LydiaMoon1

This is something that has bothered me about Lawrence for a while; his job instability. I've suspected for a while that if Issa gets back with him, she'll end up back where she started with Lawrence unemployed and sitting on her couch. At first, he wanted to start his own tech company. Great. Then, he said he just wanted to work at a tech company, so he gets a good job at one. Good. Now, he's unemployed again, presumably because he wants to be closer to his son.....but I don't know. With Lawrence, I suspect he would have found another reason (i.e excuse) sooner rather than later. He just strikes me as someone who is afraid of success. Yeah. I don't even know much about Taurean, but it felt out-of-character for him. It was much like Molly wilding out at the company retreat felt out of character for her (at least it did to me). Most of this season has felt exceptionally low effort, like the writers have just been passing time. Instead of coming up with something knew, they decided to repeat some edibles shenanigans. It just felt so low effort to me. I didn't appreciate it.

Agreed. At least something happened this episode. That's something. I gotta say though, the whole "characters eat edibles and hijinks ensue" schtick feels lazy to me at this point. I won't give the episode 5 stars, but Kelly and Chad get 5 stars from me every time.

*shrugs* You have your opinion. I have mine. Like I said, I was bored.

I was......bored. Aren't there only 3 episodes left? Everything still feels really up in the air. Oh, well. At least this season has made me look forward to the end. That's somewhat of an accomplishment, I guess.

Agreed. I was so proud of Issa for greeting Condo and Larry. When she acknowledged the baby and even agreed to hold him, I thought to myself that Issa was finally growing up. Then, she tossed the baby and drop-kicked Condo and I knew it was a dream. I guess it was too much to hope for that Issa would stop acting 13. To clarify, I've always agreed with Issa's decision to walk away from Larry if she didn't want to deal with all that came with him, but that sequence was just stupid and childish.

This episode legit pissed me all the way off. First of all, I despise how Issa turned turned Condo into the villain in each of her dream sequences. I'm like, honey, she's just a single woman who dated a single man and got pregnant and decided to have her baby. All of which were well within her rights. Stop blaming another woman for your problems. Issa and Lawrence were together for 5 years. If they couldn't get their ish together during that time or in the years that have passed since then, that's completely on Issa and Lawrence. You made your choices. She made hers. Everybody has to live with the choices they make. Second, why in THE ELL did Issa apologize to Crenshawn? For what??? She promised him exposure and she gave him exposure. I don't know what she promised him when she recruited him, but I was so perturbed when he accused her of not having his back. Why would she be obligated to have his back? Her obligation is to her company and her clients, and all she owed him was the exposure and opportunity he received. I get so tired of everybody expecting black women to mule for them to the detriment of ourselves. EFF THAT and F U Crenshawn! Third, why did it take so long for Molly to tell her colleagues that her mother was sick? That is a huge deal. I'm ready for black women to stop being superwoman and taking the burdens of the world on our shoulders. Step back. Ask for help. Get the grace that we constantly give to others. Why is that so hard for some of us to do? Fourth, why is Issa trying so hard to make fetch happen with Nathan? She doesn't love him. He doesn't love her. You know, I got mad before when Nathan said that Issa was all over the place, but you know what? He's right. It's past time for her to pull up her big girl panties and decide what she wants once and for all. Girl, if Lawrence is who you really want, go get Lawrence and accept the baggage that comes with him. If he's not what you want, let him go and move on. Tired of her acting like a leaf in the wind with no control over her life.

When ILY slipped out of her mouth, I kept hoping she would quickly follow it up with.....as a friend because I was still pondering why two people who are sexing every night are still so awkward and tentative with each another, or maybe my real question was why are they sexing every night when they're still so awkward and tentative with each other? Oh, well. Looks like another fine mess she's gotten herself into. Me too. This season certainly isn't going the way I thought it would. I would have thought that they would have started untying knots by now. Instead, things seem to be getting more tangled.

Not just you. I definitely thought that she was much more interesting than her brother, so I'd love it if they made a movie or a Disney+ show about her and her organization.

I also wondered if my dislike for Crenshawn stemmed from my dislike of RA, but...Nope. Crenshawn made me hate him all on his own. Maybe there's something about the actor that I just don't like. IDK. I just know that I don't seem to respond well to him at all.

Yeah, I thought about that too. If he had that much power and influence, why had nobody heard of him? Why hadn't he been mentioned before. So far my biggest problem with Phase 4 is that recent movies keep throwing in details that don't make sense in light of what we already know. It's a problem. the writing was so tight in Phases 1-3. It was clear that every detail was closely monitored and carefully managed. Now, it's like they've just said eff it. Write whatever you want. It's starting to give me Disney Star Wars make-it-up-as-you-go-along teas.

