Tatum

Really! Kendra was a lazy, inconsiderate slob on the show, not to mention showing extremely poor manners. The only thing I can think they mean is that they never showed Kendra really saying anything particularly mean spirited to one of the playmates, and usually went out of her way to befriend them. Bridget's nose seems really out of joint about that early playmate episode when she was saying she wants them to get drunk the night before their shoot so they are hungover- which I don't really get, because I didn't think anyone thought she was being seriously mean.

It probably wasn’t solely out of the goodness of his heart. There would be serious income tax implications from accepting a financial gift of that size.

Omg, Leah, you are not Gwyneth Paltrow, and it was bad enough when she did it. You don't have to ask for privacy. All you need to do is not talk about your private life and none of your fans will have any reason to bother you.

Oh I didn't realize that. It may not be connected, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. Mandi was so upset when that happened, she was crying, and when she confronted Vinny, his response was to say she was barely wearing a shirt in the first place. In other words, she asked for it, right? If Vinny apologized, they did not show it. Sarah and Wes were the only ones to directly confront Vinny, and Sarah likely only did it because she knew she was going to face the consequences of Vinny's actions as well. Everyone else was nice to Mandi's face, and supportive in their talking heads, but no one wanted to tell Vinny how out of line he was. I think that was probably even more upsetting to Mandi. I think in cases like that, the perpetrator should be immediately removed from the situation. The production company can complete an investigation but Vinny should have been escorted out of the club and not allowed to return until it's clear what happened. He should not be allowed to hang out and continue to insult Mandi.

If I recall, most of the cast was pretty sympathetic to Sarah at least, but no one really seemed that concerned with Mandi, which I thought was just awful. Mark bugged me because he couldn't just pick a side. He didn't want to be too supportive of Vinny, lest people rally around Mandi and he looks like a sex offender apologist, but he didn't want to come down on Vinny either, lest the consensus be that it was just a prank and that Mandi overreacted and really should learn to take a joke, and now he looks like a "hysterical woman" apologist. So, he stuck with the facts (Vinny said it was a joke, the rules say you can't do that) while appearing to be at least somewhat sympathetic to Vinny getting kicked off, at least to his face. When Vinny was saying that it was just a joke, Mark should have said, I'm sorry, what exactly is the funny part of you walking up to a woman and ripping her top open? But then he might have been kicked out of the bro group.

I don't either. I had a crush on him in the the original battle of the sexes, which dissipated over him constantly kissing Puck's ass and egging him on. And while I never watched Mark directly participate in any of the general misogyny that went on, he was often in the room when it happened (since he was generally in the "in crowd" of every show he was on and hung around the biggest offenders) and never did/said anything to stop it. I was completely disgusted with him during the season where Vinny ripped off Mandi's top, and Vinny is whining to Mark about how it's not that big of a deal and he shouldn't be kicked off the show. Mark says something like, well, I didn't see it, so I'm not going to judge, but...- who the fuck cares if you saw it Mark??? Like 10 other witnesses did, and Vinny himself does not dispute it. How about straight out, Vinny it was completely fucked that you did that and you should be ashamed of yourself. I hope you profusely apologized to Mandi and never do anything like that again. But of course, Mark isn't going to stick his neck out for anyone and take a stand on anything (other than something everyone is already in agreement on anyways). That might make him less popular. ETA: Just went back and watched. He said, I didn't see how drastic it was, but nowadays...it's going to be tough. Then in his voice over he says, In Vinny's mind, it was kind of a joke. But the rules are, you can't do things like that, and Vinny might be going home. Yeah, Mark, those pesky rules, not letting frat boys sexually assault women without consequences. Killjoys.

I wondered this as well. And he seemed genuinely offended in the previous episode that the Lannisters assumed Rhaenyra was always a stop gap/last resort as heir to the throne and not a commitment the king intended to see through. Honestly, I think part of Viserys just likes to be contrary. He will dig his heels in at this point because everyone expects him to do something different. And pretty much any time anyone tells him directly to do something, he does the opposite, even if he concedes the advisor has a good point.

I agree. Yeah, it's first world problems, but that doesn't mean Alicent can't have any disappointments in life simply because it could have been much worse. I mean, I think it's worth considering that in this world, the best a royal woman can hope to be is merely bored/lonely instead of being beaten/raped by her husband or humiliated when he flaunts his mistresses around and she has no recourse for any of these things. And then basically told to suck it up because at least she's not living in extreme poverty like all the rubes outside of the castle. Alicent was a willing part of her father’s orchestration to get her the role of the queen, but it's not like if she hadn't gone along with it she would have been free to marry or mess around with whoever she wanted. In all likelihood, she was always going to be married off to whoever her father thought would benefit him the most, and the odds that he would be both physically attractive and have a good personality weren't great. She settled for what she knew wouldn't be a bad situation, vs holding out for what had a minimal chance of being better and a much higher chance of being worse.

