phoenics

I was finally feeling like the show was slowing down and letting the characters breathe and then welp lol. I’m warming up to Angela and Nikki came through. Leah is too much and i see she’s supposed to play ice Queen to Angela’s warmth but it’s not landing - I don’t see why she has to hate Angela. Is that because of Teddy? Tyrique is clearly just the help to the Franklins. Still. But the show is growing on me - the Taylor, Nikki, and Lauren triangle is sooo cute - all 3 girls are so adorbs - I’m sad someone is gonna be hurt because I just wanna protect all 3 of them. I love the shade diversity on this show too and the production appears to be improving. Teddy is using Darman as a front for all his shady stuff which is why he won’t let Jermaine see the financials. I do wanna thank this show for giving me the aspirational wealthy fix I’d been looking for (Bel-Air does too) - shame the new Gossip Girl is failing at this so much. The show is slowly winning me over.

I did enjoy the Que and Nupe back and forth - I’m sure at least half of that convo went over some heads. Leah outing Angela and then telling her she had to stay and face the heat made no sense. I fail to see how Leah is anywhere close to being a CEO or even second in command. Her nicety attitude in a professional setting is transparent and she doesn’t know how to control her emotions. I’m struggling to suspend belief but yikes this show is not put together well and that’s a shame because the story really could be good! Also - the show needs better direction. The shots are all the same - no closeups or zooms for dramatic reveals - just flat filming. The show feels like all the characters taking swings at one another every second - you can’t appreciate any of it because it comes at you way too fast. I can’t believe this is on Fox. Contrast this to another black wealth show, Bel-Air, where the production, writing, direction and tone are far superior. I wish the folks behind that were doing this.

The show does too much and doesn’t let the drama land before following with another punch. It’s melodramatic and overwrought. Also - MV having that many black families (who own and are entrenched all year) feels as make believe as Wakanda. It used to be like this but not so much anymore. Not even in Oak Bluffs. It’s very, VERY white. But even letting that slide - seeing Angela easily get into all these parties, etc so fast is unrealistic too - even with her DA friend. Her even being up for Graceties this fast isn’t realistic either. The only realistic part is the Incubator Program which could be handwaved as being on merit. I’m not saying it wouldn’t happen eventually but not this fast. And tbh, the families would’ve smoked her out and iced her out much faster. The best part of this show is Eli Pope - I mean Teddy. I do love the parties, the black wealth, the clothes and all that but the plots feel rushed and actually makes the show feel cheap. The direction is rushed and the production quality is low. Its good for passing time but I wouldn’t be watching except Hulu kept forcing it on me. It’s upsetting because you can feel deeper and better stories in the source material but the writing and direction is not doing it justice enough for me. I wish the show slowly revealed these characters to us more subtly and with more “show, not tell”. Right now it has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I wouldn’t watch this weekly.

Count me in as those who thought the Thony/Arman dance scene was … off? I honestly expected them to go at it like rabbits. The song was setting it up perfectly. Arman was about to finally escape his thug life. Thony was finally saving her son for good. For all they knew, this was the last time they’d ever see each other again alone. The song they were dancing to was completely about a man realizing the love of his life would be gone by morning. I mean COME ON - a last night of passion was RIGHT THERE. Even the sexual situations warning before the episode hinted at far more action than we saw. Instead we got that dance and 2 pecks on the mouth. It made me think the show originally filmed a “last night of desperate lovemaking”, but then shelved it? They should have left out the kisses though and just showed how hard both were fighting to NOT go there. Even a conversation about that would’ve worked. Arman and Nadia should’ve planned better though - Arman needed a better story for why he was away. I’m surprised Hayek allowed Nadia to live. Hayek is definitely about to get caught by the Feds. He’s going to get the guns, completely unaware that the FBI is watching - and he’s killed Carlos who could’ve warned him. And he’s tried to kill Arman too. So is he gonna get caught or will he go out fighting and die? I hope Luca is okay now. The preview made me think maybe the donor would die but it looks like she’s fine. I definitely think they Mary Sued Thony a bit with the transplant. I don’t think she’d be able to do that so well. At least Marco didn’t lose all of it. Wish he’d have stopped when he had the 100k. Guess he will still be around in S2 if we get one. I still think we are gonna get a ruthless and dark Arman if Hayek is arrested or killed. He’d have to off any folks still loyal to Hayek to take over. My question is how does that keep Thony tied to this still? Either my theory about Hayek is wrong or something huge happens to shift her back into that mode. Or she chooses that life for herself? I too would like to understand Nadia and Arman’s situation? She’s clearly in it for power - she’s most ruthless with Arman when he looks like he won’t get power. I can’t say she loves him? Or her love is conditional? Also - will Hayek’s daughter play into all this if Hayek dies or is imprisoned? Questions…

