DearEvette

This is true. It underlines even more why the scene was a problem for me and why they couldn't just allow her to articulate a reason why she felt she needed to have a gun. Even a 'I really just like to go out back and shoot some soda cans because it is relaxing." would have done better than what they did. Because at the end of the day the arguments against are always easier than the arguments for. The reality is just the presence of a gun in any situation raises the likelihood of being killed by a gun 50%. It has also been positively linked to something called "weapons aggression" where just knowing you have a gun causes you to act more aggressively than you normally would and also correlates higher to an outcome where gun violence occurs. In other words, a situations becomes escalated because of the presence of a gun rather than allowed to de-escalate. And finally if you do have a gun you better be prepared to use it if you do draw it or the likelihood is that you will become a victim of your own gun. My dad who owned guns and was in military drilled this into our heads. I think they just wanted to create a big enough issue-issue to once again illustrate that these two just didn't know each other but they weirdly, could not write it so that it was more even handed. The only thing I can think is that somewhere down the line her reason for needing it is going to come out and she'll be justified or it is a Checkov's gun and it will somehow cause tragedy.

The Rookie is interesting in that the romantic/personal life stuff that it chooses to include is wildly uneven. Nathan Filion as star gets the lion's share of it. I think he has gone through three? maybe? love interests? Whenever I read about the show casting another actress of a certain age on the show, I immediately think they are trying again to hook the character up. Again. Nobody else has gotten much of a real love life. The one black rookie is gay and he had a nice subplot toward the end of last season where he met a nice, black male nurse. But they didn't get a ton of screen time. I suspect if stuff hadn't gone down the way it did with Afton Williams, they would have gotten Talia together with the one black detective (the actor who supposedly harassed her on set). Once they broke up Nolan (Filion) and Lucy, she hasn't had another romance since. The only other character who gets a lot of personal life facetime on the show is Tim, who had a junkie wife but she was included because she was also a plot mover. I understand he also has a new romance this season (haven't seen it myself) with a black woman, actually. We got one episode that showed Grey's wife and his daughter. But that is it. Meanwhile All Rise is a CBS show that feels like an ABC show but has a lot of CBS show tendencies. By that I mean, it is an ABC show without any real personal stuff. it is almost all procedural/work related. Very few scenes have taken place outside of the courtroom so far. If this were an ABC show several somebodies would have had sex by now.

I think part of the issue might just be that Freddie Highmore has one of those faces where he just looks very youthful no matter what. And even more than that, Shaun just reads as young. I don't think people would have as much of an issue if Carly were played by the actress to plays Lea because she looks youngish as well. Jasika Nicole just looks older and has a more womanly vibe than someone who looks as young as Highmore should be with. Also IRL she's is actually older than he is. But in the grand scheme of things, Shaun is dating Carly. It is a romantic relationship not a platonic one so on some level that must mean Shaun is aware of and ready to pursue dating and sexuality. And while he may be moving slowly and thinks eating popcorn and watching movies is enough for now, eventually if he is going to go that route, whatever woman he is dating, not just Carly, would need to make him confront that aspect of their relationship.

Dear White People did a version of this with Gabe who, because of his (supposedly) .00065% Native American blood he checked off 'Native American' on the box of a scholarship application. When he won one of the grant (during a ceremony where they made a point to say all the winners were POC, HA!) he was so guilt stricken about his lie he tried to give it back, claiming he lied to get it. But at every turn everyone made it difficult for him to try to own up to it. His lie was enabled and he was basically forced to keep the scholarship.

Sitcoms have always done better than dramas with pairing black love interests. Some of that is traditionally sitcoms have been more available to black actors. Not new but the only ones I can think of on tv right now are, of course, Beth and Randall from This is Us and Rome and Regina from A Million Little Things. The only one others I can think of recently are shows that have been cancelled, Lethal Weapon (Murtaugh and his wife) and the very short lived The Village (Lorraine Toussaint and Frankie Faison) and one more reason why I am so sad that Pitch got cancelled was because Evelyn and Bing were such a freakin' awesome couple.

