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I'm really enjoying this season so far! Of course it has always been an homage to the 80s, which I love, but this season gets to lean into it in a fun way, especially with the addition of the mall culture. Helps that Dustin and Steve, my favorite characters, along with the awesome new addition of Robin, get to be at the center of the mall storyline. Mrs. Driscoll reminded me of my grandma! Poor lady; I hope they're able to save her. I knew that the kids had grown up over the course of the seasons, but the flashbacks definitely drove that home. They were just behbehs! We really are watching them grow up right in front of us. The casting of this show has been uniformly excellent, especially when you realize how the child stars have remained believable as they grow into teenagers. The argument between Will and Mike was so well written, directed, and acted. They very much captured both characters' unspoken questions and implications in the "you're not into girls" line without it being over-the-top blunt or cruel.

Matt Berry has such a perfect voice for this show! I'm actually surprised this was his first time in the Archer-verse. Loved him as Mr. Deadly. And the constant thumbs up was hilarious.

Yeah, I understand it must suck and be stressful to sit and wait, and I'm sure the producers encourage them to trash talk, but that was not a good look for Radiance. The Heima, The Kings, and Unity LA have been consistently amazing and on top, while Radiance has been...fine. Their negative comments while the Heima was performing were not cute (or accurate) and seemed rude and unprofessional.

I don't remember being that impressed with the Dancetown Divas before, but their Vogue routine was just so FUN! Great combo of choreography and presentation. I'm glad they made it through. I get tired of the contemporary couples and their constant "This is about, uh, how relationships are hard and stuff, so we are going to represent that very uniquely by tossing each other through the air and pushing each other away angstily and wrenching at each other's arms pleadingly and storming off dancily." That said, I thought that the couple who did dance like that (Brenna and Derion? Their names are escaping me) did a very good job of it! They had some physical tension, movements, and holds that were less common even though the overall theme of their dance was something we've seen a million times before. Poppin' John continues to surprise and impress. I love that he keeps adapting and updating his "old school" style. That routine was amazing.

My husband was only half-paying attention by this point (he likes the show, but two hours of it, is, to quote Josh's new squeeze, a LOT for him!), and even he said "Wow!" when Donna Lynne hit that final high note. She is so amazing.

I'm happy that this is finally here! I'm in the camp that Jemaine and Taika can pretty much do no wrong, so I love the movie and love that they continue to be involved in the show. I loved Nadja's reincarnated lover Gregor/Jeff (hee) being creeped out by her but also wanting to get her number. Ha! Though the scene was funny, I thought that the makeup/costume on the Baron was genuinely creepy and horror-movie-appropriate. I didn't know it was Doug Jones. Of COURSE it was...I still have nightmares about that nightmarish THING he played in Pan's Labyrinth with the eyeballs on his hands. He's so amazing at playing creepy creatures.

Agreed! This song makes me think of both my relationship with my mom, and her relationship with her mom (my grandma), where the relationship(s) embody that perfect combination of crazy-making, loving, crazy-making again, passive aggressive, loving again, etc. We're not Jewish, but I see so much of my family's mother-daughter relationships in Naomi and Rebecca.

The creators have hinted throughout the series that the real relationship throughline is Rebecca and Paula, so I'd be happy if, rather than pull the Kelly Taylor, Rebecca ended with something like "I choose...my best friend Paula." and then maybe add on "but I'm happy to keep dating one or more of the guys and see how things go." That would show a lot of growth, and allow Rebecca to keep exploring a romantic relationship while not making it her end-all-be-all. Unfortunately I don't think the writing for the Rebecca-Paula friendship has been as strong or present in the last couple seasons, so it would seem more out of left field than it once would have. Rebecca was definitely there for Paula after the heart attack, but they don't give the same "bestie" vibe that they used to, I think more due to budget and scheduling of the actors than anything else.

I know Lola isn't everyone's favorite around here, but she always cracks me up. Hubby and I had to pause the tv at "PUNCTURE PUNCTURE GLUG GLUG GLUG" because we were laughing so hard. One of those things I can't really explain why it's funny, but it sooooo is. The songs were perfect. Maya Rudolph continues to be a goddess.

