DearEvette

Yeah, Ana is being set up. It'll be nice to see her triumph. And for a house to fall on that DA chick. Nice way to continue to have Alfie Enoch on the show. Since this show does wonky timelines all the time we'll obviously still be getting flashbacks to that night. I thought the overly bright filming of Wes' scenes with Connor, Asher, Laurel and Michaela was an interesting choice. But the one with Frank was blue tinted. It seems like lighting was symbolic of the feelings of the people who was thinking about Wes. Yes, even Connor. Even though he sounded like a total dismissive asshole/jerk I do think he did think of Wes as one of them. But I have come to the conclusion that Connor is a man-child who is incredibly immature in so many ways that he doesn't know how to act, so he just acts out. Meanwhile Frank has no feelings for Wes and his flashback showed it. But back to Connor, I do find his behavior problematic. He didn't need to shit over other people's feelings especially not someone in Laurel's predicament. And once again he is shown as the taker in his friendship with Michaela. I actually cheered Asher for beating his ass. He needed it. I will say that Wes got the two best lines of the night. "If I wasn't so big, it wouldn't have broke." and Asher: 'Do you think I'm a racist?" Wes "I just think you're white." Ha. Dead Wes got jokes!

I decided to watch. But yeah, it feels like they made a salad of every other CW show and then put some Twin Peaks dressing on it. But even that wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't made the characters so flat. Not a single of one them has nuance. Veronica is the best of the lot but then they just had to make her kiss Archie. Also even for CW the writing is bad. Josie's overly explanatory expositional introduction was horrible. I felt bad for both the actress and the character to be saddled with that shit monologue. Who talks like that? I'll try it once or twice more but almost solely because of Veronica. She's doing the heavy lifting. The actress who plays Betty is also good and I have to admit I am interested to see how they develop B&V's friendship.

Yeah as a stand alone this was nicely done. But seriously, I didn't want another bottle episode so soon after the last one. I feel like So much this. Arizona pissed me off. She chose not to find out why the girl was in prison. But the very fact that she was a minor in a maximum security prison is a big deal. She wouldn't be there if she didn't do something heinous. If the mother has issues with seeing her, then I trust the mother's perspective because she at least knows what the girl did. Arizona is being judgemental with no facts. But Jo came in a close second. She's awfully chatty when it comes to telling other people's business.... But I liked the prison doctor and especially the lawyer.

I just finished the second installment. I must say this is very well done. Excellently cast. I think the idea to do it as a three part mini series was a great decision. It gives the story the time and room to breath. Lost of good details included. And as well as the boys are cast i need to shout out to the women who play their mothers. The scenes with the mothers and the relationship between the mothers is also interesting to watch. They all bring it. I was especially happy to see Lisa Nicole Carson on my tv screen again. Also another black group bio pic that tells how the record companies had them finanically over a barrel. I have to shake my head at the fact that these guys were in the business for years, selling mucho records and concerts they still couldn't move their mothers out of the projects. Looking forward to the finale.

For me I can't tell Isla Fisher and Amy Adams apart. Still can;t even after seeing The Arrival, which Amy was very good in. Blasphemy I am sure, but I think La La Land is overrated and saw nothing special about Emma Stone's performance. I did not see FFJ but was Meryl that good? I'd totally swap out Emma and Meryl for Taraji and Amy Adams. Speaking of Taraji, she was fantastic in Hidden Figures, though. She really disappeared into that role. The scene where she just had to finally vent about the little daily humiliations (the coffee pot, the bathroom) was so well acted. I am thrilled about Ruth Negga. What lovely recognition for her. Kinda sweet that all the main characters from The Help are nominated in the same year, even if I can't get behind Emma's nom. Stoked about all things Moonlight. I hope with wins all the things! Such a good film.

Did her OB tell her to cut down her hours or take it easy with work though? If not, then working an extra shift shouldn't be a big deal. In the canon of the show, unless it is specifically mentioned, I think we need to presume that it is ok. It would be one thing if April is working in open defiance of a direct doctor's order. But we aren't seeing that. So in this instance I do think we need to believe that Tate is being a bit controlling. I can understand him concerned, but it is a aggregate thing with this one thing on top of other things.

ooh, I don't think they've made Kate multifaceted at all. IMO, she is the one character I think who has suffered the most when it really comes to character development. She is all about her weight. That is the defining characteristic about her. I know I am one of the people who wanted her weight to just be a sympton of bigger issues. But so far we haven't seen it. I would put Kevin and Randal kinda equal in that what we know of them is both rooted in their pasts. My degree in Armchair Psychology tells me that Kevin went into acting because he felt invisible and overlooked by his family and craved the attention and love that he felt he wasn't getting. And who gets better attention and adulation that a star? Randall's need to be perfect is probably because he knows he didn't fit in so he compensated. I do think the writing is richer for Jack and Rebecca but it feels like they collectively get more time for us to spend with them. The other three -- their time feels like it gets fractured and it is also intimately shared with Jack and Rebecca's stories. I do agree that Beth needs more develoment as well. But it is an ambitious show with a lot of stuff it is trying to explore and has had very little time to do it in so far. And to be fair Beth is primarily a supporting character. I think the actress does that thing where she is given little nuggets and because she is charismatic she makes them gold. I get impatient because I want to know all the things right now too. But I have to trust that they can breathe a little with two assured seasons and use that time to flesh out the characters a but more.

