DearEvette

I think people have different yardsticks by with they judge. And that is perfectly fine. My own personal yardstick is that there are degrees of magnitude when determining what you will accept versus what you won't. Also legal definitions are different than moral ones. So for me, if I have to determine relative acceptable behavior I would definitely judge Michaela's stealing of notes or a laptop lesser than manslaughter even if hers is done with calculation and the others are done in passion. One results in the loss of a thing, the other results in the loss of a life. Overall, Michaela has been shown to simply not want to be there. She just wanted to get good grades and become the next Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Connor ridiculed her panicked reaction to Sam's death and Laurel stole her ring in order to keep her in line? blackmail her? emotionally torture her? Through it all she has always struck me as the one least able to cope with what they are all dealing with, with Connor as a close second. This is why I don't think is bad by a longshot. Regards how Michaela is viewed vs. how Analise is viewed, there was a long discussion on the Gender thread (in the generic tv forums) about how fandoms react to women. Generally, my belief is that women are judged more harshly across the board. WOC even more so. There are certain areas where a character is exempt or given a pass regardless of race or gender. For instance, if they are the lead character. Lead characters often will get a huge pass, there is some psychological sleight of hand at play where you subconsciously connect with the "hero" or protagonist and therefore you give them the leeway that a supporting character would not get. Also Ana is played by Viola Davis. She is a powerhouse actor. I think that also goes a long way toward just enjoying or accepting her performance no matter what the character actually does. Charisma outweighs a lot of sins. I call it the Walter White effect.

Reminds me of the original theme song where she says "It's a lot more nuanced than that." I liked the reveal of Greg being an alcoholic. I don't know if I am just dim but I never caught it at all. So seeing the flash backs to all the times he was drinking was great. Felt like a real life reveal rather than a tv show thing where they had been consciously telegraphing it all last season. Daryl and White Josh are cute. I love that they sit on the same side of the table in the restaurant. Good first ep.

I am not a huge fan of William's. I think his integration into Beth and Randall's household has been too seemless, too easy. It should be harder. I think Beth at least should continue to be more uncomfortable than she is shown to be. But, that said, I don't mind that he isn't some awful person though. I think the message that drug addiction doesn't necessarily make you an inherently terrible person is a good one. Before drugs, the man had an involved life and a deeply sensitive soul, what with the poetry and stuff. But then the drugs came along. It seems like the show is making the point that his basic personality is one where with or without the drugs, he would have ended up as this nice old guy who is attached to his cat anyhow.

I dunno I 'd rank Nate lower than Michaela. Cheating on your cancer ridden wife somehow seems less morally acceptable than pilfering study notes or blackmail money.

Yeah. It is on my DVR to tape, but not watching live. I can't. I didn't watch lat season's finale live either. I couldn't. And knowing how it ended, I still haven't. If the show goes the way the reports suggest, I dunno. I just want to watch the characters I have become attached to try to survive this apocalypse. And if they come across a badder, meaner group then deal with it. Sure they will take some losses, but damn this just sounds like torture porn.

This is so true I just re-watched the S3 premiere. About the 'Killer' posters -- Analise says "I'll bet it is just some student I pissed off." and sure enough it is that Simon character as we find out in Ep 5. Also in the premiere, they are hanging out at Connor and Oliver's studying and Oliver is making everyone mojitos and Laurel passes asking for water, Michaela jokes "You're pregnant with Frank's baby" Which Laurel denies. Interesting -- there is this intense scene between Laurel and Wes that really suggests that probably something did happen with them off-scene. So the show definitely lets you know in the first ep that Laurel is pregnant, but there is a hint that it just might be Wes'.

The more I think about it, the more I am going with Frank. With this episode he is set up as incredibly tragic figure. But he is also being set up as basically of serial killer. He was guilted into killing Lila by Sam. I wonder if he feels that Wes is usurping his position and a surrogate son with Analise and that is why he killed Wallace in Wes' presence to set him up. He killed Bonnie's dad maybe because his abuse reminded him of his own dad. But the murder of the hitman felt like overkill almost. I wonder if they are taking him beyond redemption with all the killing and that is a sort of justification to kill him off?

