enchantingmonkey

They did their best to provide some exposition with clunky dialogue a father and son would likely never say to each other. You may have had a good laugh over it.

I suspect some of the plot holes are intentional, and perhaps the point is that our sense of wonder is allowed to thrive when we aren't trying to explain everything. Peter, Simone and Janice have all claimed to be enjoying the game despite the plot holes, while Fredwynn seems to be more analytical and I don't recall him saying anything about having fun, yet. If you look at how critical younger Janice was of older Janice, it gives some insight into why Janice believes the other three in the group think lesser of her while we haven't seen much to support that belief.

Kenton broke Anton's neck. If you listen closely you can hear the pop. It was an argument about which generation is more ignorant than the other. I thought it was funny that two people working with such an advanced technology still find time for name-calling. Perhaps these two things will always exist together at the same time.

Did they establish that the show is set far into the future? I know we don't have quantum computers functioning at the level of the one at Devs but my impression was that it exists secretly in our current timeline.

How do you know what makes a real human being? Princess Gina served up some major snark today. Loved it! She's the closest thing the show has to comedy relief when Hattie isn't drooling over Roman. And while I know this show prefers plot over substance, I was disappointed that they had Dr Rolf cave to Chad's demand to restore Hope to her former blandness so quickly. Gina is a tangible example of all of his hard work and he barely put up a fight for her.

Did Forest and Katie foresee that Sergei was going to use his James Bond wristwatch to steal their data, just as Sergei was able to foresee the movements of the nematode? Were they just playing their part in a predetermined narrative? It was curious to me that they sat and discussed how things still hurt even though they shouldn't, as if they've begun to accept the idea that their free will is truly an illusion, yet they still feel bewildered by the emotional component of their experience. Even if we live in a deterministic universe, I suspect Lily believes she put that sign in her window of her own free will.

Exactly. And Evan/Christian said he didn't mean to do it, so he probably doesn't even need to shipped off to Bayview Mental Hospital.

One of the things that stood out to me was at the protest when Simone proclaimed that the game, which involves participating with other people, was the first time she felt comfortable and happy. Yet, earlier she'd lamented to her Nana that whenever other people are added to the mix that she has no idea what she's doing. It made me wonder if comfortably happy and utter confusion are just seemingly different colors of a rainbow rather than mutually exclusive states of being. Perhaps when they find Clara she'll be able to explain everything! Jason Segel addresses the topic of binge-watching... https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/jason-segel-dispatches-from-elsewhere-interview-958069/ It sounds to me like we're a part of the community he was trying to create when he wrote the show. We should meet back here when we discover the next clue for finding Clara!

If Ron really wanted to do something playful with this story, after Stevano's botched Marlena-napping he should have had Stevano seek sanctuary with a blind person who accepted him for who he is, then accidentally set fire to the blind person's home before he went running off into the night. Or, would that be hitting us over the head with an allusion to Frankenstein? If Dr Rolf could just once exclaim, "It's Alive!" that would be a good episode. I have faith that William Utay would make it memorable.

One of my favorite scenes was when they were in the diner and Peter asked if it was real, Fredwynn laughed, and Simone cooed about how he had just asked a beautiful question. Only a girl with a crush would think a guy with such a seemingly bland personality is asking beautiful questions. The script was oddly amusing. Janice won my heart when she met the other two and exclaimed how she thought she might be alone. Fredwynn intrigued me with his analytical approach to the mystery. Simone's playful nature was probably more of a distraction from whatever haunts her. And, Divine Nonchalance is hilarious, especially if you believe it's a quality that eludes your mundane existence. I guess I liked the show.

When I typed "lethal injection" into the Google machine, there were pics of a bed with the arms extended in the manner used in the show. I'd thought that it was done seated in an upright position, so I guess Ben-On-A-Cross wasn't a total figment of Ron's imagination. Brock Kelly pleasantly surprised me with his performance today. I'm not saying it was a great, just that the few times I've stopped to watch his scenes before he seemed perfectly cast as an underwear model. Evan/Christian's frustrations felt real to me. Stevano's obsession with Marlena feels right to me, especially if he had modeled her as a light at the end of the tunnel when his previous body was dying. But, Stefano was more consumed with power than "love", and I don't believe that he wouldn't be on a tunnel-visioned quest to get his company back.