I really need them to move Claire along on this cynical, self destructive thing. It doesn't sit well on the character. But I did see a glimpse of the old Claire at the end when the wife's faith proved to be true. So maybe we'll get her back sooner rather than later. I think it is hysterical that Shaun doesn't like to hold hands, but dude sure likes to hold a boob! LOL. And I agree with the unpopular stance that Shaun's actions did put the patient in danger. It turned out well, but honestly the show needs to address the consequences for this a bit better make some sort of effort to show Shaun through to overcome stuff like this. The gun debate is frustrating because while I can understand Glassman's stance, I don't think the show did a good job of really explaining Debbie's. My take away is that she just wants to own a gun. She tried to make it about domestic abuse and then not being able to walk to her car at night. Ok, but then neither of those things applied to her, so what was it? She just seems intransigent on the whole thing. Glassman was telling her why it was important for there NOT to be a gun in the house from his perspective and trying to get at why it was so important to her to have one. Maybe that could have been the start of some sort of understanding, but she just seemed insulted. This fundamental disagreement feels like just the tip of the iceberg with these two. They really should not have gotten married so quickly.

The activists trespassed on private property, locked themselves via neck (on their own) with kryptonite locks ( depending on the grade of the lock you'd need a recip saw or angle grinder to get through those if you don't have professional grade bolt cutters ) to a mechanized conveyor belt, poured a caustic substance onto the electrical box that controlled the belt thereby causing it to malfunction and turn it on. All these actions they did themselves. The entire time the owner kept telling to stop, do not do that and get out. But they ignored him. All the other activists were able to unlock their locks and get to safety before Bobby and Co. got there. The only guy in real danger was the idiot who swallowed his key and ait wasn't the mechanized conveyor belt that was the most danger to him, it was swallowing the key that was what was endangering his life. Sure the owner guy could have turned off the belt, he even admitted he could turn off the power to the whole system when Bobby asked but didn't want to. And in the end, he did before anyone got seriously hurt, but even if he had, the key swallower still would have been in trouble. This played out the way it did with the quick cessation of the conveyor by the push of a button, because they needed Bobby to get mad at the duck farm owner so he could show some 'Rage.'

See I was more like who puts a kryptonite lock around their neck and swallows the key while trespassing and destroying someone else's property? Duck farm owner might have been a jackass but that kid's dumbass quotient was exponentially higher because it also came with a heaping help of jackass as well.

When that scene came on I said "Of Course" because of course.... I did too. And I continue to love Bobby and Michael's relationship. My take on the Athena thing is that there is always this perception that the cops we hear about all the time who are out here shooting brown people supposedly the minority in the police force. And yet, there is also the perception that the blue line is so solid in protecting them from consequences that it doesn't matter if they are the minority or not, because they are being enabled by the other good cops and the system. So it sounds like the show is trying to show how the supposed good guys could step up internally and take care of it. Of course that is tv land reality not reality reality because I think IRL while it might be that simple it would never be that easy, I am sorry, I was totally on Duck Farm guy's side. Those students just irritated me from the jump. LOL. I swear the show just makes Buck look like a big idiot. Also that arbitration hearing was a travesty, the lawyer's gotchas on everyone in his quest to show unfair treatment toward Buck could have easily been debunked by a halfway competent lawyer employed by the city.

Oh... forgot to mention... I loved seeing all the owl stuff represented. I wonder was DJ's character supposed to be yet another iteration of Nite Owl? And there was a shot of all of them at the dinner table from overhead through a circular light fixture, with the people sitting at a round table that I thought was really cool because it mimic'd a clock and you could hear very subtlety in the background the 'tick tock' sound. And finally, regarding the racial make up of Angela's family... I swear we got a glimpse of another family that seemed to be blended racially that didn't look like it was a biological blend. I wonder if that was also some sort of fall out or dynamic from the ending events of the book?

