Deanie87

If they bring in Jo's husband (and after all this, watch it be someone related to Minnick or Leah), I always thought that he would be a lawyer, a politician or law enforcement because Jo sort of described him as untouchable (my word, but that was the impression I got.) So while I am surprised that he would be a doctor, it does explain why Jo was SO freaked out and went to such extremes to keep her secret, including not even telling Alex. Even if he doesn't travel in the same circles as the gang at SGH, they are in the same orbit, which would be much more dangerous than if he were just some rich businessman with no influence or connection to the medical world. I'm wondering where his power comes from, if he is a very influential, highly respected doctor and that's what gives him power, or if it is just his charm and charisma. I really hope that they work out a timeline on this but they probably won't. I want to know how old she was when she married him and when she left. The other reason that his being a doctor makes sense is because he will be there for longer than one episode. If he were in some other field, I"m not sure what would bring him to the hospital and especially for so long of a time. It will be completely contrived, of course, but maybe not AS contrived. Whatever happens, I am looking forward to this and I hope it really is Jo's husband. Having someone else come in to validate her story and to give it context is much, much better than her constantly listing the litany of things that have befallen her.

With the caveat of holding final judgement until we see how it all plays out, I totally agree with you LOL! Other than being "the Grey in Grey's anatomy," I'm not really sure what qualifications Meredith has for this job that April doesn't. April might get flustered, but Meredith has personality conflicts with half of the hospital. Its an administrative job yes, but it is also a job where you have to be a respected and respectful leader, and no matter how much the show tells me that Meredith is beloved by all, I just don't buy it. In the last year or so alone, she has had major conflicts with Amelia, Maggie, DeLuca, Owen, Riggs and Jo. She is on better terms with most of them now, but, IMO, April's personality and qualifications are just as suited to "Chief" as Meredith's are. She did field work, she has been innovative, her teaching skills are a lot better than Meredith's lately, and she hasn't been as bogged down in personal problems as Meredith has. But I will be shocked if April doesn't get completely thrown under the bus so that the show can tell us, yet again, how great Meredith is. I would much prefer that they actually show us by her actions and by her skills with people and her leadership, but they don't do much of that anymore.

I think that would be the best way to go, even though I am not really a fan of them dragging all of this out until next season. Of course, I'm sure that if it is her husband, whatever brings him to the hospital will be completely contrived, considering she never testified, but I'm okay with that because Jo really needs a storyline that SHOWS her past and her experience, rather than he just monologuing about it. And there needs to be a reason that she doesn't identify him to everyone right away, so her leaving will be one of the only times a maternity leave makes perfect sense with the storyline. And its not even like she has to be offscreen, the residents can go take their boards in another city. I am trying not to get my hopes up that this is her husband though. I guess it can't really be Jackson's father if the guy is in his 40s right?

I think that sometimes Shonda/the writers either don't realize or flat out don't care about how characters come off and Owen is a good example of this. He married Amelia quickly, and while she was still grieving over Derek's death, not unlike how he married Cristina while she was still affected by the plane crash (or was it the gunman? I can't remember all the goddam traumas). So it is a pattern with Owen and one that doesn't do any favors to his character. Add on to that, his seeming inability to really know what he wants, a traditional wife with kids or a career driven woman who may or may not want kids, and his character is just really unappealing to me. Maybe they redeem him (I like him fine as a doctor and a friend), but I can't imagine I will ever care or be fine with any of his romances again. At one point, I do think that Shonda cared about redemption. In the first few seasons, the characters were clearly portrayed as Good (Derek, Izzie, George) and Not Good (Alex, Cristina and sometimes Meredith). Whatever horrible thing Izzie did, she only did for love. When Derek and George cheated there were told time and again "You are a good man who did a bad thing." The other characters never got that kind of validation. So that may not be the case anymore (clearly Shonda didn't care how Arizona was received at one point and doesn't care now about Jo), so maybe now the writers are more subtle or just lazy.