Honestly, I think the character of Carter really was a buck in the token trend. She started out as kind of John's nemesis and had an arc as one of the very few clean cops that he relied on during the whole dirty cops arc than ran through three seasons. By the time the second half of S1 rolled around she really was third lead cast member. She and John created a very strong personal bond that she helped him a lot with the 'numbers' even though she was largely in the dark about the machine but she'd invested a lot of trust in John and Finch and vice versa. By the time the third season rolled around she her arc to take down the dirty cops for once and all was fantastic. But it was the build up to the kill off. Still it was such a fantastic arc. Also it is strongly implied that John fell in strong like with her if not love before she was killed. So she was an important cast member and not just the token black cop. Which is why her death was felt to the extent that everybody and their mother had to do the media tap dance about explaining her being killed off.

Well smack my ass and call me a Social Justice Warrior! because I love diversity. Love, love, love it. And advocate it in tv and film every chance I get. But then again, I understand that the term 'diversity' simply means a 'range of different things.' Sameness in either race, age, gender, income range, location etc. becomes stagnant and is frankly unrealistic. But there is a difference, imo, between wanting diversity and representation and holding some rigid standard of behavior & terminology that goes beyond just the civil and common sense to the needlessly nit-picky. Also wanting diversity =/= down with whitey. But this has gone crazily off topic. Back on topic. I don't hate Miguel. I was indifferent on Miguel. The man really hasn't done anything at all to engender dislike . And after the Christmas episode he seems just like a dorky grandpa, honestly. He seems like he means well. I am actually very curious about Miguel. Also I don't find this show tear jerky at all. It annoys me that the marketing for it boils down to 'grab your tissues.' The characters aren't hateful far from it, but it seems like the simple act of showing parents being loving to each other and their kids or strangers forming a connection through shared humanity is worthy of tears?

Late to the party, but holy cow this episode was perfect. Patty Frickin Lupone! The hora song and "did we mention Hitler?' Josh winning over Tovah Feldshuh. Valencia, Heather and Father Brah -- smallish but perfect scenes. Darryl making a breakthrough with Nathaniel. SO much win and then... Dr. Akopian was the cherry on top.

I saw the original movie. In the theater. With a my best girlfriend who is the type to cry at a jello pudding commercial so she spent the entire movie bawling. I spent the entire movie patting her hand and saying, "there, there." I thought it was alright. So I am not wedded to the original and Nia Long is in this one, need to give it a try just for her.

Heh. Or Bow's realization that she will have to marry Rick Fox after Dre is dead. I love the continued shout out to Rick Fox. Man, he needs to show up at some point.

I love stories that center on good guys pulling off a nice con or grift so I enjoyed this. And everybody played a part and Gregorio didn't make me want to roll my eyes. Some of my annoyance at her is shifting squarely to the FBI boss guy who vaguely resembles and sounds like Andre Braugher but without the charisma. Yay, Percy's back. Shalita Grant was probably off filming Mercy Street I saw a promo of that show with her featured prominently. But I like the banter between her and LaSalle. I think I would have liked it a lot better if yeah we hadn't just learned about Pride's "I've been looking after her since she was a young girl" protegee last week for whom he is seeking teeth clenched vengeance for this week. Steven Weber has that slimy bad guy thing on lock.

I liked this one too. - Choi and Goodwin in cahoots. - Rhodes looked hot in a tux. - Who doesn't love Pandas? - The Charles family have a really nice moment - Interesting stuff with Latham. I don't want him to change too much though. - Poor Reese. - No Natalie! - April's body be bangin' - Did I mention Rhodes and that tux? Also Robyn looked damned gorgeous too.

I think you hit on it though. It really is tokenism and not necessarily a signifier of success. But how simple it is to dot that I and cross a T by casting a black woman of a certain age in a role you don't really need to write or develop and you get to say "see we are a diverse show.". But how many of those police chiefs actually were considered a lead, co-lead or even first tier cast member in their show? Or had a long, sustaining storyline? Or had an on show romance with a main character? No instead it is simple to have her come out of the office, brusquely command her underlings to "make sure you get all the evidence" and disappear back into her office until the next time she has to come back out and brusquely make another command. Re: Beth & Randall, I think they are unicorns. Not because they are perfect or anything, because I don't think they are any more perfect than say Coach and Tami Taylor, but because they are rare in tv drama. A functional, loving black married couple who aren't written specifically for a black issue, aren't struggling to make ends meet, and who aren't sidelined or trotted out as the occasional couple friend of a main cast white pair.

I don't think it was him looking disheveled that prompted that call...

