Umbelina

I'm trying to imagine what my mother would have done if I put a half eaten Popsicle in a clothing filled drawer because I was too lazy to walk to the garbage can. Calling me an "asshole" would have been the least of my worries.

I really like Yolanda, which is pretty strange given her whole 50's "man is KING" routine, because that is so not me. I believe that she is ill, and I do think it's the Lyme. I hope they find something else to help her.

There are websites out there devoted to celebrity crotch shots, panties showing shots, nip slips, and the paparrazzi gets paid when they happen, that's why they wait outside of clubs, and get low when people are getting into cars. Anne Hathaway just had one, Jennifer Aniston has one, hell tons of people do. I think I'd be less bothered if it didn't feel like women shaming women by using the whole tampon string comment. "Brandi flashed her crotch while falling down drunk" bothers me not at all, but why is it somehow WORSE that she happened to be having her period at the time? It happens to all of us, for several days a month. I'm trying to put my finger on why the tampon string being the lead here bothers me.

In one version of the first episode, played right before the 2nd episode, they left out Jimmy going head to head with a slick lawyer and his team in a high priced law firm. Same one that is trying to rip off his brother, and apparently Jimmy worked in for a short time. Near the end he kicked the shit out of a trashcan. I'm pretty sure the other replays had it all. I'm not sure just what else they cut out to make it fit the one hour format. The other repeats all had it I think.

Another thing we know about this production team is that they DO adjust to characters. The keep the really good ones that work (Mike was only supposed to be on for an episode or two originally) and Jesse was supposed to die season 1. The more talented the actor/actress? The more likely they will write them into the plot, if they can, and it makes good story. I keep wondering it this will be more procedural eventually, not so much "a case a week" with an ongoing back-story, but a little bit more like that. The people Saul ends up representing may stick around longer than intended if the chemistry works? Just musing. The montage was to move things along (and for other reasons I mentioned previously) in Jimmy-to-Saul I thing, but once he settles down and becomes Saul, I think we'll see more of his cases, and the people involved in them. ETA I keep thinking Mike is undercover and keeping an eye on the crooks and cops and judges and lawyers from a very good vantage point. Also, how easy would it be to pass pay off money or information with that job? I think he is probably already well into being a player. Maybe not, this could be his job after leaving the force too I guess, but it's not the vibe I got.

Kim, Brandi, and Kyle have "taken over the show" because the others (other than Lisa with the adoption stuff) really aren't bringing anything interesting enough to film. (For a show like this, we know the drill.) Now, it looks like Lipsa loses her shit later, but again, because of KIM. As much as Brandi has been Kim's mouthpiece in the battle between the Richard's Sisters, I really believe that Lipsa is doing the same thing for her long time good friend Kyle. Both mistakenly feel they are "helping" the sister they like, but really? They are being used by two old pros who have probably done this shit for years.

Really? I think Kyle and Kim have a dysfunctional relationship like a number of people. There's not a doubt in my mind that if something happens to Kim it will devastate Kyle, Mauricio and their children. The suggestion that she would be readying her tears for television is beyond my comprehension. You left out the rest of what I said. Or I didn't say it well enough. One of those. Eileen DOES get it, she knows what it will really mean. Neither Kyle nor Kim got it, they are too wrapped up. I didn't say Kyle won't be devastated, I am saying that Kyle has a movie playing in her head about it, and she's dead wrong. It's a gut punch that she will feel when/if it happens. Eileen's entire point was "stop this petty shit and look at how you will feel if you keep this up and one of you dies." Neither sister heard her.

Also, just wanted to mention, from the BB DVD's? Doing those montage scenes which take up a minute or two on screen is VERY expensive and time consuming. They have a little joke they say in the commentary about "montage" being French for expensive or something like that. They take days to shoot, have more extras, and they cost.

The sisters didn't even HEAR Eileen. All they care about is their fight, which has been going on long before this show ever began. I lost my sister this year as well, and I completely get where Eileen was trying to go. Those two wastes of skin can't see the forest for the trees, and each tree is a different memory of a perceived slight or issue from childhood through middle age. If Kim dies, Kyle can do the crying thing, and get more screen time and sympathy, and be the only one left to define their relationship. She's probably already rehearsed it in her mind, the DEVASTATING LOSS! She doesn't really get what that will mean. Eileen was trying to show them both that, but they are too selfish, stupid, childish, and angry to care.

I think all Brandi is to Kim is a weapon to bring to the fight. She feels like Kyle came equipped from birth with an Uzi, capable of decimating Kim. So Kim got herself a Bazooka. Brandi.