That hug was awesome! I'm glad that they didn't say anything. There is so much to say, and so much baggage to sort through, that it wouldn't ruined the moment. It was like Jo just needed to see him and let him know that she was happy that he was ok, but couldn't get in to all of their issues and their future at that point. It has been a ridiculously emotional 48 hours for both of them, so I was fine with hug. I thought CL did a great job showing that Jo was relieved, happy to touch Alex again, but then wary of all of the shit that they had been through and may have yet to go through in that 15 second scene. I don't think that they are getting back together any time soon, but it was clear that they still have feelings for one another, and that works for me right now. I never thought that Alex was going to go to jail, but I am kind of annoyed that anger management classes or some kind of community services wasn't a requirement for his getting his job back, at the very least. I am also glad that Alex stopped trying to offer excuses after DeLuca shut him down the first time. There are no good excuses and I'm glad that he just sat there and took. It was, literally, the least he could do. I did LOL a bit at Alex, of all people, offering up advice to DeLuca about Jo not needing to be rescued, considering he is the resident White Knight on Campus. But I have a feeling that knowing that his freedom is due to another man's feelings about his ex, may not sit all that well with him. Oh well, at least this potential triangle doesn't seem to be gelling, considering Jo has not shown one ounce of romantic interest in DeLuca. Yet...ugh. Honestly, I was just glad that they showed that Jo is still interested in medical cases at this point. All of the residents, starting with the original gang, have had to be told to go home at one time or another, so this didn't seem so bad on Jo's part to me and I liked seeing her get excited about an interesting case. I'm just glad that she did actually listen and go home, especially considering she saw first hand what happened with Shane when he was working at exhaustion level. All in all I thought this was a decent episode, I thought that they balanced out the characters and storylines pretty well. Maggie and Amelia are scraping the bottom of the maturity barrel, and at this point you couldn't even pay me to care about Amelia or Owen. But I thought that Stephanie looked beautiful tonight and I think that I will miss her more than I thought. I loved her "Winter is coming" line, and boy is she wasted being the go-between for Owen and Amelia. I wish her luck and I hope she gets a decent storyline before she leaves and an excellent send off. Last but certainly not least, I miss Alex in the turquoise scrubs and that beard and quasi-Members Only jacket combo AIN"T working for me, and I will add that to my memo to the stylist when I write her or him about Meredith's awful, awful, beige turtleneck sweaters.

And this is part of my problem with it. Its ALLLLLLL about Dre and his feelings, not what might be best for the kid. Who is going to grow up in Beverly Hills, or wherever they live, unlike Dre. But it makes Dre feel good, so that's what matters. It doesn't matter that Rainbow, who knows what its like to grow up with an unusual name, told him that she wished her parents had named her something else. Nope, it only matters that Dre feels like he didn't "sell out." There are plenty of names that can bridge the gap between "obviously black and obviously white" but again, its all about Dre. No one is saying that he has to name his kid Grayson or Morty for god sake! In the interest of full disclosure, I am a name purist and if it didn't exist in 1850, I probably don't like it. My nephew and his wife are having a kid soon and my poor eye is red from twitching every time they unveil the newest name idea.

I'm a horrible woman (and person) because I will never not absolutely love it when the gang tears Dee apart. Poor Dee and her 46% chance of Parkinson's with a side of bony elbows and being too skinny but round in the middle like a bird! On that note, I laughed too hard at the glee the guys got at using the "C" word. Charlie cackling about it was awesome. But also terrible, of course!

Thank you. Alex's situation is Alex's fault and no one else's. I just don't understand the reasoning that if Jo had just told him the truth it wouldn't have happened. One really has nothing to do with the other. Jo could have gone out at any time and gotten drunk, had someone take her home and have Alex walk in and get the wrong idea. Its not like this was the first fight they ever had and its not like its the first time she has ever gotten drunk. As for blaming DeLuca, that is just willfull ignorance, IMO. Alex deserves whatever is coming to him, but unfortunately, I doubt it will be much. I need to see some real remorse for what he did, and a real apology to DeLuca. He's my favorite, so obviously I don't want him to be off the show in jail but I will be pissed if he gets off with absolutely no consequences, and, especially if any of the characters try to blame Jo. I really wish that the writers would expend some of their energy on spreading the empathy around. Jo escaped from a horrible situation and did what she had to survive, but she whines sometimes, and therefore is a bitch, while Alex beat the crap out of someone over a misunderstanding (and I don't even really buy that he thought she was hurt), but he is good with kids and MEREDITH NEEDS HIM11!!!, so he is the hero. Shame on Shonda for this. I am glad, though, that Alex seems to be done making excuses for himself. He admitted that he did it, he admitted that he saw them together and went crazy, and was willing to go to jail for it. I just hope that going forward he shows some true remorse for what he actually did TO someone else, instead of just how he disappointed his friends and him self. I don't think that what he did completely wipes out all of his growth, and I admit that I find morally flawed Alex to be 100% more interesting than benign best friend and kid whisperer Alex, but I do want to see more remorse.