That bugs me too, especially since it's so obvious that they're coached to say it like that, and in the present tense, even though they're obviously describing something that already happened. "I mix my eggs into my flour mixture, then I add my vanilla..." The contestants on the adult FN baking shows have to talk like that too. I don't know who decided to make them all do that.

This episode made me both laugh and cry. Loved watching Madison's arc of getting "steamrolled" by Jaxon, then speaking her mind and letting her frustration show more and more until she actually won in the end! Good for her. (On the one hand, I guess he kind of helped her win by suggesting that peanut butter would be a good complement for her chocolate cake and the peanut butter cream cheese frosting she put together does sound like heaven; on the other hand, let her figure out her own shit, bro! I'm sure she would have rocked a chocolate-chocolate chip cake too.) Karthik seemed to alternate between being overbearing and mansplain-y to acting like a hyperactive little brother, with all the annoying questions. Meadow held her composure better than I would have! So frustrating to watch guys keep dominating girls though. Generation after generation. Uggggghh. And boooooooo to Jaxon not even smiling or offering a "good job" when his partner won the challenge. I hope that was editing for drama, but given how much they like to show these kids high fiving and jumping up and down and helping each other out, I'm going to say that editing was not at fault this time.

What a fun episode. The cast all did such a great job, and who knows rom-coms better than the creators/writers of this show? They nailed them. Hee hee, totally. She's the "bitch in the corner of the poster!" As well done as the episode was, and as much as I appreciated the great bits given to minor characters like Jim, George and Burt, I also felt a little wistful. The show is so close to being over and I'm going to miss these people! I enjoy Nathaniel and Maya and the actors who play them, but I feel like I want more time with Rebecca, Paula, Josh, and Heather, who were mostly on the sidelines (or completely absent).

Much as I love this show, that's very true. Though the romantic couples on this show have had very sweet moments that I've enjoyed, I can't say that they've affected me any more than the platonic friendships. I think the show plays homage to that, though, because even though Chidi/Eleanor and Janet/Jason may seem a little forced as romantic couples, the friendship conversation between Janet and Eleanor bonding over their broken hearts did not feel forced at all. Janet's "I am one of those three things" was every bit as moving to me as Chidi and Eleanor's movie montage.

She gave it her best, but it was still too over the top for me, even for this show. Calm down, show.

I agree that studying Russian history/literature makes sense for a Jewish character,even if the timeline would definitely have raised some eyebrows. But yes, French would have been in there somewhere. At least enough for Midge to be able to do the tourist thing and nagivate her and Abe from the airport to her mom's apartment. More likely, I think that Russian Literature is part of Midge's backstory so that ASP could have a good reason for Midge to get married in Emily Gilmore's (and, I assume, ASP's) fantasy Russian winter wedding. Which probably wouldn't have been a trendy thing since Dr. Zhivago wasn't even written until 1957, but hey, the wedding was indeed gorgeous!

I thought it was also a big step for David to say out loud to Patrick "I'm damaged goods!" It broke my heart a little bit, actually, but I think that it's something he's probably not used to admitting. In previous relationships, he probably just left or at least covered up his pain with snark. But for him to be able to admit to Patrick why he's not okay and that he needs time shows a lot of emotional growth and the value that he places on that relationship. And then the anguished food request on top it made me laugh through the wrenched heart. I love love love the slow and steady growth that this show allows for its characters and relationships.

I full-on snort-laughed at Moira and David's "number." So bad/good! I am also totally here for no-fucks-left-to-give Jocelyn. Another great example of character evolution on this show.

I can tell this topic has sunk to the bottom because the actress that plays Badison isn't on here yet. Ugggghhhhh she's the worrrrrrrrst. This most recent season is sort of a slog anyway, but it would be a billion times more tolerable without that faux-accented, faux-bully with the world's stupidest nickname dragging everything down. Every scene with her feels interminable. I'm not from Boston, but I know people who are, and I know what they sound like. I tried to give Amanda Fuller, the actress that plays Badison, the benefit of the doubt and think that maybe she was a Boston native affecting some local neighborhood accent that I hadn't heard before. Nope. She's from effing California. This is her attempt to be Bostonian. This is her directors and dialect coaches saying that this is okay. This is me officially accepting that the show is swirling the drain and the people involved have just given up. I thought Julianne Moore's Boston accent on 30 Rock was the worst pop culture had to offer. Now it no longer is, so congrats, OITNB.

