Enginerd

It's a bit satisfying that someone agrees with me about shoes that are pointy but then square on the end. That was such a style for awhile and it just looks weird. It's like, "I don't want a totally pointy shoe that's obviously not my natural foot shape, I just want people to think I have the feet of a Dr. Seuss character." Not my favorite episode, but I love David's and Alexis's increasingly strong, supportive relationship. Why does Stevie put up with Roland? She owns the motel! He's the worst!

It was very unclear. Roland kind of acted like he owned it, but when Stevie's aunt died, she was informed that her aunt was actually the owner and Stevie inherited it. Maybe the aunt had left Roland as an acting manager as far as the sort of thing an owner would take care of (financials, etc.)? Maybe Roland had some right to let the Roses live there, and then when Stevie inherited it, she agreed to let the Roses stay as part of the deal in Johnny becoming her business partner. But what owning the town means is still a complete mystery. Obviously, most of the real estate is owned by other people.

That apartment was nice! It had hardwood floors, window seats, and a fireplace! Install a door on the bathroom and get an armoire that doubles as a divider between the living and sleeping areas, and problems solved! But yeah, Patrick should have realized that he made it sound like he wanted to share the apartment with David. Maybe this is a step toward David developing more independence and getting an apartment for himself, on his own? The apothecary seems to be successful enough. But also, this tiny town seems to get bigger and bigger. Now there's an apartment building that has never before been seen? There was a robber no one recognized or noticed? Just exactly what do the Roses own? I wish they would ever address that. They live at the motel for free, but Stevie actually owns it. Does the town council pay their bill there? But they couldn't pay rent on a different apartment instead? IT MAKES NO SENSE.

They definitely should have taken the robbery seriously. It's not worth taking the risk challenging someone who MIGHT have a gun or other weapon, and also, when taken by surprise like that, in a situation where they weren't expecting danger, most people would be freaked out and not thinking clearly. They wouldn't be able to stand there and calmly assess the situation and decide he probably didn't really have a gun. Say they did challenge him. What then? Maybe he runs off, but maybe he attacks them with whatever is to hand. You don't know where the boundaries might be with someone who is already blatantly crossing boundaries of what is acceptable behavior. Better to just give up a few material goods and report it to the police and insurance. Although I also wonder how far a robber could get in such a small town without anyone noticing him. Maybe it's time for the town council to install a few security cameras on the streets. When I worked in retail many years ago, the instructions were the same: your life and safety are worth more than whatever's in the till; just give it to them.

I agree completely. He was being demanding and selfish. I can see why he wanted to have the party and a new family tradition and all that, but give them all a couple weeks' notice. That way they could invite people and arrange things and get together some decorations and food and drink without the degree of difficulty. I'd be peeved, too, if I woke up on Christmas Eve to find myself ordered to throw a party that very evening, in a small town with very few businesses that are probably mostly closing early for the holiday. Does Schitt's Creek even have a grocery store anymore? Do they have to go to Elmdale for anything food-wise the cafe or the apothecary don't sell? Not to mention expecting everyone to drop the plans they already had for Christmas Eve.

Are they trying to say "it's not really incestuous" or "this family is so incestuous and has so normalized incest amongst themselves that they don't even know how off they are; they are more depraved than anyone"? Because either way it's gross. If you're adopted and raised together as siblings, you're siblings, shared DNA or not.

So NANA Blossom, the one member of the family who was decent to Cheryl and Polly, was responsible for adopting Penelope and grooming her to marry Clifford?! The red hair thing makes me wonder if Penelope is secretly Mary's half sister or something.

I was in high school in the early 90s and the music seemed spot on to me. Yes, it was from a few years earlier, but it's what we still listened to, along with a few more current hits. Especially in a small, more remote town, with only one or two radio stations and MTV if you had cable, no streaming, no internet, far fewer channels and stations, the average teen just wasn't exposed to as many listening options as today and hits stayed popular for years. KJ was excellent in this episode. I was totally seeing a young Fred and not Archie. I think the Blossoms are behind the game. It's right up their Gothic alley, plus Penelope sure jumped right in to taking charge and getting them more into the game, bring the gem to hunt for, pairing people off, etc. The chalices and catering also had a rather Blossom air about them. Also, her dancing was a hoot. I suspected way back in the first season, when Penelope talked about the Blossoms, that she'd been a Blossom before she got married, but I thought she was a cousin or something. This is sick and twisted. How has the whole town kept quiet about that all these years?

