[Looking - General Discussion]

If TPTB get the funding for the wrap up tv movie, we'll get to see what happens.

Yeah.  But there is some fun in speculating.  It reminds me of the Ugly Betty finale where that ending was debated forever. 

 

But if they didn't break up, then the hair cut doesn't symbolize much....and they ended their season with a hair cut.  Not a symbolic hair cut but a plain old hair cut.  And I'd find that as hilarious for a season finale as I found Law & Order's infamous, "is this because I'm a lesbian?" season finale.

[Looking - General Discussion]

Sad but not really surpising news. I just hope HBO does give them a wrap up flim (I believe "Deadwood" fans got promised the same but it never happened).

There is some confusion as to why the Deadwood movies didn't pan out.  Some blame HBO because it'd be too expensive to recreate the set.  There were also rumblings that Milch had moved on (Jon in Cincinnati) or didn't think a movies series was enough.  Either way, this isn't a Deadwood situation.  HBO followed through on making a Hello Ladies movie after canceling it after 1 season.  So unless the creators decide a movie isn't enough, I'm pretty sure we'll get this.

 

I'm #TeamKevin all the way so I'll be happy where we left off: Patrick in an unhappy relationship with Kevin. 

Ah.  Is this dress white and gold or blue and black?  I think he's single. Mainly because I've always believed that was his end game. Single but figuring out more about himself through his failures.  But maybe with the movie, having him be in an unhappy relationship is how they'll keep Tovey in the picture.

 

I'm fine with the show just being over, as is. One can just read into it what one would like to by the way the show ended. The one thing I tend not to like about 'wrap-up' seasons or special one-off movies is that they try to tie up all the dangling story lines and characters lives in a bow ... which, you know, is kind of the opposite of life.

The previous work of the creators has a very European feel to it and avoids bows.  I think some things may be wrapped up but I don't think every character will get a happily ever after.  (Although I do think Malik and Doris and Augie/Eddie are probably pretty safe. Giving them trouble would likely eat too much of the 90 minutes.)

 

 

HBO dropped the ball here....yet again.  I have no doubt that if this had produced by Showtime, we would be looking forward to more of this show.

 

Dexter notwithstanding.

Showtime interferes with its shows, usually to not-so-good results.  I can't think of one Showtime series I watched that didn't get worse after a great first season.

[Looking - General Discussion]

Reportedly a friend of Jon's posted on Facebook that HBO cancelled the series but will let them film a wrap-up movie.  This greatly disappoints me. I think they deserved a "Getting On" type third and done season. 

 

Although I am glad that they are letting the creators tell just a little bit more story

[Looking - General Discussion]

I feel like I have to take a stand against this notion that getting a hair cut from an ex is worse than a sexual act from a stranger.  I do not agree.  I mean, I do agree that if Patrick is still with Kevin* and starts taking long walks on the beach with Richie, then yes what he'd do is crueler.  But a hair cut?  During which he remained silent?  No. I feel that's false equivalency. 

 

I was almost half impressed with Patrick in that hair cut scene.  For once, he didn't pile his emotional shit on Richie like he has been doing all season.  I think he needed to do something to signal change.  Women do it with hair cuts all the time.  And he wanted to be around someone he trusted.  There was a shared history there and I'm sure Richie could tell something was up but it's up to Patrick to decide the next steps he's taking his life.  Not Richie.

 

*I think it's a big if.  I think Patrick had too many realizations about how they want different things from life, about his insecurity and about their lack of trust for him to stay.

[Jane the Virgin in the Media]

Rafael is a fictional character so I don't feel bad for him. 

 

But reading the rationale of the cast and I'm kind of left scratching my head.  They talk about hiim as if those first three or four episodes just didn't happen. 

[Looking - General Discussion]

But then Kevin acts as if he truly cares about Patrick, which is odd. But it was also odd that Kevin seemed to have no significant problems with Jon and always seemed affectionate with him when they were together. Poor writing?

Not poor writing.  Accurate writing. For Kevin, a hand job from a masseuse or some random guy at the gym is no more intimate than using a vibrator or a dildo.  Therefore, it wouldn't interfere with any genuine feelings he has for Patrick or Jon.  As for the Jon/Kevin relationship, we know so little about it.  There could have been real issues.  Or it could have been a situation where Kevin had the 2/3 year itch when the initial highs of a new relationship start to wane and that happened at the same time that Patrick was giving him those highs as a potential new beau. 