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is AJ and Mina from The Resident. Also I think Spencer and Layla from All American are completely coupled up this season.

It took me a minute (okay more than...) to really understand what was going on but as I take it, this is Lindelof's take on how things would have evolved in real time in the aftermath of the original events of The Watchmen from the 80s. So it actually makes sense for something like the 7th Cavalry (or Kavalry?) to grow out of Rorschach's writings and message. And Dr. Manhattan did say he'd cause long term damage.... Also the raining squids was a nice touch -- makes you believe that maybe the Giant squid attack at the end of the book wasn't fake after all? I take it Jeremy Irons is Ozymandias, still trying to manipulate events for the good of the population. I barely recognized Tom Mison! I am so super bummed about Don Johnson. Man, I liked him as a character. But I knew he was gon' die. I just knew it. Regina King was EVERYTHING. I mean... her duster alone gave me life. Honestly, I like all the casting here. I need to re-watch this because I know I missed things.

I think it is kinda funny that marrying a white guy and living on a commune, Alicia was showing some decidedly Hotep-adjacent tendencies. LOL.

Cute episode with some funny lines. I liked the heat-tilit in stereo Dee and Alicia did when Harrison asked "what have we every stolen from you?" Gary Cole remains a treasure. I liked that the Dee/Alicia wrangle over 'what is black culture' neatly encapsulates the tension that occurs when trying to define it. Where and how to begin where it starts? What does it even mean? For some people the 'Africa' part of African-American becomes so important to claim even when we do not have the ability or vocabulary to talk about the connection there. It is a way to reminding ourselves that our past doesn't begin at being chattel and it can be just as deep, rich and old as any other. But for other people the life & culture black folks created and refined right here on US soil becomes the more important piece because it taps into a narrative of resilience and self empowerment. I also really like the dynamic they are building between Dee and Alicia. Read on twitter that MPG learned how to double dutch on set.

I'm betting this is the case. Both Peter Krause and Angela Bassett have EP credit on the show, I am guessing they have a little say over the direction/deployment of their characters.

I am sorry, I can only take Rory in small doses. I know what they are tying to do with him, but he is so extra that it is very off putting. I wish the show would let us (and him) remember that he is still just a kid sometimes. All the other kids have gotten that, even the twins, but Rory just comes off as a grown man in a little kid's body and it is just so... ick. I am liking the progression of Doug and Poppy's relationship. Miggy as a working still is still my favorite. Not as strong or funny as the last two but I so much enjoy this little group.

Honestly that can be said about so many people on so many tv shows. Have you watched an NCIS show? The number of actors on TV who are exceptional ... and yes there are a lot of them.... are still outnumbered by the 'ok' ones who do a good job with the material but arent people you are gonna be upset if they don't win an emmy. But we still like them fine anyway.

The only thing that is going to eradicate colorism in casting is activism and content creators who are aware of the issue. I immediately think of Mara Brock Akil and the casting of Black Lightning. Or Ava Duvernay and how she approaches her craft of lighting darker skin and casting darker skinned actresses in her work. There was a great episode of Survivor's Remorse where Teyonah Parris' character was responsible for casting a commercial -- or maybe it was a music video -- and she specifically wanted a darker skinned actress (someone who looked like her) to have the part because she was so used to seeing light skinned actresses in the parts and wanted to give the opportunity to a darker skinned actress. That is what I mean when I say content creators who are aware of the issue and who makes sure the decisions go beyond just diversity and dives into another layer of representation. Obviously it can also be a difficult subject to parse because sometimes the lighter skinned actress can legitimately have given the best read or be the best fit for the part. But we won't know that for sure til the playing field is a bit more level.

The director of the episode is a black guy who went to Morehouse. The original writer of the Raising Dion comic & creator of the original short the main Netflix is an Asian guy.

