DearEvette

Oh Marvel, never change. Luke's water-bath chamber looks like Wolverine's admantium chamber. Hehe. I wrote my comment above before I saw this! I did love the shout out to the original Luke, with the "tiara", the bright yellow shirt, the blue pants and the chain belt. "I look ridiculous!" Good origin story, nice attention to detail with the jacked up fro (no grooming products in prison to keep the hair tight). Not sure what to think of Reva. Is she on the up and up? And what was with her cryptic comment about "not always being a psychiatrist." That more than anything got my spidey senses tingling after her assurances to Luke settled them down again. Now I am not so sure about her. But apparently she's dead, so still more back story to go. But now I am wondering what he plans to do about his identity given the press attention there at the end.

Ugh. Scarfe, why? Why?? I was liking his and Misty's dynamic. But he turns out to be dirty. Of course Cornell would have cops on the payroll but why Scarfe? Dang it! The minute Chico started talking I knew, I just knew. But I wonder what he would have done if Misty had taken him up on his offer to go speak with Chico with him? He probably would have gotten to Chico before he could really talk. Now I need Misty to shank his ass. And I want her to do it, not Luke. The music on this show is just perfect so far. Each selection perfectly punctuates the mood and theme of the episode. I loved the Ain't It A Sin song. I especially loved the visuals of this old guy right out of the James Brown tradition being backed by a band that was more like the Ben Folds Five. LOL. Also the argument between Cornell and Mariah further punctuates just how blackity black, black ,blackity black this show is for real. He calls her 'Black Mariah" she calls him a "color struck motherfucka!" Neither one backing down. I actually find Mariah a little scarier than Cornell. His feral qualities are all on her surface, hers are way below and I don't think we've seen them yet. The action was the best part. Love the fight scene set to Wu-Tang! Also that last scene. Oh Man. Off to the next episode.

I liked this episode better than the pilot. The pilot felt all set up. This one felt like we were starting to get into the meat of things. I did like the scene in the barbershop when Cottonmouth came to get a shave. The tension slowly crept up and the camera work was great with the full-face close ups and the odd angles -- it made that scene feel almost claustrophobic, like something was going to break or give any minute. Also liked the Misty a lot more in this episode. She popped for me here. I couldn't help but feel a bit of cognitive dissonance because with her outfit and her hair and her general demeanor she reminded me so strongly of Abbie Mills from S3 of Sleepy Hollow when Abbie's hair went natural. But I loved the basketball scene, the trash talk that came so effortlessly "Ladies first" (Ha!) and then finding out she played bball in college and that her name was etched in the court. I could not get into Jessica Jones or Daredevil at all. But I am finding this one easy to consume.

Yeah, that is the one thing about this that so far isn't reading as 100% realistic. Realistically, Goldie would be getting dragged publicly as much as Davis especially considering she is a sex worker. Fair or not, that is a stigma when it comes to sexual violence. I love that the all female directors of Queen Sugar are trying to make a feminist statement about the validity of Goldie's claim. But no way would Davis be as in jeopardy by the team ownership as it seems. I think of Kobe who was arrested and there were hearings and there would be footage of him going from the courthouse to the game court. I mean he was playing through the whole scandal. I wonder if it seems more one-sided because we are seeing everything through Charley's perspective and everything seems much more precarious because of it.

I really liked Alex in this episode. It was so refreshing to have him be the one who is driving a story. As much as I think Meredith's methods of supporting him feel more harmful than good, it is nice to have her be the one who has to listen to his problems rather than vise versa. I am still not on his side in the beating of DeLuca but I appreciate this episode for what it means to his character. Speaking of DeLuca, I know this was Alex's episode but even so he seemed rather invisible even as a victim in all this. Everybody talked around him or to him, but he barely said two words. We don't get any inkling of what is going on with him other than he is busily glowering angrily. How awful that he doesn't even get a scene of someone actually speaking to him in concern for his physical and mental recovery. Everybody just seems to be mad at Alex. I swear the show could have easily jettisoned some of that stupid triangle stuff to show Maggie having a quiet conversation with showing that she has some compassion for him and that his breaking up with her is water under the bridge in the face of him having to see his attacker everyday. And speaking of the Bermuda Triangle, good god it is even more painful than I thought it would be. Come on! Why is Meredith doing this. Yeah, I am not thrilled with how they are making Maggie this pie-eyed creature who seems like she is mentally drawing hearts and rainbows in a journal, but at its basis it is a woman who is interested in a man and wants to get him interested in her. But Maggie's awkwardness aside, I am so puzzled as to why the writers are making Meredith act this way. It feels cruel. By telling Nathan about Maggie's feelings and then making him promise not to go out with her, it feels like they are in on a joke that Maggie isn't and it is at her expense. I find the whole thing rather distasteful.

