enchantingmonkey

It seems to be, at this point. I think part of the problem is that The Idiots In Control don't trust the audience to tune in on a regular basis unless the Show is driven by Spoiler-i-fic Plots. I see bits and pieces of Y&R and B&B, and while Y&R is a little more character-driven, B&B is as bad as DAYS with plot trumping character development at almost every turn. I'm just going to imagine Gabi is Li's first real romantic relationship, which might explain his quickie proposal to Gabi, rather than it just being a Plot Point. But even if Li is trying to keep hold of Gabi, and Stefan was madly in wuv with Chloe, I think Stefan and Gabi would still be married. So the proposal is basically an exercise in futility. Johnny continues to charm me with his romantic feelings and concern for Ava. The kiss at then end may have been premature, especially for Ava, but it felt like that needed to happen by the end of the episode. Rolf should just find someone to help him fake his death. That would take care of his problems with Kristin and Li real quick. Did anyone in the US get to watch the Show's last day on NBC?

Chloe decided not to testify against Kristin because she feared it would make things worse. Kristin bullied Dr Rolf into waking Stefan so he could go to Chloe's room at the Salem Inn. Dr Rolf wasn't sure it was a good time to wake him, as Stefan has had only 1 brainwashing session. I guess it takes more to fall in wuv with Chloe. For some reason, Stefan went to the DiMera Crypt, and Ava found him there thinking he is Jake. Tony and Anna drank martinis while providing exposition only necessary for viewers who don't watch on a regular basis. The Show must love Penghlis and Hunley, because those scenes were totally unnecessary. Li Shin visited Dr Rolf and noticed the vial that Orpheus had used. Dr Rolf made up a flimsy excuse for it, then Li went on to propose to Gabi at the end of the episode. Not a particularly good episode but I don't recall FF-ing through any of it.

Yeah, what was that about? Did he get a perm for the wedding, or has Xander been straitening out his curls all of these years? Enquiring Minds... Are we to assume that hubris will be Orpheus' downfall, and that's why he revealed his plot with Locked Away Vial? Because it seems like it would have been a lot smarter to just to not tell anyone about what he did. Maybe he gets a perverse thrill out of watching people fit and fumble all while knowing he is the cause of their pain. I think that was the second mention of the Marlena Clones. Watch out for the Falling Anvils! I was amused by Jada chastising them for not using proper procedure, and Roman explaining that they do what they want in Salem, USA. I hope They do more with Jada being exasperated by how things work in this town. It was something I wanted to see more of with Eli but These Writers have such a difficult time writing character-driven material. Li already has a seat on The Board, so the only thing he'd lose would be Gabi, at least in his mind. If Stefan has been brainwashed to be in wuv with Chloe Lane, then it would seem like Stefan could be a potential ally for Gabi and Li. I don't know that Stefan would be an automatic Heir to the Throne, I mean, CEO. EJ is more of a threat to Gabi and Li running the company. Now that I think about it, this could turn out to be a really bad version of House of the Dragon. Interesting.

For me, I felt like it was "out of nowhere" because we hadn't been shown any indication that Jennifer was struggling since her mother's death. I agree that it's realistic, because many addicts relapse, but it would have been nice to see a couple scenes of Jenn popping pills before The Touching Moment between Maggie and Jenn. They totally got me with Leo in that wig. I was expecting something different but I liked how it played out with Sonny making an effort to help Leo. It's odd how I think the actress playing Sloane is so obviously "acting", and Galen Gering is Rafe, yet they have this scene chemistry that is undeniable. Does she know him in real life? Atta girl, Jennifer. Take those pills back out of the garbage and lie about it. Winning!

Jennifer and Maggie's AfterSchool Special Moment was hilarious. Firstly, it came out of nowhere, and then Jennifer threw the pills in a garbage can inside the house. Ummmm, Maggie, she can just get the pills back out of the garbage when she gets home. Wasn't Leo's father a Big Meanie, and that was supposed to be Leo's reasoning for being such an asshole? I smell a DID storyline. I got a total Psycho vibe from the blond wig reveal. If Leo has another personality that's a killer, that sounds like something Ron would love as a Big TWIST. I'm just not seeing the comparisons of Stephanie to Abigail, especially not Marci Miller's version. Maaaaybe if you're comparing her to Katie Mansi's version but I prefer to pretend like she never happened. Can someone stomp on Alex's glasses and break them into a million tiny pieces!?! PLEASE!

