[S03.E10: 2 Ava 2 Fest]

12 hours ago, bamlou said:

I was surprised that Janine was able to get her job back at Abbott so easily. I thought Ava had already hired her replacement? And Ava is no fan of hers either, so it would have helped if they’d explained the plot convenience here better. 

If I am not mistaken, Janine never signed anything.  Everything was verbal.  Her job was always hers to come back to once her fellowship was over, hence the revolving door of subs.  And let's face it Ava's 'hiring' practices were a joke.

I admit, I liked her storyline at the district. I thought the way the district characters were written, for such small parts, were excellent.  Each person was a distinct and interesting character and they made the most of the little screen time they had.  I especially liked how they just really liked Janine, like Jacob level liked her. But I admit is was also very nice seeing how really genuinely happy everyone (except Ava) was to have her back.

I liked everything about this episode except the Questlove joke.  It was as obvious as Janine coming back.  And I do think Janine's return was rushed and a skosh clumsily handled, but that might have been a by-product of the truncated season. 

But everything else, was great.  The cold open was brilliant.  The individual characters all had really funny moments, especially Melissa's terrible accents and Barb's reactions to them.  The cafeteria workers are always a fun time. 

And I love that the district HR person is basically the Ava of the District who just hates Janine and thirsts over Gregory.

[What Are We Currently Reading?]

Yeah, it is really fun. 

I was listening on my earbud and I think I cackled out loud during one scene in Target and a person looked at me like they were sure I was about do something crazy.

It was a scene where the mean  dragon, Ajax Nightwhisper, was trying to intimidate Birdie into abandoning Jim and he had her arrested (the Dragons had some cops in their pockets...)

So she gets arrested:
 

Quote

 

After about forty-five minutes of heading east, I ask the officer,

"Where are we going?  Mississippi?'

He didn't answer.

"What's your name, Cop?'

"Ms Binkowitz, it is in your best interest to keep quiet."

"If you won't tell me, I'm just gonna call you Officer Binkowitz."

"That's not my name Ms. Binkowitz."

"It is now, Officer Binkowitz. We're kin now.  Your and me, we're mishpachah."

"Stop Talking."

"Binkowitz!"  I said.

"That's not an insult; It's your own name."

"And it's yours, too, now, cousin!"

"Shut up!"

 

 

LOL. 

[Nora Roberts: From the MacGregors To The O'Dwyers And Everything In Between]

We do get hero POV in this one.  In fact one of the better parts of the later bit of the book is the 'black moment' that we get from the hero's POV.  But the majority is from hers. Remember we don't even meet him til about halfway through.  But when he comes on we do get his.

One thing I wish she would back away from is the villain's POV.  They all sound alike in her books, unfortunately.  I absolutely hated the villain's POV in Shelter in Place. Sometimes I wish they were true mysteries and we don't know until the villain is caught why they did it or who they are.  I think it would add an additional moment of revelation in the end.

[What Are We Currently Reading?]

I just read Dragon Heist by Alexander Kane and it was a fun, fun ride.

It is exactly what it says, a heist book with Dragons!  The main character is a washed up former child star named Birdie Binkowitz who works for her dad in his store hilariously called 'Binkowitz Seed and Feed And Bagels'

 When she was a 'star' she was a major asshole.  Now she is super snarky and just a little mean and has been banned from every bar in the greater metro area.   In this world, Dragons are like mafia clans who own and control territory.  In this book we meet a lone Dragon named Jim who wants to take over Tuscaloosa from a bigger and meaner clan of dragons.  He inveigles Birdie into helping him in heist to steal some of the horde of a dragon he has a beef with. 

In true heist story fashion, they assemble a crew and plan their theft.  The story has a huge humor quotient, especially Birdie.  Also it takes place in Alabama and Jim just wants to be a local and root for the home team, Roll Tide!

I listened on audio and the narrator was fantastic.

[S03.E10: 2 Ava 2 Fest]

21 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I have never seen The Bear. Is it funny? It doesn't seem like it would be. 

I love The Bear.  But that shit is not a comedy. I believe it is put into comedy categories for awards because somebody decided that if something only ran for 30 minutes it was considered a comedy regardless if it was more dramatic than funny.

[Nora Roberts: From the MacGregors To The O'Dwyers And Everything In Between]

On 4/18/2024 at 9:25 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Brag, brag, brag!

Heh.  Yes.

 

So I finished it.  And it kinda reminds me a little bit of Black Hills (the one with animal preserve and the serial killer) and a little bit of Legacy (the one with the Irish Hollywood movie family).  