Yup. That was my immediate thought too. I'll bet he is a regular client. She said his name with a lot of familiarity/intimacy. I'll bet Davis is one of those men who feel emasculated by a powerful wife and goes to a mistress/sex worker and spills all sorts of tea about his life (i gather you can guess I don't have a high opinion of Ol' Davis). And I'll bet that she probably felt there was some intimacy there but he stood by and watched or abetted one or more of his teammates in coercing her into non-consensual sex. At the risk of sounding un-feeling/un-PC, it doesn't help that the actress who portrayed Goldie came off as a woman who seemed like she had been betrayed by a lover, not raped by one. The "how do you get unraped" line was a powerful one, just I didn't feel it in the way she delivered it. Too bad because I think that confrontation with Charley could have hit harder and been more poignant than it was. As it is it just felt like a wife confronting a mistress, not a wife confronting the woman who is her husband's rape victim. The scene of the Bordelon women smoking pot was a delight from start to finish. First the hug between the sisters, then Nova fishing a blunt out of her bra, then Vi coming in and talking about how she gets it good from Hollywood and the size of his package, then the matter-of-fact delivery that Nova is bi -- I just loved it! They looked like they were having a ball! The auction scene was hard to watch. I knew Charley was not going to follow advice. But oh well. I am getting the impression that all the Bordelons will be knocked down only to rise up triumphant. I hope.

Thank You! Back from the Disney abyss with an episode that does what the show began to do last season real well. Which is to take a specific topic and give it both a thoughtful and irreverent spin. As is usual for me, Dre is the weak spot. His over the topness didn't work for this for me. Considering you don't see them as being particularly religious, I feel that their belief system is more of the 'well this is an accepted ritual' rather than a bone deep belief. So to have Dre go all ape-shit just didn't work for me. I thought their reaction to Junior being a Republican was much more realistic that this. But everyone else was spot on and can I say I love the casting of Daveed Diggs? His casual insertion of French pronunciation of words, his dilettante attitude. How perfect is he in the pantheon of Bow's family. Also doesn't she have a sister too? If so, I can;t wait to see what they come up with for her. I also didn't get the impression that Zoe had suddenly converted, since everyone else at the end tag was praying and she was gossiping on the phone. I just thought the 'Oh thank God' was less a reinstatement of belief and more of a reflexive statement than anything really. But yeah that scene in the Doctor'f office had me so tense. I was mumbling in my head "they're not gonna do this...they're not gonna do this:" and then the small tear fell down Bow's face. I also felt like I was in that room with them because my breath came whooshing out when I heard the heartbeat as well. Also, Charlie's enmity of Diane will never get old. Good episode.

Straight Holt is so damned awkward. And funny. Maya Rudolph's little bits with them are gold. I loved that no amount of bribery could sway Amy's devotion from Holt. And Melissa Fumero's line delivery of ' You seem a little.. Eeeehhhhhhhhhhhh..." when trying to tactfully tell the new captain he was a bit under-qualified was great. I love how she just let it drag on. Just when I was beginning to warm to Gina she annoys me all over again. It is like one step forward and 10 steps back with her for me. Happy to see the scenes with the Nine-Nine. Now I am wondering how they are going to make it to Florida?

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I love that the judges were actually scrapbooking all unconcerned while Tati and Alyssa were both deciding with the seriousness of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on who to kick out. Ha!

