DearEvette

I agree 100%. Last year around this time there were at least a few shows I was curious enough to want to see. But these just fill me with apathy. And yes, GLOW definitely looks better that I thought it would.

I wasn't too impressed with Troy either. But then I re-watched his chapter. I think the issue is that it relied too much on his messed up relationship with his father, instead of giving us insight into what really makes him tick. It isn't the focus of his narrative but Troy, quiet as it's kept, is actually very woke himself. I give the actor a little more credit that I did when i first watched his chapter. On second viewing I see a lot of quiet desperation going on behind Troy's eyes. He is wearing as much of a mask as CoCo is. The problem is we didn't get see under his like we saw under hers so he remains a little inscrutable, where as we get to see her vulnerabilities.

To be clear, I was not sniping at Maxine Waters - hence the prefix "Faux!" The definition of which is: artificial. Not genuine, fake or false. Basically a pale imitation.

I literally had no faith that CBS would do better. None. On a better note, I am in the middle of watching Master of None. And POC representation on that show is fantastic. The 6th episode of the season is called 'New York, I Love You' is a series of little vignettes featuring random characters in New York and how they glancingly intersect. All of the vignettes feature POC. One follows a doorman (Latino), the next is a deaf girl (black), the next is an African cab driver. Such a delightful episode! And the 7th episode is entitled 'Thanksgiving' and takes place over a series of Thanksgiving days starting in the 1980s until the present at the home of the recurring character of Denise who is a black lesbian and plays one of Dev's (Aziz Ansari's) best friends since childhood. Angela Basset stars as her mother and Kim Whitley is her aunt. And the yearly progression and the various thanksgiving day conversations in the black, female household are fantastic. It is extra funny because Dev is treated like a de facto family member and is always there at Thanksgiving with them. The optics of the Indian guy among all the black women year after year is great. One of the things I noticed about the show this season so far is that a lot of the episodes feature WOC as characters in the story, in many cases as romantic interests or objects of desire. White women are not the default and in fact are not overly represented. This is so refreshing to me.

Oh man, I LOVED this. Probably my favorite episode of the season. I loved seeing the progression of the acceptance of Denise's sexuality, Angela Basset is perfection! Even as a mother so uncomfortable and immediately rejecting of her daughter's sexuality. I think every black child has the aunt that acts just like Kim Whitley. I know I do. LOL. And I cracked up that in order to appreciate Michelle they had to experience Miss NipplesANDToes. Before Michelle made her re-appearance I yelled at the tv "Michelle doesn't look so bad now does she?" Ha! And beyond the Denise stuff I liked seeing Dev and Denise's relationship through the years and I love that he has been at every Thanksgiving with her family since he was eight years old.

Not just the people we don't "see" but once again MoN displays a diversity that is absolutely true of New York but that so many shows set in New York also never "see." All of the vignettes were featured POC. This episode was delightful. I think my favorite scene was the cab drivers and the women at the burger joint dancing to that stupid Six Flags song. It was just dorky and sweet. And then I loved how all the stories came together at the end.

I heartily second this rec. Also if you enjoy audiobooks, the narrator of the series , Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is freaking fantastic!

I do think with This is Us as a lead in and if TIU continues to perform as well on Thursdays as it did on Tuesdays, then my thought is that in order to keep the TIU audience they would want to soap it up a bit more. This also makes sense with a 13 episode order. A procedural can handle 22 eps a season. But more and more I think serialized shows or shows with more soapy elements can't really go beyond 13 a year without spinning their wheels or feeling tired. But, yeah, this is not the Chicago Med writers' wheelhouse. So I am wondering if they'll address that this year?

This is first time I've been in this forum since they announced they were renewing It for S4 and how Tom was the star and people wanted to see Ichabod's story. That pissed me off as much as killing off Abby. So yeah I got a little bit of glee every week watching the show struggle to get even 2m viewers. And even more glee as it began to disapear as a recapped show on various sites. And now this. I have never been happy a show was cancelled before. Sad, bitter, disappointed or indifferent. But this is the first I've been happy. On a shady note, I follow both Nicole and Orlando on twitter. She's been MIA for months. But suddenly in the aftermath of this annoucement the two of them are echanging "you're awesome" "no, you're awesome." Tweets. LOL.

