DearEvette

I liked this episode but... wow, Ted's absence was even more noticeable. He showed up in the beginning and in the end. Luckily the rest of the ensemble pulled through but yikes... the lack of Ted in this episode is glaring. The best parts: Roy. And Roy and Jamie. I loved that Roy's 'Thing' was the totally made up Uncle's day holiday. Jamie being a part of it made it even better. That entire scene was perfect. Also, the entire dialogue-less scene of Roy walking into the club house in his tie-dyed shirt and everyone's reaction. Rebecca. She was everything in this episode. I liked the call back to her advice of making herself look big. Higgins. Every line out of his mouth was comedy gold. His telling Rebecca 'All those kids are dead" as he explained Willy Wonka. And his group The Directors of Beboperations! And his telephone game-like network of info getting all the accurate goss. Barbara. The not so good stuff: Man, Akufo is even more of a whacked out psycho than we knew! Poor Sam. No matter how rich he is, he just shat the bed with a group of other power brokers. Hopefully all of his pettiness will blow back on him. The feeling like they are wrapping things up so quickly and nicely in a bow. It feels... manipulative. Too easy. I hate Rebecca being Keeley's golden parachute. Again, feels too easy. Also just like I don't think it was wise for Keeley to get involved with Jack (which.. for good reason as we can see, she was a shady asshole) I don't think it is wise for her to have her friend bankroll her either. I am just disappointed all around in the Keeley story, Nate. The redemption arc ain't redemptioning for me. Again, feels too easy. Too many shortcuts in the storytelling. They are shortchanging his redemption. It is not convincing to me. Contrast to Jamie's, his redemption arc was written so well! Also his dad. It is nice he and his dad talked and Nate got that look of a light-bulb going off in his head.. And as much as I argued that I didn't feel his childhood was abusive, it was 100% because I don't think the show canonically committed to that and left too much of a gap in that story. We were seeing Nate and his dad as if we were coming into the 10th chapter of their story. There was a lot of backstory that the show could fill in. And sure enough they did -- to some extent. The minute Nate pulled out the violin I suspected the crux of what we'd seen in his relationship with his dad was because of unfulfilled potential and disappointment in his choices. I do appreciate that even in all that the show reconfirmed that Nate has a tendency to receive something negatively no matter how good intentioned it is. So yeah, this was all nice, but still strangely unsatisfying. It feels almost like what they did with Jade. Speaking of... I didn’t think any couple could have less chemistry than Sam and Rebecca and then Nate and Jade said 'Hold my beer." The UGH stuff: Rupert. I have no idea what to think about mean Dani Rojas.

I didn't see it as a clip show, more of a Rashomon thing. They even showed parts of the "clips" from different angles, if I recall. Yeah, that it my take on it. Sort a rewind to show events from George's perspective. They would start from the same clip but then they'd add something to cue that this was different, a different angle, a completely different shot, or a longer lingering reaction from George, or it would cut in places to emphasize parts that stood out for him. I mentioned above that I liked the version of Beyonce's Deja Vu they used in this. Really, it rather slaps! When I went back and did a re-watch of that segment, the immediacy of the music felt really in step with what felt like a manic episode for George. Also the song was Deja Vu, LOL, a play on what the show was doing. Showing us something we had already seen before.

Music licenses?

I remember when I first started watching the show back in season one, there is that one scene in her office where Higgins brings Ted to meet her. And if I am not mistaken she is wearing a very similar outfit in that first ep as she is wearing here... the silky sleeveless chemise top, pencil skirt, ice-pick heeled pumps... She is standing there getting herself a drink and all I could think was , damn, she has a banging body! LOL. But I agree, she has been the biggest revelation (well, her and Brett Goldstein) for me. This show has made me a fan!

