tennisgurl

I'm sick of shows with such short seasons, I miss the days of long seasons full of random filler or comedy episodes. I feel like everyone got really hung up on how "filler" is bad and how they just want to get to the point, but I think we went too far the other way and now every show ends so quickly it feels like the season just started and we didn't have time for character development, comedy, everything feels like a mad rush to get to the end. Some shows do benefit from a shorter season, but I miss the days of wacky side quests and episodes where it was the 1930s for no reason or when every character could get a flashback explaining their backstory, there is just no time for that kind of fun anymore when every show is just trying to get to the next shocking season finale.

Fucking hell, what a way to start the show. I have been avoiding spoilers and speculation but I did not see Foggy being killed like that, especially so quickly into the episode. One of my favorite things about the original show was the dynamic between Matt/Foggy/Karen so I cant lie about this making me less excited about the show, but they are certainly coming in hot on showing us that this isn't going to be like the Netflix show. Foggys dead, Karen moved away and she and Matt are estranged, Jose's was destroyed (probably), Matt is so heartbroken that he gives up being Daredevil, they really are telling us in no uncertain terms that this show is going to be even darker than what came before and that all of that is over. Its not bad enough that Dex killed Foggy and those people in the bar, he shot Foggy in the chest instead of the head so that Matt would hear his heart beat fading as he slowly died. No wonder Matt almost killed him. They showed real restraint in not having Fisk just straight up say that he will make New York City great again while starring at the camera, just in case a few people in the audience didn't get it. My favorite scene was definitely Matt and Fisk meeting in the diner, the actors have really stepped into these roles easily even after not acting alongside each other in years. A lot of call backs and shout outs to the great MCU and the Netflix era, I especially enjoyed Matt snarking about how the person who Fisk mentors (Echo) shot him in the head.

It was amazing to see Joey, its like this dull season just had life blown back into it. In his five minutes on screen I actually found myself getting invested, I saw chemistry, the conversation was actually real, I miss him so much. I still feel like I hardly know any of these people and I don't see much chemistry between Grant and any of the women, all of their conversations seem so shallow like they're following a bachelor script, even when it feels like they should have a real conversation, like Dina's family not showing up, they just kind of move past it when you would think that this would be a real moment for a heart to heart. I thought that Grant looked a bit put out during the engagement pictures date, I have no idea if Zoe picked that date or not but it came across as pretty cringe. Its hard to tell with Grant, he always has the same sort of look to him. This season is pretty dull so far, which I guess is better than the last Bachelorette season which was just depressing, but its just not pulling me in.

The girls trip is a big exercise in schadenfreude as they get joy out of each others problems, with that special kind of pettiness that only people that you have known for years can generate. I feel like all three of them are not happy with how their lives are going and they are tearing each other down to make themselves feel better. I am interested in how all three Ratliffs siblings will handle finding out what their dad has been up to and their potential loss of wealth. Piper is really interested in Buddhism and generally finds her families wealth to be toxic, but who knows how she will handle it is she loses her safety net. Its also clear that Saxon is a nepo baby hire and has little to actually do in the company, so who knows what he will do when the company starts to fall apart. Its hard to tell with Lochy, he's still an enigma. Its also too bad for Timothy that all of this happened while he was so unavailable, if he really wasn't the instigator he could have gotten ahead of this and given up his partners and come out alright, but who knows now that he's avoiding the feds and his partners are already dealing with everything.

I just have to ask, is there really not a counselor or victims advocate or social worker or anyone who can help victims and families without being involved in the investigation and legal stuff? Isn't that what people do in the real world? I know that this is just how procedurals work, the main characters do every single job in any investigation, but this is so egregious. Olivia is an actual police captain but she has this much time to hand hold this one victim when she should presumably be working on other cases or working on the nitty gritty aspects of the case? I know that this is the Olivia show and its nothing new, but this one seemed to hit me even more, literally half the episode was made up of Olivia speeches. All that being said, I did really like this episode. It was great to see Donna Lynne Champlin from Crazy Ex Girlfriend getting such a meaty role that she did a great job with, and I like that we had a victim who isn't a sexy young woman or a child, a victim who wants to take charge of her own case. She was more angry than wilting and wasn't so willing to do as the cops say, which I think is as natural a reaction to being assaulted as anything else. The flashback during the trial was interesting, I don't think we have seen that before. The courtroom stuff was pretty good, although I'm not sure how the rapists lawyer found out about the victims MS diagnosis. Did she overhear her talking to Olivia? Did she tell the rapist while she pretended to flirt with him? How did she find this confidential information so quickly? I wish we had gotten a bit more of the rapists pathology, even Carisi noticed that it felt weird that he went from date rape to grabbing a random woman in a busy area to rape, I would have been interested in knowing more about what his deal was. Not that I want that sleaze to have more of a part in the story than the victim, but it felt like a part of the story we missed in favor of a few more smug Olivia speeches.