Nora is basically doing what she's done quite a bit recently with her stand alones, where a fair amount of the first part of the book, roughly 1/3 takes place when the main character is a kid.  Having a bit of a great idyllic life until s seminal event happens that upends their childhood. 

This one reminds me of Black Hills a bit because the set up of a city kid with sophisticated, rich city parents, go to spend time in the summer in the country (in this case the hills of Appalachia) with their grandmother.  And while there their parents get killed (not a spoiler, it is in the blurb). 

But this also has a lot of the woo-woo element because Thea, the main character,  is psychic and her ability is very much "I can read people's mind very clearly' type of ability.  And it plays a huge part in the entire story. 

The first part was pretty sad because Thea sees what happens to her parents in detail.  Excellently written.  If you are a cryer, you will cry at this part.

The suspense takes more real estate than the romance.  The romance is almost an afterthought, imo.  We don't even meet the hero til almost halfway through the story.  And there is no conflict really.  The meat of the story is her mental relationship with the killer and the feeling that the other shoe will drop at some point with him. But there is a sweet kid and a great dog.

I'll spoiler a bit

Spoiler

It is actually pretty anti-climactic because the killer is really no danger to her.  He is in a supermax prison.  Most of the tension comes from him taunting her in her dreams.  There is one part that really kinda took me out of the story and it is basically the idea that they can actually physically harm each other during their mental combat, e.g. in their mental world he stabs her with a knife and when she wakes up she had blood from a wound in her shoulder.

I think I liked the first part of the book the best.  And her relationship she develops with the two police officers who investigated her parent's murders over the course of the book.  There is a pretty rad scene whens he first meets them that I re-read because I liked it so much.

Overall I would give it a B-

[Nora Roberts: From the MacGregors To The O'Dwyers And Everything In Between]

Aw yeah, Aw Yeah.  I just got an ARC for Nora's newest Rom-Suspense, Mind Games being published in May.  I'll do a review here.

[S03.E09: Alex]

On 4/10/2024 at 10:10 PM, kathyk2 said:

hope the show doesn't use the Status Quo is God trope. Janine is more confident since she took the district job. The little girls in the cold opening were adorable. Jacob and Janine can still be friends even if she's not at Abbott.

I don't know if Janine going back would be status quo, though.  She has grown, got confidence, has learned how to work the system.  All those things can be used to show a different Janine teaching than the one we were first introduced to in S1.  The show has been one long Janine progression.  We've seen her get contol of her class and the respect of her students, dump Tariq, get some outside friends., etc.  This is just one more step in her progress ladder.

IIRC, her fellowship was for her to test initiatives with Abbot as the testing ground.  A full time job would (actually should) mean that her role would be more widespread and not just focused on Abbott. My fear is if she stays in the district, the show would have to create reasons for her to continue interact with the Abbott crew and that could become belabored.  And the essence of Janine's character is she loves teaching. 

I did love seeing Courtney again.  She's gotten so big!

Jacob this episode was funny. 

I liked the message about AI in this one.  The lack of human interaction it promotes. And it wasn't just the Jacob/Barb/Melissa storyline but the Alex one as well, with the automated calls.  I can't help but feel there is some meta-commentary given how the AI was one of the bigger issued in the writers' strike.

This week's sub was the best one yet.

[Milestone Moments: All The Celebrity Vitals]

Welp, bye OJ.

Hope you have the afterlife you deserve.

1 hour ago, Notabug said:

The prosecution made multiple huge errors in the trial from venue to jury selection to dumping so much evidence/experts on the jury that their heads were spinning.  Johnnie Cochran and the team saw that and exploited it all; winning the acquittal.

Not just that,  they royally effed up putting  Mark Furhman on the stand. His hatred of blacks and pleading the fifth on the question of whether or not he ever planted evidence -- added to the already questionable chain of evidence with some of the evidence from the scene.  Remember this happened only a few years after Rodney King.  There was already mistrust of the LAPD and their treatment of black folks.  All you need to acquit is reasonable doubt.  And he handed it to the jury on a silver platter. They could have been able to read DNA sequences like a Dr. Suess book and it would not have mattered because of Furhman.

1 hour ago, AgathaC said:

But the trial ended up shining a light on a LOT of issues — police misconduct, race relations, domestic violence. It’s a shame, though, that two innocent people who were horrifically, brutally murdered got lost in it all.

It shone a light on a lot of issues to a lot of white people.  Everything about race relations, police brutality, the justice system , and especially the public consciousness when it comes to protecting white women from black men, was something Black people were intimately aware. Nothing was surprising or new.  Honestly the only thing that was surprising was that he was acquitted.

[S02.E06: We Are Family]

Oh I loved this episode down!

