DearEvette

I am sorry this legit made me do a spit take. LOL. He is not getting anywhere near an Emmy no matter how good he can cry on cue. He'd have to do a Michael Jordan Air-esque leap over all of the Succession men, Pedro Pascal (who is a possible in two roles), Diego Luna, Bob Odenkirk, and Jeff Bridges. The highest any male drama lead in a broadcast network ranks on any emmy contender list is Ramon Rodriguez from Will Trent. And on the list I saw he is the only broadcast contender. And he falls like, 20th, on the list. On another list I saw they ranked every possible contender. Hilariously, Theriot isn't on the list anywhere. And the list includes the Million Little Things guys, a slew of NCIS and FBI male leads. Naw, the closest he'll get this year is if he is handing out one.

Yeah. this was my read. He also mentions her reputation and how sterling it was. So I think he thought better of continuing their liaison not just because he was a family man, but because he knew she was concerned about the precariousness of her position until the succession issues were resolved and he did not want any possible discovery of them to stain her reputation.

Shallow stuff: It was nice to see everyone spruced up. Sullivan's white tux... whoa. Vic's snappy little bob. Andy's sexy shoes. Maya's bangs. Good Stuff: Glad Andy got the job. it feels right. I mean, if they are gonna have a fire, the best place is at a firefighter party, amirite? Kitty Dixon: "You can't use the microphone" Miranda: Stares motherfuckerly at her. Kitty Dixon: "ok, go ahead." Funny stuff: I love the running gag of Kitty not recognizing ben There was one shot that I think was unintentionally hilarious. They were delivering the baby and they were just pulling the baby from the mom, when the shot morphed into a bald headed Sullivan emerging from the ballroom floor hole with Natasha. On brand stuff: I knew that server was gonna go into labor the minute we met her. And how lucky to have Carina right there. The cuts between Sullivan working on saving Natasha and Carina/Ben working on saving the baby. Dixon dying with Travis being his unintenional death Doula. Theo ratcheting up his asshole to Mach 10. Jack in Crisis. I am sure the head wound will cause him some temporary memory loss so he can't tell Vic about Theo and Kate dry humping in a closet.

But what about the times when there is no possibility of a legal outcome? Most SA cases don't rise to level of allowing for legal action. It is she said vs. he said with no evidence to back up her saying he did it, but also no evidence to support him saying he didn't. And In the case where it can be litigated, well sure. If the legal process 100% of the time resulted in only the guilty getting punished and always prevailing when someone is innocent, then yes, this would work. But the legal system isn't infallible. R. Kelley was indicted in 2002 on charges related to a sex tape with a 13 year old. The actual trial didn't happen until 2008. He was acquitted of those charges and one juror went on record said he voted to acquit because he didn't like the look of the girl who testified and what she was wearing. R. Kelly wasn't fully convicted of his crimes until 2022. If it was up to believing the legal system only, he would have never been convicted at all. It wasn't until a documentary ,prompted by a grassroots effort by mostly women of color and a reporter from Chicago, that it lit a fire under the legal system that led to him finally being convicted. So yeah, i think a lot of people would like some sort of irrefutable proof that the thing they believe is the real thing. But that is not possible most of the time with SA. So people have to decide for themselves what they will believe and who they will support.

Right. And the WGA has a lot of solidarity amongst other unions that are not singularly industry related. The Teamsters are massive supporters and they've instructed their trucks not to cross the picket lines. The LA local Teamster head is very vocal about supporting the WGA. And it isn't just the trucks, the Teamsters also represent location scouts and crew, prop people, warehouse workers, animal trainers, and casting directors. So now it isn't just the writers that are striking it is also a lot of physical support that won't show up. And they don't just work on scripted shows. Now imagine the actors going on strike too.

Oh man. I saw this. I went to Syracuse University and he is a well loved alum there. I am friends with quite a few SU athletes from the late 80s and early 90s and our FB feeds are going crazy right now. RIP Mr. Brown, legendary Jersey #44.

