HyacinthBucket

I wish I'd watched this show "live" when the old TWoP forum was around. I would have loved reading and participating in the weekly discussions. I appreciate all of you who have added comments to this forum, and I'm looking forward to participating on the rewatch threads. I just started this series on Netflix a week or two ago and absolutely love it. I'm only beginning Season 3, and while half of me can't wait to tear into a new episode as soon as the previous one is finished, the other half wants to savor them.

I believe that Bos' face as he watched and listened to the execs in that last meeting said it all, much like the distaste and nausea that I would feel after watching a few vacuous seconds of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. The conversation felt forced and smarmy. As much as I dislike Cameron's whining and obstinance, at least she is honest - for the most part, anyway.

I'm wondering if it has a chance of getting renewed because it's one of the few AMC programs that isn't extremely violent or zombie-filled.

They both did.

... and card playing. I thought the card game would never end, although I understand and appreciate the comments above about heightening the suspense.

I am cautiously optimistic that the writers have a payoff for poor Gordon, otherwise it seems as if they have no idea what to do with his character. I wanted to throw something at the TV every time we were dragged back to that damned parking garage and Gordon wandering aimlessly. I like him best when he is interacting with the core characters, especially Joe. I thought Joe was aware of what Cameron had given him, and was giving him the tools for his own revenge, but that would mean she actually did believe that he wasn't the one to screw Mutiny over, and I'm not sure she is capable of trusting anyone that much. It has always seemed to me that Joe and Cameron would wind up back together, but I thought the way they lost their significant others was far too sudden. Perhaps the writers won't go in that direction again, but it seemed like a giant anvil to me.

This absolutely applies to me as well. While I treasure the short pieces, (the one about tourism in Antarctica is a real gem), the focus issue for the week never fails to draw me in once John begins speaking. There are so many issues that I knew nothing about (net neutrality, FIFA, NCAA, infrastructure, etc.) that shocked and amazed me once I learned something about them. With the jokes thrown in, those 15-18 minutes fly by! "Other Countries Presidents of the United States" is an eye-opener, too. Australia's Tony Abbott ... aye-yi-yi! The sports stadium issue touched us personally as Browns fans. (Yes, we still admit it, in spite of umpteen losing seasons.) I think Art Modell was a good man who made a bad mistake, but that mistake still rankles today.

I see what you are saying about authorial omniscience, and agree that it is quite possible. I guess I keep thinking back to what had already been implanted in George's mind, beginning with Aunt Agatha's hideous rant o' revenge, and Geoffrey Charles' innocent observation that Valentine looked like the "spitting image of Uncle Ross." I agree that he tries to keep it repressed and does not act on it, which is one of the few good qualities that George has.

When I first read these two comments a couple of weeks ago, I thought to myself that the actor was "OK" looking, but since then, I've come to completely agree with the above! I don't usually wade much in the shallow end of the pool, but I've rolled up my pants and will hang out here for the rest of the series. Poor Verity. The actress plays her so sweetly, and my heart goes out to a woman who is merely looked upon as her father's personal servant. I'm looking forward to more of her story.

Thank you. You've perfectly described my reaction to the new George. I don't dislike the actor or his performance, but he's too far off from the book's physical description of George to suit me, and George's physical appearance contributes greatly to his insecurities. Some of those physical characteristics are also given to Ursula. I never had much interest in Bella, and I really hated how the last book ended with Winston Graham magically seeing far into her future. I have been searching everywhere in my house for the first three Poldark books that I am sure I own, and still have been unable to find them. Of course, I easily found "Bella." (eyeroll) I agree with everything except part of the last sentence. As Elizabeth's body was still decaying in the upstairs bedroom, George was bitterly reflecting on losing his trophy wife, Elizabeth, whom he truly loved and admired, and thinking of her three children who would never have her delicate beauty and patrician looks. Geoffrey Charles looks like Francis; Ursula will look like himself, and he reflects that Valentine will look more like "the man who had just left the house." (Ross) I believe George did his best to honor Elizabeth's wishes, but I'm pretty sure he knew that he was not Valentine's father. I'd forgotten how close Ross became with Geoffrey Charles. I loved that relationship. My biggest complaint about the characters so far is what has been done to Francis. I don't remember disliking the character in the books or the 1975 version of Poldark, but I can barely tolerate him now.

