BlackberryJam

Kendall's presentation planning seemed so much like the Too Much Birthday episode where he wanted to float down from the rafters singing Honesty or something. Kendall wants to be a showman and have these big meaningful production numbers where he is the star. Like his rap to Logan. But he has neither the talent nor the vision and he can't settle on an idea and follow it through. Roman was circling the drain and lashing out this episode. He fires Joy. He fires Geri. He follows Shiv's lead and bails on the presentation with Kendall. Kendall, because Roman bailed, abandons his stupid co-pilots idea and pulls out a decent presentation. So Roman was left out of that success as well.

If I remember right, in S1, the kids needed to get Ewan's vote, along with Sandy, Stewy, etc, to out vote Logan. Stewy ended up throwing Kendall under the bus and siding with Logan, so no matter what Ewan did, Logan was still coming out on top. The retired employees own a percentage, Caroline (KSR's mother) owns a percentage, Sandy, Stewy, Logan, and then there is the publicly traded shares. So anyone with a giant pile of money, like Mattson, could just buy all of the public stock and take over. That's a "hostile" takeover. However, it's hard to do because once someone starts buying the stock, the price rises and it becomes more expensive than it's worth. If I had to guess, I'd say Logan owned about 30% of the company, with another 3-5% with Caroline, 10% to Ewan, making it a razor thin margin for Logan to have defeated the No Confidence vote.

I never got the impression that Ewan owned a share larger than any of the children individually. I assumed Ewan was at say, 10-15% which gives him a larger share than the Retired Janitors of Idaho, but not so much he could take over the company. I thought it was Logan at 40% or so, so that it would require everyone else to go against him in a united front for him to lose.

Strangely, I found the most disturbing part of the episode Mattson walking across the tarmac barefoot to get to Shiv's plane. I do think in a different show, this would be a sexual relationship, but somehow Snook and Skarsgard make it the opposite of sexy flirting.

I thought it was clear, Dale made a fish dish. Charbel focused on tomatoes. Yay.

The lamb team failed the moment they all decided to do lamb. Thrilled for my roasted pepper boyfriend Tom. I was hoping he’d ask Victoire to be his movie date.

I thought Kerry had some drugs, not vitamins? I might need to watch that again. Kerry thoroughly enjoyed bullying people. She made no friends and had no talent. And she was banging a geezer to get to that role. Suddenly, she’s got nothing and no one. No job, no friends, no protector, and likely no money to fall back on. Makes sense to me she’d be a disaster. I also thought she was on something… I kind of imagined that if Kerry had gotten herself upstairs, she would have barricaded herself in and refused to leave. As to the bodyguards taking Marcia’s orders, they were members of the household staff. It’s Marcia’s house. About to be Connor’s, but currently Marcia’s. I’m sure Marcia is getting more from the will than she would from whatever prenup she and Logan had.

Willa got in good digs and she has a lot of confidence now that she and Connor are married, but let's not forget her horrible play and the delusion about her own talent. Didn't Roman introduce Connor and Willa after Roman had purchased her services? Marcia coming in like a boss, Chief Mourner, and selling the apartment was fabulous. The Pilot started out with Logan wanting to change his will/family trust to give Marcia two seats on the Board after his death. I thought that's what the paper would be. On the other hand, I love that it was Logan's musings and possible wishes for a funeral. And underline or cross out? Considering Logan was post-stroke when he made the changes, it's likely that his handwriting wasn't exactly steady. I sometimes underline things I hate or underline to emphasize sarcasm. Greg, such a grasping douche, pulling out that he'd spoken to his grandfather, and Tom, the grasping douche who taught Greg everything he knows. This show is fab.

Marcia’s back! Shiv is pregnant. Greg is such an idiot. Kendall still wants validation. Gerri’s hair look great.

Yeah, and Tom quickly switched gears to, "Greg, go to the office, get this file from my computer, delete it, go to the trash bin, delete it from there..." The CYA was beginning. Tom did handle the Roy children well.

Sorry, I meant youngest son. Kieran is very naughty little boy in his clothing and mannerisms. On the Greg issue, we met him getting stoned and then interacting with children, puking out the eyeholes of his bear or whatever costume. Greg is an asshole douche like the rest of the Roys, he just doesn't have as much power.

I think Shiv’s wardrobe is telling. She’s struggling emotionally. Her marriage is falling apart. She has no support, no friends, no one on her side. She’s in a lifelong battle with her brothers. Previously, she was a successful political consultant, a woman about to get married and then in control of her marriage. When Tom flipped, it took a lot of her power away. It’s reflected in her wardrobe. Like Roman is always dressed like he just stopped wearing short pants, reminding us that he’s the youngest, he’s immature, he behaves like a naughty school boy. Kendall alternates between power suits and “shady street corner drug dealer”. I miss Shiv’s fabulous pants, but the costuming is deliberate.