1- Will and his uncle bonding.

2- I always like when all four: Will, Faith, Angie and Ormewood work together.  Their group dynamic across the four of them is interesting and the writers seem to bring their A game with the personality and quips.

3 - The writing was fabulous. It was a line a minute, so clever, smart, and funny.

4- I actually liked Ormewood's personal life for the first time. 

5 - Fantastic guest characters. Bonbon ftw. I would love to seen Bonbon and Josiah again.

6- The case itself was good. But I figured it was the sister from the first interrogation scene.

7 - The final scene of the party -- what a fantastic ending,

 

Other little things:

Yes - on the title card.  Very appropos. The Watchmen on HBO (the one with Regina King) also used to do really fun and creative title cards at the top of each episode.

Everyone calling it the 'vanilla envelope.'

Bonbon's reaction to Amanda's entire look. I can relate Bonbon.

Anita Subpoena

Amanda calling Faith's office a 'Sex Den' whereupon Faith calls HR to report workplace harassment.  LOL.

Of course Amanda would have car rules before allowing anyone to get in her car:

Amanda: "Wipe your feet"

Angie "On what?" 

Gabe's "confession" scene.

[S02.E05: Capt. Duke Wagner’s Daughter]

There is a dedicated thread to specifically discuss book v. show. 

 

[To Subscribe Or Not To Subscribe, That Is The Question: Paid Streaming Services]

When I first got my NYPL card they had Kanopy and then about 3 years into they no longer did.  But it was nice because Kanopy had the Criterion collection. 

[To Subscribe Or Not To Subscribe, That Is The Question: Paid Streaming Services]

18 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Sounds interesting.  How do the credits work on Hoopla for multi-episode shows?  I get four "borrows" a month (and no access to multiple library cards).  Is each episode one borrow?  I don't want to "test" it and inadvertently get too far in the process and use up a credit.

It depends on how the shows are set up within Hoopla.  Some shows you can get for a single "borrow" for 7 days if they are on something called a 'Binge Pass'.  If they are not, then each episode is a borrow.

If you are really interested in Detectives, it is also on MHz Choice which has a 7 day free trial.

 

[S07.E03: Capsized]

The rest of Cory's family is shown on one of the rescue boats.

[To Subscribe Or Not To Subscribe, That Is The Question: Paid Streaming Services]

https://www.libraryextension.com/

 

this is what is looks like in Goodreads for instance when I am looking an John Grisham's 'The Firm'

 

 

[S07.E03: Capsized]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm not sure the move to ABC had anything to do with the budget. The show is still produced by 20th Century Television, not by ABC. However, 2-part and 3-part episodes of television shows generally do have higher budgets, I think because it's one long story versus three stories so they save on writing and sets and so forth and can spend money elsewhere.

Yeah, I think 9-1-1 has always had a pretty nice budget from the music alone.  And the Tsunami season opener in S3 looked pretty expensive.

[To Subscribe Or Not To Subscribe, That Is The Question: Paid Streaming Services]

1. Cosign on getting as many library cards as you can.  I live in New York and any resident of New York state can get a digital library card from the New York Public Library.  But I also have cards in my local county (which has reicprocal agreements with other library systems) and the county I work in.  I have actually begun doing a search to see what other regional libraries allow reciprocal memberships. 

2. I love Hoopla.  I am a huge consumer of audiobooks and sometimes my librar(ies) will have long waiting lists but if Hoopla has it they are available without a wait.  Also I have discovered some great tv shows and movies.  One of my favorite discoveries was this stylish, sexy french tv show called Detectives.  It was only two seasons but I enjoyed the heck out of it. They also have movies/shows that are on streaming services that I may not be subscribed to.

3. And yes I can stack.  One of my libraries allow 5 loans from Hoopla a month.  One allows 7 and another allows 3. So I get 15 loans from Hoopla a month.

4. I also use a library extension on my browser.  So if I am browsing a book site (such as Goodreads, Amazon or Audible) it will let me know if a title I am browsing is at one of my libraries, if it is an e-book or audiobook and if it is available or has holds. And the extension will take me directly to that book on my library's website to the borrow or hold button.

[What Are We Currently Reading?]

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Does anyone here read Sherrilyn Kenyon? I do, or rather, did up until a few years ago, and before I go further, I need to if there are any others here who do, because I seriously need to VENT. Out of sheer boredom, I got Styxx and am suffering rage blackout here.

A name I have not heard in a hot minute.  I read the first five of her Dark Hunters series back around 2008.  I remember liking the Greek Mythology background, but thought the vampire lore got shoe-horned in probably because at the time that was really hot what with Laurell K Hamilton and Christine Feehan.  The only one I really liked was the 4th book.  The rest were underwhelming.  By the time I read the 5th book, I realized she just wasn't the writer for me.