Are there really concerned and dissatisfied fans though? I mean outside of these boards? I don't frequent any other discussion boards that discuss or even really recap this show, but judging by twitter and the comments on the finale on tvline the consensus seems to be 1) hoping Dr. Charles isn't dead 2) surprised by April and Choi but most are ok with it and even some love it, already trying out shipper names 3) happy about Nat & Will finally getting together 4) happy Robin is ok 6) massive immediate hate for the new S. African Dr. and 5) not too thrilled by Noah and Reese. Overall it just seems people are discussing the show on these platforms, not dissing it. While the ratings are down from last season (not surprising with the move to the more competitive Thursday night) , they have improved over that last three episode, rising steadily. So they aren't hemorrhaging viewers like some shows that change *cough* Sleepy Hollow *cough*. I do agree the show has shifted in tone from last season. I wonder if they had a focus group or something? I also wonder if the move to Thursday this season and competing with TGIT made them change tone a bit -- figuring they wanted to siphon off some of the Shonda demographic. Personally I don't mind it. I like the medical cases, but the cases aren't what I connect to on the show, it is the continuing characters. They are the ones whose lives I like to discuss. If it was just medical cases all the time with very little personal development of the continuing characters, then it would just be a medical procedural show and those don't hold me. That said, I am not at all invested in Noah. I have come to the conclusion it is the actor I don't like. The show has the ability to rehabilitate a not-great character, they did it with Will who was rather annoying last season and I like him a lot better this season. If they were planning to really expand Noah's role on the show I wish they had actually showed his growth rather than 'Bam" people love him now. But then again, the actor doesn't draw me in either. I just can't take him seriously as a good doctor. I generally like all the rest of the characters. Yes, even Natalie, whose self righteousness it rather overbearing. But I don't mind her and Will since I figured they were end game all along and Jeff and Nina were just obstacles. I do hate that new S. African doctor. Holy god, I hope she doesn't come back. She has a bitch-face and is just rude. I get the feeling we are supposed to find her interesting. I'll bet some guy wrote her character. She sounds like what some out-of-touch Bro-dude writer would think we'd find interesting in a female character *cough* Sleepy Hollow *cough*

Oh man, I love that you called her that, because I was getting The Bad Seed vibes from her. I was sure she had stuffed that penny in her sister's throat. And I still give her the side eye for giving him the fire-sparker thing. Like really little girl?

This was exciting and tense and a good episode overall. But man, the plot holes they had to create to put Stephanie in Jeopardy and create an explosion lessened the shine a bit. I could understand her being immobilized when he had a sharp scalpel to her neck. But there were several times when he was far away from her with the scalpel on the floor, his back to her. She could have rushed him or grabbed that steel thingy he had and bashed him on the head with it. He was debilitated so he was not a full strenght. Sigh. I mean, Allison girl stepped on the gas to go down a ravine to escape him. They could have made Steph a little scrappier. But PLOT REASONS!! fire. I will admit the fire thing was great. But still. Other than that smallish fail, this was a great episode.

Oh, great season finale! I agree with everyone, I teared up a bit. Good job show. For once Dre's crying was appropriate! Charlie and Johann -- the bromance I did not know I needed. Of course they made sense to each other! Wait... I thought Charlie's mom was already dead. He was mad his parents didn't come to his fake funeral but then again he didn't go to theirs either. Oh wait, it is Charlie. Who knows what is the truth with him? Aww... Ruby calling Bow her daughter and asking for a blanket...I'm not crying, you're crying! Pops, telling it like it is! I always like it when all four kids are in their subplot together, they have great chemistry and by now the show knows how to use their personalities effectively. So yeah, good balance of humor, plot and a bit of drama.

Good timing, just posted today.. TV Line - TV Ratings Everything you wanted to know about Ratings but were afraid to ask

That was so ludicrously overly dramatic! I LOL'd like crazy. So... An impassioned plea gets Percy out of jail. "Judge, she is totes sorry! Can she come back to work now?" I mean, I love Percy and was bummed that she was MIA on so many shows... but this is just so .... bad. I want to know what poison that was that killed the Faux!Maxine Waters. Because one sip and she was dead immediately. No fever? stomach ache? coughing up blood? Also why did they make Faux!Maxine Waters so dumb? I mean Hamilton was all but twirling a mustache at her. Come on! And don't get me started on the Pride mess.... WTH happened to this show? I mean it was never going to be high art, but still.