How many years have you been predicting DAYS cancellation? For as long as I can remember. You're bound to get it right eventually :)

Nicole is hilarious to me. She's always been so good at being her worst enemy. I love that she's "happily" married to Rafe but jealous of Eric actually moving on with his life. A leopard really can't change its spots, lol. Kudos to the Show for making me give a damn about Leo. I kinda feel bad that someone is setting him up for murder, and I really hate myself for it. I don't know what's worse, Bonnie and Alex having each other's backs, or Ciara and Ben telepathically reciting Shakespeare to each other. Please make it stop.

It's like a reference to an unexpected person showing up/voicing an opinion while votes are being counted. Tony is probably the only person in the room who would know what it means, so I appreciate that They gave Tony some dialogue that would be specific to him. Maybe Kristin would get it, too. Did They seriously have Orpheus pardoned from prison for some silly Scavenger Hunt? Is this storyline connected to what happened on the latest Beyond Salem? It feels so pointless and underdeveloped, even with the attempts to connect another round of Orpheus' Revenge to the Show's history. I did enjoy Gwen totally throwing Leo under the bus, like they're both going Scorched Earth on each other. My GAWD, more of Cro-Magnon Alex beating his chest and trying to take his Lady back to his cave. Who thought this would be fun to watch??? Oh No! NOT Sonny! He's one of my favorites right now! Is this turning into a Serial Killer storyline? It validates my belief that Abigail isn't really dead, and someone has her hidden away somewhere. MELASWEN!

"Another county heard from." Dr Rolf manipulating Stefan's memories was like a really bad rip off Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, although mildly amusing, nonetheless. I was surprised that seeing those flashbacks reminded me of how much I enjoyed Brandon B as Stefan, because I could barely stand him as that annoying Jake character. It was fun to get a little insight into the dynamic between Li and his father, and Remington Hoffman didn't disappoint in playing the scenes as wooden as possible. Ava and Johnny are charming as friends with a romantic subtext. Their scenes are almost making me like Carson Boatman again.

Must be my lucky day. More of Alex and Sloane dry humping on the Kiriakis sofa. Yeeesh. I'm crossing all of my fingers and toes that Stephanie will find Alex as annoying as I do. It will give me one reason to maybe kinda like her. I actually think I enjoyed Gwen and Leo today. I wonder if one of the script writers snuck in the line about it all being "So stupid". *giggle* Nicole flushing her marriage to The Amazing Rafe down the toilet has potential. I'm hoping she does something really awful in the near future. I need something to pass the time while They're deciding which Day Player is going to be Abigail's murderer.

Angela is definitely Out There, and whether I agree with her belief system or not, I was proud of her for leaving Nathan. He was openly mocking her with his comment about making a list of everything she deemed satanic, and he sabotaged her rehearsal by de-aging Adam because he didn't like the result of being away for the fake 9 years. It's funny how Nathan toys with the audience right from the start by saying he's trying to make everything as realistic as possible, while directing the mother handing off the baby to Angela, then giving Angela a champagne bottle when he shouldn't even be in the room if it's realistic. I loved angry teenage Adam, the awful OD scene in the bedroom, then how he jumped off the stretcher and went running off into the night. Hilarious! I hadn't thought of that at first but I did think it was curious how his mother seemed like she was taking it rather seriously. I could see them being Actor Parents and Nathan not showing that to us. Actress Angela was good. I loved how she went off on Nathan in the one angry scene.

