Passing Strange

Thanks for the link with the link. I'd guess what happened is that the domain has some meaning for the retired stripper who has it now. He probably has no connection to Leon nor, apparently, to any good site developers. Leon's former website, on the other hand, was pretty professional and the food looked great. His signature dish? 48 Hours Braised Beef Cheeks, served with caramelized sweet potato and pumpkin compote, glazed peaches, summer vegetables and red wine jus .

Yeah, I could see that if it had been something like the show was hinting at with the pilots-men excluding a woman just because she was a woman. I don't think that's what was happening here. I got the sense that it was just three friends who got together sometimes and had been doing it for a while. Brody knew about it and didn't seem to have a problem or feel excluded. It wasn't any different than the night out together that Brody and Sonja were trying to plan.

No, Bishop got the fake wife's name from a medicine bottle when she broke into the house. Abby was suspicious that the wife had gotten a new driver's license soon after moving, when she hadn't changed her old one after another move. That's when she compared the fingerprints and pictures on the two licenses and determined it wasn't the same woman. At that point she was still lacking the real name of the fake wife.

That whole egg harvesting piece was odd. I guess it was to add to the suspense-She's good! No she's bad! No, wait, she's good! When it was resolved it was another example of her doing the right thing. The National Transportation Safety Board is the federal agency that investigates transportation accidents, but they only have jurisdiction over civilian aircraft. Good point. It's great that they didn't go there. I totally agree that they need to tone Sonja down. The "badass chick with an attitude" thing was already old.

Apparently Sonja's purpose is to ask "What's that" to allow for exposition when something technical is mentioned, and to be irritated by random things. Normally I'm thrilled when a character points out issues related to inequality, but her conversation with Brody didn't feel organic. It seemed shoe horned in to be in keeping with our "gee whiz, women are cool" episode theme. Harping on the guys' night out was total nonsense. Sometimes people like to get together in mixed groups, sometimes it's same sex groups. It doesn't always mean something sinister, just as you getting together with your women friends doesn't. It was especially irritating that she was doing it because she didn't want to participate, she just wanted to be asked. Who does that once she outgrows middle school? One thing I used to love about Brody was she didn't have to stop and put her hair up before heading out in the field. She still doesn't, but now she has unflattering hair that looks like it has to be fussed with to make it look like she doesn't have to fuss with it. Also, Ms. Equality, when a guy asks you out and you're not happy about the setting, don't stride away grinning and flipping your hair, only to turn around and coyly tell him to call you tomorrow. Just tell him and skip the games. I did like that the American hero in this episode was a woman and that they didn't gloss over the issues she had to deal with. I also loved SecNav pushing back and getting time for the investigation when Washington was demanding fast answers. Now if only she could get Sebastian and Abbey to stop with the dramatics when delivering test results and simply explain the results.

Yes! I'd thought it wasn't possible to create a techie character any more annoying than NCIS's Abby Sciuto, but they've come close with Patterson. If you're going to give me results, just give them to me. I want the information, there's no need for you to be cute about giving it to me.

People keep mentioning that like we saw it happen dozens of times and I don't think we did. I only remember seeing it once. The dinner was very late, more than two hours, and I'm betting that's why production made a big deal about it. Other than, I don't think we ever saw Ben's services being more than a few minutes late and then not that often.

Damn, Rocky is growing on me. Not that I like her, mind you, just that I don't hate her anymore. For me, she's not nearly Sam or Kat or CJ levels of irritating. I don't think she led Emile on, exactly. I think she really did want to have sexy times with him and did everything short of hiring an aerial banner to make that point. Then he got drunk and showed his ass, which turned her off. She's either not smart or skilled enough to handle the situation better, or she's playing for the cameras. I think it's the former, although I also think much of what she does is for the cameras. As someone said in another thread, I believe she really does want to be on Broadway and, for some strange reason, thinks this show is her ticket there. I thought the crew members were remarkably tolerant about the lateness of the dinner. I felt especially bad for those who had to keep working on an empty stomach. If I'd had to run plates of tasty smelling food up and down stairs, I would have been mega cranky when out of the guests' sight. You'd think. If I were paying that much money, as soon I was settled in I'd want to meet with the chef and get the menu set. We saw Ben talking with guests about the menu for a specific meal once or twice, but nothing more formal than that. I guess the guests just fill out their preference sheets and expect the chef to surprise them. Nothing. A poster only speculated that might be the reason for her dislike.

I agree that the Howard/Raj conversation was inappropriate. In order for it to be sexual harassment, though, someone would need to overhear, be bothered by it to the extent that it affected her work and, for a hostile work environment, the behavior would need to be ongoing. Still pretty Cringeworthy, but not actionable.