The time travel stuff this season has gotten so laboriously murky that is makes that part of the storyline hard to follow. But man, I enjoyed this episode just because it was light. What a low bar! But Grant Gustin does comedy and delight so damn well. The suspicion about them stealing his kidney and looking at his hands after Wally said they were brothers were delivered with just the right comedic timing. Also it was a great showcase for Barry and Iris' chemistry to shine through. I struggled with them as a couple in S1 because I thought she sparked with Eddie so much better. But then came the Earth-2 episode in Season 2 where I really saw what was possible between Barry and Iris and I was finally hooked on WestAllen. I wanted that for E-1 Barry & Iris! Funny enough Bart Allen seemed a lot like E-2 Barry. I remember when some people were commenting about the chemistry between Barry and Kara during the musical episode. And I remember thinking to myself, it is easy to see chemistry when two people are smiling and sparkling at each other. This episode kinda speaks to that a bit, because it is harder to feel love when it is angsting and glooming and dooming over the couple all over the place. And I fell in love with Barry and Iris all over again. It was just so nice to see the look of happiness on her face as she looked at light-Barry. Candace really did sell that so well.

In my opinion, just repeating a lyrics doesn't necessarily make one a racist. But then again, I don't think 'racist' is an all or nothing thing. Like sexuality, I believe there is a Kensyian scale of racism. The fact a white person thinks it is fine to say the N-word casually with no supposed malice behind it may not make them a 100% racist but it does put them somewhere on the scale north of 0% racist. But really to me, the bottom line is if a person really believes themselves to not be a racist, then they should feel real discomfort doing things that they know darned well are easily and universally recognized as racist. If they feel no discomfort or unease at that, then that requires some self reflection. The thing that makes the DWP episode even more interesting is that they were in Addison's house (the guy who said the N-word). So he was effectively in his own private space (even though he had people over) and it appeared that he was actually a more than casual friend of Reggie's. So did he think his friendship with Reggie plus the fact that he was only singing a lyric make this not a racist? Was Reggie right in calling Addison out in his own home? And was Addison being unrealistically naive in asking 'why not?' I am not expecting answers or anything, but it is illustrative of how thoughtful the writing on the show is.

I would've loved a Joelle POV. And you're right it would have been interesting to see it as a contrast to CoCo's. Another dark skinned girl who has a crush on a guy who likes Sam. But Joelle doesn't seem as bothered by it for the same reasons as CoCo is. And I doubt if they'd use colorism as a theme to Joelle's POV since they'd already used that for CoCos and everybody seems to have a different theme to their chapters. But the absence of that as an overriding concern could've been a interesting counterpoint. One thing (out of the many things) I do love about this show is that is has been excellent at sowing that there is no such thing as "all black people." Between Sam, CoCo, Lionel, Troy, Reggie and yes even though we haven't gotten their POV.. Joelle, Kelsey and Al we are are getting to see that there is a difference of opinions, philosophies, life history, experiences, expectations, and perspectives among black people. And while black people have always known this, it has not been as prevalent in media depictions. And I also am glad they had a Gabe POV and wouldn't replace his with someone else's. I think it is important that the Gabes of the world (those of them who actually watched the show) see how the Gabes of the world can appear to black folk. Decent enough white guys who are liberal and may even think they are allies, but are still rather protected in their obliviousness. His last conversation with Sam in this chapter about it being such hard work to be with her could be read in some ways as a metaphor for the reality of allyship.