I'm right there with you. I enjoyed Shang Chi, but, scene after scene, I kept thinking that I've seen this movie before. Mind you, that happens a lot with me these day, but this one more than normal. For me, the Disneyfication of the movie hindered its impact. For example. if the movie had shown me what Wenwu had done to the gang of men that came to his house, their revenge would have held more emotional impact for me. It also would have been easier for me to accept them as a ruthless gang if they hadn't allowed the children to go to bed before the killing began (that gesture was awfully polite). Instead, they gave me exposition and a montage to tell me that he was a warlord for a thousand years. Like I said, I just didn't feel the emotional impact of the mom's death the way I should have. Everything was too sterilized. Lastly, all I could think of during the big CGI finish was that, instead of a big, epic battle, what the family really needed was family therapy and grief counseling. That would have benefited them the most.

This episode was underwhelming. I really only got three things out of this episode; (1) Nathan's disappearances are an established pattern of behavior for him (He disappeared after they first began dating, when she went looking for him at Andrew's last season he'd disappeared, he disappeared when she needed him to comfort her, and he disappeared so much when he lived with his cousin and that he ended up getting tossed out of the house) and (2) Issa and Nathan have absolutely no chemistry together and, given the multiple red flags that are right in front of her face, I can't understand for the life of me why she continues to pursue a relationship with him, and (3) Crenshawn is an even bigger azzhole than I already thought. I give this one a 6 out of 10, mainly because I really loved the beach outfits that Issa and Kelly were wearing.

Thank you so much for this. Condo didn't make that baby by herself. If Lawrence was so dead-set against becoming an unwed father, he should have used protection, gotten a reversible vasectomy, or simply abstained. He knows how babies are made. Life usually works out better when you take a proactive approach, rather than relying on the whims of other people to determine your outcomes.

Because women, in general, are massively male-identified. They have nothing but coddling and excuses for grown men, but hold women responsible for every slight. That's why men get kudos for "babysitting" their own dayum children. while women are vilified for every infraction. I've seen Lawrence praised all over the internet for "trying" (while nothing in his life routine has actually changed), but Condola is the wicked witch for being a typically overprotective and (probably still hormonal) new mother. Most women have no sympathy for other women. I've never understood it. Meanwhile, men ride or die for each other. It's all so typical.

Agreed. Because Lawrence was obviously not around during the pregnancy, I think Condola assumed he didn't want to be involved. That's why she and her family were so surprised when he showed up at the hospital. Conflict arose because Condola continued to treat him as an afterthought, even after he expressed interest in parenting. Lawrence messed up by not taking things slowly. He came in feeling fully entitled to come in and be immediately involved, even though he knows nothing about taking care of an infant. I knew it was going to go south from the beginning, but I really knew it would hit the fan when he wanted to take an infant away (was it for a week???) from his breastfeeding mother. That was never going to fly. Both Condola and Lawrence have to learn to stop acting like individuals and begin acting like co-parents. Of course, that would be easier if they had become partners BEFORE having a baby together. IDK why people continue to bring babies into these effed-up situations. Makes no sense.

*shrugs* I love Molly's haircut. It's a huge improvement over the endless parade of obvious wigs. At no time did I think she looks like a man. Not sure how anyone could. ETA: The outfits in this episode are fire! I also really love Issa's assistant, and her roommate problem was hysterical.

I think it is a fairly common occurrence in a business/enterprise where that business has to answer to a person or entity who holds the purse strings. It is their money so to protect their investment they feel that gives them rights in how that money is being represented and how not to lose money or have anything negative reflect back on them. I think in Issa's case it an an object lesson that she needs to learn. In her job she is going to find herself in this position over and over again where the money people are going to want something different than what the creatives have in mind. I feel that this is Issa Rae-the creator- speaking a little bit about her experience in the business where Networks often will send notes to producers making them remove or change things. And it is the job of the producer to mediate between the network and the writers to make everyone -- if not completely happy then at least make everything palatable for all involved. In this case, Issa is new in this situation and she let the creative, Crenshawn go rogue. Luckily it worked out but it is lessons like this you never forget she will know better how to navigate a situation like this in the future. Yeah, Issa has to make the transition from community organizer to businesswoman. She's still operating like she's organizing a backyard BBQ. It's time for her to stop relying on verbal agreements and the honor system and start signing some contracts. Mr. Passionate Artist needed to be contractually bound (with stipulations included). I'm glad things worked out in her favor this time, but if he goes rogue next time and causes Issa to lose a client or reputation, she needs to have the apparatus in place to sue him for breach of contract.

I've watched this movie multiple times this month because I really love it. The first 10 minutes surprised me too, but that's because I expected the movie to center around Lupita's character, Miss Caroline. I didn't realize the movie was actually David's story. I thought the first 10 minutes were needed for David's story arc, so I didn't mind (although the movie would have been even better had it centered entirely around Miss Caroline). Lupita was great, as were the children. I thoroughly enjoyed that the children in the movie didn't get the Hollywood treatment. I don't know why children are such obnoxious brats in American TV and film. This little Australian movie portrayed children as, well, children. They were very innocent and age-appropriate. I liked that. Josh Gad's character was was a trip and he cussed A LOT. I wasn't quite prepared for that. I was also expecting more zombie gore and violence. I was kind of relieved that that was less than what I anticipated. In fact, I was surprised that the whole movie was more rom-com than zombie/horror. That was unexpected too. Anyway, I had a good time.