I can only hope that this storyline isn't over yet. I want to find out exactly what happened, I want Alex to confront DeLuca and sincerely apologize (and thank him if, indeed, he helped with the dropping of charges), I want Alex to still get some kind of punishment like anger management, paying DeLuca's legal and medical costs and/or community service, and I want him to have some kind of substantial conversation with Jo about everything that happened. As botched as this storyline has been, it really isn't too much to ask. I agree about the Merlex. I'm telling myself that Alex thought that Amelia was in his bed, so he just crashed in Meredith's, but I agree that Shonda is just covering all of her bases and that really annoys me. Alex and Jo have unfinished business and I want to see that resolved one way or another before anything else comes down the pike. Speaking of Jo, she was completely out of line with Ben, but THIS is the Jo that I have been expecting to see for the last 2-3 years. Given her ever more dramatic backstory, I think that she would put up walls and get tougher and harder. As bitchy and cold as she was, it makes much more sense for her to be like this, then to walk around full of self pity with a sad puss on her face, gently weeping in supply closets because the attendings are mean or because Meredith doesn't understand boundaries. She let her guard down with Alex, but since that has gone to shit, I understand why she would revert back. She is very similar to Alex that way, and I like when the show reflects that. She has been much more like the character who was originally introduced lately, and I for one (and I mean that one literally most likely LOL), here for it!

My only comment at this juncture is that there is something about Albert that completely reminds me of the late, great Prince. Which is both disconcerting and...vastly entertaining!

It seemed just the opposite to me. I thought it played out like someone being honest with her was what finally calmed the patient down, even if it upset her. It may have been somewhat reckless, but I thought Jo was putting the patient's needs first. Sure, but Sister E wouldn't be trying to work through violent secret husbands, boyfriends going to jail for assault, possibly putting her mentor out to pasture and how to deal with a cute new frenemy love interest at work while doing it :) I didn't mind the bubble episode as much as I did the placement of it. I just don't know why they hype all of cliffhanger stuff up in previews and promos and pick up after a two month hiatus (coming pretty much on the heels of a 3 1/2 month hiatus) with an episode like this, which doesn't really address all that other stuff. But its the second time in a row that they have done it, so they must have their reasons.

As long as they can do they their job without knowing, I don't think that they need to know. That's not why they were there, they were there to offer medical assistance. Obviously, they needed to know that she could be dangerous and needed to know things for their safety, but beyond that, it isn't their job to pass judgment one way or the other. I realize that it isn't the same thing at all, but I work in a prison library and my job is to provide books and information to the inmates. That's it. I don't work with the more dangerous inmates, but I do work with those who need to be kept away from the general population for their own safety (mostly sex offenders), I don't want to know what they did or why they are there, because that might needlessly interfere with what I am there to do, which is to be a librarian. Obviously, I think that what I provide is important, but it isn't anywhere near as necessary as medical care, and I would hate to think of someone not getting the care they needed because the doctors were horrified by their patient and having that effect their level of treatment, even subconsciously. I thought this was a pretty good episode, but I agree that it wasn't great for the first episode back, especially considering all of the previews were about Alex's prison sentence. However, I thought that this one was placed better than the one last year with Meredith getting attacked. This one at least somehow connected to that main cliffhanger and was tangentially related to each of the characters in the episode. Obviously, they were in a prison, which related to Alex and Jo sort of bonded to the patient and perhaps opened her eyes a bit to what Alex may be facing (even though as a former criminal she should have already known). Bailey is facing all kinds of issues at her hospital but that can be put into perspective when she sees what other doctors and administrators have to put up with. And the last scene with the mother may have struck something in Arizona, considering that Sophia is across the country, so she can't "watch her closely" or pay attention to her. So while this episode didn't address all the cliffhangers and didn't necessarily further the current storylines, I think that it added some depth to what is already going on and at least it didn't start brand new storylines or wrap up old ones by having uninvolved characters mention stuff in passing like last year's winter premiere. Anyway, I thought that all of the actresses did a great job and there were some really good character moments. Bailey's prison fear was cracking me up and I thought it was kind of funny how the girl shot down Jo's attempt at orphan bonding! And we found out that Jo knocked over a liquor store, if only she hadn't mentioned the car thing. It must be a running joke for the writers at this point, because she added it on at the end when nothing else was working.

