DearEvette

I liked it for all the reasons you state. Also, mainly because I am a sucker for food based,well, anything. And the food porn was great. Also the scenery was lovely. I also read Heather Hemmens is actually a trained chef. So that must have been nice for her. But yeah, I liked how the relationship played out and also how the crew all liked her and had her back. And even how the Boss wasn't unremittingly evil just ego-trippy but decent in the end.

We had Spicy lentil soup and it was excellent, very flavorful. My son is taking a nutrition class as one of his electives this semester and cooking meals is part of the class. This week it was the soup.

Prince was my favorite artist and this past weekend was the anniversary of his death so I did as I do and used it as an excuse to go a Prince binge. His discography, of course, is huge. But I love this underrated song/video. I love the color palette of the video and of course Prince looks fab!

If the last episode was a strikeout, this one was a grand slam home run. I think I watched it with the biggest, stupidest, sappiest grin on my face. I loved the different groupings and how different all of their nights went and how each one kinda, imo, represented the different things one does when one goes to on a trip to a new place. Higgins and Will's - represented a personal pilgrimage. Higgins needing to see where Chet Baker died and of course being in a jazz club listening to his favorite music. Live jazz clubs are an eco system all their own. Personally this would have been the one that if I had to pick, it was where I'd go. Colin and Trent - represented an opportunity to peel off a mask and be a bit freer in a place no one knows you. I loved their conversation with Collin explaining his state of mind. I loved learning a little more about Trent. Jamie and Roy - represented the simple pleasure of sightseeing. But because they are Jamie and Roy it becomes deeper than that. I LOVED their part the best because they hit so many great emotional beats -- funny, poignant, sentimental... Ted - represented the instinct to find something familiar amongst the strangeness. I thought that American restaurant was kinda freaky, tbh. But I liked the use of it as a vehicle for Ted having his epiphany. Rebecca - represented the cliche vacation fling. Altho, what went down between her and that really hot boat dude wasn't at all a fling. I loved the quiet intimacy of what they were able to create in that one night. This was really a great lesson in how to showcase instant chemistry that was sorely missing in the Jack/Keeley scenes from the previous episode. The Team - represents that sort of indecisiveness that brings you to a standstill when you have too many options. I have been missing these sorts of scenes with them all season. I found their night the funniest of them all. I loved it. They were so over the top, but the pillow fight in the end was just so damned wholesome. Other stuff... I loved the usage of both 'Let's Get Lost' and 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright.' Roy's shutting that report down in the beginning. Dude, you can't come for Roy Fucking Kent! Honestly, did not miss Keeley at all.

No need to cast him when Rob's credit as a producer probably is what brought him on the show as a writer despite him having no prior writing credits and considering how hard it is to get into a writer's room even for experienced writers.

I was on the struggle bus with this episode. It took me over a week to finish it. The only thing I liked about it was the cute goat, Higgins' hilariously round about convo with Rebecca about maybe, possibly they ought to start thinking about the idea of thinking about replacing their manager, Dani crying when Zava announced his retirement,and Ted's speech. But overall this ep was lackluster and dreary. The Shandy stuff was cliche and not funny. And made Keeley look even more incompetent than she's already seemed. I could see the Jack stuff coming a mile away. I would be on board if I wasn;t such a hardcore Keeley and Roy shipper or if they'd given us more time to get to know about Jack to even care. As is it I just rolled my eyes. The Rebecca/pychic storyline is obviously going to have some payoff. Problem is the road to get there isn't one of anticipation just impatience. I still don't feel sorry for Nate. And suddenly making Jade nice to him feels like a cheat and unconvincing. And finally, the bully storyline with Henry felt like a little nothing just to give Ted something to do. What was even the point? And maybe that is the entire problem. Ted has felt sidelined so much that the show feels off kilter. I hope this early part was just them clumsily setting up pins that will be spectacularly knocked down later.

No. Bliss' comment about her dad not liking him was said when they were still in the pods.