Doesn't Otto have multiple sons? The announcer at the Tourney said the one guy was Otto's oldest son. I am rather surprised Otto didn't suggest one of them for Rhaenyra. Before he suggested the baby, I was afraid when he said "close to home" he was going to suggest himself.

I did like Viserys for about 2 min when he called out Otto for hemming and hawing when Otto was the one who deemed the matter urgent. No, you don't get to come storming in and then hide behind your little euphemisms and vague accusations. Come right out and say what you know and how you came to know it, and own that you only know because you were spying in the first place. I don't give Viserys much credit beyond that. Look Viserys, Otto has been pulling your strings for years now, and that should have been inherently obvious to you the minute Alicent came into your room with her history book. Do you really think Alicent, timid, unassuming, obedient, most of all protocol following Alicent, took it upon herself to dress up, and come offer condolences in your bedroom, the night your wife died? Even if she was the most opportunistic schemer ever, she would not do that without her father's explicit consent. And who else would have told her to do it? Rhaenyra? Come on, Viserys. Wake up. This is not breaking news. Really, the King should just assume the default is every man is for himself, even the Hand. Maybe especially the Hand.

I agree! I thought I was crazy, but the Targeryans are so boring to me. Alicent and Otto, oily as the latter may be, are a lot more interesting to me. There really isn't much nuance so far to the platinum crew.

Hee, although to me, that is extremely fitting to his character. I can just see someone saying, gee whiz, Daemon, you're kind of one and done with that trick- I hope you never need to surrender or negotiate with anyone ever again. Daemon: um, yeah, I won't. Duh. I guess at that point he figured he really had nothing to lose. He could either be killed by the crab guys or rescued by big brother, and neither of those were more appealing than being the guy who waves the white flag then attacks. I totally misread Daemon's initial reaction to the letter. I thought he was moved by his brother's offer of help. And I did think Viserys, annoying and obtuse as he generally is, did a reasonable job of wording the letter to not be overly condescending and dismissive. He made it sound like a joint effort with a mutual goal, vs. hey little bro, since you've screwed things up so royally, I am going to come sauntering in and save the day along with your sorry ass. Then he beat up the messenger and I was like, well, got that one wrong. I am mostly okay with the plot contrivances and Hollywood tropes in this show. I like how so far, there is a large focus on the relationships between the characters, and no one is all good or all bad. I am bummed though that it seems unlikely there will ever be a reconciliation between Alicent and Rhaenyra. I understand Rhaenyra's anger and hurt, but I don't think Alicent is a straight up villain who used Rhaenyra to get to her dad. She is a victim of circumstance much like Rhaenyra, and reliant upon men the same way. If those two partnered up (and I don't mean romantically, I just mean if they compared notes and worked together) they could each help each other a lot, as well as just make their own lives more pleasant. It can't be fun constantly dealing with this tension and anger, and I am sure they both miss their friendship.

I know, but in this particular case, Corlys really wasn't talking shit. He was venting about a serious problem he has with the king's leadership, and explaining the reason he was willing to pair up with Daemon in the first place. Had he said the House of Dragons equivalent of "your brother sucks at life" I'd agree with Daemon defending his brother while acknowledging his own hypocrisy, but in this case, how is Corlys supposed to explain himself without criticizing the king? I mean, the king is kind of sucky at his job. It's kind of galling he threw his hat in the ring in the first place when he seems to minimal interest in handling any affairs that don't directly impact him.

Right that's what I was getting at- but regardless, she will have to marry Laena off at some point, so I was wondering if she was disappointed/insulted to miss out on a King, or relieved to be able to put it off for a few years. The more I think about it, the more I think Viserys sucks. It would not have been too much to ask to privately tell Corlys beforehand that he did not want to marry such a young girl. And he basically ensured the end of Alisant and Rhaenyra's friendship. Also, he appears to be a completely incompetent king who is unable or unwilling to protect the commoners. I didn't like Daemon telling Corlys that he (Daemon) could insult the king, but Corlys couldn't. First, Daemon said far nastier things, and second, unlike Daemon, Corlys has been directly harmed by Viserys' poor leadership. Daemon is just salty in general; Corlys had a very legitimate gripe. I appreciate that Daemon has an honest affection for his brother and niece, but otherwise I find him pretty loathsome.