I don't actually hate Garrett - I just think he's dumb and I don't like how he's doing his job. I question his motives and think another agent would be better but I don't hate him. And I love Arman but I actually predict he's gonna fall off a baddie cliff at the end of the season because he's gonna have to either take over the syndicate or off Hayak to save his own skin but I digress. And of course I ship him with Thony - and I think they are in a quid pro quo - but he uses a carrot to inspire loyalty. Thony is also in a quid pro quo with Garrett - but his quo is mostly under threat? Maybe this will explain the distinction I see - Arman and Thony were thrown into that situation together because of an errant phone ringtone that alerted Arman's goons to Thony's presence after Hayak's stupid son killed Theo. At that point, Thony had two outcomes - death or cleaning lady with Arman's protection. Arman made the decision to do the latter - because he doesn't want to kill her. So it's more that he saw her predicament and made the choice to help vs use her. Because she's the one who offered to clean. Maybe you can say he's abusing his power by continuing to make her clean? With Garrett, he is only using her. And he's using her precarious legal status as a stick to force her to put her life at risk informing. And he's breaking laws left and right to do it. Maybe we cut Arman slack because he's a mob guy so needing a cleaner is expected, so we don't flip out when he does it - but we don't expect a man of the law to break the law and be so cruel, so we are harsher in response to him? Plus we believe the mob guy actually cares about Thony and we believe Garrett only cares about winning?

I LOVE this show. Personally I am here for the dramatized version - I loved the sitcom but if I want that, I'll watch the sitcom. This is something different and I love it. I know folks have compared it to The OC and it IS like The OC - but that's really because The OC ripped off TFPOBA anyway and made it into a drama. I'm happy to see this show snatch that crown back. I also LOVE that in one episode this show has outdone the new Gossip Girl reboot in terms of drama, wealth and peeking into the lives of the uber rich and famous. Finally - I have a show I can vicariously live the rich and famous life through! The kid playing Will is really really good - his mannerisms and voice cadence - SO Will Smith. The casting couldn't have been better. I love the whole family - even though Carlton is a complete ASSHOLE - the actor is KILLING it though. And besides - that's realistic as hell. Right now, Carlton is a little bit like Luke - but eventually I'm hoping he becomes more like a Seth? I love Will seeing right through Carlton's whole "trading on his blackness" to be "the cool and popular kid" because those kids didn't know what a real cool black kid actually looked like. I felt that deep in my bones because I've seen that exact behavior from some before and always hated it, even if I understood the survival instinct (and internalized racism) that causes it. Hilary is soooooo good I love her! I mean - first of all - a dark-skinned Hilary?!?!?! OMG YES! And I'm loving her and Jazz's first meeting... so good! Jazz is a happy surprise here too. Also - I didn't get that Uncle Phil doesn't like Will - it's more that Will is disrupting what he has going and I get that too. He also clearly did something over the line to get Will out of jail and the charges disappeared so he's worried about that coming back around to bite him. Carlton and Will is giving me Luke vs Ryan (OC) or Lucas vs Nathan (OTH) or even Blair vs Serena (GG) but it WORKS for me. I really like this and I still think Carlton is savable because his inauthentic spiel is literally killing him. He's got anxiety issues because he's living a lie. He's not who he projects himself to be and everything he does is fake and to get ahead and it's messing him up internally because he knows it's wrong deep down. When he finally comes face to face with that moment I can't wait. Will still has his moments of absolutely charming folks and turning situations around - because he's real and authentic. Does he mess up stuff too still? YES - but so did OG Will (stop acting like he was perfect and turned everything he touched to gold - he didn't always). He's already charming teachers and students and eventually like he told Carlton - the school will bow to HIM. Carlton knows it deep down because Carlton is insecure. He knows his "kingdom" is conditional and based on fakeness so he knows a real prince can come in and snatch it all - it's why he's so threatened by Will. What's sad is he thinks his parents will like Will better when they've given him everything and clearly love him to death. But I think his dad is more HBCU and Carlton is more Ivy League and thinks his dad and he don't quite "vibe". His dad made him a basketball court but Carlton chose Lacrosse, while Will loves basketball. So now he even feels insecure about his dad, which is sad. He's still a jerk though, lol. I love Geoffrey reimagined as more of an Alfred. That's dope. All in all I love this show - it's even better than I hoped it would be and I encourage everyone to give it a real chance. It's sooooo good. Is it a comedy? No - but it does have some moments of hilarity. If you want straight comedy, this isn't that show though. One day I really wanna do a study on the psychology of fandoms and reboots, lol.