 Is it hypocritical for Patrick to have a problem with Kevin's 'infidelity' only when it involves him?

I don't know if I'd use the word hypocritical.  Maybe self-serving?  And he did eventually get uncomfortable with the affair.  But I don't think it matters. I don't think you're stuck to the sins of the past.  Just because they began as an affair doesn't mean Patrick has to settle into accepting that his partner has other dalliances.

 

Is Patrick's emotional infidelity with Richie -- basically setting up a relationship to jump to when things are over with Kevin -- any more moral than Kevin's occasional, random, anonymous hand-jobs?

I don't think that's what's happening.  I don't even think either of them see that as a real possibility.  I think they may have lingering feelings for one another but nothing Patrick has done or revealed over the course of the past few months suggests that Richie should change his mind about  being with him.

   

They could have had a conversation about the problems of trying to have relationship that hinges entirely on physical sexual fidelity instead of Patrick saying crap like "Maybe we don't love each other the same way."

He said maybe their hearts work in different ways. I took that to mean that Kevin can do sexual acts with random men and not change how he feels about his partner.  For someone like Patrick, those sexual acts feel like more intimate experiences. If you look at his history on the show, Richie was supposed to be his fuck buddy but it turned into a relationship.  Kevin was supposed to be a non-committed affair and that turned into something more substantial.  Patrick, for all his attempts to do meaningless casual sex, he hasn't managed to pull that off.  And that's what's different about them and about what commitment means to them.

  

Where is the concept of 'relationships take work'?  Does Patrick expect to find some one that he is completely 100% in sync with?

There is "relationships take work" and then there's "we want fundamentally different things out of a relationship."  These two aren't married.  They're not past the point of no return in their relationship. I think the longer you're in a relationship, the more work you're willing to do on it.  But it's been a month?  A month and a half?  since they've been in a public relationship.  Just how much work is that relationship worth?    

 

 As for Richie's being "judgmental" sometimes, he's only done that to people who deserved it. I had no problem with Richie's judging Patrick, Kevin nor Agustin because he was right on all counts.

My pet peeve about Richie being called judgmental is that every single character on this show has judged.  Every single one.  The Kevin and Patrick fight was full of judgment.  Dom was judgmental to Doris last week.  Doris was judgmental of Dom's decisions in Season 1.  Judgment--or having an opinion. 

[S01.E05: Dunk The Skunk / S01.E06: Some Friggin' Fat Guy]

And of course Phil's kids with Carol and Melissa would be half-siblings, so that's still incest. Hardly a solution.

But slightly better than full siblings.

 

I continue to appreciate the fact that Carol is more important to Melissa and how lovely she was in completely shutting Phil down.  It would be even lovelier if he accepts that as an answer and they move away from how awful he was in these two episodes.

[Looking - General Discussion]

The shot at Patrick's mom was not cool, either.

Not at all.  And it was oddly inaccurate depending on one's opinion of monogamy.  She fell into an emotional affair but before physically acting on it, she plans on ending her current relationship.  It's not great and I've already given my opinion on how I feel about this in the Sanctuary thread but it is opposite of the way the Patrick/Kevin/Jon thing played out.

 

But it wasn't just the pot shot to Patrick's mother that I found upsetting.  It's the way he said Patrick sounded just like his sister when he wanted to know if Jon knew about these "minor" sexual things he did while in a relationship with him.  Kevin didn't want to answer it so he tried to invalidate it by comparing Patrick's questions to Megan's harshness.  Or how he would say "it's complicated" to other questions in attempt to put off answering them. 

 

Heck, he even gave Patrick peanut butter on bread after Patrick said he didn't like peanut butter.  Just completely ignoring what Patrick had just said he didn't want. 

 

Kevin was manipulative as hell in this discussion/fight.  But that shouldn't be a surprise.  Last season ended with Kevin being manipulative as well with his fake work crisis.

 

Patrick is stupid if he thinks he is so special that he was the only one who turned Kevin's head away from Jon.

I think he was delusional but people in affairs so often are.  On the other hand, Kevin did turn down Patrick's initial overtures when they first met with a very succinct "I've got a boyfriend."  And he certainly didn't react as if this was a territory he has mined before considering how confused he was after the first time he and Patrick had sex. 