Initially, I was shocked and annoyed at how bad Remington Hoffman is when They started giving him more of a storyline but now I just try to amuse myself with all of his weird "acting" choices. It was funny watching him try to portray a guy who thought he could stand up to Mean, Mean, Mean Kristin DiMera. I looked closely a couple times to see if Stacy H showed any signs of frustration but didn't notice anything. Lucas was so dumb to willingly go to prison. And for Allie? I like Allie but she can't stick with one emotion long enough to save her life. Get yourself cleared of those charges and leave town. Allie will probably forget why she's mad at him in a few weeks. RSW is definitely a better fit for this Alex character but They are laying it on a little thick with how he's horny for every attractive female that crosses his path. He hasn't even been on that many episodes and my eyes are already rolling to the back of my head. And I hate the clear frames on the glasses he's been wearing, which may be the point.

Sure, but I have family members who were with other family members as they breathed their last breath, and found it to be a profound experience. So I could argue that he cheated her out of an opportunity to be with him for his final moments. But why? She was basically a zombie for Hale most of the season. I can't remember the Show demonstrating that she had motivations of her own, and that she was working to untether herself from Hale's influence. The one scene that does stand out was Clementine explaining that she preferred to stay away from the outliers. Maybe she was lying to Hale but it didn't feel like that in the moment.

This show is so weird how it can feel rooted in the mysteries of human nature, and then turn into tedious fight scenes and sentimental nonsense. I was so bored with this finale that I FF to the end to see if there was a big reveal that made me want to go back and watch it all, and there wasn't. But I went back and watched it all, anyways. Why not just float off with Frankie into the sunset, Caleb? Not a big fan of these two characters but I thought it would have been more powerful to have him go off with her knowing he would die soon, rather than the teary Goodbye Scene on the dock. For as much as I love Clementine, I had no idea why she suddenly gave a damn about Frankie, Caleb and Stubbs. It seemed like they just wanted to give Angela Sarafyan something Bad-Ass to do. I get how every iteration of William is just going to want to burn the world to the ground but his story in this finale wasn't compelling in any way for me. Oddly, as one who mostly dislikes everything Tessa Thompson has done in previous seasons, I kinda enjoyed her as a Mustache-Twirling villain this season, and I felt the teeniest bit of sympathy for her as she crushed her pearl there in her mechanical form. Wasn't Bernard/Arnold's encouragement of Dolores to "remember" the whole reason we got into all of this trouble in the first place? That's all I could think about when Dolores was saying something about remembering. Another loop, indeed.

So, if this was taped at least 6 months ago, that sounds like that They had decided before the end of 2021 that the Jake character wasn't working, and to kill him off. I still remember reading an interview after Brandon B was recast as Jake, and Ron C was so happy to have BB back on the Show, while BB was excited to create a new character. Guess that didn't go well. Did Stefan die in 2019, and The Time Jump makes it 4 years? Good thing there were no winter storms or severe thunderstorms, as they happen in the MidWest, to knock out power while Rolf was in jail. Stefan O would be a real stinking mess by now. I did wonder if the "heartless" comment was meant to foreshadow that zombieStefan will be more ruthless than before. FINALLY, after years of couch surfing and baking ziti, They give Ava something fun to do. I hope this works out better than her plan to frame Rafe and send him off to jail.

That scene did happen but Rolf can lie. It's not like he owed Gabi any kind of explanation, or that his experiments are fit for public knowledge. There are modern scientists trying to "revive" the wooly mammoth, so I'm enjoying Rolf's Dr Frankenstein machinations. I just wish this writing team could explore some of the philosophical aspects in a thoughtful way, rather than just milking it for manufactured drama. But, oh well. That's a different show.

Orpheus and Steve were good fun. I know Ron can't stand to take his time with his storylines but I enjoyed how today's scenes felt like a new chapter of a dangerous rivalry. I won't be at all surprised if Orpheus is headed back to prison in a few weeks, though. I'm mostly curious about Benexander to see if RSW will be able to convince me that he's a completely different character. If the new character is the arrogant ass RSW seems born to play, he may be able to pull it off. Plus, I don't think I ever gave a damn about Ben, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Ron C probably wet himself when he imagined the scene with a shirtless RSW wresting around with Zach Tinker. Oh my. Those robbery/shooting/bleeding-out scenes were so bad that I ended up laughing when I was supposed to be.