I thought that Kevin going off with his friends was a really good character beat. Even though the kids grew up in the same household together, it isn't til they go to school that they begin to become aware of bigger things, external influences. Kinda like you don't know you are poor until you can see what not-poor looks like. They may not have been aware that anything about them was different til they got to school. And Kevin, wanting the approval of his friends, feels like an ingrained thing that is following him into adulthood, like Kate's weight being the issue we saw taking root at that age as was Randall's need to be good and perfect. I am also curious about Kevin's need to call Randall at that point when he was feeling the most helpless. Why Randall specifically at that moment? Just from this ep you get the sense that their distance is of Kevin's making, not Randall's. And speaking of that call -- when Kevin starts the convo he says 'I know we haven't talked since everything went down' or something like that. So something happened to create another rift? Or was it a reference to Jack's passing and Jack died fairly recently and something happened between the brothers in the aftermath? If so I am liking the theory that Jack may have died after a long, lingering illness -- like Alzheimers or something. Something that would have made his actual death more recent, but he would have been 'gone' much longer and have built in enough time for Rebecca to fall in love and marry Miguel and for Randall's daughters to begin to think of Miguel as grandpa.

"Well now I feel like I bitch." Ha! And actually i did too because I was like Beth giving William the hairy side-eye. And then he went and told his story about his ugly cat. Dammit. Anyway that kitchen scene was fantastic and Beth really stepped up to the plate here. And how refreshing it is for someone on a tv show just to come out say stuff straight out. "You are over staying your---" She was totally about to lay it on the line. Love it. Actually Both Mandy Moore and Susan K-W were great in their scenes as wives protecting their husbands, Rebecca's more of a tough love and Beth's more a fierce one. Very fascinated by the relationship between the siblings, even moreso than last week. And I knew Miguel had a thing for Rebecca. You don't talk about your friend's wife in just that way if you didn't have a thing for her.

Finally saw this. Oh yeah, this was a fun episode all over the place. Tati came back, Alyssa was funny, Phi Phi got gone, Ginger Minj made an impression(Y'all I keep forgetting she was even on the show) and even Coco didn't annoy me. I especially loved the start with the reveal of the departed queens behind the two-way mirror and the shots of Phi Phi's face. Roxxxy's analogy was perfect. And then Tati's analysis of Phi Phi's game playing was perfect. I actually thought Alyssa and Tati were both great in the lip sync. I did give the slight edge to Tati because Alyssa tends to go overboard a bit with the death drops, but I thought Alyssa was more restrained than usual. And it helps that they seems to compliment each other in looks. So I am glad they both got to stay.

I like Maggie. And normally I'd be ok with her having a nice relationship with a handsome fellow like Riggs. But since his Not!Dead wife might materialize out of the woodwork, then I don't want to have to witness that. Better Meredith than her. I do wonder why they chose to so abruptly end Maggie and DeLuca? if Mer and Riggs are end game? I think if Maggie and DeLuca had still been together when Alex beat up DeLuca that would have added to the drama a lot. There would be the question of just what DeLuca was doing with Jo in a compromising position? The sisters would have a more believable and worthy rift than a stupid love triangle if Mer's best friend beat up Maggie's boyfriend. Also Maggie's investment over what happened to him would have felt more immediate. As it is, her attempts to convince Riggs that she was free during this whole thing just seemed tangential and not in keeping with the seriousness of what was happening. But that said I do get more chem between Maggie & Riggs than Mer & Riggs and I chalk it 100% up to Ellen's acting choices. Meredith doesn't even seem to want to be bothered, even beyond wanting to protect Maggie's feelings. So that distance comes across in the dynamic between the two characters as well, and not in a "oh Meredith is fighting her feelings" way but in a "they just aren't connecting" way.

I just watched the Paleyfest panel of the cast and producers and there will be more flashbacks and not just for Ginny. Also I was interested to hear about how they are approaching telling the stories going forward because the question did come up about how they are planning to sustain storytelling over the course of the series. They were pushing that it is just as much about the characters as it is about the baseball. For instance it was nice to hear that Blip isn't just Ginny's friend but has an inner life of his own and his wife is integral to that.

I highly recommend peeping the discussion on the Pilot episode in the Pitch forum, but I enjoyed it and I don't even follow baseball. Kylie Bunbury is excellent as the central character Ginny, she manages to convey both the swagger confidence that this girl has being the first woman in the majors as well as the panic just under the surface -- not really apparent -- just flashes sometimes of what this all means and the pressure. I can kinda see the actress maybe trying to channel, say, Jackie Robinson and not reacting to stuff -- just striding through with her chin up sometimes. Ali Lartner is all sharp and steel in her role and Ginny's agent. Mark-Paul Gosselaar has put on some weight, grew and beard and has a 'fuck all' attitude that is perfect for a veteran of the team who is chasing a championship. He also has some of the best lines. But I think I was mostly struck by the look of it. The colors are crisp, the photography is really good and there is an energy to the baseball scenes.

