DearEvette

I love the fact that he was so darned good at his job that one of his fake Ids for Parker was so detailed that that identity got called for Jury Duty and Nate actually made her go.

Last week we got Kevin's voice (and his debate moderator credentials) and this week we get full Kevin! I am always so happy when we get a Kevin/Holt episode. This one was great. Both the A and B plot were equally fun. I just love it that they've been writing Rosa as being so supportive of Amy in recent seasons since in the early seasons they allowed Gina to be so dismissive of her special skill set and be mean to her. Amy freaking rocks, yo. Also I will never not love hearing Holt refer to himself as a 'bimbo' and a 'hot piece of ass.' LOL. He and Kevin do make a handshake look hot.

As someone who is starting o dislike Mona, thinks Jane Austen is overhyped and overrated (my first year of grad school I lived above two Jane Austen LARPers, so I am scarred for life there), and has no interest at all in Zari/Nate broad hints this one was kind of a dud for me. In so many past episodes they've managed to incorporate the Legends into the past pretty well. This just seemed clumsy. Mona felt like the placeholder of someone in the writers' room that is a JA fangirl and her scenes and dialogue with Jane just felt awkward and cringey, imo. Someone mentioned in last week's episode that Mona reminds them of how Felicia Day was written on Eureka and I am starting to agree. I mean they even had to have her save the day for Zari during the Bollywood number. I really hope it doesn't get to Eureka levels of cannibalism, I did like a lot of different parts of this ep tho: - Nora and Ray continue to really charm me - So nice to see Nate and Ray interact again - Charlie's delight at everything is fun to watch - I liked the visuals of the Bollywood number if not the placement of it? Seemed rather random but everyone looked so fab - Sanjay was hot! Like really, really hot... he and Zari were smokin'. Too bad he was a love god.

I believe a dad having concerns about a stepdad's influence and background when he is around his kid is very valid and real. But I think realistically, those concerns are normally addressed in the beginning when it is clear this is a person who will be seriously involved in those kids' life. I think they kinda missed the opportunity there to show that sort of uncertainty transition period with Michael and went straight to the kumbaya, all things are all good. So this coming the way it did at this point was a bit of blindside. But I do I think the way it played out was realistic, the overheard comment coupled with Michael's residual feelings around his break up. So he was probably struggling with feelings of rejection from Glenn so to seeming have Bobby's job held up as heroic by his son might have also made Michael feel rejected in that quarter as well. But let's face it, some parent jobs are just boring. My husband is a college professor. If for some reason we divorced and I remarried a firefighter, the 'take your kid to work day' just could not compare. LOL.

I will grudgingly admit that my cold, cynical heart grew three sizes when that mother breathed. I was so pissed she "died" and so happy when she came back to life. Also that baby was hella cute. Michael was about to catch these hands! LOL. I love his dynamic with Athena, Bobby and the kids. So his being pissy just disappointed me so hard. I was really happy he came back and apologized and the scene with him and Bobby was really excellent. It did a good job of giving each man's perspective -- dad who realizes he has to cede some authority to new stepdad, and the stepdad who has to figure out where he fits in the authority structure with the kids. I liked Michael telling Bobby they had to work on his 'bad cop' routine. Also got a quiet chuckle out of Bobby awkwardly asking if Michael wanted to talk about his break up and Michael just as awkwardly shutting that down. I am bummed about Maddie and Chim. Hopefully this is only a hiccup and they get to healing and we'll revisit them. I was so impatient for them to get back to the exploding homes. I liked the scenes of 911 going old skool. Also the FBI team were dressed awfully casual for an FBI team. They seemed shady to me for awhile. Good episode.

This is me these days. Some shows I watch any way no matter what. But some shows I see some signs of a direction they go and I'll not bother if the direction is just gonna annoy me. re: GOT, I like the story but have only followed the show casually tuning in on episodes I think I'll like based on my twitter feed. I am going to wait to watch this final season only if Cersei dies. If she doesn't die then I won't waste my time. Also I only buy HBO twice a year for a one month period each. And I binge what I want then. So I am pretty much always spoiled for GOT anyway. And that works just fine for me. I agree with this. I do enjoy some show specific forums, but each one has its own personality. My favorites are those that really discuss the show in question all aspects of it -- the plots, the characters, the dialogue, the viewers likes and dislikes and there is a lively discussion about the whole show. But I admit I watch some shows and can't bring myself to participate in those forums because it seems like either most viewers are flat out hate watching based on the tenor of the comments or the want to pinpoint on just one character or one ship and talk it almost to exclusion of anything else, so that even the plot points of the episode that just aired don't even get discussed.

