Cherpumple

I agree, and I was getting really annoyed that they kept asking Delores, "which matters more, this thing or having your grandkids visit?" She repeatedly answered "this thing" without hesitation, so it was obviously not the motivating factor the team was expecting. It annoyed me because I felt like the producers were prodding the team to ask her again and again in front of each of her children, with the sole goal of getting a "shocking" sound bite and giving no thought to pain she was causing her family with her answer. Also, a lot of people on this show had their hoarding triggered by toxic relationships- abuse, violence, alcoholism, etc. They have deliberately built a fortress of trash to protect themselves from harm and to keep people out. For hoarders like this, I imagine that the idea of having a house full of guests is more panic-inducing than an incentive to purge all their protective armor. As Matt was carrying the box out of the garage, she yelled that it as "very fragile" so I assume it was filled with random trinkets. But who knows where she got the box.

Yeah, I definitely heard him say Bor-DEN when the first contestant's response was revealed. It was odd. Now that I'm used to Aaron's delivery, I think he's fine. My main gripe is that he sometimes takes a long time to make a ruling, which throws off the pace of the game. It really goes to show how difficult this job can be and how easy Alex made it look.

I called it Faux Liberace and thought it was amazing and hideous. I couldn't wait for the hoard to get cleared so I could see "the blue room" and "the pink room" in all their gilded glory. And I was not disappointed! I can't even imagine where one would find all those pieces. I agree that there is some sort of mental/cognitive decline going on with Delores. When she was digging through the garage and Matt had to re-explain the master plan to her multiple times, she said she was confused and looked very blank. I'm sure there was some defiance involved, but it looked like she was genuinely confused about what was happening at several points. Not to mention her flat affect. I feel sad for her. I've seen a lot of these shows, and I think the "neat freak turned hoarder" type scares me the most, because it really makes me consider if this could happen to me. Am I like them, just one or two tragedies away from living like this? I honestly don't think so, but I guess you never know. Grief and stress and depression do strange things to people. I can see how the need for control can manifest in both neat freaks and hoarders, so I guess that's one way to go from one to the other (Delores is exhibit A). And I'm pretty sure one of the doctors has talked about how some hoarders have a sense of being perfectionists, which sounds absurd, but it ends up giving them mental paralysis- they can't clean/organize their homes perfectly, so they get stuck and don't do it at all.

That's what I was thinking, especially since they were paid for by another (now deceased) person's credit card. Wouldn't any refund go back to the original card? It didn't make sense. It's not the most responsible choice, but I could get behind Darlene going to Hawaii for a few days if she flew coach and went cheap with hotels and food. The family wouldn't be any worse off financially since the money was a gift, and while Becky is in rehab a rejuvenated Darlene is going to be much more use to them than a stressed-out Darlene having panic attacks. I was shocked to see Molly, mainly because I barely recognized the actress (and I'm normally really good with faces). Her smile looked the same, but from the nose up nothing looked familiar. She Jennifer Grey'ed herself! I was hoping that the "shocking news" would be that she and David are now dating, and was very sad that her character ended that way. She deserved better! But I'm glad she and Darlene bonded, however briefly, and that Molly called Darlene out for her immature insecurities about Ben. Note to writers- I'm more than happy to see original characters make an appearance, but please, I beg you, give ONE of them a happy life! (Becky's friend Michael doesn't count, because he wasn't in the original).

Indira Varma has some of those magical Keanu genes- I saw her in a movie more than 20 years ago and she looks almost exactly the same!

I just watched this and found it to be very interesting. I've seen several of Gates's other documentaries and this one is similar- it covers a very large topic in an engaging way, with the use of many academic experts as well as active members of Black churches (clergy and laypeople) as talking heads. And you get to see many beautiful churches and hear some great music throughout. John Legend is a co-producer, but he only appears briefly, as does Oprah. I was particularly interested in the section about the early years of the church's history during slavery, and the various points of conflict between different churches in the community as time went on- along geographic, socioeconomic, and ideological lines. I also appreciated the focus on the contributions of women (in general and with lots of specific examples) in the growth and shaping of the church. It definitely focuses on the Protestant churches (I think AME and Baptist get roughly equal time, with a little less focus on Pentecostal), but based on your comment I really want to see something about Black Catholicism now. I was raised Catholic, and would be fascinated to learn about the different traditions. There are two brief mentions of Islam in this, regarding enslaved African Muslims, and the much later Nation of Islam, but they're only passing references. For anyone interested in this topic, I highly recommend it!

She was in three, but it was very weird and disconnected. I don't know if it was a scheduling thing, a Covid thing, or a storyline thing, but she was never really shown with "the gang" so her scenes with Kat felt isolated and didn't work for me. I wouldn't be surprised if they drop her if the show comes back.

