ElectricBoogaloo

I think Olivia was very conflicted about the kids. I think part of her enjoyed keeping them locked up to punish Corinne, and I think part of Olivia had some old school morals which led her to truly believe that incest babies were evil, Satan's spawn, etc. If you take Garden of Shadows into account (if you hate the ghostwriter and don't want to take his drivel as canon, I understand), Olivia didn't start out totally evil. She wanted a hot rich husband who loved her but by the time she first met Malcolm, she had already accepted that she would be an old spinster because she was too tall and not pretty enough for a man to want to marry. That was already a dangerous place to start from, wanting the traditional path but convincing yourself that you would never get it. Tall blonde rich Malcolm paying any attention to her was shocking enough. She couldn't believe that they had conversations, let alone that he wanted to marry her. She finally let herself believe that she could have what other women had (a husband and a marriage), which she did get, but he played her. Once they were married, he raped her and barely spoke to her or spent any time with her. He just wanted a rich woman who would inherit her daddy's money to be his household manager and baby incubator. But amidst all that, she loved Chris Sr. and I think that's why she both loved and hated Chris Jr. She felt betrayed by Chris Sr. when he married Corinne and left. And Olivia's version of Corinne's childhood contradicts what Corinne told her kids about her parents being very religious and strict. According to Garden of Shadows, Malcolm spoiled Corinne and everyone in the family (including Olivia) adored her. Now you can chalk that up to the ghost writer not giving a shit about contradicting the original source material or Corinne exaggerating or Olivia believing that she was kind and generous to her children. Olivia's version in Garden of Shadows is that she loved Corinne and was devastated when she learned about Corinne and Chris Sr. Olivia was awful in Flowers in the Attic, but she didn't really become cruel until Alicia got pregnant with Corinne. At that point, Olivia was fed up with Malcolm and she stopped feeling any sympathy for Alicia. She loved being the one in command of the secret baby situation and lording her power over Alicia. It's no surprise that she enjoyed repeating that scenario with Corinne's children. But before that, she wasn't shown to be mean (even when she was jealous of Alicia). According to Garden of Shadows, Corinne ran off with another man when Malcolm was only five years old. Malcolm blamed Garland for both spoiling Corinne/giving her everything she wanted and being neglectful. Malcolm said that his mother would wait for Garland when they were supposed to go out somewhere and Garland wouldn't show up because he had the date wrong in his calendar. Counterpoint: Garland said that Malcolm drove Corinne crazy, always following her around and asking her endless questions so between her husband forgetting about her and her son driving her crazy, it's not completely surprising that she eventually ran off. The painting of the blonde woman that Cathy and Chris found in the attic was Corinne. In Garden of Shadows, Olivia says that Corinne looked about 18 in the painting so she was still in her early 20s when she left. Even though Garland clearly adored Alicia and was a ray of sunshine compared to Malcolm's gloomy ass, I could never get over the fact that he totally groomed Alicia. She said that he started coming around when she was 5 or 6, he gave her a gold bracelet when she was 12, he kissed her for the first time when she was 14, and they got married when she was 16 (and Garland was 55).

Promo: Original air date: 6/24/21

It's just a typo. You can always check the BBC website for airdates.

SERIES FINALE! Original air date: 6/10/21

S7.E9: 40s Week (Semi-Final) Original air date: 6/9/21

S2.E2: Hero Shot Original air date: 6/8/21

SEASON FINALE! S3.E8 Original air date: 6/8/21

S1.E3 Original air date: 6/7/21

Christopher: The study is flawed if it's only including white people. It's not only biased. It's not scientifically sound. Judy: I like the look of terror in your eyes. It tells me you're actually going to do something.