*whispering* After thinking about it, imma need to ETA my earlier ETA and rescind my kudos to the writers due to INconsistency. How long does it take for someone to turn to turn after they've been infected? It seemed to take Carter and Amy a long time to turn, but the people Winston bit turned almost immediately. The lady in the cabin with Lila turned overnight. They need to establish a time frame and stick with it. What kills a viral and are the rules different when they're just infected vs. after they turn? I mean, Clarke and his soldiers killed Winston and the people he bit with bullets, but in ep. 9, they were firing at virals point-blank and they didn't die. What was the difference? Lacey came along and shot infected people with one bullet and they didn't get back up. Was that because they hadn't yet turned? Also, if they couldn't kill virals with assault weapons at the compound, how did Amy kill them one with a bow and arrow? She didn't even shoot him in the heart. She shot him in the neck. They need to establish some rules or this world they're building is going to fall apart really quick. The reason the vampire mythology has endured is because rules were clearly established that everybody understood. If this show just changes rules willy-nilly to fit any given situation, the show is going to get real dumb real quick. They need to make hard and fast rules and write within those parameters, After re-watching ep. 10, I think they should have ended the season with the missiles heading towards the US.That would have been a powerful ending. I actually thought the last few scenes detracted from the season rather than enhanced it, especially Amy killing a viral with her bow and arrow after the previous episode showed them being nearly impervious to bullets. That didn't make sense to me. Overall, the season was very good. The best things were the characters themselves. Each one was very strong and solidly written. The wakest thing was the world-building. Again, the writers need to establish rules for the virals and write within the rules.. Still, I'm looking forward to next season.

I just re-watched episode 9, and two things stood out to me. Someone mentioned this upthread but, the first time around, I missed when the soldier in Bolivia told Lear that the locals told them to kill Fanning. Of course Lear, in his arrogance and his God Complex and his selfish agenda, ignored them. Nevermind that they had probably experienced virals before and knew exactly what to do. The most poignant line in the whole finale was when Amy said something along the lines of how Lear and company had so many chances to turn back, but they never did. The second interesting thing was Shauna. It didn't register with me the first time that when she conversed with both Sykes and Richards, she has no blood around her mouth. She didn't feed. Whereas Carter seems like a follower to me, Babcock''s flashback showed that she was obviously the leader of her little friend group. She was still thinking independently, even as a viral. When she was talking with Sykes, you see it in the way she balked at Fanning's order that they feed on innocent families, and later on in eppy 10 with the way she and Clark were handling her feedings. Kudos to the writers for their consistency in characterization. ETA: Since all of the virals survived the explosion, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that Shauna had somehow also managed to save Nicole. Maybe that's what she was doing while the other virals were on a rampage.

...aka, when you tie yourself forever to a man who you know is in love with another woman and you're actually surprised that you make each other miserable. It's another episode of Smart Women, Dumb Choices. Yep. You know, that part really didn't surprise me. It seemed in keeping with his backstory. In the flashbacks, Carter seemed like someone who was empathetic towards other people, but surprisingly gullible and easily manipulated when it came to his own life. When he was running around biting people, I was thinking that he's definitely a follower, not a leader. Agreed. It made me love her all the more. So much THIS. Brad and Amy were the heart of the show every step of the way. In season 2, I hope the ending scenes and time jump turn out to be Amy's vision of the future rather than actual events. I've gleaned from comments that the whole lineup of characters basically changes in the book, but I'm not ready to leave most of these characters yet. I mean, TV is a very different medium from books. I can't see them moving so hastily away from characters who have endeared themselves to their TV audience. *shrugs*

This was a great episode. I was genuinely shocked by the security guy who turned out to be a viral. Dumb mustache dude! See, arrogance is as dangerous as a loaded gun. Amy was killing me the whole show. I was so scared for her. When she was riding her bike down that tunnel all stressed and indecisive and stopped to go talk to and hug her mama while Brad was pouring out his heart to her? Lordt! I was a mess. I was thinking there were only two options, but my Amy found a third option! I can't wait to see where they go with this now that the virals are out and Lacey is on the way! The setup for the finale has been stellar. Don't disappoint me show! Looking forward to next week!

I've got to agree with you on this one. She was waaay too calm. I kept waiting for her to freak out at some point, but no. She could have been buying carrots at the grocery store for all the emotion she showed. It was quite jarring. Her whole performance was very underwhelming.

EXACTLY. Between Lear and Fanning, Elizabeth probably chose death just to escape both those arrogant azzholes. ....and it wasn't until l watched this episode that I realized i could read minds too. When Nichole shut off Elizabeth's machines and scurried out of that room she was thinking, "Yeah I feel bad for y'all, but I remember what happened with Carter. If this bish turn viral, I ain't gone be locked up a room with her!

Ruh Roh!