That's what I can't figure out! I can't tell if Viserys is (at this point) romantically interested in Alicent or if she is just his only considered alternative to a a 12 year old. If he is resigned to getting married and his only requirement is that she isn't 12 (or younger), it seems he could have found a potential wife pretty easily that wouldn't piss off his daughter. I would be curious to know how the Queen who never was feels about the rejection of her daughter. I loved her schooling of Rhaenyra, who was getting a little cocky this episode. The older princess (can't remember her name) is correct- swearing loyalty to Rhaenyra was merely just kicking the can down the road, they had no intention of actually obeying her.

I feel really sorry for Alicent. Yes, she knows what she is doing, but this isn't a world that is kind to women, even high born ones. Impressing her father and securing a non abusive husband is probably the only way to guaranteed safety, and I don't blame her if that comes at the expense of warning her friend of what their respective fathers are up to. Even giving her friend the heads up could potentially foil Hightower's plans if Rhaenyra confronted her father and discredited Otto, which surely would blow back on Alicent. She really doesn't have a lot of appealing options. Rhaenyra confronting Daemon was smart, but not exceptionally brave in my opinion because I believe she knew there was no way he would hurt her. I don't really consider it badass to dare someone to kill you when you know they absolutely won't. Daemon would take the humiliating retreat over the risk of making Rhaenyra collateral damage.

I haven't read any of the books or watched any previews or followed any press for the remaining season, and I would 100% bet my 401K balance they will go there. Wasn't Viserys planning to rape Daenerys, and was only thwarted, not because rape is bad or raping your sister is bad, but because Daenerys' virginity was the only thing they had to trade? Niece and uncle would be so incidental at this point.

If Daemon was correct in that Kings Landing is no longer safe for those living outside the castle, that is a pretty glaring error on both the King and the Hand. Nice as the king may be, I am not sure he's not a dope.

I could not tell either. I will take Daemon at his word that there are a lot of rapists, robbers, and murderers running around Kings Landing. So I don't know if he assumed that anyone running around late at night was up to no good, or if he simply didn't care, and figured the mere threat of another sadistic punishment orgy would stop the would be criminals from doing anything in the future, and if he killed or disfigured innocent people, well the ends would justify the means. It did seem to be mostly men he was dismembering. At this point, it could go either way. He could feel that Visery's shortcomings as a king are threatening the Targaryen dynasty, and for the good of their legacy he needs to step in, or he could be just a power hungry spoiled child with a case of bloodlust.

I agree. Plus, Rhaenyra seems to have an honest affection for him. I am fine with a more character driven show than GoT was. I am hoping for a smaller cast with a bit more nuanced characters.

One thing that kind of annoyed me about GoT was the characters were either "good" or "bad"- and if you were bad, you were bad through and through and had NO redeeming qualities. I guess there were a few gray characters, like Jaime, but generally speaking, pretty much one extreme or the other. I would actually really like it if neither Hightower nor Daemon were cartoon villains, but rather just both had really strong feelings on what what would be better for King's Landing and were willing to do what it took to get there. I mean, Daemon had a point that the King let far too much crime go unchecked. His methods were cruel and unprecedented, but maybe there will be less crime going forward. That said, I wouldn't want Daemon for a ruler either and I can hardly blame Hightower for doing what he has to do to block his rise.

See, what surprised me is I did not think there was animosity. I thought the king seemed rather indulgent of his brother and I thought the brother was sincere when he said he would have protected the king when no one else would. I wonder if Daemon was one of the 12 contenders to the crown that the council basically blew off. ETA: I did think Daemon looked properly ashamed when Viserys confronted him about what he said about heir for a day. It was a super shitty thing to say, which surprised me because I didn't think Daemon was supposed to be a straight up villain who only cares about getting to the throne.

I had no idea! I haven't really watched much press for the show and I did not read any of the books (I never read any of the books in the GoT series either), and when watching the upcoming season I was so confused as to who the angry blond woman was.

I don't think this counts as a spoiler since it doesn't relate to anything that is going to happen on the series, but it might come from the book. Newsweek was recapping the first episode and said that the King chose to name his younger son as his heir when his oldest son (Rhaenys' father) died, which to me, means the oldest son's line has officially been cut off from the throne. Then, when Viserys' father died, the King has to decide whether or not to make Viserys the next in line, or revert back to Rhaenys, as she was older and daughter of the oldest son. So, in that case, it would make sense to me that Viserys did "win". So the fact that Rhaenys was still a contender is interesting to me.

Yeah I think it's just like anything else- you get some people who put their ambition/needs above all else, and you get some people who don't. I am sure there were fathers like Daenery's brother and fathers like Ned Stark (and grandmas like Olenna Tyrell, who will kill you before you can harm someone they love).