Milburn Stone

Has anyone seen the 6-part Netflix documentary (or "documentary," I'm not sure which, but best as I can tell, this is the discussion topic for it) called Investigation Alien? I went in pretty much thinking it would be complete nonsense, but ended up moving in the convert direction. The witnesses don't seem like nutjobs, and there's physical evidence and film, shot by pilots in the sky and civilians on the ground, that seem hard to explain any other way.

Sadly, the "prosecutorial issues" were real. The reporting here in Chicago made it very clear that our State's Attorney at that time, Kim Foxx, effed it up royally.

Or, in keeping with @EtheltoTillie's advice: Several troubleshooting thoughts come to mind. Here's one.

Re passive voice, I feel like fifty years ago there was this dogmatic anti-passive movement, and people who aspire to be good writers (and maybe more to the point, are nervous that they might be bad writers) have been treating it like the plague ever since. Passive voice exists for a reason! Writers should evaluate which voice, active or passive, better communicates their intended tone on a case by case basis. Don't throw away a tool in the toolbox for no good reason.

@shapeshifter, although the way you wrote it definitely sounds wrong, it is right.

100%. Even though I don't have kids, I understood the parents' misery, and was scared the whole way through. My brain knows the parents should be (and will be) punished for what they did, but my heart wants them to be treated with mercy and to receive clemency (even though they won't). For an episode to be able to make me feel that way (and not, "parents should get the chair"), given what they did, is extraordinary.

It's not just you but I hardly care that it's also me. I like the show too much. I know what you mean, though. There was one point towards the end when the detectives were literally racing through their solving-stuff dialogue, far faster than the human mind can process. I wondered whether they did that because they knew the same dialogue at a reasonable speed would reveal holes.

That was scary. I was sure it would give me nightmares. But my nightmares were about something else.

Was just about to write something similar. Did not care for Eps 2 and 3, but this one was a return to what the show does great--namely, satirize segments of New York society to a fare-thee-well; roast them until they're well-done. To me, that's what this show is about. Elsbeth and all the recurring characters are fun, and the case-solving is intriguing, but when you add on top of that the satire that the show is capable of--the bringing down of well-deserving societal cohorts--it becomes a great show. In this case, the targets were not only the two rich women, but the store's snobby "new boss" character, who was so fun to hate. A lot of the credit for that goes to the actress, who was fantastically funny, hitting just the right notes of exaggeration without over-the-top silliness. I want to know more about her. Has she done a lot of NY theatre? I can find out more about her on IMDB, of course, just wondering if anyone here was familiar with her before this.

Fantastic news!

Just would add (since I was the one that said that) that Rebecca the ex-fiancée turns up in later episodes and is quite attractive, much more attractive than I found her in the pilot. Maybe I was influenced by her personality being somewhat unattractive in the pilot.

I agree. I totally expected a complication with Joanne's decision to convert, because how else could there be a cliffhanger, but I did not expect such an emotionally truthful and moving scene. And a word for Justine Lupe. Every time she delivered a laugh line in ten episodes, I laughed.

I guess Bonnie's whole point was to get rid of the monstrosity next door to Yancy. So, not completely pointless, but she had a lot of screen time considering. I really liked the actress playing Eve. Liked her a lot in Search Party, too, and was glad to see her again. I could look up her name but that would be cheating. My only problem with Eve was how she died. Pretty "deus ex machina" if you ask me. Would have been more satisfying to see her story end less randomly. The actor playing Nick really sold having a fishing pole impaled in your spine. To paraphrase a former president, I felt his pain. Good job from him through the whole season. Character with highest ratio of how much I liked him compared to how much screen time he got: Ro. But looks like he'll have more next season. (If there is one.)

Tovah Feldshuh...whatever the implausibilities and whatever the clichés, she made them seem plausible and fresh by the reality she brings to the character. P.S. What kind of business is the father in to afford that kind of house and that size of property? Have we been told and I forgot?

Something was wrong with this episode. VV looked at a loss for how to deliver his lines. I felt bad for him, having to try to somehow rise above the terrible writing and direction this episode got.