Those boat names were all silly, but the Shark Tank bit was really cute, Beef certainly deserves having a boat named after him. Ouch, Beef really does struggle with those names. Wolf Giggles Tobin! I almost forgot that Ham was in a band. I love when this show just goes super weird, although I hope that Ham and Crispen get back together soon. I get why they want to date around, but how many gay teenagers are there in Lone Moose? And soon they will learn that dating is a total nightmare, especially in a small town. Those crazy lyrics at the Yet-E-Cheese were amazing, no one has ever listened to those lyrics.

I love Melissa Fumero so this got my attention right away, plus it has a good cast of other actors I have liked in other things, so I am intrigued enough to give this a watch. The mystery seems fun so far and they definitely seem to be going with more of a soap-y vibe than a thriller, which sounds like a fun time when you have a good cast. Lots of assholes to be the body, the smug rich kid is a solid option but my money is on the step dad trying to take custody of the single dads kids. The flashforwards are a bit confusing but its a pilot so I expect some mess.

Misty missed her calling as a lawyer, she actually did a good job during Ben's trail, if it wasn't for Shauna's bullying she would have won the case. Steven Krueger is giving one Emmy worthy performance after the next, I am so worried about where this is going. I really do not want him to die and be next on the menu, but I fear that this is where things seem to be heading. Shauna is getting worse and worse, especially in the past where she is clearly starting to take over as the leader/head mean girl. She decided that Ben was guilty and didn't want to hear anything else, even though it seems more likely now that it was someone else or some freak accident, especially now that we know about the gas in the area. Does she actually think that Ben did it or is she just projecting all of her hurt and anger at everything onto him? Or did she start the fire? Its weird that no one brought up Ben saving Van, Shauna and Akilah when he could have left them to die to avoid being caught? Isn't that a pretty good indicator that he doesn't want to hurt the girls? It feels weird to kill Lottie now like this, I feel like the show has never really known what to do with her as an adult. I am starting to worry that the the writers are spiraling in the adult parts of the show, it seems like we keep starting things and not finishing them. I thought the same thing about Nat dying, it felt pointless when she had so much potential as a character. My favorite thing in the present timeline was definitely Jeff bonding with the elderly while trying to fix their families karma. What a keeper. I love seeing Jackie again.

So are we going to get a metaphorical Tsunami by the end of the show or a literal one? It would be wild if we end up in the middle of a gun fight only for an act of nature to come and wipe all of this nonsense away. Poor Chelsea is having an all time crappy vacation, her boyfriend is always pissy, she gets caught in the middle of an armed robbery, and now she's bitten by a poisonous snake! One that her high out of his mind boyfriend let lose! I actually am coming around on Rick, I think he's a troubled person more than a bad person, even though I would not be surprised if he has some really big skeletons in his closet, but Chelsea really needs to consider moving on before she's collateral damage to his self destruction/redemption quest. I thought that the snake imagery with Rick was really interesting, he sees himself as misunderstood and caged, but Chelsea also makes the point that snakes can be dangerous to others when let lose, it makes me worry again about Chelsea being caught in the middle of whatever it is that Rick has going on. Oh damn, Brenda is so onto Greg/Gary, I am very concerned about her now. Who knows how many gays he has on standby to commit his murders?! Timothy is in major panic mode, he has to know that he's just putting off the inevitable by keeping his family away from the outside world. I think its possible that he'll just stay in Thailand, although I cant imagine his family being thrilled about living in exile hiding from his crimes. Now its Kate's turn in the hotseat, I knew (and Kate probably did too) that Laurie and Jaclyn would be talking shit about her that night, turnabout is fair play after she has been happily trashing the other girls in the last two episodes. I have to say, her friends might be onto something about her doing whatever her partner is doing, no one has to be conservative in Austin, one of the most famously liberal cities in Texas, to fit in. I am so looking forward to everything between them exploding, their chemistry is so good.

Oreo following those nuns around was a running visual gag that I could not stop laughing at.