I saw the announcement and immediately heard his voice in my head.

I was just watching the tv show Lethal Weapon (I know... I know... but it is silly and I like it) and there was a courtroom scene that was so not realistic and I thought to myself, 'Man lawyers must hate watching tv.' If there is one profession that I have a feeling that gets mangled more often than not it is that of the trial lawyer.

According to the writers, this was aired out of order. Should have aired earlier in the season. But they had to do some shuffling because of the holidays and the election ep.

Oh man, i loved the smallish scene of Bow crying in her car about being such a "people pleaser." Tracee is so funny. Also, Dre's preoccupation with the therapists's hair was a fun thread through the show. Was that Mary Kay Place? I think it was. I hated that Dre's man-child tendencies were dialed up to 11 in this one, but I will say Anthony Anderson was excellent in that first scene at the therapist' office. Just the way he went from "i'm fine, all good' to realizing that his childhood wasn't great and he wasn't all fine. And then his face sort of crumbled. I thought this was a middling episode. Light take on the ideas about therapy and the black community. I thought it skimmed the surface and relied rather too strongly on the 'angry black' stereotype. I get what they were going for, given our history black folks should be angry or a lot angrier than they are. But we've seen them do so many shows where they manage to throw together a lot of nuance. And I don't think this one had it. Also, Steven's son can go any moment now.

It makes me wonder if it is an egregious error that got missed in continuity. Or if they have an explanation for it. Obviously they don't have Randall's original birth certificate and as an adoptee they'd have an amended one. My understanding is that on an amended BC you can choose the birthdate you want if you don't know the adoptee's original dob. I could understand if they gone the same day or even earlier than the twins, but a whole year later? Could it be the date the adoption was finalized? Still seems odd to go that far away from his real DOB.

A first I wasn't feeling this episode, until I suddenly was. Really like how it unfolded and honestly, I know it is schmaltzy but dammit, I just love the basic decent humanity of everyone on the show. When it feels like there is such a lack of empathy IRL sometimes, this just works for me now. I like how the fire-fighter's story unfolded and how even though his wife rightly knew that Randall wasn't the answer to fixing their marriage, he actually was in a way. Nice episode.

My enjoyment of SH ended immediately after S3. Not only did I choose no longer to watch. But they even ruined the show retraoctively so I can't even bear to watch the earlier shows anymore. LOL. But I doubt if TPTB decided to make the various decisions they did that resulted in the show losing viewership over last two seasons just to stick it to shippers. I do think they didn't know the show they had or at the very least lost sight of it. Obviously the show as written with the cast they had in first season coupled with the admittedly dynamic chemistry of the leads was the reason for the overwhelming enthusiasm the show received. But they systematically dismantled all that over the next few seasons culminating in the removal of Abbie. If they had managed to keep the show interesting or exciting then in the end it wouldn't have mattered. But even people who don't ship at all bailed on the show in droves. Even the critics who had made the show their darling in S1. I will say, though, that shippers might have some grievance because there have been instances where writer interaction on Social Media has been, well, juvenile in such a way that is may seem that they were getting some satisfaction that vocal shipper fans weren't going to get their wish. And in all honestly they did ship bait rather hard in the last part of S3, which really wasn't very cricket of them. So yeah I can see why some shippers give them the side eye.

Is usually accompanied somewhere in the conversation by "You just don't get it do you?"

I know this episode is political and as such the discussion can't help but go there, but I sincerely hope the discussion can just keep contextualizing it within the show and not go the route of getting a litany of posts about our own personal politics? I avoid the political forums like the plague and muted people on twitter and FB because I am not interested in the back and forth. At least here if we can keep with this episodes and the characters as the touchpoint it makes it more objective and not so personal. And hopefully keeps the discourse fun. In regards Lucy, I think my stronger issue is that her specific character -- not white women in general -- but she specifically doesn't seem like she should have voted Cheeto. She has to worked with Stevens and Dre and their conversations have always been sexist. In previous shows she has always struck me as the person in the room who we are supposed to root for in the workplace: who values competency and skill over old fashioned boys club. She has called them on it, heck she even sued to get her job back. So it strikes me as odd this particular woman who has fought against her own disenfranchisement would so blithely vote for someone whose talking points have been largely about disenfranchisement of many types. Like I said in my previous post, I get that she didn't want Hilary to be her first woman president. Her reasoning for that is sound but it is one thing to vote against Hilary and another to vote for Cheeto. Like others have pointed out, it probably would have made sense for her to vote Stein. The only thing I can imagine is that the writers were making a specific point about her in that if she is supposed to be the in-room representation for that 53% of white women then it is somehow a reminder? cautionary tale? that by and large white women, even white feminists, when confronted with a variety of issues will align with so-called white interests even before women's interest and that the word 'male' in the term white male privilege is sometimes absent? And that in making Lucy the one who explicitly vote the way she did, the one we've liked and rooted for, the one who was supposed to make the system work, we feel that disappointment all the more keenly.