Umbelina

Just to clarify, the thread to discuss BB spoilers in BCS threads is a meta-discussion. I don't think there are any actual spoilers in the thread itself (right?), so those who want to remain free of Breaking Bad spoilers but still discuss where and when such "spoilers" should exist, should feel free to read and post there. Right? I had to go back and read through that thread to check. Oh, and good point. I'd say there ARE a couple of "general" spoilers about BB there. Very general, such as thread titles taken from (obscure) Episode Titles from BB, and some events with no context. A reference to Acid, for example. I did post your concern/point there though, but if you are reading here, certainly nothing more explicit than that. ??? The 2nd link I posted isn't discussing BB at all, last I checked. I won't post in it again, because I could inadvertently slip. Really, no one is posting in it now. So it's free and open to all posters who want to know nothing about BB.

I don't know if my taste matters to Bravo. They get their biggest ratings from the huge (and embarrassing to me) fights and family betrayals. NJ and ATL still get (by far) the highest ratings, and I stopped watching those long ago, mostly because they embarrass me as a woman. Then again, I don't want to watch things I can watch my neighbors do either. I can watch my own pets. I liked the Lipsa scenes in Medford, even though I didn't like her, or her bratty girls during them. It bothered me that she doesn't visit her parents, and they were being forced out of their home. I always like the house porn from Lisa and Yo, even though the segments they film alone are certainly not ratings (or my attention) grabbers. I guess for RHBH, I enjoy the lavish parties the most, and the trips, where the housewives actually interact, some of the trips. David's dinner/sing alongs excepted, because MY KING creeps me out. Unfortunately, more and more, they just edit for whatever story they have decided to tell for the season, I'd rather just watch things play out, watch real discussions about something other than each other. The editors for this show seem inept. They keep trying to get the trashy level of their most highly ratings shows shoehorned into RHBH, and it just doesn't work. This season, to me, is an example of that. Seriously, the editors suck. Like you, I've loved the "never before seen" stuff more that what they do show, and storylines they try to cram down our throats. Lisa and the Mammogram. This season for example, Kyle and Kim having fun after the party in the limo that's up on Bravo right now. It's all just so one-sided and fake. I prefer real moments, well, as real as they can get knowing cameras are there, which is why Bravo plies them with booze and long hours probably, to try to get there. Nah, probably just to get them to embarrass themselves. Last season, for example, could have been interesting, almost as interesting as RHNY when the real life heartbreak of a "real" friend's betrayal (Jill to Bethenny) played out. Yes, the show influenced that, but at it's core, it was real. It could have been that way with the Brandi/Lisa break up if we'd actually been given the whole story. Maybe.

The always great AV Club review: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/americans-dimebag-215464 Vulture: Innocence Is Sexier Than You Think http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/americans-recap-season-3-episode-4-sexy-babies.html The Atlantic's take: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/the-americans-season-three-episode-four/385575/ NYT: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/the-americans-recap-paige-you-sly-dog/ I think I love reading the reviews of this show almost as much as I like the show.

Yeah, none of those stories are "Housewife Show" material. They were all solo-gigs, and it's the interaction between the "wives" that brings in the viewers. I'm kind of shocked they even made the cut.

I hate that they are now filming reunions before the show has even completely aired. I don't even think they get to see copies of all the shows before they film it. It's pretty much bullshit. What is so difficult. It can't take THAT long to edit a reunion episode. If people can produce entire episodes of a comedy or drama in a week, then Bravo certainly could managed to edit a Q & A and add in a few clips. ETA I'm sure Bravo would have included INTERESTING footage from Eileen and Lipsa that wasn't about Kim and Brandi, IF they had any to show. Why wouldn't they? I agree though, that Bravo definitely has an agenda this year, and one, long, boring "story" to tell.

I'll really be shocked if Yo is at the reunion. They may film a segment with her. Lisa was on WWHL recently and Andy asked about Yo, and they both seemed to agree, she's not doing well.

