with his enemies, thought that Roper would just pay off his captors and be free again to wreak multinational - possibly cosmic - damage?

Wow, that was a phenomenal performance by KB, and I was actually relieved that Wallander's son in law softened and broke a bit, because it means that there is more of a family united to care for W in his bleak future in that bleak landscape (to me it's not beautiful, it's depressing as hell, but I'm a desert rat). When Wallander asked the fisherman if Hakon had been depressed and the fisherman said "Like 60 percent of this country?" I was surprised the figure wasn't higher than that.

truther, I think you were lucky running into them in the U.S. In Sweden there are some extremely violent kinda-white supremacist, kinda drug lords, kinda Nazi gangs like the Bandidos who are supposed to be very dangerous. The ones you ran into sound more like the boomer bikers we see all over here in the desert Southwest.

I don't like Paige as a character mainly because I just don't like the actress (maybe if they did something about her eyebrows and put her in jeans like a normal 80s teenager she'd be easier to take), but I do understand her teenage impulsiveness. That includes telling Pastor Groovyhair and his 1950's era wife about her parents, and it includes her taking Matthew into the church with her. Paige's rebellion seems perfectly understandable to me - I came from an ultra-left home and knew from an early age that the only thing I could do to REALLY upset my parents would be to convert to Christianity and marry a Republican (I did neither), so I get Paige turning to tradition and religion to fill some void her parents don't or can't fulfill. I thought her last suggestion about waiting to take the tape was brilliant and it indicated that she is already becoming a spy-ette, if only to save her family or make up for the mess she created. I'm still shaking my head over poor Gaad's demise, but what a great scene. And what was the deal with Kimmie telling Phillip that she discovered her dad is CIA, not State Department?