I was fine with Jane not being a bad ass right out of the gate. She didn't know her abilities; it makes sense that it will be a process of discovery. Too, she'd been traumatized and violated, once by an unknown person and again by the FBI. While I was thrilled when she stood up for herself, I think it was effective and authentic that she had to work up to that point. I think the same is true of the breakdown. Becoming a sobbing mess on the floor seems like a natural reaction to the circumstances. I couldn't get behind her needing to be comforted after the flashback, though. I expected that to be something she'd want to talk about right away. I agree that there was much too much violence against women in this episode. I get the snatched from the headlines thing, but there were lots of other headlines available. Between that and Jane herself it was already too much. There were other ways to awaken Jane's skills than using an abusive landlord. I wanted to smack Special Agent Neck Beard. First, because he was a heartless, soulless stick and second because he wasn't a younger version of D.B. Sweeney. Actually, I wanted to smack almost all of the FBI agents. You can be compassionate without totally dislodging your stick.

Well, I'm not going to have to compete for TV boyfriends, because I think Eddie is middle of the road, Emile is unattractive and Dane is cute. Although, since folks pointed out the Matthew McConaughey thing, he's going to be on probation with me. I also think Leon is nice looking, it's just cancelled out by his personality. Not even him saying his daughters were the center of his world made me warm to him. I don't mind Rocky. I'm thinking she's playing a part, trying to fill the vacancy left by Kat. Since she's not Kat, she's ok in my book. I'd still like to see less of her and more of Connie. But she's smart, funny, competent and drama free, so I imagine she'll remain stuck in the background. I wanted to slap the primary charter guest every time he did his beer bottle trick, but the one I really disliked was the guy who was extra unpleasant about the lack of the overpriced tequila. If you can't have a good time on a yacht without booze, the problem isn't the staff. Also hated primary complaining/boasting about how much money his wife would spend in the shops. Money is like sex; those who really have it don't talk about it. I'm pretty sure Leon was told the guests would be arriving in 20 minutes. To me, that would mean he should be prepping the food, not firing it before the guests were even on board.

Thank you! I was wondering where that money came from.

I can't find the article I read about this, so I'm doing this from memory and my figures may be off a bit. The guests we see on the show pay a reduced rate, a little less than half of the $87,000 it normally costs to rent the boat for three days. They're also expected to pay a tip of at least $13,000, which is 15% of the regular rental price. The article didn't say if they had to pay for gas or provisions, the way regular charter guests would. I think these folks provide excellent service, but, to me, it doesn't seem worth a one to two K tip. Of course, to people who can afford an $87,000 plus getaway that probably seems like chump change. In this episode, they split the "20 large" 10 ways. That would be Kate, Amy, Rocky, Eddie, Emile, Connie, Leon, the real engineer and first mate and either another crew member we've never seen or Captain Lee, right?

I'm just guessing, and maybe also hoping, that had Merline had a different model, she would have designed a different bra. All I have to go by is what she did with the model she had and I loved the overall look. I think you're right about why most others just decorated, which is why I was happy to see Merline go in a different direction. The production version of her bra does have more support.

They did. There's a lingering shot of the women's barrel after the game is over and a couple of the rolls show paint spots. I didn't notice until I rewatched on my computer, where I'm much closer to the screen.

This may be the first time in my personal Project Runway history that I've completely agreed with the judges. I loved Merline's look and I'm happy she won. She was the only one who successfully built a bra from the ground up. Everybody else decorated a pre-made bra. Granted, some of them did a fabulos job, but Merline actually constructed something. I thought all three pieces were lovely and worked well together. I would have liked Swapnil's better if it hadn't looked like he ran out of time or material to cover up the beige. I believe him when he said he did it on purpose, but, to me, it looked unfinished, especially in the back. As much as I hate to agree with Nina, the bra was too busy in the front. I wonder if the Blake we saw at the end was the real Blake. He seemed almost tolerable. Still, all I'm going to miss is loving to hate him.

I loved Eddie the first season, but not as much last season or this. I've come to the conclusion that what I loved was "Dave and Eddie" and that's why Eddie by himself isn't working for me. I think he knows his stuff and he's good with the guests. It's just that he can only manage people who don't need much managing. I want to love Kate, because her THs are golden, but she lies easily and not gracefully. There was the basil "mojito" last season and denying the penis towel to the captain. Then more basil this episode when lying to the guests about Leon's secret sauce. Still, one personality flaw doesn't indicate others, so, without some evidence, I'm not looking for ulterior motives in her dislike of Leon. With his abrupt and dismissive manner, he's provided plenty of motivation himself. Yes, this. I couldn't understand why he was answering a question they hadn't asked, unless he was so caught up in his own lie he misinterpreted what the guest said. He could have said he didn't want to work with something unfamiliar, but instead he lied to the guests and said he knew all about handling fresh conch. This included the somewhat creepy notion that you had to "treat it like a woman." Plus, he irked me last week when he ended his response to the captain's radio message with "over and out." I'm looking forward to Leon out.