A tad off topic, but just to illustrate the paranoid factor I'm talking about. My brother happened to make friends with a Russian defector (about a year before the soviet union failed.) Because I studied Russian in school, he introduced us. At first by phone because we were in different states, later, in person. Long story (and a fascinating one if I do say so myself) short. My brother was trying to learn a few Russian phrases. His accent was horrible, just atrocious, and of course, he knew none of the complicated grammar. He couldn't even say his friend's name properly. The Russian was a horrible driver, he'd never had a car, but he insisted on driving, always in 2nd gear, he couldn't shift. So he kept ruining cars. Over a few months I carefully rehearsed my brother on one simple but perfectly pronounced phrase. Believe me when I say, this took forever, he has no gift for nuances in language. The Russian, to his credit, learned English very quickly, and in general would ONLY speak English once he got here. He spoke 6 other languages. So one day when they were driving somewhere, the Russian stumbled over something he was trying to say in English. My brother pulled out the phrase, which was something like, "God ___, your English is atrocious. Let's just speak in Russian from now on." Well, he drove the car off the road, he was suddenly so frightened that this guy he'd been friends with for months might be a Russian spy, and about to kill him, or an American spy about use him for something. After a few minutes of shock, my brother started laughing. The Russian finally choked out, "It was your sister! Your sister did this!" Both relief and fury. So, yeah, I have a hard time believing any Russian defector back then seriously felt safe just because they were here. /off topic Zinaida just doesn't ring true, and good for Stan, and for them showing that someone in the FBI is thinking. They are due for a win.

I think her first attempts were all mainstream. She was on AB and IV AB several times for several months. I don't know what the heck she is doing now, but herbs ARE medicine, they DO interact, and they are not governed, or even, if you see the links above, even what they say they are. I can't imagine a doctor treating her while she's taking all that crap.

Not sure, but I thought it was the same guy! A couple of times! It was denied in blogs, but I always thought there was something seriously fishy about the way Paige was picked up on that bus. Maybe hunky trainee guy is a red herring as far as the KGB and Paige's future, and it really is Church guy after all? Probably not, but it's still nagging at me. Totally agree with all of that. Also, Zinaida is much too chipper to be a real soviet. I know that's a vast generalization, but she just doesn't read as "real" to me. Maybe it's just because I've met Russians from that era, and just out of Russia. There is a drollness, a lack of trust, somehow kind of a darkness that hangs over them, and no one would be so naive as to have NO fear that they are completely "safe" after DEFECTING and bad mouthing the USSR! No wonder Stan's antenna went off. Also, the humor, the smiling all the time just reads "off." I admit, I'm generalizing, and that's bad. Still, the Russian humor I know is pretty dark, the whole wide eyed innocence act seems off. Innocence was gone back in Czar days, then they had Stalin, WWII, food shortages, absolute control of their lives by KGB/gov. and all the rest.

Reread my post. I answered that too. My guess is she's over Bravo's game, or changing the rules. Gasp! Possibly even growing up a bit? Or getting her Bravo school education, and finally passing a test?

The only topic she has is "Kim." Oh, and "Brandi." In the limo on the way to the Burbank thing? Kim and Brandi. Hell, pick a scene, very, very few that include Lipsa don't have something to do with Kim, and nearly all of her talking heads are about Kim. It's endless. If not about Kim, it's about Brandi. Also? Boring.

I think so too. Also, this is the 80s. So dissent and disagreement about USA policies, and even democracy and capitalism was hardly a taboo subject. Neither was religion. Why didn't they just naturally "groom" their kids a little on their own while they were growing up? Hell, TALK about Vietnam, talk about why they are atheists, they would be average parents to express frustration of US politics, or horror about the stealth program, or wars. There are plenty of Americans their age who participated in Moratoriums against the war, or were not mainstream Christians. This is after the 60's and 70's where demonstrations against war, walks for equal rights were common. I'm not saying full on indoctrination, and I do realize they would have to be careful discussing these things in depth, but many would not raise any, ahem "red flags" back then. Just little, subtle conversations, not full on political lectures.