I didn't get why the Metal Donnas thought their name was so funny. They clearly thought it was hilarious and burst into laughter every time they said it, but I didn't get it at all. Based on all the smack talk, I thought all of the queens would be amazing singers and dancers but wow, this challenge showed that they're all pretty terrible at both. Everyone who was talking shit about someone else not being able to sing needs to have a seat because no one was a great singer and yowza, that dancing. I didn't like that Supremme's feedback for everyone was to moan and make it sound like porn. I'm not familiar with La Veneno so I'm going to refrain from commenting on the runway beyond the aesthetics of their looks (I wish that they had put some comparison pictures with the originals on screen so I could see what they were going for). Sagittaria is coming off as a queen who has a checklist of things she thinks she needs to do in order to be a queen. Jump splits, check. Nearly naked look on the runway, check. But I feel like I"m not getting anything else from her. On a shallow note, I didn't like that she had her mouth hanging open for almost her entire runway walk. This is a really basic thing that performers need to learn - stand in front of a mirror and make faces until you find ones that look good. You need to have a variety too. Pupi's animal print look was fine but I was so distracted by the fact that I could see the top of her breastplate poking up over the top of her necklace (and it was really obvious because it was a different color than the makeup on her neck/face. She needs to work on her facial expressions too. She kept making a "who farted" face. I loved Vulcano's makeup and headdress. I liked her explanation about the red jumpsuit underneath and the blue dress with the spiders on top. I also love that Vulcano really leans into her height and wears huge platform shoes. Inti's nun look was a bit plain and unflattering so I was kind of glad there was a reveal underneath. She also needs to work on her facial expressions. Squinting with your mouth open isn't the most flattering look. Killer Queen's look was very dramatic but it also looked a bit cheap and homemade. That's partly due to the iridescent fabric she used for the wings and the bottom of the skirt. It can come off as cheap and wrinkly if it's not used well. But even without that, the rest of the costume looked like it didn't fit well and was cobbled together by a sorority girl who can barely sew an hour before a costume party. Her makeup was pretty though. My issue with Dovima's red outfit was that when you wear pleather, vinyl, etc. it has to fit really well or it looks sloppy. There was something about it that looked ill fitting. I think she needs to work on her walking and her body awareness. She goes through the motions but without fully committing. It's like when you watch little kids learning a dance routine - even when they remember the steps they are still a little flaily and non-commital to the movements. When I saw Arantxa's look, all I could think was that Michelle Visage would have said she needs to be cinched in that outfit. What is it with these queens and having open mouths on the runway? I felt like my mom when I thought I wished I could pull Arantxa's shoulders back and tell her to quit slouching. Between the messy blonde wig and the ripped fishnets, she was giving me Courtney Love vibes in that look. Again, I'm not familiar with Veneno but is a corset and ripped fishnets enough for a runway look? Hugáceo's costume was very colorful. I definitely got the comic book vibe even before she turned around. Carmen's snake reveal was very dramatic but I really wish she had found some flesh colored material that matched her skin tone. Seeing those pale stripes kind of ruined the illusion. Ha, I laughed when Supremme announced that they would all be judged individually. The panic on some of their faces told me that they thought they would be safe due to being in a group. It was absolute bull shit that Vulcano had to LSFYL. She wasn't even close to the worst in the group performance or on the runway. I can't believe the judges decided to punish her because she's worn platform shoes for two whole weeks. Arantxa's performance was a little too flaily and desperate for my taste.

I thought her eye makeup made her eyes look very squinty.

One thing I really appreciated about this season was showing the realities of in vitro fertilization. Too often on tv shows, it's portrayed as one quick visit to the doctor/clinic and then the woman immediately gets pregnant. It can be a long, frustrating process so I am glad that they showed what it can really be like.

FYI - the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel has every routine posted (and without commentary). You can watch them all here. Leanne has a gorgeous floor routine. This YT channel includes info about the scoring of each routine which is really interesting (and helpful!): Emma's floor routine: Grace on beam:

Last week, Simu Liu finally shared what he'd been hinting at in this Facebook post: The Globe and Mail did a story about Simu's post and basically said it was sour grapes. Today Jean Yoon replied to the author of the article on twitter:

I'm totally clueless about how long it should take to make any of the stuff that's done on this show, so I have no idea if the time limits are tight but reasonable or completely ridiculous. I do remember Meghan saying that one of the things she made would normally take her 2-3 days but even with that statement, I don't know if that means she is a slow worker or if the show is asking the impossible with the challenge requirements and time limits. I think one of the differences is that on The Big Flower Fight, they came onto the show in teams of two so not only did they have two pairs of hands to create their designs but they had (hopefully) worked together before the show so they knew how to communicate with each other. On Clipped, they do get assistance from the fabricators but from what we saw in one of the previous episodes, they are only allowed to do EXACTLY what the contestants tell them to do which means that the contestants have to basically supervise them rather than being able to have two people working simultaneously. I mean, the other possibility is that the people on Clipped are awful at what they do. Whatever the explanation, there have been way too many finished designs that just look like big blobs of green.