One thing I find funny is that whenever we see Tahani's parents, their own clothes, their home, and the artwork on their walls are a very safe, traditional, staid, conservative posh kind of look. They praised Kamilah's more avant-garde work and trashed everything Tahani did, but their own choices aren't avant-garde at all, unless they think having two daughters and raising them in Jacob-and-Esau fashion is an avant-garde performance piece. They seem much more like Tahani.

I agree that it was meant to look mediocre at best, as both a commentary on art world ridiculousness and to show that Kamilah is not, in fact, infinitely better at everything than Tahani, she just gets better hype. Kamilah is soooooo pretentious. You could really see how the constant praise she's gotten has allowed her to build up a whole mystique, growing in confidence and bullshittery. So now she's developed a combination of reputation and calibrated performance such that she can say nonsense like "all your fears are now mine", but she does it in a dramatic voice and with an intense look, and the response is "so profound!" instead of "ooooookay, weirdo." Her art was pretty simple. Circles and stars representing united parents and children driven apart. EGGS, which are an obvious representation of offspring, getting broken to make omelets. I suppose the raved-over omelets represent her "genius" art...can't make omelets without breaking a few eggs, aka her and Tahani. Are we really meant to think Dave is a great guy? It's one thing to not care if your girlfriend doesn't respect identity law or live up to her charity auction promises, because whatever, but to choose as a mother figure to your child someone who treated her own child so horribly and continued to let her daughter believe she is dead?!?! How do you ever trust someone like that with your kid, however honest she is about it? Does he know about the dog? Surely there are other options for confident, selfish lovers.

That part actually rings kind of true for me. Popularity and reputation can be kind of self-perpetuating. Their parents seem to have been very wealthy and influential, and their praise and connections probably helped to launch Kamilah into the world in a way that got her a lot of attention and admiration from the right people who were also influential. Not to mention that confidence can carry someone a long way, and the al-Jamil parents certainly instilled more confidence in Kamilah than in Tahani. Our perception of people's work and actions is often heavily colored by the image we already have of them, and even moreso in celebrity culture. So an artist like Kamilah is talked up as being brilliant, and then everything they do gets attention and fans interpret it as brilliant and all the hype gains them even more followers etc. etc., even if the same piece wouldn't get much attention if it were presented as being by a less-known artist. It's a bit exaggerated for effect on the show, but the concept is not false.

I think it's in character for Eleanor to have wanted the warm happy family life with her parents that she never got. I think her snarkiness and disdain is an armor she built up over the years due to not being nurtured and loved, but that deep down she did care and did want it. In a flashback way back when, she was crying over a 4-toothbrush holder, meant for a whole family of happy loving toothbrushes. I think forgiving is often a good thing to do for yourself and your own peace and happiness, but that you aren't morally obligated to do it and you aren't a bad person if you haven't achieved it. Also, it can mean different things. Sometimes it means repairing the relationship, sometimes it means letting the issue go, sometimes it means letting the person go by accepting that they're toxic and cutting them out of your life so they can't hurt you anymore. Unfortunately, horrible people often use the concept to bully others into "forgiving" aka not fighting back or protecting themselves and exposing themselves to continuing harm.

On Hart of Dixie, Lemon's mother who abandoned them years earlier turned out to be living happily in a nearby town with a new husband and daughter she treated much better. I feel like I've seen it somewhere else, too, but can't remember where.

I did actually see a Nemo-themed restaurant last time I was in Australia...I believe it was called "Frying Nemo". Casual fish place in a seaside town.

It's a little odd to me that they're so concerned about keeping the secret of the afterlife due to worry about corrupting people's motives and condemning them to The Bad Place. I think they could go around telling everyone and no one's motives would be corrupted, because no one would believe them. The biggest risk is that people would think they were nutty and had fallen down some conspiracy theory wormhole or joined some fringe religion. Without seeing some sort of proof like the core gang saw, people would take this as seriously as most of us take things like Scientology and kids playing at being wizards. I liked this episode, but it would have been nice for the whole group to be part of the simulations, and also for Chidi and Eleanor to experience the wild world of Jason's past. I thought Tahani's parents died before she did. Didn't we see a flashback where a lawyer was informing her of the inheritance, which heavily favored Kamila? Or was that some sort of simulation? Maybe she'll only get a chance to try to mend fences with Kamila, and not with them. I still don't think she should have lost so many points for her charitable works being corrupt because she was trying to gain love. Is it really bad to want your parents to love you? Sometimes people should let go of that for their own peace of mind because love is just not something some people are willing to offer them, but don't think they're less "good" if they haven't managed to detach from their emotionally abusive parents. Wanting your parents to love you is a natural and healthy thing. On the other hand, Tahani definitely does other point-loss-worthy things, such as completely forgetting about her fiance or telling her study group to "come as you are" to a dressy engagement party. Tahani of all people should have known it isn't good to encourage people to feel out of place for not dressing for the event!