The response to the cancellation is giving me a bit of hope, too. If people didn't know who Ioan Gruffudd was before the cancellation, they do now. I agree that ABC missed a few opportunities to support the show. I know it would probably have been too little, too late, but I was very irritated by the inane questioning during the Jimmy Kimmel interview. He wasted 99% of a too-brief interview on Ioan's name before finally saying something about the show in the last few seconds. It was like watching some junior high school interview, in my opinion. Get over it, Jimmy, and move on! Another thing that could possibly have helped the series would have been the availability of ALL episodes online for those viewers - like me - who came upon the show in mid-season and wanted to binge-watch from the beginning, but they weren't available on ABC, and only the last five episodes were available on HuluPlus. I thought that was what put the "Plus" in Hulu, but I guess I was wrong. To this day, I don't think I've seen all the episodes, thanks to ABC's stinginess. Other ABC shows, such as Once Upon a Time, can be viewed for entire seasons. Someone upthread mentioned "Galavant," a show I watched, enjoyed, and was shocked to see renewed. I suppose it stood a better chance of getting renewed because it is a very short season of only six episodes, and IIRC, it was used as a filler during a Once Upon a Time hiatus. I would love to see Forever picked up by a network that would use it as a summer show, such as TNT's Last Ship. It would give us a nice, meaty show during the summer, and the competition wouldn't nearly be as fierce.

I'll add my disappointment to the posts above. I feel especially bad for that wonderful cast, who were absolutely perfect in their roles. http://www.tvguide.com/news/abc-renewals-cancellations-fall-2015/ There are a lot of supportive comments on the TV Guide site. It wouldn't hurt to add more. There is a link to Ioan's wife's announcement about the cancellation. She sounds like an absolutely delightful person, and they have such a beautiful family.

I tend to think along these same lines. I'd been reading the spoilers for the final two episodes, and nearly decided not to watch, but I'm glad I did. I appreciated knowing right from the start that Oliver was still Oliver, and still in protective mode, and that made it easier for me to watch. At that point, I had no doubt that he would not allow Team Arrow to be hurt. I found the idea that Oliver was still trying to protect his team, family, and city to be something believable in a show where so much is unbelievable. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I think the stakes were high enough for him to not take the chance and alert the team to the fake virus. As terrifying as it must have been, if any possible reassuring sign that Oliver could have given to them been detected by Ra's or his men, their fate would have been much worse. Dig had already made it apparent that he (understandably) didn't trust Oliver in those few seconds they had alone together. Why risk another attempt? He already saw what Ra's was willing to do to his family by the attack on Thea. I'm certainly not saying he did everything right, or that Oliver is some kind of saint, but I can see why he made the decisions he did. I'll also admit that I am mostly a casual viewer who doesn't take the show too seriously. I just enjoy it for what it is, except for the torture parts. I HATE those!

It was more than "sighing at a computer screen," in my opinion. I use Flight Tracker to follow my husband's or children's flights. It's as close as I can get to being physically with them on the plane. I know what seat they are in; I know what's on the menu; I know how many miles they are from their destination, and if it means staying up until the wee hours of the morning to watch that screen turn to "Landed," so be it. I need to know they are safe, even before they call to confirm it. To me, that's what Beckett was doing. It's love, and I'd rather see those kinds of moments than Beckett and Castle in bed or in the shower. She wasn't physically interacting with him in the same room, but she was definitely there with him in every other way. I liked this episode. It was entertaining, and it broke up the same old routine. I agree with a poster above who said it was nice to see Castle being serious and mature. I hoped the villain wouldn't be Debbie. Not Jackie Vance!!

I can't believe we have to wait another two weeks to see how Henry and Abe deal with the news about Abigail! I came to this series in mid-season, but it has totally won me over, especially the last two episodes. Last night's show especially highlighted how supportive all the main characters are of each other. No drama queens, just quiet support. Lucas becomes more adorable every week; I think he would be the most open-minded if Henry had to spill his secret to someone in an emergency.

