LaChavalina

I honestly haven't decided if I'll watch Sunday's finale, let alone another full season. I'm curious about the plan for season 7 but I have a hard time conceiving of how they can structure the show with any integrity given the remaining cast. Talk about squandering the good will of your fanbase.

I hope this is a thread where we can discuss some real-life places where these issues are playing out. Here is a story about trafficked women in India who are basically living the type of life depicted in this series.

Or their marriage was arranged for them in some way. There are definitely churches in real life that take a vested interest in pairing up single parishioners. Remember, the handmaids were bussed in from another area. They have no idea where they are and no street signs, etc. Really, though, Emily was probably just on a suicide mission. Oh, and the Hulu commentators who are more upset about a sex scene than about a person getting run over by a car and exploded have lost the plot.

Parks & Rec

They'll show up again next week, to snip the show away from its "destiny" of reaching Season 7.

So, there's a good chance next week's episode will be the series finale, and they brought back Aladdin/Jasmine and Henry's little girlfriend but not Mulan? That makes me sad.

Meh, not really. The implication was that everyone in the Enchanted Forest had a song, and that Emma would have gotten her parents', Regina's, etc., but also Granny's, the dwarves, and others that we caught snatches of or didn't hear at all. This made me chuckle. I think you've put way more thought into this than the writers did! Chalk me up for also being annoyed that this wasn't the series finale. I liked it a lot more than I expected I would. Maybe we'll get a reprise of the musical number at the end of next week's episode? (She asked hopefully.)

+100. I couldn't even get through that entire clip on Hulu. Lana grinding on her mirrors does NOTHING to improve upon this.

I'll take a stab at connecting the dots. Next episode, Ramona is the new tenant to move into 3A. This sparks the season-ending cliffhanger, i.e. is it a coincidence or has she been waiting for the chance to move in on Sheldon? The B-plot will be Raj moves in with Bert and is miserable. The opening episodes of S11 will deal with the gang trying to get rid of Ramona. They will eventually succeed. Meanwhile, Raj experiences some change in fortune and eventually ends up in 3A (maybe with Stuart) once Ramona is gone.

They set up an interesting contrast in the commander's behavior toward his wife vs. Offred. He shuts Serena Joy down entirely when she tries to talk politics, but he seems happy to engage Offred (at least a little) when she asks about his trip. Why? Because he wants her admiration? Because he feels sorry for her? Because he's sick of his wife? They also seem to be slowly unraveling the fact that the powers that be in Gilead are afraid to actually kill handmaids. They'll take an eye, surgically mutilate them, torture them... but the handmaids have to live for the society to survive. There's a power there.

This whole thing with the discordant use of popular music is lifted from premium cable shows. True Blood always used to end on a cliffhanger or scene of something horrible, and then a cut to some disorientingly upbeat music over the credits. I don't really love the technique as it's used here because it feels derivative, but also because this show is a different kind of emotional vibe. If the point is to send a message that "hey, this is a show but this sort of violence really does happen to women in the world today," the end credits could be a bit more subdued.

Two episodes in. I'll probably keep watching, but every episode could be about 10 minutes shorter if they'd cut all the long close-ups of the women's expressionless faces. Yes, we get it, everyone is repressed. Also, I thought from the last episode that Janine had gone crazy, but she seemed pretty lucid here.

I can't believe they're going to dredge that storyline up from eight years ago, yet we only got to hear about Priya's wedding in a throwaway line of dialogue.

I'm sure this depends on where you are in the U.S., but a lot of people leave their kids at in-home daycares --i.e., you are taking your child to someone else's house and they watch them all day. No plexiglass or webcams or anything. The most interesting part of the Bernadette storyline for me was when she complained about taking the baby to daycare after just four months. I was hoping that might become a larger commentary on the stupidity of U.S. maternity leave policies. As it is, most women I know in this country get three months if they are lucky. A friend who is in a mostly male profession got six weeks. Try sporting events. I've seen people bring babies who are as young as two weeks!

My problem with the Bernadette storyline is that is doesn't seem true to character that she would consider not going back to work at all. I don't see why she couldn't consider a middle ground, like telecommuting one day a week, doing a flex schedule, cutting back her hours, or looking for a new job entirely if her current employer couldn't meet those requests. Honestly, I'd see the character of Bernadette leaving her job and becoming some kind of independent consultant before she'd give up work entirely. Maybe they will ultimately go in that direction-- I guess it's a lot of story to cram into a 19-minute episode.

Referring to the ratings comments above, I watch the show online every week. Variety says last night was a series low in live ratings, but I suspect there are a lot of people like me who catch it later in the week. The biggest problem I have with the show right now is that I think there are too many tangential storylines that are obviously crafted around some high-profile guest star.* I don't care enough about Nia Long to make this weird Vegas plot worthwhile. I also didn't care enough about Rumer Willis to make that a thing. I'd rather that airtime be devoted to the core characters. (*I'll confess that I do care about Taye Diggs. A lot. So he can stay for a bit!)

I saw Isaac in the previews for next week and I think I strained something from rolling my eyes. JUST. NO.

I was wondering the exact same thing until they tacked on the ending about the gulf of Agrabah... I actually like this Aladdin and Jasmine, so I liked the episode well enough aside from the gibberish bit about Emma throwing up her arms and packing Hook's stuff away after a day. I do, however, really really hope there is an actual Aesop in Storybrook. Because I want to see more of that actor! ETA: Massive points to whoever it was that replied to my comment last week, predicting that the big Hook-murdered-your-dad reveal would be done to David offscreen.

Only "no longer polluting" between CS. No doubt we have more obfuscation ahead, building to a tortured reveal between Charming and Killian at some future point.

I'm still befuddled by EQ's happy ending and "fresh start" being in the wish realm. I guess Snowing are dead in the wish realm (from 6x10), so that seems happy enough for the EQ, but the EQ was already known there and in fact Regina just killed Snowing in that realm. So, EQ is now living in a realm that is ruled by a version of Henry who is not her son and who wants to hunt her down and kill her? Huh?

"You gave me a key for emergencies." "What's the emergency?" "TENURE!" I've seen a couple of posts making the comparison between this show and Last Man on Earth. I stopped watching Last Man after the first season because I found the characters so unlikable and I was so skeezed out by Tandy's continual attempts at lying his way into women's pants. Dan has definitely been scheming on Deb, but as this episode shows he does really care about her. I think the writers are smart to have him come clean just three episodes in so that the character becomes kind of redeemable. I suspect the tenure issue will become important to future episodes. Only a matter of time before Chris realizes that going back to the Revolution to get some "previously undiscovered artifacts" will make him a shoo-in for tenure.

I got a laugh out of the fact that they showed a shot of the empty cage and there were holes in the top clearly big enough for that snake to squeeze through.

Not too much to add, except that I find the show overall way too dark right now. Robin is an evil Robin. Snow and Charming are still cursed and apart. Gideon is a dangerous kook and is obvs going to try and kill Emma again. Hook killed Emma's grandpa. Baby Neal is left to his own devices. Everyone is miserable. It doesn't make for very rewarding viewing.

Give it time, now that we've got a few more seasons. My thought was that we're sure to eventually meet Howard's father now, with the show continuing. In other news, Leonard's mother is a bitch.