I just binge watched all 10 episodes of this in, like, a weekend. I really enjoyed it and think it got stronger as the season went on, both in plotting and characters. I liked all the main characters in the coterie equally. This is a feat because usually in an ensemble like this there is inevitably a main character or two I could do without. But I liked them all. I especially liked how the characters got fleshed out and deepened over the course of the series, so that what you saw early on was just the tip. And everybody had their own personal storyline that didn't necessarily revolve around all the rest of the Coterie: Dennis' background and mental state, Davia's relationship with Jeff, Malika's brother and mother, Alice & Sumi and her parents, and Gael and his sister. It is a hallmark of good writing when the writers are able to create good story that creates an inner life for characters other than the main two. They even did a good job with the side characters and how they evolved and had POVs like Raj, the head of HR at Mariana's company, and Rebecca. I also liked that the Judge is very layered as well. We even got some good development with his family. So they managed to pack a lot of character development and story in 13 episodes for a fairly big cast. And nobody really felt neglected. My favorite episodes were the first visit of the Moms and Davia's re-birthday. As much as I liked some of the workplace drama and all the 'wokeness' it was fun just to have episodes where that was all pushed to the back and just let the characters enjoy each other's company. Davia's birthday episode was really just fun. And I just adore Lena and Stef so I was so happy to see them. Also Teri Polo and Sherri Saum just know those characters so well, they slipped right into them without missing a beat. Of the two workplace dramas, I liked Mariana's the best. I think of the two, Mariana's travails had the better story trajectory. Callie's is just so earnest and honestly, I just get triggered with the fictionalization of police shootings. It is one thing I wish tv shows would shy away from. I liked Callie's office politics much more than I like the main case. I do like that is has caused a nice intersect between her and Malika but I hope they close that one pretty quickly. On the romantic front I am glad they brought back Isaac. I thought he and Malika had too much chemistry to jettison. And it keeps her from being defined with just the 'black female activist' character. I was over Bryan very early. He was such a needy whiner. Hated Sumi, so shallow. I hope Joey comes back. She was awesome. Ugh to Jeff. I wonder if they are planning something for Dennis and Davia. Not sure why love triangles with the young ingenue seems to be the norm. I hate that Callie has to choose between Gael and Jamie. As much as I think Gael is hot, I actually really like Jamie with Callie. Gael seems too high maintenance. And finally, as much as I liked the whole show, I hope it lightens up just a bit when it comes back. I think it touched upon every current social activism topic possible: MeToo, intersectional feminisim, black lives matter, colorism, white privilege, pay disparity, women in the workplace, homelessness, and a whole host of LGBTQ issues, etc. Slow your roll show!

So much better than last week's episode. I want to like Mona and I actually did like her when she first came around and was working in the bureau with Gary, but now I am just impatient with her scenes. I wonder if they plan to make her a full blown legend on the ship on missions (only for them not to be able to use her Kaupe transformations because of budget? Or is the stunt double in make up much cheaper than Nate's steel suit?) I thought the Nixon actor was really bad. But I loved Sara just shooting him without a thought every time he became problematic. I would much prefer scenes of Charlie and Constantine being all British and snarky and making British snarky observations about the Legends past missions than get a Nate/Zari romance. My favorite things the whole episode: - The sight of the RV driving away complete with a little pink bike on the back - Mona riding off on that bike all sad - Ray getting upset about getting a ticket -Sara's map reading skills. I had flashbacks because before google maps whenever we took road trips I was the map reader and I have issues knowing my left from my right (long story, don't judge me!) and to this day all I can say is thank God for Google Maps, Waze and GPS in general. - Nora. I really like her.