THIS! This is what I can't get with on Garrett's part. He's all stick, while Arman is carrot. Aside from being cruel, it's also stupid - look who got Thony's loyalty. Arman. The Carrot. Why can't Garrett see that? Did he fail the psyops training at Quantico? I didn't watch Breaking Bad - but were people "but he's the BAD guy" with him too? Or were folks team "police" or DTAF or whatever? Personally I'm not used to watching tv with police/criminals where police aren't lionized even when they do break the law to bring down a criminal because "the ends justify the means". So seeing this show tell this story that way would bore me - aren't there enough cop worshipping shows out there already? I LOVE seeing this subverted on this show and telling this story differently. And the show is only showing Garrett as being a hot mess - the other agents seem like straight arrows and I empathize with Renee and the blonde lady FBI agent because they want to do things the right way and sound sensible. Even Renee was like "it's time to cut her [Thony] loose" and Garrett couldn't do it. She knew they needed another angle - AND she seemed to believe another agent other than Garrett would probably do a better job investigating because he really is so wrapped up in this. Even the way he sauntered into the casino all swagalicious like this was a game and his staring down Arman like he's Superman to Arman's Lex Luthor was so ... me me me! I get it - you probably have to have some level of ego and "win at all costs" mentality to stay in the hunt to bring criminals to justice but maybe this show's message is just how blurry the lines are and how FBI dude could easily cross over to the dark side with that mentality. Even the ICE agent stuff was interesting - you had one agent who was sympathetic and treated the detainees like human beings and the other one who treated them horribly claiming she was "following orders". Following orders my ass - she got off on dehumanizing them and looking down on them because to her, they were the bad guys. I enjoy the exploration of the shades of gray.

I can understand the instinct to look at this show in terms of black and white - but what I really like about this show is it really explores the grey matter. It's also showing this from the PoV of Thony - who is good or bad to her. Thony and her son came to the US legally to get him a life saving treatment he couldn't get anywhere else. Then delays outside of her control happened and her visa ran out. But to save her son's life, she stays. To save her life and her family's life, she works for Arman cleaning crime scenes. Ultimately this show is about her doing what is necessary to survive and save her son. I empathize with that and I think I'd be hard pressed to find a parent who wouldn't do exactly as she's doing. With Arman - he's such a complex fascinating character. He's killed people - yes. He's also trafficking guns and basically the head of the mob. So yeah - he's a dangerous dude. And in real life I am sure Thony would not associate with someone like that. But they've been thrown together in this situation and he made a difficult decision to keep her alive when his boss would have killed her instantly (and jumped up Arman's a** for not killing her). He's saved her life multiple times, gone to bat for her, and stepped up to help her with Luca, even putting his own position with Hayak in jeopardy to do it. He seems to be trying to move away from the gangsta life (don't think it will take the first try) and be a better person. I can empathize with him - he's stuck in a life he got into at a young age so he would never have to depend on anyone to help his family - and sadly - he's still in the same spot. He sees that and wants out. And he knows Hayak won't let him out alive. He also appears to regret the horrible things he's done. Garrett appears to represent the ends justifying the means - maybe to him he sees Arman and all that as very black and white. Arman is breaking the law and trafficking guns and folks are dying - so to Garrett it doesn't matter what rules/laws he breaks because Arman is "bad" and he (Garrett) is "good". If that's how one sees things then I guess maybe one would be TeamFBI. I would like to note that even when Garrett sleeping with an informant and getting one killed was brought up - he didn't seem remorseful at all. Sometimes I wonder if he had a better private life if he'd show more empathy in his role. That stunt he pulled with ICE was deplorable. I'm enjoying the show and really liking the exploration of grey the show is doing, so I'm TeamThony and TeamArman until he messes up.

Technically that's what Thony is doing too, so ... I believe he believes it and I believe he WANTS to do the right thing and set her free - because he's clearly fallen head over heels for her.

That’s a good point. This show is really doing a good job at explaining the motivations of the “criminals” so we empathize with them and see a different perspective. But with Garrett - the only personal stuff we see is the fallout from his own sketchy behavior - which inspires less empathy. Plus he really does see this as a game and he can’t believe Thony could see him as a snake vs Arman. He thinks he’s on the right side and that makes him good but he hunts people like he’s going for a notch on his belt - not because he has true personal motivation to do the right thing. Contrast that with Arman who really wants to go clean and who truly wants to help Thony and Luca. Even after Thony tells him about Marco being there, Arman still tells Thony she doesn’t owe him a thing, and that she’s free after Luca’s surgery. He’s lost her but he’s still trying to help Luca. Because it’s right and he wants to be a good person. All Garrett wants is to win - no matter the collateral damage.

