zenithwit

Makes sense that former female inmates would have a somewhat well-functioning collective with limited resources. Wouldn't want to be one of those guards though.

The actress who played the escrow woman in the club also plays Kamala in Never Have I Ever on Netflix. In Never Have I Ever, she has a thick Indian accent so hearing her here with an American accent really took me out of the episode. She seems like an up and coming actress so I was kinda surprised that she would do an one off guest role like this (i.e. one that doesn't have a lot of meat to it). It almost makes me wonder if we'll see the escrow woman again but that seems doubtful based on where she and Connor ended their conversation.

Season 2 is returning on Oct. 11th on HBO Max. Here is the trailer:

RIP Weird Al I think the concept behind this show (and comic book) is really interesting. But as others in this thread have pointed out, it feels like a lot of the female characters are behaving "like men". I know the writer for the comic book is a man so maybe the issue with this universe is that it's from the male perspective to begin with? That being said, I do think that if such a catastrophic event happened there would women grabbing guns and rioting (we know from the pandemic that raiding grocery stores would definitely happen too). But I think there would also be a lot of cooperative communities that would emerge as well. Women tend to be caregivers of their families. Even if that might be rooted in gender roles, I don't think those tendencies would go away. So I could see a lot of women wanting to find and bring together their family (mothers, grandmothers, sisters, etc). From there, I could see multiple families joining forces to build a local agricultural based economy. I really would like to learn more about this world and have so many questions. What would happen in countries where women are significantly oppressed? Would women in countries like Saudi Arabia stop wearing the full burka? Lastly, I hope they flesh out Amber Tamblyn's character a bit more. Her whole identity was based around the men in her life (from her president father to being a "boy mom"). To lose all of the men in her life must be causing a huge identity crisis on top of grief she is experiencing. Maybe her desperately clinging to her patriarchal values is how she's coping with everything but it would be cool if the show acknowledged that.

Just noticed that Honey was in this Todrick Hall commercial for Samsung:

This docuseries really hit home for me. While I personally wasn't LuLaRoe's target audience (like @greekmom I thought LuLaRue leggings and clothes were hideous), many of my high school peers were. I think at least 10 of my high school classmates became retailers at one point or another. It felt like every time I logged onto Facebook, I was being invited to a new LuLaRue group. Not surprisingly, all of them were women and I think most of them were stay at home moms too. 100% this. We really did not get any representation from the "80% who did not make any money" (stat from the MLM expert). While the women they interviewed gave good information about the culture and inner-workings of the company, they all seemed to be amongst the earlier retailers and were making some sort of profit. At times it was difficult to empathize knowing that they were churning a profit when so many weren't. I guess they were being pressured to buy more inventory with that profit but that still feels like a business decision within their control. I'm kinda curious about the future of LuLaRue (i.e. will it go out of business or become a more stable MLM like Mary Kay). The amount of growth they experienced within a couple of years was off the charts and they clearly burned a lot of bridges in the process. Unless they pivot to a slightly younger or older demographic, I just don't see how they can maintain a customer base within my peer group.

I don't mind Tom as much when he is more of a background character. And I honestly would have been okay if his character arc was a few episodes as Jane's boyfriend. But I hated when he became Daria's boyfriend and the resulting falling out between Daria and Jane. I get that this sort of situation happens with teenage girls but Daria and Jane's friendship and banter was such a bedrock for the show. So losing that really impacted the show (for me). To this day, I cringe watching "I Loathe a Parade" because that's when Daria clearly starts to like Tom.

The whole series is on Paramount+ and I own all of the DVDs (including the two movies). So my sadness isn't so much about not being able to watch the old episodes but more about wanting to immerse myself into that universe again and seeing the characters* in new situations. *I should add the caveat that I would want all of the characters back except Tom. He sucks.

I miss this show 😞

I'm about halfway through the series. I'm not on TikTok but also curious about the seemingly overnight celebrity of the platform's top influencers. Clearly no one truly knows how Charli and Dixie managed to amass such huge followings. But if I had to guess, I think it's because they're basic. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way. From what I can tell, TikTok is really geared toward trends (and dances) that anyone can do. Charli truly embodies the average teenager and I could see how she might represent the concept of "if she can do it, so can I." Also, it sounds like she was an early user on the platform so she may have gained some traction just being a big fish in a smaller pond. Overall, Charli seems very sweet. However, Hollywood and the public can be vicious. But there does seem to be a recent cultural shift around the mental impact of being a celebrity. Hopefully she continues to have a good support team going forward (and that she is treated with the same level of consideration as other non-social media celebrities). The only major eye roll moment for me was in the first episode when the parents were complaining during their business manager's presentation about how there was no time for Charli to just be a kid. While that concern is completely legitimate, that is under their control. Presumably they hired the business manager to create business opportunities and make millions of dollars for them. Don't be surprised when he does just that. If they are concerned about the schedule, they need to be willing to say no to certain opportunities (which means losing money).