I don't like them. None of these women mean anything to me. I like parts of them, and detest parts of them. They are just people, good and bad, and I don't like letting Bravo lead the storyline, so I remain skeptical of many scenes. I don't like Kim, although I do feel some pity for her, and applaud her taking in Monty. She's basically a mean girl to me, with a really fucked up childhood. I don't detest her because she's an addict. It's a disease. She was vicious to Lisa last season, to Brandi when she joined the cast. I hate what she did to that dog. I don't like Brandi. She bores me with the inappropriate sexual talk, and agism. She needs to grow up about the drinking, and to get over the despicable things Eddie, Sheannaeaanna, and Leann did to her. She's funny sometimes, and outspoken is always good on these shows. That doesn't mean her children should be taken away, or that she's an addict, or that Kyle is a saint. Throwing wine? Ugh. She was a fool to trash Lisa last season, so beyond stupid. I don't like Yo's 50's version of housewife. I do like her house, her calmness most of the time, and her attitude towards her kids. "Earn your own money." for example. I hated what she did to Ken. I don't like Kyle. I think she's a fake, wanna be queen bee, mean girl who never grew up and who is using her sister's problems for a storyline as "the good, put upon sister." With Kyle, I draw a blank on things I do like. I used to like her with her youngest daughter, but now she's pimping her out, ala Milania, so I don't even like that side of her anymore. I think she's a snake. I don't like Lipsa, because I think she's Kyle's mouthpiece in the attack against Kim this season. If her concern was real and genuine, she wouldn't do this on camera. She has potential, but I'm not a fan so far, maybe when she gets a story other than Brandi and Kim suck? Then. I do love her relationship to Harry. So far. Then again, I'm a Mad Men addict. I don't like or dislike Eileen, because we've really seen so little of her. I don't like that she's an adulterer who broke up two marriages. Her relationship with her husband seems a little off to me. She may or may not bring the housewife drama this show needs. Too early to tell. I loved her trying to talk to Kim and Kyle. I probably like Lisa the best, but I see her manipulations as well, and I'm more on her side this year than usual, because she was so viciously ganged up on last season. She seems less effortlessly mean-while-looking-innocent this season. It feels like a "anyone but me" pile on. I think eventually she'll get even with all of them, but for this season, she'll just do Brandi and Kim. Kyle and Yo won't escape though. Yo may, because of illness. I just enjoy examining them, and looking at edits, and exchanging different ways of looking at them ALL on message boards. For fun. For popcorn. What I really don't like is saying things like "this one is bad, so that means that one is good." Nah, as I said before, they are ALL assholes. Dancing on strings for our amusement.

I've already answered that, at I am not on a witness stand here.

Nothing is formal yet, Stan isn't even divorced. It seems to be something they worked out to ensure Stan gets to spend time with his son, without the constant calls arranging it. "you can have him XXX"

"How did you make the cut?" "What is SHE doing here?" Go sing by yourself, then we will all join together without you to sing more. I am so bored with Brandi's menopause crap. Also with her lame and icky, lamely provocative sexual innuendos. She needs a new schtick. Or several of them. This season might be a wake up call for her. She may sound like she's in denial now, but she's realizing what editing can do, what BRAVO can do, and hopefully, what her own actions really look like. She'll either adapt to the game, or continue to fail at it. Right now there is some bravado in her reactions, but this week's blog shows some hope for her. Is she smart enough to play Bravo's game? Or even to grow up a bit? We shall see.

The whole dog thing is really an untold story here, and probably a huge cause of Kim's "stress." Maybe Bravo avoided it because they were named in that lawsuit. Kim should have never had that dog, and I really detest her for being so irresponsible with it, and using that Pit Bull's devotion to her in such fucked up ways. Here's the BUT. BUT, I have no doubts she really does also love that dog, and facing putting it down, or even not having it live with her, and the financial and legal messes it's caused, and possibly even part of the alienation between Kyle and Kim because it bit her daughter? Had to be tough. Totally her fault, because pit bulls are notoriously devoted to their owners, and will be what their owners want them to be generally. Anyway, it's a missing and strong part of why Kim may have felt extra stress. Filming. The two weddings. Recovery. Monty dying and living there (and he WAS dying then, and is now, his temporary remission was after filming.) Losing her dog, one way or another. Lawsuits. Hell, no wonder she can't sleep~! Both can be true. Whenever they jump edit, TO ANYONE, I am skeptical. My point is, I'm sure, in a long day of editing, they could have found anyone at the party looking unhappy. They found it with Brandi and showed it. They wouldn't show the others because it didn't fit their storyline. I'm sure their were plenty of scenes with Brandi looking happy and having fun. She was there with some friends of her own after all. They've done this with other wives on housewife shows too. It's not just Brandi. NO ONE smiles and looks happy for hours on end.