It is so funny this pinged me, because I reviewed Encore in Death a few weeks ago and -- you know I love Nora and I especially love the In Death books -- but I said in that review that I think I am going to have to press pause on reading them for awhile. For me it is a case of familiarity with the her writing tics that is starting to get with me. I have to kinda agree with @SophiaD that some of my dissatisfaction stems from a lack of growth. In each book she is hitting some of the same beats over and over with some elements feelings like she is checking off familiar check boxes more than anything: We get a Mira profile, an op run by Eve, Eve wondering about why an idiomatic phrase is the way it is, a visit to Dickie and Harvo where Eve makes threats, Nadine gets a scoop, Peabody clomps, McNabb Prances etc.. When the central mystery/case is good or engrossing I don't notice it as much. But I have to admit that Encore was ... not great. I feel like we were supposed to feel shocked at the reveal and instead I was more 'well that's stupid.' And tbh, there wasn't a lot of decisive action more Eve going with her 'gut' and talking stuff to death. I feel like the series is in a holding pattern and something needs to happen -- I don;t want a major character to die or anything, but everyone is all smug and coupled up and standing still. I think we need a major paradigm shift to inject something different into the series. And, just to say, I think Nora needs to back away from HGTV. House decor/landscaping has infected every single book she's written in the past five years.

I like that this season finale kinda was a mirror reflection of last season's finale. They went on a field trip to an iconic Philly institution and Janine made another pivotal decision about a relationship where in the end she chose herself. I am actually liking the progression of Janine and Gregory's relationship in that I think it is less about how a 'tv relationship' should progress but rather how a relationship between these two particular people would progress. Janine is a people pleaser and she would care how someone would perceive her actions even if their perception isn't quite accurate. And she's also a fixer so she'd want to find a way to fix that about herself. Meanwhile Gregory isn't very assertive and is rather rigid in his thinking. Since Janine placed a boundary around that kiss, he respects it despite what he wants. So the two of them , fumbling the bag, as it were, makes sense. But they did it in a decisive way. No grand miscommunications or sit-comy like misunderstandings or mis-hearings. This was a face forward conversation and decision. Which is why I don't think the rest of the relationship is going to devolve into predictable trope beats, the writers have done a couple of unpredictable things with them and I think there might be some more. Beyond that I thought this was the second ep in a row where Jacob got the best character movement. I LOVED his reaction to learning about the kiss. And I LOVE the three giant steps forward of his and Gregory's relationship. The bro' hugs had me in my feels. That last scene of the three of them going to get food was nice. Best lines for me: "Teena Marie is white" "To you maybe." Also "You can thank me after you have your really short, broad shouldered babies. That man's built like a longhorn logo."

I think there is a nuance in how he said both things tho... He said "I struggled with envisioning Micah as a mother" and then he added "There is a nurturing aspect some people have and... I don't know... whenever I tried, I just know I was never able to see it clearly." My takeaway is that people plucked that nurturing comment (myself included, tbh) and ran with it. But he said a lot during that after wedding talking head to explain why he said no, not the least of which he said did not feel loved by her. And even then he tried to both-sides it when he said maybe it was a defense mechanism because maybe she held back because she was aftraid he wouldn't reciprocate. This is why I think her throwing the 'You answer first' bit is what crystallized his decision to say no. Her refusal to answer probably validated his feeling that she didn't quite love him. I know as a viewer, that moment read to me as very calculated and manipulative on her part. I don't feel he was cruel, in fact, I thought the reason Zack jumped in to defend him was because Paul was being too circumspect and really trying to police his words so he wouldn't come off as mean or anything. And I think it is a shame because I don't think he felt he could tell his own truth in that moment, between being hyper conscious of not appearing to be mean given that he was the one who said no at the altar, and Micah could fall back on tears any moment and finally because Vanessa was haranguing him with an agenda. You could see the tack she was taking a mile away and it was all about defending Micah's feelings at the expense of Paul's. She pulled that shit with Marshall too. 'But what about Jackie's feelings." Uh, girl what? Did you ask Jackie about Marshall's feelings?

Season Finale Airdate: 04/19/2023

These are my two Free restaurant meal for you and immediate family once a week My friends and I used to do this thing where we would say "what is the first thing you'd buy if you were Oprah rich." And I always said 'A personal chef.' I am a foodie and I like kitchen gadgets an to cook, but man, I'd love to also have someone make a meal to order for me whenever I wanted it. So I'd pick restaurant. Especially if we had the choice to dine in or take out depending on mood. Cell phone service (including a new phone every year) I have five people on my moochers family plan. I could save a bundle on phone insurance alone!