Airdate: 05/14/2023

We've only seen three interactions of his father on the show and they have been rather brief. Canonically, none of the things shown on screen can definitively point to childhood abuse, imo, until the show makes it so. At the restaurant, his father was exasperated and maybe embarrassed by Nate's blathering on in front of Jade. Frankly, it was rather cringe. And later he tells Nate he is 'not a dog' when Nate whistles at him. I feel that we are supposed to see Nate's dad as this mean, cruel person because the show spent the entire episode showing us what a sad sack pitiful creature Nate is. Also it is notably the one where Jade was rude to him. We are 100% led to feel bad for Nate and want to root for him the entire episode even before his father makes an appearance. It is human nature to want to figure out a 'why' someone is the way they are. And of course when we meet his father he is a stern visaged, stand-offish man. Which could mean a lot of things, including that he just has a distant prickly relationship with his son. Could he have been abusive? Sure? Or he could just be a taciturn person who has been repeatedly disappointed by this son and he doesn't hide it. And then there is the Wunderkind episode where his father is reading a paper and is dismissive of Nate's accomplishment. If we have already been pre-disposed to think his father was abusive from the prior episode this one would cement that. But, as I wondered above, his father's dismissiveness here could just as easily come from him not being impressed with Soccer as profession and has nothing to do with being a bad father. By contrast Nate's sister is a lawyer and seems to have a better relationship with the father. There could be some cultural norms or expectations at play. But at this point we are seeing an adult man interacting with his adult son and have no idea what led the to the place they are. Yes his dad is stern and stand-offish. It is not the ideal parenting we like to see, but it doesn't automatically point to abuse. The show is obviously playing with themes of fatherhood. Ted's personality is definitely a product of his father's suicide at such a young age. Jamie's father is canonically abusive, and then there is Sam whose dad does seem to be the loving and wonderful ideal.

No. I think Monday 5/15 is the season Finale.

Well, now. That was really well done. I agree this is the best of the Bridgerton world. It was deeper, more thematic and just a bit more melancholy than the main show. Makes sense since the OG Bridgerton are based off romance novels which have a strict definition of what qualifies as the genre. Charlotte and George are a love story but not a romance novel love story. And yeah, I found myself misting up there in the end. But I have to say this cast from top to bottom were perfection. Every single person did a fantastic job in their roles and inhabited them so flawlessly. Really a master class of ensemble work where so many effective relationships rotating between the various characters. Charlotte and George: naturally. Charlotte and Lady Danbury: It was nice to see how they each affected each other over the course of the show with Lady D. trying to be Charlotte's friend while also using her proximity to Charlotte to her advantage without betraying her. And Charlotte in the end taking on the mantle of hr queen-ship fully to allay one of Lady D's biggest wories. Charlotte and Brimsley. A lopsided relationship, but he had her back, literally, for years. And although she did consciously realize it, he was also her person as well. Reynolds and Brimsley. Unexpected. Again with the show playing with themes, but I thought this relationship was thematic of their roles in the royal household. As the Kings man and Queen's man, they had to be devoted, discreet, secretive, and sometimes even invisible. And those things also characterized their relationship with each other. Reynolds and George. Of course. Lady D. and Lord Ledger. Man a taboo romance that had a mighty impact. Shows so much how even a small thing when written and acted well can do a lot. Lady D. and Violet. This relationship massively evolved in this show from what it was in the OG where Lady D. is a Society Queen Bee and Violet seemed a little intimidated of her. I wonder if they'll continue that closeness into the third season? I thought that last scene of them was written and acted well. It was 100% of the 'I know, and you know that I know, and I know that you know that know..." but with tea. Lady D. and Princess A. I liked all their scenes together. I also liked their last scene. I think Princess A had come to respect Lady D. where she had only before thought to use her. Like I said earlier of these two: game recognizes game. Also, big ups to keeping a handy flask of brandy in your garters at a time when high society women weren't supposed to drink anything stronger than sherry. Anyway, I really enjoyed this.

Airs: 06/06/2023 on Fox

They did do an update about a week ago, though. It was from Jamie himself and it sounded very positive. It sounds like whatever happened... "the small medical complication" the family wouldn't have even made it public in the first place if it hadn't happened on a film set.

I liked the thematic chord that tied the stories in this one together. The ideology of a garden was used in many different iterations. I had an inkling that Lord Ledger was very much a progressive. But that he also might have liked Lady D. given that he asked her to dance at her ball with a quickness. But oh, oh, my, goodness! I would not have paired them romantically. But their chemistry was also really good. I remember when the first season of Bridgerton came out and Simon was of course black and Shonda and co. kinda gave a quick explanation of how they created the integrated society, it was met with a lot of skepticism. But I have to say this show is really filling in the blanks and it is doing a really good job of it, imo. It isn't just a handwave, despite the fact that Augusta's impulsive decree made it seem like it. I am impressed that they are following through with the very real 'lack of details' that happen when a big 'do it quick' change is made. They could have easily just gone ahead and let us assume that the regular laws of succession applied. But it is smart storytelling to build in that little bump in the road. How precarious the new world order is for this new nobility. The reminder there is still an 'our side' and 'their side' and the historic ease reneging on a promise through neglect. Another episode where George and Charlotte are largely apart. Sigh. But it was a great 'Hell's Yeah' moment when she went and got him out and dismissed Dr. Quack. For a minute I thought it would be Reynolds. I swear he was gonna pull a 'Who's gonna check me, boo?' moment. But he got beat down. Oh well. valiant effort Reynolds! So glad Charlotte decided to own her Queenship and pull up! So the Smythe-Smiths get an in universe back story as being an 'our side.' I'll take it. I wasn't planning on watching S3 of Bridgerton, but if they appear I might catch an ep. I've always liked the running gag of them in the books.