A great FOH person, like the two you mentioned, is a joy to watch, but a bad one raises my blood pressure even more than the chaos in the kitchen! I don't really even remember bad ones in particular; but I do remember patrons standing around awkwardly and Padma, especially, being really vocal about long waits and poor service, and I just cringe at how awful that must feel for the FOH person. Some people just have a natural gift for it...Brian seems like the type, but his big book that will never get read makes me question that. Nini is getting a bad edit now, which makes me think that she'll turn things around and be great at it. And her dark chocolate ice cream that doesn't look like dark chocolate sounds amazing.

I agree that Brandon isn't as bad as I think the Magical Elves want us to think he is. He definitely got the immediate villain edit, and I think they capture every eyebrow raise or slightly smarmy thing he says or does. He's not my favorite by any means, but I'm trying not to let the editors sway me against him. That said! As a quiet person myself, I'm always annoyed by the perception that quiet = weak. I don't think Michelle would have gotten as far as she has, or would offer to be EC, if she didn't have the voice to do it. People telling me "You're so quiet" irritates the crap out of me...is it ever acceptable to say "You're so loud?" So yeah, that gets my goat, but I understand why Brandon wanted to double check that they'd be able to hear her in a chaotic environment. (Especially since I didn't even know she existed until last week!) I thought that the design company came off looking worse than any of the chefs...it would have to be so hard to train servers when the actual dining room isn't set up at all. I'm surprised the company would put their name on such obviously shoddy work (though according to the upthread comments, that company is obviously not long for this world).

Semi-slowly binging this show and just finished S3 last night. I agree that it just gets better. They've developed the characters and their relationships so wonderfully. I loved the scene with Johnny and Moira where she admits that they are no longer the same people that they were in the comically large family portrait. Just perfect level of growth, and still funny in that he agrees with her but then they both slip into talking about how much they miss their money. Very real and well-written, especially for a premise that could (and sometime does, in a good way) easily go over the top. [shallow]Dan Levy has such nice hands. I was noticing them more and more with all of David's gestures, culminating with him placing his hand behind Patrick's head when they kissed. Just big and strong and...swoon![/shallow]

Sandy was hilarious throughout. I also liked her looking back at Rob, then back to the camera, "Isn't he pretty?" Hee. (Also, yes. But Sandy, you are the way better baker!)

Maybe he was too high to really remember. He has a bad back, it's awesome. That song was perfect. In high school, hubby was a band nerd and I was a drama geek...we were dying laughing throughout and had to pause when they got to the massage circles! HA! Nailed it. Oh, show...you get me.

That was the second great WASP joke of the episode, after the WASPy mom waving "Everything's fine" when Naomi and the other non-WASP moms were singing "Forget it!" I can buy that there was some retconning with Josh's history and ability to live on his own, but it's also true that one doesn't just become an adult overnight. Him moping around in the damp comforter cracked me up; we just bought a nice big fluffy bathmat, but it takes forEVER to dry, to the point that I almost gave up after 3 drying cycles. I'm 41 so should be a pro at this whole adulting and housekeeping thing after 20+ years, but I still feel there are huge gaps in my knowledge. Josh, who is relatively young and has been pretty sheltered, mostly by women fussing over him, is bound to have some even bigger missing pieces in his adulting toolbox.

This was so fun; I needed some more GBBO in my life! Those snow globes were gorgeous. Can't believe they're a thing though...who would ever have the patience and energy to create them in "real" life, and who would ever be so heartless as to crack one open to eat it?!? I'm glad Paul got redemption, and it was cool to see that he was still improving and adding new techniques...amazing that he didn't even win star baker on that week he did the bread lion! Living in the Pacific NW, I know that it's pretty much impossible for it to snow and stick after a day of hard rain like they had on Saturday, so the snow the next day had to be fake. But I still got warm fuzzies when they brought their treats out into the "snow" with the children's choir and everyone all bundled up. This show just makes me happy.