The only thing production does is choose the venue (the couples have no choice of the venue), pay for everything (up to a point -- the couples have a budget that if they go over they have to make up the difference) and make it possible for the set up to happen. But the couples have to choose everything else. We only ever see the tux/dress initial scenes, but they also go cake tasting, plan the reception menus, pick music, pick flowers, communicate their color scheme etc. And they have to go to fittings. They have to apply for the license and follow whatever rules for the state they are in. And since all this happens in less than a month it is on an accelerated timeline. And most of them are still doing their jobs full time as well as whatever else obligations they have for the show. Added to that is the normal anxiety of just getting married. So I imagine it can be super stressful and overwhelming.

Yup, also it allows for them to actually re-order later parts of a conversation in earlier, so if the liquid in the glass is low and then two minutes later it is brimming and then in the next camera shot it is low again, that would be a clue some editing shenanigans are going own. People already know there are, but that would be some extra added in your face confirmation. I also read that the creator just plain old likes the glasses. And after they got so much comment on S1, he thinks of them as the show's signature item.

This makes me so happy. This is my favorite new show of the season.

Is that why she looked like she was wearing a bedazzled baby spit up cloth on her shoulder?

I saw that Josh's explanation of why they didn't attend didn't mention death threats at all. Just that they had a last minute obligation. So was she receiving death threats but not him? If this is true, I truly do feel bad and think people are fucked up, but I also don't feel that Jackie is a reliable narrator on anything. Also, Even if they did, they could have still done it remote and zoomed in live instead of that pre-recorded warm bath of an interview they got. It really is giving "I can dish it online, but I can't take it in person" energy from Jackie. The more I think on it, the worse I think Vanessa was. I think Vanessa did both Marshall and Paul a disservice. At least Zack had Paul's back. You could almost see him wanting to spill more tea about Micah, but had to restrain himself. Too bad nobody stepped up for Marshall, but at least Kwame did a WTF face when Jackie was trying to claim Marshall wanted to give the ring to someone else. She is so full of it...LOL.

Right. Not only that, but Vanessa kinda pissed me off. She was all softball with Jackie and hardball with Marshall. She seemed to wave off what Jackie said and yet wanted to somehow get Marshall to admit he was being hurtful. If she read the leaked messages, then Jackie's implications of Marshall being gay were outright offensive as well. She wasn't just saying 'oh i don't think he's into women' the inflection of how she said things were incredibly homophobic, imo. Kwame and Chelsea's apartment is lovely. Man, those views are killer! I had to crack up with Chelsea being so happy to address the idea that fans were surprised they'd said yes and her answer was all 'Girl Power! Rah!' Honey, no one was surprised you were gonna say yes. But Kwame didn't answer the question... so. Vanessa pissed me off with the baby question. How about don't ask that shit to people, ever. Especially on a live tv show. It is infuriating because you never know someone's medical history or what triggers they have in that area and it feels like putting people on the spot. This was a bit of a letdown, imo. Vanessa seemed to just want to debunk internet theories. Nick was a lump of coal. Why was here even there? The only interesting thing was Zack having no filter. Also, him outing Irina as the one who told him Micah wasn't interested in marrying Paul wa a very lawyer move. He didn't say who, but let Vanessa figure it out by process of elimination. Ha! Anyway, I was rooting for Tiff and Brett and Bliss and Zach so I am happy they are all still married and happy a year later.

ZAck and Bliss actually bringing some thunder to Irina. Even Vanessa got in on the act. But Shut up Nick.

He sounds so practiced. Like he has PR training. Also, Nick and Vanessa aren't asking good questions, imo., I wish they had pushed harder. I needed them to ask Kwame why he cried so hard when Micah broke it off. They let Kwame and Chelsea elide over a lot.

Brett lived in Portland, but they didn't have an issue so that wasn't their story.

I am cracking up! Also kinda surprised how many celebrities actually watch this and are tweeting alongside the poors.

Netflix twitter said 15 mins late...

...Waiting for the host to start the meeting...

Airdate: 04/16/2023