I loved Hale being bored and frustrated with her new world order. It's so human of her to get tired of her new toy, although I may have to credit her with having a longer attention span if this has been a couple decades in the making. Some humans tire of their new toys overnight. It appears to me that the Hosts can't truly break free from their loops but because Ford planted the idea in Dolores' mind that she can, she's been able to experience the nature of her reality in a way that seems different than what she was able to experience when she was contained to the park. Teddy explaining to Christina that she's a God made me think of the scene in Ex Machina when Nathan completely distorts what Caleb says about the history of Gods, therein making himself a God. And I laughed.

I loved Maeve's line about how the behavioral training lessons didn't stick with her, as she's walking right into Halores' trap. The scenes with the low droning noises, static sounds and watching the humans/hosts (?) blow their brains out were some of the most unsettling scenes I've seen on this show. I don't even care about Caleb, and I was horrified for him as he frantically tried to enter "Frankie's" glass room. I think the only reason I enjoyed the scenes with the Rebellion in the scorched Earth future was because they reminded me of the world of Fury Road, a film that I loved. But hey, whatever helps. For some reason I really enjoyed ImpostorDolores, especially the look on her face as she came charging down the hall while Maeve and Caleb were entering the elevator. I'd love it if the Show did an extra scene with that actress doing her version of Dolores' opening monologue from Episode 1 of the series.

Perhaps but there's a shot of something at the end of the Title Sequence that looks like Rehoboam to me. May be something else but I could totally see Halores fixing the thing if she thought it would aid her in her quest to crush Humanity.

I have to get Premium to watch Real Housewives Girl's Trip, so I may end up watching this. Hope's Princess Gina "You are beneath me" Face made me laugh, and I'm curious about what Eileen D is doing with Kristin these days. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm at the slightly intrigued emoji face.

Caleb is played by Aaron Paul. Peter is played by Aaron Stanford. I've been slowly rewatching Season 3, so I don't remember all of the details but I think most of their interactions were in the season finale when Maeve, Caleb and Dolores were there fighting with Serac over Rehoboam. And if you watch Maeve's quick flashback sequence in this episode before the power goes out, it looks like some things happened with them after Rehoboam was disabled. So they have continued to spend some time together in the Time Gap between the seasons.

Has Billy Flynn been Smile Crying through all of his scenes? I haven't watched any of them since the day after the murder but it felt like he was trying not to laugh while crying his eyes out today. I liked Shawn actually being the father of Jan's baby, and then after all of her efforts things still don't go as she's dreamed about all of this time. That's how life works, oftentimes. But OK, it was Orpheus Mustache-Twirling, DNA switching and lies all lies. Silly me for thinking this ridiculous Show was going to tell a relatively intelligent storyline. I thought a Be Careful What You Wish For theme would have been interesting. It does make me chuckle, though, that Orpheus is caught on this Merry-Go-Round of being in prison, plotting an escape, a short-lived stint of freedom, then getting his ass sent back to prison. I guess there's nothing better to do.

An Easter Egg, or an indication that she's still stuck in her "little loops", as Ford called them. I'm still not fully convinced that any of them are capable of Free Will.

Wasn't Season 1 about a Human attempting to convince the Machines that they were actually Beings capable of Free Will? Sure, the Show is no longer set in the Parks but I don't think the themes of the Show are far removed from that. I will agree that the Showrunners have failed at making subsequent seasons as compelling as Season 1, though. This new episode was better than I expected, which isn't saying much. I liked that They quickly gave Maeve a purpose, I was intrigued by whatever is going on with Dolores/Christina (Christores?), and I got goosebumps when we finally saw Teddy's face. And I'm not even a SuperFan of Teddy's. It was nice to have a break from Halores, although I'm guessing she be a major player in every other episode. Maybe she'll go Full Throttle Mustache-Twirling Villain. Hopefully. Tessa Thompson has never sold me on her being an emotionally complex Human/Machine Hybrid. I might buy that she's a Heartless Human Hating Bad Ass. I'll watch it again and listen to some recaps on YouTube, and see if it starts to become more interesting than last season.