The scene with Jeannie and Glory was one of my favorites. Jeannie starts off with a brave face but as the conversation veers towards El Cuco her face drops, and she even winces when Glory mentions it directly. I thought it was a fun play on Holly's declaration that a human being can't be in two realities at the same time, as we see Jeannie sitting and having a beer with Glory while clearly tormented by what's happening with Ralph. Obviously, Holly and Ralph are protected by plot armor when Jack is lining them up in his scope but I like all of the characters enough to be disappointed when Alec got his brains blown out.

That's who I was trying to remember who dodged going to prison for another dumb reason! Nevertheless, it was hilarious watching Gabi barter her bone marrow for a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card. Easily the best part of diabolical pacemaker storyline.

Paging Dr Rolf! Paging Dr Rolf! While there have been plenty of stupid plot points along the way, I'm still enjoying Steve as Stefano as a kind of philosophical experiment on identity. I liked that Stefano told Kayla that Steve was on his way back to her, the look of sadness on her face, and then that she attempted to appeal to Steve in the same way that Shawn tried with Hope, it's just that MBE and SN are better actors. The writing is too flimsy to explore things with much depth but I'm still fascinated with how one might react to a loved one's face with another's consciousness. It seems to me that we take many things for granted when we see a familiar face, and that would be upended in a situation like this.

Where is JJ going? I must of forgot to take my finger off of the fast-forward button for that scene. Ooops.

That looked more like a Beverly Hills' season promo than what they can usually muster up for New York.

If the boogeyman growls in the forest and there's no one there to scream, did he even make a sound? This episode made me start to wonder if the boogeyman needs us more than we need him. Who would he be without our fear to wallow in, or our young bodies to eat? Could he exist without us? Inquiring minds want to know! I love the mood of the show, so I can enjoy an episode that may be perceived as filler, but I do think Glory's scenes would be better served if they were tying her pain and torment more closely to El Cuco. As if she'd fallen into his trap and could do little to escape, like the bug that was stuck on its back throughout the episode. It's possible that he has threatened her child, much like he threatened Jeannie.

Was that one of those annoying fake-out dream sequences? I prefer Gabi as a town pariah but I was surprised that it went that far with her seemingly setting off Julie's diabolical pacemaker. It seems like Gabi is smart enough not to try to kill someone in front of an audience. It did amuse me that Julie and Gabi went right back to hating each other without skipping a beat. Peace and love be damned!

Because I don't know any of Steve and Kayla's back story, I just thought that it was funny that Kayla was venting to Stevano about all of the ways Steve has wronged her when Stefano doesn't really give a damn. Knowing that there was some actual subtext to the scenes may have made them better when I was watching. Shawn's heartfelt plea to Hope and Gina flicking the tear off of her face was hilarious. I'm crossing all of my fingers and toes that Hope never comes back, because even with the silly accent I find Gina more entertaining.

That was my favorite episode of the season. I loved watching each of them deal with Holly's theory in varying ways. Glory was willing to consider that her own beloved husband violently murdered a boy rather than accept that the supernatural could be involved. It makes me wonder why the human mind has such a determination to believe that all can be explained through science, and if there's a kind of deception involved in that.

Why can't she be both despicable and sympathetic?

"Thanks, I hate it!" seems like a good slogan for this show. There's gratitude that we still get to spend time with these characters along with the distaste for what the writing delivers on a daily basis. I may be a party one with this but I'm enjoying Steve as Stefano. Partly because Steven Nichols can pull off his own kind of menacing nature, and also because of the irony of The Great Stefano DiMera's consciousness being trapped in a prison (Steve's body) from which he seemingly can never escape. I truly believe that Stefano would seek out life eternal and I love that it's not the sweet hereafter that he'd imagine it to be. Hattie bickering with John always makes me chuckle.

Elizabeth opted not to go. I've read that she's gotten some death threats. It sounds like Jack opted not to go in an act of solidarity, as Elizabeth is his girlfriend.

Dean was robbed!

A million dollar wiener...that's a really hot dog!