Kyle seemed perfectly FINE with Brandi when she was using her to bring down Lisa last season. It's interesting reading her blogs from last season. Now though? She doesn't need Brandi anymore, mission accomplished. She's willing to be friends, probably even desires it, with Lisa again. The damage is done. Kim, watching Kyle do that last season learned a few things. Also, she hates Lisa too, so she was in on the whole thing. So anyway, Kyle dumps Brandi, because she has no further use for her big mouth, but Kim? Picks her up and decides to use her as a weapon against Kyle. Brandi, stupidly falls right into that trap, being very aware that Kyle has dumped her now, and is all chummy with Lisa again. (Meanwhile, I think Lisa's "chummy" act with Kyle is simply patience, or boredom, a "keep your enemies close thing" but I seriously hope Lisa does exact revenge later. It will be a thing of beauty.) OK, so back to the whole Kyle/Kim/Brandi thing. I think Kyle and Kim are SO fucked up it's not fixable, mostly because neither is capable of facing the hard truths they need to face to fix it, and also because, hello! They are both middle-aged women, if they haven't bothered to really fix it yet, they probably never will. I think it's much too easy to blame this all on Kim's substance issues. There is SO much more there! Here's what I feel: Brandi is being used yet again. Clueless. Kim is in serious trouble, and took on too much, and also the whole "alcohol only" thing is just ridiculous. I DO believe that Brandi was scared out of her wits a few times by Kim. I DO believe Brandi called Kyle after that 2AM phone call, more than likely because Kim was talking suicide, or sounded extremely stoned and could die ala Whitney Houston. I think Brandi called Kyle because she was closest, and she knows Kyle more than Kim's kids, and certainly better than she knows Kathy. Also, Kathy is often traveling. As for calling Chad? Something happened with Chad *we don't know specifically what* but he's still basically a kid, why call him? Calling Kyle made the most sense, she would know how to keep it out of the gossip rags, the doctor's name, all of it. I believe that Kyle didn't want to be bothered. I believe she said "That's just Kim" and ignored it. I believe Kyle does drink wine every night, and resented being awakened. I also believe that shocked the shit out of Brandi, and made her dislike Kyle, (along with Kyle dumping her, and things Kim has said about Kyle to Brandi.) Last. I think Kyle is laying a defense for something Brandi might say in a future episode about Kyle, probably something Kim told her, more than likely about Mauricio (Kim has never liked him) and possibly about his cheating since there have been many reports of that. Do I think Kyle is just over Kim's substance issues, fed up? Maybe. Partly. I can even sympathize with that, having been there myself with a couple of people close to me. The thing is, I think it's SO much more than that. I've watched Kyle for several seasons now, and I just don't like her. I constantly see her grabbing for the edit/role of "the best sister!" I don't think her hate for Kim is all because of substance abuse, it's deeper. She's a very selfish, shallow, mean girl, mean to the core, as is Kim. They are both so fucked up. So ditzy Brandi has been sucked in by both of them now, last season by Kyle, this season by Kim. She's so unprepared, which, to her credit, she admits, but she doesn't get the depth of it. She's caught in a war that's been going on for more than 4 decades between Big Kathy's two youngest. Kim does the whole damsel in distress "I can't stand up to big bad MEAN Kyle" thing and Brandi's protective instincts kicked in. She's trying to make the fight "even" or "fair" and she really believes that Kyle doesn't give a shit about Kim when the cameras aren't running, FROM HER OWN EXPERIENCE. Is that true? I think, for the most part, it is. For example, Kyle didn't even try to talk to Kim after screaming "FUCK YOU!" in her face with the double bird and throwing her ridiculous tizzy fit. Nope, she waited until the cameras were running again, the lunch with Eileen. Does anyone else see that as whack? I do. It gives some credence to Brandi's feeling that Kyle only shows concern for Kim ON camera.

I think the name thing will be resolved soon. It's just a hunch, but that montage also sped things up quite about as far as evolution of the character. We saw him do the whole trial in the beginning, spend days on it, and only get $700. Now he's learning the system better, doing plea deals, so making more money simply by volume. Maybe when we came in he'd just been fired from the other place (Chuck talking about the people he knew at the big firm) and began to work on his own? So, at least he's mastered the whole jail client thing now, ready to evolve into the next phase?

This is the one character that really isn't working for me. I have faith in the writers though, and am hoping for something really good to come out of him.