I don't dispute that she is a thief. I mean, that is canon. But "holier than thou" implies that the person thinks they are morally better and more sanctimonious than you or me. I think is the clear that Michaela is incredibly insecure and ashamed of her poor past and is doing everything she can to rise above it. I do agree her methods can be off putting because she comes across as a bit strident and she seems like she is overcompensating in the area of respectability. She tries very hard to appear "proper" and that doing so somehow creates a big enough space from her humble roots so she can enter "proper" society. In truth, though, think she is much more judgemental about herself & what people think about her than she is others. But I love her relationship with Connor and the little flashes of vulnerability the show gives her. Out of all of them, I think she is the most naive. I agree she is damaged just like everyone else. But I am not 100% convinced any of them are really awful anymore. They've all come a long way from Season One when none of them were particularly likeable. But I think over the last two seasons the show has done a good job of making all of them more sympathetic. Even Wes who I hated in S1 just because he was so damned dumb. I swear if the "under the sheet" mystery had happened after S1 I would have been praying it was Wes. But I actually like him a lot more. And Asher who was such a spoiled, privileged rich boy, has been improved through his association with everyone.

I'd be more outraged if the person she was perpetrating against was worthy of it. This guy photocopied his ass and handed it off as joke. Connor is correct, that is sexual harrassment. Also what is the genesis of his dislike of Analise, anyway? It is one thing to be resentful of the K5 for what he perceives as her favoritism but his posting flyers all around campus calling her a killer -- btw, technically not true -- is also harassment and public defamation. That along with his 'Ding Dong the Bitch is dead" had a lot more vitriol and animus to it than just being upset about a teacher. Also he stepped to them with no proof at all (sure she took it, but he didn't know that at the time considering that room was full of other people too). Grabbing at Laurel and claiming they were there just to swap a rich daddy for a rich husband. He was disdainful, dismissive, nasty and outright sexist toward her first. So yeah, I don't care that Michaela stole his shit and called him names.

Yeah, I was surprised by that too and thought he was definitely moved into Residency by now. It hasn't been a year? But in the first ep of S13, Stephanie says "we'd all like to beat up on interns" so I think canonically he's still an intern.

I still give Rebecca a bit more a pass though. When the interaction began it didn't look like she was planning to remove Randall at all. He was calmly playing with the other kids. It was all pretty cordial really. She was relieved he was there and Yvette was all "don't worry we are watching him" and then Rebecca went to introduce herself. That is when it went pear shaped. When Yvette said "Oh we know who you are...." I think the tone as well as the injection of race ("when a white family has a black child..") made Rebecca feel defensive. I know that any sort of questioning of parenting skills gets people super defensive. I had my 8 month old in a stroller once, on a super hot day in August and he wasn't wearing shoes. I mean, he was 8 months and not walking why would he need shoes? But a woman said to me "You need to put some shoes on that baby. He needs shoes!" Just out nowhere. It was a fairly innocuous comment all said and done, but my back went up immediately I was like "Aw Bitch , naw!" LOL. So I can see Rebecca, who probably deep inside already feels somehow inadequate to the task of raising a black son, and who is now seemingly being challenged on her decisions get defensive and embarrassed. I would like to think if Yvette hadn't moved the interaction into quite that territory that Rebecca might not have pulled Randall away.

Dr. McBlunder Dr. McAmateur Dr. McFailure Dr. McLoser-I-Hate-Him-Please-Go

When skin is very dry it tightens and gets a sheen. On dark skin, that sheen can look grey-ish hence the "ashy" reference. So yeah, it doesn't show up the same way on lighter skin. The same dry skin is there just doesn't look the same.

Stephanie is a Resident. So Andrew's feelings about that comment are irrelevant because he is an intern. But she did turn to Jo and say "you weren't supposed to hear that." Frankly I am glad the show is carving out that identity for Stephanie being so good as a doctor since there has been so very little effort at delving into creating a real character life for her. She's been on the show, what, four seasons? And the only real personal information we know about Steph is that she once had sickle cell and was a head cheerleader. Since it seems to be so damn difficult for them to write her any sort of character development, or a romance, or anything really outside of just being a doctor then I am fine with them making her a "best". Good for her I suppose.