This is the thread to discuss BB spoilers in BCS threads. http://forums.previously.tv/topic/21909-what-to-do-with-breaking-bad-discussionspoilers/?view=getnewpost This is the thread to discuss BCS with NO Breaking Bad talk allowed. http://forums.previously.tv/topic/22170-breaking-what-breaking-bad-free-discussion-zone/?view=getnewpost

So you think Brandi was telling the truth in her blog - that she had a great time at the party? Even though she made fun of everyone in her TH's and laughed at how they were enjoying themselves. No. Brandi WAS ostracized, and I think her blog is probably just putting a stop to BRAVO's game here, and putting a good face on it. There were many rude comments to her, starting with Ken's, but she sucked it up and behaved. I'm not even saying she didn't deserve the rudeness, but I didn't admire the others for it either. I'm just saying, with editing, they CAN tell any story they want. I'm sure there were moments of Brandi having fun and smiling, but those didn't tell the limited story BRAVO is bent on telling this season. I'd say the same thing if it was Kyle, Lisa (either) or any of the wives frowning or looking bored at one of these "events." It wasn't really a party, at least not while the cameras were there, it was work, a filming schedule. We've heard a several of the "wives" talk about how long they shoot, for example, wasn't Camille's "dinner" with Du Bois filmed for something like 7 hours? We've also heard from people like Alex (RHNY) that Bravo seriously pushes the booze, limits the food, and delays shooting as long as possible to increase fireworks, and issues. They have them "re do" scenes as well. I'm trying to think where I just read, maybe about this show, maybe a different RH show that "the real party starts after the camera's leave." Anyone? I'm just saying, this is not a documentary, it's not "real" although some moments of it certainly are. When I see those insert shots rather than on-going action I tend to be skeptical. Filming goes on forever, if they want a shot of someone looking bored, or not smiling? They will easily find one and plug it in.

Again, the thing with her purse might have been a signal. Something about that seemed to bother Stan and the scene made rather a big deal out of Zinaida forgetting her purse at the table and then doubling back for it. Or she was picking up a bug to plant, any number of things. Instructions, a weapon (drugs or powder.) A bug makes since, since she's all over the FBI, and going to be with so many high ranking public officials, but so does a weapon of some kind, even if it's just poison. Yeah, they made Stan's reaction to the purse too obvious really. ALL women take their purses with them to the bathroom, so that was OTT to me. I do think it would be SOP to prearrange that "If there is a bathroom in a public place, that's our drop point." As I said, especially with male FBI escorts. A female could say, "I'll go with you, I have to go too." A guy? Is screwed.

If Bravo wants a few moments of facial expressions on screen, they will find them, especially at a notoriously long "party" scene. They wanted those "uncomfortable" Brandi moments, so they found them, and displayed them. I'm sure they had shots of ALL of those women without smiles, because really? Who is smiling or talking every single minute of a 2-6 hour filming schedule. They have a narrative, and are cramming it down our throats.

I remember Kim and Kyle having these same issues long before Brandi joined the show. It's just 'round and 'round for these two, same stuff, different day. Adult communication and child communication is very different though, and frankly, Kyle's histrionics while taking her daughter to school seemed selfish and not healthy to me. They both idolize their mother. Again, as I said in my post, it's not about "blaming" their mother. It's about looking at their childhood realistically instead of burying it under the nearly slavish devotion to her memory. Just for them to get to a point of saying "yeah, some stuff really SUCKED, but mom loved us and did what she thought was best for us." would be a healthy thing. We've watched the "competitions" between these two for years now. I think that stems from childhood, from acting, from the way they were raised, and I feel that they aren't going to fix that until they FACE that, with love, forgiveness, but most of all, with honesty.

She would assume she's being watched if she's undercover, AND, that taking any advantage of that to leave a message would be expected. Although I can't see what information she would have to pass on anyway. However, that's got me thinking. IF she saw someone she recognized enter that bathroom, or was given some kind of sign? She may have been picking up something, rather than dropping something off. The bathroom is a logical place for any drop, and arranging that in advance, not a stretch, since the KGB would have known they would take her out to reinforce "America is free! America has cool restaurants!" Heck, she already asked to go see the sights, and most of those have nearby bathrooms as well. The fact that she's female works well too, since most of the FBI agents were (and still are) male. ETA Good point about Nina and the Belgian. Back to Zenaida. I'm sure that it was prearranged that anytime there is a bathroom nearby? Check it.

I'm pretty sure he was talking about visitation time with his son. I keep thinking the Belgian is a plant too, but then, Nina's already confessed, and I change my mind. Yes, she got what she asked for. Complete honesty. Now we will see how she handles it. First reaction, shock and hurt, but will her EST stuff kick in, and lead to possible reconciliation eventually, or at the very least, appreciation of Stan's attempt? Or was he just getting it off his chest and on to her back, using EST as an excuse? Yeah, and props to Stan for seeing through that.

Yeah, there is no way taking all those pills is a good thing. AT ALL. Then there is this scandal: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/new-york-attorney-general-targets-supplements-at-major-retailers/ and http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/sidebar-whats-in-those-supplements/