This buddy cop Dunkin Donuts commercial is so stupid but it makes me giggle every time:

I know tv has to bring they drama to be interesting. But NA decided that you can never have too much. I mean, the last episode they had Iggy go out on the roof to check with weather-o-meter thingy without a coat. Of course the door closed shut behind him. And of course he has no phone Now in this one of course the generator doesn't kick on and of course the guy fixing it gets electrocuted and of course the only other person who can fix it is a murderer/felon who needs his cuffs off and the plans to the building to fix it. LOL. And of course someone gets stuck in an elevator who needs to talk someone else through a risky procedure. Also I guess the elevators in NA don't have an ARD? That safety device that automatically moves the elevator to the closest floor and opens the doors in the case of a power outage? I am not gonna lie, even so it was entertaining. I actually liked Kapoor making the other doctor (have we seen him before?) massage his foot. Also have we seen that young doctor with the stroked mother before? She was good, but who are these people? The Max/Helen conversation was a masterpiece of double speak. Of course they were talking about their feelings for each other but the show is trying to be clever about it. They said everything without actually saying anything. Max had the extra puppy eyes going ("what if I want you?"). All sorts of feelings spewing out on that roof. It was meant to appease both the shippers (SEE ALL THE SUBTEXT) and the anti-shippers (SEE THEY NEVER ACTUALLY SAID THEY WANTED EACH OTHER!)

Yeah, see this is where I think the writing on this is so super murky. IIRC, according to the conversation they had, they knew each other for one year while minors in a foster home. From what Dylan said, the last they saw of each other was 15 years ago when Talia left that home. Leaving aside Bishop keeping tabs on him, how does that meet the requirement for having a relationship with a criminal? If Bishop hadn't kept tabs on him, then the only relationship they had was presumably that of two kids who were placed together in a foster home for the period of one year. What is her responsibility for disclosing her contact with every foster child she had contact with as a minor? And if she had not kept tabs on him, should she have assumed he would become a criminal and included him on her application? Even if we do include the fact that Bishop kept tabs on him, it was still heavily implied they had no contact with each other after their separation from the home. As far as he was concerned, she disappeared out of his life. Did she have a reasonable expectation he would reappear in her life claiming some relationship before she applied? Does a one year cohabitation by the state as a minor with someone who is not related to you meet the threshold of what is required for disclosure in this case?

I follow this woman on twitter who was reviewing some recent finalists for a genre book award and she was rightfully outraged that in one of the books the main female character has just moved to the east coast for work and commutes from Connecticut to Manhattan everyday by car. During her first winter there and a minor accident the character decides she needs tire chains. Not all-weathers, not winter tires... Tire Chains! And what is worse, her boyfriend, a native New Yorker buys them for her. My favorite line from her review: 'There is not a single fucking solitary person commuting on a major East Coast city with FUCKING TIRE CHAINS. That doesn't even make sense." LOL.

Eh, I didn't find this one that funny. I think maybe Cheyenne and Garrett's plot was my favorite of the week. I don't remember seeing the two of them in their own subplot before? The Amy plot is why sometimes this show doesn't work well for me. I know that this is supposed to be a jacked up version of how a big box store runs. And while I do believe 100% a character like Glenn could absolutely be made a manager, the whole Amy subplot just felt it required too mush suspension of disbelief. It is hard to enjoy something when you have to keep say "really, show?" I missed Sandra.

I was never a really and R. Kelly. His brand of R&B was never my cuppa. But I dammit, I had forgotten about his collaboration with Sparkle on 'Be Careful' until she showed up in the documentary. And then I remember I used to effing love that song. Sigh.

CBS got dragged for filth during the 2017 TCAs when they unveiled their line up and the only show that had a non-white lead character was SWAT (Shemar Moore) and no female leads. That is when Les Moonves tried to explain that they had to look toward the "totality' of CBS corp (which included the CW, Showtime and All Access) to see that they were more diverse. Then they trotted out the clip of the New Star Trek with Sonequa Martin Green as a lead -- on CBS all access behind the paywall. And of course you do have to pay for Showtime as well. So basically he was admitting that their diversity was not on the flagship network but farmed out to their other networks, where two of them you had to pay for. They did better in 2018 with 4 shows that had POC leads (the two dramas had a black male lead and a Latino male lead. The two comedies featured black families). But the shows that had the strongest women of color presence were once again behind their paywall (ST:D & The Good Fight). I think it is rather telling that their two biggest All Access shows are fronted by Women and have strong WOC presence and now they've added Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone to that which we know will have way more POC in it than probably all the rest of CBS regular network shows put together.

Just finished An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber. Historical mystery, 7th book in the series featuring married couple who solve mysteries during the Regency period. This was a really good installment in the series. Also finished An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors by Curtis Craddock. New to me author, never heard of them before. The book was a really good steampunk, high fantasy featuring two really good central characters and a plot that is full of court/political intrigue.

