QuantumMechanic

According to ESPN, the top two women in each city final go to Vegas. ESPN also says all wild-cards have been eliminated. http://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/article/19583111/american-ninja-warrior-changes-five-women-city-final-two-per-city-vegas-no-wild-cards

"The final Detour was a choice of Cut the Cod or Grab the Crab. In Cut the Cod, teams had to cut through several 50-pound (23 kg) Ling Cod and search for a miniature clue hidden in one of the fish. In Grab the Crab, teams had to jump into the hold of a boat swarming with over 500 live crabs. Then, they had to search through the nipping crustaceans for a crab marked with Race colors to receive their next clue. In the final Roadblock, one team member had to face a field of things they had encountered along the race course. They had to match 10 of 15 recognizable items to the respective legs of the race, but the combination of items had to meet the following requirements: Three items could be animals or animal by-products. One had to be a U-Turn. Two had to be items either at or brought to the Pit Stop. Two had to be items of transportation with wheels, one of which was used at a Detour. One had to be an item of transportation resembling the shape of a stick. Only one combination of items satisfied the conditions, allowing them to open the clue box and obtain their next clue." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Race_12#Leg_11_.28Taiwan_.E2.86.92_United_States.29

Like the farting aliens? Or the fellating masonry?

I got taken out of the story by all the safety (or rather lack thereof) stupidity in the lab. First and worst was the Doctor and Nardole walking out, unprotected, into a lab they knew was likely contaminated. And then the Doctor wanders around still unprotected with the bacterial-laden mist all around him. And the idiocy of how both Erica and Mr. Hungover acted (at least he had somewhat of an excuse). And the idea that a place that's doing research like that having an un-overrideable vent to the open atmosphere? Etc.

Sounds like Coop won't be back to normal particularly soon... :( Entertainment Weekly: Agent Cooper’s story isn’t just about trying to escape from the Black Lodge. It’s also about a guy returning to a world he once knew and reconnecting with it. Does that story resonate with you, in terms of returning to television? Lynch: Sure. But as you’ll also see, it’s also about coming into the world as a new life, learning your likes and dislikes, and doing the best you can to find your way.

I definitely see myself going exactly that way. I don't mind the weirdness, but I do mind the lack of a coherent story and the wasting of time on stuff like the way-too-long casino scene. But I suspect that there'll be just enough story there to make me want to see how it comes out in the end, despite being frustrated at the timewasting. I really do hope RealCooper snaps out of it soon, though.

Strikes me as more of a sequel to the series finale and FWW than to the series as a whole. While I'd prefer the latter I can live with the former. And I'd be lying if I said the hairs on the back of my neck weren't standing up almost constantly. As Frog and Toad said, "They were scared. The teacups shook in their hands. They were having the shivers. It was a good, warm feeling."

At least for me it has nothing to do with the accents but rather that the vocal tracks are too buried in the sound mix -- music, etc. is too loud relative to vocals.

Yeah. To my ears the sound mix has been noticeably worse this season. I had to put the CC on for the first time ever to be able to understand this episode because I could only make out about every other word, especially early on in the episode.

Were those arranged taxis? When Becca and Floyd were leaving the rock climbing site I could clearly see a race flag stuck to the inside of the rear windshield of their cab.

I don't think it's that. I distinctly remember a team in the first U-turn episode saying something like "unlimited u-turns this race".

I overall liked it (nothing special, but not bad). So nice to see Twelve without the ball-and-chain of Clara. Why couldn't we have had more of this? Oh, you'd think Moffat could have told the writer "You know, we've already done a story with nano-things that strip your bones clean". And "For the love of god, if you still have to do it, note that they were called the Vashta Nerada, so don't use a name that sounds anything like that."

Thank you! I've always felt Rose Tyler to be the worst companion of all the Doctors I've seen (4, 5, bit of 6, 9-12). Could not stand her. At all. Don't get me wrong -- didn't like Clara either, but Rose was unquestionably worse.

He had to be riffing on it. It was too on-the-nose otherwise. The tone of voice. The locution. The tightly pursed mouth.

I thought that's what John's shock of realization was until they told us it was John realizing the governor was in the psych sessions with Euros.

I think that was the real Ford being killed. Story-internal because it completes the Ford/Arnold parallel. Story-external because I doubt (though I have no knowledge either way) that Hopkins is going to do another season.

Remember - two things were happening from the terminal Elsie found. One was trying to smuggle out data. The other was sending something to the Arnold-era hosts, changing their programming. What if Theresa was only responsible for the first, but Ford for the second?

Perhaps. But there's zero indication he's in any position to save the park. Now that I think about it a little more, when Logan and William arrive, didn't Logan allude (not by name) to Arnold disappearing or there being some problem with Ford's "partner"? If so, that would seem to me to be further evidence against William=MiB, since whatever park-saving stuff happened happened before we even saw William for the first time. And when the MiB talked about saving the park I thought the context of the phrase placed it squarely in the just-after-Arnold-died time.

One problem I have with the MiB=William theory is that the MiB has previously mentioned that when it looked like the park was going to go all to hell after Arnold died, he helped save it. Yet William is merely some schlub in Logan's family's business.

You need some blurred lines...

Any idea what's up with the pig (in a blanket, no less :)) that you could see on the sidelines during Graff's run? It was even referenced the LEGO of Graff.

When I heard that Battlebots was coming back to TV I was a little suspicious because, among other things, I thought the Battlebots Classic ring announcer was one of the highlights of the show and how could they replace him well. I must give props to Farouk. He is quite the worthy successor.

Someone upstream said that because ABC feels a bot winning by good driving and just shoving the other one around is bad TV there were rules changes. I know that allowing drones and fire and only having one weight class are rules changes from Battlebots Classic. What are the others?

I declare for House White Walker. Everyone else on Planetos is either too evil or too stupid to deserve to live.

Ducks? Very small rocks?