Maybe this is the setup for Rebecca's next real estate scandal/lawsuit. Because someone is lying here. How hot would the ground have to be for steam to form IN THE SEWER PIPE? Is this house on top of a volcano? Hey, maybe they could tap into this hot spring to get hot water for all the apartment dwellers with shady landlords. They could be taking fancy Los Angeles showers!

Unlike, apparently, most people, I enjoy watching Nathaniel. I think he's an interesting counterpoint to Rebecca. They're both self-absorbed and self-serving, but for different reasons and presenting differently. Nathaniel outwardly presents as "normal", for the most part looking and behaving in accordance with societal norms, with carefully moderated expressions of any emotions he might have. Yet he seems to be guided ONLY by external expectations and how he can get what he wants by complying with them, and not by any internal moral compass. He seemed completely nonchalant about putting out hits on innocent people! Rebecca, on the other hand, is outwardly chaotic and scattered. She's a mess and everyone knows she's a mess. Yet she does seem to actually possess a moral center, wobbly though it might be. She cares about people and isn't indifferent to hurting them, she just has a hard time overriding her wild emotions and impulses. I don't particularly care for him as a romantic interest, but I like it when he says things like "concentration camping". As far as office antagonists go, I find him more entertaining than Karen and her weird grossness. Maybe Josh could be Darryl's nanny when he goes back to work. Also, steam? In the sewer line? Making the floor shake? I'm no plumber, but that doesn't sound right.

I had the same question about the study. How can you know if the experience altered their brains without getting data on their brains before the experience? Plus they seem to be having the moral philosophy lessons as well. How does that play into the study? What are they testing aside from looking at their brains while showing potentially triggering images?

I think they need to go to the real Good Place at some point, even for some sort of visit or experiment. We've seen the fake Good Place, the Bad Place, and even the Medium Place, but we've never seen the actual Good Place. Has Michael been to a real Good Place? I'd think they'd try to keep demons out.

I thought this episode was weaker than most, but the restaurant was funny, as was Eleanor's struggle to not respond to Trevor in her old bad-person way. The set and prop people must have had a grand time with that restaurant...there were just so many hilariously awful details! I've never understood why people love Gen or think the performance is so funny or award-worthy. To me, Maya Rudolph seems to be really chewing the scenery in this role...open-mouthed, with a lot of slurping...and then spitting it on the table. It's way too broad, like a school drama club performance where the actor lacks restraint and nuance and wants to make sure the people way in the back of the auditorium can see how snarky the character is. It seems out of place on a smart television drama, and not in a good way.

Yeah, good points. Maybe it's just sloppy dialogue writing. Somehow I always feel like television writers should know stuff about writing and general academia even if they are usually off the mark on most other professions.

But he could have meant "thesis" as in the theme and viewpoint he's defending in a book he's writing, rather than in the thesis/dissertation school-required paper sense. After so many years as a student, he might just use the term reflexively even now that he's a professor and working on a book instead. Especially if it's all a continuation/revision of his same work.

Maybe the school has already granted the doctorate and/or accepted his thesis several times over, but he just can't stop rethinking it...

She didn't sound Australian to me, but I assumed that, like Chidi, she was from elsewhere and had moved there for the job and academic opportunities. Michael's "Australian" accent was supposed to be terrible, of course. I wasn't sure if red boots guy was meant to be a sort of caricatured particular sort of Australian, someone who may also have been from somewhere else, the actor just couldn't nail the accent, or something else is afoot. I didn't really pay attention to the others, but I would believe they aren't sounding properly Australian. I think this show definitely has the resources to get genuine Australian actors and/or a good dialect coach if they wanted to, so I think it's slightly off on purpose. Things are always a little off and there usually turns out to be a reason for it. But who knows? Maybe they just liked these actors and decided perfecting the accents wasn't a priority.

He can't be dead! I would be so upset! And season 4 wouldn't be nearly as good without him. Poor Lidia...both of the men she loves get shot in the same day, while she's trying to recover her missing baby and her workplace is blown up. That's...a lot. How could Marga possibly even consider liking Julio?! He raped her! Yes, she enthusiastically had sex with him, but he knew she thought he was her husband and didn't disclose that he wasn't. That is one million percent not okay. Creep. At least Carlos's horrible mother is in handcuffs, finally. I swear, for the first half of the season I kept forgetting who she was and every time I saw her, I thought she was the whorehouse madam. She looks so tarty and cheap in her showy furs and jewelry.