I'll chime in! I started watching this series on Netflix because the scenery looked so spectacular, but never expected to find a forum for it. I love this place! I've watched three of the four Netflix offerings so far, and have enjoyed them very much. Devil's Bridge has been my favorite. The scene where Mathias goes down into the gorge to look for the body was breathtaking. He certainly takes a lot of chances without backup, whether it's exploring the hidden areas of the inn with his penlight, or going deeper and deeper into the gorge. I'm looking forward to learning more about Mathias. So far, I haven't learned much, and I'm hoping I will learn more in the 4th episode.

I agree. At the end of an episode last month, Grace found Alicia on the couch, obviously miserable. Grace reassured her that she would never do a bad thing, and Alicia burst into tears, knowing she had taken Redmayne's financial support away from Prady. (Which she quickly got over in the next episode.) She didn't tell Grace what she had done that was "bad," but Grace comforted her, obviously not believing that her saintly mother could do anything wrong. No wonder she was disappointed to read all those personal and very intimate emails between Alicia and Will!

Am I supposed to see Alicia as a victim now? I don't feel any sympathy over the way she was screwed out of the job at the end, and I'm not convinced that she won't magically get it back in the next episode. Right now, my sympathies are all with Kalinda and the always classy Diane. I don't want to see a repeat of the innocent-pawn-in-prison story line from earlier in the season. Besides, Diane can't go to prison - she couldn't keep up that gorgeous hair! Would she look more like Sheldon Cooper's mother in prison?

I just read the amazing review by Jason Martin. NAILED it. It makes me want to go back and sheepishly edit my original, negative post. Looking at this series through Martin's eyes makes me realize just how good it really was. Thank you!

I've warmed up to Bishop, but I still miss the liveliness of Ziva, who is my favorite of the three female team members. I am so tired of Abby's infantile, "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" and her never-changing Goth look. Unlike the male characters, she hasn't seemed to evolve at all in 12 years. Jenny was too wrapped up in her own personal vendetta for me to take her seriously. I like Abigail Borin even more than I liked Ziva; I wish we could see her more often. The less I see of Zoe, the better. She seems so wooden and bland to me. I think the woman who brought out the best in Tony was Jeanne.

That's how I look at Danny as well. Even if he never intended to hurt Janey, he sent a very clear message to John that he COULD easily do something harmful, and that's not something I would dare take a chance on with my child.

I understand and respect what you are saying, but for me, it comes down to one thing. Trust. As a teacher, parent, and wife, trust is huge for me. I know that makes me naive when it comes to the political world, but since we've seen Alicia and Prady and what they are willing or not willing to do to win an election, I prefer Prady because he didn't stoop to the level that Alicia did. At this point, I consider Alicia's actions to be dishonorable, and "honor" is another biggie for me, too.

I really hate the thought of losing Kalinda, especially when she was only trying to save a very desperate Cary from being unfairly imprisoned. And then we have Alicia, who has everyone scrambling around, lying for her to cover up HER lies and transgressions, and trying to keep her in a position she doesn't deserve. I am really rooting for Alicia to fall hard.

Thanks. I incorrectly assumed that all the envelopes were going to that apartment. I guess I should have paid more attention to detail.

I think this show has done well in the past when it comes to shaking things up, especially after Will's death, so I want to trust the writers, but they are making it difficult for me to do so this season. If Prady had been a weaselly, scheming politician, I can see where Alicia would have been the lesser of the two evils, but that didn't happen here. SHE'S the one who is lying and looking the other way. She's the one who has been absent from her firm most of the season and letting her partners do most of the work. I felt sorry for them in this episode as they congratulated her so heartily, only to have her turn on them and bring in Finn to negotiate her buyout. She won't even do her own dirty work. Maybe the writers have to let her soar before they bring her back down to earth, but I think it's a risk to take with the title character over an extended period of time. I'll always use "House" as an example of writers taking a great character and ruining him to the point where I couldn't stand to watch the show. I don't want to see that happen to Alicia.