Ha! I had this exact conversation with a niece. Except she was talking about... Five something something and I was all, Hey I know isn't there a Zayn and a Niall in that group? I get a Who Is THAT moment every single time I see Naomi Watts. I know that she is an actress with a fairly high profile, not A-list but as a person who follows pop culture I know who she is, but I have a major case of face blindness with her. I can see picture after picture of her and every time I will not recognize her.

Good list. A some point I am sure we will see The Special Episode where her team comes to her defense -- the old, we can fight amongst ourselves, but we close ranks when someone comes against one of our own, thereby cementing her as One Of Them!

I think the comparison was between black females vs. black males. Anecdotally, it feels like the reverse is true for Asian females vs. Asian males. It feels like the representation among Asian women on tv is stronger than among Asian men. Off the top of my head from dramas I can think of Lucy Liu, Chloe Bennett, Ming Na Wen, Grace Park, Michaela Collins, Priyanka Chopra, Yunjin Kim, Archie Panjabi For men, I get Daniel Dae Kim, Brian Tee & Steve Yuen

Ahh, gotcha. So since imdb ratings are set by imdb users it is crowd-sourced and I could see how it might skew recent shows .

I dunno. American Horror Story's ratings have to be miniscule compared to a show, like say, LA Law back in it's heyday. Or Dexter vs. something like The Golden Girls. I wonder if this was just a vote thing?

I think it is an intersection and totally how fucked up Hollywood works. I once remember reading ...God... many moons ago when I was a grad student taking TV production classes, there was an interview about casting and one of the talking heads, a BW, said something like 'if you need a woman, she's white but if you need a black person, it's a man." that always stuck me with me. I mean, women always have it worse anyway, but a WOC is going to have it the worst. And frankly, because H'wood seems incredibly afraid to do anything original, even their choices of when they choose to diversify their female casts the woman is usually as near white as they can get. So I am not surprised when they cast they cast very light skinned. The conversation around diversity is confronting that more, but yeah if you look at cast breakdowns of main or leads I believe black males outnumber black females. And in ensembles, black males tend to be cast more as well. This is us is a great example. I love that Sterling K. Brown was cast because after all he is a really good actor, but they could have just as easily made the third sibling the actress that plays his wife. Then it would have been her story, not just her being a support to his. On a different/related note I just discovered Survivor's Remorse on Starz and besides it being a major revelation for me (it is funny and very well written) I love it that all of the main female characters on that show are dark skinned. I absolutely support all WOC getting good roles on tv no matter her ethnicity or shade of skin, but I have to admit it is very nice to see some really strong representation of the darker girls.

So far for the new season big thumbs ups to: Atlanta, Queen Sugar, This is Us, Pitch -- It is interesting that my two fave network shows so far This is Us and Pitch were both created by the same person and both had a twist revealed at the end of the pilot. Will give it another try to: Speechless -- I liked it ok but it was a bit strident. Hoping that is because it was suffering from Pilotitis Didn't even bother to try: Bull, MacGyver Looking forward to: Insecure, Luke Cage Will try at some point: Designated Survivor

Yeah, that could be. But Analise is a lawyer and this is a law school. If nothing else she would have seen through such an obvious ploy. That is why I wondered if she were tenured. Because normally the only way they are getting rid of or demoting a tenured prof is through just cause. Rarely is that cause academic in nature so it would have to be something like misconduct, peculation, or wilful incompetence and all the stuff that went down over the last two season fall right within that. And Analise and that Prez would be well aware of this. So Them saying it was about these five students' grades is something Analise would have seen right through and should've given the president an "are you shitting me with this?' look. That is why that whole conversation felt wrong. It would have made more sense for them to warn her on the basis of all the other stuff because that falls more in line with the just cause.

Dead Denny is a topic I think we can all agree on. LOL.

I had no interest at all in watching Survivor's Remorse. Not in my wheelhouse and I had so many pre-connceived notions about it. But it was on at my sister's house and I started watching it and man, it it sharp, funny and very well written. I love the actors and the characters. I love the lesbian sister isn't written broadly or problematic at all. She is just presented as a full realized person. I also love that her name is Mary Charles and they call her M-Chuck. I actually broke down and got the free 30-day trial that comes with my Amazon Prime for Starz so I could finish watching it. LOL.