That's true. What I disagree with is the conclusion that one of the disadvantages the women had was their colors. Lifetime has episode photos posted. In one the women are standing with their fabric; two shades of purple, three of pink/red and two of orange. They also had access to a blue and a yellow in the form of paint, as they're shown using it on their white material. There's a shot of the barrel that held the men's material. It looks like there are four shades of green and maybe three of blue, plus one of yellow. Although each team had colors in a particular range, neither team had colors that all went well together. There was some serious clashing in both assortments. The trick was to narrow down to a harmonious combination. Both teams had a similar chance of that, because they both had several options within the range of colors they'd been assigned. Had the women given some thought to their color story before randomly throwing paint on cloth they wouldn't have painted themselves into a corner and been stuck with the purple.

I remember that and I disagree with the fabric sabotage theory, too. I just don't think the teams actually got to select their own color palettes. I think they were assigned the colors and that comment was Joseph cementing the fact that they were supposed to go for the blue, green and yellow. At the end of the paint ball battle the uniforms of all the men, the Blue Team, were covered in just blue, green and yellow paint, while all the Red Team women's uniforms were splattered with only pink and orange. That's why I think the colors were assigned. Someone somewhere screwed up, though, because Merline had been hit with only pink. I also agree that the women's colors went together just as well as the men's. Their colors would have worked fine in the hands of more talented designers. It was their attempt to actually design with color, as the men and Merline did, that helped screw them up.

I agree. It's frustrating to come back from commercial and see only snippets of some runs, especially the successful ones. Making it to Vegas is an accomplishment. These folks deserve to have their runs shown and viewers deserve to see them. I'm more interested in athleticism than back story, especially at this point. The proposal made me cringe, too. Because there's nothing more romantic than a wet man wearing a loincloth and sneakers kneeling in dirt to propose.

I agree. I love Michael Westmore as the mentor. We're only seeing a snippet of his interactions with the artists. The artists have probably filled him in on what they want to achieve, so he's not inserting his own design ideas, he's helping them accomplish what they've told him they want to do. I've often wished someone would point Tim Gunn to this show and tell him that's how you mentor.

Let me wade right out and join you. I was speaking quite emphatically to my TV, explaining to this girl that no one could see the results of the surgery; what was making her different from her sisters was that they weren't overweight. Plus, she didn't seem to know the difference between identical and fraternal twins. That and the tumor being on her ovary made me wonder just how genuine her emptiness actually was. I'm happy Dubrow burst her twiny bubble. Maybe with that information and her newly lipo'd body she'll be able to appreciate the people around her.

I like Sonya. I like that she's interested in Sebastian and not La Salle. I don't want to see her become part of the team. I don't want to see the relationship with Sebastian develop or the interesting twists that aren't at all interesting that could result. I don't want to see more of Sebastian and especially not Sebastian-in-love. I don't want to see the inevitable episode where Sonya has some sort of break through and we learn about her sad childhood that led to the tough as nails attitude that is protecting her heart of gold. She's an interesting character and I'd be happy if she remained seasoning and didn't become a main ingredient. I'd rather see more of Patton and Danny.

There's a photo of the man who is probably Nene's father in this article. He's not Curtis, the man she'd always been told was her father. The DNA test showed that Nene and Curtis weren't related.

I liked that this episode was a little different in terms of the killer. Sure, I enjoy trying to guess who it is, but this episode was more of a whydunnit than whodunnit. Kind of a nice change, although I don't believe for a minute that section of town is suddenly going to be better served by the understaffed police department. I like Brody well enough and I love that she's one of the few women across the franchises who doesn't have princess hair. Still, I'm not interested in her enough to care about her back story right now, whether it be a dead twin or a trifling ex-fiance. There were better ways to provide the information that some of the old buildings had hidden rooms that used to be speakeasies. I thought the flowers were from the ex-fiance. There was no mention (that I caught) of callas being her favorite flower, but I was thinking the idea was like the drink, in that he remembered her preference. Which, BFD, a guy remembers the favorite drink of a woman he was going to marry. She'd only had a few dates with the doctor, so I had no problem with her spending a couple of nights with the ex. If she and the doc had been exclusive, she would have used that, instead the job, as the reason not to meet for drinks.