Oddly enough, I think Patrick was delusional to think that he'd actually get monogamy from Kevin.  Where I don't think he was delusional is expecting that the terms of their relationship would be monogamous.  And given the way Kevin avoided having the talk indicates that Kevin expected those would be the terms as well.  I do wonder when/if they ever would have had the conversation had Patrick not found Kevin on Grindr.  This would seem like something that should be discussed ahead of time.  Somehow, I don't believe it would have ever come up.  Kevin may not want to be completely monogamous but monogamists are certainly his type.

[Looking - General Discussion]

I'm not condoning cheating but at the same time, if you are unhappy in your relationship I don't think you should stay out of obligation and just resign yourself to being unhappy for the rest of your life

Can we take a moment to talk about Patrick's mom?  Did anyone else think her situation was a bit of BS?  I agree that if you're in an unhappy relationship that doesn't look like it'll improve, you should leave.  But that isn't Dana's situation from what it sounds like.  Her reasons for thinking of leaving weren't that her marriage was something that was necessarily unhappy for her but that because she was able to help someone through a difficult time and it left her yearning for more. 

 

I get that feeling but helping someone with grief is an extraordinary situation.  Do you really throw away 40 years of commitment, which I'm sure has had its ups and downs, because of feelings developed during a period of heightened emotion?  How real or sustainable is that? 

 

I can see why Patrick felt like he had no recourse to support her but I'm not sure it made sense from Megan's POV. 

[S06.E01: Ladders / S06.E02: Lawnmower Maintenance and Postnatal Care]

I finally got around to watching these today and I am happy to say that I really enjoyed them. 

 

I loved everything about the frisbee opening from Annie realizing there was one more crisis unsolved to Leonard's flashback where they just stuck a wig on him. 

 

I was nervous about Frankie and Keith David.  So far, I like Frankie and haven't seen enough of Keith David yet but suspect he will fit in. 

[S02.E01: A Japanese Businessman Walks Into A Bar]

I love that blooper clip.  Thank you for posting it.  These days, blooper "montages" seem to be in style and so you usually only get a few seconds of the 'blooper."  But what usually makes a blooper funny to me is the context.  If I'm going to laugh at someone breaking, it's not because they break, it's because of what led up to it, who broke first.  Someone saying their lines wrong isn't funny (unless it is) but 90% of the time the humor comes from the reaction, not the actual incident.  This clip let the mistakes breathe. 

 

As for the show, I do find D'Elia somewhat annoying but I do like the rest of the cast.  And I honestly think I love Brent Morin. 

[Better Call Saul Podcasts]

I like it too.  I think it's a gift to see all the awesomeness that your co-workers bring as I feel he does.  Or at least Podcast Vince does. 

 

I especially like that he usually can name someone like the "wonderful" assistant to the key grip in episode 3 of Breaking Bad if it comes up.  But I do think he has a thorough list of who had a part in creating the episode they're discussing.  It must be thrilling to get a shout out on the podcast.

[Better Talk Saul: BCS Only!]

I don't think Kim was oblivious, I think she knew exactly what he was proposing.

Exactly.  That's why she went into the kitchen.  "Oh look, they have stainless."  She really wasn't interested in stainless. She was deflecting. 

[Cristela - General Discussion]

I loved this episode too. It had me smiling from start to finish.  I think the thing I loved the most was seeing how often Josh smiled.  He has a beautiful smile and I think it's a surprisingly rare talent to make amusement and happiness feel real.  Yet, that's what I get from him when he was smiling or laughing at something in the background.  It came across as genuine reacting to whatever was going on.

 

But I don't buy this family as lower class - they're lower-middle/middle class if anything.

That's where they are now, which is a credit to Ama.  But it's quite possible that's not where they started.

 

I don't think 100% of the appeal is JUST Alonzo, but there certainly are places it can be even more ambitious with the race/class commentary and isn't.  But I do think there are some surprisingly complex characters--the boss' daughter for example, where they've actually avoided the easy road with her and written her quite cleverly.