[S07.E03: Capsized]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

But this? Was a step too far IMO. It'd be like if Hen was forced to drive a bus 55 mph to keep a bomb from exploding, right after talking about Speed with her co-workers. Too far, show. Too far.

They kinda sorta did this in  Season 5.  Except the family who has the bomb in their car wasn't talking about Speed before hand, but do acknowledge the movie because they think the bomb is a joke and scoff saying "yeah, we saw this in a movie."

I am not a superfan of the season opener, multi episode big disasters.  But they've been part of the show's DNA since season 2 so at least they are consistent.  Some are more interesting than others though.  I liked the massive earthquake one from S2.

I did like this one it was campy and fun.  And I am a big Bobby/Athena fan so that made it more fun.  Also Rick Cosnett who played Julian is always welcome on my screen.

[S03.E08: Panel]

Ok the cold open of the basketball game had me howling. Every single bit was funny.

I love how every  teacher, except I think Barbara, got hit in the face with the ball. I clocked the score at one point and I think it was 14 to 2.  Gregory and Tariq getting into it.  Jacob getting hit twice!!  But most especially Ava bodying what had to be a first grader. LOL.  I watched again and saw she never touched the kid.  But that flop was perfection, worthy of a world cup soccer player.  Made wonder about how the director told the kid to act 'Now remember, you have to trip and fall, really dramatically!!'

And once again, the message the show delivers through the comedy is on point.  I work at a very expensive college.  Very.  My God.  And frankly it is a shame that Community Colleges get looked down upon, because they offer valuable education and experience and students come out without a lot of debt and with some ready skills and training.  And not everyone can afford or even should go to a 4 year private expensive school.

Also enjoyed the latest iteration of changing relationships.  I did appreciate the little hiccup between Barbara and Melissa.  And of course Jacob wilding out after his break up. And Janine doing the CPR, kicking he dummy and giving the fire capt a dap was great.

I agree that Janine will be back in the classroom in the not so distant future.

I do agree the Panel subplot fell flat for me.  But dang, Ava looked gorgeous. And yeah I totally despised Bizarro Gregory.

[S6.E12: The Reunion]

12 hours ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

Clay is a fast blinking, saying a lotta words but nothing substantive, salesman.

Someone on Reddit called him ClayGPT and every time he opened his mouth I could not unsee it.

 

1 hour ago, call me ishmael said:

Sure, let’s run the risk of messing up someone not on the show’s life for the sake of plot consistency.

I agree with your sentiment somewhat but also I feel that it is situational.  If they had aired, say, a medical condition or some other private information solely about the woman that really didn't have anything to do with Jimmy or Chelsea's relationship, then that would be, imo, unethical and really crossed a line. But this was about Jimmy sleeping with someone who -- if she was one of the women we saw on screen -- then it is germane to what their show is about.  And If indeed the woman Jimmy slept with was one of the women he introduced Chelsea to on screen, then she was on the show.  Sure she wasn't a pod person, but I'll bet she had to sign papers that probably laid out what they would/could use about her appearance. If she hadn't come on the show and agreed to meet Chelsea on camera, the audience would not have had a reference point for the argument and very likely it would not have been used.  I mean, yeah, it is a shitty thing, but it is a reality show and they are going to use anything they can to create watchable moments. While the production company has done lots of questionable stuff, imo this one is not on them. It is squarely on Chelsea.

I mean, look at Clay's family.  He put his dad on blast to millions of Netflix viewers for cheating and carrying him along on cheating visits, we know his mom had to put up with all of that and all of that led to what was probably one of the more powerful and impactful conversations on the show between his parents. 

[S6.E12: The Reunion]

27 minutes ago, JoannKBC said:

Chelsea seems to have gained a little more self-awareness about her own insecurity and delusions after having watched herself on TV. I wish they'd talked to her and Jimmy a bit more.

Yeah.  It was criminal how they basically didn't delve into anything Jimmy and Chelsea or Brittany and Kenneth.

They spent a good twenty minutes on the non Season 6 people to advertise Perfect Match and to satisfy Vanessa's baby hunger. They think they are slick.  She got so much backlash for asking about babies, they did an end run by inviting Alexa and Brennan who were basically just seat warmers. And Gia and her non LIB partner (she is probably the only S1 person who agreed to still be involved) so she wouldn't have to ask. 

Jessica who didn't even get engaged got more space than Brittany and Kenneth. I don't care about her and Jimmy.  Or their endless argument that really could have been cut for time. Sigh.