When she first started talking about being from Kentucky and the bandana, I thought we were going to get some sort of Farmer/Cowboy & LA Streetwear fusion but then she went down the route of stereotypical LA gangster. She made the rookie mistake of presenting something that she thought the judges wanted rather than something that was a true representation of herself (and the latter would have been WAY more interesting). Her defensiveness throughout was very frustrating.

Congratulations Kylie! I thought her runway look was really beautiful (I like Eureka's as well). You could almost see the girls producing themselves at the end. "What do I need to say or do to get Ru an Emmy?" was written all over their faces. Agreed. Thinking back to some of the objectively better songs/performances ("Read U Wrote U", "Category Is" and "Kitty Girl"), most of the verses were about how good the queen is and how they are going to get the crown. I guess "I am American" may have been the turning point with incorporating a platform into the verses but it still wasn't heavy handed (and I'm pretty sure Aquaria's verse was all about herself lol).

Apparently I'm the only one watching this show lol. That's okay, I don't mind talking to myself. I was surprised when Kai said that he had never designed women's wear before. Maybe I've watched too much Project Runway where the designers always freak out for the obligatory men's wear challenge so it was funny to see the opposite scenario play out for once. That final challenge was really meh. Giving only a day and a half to create a cohesive collection from the past 7 disjointed challenge briefs plus 2 new looks just doesn't to be setting up the finalists for success. And why did it have to be a final two? There didn't seem to be any special constraints or limitations for having a third person in there. I'm surprised that a show with HBO money wouldn't be able to throw some extra cash and a few weeks at the designers for a better final runway collection. Is Offset's schedule that busy? That being said, Dapper Dan was awesome and really seemed to connect quickly with Kai and Justin in an impactful way. He would be great in a Tim Gunn-type mentor role. Anyways, congrats to Justin for winning. I was kinda surprised that Kai didn't win because the judges have been drooling over his stuff since episode 1. But Justin did seem to have a unique vision and his patchwork was pretty cool. You could really see how Justin's grandmother inspired him with those flashback photos with the quilts. Manny made an offhand mention to "future seasons" at the end. We'll see if that happens lol. But if it does, hopefully they clean up the format a bit. (I'm still not 100% sure what a co-signer means in this context.)

The thing I'm still confused on is how exactly Esme got canceled in the first place. Zoey was an intern at her company working on the sketch while physically located in the company's office. Most companies require employees to sign agreements saying that anything they produce is the company's property. Are the rules different for interns? Regardless, I don't see someone like Esme rolling over so easily. It would take a PR person 30 seconds to write up a statement saying that the original sketch was part of their internal design process (even though we know it wasn't). Plus, I'm sure Esme has access to better lawyers than Zoey to field any legal challenges. A third option that no one thought of was asking Esme to pay a flat fee for the design outright or for a cut of the profits from the jacket sales. Not only would this be giving Zoey credit and compensating her appropriately for her design, it would also set a precedent for any similar situations in the future.

I'm pretty sure that Tia Mowry was the guest judge present for the first Rudemption lip sync (Jiggly vs Serena ChaCha). According to Wikipedia, she was the guest judge for the third episode when Silky got eliminated. So it looks like both eliminated queens were given at least a week to prepare (except for Eureka). On a side note: I went back to the Pandora vs Silky and Silky vs Eureka lip syncs and Charlie XCX was present for both of them. So that panel saw two Rudemption lip syncs which means that Silky had to flip her costume and makeup the same day (same with Eureka). Maybe that partially explains why Silky was off her game for the last lip sync? Though Silky still would have had an advantage over Eureka since she knew what would happen if she won another lip sync.

Breathing a sigh of relief that Ru chose to bring back Eureka over Silky. Though I'm sad to see Trinity go. Honestly, I thought all of the monologue performances were on par with each other. So I wonder if Eureka benefited from going last (and being the freshest in Ru's mind) and Trinity was at a disadvantage going first. Did we not get a Drag makeover challenge this season? I'm guessing it was too much of a covid risk to bring in that many outsiders but I always liked that challenge. At this point, this is Kylie's competition to lose.

I'm guessing that they'll have to change up the twist ending for season 2. Or find a bunch of recruits who have never seen the show - which shouldn't be hard considering that there is only one season on a paid streaming platform. What better way to get babies that look exactly like you other than by mating with someone who looks like your brother? Lol In all seriousness, I thought Sarah was very sweet but unfortunately also very naive. And Garrett played her like a fiddle. Hopefully she will meet her "nice guy" after this.