These are some good points. Also I wonder about the abuse narrative for Nate. Yes, we saw him being bullied by Jamie, Isaac and Collin but I am not sure I am comfortable with calling his relationship with his father abusive. We have seen his father being stern and less than complimentary but I don't know if for me those couple of interactions rise to the level of assuming Nate was abused. Maybe his father is not a fulsomely emotional person and left the nurturing side of the children to his wife. Maybe he disapproves of Nate's profession and wanted him to be a doctor or engineer so he is less than enthusiastic about anything to do with soccer? Maybe he's always seen that Nate was just a really insecure kid to start with and the only way he knew to combat that is to give him 'toughen up' homilies instead of hugs. I think our pity and liking of Season 1 Nate may have gone a long way to coloring how we perceive any negative interactions with him and wanted to be on his side and find reasons for his pitiable nature. But Nate himself as he morphed into what he became is S2 makes that pretty hard to sustain, imo. He himself is an unreliable narrator because he changes the narrative to fit his own perceptions and he frankly sees everything as a slight, even nice things being done for him.

The amount of trauma this show decides to pile on every single member is ridiculous. Look at Judd for instance... the man was somewhat responsible for the death of his childhood friend, lost his entire firehouse in an explosion, plunged off a bridge into an icy river and almost died and had to sit vigil by Grace while she was in a coma, had a building collapse on top of him and now has to hear his son was hit by a truck. And don't even get me started on Owen and TK. By rights they should all be in intense therapy. I agree that calling HR on Tommy was petty, but there are such things as safety standards in the field. And a building imminently going to blow up while you're in it while trying to save someone that you can't given the time limit is incredibly irresponsible. And I don't blame Judd at all for pointing out she has two young daughters who just lost their father. I'd be hyper sensitive to that if I was my kid's only living parent. She is a paramedic, not a firefighter so her danger level isn't as high as Judd's. But the whole "I am going to save this person by God even though the building is gonna blow up in five seconds" hyper heroic bullshit. But it did give us the funny restaurant scene. Team Grace all the way. Preacher man is on my last nerve. So I loved Grace scolding him with scripture and standing up for her man! I don't think they were being too disruptive for the restaurant, imo. They were animated but not overly loud. But I guess it was supposed to be super snooty. Honest to God don't care about what new roadblock they throw in for TK and Carlos. Frankly I no longer care about TK and Carlos. They've wrung out every possible dramatic thing they could to keep their romance front and center and soap opera angsty that they are annoying to me now.

This season is such a roller coaster. This episode was fantastic after last week's very, very meh outing. "Worthwhile to meet you." Oh, Jade. Ha! Using her disdain powers for good. She was not impressed with Rupert and he knows it. And like the shitheel he is, he attempts to sabotage Nate relationship. if nothing else happens I hope Rupert gets his definitively. Periodt. The end. No ambiguity. I was hungry for good, quality team interaction and this episode fed me a meal. I loved that so much of it took place on the field or in the locker room. I knew the Isaac stuff was a fake out. The type of person they had been building Isaac to be wouldn't have sat right if they have gone with him being a homophobe. “It’s just Poop-eh, Ignore it.” - Jamie saying poopy will never get old. Excellent deployment of the pub crew. Roy was the MVP though. First his outrage at the team not standing up for his non-hairy ass and then his perfect press conference. His press conference was fantastic! I love his names for the reporters, ‘Goblin Head’, “New Trent’. LOL. This episode felt like first season Ted Lasso.