That was a wild ride! The two challengers came charging out of the gate while Bryce floundered for the whole first round. Then Bryce made a crazy comeback to first place, only to lose it all in FJ. Phew! I liked him and am sad to see him go, but all three players were strong, so I would have been happy with any outcome. I did fairly well tonight. I got the TS of Tiffany Haddish (confident), Wrangler (confident), Bernini (wild guess), and Rood (confident, since "The Dream of the Rood" is one of my favorite Old English poems; it's the story of the Passion from the perspective of the cross). FJ was an instaget somehow, but I spent the remaining time panicking about whether I would need to write "NY" or "New York" and if I needed to draw the heart or write "love". It was weirdly stressful! ETA: for what it's worth, the few times I've said "primer" to refer to a textbook, I'm pretty sure I said "prymer". I think it's because I connect it to the word "primary". "Primmer" sounds very odd to me, but honestly, it's not a word I hear very often.

My heart broke a little for Becky during the restaurant scene as she described her "what might have been" scenario and then it broke a little more as I saw her panic turn to defeated resignation when she drank the wine. Please don't let her relapse! But her friend was great and I would like to see him again, if only to give Becky a touchstone of sanity and good judgment. Dan and Ben are both being jerks. Dan is being extremely presumptuous and entitled with his demand for 25% of the business, but Ben should have said he needed to think about it (and probably talk to an accountant) before making any decisions, rather than jump to personal insults and calling Dan a failure. Yeesh. And I know Roseanne was the queen of the meddlers, but there's something about the way Darlene does it that really grates on my nerves. I think the difference is that Roseanne often played the long game with some element of finesse (like quietly lowering the thermostat to get Darlene to move from the cold basement back into her bedroom and make up with Becky), while Darlene just whines and nags until she gets her way. ETA: I got a little nostalgic when they were talking about the Dr. Zhivago DVDs (loved the Blockbuster covers BTW). Dan and Roseanne reminisced about watching it more than once, and I always thought of it as "their" movie. Awww.

I just kept laughing at the fact that the boss was treating this story like hard-hitting journalism. It was even funnier when I saw that one of their previous issues (in a giant poster behind Ben's desk) featured a bunch of flying donuts. Dude, no one's getting a Pulitzer here. Calm down. I also thought it was odd that in the scenes in the Italia Ricci's bedroom, she had a large window and it looked like she lived across the street from a strip mall or a 7-11. I mean, no shame if she does, but it was definitely a departure from the standard "everyone has an amazing home with a gorgeous view, no matter what their job is" Hallmark style. Just close the curtains!

Aside from "normal" hoarding behaviors, like too much shopping over the years, he mentioned that he owned two (or more) antique/thrift stores, and when they closed a few years ago, he brought all the remaining inventory into his house. This likely doubled the amount of junk stuffed in there in one fell swoop. I did like his mask collection (and the black Santa collection), but there was just no way to enjoy it with all the other crap around. I got claustrophobic looking at the "after" pics, which doesn't usually happen. As I watched this one, I started wondering which type of hoard the cleaners prefer: "gross" ones that are filthy and nasty, but you know everything is trash that can be scooped up with a shovel; or "clean" hoards that are not jumping with vermin, but require a lot more sorting and decision making?

Yes! I've always liked him and am glad that he seems much more confident now. At first I was skeptical that he could pull off a balletic routine, since his style is usually so sharp and precise, but he did wonderfully. I hope he keeps this one for the Olympic year!

Me too. I can't believe he let her sputter on for so long, and I was shocked when her response was accepted. I think I'll just chalk it up to the inexperience of the host; he's fine when things are going smoothly, but seems to get tripped up easily when responses aren't phrased exactly how he is expecting.

During Jackie's storyline I kept getting distracted thinking about what a mess the Lunchbox menu must be. They specialize in stew, but now they serve lasagna, schnitzel, and sushi? Yikes. I love sushi, but would never order it from a place that randomly added it to their menu a week ago. I get what she's doing, but honestly, I don't think those competitors have anything to worry about. There's no way she's doing those dishes justice.

I don't mind Max changing his mind about Kat, even if it's a bit sudden, but I want to have a clearer idea of what caused it (aside from jealousy and alcohol). I think they were going for him being surprised and touched about what she wrote about him in her drug-induced email to Brigette, but that didn't really come through for me. I thought Swoosie looked great in her costume, and loved that it was a tribute to Mr. Mousekers. I really liked the idea of the communal pet memorial, and the celebratory nature of it. I lost both of my geriatric kitties within a few months of each right before the lockdown last year, and would have loved a chance to go to an event like this to deal with some of my grief. It's really hard to convey the emotional impact of losing a pet to someone who's never had one, and I thought this show did a really good job with the scenes focusing on the memorial (excepting the dumb caper with the ashes). I definitely teared up a little bit when Kat read her poem, and I've always loved the song they sung too. This show isn't groundbreaking or hilarious (as other have said, it's loaded with some pretty old-fashioned tropes), but it's cozy and sweet, and funny enough to get me to come back if it's renewed. I wouldn't mind some minor retooling to make it fresher (did her snooty friend completely disappear?), but I'm happy enough with the set-up to go with it for now.