Bobby wasn't trying to say it. He was flat out saying it. He was also flat out saying it was all about the medication and the medical condition and all Buck had to do was get better. They were ready to let him back before he got the embolism. This is why the story-line for Buck right now is frustrating because he has clearly NO cause for litigation. He isn't even fired! It just makes Buck look like a child who wants what he wants when he wants it and not the professional who is concerned about safety first that he is supposed to be. Also count me in as one who thinks JLH is fine and her acting level for a tv show like this is also fine. I love this idea. I would love it if the 911 call had nothing do with the DV and Maddie completely misinterpreted or projected. Actually it would be a nice twist if the Husband reads as an asshole because he is on edge because of an external threat. Honestly if someone in a car came at me like Maddie did, I'd call them an asshole too and get angry. So far, outside of a voice on the phone and that scene, we really haven't seen enough of the husband to really know if he really is an abuser or the show is just toying with us and showing him through Maddie's lens.

Another week, another episode of Claire torture. Sigh. I think they just love to capitalize on Antonia Thomas' ability to cry and wring our hearts because that is the only reason I can think of why they do this to us and to her. Second week in a row I liked Morgan. The scene of them at the Sea world was nice because it juxtaposed the silliness of their outfits (I loved that they committed so hard ... Morgan does a great sparkly eye and that lip color on Claire was fabulous as was the furry purse) with the seriousness of the event. I do think that was Antonia singing although the deepness of her voice took me aback for a minute. Also, can I say how much I HATE the trope of a woman subsuming her pain in soulless, dead gazed anonymous sex? it happens a lot on tv and it just seems so out of character for such a levelheaded person like Claire. The woman who can feel no pain.... I feel like I have seen this before? Maybe on Grey's Anatomy? It just felt like a familiar weird medical story. Good enough story but they were so patently there to act as some commentary on Claire's pain. I hate that medical shows feel they have to do that all the time. I liked the Alex Jones... I mean conspiracy theorist case better. I have no interest whatsoever in Glassman's storyline. It really speaks to how they've squandered Richard Schiff over the course of the show. Carly and Shaun remain really fascinating though. I think the show is doing a good job of showing the incremental and unconventional courtship of these two. I feel both bad for them (Carly's facial expressions when she is looking at Shaun - you ge the sense of her apprehension and wondering is it is worth it) and hopeful at the same time.

Ooh. Ouch. LOL. mean, JLH isn't Meryl Streep but man, I don't think she is as bad as Ronda. Ronda made me actively wince. I can't remember the last time I did that and I watch a lot of shows on the CW.

And here I was liking Fire Marshall Buck! And they had to go and make him do something that makes no sense, In a real world that would be true. Going through a suit like this would damage a lot of relationships and very possibly he would be seen as the person who couldn't have his team's back if he was just going to sue on a dime like that. But this is a tv show and somehow after it is all over Buck will be back in the fold. The lawyer made a statement that I don't think Buck fully realized. he said Buck couldn;t have any contact with any of the team even tangentially. That means that he probably can no longer see Christopher. I get the feeling Buck will realize that this hurts him more than just spending the time getting better would and he may end up dropping the suit. I understand Maddie's impulse to help that woman, but I honestly don't want to sit through it. I hop it doesn't go far. As usual with the show, the thematic tie of the title 'Triggers' was very well on display throughout the episode. I always like how dedicated they are to showing the many sides of any theme episode. Also the new person, Bosko? holy man the actress is terrible. Her scene with Eddie just felt like she was reciting words on paper. Yikes.

Dude, that song was soooo appropropriate. I had closed captioning on and even though I'd heard the song a ton of times, nothing really resonates after the 'Flash Ah-Ahh' part and great music. But the lyrics came up in CC and... again.. so appropriate: Flash! Ah-ah King of the impossible He's for every one of us Stand for every one of us He saves with a mighty hand Every man, every woman Every child, it's the mighty Flash

Ditto. He was fantastic in Jackie Brown. Just... a masterclass in on screen charisma and perfectly toned acting. RIP Mr. Forster.