I rewatched a bit of S1 before this season started. The pilot was all about how Logan was to name Kendall his successor, Kendall would be taking over the company, etc. Shiv was working in politics and Roman was smoking weed with his (now vanished) wife. Kendall is the child who knows the company best. He’s also an egomaniac coke addict with a whole host of mental health issues. But yeah, not surprised that he switched into business mode. Personally, my hero of the Teterboro crew was Karolina. Every single thing that happened, from finding out Geri was getting the axe to dealing with Kreepy Kerry, she took in stride. If I were running a business, I want Karolina on my team. You know, for a hot second here, I might ship Karolina and Mattson, because A-Skars is hot and Karolina deserves better than to be stuck with Frank, Karl and Tom.

I also thought the boat looked a little cheap on the outside for Roy standards, but the inside was lovely. I need to rewatch and figure out what Logan’s last words were on the show. Having Shiv read the statement seemed calculating. Roman doesn’t have self-control to not throw in a few “fucks” into every sentence and Kendall would be subject to far too many questions. I thought Connor’s small wedding was the right thing to do for him. He does need love and he needs the security that Willa can provide him. I like Willa because she can’t help but be honest with him. I’ve had to make the call that Tom did, and it’s hard. It’s so hard. How do you answer, “Are you sure?” type questions when you can hear the heartbreaking on the other end of the line? I think Tom is weak and slimy, but he did the best he could. Until of course, he called Greg to tell Greg to destroy some evidence. I’m certain all the Roy children resent Tom because it was Tom who was with Logan at the end, and not any one of them. Family relationships are complicated and grief complicates things even more. On a lighter note, I totally need someone to “Greg” for me. I need a team of Greglets to do my bidding.

Just realized…no one called Marcia…

Well, that’s excellent television. Absolutely. I had some…flashbacks to my own personal grief. I don’t even like the Roys and I hurt for them. Fabulous acting and writing.

Absolutely Begona over Dale. And Luciana over Dale as well, but it sounded like her squab was not good.

My love of Tom is unreasonable. I don't think he's the best chef. I think many of the other chefs have better skills. I think this season will be much less entertaining when he's gone. I did appreciate Tom trying to soothe Begona. And was it Sara who, when Buddha was complaining about his critique, said, "Underseasoned is underseasoned," or something. Then Buddha pouted. I knew Buddha would be in the bottom because during the dinner absolutely no one commented on his dish. I thought Begona's dish looked like an unappetizing mess, but scorched mole would have been a problem for me as well. I'm not a salmon fan so I wouldn't have wanted Buddha's. I think I would prefer blind judging, but then my German Chef Boyfriend Tom might get the boot and my heart would be broken. You can see the bind I'm in.

I was really disappointed with Buddha in the pre boot chat. His dish looked a bit like a mess and underseasoned is underseasoned. At the same time, when you stand there with your peers and get criticized, it’s an emotional blow. I just thought he could have handled it with more class. I thought Gabri was a goner. Tom knew his cakes were way too dense, but didn’t he have trouble getting oven time? Doing dessert in a shared kitchen was taking one for the team. I wanted Amar’s winning dish.

I’m ridiculously happy that Tom’s hair is safe this week.

One of my many exes made his own mead. Hated it. :) Honeyed beer?

Logan gives them breadcrumbs of love and approval, and none of the children, except maybe Connor, have realized that the hoops they have to jump through for that love and approval are too much. Connor recognizes it, but he also has never learned how to love and be loved. I don't think he loves Willa, I think he needs Willa, and he's buying her. He's trying to buy the love and approval of 1% of the nation through his presidential bid. These kids are horrifically damaged people with no relationship skills. They are still assholes though.

Dawn seemed very low energy. It seems to me more that there's something going on, physically or emotionally. But yeah, damn, I'd eat her food!

The Sophie Hannah Poirots are horrid.

Even though these started almost 20 years ago, there is a definite modern mindset I enjoy about Anna. She has a mature attitude about sex and relationships, even though yes, she is still grieving. She enjoys her occasional isolation. She doesn't have family members constantly imposing on her. Her relationship with her sister is strong and realistic. I'm about to start book 8 though, but it got bumped in my reading queue when the latest Erica Ruth Neubauer showed up as available. I wish writers could find new ways to create narrative tension, rather than "woman in peril because she didn't tell anyone where she was going." I have too many decades of reading books...