beadgirl

I'd like it if they built more stories around Cassie herself, too. In the last episode there was that brief discussion where she revealed how much she hated Jake's killer at first, and that made her more interesting to me than she has been in a long time. So little seems to affect her, make her really feel anything, that she ends up being kind of a non-entity in her own show. She needs to show some personality traits other than "mysteriously knowing" and "warm-hearted." Also, some magic would be nice.

Maybe there were S&P/child actor considerations, but it could also have been a dose of realism. He was a large man and seasoned killer, and she was a much smaller teenaged girl with (as far as we know) no particular self-defense skills; in that sort of fight, while she might be able to get the upper hand occasionally (escaping, whacking him with the rod), she'd have to be exceptionally lucky to be able to defeat him permanently. While I'm a fan of the kick-ass heroine who can take down the bad guy, I think in recent years tv shows and movies have gone overboard in showing tiny little 100-pound women take out men twice their size with no weapons but their fists and feet. I didn't think that look was wistful at all. I'm guessing a person at the doctor's office said something along the lines of "Have you told the father yet? Is he thrilled?" And that was her acknowledging the ridiculousness of Nick being happy about it.

I feel awful saying this, but I'm really hoping for a miscarriage. I mean, something like that has to happen, right? I can't see them working an actual child of Nick's into the show in any decent way. I did like Henrietta's snarky contempt for Adalind -- she clearly sees that Adalind is not very good at hexenbeisting. Juliette seemed out of character to me -- she's normally so reasonable and low-key about relationship upheaval. I'll chalk it up to the changes in her because of her new powers, but I really hope she snaps out of her self-pitying mode. It'd help if Nick could have been a little more convincing about his love for her. I get why he'd be freaked out about this, but c'mon! Put on a brave face for your girlfriend who's had to endure a ridiculous amount of shit for you! Fake it 'til you make it! I know! I had the same thought. Would it have been so bad to have Juliette walk into Theresa's old room to wake him up??? Cloe was delightful; I loved her refusal to woge, and attacking the guy was icing on the cake. I hope the Council punishes that infertile couple (and the receptionist) severely. The idea that killing someone else's child is totally ok so you can get your own sent me into a rage.

I heard (well, saw the video) Tove Lo's new song, "Talking Body," and heard "Our baby-making bodies we just use for fun" and thought to myself "That's a remarkably frank description of casual sex!" But according to closed-captioning, the lyric really is "Oh baby make 'em bodies, we just use them for fun."

I liked it! Very different from the comic, both in the actual plot, character, and world-building elements and in its attitude. I found Liv in particular to be a great character -- smart, thoughtful, sad, earnest -- it would have been so easy to make her snarky and cynical and totally irritating, but they didn't. And I like that she has a genuine ally in her coworker; he was great too.

I read the first ten issues way back when, and was disappointed -- it had a lot of interesting ideas, but I thought it was trying too hard to be cool and hip and edgy (also, it was clearly written with an eye toward a future movie/tv show). But maybe the series will be better.

The crime is in the unlicensed gun he had, and the bomb that went off. Add in the blueprints and the phone call from an apparent accomplice, and the police have a very good case for conspiracy to rob a bank. immortalfrieza makes a good point when she mentions viewing the crime as the police would. The vast majority of criminal cases are ordinary and straight-forward, so they are far more likely to believe this guy conspired to rob the bank and then was screwed over by his pal rather than believe that someone came up with an elaborate scheme to frame an apparent stranger* -- occam's razor and all. And that's not even taking into account the inadequacies, biases, and imperfections of the criminal justice system to begin with. People are often convicted on circumstantial evidence. Finally, most alleged criminals claim they are innocent and were framed by the police/someone else, but that rarely results in their freedom. *He'd have a greater chance of success if he could point to a specific person with a specific motive, but that is unlikely here. Even if it occurs to his attorney to check out the woman he put into a wheel chair, a cursory investigation would show she wasn't involved, and it would take a huge leap of imagination to think her therapist, who has no personal connection to her, did it to help karma along.

If someone called claiming to be your accomplice and described you and ordered the guy to comply (and btw, I think the banker guy was gullible and overly timid), and you walked into the bank angry, spoiling for a fight, and demanding to talk to said banker, and you had an unregistered gun in your bag, and a smoke bomb went off a few seconds after you entered, yeah, you'd have a hard time proving your innocence. Especially if you had a criminal record. (Yes, at trial the burden of proof is on the government. But long before then you will want ot convince the police, and then the D.A.'s office, of your innocence. And at trial you will want to present an alternative theory of the crime to generate reasonable doubt, and "a mysterious stranger somehow framed me for some reason" is not usually a successful argument.)