I agree.  Alonzo is great but I like this show for more than her.  I think her family is great.  And I like her work place too. I don't think the rich people are cartoons.  Like you said, Maddie has been somewhat surprising at times.  She walks a fine line between spoiled ditz and clever, almost-caring co-worker.  Even her father, who has a lot of the cliches of an older, white, rich lawyer, is often portrayed as being on the same wave length as Cristela.

[S03.E08: Divestment]

Poor Martha. She has to go with what she knows, right? And what she knows is that she loves Clark and sincerely believes that he loves her. When he tells her "I will do anything to protect you", is there really anything else she can ask for? Although I don't see how you go to having sex right after that.

I don't think she believes in anything right now.  But what she knows is that Clark isn't who he said he was.  She knows that she did some very illegal things, that are now getting exposed, because she trusted that he was that person.  If she turns him in, she's facing jail time and will definitely lose her job.  She could also be in a lot of danger from Clark if she even hints as if that is the way she's going to go.

 

I don't think she knows for sure that Clark is KGB but she knows that she is pretty much screwed if she takes any action.  Her best bet is the status quo.  Although if I were her, I'd just ask him to disappear.  She doesn't know who he is, what he does, where he lives and there's no way she'd be able to find him.  The most she could provide is a wigged description if they ever realized she was married. 

[Hallmark Movies: Small Town Royalty Magically Celebrating Rekindled Love! - General Discussion]

I liked the move too, although I think I would have been more satisfied if the three of them had gone to Paris but that's because I love Paris.  It'd be a good experience. 

 

I do think they went a little over-the-top with the wife complaining about how little she sees her husband.  It was clearly only meant as character color, which would have been fine had they left it at one mention or two at the most.  But once they had her bring it up every time she was on screen, it started to feel like there should be some resolution to the arc.

 

But hey, that's a minor complain. I can't remember the last Hallmark movie with two POC in roles with a significant amount of lines.

[S02.E01: A Japanese Businessman Walks Into A Bar]

I don't remember when or why I started watching this last season.  It looked like it was going to be another bland, lame sitcom with an awful title. 

 

But I did watch and maybe it's because I set the bar very low, but I saw something I liked in this show.  It's not great.  It is very simple.  Heck, it could even be bland but it's the kind of bland that makes me laugh.  I guess the fact that it has a pretty funny casts helps it out. I also like that they have genuine nice moments between Justin and Danny like at the end of tonight's episode.

 

I don't know if it has quite made the leap to better than average but I do think it has the right elements to do so.

[Looking - General Discussion]

Irlandesa: From my perspective, re the potential business fallout re Patrick & Kevin, the public may not care about the more boring, business-related details of things, but one thing can change that: sex. A juicy sex scandal can get even the dullest business story more attention, for better and for worse. Case in point: while I'm no follower of the stock market, seeing The Wolf Of Wall Street, with all the sex, drugs and insider trading, was a fascinating portrait of the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, aka the title role. 

 

The Wolf of Wall Street was intriguing because it was about sex, drugs, money and power. 

 

Under the perfect storm, yes, sex scandals blow up but it's rarely just about sex.  I'm not saying it's not a problem or can't hurt the company's productivity and morale, but this is not the kind of thing that will blow up until someone sues.

 

As for Patrick not getting a chance to defend Richie.  When he described him to his mother, he failed.  So I'm not sure he would have passed the test given a minute or two.  Even he didn't make that argument later on.

[Looking - General Discussion]

I think at the :16 mark, I think we see Dom's "Defying Gravity" hook up at the party Kevin & Patrick are at.  I hope he sings again.

[S01.E07: Bingo]

Mike's adventure tonight reminded me of when he broke into the warehouse in Full Measure.  Similar funky mood music too.   I loved it.  I could easily watch ten seasons of Mike being Jimmy The Lawyer's PI.  A modern day Perry Mason and Paul Drake.

[S01.E04: Sweet Melissa]

Are we supposed to find him appealing?

I don't think so.  Will Forte (who I actually find appealing) specializes in characters who are decidedly not appealing.  At least when he creates them.  Kristen Schaal said we're supposed to go back and forth about whose side we're on in the Carol/Phil spectrum.  While I do think the first two episodes were tilted towards Phil's side of things, I think the last two have largely favored Carol.

 

Then Phil asked her what kind of man was her type and she said "a provider"-- now, that does sound like she wants a man.