I totally agree. The subject matter was really interesting, but its like the director watched a bit too much of True Detective. Seriously, the shots of billowing trees and rural farmland when on for-ever. I usually try not to be judgemental about the parents in this sort of situation because who knows how someone copes with this kind of thing or what really goes in someone else's family. But...most of the parents seemed kind of...off. Morgan's father was really the only one who seemed to show genuine emotion about all that had happened and I felt so horrible for him when he was crying and kind of blaming himself. I also appreciated Morgan's mother's honesty about Morgan's lack of empathy, but I have to admit that I was also surprised that she was so honest. I thought that she seemed kind of unemotional to me and to be completely honest, I would have guessed that Morgan got her lack of empathy from her mother, who seemed to be trying to cry but not really succeeding. Anissa's parents gave off a weird vibe as well. He talked and she just sat there mutely. I wasn't surprised when she said that she initiated the divorce. Again, I'm probably not being fair, I have no idea how I would come across or behave if I were in their shoes, but it was just another odd thing about this documentary. As far as the verdict, I just don't know. What they did was horrible and neither seemed to truly show remorse, but then again, did they really understand what they did and why they did it? I just don't know that trying 12 year olds as adults is either humane or true justice.

So the Pope is kind of a dick, huh? And maybe kind of sinister. I'm intrigued just enough to keep watching. I am a sucker for anyar kind of organizational political intrigue, whether its King Henry VIII's court, the Mafia or the Vatican, and there was plenty of that here. I think that Jude Law is really good at the "Golden Boy with dark secrets" and I liked his scenes with some of the "lowlier" priests. Most of the reviews that I have read are pretty divided, people either loved it or were bored and I can see understand both sides. I have also read that the show (most likely inadvertently given the timing) parallels what is going on in the U.S. And I admit that this came to mind immediately when I was watching. The "outsider" who is put into place by people who think that he will be easy to control, but who is bucking all tradition and bringing in his own advisor(s) who may not go along quietly. I believe that the writers have said that they had no political intentions when they were writing this, so I guess we'll see, but I was definitely struck by the similarities.

Warning - I know that this is the episode thread so spoiler tags aren't really necessary, but there are some BIG ones in my post, so beware! Honestly, I"m trying very hard not to be overly dramatic, but these developments with Susan and having Jackson die offscreen pretty much ruined the finale for me and, quite possibly, the whole series. At the very least, the rewatches won't be nearly as fun knowing how things end up. Maybe I will just stop at season 3. Weyrbunny, I completely agree that Susan's turning herself in was completely unearned. She was literally ready to go moments before Nathaniel showed up and she had no problem killing whoever got in her way, not only for Connor's sake, but for the sake of money and freedom. Not to mention the machinations that they went through the first time she was in the hangman's noose. So I simply don't buy that she would willingly turn herself in when she finally had Connor and was finally so close to getting away with everything. It just made no sense to me at all. As far as Jackson, I just don't understand why. Yes, he died a hero, but so what? It wasn't poignant, it wasn't earned, and truly the only person who really seemed to care was Mimi. Not to mention, poor Connor is left alone after everything else. In my mind, given all that he has seen and the umpteen ways that he has been treated as chattel and lost every single person who ever cared for him, HE will end up a serial killer, but since he is now in America, Reid won't get the chance to hunt him. Ugh. I just hate that they did this. It brought absolutely nothing to the story, IMO. I know that in the end, this was really Reid's story, but it all rang hollow to me, considering that Rose, Drake, Jackson and Susan (not to mention Thatcher) all got tossed pretty much by the wayside. I wish I cared more about Mathilda so that I could enjoy her happy ending, but I just don't. On a positive note, I liked everything to do with Augustus and Nathaniel and thought that both actors did a tremendous job. I, too, enjoyed Abberline and I liked the way that they brought the show full circle with the Jack the Ripper stuff, but other than that, I was extremely disappointed in the finale and pretty much the season. I realize that this show isn't one for happy endings, and I didn't expect every character to ride off into the sunset joyously, but I just don't think that the endings that most characters got was earned or made any kind of narrative sense. ETA - I thought of one other thing that I enjoyed, namely everything with Jackson's incredulity at the actions of those around him. From Reid not wanting to shoot himself out of jail, to Susan's showing up at the jail and his returning to the morgue, I think he and I had the same "WTF is wrong with everyone?" expression on our faces. I will miss him most of all!