Having the same ethical argument over and over is repetitive, but I actually appreciate it because it's showing both sides. So much of TV takes a consequentialist approach where pretty much anything is ok, as long as the bad guys get it in the end, and hardly any character challenges that in any meaningful way. It's nice to see Finch 1) take a moral position I share and 2) keep at it even as things go pear-shaped -- he won't compromise his morals. The flashbacks were entirely predictable, but they also helped show Finch has developed over the years, based on his experiences with the Machine, Nathan, and so on. I think it makes sense, too, that Reese, Fusco, et al. continue to hold their own positions on this, given their own backgrounds and experiences. But is the Machine actually refusing to show them? Or did Finch just not ask, because he was focused on the present situation? I don't think the Machine would volunteer information to solve an old crime just because. I disagree. The fact that the same burner phone made both calls won't prove anything, except possibly that the guy's alleged partner decided to screw him over. "Somebody planted the gun!" is in fact an argument actual criminals make all the time, and police, ADAs, and jurors don't generally buy it. He didn't need to say anything about robbing the place, because the bank official gave him the key card almost immediately. The guy walked into the bank angry and belligerent, so that body language is going to work against him. And who would he blame for setting this up? What's the motive? Frame-ups are rare in the real world, so I don't think anyone would believe him. The frame-up of his wife's alleged murderer, on the other hand, is iffier, not the least with his "Just tell the police you saw him shoot me!" to Finch. At that point a rational person would have realized it was over, but I think the guy was so distraught he wasn't thinking straight.

I'm wondering how she finds the time to run two small businesses (stores and B&Bs are lots of work, even with George's help, and who exactly is doing all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry for the B&B?), concoct herbal remedies for the town, get involved in local doings, be a parent and step-parent, and get up every morning in time to make breakfast for her daughter before school with a full face of make-up and an impeccable outfit. But as you said, it's Hallmark. Why are they being so coy with Jake's death? Will it be a plot-point in the future? I, too, want more magic and less tinkly music, and for Cassie to develop an actual flaw or two, but I still can't help watching.

I wasn't thinking of the superhero genre specifically, but rather movies and television of any genre that, when they have a female protagonist, almost always add in a romantic/sexual subplot of some kind -- the male character she's always fighting with but secretly lusts after, the horndog secondary character who keeps trying to bed her, the male protagonist who is her One True Love, the ex she can't seem to be rid of, etc. I just find it refreshing that this series is not at all concerned with that. Yeah, Steve is a presence, but only in spirit and we all know how that story ends; all we really get are little flashes of emotion from Peggy as she heals. And yeah, Sousa has a crush on her (or did), but that really only was a moment early on, and his role otherwise has been the one to figure out she is not all they assumed her to be. The other agents dismissed her and in some cases have come to respect her, but no one is trying to "get" her. Stark doesn't stand a chance with her, and Jarvis is off limits. So we just have Carter being a brilliant agent, a good friend, and generally kick-ass. It's a nice change of pace, and it makes sense for the character anyway given where she is at the moment. I like romance, but sometimes I want a different kind of story or sub-plot.

Not necessarily. It's not hypocritical to sin even as you tell others not to, it's just being weak/human; it is hypocritical to think it's a sin for them but not you. That said: I totally agree. I liked that he felt bad the next morning, because it showed his beliefs really matter to him, and that in some ways he expects more of himself than others. Heh, yup! I kept thinking of Lisa Simpson's projected jazz career, where she would be ignored stateside but beloved abroad, would have a couple torrid affairs, and might or might not die young (she hasn't decided yet). Guy is tedious, and so far completely cliched. It'd be more interesting if he were decent to Sidney because he finds him so thoroughly unthreatening, or if he were genuinely insecure (in a non-bullying way) of Sidney's friendship with Amanda, or anything, really, other than "rich jerk who treats his perceived lessers like crap."

Poor Dooley. Although I knew he was doomed once he let Ivchenko take No. 17 -- that's not something you can bounce back from career-wise, hypnotism or no. That explains why he was reading Dr. Faustus; I figured that was a heavy-handed clue, even if I didn't know the comics character. (That was what he was reading before going to help the doctors, right?) I loved Jarvis's ridiculous plan to save Carter, and their interactions together in the room. And Carter's distillation of why she was invisible to all the agents at SSR was perfect. I know. The more I watch Agent Carter, the more I lose interest in Agents of Shield.

I never liked Claire -- she was far too cavalier with other people's lives in her first appearance, and not even dead parents could make me sympathize with her. So I'm glad it turns out she's still a budding sociopath. Also, she's quite naive if she has not figured out that people and institutions can do both good and evil, sometimes at the same time. The MMA artist, on the other hand, was fun (although I wish she hadn't been so dumb as to run into her house; as soon as the medical alert bracelet went off, I knew it was a ruse. The show has a tendency to run several arcs at one time (Control, Elias, HR), focusing on one to completion and back-burnering the others. I hope the pattern continues, and the end of this season sees the end of Samaritan, leaving Elias and Dominick (and any governmental/Control fallout) for next year.

Yup. It's been a great exemplar of how you don't have to show a romance just because you have a female character.