I too was on the lesbian train but I think she also said "a man's man...a provider."  So no, I don't think that's where they're going.  Honestly, I don't think it's because FOX is too conservative either. I just don't think that was the plan.  Having a lesbian on the show is far less radical than the weird overall premise of the show.

[Looking - General Discussion]

Wow.  The scenes with Patrick, his mom and sister are the most ham-fisted and horribly acted in the sad history of this show.  Could his family be any more cartoonish and waspy?

Yeah, those scenes were not good.  I am so desperate to have someone hold a mirror up to Patrick and while Megan had her moments, she was the wrong one to do it.  The audience has no investment in her and Patrick finds it pretty easy to dismiss her.  And that's unfortunate because she did offer some truths.  Patrick is a naracissist.  And it was nice to have some sense about Jon because you'd never know about how ugly breakups are by watching Kevin and Patrick despite Patrick's lame protestations that he thinks about John. Whatever. 

 

Instead, it was mostly about petty sibling arguing and the mother discussing how she's leaving their father for another man.  That twist is a bit too pat, a bit too relevant, but I will give props to Dana for how she timed it.  Knowing what Patrick did with Kevin, it was nice emotional blackmail.  He had no ground to protest.

 

But goodness I am so sick of Kevin and Patrick.  There hasn't been one episode this season without them. 

 

The Dom and Doris fight could be a good one but it feels like the intensity of it came out of nowhere. 

 

The best part of the episode was Agustin and Eddie.  That's one conflict that has built nicely over the season.  Agustin has pursued and Eddie has tried to keep him at a distance.  Seeing Frank (beautiful Frank) again brought that to a head but it was handled well by both. 

 

I've tried to be patient but I miss Richie.  I know they feel they can barely spare a minute or two of Patrick's life for the other characters but it would be nice if we got to see a Patrick-less Richie.  A Richie without that tension. 

[S01.E04: Sweet Melissa]

I'll give them credit: I absolutely did not see the haircut and shave coming.  Half the shows on the air now would have spoiled that way ahead.

I saw it based on the commercial where Melissa and Carol were obviously reacting to something Phil did.  I kind of love that it backfired. 

 

Kristen Schaal did some really good work at the dinner they all had together.  Will Forte is doing an excellent job to making Phil so creepy.  He may be "trapped" in marriage but he's not making himself super attractive either.

 

I enjoyed Carol and Melissa together. 

[Looking - General Discussion]

If Brady decides to write that cover story about Patrick & Kevin and he interviews Jon, it could turn into a full-fledged shitstorm that could destroy the company.

I think Kevin and Patrick, mostly Patrick, have their heads in the sand about why people in their lives don't think their relationship is as miraculous as they seem to, but I do not think it has the power to destroy the company.  Writing about the fact that they're dating might be considered a human interest part of the app's story.  The fact that they started as an affair?  Comes off as an expose off topic from what Brady was covering there.  The public isn't going to care about Patrick or Kevin and therefore the stockholders, if they even exist, won't care about Patrick or Kevin.

 

The board?  If they care, they will fire one or both of them. 

 

What I'm more surprised about was the fact that when they came up with the game, Kevin told Patrick to keep it on the down low because Dangerous Games could assert ownership over it.  I don't know what their contracts look like but they still work for Dangerous Games.  Even if they didn't develop it at work, often times there are clauses that whatever you develop while in the employ of a tech company like that, wherever you worked on it, is property of that company.

 

If Doris is in love with Malik, then she, Malik and Dom will have to find a way to make it work so that Doris can strengthen things with Malik without losing her friendship with Dom. 

I don't think Malik presents a danger to the Doris and Dom relationship.  The fact that Dom and Doris aren't there for each other 100% of the time is what is going to present a danger to their relationship.  The fact that they have been in the past has been both healthy and unhealthy.    I don't think Doris abandoned Dom.  She already had plans that she shouldn't have to change because Dom needed her help with his restaurant.  

[S02.E05: U.S. Territories]

My kids are 11 and 13 so maybe I shouldn't let them watch the show because of all the cursing but they get a huge kick out of it and they totally get the substance behind it too.

I agree with others that language shouldn't be the issue but you still may want to pre-watch it before you show it to them.  They can probably handle the language but you may want to put off them seeing an old man penis until they're old enough to have one.