This episode was quite a departure, and I have mixed feelings about it. I was completely sucked in by the semi-stand alone story and thought that the acting, the directing and the cinematography was better than in the last couple of episodes. But...it was barely an episode of Ripper Street and we don't have many episodes to spare! I guess I wish that either we had a lot more time to explore some of the minor-ish characters because I do think that giving them complexity adds to the depth of the story overall, or that this was done a lot earlier. I mean Prudence seemed to be more fully fleshed out in one episode than Rose ever was during her entire run, at least for me. And yet, she is really not at all important in the ongoing story of Reid, Jackson and Susan. Of course, I appreciate getting to know more about Nathaniel and thereby Augustus, because I find both characters to be very interesting (much, much, much more than the uber-villain Shine or even Mathilda at this point), but I'm just not sure that this was the best time for such an episode. I did enjoy the brief scenes back at the theater, especially the one between Mimi and Jackson. Lydia White is an excellent crier! I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson ends up having some real regrets about his choices. If not now, then much later when all the excitement has worn off. I have a hard time imagining him, Susan and the boy setting up a home and living life in boring domesticity.

Shine's villany grows...

Hi Weyrbunny! I finally had to succumb as well. I just finished 5.3 last night and will try to tackle the rest of the season over the next few days. The statement that I quoted stood out to me because Shine's re-introduction and the hats especially, made this episode seem out of place in Ripperville, almost like another show altogether, and I've found that this gets more so as the season goes on. If I remember correctly, they filmed this season and season 4 around the same time, so I"m not sure exactly why this season seems so different, but it does. The scenes of our intrepid threesome running around (in broad daylight no less) in their Indiana Jones hats seems like something out of a fun adventure show airing on TNT or TBS (and quite a few shots reminded me of Casablanca) much rather than the darker show that we have always known. Having said that, the writers certainly don't shy away from the terrible things that our "heroes" have done. There is a long list of torture and killing between the three of them, and somehow Capt. Jackson seems to have tallied up the smallest numbers. On the one hand, I'm glad that the show isn't glorifying them or their actions, but on the other hand, I almost feel bad rooting for them. Almost. It actually helps that Shine is back, since he is a cartoon villain compared to Augustus, who at least has some complexity and garners some sympathy. Another shot that stood out to me was when Reid, garbed in his theatrical scarf and 1930s gangster hat of course, stares up to see if Mathilda is lighting the candle. When she finally does, he practically pivots and stares goggle-eyed at the sight for an almost comical amount of time. It truly was a scene out of a cliched melodrama, which is so unlike Ripper Street, IMO. It may just be that I most enjoyed this show when all of the characters interacted in a more natural way and were uneasy allies, versus now having them on the run and variously at odds and not completely in each others' orbit as they have been in the last two seasons. I understand that the story must come to an organic close, and therefore the more procedural aspects of the show wouldn't work, but I do really miss the threesome of Drake, Reid and Jackson and I also really miss Long Susan the Madam coldly thwarting them at every turn. I seriously doubt that I will miss Rose all that much, but I would like to see her one last time if for no other reason than to see her acknowledge her many instances of bad judgment. But I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see Mimi again! While I still am a sucker for the murderous and dysfunctional Susan/Jackson relationship, I really did love Mimi and hated the way that Jackson tossed her aside and fell for Susan's manipulations without a second thought. So I am very pleased to see her back and she is not disappointing! I may start a thread for the other two episodes before I get ahead of myself.

I actually find that article to be pretty spot on, and I'm glad that some outlets are noticing and calling it out. In fact, I agree with this article much more than the ones that praise the supposed Grey's renaissance or the hysterical ZOMG!Merlex!! clickbait. I do think that it is notable and praise-worthy that Grey's is doing so well in its 13th year, AND that they were able to successfully re-boot the show after two huge departures. But I still maintain that the writing (including the characterization), the consistency, the pacing and the continuity have been going downhill since season 11. The stories that they choose tell and the way that they choose to tell them have bewildered me for awhile. It lessens the enjoyment for me at best and is borderline offensive in some cases (Jo's domestic violence storyline, for example) at worst. Not that I think that anyone associated with Shondaland cares about what critics or even fans think, as long as the ratings are good, but it is nice to know that I'm/we're not the only ones who are having trouble with some of it. Of course, I'm still watching so... As far as TVLine vs. Shonda, I recall things being strained with Ausiello when TR and KH left. I think that was when he was at EW and got the interviews and it seemed that he possibly took their sides or was at least sympathetic. I can't imagine that went over well with Shonda.

Denzel might be the reason that it was filmed when it was, but it would seem to me that they could air it anytime, even if they had to change/cut a few scenes or pieces of dialogue. Granted, I know nothing about how these things work, but it's obvious that the season as a whole was not completely planned out from the beginning. Also, wouldn't AZ, Bailey and, especially Jo be part of the trial? Maybe it's the night between that day and the following, which would be the trial. I don't have much hope for coherence.