I loved getting to see the start of Isaacs feud with Alexander Hamilton, or at least Isaac's one sided hatred as I am sure that Hamilton never thought much about him, even after he stole his ruffle. The Hamilton and founding fathers jokes were pretty hilarious, especially Sam Addams wanting to add beer to the Declaration of Independence. It was rough to watch him blowing his chance to be a part of history and be made fun of by the rest of the founding fathers, but he got the last laugh, inspiring one of its most famous lines! It was nice of Pete to give him that, although we all know that he'll be insufferable about it. Its also nice that Isaac's grown enough as a person to find the lesson in the story and give Jay some advice on not obsessing over a rival to the point that you miss out on what you do have. Poor Penny... "I cant condone the pettiness but I love the pun." I didn't expect to see Elias show up, although I totally buy him being on Hell's management track, he continues to be just the worst. It was really sweet seeing everyone looking out for Thor when it seemed like he would possibly sign with Elias, he has done a lot of good things in his afterlife. It was especially sweet when Hetty brought up him being her imaginary friend as a child, the ghosts can certainly get on each others nerves, being stuck together for eternity, but you can see how much they care about each other. Jay, do not sign anything that someone who cackles asks you to sign!

That was a lot of information to get in 50 minutes! I knew that Mr. Martin was shady, but that guy is seriously deranged. I still think that we are missing a few pieces, but I do think that Janet is telling the truth as much as she knows it, while she isn't blameless in all of this by any means and she did steal Maddie's body, I do buy that she thinks she did all of this to help the ghosts move on. I love Mr. Martin going full slasher villain on the living Scoobs, I guess I should have counted on something like that happening when you have a bunch of teens hanging out in a cabin in the woods. He might have started off with good intentions, wanting to learn how ghosts work and how to cross over, but that has clearly eroded over time and now its all about him, as long as he gets his second chance he can hurt anyone he wants. The actor does sinister so well, it was chilling how quickly he went from telling Janet his plan of locking the other ghosts in their Scars to observe their misery for the sake of their experiment to him going right back into lovable dorky teacher mode. I am still on my "Mr. Martin is behind the schools high mortality rate" theory, every ghost after Rhonda died in some freak accident that its possible he created in order to find more subjects, unbeknownst to Janet. Poor Rhonda, that flashback to her immediately post death was really sad. She and Quinn are adorable, I like the new ghosts we have met this season a lot. I always like seeing flashbacks to the ghosts from before the show started, we got an appearance from Dawn! Its kind of hilarious thinking about students coming back to school without knowing that ghosts have been having sex all over the place all night. Maddie and Wally are so cute but it just cant last and they both know it.

I did not have Bill dying on my Magnolia bingo card! This is going to make for a much sadder season than I expected, the poor kids. I feel bad for Helen, it sucks having to be the bad guy when it comes to budget cuts. Maddie better let Helen and Dana Sue plan every second of their anniversary party.

That episode was hilarious, every subplot had me cracking up, so many great lines! I love that Barbara not only decided to dress like a young person, but also a young person from 2005. "I got the pants from Ava, a man from Florida wrote a song about them." Getting the news that she's going to be a grandma just as the kids are all dressing like old people was truly a perfect storm for Barbara freaking out about getting old, even though Barbara is clearly aging like the finest of wines. The talk she had with Janine was really sweet, Janine really has grown a lot. "Damn Barb not jointh" I'm not surprised that Margarete has a following online, she's super charismatic, and she nailed that Barbara costume! The kids on this show are just the best. Nice to see Krystal again! Thank God Sweet Cheeks was alright, all of that stomping was making me nervous.

That was overall a good episode, but the abrupt tonal shifts gave me serious whiplash. We kept going from Angie's romantic comedy meet cute to Ormewood's wacky hijinks to Will's very serious story about child trafficking and his childhood trauma, it was like three separate episodes all crammed into one. I liked it, all three of the episodes were good, but they sometimes felt oddly stitched together. I only know Ariana Maddox through general pop culture osmosis, but I thought she did a good job here, especially for a reality star playing herself. Ormewood's wacky bodyguard plot was a lot of fun, definitely my favorite of the subplots. They had lots of funny lines and scenes and he and Ariana actually had nice chemistry, too bad it was not meant to be. "Were you bitten by a radioactive spider?" He and Faith as roommates is going to be hilarious, I cannot wait. The show apparently heard my complaints about the lack of Betty lately, because we got so much Betty in this one, I could not be happier. Her outfits were all so cute, especially the leopard print one, what a stylish girl. I am really going to need one of those cute as hell Betty plush toy, ABC needs to start selling those ASAP. I liked Marian pretty well in this one, she and Will's still don't have a bunch of chemistry but it feels real that she's not shrugging off something so traumatic and they had some nice moments. I don't think it will last, but it would be good for Will to have a less dramatic relationship that hopefully doesn't end with anyone exploding. The doctor Angie met seems nice, I hope that he isn't a serial killer or something, that is the last thing we need. That guy with the truck and the shotgun has been waiting his entire life for this exact moment, that was possibly one of the shows most hilariously southern moments.