I think it was the "my mother died from cancer" thing that did it. It is one thing to tell a quick one time lie. But now that he has had to repeat that lie to Meggy's father, it had become a bigger lie somehow. If he becomes further enmeshed in her life he has to tell her more lies. I can see how hard it is to have to guard everything you say around someone. Which is why it is probably easier for the K5 to rift into relationships with each other. They all know each others' most damning truths. Yeah, this is exactly how I read it. Especially as the first time Asher brough it up he said some of it comes out during sex. And then Michaela clapped back with "we just broke up". So it felt good-natured up until the point Michaela really let them know she was sensitive about it. Their faces fell after that and you do get the sense they aren't going there anymore. And you're right, they do all now feel more like friends than suspicious co-conspirators. I will say I loved Asher's faux southern accent even if he did kinda sound like Foghorn Leghorn. ETA: I loved that scene in the beauty parlor. The conversation was so natural and fun. Good to see another side of Annalise. And it is nice to see a beauty parlor scene I swear I have seen so many shows with scenes in barber shops with men talking man shit (Luke Cage, Blackish, Lethal Weapon) so it is nice to see the gender switch flipped Viola Davis was fire this episode! The hard core lawyer, the raving drunk, the pitiful wife, the code-switching sistah. So good!

Kind of a ho hum episode. Not a lot happened on the relationship front or on the continuity front for that matter. Was glad to see Bailey mentoring DeLuca and he being more light hearted. Was weird to see DeLuca and Jo being so chummy especially given we haven't seen them go from point A (I told you about my secret past while you got beat to smithereens) to point B (funny, joking ha ha! nothing to see here...). Was nice to see Maggie and Stephanie working together. I do like the relationship Steph and Amelia have, but this was good to see these two as scene partners. Was awesome to see Maggie NOT talk about Riggs. Holy cow. She was funny and show off why she si a good doctor. Also her opening scene where she is giving Alex shit about working in the clinic was funny. Was funny to see Amelia stride into the hospital with her big, ginormous purse hiding Caterina Scorsone's real pregnant body while talking about being pregnant all day. We great to her the old Granny say "Screw her. I want my liver." And when Bailey says "So, that is a no?' she replies "that is a HELL no." And the capper is her clapping family clapping a little uncertainly then.

Until the confession, I thought it was some weird inner working of Frank's tortured mind that he felt he needed to kill Mahoney while his kid was present, like he killed Annalise's kid while she was present. I am betting the body is Frank or Wes. Since Laurel is shown to be taken out alive, I am wondering if there was some confrontation b/t Frank & Wes in that house with Laurel present. Frank and Wes have had an adversarial relationship ever since Whatserface was killed and Wes suspected (and still does?) Frank of killing her. Wes doesn't trust or like Frank and Frank killed Wes' bio dad in front of him. And now Laurel is between them. so i am thinking something went down in that house. As much as Wes is not my favorite, I don't want any of the K5 to die, or Frank either for that matter. As much as he is some nice glistening eye candy, for me Nate is the most disposable. I wouldn't miss him really.

Yeah, me too. The picture I am getting so far: It looks like Rebecca and Jack live a solidly middle class life, white-collar teetering a rung or two above blue collar. They most likely live in a white neighborhood but not one affluent enough to have their own backyard pools. Since Randall keeps a hashtag book counting he # of black people he sees, he probably never sees any. So Rebecca & Jack most likely don't have any in their social circle, definitely not in their neighborhood. Rebecca doesn't seem like she gets much free time, I mean it seems like she has been struggling to even finish her book. The popularity of international adoption, esp. from China didn't really explode til around the early 90s so the concept of making sure your child has connections to his/her culture hadn't really taken off yet. So yeah, she is operating from mostly ignorance. I did like how at the top of the show during the Rubik's cube argument, they showed Randall scratching his neck and Rebecca calling it a rash and telling him to leave it alone. And then after her encounter with Yvette, she sees him scratching again and that is what prompts her to reach out. She just had to be made aware that no matter how Yvette said it, what he said was important for Randall. It was a really nicely subtle element that made the whole thing work for me.