My least fave episode of the season so far. It is interesting to see events from George's perspective and I like seeing more of how he and Reynolds interact with each other. Nice to get some depth to that relationship. But I hated the scenes of Dr. Quackery. One thing I did appreciate is that George was not 100% in thrall to this doctor. He submitted to all of this voluntarily because he wanted to get better and felt this was his route, but then when he wanted to he cut the guy lose. It wasn't some weird psychological dependence. Which was good because I got weird vibes from the doctor. He seemed more invested in his propinquity to the Throne and using George as his royal guinea pig more than actually being invested in curing George. When George cut him lose, he didn't argue to remain because he thought he was seeing some improvements or on any merits about George's well being. And then when George saw he was still there, Dr. Quack sounded smug about it that he had successfully circumvented George's will and had one upped him. Based on how George is acting, I can't figure out what the modern day equivalent of his illness is supposed to be. I know that the two leading theories of George's madness are Porphyria and Bipolar disorder. Given how they are portraying George's episodes here it feels like the show is hedging it's bets and trying to maybe portray both? I can clearly see in some of them what looks like manic episodes. But the episodes of acute confusion and disassociation are said to be symptoms of the other. I really need Charlotte and George to stop being at cross purposes so much. The first season of Bridgerton there was this great scene of Charlotte and George and the way it was played you could tell there was deep love there. I want to get there. There are two episodes left! Come on show! And Finally, the rendition of Deja Vu at the top of the episode was fantastic.

At this point this feels as much Lady D's story as it does Charlotte. The Balance between the two is great and each one is interesting and both women are fantastic. I agree that the chemistry between Charlotte and George is insane. Their 'even days' boning is great. LOL. Big contrast to Lady D and her enduring her marital duties with her randy old husband. But I LOVED her and Coral celebrating his death and then staging it. Great scene. Coral is Lady D's 'Brimsley" The actress who plays Charlotte is so commanding you forget the character is supposed to be 17 (the actress herself was 20 when this was filming) and then you get the scenes of her being preoccupied with George just like a young girl smitten with a new guy while Lady D is trying to get her to think of bigger issues. I liked that little reminder. Again Lady D is hustling, always hustling. I just love her. I like her scenes with Princess A. They spar so nicely. But you get a sense of respect there -- game recognizes game! I have always liked the period appropriate remakes of modern songs. Half the fun is figuring our what they are. I loved the use of 'If I Ain't Got You' in this one. Also, Violet's dad is good people!

Lauren and Cameron got flown out first class to attend The Little Mermaid Hollywood premiere and got to walk the 'Ocean' carpet. They looked nice https://www.instagram.com/p/CsB1E4gra0-/

Man, Charlotte and George have some real magnetic chemistry. Shonda certainly has an eye for casting on screen chem of her romantic couples. Such a shame they spend so much of this episode apart. But I guess the sexy times at the end was worth the wait. I really like seeing the 'modern day' counterparts as much as the younger selves, but I am not loving the containing story of her being obsessed with the succession even though it was a major big deal at the time. It is a good idea, but the execution of it is a miss for me. Also they way they are having Lady Whistedown write about the lack of heir in the immediate aftermath of Charlotte's granddaughter's death really makes Lady W (Penelope, really) sound like an insensitive asshole. I already heartily dislike Penelope and this isn't making me change my mind. I did think it was rather poignant seeing modern day Charlotte eating alone at that long table again as a bookend to her early aloness during her honeymoon. Lady Danbury is so delicious. Loving how she squared up to Princess A. Another Shonda hallmark is a woman knowing her worth and negotiating her best price. Also, the charcoal sex drawings took me out! And Brimsley deserves a raise. He is a good man to have at your back.

And you know what? I always wonder why when the question of diverse casting in film comes up and the actor starts squawking about the purity of the art form and it is acting, why is the go to always about black face (or brown face or yellow face)? Why does he not question being able to play a role written for and about a cis gender woman? and I don''t mean gender flipping a reboot played by a woman previously but now cast for man, but an honest to goodness role specifically written for a woman. "Hey we really wanted Helen Mirren in the role of Mary Jones the dissatisfied suburban wife of a carpet salesman, but Richard's audition was so fantastic we went with him instead." At least Scarlett Johannsen entertained the idea of being a tree.

Oh this is good so far. Great opening episode. The casting of the younger versions of Charlotte, Danbury and Violet is fantastic! I had to look to see if Shonda wrote this episode because Charlotte's description of her gown and being killed by her whalebone corset was very much Shonda-verse. And sure enough she did, LOL. I loved the meet cute between George and Charlotte. I have a bit of a time recalibrating my thought to make him George because in my head tv King George is Jonathan Groff's smug, spitting version from Hamilton (I am a poor, I only saw it on Disney+ not in theatres). I like that the show is filling in the gaps the main show left re: the integration of society. So the brown people were landed gentry with money and their own society but not ton. Augusta deciding that she needed Charlotte not to be the lone raisin in the rice pudding decided she needed to elevate some brown folks to the nobility level and give them their letters. Makes sense. If they are following real years and the main Bridgerton series takes place in the early 1800s -- I am going with.. what 1813-ish, then this policy had something like 50 years to bake in. As much as I am loving Charlotte, the actress who plays young Lady Danbury is a breakout. Such incredibly striking looks. What do the kids say today? Face card will never decline? Finally, I am loving the detail of the clothing and jewels. Makes sense, the Georgian era was way more elaborate and fussy than the Regency.