This episode does seem interesting, and I am all for an out of the ordinary character combination. I just hope that it isn't the only thing going on this episode. Continuity and consistency are the absolute biggest problems of the show in the last couple of seasons, so I am really not interested in any kind of time jump or further dragging out of Alex's jail stuff, the Chief vs. Whatshername or any of the other cliffhangers/stagnant storylines. It seems like this is the case that Jo was referring to at the end of the fall finale, so I hope that they pick up where they left off and we get some actual answers in this episode. I thought that coming back to an out of nowhere Meredith episode after last season's cliffhanger-y finale was complete bullshit and really ruined a lot of the storylines going forward. I really don't want that to happen again.

Yeah that interview was something else. I follow a lot of tv critics on Twitter and beyond the "spoiler" type of coverage from outlets like Ausiello, Cosmo and maybe Matt from TV Guide or wherever, Grey's is pretty much completely ignored. So it seems to me that Shonda wouldn't be so rude to the few that bother asking about it. If she wants better and more in-depth questions that might bring a different type of interview, then maybe she should write better and more in-depth stories. As far as a spin-off, Jackson and April make sense only in that they don't have a huge connection to many other characters, and those who don't have Meredith in the middle of their orbit don't seem to get as much storyline or screentime. But it also wouldn't surprise me if they try to do something with Stephanie since the pilot for Jerrika fell through. But mostly, I don't think that a spinoff is in the works. Shonda has a bunch of other things going on.

Well that's why I have the quotes around we. I voted for Hillary, as did the majority of those who voted. Nonetheless, and however much we make excuses, it just wasn't enough st the end of the day to win it all. Plenty of people who should have known better either threw their vote away on a third party or didn't bother to show up to vote at all. That isn't on Obama and honestly I wouldn't blame him or Hillary if they gave the entire country the brush off and disappeared into normal civilian life. I hope they don't, but I wouldn't blame them a bit.

Except that "we" chose to live with the evil stepdad. Part of me is disappointed that he wasn't more forceful, but at the same time he has been warning people about voting and apathy for years. And not enough people listened. He left this election in the hands of "the kids" and the kids let in an unstable "celebrity" who burned the house down. So as much as I would have appreciated an angry vengeful Obama, that's not who he is and frankly, what is he supposed to do? I hope he goes to Hawaii, enjoys his holiday and drinks 50 Mai Tais a day and thinks as little about the American electorate as possible. He has more than earned it. Dad's not angry he's disappointed and that makes me feel a lot worse.

I finished this last night...what a wonderful, well done series, I loved it! I am a big Anglophile and a bit of a Royal fangirl and I was, once again, so impressed with Elizabeth and the sacrifices she made. Over the course of the series, I felt for Margaret and even Phillip, but this drove home what an honor and a burden the crown really is. All world leaders bear a huge burden, but most of them choose that burden and are able to relinquish it at some point. I know that the Royals didn't necessarily have a lot of real political power, but the burden was there just the same. The fact that Elizabeth (and her father before her) were willing to put duty and country first, before many of their own interests, moved me more than I thought it would. Maybe its our current political situation or the fact that Elizabeth is roughly the age of my father, but that generation knew how to sacrifice and did it with a minimum of whining and navel gazing. I'm probably romanticizing all of it, but I do think that is something that has been lost over the years. I'm glad that Diana was able to raise her boys the way she wanted and I'm glad that William was able to marry the woman of his choice and that they seem like a normal couple, able to live a relatively normal life (at least by British Royal standards), but I also admire the stoicism, majesty, traditionalism (and I'm sure snobbery and bloodline arrogance) of those who came before. Society needs progress and institutions need to modernize to stay relevant, but there is beauty and value in some tradition too. Speaking of Diana, this series gave me the same sort of feelings as The Queen with Helen Mirren. It humanized Elizabeth for me and boy, is there something to be said for reserve and dignity, especially in these days of reality TV, social media and every z list celebrity going on Dr. Phil to talk about their latest scandal. There was a scene in the movie outside of the gates of Buckingham Palace with hordes of people wailing and tearing their hair out about Diana, angry that Elizabeth hadn't shown "proper" emotion, it really annoyed me. Honestly, I think that world could use quite a dose of that kind of decorum right about now. On another note, one of my favorite Royal interviews with Charles where he said that he got his sister a Welcome Mat for Christmas. Royals - they're just like us! Only more cheap and boring!