Just finished the episode with Cardi B. I'll try my best to summarize my thoughts so far on this show... So this is pretty much the same format as Heidi Klum's & Tim Gunn's Making the Cut where the designers have established brands and they utilize seamstresses via tech packs. What I like about that format is there is more emphasis on the designs and less whining about fit issues. What I don't like is when the designers complain about the seamstresses' work. There is a lot that I don't know about streetwear. When did "fashion" become a dirty word? In general I'm having a hard time telling what is good and what is bad... except for Caroline's wannabe LA gangster red bandana jacket. She looked so awkward in that jacket and clearly did not understand the brief in that challenge. And she only made it worse by continuing to double and triple down on her viewpoint. I wish we had more challenges that were different from design a hoodie or jacket. Other than Jolleson, have we seen a dress? Speaking of Jolleson, I know his first look wasn't the best fit but I really wanted to see more from him. He seemed to have a style different from the other designers and I was interested in seeing more from his point of view. Also, I really felt for Murph and didn't think she should have been eliminated in the first episode either. If this show gets picked up for a second season, I hope the show brings her back. I thought Cardi B was a really fun guest judge. I would definitely tune in if she shows up again.

What a short season with only six episodes. This limited number of episodes really seemed to do this show a disservice. As others have commented, all of the storylines were surface-level and we really didn't get any depth to most of the characters. One thing that I felt was a bit of a plot hole was why didn't the full clip of Bill from his lecture with the Nazi salute ever come out? There were several students filming him and I can't imagine they would be coordinated enough to only agree to release the same 2 second clip. Of course doing the Nazi salute was dumb but I could see a slightly more sympathic student release a longer clip to show that there was some sort of non-white supremacist context. Could it also be a redirect from when the younger student (who gave him the pie) went to his house and asked about his publisher and if he could read her manuscript?

Sure, it's Ru's show so she can follow whatever rules she wants (and she clearly poked fun at that this episode). But Ru and this show have made Drag a mainstream form of entertainment. The queens that do well and/or have a good edit on this show can go on to quite lucrative careers (Shangela is a great example). So it's understandable when Jan fans or Scarlet Envy fans or other fans get frustrated when they feel the show is short changing their queen. 100% agree! Also, I kinda wonder how long Trinity, Rajah, Ginger and Kylie had to sit there watching all of the battles.

I never like the All Lip Sync battle episodes and this one did not change my mind. At least they tried to make it a bit more engaging with the commentary from the girls. But I guess I should have seen it from a mile away that Ru's favorite would take up the majority of the episode. I'm hoping that it will be Eureka coming back but knowing Ru, she may call it a tie and bring back both. That being said, I will give Silky props for the wet bar gag and the gender-bending performance. I really enjoyed both of those performances and thought Silky did a good job switching between her two characters in Barbie Girl. But after awhile, the prop thing became predictable and not as effective. I really felt Eureka's emotions in that last sync. You could almost see the moment when Eureka switched from giving her regular lip sync performance to having a complete emotional catharsis on stage. Also, I thought the final words Ru said to Pandora were very sweet.

Yeah, Zoya probably could have been a bit more polite at dinner but I got the sense that Malcolm McDowell's character just viewed her as a mouthy teenager and wasn't really phased by anything she said. The thing that got me was Zoya practically expecting Obie to put her (someone he has only known a few months) at the same level as his mother. On a side note: there's no way someone as rich and paranoid as Malcolm McDowell's character (who pays a restaurant to shut down and brings in his own staff) would be cool with someone he doesn't know being invited an hour before the dinner. Realistically, Zoya probably would need to go through a background check before meeting him. I think they are long-time (very successful) business partners. It seems Obie's mother is in real estate and Aki's father works with her to get whatever space he needs for his business. I guess that explains why Aki is so diplomatic lol. But in all seriousness, I think Aki may actually be richest out of the core group? I would have never guessed that prior to this episode. His more mellow personality doesn't quite match his father's more machiavellian personality (I guess he takes after his mother which would make sense). That was a big WTF moment. Another one was when the teachers saw the video, their initial reaction was how the other teacher could lose his job. Uh guys, you just discovered your colleague is a sexual predator. Maybe that should be your focus?

I decided to start rewatching this show recently and I'm currently in the middle of season 1. The acting is even worse than I remembered but the hair and makeup is still on point. Also, the plot really starts to decline after the 10th episode or so. I'm still scratching my head on how they managed to stretch this out for three seasons. I'm debating if I'll rewatch all three seasons but I kinda want to see Shelby's smoky eye look again (which I think was in season 3?).

Wouldn't it be feasible that the school/parents think that the teacher who was fired is still the one behind GG? From their point of view, just because they fired her doesn't stop the GG account from continuing to post/exist (most of their leads are from the students). Not sure what it would take to suspend the account. An appeal to Instagram? Though that does beg the question about why the school or parents didn't give up the fired teacher's name to whoever after the gun incident. And it still doesn't make sense why the fired teacher is protecting the others.

I was hoping that Pandora would have done Kathy Griffin as a wink and a nod to when she came out on the runway looking like Kathy Griffin in front of Kathy Griffin. Also, while Kathy Griffin is more abrasive than Carol Channing, I would think doing another female comedien would be a bit more in Pandora's wheelhouse than Kim Cattrell.