There are a few things that will make me DNF ((Did not Finish) a book: 1 - Everything is cliche. If I can see your next plot development from miles away, if I can predict the dialogue, if I have seen these characters and know what they'll do even before they do it. Then the book is dead to me. This is is especially the case if the story is dull or written in a pedestrian way. 2- A good story undermined by terrible writing technique. There is this one writer who kinda blasted out on the scene in romance novels in a big way years ago, self pubbed. She was a good storyteller, but ye gods, her craft was ... not great. It is kinda like in figure skating where they get one score on artistic merit and one on technical. Her technical was abysmal. Some of it I could forgive early on because like I said her storytelling was engrossing and it was quirky... at first. In later books the flaws became writ large. Listening on audio just magnified everything that was wrong tenfold. The last book of hers I tried to read I had to ditch, all the tics and writing issues I could hand wave away earlier just couldn't do it anymore. 3- No research. And I am not talking about dissertation level research here. I am talking about stuff a simple google search would verify. I closed one book where the main character refused to go to her doctor to get prenatal care because she didn't want the people in her company to know she was pregnant. And HR would know exactly what happened during a simple doctor's office visit. And this was not written in such a way that the character was misinformed, it was written as fact. I read one book where they had JFK airport in upper Manhattan. And it was not an alternate history or science fiction. It was a contemp fiction. Sigh.

I am so used to seeing fake products that when I started watching Superstore on NBC I remember pausing the show to make sure I was really seeing actual products on the shelves. I agree it would have been really distracting if they had an entire super store with all fake stuff. So the brand name stuff makes sense.

Another 'event' driven episode. And how many things can happen to Nolan in his rookie year? I will say I agree that he was a major ass in that room. Terrible writing for him. He has been shown to be more intelligent than that. I think the show is trying to be coy about Daddy West. Right now it could go either way. I was so confused by Talia and Dylan's actual relationship. Was Dylan her actual brother that she'd only been around one year in a foster home because they got split up? Or was he just another kid she met for one year in a foster home and developed a close enough relationship that she calls him brother? Either way if her career really is threatened by an argument that she should have disclosed her relationship with him then a good lawyer can get that tossed in no time. If she was still in foster care the last time she was around him that means they were both still minors at the time. Even if she did keep tabs on him after their separation, the presumption that she would actually know about whatever life he led as an adult is a ridiculous one. I also call bullshit on newly released felon recognizing her especially if she hadn't been in Dylan's life for more than 15 years. Her looks are not unique enough for her to stand out in a memory for someone on just a cursory meeting or even by a photo.

I am glad the show is back. This episode wasn't the best, tho. Not to pile on Mona, but I agree that she is a weak point for me. I think, in my case, it is a combo of the actress and the character and how she is being written (so basically the trifecta really for any character). Everyone else, even hard ass Ava whom I also generally dislike, really feels like they live in the skin of their character. And it isn't a case of taking time or getting familiar because as many have noted Zari and I would argue both Amaya and Charlie felt almost wholly realized in their characters right from their first scenes. I found my attention wandering during most of this, only perking up at some points (mostly Mick, Constantine, Charlie and Ray's stuff). I on squarely on Sara's side in her issue with Ava. I also don't agree that these are all necessarily monsters. For one, we haven't seen them all. But I think there is an argument to be made about the inherent right of the bureau to determine the rights of these creatures. Some of them are intentionally bad (the fairy godmother, the puppet) but some of them were imprisoned simply because they were living their nature. Charlie was one such a creature. Also, the unicorn. It is a magical animal who kills what it considers prey. But that is like saying a lion or a tiger is a monster. I liked that the legends re-thought their one size fits all approach to the various magical creatures they encounter. Not all of them are doing what they are doing from wilful evil intent.