I think I laughed the hardest I've laughed in a long time when the invisible car went by plowing people down. So unexpected. So hysterical. My god, I am giggling thinking about it even now. And was that Baby Huey's Hard Time I heard ? Love that song!

I was thinking about that Snow White play and wondering how much of what we saw -- the laughing -- was as coded or derisive as it looked or if we were supposed to be hearing it/seeing it how Randall was seeing it? His projection, as it were? The way it was shot it almost felt that we were seeing what he was seeing, not necessarily how it was truly happening. I looked at Beth and William during the same scene and they were laughing and smiling indulgently. They didn't have that same pinched look that Randall had and it didn't seem as if they were looking around gauging the audience's reaction like he was. I do give SKB a lot of credit he manages to wind Randall up and then unspool him really believably. That scene in the store where he gave that great speech about the daily calculations one makes as a black person in a white space (the wind up) then ended on the "now go and try on those slim fit, flat fronted pants" (the unspool) was an excellent example. So far Randall feels like the most fully formed of the characters with possibly Rebecca coming in second. I can't wait for everyone else to get the nuance these two seem to have. I was happy to see Kevin show up at Randall's door. My other 'can't want' stuff is for the present-day siblings to interact more. And I am dying to get a deeper look at Kevin and Randall. I also liked the black pool lady's interaction with Rebecca. I need to know this woman's name because she can't go through too much longer as just "Black Pool Lady" lol. At first I was all offended on Rebecca's behalf because I did think BPL came off as condescending. How it is Rebecca's responsibility to introduce herself to every black family she comes across just because she has a black son? But I liked how it all played out and how each woman was at her core was nice and just looking out fr Randall.

"You're always making sure Kate doesn't eat too much. And Randall's not too adopted. But where's Kevin? Oh yeah, he's dead." Oh god. That was a great line, delivered so awesomely by that kid. Perfect. I loved the flashback scenes this ep sooo much. Just seeing Jack in action as dad and Rebecca as tiger mom. And learning how to parent a black child. it does take a village! Such a smart show and this one episode look at the kids explains so much about the adult three. That last shot of them all cuddled on Jack just made me smile. Dad Jack is rather sexy.

Well.... didn't expect that. So? Affair? Absenteeism? Simply drifted apart?

Chicago Fire. I am tired of Dawson and Casey's never ending whatever. Severide's parade of women. And the only story they seem to know how to give poor Bolden is to have someone threatening his job. By now the poor man should have developed a complex.

I was gonna pass on Timeless too. But the charm of the first episode sucked me in. And yes, Rufus' frank discussion of race is nice. It has a great balance imo. He's right there is no time in US history where stuff isn't kinda bad for him. But I do hope they get over to Europe at some point where it isn't as bad and he doesn't have to be treated to the indignities he did in the first ep. Also, I hope they expand on what they hinted at with the second ep. While the two white characters were off doing stuff with the Lincoln assassination and the big names in history we all know about, Rufus had his own subplot with a black Civil War regiment. That ep made a point of showing that even tho the BIG stuff gets put in the history books, there are every day normal, unnamed people who are critical to the movement of history. Like, Rufus actually stopped this one guy from getting to Lincoln, but when they got back to the present time, the history books gave credit to a white guy. I liked that little nod to irony. So it would be great if that got incorporated more where Rufus interacting with black & brown folk becomes pivotal in some way in their missions. Kind like how the movie Hidden Figures is revealing the important contributions a few black female mathematicians made to the space race. So it isn't just about always showing him in an uncomfortable place.

God. Make it stop. I don't normally post in this forum, despite the fact I watch the show, but I could not stay silent. FBI Chick is really, really, ruining this for me. When Sonja asked "What are you still doing here?" full of attitude, I was like, "Girl, you are speaking for all of us." I mean, FBI chick purses her lips and has this New Jersey Wise guy faux-mannerism thing going on that just grates! And she's just a jerk to everyone. why, CBS? Why?