The petty is so big in our office. I love us. Today marks the 10th year anniversary of the date my previous boss was fired resigned. One of my co-workers who despised the ex-boss the absolute most (we'll call the ex-boss Joel) starting posting a bunch of unexplained celebratory gifs on our office Teams 'fun and chat' channel and on his Facebook today. At first we were confused but then I noticed that these gifs were the exact same ones we all began posting on our Facebook 10 years ago on this day without explanation or context. Back then none of our Facebook friends understood why we were all doing it either at the time because that day we got the word internally that Joel would be 'resigning' but it hadn't yet been announced publicly. And quite a few of our Facebook shared friends all worked at the same University we did so we couldn't really say why we were so happy yet. But it was our passive-aggressive way of relating out delight. Also we all gathered in my office while Joel was down in HR negotiating his severance and drank from my stash of airline flight sized collection of booze. So some back story: Joel was a tower of incompetence. He was hand picked by the then Provost to be the director in my division which was enrollment management and enrollment analytics. Oh they had a sham of a search, but it didn't take us long (and some whispers) to know the fix was in. While he had worked in Higher ed before, he had never been at a director level before where he was the one who made the final decisions or had to sit committees with faculty and deans. But within months it became clear he was in over his head. He could barely answer questions at faculty meetings (always saying things like 'I'll look into that' or 'I'll get back to you on that.') So he began to get the reputation as a bit of a joke. But he was protected by the Provost who at the time was popular and powerful. Since Joel knew he was not well received, he began to take out some of his frustration on those of us in the office. He was the director and he only had two direct reports: Me (as Systems Manager) and another woman "Jean" (as Operations Manager). The rest of the staff reported top us. I had my systems team, and everyone else reported to Jean. He would make arbitrary rules, he'd sometimes single one person out to disdain in a staff meeting. It was a lot of little uncomfortable things. He was just a despot. But despite numerous HR complaints he never quite stepped over the line into something that was really actionable. One HR rep told Me and Jean that unless there was sexual harrassment or racial discrimination there really wasn't much they could do since was just being an asshole to his staff. His incompetence wasn't costing the school any money or creating any PR disaster. He largely left me and Jean alone and that was mainly because we were saving his ass. It became and open secret that to get anything done in our office they had to go around him and get one of us to do the thing. Also he would pre-game his meetings with faculty with Jean and I. He'd come with a list of questions they'd most likely ask and get our responses, he'd write them down and that is what he used as notes for his meetings. It was a horrible 5 years. But then there came a change up top. New President. The Provost had gotten on the outs with the new guy and the faculty was losing confidence in her. She left before they could vote no confidence and suddenly Joel lost his protection. The new interim Provost was this long-timer Dept. Chair who hated Joel. He made the case to the new President that Joel was an idiot. Joel was given an offer to be demoted (he would have been at a level under Jean and Me) under the guise of a division restructuring or resign. He chose to resign. The HR person who had been our confidante in misery hot footed it up to our floor 10 years ago today, walked into the office suite I shared with Jean, shut the door and said 'You didn't hear this from me but...." Our faces! I bit my knuckles the whole time she was dishing to not scream in joy. After she left we went to our co-workers and did a 'Psst, come into my office in 5 minutes.. have a student worker cover the phones..' We did a quick 10 minute happy dance, booze toast and went back to work. And my one co-worker who had been Joel's biggest target, began to post celebratory gifs on his facebook one by one all day long. Also, when Joel called a full staff meeting the next day to regretfully tell of his resignation, we acted so very faux surprised. It was great.

Welp, SAG-AFTRA's National Board Votes Unanimously To Ask Members For Strike Authorization As the article says, this does not mean a strike is imminent, but if the members vote to authorize a strike that means one can be called in the event their negotiations with AMPTP go badly. I would imagine the WGA strike would give them some leverage in their negotiations. I can't imagine what the industry looks like if both SAG-AFTRA and WGA are on strike at the same time.