12 minutes ago, Starlight925 said:

Sweet AD going from Clay to Matthew was painful to hear.  Girl has got to be getting blown up in her DM's.  Pick one of those.

I am not surprised that she'd be a little curious about him.  She really liked him and I am betting if she hadn't discovered he was doing a cut and paste with his responses to the other Amber and if he had actually proposed, she would have said yes to him.  So it makes sense that they might have met up just to get some of that curiosity out of the way.  At least she realized after two dates they were just too different. 

[S6.E12: The Reunion]

Even though she wasn't my favorite, I do give Laura a bit more grace.  She was engaged to a man who told her he loved her.  Regardless of the venue or speed or anything, it is shitty for another woman to try to slide in on that.  And it is even shittier for him to treat her the way he did. 

Beyond anything else, he at least owed her the basic respect of the relationship they had at the time. 

By the time she and Sarah Ann had that conversation at the lake, Sarah Ann and Jeremy were already a thing.  They had already done whatever they did til 5:00 am that morning.  He had already  packed Laura's bags for her to show her the door.  Sarah Ann could afford to show grace because in her mind she knew she had already 'won.'  And Laura, again to her credit, was ok talking to Sarah Ann because like she rightfully had said over and over, her issue was with Jeramey because he was the one who made her promises, not Sarah Ann.

That is why I don't care they got all that smoke.  Every time there was a new revelation about him, it showed what a callous person he was.  And Sarah Ann went on national tv wearing body glitter which says a lot about her judgement, imo.

And I know people go on the show for fame or clout, but those people are not smart, imo.  Netflix isn't trying to make you famous, they are trying to sell a storyline and will chuck your ass under a bus to make their narrative work.  You can probably count on one hand how many people who have come on this show over the six seasons who got significant air time have been able to come out of it with positive regard and/or their dignity intact from the viewing public.  Them clowning Trevor the way they did is a signal they will do  if they think you are trying to game them.

[S03.E07: Librarian]

I really, really loved Gregory and Janine's interactions in this episode.  The various scenes of his support and his advice were so well done!

Jacob and Melissa's roomate-situationship is the comedy team up I did not know I needed.  I love that they have so much in common including the recent break ups.

I thought the portrayal of Barbara in this episode was spot on 100%.  It was frustrating to watch, but it was very real.  The system has always worked for her and she got hidebound in her thinking.  I can't tell you how many long-time tenured professors who are told something is changing act out just like Barb did. 

When the University  I worked at moved to a new student information system  there was a year and half of emails, demos, trainings, and build up.  I remember one professor storming into the Registrar's office (my office shares a suite with the University Registrar) , hot as lava mad.  Yelling about how the new system was stupid and hard to navigate etc.  And I remember this one English professor who was nice as pie all the time, but she was in near tears because she had no clue how to put in her grades and one of the Reg staff very patiently walked her through it.  She was in her early sixties and just seemed so overwhelmed with having to learn a new technology.

And yeah, I just continue to love Janine's glow up!!

I kinda wish we had gotten to hear more of Cree Summer's voice work as she was reading to the kids.  One of my absolute favorites she does is Elmyra Duff from Tiny Toon Adventures.

[S6.E12: The Reunion]

Vanessa and Nick came in hot for Jeramey and Sarah Ann.  They learned their lesson from the Jackie/Josh debacle. For once they did good.

Actually I love how everyone came in hot for Sarah Ann and Jeramey solidifying them as the season's villains. Even Netflix did with playing a never before seen convo between Laura and Sarah Ann that basically shows Jeramey throwing shade at Jimmy.

I actually came away with more liking for Laura.

I could have done without the previous season couples.  Too much time was spent on them, they already had their reunions.  I wanted a deeper dive into Jimmy and Chelsea. And poor Britanny and Kenneth didn't even get to say boo until almost an hour and twenty minutes in.

I will say I liked them having their ear to what is being said on socials and all the scandals.  Since Vanessa and Nick couldn't seem to ask their own good questions, having someone (probably some Netflix intern) summarize the bigger questions that came up across various SM was a good call.

Actually all the receipts they pulled out were great. From Sarah Ann's implying it was all just for entertainment to Them vindicating Jessica's version of events over Jimmy's to them having the text messages between Trevor and his gf.

Speaking of Trevor. Oof!  I give him credit for coming in person. But man, he just had nothing to say. He just whiffed it hard.

A hot mess of a season, but damn very memorable and one of the best reunions.

Also, Vanessa... calling the couples from season 3 and 4 the 'OG's -- girl whut? You are not an OG if you come in on the 4th season of something. The only OG on the stage was Gia.