No way are they gonna kill Arman - but I do believe they are gearing up for a showdown with him and Hayek. In the end there can be only one and I for one think Arman will be on top and Hayek will be dead or in prison. OR Arman will be out of power but still trying to get it back while Thony is still trapped in that life. I think Arman is pulled between Thony and Nadia because they both represent directions his life could go Nadia represents Hayek and that thug life while Thony represents his father’s influence and being a good man. I also predict that Marco is either gonna end up dead maybe due to gambling debt and maybe it’s one of Arman’s henchmen who kills him, not realizing Arman wouldn’t want the hit. Thony blames him and Arman takes over Hayek’s empire and forces Thony to still work for him. That opening sequence was FIRE. Wow. Love how Arman was fantasizing about Thony he saw her in the red sequin dress singing. In too deep indeed. I think Arman’s marriage is one of convenience - they use each other. But she’s def jealous of Thony. I also think Garrett will be out of a job by the end of the season - he’s really walking a fine line. How is Arman going to get the guns out of the ranch? i love this dang show lmao.

I think there are 10 episodes.

I took that as leaving the room or leaving for a break - not gone forever.

Ooohhh well that's even worse.

Well I was very surprised we got that kiss - I thought it was going to be an almost kiss situation, but DAMN if I didn't rewind that HOT kiss about 50 times anyway. I mean - I'm only human. Good grief that was hot. I knew a kiss was coming the moment Arman dropped that kiss on her forehead, but I didn't expect THAT. Happy Valentine's Day indeed! I'm wondering now if Arman hasn't totally turned on Hayak - he's just using the FBI as a pressure point to make Hayak realize how important he (Arman) is to him? He better not get caught by Hayak - all those sessions with Thony in his office owned by Hayak - he better pray Hayak never bugs him because this would be all over. I wonder what will happen once Garrett starts feeding bad info back at Arman through Thony. I did think Garrett figuring Arman out made sense but not lumping Thony in with him. I also wondered what Garrett thought would happen once he raided the club - did he think Arman would just let guns sit in the depot? He should have just put the depot under surveillance and he would have seen the two sets of trucks leaving at some point - unless his surveillance crew took the bait on the first set (because armed men were guarding them). Of course Thony's husband has a gambling problem - that just sets him up to be a mark for Arman - or worse to get himself into deep trouble or killed - which would strain Armany because Thony would feel so much guilt over her trauma bonded feelings for Arman and her husband's death. OR, this would set him up as a REAL mark for the FBI because he'll hate Arman on sight and won't have any compunction about destroying him and all his ish. I wasn't surprised to see him at the end though - he's a necessary complication. But Thony's hug with him compared to what we just saw with Arman (which felt like a desperate release) was totally lukewarm and that's before guilt and realization set in. Also - I don't know why I thought Marco was also a doctor? Or some kind of healthcare worker? I thought I saw him in scrubs in another episode? I think they cut a scene with Fiona and Thony, but ok. Mother Donna looks a LOT like Katherine Chancellor did (before she passed) on Y&R decades ago. Her whole business is literally harvesting organs from truly desperate people to get a ton of money from other desperate people. Her speeches put a nice veneer over it but it's awful. I'm glad Thony didn't do it but I think she'll be forced back as an underground doctor. I wonder where her operation is? Is there that much wide open land in NV that she could hide a place like that? Okay now I've watched that kiss scene 60 times, lol.

I think it's a suspense drama - but romance is a huge part of it - at least in the sense that a lot of what is driving people is love, family and power. Arman's actions regarding Thony don't make sense unless you consider his feelings for her, and Arman's anger at Hayak makes sense when you consider that he thought he was like family to Hayak, but Hayak keeps proving he's not - which is also driving Arman's behavior. So I do think romance and some aspect of relationships will definitely be part of this show, just like Luca's illness, immigration issues, and the mafia like crime part with the FBI too. I love it all.

She's not gone? And that's his wife.