I said back in Season 2 that I thought it was fascinating seeing the origin story of an actual villain in real time. How often does a show take a character that you like and root for and want to win and purposely, brick by brick make them hateful? More often than not it is he other way around and they redeem a hateful character. I thought it was ballsy and wish that the show had simply leaned into that. Some people like the dark side. I kinda wish they had just kept Nate there. I also think Rebecca's change wasn't just because of Keeley, but she started to like and respect Ted as well. Her facade started cracking and she was finding it hard to maintain the schemes even before Keeley found out about the photos. Her convo with Keeley took place after the darts game and after Ted came to her rescue at the charity gala and after the Karaoke panic attack. You could actually see the schemes wearing on her. And when Rebecca confessed to Ted she started out by saying 'I am a fucking bitch." Then she laid out everything she did, why she did it and her remorse and she sincerely apologized to Ted's face. Which is partly why I am frankly not impressed with the note Nate left Will. It was a nice gesture, sure, but it was cowardly. Will did something really nice for Nate. And because Nate got triggered by a complete stranger on twitter, he went to Will's face completely wigged out on him. He told him 'If you ever humiliate me again I will make your life a fucking misery." And he threw the very nice jersey that Will had made for him in his face. I am sorry but if you are going to be mean and cruel to someone in their face, at least have the courtesy to apologize to their face as well. If they have to redeem Nate, then at the very least I hope we get some of the same heartfelt face to face apology instead of some symbolic gesture which results in a hug and everyone welcoming him back to the fold.

There are two Simpsons quotes that I use all the time and for so long I sometimes forget where they came from. When I am really confused about something someone just told me and I need clarification I'll often say. 'Wait.... Who shot who in the what now?" Also, (I actually had to look to this up to make sure it was a Simpsons quote) but there is an episode where Monty Burns is getting married and the pastor is taking forever and Burns says "We've heard enough about Blizz-Blazz and Him-Ham already, get to the point." My husband and I use "blizz-blzz and him-ham" in place of yadda-yadda-yadda when we're telling a story and want to skip over parts.

The season failed Keeley on so many fronts, imo, because I think the whole KJPR story lacked even that much depth. Cynically, I feel like the Keeley story was written just to give Juno something to do because a traditional romance genre storyline requires a third act break up. So she and Roy got their break up for what in retrospect are dumb reasons that served neither character well, but whereas Roy was a coach with the team and has a built in story, Keeley needed one manufactured for her. It could have been done really well. I thought for sure we'd get a Ted-like arc for Keeley where she brought her own stamp to a staid office and morphed them into a good team and had mad some kick-ass business decisions. But instead I honestly feel like we just got 'Ad Agency Barbie', complete with her pink office. Sometimes Keeley just looked like she was playing dress up. The whole time I was watching I kept waiting for Rupert to take his mask off and show his true face. Look, I know people are not all bad or all good and that everyone falls somewhere in between. But if the show was going to show us the human and charming bits of Rupert and why Rebecca fell for him in the first place, I wish they had sprinkled that in throughout the series. Up til this episode he has been 100% terrible to her. He humiliated her publicly with his serial cheating. He deliberately knew what buttons to push to make her feel bad every time they met face to face. He even went so far as to get a younger wife with her same name, have a kid (which he knew Rebecca wanted), bought shares in the team under the new wife's name so she could sit in the owner's box with Rebecca every game as a way to rub even more humiliation in Rebecca's face, and tried to sabotage her charity event. And here we are supposed to see a softer side of him. I get this is a feel good show, but don't show me a villain through 90% of the show and try to say "well he wasn't really that bad" in the the last 10. I do think it was necessary for us to see Rebecca definitely over Rupert even when he has his charm offensive dialed to 11. That was great for us and for her. But I don't want a nice Rupert. I need the show to follow through on their Palpatine metaphor with Rupert and pull a Return of the Jedi! I liked what Rebecca's speech represented for her as a character. But yeah, it wasn't believable. I mean.. the speech itself was believable if it had come from someone like Ted. But I never got the impression that Rebecca had this great love of soccer or appreciated what it means to the fans. I always thought she only wanted the team because it was the thing that Rupert loved the most. And I especially don't find those men being swayed by the speech believable.

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.