I am so, so, so happy the Maddie's abusing husband lurking in the background ready to pounce at any moment story is all dunzo. I hated that hanging over the show. Really glad they just went and resolved that and did it one episode. I liked the Buck/Athena team up. I don't understand it, but I can't bring myself to like Eddie's ex. I think it is the actress. I am sure she is a nice lady, IRL, but there is just something about her in this that just turns me off. So seeing her just annoyed me. I thought JLH did a really good job. It is interesting how the flashback makes you think it was before he started beating her, but as it got more into the scene you finally tipped to how placating she is, how much she has to praise him and stroke his ego. It was chilling because read through another lens it looked like a functional loving relationship. So yeah, kudos on the writing and the acting. My dad was in the military and owned guns. None of us kids (all girls) ever really had anything to do with guns, but he'd get into lecture mode once in awhile and one thing I always remember him telling us: don't ever point a loaded gun at someone unless you are prepared to use it. That store clerk was not prepared to use it and it got turned on him. And finally the last fight was great. I did roll my eyes at the 'one hit and run' because, girl, it is a TV show. One hit never takes the guy out. Never. You have to whale on him. But the final fight was brutal and well choreographed. So now we can get back to wacky rescues!

I had never heard of Nipsey Hussle until the first season on Crazy Ex Girlfriend. He is on the 'Sexy Getting Ready' song. And then there is an after credits clip of him apologizing to a lot of women for the patriarchy because (as we see during the song interlude) he is amazed by how much trouble women have to go through to get ready for a date. I actually thought the name 'Nipsey Hussle' was a fake name for the show! I mean, that would have fit. Imagine my surprise much later when I learned that he was an actual rapper and that was his actual rap name. Reminds me of when Kim Porter died, twitter is full of condolences by some really big names in black entertainment. He was apparently well known, well liked, and well connected behind the scenes and was committed to putting money back into his neighborhood and black owned businesses. Rest in Power, man.

That reminds me of tv fights. They have these knock down, drag out fights. People are being punched and thrown around, chairs are broken over the backs of heads & necks, kicks are delivered to the torso etc.. The sound effects makes the punches striking sound really, really hard. And then when it is all over, the person has nothing but a cut over one eye with an artistic trickle of blood coming from it. Or a cut on the lip. The worst that happens is they are knocked out cold, but a glass of cold water on the face will bring them around. In either case they basically move around fine with no other ill effects.

See, I thought that comment was hilarious. Boy was stupid. Who the hell sets up a lemonade stand in the winter? And anyone who doesn't think or say something uncomplimentary about anyone ever in the privacy of their own heads or homes is an annointed saint. Damned skippy I am going to dis Karen about putting raisins in her potato salad. Behind her back to my husband on the way home because I too polite to say it to her face. This^^ I went to a PWI that had probably closer to a 9% black population. We created a thriving community, the Black Greeks were very active, we all went to the same parties, all hung out together etc. But in my academic program I could go to classes all semester and be the only black face in my classes. In fact my sophomore year it was me and one black guy. Microaggressions were thick on the ground in those classes. This is how I feel about the two comments. Randall's was full of intent. He stewed about it and did it deliberately to hurt. Beth's was a thoughtless, impulsive comment that was probably heartfelt and true fr her but not something she would have ever said to Randall out of spite. The other difference is, Randall was only upset about his comment because Beth showed up and proved him wrong. He wasn't sorry he said it, he was sorry he was wrong. If Beth hadn't shown up, he would have still felt righteous about it. Beth knew she had said something she shouldn't have the minute it came out her mouth. She showed immediate remorse. You could see all the fight leeching out of her when she said it. She knew that they'd been having a cathartic argument ... even one that might have yielded some positive results, until that came out of her mouth. And this is why I liked the argument. I am not on either team. I saw it as one of those arguments where each party came to it from their own perspective and neither one was wholly right or wrong. It is easy to see in hindsight where you made wrong choices, bad decisions and how you let things get to a certain point. Not so easy to recognize what is happening in the moment. For R&B I think it is clear they are people who loved each other, imperfect personalities aside. And we saw smallish moments early in their marriage of stress points that they spackled over allowing their love for each other to defuse the situation (even if they didn't directly address the stress point iteself). But it wasn't until all the stressors on their marriage started to pile up one by one by one (William, Deja, Randall's flights of fancy, job loss etc.) that they couldn't let them go just because they love each other.

I love amateur sleuth books (for instance I really enjoy the Sebastian St. Cyr series, the Lady Darby series, and the Berger and Mitry series for example) but I just can't get into cozy mysteries and it probably has a lot to do with the covers. What is with the cartoon cats and yarn? I mean, I am over tired at the ripped abs/man titty covers on romance novels because they are overdone and really one six pack ab looks like another. But the cats (sometimes there might be a dog) and especially the yarn just turns me off.