As it said above, Jade can only be part of the team event IF she competes at nationals and the Olympic trials and is selected for Team USA. If she places in the top two at Olympic trials, she is guaranteed one of the four spots in the team event. If she does not place in the top two at trials, she could still be part of the team if the USAG selection committee chooses her. If she had no interest in competing in the team event, she could have skipped nationals and Olympic trials and cruised into the Olympics with her guaranteed spot. FIG already has some qualification stuff built into the World Cup. The top three countries in the team final are guaranteed spots in the team event at the Olympics. For this Olympics, where you finished in event finals World Cup events awarded a certain number of points. Each gymnast got to use the three highest points awarded from all the World Cup competitions. The gymnast with the highest cumulative point total was guaranteed an individual spot at the Olympics. That's how Jade got her guaranteed spot. But if she is selected for the team, she is giving up the spot she earned through World Cup qualification. Another qualification built into the World Cup was that the three countries with the highest cumulative point total in the all around competition earned a fifth individual spot at the Olympics. The United States earned that extra spot which is why they are allowed to name five gymnasts to the Olympic team, but that fifth spot is for an individual, not the team event, so they will be looking for someone who they think is strong enough to medal in an event final aka a specialist. If Jade keeps her individual spot from World Cup qualification, the United States can send a total of 6 gymnasts: four on the team, whoever they select for the fifth spot they earned, and Jade. But if they put Jade on the team, she gives up that World Cup spot and then Team USA can only send a total of 5 gymnasts (the four on the team plus whoever is chosen for the fifth individual spot). Each country is still limited to two gymnasts per event final, which I hate. I know some people found it frustrating when a country like Russia or Romania would sweep the medals, but I'd rather see the three best gymnasts win. It sucks when the top three qualifying scores are from one country and the third person can't go to finals.

Since the show description said the episodes will include nationals and Olympic trials, I'm guessing that they're waiting to see who makes the team before they finish editing/start airing.

Was it just me or was the sound mix terrible this week? The music was SO intrusive for most of the episode and it was really annoying. I watched another tv show right afterward and the sound for that was fine so it seems like it was just this show/episode. I guess this episode was a good reminder of how far Emmett has come because wow, did he regress a lot this week. He has become a lot more mature and responsible in the past three years but this week was a throwback to what an immature baby he can be. I was just shaking my head every time he was on the screen. When he got mad at Dom for not asking how he was feeling in the wake of confessing that he cheated to Tiff, I was like bro, come on. You're asking your sidepiece to comfort you and be concerned about your feelings because your wife found out that you fucked around on her? PLEASE. Obviously Dom is involved since she was the other half of the fucking and she knew that Emmett was with Tiff at the time, but Dom is not responsible for any of that. As far as I'm concerned, that's all on Emmett. He was the one living with his girlfriend and he was the one who chose to cheat. The whole situation with his mom was ridiculous too. First of all, you don't live there anymore so the least you can do is call or knock instead of just letting yourself in. Secondly, it is none of your business who your mom wants to have sex with. Third of all, accusing her of choosing Suede over him was laughable. She wasn't choosing Suede. She was having sex with him when you barged in. That's not even close to choosing Suede over Emmett. Fourth of all, fine, it's weird for your mom to be sleeping with someone who's two years older than you, but how old is Dom? In real life, La La is about to turn 38. Wasn't Jada relatively young when she had Emmett? I know that Dom and Jada aren't the exact same age, but the point is that he thought it was fine to fuck Dom who is much older than he is but for some reason he thinks it isn't okay for his mom to have sex with someone who's younger. And does he tell Darnell who he can't sleep with or set an acceptable age range for the women that Darnell hooks up with? UGH. Speaking of Darnell, I loved when he felt the need to interrupt the party for his very important announcement: "I don't want to be high anymore!" A+ to Kiesha for telling Emmett like it is. He's been fucking around on his various girlfriends for years and now that the shoe's on the other foot (and all of one time, I might add), it's all WOE IS ME.

Nicky dropped out of Harvard, so she and Evan must have known each other from high school or earlier.

For some reason, it looks like the rest of the season won't be airing until August.

Troian Belisario's second daughter born! https://www.instagram.com/p/CPtDsN0NnEe/

Funny doesn't trump sexual harassment. Funny doesn't trump abuse of power. No matter how funny Pleather Hoodie thinks he is, his behavior is still shit. Comedians who rely on sexism, racism, and other such -isms are lazy. If you can't make people laugh without stooping to that kind of humor, you aren't very talented.

Trailer for Bourdain documentary:

Same. I think that at the very least they were trying to plant the seed of jealousy with Rob. First Josh seemed very protective when he asked Rob if he was going to be as careless with Kelsey as he'd been with Claire. Then they had Kelsey touching Josh while they were talking about how much they would miss sharing a bathroom as roomies. Now to me (a person who has had lots of platonic friends), this stuff is nothing. But it's tv so of course Rob will read too much into it and get jealous/suspect that there's something going on between Kelsey and Josh.

According to IMDB, Damian has appeared in five episodes so far.