I don't know what it was like back then, but today Anglicans and Episcopals technically have the rite of confession, but it is rarely done and not nearly as big a deal as it is in the Catholic Church; rather than a sacrament strongly encouraged and provided weekly to everyone, I believe you have to make a special appointment for it, and I don't think very many avail themselves of it. Also, in the Catholic Church at least, the seal of confession only applies if the discussion is explicitly a sacramental confession, not just a regular or even private conversation. And if it is a confession, not only can the priest not reveal it (the penitent can), he can't even say that there was a confession. Whether these rules apply to the Anglican Communion, I don't know. (N.b., I'm Catholic but my husband is Episcopal, so I could be misremembering what he told me.) The mystery was a little disjointed, but I liked the bits of character development for all involved. Gloria's mannerisms bugged, though. And Sidney, stop lying! I think that's almost worse than his other missteps/sins.

What a great episode! I loved Louise getting unhinged as a result of her hatred of Millie (who's quite the little psycho!). And the whole thing being orchestrated by Henry was brilliant. The writers do a great job of populating the show with all these weird, fascinating, secondary and tertiary characters. I was very upset to see Bob's knife ruined, however.

Heh. I love that there are no other comments, because what more is there to say about him?

Ha! Yeah, I'm thinking Juliette could kick Katrina's ass even without hexenbiest powers. I'm flip-flopping on whether I want Juliette to keep her powers. But I do want the Adalind v. Juliette storyline to END ALREADY. Give Nick and Juliette a season or two of normalcy in their relationship and home-life!

Fortunately, she told Rosalee that she took several pregnancy tests and they came back negative, so I think that's off the table.

Fun episode! I liked seeing Orson again, the uneasy truce (with both Nick and Monroe), and the fact that he actually was a good investigator and wanted to solve the case. I felt kinda bad for him when he went back to jail, even though he belongs there. Boy, Adalind just sucks at everything, huh? She's a pawn who wants to be a queen. Nick freaked out at the reveal, and rightly, because he had no idea at all it was coming. Wu's suggestion of a bomb strapped to the guy's chest was great. I like him involved! Although I laughed when Orson asked if the whole department knew about Wesen. And I find it interesting that Renard has no problem telling people he knows about Wesen, but he doesn't reveal that he is one himself, or what he is. I'm not sure who I want to get the betraying snake guy -- Renard or Nick's mom.

I agree, and in fact I made the very same decision with my first pregnancy. Of course, in my case the results came back positive, and there was no way anything was going to be wrong with Jane and Rafael's baby. Which is my frustration with this sort of storyline -- so many shows go the "something might be wrong with the baby!/oh good, the baby's fine!" route, because it generates drama but only for an episode or two, and doesn't have any lasting consequences. Which is not how the real world works, sometimes. On the other hand, this is Jane the Virgin, and the two of them having to raise a special needs child is not in keeping with the crazy awesome style of this show. And, of course, I'm happy the baby's fine. I may be overthinking this, which is not something I generally do with this show. Hee, Cheech Marin! Boy, the plot is just zipping along. Makes me wonder what's planned for season two.

A return to the show's original form -- just Reese and Finch teaming up to save a POI uninvolved in any global conspiracy. It was bittersweet. My thought process when Blair Brown showed up: "Oh, it's she! Where do I know her from? She must be a Samaritan plant, or possibly a colleague of Control; she's too powerful and devious to just be a regular person. Wait, it's Nina from Fringe! Oh ... I guess she really is just an ordinary jury member." Although it certainly could lead to an interesting cross-over. I was squicked out too by the flirting between Reese and the psychiatrist -- way too unprofessional on her part. Also, what are her ethical obligations if she works (at least part time) for the NYPD, and she realizes a police officer is an actual fraud? Would she really say "I can tell you aren't a cop" and then go on to get to know him? I know attorney-client confidentiality well, but not patient-psychiatrist confidentiality; does she have a duty to report a future or on-going crime? And if she really is from a family of cops, wouldn't she be outraged at the idea of a cop-impersonator? This makes me think either she is not what she seems or the writers are doing a very poor job with this storyline. Yay, Zoe's back!

It makes sense for Juliette to keep her powers, because it gives her a way to protect herself (gun and frying pan won't always work, especially against very dangerous wesen). But I'd prefer for her to revert to ordinariness again, and to have the writers leave her the hell alone for a while. Not every case Nick gets needs to "hit close to home!" Would a Grimm's blood not work because she is a created hexenbiest? I really wish the writers would address this; they can't have forgotten what happened to Adalind. Yes, and despite what others have told her about how Nick might react, I'm hoping she doesn't actually think that. She's just afraid because she's afraid of her own powers and of everything else that has happened; i.e., it's more denial than actual fear that Nick would try to kill her (nightmare notwithstanding). That said, I assume she is going to tell him now, because I don't think he'll actually buy that the manticore missed and killed himself by accident.

Well, I would have added "Blurred Lines" to this category, but then Weird Al created "Word Crimes," filling my girlish, grammarian heart with glee. So now I just listen to that song. "Gold Digger" by Kanye -- such a catchy song if I ignore the lyrics that paint women as greedy gold-diggers looking to trap men by getting pregnant.