Yeah. it is giving 'tell me you haven't actually read the requirements and only heard the word 'diversity.' The bar for meeting the requirements is dead low. You have to meet 2 out of 4 categories to meet the standards. Only one of the categories involve on screen talent. The rest are crew, departments, marketing, and internships. And 'Women' is considered an under-represented group. Also this take always annoys me. There is such a thing as verisimilitude. If acting/film making was pure craft then there'd be no need for make up or sets of wardrobe. Olivier would not have needed black face to portray Othello. He could have just done it in his own white face. But if the script (another piece of craft) calls for a character to have certain physical characteristics, why not respect that? Why is your acting craft more important than the whole of the story? Also things don't exist in a vacuum.

I've never really thought about tv scriptwriting except accepting that there were writing rooms and that was how it was done. But I have been following some of the current striking writers on twitter and it is fascinating to get some insight on all what the writing entails. One thing I learned is how the writing process continues on even into production and post-productions and how the writers often are on set. And while I was aware that there were always tweaks to the scripts, I never knew how involved writers were in the actual day-to-day production. One writer spoke about how they'd sit at the table reads and sometimes the way the actors interpreted a line would inform if something needed to be changed. Hearing the dialogue spoken, the flow of it as emoted by the performers sometimes forced a rewrite. Or even once they were on set during filming and production, the movement and blocking could require a change in dialogue or rhythm. For instance, they gave an example of an actor instinctively using a non-verbal expression in place of written dialogue that they felt worked better, but excising that line changed the verbal cue another actor needed so that required some changes as well. Also they talk about how these sorts of interactions with the actors, the production, the set improve their understanding of writing and helps in future scripting, so it isn't just the writing a a job but also as professional development. Anyway, I am finding it really educational and illuminating!

After two really good episodes, this one was another ho-hum one that feels like it is treading water, wallowing in the minutia of two storylines that sprung out of nowhere this season and one that should have been put to bed last season. Realistic that Ted is still dealing with the his feelings about the unwanted divorce. But I hate that it is so very present. I could have gone another five seasons happy never hearing about Michelle or Henry. I would have rather see him dealing with it over the phone with Doc Sharon while getting glimpses of what is going on with her. Oddly she seems to have completely disappeared after the first episode. She really should be the one he is calling to work through this. Jack/Keeley and Nate/Jade being the two from this season that are not interesting to me. Jack and Keeley because Jack is just a cardboard character with no real personality and feels like something created to give Keeley something to do. And Jade because her liking of Nate feels like it was spun from invisible fairy cloth threads and we are being told to believe it. And yet, the storytelling just isn't there to support it. Ditto to Nate's supposed redemption 100%. This is all I am getting. No remorse. No inner self reflection. No real grief at what he's done. Just 'woe is me, I am pitiful, please feel bad for me now.' And as far as Keeley and Jack, I feel that Jack has hijacked what should have been Keeley's story about her rise of success. I agree that KJPR is the saddest looking PR firm, with the dreariest looking staff where no business seems to be conducted. Where are her meetings with people? We got one scene of her on a set doing something, and that was just to introduce Shandy. This is the great opportunity she had? This tired looking little job? Also why do they dress Jack so poorly? She was looking great in that killer white suit while playing golf, and then later they had to go and mess it up by putting her in yet another horrible top with another horrible collar. Absolutely. A missed opportunity and one that would have been nice to see Keeley actually doing work and kicking her sad little office workers into gear. Maybe next week? That was my interpretation. Or at least half. He was asking out of pure jealousy. And then in Roy fashion would have been going out to kick some ass. My other take is that it is yet another example of how Roy just doesn't know how to deal with his emotions so he remains awkward about it. When he was with Keeley he could work it out with her. But because he isn't he's regressing. LOL. I noticed that just this episode. But for me it is was one-syllable 'Ja' names. Jake, Jade, Jack and Jane. They are all the problematic significant others who aren't really characters but feel like stand-in plot devices.

Airdate: 05/7/2023

Yes the seafood is cooked. It is basically a California roll in layered format. The recipes I found all had Crab and shrimp as the preferred fish.