I loved the "It's Showtime!" stuff. I didn't feel like it was there just for the gag, "It's from a movie!" For me, it was an easy and short way to introduce what Saul's work life was like, an endless parade of low lifes, for $700 each, trial or no trial, he made the same money for a plea deal that he made for a (long) court battle. I also felt it was his was of psyching himself up to be ON. That it wasn't his deep down nature to be that smooth talking lawyer type, with the tricks and machinations it takes, and the air of confidence to get his clients off. He had to put on that persona like a set of clothes. He didn't just need it for the courtroom, he needed it to wheel and deal with the prosecutor. In the desert scene, you could see him stretching to pull it off without the bathroom ritual of prep, he was pulling it up from somewhere deep inside, almost by the roots, and it wasn't as smooth or as easy for him to do that. Sure, that was mostly being terrified, but I felt that the larger part was, out in the desert, he was just Jimmy again, the guy who apparently failed in the big firm, the guy who needed a few moments to psych himself up to be able to walk in and act confident in court. It humanized Jimmy/Saul for me, and gave me huge clues into who he really is. When you combine that with what he did in the desert by not just walking away with his life, and instead staying there to fight for the skateboarding scums lives, we got to know his soul, and his morale and professional code. He's a good man, in spite of the whole "sleazy lawyer" vibe. He's also a damn good lawyer, in spite of the sad brown suit, and beat up car, and pathetic office. There is something THERE there, someone worth getting to know. This isn't a Breaking Bad spoiler, but those scenes did remind me of Breaking Bad's STYLE of storytelling. Scenes play out, and the non verbal small moments breathe, it's not dialogue/dialogue/dialogue let's fill ever second with words way of telling a story. It's a style that really grows on you, and has a reality that many shows never reach, because in real life, it's the quiet before the words, or in between them, it's the reactions just as much as the actions that meld together and deliver. I think they really achieved that in this episode. THAT's why it reminded me of BB, not simply the desert scenes or Tuco. Simply discussing those two scenes, the montage of "It's showtime!" and the desert? They fit together, and the fusion is what made them great. Alone, they would still be "good" scenes, but when combined, the whole became a great deal more than the parts. ETA The same thing happened when he was on his date with boobs girl and the bread sticks. Even though he saved the skateboarders lives out there, he still felt sickened and some guilt that their legs were broken. He was thrown, was that the best he could do? Did he fail? Yes, we had his moment of "I just got a death sentence reduced to 6 months probation, I'm the best lawyer EVER!" Later, we got the other side of Jimmy/Saul, at that dinner. The doubts, WAS he good enough? Every scene is connected, or combined, almost like a dinner of carefully chosen foods and wines. The part that (so far) is really not working for me is the electromagnetic guy. I have a lot of faith in these storytellers though, so they'll probably surprise me and it will end up being amazing. So far though, it's annoying me.

Brandi didn't say anything about what kind of patch it was. There are a few others it could be. Both OTC and Lidocaine patches are out there for pain. Let's hope it's one of those. I thought both "more than you know" and calling Kyle at 2AM meant suicide talk. Lipsa really talked nicely to Brandi to her face, digging for information, it's only been to other women and to the camera that she's been critical. I did think it was a good sign that Brandi asked if Lipsa could talk to Kyle on Kim's behalf.

I do agree with Brandi on one thing she said. "Find another topic!" These women spend almost all of their time together talking about Brandi, when they aren't talking about Kim.

It could be a lidocaine patch. We don't know if it's an OTC topical patch, lidocaine, or Fentanyl.

The film festival itself was OK. The drive over, with Kyle, Lispa, Lisa, and Eileen? Not so much. Find a topic besides Brandi ladies. Topic Kim is worn out as well.

Brandi didn't say Bella was an alcoholic. She said OTHER people said that, and that both she and Yo knew that wasn't true. I'm not saying she didn't deflect in a low way, but let's get it right. A few of gossip rags did have headlines like that though.

This gets repeated fairly often, but I don't believe that there's any truth to it. Honestly, what kind of pull could Kyle possibly have to have Kim stay on the show? I don't believe it either. It DOES give Kyle a storyline as the martyr and the "GOOD" sister, and I wouldn't put it past Kyle to use that. Actually, I put nothing past Kyle. I'm so tired of her rages.

Yeah, I do think Lipsa is being Kyle's mouthpiece, since Kyle doesn't want the kind of backlash she had after verbally and physically attacking Kim in the limo. I think she'd LOVE to, but wants to be popular more. I think Lipsa drew Brandi out though. She did say she's never seen Kim slip, or take a pill, but Lipsa kept pushing, and I think Brandi IS scared for Kim, and knows she's in over her head, as she said.

Everyone presently on the show has outed Kim. Also, several from past seasons have as well. The thing is, I can see Kim killing herself. This is no longer my little popcorn escape show, it's reaching Taylor's husband is hung levels. Me no like-y.

Kyle and Kim are both such a mess. I'm bored with this dynamic. Both bitches. Both still childish, and they are nearing middle age. Eileen was trying to herd cats there. Lisa, Pandy, and Max's scenes were nice, and, I feel they captured some of the emotions they were feeling, even with the cameras there. Lipsa saying that about the little bitches in Hollywood was kind of shocking, but I liked it. Brandi seemed sincere with Lipsa. I think Kim threatened to kill herself that night she called Brandi and Brandi called Kyle. Brandi saying something like "you don't know what she would do if people start talking about her (not beating) her addictions" just made me think that.

Wasn't she in love with someone else? Their relationship seemed to be simply spy partners, but began to change into more while we watched in season one.

Yeah, I'm wondering if Nacho will fill the Jesse role of young hunk (semi) side kick with issues? Note, I'm not saying they are trying to be like BB, just that there is a seriously lack of interesting younger eye candy on this one, and I do like multi-generational stuff. He, so far, is capturing that camera with some charisma, so maybe? I could see their business arrangement morphing into Saul's introduction to more than simple petty criminals.