I think this is hard to know because as Dee pointed out, the guy's POVs don't go there. Troy's is all about his father. Reggie's is mostly about his wokeness and then the gun. And Lionel's is about finding his label & then his voice. The girls' POV center more on relationships. Between each other and with them and men. And Gabe's POV is all about Sam. But I also agree that the show is making a statement about colorism. What I love is that it is doing it in nuanced fashion. CoCo's concerns and suspicions are absolutely valid. There is no argument about that. But I also think there is a bit of a cautionary tale in CoCo's first POV chapter that says "Yes, it is real... but don't let it get you twisted." There are quite a few times when CoCo looks at Sam in frustration and sees Sam getting all the things CoCo wants -- acceptance by the BSU, approval by the sorority, and Troy --- and lets herself believe it is all due to Sam's light skin privilege. But that is a dangerous road to travel because it denies any other possibility of success that maybe Sam did something to get noticed rather than sat there as just a beneficiary of her privilege. In a sense it is like Gabe's chapter in that he can't help but be a white guy. He's with them in their meetings and is trying to understand their cause in a way he really never can, but it isn't his fault he's white. Just as it really isn't Sam's fault she's light. She can't help that. It does no one any good to blame her for it. It is a condition of society and while CoCo does try to strive, she still blames Sam for something Sam has no real control over. What is more, she somehow seems to blame Sam for not being aware of it, but it is difficult sometimes for people to recognize their own privilege until something happens to smack them in the face with it. To Sam's credit she seems to be trying with her activism rather that just skating on the privilege. See, this is a case where I do think there is some shady subtext. Notice the Big Sister Fabulousness or whatever her name was, was always wearing pink and green. Now, no way could they get away with name checking the real sorority but I think there was a pointed message there. And though these women never explicitly use her appearance as a way to 'other' CoCo they instead use her background. One thing that very rarely gets talked about is that there is a class caste system intra-racially, not just a color one. My feeling with that whole interlude is that someone -- Simien or the writer or whomever -- are not too impressed with the Greek system and used this as a chance to get a poke in.

At this point, we still don't know why Troy and Sam get together. We never even see the beginning of their relationship. In CoCo's first POV chapter, we go from one scene of Sam calling Troy 'Clarence Thomas' to the scene where CoCo sees Troy sitting with Sam and putting his hand on her leg. In the present day when she asks him about what he saw in Sam he flippantly says "Her fat ass." So we honestly don't know. In Troy's POV chapter he originally wanted to go to a performing arts school, but his father shot that down. So it might be something as simple as they got to talking about film and discovered they liked something about each other. And it could be that since everything in Troy's life is so curated by his father and what his father wants him to be Sam liking him for something he is interested in might be a bigger pull than what attracted him to CoCo in the first place. Frankly, I think he likes girls his father might disapprove of. CoCo is definitely the type of girl his father would approve of. So it might not be a case of colorism. We really don't know at this point. And don't forget all of this is coming from CoCo's POV. My take is that the POV chapters aren't necessarily supposed to be gospel truth, but only true as the people whose perspective we are getting sees them. It is clear that CoCo sees everything through the lens of color. You can't blame her given that it is something that really formed her and I am glad that her POV chapter doesn't seem to judge her at all. But you could see that she was ascribing Sam's social success just to Sam being lighter skinned. But that completely dismisses the fact that Sam was also rejected by everyone just as much as CoCo was (they were both outcasts) until Sam spoke up in the BCU meeting. That is what brought her to people's attention. Even when CoCo overheard the sorority sisters talking and they were saying they wish they had gotten Sam, it wasn't because of Sam's look it was because "she is going places" by that time Sam had become part of the BCU leadership. So while I can't disagree that Sam does benefit from light-skinned privilege that does only take you so far, and it is not quite accurate to buy into everything CoCo believes because a lot of what she is seeing is being filtered through her negative experience with colorism.

I thought for sure when they panned up in that last shot showing the destruction of the store we'd see Brett clinging to a flag pole or stuck up in a tree or something.

I honestly rolled my eyes at the reveal that Tommy was The Mockingbird. I already had to suspend disbelief that Sophie would sleep with him but now he is some criminal mastermind too? I can buy TR Knight as Alice's fuck up little brother, yeah. But as someone who can pull one over on Margo? No. He's just not good of an actor. Pulls me right out of the show.

I agree about April and Jeff and I am very annoyed that Jeff is going but Noah is staying. I also wonder why the hell Maggie can't get a personal storyline? Season one it annoyed me no end that she seemed to exist to be Natalie's cheerleader/soundingboard/support system. I hope they redress this next season.

Forgot to mention.... the final scene of Defamation where "Olivia" and "Fitz" are in the cell, their crazy make out session was insane! I would have loved it if we'd gotten some extended scenes of Defamation somewhere, maybe in the end credits...

I wonder if the wig/weave was a psychological crutch? Part of CoCo's journey is assimilation. Remember, she didn't want to be put in the Armstrong-Parker dorm when she enrolled. She wanted to be in a predominantly white dorm. Also remember after she burned her bridges with the black sorority, she adopted a white girl posse. So even though her own hair has length and she could use a chemical straightener, maybe the long, flowing weave makes her feel more like part of the group she adopted.