What a great episode! The FBI agent really screwed things up - but it looks like he's going to at least partially get what he wants (the laptop) ... but I REALLY didn't see Arman teaming up with Thony and the FBI so quickly against Hayak, but after thinking about the wedding episode - I get it. I didn't understand that wedding episode and the messiness it revealed so much when it aired but it was clearly setting this up. I think it's very clear to Arman now that Hayak doesn't see him as family and he will always prioritize his favored children over Arman - except maybe his son, who he sees as more trouble than he's worth (and why he sent him off to the Armenian army). But Hayak wouldn't let Arman be with his daughter - because Arman isn't Armenian - and now he's given the hotel and casino to his daughter/SIL over Arman. I see why Arman turned on him - but not how he and Thony escape this situation alive, much less with Arman on top like he clearly wants to be. But this really made things super interesting now. The twist I didn't see coming quite this fast. I really felt for Fiona and the other girl... and especially the other girl - because she was definitely deported and now her kids are abandoned in the US. Man - that just sucks. One thing this show gets really right are the stakes - it doesn't pull out Chekhov's gun without making sure to fire it and that really keeps the stakes high. I love that. Roswell, NM (the show) could learn a thing or two about high stakes to be honest - especially since it deals with illegal immigration (both earthly and extra-terrestrial) too. Anywhoo - the kids' and their panic - whew - I really felt that. I love this show. I can't wait for next week.

I got the feeling Arman's wife threw the party without Arman's knowledge and he needed it cleaned up before Hayak got back home? I think the headscratcher for me is why his wife was throwing parties in her husband's house?

Technically he's been doing that since the pilot though?

Well I don't mean they have to be lose-lose situations - but I do like the constant threat of something going wrong - it elevates the stakes for the show and keeps it super unpredictable. The writers have any number of catastrophes they can pull out at any time to pick up the pace - or pull their punches and slow the pace down. I do think they'll have to have some scenarios where Thony gets a few wins here and there - but she's literally a cleaning lady for the cartel, an illegal immigrant and a mother with a dying child - the stakes have been built in since the pilot?

I meant to mention - I thought Thony's sister in law's situation with her son was really compelling. Her son has every right to be furious but like she said, she was young and stupid and probably desperate. Sucky thing to do but still. I felt bad for him - but he's gonna have to grow up fast and learn to keep his mouth shut because blurting out the kind of stuff he was blurting out could land him and his whole family deported except for the youngest. Glad he has a path to citizenship but of course it's gonna cost an arm and a leg.

So I just watched... not a lot really happened, imo, except we got to see some cracks in the Hayak-Arman situation that comes down to Arman still being an outsider - apparently he loved Arman's daughter and she loved him but Hayet wanted her to marry an Armenian. I almost felt sorry for Arman having to host the guy who is marrying his teenage sweetheart while he's married to a woman he definitely doesn't love like that. Also - totally think Arman's wife is sleeping with Hayak. I really thought Hayak was setting Arman up with a murdered congressman when they were on the way to the wedding - but I think really it's that Hayak doesn't see Arman as family AND he didn't want Arman at the wedding and potentially have his daughter back out? I wonder if one of his men saw Arman kissing his daughter and decided separating them was best? Some cracks showing there. Also - Hayak's crazy son - best thing for him is the military but maybe not the Armenian one since he's prob gonna end up dead. But he's a total mess. Love that we found out Arman's full name is Armando - I've always loved that name and hoped that was his full name. I feel badly for Thony and really wish she and Luca could get a win with his health but I guess not. Broke my heart when she tried to bribe the doctor because she's so desperate. Thony's fight with Arman was soooooo hot. Damn - they looked like they were seconds away from jumping each others bones. I can't tell if her unease around Arman was more about the whole grease drowning attempt or that she saw him kissing Hayak's daughter? But with Arman - he was totally hurt that Thony might see him as a monster - especially after she gave him that picture from Luca depicting him as his hero. Whew, chile. But of course - now she's going to need his help because of Luca. And even with the dirt she had on him and her trepidation about him she still didn't rat him out to Garrett. Hey was Garrett's boss the blonde lawyer from How to Get Away with Murder? I think her name was Bonnie? I can't remember. Also - is Oliver Hudson okay? He looks super, super aged and his skin in close-ups looks really bad. Is he sick? For reference, he's only 5 years older than Adan Canto but he looks waaaay older than that?

They do totally favor because when I watched Manifest, I was convinced it was Adan Canto, lol! I kept looking up the actor because I was SURE it was him.

About this show having too many threats coming for Thony - well - that's what I love about it. Not a lot of tv shows have urgency like this and I love it. This is what Roswell, NM SHOULD have been like - constant threats from all sides to keep the stakes high. This show has great pacing because it manages to balance and push the stakes. I love that. The next few episodes sound awesome. I do think eventually some of the stakes will have to be mitigated or eliminated but hopefully new ones will crop up. This is my favorite new suspense drama.